Room Service No Longer Free - NCL Starts $7.95 Charge Per Order

[Wendy&Grumpy]

I always assumed the delivery fee for pizza was to cover gas and still tipped on top of that. I assumed that based on the fact that I started to see it around the time that gas got really expensive.

 

The pizza place doesn't pay for the gas, the delivery drivers do. It's their personal vehicles.

 

The "vehicle" for delivering RS orders on a ship is the delivery person's legs.

[motleyfan]

Since I only use room service at night to order two containers of milk, I plan on getting extra milk from the breakfast buffet and storing it for later. Does anyone know if the cabin fridges will keep the milk cool enough?

 

That's a really good idea, see the people upset about the room service can innovate.

[lettienets]

If you order a pizza and pay pizza charge plus the new $7.95 fee, does part of that fee go as tip to delivery person? Or do you have to add tip too? I used to tip when I got anything delivered. Now, I don't think I would want to add more tip to new charge.

[maywell]

That's a really good idea, see the people upset about the room service can innovate.

 

I already gave suggestions but they were reading them like I had 3 heads or something....Since people seem to have come down a bit, i'll give them again:

 

Bring your own spill-proof travel mug for 2 reasons - 1) the cups for the coffee and tea on NCL are very tiny which leads to 2) so you can take it around with you without having to make too many trips to the buffet.

 

Bring a tote / sack / bag to hold your spill-proof mug and whatever you plan to take from the buffet (milk, bread, whatever) it makes it easy to hold a plate or a tray.

 

Bring from home like gallon-size ziplock bags to put snacks in it, so you can have it for later.

 

If you want to save costs on water, bring refillable water bottles and refill them at the water stations (use a cup of course)

 

Remember, on some ships there are 2 buffets - use the less populated one to get your coffee / tea / water.

 

 

Hope that helps those that need a work-around solution to the room service charge!!

[maywell]

If you order a pizza and pay pizza charge plus the new $7.95 fee, does part of that fee go as tip to delivery person? Or do you have to add tip too? I used to tip when I got anything delivered. Now, I don't think I would want to add more tip to new charge.

 

That's a good question, guess we'll find out next week when the 'test' is over....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and Hi!!:)

[lettienets]

Why doesn't NCL just raise the cost of a cruise 10 or $15 a person and keep the good will of the customers and makrle them feel they get a lot for their money.

Cheaping the travel experience feels too cheap sometimes.

[nfglory1]

Asked this earlier but was wondering if anyone had any insight..Just thinking out loud, but outside of seasoned cruisers and cruise critic members, do you think the majority of passengers would know what is and isn't included when you get into technical details. I booked for my parents, they have been on a couple cruises, but I doubt if I said room service has a fee and ice cream in Osheehans has a fee and this show is a little more, etc. that they would know if that is standard or not and just accept it and make a decision to utilize it or not without any affect on their vacation experience. I'm just wondering at with how oblivious the general population seems to be that NCL figures it's worth a try and they may ultimately make more money than lose.

 

Obviously anyone who enters into a contractual agreement should know the details, but let's face it, people don't.

[senior lady]

First 18% gratuities on NCL and RCL. Now charges for room service.

Looks like I"ll be staying with Princess.:D

[DonnieTsunami]

We typically tipped a dollar per plate. So we will now flat give 3 bucks or something. This really isn't that big of a deal.

[NYteacher]

Asked this earlier but was wondering if anyone had any insight..Just thinking out loud, but outside of seasoned cruisers and cruise critic members, do you think the majority of passengers would know what is and isn't included when you get into technical details. I booked for my parents, they have been on a couple cruises, but I doubt if I said room service has a fee and ice cream in Osheehans has a fee and this show is a little more, etc. that they would know if that is standard or not and just accept it and make a decision to utilize it or not without any affect on their vacation experience. I'm just wondering at with how oblivious the general population seems to be that NCL figures it's worth a try and they may ultimately make more money than lose.

 

Obviously anyone who enters into a contractual agreement should know the details, but let's face it, people don't.

 

I think some cruising charges surprise peopl who have never cruises--like the DSC for example. However, the problem with this most recent "test" is that even if we did know what the charges were, and what was "included in my fare" per NCL's own literature, out of the blue they switched this up on us. It's hard to prepare when the company advertises one thing and then provides another.

 

I suspect there will still be many who didn't know that their cruise was supposed to provide free room service if that more directly answers your question.

[njhorseman]

One thing tells you it is here to stay:

 

(1) They altered their website including ships not participating in the 'test'.

 

 

Rochelle

 

Didn't Andy Stuart say it was for now an experiment or trial in his travel agent webinar?

 

The FAQ only mentions Breakaway and Getaway.

 

How do you account for the two different prices if it's a permanent charge?

 

Not long ago they experimented with selling access to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch for non-suite passengers, but quickly dropped it.

 

Not every experiment becomes permanent. This one may become permanent, but it may not. I don't know, neither do you.

Edited April 2, 2015 by njhorseman

[maywell]

Asked this earlier but was wondering if anyone had any insight..Just thinking out loud, but outside of seasoned cruisers and cruise critic members, do you think the majority of passengers would know what is and isn't included when you get into technical details. I booked for my parents, they have been on a couple cruises, but I doubt if I said room service has a fee and ice cream in Osheehans has a fee and this show is a little more, etc. that they would know if that is standard or not and just accept it and make a decision to utilize it or not without any affect on their vacation experience. I'm just wondering at with how oblivious the general population seems to be that NCL figures it's worth a try and they may ultimately make more money than lose.

 

Obviously anyone who enters into a contractual agreement should know the details, but let's face it, people don't.

 

Some of the NCL cruisers I encounter (not through Cruise Critic) didn't even know there was an NCL website to book trips or look up information - they either booked through a travel agency or another travel website. Some were just took as 'meh' and move on, didn't care about the prices because they had a UDP, UBP, both, or didn't have it at all and did it bare bones (fare & DSC). Others were upset because the bill was too high due to overspending on drinks, packages and/or at the casino. That's my personal observation of NCL passengers - its a mixed bag of don't know any better....

[nfglory1]

I think some cruising charges surprise peopl who have never cruises--like the DSC for example. However, the problem with this most recent "test" is that even if we did know what the charges were, and what was "included in my fare" per NCL's own literature, out of the blue they switched this up on us. It's hard to prepare when the company advertises one thing and then provides another.

 

I suspect there will still be many who didn't know that their cruise was supposed to provide free room service if that more directly answers your question.

 

Agreed, NCL definitely made the wrong move by springing this on cruisers with no warning or address. I do think that there are a large group of cruisers who won't know any different. Again, not that it makes it right, but just wondering how much uproar there actually is outside of the smaller sample size of cruise critic users and seasoned users.

[nfglory1]

Some of the NCL cruisers I encounter (not through Cruise Critic) didn't even know there was an NCL website to book trips or look up information - they either booked through a travel agency or another travel website. Some were just took as 'meh' and move on, didn't care about the prices because they had a UDP, UBP, both, or didn't have it at all and did it bare bones (fare & DSC). Others were upset because the bill was too high due to overspending on drinks, packages and/or at the casino. That's my personal observation of NCL passengers - its a mixed bag of don't know any better....

 

Yea, I feel like there are a lot of, "let's book a cruise, book it and wait" cruisers who have no idea what is included or excluded outside of what they read when they initially booked. I'll admit with my first cruise, I didn't know there were extra pay restaurants, specialty coffee, and ice cream places that were not included. To be honest, if I didn't look more into it, I wouldn't have known there were extra shows at a fee on Getaway until I got on. I would have thought all entertainment was included like in past cruises. At that point, it would have just been like, oh I didn't realize that, where's the bar? :-).

Edited April 2, 2015 by nfglory1

[NYteacher]

I already gave suggestions but they were reading them like I had 3 heads or something....Since people seem to have come down a bit, i'll give them again:

 

Bring your own spill-proof travel mug for 2 reasons - 1) the cups for the coffee and tea on NCL are very tiny which leads to 2) so you can take it around with you without having to make too many trips to the buffet.

 

Bring a tote / sack / bag to hold your spill-proof mug and whatever you plan to take from the buffet (milk, bread, whatever) it makes it easy to hold a plate or a tray.

 

Bring from home like gallon-size ziplock bags to put snacks in it, so you can have it for later.

 

If you want to save costs on water, bring refillable water bottles and refill them at the water stations (use a cup of course)

 

Remember, on some ships there are 2 buffets - use the less populated one to get your coffee / tea / water.

 

 

Hope that helps those that need a work-around solution to the room service charge!!

I do appreciate your willingness to try to make up solutions to NCL's removal of an already paid for service.

 

However, I do not wish to picnic aboard my luxurious vacation.

 

How about no showers, so we should be prepared with wet naps?

[sfaaa]

Why doesn't NCL just raise the cost of a cruise 10 or $15 a person and keep the good will of the customers and makrle them feel they get a lot for their money.

Cheaping the travel experience feels too cheap sometimes.

 

Nope, I disagree. Sorry. Consumers love cheap price tags. The cheaper the better. Walmart, big box stores and Dollarama are the proof.

[Uniall]

If you order a pizza and pay pizza charge plus the new $7.95 fee, does part of that fee go as tip to delivery person? Or do you have to add tip too? I used to tip when I got anything delivered. Now, I don't think I would want to add more tip to new charge.

 

I'm sure if the "Room Service Surcharge" was being placed in the Crew Fund, NCL would have said so. Silence would seem to indicate it goes into NCL's general revenue funds.

[timviie]

Complain away. I am by no means insinuating not to. I am angry about it too. All I am saying is big business is big business and its us little guys they are going to get and they made it that way in our agreements. There is very little recourse for someone like me who is withing 45 days of sailing. I can lose half my money by cancelling over a $7.95 charge or accept it and enjoy my planning and lead up to my cruise.

[Brad1185]

A friend and travel agent was trying to talk us into trying NCL again. She when on and on how much better they have gotten. After the 18 percent increase to speciality restaurants and the room service fee we will NOT be retrying NCL.

 

I hope this backfires on them and hope people will use heir cruise dollars elsewhere.

[rochelle_s]

Didn't Andy Stuart say it was for now an experiment or trial in his travel agent webinar?

 

They have been calling this a test

 

The FAQ only mentions Breakaway and Getaway.

 

I agree this is what it says in the FAQ section

 

How do you account for the two different prices if it's a permanent charge?

 

There is somewhat of a general consensus that the 'test' is not to see if it will happen but rather at which pricepoint it will happen, hence the two different amounts.

 

Not long ago they experimented with selling access to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch for non-suite passengers, but quickly dropped it.

 

That is true and seeing as they were looking at only selling 40 of those the cancelling of that experiment meant a loss of a potential $4000 per week. The Breakaway has 1024 non suite staterooms. If they could get every stateroom to order just once per week they would be bringing in just over $8000 each week. What about twice per week? Three times?This could potentially be a big revenue source for them. What if they offered a wider range of options that also incurred a fee?

 

Not every experiment becomes permanent. This one may become permanent, but it may not. I don't know, neither do you.

 

You are right I don't know what is permanent. What I do know is the the company has taken the time to change their website.

 

 

First off please see my responses above in red.

 

Ncl say they are 'testing' the new service charge on two ships, the Breakaway and the Getaway and they have now (after it hit the fan here and other social media) made changes to their website to reflect this. But why would they change their website to reflect this new charge in relation to ships that are not included within the 'test'?

 

My next cruise is on the Jade. Here is a link to the complimentary dining section for that ship;

 

http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/jade/whats-on-board/Dining

 

This is what it says in regards to room service;

 

Room Service

 

If you can't come to the restaurant we'll bring the restaurant to you. We offer a menu of items, which can be prepared and brought to your stateroom. Room Service is available 24-hours a day (subject to convenience charge).

 

 

The 'test' is not even complete. This is a ship cruising in the Mediterranean and not included in the test. Yet the website for the ship is telling me that room service is subject to a convenience charge. The only thing it is not telling me is how much that charge will be.

 

How is it that the publicly announced conversion of the Asian restaurant into a complimentary venue has not been updated on the website but the room service section has, even before 'testing' has been completed? It makes no sense that they would have someone in the IT department go through and make changes to the website for things that 'might not happen'.

 

So as much as I don't know exactly what they have planned I can read the writing on the wall (or in the case on the website).

 

 

Rochelle

[kollegekreed]

I generally defend NCL from the Nickle and Dime complainers but...there is no doubt this is getting out of hand at this point. Kevin Sheehan's departure seems to have set in motion an extreme downward spiral. This is absolutely ridiculous.

[rochelle_s]

Asked this earlier but was wondering if anyone had any insight..Just thinking out loud, but outside of seasoned cruisers and cruise critic members, do you think the majority of passengers would know what is and isn't included when you get into technical details. I booked for my parents, they have been on a couple cruises, but I doubt if I said room service has a fee and ice cream in Osheehans has a fee and this show is a little more, etc. that they would know if that is standard or not and just accept it and make a decision to utilize it or not without any affect on their vacation experience. I'm just wondering at with how oblivious the general population seems to be that NCL figures it's worth a try and they may ultimately make more money than lose.

 

Obviously anyone who enters into a contractual agreement should know the details, but let's face it, people don't.

 

 

I know we here at Cruise Critic make up a very small portion of passengers on any given cruise. I think an equally small portion are the first timers. This would mean that the vast majority of passengers are repeat customers. My last cruise was on the Gem and I attended both the regular Latitudes party and the one for the higher levels. Both times they used the Spinaker lounge and a good size crowd was in attendance at both. As a reference point, less than 20 showed up for the M & G.

 

I think the average repeat passenger never spends any time keeping up with what is new and happening with the cruise lines. They board the ships thinking everything will be pretty much like the last time. That said there will be very few people who will be aware of the changes when they next board an NCL ship. These people might not notice that the cost of a drink went up 7% or that the gratuity went up 3 percentage points. But I do believe that people will notice paying an automatic 18% gratuity in a specialty restaurant when in the past there was never an extra tip charged in any dining venue. I also think that a lot of repeaters don't read the fine print in the daily or elsewhere and I think they will almost all notice having to pay a fee to have their room service delivered. Especially if all they ordered was a pot of coffee and a muffin and they are handed a chit to sign for a $7.95 delivery charge.

 

Some folks might be oblivious to the day to day increases and might not notice till they get their final bill and see a significant increase. But they will notice!

 

Picture this: Family of 4. Parents in one room, they are early risers and are out and about every day and never order room service. Two older teenage boys in another cabin, they have cruised before and pretty much do their own thing. Boys do as they have always done, stay up late, sleep in. They are not into the whole restaurant thing and 3 or 4 times a day call for room service. Parents know about this and don't mind. So what if throughout the week they order a few $5 pizzas and a couple of nights they order late and incur the $3.95 after midnight fee. All and all not a bad deal seeing as their son's are enjoying themselves. Imagine their surprise when they get their final bill and what used to amount to about $30 is now over $200. Yeah I think they will notice.

 

I think a lot of people will notice the increase and I think there will be a wide range of reactions to it, just as there is a mix of reactions here.

 

Other factors to consider are location, time of year, booking promotion etc.

 

Next up for me is the Jade in Europe out of Italy. This passenger demographics is likely to be predominantly European and the majority could be non English speaking. I don't envy the Guest Services staff dealing with guests who first off are not used to tipping to begin with. They will certainly notice having to pay not only in the DSC but all the new times you are expected to pay an automatic gratuity or service charge.

 

In the off season out of Florida you are likely to come across a large number of regular cruisers who are retired in Florida and who often book those last minute deals when they are trying to fill the ship -- these folks will notice.

 

Then you will have the folks who don't notice for a long while. Their next trip was booked with one of the great promotions currently being offered. So the drinkers don't notice any increase because they aren't actually paying for their drinks. And the foodies don't notice the auto-grat at the specialty every night because they don't actually have to pay it. Because of the freebies lots won't notice all the little extras because for this trip their final bill is lower-- thanks wave promotions! But fast forward after that when they go on a cruise again with NCL and suddenly the couple who usually spend around $400 dollars on drinks now have a bill closer to $500 and the foodies notice the auto 18% when they are signing the bill at the specialty.

 

So people will notice. Who knows when or how they will react, it's really unpredictable. But if the very small segment of the cruising population here on Cruise Critic is any indication there is bound to be a lot of cruisers who are upset with so many changes, whether it's just because of one or two or because of them all together.

 

 

Rochelle

[sparks1093]

I already gave suggestions but they were reading them like I had 3 heads or something....Since people seem to have come down a bit, i'll give them again:

 

Bring your own spill-proof travel mug for 2 reasons - 1) the cups for the coffee and tea on NCL are very tiny which leads to 2) so you can take it around with you without having to make too many trips to the buffet.

 

Bring a tote / sack / bag to hold your spill-proof mug and whatever you plan to take from the buffet (milk, bread, whatever) it makes it easy to hold a plate or a tray.

 

Bring from home like gallon-size ziplock bags to put snacks in it, so you can have it for later.

 

If you want to save costs on water, bring refillable water bottles and refill them at the water stations (use a cup of course)

 

Remember, on some ships there are 2 buffets - use the less populated one to get your coffee / tea / water.

 

 

Hope that helps those that need a work-around solution to the room service charge!!

 

And what you and motleyfan seem to continually miss is that many on here are more upset with the way that this has been implemented, with them charging a fee for what used to be included with no increased value added, and with the change in the way NCL sees its customers. This is a money grab pure and simple, enhanced menu or not aside. Yes, the charge is easily avoided for most but the point is it shouldn't have to be avoided in the first place. Charge a surcharge for some things on the menu, cool. Delivery charge for everything, not cool (especially when what is being delivered is available elsewhere for free). At least in specialty restaurants they are charging for things that you can't get anywhere else on the ship. Del Rio is getting his $4 or $5 more per couple per day without adding value. And that is unacceptable to me and to many. And you and motleyfan either understand it or you don't.

[maywell]

And what you and motleyfan seem to continually miss is that many on here are more upset with the way that this has been implemented, with them charging a fee for what used to be included with no increased value added, and with the change in the way NCL sees its customers. This is a money grab pure and simple, enhanced menu or not aside. Yes, the charge is easily avoided for most but the point is it shouldn't have to be avoided in the first place. Charge a surcharge for some things on the menu, cool. Delivery charge for everything, not cool (especially when what is being delivered is available elsewhere for free). At least in specialty restaurants they are charging for things that you can't get anywhere else on the ship. Del Rio is getting his $4 or $5 more per couple per day without adding value. And that is unacceptable to me and to many. And you and motleyfan either understand it or you don't.

 

 

And you keep forgetting I know how to avoid paying majority of the extra charges because I look at the numbers and/or already figure out an cheap / low-cost alternative for myself. For example: on weekends and vacation, I naturally get up at around 6 -9am and is already walking around as soon as I'm awake - So a free room service wake up / delivery is waste for me, anyway. So that's why its easy for me to just walk up to the buffet, look completely around despite the "masses" and then pick up a plate with just taking stuff that doesn't have too many people hovering over it plus looks appealing to me AKA same way I behave at land buffets, anyway. Also, what I had should had done for my 2nd trip (not going for 3rd cruise trip without it) bring my own spill-proof insulated travel mug for coffee / tea because 1) makes it easy to measure as well as fix the taste and 2) less walking back to the buffet because the cups NCL uses are tiny anyway. And that suggestion actually came from here on Cruise Critic on how to same money / time - its a good advice/tip, especially now.

 

NCL is always going to money grab, matter of fact, all cruise lines do money grabs too - Royal /Celebrity does with different fees and Carvinal & its lines does it by reducing stuff here and there but you're still paying the same /low price. Question is: Knowing now that NCL is doing these things are you going to:

1) set aside a budget for the known room service delivery that you plan to do?

2) Get a very good travel mug that keeps hot for 12 hours and just make your cup the night before?

3) use the coffee machine that in your balcony / mini-suite room to make your brew?

4) swallow your pride/ put your shame aside , and go to buffet or the casino and make your coffee?

5) Or be miserable on your vacation, since it seems you don't know how to make the best of a situation?

 

Regarding that last one - Putting your whole plan on one thing without a backup plan is always doom to failure sooner or later (making room service the main source of breakfast instead of one the sources.) That sound advice for anything in life that's not cruise-related, really....And no I am never going to understand because I don't wallow in pity and boo-boo for long - I build a bridge over it or I move on it because life never stops (I had way too many tragedies and mess up situations that weren't mine in 1st place but I got drag into automatically by association- these increase NCL fees are water under the bridge to me...)

[luvtheships]

I know we here at Cruise Critic make up a very small portion of passengers on any given cruise. I think an equally small portion are the first timers. This would mean that the vast majority of passengers are repeat customers. My last cruise was on the Gem and I attended both the regular Latitudes party and the one for the higher levels. Both times they used the Spinaker lounge and a good size crowd was in attendance at both. As a reference point, less than 20 showed up for the M & G.

 

I think the average repeat passenger never spends any time keeping up with what is new and happening with the cruise lines. They board the ships thinking everything will be pretty much like the last time. That said there will be very few people who will be aware of the changes when they next board an NCL ship. These people might not notice that the cost of a drink went up 7% or that the gratuity went up 3 percentage points. But I do believe that people will notice paying an automatic 18% gratuity in a specialty restaurant when in the past there was never an extra tip charged in any dining venue. I also think that a lot of repeaters don't read the fine print in the daily or elsewhere and I think they will almost all notice having to pay a fee to have their room service delivered. Especially if all they ordered was a pot of coffee and a muffin and they are handed a chit to sign for a $7.95 delivery charge.

 

Some folks might be oblivious to the day to day increases and might not notice till they get their final bill and see a significant increase. But they will notice!

 

Picture this: Family of 4. Parents in one room, they are early risers and are out and about every day and never order room service. Two older teenage boys in another cabin, they have cruised before and pretty much do their own thing. Boys do as they have always done, stay up late, sleep in. They are not into the whole restaurant thing and 3 or 4 times a day call for room service. Parents know about this and don't mind. So what if throughout the week they order a few $5 pizzas and a couple of nights they order late and incur the $3.95 after midnight fee. All and all not a bad deal seeing as their son's are enjoying themselves. Imagine their surprise when they get their final bill and what used to amount to about $30 is now over $200. Yeah I think they will notice.

 

I think a lot of people will notice the increase and I think there will be a wide range of reactions to it, just as there is a mix of reactions here.

 

Other factors to consider are location, time of year, booking promotion etc.

 

Next up for me is the Jade in Europe out of Italy. This passenger demographics is likely to be predominantly European and the majority could be non English speaking. I don't envy the Guest Services staff dealing with guests who first off are not used to tipping to begin with. They will certainly notice having to pay not only in the DSC but all the new times you are expected to pay an automatic gratuity or service charge.

 

In the off season out of Florida you are likely to come across a large number of regular cruisers who are retired in Florida and who often book those last minute deals when they are trying to fill the ship -- these folks will notice.

 

Then you will have the folks who don't notice for a long while. Their next trip was booked with one of the great promotions currently being offered. So the drinkers don't notice any increase because they aren't actually paying for their drinks. And the foodies don't notice the auto-grat at the specialty every night because they don't actually have to pay it. Because of the freebies lots won't notice all the little extras because for this trip their final bill is lower-- thanks wave promotions! But fast forward after that when they go on a cruise again with NCL and suddenly the couple who usually spend around $400 dollars on drinks now have a bill closer to $500 and the foodies notice the auto 18% when they are signing the bill at the specialty.

 

So people will notice. Who knows when or how they will react, it's really unpredictable. But if the very small segment of the cruising population here on Cruise Critic is any indication there is bound to be a lot of cruisers who are upset with so many changes, whether it's just because of one or two or because of them all together.

 

 

Rochelle

 

Actually on your med cruise you will be quite surprised at the demographics

 

It will be predominately American upper middle class types and many families with high school and college kids depending on the time of year

 

They will dress better than on a Carib cruise and the focus will be on the ports and the history there

 

While there will be Europeans of course the announcements will be in English

 

You are on an Ncl ship but this time the med not the Carib

 

Med cruises are nicer all around but if you want or expect a large European crowd take a different line

 

 

Princess and carnival are the same as Ncl in the med

 

And actually carnival in the med attracts an upscale crowd believe it or not

 

I have done them all in the med

 

 

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