Yet another Room Service Fee Question

[old sole]

You made some interesting points - even though I don't agree with all of them. It is clear to me that when you order a non-complimentary beverage, you do not have to pay $7.95. To me, this is a big thing. Many posters want to have food and drinks on their balcony -- very understandable. So, if they order food with a cocktail or soda, would this not mean that there will not be a charge for this delivery?

 

I do agree that there should have been notice of these changes. However, if you book a year in advance (we actually book more than a year in advance), while you could "grandfather" some things (service charge for room service for instance), how do you grandfather not taking food to your room (although, if you were grandfathered, you would not have to take food to your room since you can order it at no charge). Some of the changes lend itself to "grandfathering" more than others.

 

Our experience with the current management on Regent is that some things do change from the time we book until the time we sail. Excursions is the first thing that comes to mind.

 

I am wondering if most posters book directly with NCL or through a travel agent. Rather than depending upon Regent or Oceania to let us know what is going on, our TA keeps us advised. So, for those of you that use TA's (that regularly book cruises), what has your experience been in terms of these changes?

 

Yes, it is impossible to grandfather the rule about not taking food to your room. That's just a dumb policy that never should have made it past the first level of review.

 

I suspect most of us would not be so upset if all these changes had not come so close together, had not been sprung on people who had no opportunity to cancel because they were past final payment or most egregiously ALREADY ON THE SHIP, and had been preceeded or at least accompanied by rational explanations for the reasons behind them. Of course, there would have to BE a rational explanation other than "we want to make more money" for that to work. It would have been even nicer if an implementation date had been announced so that people could plan and budget for unexpected expenses due to changes they could not avoid.

 

And reflecting the new reality in corporate messaging, particularly the website content and communications to Travel Agents has to be a priority for them to be trustworthy. Even today, a full two weeks since the room service charge went into effect fleet-wide, the website still says it is just a test on two ships. And room service is still prominently displayed as one of the complimentary dining choices. There is still no coherent policy statement on what can be removed from the buffet. We hear "a piece of fruit or a box of cereal" and we hear "they're working on it". We have no first hand accounts that the officers and crew on the ships are enforcing any restriction at all. They are as confused as we are.

 

This is no way to run a railroad.

 

I know you have a high opinion of Mr. Del Rio. He has given me absolutely no reason at all to share your opinion. It just is not that hard to debate a policy change internally, discuss the ramifications, prepare a roll-out plan which includes messaging, prepare the staff for what's coming, prepare FAQ's to address anticipated questions, and then execute. Instead, what we have seen is a whole lot of "ready, fire. aim". And then repeat.

 

I have reacted bitterly to what has happened over the past month. It's out of character for me and I have made some posts here I probably shouldn't have. But the way I see it is NCL has brought it on themselves by the way they have made these changes. People are going to overreact when a negative change is just sprung on them with no way to understand the purpose, to at least prepare for it, or preferably be given some alternative way to avoid the worst of it. I'll give one example. A passenger on Breakaway reported in mid-April that there was a $7.95 convenience fee imposed on all room service orders on the cruise he just boarded. Silence from NCL. Outrage on this forum. First directed at the passenger, who was accused of lying because "NCL would not do something like that", but then turning on NCL when it was confirmed. That thread reached over 100 pages before cruise critic shut it down. Contrast that with what Carnival did the same week. They announced that 10 days in the future, there would be some extra-cost items added to the room service menu. You could still order anything else on the menu at no charge, but if you wanted any of the newly added selections you would pay for those items only ala carte. The published the new menu and showed the prices for the new items. There was some complaining. There was also some support from people who wanted to try some of the new items. The thread lasted 3-4 days before it petered out on its own, and reached only a few pages in length.

 

Have we over-reacted. Of course. A lot has been said in anger. But that anger was earned. And it didn't have to be this way. And yes, I blame Mr. Del Rio.

 

 

 

edited to add this P.S. - I regrettably set you up on another thread when you asked for the policy on the $7.95 convenience fee for an order that included both food and a non-complimentary beverage. I gave you the exact wording from the menu. It says the fee is waived for that kind of order. You agreed that's what it says. However, you should know that NCL (at least the staff on the ships) is not honoring that. They are imposing the fee on orders like that. Sorry for the set-up. I did it to illustrate one more reason there is such anger being expressed.

Edited May 17, 2015 by old sole

[Travelcat2]

old sole: I agree with some of your points -- particularly the fact that there should have been sufficient advance notice of these policies. And, if multiple changes were under consideration, they should have been effective at the same time (at a future date).

 

You are correct that I admire FDR. To my knowledge, implementing a policy immediately has not happened on either Oceania or Regent. There is always notice. This seems too out of character for FDR. Plus, he is not running the day to day activities of NCL. While I would not doubt that some cost savings measures (in addition to improvements) are part of what Apollo, NCHL and FDR have set forth, I truly believe that NCL management has implemented (and continues to implement) the changes.

 

I do understand the anger that so many of you are feeling. The fact that the policies are not clear makes it more difficult. The $7.95 convenience charge is obviously convoluted. Either ordering a drink that you pay for negates the fee or does not. The written policy is obviously at odds with the way it is being administered. This should be corrected immediately (IMO)

 

While I strongly agree that passengers (especially children/teens) should not be walking around the ship and taking elevators carrying plates of food to take to their cabins and feel that no one should put dirty plates outside of their cabin on the floor, the policy should have been announced to everyone prior to it being implemented.

[zqvol]

I've always thought it would be both the gratuity on drinks and the service charge for qualifying food. I tried this before but kept including food that doesn't attract the service fee, so here goes again:

 

1. You order food that attracts a service fee due to the type of food or the hours of the day and a drink that attracts a gratuity: you pay the service fee on the food order and the price + gratuity on the drink. - This is correct

 

2. You order JUST a drink that is a charge item and has a gratuity: you pay JUST for the drink and the gratuity, but not the $7.95 delivery fee on top of that. This is incorrect. You pay the delivery fee on every room service delivery except the breakfast foods.

 

So if your deal is a drink on the balcony at sunset you pay for the drinks, but not a service fee. Throw in some complementary food to be delivered and you pay the $7.95 fee as well. No, if it is delivered to your cabin you pay the $7.95, except at breakfast.

 

I have always thought this is the way the system worked from the first time I read the text at the bottom of the room service menu someone posted. It doesn't make sense that buying a $4 Pepsi along with your full room service meal would cancel out the delivery fee.

 

For the OP: Suites escape the delivery fee on room service food (not the mis-named mini-suites, but everything above that category). My understanding is that if you were in a regular balcony room and ordered meals for each of your cabin mates, an additional 1 - 3 entrees, for instance, the delivery fee would still be the single $7.95 fee. Plus, the cost of any drinks + the gratuity on the drinks.

 

Some corrections to your way of thinking are noted above.

[jcallcut]

Agreed. I find is sad that the couple of posters here think it's ok to be charged for something when clearly it states you shouldn't be. To each their own I guess :rolleyes: I know I won't pay it if the wording does not change. You don't need a law degree to comprehend what is written!

 

 

I prefer to look at it as I don't want to spend vacation time in lawyer mode fighting a charge that was, for me, less than 0.5% of what I paid for the cruise for all of the room service charges I incurred on the trip combined. It is even less when I consider the $3 or so I would have tipped anyway. This is especially true since I had the option of not using the room service option.

[SissasMomE]

I prefer to look at it as I don't want to spend vacation time in lawyer mode fighting a charge that was, for me, less than 0.5% of what I paid for the cruise for all of the room service charges I incurred on the trip combined. It is even less when I consider the $3 or so I would have tipped anyway. This is especially true since I had the option of not using the room service option.

 

To each his own. I would never spend my vacation arguing with anyone, especially with a clerk behind a counter. It's very easy for me to have Amex remove the charge.

[fshagan]

Some corrections to your way of thinking are noted above.

 

I don't think so; doesn't the room service menu say that paid-for drinks do not incur the room service fee? Isn't that why people are claiming it's a "loophole" as you could order food with a Pepsi and pay the ~$4 instead of $7.95?

 

My understanding is that if you order ONLY a bar item that incurs a charge you pay only the charge plus the 18% gratuity and not the $7.95 service charge.

Edited May 17, 2015 by fshagan

[LMaxwell]

I don't think so; doesn't the room service menu say that paid-for drinks do not incur the room service fee? Isn't that why people are claiming it's a "loophole" as you could order food with a Pepsi and pay the ~$4 instead of $7.95?

 

My understanding is that if you order ONLY a bar item that incurs a charge you pay only the charge plus the 18% gratuity and not the $7.95 service charge.

 

Yes. But ordering the drink AND food, the drink does not wipe out the service fee for the food.

 

Hey, I am all about getting what I paid for. It's value for money. NCL should honor the terms in place when they accepted my deposit money. That's when an agreement was made. But NCL decided to move the goal posts and I simply don't read this menu the way others are reading it and I think I am reading it exactly how NCL intended it. That doesn't make me an apologist. I will be finding ways to do the things I've always done, without incurring fees that didn't exist when I made a deposit!