Poll: New Room Service Fee

[varoo]

This nickel and diming reminds me of the way airlines have changed.

 

Airline: You want to fly to X. Okay would you like that direct or with stops? Do you want the class of fare that gives you full points or just half the points? Would like to select a seat or not? Would you like to pay extra for a Premium seat? Would you like a pillow or a blanket? Do you want to eat or not? etc..All these extras get added to your airline ticket fee. Why can't airlines and CRUISE LINES ask for a price that covers all the incidentals??

:rolleyes::confused::eek::mad:

Sigh! This brings back memories of the days when they used to serve meals in coach (recalling the famous Chicken Kiev), and they gave out newspapers and magazines and blankets and pillows, all at no charge.

 

They used to store the magazines and newspapers in the last overhead bin at the back of coach, so we would go back there and browse through the bin to select the publications we wanted.

 

Those days are long gone.

 

[Constance331]

Celebrity is a mass market cruise line. Check the pricing, it is in line with HAL, RCCL, NCL, etc

 

I agree. There is no comparison between X and a true luxury line. Those who have sailed on, say, a 200-450 pax ship (such as the Seabourn line), where the ratio to crew is 1:1 know the difference.

[Iamcruzin]

Celebrity is a mass market cruise line. Check the pricing, it is in line with HAL, RCCL, NCL, etc

 

 

I agree. The fact that they use the word "Luxury" in their marking does not make it a true luxury line. It's actually affordable luxury that they are pitching which is a whole different animal. The power of suggestion also plays a large roll in convincing some that they are buying a luxurious product. I don't find the experience any different than Princess. Of course if you are willing to open your purse stings you can buy a luxury experience on both lines.

[TLCOhio]

I agree. There is no comparison between X and a true luxury line. Those who have sailed on, say, a 200-450 pax ship (such as the Seabourn line), where the ratio to crew is 1:1 know the difference.

 

Iamcruzin: The fact that they use the word "Luxury" in their marking does not make it a true luxury line. It's actually affordable luxury that they are pitching which is a whole different animal. The power of suggestion also plays a large roll in convincing some that they are buying a luxurious product. I don't find the experience any different than Princess. Of course if you are willing to open your purse stings you can buy a luxury experience on both lines.

 

Appreciate and agree with the two above posts. We have done and enjoyed two different cruises on the Celebrity Solstice. Liked the S-class design' date=' style and value. Also the routings/ports offered worked perfectly for our needs/interests.

 

We have also done cruises on [b']smaller, more personal ships[/b] with Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal. Those worked well, too. Which is best? It depends!! We place the priority for where and what we are seeking to experience and travel. Such as Australia-New Zealand as detailed/connected below is document in my live/blog. Plus, how well the pricing works for our budget. The term "Luxury" is in part, mostly somewhat true with Celebrity, but it is more of a "marketing tool". Don't take too seriously certain marketing hype used by all cruise lines and others in business.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 120,799 views for this posting.

[cruise kitty]

(my snip) The term "Luxury" is in part, mostly somewhat true with Celebrity, but it is more of a "marketing tool". Don't take too seriously certain marketing hype used by all cruise lines and others in business.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

 

Hi Terry, I agree, Celebrity is a mass market line, albeit, one of the nicest ones, (in my opinion) marketing is what it is, people have to be mature enough to understand & research what they're spending their money on... but for our budget, ( & yes we all have a budget, some bigger, some smaller :) ) Celebrity works for us right now.

[cruise kitty]

I think what I'm amazed at is how a simple thing like "how do you feel about a charge for late night room service" can be fraught with such a high level of emotion & ego as evidenced by many of the posts...

 

Whether or not someone orders a late night bowl of berries or a burger is probably not going to affect someone's karmic debt :) but it does look like it will cost you $5 going forward, & that most people (here at least) are ok with that, & understand the reasoning behind it.

 

For full disclosure, we've ordered early morning breakfast on the balcony tons of times, on our last cruise it stormed & rained almost every day, so we didn't order much, but did order a bowl of berries & a pitcher of ice water around 1 am one night before a sea day.

 

It was decadent & delicious & I'd do it again.

 

The shame nun from game of thrones did not show up lol

[J18ktleo]

I agree. There is no comparison between X and a true luxury line. Those who have sailed on, say, a 200-450 pax ship (such as the Seabourn line), where the ratio to crew is 1:1 know the difference.

 

I must say that although we've done most of our sailings on mid-level ships, the ones we did in the past year on Crystal & Azamara weren't any better service wise or quality wise,b especially for the increased cost!

 

As for room service, we've consistently used this as a way to wake up on early morning port days, oftentimes before 6am so this is a new consideration on a port intensive cruise, although not to 'break the bank'!;)

 

But wandering thru the ship with a full tray of food and drinks to enjoy sailing into our destinations on the balcony isn't fun, either!

Wonder if they'll stay offering multi packs of room service ordering....I.e. Get 7 meals of room service for $20 instead of $4.95 each....

Wow!:eek:

[shipshape sam]

I must say that although we've done most of our sailings on mid-level ships, the ones we did in the past year on Crystal & Azamara weren't any better service wise or quality wise,b especially for the increased cost!

 

As for room service, we've consistently used this as a way to wake up on early morning port days, oftentimes before 6am so this is a new consideration on a port intensive cruise, although not to 'break the bank'!;)

 

But wandering thru the ship with a full tray of food and drinks to enjoy sailing into our destinations on the balcony isn't fun, either!

Wonder if they'll stay offering multi packs of room service ordering....I.e. Get 7 meals of room service for $20 instead of $4.95 each....

Wow!:eek:

 

room service packages! LOL

[orangebeach8]

Order something at 10:00 if the charges start at ten. Then it will be in your room for the late nights.

 

Celebrity may become overwhelmed now by 6:30 requests for breakfast on port days. lol!

[cgags47]

I'm not a fan of this charge. Although it seems that most people here don't utilize the late-night room service, I am in the minority that enjoys it. Sometimes I like gambling/drinking/doing whatever until late night, and I enjoy going back to the room and ordering a steak at 1:00 am. Why? I'm on vacation, and the cruise line provides this service. Now, will $5 break the bank, or make me stop ordering room service altogether? No, it won't. I'll continue to cruise the way I want to cruise. It just bothers me that this is yet another charge, especially on something I really like doing. I do hope that Celebrity changes their "24/7 Room Service, free of charge" line in they marketing. Also, does anyone know if the $5 fee is given to the delivery staff? If that's the case, that'll save me from tipping on late-night service.

[phoenix_dream]

I am not a fan of this charge simply because it is yet another of many, many small perks for the common cruiser that Celebrity used to offer free and now does not. That in and of itself bothers me, although of course any one single small thing in and of itself is not a big deal. Add them all up - it becomes a whole different cruising experience.

 

What perhaps bothers me more is how many people responded with the general opinion summarized as "I don't use it, so why should I care?". Pretty discouraging.

[commodoredave]

I'm okay with this charge as we never order room service during those hours. Plus, it Celebrity wants to cut some where, I'd much prefer it to be in an area that affects a small minority of people.

[We're The Groupnors]

Never used room service during those times, so makes no difference to me.

[cgags47]

What perhaps bothers me more is how many people responded with the general opinion summarized as "I don't use it, so why should I care?". Pretty discouraging.

 

I feel the same way. It'd be like me saying "I don't go to the theater shows, so I don't care if they charge a fee to see the shows"

[gergles]

I feel the same way. It'd be like me saying "I don't go to the theater shows, so I don't care if they charge a fee to see the shows"

 

Yep. I don't go to the hot tubs, let's put a swiper on them and charge you $20 each time you turn on the jets.

[Iamcruzin]

Comparing the theater and hot tubs to off hours room service is a bad comparison. The majority of the passengers use both these services. As you can see most of the posters here don't use room service at any hour.

[springfire]

I feel the same way. It'd be like me saying "I don't go to the theater shows, so I don't care if they charge a fee to see the shows"

 

I have to agree with you!

[DallasTXCruiser]

It's five bucks! Very nominal fee to be able to have it available 24/7. Just how many times a cruise does one use it during that timeframe?

 

"Cheap & tacky" or petty and looking for something to complain about?

 

I DO use it on occasion during those hours, but in the grand scheme of things I'm ok with it. Maybe it pays for those complimentary glasses of champagne that we enjoy when first boarding? Who knows?

[varoo]

I am not a fan of this charge simply because it is yet another of many, many small perks for the common cruiser that Celebrity used to offer free and now does not. That in and of itself bothers me, although of course any one single small thing in and of itself is not a big deal. Add them all up - it becomes a whole different cruising experience.

 

What perhaps bothers me more is how many people responded with the general opinion summarized as "I don't use it, so why should I care?". Pretty discouraging.

Excellent points raised here by phoenix_dream!

 

What will be next?

 

If this new extra charge is acceptable to someone just because it is something that you personally don't use, then the next time it will be an extra charge for something that you do want and use, but that other passengers don't care about.

 

Someone mentioned the public hot tubs.

We and our travel companions never use them. So if they decide to start charging for them, maybe we should post that we do not mind at all and think it is a good idea.

 

Then we could say that we don't care if they start charging for shampoo and conditioner, or shower caps, or q-tips, because we bring our own.

 

How about if they next start charging for the hair dryers?

Many passengers prefer to bring their own.

Others never use hair dryers at all.

 

What about the Ice buckets? Bathrobes? Umbrellas? Dance lessons? Trivia sessions?

 

 

Then there is all the space taken up by features that most passengers never use, but still must pay to subsidize, such as the children's programs and facilities.

 

 

 

In other words, it is perfectly fine if they want to start cutting corners by nickel and diming other people for the currently included features and services that I don't use and don't care about.

 

But when it comes to the things that I personally want and use, that is a different matter entirely. ;):D

 

 

Edited September 28, 2015 by varoo

[K.T.B.]

To paraphrase:

 

First they charged extra for the drink package, and I did not speak out because I did not use it.

 

Then they charged extra for specialty restaurants, and I did not speak out because I did not use it.

 

Then they charged extra for over night room service, and I did not speak out because I did not use it.

 

Then they charges extra for something I used, and there was no one left to complain.

[jagoffee]

If the choice is to increase the cruise fare to cover the cost of late night room service or charge for the service then I suspect 95+% of the passenger would chose the later.

It seems reasonable to me for Celebrity to focus their expenses on the items that mean the most to customers even at a cost to the expense items that are only enjoyed by a small number of customers. I am not sure it is even different than include "free" drinks. Or 24 hour free entertainment.

[POA1]

Comparing the theater and hot tubs to off hours room service is a bad comparison. The majority of the passengers use both these services. As you can see most of the posters here don't use room service at any hour.

Forgive me as we haven't been on Celebrity yet. We do have a Silhouette cruise scheduled though.

 

How big are these hot tubs? If the majority of the passengers use them, they must be pretty huge. (Is the Solarium a hot tub? It reads like a pool in the description.) I get that most people use the theater. It's big.

[AntjeG]

Like others have said in my opinion it is OK for Celebrity to charge for room service at night time. I feel it is luxury to even have the option of room service at night. The crew members who have to work at night to provide room service deserve to be paid. And I don´t think the amount charged is surprisingly high.

As long as room service for breakfast and during the day is free I agree with this policy.

[DHADEN]

What do you think about Celebrity's new room service fee for service between 11pm & 6 am?

Modern Luxury ? Or cheap & tacky? My opinion is cheap & tacky, & not fitting in with their brand image.

Anyway, answer the poll, hopefully I've given good choices :)

 

Why didn't you give us your opinion?

I think if you have ever been on a cruise ship with 1,000 or more teenagers/preteens and have experienced what happens with free room service and a midnight curfew, you'll understand WHY they HAD to do something to stop the INSANITY! :eek: :p

Edited September 28, 2015 by DHADEN

[cruise kitty]

Why didn't you give us your opinion?

I think if you have ever been on a cruise ship with 1,000 or more teenagers/preteens and have experienced what happens with free room service and a midnight curfew, you'll understand WHY they HAD to do something to stop the INSANITY! :eek: :p

 

Hi, no I've never been on cruise with kids like that, & hope to never be lol :eek:

 

I honestly don't think we've ever had more that 5 kids total on any of our cruises, but that has a lot to do with length, itinerary, & time of year.

 

I can see how this would be a problem on some cruises, especially the short 7 day Caribbean type, I remember reading about one over spring break this year, that sounded like a nightmare. Personally, I'd prefer if they changed the cutoff to midnight rather than 11.