What ended up happening with the "one service a day" issue?

[Micahs Grandad]

I was on the Liberty in September. Here is what I was told about the Cabin Service issue:

 

Carnival paid a bundle to Boston Consulting Group to determine what the policy should be. According to Boston Consulting, Americans get so little vacation time that they don't want to be disturbed by a room steward on their vacation. They want to sleep until noon and not be bothered. Also, the Carnival demographic is not concerned about having service like you get in high end hotels. They could have asked their past guests for free instead of paying the exhorbitant fees to Boston Consulting.

 

Our Steward told us that the Liberty would be moving to once a day service soon. He said his cabins would be increased to 37 and there is no way he could handle 2X day service. He said the number of stewards on the ship would be reduced from 58 to 40 -42.

 

I asked the Human Resources Manager, Margaret Robinson, if this was true. She told me that it was. She said Carnival guests were used to staying at places like the Holiday Inn where you only get once a day service. I said yes, maybe for a night or 2, but I felt the competition for Carnival was all inclusive resorts or other cruise lines. I assured her that all the all inclusive resorts where we have stayed have evening turndown service, and replace the towels etc. I said that we sail MSC, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL and none of them have indicated such a decrease in service. I thought it was especially crass for Carnival to do this after raising the gratuity again. She told me to go to GS to lower it if I wasn't happy.

 

I said I would be sorely disappointed if Carnival went to once a day. She told me if I didn't like it then I should find another cruise line. I don't believe the staff is supposed to talk to any guest, let alone a Diamond this way. I said the crew we spoke with seemed upset. She said they just didn't like change and if they weren't willing to do more cabins there were people lined up who would be happy to have the job. So much for taking the opinions of loyal Carnival employees into consideration. She seemed so nice at the Diamond event, but boy her fangs came out later in the week when we had this conversation. Witch with a capital B.

 

At the Platinum and Diamond Reunion my husband and I spoke to the Guest Service Manager and Housekeeping Manager about this. (They are the ones who told me about Boston Consulting.) But, they both assured me that guests who wanted twice a day service could still have it. I told them what the HR manager said and they were both mortified, and apologized profusely. They said they felt like the Diamonds were like family. They felt that we had been on so many cruises that each one was a matter of "been there and done that" and that the interaction with the crew was most important. They said the room stewards would be getting additional assistants who would have key access to the cabins freeing the stewards to have more time for guest interaction and that we would like the new program once we tried it. And we should check both boxes when they start handing out the cards.

 

So, on the same ship I got conflicting information from the senior staff. Who knows how this will shake out. We have several Carnival as well as RCCL cruises booked for 2017 and 2018. It is very easy to cancel when you have a past guest rate if we are not happy with the servicing of cabins.

 

All I can say is wow and this is what I have been thinking they are heading towards. Sad

[Hotdog 52]

Double WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!:(

[Towel Critter]

All I can say is wow and this is what I have been thinking they are heading towards. Sad

Thanks for the info. I see zero correlation between being on a cruise ship for a week or so and staying overnight at a Holiday Inn. Carnival/Boston Consulting dropped the ball on this one. And how many folks sleep until noon on a cruise? Not many, I'm thinking, especially on port days. I agree. Raising gratuities and cutting service (significantly) at the same time is absurd.

[mpdog42]

I was on the Liberty in September. Here is what I was told about the Cabin Service issue:

 

Carnival paid a bundle to Boston Consulting Group to determine what the policy should be. According to Boston Consulting, Americans get so little vacation time that they don't want to be disturbed by a room steward on their vacation. They want to sleep until noon and not be bothered. Also, the Carnival demographic is not concerned about having service like you get in high end hotels. They could have asked their past guests for free instead of paying the exhorbitant fees to Boston Consulting.

 

Our Steward told us that the Liberty would be moving to once a day service soon. He said his cabins would be increased to 37 and there is no way he could handle 2X day service. He said the number of stewards on the ship would be reduced from 58 to 40 -42.

 

I asked the Human Resources Manager, Margaret Robinson, if this was true. She told me that it was. She said Carnival guests were used to staying at places like the Holiday Inn where you only get once a day service. I said yes, maybe for a night or 2, but I felt the competition for Carnival was all inclusive resorts or other cruise lines. I assured her that all the all inclusive resorts where we have stayed have evening turndown service, and replace the towels etc. I said that we sail MSC, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL and none of them have indicated such a decrease in service. I thought it was especially crass for Carnival to do this after raising the gratuity again. She told me to go to GS to lower it if I wasn't happy.

 

I said I would be sorely disappointed if Carnival went to once a day. She told me if I didn't like it then I should find another cruise line. I don't believe the staff is supposed to talk to any guest, let alone a Diamond this way. I said the crew we spoke with seemed upset. She said they just didn't like change and if they weren't willing to do more cabins there were people lined up who would be happy to have the job. So much for taking the opinions of loyal Carnival employees into consideration. She seemed so nice at the Diamond event, but boy her fangs came out later in the week when we had this conversation. Witch with a capital B.

 

At the Platinum and Diamond Reunion my husband and I spoke to the Guest Service Manager and Housekeeping Manager about this. (They are the ones who told me about Boston Consulting.) But, they both assured me that guests who wanted twice a day service could still have it. I told them what the HR manager said and they were both mortified, and apologized profusely. They said they felt like the Diamonds were like family. They felt that we had been on so many cruises that each one was a matter of "been there and done that" and that the interaction with the crew was most important. They said the room stewards would be getting additional assistants who would have key access to the cabins freeing the stewards to have more time for guest interaction and that we would like the new program once we tried it. And we should check both boxes when they start handing out the cards.

 

So, on the same ship I got conflicting information from the senior staff. Who knows how this will shake out. We have several Carnival as well as RCCL cruises booked for 2017 and 2018. It is very easy to cancel when you have a past guest rate if we are not happy with the servicing of cabins.

 

I really do Appreciate your Post!!!..I have wondered the same thing for a while...As somebody who has spent more time than me on Carnival, and if this happens to me on my next cruise...What do you think our best Options Our??

 

Thanks

Michael

[Micahs Grandad]

I really do Appreciate your Post!!!..I have wondered the same thing for a while...As somebody who has spent more time than me on Carnival, and if this happens to me on my next cruise...What do you think our best Options Our??

 

Thanks

Michael

 

Other than asking for two times service and perhaps complaining to the hotel director nothing we can do.

 

Or if CCL is the only one doing this reconsider your choice of cruise line.

 

What will now happen is we will see post after post from people saying they dont care about twice daily servicing our their cabin.

 

CCL will pick up on it and say another reason we can cut back on the number of stewards on the ship.:(:(

[jimbo5544]

Carnival needs zero justification from cruisecritic to make any change. If they want to do something they will. If you think they are waiting for people to post here or anywhere else to make a change as opposed to just doing it than I have bridge to sell you.

 

I have no idea where Holiday Inn fits in to anything. They would never make a comparison like this. Don't believe a word.

 

They expanded cabin service three years ago and I don't think it has any correlation to the "trial" of once a day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Edited October 13, 2016 by jimbo5544

[James in SA]

We are going on Breeze in a little over a week, and I fully expect we will get excellent service, as always. We always keep our room neat and make things easy for our room stewards, and have been generous with tips.

 

But... (I fully expect to get flamed for this but go ahead if you are happy with a Motel 6 cruise experience in the future.) *IF* we are presented with the once a day choice and the room steward balks at checking it twice a day and taking care of any needs and whines about how many more rooms he has to take care of... I intend to tell him that his gratuities will be reduced then proportionally. Then I will go to guest services and carry that out, and explain why and request to speak to the hotel manager about my displeasure with the new policy. Yes, there are other cruise lines we can go on, and yes, maybe we will.

 

I cannot believe how passive some of you are as they systematically degrade the quality of the vacation you are paying for. If Motel 6 of the seas is really what you desire... you may soon have your wish. Sheesh!

 

That said, I am fully expecting great service on Breeze and to have a great time. We haven't been on Carnival in 4 years, it will be interesting to see how much has changed.

Edited October 13, 2016 by James in SA

[sparks1093]

Carnival needs zero justification from cruisecritic to make any change. If they want to do something they will. If you think they are waiting for people to post here or anywhere else to make a change as opposed to just doing it than I have bridge to sell you.

 

I have no idea where Holiday Inn fits in to anything. They would never make a comparison like this. Don't believe a word.

 

They expanded cabin service three years ago and I don't think it has any correlation to the "trial" of once a day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

No, they don't need anything from us to make a change. But I'm not going to pay the same gratuities for once a day service as I pay for twice a day service.

[Towel Critter]

We are going on Breeze in a little over a week, and I fully expect we will get excellent service, as always. We always keep our room neat and make things easy for our room stewards, and have been generous with tips.

 

But... (I fully expect to get flamed for this but go ahead if you are happy with a Motel 6 cruise experience in the future.) *IF* we are presented with the once a day choice and the room steward balks at checking it twice a day and taking care of any needs and whines about how many more rooms he has to take care of... I intend to tell him that his gratuities will be reduced then proportionally. Then I will go to guest services and carry that out, and explain why and request to speak to the hotel manager about my displeasure with the new policy. Yes, there are other cruise lines we can go on, and yes, maybe we will.

 

I cannot believe how passive some of you are as they systematically degrade the quality of the vacation you are paying for. If Motel 6 of the seas is really what you desire... you may soon have your wish. Sheesh!

 

That said, I am fully expecting great service on Breeze and to have a great time. We haven't been on Carnival in 4 years, it will be interesting to see how much has changed.

I agree with you that adjusting gratuities is the only way we have to voice our displeasure with this. I too will do similarly if only given once a day service on my cruise in just over two weeks. I will give my room steward enough money to offset my tip reduction at guest services though. That way I can voice my opinion without hurting someone who had no say so in the matter.

[Warm Breezes]

We are going on Breeze in a little over a week, and I fully expect we will get excellent service, as always. We always keep our room neat and make things easy for our room stewards, and have been generous with tips.

 

But... (I fully expect to get flamed for this but go ahead if you are happy with a Motel 6 cruise experience in the future.) *IF* we are presented with the once a day choice and the room steward balks at checking it twice a day and taking care of any needs and whines about how many more rooms he has to take care of... I intend to tell him that his gratuities will be reduced then proportionally. Then I will go to guest services and carry that out, and explain why and request to speak to the hotel manager about my displeasure with the new policy. Yes, there are other cruise lines we can go on, and yes, maybe we will.

 

I cannot believe how passive some of you are as they systematically degrade the quality of the vacation you are paying for. If Motel 6 of the seas is really what you desire... you may soon have your wish. Sheesh!

 

That said, I am fully expecting great service on Breeze and to have a great time. We haven't been on Carnival in 4 years, it will be interesting to see how much has changed.

 

I'm not passive. I just don't need 2x a day service and actually prefer it once a day so we can....hold on to your seats....SLEEP IN and not feel rushed to get out of the room so the room steward can clean our room. We had this on the Dream in May. It worked great. The room steward gave us the option, AM, PM or BOTH. We chose PM and requested ice, robes, and extra towels which he got for us with NO issues. I think Carnival is right in thinking a lot of people won't mind having 1x a day service, especially the new cruisers who are their target market as an entry level cruise line. I also believe they will continue to give those that want it, service 2x per day if requested. It just seems to be a few employees that have been pushing AM or PM only. I will report back after my cruise next week, but if asked I will gladly take PM service only. Not passive. In fact my Dream cruise this past May was one of my favorite CCL cruises since we started sailing with Carnival in 2005. Our service was not lacking at all and OUR preferences were met to a T.

[bury me at sea]

The phrase, "Elementary, dear Watson" comes to mind.

 

If the scenario is that I get half the service I expect, and the steward services twice the number of cabins, I will reduce the portion of daily grats that goes toward cabin service by half. The steward will get just as much from the increased number of cabins he\she is servicing.

 

Not exactly a win/win situation, since I still want twice a day service.

 

At the MDR I expect appetizer, entree, sides and dessert. If the wait staff brings half of my order I doubt I would feel inclined to leave a full tip.

[Je Souhaite]

Carnival needs zero justification from cruisecritic to make any change. If they want to do something they will. If you think they are waiting for people to post here or anywhere else to make a change as opposed to just doing it than I have bridge to sell you.

 

I have no idea where Holiday Inn fits in to anything. They would never make a comparison like this. Don't believe a word.

 

They expanded cabin service three years ago and I don't think it has any correlation to the "trial" of once a day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Nope. And not even the multiple mega cruising social media groups out there with 50,000 active members.

 

Carnival can do anything they want, but let me know up front. Once a day service will be met with 1/2 the tips allocated for room stewards.

 

And I can even go one step further and tell them to skip me altogether. Then the tip will go to zero.

 

They can start doing anything they like when THEY start paying them themselves.

But one result I see. Their intent is to fire/cut back on the staff they already have. WHY? Not my problem. It will be theirs when people start cutting back their tips, and CCL has a problem sustaining a steward workforce.

[sparks1093]

I'm not passive. I just don't need 2x a day service and actually prefer it once a day so we can....hold on to your seats....SLEEP IN and not feel rushed to get out of the room so the room steward can clean our room. We had this on the Dream in May. It worked great. The room steward gave us the option, AM, PM or BOTH. We chose PM and requested ice, robes, and extra towels which he got for us with NO issues. I think Carnival is right in thinking a lot of people won't mind having 1x a day service, especially the new cruisers who are their target market as an entry level cruise line. I also believe they will continue to give those that want it, service 2x per day if requested. It just seems to be a few employees that have been pushing AM or PM only. I will report back after my cruise next week, but if asked I will gladly take PM service only. Not passive. In fact my Dream cruise this past May was one of my favorite CCL cruises since we started sailing with Carnival in 2005. Our service was not lacking at all and OUR preferences were met to a T.

 

I would be happy with once a day service also, just don't charge me for twice a day service and then only give me once a day.

[Micahs Grandad]

We are going on Breeze in a little over a week, and I fully expect we will get excellent service, as always. We always keep our room neat and make things easy for our room stewards, and have been generous with tips.

 

But... (I fully expect to get flamed for this but go ahead if you are happy with a Motel 6 cruise experience in the future.) *IF* we are presented with the once a day choice and the room steward balks at checking it twice a day and taking care of any needs and whines about how many more rooms he has to take care of... I intend to tell him that his gratuities will be reduced then proportionally. Then I will go to guest services and carry that out, and explain why and request to speak to the hotel manager about my displeasure with the new policy. Yes, there are other cruise lines we can go on, and yes, maybe we will.

 

I cannot believe how passive some of you are as they systematically degrade the quality of the vacation you are paying for. If Motel 6 of the seas is really what you desire... you may soon have your wish. Sheesh!

 

That said, I am fully expecting great service on Breeze and to have a great time. We haven't been on Carnival in 4 years, it will be interesting to see how much has changed.

 

Well said

[Micahs Grandad]

Carnival needs zero justification from cruisecritic to make any change. If they want to do something they will. If you think they are waiting for people to post here or anywhere else to make a change as opposed to just doing it than I have bridge to sell you.

 

I have no idea where Holiday Inn fits in to anything. They would never make a comparison like this. Don't believe a word.

 

They expanded cabin service three years ago and I don't think it has any correlation to the "trial" of once a day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

The post rings true to me. At this point we have no idea what the future will hold but stories we have heard make me tend to believe 1x service as a standard will be coming in the near future.

 

Two years ago could say our last 25 cruises were with Carnival. These days we are doing more days at sea with Princess. Have four cruises booked two with each but 31 days with Princess and 22 with Carnival.

 

Princess costs a bit more but not as much as I would have thought and more and more we are thinking Princess gives us more for our money.

[jimbo5544]

The post rings true to me. At this point we have no idea what the future will hold but stories we have heard make me tend to believe 1x service as a standard will be coming in the near future.

 

 

 

Two years ago could say our last 25 cruises were with Carnival. These days we are doing more days at sea with Princess. Have four cruises booked two with each but 31 days with Princess and 22 with Carnival.

 

 

 

Princess costs a bit more but not as much as I would have thought and more and more we are thinking Princess gives us more for our money.

 

 

Its a trial and an option. Nothing more. Many, including in this thread have said they actually like once a day. If you want 2 times a day you can get it. Period.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[Je Souhaite]

Its a trial and an option. Nothing more. Many, including in this thread have said they actually like once a day. If you want 2 times a day you can get it. Period.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Nothing more? The Carnival representative told a cruiser who posted upthread that's where they are going.

 

Those wanting half service but paying for full can certainly do so. A fool and his money....

 

But I won't be guilted into once a day service just so they can clean more cabins.

[mpdog42]

Other than asking for two times service and perhaps complaining to the hotel director nothing we can do.

 

Or if CCL is the only one doing this reconsider your choice of cruise line.

 

What will now happen is we will see post after post from people saying they dont care about twice daily servicing our their cabin.

 

CCL will pick up on it and say another reason we can cut back on the number of stewards on the ship.:(:(

 

Thanks

Michael

[ryano]

I was on the Liberty in September. Here is what I was told about the Cabin Service issue:

 

Carnival paid a bundle to Boston Consulting Group to determine what the policy should be. According to Boston Consulting, Americans get so little vacation time that they don't want to be disturbed by a room steward on their vacation. They want to sleep until noon and not be bothered. Also, the Carnival demographic is not concerned about having service like you get in high end hotels. They could have asked their past guests for free instead of paying the exhorbitant fees to Boston Consulting.

 

Our Steward told us that the Liberty would be moving to once a day service soon. He said his cabins would be increased to 37 and there is no way he could handle 2X day service. He said the number of stewards on the ship would be reduced from 58 to 40 -42.

 

I asked the Human Resources Manager, Margaret Robinson, if this was true. She told me that it was. She said Carnival guests were used to staying at places like the Holiday Inn where you only get once a day service. I said yes, maybe for a night or 2, but I felt the competition for Carnival was all inclusive resorts or other cruise lines. I assured her that all the all inclusive resorts where we have stayed have evening turndown service, and replace the towels etc. I said that we sail MSC, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL and none of them have indicated such a decrease in service. I thought it was especially crass for Carnival to do this after raising the gratuity again. She told me to go to GS to lower it if I wasn't happy.

 

I said I would be sorely disappointed if Carnival went to once a day. She told me if I didn't like it then I should find another cruise line. I don't believe the staff is supposed to talk to any guest, let alone a Diamond this way. I said the crew we spoke with seemed upset. She said they just didn't like change and if they weren't willing to do more cabins there were people lined up who would be happy to have the job. So much for taking the opinions of loyal Carnival employees into consideration. She seemed so nice at the Diamond event, but boy her fangs came out later in the week when we had this conversation. Witch with a capital B.

 

At the Platinum and Diamond Reunion my husband and I spoke to the Guest Service Manager and Housekeeping Manager about this. (They are the ones who told me about Boston Consulting.) But, they both assured me that guests who wanted twice a day service could still have it. I told them what the HR manager said and they were both mortified, and apologized profusely. They said they felt like the Diamonds were like family. They felt that we had been on so many cruises that each one was a matter of "been there and done that" and that the interaction with the crew was most important. They said the room stewards would be getting additional assistants who would have key access to the cabins freeing the stewards to have more time for guest interaction and that we would like the new program once we tried it. And we should check both boxes when they start handing out the cards.

 

So, on the same ship I got conflicting information from the senior staff. Who knows how this will shake out. We have several Carnival as well as RCCL cruises booked for 2017 and 2018. It is very easy to cancel when you have a past guest rate if we are not happy with the servicing of cabins.

 

Holy :eek::eek::eek:

[Micahs Grandad]

Its a trial and an option. Nothing more. Many, including in this thread have said they actually like once a day. If you want 2 times a day you can get it. Period.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

I believe you to be an honorable person so think you believe this is what it is, but for me have heard from too many posters here and elsewhere and think they have an endgame in mind and that is not twice daily service.

 

In any case what we think doesnt matter time will tell.

[Crusin5252]

We will be going on the Splendor (10-22-16) and very curious to see how our room steward treats us. We want our twice a day service as always. If I get any unpleasant comments about picking AM or PM service, I will contact the Hotel director. We are long time Diamond cruisers. Hopefully no problems will happen. John & Priscilla

 

We were on the Pride after they implemented the card system. Our steward just said, "I see you are Platinum so I will be servicing your room twice a day. Robes, extra pillows, and ice were already in the room. I asked him for an extra blanket and he brought it back within minutes. On port days we left a sticky note on the door hanger that said No pm service and on sea days, we left a note that said no am service. It worked great.

[ryano]

No, they don't need anything from us to make a change. But I'm not going to pay the same gratuities for once a day service as I pay for twice a day service.

 

This ^ I agree with 100%.

 

On Magic, it was twice a day, no card, no issue but if that changes between now and October, I will be visiting Guest Services too. I stay in the Holiday Inn but when Im on a cruise, I expect twice a day cabin service and the option to decide for myself on a nightly basis whether we need it or not. Period.

 

One evening I went to our cabin attendant and told him we didnt need anything that night but ice and handed him some cash because he was that good and deserved it. He smiled and nodded but STILL gave us a full turn down service that night including a towel animal. :confused:

[jimbo5544]

I believe you to be an honorable person so think you believe this is what it is' date=' but for me have heard from too many posters here and elsewhere and think they have an endgame in mind and that is not twice daily service.

 

 

 

In any case what we think doesnt matter time will tell.[/quote']

 

 

Can't argue with anything you have said, we can differ on what we think, but in the end it is up to them.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[RogueMonk]

Personally, I am fine with the once a day service. But I would expect the auto-gratuities amount to decrease also.

 

That being said, I would miss the towel animals and the little chocolates. (And I would want ice supplied (or just an ice machine) and a robe.

[ryano]

Boston Consulting is a well known company that looks for improvements in companies. I have dealt with companies that have had business dealing with them in the past. What typically happens, just like here, is the rumor mills and totally unsubstantiated things based upon partial facts take over. This thread is a great example of that.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Oh I understand. I've just never been talked to like that by ANY cruise line employee. That's what is shocking to me. I understand they have bad days too but dang.

Edited October 13, 2016 by ryano