Turn down service

[Kri1970]

Ours asked and seemed mildy offended that we only wanted evening, he proceeded to question us about why not both? We (well, hubby) slept in several mornings, so was just easier to us. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

21 minutes ago, Kri1970 said:

Ours asked and seemed mildy offended that we only wanted evening, he proceeded to question us about why not both? We (well, hubby) slept in several mornings, so was just easier to us. 

We go to out room early morning and do sleep in. Usually leave the room about noon. We let the steward know that before and. Never a problem. Carnival is the only one that may not make up the room after we leave if we are in port.

No other cruise line is like that. The room is always made up not matter if we leave at 1:00PM

[airlink diva]

I sailed on the Valor in September and again in December last year.

On both sailing was verbally asked did I desire morning,  evening  or both.  All three were offered. 

Since solo and with me not much,  requested just morning only with ice and daily activities in the evening. 

The only difference was in December my cabin steward ask me to sign that I only wanted morning service and he noted ice in evenings. 

If was in a full cabin with more than two and children,  would request twice a day.  Otherwise one time a day is fine.  Heck half the time I don't  make my bed up during the week and my ice machine is out, get spoiled on the ships

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

I have no idea what your point is........

I will clarify for you. The steward is long gone when in port when we leave our room. Unlike other ships. At sea they are there to make up the room even if you leave around noon or a little later. Guess the room stewards get off the ship early in port.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

FYI. We always pay the gratuities. The question is, will we give more in cash in hand. Only if they go above what they are expected to do. Our January cruise  our steward on the Sky Princess did.

[TerReuv]

On 1/31/2020 at 11:59 PM, Elaine5715 said:

They never switched to once a day.  They started offering the option of morning, evening or both. They used cards to start but people saw "Morning" and "Evening" listed but not "Both" and they assumed they could just choose one instead of checking Morning and Evening.  

 

They did end up adding the Both later.  In our cruise October 17 we got a card and it had both.  In July with my daughter, they asked.

[PhillyFan33579]

18 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Is that what you do?

Jimbo, I don’t mean to break into your friendly banter, but I think the point he is trying to make is that other cruise lines still offer cabin service the way Carnival did in the past. For example, when we were on Royal a few weeks ago, our cabin steward serviced our cabin every time we left the cabin, no matter what time of day it was or whether it was for a few hours or half the day. You don’t get that kind of service on Carnival any more, although that isn’t a big deal in my book. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by PhillyFan33579

[TerReuv]

On 2/1/2020 at 6:59 AM, Bostwick girl said:

We always get both. When we meet our steward/stewardess, I ask for both, show them my little cooler and ask that it be filled with ice every day. Never had a problem, especially after they happily take the $20 I give!

 

Never had a problem getting the same thing without the $28 bribe.  We will tip extra after the cruise, but we don't "tip" at the beginning because they don't need that to do a great job.  They know they will get it at the end.

[TerReuv]

22 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

My wife loves them and in fact saves them during the week and lines them up.  We travel in groups a lot and some of our cruisers think they are silly.   My bet is the reason for asking is the amount of work they require to do.  That said, we have never been asked about them.  

 

I do the same thing.  My hubby laughs about it.  My favorite sea day is the one where the towel animals are all over the Lido deck.  Last time it was amazing!  So many towel people.  

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, TerReuv said:

 

I do the same thing.  My hubby laughs about it.  My favorite sea day is the one where the towel animals are all over the Lido deck.  Last time it was amazing!  So many towel people.  

We had dome of our grandkids in our room the night before and they are early risers. We went up to get them some breakfast and let their parents sleep in.  When they saw all the Towel animals their mouths dropped open and said WOW   Was quite the site

[ctkathchick]

On 2/4/2020 at 6:40 AM, thesmiths said:

We always set them up during the week and add to them accordingly -

The Stewards get a kick out of it.

The Igloo I made kept falling over.

Chai was a great Steward.

 

 

Love the pics !!

 

[samiam0403]

On 2/4/2020 at 5:25 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

Jimbo, I don’t mean to break into your friendly banter, but I think the point he is trying to make is that other cruise lines still offer cabin service the way Carnival did in the past. For example, when we were on Royal a few weeks ago, our cabin steward serviced our cabin every time we left the cabin, no matter what time of day it was or whether it was for a few hours or half the day. You don’t get that kind of service on Carnival any more, although that isn’t a big deal in my book. 

 

Exactly. I cruised on Oceania for the first time in December, and my room was made up multiple times a day, no matter when I woke up. If I took an afternoon nap (which I did - a lot), they would swap out my pillowcase because it was wrinkled from my nap. 😳  While I get that Carnival isn't Oceania, I miss the days of the stewards being like ninjas and making up your room whenever you left your cabin. Keep the towel animals and ice, and just let me sleep until noon and still get my room cleaned! 😂

[2wheelin]

I am perfectly happy with them making the bed in the morning and replacing towels if that keeps our cruising costs down. Only if there are more than the two of us do I request towel check in the evening. Drink red wine so no need for ice.

They have always asked if we want both am and pm. If they ask morning or evening and you want both, just answer “yes”

Have never checked but I’m guessing Oceania charges more than Carnival?

If you pay for a suite on Carnival, do you get ninjas?

[audcc77]

3 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

If you pay for a suite on Carnival, do you get ninjas?

No. But the stewards seem to be better. 
 

If I go with a friend rather than DH, I’ll get an inside cabin across the hall from the grand suites. Sometimes they have the same steward, sometimes not. Usually very good though. 

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

I am perfectly happy with them making the bed in the morning and replacing towels if that keeps our cruising costs down. Only if there are more than the two of us do I request towel check in the evening. Drink red wine so no need for ice.

They have always asked if we want both am and pm. If they ask morning or evening and you want both, just answer “yes”

Have never checked but I’m guessing Oceania charges more than Carnival?

If you pay for a suite on Carnival, do you get ninjas?

Just a tad more.....

[coevan]

10 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Drink red wine so no need for ice.

 

 

We mostly drink red as well, don't want it cold, but don't like 80 degree wine either. We always ice ours down for an hour to get the wine to correct drinking temp

[mz-s]

Even before the change came out and they started asking folks if they'd prefer morning or evening or both, we always told them to not worry about morning - if we needed anything we'd let them know but they didn't need to plan on servicing our room. Granted we only went on one or two cruises before this change kicked in.

 

The only change I truly miss is 24/7 complimentary room service. I seriously considered leaving the brand when that died, but I'm booked on a cruise leaving next week so I guess I changed my mind.

[samiam0403]

11 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

I am perfectly happy with them making the bed in the morning and replacing towels if that keeps our cruising costs down. Only if there are more than the two of us do I request towel check in the evening. Drink red wine so no need for ice.

They have always asked if we want both am and pm. If they ask morning or evening and you want both, just answer “yes”

Have never checked but I’m guessing Oceania charges more than Carnival?

If you pay for a suite on Carnival, do you get ninjas?

 

Does Oceania charge more than Carnival? It depends. Caribbean cruises in December start at $999 per person. I paid $1500 total for a week in a Concierge Level balcony on Riviera, and am paying $3100 for a week in a Penthouse Suite with the beverage package next December. 

[samiam0403]

7 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Well I can certainly agree that Carnival and Oceania are different, comparing services of the two for the purpose of this discussion has little value. The service to customer ratio makes discussing further a moot point.  Of course you can get better service.  That said, your last sentence makes my point.  You can sleep to noon and get your room cleaned, choose evening.  Glad we agree

We don't agree at all. I was agreeing with PhillyFan about how cabin service on Carnival has gone downhill. If I sleep until noon, my cabin doesn't get cleaned in the morning, and inevitably they service my cabin in the evening exactly when I return to get ready for dinner - and then never come back to finish. The stewards used to work around the guests' schedule, and now it seems I have to work around theirs. 

[Joebucks]

1 hour ago, samiam0403 said:

 

Does Oceania charge more than Carnival?

 

Yes. They do.

 

Sure one could finagle a configuration to try to prove their point. At the end of the day, it's significantly more money. A difference that is pointless to discuss about room service ninjas.

[samiam0403]

27 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

IF they are such a good deal, why do you still sail Carnival?

Because I'm still sailing on free cruises from the casino. A free cruise is better than no cruise. Also, I never said I exclusively sailed with Oceania. I like to branch out. 

 

But again, for $999 per person, one can sail on Oceania with 1000 thread count sheets, all non-alcoholic beverages included, all specialty restaurants included, the ability to carry on as much wine as you like, etc. I don't know why someone wouldn't at least try them. 

[samiam0403]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

Is this a commercial for Oceania or a thread on turn down service on the main Carnival page?  I doubt I would sail Oceania for free, but start a thread and we can discuss.

Cool. You have your opinion and I have mine. You seem to think Oceania is outrageously expensive, and I was providing a counterpoint that occasionally, it would be overall less expensive to sail them than Carnival. Did you ask the same thing to other posters who mentioned other cruise lines?

[jimbo5544]

5 minutes ago, samiam0403 said:

Cool. You have your opinion and I have mine. You seem to think Oceania is outrageously expensive, and I was providing a counterpoint that occasionally, it would be overall less expensive to sail them than Carnival. Did you ask the same thing to other posters who mentioned other cruise lines?

Good point, start a thread and we can discuss

[biomedbob]

I don't get "turn down" at home and look forward to it on my cruises.  I've gotten used to sleeping on top with my towel animal.

 

[jimbo5544]

3 minutes ago, biomedbob said:

I don't get "turn down" at home and look forward to it on my cruises.  I've gotten used to sleeping on top with my towel animal.

 

 So you would choose evening service then...