$22 for a towel?

[Art123]

I am curious. I know Carnival says that they will charge you $22 if you lose the beach towel that they provide. Has anyone actually been charged for losing a towel?

[cruiserNC]

My towel was stolen in Ocho Rios on a shore excursion told my room steward that. He said no problem...wasn't charged [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Fantasy 4/00
Fascination 4/02
Victoria 4/03
Majesty of Seas 11/03
Triumph 4/04
Imagination 11/04

[Boston6]

[putting my flamesuit on] Quick hint: There are stacks of clean towels in the hallways when the cabin stewards are cleaning the rooms. Just help yourself to one to replace a stolen towel.

My 9 yo had a towel stolen from him on deck so I just grabbed one of the clean ones to avoid getting charged.

[flamesuit still on]

Sovereign of the Seas (11/89)
Monarch of the Seas (8/99)
Norwegian Sea (7/02)
Carnival Glory (4/17/04)

[Megandie]

Dang...I bet you brought an iron on board too!
(just kidding...waiting to see the lecture we'll BOTH get!)

<BEG>

Sail Time!!!
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[voyagerfl]

I HOPE THE ROOM STEWARDS ARE NOT CHARGED FOR LOSING TOWELS. THEY MAY HAVE TO SIGN FOR A CERTAIN NUMBER OF TOWELS.
YOU'D BE SURPRISED HOW TOUGH THEY ARE ON THOSE GUYS / GIRLS.

[jedgar]

Yeah and if you need some new towels in your home just go into the store and put a couple under you jacket and just walk out.

[Boston6]

That didn't take long and stop shouting (caps).

It's a dumb policy and I didn't take any towels off the ship. My 9yo had his towel stolen by a fellow cruiser on board. I assume that they left that towel on board too so Carnival has actually lost NOTHING. If they took my son's towel home then THEY stole it, not me.

Sovereign of the Seas (11/89)
Monarch of the Seas (8/99)
Norwegian Sea (7/02)
Carnival Glory (4/17/04)

[PINEVIEW01]

Boston6, no flame here I did the same thing. Mine came up missing on the ship, only got a tea five min. most, mine was gone, I staked a towel out and when it was still there a couple hours later, I picked it up. The person who took mine may of even have been the one to leave it.

When I wanted two towels to take home, I paid the $44.

Melody

Paradise, 9-5-04
Holiday, 4-10-04
Inspiration, 11-30-03
Inspiration, 1-26-03
Victory,3-31-02
Sensation, 11-28-98
Holiday, 3-19-94

[upstatedon]

Archive file beach towel response: send this when anyone complains that Carnival Corp. charges $22.00 for lost towel.
Dear Consumer:
These towels cost Carnival Corp $10.44, with our standard markup on consumer product being 150%, the sell price should be just over $26.00. So at $22.00 you’re getting quite a deal. And you have to admit, the Carnival Corp. beach towel is quite luxurious!
Please don’t lose your towel, we estimate more than 60% of all lost towels are in fact stolen, or feel free to bring your own cheap, ratty towels from home, and have the same nasty, smelly, sandy towel for the whole week. You think these towels wash themselves? We launder nearly 4000 beach towels alone every day for a typical Conquest class vessel. I bet consumers would have a real reason to complain if we, Carnival Corp. decided to discontinue beach towel service altogether? Another reason we levy a charge for lost (stolen) Carnival Corp. beach towels is the insane consumer practice of pool area lounge chair saving. To discourage this rude practice we put a value on the towel, which is most used implement to save chairs, of course this does not work, as Carnival Corp. has noticed a dramatic increase in prime location deck chair saving (PLDCS).
Below are links to towels of comparable quality, notice the consumer pricing is very much in line with the charge for our Carnival Corp beach towel.
Thanks and please make Carnival your next cruise, cruise line.
[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18932&item=3678110649&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18932&item=3678110649&rd=1[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1370&item=2245800042&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1370&item=2245800042&rd=1[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10324&item=4112227515&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10324&item=4112227515&rd=1[/url]

[url="http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_678_48458_102887_81334_5:view=-1,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_48458&sid=4873036685471121530"]http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_678_48458_102887_81334_5:view=-1,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_48458&sid=4873036685471121530[/url]

[img]http://www.bigotis.com/royalsmallwide.gif[/img]
Conquestadors Group cruise Jan 11, 2004
Glory Hounds Group cruise Sept 13, 2003
Carnival Legend Feb 2003
RCCL Enchantment Jan 2002

[Boston6]

Hmmm...

1)$10.44 cost each. You're out of your mind. They buy these in great bulk. I didn't check the manufacturer but they're probably made in some 3rd world country using slave labor. I doubt they pay much more than $3-4 each. Even at $10.44 they're charging $22 and making a lot of $$ on this scam.

2)Do you bring your ratty towels from home when you go to a hotel? Then again maybe you do. I don't have ratty towels at home and I don't bring my own to hotels that I PAY to visit. That's why I don't rent cottages or stay in timeshares without full housekeeping.

3)With respect to washing towels. I prefer a crisp fresh towel. If you don't then don't that's your business. Feel free to reuse your towel as much as you like.

4)Combating chair saving. What a joke. Everyone here is always complaining about the chairsaving that goes on so the $22 charge is not reducing the chairsaving. I have to agree with you on this one. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Sovereign of the Seas (11/89)
Monarch of the Seas (8/99)
Norwegian Sea (7/02)
Carnival Glory (4/17/04)

[Rustynail]

The policy is in place to ensure towels get back to your cabin instead of just leaving them all over the place. Whether you actually get charged for a lost one or not I guess is up to your steward.

Rusty

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[Megandie]

I never even noticed...do these towels have the Carnival logo on them or something?

Sail Time!!!
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[jemingway]

When in doubt, steal I always say.

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[Cotton]

I've never noticed a logo, but I would assume so. I never use a Carnival towel for deck or shore. I take my own little $4 beach towel from WalMart, so I don't have to even 'think' about it.

Festivale 1987
Carnivale 1988
Mardi Gras 1989
Pacific Princess 1990
Norway 1994
Holiday 2001
Holiday 2002
Holiday 2003

[tatania_starstrider]

I'm in total agreeance with your post Boston 6. no other cruise lines have this policy and I think it's really tacky to put this kind of pressure on cruising guests. I don't want to spend my vacation worrying about my or my kids' towels being stolen off the chair while we get a drink or go to the bathroom. The whole thing is so cheesy.

[SeaScout]

IMHO, $22 for a towel is nothing but a scam. We were on the Victory last year. We had 3 people in our cabin. When we arrived there were only 2 beach towels. We asked our room steward if she would be kind enough to get us a third towel. She happily complied. Each day she would pick up the towels and leave fresh ones. About the 4th day, she removed all 3 towels but only replaced 2 of them. We asked her at least 3 times for a third towel. The third towel never arrived. The last day of our cruise she knocked on our door and told me that we would be charged for the missing third towel. I politely told her that was unacceptable as it was not us that had lost the towel. I reminded her that we had been asking about the missing towel for days. She then gave us a sob story about how she would have to pay of her pocket if we couldn't locate the missing towel. She even offered to accept cash so that it wouldn't show up on our SS account. (riiiiiight, sounds fishy to me).

The whole affair left a very bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't so much the $22. It was the fact that WE did not lose the towel. I also felt somewhat "shaken down" by our room steward. We are cruising again this summer. we'll avoid the whole situation this time by bringing our own beach towels from home. Something nice and colorful from someplace like walmart. I think I see them on sale now and then for under $10. Its worth it IMO, just to avoid the whole "towel conspiracy".

[Sharkin]

I'm curious to know if anyone has actually been charged and paid for a "lost" Carnival towel? I say lost because we bought one to take with us.

John H.

[luv2cruise450]

Tatiana...Celebrity also will charge you for the missing beach towel that they place in your room. And theirs does have the Celebrity name and logo on it.

Victoria III 4/99 (Yangtze River)
Maasdam 5/00 (W.Med) & 11/01
Veendam 10/00
Zaandam 5/01 (Alaska cruisetour)
Millenium 12/01 & 10/03 (transatlantic)
Amsterdam 5/02 (transcanal)
NCL Star 12/02 (Hawaii)
CCL Paradise 3/03
Noordam 4/03 (transatlantic)
NCL Dawn 8/03
Regal Princess Elaine 3/04 (Yangtze River)

[Cotton]

A friend of mine was on the NCL Dream in December. Lost her towel and was charged for it on her account. She didn't realize it was charged to her until she got her next credit card statement. Said it was NOT listed on her final bill from NCL before debarkation. I think she's still debating this with NCL.

So, YES, other lines do charge.

Festivale 1987
Carnivale 1988
Mardi Gras 1989
Pacific Princess 1990
Norway 1994
Holiday 2001
Holiday 2002
Holiday 2003