Another cut being tested: Once per day cabin service

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, Tenderpaw said:

If they clean once a day, they will cut steward staff in 1/2, so forget about getting better service. They will use 1/2 cleaning chemicals.  And a lot of folks will reuse their towels that don't today.  Yes, you can request extra towels, but a lot of folks won't know to do that or will forget. 

I agree.  Maybe not in half, but I definitely see this as a way for them to reduce staffing in this area.

[smokeybandit]

14 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I agree.  Maybe not in half, but I definitely see this as a way for them to reduce staffing in this area.

Semantics, but probably a different angle. They won't actively seek to reduce staffing per se (since room stewards come cheap). But  just reduce the stress on having to hire them in the first place since they do get paid so little. When attrition happens they just won't seek to replace as many.

Edited December 7, 2022 by smokeybandit

[vettprincess]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Pretty soon......BYOT  ??

lmao at this comment!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11111

[ONECRUISER]

44 minutes ago, davekathy said:

There's a lot of things we do while on vacation that we don't do at home. Twice a day for us. Make the bed in the morning, fresh towels and ice bucket. In the evening fresh towels, ice bucket and Cruise Compass.  

Same, two at most and done. This away and at home. Agree, Cruise Compass and as said I tell Room Attendant evening Service all I need, no AM needed...

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, ONECRUISER said:

Same, two at most and done. This away and at home. Agree, Cruise Compass and as said I tell Room Attendant evening Service all I need, no AM needed...

Now if RC would bring back the evening pillow chocolate. 😉

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Now if RC would bring back the evening pillow chocolate. 😉

I'm on Celebrity right now for the first time in two decades, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they still do pillow chocolates on X!

[ONECRUISER]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

Now if RC would bring back the evening pillow chocolate. 😉

Was our thing 25-35yrs ago. Run back after Second Seating Dinner, grab our pillow chocolate and look at tomorrows Cruise Compass before we went to 1045 late show

[ONECRUISER]

Just now, brillohead said:

I'm on Celebrity right now for the first time in two decades, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they still do pillow chocolates on X!

Swanky!

[nferr]

Once a day is fine with me.

[as3369]

I think that they should have done this way back.  The amount of hours that the cabin stewards have to work is crazy.  Half of the time, I would tell our Cabin Steward just to refresh our towels when needed and don't worry about cleaning more than once a day.   And I don't mind paying the same gratuities...  

[flamingos]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Serious question, but who does this benefit?

 

It's not like the room stewards are just going to go to the crew bar and put their feet up the rest of the day. They're going to be kept busy somewhere on the ship.

Or does this mean they'll hire less stewards but give them more rooms to clean?

That's my question as well.

 

[Tlbecker1]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

I'm on Celebrity right now for the first time in two decades, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they still do pillow chocolates on X!

I am also on Celebrity right now.  I was surprised also to see the chocolates and flowers in our room!  Nice touch.

[cube1982]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to guest services to remove the tips. First they raise it, now they're cutting services. Ridiculous. If your ok with this then your nuts. They won't stop at this....soon the main dining room will be counter service and they'll bring back the guest talent show to save on entertainment.

[flamingos]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Semantics, but probably a different angle. They won't actively seek to reduce staffing per se (since room stewards come cheap). But  just reduce the stress on having to hire them in the first place since they do get paid so little. When attrition happens they just won't seek to replace as many.

While I would like to think that they were actually putting their employees first, it's a tough one to believe.

 

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

I agree.  Maybe not in half, but I definitely see this as a way for them to reduce staffing in this area.

Wait, for ever and ever I have been told on this board that the Stewards only make a couple dollars a day, that’s not much of a savings. 

[little britain]

When X introduced this idea over a year ago - if you signed up to their “green” programme, you got extra loyalty points…just a suggestion…! 

[prmssk]

10 minutes ago, little britain said:

When X introduced this idea over a year ago - if you signed up to their “green” programme, you got extra loyalty points…just a suggestion…! 

Celebrity's Go Green program doesn't eliminate the second service though.  It just minimizes the amount of cleaning (like vacuuming and wiping down surfaces) done at that second service.  They still come in and replace any towels on the floor, tidy up a bit, and leave chocolates on the pillows.  I have noticed absolutely no difference on the cruises where I sign up for Go Green.

[SG65CB]

When we have more than two people in the cabin the attendant opens the extra bed at night - whether it's a sleeper sofa or a pullman bed, and in the morning they put the bed away for the day. I would expect this twice-daily service to continue. I don't want to have to figure out how to put a pullman bed away and not have it drop on someone's head, and what height and strength are even needed to get it up into the ceiling?

 

Cruise Compass and other documents are delivered in the evening with all the information for the next day. 

 

I vote to continue twice-daily cabin service. 

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

The cabin stewards wear blue disposable gloves and clean toilets,make beds replace towels,empty bins etc wearing the same gloves so they are more likely to spread germs.

Most days the cabin steward was nearby and handed me towels etc.

I was particularly careful in just picking off his trolley what I needed if he was in a nearby cabin and not touching anything else.

Most of the time the trolleys are unattended in the corridor.

Sit and watch food handlers wearing the same gloves while they touch multiple surfaces.  There is a HUGE misperception that rubber gloves do something special when all they do is keep the wearers hands clean.

 

 

[RoperDK]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I generally don't throw wet towels on the floor at home. The 'help' would get pissed😉

I don't do that at home either. However, my bathroom at home is quite a bit larger with places to hang those wet towels. 😄

[mpdog42]

5 hours ago, Tenderpaw said:

It totally benefits Royal as a cost cutting effort:  fewer room stewards, less towels to wash, less laundry attendents, less water to produce on board, less cleaning chemicals for the rooms, less soap in the laundry.  All under the guise of "sustainability".  

In the year 2022...Everything is a "Angle"!!!

[Nunagoras]

Certainly one more most won't like. For me it's ok, granted that there is a daily attendant host on the nearby to help with any eventual request at any time. Ships are understaffed and will continue understaffed for years.

 

As far as service levels go on land hotels from where I live in Portugal:

 

4* (mainstream) = 1 service per day.

5* (Premium+Luxury) = 2 services per day.

 

That said and like in so many other cruising details RCI as a 4* (mainstream) line is following exactly the EU 4* (mainstream) market service level and that is what I expect from them, either way.

 

X as at least a 4*+ to not say 5* line will follow most likely the EU 5* land hotel service level.

[ONECRUISER]

23 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

When we have more than two people in the cabin the attendant opens the extra bed at night - whether it's a sleeper sofa or a pullman bed, and in the morning they put the bed away for the day. I would expect this twice-daily service to continue. I don't want to have to figure out how to put a pullman bed away and not have it drop on someone's head, and what height and strength are even needed to get it up into the ceiling?

 

Cruise Compass and other documents are delivered in the evening with all the information for the next day. 

 

I vote to continue twice-daily cabin service. 

Cabin's I've been in only seen Pullman's down whole Cruise. If wanted out of way easy just fold up parallel to the wall.

Edited December 7, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I am also on Celebrity right now.  I was surprised also to see the chocolates and flowers in our room!  Nice touch.

I had flowers in room on Equinox but I thought it was because I was in Aqua class

[Allograft]

 

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

This also means no more cute towel animals on the bed.

 

My kids would not like this.

 

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

We usually tip the steward a few extra dollars at the end of the cruise.  I guess that will also go away.

 

Indeed.

 

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

The line has gone significantly downhill since COVID.  

 

Almost everything has. Costs more and get less. 

 

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Just another nicety that will disappear "due to covid", never to reappear.  I guess we can also include personal service in the "shrinkflation" that we are experiencing.

 

The decadence of the 80's and 90's of the West is declining. The middle class is getting squeezed from all angles. We always paid for the rich, now we're being made to subsidize and pay for the bums to bring us all to the same level...except that only one group works a 9-5 or more...

 

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Pretty soon......BYOT  ??

 

Already see some doing that on Booking.

 

2 hours ago, vettprincess said:

lmao at this comment!!!!!!

 

Not once you experience the reality that some are already doing this.

 

1 hour ago, as3369 said:

And I don't mind paying the same gratuities...  

 

As it should be. People can pay whatever they want in gratuities.

 

1 hour ago, cube1982 said:

Yeah, I'm definitely going to guest services to remove the tips. First they raise it, now they're cutting services. Ridiculous. If your ok with this then your nuts. They won't stop at this....soon the main dining room will be counter service and they'll bring back the guest talent show to save on entertainment.

 

Second this.

 

14 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

When we have more than two people in the cabin the attendant opens the extra bed at night - whether it's a sleeper sofa or a pullman bed, and in the morning they put the bed away for the day. I would expect this twice-daily service to continue. I don't want to have to figure out how to put a pullman bed away and not have it drop on someone's head, and what height and strength are even needed to get it up into the ceiling?

...

I vote to continue twice-daily cabin service. 

 

Indeed. Several Asian countries appear to still understand service. It's not like we're asking to purely waste things like the guy that recently ranted against charges for the thirds in the MDM and said that he should get to order and throw away as many lobster tails as he wants. There's a difference between living it up a little during a vacation that one saves and pays for versus just wasting things....but I suppose that the executives' bonuses trump everything else to make sure that they are getting the most and the middle class just continues to pay the bills.