Another cut being tested: Once per day cabin service

[Ret MP]

22 minutes ago, sowhat said:

Our cabin  before  we leave to go for breakfast  and before  cabin steward  does thier cleaning duties.

BTW, did the Steward tip you upon debarkation?  LOL

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

Not sure how to take this as a LOL or are you serious.  If it is a LOL, then LOL.

 

I was joking…

 

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

If serious, my use of Rustbucket has nothing to do with actual Rust.  And I don't know what rust has to do with plates in hallways and litigation.  But, it is what it is.    

On the serious side, have you seen how rusty some are on the outside. That was for my tetanus shot comment. Some of the RC ships are too though. 

[Ret MP]

8 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

I was joking…

 

On the serious side, have you seen how rusty some are on the outside. That was for my tetanus shot comment. Some of the RC ships are too though. 

I never now, anymore, how people take things.  I sometimes post things that only offer MY OPINION and a few take umbrage, very vocally/typed with it.  So, sometimes I have/will ask about the intent of a comment.  

[Ret MP]

4 minutes ago, allie3490 said:

I can assure you no one here gaf 

DAMN.  

[Ret MP]

6 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We got chocolate on the pillow on Celebrity. I think that if you want what Royal was 10 -20 years ago, Celebrity is providing it. For a price, of course.

WOW, did you call to get a clean pillow?  LOL

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

So you don't fly at all?

 

Correct.   

It isn't that I'm scared of flying, never have been.   Former job took 30-ish RT flights a year, mostly in the US but some to Europe and Taiwan.   

 

The problem is the service-decline creep.    It hit me in the stark contrast between my first flight and my daughter's first flight.    We were both 8.5 years old.   I was average sized, and she is very small for her age.    Comparable flights, mine was MSP-DFW on Braniff, hers was DFW to Vegas on American.   40 years apart. 

 

I remember enjoying the flight and it was a grand adventure.   I remember the seats wide enough that I could turn a bit sideways in the seat and nap with my head on the back of the seat.   Security was not a concern.   This would have been '79 so I think they were just x-raying bags?  Checked luggage was free, so I think all I took on was some things to keep me occupied.  I remember nice flight attendants and being offered a wings pin that I cherished.  I think we got food, I wasn't impressed with that but that was OK.   My grandparents met me at the gate with big hugs.   

 

We live in an exurb outside the area that airport shuttles will service.   Drive is two hours to the airport.   There is one woman in town who does Uber/Lyft.   I didn't know then if she was reliable so we had to leave extra time to change gears in case she didn't show up.   So, we left at noon, 5 hours before the flight.   Then there was security who was being particularly anal that day.     At one point much of our stuff was 20' away beyond the rape-scan (really rapiscan, but the name is horrible because the change is so obvious, so I always think of it as the rape scan).   Our electronics were just sitting over there waiting for any random person to grab.   While they were fussing because we had too much in one bin.   For example, a laptop power cord and a cell phone were too much.   So, the number of bins we were using kept growing, along with my stress levels.  Once we finally got past the rape-scan, we then had to try to put all our stuff back together while security is fussing at us that they want their bins back.   And getting our shoes back on.   My stress level was through the roof and that effected daughter.   She'd really really wanted to fly, and the landscape would be boring so we had decided it would be a good time.   Then we get on the plane which is completely packed.    I don't have flight status anymore, so we were near the end to board.   There was the stress of finding space for our carry-ons and I think we got the last spaces.  The three of us were together and even daughter was cramped.   Remember she was a small 8.5 year-old.    The flight itself was very cattle-air.    The flight was packed and it took forever to get off, then we had to get the rental car I reserved through Sixt, horrible people.   By the time we got to the hotel it was almost 1am after leaving at noon.   We checked into the hotel room and crashed glad that we'd planned a rest day at the Golden Nugget pool for the next day.   We all agreed that we wished we had drove.  

 

If we'd driven and left at the same time, we would have arrived at about the same time we woke up in the hotel.   And if we'd driven, we'd have our car which is the touring Cadillac.    I am convinced that any other vehicle without a bed in it, is a torture device in comparison.   We like to drive straight through and driving at night is the best.   It helps that my husband is a former long-haul truck driver.   For example, to Orlando is 18.5 hours.  Two times ago he drove all but the last 1.5 hours.   Last long drive was to Carlsbad, CA a little over 20 hours.   I thought that might be too much and we'd want to crash in a motel.   But, nope we arrived at noon the day before we planned.   

Our niece used to live in Hawaii and we'd discussed visiting her.  We agreed that Hawaii might be interesting enough to suffer the flight.   Then she moved back.   But our rule now is flights only when an ocean is involved.  
 

[DirtyDawg]

Our inside cabin  before  we leave the ship after our cruise and before cabin steward does their final  cleaning duties. We always say; "leave a cabin better than how you found it." 

 

 

Of course, the folks in the cabins across the hall and above us were not too happy with us. 😁

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, chucknmarilyn said:

One thing that amazes me on cruises is how messy some staterooms are. That would drive me nuts!!! One near us on our last cruise looked liked they had blown up their luggage. 

 

2 hours ago, loman said:

Yep , we leave our room nice and tidy other than making the bed.

As i was walking by an open door once, i looked in and the room looked like a crime scene , only thing missing was the body.

Part of it depends on how many people are sharing the room.  Put 4 people, including a couple of teenagers, in an inside room and it doesn't take long to look like a tornado passed through.

[Nunagoras]

1 hour ago, rockon391 said:

Exactly. It is time for people to maybe vacation another way. Until people stop going they will continue making cuts. - Even though some of the cuts are being imposed from the outside for the whole hospitality market, cruise, land, or whatever else. Times are evolving, and not mostly for our liking, sadly...
 

Just look at the Disney model. 12 years ago I held a season pass for over 8 consecutive years. I noticed the pricing going up every year across the board, from tickets, snacks, to accessories. I even noticed the grounds had gone from perfection everywhere you looked to far less. I had a neighbor who worked at Disney corporate in accounting. We shared frequent conversations about the price changes and the bottom line was as long as people continue paying…price increases will not stop. And that was 12 years ago and that was exactly what happened! - The last big real promotions "wave" I have notice off was likely 2009-2010, just little bit over the Lehman Brothers crash crisis. It seems we will have a similar situation for next year. Time will tell... Otherwise they'll push as much as they can...

 

Now my same pass price is laughable and my family (now) and I will no longer support Disney based on the greed and insane policies they have forced upon their employees of the company. Finally, now I know they are starting to see some decline…but not enough in my opinion to start decreasing prices. - Disney is solid enough to survive right now. And they're becoming more global by any means. If a small decline in the US happens, they'll to solve it with huge increases on Asia or elsewhere...
 

Royal is just doing the same. Making cutbacks. Charging the same or more for less…and they will just keep on doing the same until people start to make other vacation options a priority. - Pretty much all cruise lines, except MSC, are experiencing their largest crisis ever. Their clients now being served are mostly the 2020-21 ones, coming out of the huge "FCC gate" rolling on these days. With little to no new money rolling on their accounts right now and costs spreading like never before, I expect that at least one of the contenders will end up "eaten" by MSC and another one "eaten" by either way China or any other of the "biggies" on the cargo naval industry. NCL seems the most clear candidate for MSC's purchase. Carnival the most clear candidate for China or other naval industry's "biggie" purchase. RCL may be on their own. I hope for the best, but I'm also realistic enough to understand the challenges... Singular people's decisions won't perhaps to have a darn minimal influence on that on. It will depend mostly on whether they're able to survive this market distortion time or not. Time will tell...

 

The changes I have seen them make over the last year are almost enough to completely write off Royal as a Diamond member. The only change that I am semi ok with is the menu since my family and I never ordered from the staples each night anyway… - X is awaiting you on the RCI's umbrella, granting you their corresponding level to your Diamond current RCI's status! Surely; it is at a price... But as a consumer; I'd mostly to pay a little more for a better service standards, than having what the mainstream is giving me these days. Less kids, more classic ambiance, or say; the service level I had on the mid 00's when I started cruising on the mainstream. Things are what they are. Icon is a no-no for me. RCI is bearable at current level; not so much with all the purposed cut costs, unless there are some giveaways: If they automate some of the service and give something extra on entertainment and some real distinctiveness; then yes; otherwise it'll to be X and above for me.

I have just one more on the books in Nov ‘23 and I have no problem canceling and going somewhere else for all future vacations if all the “tested” changes become our new cruising reality. - X is awaiting!...
 

Hopefully “new” cruisers start to get the message but I don’t think that will happen with all the Youtubers that are stroking the cruise companies for free vacations. - Hum... Those Youtubers receive less and less these days from cruise lines... Such a drinks package here and there and things are what they are. Watch carefully their videos: They're more critical by the day... Even if they need to be somewhat cynical at an extent. Those over the moon superb 5* rating to any given cruise out there are mostly a thing of the past. Maybe some crew members that well know them will give them one or another "Easter egg", but that's all. My most concern is not round them. It's mostly round all those "Airbnb" like traveler generation individuals. They'll come to the mainstream cruising with their land "Airbnb" like mentality. anything a cruise line offers them is an extra. Give them great digital experiences, bumper cars and huge visually "magical" shows... And they'll to be happy with no cleaning services on cabins for a week, no more than burgers and hot dogs as free food, etc. Companies know the society they're living in... At least I hope I have the time and health to enjoy some 2 or 3 more X like cruises till I retire from the high sees over those "electro-cruises" that attract me nothing in this earth!...
 

 

 

[davekathy]

Like at home we never leave anything out of place in our cabin. The cabin attendant doesn't ever have to move or work around any of our personal belongings. We draw the line when it comes to making the bed, filling up the ice bucket (twice a day), sorting the trash. We also want fresh towels twice a day. That's the cabin attendants job. Towel animals are not required either in our cabin. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by davekathy

[loman]

I put everything away in our cabin as i dont want other people to handle my stuff especially our things in the bathroom.

That counter is clear for sure. 

[Ret MP]

11 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Like at home we never leave anything out of place in our cabin. The cabin attendant doesn't ever have to move or work around any of our personal belongings. We draw the line when it comes to making the bed, filling up the ice bucket, sorting the trash and want fresh towels twice a day. That's the cabin attendants job. Towel animals are not required either in our cabin. 

At home, things are always put were they were gotten from.  Our house is small and limited storage, so keeping it CLEAN and organized is a must.  However, I have a tendency to let my snail mail build up on my desk.  I have to sort, shred, and/or file it away every other week or so.  That my only clutter.  Oh, I do have all my computer, phone and camera gadgets next to my chair in the living room on the floor, much in Ziplock bags. 

 

On a cruise, I do save all paper messages, advertising, and Cruise Compass' (which I do request) put in the cabin.  So, they do sit out on the end or coffee table throughout the cruise.

[davekathy]

20 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

At home, things are always put were they were gotten from.  Our house is small and limited storage, so keeping it CLEAN and organized is a must.  However, I have a tendency to let my snail mail build up on my desk.  I have to sort, shred, and/or file it away every other week or so.  That my only clutter.  Oh, I do have all my computer, phone and camera gadgets next to my chair in the living room on the floor, much in Ziplock bags. 

 

On a cruise, I do save all paper messages, advertising, and Cruise Compass' (which I do request) put in the cabin.  So, they do sit out on the end or coffee table throughout the cruise.

The printed copy of the Cruise Compass is another must have for us. We have walked by so many cabins in the morning that if I was a cabin attendant , I would quit. Disgusting!! And those same people would be the ones complaining about the cabin attendant.

 

My wife has said if we had a cleaning service come to our home, we'd still do our normal daily/weekly house cleaning before the cleaning service arrived. I agreed. 😁

Edited December 18, 2022 by davekathy

[goldfish65]

12 hours ago, Slidell_Cruiser said:

Lots a great comments……

An opine of a long time cruiser and TA…..

 

The REAL visible impact will be room service and take away stuff all over the corridors outside of cabins for most of the day and night..

 

 

Granted I have only been on one cruise...but we merely called room service when we were finished with our meals and someone knocked on our door and took away everything. Same as room service at a hotel. It goes against my sensibilities to set dirty dishes in the hallway, it looks trashy to me.

[ONECRUISER]

3 hours ago, sowhat said:

Our cabin  before  we leave to go for breakfast  and before  cabin steward  does thier cleaning duties.

Same, even my Bed looks like that. Haven't had AM Room Attendant in about 5yrs. Very rare my Bed isnt made at Home either, been Decades. Mom's 76 and never once seen hers not Made. Won't see Dirty Dishes outside my Cabin door either, I put them by someone else's

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

At home, things are always put were they were gotten from.  Our house is small and limited storage, so keeping it CLEAN and organized is a must.  However, I have a tendency to let my snail mail build up on my desk.  I have to sort, shred, and/or file it away every other week or so.  That my only clutter.  Oh, I do have all my computer, phone and camera gadgets next to my chair in the living room on the floor, much in Ziplock bags. 

 

On a cruise, I do save all paper messages, advertising, and Cruise Compass' (which I do request) put in the cabin.  So, they do sit out on the end or coffee table throughout the cruise.

We try to throw the paper away after reading. We rarely attend any of the welcome back events any longer and never get off the ship at ports because after 50 cruises, we have been to them repeatedly. Like you, smaller neat home so it carries over to cruise cabin. We will ask for extra towels and not miss the 2nd daily room "cleaning."

[Ret MP]

4 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

We try to throw the paper away after reading. We rarely attend any of the welcome back events any longer and never get off the ship at ports because after 50 cruises, we have been to them repeatedly. Like you, smaller neat home so it carries over to cruise cabin. We will ask for extra towels and not miss the 2nd daily room "cleaning."

I don't have nearly that many cruises under my belt, maybe 15 or so.  However, when I book a cruise, it isn't (generally speaking) for the destinations.  The ship is my destination.  We've been to almost every Caribbean island/country (some I don't ever care to go to) and far tooooooo often to Cuz.  Roatan coming up in Jan 2024.  I'll probably get off the ship touch the ground and go back on.  However, the zoo excursion looks interesting to me.  I'd like to see a Sloth up close and personal.  So, we'll see.  

 

 

[mpdog42]

13 hours ago, Ret MP said:

I made mention to John Heald from Rustbucket Cruise Lines that all those trays filled with half eaten food, glasses, plates, silverware, empty beer bottles/cans/whatevers and so on is a safety issue and opens Rustbucket to litigation.  His answer is that they would rather that the stuff be left in the hallways.  I don't remember every word of his answer but what I got out of the conversation was those that have a trip and fall because of the stuff in the hallway can just get in line with their lawyers.  It's a part of doing business, as far as they are concerned.  

 

EDITED IN:  BTW, that was back in the late 20teens.  

Didn't "Rustbucket Cruise Lines" just change their name to "Fight Club"??😁

[brillohead]

8 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Roatan coming up in Jan 2024.  I'll probably get off the ship touch the ground and go back on.  However, the zoo excursion looks interesting to me.  I'd like to see a Sloth up close and personal.  So, we'll see. 

Roatan is a really beautiful island, not taken over with high-rise resorts and such yet.  You should definitely take a tour/excursion and experience the island for yourself!

[John&LaLa]

18 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I've been on plenty of sailing where I'd walk by JR's in the evening and it was empty except for crew eating in there.

 

Referring to 8 years ago. But yes, if you go in evening, it's empty. I was thinking more like lunch or afternoon on a sea day was the issue with kids

[John&LaLa]

17 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Right. I don't think too many people book a flight just to spend some time on a plane.

 

Kinda describes my Baltics cruise in August😪

 

At least we sat up front

[John&LaLa]

17 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

This is not what I've seen personally.  

 

I have an extensive history with Royal dating back to 2002😉

 

And FWIW, I'm a big fan of using fees for crowd control. If I want an experience available, I'm willing to pay for it. But I do have limits

[John&LaLa]

17 hours ago, Ret MP said:

LOL - My wife makes the bed, cleans the bathroom and puts all of our toiletries in our luggage, picks-up everything that may have fallen on the floor, stacks the dishes and neatly places them on the trays with all the other stuff.  We NEVER put things outside the door, I hate seeing that.  We do tell the Steward on day one that if there are plates, etc., in the room when he/she gets there, they aren't needed anymore, with or without food in/on them, and to please remove them.  Never had a problem with that.  

 

We?

 

I was under impression the wife did everything🤔🤣🤣

[Pellaz]

4 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

Didn't "Rustbucket Cruise Lines" just change their name to "Fight Club"??😁

 

Well, maybe, but the first rule is that we Carnival cruisers don't talk about it.  😄  😄  

[John&LaLa]

12 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

We try to throw the paper away after reading. We rarely attend any of the welcome back events any longer and never get off the ship at ports because after 50 cruises, we have been to them repeatedly. Like you, smaller neat home so it carries over to cruise cabin. We will ask for extra towels and not miss the 2nd daily room "cleaning."

 

Kinda odd to never get off. 🤔