Which Ships Have limited Stateroom Service?

[teacherman]

Since Covid restrictions ended in our state, restaurants, hotels, retail, and other service type jobs have been hard to fill.  Many reasons for this, but people complain that they can't get wait upon when they go out to eat or shop.  Now , we hear that RCCL is cutting back on stateroom service.  My question: is this happening because it is simply a cost saving decision or are they having a significant problem in re-staffing their ships, which isn't quite as easy as "apply today and work tomorrow"?  Also, some cruisers are reporting that they recently received one service a day, and some are reporting two services a day.   Can anyone recently on Anthem tell what their service schedule was.  We sail on her on March 26th.  Also, what about other ships in the RCCL fleet?  What service did you recently receive?

[shof515]

eventfully it will be fleet wide for one service a day and cruise lines is doing it due to both cost saving and staff shortage. cruise lines wants to reduce the number of crew onboard the ship

[lovesthebeach2]

Serenade we received once a day stateroom service.  It seemed the ship didn’t have enough crew and possibly the cooks were new too.😕

[smokeybandit]

Room stewards are among the lowest paid on the ship. It's definitely not a cost cutting measure as much as it is a response to staffing issues.

[SplashOfWater]

On Jewel we received once a day service in our Oceanview cabin. Our service was completed by late morning or early afternoon. Other guests received service later in the afternoon or evening.

 

The notice in the Cruise Compass stated that Junior Suites and up would still receive twice a day service.

[Joseph2017China]

I like my room cleaned daily and refreshed with clean towels, made bed, and general cleaning.  However, the turn down in the evening I could live without.  

 

My biggest complaint is that cost is going up, and the service is being cut.  Been going on for a decade with cut services, but at the end of the day, am I on vacation, and am I enjoying myself.  

[lovelife]

Oasis began once-a-day service for cabins below junior suite today.

[publicpersona]

The reason they are giving for this cutback is "sustainability." I suppose that they are single-handedly going to save the planet by not emptying my trashcan but once a day.

 

That said, I didn't have much of an issue with it once the stateroom attendant started leaving extra towels. It does complicate things that require brief interaction with the attendant such as handing in a bag o' laundry for the boil and bake.

 

As others have reported, our attendant lowered his voice and told us none of them liked this. He said the number of staterooms he covers haven't changed, so it really doesn't make any sense. I suppose he knows that the other shoe may soon drop when nearly half of them are sent home.

[time4u2go]

5 hours ago, teacherman said:

My question: is this happening because it is simply a cost saving decision or are they having a significant problem in re-staffing their ships, which isn't quite as easy as "apply today and work tomorrow"?

Both, in my opinion. 

[cruiseguy1016]

Voyager had twice a day service in our Oceanview cabin a week ago.

[resetjet]

Wonder has it.  Our guy has 23 rooms.  None of them like it. He said because with only one visit to a room a day,  the room is bombed out and the rooms with families are a mess.  It actually is much harder he said on a per room basis. It harder for them to provide the great experience that we all expect and they want to supply.  

[Wineaux007]

Gratuities have recently gone up.  Are they going to be decreased with this once-a-day stateroom service?

[resetjet]

I believe they are doing it to attract new employees.  They will be getting tips from more rooms.  Plus it solves the immediate problem of not enough stewards.  Another negative product of covid.

[pilot]

6 hours ago, resetjet said:

I believe they are doing it to attract new employees.  They will be getting tips from more rooms.  Plus it solves the immediate problem of not enough stewards.  Another negative product of covid.

Why would I give a tip for 50% less service?

[Wineaux007]

23 minutes ago, pilot said:

Why would I give a tip for 50% less service?

There will probably be fewer "Tip Tip Hooray" envelopes filled, maybe with lumps of coal?

[taglovestocruise]

59 minutes ago, pilot said:

Why would I give a tip for 50% less service?

All auto tips are pooled, a few hundred less crew in the tip pool gives everyone left a bigger slice. 

[BirdTravels]

On 3/12/2023 at 1:35 PM, teacherman said:

Since Covid restrictions ended in our state, restaurants, hotels, retail, and other service type jobs have been hard to fill.  Many reasons for this, but people complain that they can't get wait upon when they go out to eat or shop.  Now , we hear that RCCL is cutting back on stateroom service.  My question: is this happening because it is simply a cost saving decision or are they having a significant problem in re-staffing their ships, which isn't quite as easy as "apply today and work tomorrow"?  Also, some cruisers are reporting that they recently received one service a day, and some are reporting two services a day.   Can anyone recently on Anthem tell what their service schedule was.  We sail on her on March 26th.  Also, what about other ships in the RCCL fleet?  What service did you recently receive?

All ships will be single service. That matches what RCCL’s competitors are doing. Less for more money. 

[BirdTravels]

On 3/12/2023 at 3:26 PM, Joseph2017China said:

I like my room cleaned daily and refreshed with clean towels, made bed, and general cleaning.  However, the turn down in the evening I could live without.  

 

My biggest complaint is that cost is going up, and the service is being cut.  Been going on for a decade with cut services, but at the end of the day, am I on vacation, and am I enjoying myself.  

Do you mean that you have seen nothing else with inflation and shrinkflation in your personal life??? Do you expect the cruise line to hold prices when 100% of everything they use is more expensive. 
 

Around our parts, we could get a dozen eggs for $0.79/dozen a year ago. Now it’s $6.00/dozen. 

[sailor05]

4 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

There will probably be fewer "Tip Tip Hooray" envelopes filled, maybe with lumps of coal?

This was me a couple weeks ago on the Harmony. No way in hell am I going to tip more for less service. I was tempted to go have some removed but punishing the room steward isn't the right move. 

[resetjet]

5 hours ago, pilot said:

Why would I give a tip for 50% less service?

Its not 50% less.  They used to do all the work in two trips.  Now they are doing all of it in one trip.  But some things were done twice.  Now it will be once.  Plus the tips are pooled.  The steward tip is shared with everyone from laundry to people cleaning the pool deck,  hallways,  anything to do with housekeeping.  

[SG65CB]

Waiting to hear actual experiences with converting couches into beds and back into couches without twice a day service. We were in a suite last week so we still had twice a day service and the couch was converted for us. They are also delivering paper copies of the Cruise Compass to suites without asking. 

[Joseph2017China]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Do you mean that you have seen nothing else with inflation and shrinkflation in your personal life??? Do you expect the cruise line to hold prices when 100% of everything they use is more expensive. 
 

Around our parts, we could get a dozen eggs for $0.79/dozen a year ago. Now it’s $6.00/dozen. 

No, I don't mean that.....but I'm not really sure what eggs have to do with it.  The labor cost for international employees have not changed.  

[springfire]

13 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

All auto tips are pooled, a few hundred less crew in the tip pool gives everyone left a bigger slice. 

Maybe,  but the cruise lines will still need to monitor to see if more people start removing auto gratuities as service continues to decrease!

[pilot]

14 hours ago, resetjet said:

Its not 50% less.  They used to do all the work in two trips.  Now they are doing all of it in one trip.  But some things were done twice.  Now it will be once.  Plus the tips are pooled.  The steward tip is shared with everyone from laundry to people cleaning the pool deck,  hallways,  anything to do with housekeeping.  

Guess I wasn’t clear pin what I meant. I almost always give the steward a little extra at the end of a cruise. They work hard for the money. Now I will only have my room done once. So I am having a hard time trying to figure out how what service he/she can now provide to get an extra tip. Perhaps if they stop by to pick up old towels and refresh ice bucket. I do hope they will get most of the extra auto tips for servicing the extra cabins they are now assigned.