Ice through Room Service - is there a charge?

[NRWPA]

My last NCL cruise in Jan 2023 I asked my cabin steward for ice and he told me I had to order through room service. First, is this normal? I've never had to call room service before. Since there is a $4.95 or more charge for any room service now, would I have been charged if I got ice that way? I didn't want the hassle on Pearl, so just went to my friendly bartender and got a large glass of ice that I kept in the refrigerator. Just curious - I'm on Encore April 9th.

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, NRWPA said:

Just curious - I'm on Encore April 9th.

You can get ice yourself in either the Observation Lounge or Buffet on the Encore.  For some strange reason, they shut down the ice in the OL around 10:00 PM.  I always carry around a Hydro-flask and ice will stay frozen in that all day long.

[Suetravel]

As I was told, they don’t charge for the ice but they charge for room service fee.

 

ask your room Stewart to get you an ice bucket and fill up your ice daily or once you get the ice bucket and he or she did not fill your bucket with ice. You can always go to the buffet area to get ice.

[2Cruise4Ever]

We were on the Getaway in February and asked our Room Steward to keep the bucket of ice filled and he did... no problem!  If you need it before you see your cabin steward, you can fill it up in the Buffet.

[graphicguy]

I've never had an issue with a request to have fresh ice in the ice bucket daily.  I've just told them the first day of the cruise, and it was always there.

 

Now, if you want ice at night or even late afternoon, after the steward's made up your room, I can see where there would be a charge for room service to bring ice.

 

But, as the Chief said, you can always take your bucket to the Buffet or one of the lounges and get it filled.

Edited April 6, 2023 by graphicguy

[Oceansaway17]

it used to be that ice was just provided. But last time I was one in July 2022, once I mentioned I would like once a day ice, I got it.  And I made sure to tip my steward.

I find they will bend over backwards to serve you and then you bend over backwards to also provide and extra tip.

[Oakman58]

On 4/6/2023 at 1:11 PM, NRWPA said:

My last NCL cruise in Jan 2023 I asked my cabin steward for ice and he told me I had to order through room service. First, is this normal? I've never had to call room service before. Since there is a $4.95 or more charge for any room service now, would I have been charged if I got ice that way? I didn't want the hassle on Pearl, so just went to my friendly bartender and got a large glass of ice that I kept in the refrigerator. Just curious - I'm on Encore April 9th.

 

I certainly wouldn't be tipping that room steward.

[BirdTravels]

15 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

 

I certainly wouldn't be tipping that room steward.

Why not?

[NW Pacific]

So sad service is so declining.  Back in the good old days all cabins had an ice bucket filled twice a day, lol.  am dating myself

[YVRteacher]

Service is definitely declining.

[FlGoodShips]

On first day..on Prima, Joy and Encore within the past year asked cabin steward for ice each morning. No problem.  Got ice every morning. 

[FlGoodShips]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Service is definitely declining.

We have always had excellent service on all NCL ships. 

Have never experienced declining service.

[FlGoodShips]

2 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

So sad service is so declining.  Back in the good old days all cabins had an ice bucket filled twice a day, lol.  am dating myself

Just ask. We get ice every day. Cabin stewards are great.

[FlGoodShips]

2 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by FlGoodShips
Duplicate

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, FlGoodShips said:

We have always had excellent service on all NCL ships. 

Have never experienced declining service.

When was the last time you cruised?  I was on the Bliss for a B2B two weeks ago and the cuts and changes were noticeable. (Both of my cabin stewards did a great job and I don’t need ice so that was a non-issue.)

[david_sobe]

You can always purchase the ultimate ice package.  Unlimited cubes in drinks and delivered to your room.  I took it as one of my free at sea offers instead of wifi.  You may upgrade on the ship for crushed ice instead of cubes.

[phillygwm]

7 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Service is definitely declining.

I haven't cruised since they reduced to 1x/day service but it only stands to reason.  Stewards are covering almost twice as many cabins (I forget the exact numbers but I'm sure someone will know.)  I thought they worked their tails off before but apparently they have even less free time than they did previously.

 

I've lowered my expectations; I'll ask for the basic first day things (empty my refrigerator, make sure I have distilled water) but aside from that I'll expect a cleaned room each day and little else.

[Oakman58]

If NCL doesn't want to have room stewards provide ice, then they need to install ice machines on every passenger deck so we don't have to run all over the ship to get ice.  Even the cheapest hotels provide an ice bucket in the room and an ice machine on that floor.

 

Since my cruise on the Bliss, I've cruised with Carnival and Princess and with the exception of theater entertainment both cruise lines have exceeded NCL in almost all other categories.  Keep in mind that I'm a normal cruise passenger not a Haven passenger.  BTW, both of those cruise lines still have a steak filet and lobster night in the main dining room without an upcharge.  When's the last time NCL offered that in the main dining room?

 

I'm looking forward to my cruise with Holland in June and Royal Caribbean in September to see how they compare to NCL.  While all cruise lines have made cutbacks in service, NCL's has been drastic enough that other lines are more enjoyable.  That's my opinion of course.

[graphicguy]

Have never had an issue with cabin stewards providing ice daily if I requested.

 

Last cruise was this past Fall…no issues.

 

I can see if you want ice and you call room service.  Charges would apply.

 

[uneamie]

17 hours ago, david_sobe said:

You can always purchase the ultimate ice package.  Unlimited cubes in drinks and delivered to your room.  I took it as one of my free at sea offers instead of wifi.  You may upgrade on the ship for crushed ice instead of cubes.

But keep in mind there's a small "up charge" for the ice bucket. You want to pack your own. 

[NRWPA]

Just an update: I cruised on Encore from 4/9 - 4/16/2023. My cabin steward provided ice each day - free of charge. I asked him the first day - actually gave him a note asking for ice and a bathrobe and we made arrangements as to what time he would do my cabin each day. If I ever needed anything else, I would leave a note and he would take care of it.

[BirdTravels]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:36 AM, phillygwm said:

I haven't cruised since they reduced to 1x/day service but it only stands to reason.  Stewards are covering almost twice as many cabins (I forget the exact numbers but I'm sure someone will know.)  I thought they worked their tails off before but apparently they have even less free time than they did previously.

 

I've lowered my expectations; I'll ask for the basic first day things (empty my refrigerator, make sure I have distilled water) but aside from that I'll expect a cleaned room each day and little else.

Gosh... so much mis-information. The room stewards are not covering twice as many rooms. They are on duty from around 8:00 to 4:00ish giving them the late afternoon/evening off versus prior split shifts which had them working from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm with a break in the middle to eat and change uniforms to their night uniform. 

 

I chatted, briefly, with my steward last week several times. He did an excellent job, checking in with me almost every day. On Day 6, I talked to our steward about having a laundry bag, he came right over to pick it up and returned our clean laundry that night. And left our steward a nice tip. 

 

I have commented that we travel several times a month and the name-brand land-based hotels we stay at clean rooms every 4 days. Having daily room cleaning on the ship was a treat. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Jac199]

Last August on the Joy I asked my room steward for ice and was told I had to order it from room service. I didn't bother, but was wondering if I would have been charged the room service fee. 

[cruiseny4life]

16 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Gosh... so much mis-information. The room stewards are not covering twice as many rooms. They are on duty from around 8:00 to 4:00ish giving them the late afternoon/evening off versus prior split shifts which had them working from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm with a break in the middle to eat and change uniforms to their night uniform. 

I'm not going to argue what your experience has been, however my past experience in March was different. I do know the room steward I had began working around 8 AM and was still working at 7 - 9 PM. I'm not sure what breaks he had as I did not inquire. It seemed that he worked all day as we would see him in the hallway quite often whenever we returned to the room during the day.