Room attendant

[4 mickey]

after reading some cruise lines are now given only one daily room attendant visits
some of thrm say for enviro mental reason ? In what sens does turndown service or lack of will help ?
I am sure hoping dcl won’t follow that lead
i would find this so deceiving considering the amount of kids / children on a dcl who look forward to that towel animal / or pieces of art almost that room hostess attendant make each day
that is for the kids part
but as an adult I also love and appreciate the turndown service each night

 

[PrincessShmoo]

after reading some cruise lines are now given only one daily room attendant visits
some of thrm say for enviro mental reason ? In what sens does turndown service or lack of will help ?
I am sure hoping dcl won’t follow that lead
i would find this so deceiving considering the amount of kids / children on a dcl who look forward to that towel animal / or pieces of art almost that room hostess attendant make each day
that is for the kids part
but as an adult I also love and appreciate the turndown service each night

DCL is not offering once a day housekeeping (at this point).

The use of extra cleaning products being used more than once a day in the rooms is one of the environmental savings.

 

[happycamper47]

That same cruise line also requires your key card in order to get pool towels. If you fail to take them back to the pool area they charge you $25 a towel.

 

[4 mickey]

DCL is not offering once a day housekeeping (at this point).

The use of extra cleaning products being used more than once a day in the rooms is one of the environmental savings.

Sure hope it stays at two room attendants visits

 

[anjuan]

Yes, NCL started doing this after I booked my upcoming cruise with them. They've reduced services in other ways since I've booked. I'm very glad to see that DCL hasn't followed suit yet to date.

 

[Flossbolna]

Have they reduced the recommended gratuity for the stateroom attendants?

obviously this is a staffing decision. But does that mean that your stateroom might not get cleaned until 4 pm because the attendants now have double as many rooms?

 

[mjkacmom]

That same cruise line also requires your key card in order to get pool towels. If you fail to take them back to the pool area they charge you $25 a towel.

Which one? Carnival, NCL and RCL now have once a day cabin service.

 

[happycamper47]

Which one? Carnival, NCL and RCL now have once a day cabin service.

RCL. I didn't know the others switched.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I would love to see if It actually saves them time or if it takes them longer for the one service than it did for the two because they are only in the room once a day...

That seems like a "Chapek Decision" (Reduce stateroom service on board) so hopefully that kind of thing is behind us.

 

[brentm77]

The worst part about the once-a-day service, from my understanding, is that they don't put the extra beds away for you if you are using more than the main bed in the cabin. On DCL, it would be terrible to have the bunk pulled down all day. The twice a day service is a part of what makes cruising DCL wonderful, so I sure hope they don't get any bad ideas.

 

[CisforCookie991]

Yes, NCL started doing this after I booked my upcoming cruise with them. They've reduced services in other ways since I've booked. I'm very glad to see that DCL hasn't followed suit yet to date.

Yikes! Can you elaborate on this? We were looking at NCL or Celebrity for future cruises and my kids really loved the “fun stuff” that NCL offers. Haven’t sailed either before.

 

[anjuan]

Yikes! Can you elaborate on this? We were looking at NCL or Celebrity for future cruises and my kids really loved the “fun stuff” that NCL offers. Haven’t sailed either before.

We'll be going on NCL for the first time in May out of Iceland, so this is all baed on what I've heard from another board. I know they raised the service fee and then a month or two later went to 1 X per day service. They added an additional charge for certain steak cuts in some dinning rooms. They eliminated some of the alcohol from the base alcohol package. They also eliminated one of the shows on the Prima. I think there was some other things but that is what I remember hearing about. I'm still excited about the cruise but it just seems like additional charges have been added and what is included in their base package has been reduced since I've booked.

 

[CisforCookie991]

We'll be going on NCL for the first time in May out of Iceland, so this is all baed on what I've heard from another board. I know they raised the service fee and then a month or two later went to 1 X per day service. They added an additional charge for certain steak cuts in some dinning rooms. They eliminated some of the alcohol from the base alcohol package. They also eliminated one of the shows on the Prima. I think there was some other things but that is what I remember hearing about. I'm still excited about the cruise but it just seems like additional charges have been added and what is included in their base package has been reduced since I've booked.

Ahh got it. We don't buy the drink packages etc., but if they're raising fees and cutting basic services, that's a whole other story. Would be interested to hear how you felt about it when you get back.

 

[happycamper47]

I would love to see if It actually saves them time or if it takes them longer for the one service than it did for the two because they are only in the room once a day...
Jus
That seems like a "Chapek Decision" (Reduce stateroom service on board) so hopefully that kind of thing is behind us.

One thing that is different with DCL as compared to the others, at least from what I've encountered, is the gratuity distribution. On DCL passenger gratuities go to 4 specific people, Room Steward, Server, Asst Server and Head Server. On RCL and I think the others, gratuities are distributed ship wide so the other cruise lines apparently have a different pay system and by eliminating Room Stewards it would save them money, where on DCL the gratuities cover most of that cost.

From RCL: As a way to reward our crew members for their outstanding service, gratuities are shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to enhance the cruise experience.

 

[TBLaube]

Have they reduced the recommended gratuity for the stateroom attendants?

obviously this is a staffing decision. But does that mean that your stateroom might not get cleaned until 4 pm because the attendants now have double as many rooms?

Nope. NCL just raised the daily gratuity to $20 per day. I am happy to pay gratuities and always pay extra, but I am unsure how NCL breaks it down. I like the transparency of the breakdown with DCL so I can decide how much extra to give.

 

[happycamper47]

Nope. NCL just raised the daily gratuity to $20 per day. I am happy to pay gratuities and always pay extra, but I am unsure how NCL breaks it down. I like the transparency of the breakdown with DCL so I can decide how much extra to give.

Just looked it up and NCL has the same policy as RCL.

Why is there a service charge?
The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports. How much is the charge? Onboard Service Charges are additional.

 

[RysMomma]

We're doing a Royal Caribbean cruise in December and I just read about them going down to one time a day. I hope Disney doesn't do this. I mean, it doesn't really matter, but it is one of the things that makes coming back to your room at night so special.

Another thing I know that Royal is doing is charging if you want a second filet or a second lobster tail at dinner. I know back in August on the Fantasy, Sudi, our waiter, asked my mom if she wanted a second lobster tail and brought her one with no questions asked. I get the cutbacks, I do, Covid hurt everyone, but I hope Disney doesn't change!

 

[CisforCookie991]

Nope. NCL just raised the daily gratuity to $20 per day. I am happy to pay gratuities and always pay extra, but I am unsure how NCL breaks it down. I like the transparency of the breakdown with DCL so I can decide how much extra to give.

Looks like Celebrity is also doing it: Gratuities for stateroom and restaurant services are shared by dining, bar and culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, and other hotel services teams.

So if you hand your stateroom attendant an extra $20, are they forced to turn that over and share it, or is it just the mandatory/automatic fees that are shared?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Looks like Celebrity is also doing it: Gratuities for stateroom and restaurant services are shared by dining, bar and culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, and other hotel services teams.

So if you hand your stateroom attendant an extra $20, are they forced to turn that over and share it, or is it just the mandatory/automatic fees that are shared?

On both Holland America and Princess the gratuities are pooled to be shared by all crew (behind the scenes- laundry for example) as well as passenger-facing crew (room hosts/bar/dining servers).

You can tip directly, cash, to anyone you wish. The cash tips have to be turned in, and it's determined if you have removed the auto gratuity or not. If you have, the "extra" cash tip you gave is added to the pool. If you haven't removed the auto gratuity the cash tip you handed out is returned to the person you gave it to.

 

[Dug720]

On both Holland America and Princess the gratuities are pooled to be shared by all crew (behind the scenes- laundry for example) as well as passenger-facing crew (room hosts/bar/dining servers).

You can tip directly, cash, to anyone you wish. The cash tips have to be turned in, and it's determined if you have removed the auto gratuity or not. If you have, the "extra" cash tip you gave is added to the pool. If you haven't removed the auto gratuity the cash tip you handed out is returned to the person you gave it to.

EXCELLENT point for those who sail other lines and remove the auto-gratuities. Some cheapskates just don't want to tip at all which is rude. Others think they're doing a good thing by giving their server, cabin steward, etc. direct cash - but if they have removed the auto-gratuities and the cash has to be kept to be split, the person they were trying to tip more will actually get less of it. And yes, if they are found to have kept cash and not turned it in on those lines, that is grounds for termination.

Celebrity gives you the option to reduce housekeeping to once a day in exchange for an extra day's worth of Captain's Club points. Reports from people who have done it is that they really couldn't tell the difference.

Given the state of some cabins I've seen on Disney when stateroom attendants are in there and I'm passing by (not looking, but you see a LOT peripherally) I can only imagine the horror some of them would have to face if they were only cleaning once a day. MUCH moreso than I've seen on RCCL, HAL, or X.