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First time cruising with RCL.  Question regarding the towels. I heard there will be $25 per towel charge at the end of the cruise if not returned. My question is, how do we get the towels to start with? Is there a booth on the pool deck that you have to line up and check it out? What kind of towels are these? Nice big logoed beach towel (that might worth $25), or just the plain stuff? What happened if the towels were lost (i.e. pool attendants moved them thinking you left the area)?

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First time cruising with RCL.  Question regarding the towels. I heard there will be $25 per towel charge at the end of the cruise if not returned. My question is, how do we get the towels to start with? Is there a booth on the pool deck that you have to line up and check it out? What kind of towels are these? Nice big logoed beach towel (that might worth $25), or just the plain stuff? What happened if the towels were lost (i.e. pool attendants moved them thinking you left the area)?

 

On cruise days, the pool towels are available on the pool decks. On port days they are available on the exit deck. I have been on some ships where they scan your sea pass cards when you get them an scan when you return them. I have also been on some RC ships where the towels are available with no scanning of your sea pass card. The pool towels used to be logoed, but not so much anymore. They are big, in pretty good shape and blue in color. You can get as many as you want also. Pool attendants will remove them at the end of the day, like around 5:00 pm-ish.

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Slightly related/unrelated, but something I've been wondering, but it might be a dumb question. Do they provide regular washcloths and bathtowels in the rooms? I know they don't provide soap and shampoo like hotels, but I would think towels would be a nobrainer, right? Ok. Dumb question of the day quota complete. :D

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Slightly related/unrelated, but something I've been wondering, but it might be a dumb question. Do they provide regular washcloths and bathtowels in the rooms? I know they don't provide soap and shampoo like hotels, but I would think towels would be a nobrainer, right? Ok. Dumb question of the day quota complete. :D

Yes they provided towels in the bathrooms, hand towels and face cloths too. They even give you a special towel to use as a floor mat. I learned about that one when my wife said I was drying myself off with a floor mat, it looks like a towel! Since then I've been noticing them in hotels so I guess she was right.

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On Grandeur - at least as of September, they scan your card when you get them and when you return them .... They're really great towels .... I know my wife was real tempted to purchase a couple of them off of Amazon (she still might, who knows)

Royal sells them online for 15 dollars last time I checked, they looked a bit nicer too. It's where they sell the Royal bedding.

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On Freedom they were quite strict - several times we were only allowed to take two (2) towels per sea pass card but other attendants would allow us to take 5 at a time. When returning we were told it didn't matter which Sea Pass card was scanned as they are associated with the room and not the person.

 

We never saw a limitation on Grandeur, but, then again, it was just the two of us (I feel like breaking out in song now ... just the two of us.....:)

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Do you have to guard the towels with your life? LOL

 

My wife panicked one day when we came back from an excursion, left the pool towels in our room and went to dinner. Well, the stateroom attendant made up our room and the towels were gone when we got back... lol  Never did get a charge, but I assumed he would check them in for us. Or the $25 threat is to keep you honest.... 

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Prove me wrong but I think charging for towels is a huge bluff, have never heard of anyone getting a charge. And if you were to get a charge there is nothing to stop you from taking one off of a chair, creating a bigger problem, especially if that person does the same thing.

Once when I returned two towels and they only scaned my card once and I had to bug them to do the second scan, got the feeling from them that it did not matter.

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Prove me wrong but I think charging for towels is a huge bluff, have never heard of anyone getting a charge. And if you were to get a charge there is nothing to stop you from taking one off of a chair, creating a bigger problem, especially if that person does the same thing.

Once when I returned two towels and they only scaned my card once and I had to bug them to do the second scan, got the feeling from them that it did not matter.

I think you may be correct.  When we took towels of the Allure, the crew member was "scanning" sea passes, but I never heard a beep or saw a light blink.  I actually told my wife that I thought it was a charade. 

 

On a more important issue, $25 is a ridiculous amount for the quality and condition of the towels they're providing.  We were at a beach resort in Cozumel with cruisers from a Carnival ship.  Those towels were worth $25.  Super plush, embroidered, etc . . .not the threadbare, faded blue towels I received on the Allure.

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Prove me wrong but I think charging for towels is a huge bluff, have never heard of anyone getting a charge. And if you were to get a charge there is nothing to stop you from taking one off of a chair, creating a bigger problem, especially if that person does the same thing.

Once when I returned two towels and they only scaned my card once and I had to bug them to do the second scan, got the feeling from them that it did not matter.

Jerel you are breaking my heart! Let me explain....

 

A couple weeks ago on Harmony I was walking on the pool deck on a sea day at about 10am. Quite frankly I have never seen so many towels and so few people at the pool. And then I saw the biggest chair hog in the history of Royal. This person had taken three towels and put them lengthwise across 9 lounge chairs. A gross showing of chair hoggyness.

 

As I stood there trying to figure the audacity a person would have to do that, a pool attendant was close by so I called him over. I told him "ummmm, are we doing anything about people reserving pool chairs today?" He said " If a guest isn't at there chair in a half an hour we remove them." Staring at about 20' of obviously reserved chairs "if you don't remove those towels, I am going to take those towels and throw them out that window, this is stupid.".....and I was serious. The pool attendant removed the towels and there was applause when I continued walking across the pool deck.

 

While in the elevator I thought after doing my good deed for the day "Gee, I wonder if somebody is going to get charged $75 for reserving pool chairs because they didn't get credit for reurning the towels? GOOD! I hope so!"

 

......and now you tell me this and it makes sense. <shakes head>

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Say what ?? Since when ? I've never ever been on a Royal Caribbean cruise where they didn't provide soap and shampoo.....even if it is the kind in the dispense in the shower tube....

We saw a couple at guest services asking for their shampoo-and-such dispenser to please be filled whenever their attendant had the chance; didn't know that was option. We bring our own, but it's nice to know if we run out or forget it we're still covered.
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Yes they provided towels in the bathrooms, hand towels and face cloths too. They even give you a special towel to use as a floor mat. I learned about that one when my wife said I was drying myself off with a floor mat, it looks like a towel! Since then I've been noticing them in hotels so I guess she was right.

 

That would be one small towel, lol.  Try wrapping that around you.

 

 

One note on Freedom in January you could not get towels on deck one on port days, you still had to go to the pool deck.

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Slightly related/unrelated, but something I've been wondering, but it might be a dumb question. Do they provide regular washcloths and bathtowels in the rooms? I know they don't provide soap and shampoo like hotels, but I would think towels would be a nobrainer, right? Ok. Dumb question of the day quota complete. :D

There is no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb answers.  Back to your question....yes there is soap, shampoo and towels in the rooms.  We have used Jr suites or above for the last 5 or 6 cruises and they have soap, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, and lotion in the rooms so you will at the very least get soap and shampoo.  You might be able to sweet talk your room attendant into some of the extras.   The worst he could say would be no.  Your room attendant is there to help,  dont be afraid to ask.

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Jerel you are breaking my heart! Let me explain....

 

A couple weeks ago on Harmony I was walking on the pool deck on a sea day at about 10am. Quite frankly I have never seen so many towels and so few people at the pool. And then I saw the biggest chair hog in the history of Royal. This person had taken three towels and put them lengthwise across 9 lounge chairs. A gross showing of chair hoggyness.

 

As I stood there trying to figure the audacity a person would have to do that, a pool attendant was close by so I called him over. I told him "ummmm, are we doing anything about people reserving pool chairs today?" He said " If a guest isn't at there chair in a half an hour we remove them." Staring at about 20' of obviously reserved chairs "if you don't remove those towels, I am going to take those towels and throw them out that window, this is stupid.".....and I was serious. The pool attendant removed the towels and there was applause when I continued walking across the pool deck.

 

While in the elevator I thought after doing my good deed for the day "Gee, I wonder if somebody is going to get charged $75 for reserving pool chairs because they didn't get credit for reurning the towels? GOOD! I hope so!"

 

......and now you tell me this and it makes sense. <shakes head>

Those are probably the same people "reserving" all the pews in church on Christmas and Easter! :angry: 

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Say what ??  Since when ?  I've never ever been on a Royal Caribbean cruise where they didn't  provide soap and shampoo.....even if it is the kind in the dispense in the shower tube....

 

Ok...I HAVE heard about the mystery liquid.....but I was thinking more in terms of hotel mini bottles...

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Yes they provided towels in the bathrooms, hand towels and face cloths too. They even give you a special towel to use as a floor mat. I learned about that one when my wife said I was drying myself off with a floor mat, it looks like a towel! Since then I've been noticing them in hotels so I guess she was right.

 

That would be a teeny tiny drying towel!

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Prove me wrong but I think charging for towels is a huge bluff, have never heard of anyone getting a charge. And if you were to get a charge there is nothing to stop you from taking one off of a chair, creating a bigger problem, especially if that person does the same thing.

Once when I returned two towels and they only scaned my card once and I had to bug them to do the second scan, got the feeling from them that it did not matter.

I observed the same thing.  Interesting that they scan *out* multiple towels yet usually only scan *in* one in my experience.

 

Further, while I've not taken towels, I all but hid two in my stateroom on Navi to see if I might get any charges after the cruise, and of course, nothing.  Granted, in theory stateroom attendants could reconcile this, but I'm skeptical.

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I observed the same thing.  Interesting that they scan *out* multiple towels yet usually only scan *in* one in my experience.

 

Further, while I've not taken towels, I all but hid two in my stateroom on Navi to see if I might get any charges after the cruise, and of course, nothing.  Granted, in theory stateroom attendants could reconcile this, but I'm skeptical.

In the name of "research" as Matt would say, right?

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So I was a believer in the "towel charges don't actually matter" theory until our last cruise. We had the Royal Family Suite on Liberty of the Seas. Our stateroom attendant made towels disappear every time he came in unlike other trips in lower category rooms where they've left them for us to return. I never once returned a towel and just kept checking them out. When we got home I noticed that our credit card was charged $62.50 more than what our final statement was. After calling I was told it was for 2 unreturned towels and mini-bar charges despite the mini-bars being empty the whole time. It could certainly be a fluke however.

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