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Increase in room service charge


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I have seen this yet, but it still shows at $7.95 on Royal's website (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/in-room-food-service)

Of course, they do state that the "Service charge [is[ subject to change without notice." If this is a true change, then I think it is simply a money grab and is very frustrating to me. I also think that the fee for Johnny Rockets has gotten out of hand especially when their competitors offer better burgers on a complimentary basis.

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16 hours ago, DocLC said:

I have seen this yet, but it still shows at $7.95 on Royal's website (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/in-room-food-service)

Of course, they do state that the "Service charge [is[ subject to change without notice." If this is a true change, then I think it is simply a money grab and is very frustrating to me. I also think that the fee for Johnny Rockets has gotten out of hand especially when their competitors offer better burgers on a complimentary basis.

I would not be surprised if it is as described here a money grab this is becoming quite common with Royal sadly, but I am not sure if it is company wide or per ship after a long conversation with a friend who is a senior cruise planner with Royal I came away with several points Royal is making a big push to turn over control of the inner workings of the parts of cruising controlled by the hotel director making it his decision what goes on when it comes to these fees and it was evident in small ways recently when I lost or someone stole my drink cup on my majesty sailing to my surprise when I went to customer service to see if someone had turned it in they tried to charge me 9.95 for a new one.Barely 2 months previous on the oasis my son lost  his and was just handed a new one no charge also the drink card on different ships is differently priced with no apparent reason in view some 65 75 85 while I am sure Royal as a company still sets the hi and lows they may be attempting to create competition between the hotel ends of the cruising business.It does seem a bit early having just recently imposed the 795 penalty for room service to now raise it again and looks more like a money grab to me p.s. I agree charging that kind of money for rockets is stupid and would explain why on my last few sailings there was very few customers no matter when I walked by aside for burgers that are of the same quality free in the windjammer

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I am not surprised if they are increasing it once again.  Especially after the recent ship refurbishment announcements that includes increased number of staterooms being added.  I don't expect Royal to add more staff to cater the increased number of passengers.  There is only so many beds to fit the employees. 

Room service is very inefficient.  It puts strain on the kitchen staff because there are items on the room service menu that is not offered anywhere else on the ship.  This affects the level of service across the board.  There must still be a large number of people ordering room service and the service charge has not satisfied Royal's projections on consumer behaviour. 

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On 3/26/2018 at 5:37 PM, DocLC said:

I have seen this yet, but it still shows at $7.95 on Royal's website (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/in-room-food-service)

Of course, they do state that the "Service charge [is[ subject to change without notice." If this is a true change, then I think it is simply a money grab and is very frustrating to me. I also think that the fee for Johnny Rockets has gotten out of hand especially when their competitors offer better burgers on a complimentary basis.

On Navigator, Johnny Rockets had a charge of 9.95 per person. We just order 2 milkshakes since we are d+.

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1 hour ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Has the Anthem increase been confirmed? 

No.  That thread I was following, several people (including myself) asked for confirmation but the OP never came back.  The exact wording by OP was "room service charge has increased from $7.95 to $9.95".  They did not say that it was $9.38 as it would have been with the service charge.  So I'm not sure?

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Guest toodle68

I’m not sure the reason for the charge is a money grab (in this rare instance). Just think of the logistics of providing room service to thousands of cabins in a short time frame. The contenential breakfast is still free. Likely because few people order it. 

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On 4/4/2018 at 12:37 PM, georgeh said:

well, if it does go up to 9.95 or whatever for late night room service, i will order the hell out of that menu.  One of everything, please!

This is exactly why I don't buy the excuse that the charge was levied to reduce waste. I actually think people will order more food to maximize the value of the charge. 

The reason I think it's a money grab is because of the amount of the increase. A 25% increase is a significant amount and likely greater than any increased costs and definitely many many times greater than the rate of inflation. 

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6 hours ago, DocLC said:

This is exactly why I don't buy the excuse that the charge was levied to reduce waste.

I think the original reason they added a charge to JR was to reduce waste, but these days it's about profit.

6 hours ago, DocLC said:

The reason I think it's a money grab is because of the amount of the increase.

Agreed.  These days, I get the sense RC is actively looking at what is selling well and trying to figure out that sweet spot of what consumers are willing to pay for it before popularity of it wanes due to cost.

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4 hours ago, Matt said:

I think the original reason they added a charge to JR was to reduce waste, but these days it's about profit.

Agreed.  These days, I get the sense RC is actively looking at what is selling well and trying to figure out that sweet spot of what consumers are willing to pay for it before popularity of it wanes due to cost.

I guess you can't fault Royal Caribbean for being a business and trying to maximize profits. Much like Disney, they're going to raise priced until people are no longer willing to pay for the increases. 

While I won't stop sailing with Royal as I like the product overall and it's the best overall for my family, I won't be dining at Johnny Rockets, using room service, or dining at specialty restaurants unless I'm on a package until the fees before more reasonable for those. 

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1 minute ago, DocLC said:

While I won't stop sailing with Royal as I like the product overall and it's the best overall for my family, I won't be dining at Johnny Rockets, using room service, or dining at specialty restaurants unless I'm on a package until the fees before more reasonable for those. 

^^^This.  Perfectly said. 

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On 4/6/2018 at 2:13 PM, DocLC said:

I guess you can't fault Royal Caribbean for being a business and trying to maximize profits. Much like Disney, they're going to raise priced until people are no longer willing to pay for the increases. 

 

Disney still has "included" room service, w/o an extra free.  It's NCL that started everyone on this whole charging for Room Service nonsense.

 

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20 hours ago, karl_nj said:

 

Disney still has "included" room service, w/o an extra free.  It's NCL that started everyone on this whole charging for Room Service nonsense.

To the best of my knowledge, only Royal, NCL, and Carnival charge for room service. MSC does, too, if you're booked in the Bella experience, but it's included in the others. 

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I don't think it is just a money grab.  They have just so many people to deliver food to rooms in a reasonable time.  If the charge is too low, many people order and orders are late, customer complaints go up, etc.  What they may be doing it trying to find the sweet spot where the demand equals their capacity to deliver.  On a ship, you can't just keep adding staff due to the constraints of being on a ship where you have to feed and give them a space to live. 

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