Norwegian cruise line has decided to ban all the takeaway food from their restaurants, main dining room and buffet areas. This announced comes out right after they announced that a cost $7.95 would be charged for most of the room service deliveries. It seems if you enjoy eating in your room now things are going to get a bit more complicated when you sail with NCL.
Personally, I am affected negatively by this. I am well known for spending extended amounts of time in my balcony. I think it is my favorite part of any ship. On some occasions, I have brought food into the room, and ordered room service. I remember one particular time aboard Breakaway when my mom got sick and she needed a soup ASAP. All it took was 3 minutes for me to run to the buffet and get her soup. Under these new rules that would be impossible, or I would be forced to pay $7.95 for a cup of soup to make my ill mother feel better. Once again, this is going to definitely impact the way we travel on Norwegian.
The company statement for the change in policy, was to help maintain the ships clean. The public release stated the following, ”For our guests’ well-being and to maintain a beautiful clean environment for all of our guests to enjoy, we ask that they enjoy their meals while dining at one of our many restaurants.” When asked how the company was to enforce the policy, this was the answer,”Guests will be asked to enjoy their meal in the restaurant.”
I can’t help but question myself. So were the ships dirty before? One of my social media followers stated that maybe the company was employing the $7.95 fee to reduce food waste. I could completely see that happening. On more than one occasion I have done that. Not proudly, but it was simply a mistake of over ordering. Now I have to say that might not be the case, it seems that they are bluntly trying to increase profits with those policies working in tandem.
So now the question that stands is, will you continue to cruise with Norwegian? For this cruiser the answer is yes. I won’t let a few policy changes, stop me from enjoying some of my favorite ships. However, now I will travel with a new mindset. I could possibly spend even less money in specialty dining, mainly because I feel that Norwegian is focusing more on the bottom line and not us cruisers.
