While there is no shortage of dining venues onboard Carnival’s cruise ships, sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the crowds and enjoy a meal in the peace and quiet of your cruise cabin.
One of the benefits of cruising with Carnival Cruise Line is that you can bring snacks or meals from the Lido deck to your stateroom. Guests can also order room service 24 hours a day, with many of the items on that menu already included in the cruise fare.
That said, not everyone likes this option – as was the case with one cruiser who wrote to Brand Ambassador John Heald to complain about the unsightly used plates and leftovers she had to look at in the hallways after passengers dined in their staterooms.
It is true that Carnival’s policy is for guests to put their dishes and utensils in the hallway for room stewards to collect during their rounds.
Curious to see if other guests felt the same way, Heald posted a poll on his public Facebook page for other cruise fans to weigh in – and learned that the complaining person was very much in the minority.
27,722 voted for the winning option, which was “I think it’s fine for people to be able to bring food back to the cabin. Please continue.”
An additional 17,565 also voted to indicate that “I always placed my room service tray or food plate from Lido outside of the cabin when it’s finished.”
Meanwhile, only 832 voted for “NCL and others do not allow passengers to bring food back to their room. Carnival Cruise Line, please do the same so we don’t have to see the uneaten food outside of the rooms.”
At this time, there has been no indication that Carnival will be changing its room service policies or rules about eating in cruise cabins.
And for the record, Norwegian Cruise Line does allow guests to eat in their cruise cabin, so the final poll option was a tad inaccurate.
Cruise Guests Pose a Bigger Problem
Heald’s poll received more than 1,000 responses – in which the majority felt it was appropriate for guests to eat in their cruise cabins and leave their dishes in the hallways.
This crowd placed a particular emphasis on etiquette and respect, with many saying they tried to organize their plates to make it easier on the crew members who would eventually collect them.
“Whenever I’ve ordered room service I have been instructed to leave everything outside my door. I always make an organized stack though, so it’s a lot easier for them to just pick it up in one swing,” one person noted.
Read Also: Free Carnival Cruise Dining Options You’ll Want to Know (With Menus!)
Ultimately, guests did not find the dishes to be a problem, but rather the behavior of other passengers to pose the bigger issue.
Several noted that they had witnessed unsupervised children and intoxicated guests kicking dishes over and making a bigger mess.
“It’s appropriate to leave trays/dishes outside your door, what’s not appropriate is the kids or drunk adults running or staggering down the halls and kicking those dishes over,” one cruiser wrote.
Lately, there has also been an outcry about not leaving plates and cutlery on public staircases and walkways where they could become trip hazards – to which leaving the items outside of one’s stateroom is a convenient and safer alternative.
Among those who didn’t like seeing the plates, some suggested a compromise in which there are more frequent sweeps to rid the hallways of dirty dishes and leftover food, but the room stewards are likely already handling the messes as quickly as they can.
Depending on the ship, they likely have hundreds to thousands of staterooms to clean and a limited number of crew members to get everything done.
