Norwegian Cruise Line Trims Stateroom Cleaning Service

Starting this month, Norwegian Cruise Line will cut back its daily stateroom cleaning service to just once per day. The decision for the cutback, the line says, is not budget related, but rather a result of its environmental efforts.

Norwegian Cruise Line remains "committed to providing the best vacations at sea… while driving a positive impact on society and the environment," the cruise line said in a prepared statement.

"In an effort to reduce our overall carbon footprint and apply sustainability practices across all aspects of the business, we have made modifications across the fleet including the reduction of turndown services, optimized itineraries for efficiencies and adjusted the availability of select onboard offerings and services."

According to a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson, guests can call guest services to schedule an evening turndown if they'd like one.

Suite and Haven cruisers will continue to receive twice-daily service.

The change, which begins with Norwegian Epic on January 8, goes into effect just as the line's mandatory, automatic gratuities have gone up. NCL currently has the highest gratuity levels in the cruise industry.

All ships will have the once-daily, morning stateroom cleaning service in place by the end of March.

NCL is not the only cruise line with once-per-day stateroom cleaning. Carnival Cruise Line reduced its twice-daily stateroom cleaning service to just once a day prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the line gives passengers the option to request twice-daily service.