Would room stewards appreciate privacy cards?

Look at it this way. Suppose everyone on the ship decided to be kind to the stewards and have a one day per week no cleaning day. This means that the stewards would have 14% less work to do. You can be certain that the cruise lines would look at these numbers and decide that they could get rid of 14% of the stewards. Do you want to have it on your conscience that 14% of the stewards lost their jobs because of you?

 

DON

That's not how it works. Nobody would lose a job, but eventually, yes, less people would get hired to clean rooms that guests didn't need or want. Ali who lives in Indonesia has 400 ways to make a living, and just one of those is working on a ship.

Also, the next trip will be near Australia, where nobody will tip, and everyone wants 2 times a day service. The ship can't magically get a few hundred extra crew.

Our last cruise he was waiting til (I forget the time) to insure that our neighbor did not take his "Privacy" tag off the door indicating wanting service, before he could leave for his few hours at the port.

Yes, the steward will wait for you to take off that privacy sign and possibly wait so long that he/she gets less time off to go ashore. You need to tell him/her in person. If it happens often, the supervisor will probably speak to you. I feel it is easier for them to clean daily in their regular routine instead of waiting that your cabin gets really dirty.

That's not how it works. Nobody would lose a job, but eventually, yes, less people would get hired to clean rooms that guests didn't need or want. Ali who lives in Indonesia has 400 ways to make a living, and just one of those is working on a ship.

 

Also, the next trip will be near Australia, where nobody will tip, and everyone wants 2 times a day service. The ship can't magically get a few hundred extra crew.

There will not be immediate job losses but you can be certain that when it comes time to get their contracts renewed, the cruise lines will take the opportunity to not renew some of the contracts.

DON

There will not be immediate job losses but you can be certain that when it comes time to get their contracts renewed, the cruise lines will take the opportunity to not renew some of the contracts.

That's what I said "eventually, yes, less people would get hired".

But, 14% less work on one ship doesn't automatically mean that there would be fewer jobs in the industry. Fares may go down, which could attract more guests, leading to even more jobs. Or may be not. Jobs based on services people don't want will be gone in the long run anyway. There's no one ticking on my window to wake me up anymore, and nobody thinks that they lost that job.

In reverse, I guess you are not making a bigger mess in your cabin on purpose to force the ship to hire more crew. And I also guess that your conscience is perfectly fine with that.

Yes, the steward will wait for you to take off that privacy sign and possibly wait so long that he/she gets less time off to go ashore. You need to tell him/her in person. If it happens often, the supervisor will probably speak to you. I feel it is easier for them to clean daily in their regular routine instead of waiting that your cabin gets really dirty.

When we cruise we generally let the steward in ever other day to clean and leave the privacy up the rest of the time. I’ve never had a supervisor speak to us about it but have had the steward stop us in the hall if they see us and ask when they will be able to come in and clean. If I see them I’ll tell them not today or approx when we will take the sign down. But even if I don’t, they are on it and if we leave for an hour we will come back to a clean cabin so I suspect that the more you leave the sign up, they probably spend as much time checking to on ur cabin as they would if they came in and cleaned.

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Right, that's my point. Though, I'm union so while we gain in overall pay in benefits, we lose merit based incentives. So the better worker gets nothing except more time to do nothing.

 

 

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Yikes! No incentive to do better than the lowest common denominator. Not a good business model.

Yes, the steward will wait for you to take off that privacy sign and possibly wait so long that he/she gets less time off . . . . .

This would be my concern.

This would be my concern.

Mine too..

...so I was wondering if the steward would appreciate not having to clean my room every day

I have not read through this entire thread, so if this has been addressed, my apologies. And I understand that at least in part you are looking out for the poor steward with the best of motives. However misguided..

However, you and many of the responses I have read in the early parts of the thread seem to assume that no work is a good thing? You and many others seem to think that time off from the job is a good thing? Why do so many seem to assume that people do not enjoy their jobs? Seem to assume that any chance to slough off, to have free time, is a good thing to be valued? There are people in this world who in fact like the chance to do a job, any job, and they like the chance to do that job well, and they might well be upset if/when someone refuses their services. Just because you will be on your vacation and enjoying your time off, I don't think you should assume that the workers (who are doing they best to make you happy) would all rather be off on vacation themselves. Consider instead that they might enjoy what they do and will be most satisfied if they are able to carefully care for you as they are supposed to.

I have not read through this entire thread, so if this has been addressed, my apologies. And I understand that at least in part you are looking out for the poor steward with the best of motives. However misguided..

 

However, you and many of the responses I have read in the early parts of the thread seem to assume that no work is a good thing? You and many others seem to think that time off from the job is a good thing? Why do so many seem to assume that people do not enjoy their jobs? Seem to assume that any chance to slough off, to have free time, is a good thing to be valued? There are people in this world who in fact like the chance to do a job, any job, and they like the chance to do that job well, and they might well be upset if/when someone refuses their services. Just because you will be on your vacation and enjoying your time off, I don't think you should assume that the workers (who are doing they best to make you happy) would all rather be off on vacation themselves. Consider instead that they might enjoy what they do and will be most satisfied if they are able to carefully care for you as they are supposed to.

Honestly, and respectfully, I have to ask. Have you EVER spoken honestly to a cabin steward?

They work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up to 9 months straight. No days off. Very limited down time. And you expect them to not be thankful for an extra hour or two of free time because a pax actually cared for them? That you feel that it is more important to continue to cater to your "needs?"

I really must say that your post may be one of the most uncaring ones I have ever seen on CC. And having been here over 17 years, I've seen a good many of those. Sorry, but I could not more emphatically disagree with your sentiments.

It doesn't take an hour to clean a room. It will take max. 15 or 20 minutes. It might be nice for them to get to skip one cabin, but they are not likely to be sent to their cabins for a nap. More likely they will be sent to vacuum a hallway, count bars of soap or assist another steward who may have high maintenance pax and needs help. Their days are scheduled so they can get all their work done within a certain time. If you are planning to have them skip your cabin then you should communicate it to them so they can also communicate that to their superiors. Otherwise, as mentioned, they are passing by all day waiting for that sign to be removed and they don't know if you've keeled over in there, if you went out and forgot to remove it or what. That was my experience when I worked as a maid in a hotel. If you want to help the stewards, keep your room fairly tidy, don't leave a huge mess and let them do their job without interference. And then tip them nicely at the end of the cruise if you feel they've done an excellent job.

The key is communication. We tell stewards upfront "no towel animals." If it is a port where they want to go outside, we tell them to just refresh towels. It doesn't always work because of the pax who leave the DND out unnecessarily but there have been plenty of times where we've met a Steward outside with a big smile and thanks.

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Honestly, and respectfully, I have to ask. Have you EVER spoken honestly to a cabin steward?

 

They work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up to 9 months straight. No days off. Very limited down time. And you expect them to not be thankful for an extra hour or two of free time because a pax actually cared for them? That you feel that it is more important to continue to cater to your "needs?"

 

I really must say that your post may be one of the most uncaring ones I have ever seen on CC. And having been here over 17 years, I've seen a good many of those. Sorry, but I could not more emphatically disagree with your sentiments.

I have no idea who you are responding to, but you quoted my post, so I need to point out that I did not say anything at all like you are accusing me of. You have no idea what my "sentiments" are. I did not say anything about whether I talk to stewards, whether or not they should be thankful, whether or not I have needs. I don't know where you get all that stuff! If you read my post, you will see that I just made a minor point that many people replying to this thread are making the assumption that free time is necessarily a good thing. And suggesting a different perspective which is that some people do enjoy their jobs, enjoy working, enjoy doing their job well. Sure, rest and relaxation and time off are ok, but being on the job working is ok as well. I respect the fact that they have signed up to do a job and I expect that they will try to do that job well and I won't make that job any more difficult than it needs to be.

Yikes! No incentive to do better than the lowest common denominator. Not a good business model.

Well, I work for the government so not really a business. I agree that it’s not geared for optimal performance. But in the years of recessions we had no layoffs or pay cuts so many benefits to the workers. No so much to the ‘business’ side but since our consumers have no choice in their service provider, there’s no incentive to change from either side.

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I have no idea who you are responding to, but you quoted my post, so I need to point out that I did not say anything at all like you are accusing me of. You have no idea what my "sentiments" are. I did not say anything about whether I talk to stewards, whether or not they should be thankful, whether or not I have needs. I don't know where you get all that stuff! If you read my post, you will see that I just made a minor point that many people replying to this thread are making the assumption that free time is necessarily a good thing. And suggesting a different perspective which is that some people do enjoy their jobs, enjoy working, enjoy doing their job well. Sure, rest and relaxation and time off are ok, but being on the job working is ok as well. I respect the fact that they have signed up to do a job and I expect that they will try to do that job well and I won't make that job any more difficult than it needs to be.

What?

You literally said: And I understand that at least in part you are looking out for the poor steward with the best of motives. However misguided..

And: Why do so many seem to assume that people do not enjoy their jobs? Seem to assume that any chance to slough off, to have free time, is a good thing to be valued?

Your "time off and rest and relaxation are ok" says your thinking clearly. Time off and rest and relaxation, when you are working 80 hours a week is not "OK." It is imperative. And the more of that these hard working people can have, the better off for them, the company and the customer.

No matter how much they "like their job."

I sincerely get the impression that you are interpolating your life experience/goals into someone else's And if you are working 80 hours a week non-stop for 9 months, then I herald your dedication and resilience. But don't postulate that others have the same values and desires that you do.

Back on point - I forgot one morning to remove the DND sign. I came back around 1 to shower and change. My steward was in the hallway asking when he could come in. He told me that he gets off at 2, but wanted to make sure my room was taken care of. So they do wait.

I'm not one to cut into someone's afternoon break time. (I'm sure if he didn't want any, he would have found something better to do than simply wait around for me.)