Ticked at Cabin Steward on the Last Morning

[suse]

The problem with removing tips, as GmaPajama stated, is that you can't just remove the tip from the room steward. If you reduce or remove your tips the Dining room stewards, laundry folks, people who clean public areas, all get their tip reduced.

 

And perhaps HAL employees do make a great deal more than the impovrished people in heir counrty, but the majority of what they are paid comes from tips, not from "salary".

 

To get ticked off at the room steward for something they did in the last hours of the last day, and as a result take money away from the dining staff and others is just mean and spiteful.

 

If someone has an issue wih an idividuals actions they should have addressed it with the individuals supervisor, the head of housekeeping or the hotel manager. That way the performance of the ONE offending indivisual would be addresses instead of others seein their tips reduced and being left to wonder why.

thanks you make sense. perfect.:)

[IRL_Joanie]

Sometimes the fast turnaround starts the night before disembarkation.

Last Saturday afternoon on the Ryndam we returned to our cabin and noticed that all our our daily planners and an invite to a cocktail party with the Captain were missing. They had been in a neat pile on the desk.

We were planning to take them home with us.

 

There was a knock at the door. It was the room steward. I asked him about the papers and he said they were in the trash. When I told him we were going to take them with us he stated:" When the ship rocks I get confused". (We were outrunning Hurricane Ida)

He then handed me the Survey and said- You mark me the best and give it back to me.

 

No Joanie I didn`t lay into him. I even tipped him the next morning.

He should have kept his mitts off the Daily Planners though.

 

 

Rich

 

I am with you on this one Rich!!!

 

In my opinion, the Steward was VERY wrong for going through and deciding that this was trash. It was the night before disembarkation and he had no right, in my eyes to do such a thing. Put them in a neat pile, if they'd not already been, yes, trash them NO WAY!!

 

As to his comment when handing you the survey, I would most likely have said OK and written a comment on the card about the incident.

 

I applaud you for your handling of the matter. You could have been rude, crass, etc., instead you handled it nicely and did not remove the tip just because of one incident.

 

Courtesy goes a long way, even when you are upset:)

 

Joanie

[IRL_Joanie]

thanks you make sense. perfect.:)

 

I agree with suse and K&RCurt on this. All suffer because of one stewards' minor lapse in judgment.

 

Joanie

[jhannah]

Rich, I admire the way you handled your situation. I probably would not have been so kind. Throwing away things stacked on the dresser? Nonsense! No call for that whatsoever.

[Zappa Fan]

On the last morning on the Zaandam Hawaii cruise I get up the last morning, go to the Lido at 5:50am (I noticed the do not disturb sign was gone from the door) to beat the crowd and grab a quick breakfast, run back to the room (gone about 13 minutes) for a couple more hours of sleep only to find the beds put together and remade for the next cruise, even the luggage mats were out on the bed.

 

He had to be waiting and the second I was out of the room, they did all of this in 13 minutes.

 

All our things, cell phone, ipod, papers, bags, clothes, shoes, hats, shampoo, toiletries etc, which were still all over the room, were all gathered up and thrown into a pile on the couch.

 

Needless to say I was ticked. I thought we had the room until 8am or so.

 

With my anger growing I found the room guy, I let him know my feelings, I then decided to fill out the questionaire and gave him a poor rating, also went and reduced the tips as well, felt a little better.

 

Never seen this in 52 cruises. I have been asked to leave the room before 8 but have never seen this before.

 

You can't seem to catch a break on this thread, honey. Sorry for you. I completely agree with you. A slightly similar thing happened to us on the Amsterdam.....

 

On three separate occasions on the morning of disembarkation, crew came in wanting to blast my room for cigarette smoke. All 3 times, I sweetly told them that I was a smoker. I did not plan on leaving my cabin for some time. And that they needed to "cool it" until we left. I couldn't believe how insistent they were.... I remained tough. ;)

 

Again.... good on 'ya. I'm with you 100%. One should not expect to get the "bum's rush" at an ungodly hour of the morning.

[SusieKay]

While we were relaxing in our stateroom prior to disembarkation from the Ryndam last fall, both the wine steward and our cabin steward entered our room while we were there. The wine steward to check the mini bar and the cabin steward to make the bed and "air the room"-throwing open the doors to the verandah while he made the bed-and it was a chilly morning in San Diego.. Both did ask if they could enter first. We were so surprised, and caught off guard, we said yes, but in retrospect, the next time this happens , we would politely ask if they would wait untill we vacate the room, and suggest an approximate time that we expect to leave. Hope that is all that is necessary-and perhaps engaging the deadbolt.

[pris993]

We usually leave our cabin early and clean.

 

Regardless, I am not happy with crew deciding they want to get a jump start on getting my cabin ready for the next cruise, 1-2 days prior to the end of my cruise.

 

I have had similar experiences of them removing items for cleaning i.e., robes for example. So I make it a habit of putting things away so they don't have easy access.

 

We did stop a tip, this was prior to auto tip by the way, for a waiter and assistant once - service was so so all week and absolutely awful the last night because he was tired and it was the end of his contract, at least that was what he told us. We had the tip already to give him, a minimum amount at best, decided at the diningroom table when he was totally non responsive not to give it to him. We ran into him the next morning, actually he came looking for us and asked if we forgot something. We said, no we had not forgotten his tip, we decided he did not earn it. It was the only time we have not tipped in 30 years.

[mamaofami]

This thread leaves me wondering how it would be for me if I were the next person to occupy that cabin. Would the couple before me have laid down on the sheets and would the steward have changed them again? I doubt that. How clean is the cabin I am enterring if the stewards are now responsible for so many more cabins? Turnaround day was alsways hard enough and since HAL says you can remain in your cabin until you are called, they should either change the policy or advice the stewards to wait to clean until you leave.

While I would have been very angry at the steward for moving my things, and I might have spoken to him about it, I would not have removed the tips.

[jtl513]

... if the stewards are now responsible for so many more cabins?

But they now work as 2-man teams, so the total amount of work per man stays the same, and the amount of time required for each cabin is now half.

[Brad1185]

I didn't remove the tip only lowered them $15. Wanted to send a message and on the form to lower the tips I clearly explained why. One would hope the only one getting less money was the room steward with however they devide up what HAL calls their service charge.

[jtl513]

One would hope the only one getting less money was the room steward with however they devide up what HAL calls their service charge.

HAL does not do that. Everyone the profits or loses the same when the HSC is changed.

[justjen321]

Suze (or suse, can't remember which)

 

It's fascinating to me the assumptions you've made to decide that the OP was nasty in his treatment of the steward.

 

When you are onboard a cruise ship, you are at the mercy of the ships staff. Completely at the mercy. While we've only had a few negative experiences with stewards, they DO happen, and it DOES have an impact on your cruise. The cruise you, a paying customer, have spent hard earned money on. When you cannot get towels brought in for love nor money, how many treks to the pursers desk to wait in line is reasonable?

 

I'd agree that staff shouldn't be berated, or humiliated. The OP didn't imply that he did. He voiced his feelings, which he SHOULD do.

 

While we are talking about how hard it is on the staff to turn the ship around for the next cruise, please do remember that decision is made by ownership, NOT the cruisers, and they shouldn't be penalized for that.

 

While I don't believe cruise staff make 'large' money, I also believe they've chosen this job. Again, why penalize US for having to bust tail to turn the ship around in the allotted time frame? We didn't cause that. ALL we did, as cruisers, was pony up our money and go with the expectations provided to us. Perhaps if they altered the information to ask cruisers to be out of their cabins at a certain time, there'd be less issue?

 

All of that being said, while I don't agree with the notion of lowering the tips (because it DOES affect all tipped staff), I also don't believe any one of us has a right to blast this poster for doing so.

 

We typically tip out several staff in cash as well at the end of a cruise, and depending on the service for the entire cruise, this might have changed what I left. It was extremely rude. Even IF the OPs entire belongings had been packed away and were sitting in the room waiting, it's still rude. :) No two ways about that one.

 

 

Jen

[Rotterdam]

We had almost 2 full days in Lisbon & it really is an intersting city w/ very friendly citizens...I have European friends that vaction there every year & married at the Ritz there -

 

I don't know what kind of "Fun" the steward had there - all I know he looked like something the cat dragged in the second day there....I am prett low key but certainly expect the cabin to be clean & serviced....as far as teh tipping situation is concerned - i continue giving the staff cash gratuities...most times more than what is recommended...I always give teh cabin steward $$ the first day & ask for ice ....then take it from there...this way I know who has waited on me & who deserves the gratuities....I don;t go for the Carnivore system of auto tips - I am not susbidizing anyones salary pool....I've been on ships since teh early 1970's & its worked for me...and all seem happy in the end....

 

Go see Lisbon...wonderful pastries also.....

 

 

 

 

That sounds crazy. The mold sounds awful. Sounds like you handled it well. I wonder what kind of fun he was going to have in Lisbon. I've never been there. I would like to go there. Did you have fun, other than this?:)

[Charles4515]

I didn't remove the tip only lowered them $15. Wanted to send a message and on the form to lower the tips I clearly explained why. One would hope the only one getting less money was the room steward with however they devide up what HAL calls their service charge.

 

I would not have reduced the tip. I perceive what happened as a misunderstanding. You left for breakfast. None would reasonably assume you were going to go back to bed. That would have been very unusual. The same happened on my cruise last week on Celebrity. About 6:30 am I went to the buffet for breakfast. When I came back the beds were separated and made up. I was not upset. It is understandable that the cabin stewards would get started early getting ready for next passengers. If you did not want the beds made you should have told the cabin steward.

[Charles4515]

While I would have been very angry at the steward for moving my things, and I might have spoken to him about it, I would not have removed the tips.

 

The steward probably thought they were doing a favor. I have often had stewards tidy up my things that were on the desk or in the bathroom during a cruise.

[NYGirl1002]

I had never cruised before until we went to Alaska on the Oosterdam last year. However from hanging out at cruise critics for months before I knew a couple of things one of which was how important the comment card is.

 

We found the three of them on the desk on our last night right before dinner. Since my daughter is special needs and my husband couldn't find his glasses I was filling them out after quizzing them on each question..time consuming to say the least.

 

I had mine finished and was halfway through hers and his when we had to leave for dinner. I put them in the top drawer of the desk to be finished upon returning to the cabin. Lo and behold I couldn't find them for the life of me when I got back. To make a long story short our steward went through our belongings and submitted the comment cards for us..even though they were not even finished!!

 

We were catching a noon flight the next day so we rushed off the ship and we never saw him again. I kind of thought it was a nervy move.

[mancunian]

I too would have been annoyed about this whole episode. We would not have removed tips because of it affecting others, but we tip extra to the stewards if they do a good job and I would certainly have witheld the extra. Most of the stewards are brilliant but every so often I suppose you are going to get one who tries to push the passenger. We have done four cruises now with HAL - three times the stewards were excellent, but one we had earlier this summer - whilst no trouble the last day as I pre-empt this by having room service, tried other tactics. Having discussed with him the first day that although we were open sitting this meant late and that we would be leaving the cabin around 7.15 pm in an evening, and that also morning and evening we would leave out the make up cabin sign so he knew when we left the cabin we assumed all would be well. On two afternoons at about 5.30 pm coming back from excursions we discovered we had been "put to bed". Curtains drawn, lamps lit, bed turned back. We were, I think understandably less than happy about this not least because we had wet shower towels in the morning. This was politely discussed with him and he gave up. However, his other trick was to bring all post into the cabin instead of using the rack outside and he would knock with one hand and open the door with the other, never mind whether you were in a fit state for visitors. This meant that the whole cruise we had to leave out the do not disturb sign whenever we were in the cabin.

 

Do not feel I am unsympathetic to the room stewards. I am very sympathetic but I do not feel that the staying in your cabin until you leave really affects them that much. On other cruiselines where you have to leave the cabin at 8 am their practice was to rush down the line of cabins removing things and keeping every cabin at the same stage of preparation. They cannot do this now, they have to largely do one cabin at a time, but they are certainly not short of cabins as people start disembarking earlier than 8 am. I would therefore have thought that their workload was much the same as previously, just different.

[sapper1]

I had never cruised before until we went to Alaska on the Oosterdam last year. However from hanging out at cruise critics for months before I knew a couple of things one of which was how important the comment card is.

 

We found the three of them on the desk on our last night right before dinner. Since my daughter is special needs and my husband couldn't find his glasses I was filling them out after quizzing them on each question..time consuming to say the least.

 

I had mine finished and was halfway through hers and his when we had to leave for dinner. I put them in the top drawer of the desk to be finished upon returning to the cabin. Lo and behold I couldn't find them for the life of me when I got back. To make a long story short our steward went through our belongings and submitted the comment cards for us..even though they were not even finished!!

 

We were catching a noon flight the next day so we rushed off the ship and we never saw him again. I kind of thought it was a nervy move.

I had read a thread on this subject last year, so on our two Eurodam cruises this year I was very careful to keep our evaluation sheets locked in the safe until they were finished to our satisfaction and we were ready to take them down to the front desk ourselves. On one of the cruises the cabin steward was insisting that he would take them for me and I wanted to make sure they weren't taken prematurely.

We said good things about our stewards as they did a good job but one tends to get a little territorial about people going through things and taking such jobs upon themselves.

[mamaofami]

 

I had mine finished and was halfway through hers and his when we had to leave for dinner. I put them in the top drawer of the desk to be finished upon returning to the cabin. Lo and behold I couldn't find them for the life of me when I got back. To make a long story short our steward went through our belongings and submitted the comment cards for us..even though they were not even finished!!

 

We were catching a noon flight the next day so we rushed off the ship and we never saw him again. I kind of thought it was a nervy move.

 

Now, that would make me very angry. It was certainly nervy of them to go through your desk drawer, remove what was yours, and do whatever they wanted with it. There is no way that can be justified.

[suse]

Suze (or suse, can't remember which)

 

It's fascinating to me the assumptions you've made to decide that the OP was nasty in his treatment of the steward.

 

When you are onboard a cruise ship, you are at the mercy of the ships staff. Completely at the mercy. While we've only had a few negative experiences with stewards, they DO happen, and it DOES have an impact on your cruise. The cruise you, a paying customer, have spent hard earned money on. When you cannot get towels brought in for love nor money, how many treks to the pursers desk to wait in line is reasonable?

 

I'd agree that staff shouldn't be berated, or humiliated. The OP didn't imply that he did. He voiced his feelings, which he SHOULD do.

 

While we are talking about how hard it is on the staff to turn the ship around for the next cruise, please do remember that decision is made by ownership, NOT the cruisers, and they shouldn't be penalized for that.

 

While I don't believe cruise staff make 'large' money, I also believe they've chosen this job. Again, why penalize US for having to bust tail to turn the ship around in the allotted time frame? We didn't cause that. ALL we did, as cruisers, was pony up our money and go with the expectations provided to us. Perhaps if they altered the information to ask cruisers to be out of their cabins at a certain time, there'd be less issue?

 

All of that being said, while I don't agree with the notion of lowering the tips (because it DOES affect all tipped staff), I also don't believe any one of us has a right to blast this poster for doing so.

 

We typically tip out several staff in cash as well at the end of a cruise, and depending on the service for the entire cruise, this might have changed what I left. It was extremely rude. Even IF the OPs entire belongings had been packed away and were sitting in the room waiting, it's still rude. :) No two ways about that one.

 

 

Jen

I cannot tell you how much I hate being lectured. And the tone. Ick. I dont know why some women do that but it is ugly.:eek:

[nu2sea]

When I cruised on Celebrity the comment card could NOT be turned in by an employee. If the guest did not return it to the front desk drop box, it was not counted.

[Zappa Fan]

I cannot tell you how much I hate being lectured. And the tone. Ick. I dont know why some women do that but it is ugly.:eek:

 

That's life on a forum, baby.... remember that you can't really read a person's emotions.... to an outside observer, that post just sounded like a reply....not ugly.... really. :)

[justjen321]

....I cannot tell you how much I hate being lectured. And the tone. Ick. I dont know why some women do that but it is ugly.

 

 

It absolutely was not intended as a lecture. :) I'm sorry if you took it that way.

 

It was intended to voice an opinion. One that just happens to disagree with yours. That's how the world functions, with differing opinions.

 

It's sad that you feel free to post about this, but disagree with anyone who might not believe the same as you do. If differing opinions didn't exist, the world would be a pretty sad place.

[Sunshine91]

I had mine finished and was halfway through hers and his when we had to leave for dinner. I put them in the top drawer of the desk to be finished upon returning to the cabin. Lo and behold I couldn't find them for the life of me when I got back. To make a long story short our steward went through our belongings and submitted the comment cards for us..even though they were not even finished!!

 

We were catching a noon flight the next day so we rushed off the ship and we never saw him again. I kind of thought it was a nervy move.

 

A comment card is the kind of piece of paper, unlike cash ;), that one shouldn't have to lock up in the safe during dinner. The cabin steward should never have gone into any passenger drawers. Makes one wonder what else that steward may have been looking at during the cruise?

 

This is the kind of thing that should have been reported to the steward's supervisor or to the Hotel Manager. Since it's been more than a year, who knows if that steward is still even working for HAL? If something like that ever happens again & you aren't able to report it during the cruise, you can always talk to your TA who can route the info to HAL, or you can contact ship services via phone or the website. These are the kinds of things that they need to know about. It'll just keep happening until either the steward leaves employment or gets caught.

 

And regarding the OPs steward tidying-up the room so early - its quite possible that he was only performing those duties at that time at the direction of his supervisor. Instead of taking up his issues with the steward, perhaps the OP should have sought out the chief housekeeper? The steward's reponse is vague about having a lot of duties because that's what they are trained to respond with. The crew will never respond in kind when criticized.

[TucsonRick]

The guy goes up to Lido to get breakfast and coffee at 5:30 AM and then might want to go back to bed? Maybe I'm silly but why would anyone do that? Isn't that a little strange? Oh, I think I will go have coffee and then go back to bed? Correct me if I'm wrong but you usually have breakfast when you are awake, not planning on nodding off again.:) Haha, that would be funny. Oh, I am so sleepy honey after that wonderful breakfast!

The steward did not know that the OP was going to the Lido! Assume for a minute that the OP was not feeling well and went to the Medical Center before returning to his bed for a little more sleep. What would you say then?

 

Several posters have said that this was a misunderstanding. How so? There was nothing to understand or not.