Voyager 3/28/10 Review (Stateroom Attendant)

[Houstonkid]

Hello all! Before departure I accidentally read the thread about the alleged stateroom attendant issues on this ship. I wasn't concerned about it, just wondered what we were in store for.

 

Let me first off state that we had ZERO issues with our stateroom. Per what we feel is RC standards our room was always clean & restocked. We never had to ask our stateroom attendant for one thing, he did great in that aspect.

 

The down part started the day we boarded. As we were leaving the room for the first time on departure day our SRA stopped us and exchanged names, pleasantries etc. Then he made the comment "I will take care of you then you take care of me" Uggh, I hate when people in the service industry mention they work for tips but I kept my mouth shut.

 

At our first port of call as we were leaving our room for the day we saw him and he asked our plans for the day and my wife jokingly said that she was getting off of the boat and spending all of my money. The SRA's reply was "Have a good time, save some for me" Again I kept my mouth shut, but by this time I wanted to say something to his boss but I had no clue about how to approach the issue.

 

On several occasions he stopped us to ask us if we liked the special things he had done for us for the week that he had not done for anyone else!

 

Anyways, it just got to the point were we hoped we didn't even run into the guy when we left the room! Is this really that big of an issue? No, not at all. But this is definitely not the type of service we expected out of RC or our SRA. On our other cruises our SRAs treated us like we were long lost friends and we always enjoyed coming out of our room in the mornings to the happy greeting and smiling face of our SRA.

 

In the end he got his gratuity (we prepaid) but he did not get any extra. On my customer service form that you fill out at the end I mentioned him and how I felt about being hassled about a tip. Hopefully he will be talked to about it.

 

As far as tipping we do tip beyond the standard when it is warranted. We put extra in the envelopes of all of our dining room staff who as always were fantastic. We used the same drink server at the pool every day because he treated us like royalty. I know he easily made 50$ off of me last week.

 

So that was my experience. I don't think my issue had anything to do with the alleged "walk-off" though. On another positive note, we did over hear people talking about how much they liked their SRA. We even had 1 couple say how awesome their SRA was.

 

Other experiences & ramblings about the cruise, it was everything we expected our of RC. The food was good, the roasted lamb shank in the MDR was awesome! And of course everyone on the ship treated us like a King & Queen for a week.

 

Some of you might have seen on other threads that due to fog we stopped in the water for at least 9 hours delaying our arrival at home. RC was 100% professional in how they handled that unforseen weather delay. The VOS crew started showing movies, doing game shows and reopened the Windjammer for lunch out at sea. The poor crew had a heck of a day yesterday, when they should have been turning the ship around for the next sailing they were still feeding us! When we got off yesterday we thanked every crew member we saw on our way out for treating us like they did!

 

Anyways, long story short, I just wanted to give my experience with the SRA and also report that we had another great vacation courtesy of RC!

[PrincesScuba]

I would have been extremely annoyed by such behavior. I think that I would have said something to him directly. I know that not everyone feels comfortable doing that, but something along the lines of: we are experienced cruisers who appreciate warm and gracious service. If you keep making comments like that, we will feel that you are being neither warm nor gracious.

[Houstonkid]

I agree Princess, I just wasn't sure what to do. Your solution would have solved the problem. I was just hesitant to say anything during the cruise.

[JDsafeman]

These situations are always uncomfortable. Sometimes it is a cultural thing. You are caught off-guard and do not know how to respond.

In hindsight it is easy to think of something to say, like "That is great to know" or "Great, we know you will take good care of us". Usually this works better than being confrontational as it light-heartedly defuses the tension.

 

One thing I love about this Forum is reading about other cruisers' experiences so that I will not be caught off-guard as often.

I have read about the baggage handlers, stateroom attendants, wait staff, bartenders, and others strong-arming for tips.

 

 

Thank you for posting about this. It may help others prepare for such things.

[Houstonkid]

Hopefully it will help someone JD. I wish I could have thought of your responses at the time. It is some what of a unique situation being that you spend 7 days with these people versus 2 hours at dinner in a restaurant.

[PurpleJet]

Thank you for your comments, we are going on Voyager in November. These comments would make me feel very uncomfortable.

 

Out of interest how many staterooms does one attendant have?

 

If for example they have 10 staterooms and they each tipped $50 for the week thats an extra $500 per week on tips alone plus i presume their basic wage too which I dont have a clue what that is.

 

Could anyone enlighten me as to how the tips and wages are worked out for the stateroom attendant? From my rather crude workings out it seems they are on a good wedge per week? Do they pay a lot of tax or something?

 

Tipping is not customary where I live, so I am a bit confused as to how it all works!

 

Please dont shoot me down, I am not saying I wont tip on my cruise by the way just interested in how it is all worked out.

 

Thanks for the info!

[pcur]

Thank you for your comments, we are going on Voyager in November. These comments would make me feel very uncomfortable.

 

Out of interest how many staterooms does one attendant have?

 

If for example they have 10 staterooms and they each tipped $50 for the week thats an extra $500 per week on tips alone plus i presume their basic wage too which I dont have a clue what that is.

 

Could anyone enlighten me as to how the tips and wages are worked out for the stateroom attendant? From my rather crude workings out it seems they are on a good wedge per week? Do they pay a lot of tax or something?

 

Tipping is not customary where I live, so I am a bit confused as to how it all works!

 

Please dont shoot me down, I am not saying I wont tip on my cruise by the way just interested in how it is all worked out.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Most service staff on cruise ships make very little base salary. I have a copy of an assistant dining room waiter's contract, and it states his base salary is $80 per month.

 

Stateroom Attendants have helpers, so they must share their tips with them. Their tips ARE their base salary, in other words. Many, if not all, support their family members at home.

 

In your situation my response would have been a HUGE smile and "Thank you, Raphael, we appreciate your efforts, and we have prepaid the tips, too!!"

[Jimnbigd]

Hi. I was on this sailing. Our stateroom attendant was Deen on deck 6 starboard aft. He was really good and never mentioned or hinted at tips.

 

As previously noted, stateroom attendants get a small base salary. They also get free room and board, which is not a small thing. And I would guess they get their usual $3.50 per person per day tip the vast majority of the time. Of course, they get very little rest -- they work 7 days a week. I couldn't do it.

 

You're right -- The Lamb Shank with mint jelly was great. What was the other lamb? I think it was a lamb chop, right? And the duck was great also. The prime rib was tender but not very flavorful to me, but next time I'll try medium rare instead of medium. The worst was the baked potatoes -- always just barely warm and not mealy at all. Oh well, can't have everything.

[taaddison]

I was on Voyager 3/28 cruise and had a wonderful experience with our SRA. We were mid-ship deck 10. Ronaldo was attentive, polite, sunny and we loved talking to him each time we ran into him. He was especially helpful during our fog delay.

 

The only negative experience I had on the ship was with a room service attendant. She briefly argued with me about my order stating that I didn't order something that I not only knew I did but wanted her to deliver.

 

Our SRA heard her argue and set her straight on how to handle the situation. (He didn't realize that I heard him talk to her). After that service was terrific. As usual, I was very pleased with my entire experience.

[newcrew42]

OP, I am so sorry for your experience and thankful that you shared it. I have enjoyed reading the suggested ways to handle the experience. I probably would have handled it exactly as you did. I do not like confrontation, but would have mentioned it on the survey.

 

We were on the Voyager on 3/21, room 7676 & 7674, port aft. Keith was our SRA. He was wonderful. He found my lost luggage, unlocked our connecting door, changed the beds in kids rooms so that they were seperate, all within minutes of me asking. He was very humble and never mentioned tipping, always wishing for us to have a good day. Only once asked about our son, as 3 of us were leaving for breakfast and he noticed our son was not with us and didn't want to disturb him. I thought this was very thoughtful and polite. I think every other encounter was mostly to ask if we were having fun or having a good day.

 

Job well done Keith!

[Houstonkid]

I was on Voyager 3/28 cruise and had a wonderful experience with our SRA. We were mid-ship deck 10.

 

Which room? We were deck 10 also, room 1662

 

To add more to my post: I thought from reading previous threads that they were now enforcing the no reserving deck chairs policy? It was not enforced on our sailing, not that it really concerns me, we were at the pool by 9 every day.

[taaddison]

Which room? We were deck 10 also, room 1662

 

To add more to my post: I thought from reading previous threads that they were now enforcing the no reserving deck chairs policy? It was not enforced on our sailing, not that it really concerns me, we were at the pool by 9 every day.

 

We were in 1575. And I also noticed that they didn't enforce the deck chair policy. However, I never went without even when I came in late. I usually stayed in the Solarium and as I am red-haired, freckled, and very sensitive skin, I stayed out of the direct sun most of the time.

 

Did anyone on the cruise see the comedian at his late-night show? My husband was Ralph, the guy who had fun being foolish on the stage with Adam Ace.

[Tucker in Texas]

I was on Voyager 3/28 cruise and had a wonderful experience with our SRA. We were mid-ship deck 10. Ronaldo was attentive, polite, sunny and we loved talking to him each time we ran into him. He was especially helpful during our fog delay.

 

.

 

If that's the same Renaldo we had on our trans-Atlantic, he is indeed a good one. We made sure to mention him by name in our exit survey. They appreciate that just about as much as extra cash because it helps with promotions and extra days off.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Houstonkid]

We made sure to mention him by name in our exit survey. They appreciate that just about as much as extra cash because it helps with promotions and extra days off.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

I am glad to hear that, I wrote extremely positive remarks about our waiter and our pool side bar service guy in our exit survey.

[Puffinater]

I agree with mentioning the constant reminder of a tip on the comment card. Not sure I would have been quiet and not said something directly to him. I am sure the issue was addressed.

[Bluegirl]

We were on the 3/21 sailing. We had our weirdest SRA experience. In short, he never introduced himself to us. It wasn't until the evening of day 2 or the morning of day 3 that we even figured out who he was. He had several opportunities to let us know he was our SRA (and not just the guy delivering our luggage) and that we could reach him directly by pressing the SRA button on the phone (it took me 6 days to figure out that HE was the one answering), but he never did! We thought that maybe he was new to the job? We couldn't figure it out otherwise. He did his job just fine, but he avoided any contact with us - and that friendly contact is really what drives good tips over and above the recommended amount - which I have never experienced before on any cruiseline.

 

In the end I felt weird about asking him for anything special (more ice, please; etc.), which made the contact even more impersonal. So we didn't tip above the recommended amount. Meanwhile, we loved our waiters so much that we gave them each $100!!

[jjb415]

I would have been extremely annoyed by such behavior. I think that I would have said something to him directly. I know that not everyone feels comfortable doing that, but something along the lines of: we are experienced cruisers who appreciate warm and gracious service. If you keep making comments like that, we will feel that you are being neither warm nor gracious.

 

Great advice. Luckily I haven't encountered such a room attendant in the past, but, will use this recommendation in the future if needed'

[Redheada]

Well we had two cabins this sailing on different decks and two completely different experiences. In fact one of the only main complaints I have about this cruise was the SRA for the kids (who are all older teens). It started the very first day of the cruise and went down dramatically from there. Some of you may had read my posts about my kids having flight problems (thank god for flying a day ahead). They got in ok and in time but the luggage was delivered to another city. We had to wait at the airport on Sunday for the luggage to come in on the first flight which didn't arrive to Houston until noon. Long story short they got their luggage and everything worked out fine getting on the ship but it was a very stressful 24 hours leading up to boarding. But by the time we did get on and get into our cabins the kids were tired, wanted to shower and rest for a bit after two days of traveling and no luggage.

 

They were confronted immediately by their SRA who upon meeting them got very terse and complained that he was going to have to babysit them (I assume since they were young adults he assumed they would be partying etc.). These confrontations happened a couple of times the first day so I went and personally introduced myself to him and indicated they were good kids on the ship with adults and would be in touch with him (and made it very clear I was in charge of tips which I had already collected from each of the kids).

 

Then we had an issue with the phone which didnt work in their room. It made it very difficult to contact eachother. Both the kids and myself spoke with the SRA and he indicated it would be fixed. By day two it wasn't so I went to guest services. They indicated they never received a report but then put one in right away. By the next day the phone was fixed but by then (this was Tuesday) the bunk beds were not being put down or made and towels not exchanged. Not good for a group of 4 teens sharing a room. They tried to get new towels with no luck so they put them out in the hallway thinking maybe then they would be exchanged. No instead they received a lecture from the SRA about NOT putting the towels outside the room ever again.

 

At this point I told the kids just give him one more day. But the problem was they were in the last room on the end of their deck and walking down the hallways they encountered so many amazing SRA attendants many of which they became friendly with. They also got so see the towel animals, etc. and pretty quickly realized they were not in the same situation. In addition, they became very friendly with my SRA and saw how sweet she was and what she did for us.

 

So anyways, by day 3 this particular SRA was no longer making his appearance known and the kids said they didnt even think he was cleaning the room anymore. We were in port these days and I didnt feel like dealing with it until Friday. We then got a call from the kids who said someone was in their room and left a retainer (weird?). Finally on Thursday I asked my my SRA if she knew him and knew what the deal was. I wont get into the conversation but clearly something was up. 10 minutes later a supervisor was up in my cabin talking to me and apologizing. Long story short this SRA had already left the ship in Jamaica. I was never told this personally, it was information the kids heard somehow. We also were never informed there was a replacement until the last day of the cruise.

 

So needless to say this was the first time I have ever reduced a tip. Honestly we didnt even know who it would go to and since I believe that tips should be serviced based, and clearly this wasn't the best service. We took half of those tips and allocated them to the rest of the crew we encountered such as my SRA and our waiter and assistant waiter.

 

I want to reiterate that this was one of our few complaints on this ship. We really enjoyed this cruise a lot and encountered many other amazing crew.

[Stevesan]

Does RCI have "comment cards". These are available at the purser's deck on other cruise lines.

They're most often used for positive comments, and much appreciated by the crew member. They are also appropriate for improper behavior.

They are read every day, and immediately reviewed with the subject crew member.

 

I lieu of comment cards, a hand written note to the "Hotel Manager" gets really swift results on any ship.

 

Passengers are paying customers. We don't have to put up with rude conduct or incompentent performance from anyone.

[girlodiamonds]

We sailed on 3/14/10 on the Voyager and I previously gave a glowing review. Now, something has come to light that disappointed me greatly.

 

I have a prescription for Soma (to help me sleep) and I started the trip with a full prescription (60 pills). After I had been home about a week, I noticed that I was almost out of them. I did a little math and discovered that 28 pills were missing.

 

I locked my meds up in the safe every day except for the last night. We were getting our bags packed up so we could put them in the hall and I pulled everything out of the safe. I accidentally left the bottle on the counter under the mirror. It was out there Sat. afternoon from about 3pm until Sun. morning about 9am.

 

I have no proof only circumstantial evidence. However, I will never fool myself into believing that total strangers can be trusted and I will NEVER leave my drugs and valuables out of the safe again!

 

Lisa D