So....Who Will Fess Up?

[scopewest]

DH straightens out the bed. He'd probably change it if the sheets were available. I would think the stewards figure out who's neat and who's not and perhaps they clean the neat cabins first as they can get them done faster. That's my theory and I've noticed that our cabin is usually "done" when we get back from breakfast.

 

On my cruise with my two teenage nieces we had an inside across from the parents' SS. I left a couple of tips the first day or two (because I appreciated him cleaning up after the kids) and I noticed that he started cleaning our cabin before he did the parents' cabin!

 

I don't normally tip in advance but I did for that cruise because this was my first cruise with the kids and I didn't know how messy they'd be. They actually kept the cabin fairly neat because I told them anything left on the cabin floor would be thrown by me onto the floor of one of their closets and I didn't care whose closet I used. Oh, the horror of having your clothes in HER closet :)

[Cruise Fanatic]

I love this thread, I can't believe we have so many tidy people here...lol. Well I am not ashamed to say, I am not the most tidest person. While on a cruise, I do hang up my clothes, but don't straighten up the bed, leave my shoes whereever I take them off. I do admit that the cabin stewards have alot to do, but then on the other hand, I am on vacation, and paid a nice price. Cleaning up the cabin daily is part of their duties. I do at the end of the trip tip the steward a little more for a job well done.

[Sage]

We try and be very neat and tidy as well. I usually give DH the desk and let him unload all of his electronics and cameras. So if there is any thing that is messy, it would be his small area.

[Cruisin Suzin]

I must admit that at home I allow clutter to accumulate until I can't stand it any longer (my husband is so patient!). However, when on a cruise I am so neat I'd hardly recognize myself. Perhaps it's because the ship is so beautiful that I just want to keep it that way.

 

The cabin stewards have so much work to do, I think it would be selfish of me to expect them to have to work around clutter and to pick up after me (or us, if my husband is with me).

 

 

Well I'm going to break the spell, I am a neat nik at home, and usually extremely tidy on a cruise but this time, I don't know what happened, not like me at all but my stuff was all over the place..I was just so excited to be cruising again I just could not wait to get out and explore the ship, hang out in the cabana and just general fun..and my mind just turned to mush I was so excited.

 

The bathroom was kept spotless, but that little window (SS category) and the chair by the sliding door, just became a clutter spot for me..I told the Steward to not worry about anything on my side...which happily he obliged..but I'll behave myself next time. Even my daughter took a photo of my messy side, she said she had to because no one at home would believe her..that I was the messy one and she was the neat one..we laughed about it all the way home..:D

[lazey1]

I like the idea about a large manilla envelope into which we can put all the 'paper's we accumulate during the cruise.

 

Same general idea but we prefer the extra large clear plastic envelopes similar to food storage bags. That way we can see the "papers". The smaller "quart" size works well receipts and excursion tickets.

[northernphoenix]

Just posed this question to DH and DBIL...DH smooths his sheets; but DBIL leaves this to the stewards. DD and I maintained the expected tidiness aboard the Volendam in 2009.We all maintain control in the bathroom. We are sharing a deluxe suite on the Rotterdam in September; so I will pay particular attention to who leaves his unmentionables about, since we are reasonably tidy at home, I really don't expect that being on a cruise will not change our MO. Marilyn

[luckysadie]

We're usually pretty neat on a cruise because, as others have noted, if stuff is not put away it's in the way. On our last cruise the desk seemed to accumulate stuff right from the first day -- cameras and camera bags, electronic things that were being charged, bottles of booze and red wine from our amenities package. Our table in front of the sofa, also, accumulated stuff like the daily program and shore information that we'd read before we went to bed. Amazingly, the bathroom was neat.

[sunnygidget]

You can get a tyvek Priority envelope free from the US Post Office. Great for putting those papers in and so very sturdy. They also have a free VCR style Priority box that is a nice size for any little treasures that you might want to save to bring home in or to pop into your bed side drawer for your pen, pencils, little flash light, whatever. (Yes, I work for the Post Office).

[surfsidemary]

Since I travel solo, I have the luxury of all storage space for me. I designate one bedside drawer for "paper." Shore excursion tickets and other "musn't lose" items are in the safe until I "pack" my purse the night before.

 

On a recent long cruise I attempted several times to give the stewards a break, telling them they could just leave my cabin alone that day. They only took (grateful) advantage once - and that was at their home port with their families coming - since even on that day their job had to be done first.

 

I do agree that their job is to clean, not pick up personal items for slobs.

[the2ofus]

You might see my sweater or jacket on the sofa, my swimsuit over the line in the bathroom, nightgown on the bathroom door and an accumulation of paper on the desk or table. Beyond that, everything is stowed. I'm like that at home, for the most part, so why change when traveling? I like to know where to find things.

[genegri]

I am not a neat person, except financial matters and trip or party plans and work related files on my laptop, where I am VERY organized and detail oriented. Otherwise DH picks after me.

 

Right now we can only take short cruises, (would love a long cruise, but something called "jobs" got in the way :p). And I am a minimalist packer. Therefore we don't have a lot of "stuff" and a long time to get too messy.

 

DH almost always tells the stewards that we don't need any service except changing towels. And at the end of the cruise of course we pack up the little that we bring on so the stewards will have an empty room.

[Cruizer Bill]

I'm about 80 percent of the way there. The remaining 20 percent I don't worry about!

[Hlitner]

DW and I are laughing at this thread. The reason is that at home I am a true slob, toss clothes on my bedroom table, on the bedroom chair, and even on the floor. But when we are in a cruise ship cabin we both keep everything absolutely tidy. Very strange :)

 

Hank

[shandryl]

I keep the cabin neat & tidy. The cabin stewards have enough to do

[WhansaMi]

Are you one who keeps their cabin neat and tidy or one who lets things pile up a bit when in a hotel room or ship's cabin? You okay with having the steward do the 'picking up' when he services your cabin each morning and evening? :)

 

We're on the neat side. I figure we've paid a lot of money for that cabin and we'd like to enjoy it to the max. Can't really enjoy it if it's a mess..... at least we can't. :D

 

How about you? Neat and tidy? A little more casual about picking up? How much 'picking up' should a cabin steward reasonably be expected to do?

 

 

(A thread on another forum got me to thinking about this.)

 

I am SO TOTALLY more organized and neat on the ship than I am at home. I think it has to do with the fact that there is a finite amount of stuff in the cabin. I find a home for everything on the first day, and everything goes back to its home immediately. I have a place designated for souveneirs, so anything new I bring back goes there.

 

Other than making the beds, the stewards have very little to do for us.

[siebelqueen]

We try to keep things neat and tidy. But this isn't always easy when traveling with an infant and a four year old. Since our sofa was pretty much blocked off by the pack and play for the baby, we used that as our catch all space and kept the rest of the cabin pretty neat.

[Arwen]

I always keep things neat and tidy. The stateroom is a small living space and if I didn't keep things that way, my hubby and I would be tripping over shoes, clothes, etc.

 

I avoid leaving a mess for the room stewards. I agree with others that it is not their jobs to pick up after me and my husband. I know that they have a lot of cabins to clean and it is enough that they vacuum, clean the bathroom, put out clean towels, etc.

 

My hubby and I own a truck camper. It is a 10' cab over. We have everything highly organized in there and that habit has carried over to when we cruise.

 

But our house? That is another story. The worse room in our house is our bedroom, disorganized to the max, ...but I am working on it. :rolleyes:

[cleo30]

i've really enjoyed reading this thread.

i can't quite pinpoint where i fit- neat or messy, but i do feel i'm the last line of defence for order, between my super relaxed DH and 2 self- obsessed teenage daughters!

all i can say in our/my defence is that we are fortunate to be in a place where all of us do have help to pick up after us... BUT this cruise is going to see some drastic ground rules. since all of four of us are going to be in the confines of one oceanview room (:eek:)- it will be neatness enforced for each. i do give sheer plastic folders to the girls for whatever they want to carry back home-schedules, ticket receipts etc, but since i end up storing them all en masse anyway, its never taken very seriously.

but this time...those three dont know what's waiting for them...'my way or the high way!':D

specially since i have always subscribed to what earlier posters have said- clutter free space= peaceful space!

[shoppern]

We TRY to be as neat as possible--We stack stuff and leave it on the sofa in the smallest piles possible if we can't put it into the closets. I save ALL the papers, and collect pamphlets wherever we go, also buy books, etc. Always straighten the beds before we leave the cabin in the morning, but don't formally "make" the beds. Don't want the cabin to look like an episode of "Hoarders" whenever the door is opened! The cabin stewards are cleaners, not personal maids!

[sail7seas]

Everyone has been really good sports to 'play with this thread'. Thanks.

I enjoyed reading the responses. :)

 

[bellebaby]

We are cabin dwellers.. more often than not one of us will be reading, snoozing, having a cup of tea, etc. in the cabin. Therefore we like to keep things neat and uncluttered. We enjoy our cabin.

 

For others who use it as a place to sleep and change for the next activity... maybe order is not as important...

 

I, too, tend to peer into open doors as I pass-by. Seeing chaos (an episode of Hoarders is a great comparison) makes me raise my eyebrows, at first, and then I remember that everyone is different...and they must be having a great time! :D

 

B

[themerle]

We're neat and tidy! IMO, the cabin seem larger when things are neat and tidy!

[erewhon]

We're neat and tidy! IMO, the cabin seem larger when things are neat and tidy!

 

So very true.

[NMLady]

I must admit that at home I allow clutter to accumulate until I can't stand it any longer (my husband is so patient!). However, when on a cruise I am so neat I'd hardly recognize myself. Perhaps it's because the ship is so beautiful that I just want to keep it that way.

 

The cabin stewards have so much work to do, I think it would be selfish of me to expect them to have to work around clutter and to pick up after me (or us, if my husband is with me).

 

That's me too. Our cabin is neater than our master bedroom at home. I reserve one drawer for all the papers that accumulate and drop them in there. I have a folder for receipts and the folder is in the 'paper drawer'.

We never leave clothes on the bed. We usually have something like hats or jackets on one end of the loveseat but everything else is hung away.

Other than wet/damp towels on the bathroom floor, we leave the bathroom in good condition with all our 'stuff' put away.

We don't like making extra work for the stewards since we know they have lots of room to service and also have other work too.

[Osmosis Jones]

I always do a quick tidy-up every time we leave the cabin - including straightening the bed - DH thinks I'm nutso, he may be right:confused::).

 

'A place for everything and everything in its place'. LOL.

 

I can't stand to waste time searching for things that have been misplaced, or worse, go to get something (like sunscreen) out of my bag when in port and it's NOT THERE! arghhh.

 

So we always unpack quickly but carefully and find a logical home for things and they are always returned ASAP (within reason).

 

This does not seem to apply to DH's shoes though.:mad:

I'm always picking them up off the floor out of the way, because HE will surely trip over them, even though HE was the one to leave them there!! LOL.

 

I also like to show my appreciation of the work the cabin stewards do by leaving them as little work as possible.