How many cabins does 1 attendent look after?

[cle-guy]

Cle Guy,

 

Thanks for the earlier breakdown. We are in Aqua on the Silouhette next week and I was planning on tipping extra if the service is "good". I THINK the pre-paid tips in the 123-Go were valued at $161, which I assume only covers the Waiter, Asst. waiter, and Cabin attendant. (The math based on your numbers roughly ties out).

 

Question: Does this mean the ppd. gratuities does not include the assistant cabin attendant? I'm assuming the service will be good so I'd like to be appropriately generous without going overboard (so to speak).

 

Thanks,

Shane (also in CLE)

 

Yes, my recap is what the "prepaid Gratuities" the 123 perk covers for this with it, or where the cash goes for those of us who book are and don't get 123 perks. I may be missing 50 cents someplace from when the gratuities increased a year or so ago.

 

As noted in this thread, it's unclear if at the asst. cabin steward shares the $3.50 a day or gets the $1.25 "other service personnel" earmark.

[cle-guy]

Cle-Guy, while this may seem like higher pay on the surface, most land based housekeepers work 40 hours and have 2 days off each week. Cabin Attendants work 7 days a week for months at a time, all while working multiple shifts in a day, which easily add up to 10+ hours. Probably even more on Embarkation day.

 

In many large hotels in the country, these hours/shifts would warrant over-time and double-time. Not to mention paid vacation and sick time.

 

I honestly don't have a clue what the yearly income of a cabin steward is, so I'm not going to make a statement as to whether they are paid enough or not. Just wanted to throw that other perspective in there.

 

Also factor in that sea-based crew have no overhead costs, while a housekeeper on land has to pay her rent, electric, gas, car, car insurance, transportation etc.

 

And also, not all housekeepers work a 40 hour week and get benefits. They often clock in closer to 35 hours a week in reality, which puts them a the "part time" cut-off for benefits in many cases, but for national chains.

 

Cabin stewards also have the ability to work for several months on ship, then take several months off or take those months off ship and find a land-based job between contracts.

 

I's a combination lifestyle choice, financial choice, and cultural choice for people who elect to work on a crusie ship instead of a land based operation.

[brfan]

Also factor in that sea-based crew have no overhead costs, while a housekeeper on land has to pay her rent, electric, gas, car, car insurance, transportation etc.

 

And also, not all housekeepers work a 40 hour week and get benefits. They often clock in closer to 35 hours a week in reality, which puts them a the "part time" cut-off for benefits in many cases, but for national chains.

 

Cabin stewards also have the ability to work for several months on ship, then take several months off or take those months off ship and find a land-based job between contracts.

 

I's a combination lifestyle choice, financial choice, and cultural choice for people who elect to work on a crusie ship instead of a land based operation.

 

I disagree about the ship crew having no overhead costs. They have rent/mortgage; utilities, etc., to pay back home. They may have minimal costs on board but they do have costs back home that need to be paid.

[cle-guy]

I disagree about the ship crew having no overhead costs. They have rent/mortgage; utilities, etc., to pay back home. They may have minimal costs on board but they do have costs back home that need to be paid.

 

If they choose to do so...

 

I worked in the traveling exhibit business from 1996-2013. I had several key staff who "traveled with" the exhibit, not going home as it moved city to city. While some off them did have to maintain homes etc. at home, most had zero home overhead, they packed it all up in a storage unit and paid the $100 a month rent there and did away with car, utilities and all other costs one has at home. 2 of my managers managed to sock away over $100,000 over several years working for me, then opened their own coffee shop once they got their roots established.

 

Living on someone else's dime for a lengthy period of time (X providing room and board), having a job where you have little need to spend any of the money you earn, is a GREAT way to save a lot of money quickly.

[fleckle]

I disagree about the ship crew having no overhead costs. They have rent/mortgage; utilities, etc., to pay back home. They may have minimal costs on board but they do have costs back home that need to be paid.

It depends on the individual's circumstances.

Some need to support families back home, but others are young, single people with no responsibilities who are enjoying an opportunity to travel around the world that they would never have otherwise.

 

We have spoken with several who save and bank as much of their earnings as possible in hopes of starting their own business back home in a few years.

 

On a cruise to Hawaii I was chatting with a young woman from Rumania who was absolutely thrilled to have her job as a bartender on the ship. She was loving the opportunity to travel and meet people from around the world. She said that she had never even been out of her small village before.

 

Also, it seems that advancement opportunities on the cruise ships are quite good as they promote from within.

When we have the chance to talk with head waiters, future cruise sales reps, guest relations staff, activities staff and such, they often say that they started out as assistant stateroom attendants or assistant waiters or some behind-the-scenes position and worked their way up.

 

We have asked where those from non-English speaking countries learned English, and were told that many took English as a second language in school. But they always let us know that English language tutorials are provided on the ships and the crew is encouraged to take advantage of them because speaking fluid English is a great asset for promotion.

 

[Priya2]

If they choose to do so...

The majority of staff working on Cruise ships are from very poor countries. They work abroad and in the cruise industry in order to keep their families back home. I'm accutely aware that they only get to go home for a visit every four months. That is their life for many years. 'Choice' is a very different concept if you come from a country with few laws giving employment rights, social security or even decent human rights.

[LabGuy64]

Curt.....

 

Do you know why a Suite butler gets less athe aqua steward?

 

The breakdown of the Automatic Daily Gratuity is as follows:

• Waiter - $3.65 pp/per day
  
• Ass't. Waiter - $2.10 pp/per day
  
• DR Mgm't. - $1.00 pp/per day
  
• Stateroom Service - Amount varies based on cabin category occupied:
  
  • Suite Butler $3.50 pp/per day (cabin steward ALSO gets $3.50)
    
  • Aqua Cabin Steward - $4.00 pp/per day
    
  • Concierge Class Cabin Steward - $4.00 pp/per day
    
  • Regular Stateroom Cabin Steward - $3.50 pp/per day.
    

  [*]Other service personnel: $1.25 pp/per day

 

Cabin steward gets $3.50 per person per day from the allocated tips.

 

One post says they clean 24 cabins in a day.

 

24 x $3.50 x 7 day cruise x 2 people in cabin = $1176 per week in gratuities, annualizes to $61,152 should they employee choose to work a full year and renew contracts with no breaks.

[EatonDoolittle]

On a recent AK Princess cruise our room steward had to service 20 cabins and never had an assistent except on embarkation day.

On X Millennium, a week later, our steward was in charge for 19 cabins together with assistent for entire cruise

 

On X, the stewards also have to take care of room service (food) deliveries.

I was horrified when my room steward on the Eclipse a bit ago brought my dinner...Ugh, going from cleaning toilets to food delivery on the same shift??!!!!

 

Maybe not literally, but still, it sure turned me off of room service for the rest of the trip, and any future X sailings.

[Project_gal]

Curt.....

 

Do you know why a Suite butler gets less athe aqua steward?

 

Because, with a suite, the butler looks after the guest and the stateroom attendants look after the room. In Aqua Class, the stateroom attendant does it all.

[cle-guy]

Curt.....

 

Do you know why a Suite butler gets less athe aqua steward?

 

Because Aqua Class has only a steward (no butler), and they deliver the afternoon savories, keep the water and tea stocked etc. (things Butler in a suite typically handles) that stewards in standard cabins don't tend to.

 

In a suite, you have BOTH a butler AND a steward, thus the steward gets standard tip, and butler gets a separate tip. Steward handles only room cleaning, Butler handles the F&B parts of the cabin.

[LabGuy64]

You know....

 

I really wish that all this was no longer an issue. Auto tipping etc. the issue of the wages of the service staff (in my opinion) should be between Celebrity and the staff. They have a situation now where they are putting this on the backs of the passengers rather than Management. I come on board for a relaxing getaway....and let me tell you I work harder than the staff....and we have to pay a direct TAX by the company to suppliment the staff wages plus the whole issue of deciding if we need to tip on top of what has been taken...(which I believe most do...and generously)

It's not so much the money....I just don't want to be involved in the process....I feel they should stop "auto tipping" pay the staff a wage in the range they get now....if they bump up the cruise cost price a tad so be it. And in the future let the staff negotiate with management to determine their pay. And IF someone goes out of their way for me...I might choose to tip them. Celebrity is just taking the burdon of dealing with the staff (at least partially) off their own backs and putting it on us....It is actually very clever as so many of us knowing, the base pay is low, and feeling sorry for the poor hard working service service staff, end up giving them nice tips on top of the auto tip ......Celebrity ends up with happy staff that gets good pay for what they do ....Celebrity does not have the hassle of negotiating pay rates with them....and the passengers directly pay a large portion of staff salary at no cost to Celebrity.

Not sure about some of the tax implications for Celebrity but, I would guess that as food and lodgings for the staff have a certain imputed value as part of the wages of staff they also get to write off the amount on corporate taxes at a rate well above their hard costs. All in all ...very sweet for Celebrity.

Edited March 16, 2015 by LabGuy64

[Priya2]

You know....

 

I really wish that all this was no longer an issue. Auto tipping etc. the issue of the wages of the service staff (in my opinion) should be between Celebrity and the staff. They have a situation now where they are putting this on the backs of the passengers rather than Management. I come on board for a relaxing getaway....and let me tell you I work harder than the staff....and we have to pay a direct TAX by the company to suppliment the staff wages plus the whole issue of deciding if we need to tip on top of what has been taken...(which I believe most do...and generously)

It's not so much the money....I just don't want to be involved in the process....I feel they should stop "auto tipping" pay the staff a wage in the range they get now....if they bump up the cruise cost price a tad so be it. And in the future let the staff negotiate with management to determine their pay. And IF someone goes out of their way for me...I might choose to tip them. Celebrity is just taking the burdon of dealing with the staff (at least partially) off their own backs and putting it on us....It is actually very clever as so many of us knowing, the base pay is low, and feeling sorry for the poor hard working service service staff, end up giving them nice tips on top of the auto tip ......Celebrity ends up with happy staff that gets good pay for what they do ....Celebrity does not have the hassle of negotiating pay rates with them....and the passengers directly pay a large portion of staff salary at no cost to Celebrity.

Not sure about some of the tax implications for Celebrity but, I would guess that as food and lodgings for the staff have a certain imputed value as part of the wages of staff they also get to write off the amount on corporate taxes at a rate well above their hard costs. All in all ...very sweet for Celebrity.

 

I prefer the current system. It means I don't have to think about tipping on a day-to-day basis, but just give extra to the Steward etc at the end if the cruise.

[LabGuy64]

What i am saying is.....give a slight bupm the the cost of the cruise...or let Celebrity absorb the cost out of profit.....then you DON'T worry about daily tipping.....thew staff gets a decent wage from the company....not you....if you CHOOSE to tip fine...but it would no longer be an obligation

 

I prefer the current system. It means I don't have to think about tipping on a day-to-day basis, but just give extra to the Steward etc at the end if the cruise.

[cle-guy]

You know....

 

I really wish that all this was no longer an issue. Auto tipping etc. the issue of the wages of the service staff (in my opinion) should be between Celebrity and the staff. They have a situation now where they are putting this on the backs of the passengers rather than Management. I come on board for a relaxing getaway....and let me tell you I work harder than the staff....and we have to pay a direct TAX by the company to suppliment the staff wages plus the whole issue of deciding if we need to tip on top of what has been taken...(which I believe most do...and generously)

It's not so much the money....I just don't want to be involved in the process....I feel they should stop "auto tipping" pay the staff a wage in the range they get now....if they bump up the cruise cost price a tad so be it. And in the future let the staff negotiate with management to determine their pay. And IF someone goes out of their way for me...I might choose to tip them. Celebrity is just taking the burdon of dealing with the staff (at least partially) off their own backs and putting it on us....It is actually very clever as so many of us knowing, the base pay is low, and feeling sorry for the poor hard working service service staff, end up giving them nice tips on top of the auto tip ......Celebrity ends up with happy staff that gets good pay for what they do ....Celebrity does not have the hassle of negotiating pay rates with them....and the passengers directly pay a large portion of staff salary at no cost to Celebrity.

Not sure about some of the tax implications for Celebrity but, I would guess that as food and lodgings for the staff have a certain imputed value as part of the wages of staff they also get to write off the amount on corporate taxes at a rate well above their hard costs. All in all ...very sweet for Celebrity.

 

Me, I go only with the auto gratuities, unless I get superior service, or ask a butler to do several parties. I have no qualms about not leaving additional cash, thus how I continue to bring to the front the value of the tips staff get and feel no guilt.

 

And i could care less if my cruise fare is $1000 plus $15/day gratuity x 7 days = $1105 or if my initial cabin fare is $1105 (well, actually this would likely become $1150 in order to cover the extra tax withholdings etc. on the wage base). However the company chooses to account for this amount makes no matter to me. If they want to "earmark" a portion and call it gratuities, so be it. If they want to mark a portion "port fees" so be it.

 

There are some taxes that are levied on "gross receipts" and others levied on "net profits". By itemizing out Gratuities on the invoice, they are in effect a reimbursement, and thus not considered "income" and as such, would not be subject to taxes levied on Gross Receipts. However, regardless of how gratuities are accounted for, the effect would be the same for taxes levied on Net Profits.

 

Another factor, would be if they took all tipped staff to standard wages, most other ship departments would see that as a pay raise, and not see it as just reallocating tips, so that could cause a lot of grief among staff groups.

 

The write-offs for lodging and other costs will happen either way. If they were subject to US tax laws, they would have to include the value of the provided room and board value into their paychecks, and levy standard taxes on that amount. However, ships don;t' follow US tax regulations relative to operations unless they are a US flagged ship, traveling from US to US ports only with no stops at foreign ports (typically this only happens in Hawaii).

 

Th "burden" of paying the staff gratuities is till on Celebrity with the gratuity payment system, they take our money and pay it out to staff. If it was included in the fare, they'd have our money, just not itemized it on our invoice, and pay it out to the staff.

 

Bottom line, what does it matter to anyone if my crusie fare is invoiced as:

$1000 cruise fare

$105 gratuities

------

$1105 Payment due

 

or

 

$1105 cabin fare

------

$1105 Payment due

 

It's the same either way. Anyone who wants a relaxing vacation and not to have to think of tipping while on board: prepay gratuities, which would have the exact same effect as if they were included in the cabin fare. Don't like to see the itemized gratuity amount, don't look at your itemized invoice, just look at your credit card statement for the payment. Problem solved.

 

Truth of the matter is, if cruise ships started paying their staff as if they were all US based employees, and following US based labor and wage regulations, the industry would cease to exist, we passengers would not be pleased with the fares we'd have to be charged and demand would plummet. Kind of like why there are just no 100% all inclusive resorts on US soil, while they are all over the caribbean. From reading various articles, this is why there are so few (perhaps only 1 single?) cruise ship that does cruises around Hawaii without calling on a "distant foreign port". There were more in the past, but it was too costly and demand too low, so most ships pulled out of Hawaii only cruises.

 

What i am saying is.....give a slight bupm the the cost of the cruise...or let Celebrity absorb the cost out of profit.....then you DON'T worry about daily tipping.....thew staff gets a decent wage from the company....not you....if you CHOOSE to tip fine...but it would no longer be an obligation

 

As a shareholder, the cruise line should be doing anything they can to ENHANCE profits, not take away from them. This would be fiduciarily irresponsible.

 

Don't you understand that no matter how it works, it's still YOU and I paying the tip, regardless if it's itemized out, or of cabin fares increased? You realize cabin fares need to increase exactly as much (likely even more due to tax implications) dollar for dollar versus us paying the auto amount? Also we can choose to pull tips if we are really so ticked pff by them (unless prepaid then they are final).

Edited March 16, 2015 by cle-guy

[BrendaJ]

24 x $3.50 x 7 day cruise x 2 people in cabin = $1176 per week in gratuities, annualizes to $61,152 should they employee choose to work a full year and renew contracts with no breaks.

 

For anyone who thinks that the cabin staff are overpaid, I would suggest thinking about the following:

• Even assuming a steward is responsible for 24 cabins on a cruise, I believe their gratuity amount is shared with their assistant, at least that is what some have told me. I thought the "additional staff" gratuity went to the head housekeeper, etc.
  
• $61,152 may sound like a whole lot of money for someone in a third world country (even if split in two) and it appears most staff send the majority of their money home. However, those on the ship still need to pay for internet, transportation while in port to purchase personal items (at an inflated tourist cost at most ports), phone calls home, etc. Not to mention, most cabin staff fly home for a few months each year or else they don't see their family at all. Many of them have children - can you imagine not seeing them for nine months? Can you imagine working 12 hour days without a full day off for months at a time?
  
• While working, cabin staff have very little free time. If they have a split shift and a few hours off in the afternoon, many just have a nap. Most rise very early and retire very late. There's a reason you don't see many older cabin staff - it's a very tough job with little time off. You have to be young, strong and energetic to be able to handle it
  
• Those that stiff the staff when it comes to gratuities also affect the income of shipboard staff and I'm guessing it happens more than we'd like to believe.
  

 

The bottom line is, if the job were that great and the opportunity better than what hotel staff on land could expect, unemployed people from North America would apply in droves. I think most of us would just not have the energy, nor the demeanor to tolerate spoiled, entitled tourists without ever losing their cool.

 

My heart goes out to all of the staff on board, as not even the most glorified job on the ship is easy. I had several dinners with a cruise director on Azamara, and her phone was going off every 5 minutes. She could barely eat a bite before someone needed her to go off and do something. Someone I worked with at home used to work in Human Resources on a ship, and she said while on board, she never got more than 4 hours of sleep in a row.

 

I have to admit I keep a few 10's and 20's at the end of a cruise and slip them to people vacuuming the stairs, manning restrooms or cleaning the deck chairs. For the little that money means to me, it could mean a lot to someone exhausted and missing their family.

[jaydeemdm2015]

I'm a former manager for Marriott. I've cleaned hundreds if not thousands of hotel rooms myself, and inspected thousands of them.

 

Housekeepers were assigned between 16 and 21 rooms to clean per day, in a land based hotel. Typically about 30 minutes is assigned per room to clean. The difference in number of rooms comes up when a housekeeper may have all stayovers, then they can handle a few extra rooms, of if they have a large suite or 2 on the list, they need to lose a couple rooms. Standard was 18 rooms on an 8 hour shift.

 

Housekeepers did not get assistants, though they did have a porter to pickup dirty laundry and garbage, and redeliver clean linens thru their shift. A big difference on a ship versus land hotel, is the cabin is smaller (Marriott Hotel city center hotel, has standard guest room of 234 sq ft, standard Ocean View cabin is 175 sq. ft) than normal hotel, and check out only happens once every 7 days, which is the cleaning that requires the most effort.

 

We tried allowing staff to "tag team" and work as a team, however productivity went down enough to determine that it didn't make sense to continue the practice.

A "stayover" cabin with does not get sheets changed, can be properly serviced in less than 10 minutes. If it's sheet change day, add another 3 or 4 minutes.

 

So while Ship stewards do 2 a day cabin cleanings they are doing about half the effort of a land-based hotel in each cabin serviced, but for turn-around day.

 

Your quite wrong on the amount cabin stewards do. They completely clean rooms every day including bed linen daily not every cruise but daily regardless. That's been the case for every cruise I've travelled on

[cle-guy]

For anyone who thinks that the cabin staff are overpaid, I would suggest thinking about the following:

• Even assuming a steward is responsible for 24 cabins on a cruise, I believe their gratuity amount is shared with their assistant, at least that is what some have told me. I thought the "additional staff" gratuity went to the head housekeeper, etc.
  
• $61,152 may sound like a whole lot of money for someone in a third world country (even if split in two) and it appears most staff send the majority of their money home. However, those on the ship still need to pay for internet, transportation while in port to purchase personal items (at an inflated tourist cost at most ports), phone calls home, etc. Not to mention, most cabin staff fly home for a few months each year or else they don't see their family at all. Many of them have children - can you imagine not seeing them for nine months? Can you imagine working 12 hour days without a full day off for months at a time?
  
• While working, cabin staff have very little free time. If they have a split shift and a few hours off in the afternoon, many just have a nap. Most rise very early and retire very late. There's a reason you don't see many older cabin staff - it's a very tough job with little time off. You have to be young, strong and energetic to be able to handle it
  
• Those that stiff the staff when it comes to gratuities also affect the income of shipboard staff and I'm guessing it happens more than we'd like to believe.
  

 

The bottom line is, if the job were that great and the opportunity better than what hotel staff on land could expect, unemployed people from North America would apply in droves. I think most of us would just not have the energy, nor the demeanor to tolerate spoiled, entitled tourists without ever losing their cool.

 

The problem we americans have in these arguments, is we assume our lifestyle is the end all be all for the rest of the world, and we like to think the rest of the world needs to work like we do. It doesn't.

 

For US citizens, working on a Crusie ship is not going to make you rich, but will let you save your money. If you are hired on from the slums in India, you will be come RICH beyond your imagination after a few cruses.

 

Crusie ship work isn't; for everyone, if you have kids or family at home, not the best idea. If young and single, a great idea. Just likely a minimum wage McDonald's job should't be seen as a career if one wants to get rich, remaining a cabin steward on a ship isn't a lifelong career that will make you rich. Truth is some careers and jobs are meant for entry level staff and not as a way to provide for an entire family, others require time and experience in order to gain benefits and wages.

 

Each human no matter what country we re from, can make a decision to accept the pay scale, the benefits, and the difficulties with ship life. It's an individual decision, and not one I as an american citizen need to be making for another.

 

Ys crew spend some money while traveling, buying toiletries, clothing etc. These would still need purchased at home. And many ports provide discounts for crew of ships, so we can't assume all those come at a premium cost to the staff. I;ve been in NYC Times square, hanging with friends who are stagehands. go to any bar in the neighborhood, and as a theatre staff member, you drink 2 for 1 pricing. Walk in off the street as a tourist, you pay full price.

 

I;ve done work that required me to be at a venue at 8 am, stay till 10 pm, and do this for several weeks with no days off. Everyone chooses their own career and job, and takes both he perks and tot downfalls that come with it.

 

Who are we to be all high and mighty and so condescending that we need to take pity upon the poor, overworked cruise staff. Anyone of us who thinks our cabin steward is overworked, simply tell them next cruise you need no service the entire cruise, you'll just grab a few towels daily from them. Actually DO something about it, don't just talk about it.

 

When we consider wages of countries outside the US, we can;t just talk about currency converted to USD. You also need to consider government subsidies, local taxes, government provided insurance and services, local custom and commodity pricing. When I worked in Egypt for example, my staff received what they felt was a great wage - $200 a MONTH (yes, two-hundred a month). They had good clothes, iPhones etc. The government subsidized so much of their living expenses, their meager (compared to us) earned ages covered plenty of fun and allowed them to live as their peers lived.

Edited March 16, 2015 by cle-guy

[cle-guy]

Your quite wrong on the amount cabin stewards do. They completely clean rooms every day including bed linen daily not every cruise but daily regardless. That's been the case for every cruise I've travelled on

 

You need to take a recent cruise on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. Several threads indicate sheets being changed mid crusie only (unless requested otherwise) on short itineraries.

 

They do MAKE HE BED, but don't change sheets.

 

Same process applies these days in hotels, even 5 star hotels. Linen washing is seen as bad for the environment, thus hospitality business now do not change sheets daily.

 

And anyone who thinks their entire carpet floor is vacuumed daily, and that dusting happened behind the TV daily and that all walls are wiped daily, are terribly mistaken.

 

Hospitality housekeeplking is based on doing a small chore each day and after several days, each chore was completed.

 

I also notice your cruise history is based on European based lines, customs do vary from UK and Europe to US based ships.

Edited March 16, 2015 by cle-guy

[Catwell]

For anyone who thinks that the cabin staff are overpaid, I would suggest thinking about the following:

• Even assuming a steward is responsible for 24 cabins on a cruise, I believe their gratuity amount is shared with their assistant, at least that is what some have told me. I thought the "additional staff" gratuity went to the head housekeeper, etc.
  
• $61,152 may sound like a whole lot of money for someone in a third world country (even if split in two) and it appears most staff send the majority of their money home. However, those on the ship still need to pay for internet, transportation while in port to purchase personal items (at an inflated tourist cost at most ports), phone calls home, etc. Not to mention, most cabin staff fly home for a few months each year or else they don't see their family at all. Many of them have children - can you imagine not seeing them for nine months? Can you imagine working 12 hour days without a full day off for months at a time?
  
• While working, cabin staff have very little free time. If they have a split shift and a few hours off in the afternoon, many just have a nap. Most rise very early and retire very late. There's a reason you don't see many older cabin staff - it's a very tough job with little time off. You have to be young, strong and energetic to be able to handle it
  
• Those that stiff the staff when it comes to gratuities also affect the income of shipboard staff and I'm guessing it happens more than we'd like to believe.
  

 

The bottom line is, if the job were that great and the opportunity better than what hotel staff on land could expect, unemployed people from North America would apply in droves. I think most of us would just not have the energy, nor the demeanor to tolerate spoiled, entitled tourists without ever losing their cool.

 

My heart goes out to all of the staff on board, as not even the most glorified job on the ship is easy. I had several dinners with a cruise director on Azamara, and her phone was going off every 5 minutes. She could barely eat a bite before someone needed her to go off and do something. Someone I worked with at home used to work in Human Resources on a ship, and she said while on board, she never got more than 4 hours of sleep in a row.

 

I have to admit I keep a few 10's and 20's at the end of a cruise and slip them to people vacuuming the stairs, manning restrooms or cleaning the deck chairs. For the little that money means to me, it could mean a lot to someone exhausted and missing their family.

 

I agree! Compassion for those who work under the ship conditions is important. BTW, the cabin stewards also clean the crew cabins...

[jaydeemdm2015]

You need to take a recent cruise on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. Several threads indicate sheets being changed mid crusie only (unless requested otherwise) on short itineraries.

 

They do MAKE HE BED, but don't change sheets.

 

Same process applies these days in hotels, even 5 star hotels. Linen washing is seen as bad for the environment, thus hospitality business now do not change sheets daily.

 

And anyone who thinks their entire carpet floor is vacuumed daily, and that dusting happened behind the TV daily and that all walls are wiped daily, are terribly mistaken.

 

Hospitality housekeeplking is based on doing a small chore each day and after several days, each chore was completed.

 

I also notice your cruise history is based on European based lines, customs do vary from UK and Europe to US based ships.

 

Fair enough European cruise companies must set higher standards I guess. It has been a while since I travelled on American lines. That said my family came back from a celebrity transatlantic cruise last year and had a daily linen change so maybe it varies based on itineraries or something.

 

Same goes for hotels in the UK and Europe being changed daily.

Edited March 16, 2015 by jaydeemdm2015

[20pluscruises]

i believe your cabin steward has a team of five...I say this because we had to run back to the room during muster drill and our cabin steward and his team were standing together in the hall. The next section also had a team of five. However, I do not know the number of rooms in each section.

[cle-guy]

Fair enough European cruise companies must set higher standards I guess. It has been a while since I travelled on American lines. That said my family came back from a celebrity transatlantic cruise last year and had a daily linen change so maybe it varies based on itineraries or something.

 

Same goes for hotels in the UK and Europe being changed daily.

 

I stay at Marriott hotels generally, stayed a couple months all said in London.

• Marriott Canary Wharf
  
• Marriott County Hall
  
• W Leicester Square
  
• Some random Holiday inn
  

 

Also spent decent time in Austria and Madrid, but can not recall the linen frequency at those hotels.

 

All of these hotels have cards on/near the bed indicating that linens are changed every other day. If you would like linens changed outside that schedule, there is a card one places on the bed to indicate changing linens.

 

As far back as 1995/1996 it was SOP to change linens every-other-day at Marriott Properties (I left Marriott in late 1996).

[parallax]

The problem we americans have in these arguments, is we assume our lifestyle is the end all be all for the rest of the world, and we like to think the rest of the world needs to work like we do. It doesn't.

 

For US citizens, working on a Crusie ship is not going to make you rich, but will let you save your money. If you are hired on from the slums in India, you will be come RICH beyond your imagination after a few cruses.

 

Crusie ship work isn't; for everyone, if you have kids or family at home, not the best idea. If young and single, a great idea. Just likely a minimum wage McDonald's job should't be seen as a career if one wants to get rich, remaining a cabin steward on a ship isn't a lifelong career that will make you rich. Truth is some careers and jobs are meant for entry level staff and not as a way to provide for an entire family, others require time and experience in order to gain benefits and wages.

 

Each human no matter what country we re from, can make a decision to accept the pay scale, the benefits, and the difficulties with ship life. It's an individual decision, and not one I as an american citizen need to be making for another.

 

Ys crew spend some money while traveling, buying toiletries, clothing etc. These would still need purchased at home. And many ports provide discounts for crew of ships, so we can't assume all those come at a premium cost to the staff. I;ve been in NYC Times square, hanging with friends who are stagehands. go to any bar in the neighborhood, and as a theatre staff member, you drink 2 for 1 pricing. Walk in off the street as a tourist, you pay full price.

 

I;ve done work that required me to be at a venue at 8 am, stay till 10 pm, and do this for several weeks with no days off. Everyone chooses their own career and job, and takes both he perks and tot downfalls that come with it.

 

Who are we to be all high and mighty and so condescending that we need to take pity upon the poor, overworked cruise staff. Anyone of us who thinks our cabin steward is overworked, simply tell them next cruise you need no service the entire cruise, you'll just grab a few towels daily from them. Actually DO something about it, don't just talk about it.

 

When we consider wages of countries outside the US, we can;t just talk about currency converted to USD. You also need to consider government subsidies, local taxes, government provided insurance and services, local custom and commodity pricing. When I worked in Egypt for example, my staff received what they felt was a great wage - $200 a MONTH (yes, two-hundred a month). They had good clothes, iPhones etc. The government subsidized so much of their living expenses, their meager (compared to us) earned ages covered plenty of fun and allowed them to live as their peers lived.

 

To be sympathetic does not mean one is high and mighty. It is a hard job and why shouldn't one care? To a certain degree, they have made a choice. However, when it is the only realistic option for some it is not much of a choice. There are too many broad brush strokes made when it comes to these sorts of discussions. For every Romanian bartender who wants to practice her English and see the world, there are cruise staff with wives and kids supporting their extended family.

 

I also think the raw numbers argument is troubling. As the saying goes, there are lies, damn lies and statistic. Numbers in the abstract can sound impressive. One should read Time on the Cross by Fogel and Engerman and see how economists can pervert statistics to argue a class of people are not as bad off as one thinks.

 

I have a friend who was a former cruise ship captain. He left the business because he was sick of the separation from his family. Over the years, he told me many stories from his time as a cruise ship captain; many of which were quite funny. One of the things he did mention was how tough the hotel workers and able seamen had it. He said most of them were married and were not only supporting their immediate family but also their extended family. While their job allows their families to have a home with electricity and running water and provides their kids the ability to go to school, they are also often providing for their parents and grandparents. They pay for all the medical bills when someone is sick. A cruise line does not provide health insurance. In addition, they have to pay all the fees associated with working in the industry (seafarer IDs, health certificates etc.). Some of these organizations are corrupt and bribes are required to grease the skids.

 

I appreciate the cruise staff and so I try to be as respectful as possible. It is a difficult job that they do extremely well. I will continue to tip them in addition to the standard gratuity.

[spookwife]

Not really that many when you consider how many a maid looks after in a hotel, the big difference is that t6he Steward does your room twice a day.

 

on a FULL day (every room booked, all housekeepers scheduled) I NEVER had more than 10-12 doubles( 2 beds per room)

[DinaS]

On X, the stewards also have to take care of room service (food) deliveries.

I was horrified when my room steward on the Eclipse a bit ago brought my dinner...Ugh, going from cleaning toilets to food delivery on the same shift??!!!!

 

Maybe not literally, but still, it sure turned me off of room service for the rest of the trip, and any future X sailings.

 

It turned you off room service because your room steward also delivered your food?

 

How about when he puts new towels out, or new pillowcases on your bed? Your face touches them.

 

How about when he puts ice in your ice bucket, or brings you new glasses?

 

What is the difference between filling your ice bucket, replenishing your glasses, putting new sheets and pillowcases on your bed, putting towels out, and delivering room service?

 

So you will never get room service on any Celebrity cruises in the future? Then why bother going on Celebrity? Pick another line and see if it's any different.