Do you have an assigned assistant Steward?

[CoffeHound]

Hi,

 

My family and I will be leaving on the Grand on December 30th for our second Princess Cruise (well for most of us). My sister and I did a way too short 4 day in September and we are looking forward to a more relaxed trip this time where we don't feel like we are trying to cram quite so much in to quite so little time.

 

Anyway, one of the things I liked about Princess was that there was a sort of "introduction card" showing us who our cabin steward was. It didn't occur to me until later that there was no assistant listed and we never did meet or were introduced to an assistant as we have been on our Celebrity cruises.

 

When it came time to tip at the end, I wasn't sure what to do since normally we tend to give a little to both the "head" steward and the assistant.

 

So was it just because it was such a short cruise or is it not the normal practice for the Steward to have a formal assistant on Princess? I would like to know from more experienced Princess cruisers what the norm is and how you handle any tip you wish to give i.e. give it all to your "head " Steward etc. I ended up giving one envelope to our assigned steward and hoping he would share as appropriate but wondered if that was the right way???

[1025cruise]

No assistants that I have seen on Princess.

[CoffeHound]

I feel better now as I didn't want to leave anyone out!

[moki'smommy]

No assistants on Princess....but I've never seen an assistant on any other line including Celebrity. There is a system where they cover for each other "after hours," but we've only ever had one person assigned to the cabin.

[cr8tiv1]

On turn around days, I was told that there was "an assistant" to help with the beds and bathrooms. These extras are not allowed in to the cabin if personal belongings are still stored.

 

Who pay? Do they share tips? But it is a lot of work on turn around days for one person.

[pjrockman]

Although no official assistant cabin stewards, I have found the other stewards in the immediate area very helpful if you need something when your steward isn't available. Good teamwork.

 

http://www.ehow.com/about_6563143_cabin-steward-job-description.html

 

Paul

[moki'smommy]

On turn around days, I was told that there was "an assistant" to help with the beds and bathrooms. These extras are not allowed in to the cabin if personal belongings are still stored.

 

Who pay? Do they share tips? But it is a lot of work on turn around days for one person.

 

These people who help on turn around days are not your room steward or your assistant anything. They are additional housekeeping staff for turn around. They have other duties during the time the ship is sailing. They are paid by the cruise line and are not a tipped position.

 

This is not significantly different than the fact that some servers become wheelchair pushers for embarkation/disembarkation. Many crew have different duties during the changeover period.

[donswife]

No assistants on Princess....but I've never seen an assistant on any other line including Celebrity. There is a system where they cover for each other "after hours' date='" but we've only ever had one person assigned to the cabin.[/quote']

 

 

We have had assistant stewards on HAL, and I think RCCL (it has been 6 years though, so could have changed).

[moki'smommy]

We have had assistant stewards on HAL, and I think RCCL (it has been 6 years though, so could have changed).

 

I've never cruised HAL, so I'll defer to your experience there. My lines in the last 5 years have been Princess, Celebrity, and Disney--no assistants on those 3. Other lines in the distant past, I sure don't remember assistants.

[SadieN]

We have had assistant stewards on HAL, and I think RCCL (it has been 6 years though, so could have changed).

 

 

Carnival also has assistants. The room steward has the option of having none, one or two (each doing one shift) assistants. One cruise our room steward shared an assistant with the adjacent room steward.

[Griller]

We have had assistant stewards on other lines, they tended to have 35 cabins between them, and one would do the bedroom area and one would do the bathrooms and later after sanitising, the ice buckets. We haven't been able to afford to travel on many lines other than Princess recently due to the poor economy so we don't know if that is still common or not.

[cr8tiv1]

These people who help on turn around days are not your room steward or your assistant anything. They are additional housekeeping staff for turn around. They have other duties during the time the ship is sailing. They are paid by the cruise line and are not a tipped position.

 

 

 

This is not significantly different than the fact that some servers become wheelchair pushers for embarkation/disembarkation. Many crew have different duties during the changeover period.

 

 

I placed the word "assistant" in quotes to designate that they were only used on turn around days. And, if I am not mistaken (but could be wrong), "housekeeping" crew are part of the tipping pool. I had one steward tell he that she often gave her "assistant" a couple of extra dollars.

[Pam in CA]

Princess stewards do have assistants but they do not interact with passengers so most people are not aware of them. I've seen them help the stewards with cabin cleaning but I believe more often, they help the stewards with supplies, trash, etc. You won't and don't have to meet them.

[skynight]

Hi,

 

When it came time to tip at the end, I wasn't sure what to do since normally we tend to give a little to both the "head" steward and the assistant.

Just so you know, each person will be charged a daily housekeeping fee* (autotip) which covers the tip for the cabin steward, any helpers, as well a wait staff in the DR's , buffet, and some other not so visible staff. You are welcome to provide an extra tip to your cabin steward if you like. We always do.

 

*For the Dec 30th cruise the charge should be $11.50/pp/day or $12/pp/day for passengers in mini or full suites. The charge will be increased for cruises sailing after January 1st, so you just made it at the lower cost.

[TracieABD]

Just so you know, each person will be charged a daily housekeeping fee* (autotip) which covers the tip for the cabin steward, any helpers, as well a wait staff in the DR's , buffet, and some other not so visible staff. You are welcome to provide an extra tip to your cabin steward if you like. We always do.

 

*For the Dec 30th cruise the charge should be $11.50/pp/day or $12/pp/day for passengers in mini or full suites. The charge will be increased for cruises sailing after January 1st, so you just made it at the lower cost.

 

The stewards on the ship are so hard working, I am truly glad they have increased the auto-tip. I have no problem with the $1.45 per person per day increase.

[OCruisers]

The only help our cabin stewards on Princess ships have seemed to have from others was bringing extra supplies ... sort of like a "bar back" in lounges/bars.

Edited December 8, 2015 by OCruisers

[GUT2407]

Never had an asst Stewart on any Princess cruise.