Curious incident final night of my 1st princess cruise

[RiotAct]

If i were your husband I'd be worried about this Stewart guy .....

 

Ladies and gentlemen... fasten your seatbelts.... ROD STEWART!!!

[poncho1965]

I had a room steward who helped himself to my bottle of Crown Royal once. It was 20% full so I ordered a new one after dinner. Sitting new bottle next to old the color was off, after a taste test I found he drank some then refilled the bottle with water. There is no other explanation. I view this with a chuckle and a smile, hey, he needed a drink :-) In retrospect he would have been better off just drinking it and not refilling, I would not have noticed LOL.

[Sandy R]

NewCruzer... I hear your dismay. I, too, would not like a steward to handle our clothes or move our things around.

 

We've been on dozens of Princess cruises and have never had a problem with a steward. Communication is key! If the steward is doing a good job, let him know. Everyone likes a complement. If there's something you want him to do differently, politely let him know. The stewards work hard to please but if you feel they've overstepped their bounds, speak to them rather than going to the Purser's Office. Treating the steward with dignity and respect, goes a long way.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Sandy R

[CI66774]

If it had been Rod Stewart, I would have let him re-arrange, fondle, cuddle with, etc. all of my clothes!:D

Edited March 9, 2016 by CI66774

[Cruise Raider]

No wonder your steward took your wire hangers - he thought they were ship hangers!

 

There's no need for anyone to pack extra hangers to take on a cruise. All you have to do is ask your steward the first day for more hangers and he will bring you some wire hangers. When people get their clothes back from the ship's laundry, the wire hangers that the clothes came back on are collected at the end of the cruise and reused by the next passengers who board. We always ask for a couple dozen wire hangers as I like most of my clothes hanging in the closet.

 

When we are close to home, we just pack in carry on luggage and do not hang the clothes as they are arranged in the bags that morning. In those situations, we request the hangers. But for long haul cruises we pack our clothes on hangers in the suitcase. Unpacking time -- 7 minutes tops! Everything goes from the suitcase into the closet in a snap. In the case where our steward took all our hangers between two cruises ... unpacking for the second half of our trip was not quite as quick. No harm, no foul. I know I could have asked him for the hangers back, we just don't like to add any additional work for him/her around turn around day.

[Cruise Raider]

I'm sure I have it somewhere! Will have to look. To this day I still hide my nightgown. :D

 

Yes, but is there really a place to hide it that the room steward cannot access while you are not in the room? :eek:

Just kidding!! :D

 

Not sure if anyone remembers this but Princess used to have a strict policy about their pool towels. You got two in your room and none were available on deck. This was over about a 3 year time period and it used to drive me crazy as I would never try to steal anything. Anyhow, you had to bring your used wet towels back to the room with you after visiting the pool. We had a terrible room steward once that accused us of not bringing our pool towels back to the room, however, I distinctly remember that we had. She said she had to pay for them. I asked her 'now, is there really anywhere in this entire cabin where we could hide two pool towels, that you don't have access to?'. I mean really .... if you have access to it, they have access to it. Good thing she never found that secret compartment that we built into the cabin wall. :eek::D

[Blondilu]

In this kind of job (room steward), I am sure it can be tough finding that sweet spot between too much and too little. I can just imagine they get it from both sides of the coin. Clear communication is the key.

 

I try not to make their job tougher by letting them know in advance of any special needs or just giving them the benefit of the doubt if something goes wrong. Short of out and out thievery.

 

If I don't want something touched I don't leave it out. Going into drawers would be a no-no as far as I'm concerned. That would be like getting into my suitcase. But everything left out is fair game to be touched or re-arranged as necessary for the steward to do their job. This includes the closet since it's open. This is my opinion, of course. And based on my being kind of messy and un-tidy to begin with.

 

Regarding the DND sign, are you sure it didn't fall off the door? Or get turned around as a prank? Very difficult to tell if the steward ignored it or if it wasn't the way you left it so they couldn't tell.

[MJSailors]

I wonder if your steward (that's steward) knew my Stewart?

 

Maybe,I think his name was Stuart.

[alwalaska]

Just a thought, the steward may have saw you leaving and walking down the hall to dinner and new you weren't in the room. Wanted to get the room cleaned and figured you put the sign the wrong way. If you would have been in the room and the dead bolt turned he would not enter. Thats what we do. I have never put out the do not disturb sign when not in the cabin. Don't know why someone would do that. They get to know your habits and what time you usually leave for dinner and plan on cleaning your cabin at that time.

 

Me neither. The stewards work very hard servicing a lot of cabins and have to do so when the occupants are out of the room. I don 't know why anyone would make their life more difficult by putting out a DND sign when they go out.

 

This person didn't want service at all. How much easier than that can it get. Sometimes I know I am only leaving for about 15 minutes. I don't want the steward to start cleaning and then us come back in the middle, so I put out the sign. I do try to use the make up room now sign to help them know that we are going to be gone long enough for them to clean the room as well.

 

Even if the deadbolt was turned, if they make a habit of knocking and then entering when the DND sign is up, I would have to go to the door to see why they are knocking. A DND sign should be honored. Plain and simple.

[Rosethorn40]

I am used to our room stewards arranging the tumbled mess of shoes at the bottom of our closet in a neat row, and have found clothes that I had draped on the back of a chair (I funny about hanging up clothes in a closet that have been worn, but are not "dirty" that I might wear again) neatly folded. I always thought it nice that they would take the time to do it. But I guess to each their own.

[AZJerry]

Yes your steward is normally supposed to abide by the DND sign on the door but I would not be surprised if ignoring the sign in order to perform their pre-cabin-turnover duties is an action their supervisor would defend.

 

I think it would be hard for the manager to defend if you had just stepped out of the shower when the steward ignored the DND sign.

[fishywood]

I think it would be hard for the manager to defend if you had just stepped out of the shower when the steward ignored the DND sign.

 

By the final evening your steward knows when you are at dinner. And they can also see whether the deadbolt lock has been turned from the inside; if you choose to be naked without the door bolted, you assume the risk.

 

This thread seems to have drifted away from the main point: that your steward must begin preparing the cabins for turnover the evening before. Rather than huff and puff oneself into a frazzle debating the right and wrong of this, just accept it and be prepared: as I said way back on page 1, you are doing both your steward and (as much if not more) yourself a big favor by packing as much as possible before you go to dinner on the final evening. Just like the OP I learned of this through experience--and a vacation is the one place it is better to switch than fight.

Edited March 10, 2016 by fishywood

[land lover]

OP I totally understand your frustration. Through the years we have had attendants touch and rearrange our cabin items but not to the extent you r talking about. Certainly your cabin should not have been entered when you had the DND in place.

On the last evening, the fact that your cabin was already neat and tidy probably lead the attendant to find some busy work, it is to bad she just didn't leave the closet the way it was as you would have arranged the hangers for her;)

Edited March 10, 2016 by land lover

[land lover]

This person didn't want service at all. How much easier than that can it get. Sometimes I know I am only leaving for about 15 minutes. I don't want the steward to start cleaning and then us come back in the middle, so I put out the sign. I do try to use the make up room now sign to help them know that we are going to be gone long enough for them to clean the room as well.

 

Even if the deadbolt was turned, if they make a habit of knocking and then entering when the DND sign is up, I would have to go to the door to see why they are knocking. A DND sign should be honored. Plain and simple.

 

I agree with your statement about being gone from the room for just a few minutes and putting in the DND sign.

 

And I don't think the attended should do any prep work, while a person is still occupying the cabin.

Edited March 10, 2016 by land lover

[land lover]

No wonder your steward took your wire hangers - he thought they were ship hangers!

 

There's no need for anyone to pack extra hangers to take on a cruise. All you have to do is ask your steward the first day for more hangers and he will bring you some wire hangers. When people get their clothes back from the ship's laundry, the wire hangers that the clothes came back on are collected at the end of the cruise and reused by the next passengers who board. We always ask for a couple dozen wire hangers as I like most of my clothes hanging in the closet.

 

The way I pack almost all my clothes are packed on wire hangers so I just pull them out and hang them up. Only use the ships hangers for clothes worn on board.

Edited March 10, 2016 by land lover

[cr8tiv1]

 

And I don't think the attended should do any prep work, while a person is still occupying the cabin.

 

They all do prep work before turn around day. You will see that the life jackets are repositioned and folded correctly. They will bring in sheets for the next passengers. In suites, they remove the fruit basket and flower arrangement. I am sure they do a few other things that I just don't take notice of.

 

I even had Room Service come in and mess with my mini-bar. (S)He "reused" the cokes that I had taken out of the refrigerator so I didn't have to pack them cold. I was pretty perturbed by that and let my steward know, room service know, and left a note for the next passengers said that I took my drinks!

 

Sorry you were upset. On your next cruise, mention your concerns to the room steward before it happens again.

[suzyed]

I have never had a Steward enter the room when the Do Not Disturb signs on. Matter of fact last cruise one evening when we went to dinner we mistakenly left the sign out on the wrong side saying Do Not Disturb, (we leave the Please Make up Room sign out when we leave for breakfast and dinner as we know the Steward appreciates that)., of course the same wet towels were on the bathroom floor and, gasp, no pillow chocolates. Our bad! Our Steward asked us the next morning if we were ok, which I thought was nice.

 

You are 100% correct, the Steward should not have entered your room.

 

I agree! Moving/touching/rearranging clothes is one thing I'm not sure I would even notice.

But, if the DND sign is on the door they should not enter the cabin. What if they WERE in the cabin, in BED, doing who knows what?? :eek:;)

We have had room service delivery folks call our cabin because we left the DND sign up inadvertently and they are not allowed to even knock on the door.

[suzyed]

I've had stewards that have actually picked up and folded things I left out or had piled up. DW hates it' date=' I say you go man! Same at some hotels.[/quote']

 

Loved your video! What a great surprise!! My kids did the same thing several years ago, when DH and I were at a resort to celebrate my Birthday! It was the best!!!:D

[suzyed]

First, the cabin steward should not come into the room if you have the DND sign out. That said, I suspect she knocked several times and thought maybe you made a mistake by turning over the card by accident. Sometimes kids mess with the DND signs. It's usually pretty easy to find your cabin steward in the area during the dinner hour. If I don't want the cabin steward to come in I make a point to tell them that they can skip the room that night.

 

Second, I have had stewards touch my clothes, but not too much. It's usually something that I've left on the couch and they move it to the chair. It's apparently in their list of things to do to straighten pillows on the couch. I have a small fleece blanket that I travel with to cover my legs when I'm chilly. They always fold it and move it. I'm pretty certain she was trying to get a head start on organizing before turnover day. Sometimes, I've had them take the robes completely. I guess, if it were me, I'd tell the steward not to touch my clothes, but understand they have some duties that require cleaning up the cabin.

 

Once, on another cruise line, I had a steward go into the drawers to find my nightclothes to make an animal out of them!! This was years ago when they would take your nightgown and spread it out on the bed in shapes. I hated that and would "hide" my nightgown. This steward clearly searched it out. That was annoying!

 

Reading this, I was laughing so hard I was crying!! I never had my nightgown spread out in shapes and I certainly never had it made into an animal!!!:eek:

What animal did they make, btw? :D

[tompaddyelle]

I read this thinking "Hmmmm I have never met a lady named Stewart!"

and then I got it!

Slow I know.:o

[happysnapper]

I just hope the steward was suitably counselled but did not loose her job, as her whole family probably depends on her income.

[Lucky TGO]

I have cruised with Princess 28 times and I have not had that ever happen.

And I have seen people turn the DND sign around thinking it's funny.

Tony

[caribill]

But for long haul cruises we pack our clothes on hangers in the suitcase. Unpacking time -- 7 minutes tops! Everything goes from the suitcase into the closet in a snap.

 

That would make our suitcases overweight for flying to the embarkation port and for flying home after the cruise.

[caribill]

And they can also see whether the deadbolt lock has been turned from the inside; if you choose to be naked without the door bolted, you assume the risk.

 

 

Most cabins are occupied by at least two people.

 

If one person is in the shower and the other person is not in the cabin, a bolted door means the other person cannot get back into the cabin.

 

When one of us in the shower and the other is out of the room, we put out the DND sign and expect it to be respected by all Princess staff.

[john watson]

Most cabins are occupied by at least two people.

 

If one person is in the shower and the other person is not in the cabin, a bolted door means the other person cannot get back into the cabin.

 

 

This is exactly what happened to me; I was in the shower, heard my friend trying to get into cabin. I got out of shower and opened the door very slightly to allow access for girlfriend. Only to find it was a bearded American coming in. Apparently he has miscounted the cabin numbers and shouted "Oh my god!" I had to laugh.

 

Regards John