A Very Long Post About a Little Dust

[nu2sea]

I was told after my last cruise that I should have notified someone on the ship, however I am of the personal opinion there are some things which should just be taken care of without having to HAVE to speak up. I also believe that there is a possibility of retribution by the staff against someone who complains during the cruise. We had a horrible attendant on our Infinity cruise. She was pregnant and going home in November. It was obvious she was doing just the bare minimum and had to be asked twice for certain things. Her poor report on the comment card was a reflection of her lack of service. I think there is a balance between living with it or possibly facing a miserable experience for the remainder of the cruise.

 

There are a hundred ways for a stateroom attendant to make a guest uncomfortable without ever technically violating company policy. Such as locking the mini bar and requiring the passenger to call to have it opened. Little things that, taken alone, are no big deal but do make one uncomfortable.

 

The attendant has a key to your cabin and twenty-four hour a day access. If you have failed to lock away your possesions and they "accidently" become damaged, who can you blame? X makes it clear that they are not responsible.

 

I think your point is valid, and it crossed my mind more than once that I could be creating an adverserial relationship with Ana Marie. It turned out that I did, and had we more than one night left on the cruise, I would have requested the assignment of another attendant. Hopefully, the manner in which I brought my concerns to Gabriella would have helped me out had that become necessary. It was one of the reasons that I was so careful in how I expressed my displeasure with our service.

 

And yes, I too told myself that one shouldn't HAVE to speak up to get a clean room. But sometimes we need to do things that we really shouldn't have to do, for reasons other than our own pleasure or comfort. Like, because it is the right thing to do, to let someone know that something is wrong. It would be hard for an Asst. Chief Housekeeper to inspect all of his/her assigned rooms on a daily basis. If no one tells them, they will not know.

 

Susan

[dkjretired]

lol, good one Allen

 

 

Phil

 

Never know, they do read the boards and it would probable not be hard to figure out.

[dkjretired]

There are a hundred ways for a stateroom attendant to make a guest uncomfortable without ever technically violating company policy. Such as locking the mini bar and requiring the passenger to call to have it opened. Little things that, taken alone, are no big deal but do make one uncomfortable.

 

The attendant has a key to your cabin and twenty-four hour a day access. If you have failed to lock away your possesions and they "accidently" become damaged, who can you blame? X makes it clear that they are not responsible.

 

I think your point is valid, and it crossed my mind more than once that I could be creating an adverserial relationship with Ana Marie. It turned out that I did, and had we more than one night left on the cruise, I would have requested the assignment of another attendant. Hopefully, the manner in which I brought my concerns to Gabriella would have helped me out had that become necessary. It was one of the reasons that I was so careful in how I expressed my displeasure with our service.

 

And yes, I too told myself that one shouldn't HAVE to speak up to get a clean room. But sometimes we need to do things that we really shouldn't have to do, for reasons other than our own pleasure or comfort. Like, because it is the right thing to do, to let someone know that something is wrong. It would be hard for an Asst. Chief Housekeeper to inspect all of his/her assigned rooms on a daily basis. If no one tells them, they will not know.

 

Susan

 

Susan:

 

You handled this situation in the best way you could and it was done in an admirable manner. You are to be commended and your post was well written and well thought out. Thank you

[safein]

Susan,

 

There is a right way to complain and a wrong way. You have proven that there is indeed a right way without fussing, screaming and demanding. You were able to get the situation resolved in a positive manner. Bravo!!!!!!

 

On our last cruise, we had a major problem with the TV in the sitting area. We were in a CS. Previous cruisers must have done something to it and the remote control, because neither we nor the electonic maintenance personnel could get it fixed. The bedroom one worked fine. We weren't going to make a big deal about it because these things do happen but at least we went on record that there was a problem with the set.

 

It's all about how you say it!

 

Anita

[DaveFr]

I was told after my last cruise that I should have notified someone on the ship, however I am of the personal opinion there are some things which should just be taken care of without having to HAVE to speak up. I also believe that there is a possibility of retribution by the staff against someone who complains during the cruise. We had a horrible attendant on our Infinity cruise. She was pregnant and going home in November. It was obvious she was doing just the bare minimum and had to be asked twice for certain things. Her poor report on the comment card was a reflection of her lack of service. I think there is a balance between living with it or possibly facing a miserable experience for the remainder of the cruise.

Flagger,

 

I agree that in a perfect world you shouldn't have to speak up to get things such as a clean stateroom. However, to paraphrase the late Lenny Bruce, you have to deal with what is, not what should be. If I had been faced with cleanliness issues similar to those described by Susan in her OP, I would have requested in a non-accusatory manner that the dirty areas be cleaned. You could tell the cabin attendant, for example, that given the number of cabins they are responsible for and the limited time to clean each cabin, it's easy to see how they could miss the dirty areas you're pointing out. Such an approach would allow the cabin attendant to save face and most likely avoid the retribution you're worried about experiencing.

 

To me, being miserable for the duration of a cruise because of a problem I don't report is worse than the mere possibility of retaliation by a cabin attendant (who, afterall, wants me to tip him or her). There are certainly exceptions, such as the cabin attendant you described on the Infinity, but in general I believe a non-accusatory complaint early on is the better policy.

[halos]

Susan, I think you handled that with class...everyone should have such grace. Thanks for posting because, I like you would have hesitated before speaking up, and now I see that doesn't help anyone especialy the cruise staff....so thank you for posting your experience here. I appreciate it. :)

[Gypsea]

Naturally Susan acted in a thoughtful manner.

 

I once complained on NCL for other reasons. I literally had the worst cabin on the ship for noise problems (3067 Majesty). However, I had booked a guarantee so I knew there was nothing to be done. I got what I paid for and it was a very good deal. Luckily, the AC malfunctioned so I then justifiably requested a move instead of repair. The original cabin was next to a four foot wide crew door at the end of the hall. It opened and clanged shut all night. What a nightmare. I am not a light sleeper but this was very unnerving and of course, it NEVER stopped. The women in charge met me in the main lobby with paper and pen and really listened to my story. We were moved asap. It is all in the approach, I think. They want to help if your request is reasonable and you are kind about it. I am sure many of you are not fans of NCL but they went above and beyond on this matter. I was pleased with the outcome.

 

In regard to cleanliness of the cabins I am always suspicious as I know they have about 20 minutes for each one between cruises. I always wash those in-cabin glasses myself. Who knows how clean the towel was or where they may have used it before the glasses. Just something to keep in mind. I try to be extra friendly on arrival and introduce myself to the steward. If they like you it increases the chance of finding fresh ice, towels, sheets etc. I can't wait till Zenith 12/3!!!

[The Scotsman]

As has been mentioned before it has all to do with the manner of the 'complaint'. Great job by the OP. I too hate confrontation.

 

On the Millennium this year I was working on our balcony, sadly needs must. It was around 8:00am and we were in port. I left the balcony for 2 minutes and returned to find my notes and study book soaking wet, they had decided to wash the windows a few decks up.

 

Thankfully I noticed it straight away and I was able to get rid of the excess water before the ink ran and to use the warm Caribbean sun to dry them off.

 

It took me a while but I decided to mention to the powers that be that as this was about a normal breakfast time people enjoying breakfast on their balcony could have been soaked along with their cereals, toast and smoothies (imagine if one of those smoothies was ruined :rolleyes ). I explained no damage had been done, although it was fortunate I had decided to leave the laptop at home, also that it might be a good idea to wash the windows at a different time or at least give some notice to passengers.

 

My points were taken with good grace and as far as I was concerned that was the issue over and done with.

 

Later that day we recieved a lovely large box of Cova chocolates and then later in the week a bottle of wine. Both were totally unnecessary (but graciously accepted - I wrote a thankyou card to the persons responsible -and delicious).

 

My point is that Celebrity put a lot of faith in their product and work hard to please their customers as do other lines, and it appears the philosophy is working, it certainly has us going back. Out of 10 cruises Celebrity have the edge.

 

To Gypsea - we too had a very positive experience with NCL, too long to go into detail at the moment, but needless to say their response was something I had never experienced before. Talk about above and beyond. We left that ship with so much enthusiasm and good feeling that we did cruise with them on two further back-to-back cruises and hopefully will again in the future.

 

A lot of companies could take a lesson from these experiences.

[nu2sea]

Later that day we recieved a lovely large box of Cova chocolates ...

 

WOW, you mean I could have gotten chocolate?????? Now that is compensation worth accepting! ;)

 

:D

Susan

[Spender Nui]

I agree that the cabins could be better maintained. We've had some things that were borderline at best (and some worse). We haven't pushed it but probably should have.

 

With the workload the stewards have I wouldn't be surprised that to improve the standard would require additional help. This of course would require additional $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

I'm not suggesting that we should not report sub-standard housekeeping. We should. We should also have our eyes open enough to realize this MAY increase the cost of our cruises.

 

I, and I suspect others, feel the same, would be willing to pay more to improve, and bring cruising back to where it used to be ...A special, luxury vacation as it used to be.

[safein]

A thought occured to me regarding this thread. Does anyone remember when we were allowed to board any vessel 3 hours prior to sailing, no exception? It gave the crew more time to clean the cabins more thoroughly between sailings. Now, I notice that as soon as the cabins are vacated, the crew is rushing to clean the cabins because the next group of passengers will be coming aboard at 12 Noon - 12:30. Maybe the cruiselines need to extend the cleaning time of the cabins a little longer.

 

Celebrity, are you listening?

 

Anita

[nu2sea]

A thought occured to me regarding this thread. Does anyone remember when we were allowed to board any vessel 3 hours prior to sailing, no exception? It gave the crew more time to clean the cabins more thoroughly between sailings. Now, I notice that as soon as the cabins are vacated, the crew is rushing to clean the cabins because the next group of passengers will be coming aboard at 12 Noon - 12:30. Maybe the cruiselines need to extend the cleaning time of the cabins a little longer.

 

Celebrity, are you listening?

 

Anita

 

Anita,

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

As a matter of fact I prefaced one of my remarks to Gabriella by suggesting that since she will have more time between our disembarkation in Ensenada and the embarkation of the next cruise in San Diego that it might be a good time to have the room thoroughly cleaned.

 

And the Asst Chief Housekeepers should be doing more than "randomly" inspecting the cabins under their jurisdiction. I appreciate that their job probably involves more paper managment than people management, but someone should be doing a little more in the way of quality control. That is really the only way they can find out what the true problems are.

 

They certainly can't count on the passengers telling them what is wrong. Most of us will only tell the stateroom attendant and hope for the best. Frequently that will resolve the particular problem. But an overall problem requires a broader solultion.

 

And I for one would gladly live with the three hour pre-sailing boarding restriction if it meant I could count on a clean cabin. After all, hotels do it all the time. And I can't remember the last hotel room I stayed in that wasn't spotless.

 

Susan

[AFT_LOVER]

as our Steward was setting our table on the balcony for breakfast we had a major rain storm happen yet he was stepped back from the table perfectly dry. It was washing machine a floor up doing the buffet windows & soaking our table. So he laughed, but what if we were out there eating? No room to move the table on the small balcony that we had the first time with CC category. We also got chocolates & another bottle of champagne with a note of apology from the Hotel Manager who we took to Cova for cappucino.

 

 

As has been mentioned before it has all to do with the manner of the 'complaint'. Great job by the OP. I too hate confrontation.

 

On the Millennium this year I was working on our balcony, sadly needs must. It was around 8:00am and we were in port. I left the balcony for 2 minutes and returned to find my notes and study book soaking wet, they had decided to wash the windows a few decks up.

 

Thankfully I noticed it straight away and I was able to get rid of the excess water before the ink ran and to use the warm Caribbean sun to dry them off.

 

It took me a while but I decided to mention to the powers that be that as this was about a normal breakfast time people enjoying breakfast on their balcony could have been soaked along with their cereals, toast and smoothies (imagine if one of those smoothies was ruined :rolleyes ). I explained no damage had been done, although it was fortunate I had decided to leave the laptop at home, also that it might be a good idea to wash the windows at a different time or at least give some notice to passengers.

 

My points were taken with good grace and as far as I was concerned that was the issue over and done with.

 

Later that day we recieved a lovely large box of Cova chocolates and then later in the week a bottle of wine. Both were totally unnecessary (but graciously accepted - I wrote a thankyou card to the persons responsible -and delicious).

 

My point is that Celebrity put a lot of faith in their product and work hard to please their customers as do other lines, and it appears the philosophy is working, it certainly has us going back. Out of 10 cruises Celebrity have the edge.

 

To Gypsea - we too had a very positive experience with NCL, too long to go into detail at the moment, but needless to say their response was something I had never experienced before. Talk about above and beyond. We left that ship with so much enthusiasm and good feeling that we did cruise with them on two further back-to-back cruises and hopefully will again in the future.

 

A lot of companies could take a lesson from these experiences.

[Barry ATL]

I can't wait till Zenith 12/3!!!

 

My partner and I are also on the 12/3 Zenith. Looking forward to the refreshed look. I have heard so much about the service on the Zenith, that I have not even thought about service problems. I hope it stays that way. :)