Morning or evening service??

[Je Souhaite]

If they start having a problem attracting help it will sure matter to them.

 

Twice the work for the same pay, if people cut their tips, is not an attractive carrot.

 

Twice the work if people expect twice a day service , for the same pay, is not an attractive carrot.

[jimbo5544]

Twice the work for the same pay, if people cut their tips, is not an attractive carrot.

 

Twice the work if people expect twice a day service , for the same pay, is not an attractive carrot.

 

Maybe it is a wikileak problem, they all come from Putin. Are you really concerned with the staff now?

[Micahs Grandad]

We have 21 days booked on Carnival in the next year. After that it's other lines. I'm happy leaving Carnival (aside from the occasional 3-day booze cruise) for many of the reasons we all grouse about on this site. Hubby, on the other hand, loves the line and is much more forgiving than me. I keep pushing RCL and Princess and he keeps agreeing, so perhaps by next year Carnival will have seen the last of us.

 

We like Carnival (Diamond) and last year started with Princess.

 

It is much like what Carnival used to be in a lot of respects and will probably do more Princess than Carnival in the future as we are expanding our horizons to cruise the world. Give another line a try and see which you like better.

[Je Souhaite]

Maybe it is a wikileak problem, they all come from Putin. Are you really concerned with the staff now?

 

If they're not providing me FULL service and attention like they traditionally do, absolutely.

 

I was just reading someone posting that their cabin was full of dust. That's disgusting and concerns me.

[Beach710]

I am personally fine with once a day service, but I understand people who feel they have always had two and want two. I would not cut my gratuity, because I personally feel the amount is a fair amount even for once a day service, but again I understand people who feel they should reduce their gratuity.

 

My question is, "Will you quit cruising Carnival because of this?"

 

Unless a lot of people stop choosing to cruise with Carnival, or they lose a lot of employees and find it hard to hire new ones, they will not hesitate to go through with the change. Reducing your gratuity because you believe you are being overcharged for half as much service is valid, feeling it will deliver a message to Carnival is misguided. Carnival Corporation likely won't know you did it, and would be even less likely to care.

 

Not if you tell guest service when remove (or decrease) your gratuity. I would think they would try to keep track of the reasons given when gratuities are removed or decreased. I have never removed my gratuities but this issue makes me consider it. We are low maintenance cruisers who don't need ice, robes etc. but to have a steward actually lie to my face when Carnival has publicly stated a different policy would totally pi$$ me off.

 

I acknowledge that Carnival may not be the right cruise line for me. There are many people on this forum who like to say you get what you pay for. Some mean it in a good way. They like cruising Carnival because it is cheap but I typically cruise Carnival during Holidays (family cruise) and it's not really that cheap.

[grneal]

Officially, they are trying to make us think that they are conducting a test, going from twice a day service, to an option of twice a day service or once a day service, picking which "once" you want that service. We were told it was on 4 ships. I lost count when it got to 6 ships, and have no clue where it stands now.

 

They came out with vague "Comfort" cards, with a place to indicate if you wanted AM or PM service. The way it was worded implied it was one or the other.

 

And when challenged, passengers were told by some stewards it WAS one or the other.

 

The question came up on John Healds page, where he checked, came back and stated, you can check off both AM and PM and you will get both.

 

Yet passengers continued to come back stating they were told it was one OR the other. Other passengers come back stating there been no change. Many times, they are passengers on ships not doing the pilot.

 

Then we were told they were creating a new card that would indicate BOTH.

 

This card was a long time coming, but it eventually showed up on some ships, but the old card is still in use.

 

A year later, there are still passengers reporting they are being told it's one or the other, and some are guilting passengers telling them the amount of cabins they service has gone from 20 to 35. I saw a post just today with a passenger stating that.

 

Meanwhile, the recommended tips are not adjusted for those that only want half the service full service passengers get and pay for.

 

We just got back from the Carnival Breeze last week and the room steward pretty much forced us into one or the other. I saw the form they use and it does have an option for both on it and we now wish we had chosen that one. First room steward ever in 8 cruises that has ever been rude.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We like Carnival (Diamond) and last year started with Princess.

 

It is much like what Carnival used to be in a lot of respects and will probably do more Princess than Carnival in the future as we are expanding our horizons to cruise the world. Give another line a try and see which you like better.

 

In your case Carnival Corp. won't care if you switch lines since you are still cruising with one of their other lines and they'll still get your money.

 

Bill

[cortneyward]

I am personally fine with once a day service, but I understand people who feel they have always had two and want two. I would not cut my gratuity, because I personally feel the amount is a fair amount even for once a day service, but again I understand people who feel they should reduce their gratuity.

 

My question is, "Will you quit cruising Carnival because of this?"

 

Unless a lot of people stop choosing to cruise with Carnival, or they lose a lot of employees and find it hard to hire new ones, they will not hesitate to go through with the change. Reducing your gratuity because you believe you are being overcharged for half as much service is valid, feeling it will deliver a message to Carnival is misguided. Carnival Corporation likely won't know you did it, and would be even less likely to care.

 

I don't think this one thing would be a deal breaker for me, but it's a culmination of cuts. We already had seriously considered NCL for our next because of the promotion they were running at the time. We ultimately chose Carnival because of timing.

 

To me it comes down to this...carnivals rule is still that you can choose twice a day. If the steward forces me to choose differently, then they're choosing not to do their job. If their tips get cut, it's their own fault. They chose the job and what it entails. If Carnival chooses to officially swap to once a day with the same auto grat then that's fine, as I know ahead of time what I'm paying gratuity on and I choose rather to or not to cruise with them and it wouldn't be fair to punish the steward

Edited October 20, 2016 by cortneyward

[john91498]

I was on Triumph for 7-day Christmas cruise last year & NEVER EVEN SAW my steward. No greeting. No card to check off. No nothing. I never even figured out who it was. :confused: As I recall, the room was cleaned, but the personal touch was certainly lacking.

 

Poor guy was probably too busy to do any personal touches.

[Hotdog 52]

Just booked with RCCL for January. I'll see what issues they are having if any. Asked the rep. if they were going to once a day cleaning. He said that he hadn't heard of any such news. We will see how it goes. Price was right there with CCL. :)

[jimbo5544]

If they're not providing me FULL service and attention like they traditionally do, absolutely.

 

 

 

I was just reading someone posting that their cabin was full of dust. That's disgusting and concerns me.

 

 

First off, don't believe everything you read, secondly, the only thing you should be concerned with is your cabin. In almost 250 days of cruising I have never seen a cabin full of dust (which is true). Reading this should remove your concern. Get my point?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[Txcroozer]

Just off the Breeze and our our stewardess almost sounded embarrassed to ask if we wanted morning or evening. I told her both and she said that would be fine. I don't know if it makes a difference, but we were in a suite and we had this nice lady take care of our cabin on a previous cruise. Jenny did an excellent job.

[sanmarcosman]

Just off the Breeze and our our stewardess almost sounded embarrassed to ask if we wanted morning or evening. I told her both and she said that would be fine. I don't know if it makes a difference, but we were in a suite and we had this nice lady take care of our cabin on a previous cruise. Jenny did an excellent job.

 

For those paying for a suite I think that however this housekeeping " test " shakes out guests staying in suites should receive twice a day service regardless. This is another example of those paying a premium for suites on Carnival receive little value compared to other lines including those owned by the Carnival Corporation.

[Singer4Him]

We sailed the Breeze 9/25-10/2 and we were asked the first day by Hendri, our cabin steward (room 2337) which we preferred. He had the card for us to mark. If memory serves me correctly, he made a glancing mention that you could have both but it was almost as if it should be either morning or evening. We chose morning.

 

I'll admit that I had heard about this before our cruise and I was a bit concerned. Truth be told, it worked out perfectly for us only having once a day service. However, our friends who were sailing with us also chose morning but requested ice in their bucket. Naturally, when they put the ice in the bucket mid-morning, then by the time you're in the room that evening, the ice has melted. She asked if he could stop by each evening and just to fill the bucket with ice to which he replied that since she marked "morning" that they were not allowed to enter the room during the evening. They also had an issue with towels but I believe that was probably his assistant that we had seen outside our rooms when we left that morning and not the cabin steward himself.

 

All in all, it worked out fine for us and I would do the same next time if I was sailing Carnival.

[cruzinlisa]

The only way CCL will care is if their cabin stewards get disgruntled and start leaving.

 

Bill

 

Even then they may not. I know some companies that don't really care if their staff leaves. Just get new ones.

 

But if it impacts their bottom line- i.e. customers go somewhere else, they may care. Or they may just get new customers...

[Domino D]

The only way CCL will care is if their cabin stewards get disgruntled and start leaving.

 

Bill

 

Bill,

While it just an opinion on my part, I agree 100% with you. I don't think enough passengers will flee Carnival to make them rethink a decision like this. I do think that if a significant reduction in gratuities cause them to have a problem finding employees, they would be forced to act.

[Domino D]

Not if you tell guest service when remove (or decrease) your gratuity. I would think they would try to keep track of the reasons given when gratuities are removed or decreased. I have never removed my gratuities but this issue makes me consider it. We are low maintenance cruisers who don't need ice, robes etc. but to have a steward actually lie to my face when Carnival has publicly stated a different policy would totally pi$$ me off.

 

I acknowledge that Carnival may not be the right cruise line for me. There are many people on this forum who like to say you get what you pay for. Some mean it in a good way. They like cruising Carnival because it is cheap but I typically cruise Carnival during Holidays (family cruise) and it's not really that cheap.

 

Donna you certainly have every right to be upset with them, and to do what ever you choose with your vacation dollars and gratuities. While there is part of me that wants to believe you are right about them caring and tracking the gratuities. I am afraid that I am certain this is not an issue that the people establishing these policies would even be aware of the reductions much less the reasons. The ship management would certainly be aware, and may raise it as an issue, but even that is not likely to cause them to change.

 

As you point out, there are too many people who will cruise Carnival without the extra cabin service and not care. So long as they can sell those cabins, they will not change the policy. Either revenue has to drop, or they need to start having problems finding employees, or it will continue. I would be surprised if they don't release survey saying "Most people prefer once a day service".

[Domino D]

I don't think this one thing would be a deal breaker for me, but it's a culmination of cuts. We already had seriously considered NCL for our next because of the promotion they were running at the time. We ultimately chose Carnival because of timing.

 

To me it comes down to this...carnivals rule is still that you can choose twice a day. If the steward forces me to choose differently, then they're choosing not to do their job. If their tips get cut, it's their own fault. They chose the job and what it entails. If Carnival chooses to officially swap to once a day with the same auto grat then that's fine, as I know ahead of time what I'm paying gratuity on and I choose rather to or not to cruise with them and it wouldn't be fair to punish the steward

 

I agree 100% with this. There is a big difference between the company changing policy, and a single (or group) of employee(s) going rogue, for lack of a better term. I would call for a manager, if it was important to me, but definitely this would require a specific action.

[Thorncroft]

First off, don't believe everything you read, secondly, the only thing you should be concerned with is your cabin. In almost 250 days of cruising I have never seen a cabin full of dust (which is true). Reading this should remove your concern. Get my point?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

I've seen pics of a Magic Cove that had a severe dust problem. It wasn't that it wasn't being cleaned, it just got covered in dust everyday from somewhere. The dude had a pic of his cell phone covered in dust, just from laying on the counter overnight.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Thorncroft

[Shake-n-Bake]

I agree 100% with this. There is a big difference between the company changing policy, and a single (or group) of employee(s) going rogue, for lack of a better term. I would call for a manager, if it was important to me, but definitely this would require a specific action.

I cruised on the Splendor in May and again in September and the cabin stewards on those cruises couldn't be more different. The steward in May tried to tell me one or the other and I told him that is not the policy and I can have both if I want and I'm willing to go to Guest Services to prove it. He then backed down but I had problems with him the rest of the cruise where I had to go to Guest Services anyway about him. The other steward in September was exceptional, he went over the card and offered both services. This tells me either the stewards are going "rogue" or it is a training problem which is what I told Guest Services.

[poobears]

For those that had issues, did any of you report it Carnival? Did you send a letter, a note, go to GS, anything other that post here? I'm guessing no. Seems like pretty much no one actually complains to Carnival themselves about how they feel about these new cutbacks and the way the stewards and handling them. Of course Carnival is going to leave things as is when everyone keeps quiet about it and as far as they are concerned everyone is happy.

 

If they start getting 5, 10, 20 or more after each cruise and they will start taking notice. No reason to be over the top with threats to cruise other lines or anything simply let them know you don't like their idea of raising prices while cutting services and any issues you had with your attendant.

 

Speak up or accept it because if you don't say anything to Carnival you are telling them that it's ok with you.

[poobears]

I cruised on the Splendor in May and again in September and the cabin stewards on those cruises couldn't be more different. The steward in May tried to tell me one or the other and I told him that is not the policy and I can have both if I want and I'm willing to go to Guest Services to prove it. He then backed down but I had problems with him the rest of the cruise where I had to go to Guest Services anyway about him. The other steward in September was exceptional, he went over the card and offered both services. This tells me either the stewards are going "rogue" or it is a training problem which is what I told Guest Services.

 

 

I'm wondering if Carnival hasn't lost a lot of their good stewards already and not able to get more signed up due to a bad rep among them (just a guess) and that is why we are seeing more and more of these "rogue" stewards they are having to dip lower in the pool to find people to work for them. They are no longer getting the cream of the crop. People assume everyone is so desperate for money they will jump for a chance to work for carnival, from talking to a few people that work on the cruises I think it's a bit more competitive than that for the good workers after they get established in the industry. They can choose between several lines and if you could get on with a line that had better work conditions and treated their employees better wouldn't you?

[jimbo5544]

I'm wondering if Carnival hasn't lost a lot of their good stewards already and not able to get more signed up due to a bad rep among them (just a guess) and that is why we are seeing more and more of these "rogue" stewards they are having to dip lower in the pool to find people to work for them. They are no longer getting the cream of the crop. People assume everyone is so desperate for money they will jump for a chance to work for carnival, from talking to a few people that work on the cruises I think it's a bit more competitive than that for the good workers after they get established in the industry. They can choose between several lines and if you could get on with a line that had better work conditions and treated their employees better wouldn't you?

 

 

I have seen zero evidence of room stewards jumping ship, it sounds like we have lost track on reality here......

 

 

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[poobears]

I have seen zero evidence of room stewards jumping ship, it sounds like we have lost track on reality here......

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I said it was a guess only and it makes as much or more sense than good stewards are suddenly going rogue and risking their jobs by going against policy and telling guests they will only clean rooms once a day and being rude towards guests.

 

Of course at the rate it's spreading maybe someone needs to check them for a defiant pupil, there's another theory for ya (some will get it) :D

[jimbo5544]

I said it was a guess only and it makes as much or more sense than good stewards are suddenly going rogue and risking their jobs by going against policy and telling guests they will only clean rooms once a day and being rude towards guests.

 

 

 

Of course at the rate it's spreading maybe someone needs to check them for a defiant pupil, there's another theory for ya (some will get it) :D

 

 

Lol, maybe it's just cc at its best. While this is still a "trial", I can safely say that Carnival values it people as its best assets. Change fosters uncertainty, both in their employees and it appears in their clients. Maybe we all should just take a breath.

 

 

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