Dirty Room Service Dishes Left in Hallways

[GUT2407]

Forgive me, but I disagree with this view. Particularly with your suggestion of obtaining ice; another opportunity for an undesirable "bug" to be spread.

 

I stand by my previous post. How much time and cost does it take to call Room Service, inform them that there is a tray/dishes outside Stateroom # whatever. Please remove them.

I'm not sure I follow your comment on ice.

 

Most ships have an ice dispenser in the buffet, why not one each deck.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cruise ship corridors tend to be narrower than hotel corridors so what works and is OK in a hotel doesn't work on cruise ship and is a hazard for those with mobility issues. Please be considerate to others and leave your dirty dishes in your cabin or phone room service to have them removed quickly.

[swedish weave]

I ask our steward how to handle, and I do it as he wants.

 

That us easy for me to understand, so I ignore all the opinions expressed on these boards.

 

Those who want it done differently should address their concerns with their chosen cruise line and ask them to advise guests.

[crzndeb]

It makes me crazy to be walking down the hall on my way to my cabin and have to look at the dirty dishes left over from one of my fellow passengers after they've had room service. They don't want to look at their own dirty dishes so they place them out in the hallway for everyone else on their deck to look at. These are the same people who probably drop all their trash in a parking lot when they get out of their car. On a ship they probably think their cabin steward will remove the tray, but he's off duty until 8:00 the next morning. So after a lovely evening on the ship I have to walk past dirty dishes. Not only are they ugly to look at, I'm sure they're a safety hazard. If a fire broke out and passengers were trying to get to safety in a hurry, I'm sure stepping on a try full of dishes would cause a serious problem. Here's one thing that might stop people from doing this. The next time you walk down a hall and see a tray of dirty dishes, knock on the door a few times and then just keep walking. If the people in the cabin stick their head out into the hall and ask why you knocked, tell them it's because they left their dirty dishes outside. If enough of us do this it might just stop the practice. Also, cruise lines might leave a note on the tray or put an announcement in the daily news letter asking passengers not to put their trays in the hallway. Just a suggestion.

 

This has been discussed ad naseum on many threads. Instead of complaining, why don't you ask the room steward how they want the dirty dishes handled. I always leave my dishes in my cabin, only to come back to find them in the hallway, put there by cabin steward. Room service comes by with carts to pick up the dishes.

 

Every cruise line may handle it differently. If you don't like the practice that your cruise line follows, cruise another line or write corporate about their practices.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I have to agree that the OP's reaction seems a little over the top. I don't generally order room service, but on the few occasions I have, I've asked my room steward what I should do with the dishes and with only one exception they've said to put them in the hall. I don't think there's a definitive answer as each cruise line may have different policies. It's unpleasant to see dirty dishes along the hallway, but I don't get personally offended by it. :o You never know if the person who put it there asked what to do with it and was told that's where they should put it.

[Keith1010]

Our experience on cruise ships is to call for it to be picked up in our room.

 

Most people seem to follow this on cruise ships we sail on.

 

Keith

[Newbie Cruiser 2010]

Folks will do as they choose, regardless of requests from management, apparently. In hotels, EVERYONE puts their dirty stuff in the hall. Ships usually have narrower hallways, and it's rude....but 97% of cruisers aren't on Cruise Critic, and don't know any better.

You can speak for yourself but I wouldn't say that EVERYONE puts their dirty stuff in the hall in hotels. I have NEVER done that and never will! Stack your dirty dishes neatly in your room and they will be picked up next time your room is serviced.

[Newbie Cruiser 2010]

It makes me crazy to be walking down the hall on my way to my cabin and have to look at the dirty dishes left over from one of my fellow passengers after they've had room service. They don't want to look at their own dirty dishes so they place them out in the hallway for everyone else on their deck to look at. .

It also drive me crazy........

I have always wanted to move the dirty dishes right in front of their door so that when the step out of the room they step right onto their garbage and dishes.......Have never done this but it is so tempting!

[zqvol]

Call room service when you are done. Their standard response is "Thank you. Please put the tray in the hall and we will be by to pick it up shortly."

 

If you don't like that response, then by all means leave your tray in the cabin where it might site for two or three days.

[biker@sea]

What , am I the only shmuck that walk's dish's up to the buffet dirty dish bin.:confused:

[mjkacmom]

You can speak for yourself but I wouldn't say that EVERYONE puts their dirty stuff in the hall in hotels. I have NEVER done that and never will! Stack your dirty dishes neatly in your room and they will be picked up next time your room is serviced.

Even if they ask you to put it in the hallway? Sorry, there is no way I'm going to sleep next to a greasy half eaten cheeseburger, actually the whole idea of eating food that close to my bed sounds gross.

[lisiamc]

Call room service when you are done. Their standard response is "Thank you. Please put the tray in the hall and we will be by to pick it up shortly."

 

If you don't like that response, then by all means leave your tray in the cabin where it might site for two or three days.

 

It might vary between cruise lines. In my very limited experience with room service, when I've rung, I've been told that someone would be right up to our cabin to pick up the dishes. Which suited me, because I hate seeeing them on the floor in the corridors and having to step over them.

 

Our all-time least favourite cruise neighbours pushed their trays directly in front of our cabin door. Every day for 16 days! The first day, I stepped right into a plate of leftover food, because I wasn't expecting a tray there. After that, I pushed the tray back in front of their door. By the end of the cruise, I was just about ready to go out looking for other trays and build a huge tower of dirty dishes in front of their door! :mad:

[NLH Arizona]

You can speak for yourself but I wouldn't say that EVERYONE puts their dirty stuff in the hall in hotels. I have NEVER done that and never will! Stack your dirty dishes neatly in your room and they will be picked up next time your room is serviced.

I've never put dirty dishes in the hallway at hotels either. I simply call room service and they come right up and pick them up.

[Clarea]

We either call room service to pick up the dishes, or ask our stateroom attendant to take care of them.

[BlueRiband]

There is one bit of "traditional cruising" that has to go: Every hall should have a room, open to the passengers and clearly marked, within which the passengers can serve themselves when they are so inclined, a place to leave room service trays, a place to empty trash cans, and a place to get ice...

 

While an "ice room" might be common at a hotel on land it isn't practical on a ship. Space is at a premium and the slightest sanitation problem would score negative points during a USPHS inspection.

 

I do however agree with the OP and am surprised than any ship would suggest or even tolerate that trays should be left in the hall. They are clearly a safety hazard and especially so to anybody with mobility or vision impairments.

[sparks1093]

Whether I am ashore or on a ship I do what the staff tells me to do vis a vis the trays from room service. Most of the time I've been told to put them in the hall, sometimes with a call to room service advising them that we are done, some times not. (Most of the time I will go to the Lido to get breakfast for DW. Those dishes get taken back to the Lido by me.)

[terri-eddie]

Well, to invoke a name that often brings scorn and ridicule on Cruise Critic....Carnival's spokesman John Heald said that the preferred method of disposal is to leave the trays in the corridor, not in the cabin. I find it distasteful, but if it is what the crew want and expect, I will comply. I do try to make sure my dishes are stacked neatly, and the napkin is spread over top to cover any leftover bits.

[MedicKenK]

My issue with the "Leave them in the Hallway" faction is when my DW was alive and we used to traverse the hallways and she would hit a tray on the way. This, if I remember correctly, is against SOLAS regulation to block corridors, the same as passengers parking scooters and such in them. Rapid egress is hampered and thusly a hazard.

[bUU]

How fastidiously does Carnival police the hallways for parked scooters?

[Strophic]

I think it's pretty rich that people are getting so angry at others for leaving trays in the hallway when that's exactly what the cruise line tells you to do with them. If some old biddy knocked on my door because I put my tray in the hall, I'd laugh in her face.

[happy cruzer]

Off Topic Alert. FYI OCD is not a comic term. There is a very serious Disorder. If you have ever dealt with someone who has the disorder, you know it is not a joking matter. It requires therapy and medication to make their life and their family's life livable. I think everyone is a bit Obsessive or Compulsive about things that matter to them but that is not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

 

On Topic - I don't like the trays in the hall either.

[Strophic]

Here are a few words you can use instead of saying "I'm so OCD!"

 

- Fastidious

- Meticulous

- Finicky

- Persnickety

- Conscientious

[Aquahound]

I think it's pretty rich that people are getting so angry at others for leaving trays in the hallway when that's exactly what the cruise line tells you to do with them.

 

For the record, I think this whole topic is a very first world problem, and I don't really care.

 

But that said, I can't recall any cruise line actually providing instructions to leave the tray in the hallway, as some have reported in this thread. The only instructions I can recall were either over the phone when I ordered or by a card on the tray, saying to call room service when done so they can pick it up.

[navybankerteacher]

For the record, I think this whole topic is a very first world problem, and I don't really care.

 

But that said, I can't recall any cruise line actually providing instructions to leave the tray in the hallway, as some have reported in this thread. The only instructions I can recall were either over the phone when I ordered or by a card on the tray, saying to call room service when done so they can pick it up.

 

This is my recollection as well. I know I have been advised on different lines to call to have the tray picked up - and specifically NOT to put it in the hall because doing so would present a safety hazard. I do not recall being advised on any line that it should be put in the hall.

 

It might help this discussion if anyone with certain knowledge could provide confirmation.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Off Topic Alert. FYI OCD is not a comic term. There is a very serious Disorder. If you have ever dealt with someone who has the disorder, you know it is not a joking matter. It requires therapy and medication to make their life and their family's life livable. I think everyone is a bit Obsessive or Compulsive about things that matter to them but that is not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

 

On Topic - I don't like the trays in the hall either.

 

 

Indeed. As a former therapist, I thank you. :)