Room steward are we expecting too much

[Shadow9612]

5 hours ago, vtcruising said:

We have actually had better cabin steward service since they dropped the assistants. I was worried at first that things wouldn't get done, but after a few cruises of great service, I wondered if it was because when one person is accountable, it is more likely to get done right. There is no one to blame. Maybe a coincidence, but we had had a few less than stellar ones before, even in suites.

I agree @vtcruising - this is my experience too.

 

 

[Shadow9612]

2 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Couple of years back X switched from teams of stewards responsible for 20 cabins to individual steward handling 14.  Evening turn-down service was also scaled down

Do you know what has been scaled down with respect to the evening turndown service? I haven't really noticed any difference in that regard.

[Luvcrusn]

52 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

Do you know what has been scaled down with respect to the evening turndown service? I haven't really noticed any difference in that regard.

I did notice the chocolates on the pillows disappeared for a while , but they've started using them again the last few years. 

[AL3XCruise]

12 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

We are really low maintenance when it comes to cabin stewards. All we ask of them is to do their jobs correctly and promptly. If they can't because they are spread to thin, that's not my problem, it's between them and their employer. To us it's not an acceptable excuse.

 

I agree that it is not an acceptable excuse, but I'd stop short of placing the blame on the steward.  They don't have a say in resource allocation, the management does.  Ultimately it comes down to tolerance among passengers; for the cruise line this is a money talks situation.  They will spread their manpower as thin as possible until the reduction in service triggers a loss of revenue.  But I doubt to many folks are interested in changing their plans because of the trash was only removed once per day.

 

For me, I want the room to be clean (no necessarily on specific schedule, just looking clean), I want to have ice, and I'd like any issues that arise addressed promptly.  I prefer that soap be filled, etc, but if it is rectified quickly I'm not going to complain.

[chemmo]

We have had room attendants who did seem to pay ‘more attention to detail’ than others although generally we find them all hard working and taking pride in what they do. Whilst I wouldn’t complain about small things (soap missing) I would if I thought there was a hygiene risk like the toilet wasn’t regularly being cleaned. I would let the room steward himself know I was unhappy first but I would take it further if things didn’t improve...

 

We are always cognisant of the number of rooms the steward have to clean and try our best to always leave our room tidy, surfaces clear...Occasionally walking  down the corridor you will see a door propped open and total bedlam and chaos inside...clothes on the floor, shoes scattered, room service remains. Some fellow cruisers must be nightmare guests for room attendants.

[Beanb41]

There two solutions to the problem

1. Get the steward and tell him/ her that you aren't satisfied with the service provided and point out the deficiencies.

 

That I think will resolve the problem. Since X changed from 2 stewards per cabin to one the standard has dropped I admit.

 

2 Solution 2 is if you are still not happy contact Guest relations and get a housekeeping supervisor up to your cabin. That will definitely resolve the issue but give your stateroom attendant a chance to improve first

[hcat]

We had very good to excellent attendants in Aqua Class over the yrs..

 

Next few cruises we will have Sunset Veranda (Edge and Apex) and a reg balcony ( Summit).  Hope we won't be disappointed at the level of service.

 

Planning to hoard left over TP  for the last night...just in case!

[Caribbean Chris]

Our cruises during the past ten years have been divided about 50-50 between HAL and X. HAL room stewards overall have done a better, more consistent job.

 

My main hope is to have the morning bedmaking etc service completed within an hour or two from the time we depart for breakfast, which usually seems to be no problem. 

 

So true that some passengers are more high maintenance than others. I worked for a resort hotel in the Caribbean and occasionally had to enter guest rooms to open safes for people. I soon gained an appreciation for the chaotic messes our maids had to deal with sometimes.

[Caribbean Chris]

14 minutes ago, hcat said:

We had very good to excellent attendants in Aqua Class over the yrs..

 

Next few cruises we will have Sunset Veranda (Edge and Apex) and a reg balcony ( Summit).  Hope we won't be disappointed at the level of service.

 

Planning to hoard left over TP  for the last night...just in case!

 

Will be looking forward to your feedback on the Edge class sunset verandas. We are going the same route on Apex in 2020.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

In 19 cruises we've only had one poor cabin attendant in an Aqua Class stateroom. She just didn't seem to be well trained. We met the hotel director at the CC event and remarked that she seemed to be coming along.  The HD looked pleased, the cabin attendant improved a bit after that.

 

We've had some small issues, not even at the level of a  complaint. One time we mentioned to the main attendant that the assistant left the wet towels on the bathroom floor.  They bent over backwards to apologize and even brought us a bottle of wine.  We did have the missing TP on one cruise which was not pleasant and indicated a lack of attention to detail.

 

We are not high maintenance and overall our experiences have been positive.

[hcat]

34 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

Will be looking forward to your feedback on the Edge class sunset verandas. We are going the same route on Apex in 2020.

A bit off topic....

EDGE Cruise is not til Nov...can't wait,  I hope to do an EDGE Sunset Veranda cruise review similar to my EDGE AQ class review ( E Carib) from Jan 2019.  I recently  signed up for  an online photo website so hope it will be easier to post my pics..had to get much  appreciated help from Vt  cruiser last time.

 

The Edge itin is the 9 night ABC Islands...we did similar  itin  on Infinity a few years ago but could not resist doing it again on EDGE. Looking forward to the Sunset Veranda.,.deck 7 middle, but a bit nervous about not being in AQ with BLU and thermal suite perks.  We are booked at the 4 mdrs  for dinners and will rely on Elite + lite breakfasts. Hoping the service both in room and elsewhere is similar to what we have been used to in AQ Class....

 

[gold1953]

I have also seen very messy cabins while walking by open doors. If you hire a cleaning service at home the rule is that 'things' must be off the surfaces you want cleaned. It should be the same on a ship.  A cabin steward should not be expected to tidy up your mess. For those who leave clothes all over your bed they have to remove and fold them. Be respectful to these hard working people. Do you leave your make up all over bathroom counters and expect the surface to be cleaned ..Not fair!!

Edited April 20, 2019 by gold1953

[hcat]

I agree.

Staterooms, other than suites,  are generally small spaces and  once you let it go..even for a day it can turn into a big sloppy mess! Keeping things orderly saves time...you can find things more easily and do not have a huge pile of rumpled clothes laying around... 

 

Guess not everyone sees it that way....

[FlorenceItaly]

24 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

I have also seen very messy cabins while walking by open doors. If you hire a cleaning service at home the rule is that 'things' must be off the surfaces you want cleaned. It should be the same on a ship.  A cabin steward should not be expected to tidy up your mess. For those who leave clothes all over your bed they have to remove and fold them. Be respectful to these hard working people. Do you leave your make up all over bathroom counters and expect the surface to be cleaned ..Not fair!!

Absolutely!  We always make sure our clothes/shoes are put away, and the desk area tidy.  I typically even wipe down the bathroom and have all used towels in one place.  I am the same way when staying in hotels.  I am tidy at home, and it doesn't change when we travel.  I would consider us a very easy clean.

[gold1953]

17 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

 

 

17 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Absolutely!  We always make sure our clothes/shoes are put away, and the desk area tidy.  I typically even wipe down the bathroom and have all used towels in one place.  I am the same way when staying in hotels.  I am tidy at home, and it doesn't change when we travel.  I would consider us a very easy clean.

I personally would not want a cabin steward to see me as an untidy slob!   They especially love us as we are out of our cabin by 7 every morning. If an attendant has most of their cabins with people who sleep in it very much limits the detailing that they have time for in each cabin.

[Beanb41]

New cruisers don't know what to expect but experienced cruisers do. This is where we as experienced can help our cabin stewards help us better especially if they are new as was the case on our last cruise. We were at the end of the line of 11 rooms which included 4 accessible rooms. Unfortunately our young lady always started at the same end which meant our room wasnt addressed until very late in the morning. We took her aside and suggested that she alternated her start room both in the morning and evening. so that everyone on her round got equal treatment. This had never been suggested to her previously. Some of the more canny and experienced stewards put a little piece of paper between the door and jam early in the morning and when that piece of paper was lying on the floor it indicated that the occupants were up and about and likely to be at breakfast. When there were two stewards an early tidy up was easier because the run whilst greater could be split.. I have to take with a grain of salt how tidy some of our correspondents say they are. If one speaks with the stewards then our correspondents are the only ones that are tidy little munchkins.

[Marelaine]

10 hours ago, gold1953 said:

I have also seen very messy cabins while walking by open doors. If you hire a cleaning service at home the rule is that 'things' must be off the surfaces you want cleaned. It should be the same on a ship.  A cabin steward should not be expected to tidy up your mess. For those who leave clothes all over your bed they have to remove and fold them. Be respectful to these hard working people. Do you leave your make up all over bathroom counters and expect the surface to be cleaned ..Not fair!!

 

Oh yes. The stewards leave the cabin doors open while cleaning. Some passengers are slobs. I walked by a few in our area where every visible surface was piled high with clothes and debris. To me, this is totally disrespectful to the person who is charged with making the bed and wiping down the desk. We are pretty neat, never leave dirty clothes lying and used glasses and room service dishes are placed on the tray for the steward to collect.  Perhaps we were sharing a steward with messy people. 

[gold1953]

14 minutes ago, Beanb41 said:

 .. I have to take with a grain of salt how tidy some of our correspondents say they are. If one speaks with the stewards then our correspondents are the only ones that are tidy little munchkins.

Seriously??  I happen to tidy my cabin every morning. I do not enjoy being in a small place with a mess around me. I am on a luxurious ship and want my cabin to feel the same. My husband just said that we like to be able to find things as well.  Maybe this is why our steward has time to clean our cabin thoroughly.  BTW we also remove our dirty dishes from the table at the buffet.. yes .. it's true

Edited April 20, 2019 by gold1953

[villauk]

9 hours ago, gold1953 said:

They especially love us as we are out of our cabin by 7 every morning. 

 

 

Are you retired or do you suffer with insomnia 😆? 

 

9 hours ago, gold1953 said:

If an attendant has most of their cabins with people who sleep in it very much limits the detailing that they have time for in each cabin.

 

Being out of the cabin for 7am every day is a little excessive for everyone as some of us are on vacation from our normal working week and do appreciate a lie-in, especially on sea days. 

[gold1953]

3 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Are you retired or do you suffer with insomnia 😆? ''    LOL.. I have always been a morning person. Never slept in even as a teen but yes we are also retired. 

 

 

Being out of the cabin for 7am every day is a little excessive for everyone as some of us are on vacation from our normal working week and do appreciate a lie-in, especially on sea days. 

Perfect when some are out early so the steward can space the work out. I wouldn't expect most to be up and out when I am. It would not benefit the steward anyway. They need them spaced out. I am probably the first in bed every night as well but that is OK as I LOVE the daylight and hate to miss any of it especially when at sea

 

[canadianbear]

We were actually surprised on our first Celebrity cruise in March.  We went for breakfast, killed some time and came back to our suite around 11am and it hadn’t been serviced.  We are used to HAL where our cabin was always done within an hour of us leaving.  Wasn’t a big deal just surprised us.  He must had started at the other end which someone on here mentioned.  When we realized just how many cabins he had to do, we would try to just tell him to give us clean towels.  Our room is always tidy so we didn’t need much attention and told the butler the same thing. 

[Cruise it or lose it]

11 hours ago, gold1953 said:

I have also seen very messy cabins while walking by open doors. If you hire a cleaning service at home the rule is that 'things' must be off the surfaces you want cleaned. It should be the same on a ship.  A cabin steward should not be expected to tidy up your mess. For those who leave clothes all over your bed they have to remove and fold them. Be respectful to these hard working people. Do you leave your make up all over bathroom counters and expect the surface to be cleaned ..Not fair!!

I have seen clothes tossed everywhere in cabins. It looked like a rock band from the old days trashed the suite. And one lone attendant trying to figure out what to do. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We keep our cabin neat and like a leisurely morning.  We often have to force our selves out for the cabin attendant and butler to have time to do what needs done.  If we return and the cabin has not been attended to we just hand out on the balcony when the attendant comes in. 

[chemmo]

 

We always tell our room attendant we will put the do not disturb sign on each night. We then let him know we will take it off as we go for breakfast so he will know we are out. Most of the time our room is done before we come back. 

 

We frequently on sea days want to enjoy our suite and balcony, have a full room service breakfast and just relax. As we are aware on these days that nearly everyone will be doing the same we will often see the attendant and just ask for anything we need (shower gel, fresh towels...). 

 

 

[fleckle]

53 minutes ago, chemmo said:

 

We always tell our room attendant we will put the do not disturb sign on each night. We then let him know we will take it off as we go for breakfast so he will know we are out. Most of the time our room is done before we come back.

 

That is what we do as well.  I thought that was standard practice, the reason why they provide do not disturb signs.

 

The piece of paper in the door previously mentioned doesn't work unless there is only one person in the stateroom because when there are 2 people,  they are often going in and out at different times.

Also, many passengers order room service.

 

For the most part, we have been very happy with the stateroom attendants we have had on Celebrity cruises.  They seem to be eager to please. 

 

Part of the problem that some are having may simply be a communication problem, not letting the stateroom attendant know what you want or expect.

 

The best ones will replace things like toilet paper or soap before they run out so we don't even need to ask for them, but with others, all we need to do is ask for what we need and they are happy to oblige.

          

 

Edited April 21, 2019 by fleckle