Asking employees about their jobs and life

[Joebucks]

I like to talk to the workers like they are my friends. Because for that week, they are.

 

Some people mean well, but just end up talking down to them. "You work all of these hours?" "They don't even pay you well, do they?" "How can you handle this?"

[sfaaa]

No, not friend. You are a paying customer and the ship crews are there to provide you with a specific service. That is all.

Edited November 22, 2019 by sfaaa

[Aquahound]

5 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I like to talk to the workers like they are my friends. Because for that week, they are.

 

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  😊

[clo]

4 hours ago, sfaaa said:

No, not friend. You are a paying customer and the ship crews are there to provide you with a specific service. That is all.

And I treat everyone I interact with like they're as interesting as they are.  You might be surprised how enjoyable that is.

 

Followup question: how do YOU interact with those who "provide you with a specific service"?

Edited November 23, 2019 by clo

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, clo said:

 

 

Followup question: how do YOU interact with those who "provide you with a specific service"?

I don't bother them and let them do their work. I respect their space and privacy and they respect mine.

[ilikeanswers]

16 hours ago, brillohead said:

I think the main purpose of "turndown service" is to switch out the wet towels in the bathroom from the pre-dinner shower.  Most cabin stewards ask if I have early or late seating for dinner, so they can plan their evening service schedule accordingly -- regardless of my dining time, the towels get exchanged while I'm at dinner.  

 

Thanks for the information 🤗. Though considering they change towels when they clean the room isn't doing it again in the evening a little bit excessive🤔? 

[GUT2407]

9 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Thanks for the information 🤗. Though considering they change towels when they clean the room isn't doing it again in the evening a little bit excessive🤔? 

Most lines offer the Hang it up if don’t want changed, on the floor if you do, option now

[ilikeanswers]

15 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Most lines offer the Hang it up if don’t want changed, on the floor if you do, option now

 

I had a cruise that offered this but I discovered they were changing the towels no matter how I left them 🤣. 

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Thanks for the information 🤗. Though considering they change towels when they clean the room isn't doing it again in the evening a little bit excessive🤔? 

Some folks want fresh towels / washcloths each time they shower.  

I've had some stewards replace towels even if I've hung them up to be reused, and I've had some stewards refold the towels so they "look prettier" after being rehung even if they haven't been replaced with a fresh towel.

I think in many cases the room stewards take pride in their work, and they like for the rooms in their care to look "put together" at all times, so that the passengers in their care have a wonderful vacation experience.  

[Toofarfromthesea]

Stewards have a routine.  Asking them to deviate from that routine, even when you seem to be asking them to do less than that routine calls for, complicates their lives.  I let them do their job.  And I treat them with courtesy and respectrespect.  But treat them like a friend?  Either that is way deeper a relationship than I would have with a steward, or it is based on a very shallow version of what a friend is.

 

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I had a cruise that offered this but I discovered they were changing the towels no matter how I left them 🤣. 

On my cruise last month we wanted fresh towels but many times they were folded up used ones.

[SRF]

On 11/22/2019 at 1:55 PM, GUT2407 said:

Clearly you took great care of him.

 

Thanks.

 

It was funny.  The initial diagnosis was our normal vet, but sent us to the doggie oncologist, who confirmed it.  Due to Max's size, amputation (left front leg) was not an option.

 

So he suggested radiation, and if we could leave him, they would do the first treatment that afternoon.  So we did.  I was actually on my way to the airport for a work trip, so my wife called to check in.  When she called and asked how he was, the lady at the desk gushed, "Oh he is fine.  He is here at the front desk helping us.  He is so sweet, we couldn't put him a kennel.  So we put a blanket behind the desk for him."  😄

 

 

[brillohead]

18 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

On my cruise last month we wanted fresh towels but many times they were folded up used ones.

Putting towels on the floor = get fresh towels.

Hanging towels up = keeping the same towel (but many times the room attendant still replaces them with fresh towels anyway).

Are you saying you put your towels on the floor and the room attendant hung them back up again?  

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Thanks.

 

It was funny.  The initial diagnosis was our normal vet, but sent us to the doggie oncologist, who confirmed it.  Due to Max's size, amputation (left front leg) was not an option.

 

So he suggested radiation, and if we could leave him, they would do the first treatment that afternoon.  So we did.  I was actually on my way to the airport for a work trip, so my wife called to check in.  When she called and asked how he was, the lady at the desk gushed, "Oh he is fine.  He is here at the front desk helping us.  He is so sweet, we couldn't put him a kennel.  So we put a blanket behind the desk for him."  😄

 

 

Sounds like you have a great Vet too.

[Cruzaholic41]

21 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

But treat them like a friend?  Either that is way deeper a relationship than I would have with a steward, or it is based on a very shallow version of what a friend is.

It’s not about making friends. It’s about being a decent person and not treating staff like servants who are lesser human beings. 

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

Putting towels on the floor = get fresh towels.

Hanging towels up = keeping the same towel (but many times the room attendant still replaces them with fresh towels anyway).

Are you saying you put your towels on the floor and the room attendant hung them back up again?  

Yes,he did .Not all of them but some.

[Toofarfromthesea]

2 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

It’s not about making friends. It’s about being a decent person and not treating staff like servants who are lesser human beings. 

 

Exactly my point, thanks.  

[Elaine5715]

On 11/23/2019 at 2:27 PM, Toofarfromthesea said:

Stewards have a routine.  Asking them to deviate from that routine, even when you seem to be asking them to do less than that routine calls for, complicates their lives.  I let them do their job.  And I treat them with courtesy and respectrespect.  But treat them like a friend?  Either that is way deeper a relationship than I would have with a steward, or it is based on a very shallow version of what a friend is.

 

Reminds of reading a post from people who booked a cruise line and suite that came with Butler Service but they were uncomfortable with that level of service so they "gave them the week off"

[SRF]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

Are you saying you put your towels on the floor and the room attendant hung them back up again?  

 

Had this happen in China back in 83.  They just did not understand it. 😄

 

[ShakyBeef]

On 11/23/2019 at 3:14 PM, lenquixote66 said:

On my cruise last month we wanted fresh towels but many times they were folded up used ones.

 

On 11/24/2019 at 9:46 AM, brillohead said:

Putting towels on the floor = get fresh towels.

Hanging towels up = keeping the same towel (but many times the room attendant still replaces them with fresh towels anyway).

Are you saying you put your towels on the floor and the room attendant hung them back up again?  

 

23 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Yes,he did .Not all of them but some.

 

I've had this happen on a cruise and at a 4-Star hotel, as well.  To prevent this disgusting housekeeping cheat from ever happening to me again, I now wet every used towel by passing it through running water from the sink before placing it on the floor.  The towel is not then thoroughly soaked, but has an unmistakable large-enough, wet-enough area to keep the steward from attempting to rehang it.

[wwcruisers]

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

 

 

I've had this happen on a cruise and at a 4-Star hotel, as well.  To prevent this disgusting housekeeping cheat from ever happening to me again, I now wet every used towel by passing it through running water from the sink before placing it on the floor.  The towel is not then thoroughly soaked, but has an unmistakable large-enough, wet-enough area to keep the steward from attempting to rehang it.

 

Don't know how you'd do this in a hotel (different housekeepers every day) -- but, wouldn't it just be easier (on both of you) to let your cabin steward know (on day one) that you want clean towels every day?  Even if they are not 'sopping', wet towels are heavy and harder to pick up -- especially from the floor, or the tub. Although I too request clean towels every day, I wouldn't want to purposely make my cabin steward's job any harder than it already is.🤨

[ShakyBeef]

22 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

 

Don't know how you'd do this in a hotel (different housekeepers every day) -- but, wouldn't it just be easier (on both of you) to let your cabin steward know (on day one) that you want clean towels every day?  Even if they are not 'sopping', wet towels are heavy and harder to pick up -- especially from the floor, or the tub. Although I too request clean towels every day, I wouldn't want to purposely make my cabin steward's job any harder than it already is.🤨

 

I certainly don't want to make the cabin steward's (or, in the case of the hotel, the housekeeping staff's) job harder than it already is.  But even more so, I don't want to stick my face in a dirty towel again.  Although it is true that with an obvious wet spot, the towel is going to be a tiny bit heavier to lift, this is an added burden I am willing to place on my steward.  I tip well and keep a tidy room.  In fact, in many ways, I leave my hotel room / cruise cabin cleaner than I found it.  They can handle a few extra ounces of water weight from my towels.

 

I have been the victim of this nasty practice more than once, when I was following the hotel's and cruise ship's stated towel protocol (hanging up, I'll reuse it / laying on the floor, please replace it).  The stewards/ housekeepers that did it knew they were "cheating".   Would requesting clean towels every day out loud from the people that did this have changed anything?  I doubt it.  I was already making the request by following the protocol printed in the bathroom. 

 

So I will henceforth make certain that I never again put my face or clean hands into a dirty towel that has been laying on the bathroom floor.🤢

Edited November 25, 2019 by ShakyBeef
capitalization

[wwcruisers]

1 hour ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

  Would requesting clean towels every day out loud from the people that did this have changed anything?  I doubt it.

 

I've not had a problem with getting fresh towels every day -- on Celebrity or RC. I make it a point to meet my cabin steward on day one, with a couple of standard requests: daily ice service and fresh towels, every day. I've never had to ask more than once. However, like you, I WOULD be more than a little miffed to see a dirty towel (I toss mine into the tub or shower, for collection) simply picked up and rehung on the towel rack! After going to the trouble of making the request in the first place -- for me, that would warrant a call to the Head of Housekeeping. 😣

[ShakyBeef]

7 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

I've not had a problem with getting fresh towels every day -- on Celebrity or RC. I make it a point to meet my cabin steward on day one, with a couple of standard requests: daily ice service and fresh towels, every day. I've never had to ask more than once. However, like you, I WOULD be more than a little miffed to see a dirty towel (I toss mine into the tub or shower, for collection) simply picked up and rehung on the towel rack! After going to the trouble of making the request in the first place -- for me, that would warrant a call to the Head of Housekeeping. 😣

 

I'd be too afraid that my toothbrush would be used to scrub the toilet after I did that.  Just as I am very hesitant to send food back at a restaurant.  I'm half-joking about this.  But only half.  I just choose to manage the situation the best I can without complaining to management while the steward still has access to my personal items.

 

Incidentally, I do the Embarkation Day meet-and-request, too.  With every steward, every cruise, and I am always polite whilst making my very few requests, as well as in every interaction I have with them.  The Room Steward that rehung my soiled towels was no exception to this practice and treatment.  He just chose to do what he did anyway.

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

I'd be too afraid that my toothbrush would be used to scrub the toilet after I did that.  Just as I am very hesitant to send food back at a restaurant.  I'm half-joking about this.  But only half.  I just choose to manage the situation the best I can without complaining to management while the steward still has access to my personal items.

 

Incidentally, I do the Embarkation Day meet-and-request, too.  With every steward, every cruise, and I am always polite whilst making my very few requests, as well as in every interaction I have with them.  The Room Steward that rehung my soiled towels was no exception to this practice and treatment.  He just chose to do what he did anyway.

Wow fear or reprisal, isn’t reprisal really extortion, if I honestly had those fears I wouldn’t deal with that company.