Asking employees about their jobs and life

[lenquixote66]

7 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.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[wwcruisers]

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

 

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.

 

Fortunately for those of us who cruise -- that sort sort of steward is the exception, and not the rule. BTW -- the ONLY time (in two decades of cruising) that we ever had to contact the housekeeping supervisor about a steward, we were assured that employee would NOT be setting foot in our cabin again. Definitely get your point about locking up your toothbrush, though. 😲

[SRF]

20 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

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.🤢

 

If I found a towel from the floor hung on a cruise ship or hotel, I would have the hotel manager on the phone and in my room as soon as they could get there.

 

That practice is NOT acceptable.

 

When it happened to me in China, it was slightly different, as they had just opened to tourism, and had not learned how to do things.

[SRF]

18 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.

 

No, part of what I would asking for is a different steward.

 

 

[sanger727]

On 11/25/2019 at 2:49 PM, ShakyBeef said:

 

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.  

Just curious why a towel you have used once is now a dirty towel. Do you never use a towel more than once at home? We just re-hang and re-use towels until they are too wet to dry between uses.

[ShakyBeef]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

Just curious why a towel you have used once is now a dirty towel. Do you never use a towel more than once at home? We just re-hang and re-use towels until they are too wet to dry between uses.

Just curious, where did I say that?

[rkacruiser]

During a QE2 trans-Atlantic in Tourist Class, there were labor problems on the ship.  My traveling companion and I had one--just one--wash cloth for both of us to use between Southampton and New York.  (Other towels/linens were properly supplied.)  Complaints to the Hotel Department caused a Hotel Officer to visit us with an apology.  Nothing changed, however.

 

World Cruise on the Amsterdam:  my Stateroom Steward (his second contract with his first one being on the Prinsendam)  provided satisfactory service (although my stateroom was not properly prepared for my arrival), but he was constantly being monitored by a Housekeeping Department Supervisor.  Due to a personal issue he had with HAL, he tried to "jump ship" when we were in Singapore, got caught, and was fired.  His replacement was, I was told, the Steward, who serviced Captain van Zaane's stateroom.  His service was quite acceptable, not nothing "over the top".

 

On all of my other cruises, the personnel servicing my stateroom have done an excellent job and are responsive to whatever requests I make--which are few.  

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

one--wash cloth

What is this? Do you mean a face flannel?  

Haven't we moved on from the days when people used a bit of old rag to wash themselves from a bucket of tepid water?

[mom says]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

What is this? Do you mean a face flannel?  

Haven't we moved on from the days when people used a bit of old rag to wash themselves from a bucket of tepid water?

Yes, in North America it is called a wash cloth or face cloth,  and these are still commonly used in homes and hotels on this side of the pond. If you prefer not to use them, then that is your prerogative. However, they are not rags, nor are buckets in common use for bathing purposes.

Edited November 27, 2019 by mom says

[wowzz]

Just seems very unhygienic. 

[rkacruiser]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just seems very unhygienic. 

 

Well, for my QE2 experience with my traveling companion, it was! We made do by using smaller towels as wash cloths.  

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

Just curious why a towel you have used once is now a dirty towel. Do you never use a towel more than once at home? We just re-hang and re-use towels until they are too wet to dry between uses.

We never use a towel more than once.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

Back to the topic at hand, it depends on how you engage the ship staff but generally we find that that are willing, able and enjoy sharing their stories with us.

 

You just need to be respectful and interested and not critical or “holier than thow”

[wowzz]

16 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We never use a towel more than once.

I obviously live in a different  universe to you! 

[sanmarcosman]

18 hours ago, wowzz said:

What is this? Do you mean a face flannel?  

Haven't we moved on from the days when people used a bit of old rag to wash themselves from a bucket of tepid water?

We Yanks won our revolution from tyranny in part to call the cloth we wash with a wash cloth. Greetings from San Diego, USA. The most boring crossing I took was Cunard's QE2 in May of 1988 but I had a fresh wash cloth when needed. 

[donaldsc]

17 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We never use a towel more than once.

 

Even on land?  How many towels per day do you use?  Is there a logical reason why you do this?  Is this answer just your idea of a joke?

 

DON

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I obviously live in a different  universe to you! 

Which universe do you live in ?

[lenquixote66]

25 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

Even on land?  How many towels per day do you use?  Is there a logical reason why you do this?  Is this answer just your idea of a joke?

 

DON

We never use a towel more than once at home or on vacation and we never met anyone who does.This is the first time I ever heard of anyone using a towel more than once.

I will be in my 9th decade of life next month and this is a shock to me that anyone would re use a towel.

[mom says]

41 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

We never use a towel more than once at home or on vacation and we never met anyone who does.This is the first time I ever heard of anyone using a towel more than once.

I will be in my 9th decade of life next month and this is a shock to me that anyone would re use a towel.

So assuming you use the bathroom more than once a day, how many hand towels are in your hamper by bed time? I pity your poor wife, since she no doubt is the one doing loads of laundry every day.

 

And assuming you are clean coming out of the shower, just how soiled could your bath towel possibly be after one use?

Edited November 27, 2019 by mom says

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, mom says said:

So assuming you use the bathroom more than once a day, how many hand towels are in your hamper by bed time? I pity your poor wife, since she no doubt is the one doing loads of laundry every day.

We use paper towels in our bathrooms and dispose of them after using them.We use towels solely for after showers.

How much time do you spend on CC trying to find posts of mine that you wish to criticize ? 

[pacruise804]

 

39 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

We never use a towel more than once at home or on vacation and we never met anyone who does.This is the first time I ever heard of anyone using a towel more than once.

I will be in my 9th decade of life next month and this is a shock to me that anyone would re use a towel.

 

We use the same hand towel all day at home.  I know many who do this, but also some who also keep paper towels for entertaining.

I use the same dish towel to dry multiple dishes - since they are already clean.  I even use the same dish cloth to wash multiple dirty dishes.

 

I can understand changing body towels each day, but honestly find it excessive since you are clean when you dry.  If you don't have space to hang your towel to dry properly though then I would swap it out since the damp could harbor bacteria.  That's why we use fresh towels each time on a cruise ship - they don't dry in the small bathroom.

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, pacruise804 said:

 

 

We use the same hand towel all day at home.  I know many who do this, but also some who also keep paper towels for entertaining.

I use the same dish towel to dry multiple dishes - since they are already clean.  I even use the same dish cloth to wash multiple dirty dishes.

 

I can understand changing body towels each day, but honestly find it excessive since you are clean when you dry.  If you don't have space to hang your towel to dry properly though then I would swap it out since the damp could harbor bacteria.  That's why we use fresh towels each time on a cruise ship - they don't dry in the small bathroom.

I was referring to bath towels not hand towels.

[Bankshot]

We don't get personal but we always make an effort to interact with the crew members.  We know they have hard boring jobs and we try to make their day a little more interesting.  We also try to remember some we have cruised with before and they seem thrilled that someone remembers them.  We also let management know about those who are friendly and do outstanding work.

[davekathy]

Sometimes we ask sometimes we don't. We learned on our September 2019 Summit cruise our stateroom attendant has worked for Celebrity since 1988 and the only cruise line he has worked for. He is retiring after the contract he is currently on. February 2020. Bummer as we will be back on the Summit for a B2B cruise March 2020.  One of the most attentive, friendly and personable stateroom attends we have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. Shout out to Eddie. 

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Which universe do you live in ?

A universe where I don't waste water and electricity washing towels after a single use.