How is the new process of only once a day cabin cleaning going?

[laura85]

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, laura85 said:

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

I sure hope you called Guest Services to request towels and to request the Pullman be put up/put down. You gotta communicate with the ship's staff if you aren't getting what you require, yo! 

[Albinroo]

33 minutes ago, laura85 said:

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

Sounds very frustrating, glad you didn't let it ruin your trip!

[IrieBajan54]

48 minutes ago, laura85 said:

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

That was bad service on your cabin steward's part. 

 

 

[bkrickles1]

53 minutes ago, laura85 said:

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

I just sailed Joy 7/23 and had zero issue with once a day cabin service.

I provided our cabin steward, within 15 minutes of entering our cabin, a list of things I'd like to have done. He was terrific and took care of everything between the first and second day.

One of the items was to provide us with 4 extra (large) towels so we didn't have to reuse towels on days I or my wife went to the gym and showered twice.

This request was taken care of the very first day and I never had to ask again. We had extra towels left on our sofa every day. 

Your issues seem to be the result of a not so great cabin steward and I would have gone to guest services on day 2 to make your feelings known.

It's nice that your trip was not ruined over this. You're better than most folks on here. Lmao!!

I had a great sailing on Encore in 2020 and the service was great!

[AK Dreaming]

As the OP I thought I would let you know how it went.  We were 3 women in a Balcony Suite cabin.  I was told by NCL that they steward would help with the extra bed, but he never did.  It was not a vacation ruining situation, but it did make the cabin much less usable and much less comfortatble during the day.  Overall I would say there is totally less customer sevice than in the past.  On a side note, it was my first cruise on the Bliss and I was not impressed. Much prefer the Getaway ships.

[ontheweb]

DW and I were just discussing this topic this morning. I said I did not miss the second cabin turndown. She said she did not even know why it was necessary. We never did put towels on the floor, but the steward changed them several times on our 11 day cruise.

[laura85]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I sure hope you called Guest Services to request towels and to request the Pullman be put up/put down. You gotta communicate with the ship's staff if you aren't getting what you require, yo! 

We called many many times with no answer. One day they answered and put us on hold. 

[laura85]

1 hour ago, AK Dreaming said:

As the OP I thought I would let you know how it went.  We were 3 women in a Balcony Suite cabin.  I was told by NCL that they steward would help with the extra bed, but he never did.  It was not a vacation ruining situation, but it did make the cabin much less usable and much less comfortatble during the day.  Overall I would say there is totally less customer sevice than in the past.  On a side note, it was my first cruise on the Bliss and I was not impressed. Much prefer the Getaway ships.

Yes my thoughts exactly about leaving the Pullman down! It really made the cabin so cramped and the closet was almost inaccessible. I’ve stayed in rooms with Pullman’s before, they were always closed during the day by steward. I wouldn’t have as much issue with a pullout couch that we could put away ourselves. 

[laura85]

2 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

I just sailed Joy 7/23 and had zero issue with once a day cabin service.

I provided our cabin steward, within 15 minutes of entering our cabin, a list of things I'd like to have done. He was terrific and took care of everything between the first and second day.

One of the items was to provide us with 4 extra (large) towels so we didn't have to reuse towels on days I or my wife went to the gym and showered twice.

This request was taken care of the very first day and I never had to ask again. We had extra towels left on our sofa every day. 

Your issues seem to be the result of a not so great cabin steward and I would have gone to guest services on day 2 to make your feelings known.

It's nice that your trip was not ruined over this. You're better than most folks on here. Lmao!!

I had a great sailing on Encore in 2020 and the service was great!

I definitely learned that next time, with the Pullman, I should try physically going to guest services. I figured we were just stuck with it down since the cleaning is 1x day. We were definitely shocked to have it closed and never opened on the last day. We got back to the cabin around 9pm with the Pullman still closed and no one was answering at guest services. I didn’t want to make a huge stink about the towels because the room stewards are so busy! Live and learn. 

[cruiseny4life]

42 minutes ago, laura85 said:

We called many many times with no answer. One day they answered and put us on hold. 

So frustrating! The last thing you'd want to do is go stand in line at Guest Services. As you said, probably should have, but I definitely understand not doing so!

[sailingships]

8 hours ago, laura85 said:

Recently got off our first NCL cruise aboard the Encore, overall a great trip. I knew to expect 1x day cleaning. We had 4 in a cabin, with a Pullman bed. I figured we’d reuse towels for a few days, then ask for a new set. I asked the steward for the new set on day 4. We didn’t get new ones until day 6 and had to pick up our old off the floor to use because the steward never showed up to swap them out like she said she would. The Pullman bed was left down for the entire first 6 days (we tried and COULD NOT put it away ourselves) so the closet was super hard to use with the bed in the way. And yes, we had asked the steward to put it up during the day. Finally on day 6 she put it up… and never put it back down. So on the last night my daughter had to sleep with us, because no one would come to our room to put the bed down. None of this ruined the trip, but the cabin was much less pleasant/usable with the Pullman down all week. 

You could have gone to the spa/gym and got clean bath towels from the shower rooms. Or chased the steward down out in the hall. Or just taken some off the cart.

[dexddd]

9 hours ago, sailingships said:

You could have gone to the spa/gym and got clean bath towels from the shower rooms. Or chased the steward down out in the hall. Or just taken some off the cart.

Why can't they just do their job from the get go?  Vacation now means doing other people's job that you paid thousands for?

[Ellis1138]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Why can't they just do their job from the get go?  Vacation now means doing other people's job that you paid thousands for?

Because they used to have 2 people doing the job (steward and the assistant). Now, the steward is alone and has more cabins to clean than they used to. Part of it is the cruise line trying to shave costs during this high inflationary period, but there's also less people willing to do this type of work than there used to be. 

 

So, the "why can't they do it" doesn't matter when they don't do it. If they don't do it, then I go do it.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Ellis1138 said:

Because they used to have 2 people doing the job (steward and the assistant). Now, the steward is alone and has more cabins to clean than they used to. Part of it is the cruise line trying to shave costs during this high inflationary period, but there's also less people willing to do this type of work than there used to be. 

 

So, the "why can't they do it" doesn't matter when they don't do it. If they don't do it, then I go do it.

On our recent cruise on the NCL Prima, there was a question and answer session with the officers. I asked the officer in charge of the stewards how many rooms they had and was it more than they had pre-covid. He kind of danced around the answer, but basically said there was no real change.

[debenson0723]

I travel often for business and just spent 2 weeks in 2 different very nice Hiltons. Upon check in to both, I was told there would be no housekeeping for the 5 days I was there. The bathroom was stocked with towels and I could text the front desk or stop by for more if needed.  There were large trash bins near the vending machines where I could put my daily trash (and they were emptied often so no smell). This isn't the first time I have experienced this recently and for me, it's really no big deal. Once a day service will be great once I get on a ship!

[cruiseny4life]

31 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

I travel often for business and just spent 2 weeks in 2 different very nice Hiltons. Upon check in to both, I was told there would be no housekeeping for the 5 days I was there. The bathroom was stocked with towels and I could text the front desk or stop by for more if needed.  There were large trash bins near the vending machines where I could put my daily trash (and they were emptied often so no smell). This isn't the first time I have experienced this recently and for me, it's really no big deal. Once a day service will be great once I get on a ship!

That's interesting! A few weeks ago I stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn. The sticker in the bathroom mirror stated that housekeeping would be provided once every five days, but I could request (at no charge) daily housekeeping. I believe the towels were to be turned over upon request. We only stayed there one night, so no big deal to us. I just love how different properties do it differently. Really interesting, especially since garden inns aren't exactly fancy Hiltons! 

We will be staying at a Conrad for a few days later this month, so I'm interested to see the service differences there.

Edited September 1, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[Sugar Magnolia]

On 9/1/2023 at 10:57 AM, cruiseny4life said:

We will be staying at a Conrad for a few days later this month, so I'm interested to see the service differences there.

 

Conrads are fancy...in keeping with you Haven Maven moniker. 😉

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

I thought the once a day service was more than sufficient.  When I was talking with our housekeep, I was explaining how physically demanding my job is and he explained how busy his days are. It’s exhausting. They really work hard.

[ready2cruzagain]

On 9/1/2023 at 7:17 AM, dexddd said:

Why can't they just do their job from the get go?  Vacation now means doing other people's job that you paid thousands for?

Because, it is the new "norm". Gratuities goes up, service goes down and people say "oh, they work so hard".  For some reason, some people on a cruise feel so much sympathy for their cabin steward that they say it is all okay and we should not complain. Would they do that if their waiter forgot to bring napkins every night to the dinner table or if they never received butter, silverware, etc. Their bartender gave them a whisky instead of a Shirley Temple. I really doubt it. 

 

 We shower twice a day on a cruise, I like clean towels and wash clothes, so I will be asking to have extra every day.  

Edited September 4, 2023 by ready2cruzagain

[JamesIowa]

Is there a consensus on service requests accompanied with voluntary renumeration?

Does a little cash seem to help with “oh and I would love to have my cabin cleaned by noon if possible” or are those days gone?

 

[Bronx12]

On 9/1/2023 at 9:33 AM, Ellis1138 said:

Because they used to have 2 people doing the job (steward and the assistant). Now, the steward is alone and has more cabins to clean than they used to. Part of it is the cruise line trying to shave costs during this high inflationary period, but there's also less people willing to do this type of work than there used to be. 

 

So, the "why can't they do it" doesn't matter when they don't do it. If they don't do it, then I go do it.

Without being judgmental, I think that might be part of the problem, if they don't do it I will, that is what the cruise line is hoping, they put the gratuities up, cut the service in half, and now the half service barely gets done. I realize that gratuities have been talked about a lot, as well as housekeeping, but personally, I don't get paid enough to do my own job on a daily basis plus do someone else's job. I go on vacation to get a break from my hospital job, which I am sure you realize is busy. 

Cruise lines are trying to recover from Covid, so is the entire world, but as an employee, and not a business owner, I have no one to pass my expenses on to.

[bedfordmom]

On 9/1/2023 at 10:26 AM, debenson0723 said:

I travel often for business and just spent 2 weeks in 2 different very nice Hiltons. Upon check in to both, I was told there would be no housekeeping for the 5 days I was there. The bathroom was stocked with towels and I could text the front desk or stop by for more if needed.  There were large trash bins near the vending machines where I could put my daily trash (and they were emptied often so no smell). This isn't the first time I have experienced this recently and for me, it's really no big deal. Once a day service will be great once I get on a ship!

I wouldn’t mind self service of towels and garbage however NCL chooses not to do it that way perhaps hygiene issues around the towels. At home I do use my towels more than one day but the thin NCL towels take forever to dry. I have checked out pool towels when I’ve needed new towels and steward was mo where go be found. 

[dbrown84]

6 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Because, it is the new "norm". Gratuities goes up, service goes down and people say "oh, they work so hard".  For some reason, some people on a cruise feel so much sympathy for their cabin steward that they say it is all okay and we should not complain. Would they do that if their waiter forgot to bring napkins every night to the dinner table or if they never received butter, silverware, etc. Their bartender gave them a whisky instead of a Shirley Temple. I really doubt it. 

 

 We shower twice a day on a cruise, I like clean towels and wash clothes, so I will be asking to have extra every day.  

I love this post.  I hope the NCL cheerleaders don't see it 

[mking8288]

20 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I hope the NCL cheerleaders don't see it 

It's just sad to reflect on all the changes in cost-cutting while overall costs continue to go higher ... global pandemic and rising inflation, and labor issues not ignored.  Little & insignificant amenities like mints on the pillow nightly, towel animal, ice buckets refilled, cabin refreshed, trash emptied, towels exchanged (notice that beach towels no longer in most cabins) and coffee maker, not to mention bath robes & slippers in the closet (balconies & up, unless requested)   That's what used to make a cruise specials, and without the Haven concept then ... Things that matter a little & taken for granted, gone with the wind of change.  

 

Stayed at a resort hotel this weekend and yes, housekeeping protocols have changed - like elsewhere & isn't what it use to be ... but, there is a ice machine down the hallway, self-service machine that dispense soda, juice & bottled water at fair hospitality prices, and if needed, guest service or front desk without a long line of guests standing & waiting for the next available agent.  We leave a good tip, nothing crazy, nightly for housekeeping and they actually wrote a short thank you note for us ... when was the last time room steward did that, hmmm 😉 🤔 

 

The silly question, what do ship's housekeeping staff do when they are done for their "short" work day onboard, say from 6 or 7 pm until 9 in the following morning, unlike others that work in dining services with longer hours ... or do they end up tasked with additional work elsewhere.