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

[hladygirl]

We were on the Pearl last month. The once a day housekeeping was fine except sometimes I wanted to go to my cabin for a little nap at 1-2 pm and found that my cabin still wasn’t done. If I napped then my cabin probably would not get serviced that day. My son and I walked by a cabin that our steward was cleaning. He had the door propped open. Oh dear god. That cabin looked like a cyclone hit it. I have no idea how he could clean a cabin that had clothes piled from one end of the floor to the other end. You could not even see the furniture under all the crap strewn in the cabin. Felt bad for him.

[KGBRomeo]

Is this once a day cabin cleaning only for non-Haven rooms?

 

We just recently returned from a trip on NCL in the Haven and the room was cleaned/converted back to sitting areas while we were at breakfast and then the beds were turned down and the room tidied up again while we were at dinner.

 

Occasionally, they would also come in and tidy-up again (empty trash, replace towels, replenish the complimentary drinks/sodas/mixers) when they dropped off the afternoon "treats".

Edited September 4, 2023 by KGBRomeo
Mis-spelling

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, KGBRomeo said:

Is this once a day cabin cleaning only for non-Haven rooms?

 

We just recently returned from a trip on NCL in the Haven and the room was cleaned/converted back to sitting areas while we were at breakfast and then the beds were turned down and the room tidied up again while we were at dinner.

 

Occasionally, they would also come in and tidy-up again (empty trash, replace towels, replenish the complimentary drinks/sodas/mixers) when they dropped off the afternoon "treats".

Haven still retains twice a day service...for now. That's why we pay $25/day in gratuities per person.

[vacation44]

We just got off the Jewel today and had once a day cabin service.   Not a fan.   Some days we choose not to get our cabin serviced and just grabbed more towels.   And we became one of those people that put our cups and plates outside the cabin.   The cleaning time was very sporadic.

[ready2cruzagain]

14 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Haven still retains twice a day service...for now. That's why we pay $25/day in gratuities per person.

Not much of a difference in gratuities for Haven than for us in steerage. We pay $20 a day pp

[cruiseny4life]

1 minute ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Not much of a difference in gratuities for Haven than for us in steerage. We pay $20 a day pp

You are right. It's not actually that far off.

[ontheweb]

58 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Not much of a difference in gratuities for Haven than for us in steerage. We pay $20 a day pp

IIRC, ours was $16 a day because we booked before the increase and chose to pay in advance. Of course, for future cruises it would be the $20.

[dbrown84]

5 hours ago, hladygirl said:

We were on the Pearl last month. The once a day housekeeping was fine except sometimes I wanted to go to my cabin for a little nap at 1-2 pm and found that my cabin still wasn’t done. If I napped then my cabin probably would not get serviced that day. My son and I walked by a cabin that our steward was cleaning. He had the door propped open. Oh dear god. That cabin looked like a cyclone hit it. I have no idea how he could clean a cabin that had clothes piled from one end of the floor to the other end. You could not even see the furniture under all the crap strewn in the cabin. Felt bad for him.

yeah, my only problem with the once a day is you never know when your cabin is going to get cleaned.  I also like taking an early afternoon nap, but a lot of times, the cabin isn't cleaned until late afternoon.  When it was still twice a day cleanings, I would often turn on the "do not disturb" sign in the evening to skip the 2nd cleaning.  But at least the cabin was cleaned each morning

[cruiseny4life]

On 9/2/2023 at 6:59 PM, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

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

 

Hahahaha, you made me guffaw when I saw this! I'm not sure the Vegas Conrad at Resorts World counts as fancy. I do intend to enjoy the pools as we're staying there after hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim over three nights. Some much needed relaxation will be in order! 

[durberville]

16 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

yeah, my only problem with the once a day is you never know when your cabin is going to get cleaned.  I also like taking an early afternoon nap, but a lot of times, the cabin isn't cleaned until late afternoon.  When it was still twice a day cleanings, I would often turn on the "do not disturb" sign in the evening to skip the 2nd cleaning.  But at least the cabin was cleaned each morning

Totally agree. Once a day is actually preferable to me - I don’t like anyone coming in the room later in the day. But LATE afternoon service, anywhere (hotels included) is a pet peeve of mine. 

[rscales2]

The main reason I’m upset is that they raise the tip and reduce the service. I still love NCL and will continue paying the tip in advanced.

[vacation44]

On 9/5/2023 at 10:39 AM, durberville said:

Totally agree. Once a day is actually preferable to me - I don’t like anyone coming in the room later in the day. But LATE afternoon service, anywhere (hotels included) is a pet peeve of mine. 

On the Jewel two weeks ago, all our our service was late afternoon.   Usually between 3-5 p.m.     

[ready2cruzagain]

23 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

On the Jewel two weeks ago, all our our service was late afternoon.   Usually between 3-5 p.m.     

Right when I take my nap then get ready for dinner. Guess I would never have my cabin cleaned. Kinda stinks if you can't get it any other time.

[vacation44]

52 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Right when I take my nap then get ready for dinner. Guess I would never have my cabin cleaned. Kinda stinks if you can't get it any other time.

Which is why we did not have our cabin cleaned everyday.     We always leave additional tip money to our Cabin Stewards, but this time we did end up cutting back 60% of what we had allocated.  

[durberville]

5 hours ago, vacation44 said:

On the Jewel two weeks ago, all our our service was late afternoon.   Usually between 3-5 p.m.     

Oh dandy! 🙄 if that’s the case with our Encore cruise I will be annoyed.  $40 a day  gratuities and we might not have our room serviced until the VERY time period we are usually back for a rest and/or readying for  pre- dinner and evening plans. Blah! 🫤

[jcscv]

I just got off Prima last week, and I was fine with the once-a-day cleaning.  I usually keep my room pretty clean anyways, so it doesn't take long for them to clean. I usually get an inside room, so I don't hang out in my room at all.  If I had a balcony or spent more time in my room, then it might become an issue since they sometimes don't get to rooms until afternoon.  I only had one day where I went back to my room in the afternoon and my room hadn't been cleaned yet. My steward kept apologizing for it not being done, and I told him not to worry about it, I just needed to get something and then I got out of his way. I will say, my poor room steward just looked exhausted.

 

[Von & John]

Not sure if I posted previsously

We were on the Sun - 20 Days April & May.

We had a fantastic Steward...

Although the once a day cleaning did require some adjustments - he alternated which end of the hallway he started each day - so no cabins were always late in the day.

We generally keep our room picked up & tidy - we are not High Maintenance, so that may help.

He also was respectful of us & our activities - there were times he'd watch our coming/going to jump in as needed

With the high number of Sea Days - He did a great job of juggling the rooms needs & I believe he was able to follow his working schedule.

Maybe some are more talented at this than others.

Our next door neighbors were rarely seen & generally had the Do Not Disturb sign on...

I think they just didn't want anyone in their room.

However, with the DND sign - there were a few "Welfare" Checks on them - they were usually out & about all day.

Do I miss turn-downs & chocolate?

Ummmm Yes 🙂

Did our Steward do a Great Job?

Ummmm Yes 🙂 

[DrSea]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:56 AM, rscales2 said:

The main reason I’m upset is that they raise the tip and reduce the service. I still love NCL and will continue paying the tip in advanced.

For our convenience of course. 

 

But yeah, to me this confirms in my mind that NCL pockets some of the service charge since they are charging more for less. 

[Smitheroo]

I left a note not to bother with the beds but I agree, if you have pull downs you do need help with that. I just asked that trash be removed and towels checked. I'd rather they not come in and see what a slob I am.

[Notamegagirl]

I feel sorry for the stewards, notice not as many smiles or friendly conversation as in the past. I do not need daily cleaning, especially, since I see how busy and tired they seem. It just takes a minute to pick up after yourself and keep cabin somewhat tidy. I am ok hanging and reusing my towel (just like at home) since my hands are clean or I have freshly showered...They can empty trash or exchange towels if needed.

 As for dishes and cups, I can return those myself, since brought into my cabin or call room service to collect. Instead of leaving them out and causing an obstacle for someone to trip over in the narrow hallways. However, since rarely see cabin steward nowadays I do tip less. 

[Asawi]

I had a wonderful steward on my latest cruise back in July. We always had a short chat when we met in the corridor and she quickly learned about my habits. I'm a solo traveller and I keep my cabin tidy (like @Notamegagirl)  so there really isn't much to do there for the steward. And this steward quickly picked up on that and when she saw the "green light" on the door it seemed she popped in and did most (or all) of the housekeeping even if it wasn't "my turn". 

I honestly can't see why you'd need housekeeping twice, even if ther's more than one person in the room,  unless it's needed to set up those extra beds. But then I haven't cruised with teenagers... or toddlers... or...

[dhanakorn]

In the past with twice a day room cleaning service, cabin steward usually uses the evening service as an opportunity to chat with the guests so he/she can get to know what you like or don't like. And the last night before the cruise ends, experienced cabin stewards will time the evening service just right, so they can personally say goodbye and you can have opportunity to give them extra cash tips.   

 

With once a day cleaning, cabin steward rarely talks to you and you won't see them during the last evening before the cruise ends anymore. So cabin stewards miss this opportunity to solicit extra cash tips at the end of the cruise which could be quite a lot of money. I assume that they can typically get about $50-$100 per room for 7-night cruise. That's a few hundreds dollars extra cash that they usually get from stopping by to say goodbye to you. 

 

 

[reveur15]

I am on  the Jewel right now. First day i left a note with a small cash tip asking for the room be done by noon. Since then the room is always ready at 11 am. Just perfect for me.

[ready2cruzagain]

5 hours ago, reveur15 said:

I am on  the Jewel right now. First day i left a note with a small cash tip asking for the room be done by noon. Since then the room is always ready at 11 am. Just perfect for me.

 

Great for you but...and I know I will get blasted for this, I will NOT leave an extra tip on the first day when gratuities were raised and service was cut. Especially after reading how many are not even getting their cabins cleaned at all on some days.  

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by ready2cruzagain

[dexddd]

1 hour ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

Great for you but...and I know I will get blasted for this, I will NOT leave an extra tip on the first day when gratuities were raised and service was cut. Especially after reading how many are not even getting their cabins cleaned at all on some days.  

 

 

You should not get blasted.  Under FDR grats got raised pretty much annually.  Service reduced.  Does not compute for customer.  Maybe they can coordinate the CN robocalls to when steward in room.