Rough start to Haven.

[graphicguy]

9 hours ago, gizfish said:

Sorry, but that shower was obviously not cleaned.  There is absolutely no reason to overlook personal items in the shower on turn around day. Yes, there is a difference between deep cleaning and regular cleaning. Anything less than deep cleaning between passengers is not acceptable.  And if something so glaringly obvious as the previous passenger's personal items in what should be an empty shower can be overlooked, what else was overlooked? I also find it unacceptable to find things under the bed or in drawers left from previous passengers.  Do you not clean under your bed and furniture when you deep clean your home?  The amount of things needing to done on turn over day is no excuse for them not being done.  I expect a thoroughly, deep cleaned room whenever I check into a hotel or cruise ship.

Is there a good reason not to have a clean cabin?  Is there a good reason for cold food that's supposed to be hot?  Is there a good reason for billing snafus?

 

No to all of them.

 

I don't care how much you spend on a hotel, or a restaurant, or a cruise....mistakes happen.  I've stayed in hotels around the world.  I've dined in some mighty fine restaurants where the best food I ate was not at the most expensive nor nicest ones.  

 

I've been on 34 cruises, ½ of them on NCL.

 

Stuff happens.  Personnel are having a bad day.  Maybe they are new to the job.  Maybe they are having troubles at home.  Who knows?  

 

Fact is, nothing is ever perfect.  I'm willing to give anyone a break.  If something goes wrong, tell them.  Let them fix it.  Now, if they refuse to fix it, there's your beef.

 

However, we're all lucky to be able to cruise.  If you don't like it, or like the line or ship you're cruising on, don't book it again.  Whining about it helps no one.  Again, let them fix it.  If find 99% of the time, if you allow NCL, or any other cruise line ship, the opportunity to address any legitimate issue, they'll go the extra mile to do so.

[UKstages]

5 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

For those that want or demand a deep cleaning of vacuuming under the bed, sterilizing all hard surfaces, and sanitizing the cabin please do not show up to embark until 7pm

 

i'm not really sure i see anybody demanding anything, especially a deep cleaning.

 

i just want the areas you mentioned (toilet, shower, sink, bathroom floor, carpet, trash, bed linens) to be spotless, which may or may not include "sterilization" or "sanitizing" with chemical compounds, depending on the area.

[roddy good boy]

Our first NCL cruise was in a Haven spa suite in 2013. We had previously sailed on Carnival, RCL, and Celebrity and had never had a dirty room upon embarkation. The suite had hair in the large tub, a sock on the floor, and used bar soap and a razor in the shower. We complained and they sent someone to immediately clean the room. 

My husband swears that he saw our old steward being slow walked off the ship the next day, at the first port. I’m hoping it was a coincidence and he was at the end of his contract. I felt so terrible that I decided to never complain directly to housekeeping again. In future, I would just find the steward and directly ask him to clean the room. My husband is convinced that they must have had a recurring problem with that steward to dismiss him (if that is indeed what he witnessed). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[complawyer]

sobe, i think you're missing the point. I don't "demand" a deep cleaning, but I don't think anyone needs to find someone else's junk from the previous cruise when they 1st enter the cabin.

if your'e displeased with service offered anywhere, hotel, restaurant etc, do you just suck it up, or do you ask to have it fixed. 

 

I assure you, iI'm not going to run to guest services and make outrageous demands, I don't need an OBC, or a free meal, a spa pass, or anything else in an attempt to appease me., I just want (and expect ) a clean room. I would just contact the steward

and ask him to re-clean. End of story, no need to proceed further,

the only time i might go over a persons head, is if i'm in a haven or suite, and the butler is MIA. I would talk to the concierge. Im not trying to get any one in trouble, but the on call butler service is a perk i have paid for, and i believe i'm entitled to ask for this

 

Im terribly sorry, but maybe my expectations are slightly higher then yours, especially if i booked a haven suite. Im not looking for dust bunnies, or dirt behind the sofa. You're making light of an important issue. I want a clean room, i dont demand "spotless" 

 

im also very unclear has to how you can justify your position. SORRY! there is absolutely no excuse for poor or shoddy service, especially if youre shelling out the bucks for a cruise

[david_sobe]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Could someone point me to a picture of one of these "shower caddy" that supposedly exist in Encore showers?  I'm quite certain mine didn't have one.

 

 

Your room steward removed it when you complained the toilet paper roll was put on the wrong way.

[IAcruising]

2 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Some of you make it sound like this is the Exxon Valdez disaster. 

 

I'm trusting my room steward isn't Capt. Hazelwood.

 

[PATRLR]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

Your room steward removed it when you complained the toilet paper roll was put on the wrong way.

I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve resorted to attacking me for pointing out your false narratives and strawman

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

what is inexcusable, is finding prior passengers paraphernalia  in my cabin. sorry my friend the least i would expect is a clean cabin.

I also expect a clean cabin.  That is a healthy expectation based upon the fact than I have never been given anything else.  We have an occasional report where the steward missed something.  What we don't have is the hundreds of thousands of reports where the cabins were thoroughly cleaned.  In the IT realm, reliability used to be measured by now many nines.   If a process was reliable 99% of the time.  It was zero nines.  If the process was reliable 99.9999% of the time, it was four nines.  I believe that cabin cleaning process is closer to the later.  Probably two or three nines (i.e. one failure in ten thousand or one hundred thousand).  IOW, we live in a really nice world on a cruise ship but it will never be a perfect world.

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

to quote the infamous don corleone, "this i cannot forgive"

Sorry to hear that.  Also, I really don't believe that.  You have been around the world enough to understand and not spoil your cruise.  Those who expect and demand perfection, should just stay home.

 

disclaimer: I never worked in IT and may have mucked that up.  I did learn it from some very sharp IT guys.  Adding a nine tended to increase costs exponentially.  The same would happen to our cruise fares.

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, amygutman said:

It's really off-putting; and these were in premium suites / Havens / Yacht Club rooms.

 

5 hours ago, amygutman said:

Ironically, the cleanest room we've stayed in recently was on a very old Carnival ship in a balcony room which was wonderfully sanitized for our pleasure. It may have been a bit rusty, but dang, it was clean.

Well, now it all makes sense.  I aways book steerage and have never had a cabin that wasn't thoroughly cleaned.  It seems to be a problem mostly related to the fancy first class rooms.  I'll withhold my next thoughts in the interest of staying out of the brig.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

2 hours ago, PATRLR said:

But my expectation is the shower is cleaned and disinfected, top to bottom, side to side, 100%.  I'm not sure how one misses a couple of items in the shower if in fact it was cleaned top to bottom side to side, 100%.  

OP said "in the shower".  If I found the items sitting on the counter, as if the intent was to throw them away, I'd be more understanding.  But if they were in shower and the shower received a thorough cleaning it means the steward moved the items from one location to another in the shower while cleaning - I just don't think that is plausible.  Or the steward moved the items into the shower after cleaning it - even more unlikely.

This isn’t a crime scene.

 

The steward screwed up, wasn’t done,

or was just sloppy. It’s a couple pieces of leftover garbage in the shower. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Could someone point me to a picture of one of these "shower caddy" that supposedly exist in Encore showers?

I would like to see pictures of the actual disaster zones.  Surely those encountering such tragedy are taking pictures to show to NCL management and their lawyers.  Why not post them right here on the internet so that we can all understand the magnitude of this?

[ChiefMateJRK]

28 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

I'm trusting my room steward isn't Capt. Hazelwood.

 

I'm pretty certain that the good Captain Hazelwood isn't allowed on ships anymore.  And probably other places as well.

[erisajd]

During Covid I just loved all the little signs everywhere about all the extra special cleaning you supposedly received and then you saw unchanged sheets, or bathroom items left or even toilets left unflushed.   I chalk that up to corporate BS - they feel the need to virtue signal about how much they're looking out for your health when its just a piece of printed cardboard - nothing special ever happened.  

 

Anyone who has had kids or ever had sexual relations with another person has had a lot more germs spread to them than a closed bottle of shampoo, mouthwash or even a razor.  Pick it up, toss it and move on - 

Edited March 21 by erisajd

[Laszlo]

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Stuff happens.  Personnel are having a bad day.  Maybe they are new to the job.  Maybe they are having troubles at home.  Who knows?  

 

Fact is, nothing is ever perfect.  I'm willing to give anyone a break.  If something goes wrong, tell them.  Let them fix it.  Now, if they refuse to fix it, there's your beef.

👍

[graphicguy]

You want to know what a bad cruise is….

 

 

 

I happened to be on this one….

 

 

Point being, you cruise enough, stuff will happen….99.9% is mundane…(hash browns?)!

Edited March 21 by graphicguy

[david_sobe]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

You want to know what a bad cruise is….

 

 

 

I happened to be on this one….

 

 

Point being, you cruise enough, stuff will happen….99.9% is mundane…(hash browns?)!

Looking at the glass half full.  If one of these disasters happened or a tidal wave hit the ship, a sponge could come in handy to mop up some of the water.  Just saying........

[IAcruising]

15 hours ago, gizfish said:

Yes, there is a difference between deep cleaning and regular cleaning. Anything less than deep cleaning between passengers is not acceptable

 

This just seems ridiculous to me.  Mrs. IA and I are meticulous, weekly, home cleaners. We dust, vacuum, mop, clean toilets, showers, sinks, mirrors, etc.

 

But I can count on one hand the number of times per year that we vacuum under beds or other large furniture, clean out drawers, bleach drains, wash windows, etc. Any more than that is completely unnecessary.

 

[The Traveling Man]

On 3/19/2024 at 7:41 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just be careful.  🐀's have some strange norms and behaviors that may not readily accommodate "outsiders."

 

disclaimer: that was a joke

Sorry, Chief, but for those of us who are not fluent in this newfangled language called Emoji, could you please translate what the rat-like figure means?  Thanks.

[graphicguy]

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Sorry, Chief, but for those of us who are not fluent in this newfangled language called Emoji, could you please translate what the rat-like figure means?  Thanks.

Uh Oh….

 

Now you’ve gone and done it….😎

[The Traveling Man]

On 3/20/2024 at 6:22 AM, Laszlo said:

Yup, the Haven Spa Cabin my wife and I had was $1400 cheaper than the next cheapest Haven cabin on the GA. For that amount of money I'll spend the 90 seconds walking to the Haven Courtyard Lol

Or you could pay more to be in the Haven courtyard, but then you'd miss out on the exercise of walking that extra distance each time you went to the Haven.  But wait, isn't the Haven closer to the gym?  That would make it easier to get to the treadmills where you could make up for the steps you miss by being so close to the courtyard.  If I were fluent in the Emoji language, I would add a couple of smiley faces here.  😉  😉 

[IAcruising]

7 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

could you please translate what the rat-like figure means?

 

Unlikely.

 

[havoc315]

15 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

This just seems ridiculous to me.  Mrs. IA and I are meticulous, weekly, home cleaners. We dust, vacuum, mop, clean toilets, showers, sinks, mirrors, etc.

 

But I can count on one hand the number of times per year that we vacuum under beds or other large furniture, clean out drawers, bleach drains, wash windows, etc. Any more than that is completely unnecessary.

 

Comparing to what you do at home is irrelevant. Your home isn’t changing occupants every week. Your drawers aren’t being cleared out every week so a brand new person can move in. 
 

Further, a Haven suite is a luxury vacation costing thousands of dollars for a week. I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast at home every morning — does that mean I shouldn’t expect to have a hot breakfast menu on the cruise?

It’s true, I rarely wash my windows at home, maybe not even yearly. But I absolutely do expect my panoramic windows in my suite to be cleaned regularly so I can really appreciate the view. 
 

And I do bleach my shower and toilet every 1-2 weeks at home, I certainly would hope a cruise line would do so, as basic mold prevention. 
 

While we should all accept that not everything is perfect all of the time, we should all accept that mistakes happen, it’s also perfectly fine to have an expectation of a meticulously cleaned room, hot edible food, well stocked bars, etc. 

Sure, for 1 meal, the side dish came out cold. Or the bar ran out of your preferred beer. Or there was a stray toiletry accidentally left in the bathroom. 
But these things should be the exception, and it’s perfectly acceptable to politely complain. 

Edited March 21 by havoc315

[IAcruising]

2 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

Comparing to what you do at home is irrelevant. Your home isn’t changing occupants every week.

 

But my home is occupied every week, just like a cruise cabin. A dust bunny under the bed is a dust bunny under the bed. I don't get your point.

 

[cruiseny4life]

Now I'm genuinely curious - for those that have done the Behind the Scenes tours of the Laundry Department...do they actually wash the duvets (not the covers or sheets) after every cruise? I'm guessing they're like hotels and do not do this...I totally assume I'm probably just a thin sheet layer away from someone else's germies. 

 

Am I wrong and they are washed after every cruise? Personally, it doesn't matter to me, but I'm guessing we might hear a few screeches from above if they are not. 

[cincicruisers]

On 3/20/2024 at 12:39 PM, PATRLR said:

 

 

I don't know what kind of places you normally stay but a razor and loofa in the shower makes it crystal clear to me that the room (at the very least, the shower) wasn't properly cleaned. That is not "a typical start" in places I stay and I don't consider it a typcial start on any cruise line.   

I'm not sure exactly how I would handle it, but, I have a feeling nothing less than the hotel manager would be at my room.  As someone else stated, I'd be worried about the sheets and to that end I could see myself stripping the bed and dumping it all in the hallway insisting they get me new bedding.

Prior passenger's personal effects left in the bathroom is 100% unacceptable.

Agree