POH-get off after embarkation...

[lomillerin]

Can we get off after we check our cabin on embarkation day? After reading all of the posts about dirty rooms, sinks that lood like someone was sick in it from the previous cruise etc... I am making plans to avoid a ruined vacation.

 

I am still hoping our room will be clean and we will have no problems, but I guarantee I won't live in filth all week. So, if I find a dirty cabin, I will politely let the housekeeping manager know. I would then like to go to a store at Aloha Tower and buy some disinfectant cleaner and a sponge and clean myself.

 

One post I read about the sink said it was left dirty all week. I need to use that sink and I will clean it myself if I must. I can't imagine just leaving it and living with it.

 

I know I shouldn't have to, but if I have no choice, I am going to clean the cabin myself to have a nice vacation.

 

Does anyone know of a store near port with these items?

 

I would cancel our cruise and do land based, but we're stuck now, so I will make the best of it.

[KeystoneCruiser]

All over Hawaii you will find "ABC" stores. Sort of a mini mart that has everything from souveniers to food to beach towels to magazines. I don't know for sure if there is one in the Aloha tower, but I would guess there would be one nearby!! (seems that they are about two blocks apart everywhere else!!) An ABC store would have what you need.

[lambs2]

I was on the Pride of America June 3-10. We had a wonderful time and our sweet young cabin steward kept our cabin clean and tidy all week, but I did come prepared before we embarked. I brought A zip-lock baggie filled with clorox disinfecting wipes. When we were unpacking in our room for the week I wiped down the sink, bathroom faucets, countertops and door handles. I just gave them a once-over with my wipes. Nothing looked dirty, but with all the illness we kept reading about on the Pride of Aloha :eek: I wanted to take no chances. I even had brought a little bottle of dishwashing detergent and washed the glasses before we used the ones left in our room each day. It only took a minute or two to do these little "chores" but gave me piece of mind and we both stayed healthy for our entire trip. We also were careful to always used the disinfecting squirts before eating and re-entering the ship. It just takes a little common sense and you can have a safer and healthier trip. I would not have put up with any "filth" either, and would have marched right down to the front desk and housekeeping department had I had found any!

[lomillerin]

Good idea about the dishwashing detergent.

 

I am of the philosophy of do it myself if I must. I am very capable of cleaning if I need to and I would rather stay in a clean cabin for week than a dirty one, even if I am the one who has to clean it.

 

I think it will be better to plan ahead for the worse and hope for the best.

 

I will have a great vacation! I will make sure of that...

[dwrist]

lomillerin and lambs2

 

Thank you for your common sense attitude. I hope you enjoy the cruise and Hawaii very much.

[lambs2]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" ...(or should I say a pound of gripes??)

[bearette]

i just returned from the pride of hawaii and my cabin was never dirty like you mentioned hearing about. Things i heard or encountered were forgetting to leave towels or leaving some soap on the sink, but nothing was ever "dirty". if you enounter something just give them a call and they will fix it. Just keep calling if you don't get the results you want. i never had a major problem though.

[kitchacaT]

hi

 

I am with you on the clorox disinfecting wipes . I use them everytime I check into a hotel or cabin to clean my telephone .the remote control and door knobs and even the seat so I know its clean.

 

But I think it IS SOO SAD that we have to be this concerned and even CONSIDER having to clean our rooms af

 

ter paying thousands of dollars. Not my idea of a vacation.

 

I hope it does not come to THAT???:mad:

 

 

good luck and let us know how you make out. Come prepared so that you do not have to run out to get cleaning supplies and waste your precious vacation time and have house keeping do the job you have paid them to do...

good luck and bon voyage.

 

kitchacat

[lomillerin]

i just returned from the pride of hawaii and my cabin was never dirty like you mentioned hearing about. Things i heard or encountered were forgetting to leave towels or leaving some soap on the sink, but nothing was ever "dirty". if you enounter something just give them a call and they will fix it. Just keep calling if you don't get the results you want. i never had a major problem though.

 

I am glad to hear this. I have read both positive and negative comments. Most of the negative comments I can deal with or don't care about, but I must have a clean room. I don't mean forgetting to leave towels, etc... just plain dirty.

 

I think it will be fine and will be prepared if not.

[kitchacaT]

ps

 

You scared me with your title -get off after embarkation- I was afraid you meant get off and stay off:eek:

 

Thats h ow paranoid I am getting...

 

kitchacat

[kimdave68]

That living quarters previously occupied by others must still be "dirty"...

 

They are not! My wife HATES it, but I do bring an ultraviolet light (trust me I'm not kidding here!) for *other* uses and it always winds up getting used to "scan" over the quarters. Guess what? Unless you live in super clean, sterilized environment (or perhaps you're a CLEAN FREAK! LOL) the living quarters are cleaner and better kept than your places at home. I was shocked, really I was.

 

And I'm not talking about the owner's suite either. ;)

 

I'm not recommending you eat off the floor BUT if you HAD to, chances are you would be better off than you would at home. This is especially true if you have pets.

[lomillerin]

ps

 

You scared me with your title -get off after embarkation- I was afraid you meant get off and stay off:eek:

 

Thats h ow paranoid I am getting...

 

kitchacat

 

I am sorry. I did not even think of that. Maybe I should try to change it....

[bubiesmom]

hi

 

I am with you on the clorox disinfecting wipes . I use them everytime I check into a hotel or cabin to clean my telephone .the remote control and door knobs and even the seat so I know its clean.

 

But I think it IS SOO SAD that we have to be this concerned and even CONSIDER having to clean our rooms af

 

ter paying thousands of dollars. Not my idea of a vacation.

 

I hope it does not come to THAT???:mad:

 

 

good luck and let us know how you make out. Come prepared so that you do not have to run out to get cleaning supplies and waste your precious vacation time and have house keeping do the job you have paid them to do...

good luck and bon voyage.

 

kitchacat

 

With spending $9000 for a family of 4, I am NOT cleaning my own room. NCL better get their act together. If this is the case, then people need to start complaining to the proper channels. If people resort to cleaning their own rooms, then it sends a message to NCL that "it's ok". I don't care if it's an American crew or foreign based. Service is service and NCL needs to provide it or I will be the first one at the service desk on POH.

[lomillerin]

That living quarters previously occupied by others must still be "dirty"...

 

They are not! My wife HATES it, but I do bring an ultraviolet light (trust me I'm not kidding here!) for *other* uses and it always winds up getting used to "scan" over the quarters. Guess what? Unless you live in super clean, sterilized environment (or perhaps you're a CLEAN FREAK! LOL) the living quarters are cleaner and better kept than your places at home. I was shocked, really I was.

 

And I'm not talking about the owner's suite either. ;)

 

I'm not recommending you eat off the floor BUT if you HAD to, chances are you would be better off than you would at home. This is especially true if you have pets.

 

You are probably right... I am talking about visible to the eye dirty... as in not even cleaned from last passenger.

 

Your wife must be brave as I would be afraid of what I would find in my house or in a hotel room or cabin.

 

I think it is better to be in the "dark"....

[lomillerin]

With spending $9000 for a family of 4, I am NOT cleaning my own room. NCL better get their act together. If this is the case, then people need to start complaining to the proper channels. If people resort to cleaning their own rooms, then it sends a message to NCL that "it's ok". I don't care if it's an American crew or foreign based. Service is service and NCL needs to provide it or I will be the first one at the service desk on POH.

 

I also will be at the service desk and calling as much as needed to get it done. I had read a post that the sink was dirty and looked like the last passengers were sick in it and it was never cleaned by the end of their cruise even though they did call... I would not be able to live in the cabin with a dirty sink all week, if I can't get them to do it. I will.

 

I will also be very unhappy about it and let them know. I even thought I could take pictures of it (any major issues) to send to NCL when I return home if needed. Basically, I am hoping my cabin is clean and if not I will call and do everything I can, as politely as possible, to get them to fix it. I will not just live in something unsanitary for a week because I don't want or should not have to clean it. I completely agree and know it is unacceptable to have to clean it myself. I just will clean it before I live in it....

[Breezey]

ps

 

You scared me with your title -get off after embarkation- I was afraid you meant get off and stay off:eek:

 

Thats h ow paranoid I am getting...

 

kitchacat

 

 

Wow, me too. That's how I read it! This cleaning stuff is making me angry every time I read about it. As I mentioned on another thread, why should we expect any less on a cruise (which is expensive!) than in a Holiday Inn? And why are we hearing about this from a brand new ship! One of the nicest things about first entering a cabin is to see how clean and inviting it is for their new set of passengers (i.e., ME!). So while I too will be majorly pissed if the cabin is dirty, I will most definitely get it cleaned (with a steward or without one (i.e., ME!)

 

When I started reading the reviews, sure I expected the comments about food and even service in the dining rooms but never in my imagination would have thought cabin cleanliness would have been one of them.

[Zeno]

I also will be at the service desk and calling as much as needed to get it done. I had read a post that the sink was dirty and looked like the last passengers were sick in it and it was never cleaned by the end of their cruise even though they did call... I would not be able to live in the cabin with a dirty sink all week, if I can't get them to do it. I will.

 

I will also be very unhappy about it and let them know. I even thought I could take pictures of it (any major issues) to send to NCL when I return home if needed. Basically, I am hoping my cabin is clean and if not I will call and do everything I can, as politely as possible, to get them to fix it. I will not just live in something unsanitary for a week because I don't want or should not have to clean it. I completely agree and know it is unacceptable to have to clean it myself. I just will clean it before I live in it....

 

If you encounter a dirty cabin:

1. Immediately call Housekeeping and give them a time frame in which you expect it to be cleaned - an hour is quite reasonable.

2. If it is not cleaned in that time frame, call Housekeeping and tell them, you expect to see the Manager of Housekeeping at your cabin in 10 minutes with a cleaner.

3. If this does not happen, call again and tell them you are taking pictures and contacting the Hotel Manager.

4. Take pictures and call the Hotel Manager's office. Explain the situation.

Tell the office that you expect that Hotel Manager with the Housekeeping Manager and a cleaner at your cabin in 15 minutes. If they claim this is not possible, tell them that you will be leaving the ship in 1/2 hour with your pictures and bringing them to a newspaper

5. Then do it.

Always be polite and calm but very firm.

[tomluvsaida]

If you encounter a dirty cabin:

1. Immediately call Housekeeping and give them a time frame in which you expect it to be cleaned - an hour is quite reasonable.

2. If it is not cleaned in that time frame, call Housekeeping and tell them, you expect to see the Manager of Housekeeping at your cabin in 10 minutes with a cleaner.

3. If this does not happen, call again and tell them you are taking pictures and contacting the Hotel Manager.

4. Take pictures and call the Hotel Manager's office. Explain the situation.

Tell the office that you expect that Hotel Manager with the Housekeeping Manager and a cleaner at your cabin in 15 minutes. If they claim this is not possible, tell them that you will be leaving the ship in 1/2 hour with your pictures and bringing them to a newspaper

5. Then do it.

Always be polite and calm but very firm.

 

This sounds like reasonable advice. You shouldn't have to go byond #1. Afterall, even Motel 6 manages to give you a clean room each time you check in and NCLA is a lot more expensive than motel 6.

I might cut them a little bit of slack though. We plan on going to the ship and to our room as soon as we get off the plane. If our room isn't ready (understandable since we are early) I will simply ask them what time it will be ready. I will then simply go along with what ever time they say as long as we can check in our bags so we won't have to drag them around with us. This brings me then to another question about leaving the ship after checking in to see some sites then coming back.

Also once the room is clean I will ask to see the person who cleaned it, when that person shows up I will give her or him a tip that would equal what least what it would cost me to run out and get the cleaning supplies myself. If you include the transportation to the ABC store that is a pretty good size tip!

[PhillyEagle]

I don't know whether it's funny or sad that some have let a few posts on a message board by people they've never met before get them to the point where they have such a negative attitude that they are looking at being "stuck now" on the ship.