Unwelcome visitor in room

[cruiserjanet]

I had forgotten to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign out. Our room steward knocked on the door, and then opened it. He didn't even give me a chance to open the door and I was a few feet from it. Fortunately I was just in our room putzing around and fully dressed at that. I didn't call to complain because it was not a big deal to me especially since I had forgotten to put the sign out. However, I do think he was too quick to enter the room and didn't allow enough time for a response from me. All he was doing was delivering my our laundry so he could have waited about 30 seconds even if the sign wasn't out. I definitely made sure the sign was out from then on and would check on occasion to make sure it was still there.

[Go-Bucks!]

No Slide bar on Princess, just a deadbolt. No Slide bar as Princess does not do muster on the outside deck with a roll call, they muster in a public lounge and or theater, and do a cabin by cabin search in order to account for passengers, and then only do a roll call if necessary.

 

I'm sure I remember having a device similar to a chain on the cabin door, but it was not a chain but rather a two pronged piece with a metal ball-like end that you flip over that will allow the door to be opened a few inches, but someone can't get totally in. You can't lock it from the hallway - only from inside the room. I'm sure I remember always locking the deadbolt and this extra lock each night. I was on the Sun Princess. Anyone else ever see this type lock on the cabin door (or is some dementia setting in??). :confused:

[CruiseBird0811]

Also, if the TV was too loud, why didn't the front desk just call you instead of sending someone personally?

Exactly my thought!

[MilliesMom]

I'm sure I remember having a device similar to a chain on the cabin door, but it was not a chain but rather a two pronged piece with a metal ball-like end that you flip over that will allow the door to be opened a few inches, but someone can't get totally in. You can't lock it from the hallway - only from inside the room. I'm sure I remember always locking the deadbolt and this extra lock each night. I was on the Sun Princess. Anyone else ever see this type lock on the cabin door (or is some dementia setting in??). :confused:

 

Every cruise we have been on has had this type of "extra" lock too. We always use it when we are in the cabin.

[Coral]

I do think Princess has the top lock - in my case, I remember locking the bottom deadlock. It was during the day so I would have thought the bottom lock would be good enough. It is this lock that stewards can unlock/override.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

One afternoon having just finished some excerise with my wife, there was a knock at our cabin door, now our room steward always knocked opened the door a small way and shouted, so following the knock I had just enough time to role on to the floor at the side of the bed away from the door, my wife was not so lucky a bit slow at getting to her feet our grabing a sheet to cover herself, not sure who screamed the loudest. The steward was gone in a flash how much he saw is not known but those dam mirrors on all walls do not help.

 

yours Shogun

[NeurosurgeryNP]

I'm sure I remember having a device similar to a chain on the cabin door, but it was not a chain but rather a two pronged piece with a metal ball-like end that you flip over that will allow the door to be opened a few inches, but someone can't get totally in. You can't lock it from the hallway - only from inside the room. I'm sure I remember always locking the deadbolt and this extra lock each night. I was on the Sun Princess. Anyone else ever see this type lock on the cabin door (or is some dementia setting in??). :confused:

Sorry to generalize - we did not have it on the Caribbean Princess sailings we were just on. When we asked why - that was the reason they gave us - so they could do a room by room search for 1) the muster drill and 2) in case of a real emergency - they do a room by room search if called to muster in order t ensure everyone is at their station and safe.

[Sandytoes]

Sorry to generalize - we did not have it on the Caribbean Princess sailings we were just on. When we asked why - that was the reason they gave us - so they could do a room by room search for 1) the muster drill and 2) in case of a real emergency - they do a room by room search if called to muster in order t ensure everyone is at their station and safe.

Once, our steward told us we could stay in our room and told us not to go out during the drill.

We went anyway.

[uglybutgoodbakery]

Our steward came in unannounced without ever attempting to knock while I was not clothed on the second day. I thought it was very wierd and was not at all happy. I didn't tell anyone, though. Then, the next day, my girlfriend and her husband said, "wow, it was so wierd, today our room steward came into the cabin without knocking while the door was locked. She was on a different deck with a different steward. :confused:

 

It is unacceptable and disrespectful that they would come into a cabin without knocking. Why would they do this and think it's okay?

[bdjam]

Yes - I had a room steward once who forgot to knock before entering and she entered 2x during a 2 week period. I was furious.

I had the same thing happen on Golden Princess, only it was once and I wasn't in an "awkward" situation, so it wasn't upsetting...the room steward was just trying to deliver ice and apologized profusely. We made a deal. If I was in the room and didn't want to be disturbed, I put the Privacy notice in the key card slot (and conversely, when I needed the room cleaned, put the Service notice in the slot). Took care of the issue.

 

I used to think using the deadbolt kept the room steward out, but their entrance key overrides it. I can understand that it would be useful for emergencies...and if I had time to get to the door before he came in, I would have never known the difference.

[Coral]

I had the same thing happen on Golden Princess, only it was once and I wasn't in an "awkward" situation, so it wasn't upsetting...the room steward was just trying to deliver ice and apologized profusely. We made a deal. If I was in the room and didn't want to be disturbed, I put the Privacy notice in the key card slot (and conversely, when I needed the room cleaned, put the Service notice in the slot). Took care of the issue.

 

If it wasn't awkward - it would not have been a big deal. It appeared that the room steward didn't think I was in there and decided to just go in.

 

On other occasions - I have been reading out on my balcony and when I went into my room, I realized that hourdourves (sp?) had been delivered. I assumed that they knocked and I didn't hear and then entered and dropped off the plate. This didn't phase me. I guess it is just those awkward situations :)

[nho9504]

My door was locked. The room stewards can override this.

 

Isn't there also a "security" type device" like a hotel room? My husband always used that whenever we were in. You mean the room stewards can still override that?

[VillaHappy]

Hi There,

 

One afternoon having just finished some excerise with my wife, there was a knock at our cabin door, now our room steward always knocked opened the door a small way and shouted, so following the knock I had just enough time to role on to the floor at the side of the bed away from the door, my wife was not so lucky a bit slow at getting to her feet our grabing a sheet to cover herself, not sure who screamed the loudest. The steward was gone in a flash how much he saw is not known but those dam mirrors on all walls do not help.

 

yours Shogun

 

:eek:

[bdjam]

If it wasn't awkward - it would not have been a big deal. It appeared that the room steward didn't think I was in there and decided to just go in.

It was still surprising to find my room steward standing there and I think that we both were a little shocked...so our compromise kept us both from being startled!

[Coral]

Isn't there also a "security" type device" like a hotel room? My husband always used that whenever we were in. You mean the room stewards can still override that?

 

I meant the deadbolt.... They can over-ride the deadbolt. I didn't have the top latch done - I usually just do that at night.

[Ula]

Our last two Princess cruises the steward at intoduction always requested that we put the privacy sign out if we were in the room.
So far only one bad steward on our cruises, and honest that really can make things miserable. Our last steward was just delightful.
I would think if the television is to loud just a call from the front desk would correct that. Mr Ula is a tad hard of hearing so I remind him to keep the volume down.

[nho9504]

[quote name='Coral']I meant the deadbolt.... They can over-ride the deadbolt. I didn't have the top latch done - I usually just do that at night.[/QUOTE]

So the deadbolt can be overridden, I did not know that. Hubby always uses both whenever we are inside - whether on the ship or at a hotel. Actually he does that at home, too.

We use that blue privacy card a lot though. We also use that to signal to room steward that he can come in to service the room when we leave earlier than usual for dinner. The attendants seemed to like that arrangement.

[Ela 2]

[quote name='Shogun']Hi There,

One afternoon having just finished some excerise with my wife, there was a knock at our cabin door, now our room steward always knocked opened the door a small way and shouted, so following the knock I had just enough time to role on to the floor at the side of the bed away from the door, my wife was not so lucky a bit slow at getting to her feet our grabing a sheet to cover herself, not sure who screamed the loudest. The steward was gone in a flash how much he saw is not known but those dam mirrors on all walls do not help.

yours Shogun[/quote]
Take a door-stopper with you. For those occasions when you need to be confident you will not be interrupted, wedge it under the door. Because cabin doors open inwards, the door cannot be opened until the door-stopper is removed.:)

[dpalmquist]

[quote name='Ela 2']Take a door-stopper with you. For those occasions when you need to be confident you will not be interrupted, wedge it under the door. Because cabin doors open inwards, the door cannot be opened until the door-stopper is removed.:)[/quote]

Great idea! We have never had this happen but I am more concerned about it happening to my teenage daugters this summer.

[cruz chic]

[quote name='Ela 2']Take a door-stopper with you. For those occasions when you need to be confident you will not be interrupted, wedge it under the door. Because cabin doors open inwards, the door cannot be opened until the door-stopper is removed.:)[/quote]
That is a great idea. Thank you

[sultan_sfo]

Before many of you think about adopting this, remember that you are thwarting the ability of a crew member to open the cabin door in an "emergency".

On the same cruise as OP, we had requested some room service. When we finally left the cabin, we found a note from the room service that they did not deliver because of the "Do Not Disturb" card on our door. Room service did not even knock on the door -- just left the note. We know the OPs personally, and definitely Princess needs to take some action and find some solutions and inform them. /Sultan

[quote name='Ela 2']Take a door-stopper with you. For those occasions when you need to be confident you will not be interrupted, wedge it under the door. Because cabin doors open inwards, the door cannot be opened until the door-stopper is removed.:)[/quote]

[Cruisin' Chick]

On our last cruise, we got a phone call that we had set off an alarm. My hubby had just finished taking a shower with the bathroom door open so we figured that was the cause, and we apologized and said we would make sure the door was closed from then on. I imagine if I hadn't picked up the phone, someone would had been up there and checking out our cabin.

I'm just curious if the OP had any music on at all. If not, that would be something to put in any communication to Princess.

[RickT]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but cruise ships, hotels, etc all need to allow their staff to have access to your room. It sounds like the staff who entered was told to go to the room (not like he was sneaking in hoping to grab something).

[MichCook]

[quote name='rollingstone']During our recent cruise on the Sapphire we had a very disturbing experience. It was a sea day & my husband was on the balcony with the door open. I had just come out of the shower and was in my robe (thankfully) sitting at the mirror. There was a quick rap on the door and in walked a crew member! He asked if we had called the pursers desk. When we said "no" he asked if everything was OK. We said "yes" and he left. My husband went to the desk (very upset) to find out what was going on. They told him that our TV was too loud & our neighbor complained (55 & 60 yr. old party animals? ) We said that since it was not a health emergency nor a matter of ship security, it was not acceptable to walk into someones room! They thought nothing of it and said they would investigate. When we disembarked,(3 weeks later!) we put this on our comment card and someone called & said that it was resolved. We heard nothing more & are still p****d that someone could just walk in our room and it was OK.
Has anyone else ever had this happen. We have contacted Princess but they haven't responded[/quote]

I agree that some employees are a bit too quick to enter a room after knocking. Others are patient and wait to allow you to answer the door. Still others are very polite and ask if they may enter when you answer their knock.

There may have been many reasons for your unfortunate situation. Having said that, though, if it was uncomfortable for you, that is all that matters and you are entitled to a satisfactory explanation.

But, as others mentioned, if there was any disciplinary or termination action taken by the company, they will never divulge that type of information.

Thankfully, we have never had an experience even similar to yours.

Hind sight is 20/20 and your experience will remind me if that ever happens to us, I will take notice of the employee's name tag (if not our cabin steward) to be sure that I would have a name to report.

Re: other poster's comments:
[LIST=1]
[*]Never have had that extra security lock on any cabin door (the one a lot of hotels use)
[*]We've never been disturbed in any way when we've used the "do not disturb" sign. No knocking on the door, nor entering.
[*]The door stopper would make it difficult for someone to enter the room, but, personally, I wouldn't use it, just in case there was an emergency situation.[/LIST]Hope future sailings are smooth and uninterrupted. :)

Keep us posted about any additional feedback you might receive from Princess.

[Coral]

[quote name='RickT']Maybe I'm missing something here, but cruise ships, hotels, etc all need to allow their staff to have access to your room. It sounds like the staff who entered was told to go to the room (not like he was sneaking in hoping to grab something).[/QUOTE]

My room steward did not knock - she just thought that I wasn't there and entered with out knocking, twice.