How important is room attendent for you??

[retnuh281]

I have only been on three previous cruises with forth coming in March 2009. After reading this board for the last year and every review possible, I find that for alot of people that the room attendent can make or break a cruise. In all the reveiws I have read the attendent seems to be a very important part. My question is why?

We have always had very engaging attendents, they make the towel animals and straighten the room at least once a day, thats all we request, or expect. I don't need them under foot all day, in fact if I never saw them, and we had a made bed and a towel animal (and some chocalate mints), then that warrents an extra tip at the end of the cruise from me. I'm not trying to stir up a hornets nest or get flamed, just wondering what others expect?

[TEXASMUNK]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

[Bruinboy]

For me, we have only had one "marginal" attendant. It did not make or break the trip, but was a hassle to track him down at times. He did not get the suggested tip for the week, even though we did tip him. We have had a couple "outstanding" attendants, who knew our names, asked us about the day, or reminded us of things to look for during the day ... that enhanced our trip.

 

The only thing that made or broke a cruise for us was the time we both got sick and were out of commission for four days ... and that only affected 4 out of ten days. The rest of the cruise was great.

[jillyfish]

I don't feel we require a lot. We, of course, like our room attended to in a timely, clean, orderly manner. We do not like to feel like we have to get our of our room because the room attendant is hovering outside our door wanting to finish his rooms for that time period.

On one cruise, on another cruise line:rolleyes:, we never saw our attendant at all. For some reason, ours seemed to be his only aft cabin and other than that, he was midship doing rooms. We kinda felt abandoned and a nuisance to him.

 

I guess it is all personal preference and a fine line as to what people like and don't like.

 

Enjoy your cruise..............and your room attendant!! :)

[NorbertsNiece]

I think you have described the perfect room attendant. The room is made up, cleaned daily, unobtrusively. The chocolates and towel animals are a little extra.

I asked about the possibility of robes on our first day (D1 cabin) and they were delivered with a smile. He emptied the fridge for our sodas and rearranged the beds to 2 singles. He always greeted us warmly and we exchanged pleasantries. I left him a note daily (on the inside of the little paper drinking glass cover) to let him know how much I appreciated his service as otherwise we really only saw him on our way to dinner in the evening.

[golfer1966]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

 

Its important to ensure the cabin is cleaned correctly and when we see eachother, a smiling face and / or a friendly comment is always nice to get the day started. We've also asked them thier opinions on certain things in ports too...so its good to a good cabin steward.

[HorrorFan]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

 

Ditto for me.

I don't even care about towel animals. Kids thought they were cool though.;)

[travelntreats]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

That says it best.....

[Sherry84]

Texasmunk, you said it best. That's all we need, although I have to say I really do enjoy the towel animals, but it wouldn't ruin my cruise if we didn't get any;)

[anaslile]

Considering I've never met any of my room attendants until the cruise is nearly over, I'd say I don't know.

 

The room has always been clean, but I prefer when I know who the room attendant is...

[galavant3]

We have always been perfectly satisfied with the service we have received. However, on our July cruise (Mariner), I realized how much a cabin attendent can matter. My kids were staying in a cabin by themselves (21,18 and 15). One of the kids got quite sick and was examined by the ship's physician - so he didn't need to be quarantined but spent about 2 days in the cabin. Their cabin attendant went above and way beyond what we could have asked for in service. In fact, all three kids were prompted to add to the tip which was a first. Of couse, we were generous as well. I have never seen a cabin attendent go so far out of her/his way and seem so happy to help.

 

But, like the others, we are happy with a basic level of service. I will admit that the towel animals still bring a smile..

[dgwags]

Bed made and I want ice in the room for ice water.

[retnuh281]

I just thought people expected more, I guess I was wrong. They do exactly what most people want, well at least 10 of us. I guess what I'm saying is when I vacation,regardless of where, I am looking for the fun and relaxation and not looking to get back home and write a report on what I found to be unsatisfactory. If something goes awry, I fix it, and if I can't I try to get personel to help. Give me decent food a couple of smiles and a bar within walking distance and I'm a happy camper.

Nice to know I'm not alone!! Lets all go cruisn'.

[cruiserbryce]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

 

 

agree 100%...

[Mikew0805]

All I ask is that the beds are made, trash emptied, and fresh towels. Other than that.. does not affect me. I think even if the things I expect were not met, it would not affect my cruise enjoyment.

[cb at sea]

The best attendant we ever had, as far as the room being kept nice..we never, ever saw him/her! Ever! It was a great mystery how our room miraculously looked brand new every time we entered it!

 

I personally don't want to make "friends" with the room attendant. I mean, in a hotel, I don't "buddy up" to the housekeeper.

 

I want fresh towels, the bed made, trash emptied....and I like it done as soon as I leave the room, so that should I return to the room, it's ready for me to use!

If they do that, all's well!

[Virga]

We have only had one iffy experience - on our most recent cruise, with NCL. We left him $10 on the first day, with a request for robes and an eggcrate. It was still there at muster, and it was still there after our meet and greet, but it had been replaced with robes and an eggcrate by the time we got back from dinner and drinks. We figured the delay was just due to it being debark/embark day.

 

The remaining days, he didn't come to service the room before 2:00 either day. Our afternoon naps (2:00-4:00 or so) meant that the room was only serviced once by our steward. One night we had to call housekeeping for turndown service and to bring us some dry towels. We didn't get any fresh ice the whole time.

 

It didn't ruin the trip, by any stretch, but it was certainly disappointing. It brought what would have been a 4-4.5 star cruise down to a 3-3.5 star experience in our reviews. We found out that we couldn't take off just his tips from the automatic tips, so the kid got the recommended plus $10. We wouldn't have minded the service quite as much if we'd been able to reduce his tips without hurting the buffet and behind the scenes folks.

[twoputt.plusone]

The best attendant we ever had, as far as the room being kept nice..we never, ever saw him/her! Ever! It was a great mystery how our room miraculously looked brand new every time we entered it!

 

I personally don't want to make "friends" with the room attendant. I mean, in a hotel, I don't "buddy up" to the housekeeper.

 

I want fresh towels, the bed made, trash emptied....and I like it done as soon as I leave the room, so that should I return to the room, it's ready for me to use!

If they do that, all's well!

 

That sums up my feelings exactly as well. So far, this is the minimum any cabin attendant has provided. Most go far beyond what's expected. On every RC cruise we've taken, our cabin attendant has come to our cabin shortly after embarkation to introduce him/herself. This is when we make our needs known. The only other thing we ask is for fresh ice twice a day.

 

2P.P1

[emilygrace]

We are tidy folks and usually pick up after ourselves. When we leave the cabin for the day I like everything to be put away, except for maybe the book I'm reading and my collection of Compasses on the vanity. So there isn't much for the cabin steward to do except make up the bed, clean the bathroom and vacuum. On our last cruise on the Monarch I spilled a little bit of bath powder on the carpet on the first day and it was there the whole cruise. Which makes me think she never vacuumed. Believe me, this did NOT affect my cruise experience, but this is the first time I have ever tipped the suggested amount and not any extra.

[kyriecat]

I never really thought a steward could affect my cruise until our last one. The steward was horrible! I don't consider myself a demanding person either. First problem is we only saw her 3 times during our cruise so it was very difficult to request things and she never answered her phone. I ended up leaving notes almost everyday. She didn't bring ice unless I left a note requesting it. After a couple of days, I made it a point to write a note requesting ice every morning and evening. She took the blanket off the bed and didn't replace it. My husband likes the room cold at night so I huddle under the blanket. I had to leave notes for 2 days before she brought another blanket. She forgot to leave us clean towels about half the time. We'd come back from a long day in port and want a shower only to discover no towels! Fortunately we were just under the pool deck so we could run upstairs and get pool towels. It got to the point that we automatically went to the pool deck when we returned to the ship. She forgot to take our laundry to the cleaners for 2 days (I had to leave a note) then didn't return it until 3 days later when I left a note asking about it. I don't think she vacuumed the room during the two weeks we were onboard. We didn't want to be the whiny couple, although I really wanted to complain to the housekeeping supervisor, so we didn't say anything until we filled out the satisfaction survey at the end of the cruise.

[retnuh281]

Yes, that would definitly make me take notice of the steward. I guess If the service is well below par then it is enough to take notice. The over all view seems to be .....out of sight out of mind. I am so rarely in the room that when I do walk in and see that everything has been straightened and cleaned, I'm like wow, this is great, now where did I leave my rum and diet coke?

[kyriecat]

I forgot to mention - at the end of the cruise she didn't leave a survey so I hunted her down the last day. She told me that she didn't have any left so I couldn't have one. I guess she knew I wasn't happy. I went down to the purser's desk and requested one from them. I got an e-mail from RC later stating that they would look into my complaints but that was it.

[fireofficer5]

I agree with the three. The only other thing to know is where the ice maker is located. And only bring clean hands.

[epi]

Last week we were on Vision of the Seas....In our haste to meet up with another couple at the tender boats to Cabo.... My hubby ran to the room to get our passports....

When we returned I was horrified............... my wallet was on laying on the end of the bed....and the safe was wide open with some of my very best jewelry, all of our cash, and many credit cards....... also one of my gold dinner rings laying on the table...

In his haste he left it all out...

I appoligized to Marley our room attendant for putting her in a position to be accused of something horrible.... Not a thing had been touched....

I wrote very good comments on the card... and she got and extra tip at the end of the week..... I was quite impressed...

[nanfromatlanta]

Room clean.

Room equipped.

A Smile when we pass.

 

I ask nothing more.

 

 

I agree