Cabin steward and Luggage...

[Gonna cruise soon]

Will your cabin steward store your empty luggage some where other than your cabin? We have the type of luggae that you push like a shopping cart and will not fit under a bed... Just wonder if this can happen... We are in a "ss" suite. Did not know if that made a difference. Thanks in advance for your help...

[sail7seas]

We have never requested that nor needed that service, but I know of others who ask the steward to store their luggage during the cruise. He will bring it back to you when you need to repack.

[Guest Celestia]

Our cabin steward ignored repeated requests to store our luggage and kept insisting we put it under the beds.

 

Ours does not fit under the HAL beds and we spent the entire two weeks with it in our way. We also noted he never moved it to vacuum under it (not even after we left a dollar under one piece).

 

I would have stuffed the dirty robe we asked him to remove also into it but I was concerned they'd think I wanted to purchase it on my shipboard account.

Does using a robe that's been hanging in your stateroom for who knows how long not creep out anyone else? I can't imagine using a provided robe on a ship or in a hotel.

 

FW&FS,

 

Celestia

[cruznon]

On all our cruises, it never occured to us to ask steward to store our luggage. We always have been able to store under bed or in the closets.

As for the robes, our cabin steward was rushed preparing all his cabins, and apologized that they still had to be picked up. He later brought them to us--freshly laundered and folded--sparkling clean. Sorry you didn't find your robes in this condition.

[Guest Celestia]

Aw, how nice of you Cruznon.

 

I still never use the robe in hotel room or stateroom and would prefer (and always ask on a cruise, I'm never in a hotel room that long that it matters) that they be removed from the room during my stay.

 

If I want a robe I bring one from home.

 

We simply could not get our steward to acknowledge requests in English, and the front desk either did not relay our requests to him, or he simply ignored them also.

 

FW&FS,

 

Celestia

[sail7seas]

On every back-to-back we have done, we have seen and watched as the cabin stewards collect all of the robes from all of the cabins. They are all gathered and shipped down to the laundry. EVERY turn around day we have seen this happen to EVERY cabin (Suite).

 

We have ALWAYS seen when the new ones arrive on the deck on a rolling garment carrier and they are distributed to the cabins. I have watched it happen more times than I remember. I also have, many times, seen fresh robes hanging in the Steward's supply room/work station on Navigation Deck. Almost always there are fresh robes hung there and it would have been a question of mere steps to retrieve a fresh one for you.

 

You (unfortunately for you, of course) had what must have been the only robe which was not replaced on turnaround day.

 

The Chief Housekeeper, Cabin Steward Supervisor, GRM, Hotel Manager all could have assisted you. Did all of them fail to speak with your cabin steward? Would no one help you?

[wander]

I too have seen the robe removal and return process on B-2-B cruises. On one cruise they even took the robes the night before disembarkation to get a head start on the process.

 

Have you seen the space the stewards have to store luggage on most ships? (HAL and others) It is very, very minimal at best and they even put some cases where they have to work around them in their workspaces. Ours fit under our beds so that is no problem, but after seeing the storage space on numerous ships I would not ask them to store something unless absolutely necessary. Just my observation and opinion.

 

Another thought. On over 500 days of cruising we have been very fortunate with our cabin stewards (and dining stewards) and have been able to communicate with them very well. However, on one cruise I had a somewhat complicated request that I just knew would be difficult to explain to our steward. It took me all of one minute to clearly write what I wanted on a piece of paper, leaving it on the bed. That way, if he did not understand the request he could take it to his supervisor or someone else who could interpret it for him. Whether he understood or got help, it worked and I got exactly what I wanted the next time he came to my cabin.

[Globaliser]

On one cruise they even took the robes the night before disembarkation to get a head start on the process.

Or may be it was to get them out of cabins before people started packing ...

[Acrusa]

Will your cabin steward store your empty luggage some where other than your cabin? We have the type of luggae that you push like a shopping cart and will not fit under a bed... Just wonder if this can happen... We are in a "ss" suite. Did not know if that made a difference. Thanks in advance for your help...

 

You are in a SS cabin.Just give your stewrad half the amount you think you are going to tip him., up front.And request that he store your luggage.A dollar is not going to do it.

[bepsf]

...another option for stowing oversize luggage in an SS is to place it under the desk at the window. Because of the room config, the desk by the wardrobes was more convenient for writing and the one by the windows went pretty much unused.

 

Also, if you are in an adjoining cabin, the space at the door is a great place to stash excess luggage - we had piles of it there on top of the ottoman that I swapped out at the desk for one of the leather chairs.

 

(Yes, I cruise w/ way too much luggage...):eek:

[Ziggy7]

On every back-to-back we have done, we have seen and watched as the cabin stewards collect all of the robes from all of the cabins. They are all gathered and shipped down to the laundry.

And all this time I thought they took them to make sure they didnt end up being packed by mistake whe we were on our b2b. hehehe you learn something new everyday! :)

[OCruisers]

We have the type of luggage that you push like a shopping cart and will not fit under a bed... Just wonder if this can happen....

 

We have HUGE Luggage that rolls ... and we just LIFT the bed. It always fits ... once we clear the metal frame! :cool:

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Robes

We have also done many back-to-back cruises and have watched the room stewards remove the robes early on the morning of disembarkation day. And then with in a couple of hours we have seen the large garment cart come around and deliver clean robes to the various work stations where the cabins stewards take them to the cabins.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Luggage

We have never had a problem with luggage fitting under the bed.

But we have seen people request that the cabin steward store their luggage for them. We asked once and were told that the luggage can be stored down in the hold where the luggage comes aboard the ship. And it will be brought back to your cabin the day before you disembark.

[RuthC]

You are in a SS cabin.Just give your stewrad half the amount you think you are going to tip him., up front.And request that he store your luggage.A dollar is not going to do it.

Never found it necessary to tip up-front for this request, and always had the request honored. I'm in one of those steerage cabins, too!

My big suitcase won't fit under the bed, even when I try to slide it under still open. I ask that it be stored; my steward returns it when I have to start packing. :(

[cruzincurt]

If I don't use the robe, there will be some daytime moons on the verandah. Not a pretty sight.

[Tricia724]

I guess I don't understand the problem using the robes. To me they are no different than the towels which we all use. What is the difference between wrapping a towel or a robe around the body? I guess we all have different priorities.

[sail7seas]

Yes, of course, it is the same thing.

 

 

I think the problem lay in that she did not think that the robe in her cabin had been laundered between guests. The towels were clearly clean and newly stacked in the bathroom (I presume) but she has said she did not think the robe had been washed.

[Guest Celestia]

Am in the midst of remodeling kitchen and been away from CC for a time.

 

Thank you for your comments. I will address a few of them here.

 

1) As I said, we have hardside luggage that does NOT fit under the beds. It is not as if we did not try. Had we luggage that fit, we'd have put it there, of course. However, I've never had another cruiseline refuse to place luggage in the hold. Seeing as it was often piled on the sofa so we could get around in the room, yes, it was a problem for us and yes, I think it really needed to be stored elsewhere. We did see other stewards bringing luggage back to nearby cabins the day before disembarkment so I have a hard time believing there wasn't space for two more to be stored.

 

Placing it under the desk would only have left the chair sticking out, and I use the desk daily, writing for anywhere from an hour to three hours a day, really don't want two suitcases stuffed in there.

 

2) I was not questioning that the robes are laundered, at all. I am sure they are. However, when a white robe has a BLACK streak on the cuff and another BLACK streak on the collar, that is a dirty robe, even if it is fresh out of the laundry machines. Certainly not something that should be offered to a guest! Also if the guest asks that it be removed from the room as it is not needed, that should not be a problem for two weeks.

 

3) Yes, I use the provided towels. NO, I never, never never never use a robe that is in a hotel room or cabin or stateroom. I bring my own silk travel robe (no need to worry about 'daytime moons' from me). I think it is nasty to use a robe that is provided by hotel or ship...surely I am allowed my opinion? In hotels I always ask that these robes be removed from the room, that has never been questioned, it is removed immediately. I don't see why it should have been a problem on the ship. Yes, I asked both the room steward, his supervisor (who came when the room steward could not comprehend the request) and also three times at the front desk. We REALLY needed the space for other things, like wet jackets daily (it rains in Hawaii)....wet jackets could not go in our already too small closets and not conveniently in our shower either.

 

4) We did write notes to our steward, I had post it notes and also left the robe on the bed for him to notice...he had to hang it back up to make up the bed. We also wrote a very nice signed letter and left it at front desk, asking that it be given to the hotel manager. Nothing was accomplished by this, even though the lovely lady at the front desk who had been introduced as Employee of the Month the night before assured us it would after reading the letter. Either he didn't understand English, or he chose not to do anything about our requests....I'd prefer to think it was language and not bad service.

 

Overall our experience with HAL was decent and I plan to sail with them again, but there were a few annoyances, and the luggage one really surprised us, as even on Princess they stowed our luggage for us and that was such a disaster of a trip we will never sail with them again (try having raw sewage flowing out of your bathroom into your cabin every night for a week!).

 

FW&FS,

 

Celestia

[tommy]

Celestia,I agree with you on the robes.But they are cleaned between sailings.I think they are just ugly and uncomfortable.Holland is the only line that I noticed people actually wearing them.on decks in the morning. TOM

[sologrip]

Will your cabin steward store your empty luggage some where other than your cabin? We have the type of luggae that you push like a shopping cart and will not fit under a bed... Just wonder if this can happen... We are in a "ss" suite. Did not know if that made a difference. Thanks in advance for your help...

 

Got to my accessible F category stateroom and found so little room for my power scooter, service dog, luggage, and myself that I called Guest relations in a panic...They came and took away the empty luggage, table, chair, one bedside table, and pushed the bed up against the huge picture window. Ahhh, much better.....Got my luggage back the last day for packing....

[boards]

The storage space in the closets on the Zaandam was large enough to hold our luggage and we had a hard sided one. We had an outside cabin and had no problem storing the suitcases.

[OCruisers]

My big suitcase won't fit under the bed, even when I try to slide it under still open. :( [/color][/size][/font]

 

Ruth .... You have to LIFT the end of the bed off of the floor to CLEAR the metal frame. It does take two people. Reminds me of a play on this old joke:

 

Q: How many people does it take for most cruisers to get a HUGE suitcase under the bed in a stateroom?

 

A: It takes TWO ... one to LIFT the bed and one to push it under the bed.

 

Q: How many HAL cruisers does it take to do this?

 

A: Only takes ONE! One to call the room steward and have it stored elsewhere!

 

:p Absolutely nothing wrong with the HAL way!!! Probably, easier! :p

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers! :)

[Charliesmom]

Celestia,

 

It seems to me that you had a bad room steward. I hope you reflected his lack of care in his tip. If I had had such a miserable experience, I would have written letters to the hotel manager, the captain, the coordinator for the ship and the president of the line. What happened to you was unconscionable and deserves recognition from the powers that be.

 

You can also do what my husband does - he votes with his feet. If service is unsatisfactory, usually that is the last time that organization gets our business.

 

Roberta

[Guest Celestia]

Roberta,

 

Thanks for your post. As experienced HAL and other lines cruisers, we do not lower the 'required' tip (the one HAL puts on your room charge daily) but we also do not cash-tip if service is not top-of the line. So, he got whatever his bit of the required tip was but no extra....too bad for him as we tend toward being very, very generous with 'cash-tip'.

 

I wrote (for both signatures) a letter to several executive level persons in Seattle. What I received back was a letter 'explaining' how I was 'mistaken', that there wasn't mildew on our bathroom floor and walls, that our luggage would have been taken had we asked, etc, the robe was *spotless*...(we have a photo, it didn't come out well due to a problem with that camera). I don't believe it does one bit of good to write to HAL Seattle after the fact. They already have our money.

 

We had an inside cabin this time, I have noted the service you get both on the ship and from Seattle is different depending on what cabin you're in...

 

As for voting with my feet, I do often do that, however I love cruising, but believe me, there are lines *so* much worse than anything on HAL that I will most likely do another HAL despite the annoyances.

 

FW&FS,

 

Celestia