question about freestyle dining

[Leigh-Anne V]

We are on the Dawn next month, and it is our first cruise with Norwegian (previous cruises were carnival and rc). My question is, with freestyle dining how does our steward know when we've gone for dinner and when to turn the beds down?

 

thanks

Leigh-Anne

[silkhair1]

There is a little wheel outside the room on the wall in the hallway that you turn to let the stewards know you are gone. It is very easy! Have fun!!!!!

[Leigh-Anne V]

thanks! I see you were on the Dawn in '07 ... any tips for us?

[jondirk]

There is a little wheel outside the room on the wall in the hallway that you turn to let the stewards know you are gone. It is very easy! Have fun!!!!!

 

Sorry, but the little wheel is just there for appearances only.

 

The stewards on cruiseships (particularly NCL) share the same magical properties as Santa Claus, in that they know when you are sleeping, they know when you're away, they know when you're on the balcony, and they know when you're at the buffet.

 

I thought for a while they had cameras in our room because all I had to do was stick my head out of the door (dead serious here) and my steward would pop out of another cabin or the supply room. I asked for another chocolate mint for my aunt before bed and he gave me a handful. Although I tried to get in the habit of turning the little wheel, more times than most I would forget but would always find the room made up or turned down whenever we were gone for more than 10 minutes.

 

So although they have the little wheels beside the door for our enjoyment, they still seem to know when you're in or out and it's always fun to enter the cabin in the evening and see what kind of surprises the stewards have left for you.

[jondirk]

thanks! I see you were on the Dawn in '07 ... any tips for us?

 

Yes, have a great time -- I'm so jealous.

[Havana Daydreamer]

There are wheels outside the cabin, but that didn't seem to matter on our cruise (Dawn 1/31/09). Our cabin steward sucked, the only suprise was that she would take our towels (sometimes pool, sometimes bath) and not replace them. DO NOT expect the same service as RC and you won't be disappointed. :(

[Arwenmark]

There are wheels outside the cabin, but that didn't seem to matter on our cruise (Dawn 1/31/09). Our cabin steward sucked, the only suprise was that she would take our towels (sometimes pool, sometimes bath) and not replace them. DO NOT expect the same service as RC and you won't be disappointed. :(

 

And what did you do at the time about this wonderful service you were getting? to whom did you report it and what did they do about it? And if the answer is nothing then why not?

[Greymeowsr]

Stewards and assistant stewards work very hard. They make mistakes. However, all it took to correct a mistake (at least on NCL Jewel) was a phone call. We found they really did try to please on our recent cruises.

[terrymtex01]

There are wheels outside the cabin, but that didn't seem to matter on our cruise (Dawn 1/31/09). Our cabin steward sucked, the only suprise was that she would take our towels (sometimes pool, sometimes bath) and not replace them. DO NOT expect the same service as RC and you won't be disappointed. :(

 

Total bunk. We have had as good of service from NCL as we had with RCCL. Not saying you did not have your experience, but saying that is not the case for every person who sails with NCL.

[suzyed]

Total bunk. We have had as good of service from NCL as we had with RCCL. Not saying you did not have your experience, but saying that is not the case for every person who sails with NCL.

I can honestly say, that I have never had a really bad room steward.

Of course some are better than others...they seem to go that extra mile..but none were "bad".

[chrisbd1]

I suspect the towel animal may have been the missing towel :rolleyes: If you missing a wash cloth and there's a towel mouse on your bed, you're nox really missing a wash cloth ofter all :)

[sottovoce]

There are wheels outside the cabin, but that didn't seem to matter on our cruise (Dawn 1/31/09). Our cabin steward sucked, the only suprise was that she would take our towels (sometimes pool, sometimes bath) and not replace them. DO NOT expect the same service as RC and you won't be disappointed. :(

Have never had anything but excellent service from NCL's room stewards on nearly 100 cruise nights. Makes you scratch your head when someone generalizes from one experience. Also makes you wonder when someone isn't grown up enough to let it go after a reasonable time.

[sottovoce]

And what did you do at the time about this wonderful service you were getting? to whom did you report it and what did they do about it? And if the answer is nothing then why not?

Too busy daydreaming about Havana, I suppose.;)

[uppitycats]

While I agree that the stewards generally know when you are in or out of your cabin, they ...and we...sometimes screw up! We did turn the little wheel one afternoon to "do not disturb!" as we were going to take a nap,

 

then forgot to change it when we went off to dinner. Came back and ran into the steward in the hall, who was very surprised to see us out and about! and very apologetic about our room, as he hadn't gone in to straighten it out!

 

So we went off for a drink (our intention anyway!) and when we returned, everything was freshened up, a towel animal on the bed (and yes, that is where the "missing" linen usually is...wrapped up as something cute! ) :)

[deepnite10]

Yes..it s sometime s we screw up..

 

when we first board d..the stewart asked when we normally dined..

and never a problem after that..cept when we happen d to over

sleep during a nap..i heard the door ajar just a little bit then

heard it close..*OOP S* late for dinner :o..

 

unless the cat got your tongue..ANY short coming s can be resolved

quickly at the beginning of the cruise..i feel strongly such short

fall s are our fault for failure properly communicate our own expectation s

to the crew staff..

[CruisnGram]

Have only been on 3 NCL cruises and have found the stewards to be fantastic. They are so willing to please and honor any special requests.

 

I do agree however that if you do have a problem, do not ignore it. Report it so that it can be corrected and small problem doesn't turn into a big one.

 

My father and MIL did have a problem on our recent 3 day Sky cruise. First night was no turndown. That meant no Freestyle Daily and no fresh towels for the morning shower. It was MIL's first cruise and she told me not to bother but I did call down to housekeeping. Evidently, these two stewards either just didn't do turn down in all their cabins, or got confused and thought that the other one had done it as father and MIL's cabins weren't the only ones skipped. Housekeeping was very nice, offered to send someone up to do it (which we declined) and said that they would let the manager know. The other two nights service was perfect.

 

Mistakes can happen. But don't ignore them and let them turn into bigger problems. Talk to the right people in order to get resolution to the matter.

 

CG

[Havana Daydreamer]

I'm so glad the rest of you had such wonderful experiances. Here was mine...

I asked several times for the cabin steward on the first night, as there were several things we needed. (On RCL, our steward was always waiting for us when we first arrived to introduce themselves) As we were asking for a few things (extra hangers, a light fixed, enough towels,remove contents of mini fridge, get ice, etc) I tipped her up front. THAT IS THE LAST TIME WE SAW THE CABIN STEWARD. I hope this isn't typical for NCL, but this was my experiance.

The cabin wasn't always clean, she never addressed our initial concerns (although I finally got maintence to fix the light).....but the only time I complained was when she took our towels and didn't replace them. These were the same pool towels I had to deposit $25 for. Almost everyday, I had to call reception (until I got through) and request towels. Most days I had to call at least twice, as no one came after the first call. We made complaints to reception regarding other issues as well, all which were met with indifference.

This combined with the lack of service throughout the ship was very frustrating. Service is a very important part of the cruise experiance for me. If I can't get it at NCL, I'll go elsewhere.

Thank you for not jumping to conclusions about how I handled the problem or hurling accusations about my mental capacities. After all, this is CRUISE CRITIC!

[chrisbd1]

I'm so glad the rest of you had such wonderful experiances. Here was mine...

I asked several times for the cabin steward on the first night, as there were several things we needed. (On RCL, our steward was always waiting for us when we first arrived to introduce themselves) As we were asking for a few things (extra hangers, a light fixed, enough towels,remove contents of mini fridge, get ice, etc) I tipped her up front. THAT IS THE LAST TIME WE SAW THE CABIN STEWARD. I hope this isn't typical for NCL, but this was my experiance.

The cabin wasn't always clean, she never addressed our initial concerns (although I finally got maintence to fix the light).....but the only time I complained was when she took our towels and didn't replace them. These were the same pool towels I had to deposit $25 for. Almost everyday, I had to call reception (until I got through) and request towels. Most days I had to call at least twice, as no one came after the first call. We made complaints to reception regarding other issues as well, all which were met with indifference.

This combined with the lack of service throughout the ship was very frustrating. Service is a very important part of the cruise experiance for me. If I can't get it at NCL, I'll go elsewhere.

Thank you for not jumping to conclusions about how I handled the problem or hurling accusations about my mental capacities. After all, this is CRUISE CRITIC!

 

Yes it is and we were critiquing :)

[crusinmama22]

The only time we had a cabin stewart from hell was on RCI last year.

 

She never made up our room even though we left a note with an extra tip to empty the mini frig -- she took the tip but did nothing. Not enough towels for 4 adults. Had booked 18 months in advance !

 

My daughter did not even have a bed made up for her to sleep in. When I called to the stewart -- I woke her up -- she never came -- even though promised -- I finally went down to the pursers desk -- was met with opposition there as well -- the officer on duty told me I should call my TA and tell her my problem ! IMAGINE THAT !!

 

The next am I had a meeting at 9:00am with the head purser and things were resolved. I also adjusted my tip to my room stewart !

 

From that day on our cruise was great -- we just did not expect much from our room stewart and we survived. I did a little more -- but that was ok --as a room stewart had an attitude and then could not understand why I went to her boss !

 

so it goes to show you it does not matter what line -- there are issues sometimes