Cabin not clean enough?

[dakrewser]

If the chief houskeeper doesn't give you satisfaction, now you'll know who to call in Seattle. It was recently announced that "Helene Lachance has been appointed Corporate Housekeeping Specialist with Holland America Line in Seattle. She was previously the Executive Housekeeper for Crystal Cruises." (HospitalityNet)

Of course, it might mean she's the new char for the executive offices! :rolleyes:

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks Dave

IF I should arrive at my suite and find that it is not clean or anytime during my cruise I will know who to contact.

I have written down her name.

So far have never had a problem.

[jhannah]

Never a problem here, either. I've never found any HAL stateroom anything less than spotless when we arrived. On "another line" I've found, among other things, dried toothpaste in the bathroom cabinet shelves. Yuk!

[sail7seas]

HAL has the cleanest 'dam' ships. We have never felt any HAL ship we have sailed on to be anything but scrubbed and polished clean to a sparkle.

[Aussie Gal]

I must admit that when we boarded the Prinsendam in October, the glass mirror was not up to scratch. I looked at it for awhile and then cleaned it myself with a towel. I am very fussy and couldn't live with it. I know there is only a small turnaround time, so didn't want to bother our steward with that small thing but decided to make sure everything else was up to to the mark and from then on and it was.

Jennie

[OCruisers]

:o Finding a used bottle of Scope and a tin of lip gloss in our bathroom cabinet ... AND ... a dirty sock under our bed was NOT a good thing! :eek:

We were on Veendam for the 1/15 sailing -- our embarkation was delayed because of Norovirus on the previous cruise for "SUPER-SANITIZING" .

Our cabin was NOT even very clean ... much less, "super-sanitized"! :o

Whatever .......... :rolleyes:

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Arubalisa]

Okay, my 2 cents...Our biggest puzzle on the Zaandam...why supply only enough towels for two people when there are three people in the cabin :confused:

Upon our arrival on the Zaandam we had:


a bathroom wastebasket which had not been emptied
a desk full of crumbs
a shelf full of receipts from the previous cabin occupants
grout in the shower had mildew
Also does anyone know if it is standard HAL practice to not remake the third bed back into a sofa in a verandah cabin? When we booked we thought we had a sitting area, what we got was a TV with a bed to sit on. Lazy way out?

[shipcafe]

:o Finding a used bottle of Scope and a tin of lip gloss in our bathroom cabinet ... AND ... a dirty sock under our bed was NOT a good thing! :eek:

We were on Veendam for the 1/15 sailing -- our embarkation was delayed because of Norovirus on the previous cruise for "SUPER-SANITIZING" .

Our cabin was NOT even very clean ... much less, "super-sanitized"! :o

Whatever .......... :rolleyes:

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)



Some may disagree with this but if I ever WERE to find my stateroom anything less than spotless, all it takes is a warm greeting with your stateroom attendant, a hearty handshake, along with a few $$ bills in the hand and that should handle it. Again, some may disagree with that policy but I never have a problem with taking care of the staff who will be taking care of me for the week. On those cruise lines where tipping used to be handled on one's own merit, I used to do ALL of my tipping on the first night.

[Leslieswiger]

I agree with Shipcafe 100%. Treat your stateroom attendant with respect. When tipping was done on one's own merit, we also put some dollars into the hand. COURTESY IS CONTAGIOUS...Happy Sailings..Leslie Swiger:)

[dakrewser]

Steve, Leslie - could you explain the rationale behind tipping someone for not doing their job???Now I do disagree with "pre-tipping", but those who do suggest it's because they will make many extra demands on the steward. But finding a dirty room shouldn't call forth a tip, IMHO, but a phone call to the chief housekeeper!

That's probably what you should have done, also, Lisa.

Now I've never cruised 3 in a cabin, but it seems to me that the signage around the sofa-bed implies it will be made into a bed each evening then re-made into a sofa each morning. Just another thing to call housekeeping about, I guess.

[Ted]

Some may disagree with this but if I ever WERE to find my stateroom anything less than spotless, all it takes is a warm greeting with your stateroom attendant, a hearty handshake, along with a few $$ bills in the hand and that should handle it. Again, some may disagree with that policy but I never have a problem with taking care of the staff who will be taking care of me for the week. On those cruise lines where tipping used to be handled on one's own merit, I used to do ALL of my tipping on the first night.

Let me see if I get this straight. Your recommendation is that if I come into my cabin and find it unkempt, I should smile and immediately reward the cabin attendant who has not managed to do what all 15 of my prior cabin attendants have done, namely presented me with a clean room upon arrival.

I firmly believe in generously rewarding the hard working cruise staff after they have provided good service. When the day comes that I have to bribe staff in advance to have a clean cabin, I will find a new way to vacation.

[smidge]

I agree with Ted. A clean cabin to start off with should not require a tip. A clean cabin and good service throughout deserves a tip. I personally do not like the automatic tipping policy. To me that's not a tip based on service it's just the final installment of your cruise cost collected at the end of the trip. I like to tip for good service and always do but i object to giving tips to people who as some of the posters have experienced leave rooms dirty and really do not perform their duties even up to the minimum standard. :)

[scluvsrain]

I suppose what I would do if I arrived to find my cabin unacceptable in the cleanliness department would be to call the cabin attendant over, politely ask him to make things more suitable, then perhaps later that evening or the next morning, THEN give him a tip for continued good service. If you call Housekeeping, the attendant probably gets in trouble, and then he has a bad experience with you before you even begin. I guess I would call the way I would handle it "positive reinforcement."

Just my two cents.

[ekerr19]

We tip the steward to bring our luggage right away and never have been disappointed. I like getting things unpacked and put away promptly. If there is a problem with the cabin, I tell him right away.

The only problem we've ever had was on the Maasdam, the sink was stopped up and had some standing water in it - within 10 minutes, maintenance was there fixing the problem.

If people want to "pre-tip" that's their choice. Some people are convinced this is the best way to go - to each his own. We always tip the cabin steward additionally (outside the auto-tip) anyway, so what does it really matter?

We usually do wait til the final morning, but I can see it both ways. :)

[heyabbott]

I agree with Ted. A clean cabin to start off with should not require a tip. A clean cabin and good service throughout deserves a tip. I personally do not like the automatic tipping policy. To me that's not a tip based on service it's just the final installment of your cruise cost collected at the end of the trip. I like to tip for good service and always do but i object to giving tips to people who as some of the posters have experienced leave rooms dirty and really do not perform their duties even up to the minimum standard. :)

I'm sorry but a clean cabin and good service is a requirement, it's the least they should do. it's the minimum. HAL's auto service charge of $20 a couple a day covers not only good service which is what I expect but also covers very good service. What deserves addional gratuities, for me, is when I ask for a couple of additionall bath towels on the first day, and each day after that I don't have to because they are already there. I shouldn't have to ask for additional toiletries, but if there are new ones everyday, that's to be rewarded.

Here's a $50 tip story. I was staying in a nice hotel in Singapore, an Asian owned hotel, and was on the few Americans there. Every morning they left an English language local paper on the door which was appreciated. When I went to breakfast the next day I looked for the Intern'l Herald Tribune. The restuarant manager asked what I was looking for and I told him. He said it wasn't in yet. No problem. 5 minutes later he brought it over to my table. The next day, he met me at the restuarant's door with a the paper and a personal greeting. Everyday after that it was the same.
I wrote a stellar letter of appreciation to the Hotel Manger and a nice tip for the simplest of courtesies. The thing that impressed me the most was the genuiness of their concern and attention. While I was staying in suite it wasn't a VIP situation. That's what earns additional gratuites, not simply doing your job well.

[jhannah]

I'm sorry but a clean cabin and good service is a requirement, it's the least they should do. it's the minimum. ... I was staying in a nice hotel in Singapore. ... I looked for the Intern'l Herald Tribune. The restuarant manager asked what I was looking for and I told him. He said it wasn't in yet. No problem. 5 minutes later he brought it over to my table. The next day, he met me at the restuarant's door with a the paper and a personal greeting. Everyday after that it was the same. ... That's what earns additional gratuites, not simply doing your job well.
That's a great illustration. I believe you've hit on the key element with regard to tipping above and beyond what's charged to your shipboard account.

[tankerjo2]

Rotterdam cruise was the only time we encountered a cabin interior that had not been cleaned properly...we visited the front desk and it was quickly attended too. Other than that the only problems we have had were several balcony cabins where the chairs and table were quite dirty, I suppose that can be an on going problem but it only takes a few seconds to wipe a couple of chairs and table down plus it would also be nice to have the exterior glass cleaned once and a while.

[sail7seas]

The most unpleasant thing we've experienced when arriving at our cabin has been (on a rare occasion....but, indeed, more than once) to find articles still in the drawers at the vanity in the dressing room or clothing still in a closet or drawer.


I don't wish to touch these items with bare hands.....I don't even want to see them. I want them gone and it is distasteful to me to find them. It makes me hope that the bathroom has been carefully cleaned, the carpet well vacuumed.......It makes me hope the cabin has had more than just picking up but a good Cleaning. I never remove these items myself. I call them to the attention of our cabin steward and they are always flustered and very sorry.

On those rare occassions when that has happened, I have found the steward really is very, very good for the rest of the cruise. Maybe he's sorry our first impression wasn't an example of his normal good work and he wants to prove to us he really is a very good steward? They do take alot of pride in their work and certainly do not want to risk pax filing complaints about them.

[HeatherInFlorida]

We're just lucky, I guess. We have never entered a cabin to find it any less than spotless. I would be horrified if it were any other way. That's just me.

Under no circumstance will I ever "pre-tip" (dare I say "bribe") anyone to do what their position requires of them. When that job is done well and better than required, then it's time for a heartfelt and generous tip.

[arzz]

Our Zaandam cabin over Christmas was impeccably clean. It was not unusual to walk down the corridor and see a steward scrubbing the tile walls of one of the cabin bathrooms. We had no complaints. What always surprised me was when we were gone for only a short time, and did not visually see our steward as we left, but returned to find the cabin all tidy! Now that is service!

[pinkstrong41]

On the Maasdam I didn't notice but I left some ones on the floor... they somehow disapeared...

[Arubalisa]

Our Zaandam cabin over Christmas was impeccably clean. It was not unusual to walk down the corridor and see a steward scrubbing the tile walls of one of the cabin bathrooms. We had no complaints. What always surprised me was when we were gone for only a short time, and did not visually see our steward as we left, but returned to find the cabin all tidy! Now that is service!We were on the same cruise, but knew our cabin housekeeping problems were the result of a poor steward. I'm still shaking my head over the fact that he just "forgot" to clean one of the cabins. To apologize the next day was a nice offer right ;) As Arzz said, the rest of the ship shines from top to bottom. I would love to see her after her drydock.