What can I expect from a cabin steward?

We're taking our first cruise in the fall, so I'm wondering what to expect. I'm assuming cabin stewards are like your typical hotel maid; what are their duties?

What surprised you most about your cabin steward when you first cruised?

most surprising thing was finding the cabin boy using our dirty clothes to make all these objects d'art.

but the best was the twice and three times a day visits making up the rooms, and turning the rooms down at night with mood lighting.

and basically keeping it clean the entire time, with hardly ever seeing him.

they are more than maids, but less than private butlers.

you can always expect to be greeted with a smile and by your name. very hard workers are the room stewarts and thier assistances.

We're taking our first cruise in the fall, so I'm wondering what to expect. Are room stewards like your typical hotel maid; what are their duties?

 

What surprised you most about your cabin steward when your first cruised?

Enjoy your first cruise! :) the room stewards are great, I have never come across a room steward where I have been not happy with. they do perform typical maid like duties but they also do wonderful towel animals, they are exceptional with their cleanliness washing the cabin with antibacterial fluid (I have seen in buckets and whatnot in passing on my way to/from my room) they do a turn down service typical to most hotels and that is when they do their wonderful towel creatures ... I have always had great conversations with my former room stewards, I don't even think I am doing justice describing what they offer, all I can say is they work extremely hard, should have a wage, and are generally wonderful at what they do and to talk to.

My first ever cabin steward was on a different cruise liner he was wonderful because I was so overwhelmed his name was Raymond the first two days he kept helping me and my sister find our stateroom haha and he was lovely he was from Jamaica, very polite ... and then My first cabin steward on carnival was lovely Ricardo, he was lovely too it was my sisters birthday he had the room all decorated, he was always cheerful and pleasant to talk to, very polite and patient as we got lost a bit on that ship too haha

Cabin stewards do an exceptional job and work extremely hard what shocked me the most was the fact that cabin stewards income comes from tips passengers choose to give. And also what shocks me most is when some passengers opt to pull the tips on the last night despite all the hard work the stewards put into maintaining passengers cabins, areas of the ship.

Enjoy your cruise you will have a wonderful time :) fall cruises are great

In my experience, hotel "maids" do not like being referred to as "maids". They prefer housekeeper. Also, in spite of extended stays in hotels I have never received the kind of service I have received from my cabin stewards.

We're taking our first cruise in the fall, so I'm wondering what to expect. I'm assuming cabin stewards are like your typical hotel maid; what are their duties?

 

What surprised you most about your cabin steward when you first cruised?

The thing that surprised me the most was he called us by name as we were passing him in the hallway at least 10 cabins away from our cabin the very 1st time he saw us. It would have been difficult to see exactly which cabin we came out of from that distance, so it made me think that they do some kind of face recognition homework after you get your embarkation picture taken and before they meet you for the 1st time. Like everybody said they work hard and the really good ones do their job without ever disturbing you in the least. Ours was perfect....room always clean, trash always emptied, ice bucket always full, bed always turned down, towel animal, chocolates, and the Fun Times always in place and I might have seen the guy 3 or 4 times on a 5 day cruise. Always knew he was around....he just stayed out of the way. Enjoy your 1st cruise!

The thing that surprised me the most was he called us by name as we were passing him in the hallway at least 10 cabins away from our cabin the very 1st time he saw us. It would have been difficult to see exactly which cabin we came out of from that distance, so it made me think that they do some kind of face recognition homework after you get your embarkation picture taken and before they meet you for the 1st time. Like everybody said they work hard and the really good ones do their job without ever disturbing you in the least. Ours was perfect....room always clean, trash always emptied, ice bucket always full, bed always turned down, towel animal, chocolates, and the Fun Times always in place and I might have seen the guy 3 or 4 times on a 5 day cruise. Always knew he was around....he just stayed out of the way. Enjoy your 1st cruise!

On Carnival Breeze, by the time we went to the room on the first day, he knew our names - by sight!! Hmm... then I saw his cheat sheet!! It had the embark photos on it!!:D

We also did Chefs Table and the chef had the photo cheat sheet!!:D

I enjoy asking them about their country, family, etc. On our last cruise we learned how to say hello, good morning, evening, and more in their language.

you can always expect to be greeted with a smile and by your name. very hard workers are the room stewarts and thier assistances.

They are indeed hard workers and if you bring a cooler (for soda or whatever) they are sure to keep it filled with ice for you.

On my first Carnival cruise, I thought it was a mystery-I'd leave the cabin and come back in, in 10 minutes and there would be fresh towels, but I never saw anyone. Magic. Towel animals made out of well towels (I have no idea who would make towel animals out of dirty laundry) chocolate on the pillows. A hearty hello when we did see them. They do get a percentage from your prepaid tip, but we always leave more. We also leave more for ourwait staff too. The cabin steward-out of anyone else on the ship, makes you feel special, every day.

Our steward, Rony, was outstanding when we took our 1st cruise on Paradise last year. The room was always taken care of, he always greeted us by name when we saw him, always kept our ice bucket full... he even tore apart our room that he had just cleaned to try and help DD find her iPod (which I had put in the safe) and recleaned it after, as well as solving a dispute between my screaming neices when they decided to hang out in our room with DD. We loved the service he provided so much that we tipped him an extra $40 on the last night. :)

On Carnival Breeze, by the time we went to the room on the first day, he knew our names - by sight!! Hmm... then I saw his cheat sheet!! It had the embark photos on it!!:D

We also did Chefs Table and the chef had the photo cheat sheet!!:D

I knew it had to be some sort of face recognition because we were far enough away from our cabin that he probably couldn't really tell which 1 we came out of and we had never seen him before and as we walked up he said, "you must be Ms. Pam and Mr. Drew....I'm Laurence." I acted cool, but I was pretty dang impressed. Like I said earlier....rarely saw him after that, but always saw the results of his work. I really admire those folks.

I enjoy asking them about their country, family, etc. On our last cruise we learned how to say hello, good morning, evening, and more in their language.

I do that, too! On our last 2 cruises, our room stewards and some of our wait staff were from Indonesia. They were really surprised when I "spoke" Indonesian to them and I think they really appreciated my effort.

In my experience, hotel "maids" do not like being referred to as "maids". They prefer housekeeper. Also, in spite of extended stays in hotels I have never received the kind of service I have received from my cabin stewards.

And stewards don't like to be called 'cabin boys' either, and not all of them are male anyway.

 

 

 

Cabin stewards do an exceptional job and work extremely hard what shocked me the most was the fact that cabin stewards income comes from tips passengers choose to give.

 

 

I see you are from the UK. I don't know why tips from passengers is a shock to you as all stewards and waiters on the great Atlantic ocean liners, including the British ships of the Cunard Line depended on tips for their livelihood.

I see you are from the UK. I don't know why tips from passengers is a shock to you as all stewards and waiters on the great Atlantic ocean liners, including the British ships of the Cunard Line depended on tips for their livelihood.

I was answering the question "What surprised you most about your cabin steward when your first cruised?" and so this is what first surprised me as a first time cruiser having never been on a ship before this was something that I didn't know first time around ... but its not a shock to me NOW I just was merely saying the hard work they do they should get a wage

I was answering the question "What surprised you most about your cabin steward when your first cruised?" and so this is what first surprised me as a first time cruiser having never been on a ship before this was something that I didn't know first time around ... but its not a shock to me NOW I just was merely saying the hard work they do they should get a wage

Yes, I know. Being from a nation with a strong sea faring tradition you surprised ME. :)

Happy Landings

Don't get your expectations up that every steward everywhere does ALL the things people have mentioned in this thread. Many do as much as they can for you but the workload is heavy and some simply perform their basic duties in a satisfactory way without going much above and beyond.

At minimum you can expect:

• The steward to introduce him/her self and let you know how they can be contacted if needed
  
• Make bed daily
  
• Scrub bathroom daily
  
• Turn down bed nightly
  
• Deliver Funtimes and daily circulars
  
• Change towels as needed (you can hang them back up for repeated use at your discretion)
  
• Make a towel animal most nights
  
• Tidy and vacuum daily
  
• Respond to any specific requests
  

A room steward doing all of these things is earning their wage and their gratuity. Please don't be disappointed and think yours is sub-par if they are not trying to be your best friend or clairvoyant in anticipating your wants and needs.

Don't get your expectations up that every steward everywhere does ALL the things people have mentioned in this thread. Many do as much as they can for you but the workload is heavy and some simply perform their basic duties in a satisfactory way without going much above and beyond.

 

At minimum you can expect:

 

• The steward to introduce him/her self and let you know how they can be contacted if needed
  
• Make bed daily
  
• Scrub bathroom daily
  
• Turn down bed nightly
  
• Deliver Funtimes and daily circulars
  
• Change towels as needed (you can hang them back up for repeated use at your discretion)
  
• Make a towel animal most nights
  
• Tidy and vacuum daily
  
• Respond to any specific requests
  

A room steward doing all of these things is earning their wage and their gratuity. Please don't be disappointed and think yours is sub-par if they are not trying to be your best friend or clairvoyant in anticipating your wants and needs.

see now I wished I had posted something like this with details :D:) love it!

Our cruise last year, we never saw him in our rooms. But out rooms were ALWAYS perfect. He even put my sunglasses on the towel animal most nights. Made it fun to come back and check into the room.

Never cruised with Carnival (yet) but other cruiseline, you can expect same as hotel housekeeper and some more.

Our steward knew our names and always greeted us by name.

Always a smile on their face.

Towel animals.

And they are like ninjas when it comes to cleaning. I always see them in hallway, but never in my room. Yet room is spotless.

So, think of a housekeeper you would have if you were at Waldorf-Astoria or something.

I, like some of the rest said, calling us by "name," as we were walking down the hallways. The room always looked "tidy and neat." When it was evening, the bed is turned down with a small chocolate (at least it was a couple years ago) on the pillow. Usually they had the little paper with all the events of the next day on your bed also. All the towels, wash clothes, you used are replaced with clean nice ones, and an animal made out of towels, which we love, on the bed.

see now I wished I had posted something like this with details :D:) love it!

I just think that lots of anecdotal reports (whether positive or negative) can be misleading to a first-timer. The "beauty" of a first-time cruiser is that when they have no preconceived expectations, everything impresses them! Far be it from me to want to burst anybody's bubble!:D

We're taking our first cruise in the fall, so I'm wondering what to expect. I'm assuming cabin stewards are like your typical hotel maid; what are their duties?

 

What surprised you most about your cabin steward when you first cruised?

a clean room made up bed and fresh towels.. thats there job.. Slave is not in there job title... They will clean your room 2x a day make up and turn down the bed ..

We're taking our first cruise in the fall, so I'm wondering what to expect. I'm assuming cabin stewards are like your typical hotel maid; what are their duties?

 

What surprised you most about your cabin steward when you first cruised?

I expect a cabin steward to tidy up once or twice a day to include making sure the bathroom is clean. Of course, they usually go above and beyond all of that. I do not expect a steward to act as my servant, and I treat them as an equal and as a person who is trying to perform a very difficult job.