Normal on NCL to Never See Cabin Steward(ess)?

We did not feel that it was OUR place to have to introduce ourselves.

Whether initiated by you or by the cabin attendant, why would you think an introduction is necessary or desirable at all, provided all else is as it should be? I'm happy to stay out of their way, and to let them do their jobs.

It's not normal to meet the housekeeping staff in a hotel. Is there anything about cruising that makes it more important?

On a 7-day Epic last month and we saw our cabin stewardess a grand total of twice and one of those was when she came in while we were still in the cabin.

 

On Carnival, our stewards would introduce themselves as soon as they saw you the first time and then we would always run into them around the cabin somewhere almost every day.

 

On the Epic, our stewardess never introduced herself, never asked if we needed anything and didn't appear to do a good job of cleaning, e.g. hair from the last guests still in our tub three days later, garbage that missed the can still on the floor after cleaning, etc. It just didn't seem like the service for the cabin was as good as on past cruises. Is this the norm for NCL?

One of the praisesNCL usually gets is about the service including the cabin stewards. We had one bad experience and yes, I did complain; that was on the Spirit about 5 or 6 years ago. Other than that they have always been very attentive. If you don't come in contact with the steward but the service is still good, it shouldn't make any difference, if it was bad service like you claim you should have said something somewhere along the way. So, to answer your question, no it is not the norm.

BTW, I notice Carnival is your cruiseline of choice: and notice you have sailed NCL before, if so, you should have the answer as to whether this is normal or not.

My last couple NCL cruises...I think our steward lived in our closet. I swear, every time I would even go into the bathroom, when I walked back into the living area-THE CABIN HAD BEEN CLEANED AND THE BED MADE UP AGAIN ;)

I've had one or two that I don't remember seeing much, but my room was quite clean and when I did meet them they came across as shy people. My room was clean though, so that was all that mattered. In general I find them to be outgoing and pleasant. I've had some enjoyable conversations with some and look forward to seeing others on future trips.