What "extra" things to ask for from your room steward

[Ottawa Snowbirds]

No charge for robes, only if they end up in your luggage going home!!!

[Tania]

In my experience, asking for robes on the Personaliser doesn't help. I still ask for them in person, again...

[relevart]

I ask the Purser for the daily copy of the American and British newspapers. They are a 4-6 page paper with news, sports and some stock quotes.

[wags]

Egg-crate mattress pads, more clip hangers, lounge chair for balcony if it will fit and is not already there. Always get them pronto.

[marcruiser]

Robes and daily supply of wine glasses, for sure. We also sometimes request extra pillows after we've "tested" them, and it's nice to have extra pool towels if you can manage it. We also alert stateroom steward to our daily water delivery, and they sign for it if we're not there.

 

DH could sleep on concrete, so we haven't ever asked for the egg-crate mattress - LOL!

Chris

 

I assume daily water delivery refers to bottled water. We will be on the Coral Princess; how do we arrange for daily water delivery?

[Perley1]

If you ask for sodas in your fridge, do they charge you with a room service bill, or is it just on your tab at the end of the wk?

[dorisday]

Regarding what extra's you ask for;

have any of you considered getting these things for yourselves?

Take a corkscrew with you, the one your steward will give you probabley will be rubbish & break the cork.

Bring some glasses back from the cocktail bar when you go back to your cabin.

Pool towels are readily available all day, help yourself.

Use your own toiletries, they are bound to be much nicer than the ones given out onboard.

 

Your stateroom steward is one of the hardest working & lowest paid members of crew onboard. To add to their workload asking for trivial items is both unfair & unnecessary.

By all means write a list of extras you want but make it a treasure hunt & go & find them yourself, who knows who you might meet on the way!

 

If you ask for extra's please make sure you tip accordingly & mention your staterooms stewards name in your comments form (this goes a long way, especially for promotion & bonuses)

 

enjoy your cruise & give the crew the respect they deserve, they work extremely hard to make your holiday special

[gatour]

Marcruiser, When we were on the Coral, there was a bottled water in the cabin when we arrived and was replaced with a new one as we drank them.

 

Dorisday, I am not sure why asking for extra towels or toiletries add to their workload. They replenish them anyway and they are readily available on their cleaning cart. The towels I ask for is not for pool use. We have a tendancy to take a lot of showers on a what with going poolside, getting ready for dinner etc.

[britsbest]

Lets be nice to Doris Day as shes new ! (and she has no idea about what she talks!!!) Bless

[dorisday]

everything including the towels allocated daily to the stateroom stewards from the linenkeeper are seriously limited (usually to the amount of cabins they look after) & the linen store is only usually open twice a day to dispense towels & bedding.

Keeping pool towels in your room is ok & I much prefer them them to the room towels (much softer)

 

Brits best, I found your comment very patronising.

Yes I may be new here, but having worked onboard cruiseships for many years & a seasoned cruiser myself I have the advantage of seeing things from both sides.

The comments I make are not only accurate but will also ensure you get the best out of the crew and your cruise.

[britsbest]

It was meant to be patronising I placed something similar with your post about champagne waterfall

[patlanta]

Do you have to ask for the postcard with the picture of the ship nowadays? We didn't get one in the cabin portfolio on this last cruise?

[Lolipop]

Maybe they forgot to place one in there:( , but I´m sure if you ask the Steward, he´ll be able to get one for you:)

[geoherb]

The pursers desk usually has the free postcards available.

 

Doris Day: I agree about bringing a decent cork screw. But on our Princess cruises, there haven't been towels available at the pools. We've had to bring our pool towels from our cabin.

[Dreamer333]

Your stateroom steward is one of the hardest working & lowest paid members of crew onboard. To add to their workload asking for trivial items is both unfair & unnecessary.

 

I don't consider any of these requests to be "trivial, unfair, unnecessary"...

This is the JOB of the room steward.

When I am on a cruise, I treat my room steward very kindly and very generously, however I do expect him/her to do thier job.

 

While your comment may be true (they are hardworking, and low-paid), please remember that they are not FORCED to be there... this is the job/career they have chosen.

To treat them as tho you feel "sorry" for them, would be very condescending, and even disrespectful.

[donna5]

Regarding what extra's you ask for;

have any of you considered getting these things for yourselves?

Take a corkscrew with you, the one your steward will give you probabley will be rubbish & break the cork.

You can't always bring a corkscrew. Some people travel with just carryon and if it is in the carryon there is a chance the TSA will confiscate it. (I know they are not suppose to, but they have). I personally never thought to ask the room steward for a corkscrew.

[bplazo]

Why ask for extra towels. You should be able to use the towels a few days . I believe there is a note to try to conserve and use the towels a couple times. Makes sense to me, I always use the towels a few times at home. Saves the water, detergent etc.

 

When growing up I lived with a conservative grandmother who lived through the depression. We use papertowels twice, unless real dirty your clothes twice, only use a certain amount of paper when using the restroom etc.

[Aquarian]

Why? First, because when I'm on vacation (once a year), I like to be pampered. Second, I "tip" to be pampered. Third, I think Princess is trying to convey to the public in their advertising that they will be pampered on their ships.

[Lolipop]

Why ask for extra towels. You should be able to use the towels a few days . I believe there is a note to try to conserve and use the towels a couple times. Makes sense to me, I always use the towels a few times at home. Saves the water, detergent etc.

 

When growing up I lived with a conservative grandmother who lived through the depression. We use papertowels twice, unless real dirty your clothes twice, only use a certain amount of paper when using the restroom etc.

 

I have to agree with you there, if I can do just a little bit to keep the enviroment a nicer place then I´ll do it after all we only have one world and if we don´t help to look after it what next ?

I also go on holiday to be pampered but that doesn´t mean I take advantage of the situation and waste things pointlessly.

[gatour]

As others have said, I am on vacation. I don't like to use wet towels. Since the water they use is desalinated you are not really "saving" water, but I guess you can say you are saving the energy that it takes to desalinate the water.

 

Asking for extra towels is not really putting any extra work on the steward. I just mention when I meet him for the first time that I we have a tendency to use a lot of towels so whenever he cleans the room just make sure we have plenty of towels.

 

I also agree with Dreamer333, it is the room steward's job and I don't think asking for extra towels etc is outside of his job description. I almost always tip more than the recommended amount.

[gg3]

Why ask for extra towels. You should be able to use the towels a few days . I believe there is a note to try to conserve and use the towels a couple times. Makes sense to me, I always use the towels a few times at home. Saves the water, detergent etc.

 

Bplazo - are you kidding me ????? I can not imagine using a bath cloth or towel more than once. How sanitary do you think that is??? We grew up very frugally as well, but we never used our bath cloths and towels but one time and when we use paper towels once - we trash it. Same for t.p. :=} gg:)

[nho9504]

While someone already pointed this out to you, I think I would too.

 

You sounded like we who ask for extras are inconsiderate - you are so wrong in your assumption (or, an accusation to others).

 

We once inadvertently left a dinner knife ( a dull one but with serated teeth) in our lunchpack when we boarded. The knife created a HUGE fiasco at security. We then were being lectured about what NOT to be allowed - that included corkscrew, at least from that particular airport we went thru.

 

As many know, TSA enforcement is uneven thru out the country. However, we would rather not to test it to find it out.

 

As for body lotion, well, Princess Lotus Spar lotion has a quite nice smell and feel good on the skin. I dont think asking for an extra bottle is creating burden to the roomsteward.

 

As for towels - Nope, Princess DOES NOT PROVIDE POOL TOWEL at the poolside on our sailing. Specifically, it has a notice in the cabin, telling passengers the Pool Towel in the cabin is your responsibility, that you need to make sure not to lose it - It would cost you big bucks should you misplace your pool towel.

 

I want to say, Doris Day, as much as you said you have experiences from both sides, you would be appreciated more for your comments if you researched the recent trends BEFORE you posted. Things do change, a lot.

 

Besides I believe 90% of cruisers who asked for extras would tip well if the stewards responded and did their job above and beyond. And I firmly believe these stewarts WELCOME the opportunities to make extra money.

[jff50]

I can not imagine using a bath cloth or towel more than once. How sanitary do you think that is??? We grew up very frugally as well, but we never used our bath cloths and towels but one time and when we use paper towels once - we trash it. Same for t.p. :=} gg:)

 

I don't use paper towels several times, but do use bath towels several times at home before washing them--and think that it is as sanitary as anything else I will run into when I go out in public. On the other hand, if I washed a towel every time I use it I would be wasting water and putting more detergent than necessary into the environment. I try to show similar consideration for the environment when I'm on vacation. At this point in time, it's the only planet we've got.

 

I guess that if I periodically got the towel confused with t.p., I'd probably be more concerned about washing towels every time I use them.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I for one don't think that our cabin steward minded getting us the egg crate and extra pillows or giving me an extra set of bathtowels. When I asked on the first day I asked nicely, with a smile and $20 for his help. I'm with the others on this Dorisday, something tells me that getting the extra tip was worth the few minutes it took our wonderful steward to get the things for me. Not only that, but he also got more on the end of the cruise over the standard tip.

And on the Golden Princess, there are not towels anywhere near the pools. This is actually one thing that I liked about the Disney cruise line better, if my towels was soaked while by the pool I could turn it in and get a dry one right there. There's nothing worse than walking back to your cabin after swimming with a wet cold towel and walking in the airconditioning. Reminds me of the infamous Seinfeld episode about skrinkage!

[JimC]

I've never used a towel for two or more days in my home and I never will. We use environmentally friendly soap and hope cruise lines will also.