Has this become common practice for stewards?

[soccermommie]

Until the last couple of years, our stewards have always been very quick and efficient - rarely seen. We would leave our cabin and even if we returned 30minutes to an hour later to retrieve something we forgot, the cabin would always be done. We are aware that in recent years there have been significant changes regarding stewards' workload - no assistants and more cabins - which would understandably slow them down.

 

Our last 3 stewards were very frustrating. I'm wondering if we have just gotten a few "stinkers", if training has changed or if we are just expecting too much. These 3 were determined to clean linearly instead of logically - they would start at one end of their block of cabins and proceed consecutively without regard to 'make up room' signs.

 

Our last cruise was the worst. We would leave the cabin by 0730 every morning and return at 11 or 12 to find our cabin had not yet been done even though our sign was out. We would pass the steward on the way to our room (the very last one on the hall and the last in his block of rooms), and he would be knocking on doors without any door card out at all (neither the 'do not disturb' nor the 'make up room') announcing "housekeeping". When he would see us go by toward our cabin, he would get all flustered and act surprised that we were not in our cabin and ask "is your sign out?" to which we would indicate that it, indeed, was. He would even walk to our room to see that it was. He would then ask how long we would be in the cabin! At that point, we were ready to sit and enjoy our balcony and/or nap for awhile, but we would tell him we would leave for 30 minutes to an hour and then be back for the rest of the day. This would happen every single day. The cabin would be done when we came back again, but a few times he came back an hour or two later to deliver the ice he had forgotten to leave earlier(waking us up to do so). The last 3 days of the 9 day cruise, we were no longer willing to accommodate him and just told him to forget it if the cabin had not been cleaned.

 

We would have a repeat of the same thing every evening. We eat dinner at 5:45 every night (MTD) and then go to the show. We would return to our cabin around 8:30, sometimes to change into comfy clothes to roam the ship for an hour or two and sometimes to be in for the night to enjoy our balcony and relax. The room was never done at 8:30 when we returned.

 

Has this become the norm? We were so frustrated, especially since our cabin is likely one of the easiest (and quickest) in the steward's block to clean. We keep everything cleaned up. Other than the Compasses, our alarm clock and a few pairs of sunglasses on the vanity and our pop-up hamper in a corner, our cabin looks exactly the same throughout the cruise as when we embark. We even reuse our towels, so they only have to be changed out every other day.

 

Do y'all feel obligated to accommodate the steward, even if you've been out of the cabin for several hours and it hasn't been done when you return?

 

I've been thinking of creating a little intro letter to leave for the steward the first evening (it also seems to be more and more rare to actually meet the steward upon embarkation) indicating our typical routine (out of the cabin from 0730-11 or 12 and then again from 5:30-8:30) and that we will always put out our 'make up room' sign when we leave the cabin and the 'do not disturb' when we return. Would this be rude? I don't want to offend a really great steward who notices our routine and cleans our cabin accordingly, but I also don't want a repeat of the last 3 cruises - always changing our routine/schedule to accommodate the steward.

[TEXASMUNK]

Nope, fortunately, have never run into that problem....

But, we use the cabin based on our timing, never let the timing of the cleaning cycle interfere.

Hope it was just time management by your steward and not a trend.

[setsail]

I don't know. I have not had all room stewards. They are all human therefor are different, just like the cd's, bartenders, waiters,etc.

 

Out of the ones we have had, they all have had their own way of doing things

[Langley Cruisers]

No, it's not common or we would be hearing a lot more about it on these boards. Sorry you got a few stinkers. I might have said something to Housekeeping; a cabin not made up by 8:30 pm is pretty late indeed.

.

[krewzin]

I don't know. I have not had all room stewards. They are all human therefor are different, just like the cd's, bartenders, waiters,etc.

 

 

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I think the OP was referring to only the room stewards you've experienced rather than asking about "all room stewards." :cool:

[SSVacation]

Sounds like he was probably new, or his help was sick? Just guessing, in over 25 cruises we never has an issue with our steward.

[Tucker in Texas]

We found we were running into the same problem. Leave for breakfast around 8:00, put the sign out, return at 10:30 to find it as we left it sometimes not being serviced until early afternoon when we wanted our nap time. In the evenings, leave around 6:45 and return around 9:00 to find it unattended.

 

So, I started a new system. Every day, I would leave $2, a piece of snack candy, and a note thanking (and any requests) him/her for something. Anything from keeping my ice cooler full, keeping the cabin so neat and clean--I could always find something. One of the first things would be would be our "schedule" and appreciation that servicing being done during the times we were out telling them that the sign would always be in the door when we were out. Overall, all I was doing was tip them what would have been extra at the end of the cruise over auto-tipping which, by the way, they get a list of who has done it so they know that my $2 isn't all they will get. We leave $10 at the end of the cruise with a thank-you note and a shout out in the exit survey which they appreciate just about as much as the dead Presidents. That gets them promotions and extra time off.

 

This seems to have helped. Gone are the days when they would put a slip of paper in the door and every time you left they would see the paper had come out and pop in to clean up. They just have too many cabins and it is all they can do is the minimum blow and go to get them all done.

 

Tucker in Texas

[OCruisers]

The main problem is room stewards are now responsible for cleaning MORE cabins than they once were. :(

 

LuLu

~~~~

[mcatmcat]

Never had that problem. In fact one day my girlfriend went for breakfast around 10 but I was tired and he was anxious for me to leave to make the room lol

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[herbanrenewal]

I think its a matter of efficiency for the steward to go from end to end. I have experienced the same problem. It was annoying but not a major inconvenience - if I wanted to use the room I just put out the do not disturb sign.

[VillaHappy]

I can definitely relate to a lot of what you mentioned in the original post.

 

We plan on writing a quick note to the cabin steward at the beginning of the cruise. One thing I remember was the one steward said "you have MTD so I never know when you are going to dinner..." That's going to change because I plan on mentioning it in the note that we always go to dinner at 6pm.

[lady_cruiser]

We just got off a nine-day too, Serenade of the Seas - Dec 12-21st, and experienced just the opposite. No matter what time we left our cabin; 7AM, 8AM, 5 PM or later, when we returned our cabin was already cleaned. It didn't matter if we were gone for as little as 30 minutes to more than two hours our cabin had already been cleaned and the ice bucket filled.

 

It sounds like you just had the misfortune of getting the opposite service that we had.

Edited January 2, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[luvscruising2007]

We have had that problem only once. We keep the appropriate card in the door slot and that does seem to help.

One day I couldn't figure out why the room had not been made up all day. Saw the steward in the hall way and he pointed out that I had the do not disturb sign out. That is the only time we had an issue and it was my fault.

[Ourusualbeach]

We haven't had this problem and sometimes we actually have a harder time getting the kids out of bed so the steward can get in and make up the room.

 

We did have a steward on our last cruise that was just doing the bare minimum and trying to get out of doing anything that he could. Asked for robes we were told they are now only for diamond and up. Asked to move our luggage on a B2B and were told we had to pack everything as his dolly did not have a bar for clothes on hangers. Only dirty dishes on the small coffee table were cleared away.

 

Thank goodness we had an amazing steward on the second part of our B2B.

[soccermommie]

Lady_cruiser-

 

Ironically, it was on the same 9-day Serenade cruise that we experienced such problems with our steward!

[aubreyc1988]

We have rarely seen ours, they normally say hi in the halls and clean the room, which is fine by me.

 

However last time my room steward took my souvenir glasses from my room and I was like hey I want those those back. Apparently he thought I just didn't want them....I was thinking "I brought them back to my room for a reason..."

 

It was strange, but I was on vacation so I was like whatever.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free

[tserface]

We've never had a problem with cabin attendants. Like all things some have been better than others, but they've all been pretty good. We have had problems recently with not have a "Make up the room" type sign. I think they get nicked by other passengers or whatever. On our last cruise (Celebrity) we had a do not disturb sign, but they didn't do make up room signs. We found that to be really inconvenient. But, even so, our room was always cleaned and ready when we needed it.

 

Tom

[Trekker954]

Soccermommie, YES, we experienced the same thing on the Legend. We also would head out early both in the morning and evening. Once I had to ask our cabin attendant to clean our room next because just as you say, our sign was out for a couple of hours, yet he seemed unwilling to skip rooms, even though he knew we had been out. We would like to return after trivia and more often than not our rooms still weren't made up.

 

I've only noticed this the last year. I am truly believing its because of the automatic tipping.

 

There are some good and some bad. Our JS cabin guy made us one towel animal in 11 nights. My son on Deck 6 got four. Go figure.

[Sherlock43031]

Has this become common practice for stewards?

 

no

[aubreyc1988]

Soccermommie, YES, we experienced the same thing on the Legend. We also would head out early both in the morning and evening. Once I had to ask our cabin attendant to clean our room next because just as you say, our sign was out for a couple of hours, yet he seemed unwilling to skip rooms, even though he knew we had been out. We would like to return after trivia and more often than not our rooms still weren't made up.

 

I've only noticed this the last year. I am truly believing its because of the automatic tipping.

 

There are some good and some bad. Our JS cabin guy made us one towel animal in 11 nights. My son on Deck 6 got four. Go figure.

 

Our cabin stewards have been far more accommodating on Carnival. That's not saying our RCI stewards have been poor, but the level of service is noticeable. We only got one or two towel animals each RCI cruise we've been on, and I really appreciate towel animals and you get a different one every day on Carnival...but idk, it's not a huge issue for us

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free

[lady_cruiser]

Lady_cruiser-

 

Ironically, it was on the same 9-day Serenade cruise that we experienced such problems with our steward!

 

I thought I recognized your name from our roll call. I don't think you are along though. Several people on our roll call was complaining about the lack of service every where on our cruise; diamond event at night, dining room service, etc.

 

I guess we just hit it lucky.

[F27TW]

I can definitely relate to a lot of what you mentioned in the original post.

 

We plan on writing a quick note to the cabin steward at the beginning of the cruise. One thing I remember was the one steward said "you have MTD so I never know when you are going to dinner..." That's going to change because I plan on mentioning it in the note that we always go to dinner at 6pm.

 

Better Slip a $20 in that "Note".

[Big Feet]

When we get on board, just before the drill, we have a heart to heart with the room steward. we have few request and will never page or call you.

we need ice 2 times a day and not this little toy bucket-- we want the big beer bucket-- i will take care of condensation and empting the water from the bucket-- make sure its full. 2nd when we leave the cabin and put the needs clean sign out-- that means we will be back in about an hour and clean the room while we are gone. We need an outside ash tray NOW. I leave a 20.00 on the counter with the written instructions.

when we get back from the drill the big bucket is there FULL and the ash tray is on the balcony. (heard come 1-1-2014 no more smoking on balconys so that might be over for that -- we NEVER have to ask for more ice or have the room cleaned up. During the cruise we leave another 10.00.

My fianl word is if i need anything more i'll leave you a note. Don't feel you need to see us.

[fourkittys]

And I thought we were the only ones that happened to. The same situation happened to us on RC, Carnival and Hal. Not all the time but enough to notice. We also left out our "cruizin" card out to help the stewards so they wouldn't disturb us when we were in the cabin. No, matter. If they came while were in we went onto the balcony until they indicated they were done. I do realize not everyone has one so for them would be more inconvenient. We very rarey seem our steward anymore or just in passing on occasion. I think they may all have changed their cleaning pattern due to the wxtra cabins they now have.

[nednrom]

Until the last couple of years, our stewards have always been very quick and efficient - rarely seen. We would leave our cabin and even if we returned 30minutes to an hour later to retrieve something we forgot, the cabin would always be done. We are aware that in recent years there have been significant changes regarding stewards' workload - no assistants and more cabins - which would understandably slow them down.

 

Our last 3 stewards were very frustrating. I'm wondering if we have just gotten a few "stinkers", if training has changed or if we are just expecting too much. These 3 were determined to clean linearly instead of logically - they would start at one end of their block of cabins and proceed consecutively without regard to 'make up room' signs.

 

Our last cruise was the worst. We would leave the cabin by 0730 every morning and return at 11 or 12 to find our cabin had not yet been done even though our sign was out. We would pass the steward on the way to our room (the very last one on the hall and the last in his block of rooms), and he would be knocking on doors without any door card out at all (neither the 'do not disturb' nor the 'make up room') announcing "housekeeping". When he would see us go by toward our cabin, he would get all flustered and act surprised that we were not in our cabin and ask "is your sign out?" to which we would indicate that it, indeed, was. He would even walk to our room to see that it was. He would then ask how long we would be in the cabin! At that point, we were ready to sit and enjoy our balcony and/or nap for awhile, but we would tell him we would leave for 30 minutes to an hour and then be back for the rest of the day. This would happen every single day. The cabin would be done when we came back again, but a few times he came back an hour or two later to deliver the ice he had forgotten to leave earlier(waking us up to do so). The last 3 days of the 9 day cruise, we were no longer willing to accommodate him and just told him to forget it if the cabin had not been cleaned.

 

We would have a repeat of the same thing every evening. We eat dinner at 5:45 every night (MTD) and then go to the show. We would return to our cabin around 8:30, sometimes to change into comfy clothes to roam the ship for an hour or two and sometimes to be in for the night to enjoy our balcony and relax. The room was never done at 8:30 when we returned.

 

Has this become the norm? We were so frustrated, especially since our cabin is likely one of the easiest (and quickest) in the steward's block to clean. We keep everything cleaned up. Other than the Compasses, our alarm clock and a few pairs of sunglasses on the vanity and our pop-up hamper in a corner, our cabin looks exactly the same throughout the cruise as when we embark. We even reuse our towels, so they only have to be changed out every other day.

 

Do y'all feel obligated to accommodate the steward, even if you've been out of the cabin for several hours and it hasn't been done when you return?

 

I've been thinking of creating a little intro letter to leave for the steward the first evening (it also seems to be more and more rare to actually meet the steward upon embarkation) indicating our typical routine (out of the cabin from 0730-11 or 12 and then again from 5:30-8:30) and that we will always put out our 'make up room' sign when we leave the cabin and the 'do not disturb' when we return. Would this be rude? I don't want to offend a really great steward who notices our routine and cleans our cabin accordingly, but I also don't want a repeat of the last 3 cruises - always changing our routine/schedule to accommodate the steward.

 

I think just like in any service area, you'll see good service and bad. We were on the Allure last December and 2 separate cabins -- our cabin steward was awful just like yours -- we met him on the second day and did not see him until the last day. Never could get ice, never could find him, never knew when our cabin would be made up. Called housekeeping only to find out that they use a paging system and he never answered his pages. We would leave the cabin in hopes that leaving another hour or so would give him enough time to get the cabin done. I have to say that it was always done by 4:00 pm. Since they don't leave ice automatically anymore, I usually leave a note indicating that I would like the ice bucket filled every night. It didn't work on the Allure this last time.

 

On the other hand, the couple we were traveling with had the most wonderful steward I've ever met. Their steward knew even our names because we met up in their cabin, he was always in the hallway with a smile greeting everyone and paying compliments. He was ready to serve all the needs of the passengers. He also left the couple some flowers because it was their anniversary.

 

Needless to say, our cabin steward got no extra gratuities whereas the steward that looked after our friends received a hefty tip.