On ship right now, need some advice about room steward.

[kath00]

Hello all. We are on a lovely cruise to Alaska, day 4 of 11, but I am desperately in need of advice. This is our 18th or 19th cruise on Princess so we are not new to cruising. We are booked in a suite and I am trying to decide if I should say something to guest relations regarding our steward.

 

He basically refuses to come into the cabin if he sees me (or someone else) in it. So every morning, he basically does not clear our room until we leave, which could be VERY late, like after lunch. We put the “please tidy our room” sign out and every time he walks in and sees or hears someone, he says, “I will come back later.” I have said repeatedly, no it’s ok, come on in, we are on the balcony or we are leaving or whatever. But he refuses to come in. He says, “later” and leaves.

 

The reason this is bugging me is because I don’t get off at every port. I didn’t today for example, but I really wanted the room done since we are using the sofa bed for our DD and it’s a pain to walk around that thing. Plus I like a clean room. I feel pressured to leave our suite every morning for a number of hours just so he can get into the room and make it. It is really starting to bug me since we paid for this suite because I am a home-body and love to hang out on the balcony and take the sights in. Now every morning has become stressful. I have asked him to come in repeatedly and today I literally chased him down the hall at noon and said, “I am not planning on leaving today so please make our room.” He finally did but I felt compelled to stay put on the balcony till he left. It’s really uncomfortable.

 

On top of it all, this afternoon after I turned in my laundry to him, he came back to tell me that I miscounted the items and there are only 12 in the bag, not 13. I was like, oh ok, sorry. I dunno. I count them fast and mark the items the best I could but honestly I don’t really check it 10x. He handed me the bag and insisted that I redo the tag and fill it out again with the correct items! I felt like a criminal. As if he was thinking I was pulling a fast one on them or something. Just really weird.

 

Now mind you this is almost our 20th Princess cruise and probably our 30th overall. We have NEVER had any problems. We have 6 more days of the cruise to go and I am at a loss as to whether we should just let it go or say something to customer relations.

 

Please help!

[RDC1]

You might call customer relations and explain what you want. You may find that the stewards are trained not to be in a room if guests are there. On my recent Princess cruises that is the behavior I have observed. I have returned to my room to get something, when the steward has been there. In each case they have stopped what they have been doing, left the room and waited in the hallway, until I left. Then they returned to the room and finished.

 

What you want might be in conflict with current crew training.

[Kamloops50]

Hello all. We are on a lovely cruise to Alaska, day 4 of 11, but I am desperately in need of advice. This is our 18th or 19th cruise on Princess so we are not new to cruising. We are booked in a suite and I am trying to decide if I should say something to guest relations regarding our steward.

 

He basically refuses to come into the cabin if he sees me (or someone else) in it. So every morning, he basically does not clear our room until we leave, which could be VERY late, like after lunch. We put the “please tidy our room” sign out and every time he walks in and sees or hears someone, he says, “I will come back later.” I have said repeatedly, no it’s ok, come on in, we are on the balcony or we are leaving or whatever. But he refuses to come in. He says, “later” and leaves.

 

The reason this is bugging me is because I don’t get off at every port. I didn’t today for example, but I really wanted the room done since we are using the sofa bed for our DD and it’s a pain to walk around that thing. Plus I like a clean room. I feel pressured to leave our suite every morning for a number of hours just so he can get into the room and make it. It is really starting to bug me since we paid for this suite because I am a home-body and love to hang out on the balcony and take the sights in. Now every morning has become stressful. I have asked him to come in repeatedly and today I literally chased him down the hall at noon and said, “I am not planning on leaving today so please make our room.” He finally did but I felt compelled to stay put on the balcony till he left. It’s really uncomfortable.

 

On top of it all, this afternoon after I turned in my laundry to him, he came back to tell me that I miscounted the items and there are only 12 in the bag, not 13. I was like, oh ok, sorry. I dunno. I count them fast and mark the items the best I could but honestly I don’t really check it 10x. He handed me the bag and insisted that I redo the tag and fill it out again with the correct items! I felt like a criminal. As if he was thinking I was pulling a fast one on them or something. Just really weird.

 

Now mind you this is almost our 20th Princess cruise and probably our 30th overall. We have NEVER had any problems. We have 6 more days of the cruise to go and I am at a loss as to whether we should just let it go or say something to customer relations.

 

Please help!

 

Room stewards are not allowed to be in the room when the passengers are in. This for your protection as well as theres.The count is critical because you can say the you put 13 and only put 12.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Kamloops50

[Coral]

Honestly - I would speak to the room steward and say that you plan on being gone during 9-10 am and ask if he could clean your room at that time as you plan on spending the rest of the day in your room. If that time doesn't work, ask what time would.

 

The count is important, as I have had my laundry come back minus a sweater once. It was a huge hassle in paperwork and behind the scenes in trying to find it (which it was never found). I am guessing the room steward was held accountable. This was probably the only time I had a room steward that I thought was poor (due to other reasons besides this).

[rkmw]

as others have said dont go to the pursers desk and complain as the poor person is only doing their job, if you leave the cabin for breakfast just tell your steward can he do your room while you're away

[erber]

We have also had room stewards knock when we are in the room and try to quickly get away and say they will come back later. We tell them, to come right in and we leave as quickly as we can if we want the room made up at that time. We are usually successful in having the room made up when this happens. As well, you can also try setting a time with your steward if you know when you will be vacating the room in the morning or evening. I honestly do not think this is the sign of a bad steward; I think he is just following the rules. It is difficult for him to make up your room if you are in it a great deal of the time.

[icat2000]

What about just having a quick word the night before to the steward that your will be having breakfast in the buffet or dinning room and could he please clean between that time. Seems like just a little bit of communication could clear this matter up quickly.

[Pam in CA]

What I've done is tell the steward to come in and I go out on my balcony. I've done this several times and my stewards seem to have been fine with it.

 

As has been said, they are not supposed to clean while you're there. And, the count is important mostly because someone unethical could claim something was lost and demand compensation. :( I not only count everything twice but I take a photo of the slip on my iPhone so I have a record. It's easy to forget what you've sent out if you do it regularly or forget if you've put special instructions.

[pablo222]

He basically refuses to come into the cabin if he sees me (or someone else) in it. So every morning, he basically does not clear our room until we leave, which could be VERY late, like after lunch.

 

Steward is not allowed to service room while you are in it

to avoid claims of assault, etc.

 

It would have never occured to me to not leave the cabin

and give the steward a chance to make it up.

[Potstech]

I agree leave the room long enough to let the steward do his job. Then use the cabin the way YOU want and not worry about what others tell you. It takes them a very short time to do a cabin. Enjoy YOUR cruise YOUR way after that.

 

We also have done what Pan in Ca suggests and just sit on the balcony with the door and curtains closed. That has been successful.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Potstech

[Colo Cruiser]

We have had many many Stewarts come and clean our room while we were on the balcony.

98% of the time it was at their direction.

We have never had one that refused to do that and demad that we leave the cabin. We would not stay in the cabin area and expect him to clean around us.

 

Contact the supervisor over them or the PSD if necessary. :)

[kath00]

Steward is not allowed to service room while you are in it

to avoid claims of assault, etc.

 

It would have never occured to me to not leave the cabin

and give the steward a chance to make it up.

 

This is incorrect. I went down to Passenger Svc just now to inquire about this and made it a point NOT to give the manager my name or cabin number (so as to not get our steward in trouble). He assured me that there is absolutely NO rule like this whatsoever (how else would they deliver room service, service the cabin a/c etc -- these were his examples). In his words, the stewards "prefer to have an empty cabin for their convenience" but there are absolutely no rules. LIke some of you here, he encouraged me to talk to the steward about an approximate time he comes each day. I told the manager I would love to stay on the balcony and enjoy the view and he said that is "not even necessary but if I prefer that, it would make his job easier."

 

Thank you to those who had constructive advice (such as agreeing to a general time frame) or going out on the balcony. I will try that for the rest of the cruise.

 

LOL about those of you who think I waste my time on my cruises because I like to sit out on the balcony in the morning.

 

K

[FritzG]

We've often had the steward clean the room at our request while we were out on the balcony. Other times we've come back to the cabin while he was cleaning, and we went out to the balcony until he finished.

[Colo Cruiser]

This is incorrect. I went down to Passenger Svc just now to inquire about this and made it a point NOT to give the manager my name or cabin number (so as to not get our steward in trouble). He assured me that there is absolutely NO rule like this whatsoever (how else would they deliver room service, service the cabin a/c etc -- these were his examples). In his words, the stewards "prefer to have an empty cabin for their convenience" but there are absolutely no rules. LIke some of you here, he encouraged me to talk to the steward about an approximate time he comes each day.

 

You are correct, remember some on CC try dramatize the situation. ;)

[elkay68]

Just curios as to which suite you are in. We will on the Star July 6th and will have 3 suites.

[jsiegel]

I was on the Star in a suite just a couple of weeks ago and our cabin steward took a long time to make up our cabin. We'd go to breakfast at Sabatini's and when we got back he would still be working in it and he would get uncomfortable if we came in to put things away. At times it was difficult to work around each others schedules, but I made sure we were out of our cabin for a long dinner so that we'd get our turn-down service and chocolates on the pillow.

 

OP, have you gone to the naturalist's lectures? Her pictures and stories are very interesting. Especially the one on whale and orca calls.

 

Jackie

[Loonbeam]

I actually happened to be on a call with one of my former clients when I saw this, so...

 

Officially, there is no hard and fast rule against them being in the cabin when passengers are present. However, they are strongly encouraged to not do so whenever possible for multiple reasons.

 

It's entirely possible your steward has interpreted this guideline as more of a rule, especially given the lingustic challenges sometimes involved. If so, I doubt you will be able to convince him.

 

It was also suggested that some stewards prefer to be a bit more remote because they are uncomfortable or embarrassed with their language skills and are afraid of miscommunication. No idea if that is the case here

[smslms]

We've never found this to be an issue. On most cruises we find the steward picks up on your daily routine pretty quickly and works around it. There have been times when we've popped back into the room to pick up something and the steward has been in there but it never seems to have been a problem. There have been times when we've been on the balcony and the steward asked if it was ok to clean up. Maybe we've just been lucky but it's just been a non-issue.

[elliair]

Hello all. We are on a lovely cruise to Alaska, day 4 of 11, but I am desperately in need of advice. This is our 18th or 19th cruise on Princess so we are not new to cruising. We are booked in a suite and I am trying to decide if I should say something to guest relations regarding our steward.

 

He basically refuses to come into the cabin if he sees me (or someone else) in it. So every morning, he basically does not clear our room until we leave, which could be VERY late, like after lunch. We put the “please tidy our room” sign out and every time he walks in and sees or hears someone, he says, “I will come back later.” I have said repeatedly, no it’s ok, come on in, we are on the balcony or we are leaving or whatever. But he refuses to come in. He says, “later” and leaves.

 

The reason this is bugging me is because I don’t get off at every port. I didn’t today for example, but I really wanted the room done since we are using the sofa bed for our DD and it’s a pain to walk around that thing. Plus I like a clean room. I feel pressured to leave our suite every morning for a number of hours just so he can get into the room and make it. It is really starting to bug me since we paid for this suite because I am a home-body and love to hang out on the balcony and take the sights in. Now every morning has become stressful. I have asked him to come in repeatedly and today I literally chased him down the hall at noon and said, “I am not planning on leaving today so please make our room.” He finally did but I felt compelled to stay put on the balcony till he left. It’s really uncomfortable.

 

On top of it all, this afternoon after I turned in my laundry to him, he came back to tell me that I miscounted the items and there are only 12 in the bag, not 13. I was like, oh ok, sorry. I dunno. I count them fast and mark the items the best I could but honestly I don’t really check it 10x. He handed me the bag and insisted that I redo the tag and fill it out again with the correct items! I felt like a criminal. As if he was thinking I was pulling a fast one on them or something. Just really weird.

 

Now mind you this is almost our 20th Princess cruise and probably our 30th overall. We have NEVER had any problems. We have 6 more days of the cruise to go and I am at a loss as to whether we should just let it go or say something to customer relations.

 

Please help!

 

I wouldn't say anything to customer service. I for one do not want my steward in my room when me or DH is in there. As a matter of fact, we tell our steward NOT to turn our bed down in the evening, it's not necessary. We enjoy sitting on our balcony in the evening and have a couple of glasses of wine before dinner. In the morning when we leave for breakfast, we put the "make up room" sign in the key slot. Usually when we come back from breakfast, our room is tidied up. If it isn't, I get my walk in on the Promenade.

 

As for the laundry - simply recount the items, fill the card out and you're good to go.

 

I believe your steward is just following standard procedures.

[KruzPrincess]

I often sit on my balcony reading and put out the sign to have my cabin made up. The steward always comes in and lets me know he is there by either opening the door or knocking on the window. Then, he lets me know when he's done. It's always very easy. I've never had a steward say I had to leave. I especially enjoyed the chaise lounge chair on my balcony when I was in a full suite. I'm sure I've come back to the cabin while the steward was cleaning just to pick something up and the steward didn't leave. And, I usually travel solo, so you'd think if this was the rule I'd have experienced it.

 

Sorry I can't help with an answer. Maybe a call to the housekeeping department?

[Aussie Gal]

We too have been very lucky with our stewards and usually they have cleaned our cabin/mini suite when we have been at breakfast. On the few times that we have returned early, we have just said that we will be sitting on our balcony until they are finished. No hassles at all and a wonderful job done by each steward. We have never had a bad cabin steward on Princess, they are obviously trained extremely well.

 

Jennie

[RetiredNTraveling]

Room Stewards are very respectful of the passengers rights. On our 1st cruise, I had a bout of Crohn's and didn't get out of bed for 2 1/2 days. At first he was very reluctant to enter but the DW told him that he wasn't going to bother me and that would he please go about his work (with the exception of making the bed;) ). Everything got better and at the end of the cruise, I tipped him quite nicely for his understanding.

Otherwise, we seldom see our stewards but if we need them, they are there in a flash!

Edited June 30, 2014 by RetiredNTraveling

[luv2c00k]

Was on the Star just a few weeks ago in a suite. Wondering who your steward is - we were in C748.

 

There was no problem with us being on the balcony while our cabin was being cleaned. As with others he opened the door to let us know he was there and then again when he would be leaving.

 

Must ask if you have looked at this from his point of view. I would imagine that there are times when passengers complain because the steward was servicing the room when they are in it or complain about something the steward did while they are in the room. He could just be trying to protect himself.

 

All that said - enjoy your cruise. It is a beautiful ship, the scenery is wonderful and spending time on the balcony is great!

[CI66774]

IMHO - your steward isn't doing anything wrong. You just need to talk nicely with the steward and explain that he can come in while you're there, etc. I wouldn't call Customer Relations because your steward is doing his job - they don't come in when you're there. If you want something different - just talk to him.

[CI66774]

Okay - I think I skimmed and didn't read OP's post thoroughly. It appears the OP HAS spoken with the steward and the steward still isn't cleaning. Then I would talk to Passenger Services and have it straightened out. Sorry for not reading OP's post correctly the first time.