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

[compozer]

We also book suites and spend most of our time on the balcony. We enjoy the view and can just sit there for hours or have friends down who enjoy sitting out there with us. We also enjoy having meals on the balcony - breakfast, lunch and dinner - so peaceful - that is what we are paying for. So I completely understand the pain of having to leave the cabin so they can make up the room. We get up late and hate having to rush to shower and dress to get to Sabinitin's before they close. Hate getting there 15 minutes before they close.

 

I know what you mean about wanting the sofa made up because our son has traveled with us. I have talked to the steward and told them to clean it while we were on the balcony.

[Nancyquilts]

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.

 

This has been our experience also. We put up the notice to please "refresh" the room when we go to breakfast, and it is often clean by the time we return. We spend a lot of time in our cabin, and the stewards have always managed to work around us when we are there. If the weather is nice, we'll be on the balcony. If not, we'll be inside but away from the bed.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...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 only thing I can add to the previous comments is that perhaps placing the "please tidy" sign on the door while you are still in the cabin may be part of the problem if, for whatever reason, he is unwilling to be in it when you are. I personally don't care to be in the cabin while it is being cleaned, so I let the steward know that I hang the "tidy" sign whenever I leave the cabin. They seem to keep an eagle eye out after that, as it has worked well for me. You might try this when you first leave the cabin for the day.

 

I hope you get this matter straightened out, and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Edited June 30, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[OCruisers]

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.

 

I have found this to be the case as well when I returned to my cabin to quickly get something. I'd tell him I was only going to be a couples of minutes and to please continue ... but he would leave anyway.

LuLu

[seamanfs]

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.

 

We have done the same with going out on the balcony while he /she cleans. Not a problem so far with any stewards. Good idea about the picture of the laundry sheet!

[billco]

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.

Sorry this issue is having such a negative effect on your cruise that you felt compelled to post on this forum while on your cruise. For myself, it isn't something I would even think about.

 

I doubt it takes the steward more than 1/2 an hour to clean your room. You have put out the "please tidy our room" sign and he has come to honor it. He even offers to come back later. That sounds like pretty good service to me. Especially considering he probably has 16 or 17 rooms to clean, including your suite.

 

Like most people, we expect a bang for our buck when on a cruise. But, we also appreciate how hard the room steward works to make our cruise enjoyable. We don't mind doing our part to facilitate his effort. One way we do that is by putting out the "do not disturb" sign when we want to be left alone. When we would like our room cleaned we put the "please tidy" sign out and leave the room for a while. Same as we do at a hotel.

Edited June 30, 2014 by billco

[OnVacation11]

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. :)

 

We also had the steward clean our cabin while we were either eating breakfast or relaxing on the balcony. They never seemed to have a problem with it.

[pablo222]

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

 

I don't agree with you.

 

I don't think you're wasting your time on your balcony.

 

I think you're wasting your time posting here about a problem

that could be easily solved onboard.

[bhopal21]

I think you're wasting your time posting here about a problem that could be easily solved onboard.

 

I agree.

 

Mike:)

[bdjam]

I think you're wasting your time posting here about a problem

that could be easily solved onboard.

 

Amen brother.

 

I know I'm not help to the situation, but the original poster is enjoying a suite in Alaska - something a lot of people never get to do - and the complaint is that the room steward wants to do his job? Work with the poor guy and go out for a walk around the decks so he can clean the room.

[bhopal21]

Work with the poor guy and go out for a walk around the decks so he can clean the room.

 

That seems to be too simple a solution.

 

Mike:)

[jsiegel]

Let's be civil here. The OP had a problem with her cabin steward and wanted to get others opinion if what her steward told her was true or not. She stated that she'd been on numerous Princess cruises in the past and never encountered this problem. Just because she has the opportunity to be in a suite is not justification for others to be rude to her.

 

I had an opportunity to be in a suite on the Star a couple of weeks ago because my parents generously took the family on a major anniversary cruise. I'm wondering if I had the same cabin steward because it did become a problem since he took so long to make up the room It was one to two hours that we were waiting for him to finish up. I'd never experienced being inconvenienced for so long on any other cruise. We did go walk around on deck, came back every half hour or so, still with our cabin door open and him inside. We also had a problem with the laundry, but may have been a communication problem. We sent my husband's suit to be cleaned and he brought it back saying the laundry wouldn't do it because it was wool. Not sure if that was the case or not.

 

Jackie

[TracieABD]

Hi Kath00-

How is it going on board today? Were you able to resolve this issue with your steward?

 

I hope you are having a wonderful time on your balcony!

TL

[bhopal21]

The number of cruises the OP has been on and the fact she is in a suite are both irrelevant.

 

If I were a male steward there is no way I would enter a cabin with a female passenger present.

 

Mike:)

Edited June 30, 2014 by bhopal21

[Happy2cruise]

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.

That has been our experience also and it has never been a problem:D.

[bdjam]

[quote name='jsiegel']Let's be civil here. The OP had a problem with her cabin steward and wanted to get others opinion if what her steward told her was true or not. She stated that she'd been on numerous Princess cruises in the past and never encountered this problem. Just because she has the opportunity to be in a suite is not justification for others to be rude to her.
[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]I don't know that questioning the validity of the complaint is being rude. [/FONT]

[quote name='bhopal21']
If I were a male steward there is no way I would enter a cabin with a female passenger present.[/quote]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Good point.[/FONT] Edited June 30, 2014 by bdjam

[giselleacttwo]

[quote name='bhopal21']

If I were a male steward there is no way I would enter a cabin with a female passenger present.

[/quote]

Ditto. I worked in housekeeping for a time and was more than once asked to go ahead and clean the room for a guest while he remained in it (without his wife or traveling companion). I declined. Can of worms, that one. :eek: They didn't have balconies they could escape to, though. I wouldn't have had a problem cleaning with them on the balcony.

[Cruisin Oldies]

There have been some interesting comments and answers. Since the OP had a balcony they could be on, I am puzzled about them not being allowed to stay there with the door shut. We get up fairly early and we tell the steward about when we'll leave for breakfast or have room service that first day and put the sign out when we leave. Once, we did have a very, very slow steward and the room wasn't done by lunch. (We'd come back to check.) After that if the room wasn't done when we returned from breakfast I just made up the bed myself and turned in the old towels for fresh ones. For us it wasn't worth it to be irritated and I do like a tidy room. Usually it's like the clean up fairy comes and disappears leaving a clean room with our never catching sight of him (or her).

Cruisin Oldies

[pablo222]

[quote name='bdjam'][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Amen brother.

I know I'm not help to the situation, but the original poster is enjoying a suite in Alaska - something a lot of people never get to do - and the complaint is that the room steward wants to do his job? Work with the poor guy and go out for a walk around the decks so he can clean the room.
[/FONT][/QUOTE]

If I were in the same situation -- I would arrange a time with the
steward, and leave the room for a few minutes at that time.

To me, it would be a reasonable courtesy to the steward to leave
and let him do his job quickly.

In real-life, I try to have respect for people who are working hard.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Personally, I would feel uncountable having the steward in the room with me, even if I was on my balcony.
I just think he's trying to be respectful and cautious. It's nice you didn't get him in trouble. I completely understand enjoying quality balcony time; after all the beauty of a cruise is the relaxation it brings knowing you can do what you want when you want. That said, maybe you could just go to breakfast each morning at Sabatini's while he cleans. They don't take long to clean; he'd probably be happy to accommodate you when you leave, knowing you don't leave often. Good luck!


Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[jsiegel]

The OP is/was on an Alaskan cruise from San Francisco. Depending on where her cabin was, the balcony isn't really an option. On our Star Alaskan cruise it was too cold and windy for us to be out on our balcony for more than a minute, especially on sea days when the ship is moving as fast as possible. Our cabin steward took about two hours (I'm not kidding) to make up the cabin. I wouldn't want to be stuck out on the balcony for that long, no way to bundle up enough for that. Plus, on my cruise it was right after a noro deep cleaning and the captain asked all passengers to use their own cabin's bathrooms whenever possible. Coming back from a leisurely breakfast at Sabatini's and finding the steward still working on the cabin got to be a problem. Just saying.

Jackie

[Colo Cruiser]

[quote name='jsiegel']The OP is/was on an Alaskan cruise from San Francisco. Depending on where her cabin was, the balcony isn't really an option. On our Star Alaskan cruise it was too cold and windy for us to be out on our balcony for more than a minute, especially on sea days when the ship is moving as fast as possible. Our cabin steward took about two hours (I'm not kidding) to make up the cabin. I wouldn't want to be stuck out on the balcony for that long, no way to bundle up enough for that. Plus, on my cruise it was right after a noro deep cleaning and the captain asked all passengers to use their own cabin's bathrooms whenever possible. Coming back from a leisurely breakfast at Sabatini's and finding the steward still working on the cabin got to be a problem. Just saying.

Jackie[/quote]

I doubt the OP would want to stay on the balcony if it was that bad, I know I wouldn't. :cool:

[kath00]

It's just hard to give this up... sadly our cruise is ending in 2 days. Things with our steward have worked out well once we agreed on the balcony arrangement. Each morning I got to enjoy the spectacular view (whales often) and he got to do the room efficiently and without us getting in the way. :)

The weather has been great! What an amazing cruise. I am writing this on the balcony as we sail towards San Francisco on the final 2 sea days of our wonderful cruise. Edited July 5, 2014 by kath00

[shredie]

Good news.

[Aussie Gal]

So glad you have had a wonderful cruise. There is nothing like being at sea, on one's balcony enjoying the wildlife. So glad the everything was sorted out.

Jennie