Just back... RANT about cabin steward & prepaid gratuities!

[lady_cruiser]

WOW. At first I thought another complaint from someone who expected too much but you really had a cabin attendant from hell. Yes, you need to write to Carnival and ask, not demand, that your tips be refunded.

 

We just got off Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas and had a great cabin attendant. But the reason for me telling you this is to tell you that has long as we has some type of liquid, usually a Sprite, in our glasses he did not empty it and replace it with a new glass. I've noticed this on many cruises.

 

As for the rest of your complaints I say go for it. They are legitimate complaints and need to be addressed. Good luck.

[cruise_girl2002]

Even Royal Caribbean allows them to be refunded when they require you to prepay them at the time of booking with Anytime Dining.

 

Is this new? the last time I sailed with them, we were told we couldn't adjust them or take them off, we had early seating. our dining staff was awful

[RuthlessBoss]

I just would have put the can in the trash and the glasses and towles in the hallway and been done with it

 

Me too. I'm not wasting my cruise time watching how long it takes to do something. As stated, just be done with it.

[papaflamingo]

Obviously not the "normal" cabin attendant. I can see leaving a glass with stuff still in it. But towels on the floor for 2 days is unacceptable. I'm not sure it was the "cabin attendant from hell," but certainly not one of the better ones. Having said that, seems that the OP could have asked the cabin attendant on day 2 to remove the dirty glasses. I would have. I would have simply said to him in a nice way "we're done with all the glasses, could you replace them?" It's nice, respectful, and gives him a notice what you want done. Then if his behavior continues, you can file a complaint. But certainly a cabin attendant who isn't doing his job needs to be reported, or he'll continue to make passengers unhappy.

[CdrescherRBL152]

Two things to me at least are questionable. First if the things happend as OP says why wait till day 5 of 5 day cruise to say somthing to guest services. Secondly how did OP's son and his gf bring food from DQ on board from a port of call.

[stargate fan]

Just off the 5 day Victory and I find myself still irritated about our cabin steward and his lack of attentiveness to our cabins.....

 

Holy moly, I think we had the same cabin steward from our November Victory cruise! Towels were not replaced every day. Dirty dishes were not removed.

 

One morning we got our laundry all ready to be picked up then left for the day. When we got back to the cabin that evening, our room steward told us that he got a late start that morning so laundry didn't go out in time. He actually told me it was my fault that I didn't inform him that we had laundry. Yes, he used those words. I explained that it was my 15th Carnival cruise and we have NEVER had to call our room steward about laundry.

 

Stupid me didn't take his gratuities. I was being too nice. I think I was also shocked because we've never had such awful service.

[elainmir]

Before I became a teacher I was a bartender for several years. So I'm big on tipping folks- who deserve it. I hate it when grats are prepaid because that says I've got the $$ I don't need to work that hard. About 10 years ago hubby and I went to Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas..you prepaid your 6$ per person grats at each meal. Hubby asked for ONE refill on his drink and you'd have thought he asked that waitress to cough up a kidney! All of the "waitstaff" were lined up on the wall in the restaurant, no smiles and heaven help if you actually needed them to do their jobs. That p*ssed me off.

 

 

I also give my cabin steward a hello and introduce myself and family and let him/her know what I expect of them ( ice,etc) I also am kind of a germaphobe so I actually reclean the cabin with my wipes (Clorox) before we get settled.

 

I think it stinks you didn't get the service you paid for!

[Surfwench]

Honestly, I think you should have tried to work directly with your steward. You need to set expectations about the level of service you expect. If you remain silent, he thinks he's doing a good job. Day 1 I would have, (and have in the past), called and asked the steward to come to the cabin. Talked about ice, dirty towels and clean glasses. Slipped him an extra $20.00 for additional service. IF at that point things didn't improve, would call his supervisor and ask for another steward. I wouldn't let Day 2 pass without solving the service problem.

 

You absolutely can have your gratuities removed, shame on Guest Services for trying to buffalo you.

[okgirl]

I wouldn't go for more than a day without speaking to my cabin steward. And if there is something in the cabin, not in the trash that I want removed a put a sticky note on it or speak to the cabin steward when I see him.

 

I would have asked him to clean the cabin and if his service was consistently subpar I would have met with his supervisor.

[JustKeri86]

I agree. Stewards are not to touch cans or bottles unless placed in the trash. The towels may be the result of the Snoozing sign left on the door.

 

 

I believe the snoozing sign didn't go up until after he confronted her about going to guest services.

 

Even if the glass wasn't removed the towels should of been replaced... Or at least folded.

 

 

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[cruizinisthebest]

I guess you've never dealt with Guest Services or the Excursion desk. It's their word against yours and they win. If they were told that you couldn't remove the tips how was the OP suppose to challenge it?

 

Yes I've dealt with guest services although not as furious as this poster seems to be. She could have escalated it right then and there. Ask for the CEOs contact information or whatever it took. Point is they lied unless that's a brand new policy.

[cruizinisthebest]

Me too. I'm not wasting my cruise time watching how long it takes to do something. As stated, just be done with it.

 

I agree, but they were other issues.

[Purvis1231]

On all our cruises we have met the steward on the first day and generally made arrangements on when he or she would clean the room, bring ice, etc. The only problem we ever had was with the "or she" once the Ecstasy. Oddly, we never complained but the supervisor must have noticed her incompetence and she was replaced after only one day. I have also noticed that often there are supervisors going behind and checking rooms, etc.

I am sorry this did not happen for the OP.

Most of the stewards we had were very attentive and hard working and we had no problem tipping above the auto-tips.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Your post is a good reminder to cruisers that they need to be interactive very early on when something is amiss and that tips should never be pre-paid so that, on the interactive TV, you can choose to remove them on the final evening.

 

I have been a very fortunate cruiser who has had the luxury of meeting and exchanging names with the cabin crew very early on...to the point where, if they see me leaving the cabin they always, by name, check to see if the other occupant of the cabin is still there so that they won't disturb them.

 

For every bad steward there are a hundred exemplary ones and I hope that this incident won't sour you on repeating your cruise experience. Did you have a good cruise in spite of the difficulties?

[riffatsea]

We have never had a bad steward but I know that it is certainly possible that it can be an issue.

For future reference I would suggest never pre paying tips. This is not just because of the chance of poor service but because there is no need to give away your money before it is absolutely necessary!

Secondly I'd not wait when something happens that I don't like or don't understand! Suffering in silence is never helpful. I'd immediately go to guest services to advise them of the situation and get it fixed!

Talking about it now , way after the fact may make you feel better but it probably won't change anything.

Talking about it to the right people immediately probably would have fixed it.

Edited January 19, 2015 by riffatsea

[MrsPhoenix91]

Two things to me at least are questionable. First if the things happend as OP says why wait till day 5 of 5 day cruise to say somthing to guest services. Secondly how did OP's son and his gf bring food from DQ on board from a port of call.

 

 

I also found those 2 things questionable (especially bringing food onboard)...

[Cruising4]

Did you consider talking with the Hotel Director/Manager?

 

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your cruise.

[cruzeluver]

I would not have let this go for the entire duration of the cruise. My vacation time is far too valuable to spend it in this way. While I agree that the steward was not performing his job very well, he was also no given much of an opportunity to improve.

[RuthlessBoss]

I also found those 2 things questionable (especially bringing food onboard)...

 

I don't know if there is a DQ in Cayman, but I do know it's a tender port and DQ is soft serve. What happened with melting? Are there no trash cans anywhere between Cayman and the cabin?

[kelkel2]

OP- was your room getting cleaned at all, you seemed to be focused on the glass, but you didn't really mention anything other than the towels the one time on the floor.

Were you getting nightly turn down service? What about your bed made daily?

I pre pay my tips every cruise, and although it would be difficult for me to ever remove them here's what I would do first.

If service isn't up to my expectations say something to guest services immediately that way the steward has time to fix it. See if it improves. If it doesn't improve, report again. Always write down or record in some manner when you spoke to them because who knows if they do. If service still doesn't improve I would ask to speak to the manager and tell them I am removing my tips and this is why...

I know this is how they earn their money, but they also need to be expected to do their jobs. That being said, I have never had a bad room steward. But I'm also not denying that they are out there.

[Pixelate]

OP- was your room getting cleaned at all, you seemed to be focused on the glass, but you didn't really mention anything other than the towels the one time on the floor.

Were you getting nightly turn down service? What about your bed made daily?

I pre pay my tips every cruise, and although it would be difficult for me to ever remove them here's what I would do first.

If service isn't up to my expectations say something to guest services immediately that way the steward has time to fix it. See if it improves. If it doesn't improve, report again. Always write down or record in some manner when you spoke to them because who knows if they do. If service still doesn't improve I would ask to speak to the manager and tell them I am removing my tips and this is why...

I know this is how they earn their money, but they also need to be expected to do their jobs. That being said, I have never had a bad room steward. But I'm also not denying that they are out there.

 

The OP doesn't even need a reason to remove the tips. They're "discretionary."

[kelkel2]

I am well aware that they are discretionary. Honestly I wouldn't remove them unless in an extreme circumstance, but it really does sound like OP got pretty poor service. I would't blame them one bit if they removed them.

But I would also want to say something to someone in charge as to why, hoping that the rest of my cruise would improve. I mean it's doubtful, but a nice hope!

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

Is that really a rule that stewards can't touch glasses with anything in them? Every room steward I have ever had has cleaned up dirty glasses. Many times I have forgotten to put the room service tray in the hallway, and they clean that up too. I always give the steward something extra when I meet them on the first day. I don't know if that makes a difference, but I have never had any of the issues that the OP had. The bigger issue is him confronting her after she said something. That is inexcusable. I would definitely email Carnival about this. I rarely agree with many complaints I read on this forum. I think most people are just looking for something for nothing or just like to complain, but I think the OP has a very legitimate gripe and really does deserve some kind of compensation.

[tropicaledrink]

The one time I prepaid our gratuities our room steward was awful. Since then, I've always let them post on the ship, and the service has been MUCH better. Some were more personable than others, but the service was remarkably better. I refuse to prepay tips now.

[jimdalva]

Reading comprehension is often lacking on these boards, somehow its always your own fault. But think of this, that steward is not long for that job!