Room steward are we expecting too much

[cruisingnewtoit]

I'm on the Summit this is our 1st Celebrity cruise. Our 1st cruise was on HAL & that was last year. Both were verenda cabins.

 

HAL RS excelled compared to our current one. I'm wondering if he went beyond typical duties. 

 

He emptied trash twice a day

He cleaned the toilet twice a day if needed

 

He cleaned the mirrors

 

Wiped down the counters

 

He had cruise paper & pen in room 

 

toiletery dispensers did not run out. 2nd day bath soap was empty.

 

Our RS on embarkation day had not cleaned our toilet or the shower. But mistakes happen so we gave him a pass. 

TIA for info 

[TeeRick]

No doubt your post here will bring out the people with the room steward horror stories.  But I think ours have been mostly good to excellent on Celebrity, including on Summit.  Like everything else some will go to an extreme to meet your needs but a few will just do the minimum (not the norm).

[gerelmx]

X does twice daily service

[cruisingnewtoit]

1 minute ago, gerelmx said:

X does twice daily service

I wasn't sure if the evening included the same service as the morning.

[cruisingnewtoit]

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

No doubt your post here will bring out the people with the room steward horror stories.  But I think ours have been mostly good to excellent on Celebrity, including on Summit.  Like everything else some will go to an extreme to meet your needs but a few will just do the minimum (not the norm).

My DH still wants to tip him because he thinks he wants to a good job. He is probably average on duties.

 

RS gave us the card about the paper laundry challenge but forgot to give us the paper bag.

 

4 days into the cruise he gave us the notice we would be charged $28 if we lost a pool towel.

[myjillian]

16 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

My DH still wants to tip him because he thinks he wants to a good job. He is probably average on duties.

 

RS gave us the card about the paper laundry challenge but forgot to give us the paper bag.

 

4 days into the cruise he gave us the notice we would be charged $28 if we lost a pool towel.

I'm confused about complaining about the lost pool towel notice....did you lose one???leave one behind on a beach??? If so, did you not think you would be charged for it???

[myjillian]

30 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

No doubt your post here will bring out the people with the room steward horror stories.  But I think ours have been mostly good to excellent on Celebrity, including on Summit.  Like everything else some will go to an extreme to meet your needs but a few will just do the minimum (not the norm).

I have to laugh about the Summit...I've never put that ship on my top 10 list.  For me, I just feel a different over all feeling about the crew including the officers.

[cruisingnewtoit]

3 minutes ago, myjillian said:

I'm confused about complaining about the lost pool towel notice....did you lose one???leave one behind on a beach??? If so, did you not think you would be charged for it???

He should have put the notice in the room the 1st day. It gave us a chuckle when we saw it.  

[CHEZMARYLOU]

44 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

I wasn't sure if the evening included the same service as the morning.

Evening service is the same as morning service except morning they make the bed, evening they turn it down. I hope you spoke to guest relations if you did not get the twice daily service. The first day could have been an oversight but I would have pointed it out.

Edited April 19, 2019 by CHEZMARYLOU

[myjillian]

7 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

He should have put the notice in the room the 1st day. It gave us a chuckle when we saw it.  

It's always been my understanding, when notices are being given piecemeal, that the stewards can only hand out what they have a supply of....laundry bags etc , if late, it's because they have to wait for the inventory to be stocked again. This will include anything that your room needs to be completely supplied.  If your husband wants to give him a tip at the beginning as an incentive ...it's not a bad idea.☺️Also, it's a good idea to leave him a note if things you want done... ie.  Ice bucket filled every evening.  Sometimes we'll tell the steward to only do our room in the morning and forget the evening...when we see our attendant in the hall, during the evening run we'll exchange our towels, etc.  It only takes a minute of our time...but we'll find out that there will always be fresh buck😊ets of ice

Edited April 19, 2019 by myjillian

[cruisingnewtoit]

3 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Evening service is the same as morning service except morning them make the bed, evening they turn it down. I hope you spoke to guest relations if you did not get the twice daily service. The first day could have been an oversight but I would have pointed it out.

Thank you for the info. We didn't complain because we weren't sure if the service was the same.

 

We just felt bad for him. He was always stressed. The service wasn't horrible or even bad. But now I will make sure to speak to him when it happens.

 

 

[gold1953]

19 minutes ago, myjillian said:

I'm confused about complaining about the lost pool towel notice....did you lose one???leave one behind on a beach??? If so, did you not think you would be charged for it???

Celebrity does not record pool towels??   Are you referring to the beach towel they bring to your cabin for you to take into a port beach?

[myjillian]

2 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

Celebrity does not record pool towels??   Are you referring to the beach towel they bring to your cabin for you to take into a port beach?

Of course they record beach towels🙂...that is why they will charge you  if the same number are not in the end as the beginning....otherwise people would keep them as souveniers (sp)

[gold1953]

16 minutes ago, myjillian said:

 

 

16 minutes ago, myjillian said:

Of course they record beach towels🙂...that is why they will charge you  if the same number are not in the end as the beginning....otherwise people would keep them as souveniers (sp)

I seriously can't imagine dragging a beach towel home.. and then proudly using to

to show people that you are a thief!!!

but I have seen people who are too lazy to carry wet sandy towels back from the beach. We usually drop them in the pool deck bins on the way back instead of finding a spot in our cabin for them. Since they started putting notices out we do bring them to the cabin.

Edited April 19, 2019 by gold1953

[Marelaine]

The last two cruises, our stewards on Silhouette and Reflection were okay, but not exceptional as they were in the past. The difference may be because they no longer have assistants. We sail balcony cabins. This past cruise, on Silhouette, it seemed like our steward was rationing supplies. On the first day, there was no soap, I let the steward know when he stopped to introduce himself. He made up a story about the previous passenger took all the soap. When my husband got caught in the bathroom with no toilet paper, I called the steward, he appeared with 2 rolls within seconds and apologized. We brought our own shampoo, conditioner, lotion so those never needed replenishing. l The toilet wasn't scrubbed daily and the shower wasn't always wiped down. He left  beach towels in our cabin the first day and then removed the unused towels after the first port and didn't replace them. When we requested towels for the second port, where we had a beach excursion, he brought them and warned us about the charge if they're not returned. Aside from those incidences, the steward had a pleasant manner and the chocolates were the pillows every night. The steward we had on Reflection on the previous cruise was also stingy with the supplies, particularly soap. It makes me wonder if Celebrity is limiting them or if they're assigned too many cabins to cover on their own.
 

 

[canadianbear]

6 minutes ago, myjillian said:

Of course they record beach towels🙂...that is why they will charge you  if the same number are not in the end as the beginning....otherwise people would keep them as souveniers (sp)

We did our first Celebrity cruise in March and were surprised that they recorded our cabin number as we left for the excursion giving us the beach towel, but when we returned they didn’t-just had to throw them in the carts after security.  We told them they recorded our cabin number but they said it didn’t matter, just throw in bin which worried us we’d be charged but weren’t.  

 

To the OP:  we found that the cabin stewards were spread very thin and in our opinion, very over worked with very long hours and many, many cabins.   We were in a Sky suite and told him on several days to just exchange our towels.   

 

 

[G.M.T.]

1 hour ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

4 days into the cruise he gave us the notice we would be charged $28 if we lost a pool towel.

 

Does that mean you will be giving b ack the 10 pool towels already packed into your suitcases?🛍️

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, gold1953 said:

 

I seriously can't imagine dragging a beach towel home.. and then proudly using to

to show people that you are a thief!!!

but I have seen people who are too lazy to carry wet sandy towels back from the beach. We usually drop them in the pool deck bins on the way back instead of finding a spot in our cabin for them. Since they started putting notices out we do bring them to the cabin.

Pending on who is admiring my 'treasure' will depend on if I say it was purchased or stolen.... directly... LOL

 

bon voyage

[cruisingnewtoit]

1 hour ago, Marelaine said:

The last two cruises, our stewards on Silhouette and Reflection were okay, but not exceptional as they were in the past. The difference may be because they no longer have assistants. We sail balcony cabins. This past cruise, on Silhouette, it seemed like our steward was rationing supplies. On the first day, there was no soap, I let the steward know when he stopped to introduce himself. He made up a story about the previous passenger took all the soap. When my husband got caught in the bathroom with no toilet paper, I called the steward, he appeared with 2 rolls within seconds and apologized. We brought our own shampoo, conditioner, lotion so those never needed replenishing. l The toilet wasn't scrubbed daily and the shower wasn't always wiped down. He left  beach towels in our cabin the first day and then removed the unused towels after the first port and didn't replace them. When we requested towels for the second port, where we had a beach excursion, he brought them and warned us about the charge if they're not returned. Aside from those incidences, the steward had a pleasant manner and the chocolates were the pillows every night. The steward we had on Reflection on the previous cruise was also stingy with the supplies, particularly soap. It makes me wonder if Celebrity is limiting them or if they're assigned too many cabins to cover on their own.
 

 

I think that's the difference our HAL steward had an assistant. We like our X steward and he wants to do a good job. I just think he needs help. That's more on X. 

We are enjoying our cruise. 

 

 

[grandgeezer]

We are really low maintenance when it comes to cabin stewards. All we ask of them is to do their jobs correctly and promptly. If they can't because they are spread to thin, that's not my problem, it's between them and their employer. To us it's not an acceptable excuse.

[FlorenceItaly]

6 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

We are really low maintenance when it comes to cabin stewards. All we ask of them is to do their jobs correctly and promptly. If they can't because they are spread to thin, that's not my problem, it's between them and their employer. To us it's not an acceptable excuse.

We are also very low maintenance.  On the Summit last October we were on a 14 day cruise.  Our cabin was dusty, and dirty.  I tried to live with it for the first week, but, I couldn't stand it any longer and said something to the room steward.  This was a first for us.  I was very nice and also added that I chose to come to him directly rather than the head of housekeeping.  Also, our fabric "head board" piece was missing, and although I mentioned this it never appeared.  We kept the gratuities in tact, but, it was one of the few times we did not tip additional.  We were on Deck 3.

Edited April 19, 2019 by FlorenceItaly

[cruisingnewtoit]

10 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

We are really low maintenance when it comes to cabin stewards. All we ask of them is to do their jobs correctly and promptly. If they can't because they are spread to thin, that's not my problem, it's between them and their employer. To us it's not an acceptable excuse.

Valid point

[cruisingnewtoit]

7 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

We are also very low maintenance.  On the Summit last October we were on a 14 day cruise.  Our cabin was dusty, and dirty.  I tried to live with it for the first week, but, I couldn't stand it any longer and said something to the room steward.  This was a first for us.  I was very nice and also added that I chose to come to him directly rather than the head of housekeeping.  Also, our fabric "head board" piece was missing, and although I mentioned this it never appeared.  We kept the gratuities in tact, but, it was one of the few times we did not tip additional.  We were on Deck 3.

My DH wants to tip.extra. There were a few oversights but he also did some extra things. 

 

We addressed the oversight the 1st night & should have mentioned the others when we noticed. He would have quickly corrected them. 

 

But it would have been nice if they didn't happen. My DH & I are low key.

 

 

 

[canadianbear]

31 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

I think that's the difference our HAL steward had an assistant. We like our X steward and he wants to do a good job. I just think he needs help. That's more on X. 

We are enjoying our cruise. 

 

 

We are 4 star on HAL and also commented to ourselves how the Celebrity room steward was alone but HAL’s had an assistant.   

 

[FlorenceItaly]

After our October cruise on the Summit, we sailed in November on HAL (Oosterdam).  What a contrast.  The RS's were wonderful and the room fresh and clean.  The soft goods were great too.  We loved BB Kings.  One thing we DID miss on HAL was the drink package we typically have on Celebrity, lol.    We are very anxious to sail on the Summit in June since it has been redone.  We would not be sailing on it otherwise.  

Edited April 19, 2019 by FlorenceItaly