Room steward are we expecting too much

[Luvcrusn]

I'm really surprised by this. We've never, on all our cruises had anything but outstanding service from our room stewards, before and after the discontinuance of the stewards assistants. We've always greeted out stewards on day one in a warm, friendly manner, expressed what we needed and didn't and it's been done. IDK if it's the luck of the draw, but I suspect it's not ship related since we've sailed most (including Summit) and have been pleased. Similar to others, we're not high maintenance, but our stewards have exceeded out expectations regularly. I do notice since the removal of the assistants that sometimes it takes a bit longer to accomplish things, but the cabin is still tended in a timely manner. We've always felt we wanted to tip extra because of the service we've received. I've often read threads where people post that they tip extra on day 1 and receive better service, but I can honestly say that we have never done that (we tip additional at the end of the cruise) and can't imagine that the service we received being any better.

[bEwAbG]

The last X cruise I took under the two steward system, the main steward spent most of her time trying to give us pointers about our different points of call.  It became somewhat of a joke.  We would either quicken our pace to walk by an open cabin door because there was a good chance she was standing there ready to pounce or sometimes we'd go the "back way" so we could avoid her altogether, especially if we could see that she was standing in the hallway.  We never actually saw her clean, and it was obvious that her assistant was doing most of the work because he looked worn out.  We slipped him an extra tip but left nothing for her.  It seemed like she was fishing for it with all of this port advice (some of it wrong) and any time we made an extra request, the assistant is the one who fulfilled it.

 

On my last HAL cruise, I had to drop off something in the room and found four stewards in it: our regular pair plus the pair from the next section down.  One was focusing on the bathroom and the other three were busy in the main part of the room, which was spotless all week.  They also usually manage to have rooms available when you board upon embarkation at 11:30am AND let you stay in your room until disembarkation.  On top of all that, the HAL crew always seems to get along with each other.  I've come across a few grumpy ones on X.

[elaineb]

I have to chime in on the pool towels.  Ours looked like the kind at home you save to wash your dog with!  It was embarrassing.  They were so worn and ugly - a faded peach.   We would have been better to grab a couple from the pool area!

As for our steward, not too good.  This was our first Celebrity cruise, and we have had much better service from our steward on Carnival.  When we got on board, our sink and mirror was dirty.  He said the sink was dirty because of glue and he needed a razor blade to clean it.  Um no, just a little elbow grease and we got it cleaned,  We waited a couple of days and it was never done, so we did it.  We were in a concierge balcony and asked for a pillow menu.  He had no idea there was such a thing. My brother and wife had put candy in a bowl for their cabin crawl and it disappeared.  He tried to blame them and said maybe they put it on the food tray by accident.....

I hope my next room steward experience is better!

[hcat]

Had our best room attendant ever on EDGE..in AQ Class

We wrote a note suggesting he would make a great butler!

[vtcruising]

We have actually had better cabin steward service since they dropped the assistants. I was worried at first that things wouldn't get done, but after a few cruises of great service, I wondered if it was because when one person is accountable, it is more likely to get done right. There is no one to blame. Maybe a coincidence, but we had had a few less than stellar ones before, even in suites.

 

Also, as far as the pool towels, we have found that they show up on the night before the first port day, not necessarily the first day. We don't usually use them, but have found them replaced when we do.

 

I second the soap rationing. The oatmeal soap turns to mush after one day and they didn't replace it on our last 3 cruises unless we tossed it. One cabin attendant got smart and started turning the soap on its side and solved the mush problem. 🙂

 

[excitedofharpenden]

6 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

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 

It's scary what some worry about. Is this for real?  Just chill. You'll be fine. 

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

6 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

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 

It's scary what some worry about. Is this for real?  Just chill. You'll be fine. 

 

Phil 

[SeaPete]

We  were on Silhouette in January and our room steward ran out of toilet paper.  We went to guest services and they said they had no shortage.  Still our room steward insisted and we only had the 1 roll at a time...no extra.  Our friends also in aqua class had the same problem.  Never experienced this problem before and hope I don't have to start packing Charmin!  

[Luvcrusn]

1 hour ago, SeaPete said:

We  were on Silhouette in January and our room steward ran out of toilet paper.  We went to guest services and they said they had no shortage.  Still our room steward insisted and we only had the 1 roll at a time...no extra.  Our friends also in aqua class had the same problem.  Never experienced this problem before and hope I don't have to start packing Charmin!  

Interesting a we were on Silhouette in December in Aqua. During the whole cruise there was an extra roll in our bathroom and if the extra was started another immediately replaced it on the next room makeup. However the next to last night the extra magically disappeared and wasn't replaced until we asked since the only roll was dangerously low!

[the_dylaness]

Our 2nd roll disappeared on Reflection in November on the last night.

(I wasn't going to drag it all the way home I am just observant and noticed that the place where it had occupied was now empty.)

 

We were in CC.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by the_dylaness

[Luvcrusn]

8 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Our 2nd roll disappeared on Reflection in November on the last night.

(I wasn't going to drag it all the way home I am just observant and noticed that the place where it had occupied was now empty.)

 

We were in CC.

 

 

I find it all curious. It must be a mode of operation for the stewards to follow. I too didn't care, but just noticed it was there, then poof! gone! Not a big deal one way or the other but it's a bit strange considering the "modern luxury" theme to hide the extra tp at the end of a cruise! 

Edited April 19, 2019 by Luvcrusn

[the_dylaness]

I can only imagine it must have been a real problem if they have implemented the "last night go around and take all the extra TP" protocol on so many ships.

 

I guess no one gets on CC and says "I like to save money by stealing scratchy cruise ship TP!"

[vtcruising]

8 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Our 2nd roll disappeared on Reflection in November on the last night.

(I wasn't going to drag it all the way home I am just observant and noticed that the place where it had occupied was now empty.)

 

We were in CC.

 

 

It probably was hidden in the bag under the bed with the umbrella, binocs and stateroom binder (where I have found those things the last night). Has anyone taken home the stateroom binder (with the room service menu, emergency info and pillow menu)? 🙂

[the_dylaness]

Oh, yes, I take one home every cruise.  I put them on my nightstand so I feel like I'm always at sea!  You mean we aren't supposed to?

[the_dylaness]

Although that does explain why when I call room service, my food NEVER comes.

[Luvcrusn]

2 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Although that does explain why when I call room service, my food NEVER comes.

Well at least you have your extra roll of tp to dry you tears.😜

[Baron Barracuda]

Couple of years back X switched from teams of stewards responsible for 20 cabins to individual steward handling 14.  Evening turn-down service was also scaled down.  Reportedly led to 30%+ reduction in number of stewards.   Remaining stewards now work harder but their tips have increased proportionally.  Impact on passengers is some stewards cut corners to finish on time and we can no longer count on cabin being cleaned before lunch.

[hcat]

2 hours ago, SeaPete said:

We  were on Silhouette in January and our room steward ran out of toilet paper.  We went to guest services and they said they had no shortage.  Still our room steward insisted and we only had the 1 roll at a time...no extra.  Our friends also in aqua class had the same problem.  Never experienced this problem before and hope I don't have to start packing Charmin!  

You can always forage for extras in the restrooms or spa area ...

[vtcruising]

27 minutes ago, hcat said:

You can always forage for extras in the restrooms or spa area ...

It's so funny - after that toilet paper disappearing on the last night thread a few weeks ago, I was watching our toilet paper like a hawk on our cruise a couple of weeks ago. I guess we were felt to be trustworthy because we had an extra roll the last night.

 

Who else here is "Two Roll Worthy"?  😉

 

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by vtcruising

[grandgeezer]

This tp issue is just a prelude to them rolling out a tp package. With no package, you use the flyers. The entry level will be the single ply rejects from the manufacturer. The premium package will be the top of the line. It will be option listed with the gratuities, obc, drink package, and internet.

[vtcruising]

1 minute ago, grandgeezer said:

This tp issue is just a prelude to them rolling out a tp package. With no package, you use the flyers. The entry level will be the single ply rejects from the manufacturer. The premium package will be the top of the line. It will be option listed with the gratuities, obc, drink package, and internet.

I like it! Unlimited TP package - the 5th perk!  🙂

[Marelaine]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

It's so funny - after that toilet paper disappearing on the last night thread a few weeks ago, I was watching our toilet paper like a hawk on our cruise a couple of weeks ago. I guess we were felt to be trustworthy because we had an extra roll the last night.

 

Who else here is "Two Roll Worthy"?  😉

 

 

I'm upset that you were trusted with a spare roll and we were not. I'll have to review my behavior and try to figure out why I give the impression of being a TP thief. 

Seriously, none of us think it's earth shattering to be missing a spare roll, but find yourself alone and in need and there's a problem. We didn't complain to anyone or remove auto-grats. But just curious about what has changed.

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by Marelaine

[vtcruising]

2 minutes ago, Marelaine said:

I'm upset that you were trusted with a spare roll and we were not. I'll have to review my behavior and try to figure out why I give the impression of being a TP thief. 

Seriously, none of us think it's earth shattering to be missing a spare roll, but find yourself alone and in need and there's a problem. We didn't complain to anyone or remove auto-grats. But just curious about what has changed.

 

I was not two roll worthy on our Dec cruise - we ran out the last night and didn't have an extra roll. 😮  Luckily the Kleenex was close by (though likely not good for the ship's system).

 

I guess we redeemed ourselves on the last cruise....

[Peggy Sue]

Our room steward this past March on the Silhouette was EXCELLENT.  We met Ronald within minutes of entering our room day of embarkation.  We are very low key, never leave our cabin a mess .. we only ask for ice morning and night, and if possible service early morning.  We were on board for 21 days and the stewards work very long hours, and the evening before the end of the cruise they are working non-stop.  We were on board back to back and advised our steward on the turn around day to skip our cabin .. just leave some fresh towels, we made our own bed .. not as good as Ronald did .. but it was passable!  

We tip extra at the end of the cruise.  During the cruise we will occassionaly leave a little candy out with a thank you note on the bed.  the last night of our first cruise we saw how hard they were working .. we had returned to our room around 10 PM and they were still collecting luggage ... we took bottles of water and candy to all in the immediate area

We had an extra roll of TP the entire 21 days .. I do agree that they seem to be rationing the bars of soap .. not a biggie for us, we only use at the sink as we always bring our own bath soap, shampoo, etc.  We  collect anything left we haven't used and take home .. we collect these items from hotels too .. when we return home we take them to our local shelters .. they are always happy to receive them.  

[vtcruising]

13 minutes ago, Peggy Sue said:

Our room steward this past March on the Silhouette was EXCELLENT.  We met Ronald within minutes of entering our room day of embarkation.  We are very low key, never leave our cabin a mess .. we only ask for ice morning and night, and if possible service early morning.  We were on board for 21 days and the stewards work very long hours, and the evening before the end of the cruise they are working non-stop.  We were on board back to back and advised our steward on the turn around day to skip our cabin .. just leave some fresh towels, we made our own bed .. not as good as Ronald did .. but it was passable!  

We tip extra at the end of the cruise.  During the cruise we will occassionaly leave a little candy out with a thank you note on the bed.  the last night of our first cruise we saw how hard they were working .. we had returned to our room around 10 PM and they were still collecting luggage ... we took bottles of water and candy to all in the immediate area

We had an extra roll of TP the entire 21 days .. I do agree that they seem to be rationing the bars of soap .. not a biggie for us, we only use at the sink as we always bring our own bath soap, shampoo, etc.  We  collect anything left we haven't used and take home .. we collect these items from hotels too .. when we return home we take them to our local shelters .. they are always happy to receive them.  

Sounds like Ronald was lucky to have you as guests!