Cabin Cleaning - Is it still only once a day?

[KyloRen]

Just got off the radiance yesterday. it was once a day for us

[brilliantseas]

I don't anticipate twice daily cleaning ever coming back to Carnival. They are dealing with staffing shortages and extending contracts throughout the fleet. Once daily cleaning with the option of morning or evening means that one person can be responsible for more rooms. I don't know what the quota is on Carnival, but my steward has at least 20 cabins in my hallway. MSC standard cabins are reportedly at a 1 steward to 36 cabin ratio on a 10 hour work day. 

[brilliantseas]

Look at the positive side of things. It's still 4x more frequently than Disney is servicing rooms at their $500-800+ per night Deluxe resorts! It was due to COVID safety, then due to staffing shortages, likely extended by cost-cutting efforts. I've heard it will return to daily, but have not seen it yet... 

[sanger727]

I’m getting stuck on the idea that cleaning services end at 1::30= ‘I can’t sleep in’…. To be fair, I’m not a night owl. Sleeping in for me now is sleeping until 7 or 8. But I’ve worked a variety of shifts and the only time I slept past 1:30 was when I got off at 7 am. I worked 8p-4A for awhile and was still usually up by noon.

[scorpioncrawl]

NCL-twice a day

 

[jetsfan58]

Just returned from a Cruise. Yes they are still doing once a day cleaning; morning/midday or late afternoon.  

[DallasGuy75219]

Twice a day will never come back. For years before COVID, Carnival was trying to give stewards more rooms by offering morning or evening service. When people pushed back Carnival said you could request both. Of course stewards didn't volunteer that though (or even balked when you requested both), and new cruisers or people not on these boards didn't know differently.

 

COVID protocols (stewards spending less time in passenger cabins) gave Carnival the excuse to completely pull the plug on twice a day service, and I see it going the way of the separate salad course in MDR, souvenir ship placemats, Captain's cocktail reception on first formal night, no-charge formal night lobster on shorter cruises, past guest parties for all past guests, chocolates on pillows at turndown.....

[Jelly_Toast]

On 2/26/2022 at 3:08 PM, icft said:

And this is where the divide in thoughts shows. Those of us who traveled by sea since the 70s and 80s remember when there was no service time.

The thing is... this was 40 to 50 years ago and that's way past the time to keep recalling something as a comparison to current times.  There are so many things that people wish were the same as before, not just in cruising but in all of life, and after so much time you just realize that times have changed and let it go.  These people are overworked and underpaid and don't have time to decide if your blanket made you hot the night before because it's on the floor.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Jelly_Toast

[icft]

I’m really getting tired of all this virtue signaling. If people actually believe “these people” are overworked and underpaid yet still support the companies that are abusing them then I don’t see any virtue in the virtue signalers. I think the crew like their jobs and pay, but that is not the point.

 

The point is that Carnival is cutting down on the service provided to the customers. I believe Carnival is having the crew take care of more rooms and enabling that by having the crew provide less service to each room. Carnival’s goal is less crew to pay, feed and house. This has nothing to do with how much total work any crew member does or how much they are paid, other than the fact passengers will be less likely to give additional tips to maids who provide no personalized service.

 

This is also not something that has slowly evolved over 40 years. Carnival started this move only a few years ago. The steward that once impressed me by noticing I would be comfortable with a lighter blanket did that on the Dream in 2019. It was not something I demanded or even expected. It was something that impressed me and something she had time to notice because she was handling fewer cabins and as part of her job as a steward, rather than a maid, time to interact with and anticipate the needs of her clients was built in.

 

How people can say an expression of regret over the loss of a service previously provided is equal to a demand for abuse of crew is beyond me. I suspect it is just people with low self esteem trying to make themselves feel good by putting others down.

[Drazil65]

How people can say an expression of regret over the loss of a service previously provided is equal to a demand for abuse of crew is beyond me. I suspect it is just people with low self esteem trying to make themselves feel good by putting others down.

 

Good point, but a fine line if the people stating the "expression of regret" do it in a manner that sounds more directed towards the housekeeping unit. Many have expressed their disappointment of the "once a day service" as a complaint/rant linked to a failure of sorts directed at the crew.  Then of course, the "well I just wont pay the gratuities"  line that is thrown out there as some sort of power play makes it appear like some people might be making demands on the crew (perception).  I guess that would be the people you point out that may have some low self esteem issues?

[icft]

2 minutes ago, Drazil65 said:

How people can say an expression of regret over the loss of a service previously provided is equal to a demand for abuse of crew is beyond me. I suspect it is just people with low self esteem trying to make themselves feel good by putting others down.

 

Good point, but a fine line if the people stating the "expression of regret" do it in a manner that sounds more directed towards the housekeeping unit. Many have expressed their disappointment of the "once a day service" as a complaint/rant linked to a failure of sorts directed at the crew.  Then of course, the "well I just wont pay the gratuities"  line that is thrown out there as some sort of power play makes it appear like some people might be making demands on the crew (perception).  I guess that would be the people you point out that may have some low self esteem issues?

Of course it is directed towards the house keeping unit, but the management. It is Carnival changing the crew duties. This is no fault of the crew - they have no control over it. They are doing away with stewards in the classic sense and changing them more toward hotel maids. And yes, tips come into play. How many give additional tips to stewards vs. how many give tips to hotel maids? There is no power play involved. It is a simple fact that if the duties are changed to eliminate the personal contact people will tip differently. I think the stateroom attendants will end up financially worse off. I guess I shouldn't have mentioned tips (and if you will read I said "additional" tips) when mentioning the pay since it gives folks the opportunity to twist my observation that the change will likely reduce the income of the crew into an accusation that I don't tip. 

[Jelly_Toast]

56 minutes ago, icft said:

I’m really getting tired of all this virtue signaling. If people actually believe “these people” are overworked and underpaid yet still support the companies that are abusing them then I don’t see any virtue in the virtue signalers. I think the crew like their jobs and pay, but that is not the point.

 

The point is that Carnival is cutting down on the service provided to the customers. I believe Carnival is having the crew take care of more rooms and enabling that by having the crew provide less service to each room. Carnival’s goal is less crew to pay, feed and house. This has nothing to do with how much total work any crew member does or how much they are paid, other than the fact passengers will be less likely to give additional tips to maids who provide no personalized service.

 

This is also not something that has slowly evolved over 40 years. Carnival started this move only a few years ago. The steward that once impressed me by noticing I would be comfortable with a lighter blanket did that on the Dream in 2019. It was not something I demanded or even expected. It was something that impressed me and something she had time to notice because she was handling fewer cabins and as part of her job as a steward, rather than a maid, time to interact with and anticipate the needs of her clients was built in.

 

How people can say an expression of regret over the loss of a service previously provided is equal to a demand for abuse of crew is beyond me. I suspect it is just people with low self esteem trying to make themselves feel good by putting others down.

 

The fact is, the room stewards and housekeeping staff do work hard. They do earn less than the job would pay in the United States. They sometimes do take a lot of abuse from people who expect too much. You want to separate the “steward” from the “hotel maid” which is extremely elitist. There is nothing wrong with the job of a hotel maid and while I can’t speak for anyone else I do tip them extra. 
 

I’m also going to go out on a limb and say yes, things with Carnival (and every other company) have evolved over 40 years, not just in the last three. You’re the one who brought up the 70s and 80s as a time to look back on. 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Jelly_Toast

[TerReuv]

2 minutes ago, Jelly_Toast said:

 

The fact is, the room stewards and housekeeping staff do work hard. They do earn less than the job would pay in the United States. They sometimes do take a lot of abuse from people who expect too much. You want to separate the “steward” from the “hotel maid” which is extremely elitist. There is nothing wrong with the job of a hotel maid and while I can’t speak for anyone else I do tip them extra. 
 

I’m also going to go out on a limb and say yes, things with Carnival (and every other company) have evolved over 40 years, not just in the last three. You’re the one who brought up the 70s and 80s as a time to look back on. 

 

Your use of the term “virtue signaling” says a lot about you none of which is surprising based on your entitled attitude. 

 

It's entitled to want to have the same service we had just 2 -3 years ago?  And, yes, a steward is totally different than a hotel maid.  I never had a maid greet my by name and check on how everything was. Never had a maid make sure I had ice each evening or bring my towel animal.  Plus the average salary of a hotel maid is around $14-15/hr (per Indeed).  That is about double what the average steward makes a month (also Indeed).  

 

The point is that some people prefer the twice a day service for their own reasons and they shouldn't have to defend their preference any more than someone who is happy with just once a day.  Talking down to someone because they prefer twice a day is ridiculous. 

[Drazil65]

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned tips (and if you will read I said "additional" tips) when mentioning the pay since it gives folks the opportunity to twist my observation that the change will likely reduce the income of the crew into an accusation that I don't tip. 

 

Thank you, I read what you said but no need to get so defensive.  I am not twisting anything you said and only giving you other insight to the following comments "I’m really getting tired of all this virtue signaling. If people actually believe “these people” are overworked and underpaid yet still support the companies that are abusing them then I don’t see any virtue in the virtue signalers"  and  "How people can say an expression of regret over the loss of a service previously provided is equal to a demand for abuse of crew is beyond me". 

 

I only gave you insight as to how people can read/interpret some of the complaining and ranting.  That is all, just another view and if you are not interested in another view, so be it and continue on.  It's all good.  

[icft]

3 hours ago, Jelly_Toast said:

 

The fact is, the room stewards and housekeeping staff do work hard. They do earn less than the job would pay in the United States. They sometimes do take a lot of abuse from people who expect too much. You want to separate the “steward” from the “hotel maid” which is extremely elitist. There is nothing wrong with the job of a hotel maid and while I can’t speak for anyone else I do tip them extra. 
 

I’m also going to go out on a limb and say yes, things with Carnival (and every other company) have evolved over 40 years, not just in the last three. You’re the one who brought up the 70s and 80s as a time to look back on. 

 

 

How is recognizing there is a difference between a steward and a maid elitist? They are different jobs. Is it elitist to recognize that an attorney is different from a paralegal? Recognizing that jobs are different is in no way saying there is anything wrong with either.

Edited March 28, 2022 by icft