NCL Dawn poor performance by room steward so far

[complawyer]

as you have, i have never had less  than a spotless cabin, whenever it was available, regardless of the cabin, former mid ship mini suite, club balcony, suite or haven suite. they have always been in tip top shape when we settled in. and yes, the correct response is to merely get hold of the cabin steward, point out the problem(s) and im absolutely certain it will be quickly rectified.

 

but as a good friend of mine once put it very succinctly, "some people would complain even if they were hung with a new rope"

[laudergayle]

15 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

it or cry about it on the internet, social media

Actually I am one who believes that posting on social media and review sites is very powerful…AS long as it is addressed early with those who can fix it onboard.  Corporate PR and marketing monitor social media posts.  They don’t like to see negative posts.  Enough posts about similar topic will raise red flags.

Edited June 4, 2023 by laudergayle

[graphicguy]

29 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

After years of business snd leisure travel, staying in budget to luxury hotels, I will say not every stay was perfect.   There are way too many scenarios that could have caused the room steward to miss some routine cabin turnover items.  We are so quick to place blame.  Contact your room steward, request the items be rectified and get on with enjoying your vacation.  If, you find that the service doesn’t meet acceptable standards (yours) then speak with housekeeping lead.  You really need to be worried if the entire hotel or ship is lacking cleanliness…that’s a whole different story.  Would I be happy if I were in your situation…probably not. But I’d move on from it.

 

Eventually NCL will begin to see via reviews and staff turnover if some of their 2023 cuts are accomplishing their desired outcome.  So, on one hand, thanks for posting on CC your thoughts…and on the other hand, have some grace for the steward…and get to enjoying your cruise.  I’d trade places with you…lol.

I concur!  If any cleanliness issues become a chronic ongoing thing, housekeeping management inspections (noted by seeing them in the cabins looking over stewards’ shoulders) will correct the situation.

 

Guests coming at them (and in here) with both barrels blazing without letting them correct the issue, really solves nothing!

[BirdTravels]

10 hours ago, njkate said:

Maybe to you it’s very very very minor but to others maybe not so minor

 

I was on Dawn in late March and imo they are very under staffed in many areas

Yes. I see that the sky is falling.
 

Based on that, I suggest you request to be disembarked at your net port of call. That will end your situation. 
 

A room steward making a mistake does not conclude that there are staffing issues. It is a mistake. The mainstream media always spins minor issues to headline news. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by BirdTravels

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

You know, I was going to post a long monologue reply.  Won’t!

 

I will say showing crew respect is the least we can do as guests.  I’ve seen way too many guests just abuse crew, when a simple conversation would have fixed whatever issue they had!

Respect is earned and for sure,if it was earned,they get all the respect due.

No one here is disrespecting any crew, just stating the fact that on a changeover day, the cabin was far from acceptable.

Like I said earlier, had you checked into a hotel and forund your room is a similar state, would you just excuse the hard working chambermaid or complain? In a hotel you would most likely get a different room but on a cruse ship, chances are there is no extra cabins, especially if you chose a specific location.

You don't need to post a long monologue, the state of the cabin was totally unacceptable and the OP has every right to tell us.

[nclsuncruiser]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

my all time favorite helper will strike again. the $20 vegas handshake to the cabin steward on the 1st day will do wonders. 

 

Each to their own, but I find the idea of trying to buy good service at the outset to be distasteful and patronising.  I prefer to tip at the end, depending on authentic service, than "purchase" in advance.  I

[KDebreuil]

In my experience large companies use average data from surveys heavily, so make sure to fill in those post-cruise surveys.  And be very harsh when it comes to scoring in areas they did not do well.  

[laudergayle]

1 minute ago, KDebreuil said:

In my experience large companies use average data from surveys heavily, so make sure to fill in those post-cruise surveys.  And be very harsh when it comes to scoring in areas they did not do well.  

Yes, the quanta time survey…but nowadays, the social media qualitative is just like holding a focus group.  Both very informative and powerful.

[LobsterStalker]

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

For those that keep insinuating that the sheets are not clean:  The OP never said the bed was not made.  Has anyone seen the crew in disembarkation day?   The bed is ripped apart and all the sheets are removed and they vacuum.   It appears this cabin missed throwing away old dailies which will be discarded once the next one comes.  If the bed was perfectly made then its not logical for those to say the bed had dirty sheets.  A few mishaps with old items in the cabin will always take place.  Simply introduce yourself to your steward or call house keeping.  These are minor issues and people are expanding what was wrong with it.  If the bed was not made and the trash can was full then I would definitely say the room was not cleaned from the last guests.  The OP only mentioned a water bottle in the fridge and the sink and old dailies in the rack.  Hardly a sign the room was not cleaned since the last guests.  

I don't believe anyone said the bed was not made , However , If several things are not cleaned , and assuming that is due to them being overworked , then it is not a stretch to be 'concerned' as to whether someone may try to get away with an unchanged bed so that they can manage to get all their rooms done in the sparse time that they are given....

When people are pushed to unattainable  expectations , something has to bend

 

Cheers

[laudergayle]

46 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Yes, the quanta time survey

Yikes…auto correct is dumb.  Correct word was qualitative.  Means opinions that can be quantified by mathematical methods.  Qualitative is more about groups of people’s opinion.

[laudergayle]

32 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Yikes…auto correct is dumb.  Correct word was qualitative.  Means opinions that can be quantified by mathematical methods.  Qualitative is more about groups of people’s opinion.

Oh my. I promise it is not the wine.  Correct word from post #83 is not “quanta time, nor is it “qualitative .  The CORRECT WORD for mathematical based research is…QUANTITATIVE.  OMG…this was way to hard to make a point.  I’m giving up now…lol.

[insidecabin]

Went back to check, OP said

 

Clearly my steward was running late for some reason and ran out of time before actually finishing the job, hopefully when he makes up the room today he will catch up.

 

I read into that the issues were not raised with anyone on embarkation day.

 

Which is a shame as our issues were sorted immediately even though we were happy for them to be done later as we were going out anyway.

 

Our cabins were "ready" at 3pm with the steward on top of greeting people and delivering bags.

 

The bigger issue here is overrunning by 2 hours and then still not acceptable standard.

 

The 3pm rooms ready which seems to be the new norm has knock on

 

These Southampton departures are quite early so everyone has boarded by 3pm place like the buffet get rammed, with the old 1pm cabins ready the later boarders get space as  the early ones have moved on. 

[boltnut55]

I'm waiting for the update unless I missed it😁 Like YVR, I also wipe down the rooms now (after covid), but thanks for explaining why I might find icky stuff if they are vacuuming the night before (ewww).  I happen to freak out (silently in my head, but yell at anyone) over stuff like leftover hair and toenails, but that's me.  My friends walk barefoot on the floor and get into the sheets afterwards🤷🏻‍♀️

[david_sobe]

10 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

I don't believe anyone said the bed was not made , However , If several things are not cleaned , and assuming that is due to them being overworked , then it is not a stretch to be 'concerned' as to whether someone may try to get away with an unchanged bed so that they can manage to get all their rooms done in the sparse time that they are given....

When people are pushed to unattainable  expectations , something has to bend

 

Cheers

A bottle of water left in a fridge is not a sign the room was not cleaned.  Dailies left in the rack is not a sign the room was not cleaned.  If they were on the bed or in the trash then maybe you could say that.  All the sheets and bedding are removed from the bed on embarkation/disembarkation day.  There is no proof the same sheets were used to make the bed.  I think it was an over-reaction because of a few left behind items in places meant the room was not clean.

The dailies would have been taken care of that night when the new one came. I simply would have thrown out the bottle of water in the fridge if it bothered me.

[dexddd]

16 hours ago, BunnyHutt said:

College dorm =\= cruise ship. 🙄

 

Not to mention the fact that the girls dorms were cleaner (and infinitely less smelly) than the guys dorms. So maybe your bar is just naturally too low. 😉

I lived on a co-Ed floor so it equaled out plus there were other latitudes perks.

[dexddd]

My idea, only small help, have CN staff help clean.  Yes, it will take away from robocalls yet chance to do door to door sales.  And yes, certainly leave the old Dailies in room so guests can look ahead to what is going on.

[SpainAlien]

12 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

I've had no issues on my 20 previous cruises.  Why not just call for the room steward, get this corrected and post the result? Why the internet first?  Of course, the situation was unsatisfactory to walk into.  Just clarify the issue and allow a fix to happen.

Fyi, I did talk to the steward, then guest services and then finally cleaned the shower myself but don't worry I won't be reducing the tip, I understand that the stewards are struggling.  I also did not solicit or receive any obc.

 

I thought Cruise Critic was all about posting experiences both good and bad, but clearly you only want good experiences to appear in your feed.

 

 

[njkate]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. I see that the sky is falling.
 

Based on that, I suggest you request to be disembarked at your net port of call. That will end your situation. 
 

A room steward making a mistake does not conclude that there are staffing issues. It is a mistake. The mainstream media always spins minor issues to headline news. 

There is absolutely no reason for your snarkiness. I’m not the o/p just stating I was on board the Dawn late March and imo they were under staffed and many of the crew looked wrung out. 
 

Last night on board at Bimini bar the person ahead of me was greeted with a what do you want, very grumpy. When I got my drink the person who was ahead of me was going to go complain regarding the rudeness of the bartender, I said look they have been slammed and overworked all week, he is probably tired and weary.

She agreed and decided not to go complain about him.

[SpainAlien]

8 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Went back to check, OP said

 

Clearly my steward was running late for some reason and ran out of time before actually finishing the job, hopefully when he makes up the room today he will catch up.

 

I read into that the issues were not raised with anyone on embarkation day.

 

Which is a shame as our issues were sorted immediately even though we were happy for them to be done later as we were going out anyway.

 

Our cabins were "ready" at 3pm with the steward on top of greeting people and delivering bags.

 

The bigger issue here is overrunning by 2 hours and then still not acceptable standard.

 

The 3pm rooms ready which seems to be the new norm has knock on

 

These Southampton departures are quite early so everyone has boarded by 3pm place like the buffet get rammed, with the old 1pm cabins ready the later boarders get space as  the early ones have moved on. 

My room steward vanished and did not answer the phone, I finally managed to catch up with him at about 3pm on Day 2.

[njkate]

2 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

Fyi, I did talk to the steward, then guest services and then finally cleaned the shower myself but don't worry I won't be reducing the tip, I understand that the stewards are struggling.  I also did not solicit or receive any obc.

 

I thought Cruise Critic was all about posting experiences both good and bad, but clearly you only want good experiences to appear in your feed.

 

 

Sorry you had to escalate with no resolution.

This board is chock full of NCL cheerleaders who will jump all over the slightest negative post/ review just ignore them 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

A bottle of water left in a fridge is not a sign the room was not cleaned.  Dailies left in the rack is not a sign the room was not cleaned.  If they were on the bed or in the trash then maybe you could say that.  All the sheets and bedding are removed from the bed on embarkation/disembarkation day.  There is no proof the same sheets were used to make the bed.  I think it was an over-reaction because of a few left behind items in places meant the room was not clean.

The dailies would have been taken care of that night when the new one came. I simply would have thrown out the bottle of water in the fridge if it bothered me.

Not any more, they don't go in the cabins they just leave leave them on the slot by the door

[Buford T Justiice]

On our last cruise in February our cabin was the absolute last cabin serviced daily by our room steward ... often after 5:00 pm. Felt bad for room steward because his was the last cart in the hallway each night and he was clearly struggling.

[14ersco]

47 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

Fyi, I did talk to the steward, then guest services and then finally cleaned the shower myself but don't worry I won't be reducing the tip, I understand that the stewards are struggling.  I also did not solicit or receive any obc.

 

I thought Cruise Critic was all about posting experiences both good and bad, but clearly you only want good experiences to appear in your feed.

 

 

OP, thanks for the info on staffing and room issues on the Dawn.  We will packing extra antiseptic cleaning towels before we board the Dawn later this year.  Ignore the cheerleaders, there are plenty around here.

[insidecabin]

38 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

My room steward vanished and did not answer the phone, I finally managed to catch up with him at about 3pm on Day 2.

That would have been the time to call housekeeping/guest services, not wait best part of 24 hours.

[pete_coach]

48 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

My room steward vanished and did not answer the phone, I finally managed to catch up with him at about 3pm on Day 2.

 

50 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

Fyi, I did talk to the steward, then guest services and then finally cleaned the shower myself but don't worry I won't be reducing the tip, I understand that the stewards are struggling.  I also did not solicit or receive any obc.

 

I thought Cruise Critic was all about posting experiences both good and bad, but clearly you only want good experiences to appear in your feed.

 

 

 

48 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

My room steward vanished and did not answer the phone, I finally managed to catch up with him at about 3pm on Day 2.

Thank you for the update (clarification).

I agree with your dismay and situation that should not have occurred.

Has to make you wonder how many other cabins that the steward left in similar condition?

You are right, Cruise Critic is a place to report issues and experiences and I thank you for doing so.