This could be the secret to solving problems on a P and O cruise - great tip!

[Interestedcruisefan]

https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/my-secret-to-solving-problems-on-a-cruise/

 

Found this great article from Gary Bembridge about the best way to solve problems on a cruise

 

It might just be the best cruise tip I've ever come across

 

His major tip is to avoid complaining direct to guest relations

 

Works for cabin complaints and excursion issues according to him

 

I would imagine it would work with dining issues as well. Which he doesn't mention.

 

Make your allys (starting with your cabin steward) and then use them if and when needed to resolve any issues you have

 

Take a look at the link. Makes perfect sense. And avoids queues to complain and being fobbed off by guest services  as well

 

Let others take the strain  on your behalf

Edited December 19, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[kalos]

Funnily enough a few weeks ago on the Ventura ,once in the cabin the Mrs decided to make a brew and shouted me in off the balcony .. "Whats that sound ?"

What we thought was a dull thud thud sound every 20-30 seconds coming from the roof behind the TV  ..  Could it be a water leak ? sounds like one ,hard to tell .

 

Enter our cabin steward and we tell him about it . Next thing he folds up the luggage mat off the bed as we had done with it and then wedges it down the side of the TV and the outside wall .

No more intermittent sounds . 

Moral of the story .. Go to the person who knows the cabin best much better than going to reception 🙂

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, kalos said:

Funnily enough a few weeks ago on the Ventura ,once in the cabin the Mrs decided to make a brew and shouted me in off the balcony .. "Whats that sound ?"

What we thought was a dull thud thud sound every 20-30 seconds coming from the roof behind the TV  ..  Could it be a water leak ? sounds like one ,hard to tell .

 

Enter our cabin steward and we tell him about it . Next thing he folds up the luggage mat off the bed as we had done with it and then wedges it down the side of the TV and the outside wall .

No more intermittent sounds . 

Moral of the story .. Go to the person who knows the cabin best much better than going to reception 🙂

Yes and it's instant support as well

 

Next time I have a cabin issue I will go direct to my steward. I assume they will have the ears and support of their deck manager when needed as well if it's beyond their skills to solve

 

This is also something I will gladly tip the cabin steward for if they either resolve themselves or ensure we are moved to a new cabin if they can't resolve 

 

They help me. I will gladly reward them.

 

I've never felt that way when taking issues to guests services. I've felt in a mini battle getting things sorted with them and always delays and waiting for people to get back to me

 

I feel this is a really powerful tip from someone who knows how cruises function as well as anyone

[Josy1953]

I have found that it is best to start with the cabin steward but then to escalate the complaint if it is not dealt with.  We have in the past complained to the cabin steward and had mixed results.  When the cabin steward was the problem I spoke to guest services and when the problem was still not resolved I escalated it by requesting to speak to the guest services manager.

Start at the source of the problem and work up through the ranks until it us resolved.

[Interestedcruisefan]

8 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I have found that it is best to start with the cabin steward but then to escalate the complaint if it is not dealt with.  We have in the past complained to the cabin steward and had mixed results.  When the cabin steward was the problem I spoke to guest services and when the problem was still not resolved I escalated it by requesting to speak to the guest services manager.

Start at the source of the problem and work up through the ranks until it us resolved.

I honestly never thought to go to my cabin steward with overnight noise issues

 

Never even crossed my mind to ask them to help resolve on my behalf

 

Of course the results will depend on the experience and skills of the cabin steward. But perhaps then ask them to introduce you to the deck manager before going to guest relations. And again I would myself tip them direct if they resolved for me well

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Ardennais]

The article does highlight one major issue, namely that there are dud cabins. It’s all very well moving people to a better cabin, but the underlying problem remains and some poor sod will face the same problem on the next cruise. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

17 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

The article does highlight one major issue, namely that there are dud cabins. It’s all very well moving people to a better cabin, but the underlying problem remains and some poor sod will face the same problem on the next cruise. 

But I imagine that applies to most ships

[Megabear2]

39 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But I imagine that applies to most ships

Well there are apparently over 100 on Arvia so you never know you might find out.  If the ship is full no one can move, you're stuck with it.  During my fiasco the cabin steward and deck manager didn't need telling of the problems. They knew already from the previous cruises and were actually waiting for me when I came out if my cabin.

 

They could do nothing with the best will in world.  If the ship is full, that's it.

[Fionboard]

30 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Well there are apparently over 100 on Arvia so you never know you might find out.  If the ship is full no one can move, you're stuck with it.  During my fiasco the cabin steward and deck manager didn't need telling of the problems. They knew already from the previous cruises and were actually waiting for me when I came out if my cabin.

 

They could do nothing with the best will in world.  If the ship is full, that's it.

Same on Iona. Horrendous noise at night. After a few sleepiness nights I went to Reception. Huge queue of people all there for the same thing. Gave up! Never heard anything like it on any other ship. 

[cruising.mark.uk]

2 hours ago, Ardennais said:

The article does highlight one major issue, namely that there are dud cabins. It’s all very well moving people to a better cabin, but the underlying problem remains and some poor sod will face the same problem on the next cruise. 

That depends on how one defines a 'dud' cabin.  I think most people know that some cabins may be prone to more noise than others, but that doesn't mean those cabins are 'dud'.  If that term is used in respect of any cabin about which there have been noise complaints, then it probably covers a fairly sizeable proportion of the passenger cabins on any ship belonging to any cruise line - potentially most of those on the deck below the sun deck, the deck below the buffet, above or in close proximity to bars, the theatre and showlounges, aft and forward cabins subject to noise when anchoring or when the thrusters are in use, cabins near crew work areas or close to galleys etc etc.   

 

But, people's susceptibility to and tolerance of noise will vary markedly.  And, whether they hear noises about which others have complained at all may well depend on what their habits are.  Those up with the lark may not be fazed by noise from the buffet or the sun loungers being dragged out.  Those who party half the night might well not be worried by noise from showrooms and bars.   So, I think that the number of cabins that all would agree are 'dud' because of noise issues would be tiny, and perhaps more due to structural build issues than with what is around them.  Persistent structural issues can be addressed, or cabins subject to them taken out of passenger use.  But, it won't be economically viable to do that for every cabin about which someone makes a complaint of noise.  In the interests of customer relations, cruise lines may well try to move those who suffer, but that will not always be possible.  And anyone who expects to go on a moving ship, at sea, with thousands of other people and all of the associated infrastructure but without any associated noise audible in their cabin is probably being unrealistic.  

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But I imagine that applies to most ships

I suppose so, but that still doesn’t make it right. 

[yorkshirephil]

27 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

That depends on how one defines a 'dud' cabin.  I think most people know that some cabins may be prone to more noise than others, but that doesn't mean those cabins are 'dud'.  If that term is used in respect of any cabin about which there have been noise complaints, then it probably covers a fairly sizeable proportion of the passenger cabins on any ship belonging to any cruise line - potentially most of those on the deck below the sun deck, the deck below the buffet, above or in close proximity to bars, the theatre and showlounges, aft and forward cabins subject to noise when anchoring or when the thrusters are in use, cabins near crew work areas or close to galleys etc etc.   

 

But, people's susceptibility to and tolerance of noise will vary markedly.  And, whether they hear noises about which others have complained at all may well depend on what their habits are.  Those up with the lark may not be fazed by noise from the buffet or the sun loungers being dragged out.  Those who party half the night might well not be worried by noise from showrooms and bars.   So, I think that the number of cabins that all would agree are 'dud' because of noise issues would be tiny, and perhaps more due to structural build issues than with what is around them.  Persistent structural issues can be addressed, or cabins subject to them taken out of passenger use.  But, it won't be economically viable to do that for every cabin about which someone makes a complaint of noise.  In the interests of customer relations, cruise lines may well try to move those who suffer, but that will not always be possible.  And anyone who expects to go on a moving ship, at sea, with thousands of other people and all of the associated infrastructure but without any associated noise audible in their cabin is probably being unrealistic.  

They could put hard of hearing people in noisy cabins. 😁 

[Ardennais]

33 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

That depends on how one defines a 'dud' cabin.  I think most people know that some cabins may be prone to more noise than others, but that doesn't mean those cabins are 'dud'.  If that term is used in respect of any cabin about which there have been noise complaints, then it probably covers a fairly sizeable proportion of the passenger cabins on any ship belonging to any cruise line - potentially most of those on the deck below the sun deck, the deck below the buffet, above or in close proximity to bars, the theatre and showlounges, aft and forward cabins subject to noise when anchoring or when the thrusters are in use, cabins near crew work areas or close to galleys etc etc.   

 

But, people's susceptibility to and tolerance of noise will vary markedly.  And, whether they hear noises about which others have complained at all may well depend on what their habits are.  Those up with the lark may not be fazed by noise from the buffet or the sun loungers being dragged out.  Those who party half the night might well not be worried by noise from showrooms and bars.   So, I think that the number of cabins that all would agree are 'dud' because of noise issues would be tiny, and perhaps more due to structural build issues than with what is around them.  Persistent structural issues can be addressed, or cabins subject to them taken out of passenger use.  But, it won't be economically viable to do that for every cabin about which someone makes a complaint of noise.  In the interests of customer relations, cruise lines may well try to move those who suffer, but that will not always be possible.  And anyone who expects to go on a moving ship, at sea, with thousands of other people and all of the associated infrastructure but without any associated noise audible in their cabin is probably being unrealistic.  

True, but to me, there’s a difference between noise generated by human activity and ‘clanging’ noises which are mentioned in the article. Noise is expected when anchoring etc, and wouldn’t bother me. 

[Josy1953]

8 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I honestly never thought to go to my cabin steward with overnight noise issues

 

Never even crossed my mind to ask them to help resolve on my behalf

 

Of course the results will depend on the experience and skills of the cabin steward. But perhaps then ask them to introduce you to the deck manager before going to guest relations. And again I would myself tip them direct if they resolved for me well

 

 

Our problem that we spoke to the cabin steward about was that bathroom was absolutely filthy when we boarded including a dirty baby's napkin in the bin in the bathroom so as soon as she came to introduce herself we showed her and she just shrugged her shoulders and said OK but that it wasn't  her problem, so I asked to speak to her supervisor who came, took a look and made her clean it. The reason that we ended up going to the pursers desk was because on 2 other days we were out on full day excursions and came back to find that the room not been serviced. 

We met with the guest services manager and she said that she would sort it out which she did and we had no further problems.

We didn't expect anything other than a clean cabin but we did get a free meal in Sindhu and some OBC.  We also had a very good hamper sent to us a few days after we got home.

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

They could put hard of hearing people in noisy cabins. 😁 

It's not as silly as it sounds either

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

It's not as silly as it sounds either

Maybe not, but my wife can hear a pin drop from a mile away,  whilst I need the telly volume much higher than she does, how is that going to work?