Can we decline house keeping on Princess ships?

[wsp2205]

I am new to cruise way of traveling so this question might be very elementary to many. But we usually decline house keeping service with any hotels we stay with (ie. we always hang the 'do not disturb' sign out of our door knot, and just go to reception desks asking for additional supplies if we run out, such as new towels, shower shampoo, hand soap, etc. And in most cases that's not even necessary as we don't change towels every night) -- It's just a personal preference that we don't like any strangers to touch our personal items including sheets and towels while we are still using them. It works fine with hotel stays, but on cruise ships, can we do the same for our entire trip? Would it be considered rule to the staff? We would happily pay the required staff appreciation regardless. Since there is not going to be reception desk to go to, if we decline house keeping, where to go if we run out of something? Thank you!

Edited February 14 by wsp2205

[Teechur]

If you talk to your cabin steward and ask him to stay out of your cabin, I believe he/she will oblige, unless there is a ship policy against doing so.

[Wishing on a star]

If you have a good room Steward,  they will be very receptive to your needs/desires.

(Of course, some are better than others)

They will usually try to introduce themselves and speak with you as you get settled into your cabin on the first day.     

You might be able to speak with them then, and simply arrange that you will take care of straightening your bed, cleaning your bathroom, etc...   I would bring some small trash bags, and then you can collect your trash and leave it in the front of your cabin, just inside the door,  with your used towels.   Which your steward would just open your door and exchange.... 

I think a direct approach...  along with a nice pre-paid tip and a smile, would be the best way to take care of it.

 

They will probably be required to enter the cabins at some point, just to see that everything is satisfactory and if there are any maintenance tasks.

 

The steward should be happy to speak with the guests, and find out if they want plenty of ice everyday...  an extra top-sheet for the bed...  things like that.    That is what they are there for.  (we always like a fresh ice-bucket of ice left in our mini-fridge)

 

These ships are big!!!  Front desk is busy....  

 

And, hopefully you would not mind to have the steward open the door and make a quick exchange of trash and towels...  As, I would never advise leaving things like this, room service dishes, etc...  in the doorway/hallway.    And, cruise hallways are very narrow!

Edited February 14 by Wishing on a star

[Steelers36]

Yes, you can advise your room steward (a.k.a. Stewart) that you don't need a particular morning or evening service.  Or that you just need some towels changed.  We often don't have Stewart do a full servicing both morning and evening.  You will likely want trash taken out during a voyage as the cans are small and it does mount up. 

 

They are required - or at least want to - change the bed linens every four days (so once for a weekly voyage).  We have had just one change on a 10-nighter before. 

 

You do not go to a "front desk" for cabin supplies or to request a cleaning, etc.  Talk to your steward.  I have found they are quite accommodating.

 

Use the screen at your cabin door to set Green to request service and Red to not enter.

 

 

PS - Congrats of sorts as you have ended up to be my 20,000th post here on Cruise Critic.  I have found this Forum to be extremely helpful over the years and I try to contribute when I can.  Welcome to the Princess Forum.  Look up your Roll Call and participate in that to enrich your experience.

 

ETA - Sorry, no prize.  LOL.

Edited February 14 by Steelers36

[Jadn13]

Your entire trip? Most likely not.

Much of the service is as much keeping your room tidy as it is preparing for the next cruise.

I would just chat about maybe only one service a day and let them know not to concern themselves with the bed. 

[BamaVol]

Somewhere there is a box to check to eliminate paper documents, but some I think will be deemed necessary. I suppose you can ask the steward to hand them to you in the corridor. But that won’t always be possible. Just trying to think of ways to cut down on visits.

[SCX22]

Shouldn't be a problem.  During the re-start, we decided the same to minimize contact.  We basically tidied our cabin on our own.  The housekeeping carts are in the hallway from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm.  We took out and emptied our own trash and put out our used towels in the housekeeping carts.  We tracked down the steward to exchange towels.  Have to admit we didn't do as good a job in making our bed as the stewards.  All paper notices (Event Listings, disembarkation questionnaire, luggage tags, etc.) were slipped under the door crack.  You might need the cabin steward to enter to re-fill shampoo and body wash because the dispenser is fixed in the shower.

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, you can not completely decline service. Besides the fact that your steward can get in trouble if your cabin is spot checked by the supervisor, they are required to check each cabin every couple of days.

[startedwithamouse]

You'll get a supervisor to come in every other day to inspect your cabin if you decline housekeeping for the duration of your voyage. 

 

This is in line with hotels shore side, which started due to the Route 91 massacre. 

[Outerdog]

45 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Much of the service is as much keeping your room tidy as it is preparing for the next cruise.

 

This.

 

It's not just "cleaning". It's maintenance, too. Not maintenance as in "leaky pipe" maintenance. But maintenance as in keeping up on dusting, vacuuming, etc.

 

OP, you don't decline housekeeping. You, as has been pointed out, hook up with your room stew who will make every effort to accommodate your wishes while keeping up with their responsibilities to maintain the ship.

 

[wsp2205]

Thank you everyone for chiming in so quickly! 

 

I am surprised that it's a policy to have stewards and/or supervisors to come into the room to inspect the cabin, but from the security perspective, it kinda makes sense. 

 

The point that it's a rule that they would change bed linens every four days is a bit hard to understand -- we actually don't even use those linens and always bring our own compact travel linens after covid. Yes, many of these things are due to covid precautions since I m traveling is a 78 year old who is more susceptible to things than the rest of us with stronger immune system. I will see if we can ask for an exception for this linen change policy. For the rest, we don't really care if any staff need to come in just to check and make sure everything is fine and secure. 

 

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Cruise ships are notorious for the rapid spread of illness so I would imagine that regular changing of bed linen and general cleaning and maintenance would be compulsory for at least some of the time.

[startedwithamouse]

15 minutes ago, wsp2205 said:

Thank you everyone for chiming in so quickly! 

 

I am surprised that it's a policy to have stewards and/or supervisors to come into the room to inspect the cabin, but from the security perspective, it kinda makes sense. 

 

The point that it's a rule that they would change bed linens every four days is a bit hard to understand -- we actually don't even use those linens and always bring our own compact travel linens after covid. Yes, many of these things are due to covid precautions since I m traveling is a 78 year old who is more susceptible to things than the rest of us with stronger immune system. I will see if we can ask for an exception for this linen change policy. For the rest, we don't really care if any staff need to come in just to check and make sure everything is fine and secure. 

 

 

Do you bring your own napkins to the dining room?

[SCX22]

17 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Do you bring your own napkins to the dining room?

 

I do.  I hate using the cloth napkins because you don't know what the person before you did to it.  I see passengers using them to blow their noses or using them as a catch basin for their sputum.  I really don't trust the ship's laundry to get rid of all traces of human waste.

[Outerdog]

Strong late-day Howard Hughes vibes here...

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

50 minutes ago, wsp2205 said:

Thank you everyone for chiming in so quickly! 

 

I am surprised that it's a policy to have stewards and/or supervisors to come into the room to inspect the cabin, but from the security perspective, it kinda makes sense. 

 

The point that it's a rule that they would change bed linens every four days is a bit hard to understand -- we actually don't even use those linens and always bring our own compact travel linens after covid. Yes, many of these things are due to covid precautions since I m traveling is a 78 year old who is more susceptible to things than the rest of us with stronger immune system. I will see if we can ask for an exception for this linen change policy. For the rest, we don't really care if any staff need to come in just to check and make sure everything is fine and secure. 

 

 

What about pool towels?

[pilot]

Why?

[riffatsea]

We also p refer no housekeeping 

We tell,our steward that we'd only like service maybe once during a week's cruise

We often give an extra tip so that v they don't think we want no service to save on tipping

I believe they are required to go into the cabin at least once to make sure all is well

We ask for towels as needed

We give e our garbage cans to be emptied as we see the steward the hallway 

On a ship your steward deals with room issues nit anyone at the front desk

[antsp]

49 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

I do.  I hate using the cloth napkins because you don't know what the person before you did to it.  I see passengers using them to blow their noses or using them as a catch basin for their sputum.  I really don't trust the ship's laundry to get rid of all traces of human waste.

Knifes and forks, plates, glass wear, what else do you bring. 

[SCX22]

6 minutes ago, antsp said:

Knifes and forks, plates, glass wear, what else do you bring. 

In food service there are safe handling protocols and standards set out for washing utensils, plates, and glassware.  Has to be washed at a set temperature and a certain ppm of bleach for sanitizing purposes.  There are protocols and standards for washing food service linens, but many laundry services don’t pay attention to them because the inspectors don’t really check their establishments.  The focus is on where the food establishment itself because that’s where food borne illness and contamination is more likely to happen.  This comes from someone who is a restaurant partner.

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

PS - Congrats of sorts as you have ended up to be my 20,000th post here on Cruise Critic. 

So happy that you’re here!

You are one of my “forum heroes”

[gvre]

6 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

So happy that you’re here!

You are one of my “forum heroes”

 

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, you can advise your room steward (a.k.a. Stewart) that you don't need a particular morning or evening service.  Or that you just need some towels changed.  We often don't have Stewart do a full servicing both morning and evening.  You will likely want trash taken out during a voyage as the cans are small and it does mount up. 

 

They are required - or at least want to - change the bed linens every four days (so once for a weekly voyage).  We have had just one change on a 10-nighter before. 

 

You do not go to a "front desk" for cabin supplies or to request a cleaning, etc.  Talk to your steward.  I have found they are quite accommodating.

 

Use the screen at your cabin door to set Green to request service and Red to not enter.

 

 

PS - Congrats of sorts as you have ended up to be my 20,000th post here on Cruise Critic.  I have found this Forum to be extremely helpful over the years and I try to contribute when I can.  Welcome to the Princess Forum.  Look up your Roll Call and participate in that to enrich your experience.

 

ETA - Sorry, no prize.  LOL.

Always enjoy your comments joined in 2000 and just over 2K posts

[antsp]

10 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

In food service there are safe handling protocols and standards set out for washing utensils, plates, and glassware.  Has to be washed at a set temperature and a certain ppm of bleach for sanitizing purposes.  There are protocols and standards for washing food service linens, but many laundry services don’t pay attention to them because the inspectors don’t really check their establishments.  The focus is on where the food establishment itself because that’s where food borne illness and contamination is more likely to happen.  This comes from someone who is a restaurant partner.

So you don't trust Princess then 

[SCX22]

3 minutes ago, antsp said:

So you don't trust Princess then 

Not to wash cloth napkins.  Towels and bed linens are fine because people don’t use those as snot rags.

[antsp]

Just now, SCX22 said:

Not to wash cloth napkins.  Towels and bed linens are fine because people don’t use those as snot rags.

Your comments are disgusting, I will say no more. Enjoy your cruise.