What makes a good room attedant?

[jaymcc]

Just back from Rhapsody of the Seas, 10 Days South Pacific (Departure Date 13 Dec 2008), review to follow shortly.

 

This was our second cruise, both have been with RCL, however the stateroom attendants were so different between these cruises.

 

Last time we loved her because she was friendly and always willing to have a chat, that was on Liberty and we had a balcony cabin. This time it was Rhapsody (Grand Suite) and we barely saw the attendant. It was like he was invisible. The room was always impeccable, and when we needed to find him he was always around, but very reserved.

 

What are your experiences? In thinking about it, a room attendant who does a great job and you never see seems to me to be the best kind.

 

Jay

[madforcruising]

I know what you are talking about and I´ve had all kinds of cabin attendants. Some are outgoing and friendly, always ready for a chat, while others are more reserved or even unvisible.

 

I take it just as it is and as long as my cabin is serviced as it should I´m a happy camper. It can be nice to have a chat with them once in a while but then Im not a very outgoing person myself and can fully understand this not happening.

[bplazo]

We have always had great service from everyone, however, I do love the friendly and outgoing staff.

[Madkitty]

all it takes for me is a friendly smile and a warm hello - I have come across too many that dont have manners at all and it seems to be getting worse :mad:

[cruiseguy1016]

I will always chat with our attendant if they want to. Some people are just not as outgoing as others. As long as they take care of your cabin properly, that's probably all that matters. You'll find some people are very open while others are more reserved.

[BobBeaSea]

For the OP, this is just a guess but I am thinking your cabin attendant on Rhapsody was a veteran, with many years on the job behind him. I am also thinking your attendant on Liberty doesn't have quite so many years behind her. Your attendant on Rhapsody performed his job exactly the way he was trained - keep the cabin clean and tidy AND stay out of the way of the passengers. The old timers have a knack for this - you never see them. When cruising really took off in the mid to late '90's cruising was available to more and more people and a lot more children started sailing with their parents, passengers wanted more interaction with their attendants. This wasn't a problem for newer employees but some of the old timers weren't comfortable with it as it went against the heart of their original training.

 

My first two cruises were before the explosion in cruising - never saw our cabin attendant but the job performed was perfect. This was exactly as the Captain described their duties at the outset of both sailings. The 3 cruises after those two were well into the "modern era" 2005-2007. Two attendants were very visible, one was not. I did finally see the one who was not, we had a quiet talk and the above is exactly what he said. Some of the old timers are just not comfortable with it.

 

As to which I prefer, I don't care as long as the cabin is looked after properly. :)

[cb at sea]

I don't mind friendly attendants, but as long as the room is cleaned, and I have enough towels, if I never actually see the attendant, that's fine with me. I mean, in a hotel, you seldom see or talk to the housekeeper....

[NanciRDH]

we've had both, and have no preference as long as the room is taken care of. We've laughed about our "stealth attendant" we never saw after original introductions. He probably did the best job keeping after our rooms, even the kid's which always managed to immediately look like a bomb went off. Never had to ask for anything, he just knew what we wanted before we did, and it was there.

[TEXASMUNK]

Give us a clean, well kept cabin and we are happy.

A friendly hello in the hallway or a chance encounter in the cabin is fine, treat the crew with respect and they respond in kind.

 

Most memorable was Elvis on Galaxy on Celebrity. He was our butler....could not do enough and a clever, witty, intelligent guy! Never knew I "needed" so much stuff on a cruise!!!!

 

We alos try to not leave the cabin steward a pig sty to navigate through when they come to do their job...

[BecciBoo]

We have never had a bad attendant. All of them have been super. You have a better chance of seeing them in early morning or late at night. They seem to be about cleaning the passageway and we are early risers so we see a lot of them at that time. If they are conscientious about their jobs, they are too busy to be seen a lot. We like to get acquainted if they do. One of them, on Liberty we got very chummy with and shared hugs when we left. RCCL does an excellent job with their staff, the best in the business IMHO:)

[Woe is me]

A good cabin attendent is there when you aren't, and not there when you are.:rolleyes:

[skyking]

This post made me laugh and remember our attendant on the Navigator...We had a JS and she was the rudest, laziest, person I have ever come in contact with on a cruise. She greeted us on boarding day by telling us what hours she was off, and to please not page her if we need something, but to rather find another cabin steward in the hallway...FOLKS I am not kidding, that was the first thing she said to me. One day in the afternoon I paged her because we had NO towels (weird right) she called me back 10 minutes later and said she was sleeping...I asked her to kindly bring us towels, well she eventually showed up with 1 bathroom towel....At that point, down to the pursers desk I went, lets just say I was glad it was a 4 day sailing.

 

Now on the QM2 recently our cabin attendant was amaaaazing....Always around, always smiling, I had to page him once and was at the door in 3.8 seconds, guess he was in the cabin next door:) Anyways I dont ask for much, keep the ice filled, cabin clean, and give me more than one towel.

 

OHHH one more thing to add, on all other RCCL cruises we have had the best cabin attendants, September last year was by far the BEST!

[acharmedlife]

Well, I have only been on one cruise, but our room attendant was wonderful. She was incredibly sweet and very accommodating. And she was fun to talk to, too. Throughout the course of the week, she managed to figure out that I had a couple things that I enjoyed - eating ice cubes, for example, lol - so she'd always leave a fresh bucket of ice without me asking, etc. And, she was really fun because she made animals out of the fresh towels! A bat, a crab, a sea ray, a monkey... it was great fun. I got a real kick out of it.

[philnpen]

If any one cruises on the Grandeur and gets a bit older gentleman named George, or a young lady named Marva, they will probably have the best room stewards we have ever experienced.

[gerif]

I prefer an invisible attendant who leaves clean towels and ice. Don't really need to have someone stop by to chat. Have only had a couple who were less than stellar - our last one on EOS could have stood improvement. On day one I asked for a few things (ice twice a day, four bath towels, one robe and the missing footstool from the balcony lounge). I was told the footstool was impossible to get (huh?) and she'd "maybe" be able to get a robe (platinum in JS, btw). Ice came sporatically. Needless to say, she got only the basic tip.

[mjldvlks]

Anticipation is a good trait for a cabin attendant. Last fall during our B2B on Monarch, our attendant (Michael) stopped by sometime during the first leg to say he understood we were doing the B2B in the same cabin and that all we had to do was let him know when we were leaving [for the re-checking in process] so he could clean the cabin and that we could leave our things where they were, no need to pack etc. Essentially, he answered all of the FAQs before he was asked. Small thing, but showed he was aware and was looking out for us. Great job.

[glgolfer]

First cruise in 1987 on the Song of Norway, walking down the hall to our cabin. Cabin attendent who we had not met yet in the hall. Saw us coming and opened our cabin door for us. My wife still wants to know how he knew us.

 

We've had all kinds over 20 years and 30+ cruises. Most have been excellent, some have been just OK. But, the cabin has always been clean and whatever we needed has been supplied.

As long as the cabin is clean and well supplied, we don't care what their personality is.

[Rala]

Well, I have only been on one cruise, but our room attendant was wonderful. She was incredibly sweet and very accommodating. And she was fun to talk to, too. Throughout the course of the week, she managed to figure out that I had a couple things that I enjoyed - eating ice cubes, for example, lol - so she'd always leave a fresh bucket of ice without me asking, etc. And, she was really fun because she made animals out of the fresh towels! A bat, a crab, a sea ray, a monkey... it was great fun. I got a real kick out of it.

 

Glad you enjoyed the towel animals. They are fun. All the cabin stewards make them for all the cabins they service, so you can look forward to more fun critters on your next cruise!!

[karena1]

We also have had lots of different personalities. As long as we get towel animals, ice for our cooler we keep in the room, ice for our roller cooler we take out on the islands, and a clean room, we don't really care. We normally end up chatting quite a bit with our attendants just b/c my husband loves to get to know people.

 

Usually before the end of a cruise - he knows 1/2 the ship:D:D:D

[senrab]

First cruise in 1987 on the Song of Norway, walking down the hall to our cabin. Cabin attendent who we had not met yet in the hall. Saw us coming and opened our cabin door for us. My wife still wants to know how he knew us.

 

We've had all kinds over 20 years and 30+ cruises. Most have been excellent, some have been just OK. But, the cabin has always been clean and whatever we needed has been supplied.

As long as the cabin is clean and well supplied, we don't care what their personality is.

 

Just a guess here. Maybe he had already met everyone else on the hallway, and guessed that since he hadn't met you, you must me Mr. and Mrs. Glgolfer... Don't know for sure, of course but...

[glgolfer]

Just a guess here. Maybe he had already met everyone else on the hallway, and guessed that since he hadn't met you, you must me Mr. and Mrs. Glgolfer... Don't know for sure, of course but...

 

And that was back when they didn't have so many cabins to take care of.

It might also have been a lucky guess. No matter how, it was still impressive.

[RoofingPrincess]

On our Jewel cruise two years ago, our cabin attendant was named Leah. She was ALWAYS somewhere nearby the cabins - it was amazing, I wondered if she ever slept!

Not only did she keep our cabin in prime condition, she looked after us as well.

One day on the way back from the Thermal Suite, we decided to hop into the Solarium pool for a few minutes. We didn't have towels with us, so we just wrapped our coverups around us and came dripping back down the hall to the cabin, shivering.

Leah saw us coming and had our door open for us as we got there so we wouldn't have to fumble with our keys!

She also made the BEST towel animals - she was the one who did the demo in the Atrium on our last sea day, and she called my roomie up to be one of the passengers in the demo.

[gbcruise]

We will never forget Bianca on the Voyager. When the seas were rough she gave her seabands to our teen daughter since the ship had run out.....we found out the next morning that she herself had felt very sick because she did without. Needless to say, she is amazing & very compassionate! We wrote a letter direct to the hotel manager & Royal regarding Biana & her extreme selfless service. She also was tipped above the suggested guidelines.

[ownedbypets]

We have always had great attendants until our last cruise. We were in the Presidential Suite and as soon as we arrived our attendant, Chris, introduced himself and then told us that he was very tired and would be back after 3:00 so show us everything in the suite. When he came back he told us that he had been with RCCL for 14 years and this was his last cruise because RCCl had made him sick-too much stress and now mentally unstable!! I had to talk to him because my girls (13,13.13) were uncomfortable around him and refused to be in the cabin without a parent. He asked them about boyfriends, told them their dresses weren't SEXY enough and gave them advice on makeup. He told my mom about his wife in India and that she is a prostitute. I reported him to his supervisor after all of this and the rest of the week there was no eye contact.

[BroncosFan2010]

We had a wonderful attendent on our last cruise. I don't remember his name, but he was the invisible type. That is what I prefer. Introduce me, let me know you schedule, and then just take care of the room. A nice hello is welcome, but we don't have to be chatty.

 

We sometimes leave notes requesting something, or asking a question. We always received answers or found our request to be answered. It was wonderful. I have no complaints!

 

Can't wait to see what we get on this next cruise!