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Does crew attitude change on the last day?


Runaways
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I haven't experienced this personally, but have seen a couple of comments about crew members being friendly, helpful, doing their job well at embarkation and throughout the voyage but then 'turn', as it was described, at the end/debarcation day. I've noticed on our previous mainly Azamara, Celebrity and Cunard voyages that crew are incredibly busy at the end of a cruise and particularly on 'change-over' day. Thinking about it, except for Azamara, there has perhaps been a hint of "we're finished with you now,next please", but put it down to plain 'busyness'. What do you think?

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This is absolutely true, and very unfortunate.

 

In fact, between ourselves, my wife and I have for years used the expression "do a QE2" to describe any situation in which a staff (restaurant wait-staff, ship crew, office team, etc.) has achieved virtual perfection all the way along, but then drop the ball at the very end (for example, "everything was great, the service was spectacular, and then they did a QE2"). Cunard should be careful, since for so many people, it's the final impression that stays with them.

 

We have taken more than a dozen Cunard voyages, and so we know what to expect and it doesn't really bother us. But on the first few trips, when we didn't have the drill down, it was disconcerting how indifferent the staff had suddenly become. And it certainly bursts any illusion that you're somehow special to the crew.

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The staff have a lot of work to do on changeover day, getting everything offloaded/loaded and changing over every stateroom. Unlike some other lines, our stateroom is always ready as soon as we board and someone has had to get every stateroom ready in the time allowed.

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I could not agree more that the staff are very very busy on the last day.But what allways annoys my wife is,we go for breakfast and on return the cabin is allready made up for the next lucky people.It is of course theoretically still your cabin.

 

Rodger.

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I haven't experienced this personally, but have seen a couple of comments about crew members being friendly, helpful, doing their job well at embarkation and throughout the voyage but then 'turn', as it was described, at the end/debarcation day. I've noticed on our previous mainly Azamara, Celebrity and Cunard voyages that crew are incredibly busy at the end of a cruise and particularly on 'change-over' day. Thinking about it, except for Azamara, there has perhaps been a hint of "we're finished with you now,next please", but put it down to plain 'busyness'. What do you think?

 

We have only had one cruise which failed us, that was on the old P & O ship Arcadia in 2003,which only had a couple of more trips to do, but the crew had lost interest they said they would be out of work so nothing to motivate them. On the other hand we did the last Caronia and Q.E.2 the waiters and cabin crew mainly Filipinos still tried to please and smiled till the very end.:confused:

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I could not agree more that the staff are very very busy on the last day.But what allways annoys my wife is,we go for breakfast and on return the cabin is allready made up for the next lucky people.It is of course theoretically still your cabin.

 

Rodger.

 

Our cabin is always ready for us soon after noon and I appreciate change over day is manic for staff so if it makes life easier if our cabin is made up while we're at breakfast, fine. Yes it is still your cabin and there is nothing to stop you using. I have no problem with this.

 

To answer the opening post, wait staff are just as attentive as normal but maybe the busy schedule of some cabin staff may make some passengers mistake their slightly rushed demeanour as 'you're off, next lot please'! We don't. We understand the pressure they are under.

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I could not agree more that the staff are very very busy on the last day.But what allways annoys my wife is,we go for breakfast and on return the cabin is allready made up for the next lucky people.It is of course theoretically still your cabin.

 

Rodger.

 

That annoys me too, especially since on that day my cabin is such a mess when I go to breakfast! I have started putting the "do not disturb" notice on my door if I leave for breakfast on the last morning. I also make sure I exit the cabin for the final time as soon as I can for the benefit of my steward.

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I'd rather have my cabin available as soon as I board, so if that means that the people behind the scenes have to go in to overdrive to achieve this at the expense of a little of the courtesy we've grown accustomed to then so be it.

 

I'm usually too busy sulking to care.

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I think there may be an element of passengers looking for the same depression in the crew that they themselves feel at the end of a cruise - misery loves company.

 

I myself have never seen it - the crew may be busier on that last day, but I have never seen a drop in standards, in fact I suspect they are coached to specifically send passengers off with a big smile, thank you, and "please come back soon".

 

Now if you want to talk about which nationalities make the best (or nicest) crew members that would be a similar but different discussion - in my opinion the Filipino crew members are absolutely amazing, positive, and wonderful - the British crew members are always the exact opposite - rude, negative, and anything but pleasant, and they always seem to be in the purser's office.....

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I also think that courtesy goes two ways too. Anyone who's ever worked in the service industry knows that while we all try to keep our customers happy there are always some who give scant regard to those who are trying to work, wether it be those who linger in the restaurant when everyone is trying to clear up so that they can "get home for the night" to those who don't vacate their cabin right until the deadline because they want somewhere to leave their coat.

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My carry-off bag is always in the stateroom until the last minute. As I walk out on the way to breakfast, I explain to my steward that my bag is in there but he is welcome to make up the bed. However, I will be using the bathroom on my return. This way he knows where he stands. All my stewards have given me big smiles about this situation.

 

I am aware from experience that the stateroom door is likely to be left open so I make sure that I don't leave anything of value in there. My jewellery is always in the handbag that I carry with me.

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I think there may be an element of passengers looking for the same depression in the crew that they themselves feel at the end of a cruise - misery loves company...................

..

I never thought of it like that, but it's an excellent observation.

 

On disembarkation day there's no doubt that the crew are all primed and ready for their hardest day of any segment and they don't waste any time getting stuck in. In my experience they seem to be very distant while prepping to move on to the next batch of demanding passengers while we are moping around with a load of people who want to jump the planned order of things to get off the ship and get back to their own bed. It's like the last day at school but without a six week holiday to look forward to.

 

But I've also found that even a very modest tip, or even better if accompanied by a thank you note, brings cabin staff looking for you to say goodbye, offer best wishes and maybe proffer a hug. Once, I even ended up walking off ship with a full (and very heavy) set of Sunday newspapers that had been hurriedly gathered up and stuck in my arms with a smile.

 

Maybe it's because I'm a Brit and they never expect to get a tip from us!

 

 

 

.

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I am wondering how busy the crew is on last day; or more accurately change over day. They have to shift 2,000 or more suitcases down into the hold and get them securely put onto pallets ready for offloading. This of course starts at about time second sitting is being served so the waiters do not help until probably after 10pm ohh and I forgot people put a second suitcase out at midnight. So they might be moving all this stuff round quietly until about 3am while I am asleep. Then in the morning I go to breakfast at 6.30am; god knows why it's so early as this is a tad inconvenient for me as I like a lie in, and say hello to the waiters who look dog tired and then there are the guys that clean the cabins and re-configure beds to the new twin/double formats and bring on the new suitcases from the subsequent passenger group and sort them out into precise cabin locations and leave them outside the doors and the smart stewards that move them into the cabins to free the corridor up to do their cleaning round. Cant think why they could possibly feel a bit down after I cancel their tips because I am actually thinking it's a brilliant idea as it will save me some money. Anyone got any idea how the next load of food and general supplies works?

 

Regards John

Edited by john watson
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I have always felt 'in the way' and pretty much ignored on disembarkation day by crew who have spent the last 14 or so days practically falling over you to be helpful. I am sure it is because they are very busy at such times but you do feel a bit like yesterday's news

 

"Yesterday's news" is an apt term - that is precisely what departing passengers are. On turn-over day, the staff have two bunches of passengers to be concerned about - the ones they are cleaning up after and the ones for whom they are readying things. Of course they wish you would just leave - and let them get on with things. Any time they have to waste being courteous to a departing passenger is time taken away from making things perfect for people with whom they will be dealing for the next week or so --- who do you suppose will be topmost in their minds?

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I don't mind leaving the cabin early, we usually take our carryon's and head up to breakfast early at the buffet... then head to where we wish to be to waut ti leave the ship... we give our Room Steward a extra tip as we leave, they are already working even though it is early on the last day.

 

What I don't like is when the Room Steward takes items from the cabin the day before to help them getting the cabin ready. Another thing that has happened to us a few times is the steward may tell us they will be leaving the cruise early i.e., being transferred to another ship in the line, at a port a day or two before the end of the cruise... just a ploy to get us to give them the extra tip money early... in every case, they did not leave the ship.

 

These folks are hard workers, very good and what they do in most cases and very good at "working the passengers" to their advantage. I don't blame but I am on them too.

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It does not bother me how rushed we are made to feel on day of departure.I am in a mindset you get going anyway.

We recently did a Regent cruise for a special occasion,and were due for disembarkation on a Saturday,but on Friday, things were not replaced in our cabin.mini bar,fruit,nibbles,shampoos etc. It felt like the whole ship shut down for disembarkation 24 hours too early. One reason we will be reluctant to use them again.

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I still find it amazing that a ship is turned around in such a short time. In our early sea travel days (1970s) this was never the case. Ships often stayed overnight in port and those that had a same-day turnaround did not board until 3:00 p.m. The pressure on the crew is enormous. We have no problem with our stateroom being prepared for the next guests whilst we are at breakfast. We ask the steward to leave us the soap and one hand towel.

 

Although understandable, one minor annoyance is Cunard's reduced breakfast menu on arrival day. Even in the Grills my wife's request for poached eggs has been refused because it is not on the menu.

 

We recently took a Holland America cruise to Alaska. Overall we are anxious to be back on Cunard, but they do some things very well. On arrival day the full breakfast menu and even room service is available. Also, passengers are invited to occupy their staterooms until their disembarkation time - even if it is 10:00. Embarkation starts at 11:30 with staterooms ready. I don't know how they do it.

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...passengers [on HAL] are invited to occupy their staterooms until their disembarkation time - even if it is 10:00. Embarkation starts at 11:30 with staterooms ready. I don't know how they do it.

 

If I understand correctly from other postings, one can board a HAL ship but not necessarily go to one's stateroom immediately. Arriving passengers often have to wait in public spaces until their staterooms are ready for occupancy - thus the observations of seeing passengers carrying or dragging their overnight bags about the ship.

 

Those rooms have to be vacated in one way or another. Personally, I prefer Cunard's trade off. The convenience of getting settled upon boarding is more of an upside versus staying there until the last minute.

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Our cabin is always ready for us soon after noon and I appreciate change over day is manic for staff so if it makes life easier if our cabin is made up while we're at breakfast, fine. Yes it is still your cabin and there is nothing to stop you using. I have no problem with this.

 

To answer the opening post, wait staff are just as attentive as normal but maybe the busy schedule of some cabin staff may make some passengers mistake their slightly rushed demeanour as 'you're off, next lot please'! We don't. We understand the pressure they are under.

 

So someone could return to the cabin, which is still theirs, and use the loo or lie on the bed and you really wouldn't mind 😉

 

Have to say that on all our cruises we have got the same impression that they cannot wait to get rid of us and yes I know that turnaround day is busy but a farewell smile or two would hurt no-one.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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Just to again repeat: the cruise line needs to do something so passengers don't disembark with a final negative impression. If it means hiring some extra crew for turnaround day, then so be it.

 

The fare we pay covers the entire experience, not just until the evening before disembarkation.

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So someone could return to the cabin, which is still theirs, and use the loo or lie on the bed and you really wouldn't mind

 

Have to say that on all our cruises we have got the same impression that they cannot wait to get rid of us and yes I know that turnaround day is busy but a farewell smile or two would hurt no-one.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Why would I mind what?

 

If the cabin had been made in our absence? I'd try to keep off the bed as we have a sofa and chairs but we always use the bathroom after breakfast. It's still our cabin and if we didn't want it touched, we'd put the do not disturb notice on the door.

 

Strange business these lost last day/farewell smiles. We always get them. Often a hug too if the staff are known to us from previous cruises. Maybe it's because we're a smiley pair of passengers who appreciate all which is done for us and the staff are aware of that. :)

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