What do you ask the cabin steward to do/ bring you?

[5326jan]

Is it necessary to ask for fresh ice daily, deck blankets for the balcony, fruit, etc? I plan to tip my steward on the first day, in addition to the "regular tipping", but I'd like to ask them once for everything I need rather than constantly asking.

 

What are your usual requests? We leave in 3 days, so I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

 

Thanks! OH, we'll be on the Coral Princess. :D

[Ashland]

Is it necessary to ask for fresh ice daily, deck blankets for the balcony, fruit, etc? I plan to tip my steward on the first day, in addition to the "regular tipping", but I'd like to ask them once for everything I need rather than constantly asking.

 

What are your usual requests? We leave in 3 days, so I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

 

Thanks! OH, we'll be on the Coral Princess. :D

Ice will probably be replaced twice a day..no need to ask...Deck blankets..never saw anyone use these...fruit plate..must order from roomservice and there will be a charge...Just take a few pieces of fruit from the Buffet daily...Don't worry about asking for anything or you can always leave them a note...They are there to please...Have a great cruise !!!:)

[4_THE_HALIBUT]

Well, on the last full day, I ask for a scale so I can weigh my luggage and rearrange as necessary!

 

The first time I see my cabin attendant, I ask for ice, soap and shampoo. I also request that the decorative things they lay across the bed be removed. So far, that request has been met each day on all the cruises I have taken.

[cavecreekguy]

On HAL I gave our cabin steward a $20 on the first day and asked for "lots of ice". He ended up filling the ice bucket as well as one of those wine chilling buckets every time the room was serviced. I use a lot of ice! Didn't ask for blankets or fruit.

 

If you have to ask every day I would say you don't have a very good cabin steward, regardless of whether or not you tip the first day.

[5326jan]

Well, on the last full day, I ask for a scale so I can weigh my luggage and rearrange as necessary!

 

The first time I see my cabin attendant, I ask for ice, soap and shampoo. I also request that the decorative things they lay across the bed be removed. So far, that request has been met each day on all the cruises I have taken.

 

 

By decorative things, do you mean the bedspread? I would also like that removed. We call hotel bedspreads a "booger blanket" in our family, b/c we know that they are never washed! :eek: YUCK!!!

[4_THE_HALIBUT]

Yep, also ask them the remove the bedspread. To me, it's too much hassle to remove it and lay it across a chair when I take my afternoon nap! I know others feel their rooms are not made up if there is not a bedspread, but I'm on vacation and it's all about comfort. Now if Princess would only come out with comfortable mattresses!

[mrsraggy]

I had never thought to have the steward remove the bedspreads. Hotel bedspreads gross me out. I usually shoved them under the beds. Now I know better!

 

These boards have the best tips.

 

Karin:D

[Lovincruisin1321]

Ask him to make you cool towel animals!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

On my last two Princess cruise we had a card to fill out asking what kind of fruit we would like kept in the room. It was always there and there was never a charge!:)

[KAYEF]

I always ask for extra hangers when I meet him...............some people ask for power strips.

On HAL, there's no charge for fruit. You used to have a silver basket full of it when you got to your cabin. Now, the basket, a knife and a plate are there and a card on which you check the fruits you want.

If you get a fruit plate from Room Service there is not a charge. Room Service is 24/7............no charge...............my grandson was excited to order "in the middle of the night"..........we were always too busy, etc. so about the sixth night I said if he was going to do it, he'd better. When we got back to the cabin after midnight he ordered a hamburger and my DIL and I shared one of their delicious club sandwiches. Just what you need on a cruise..............more food in the middle of the night!

There are always bathrobes in the HAL cabins but some people ask for a larger one. There's fresh twice a day, without asking.

[Budget Queen]

If there are deck blankets they will be in a bin, usually outside the pool deck.

 

I take my own luggage up to the spa for the few times I've weighted it.

 

Ice is automatic.

 

Some cruiselines do supply fruit, otherwise, take what you want from the buffet, or with room service, be sure to tip.

[MercedMike]

For all the years we have cruised, the service we have gotten from cabin stewards has been just outstanding!

 

I am very sad that the last few cruises it is beginning to deteriorate.

 

So now -- the first time our cabin steward comes in -- I specifically ask him to remember to put our luggage under the bed that evening, and to fill our ice bucket every time he services the room. We should not have to ask that, but we do. I also ask for extra pillows. On Princess we pre-order an eggcrate and I check to be sure it will be there.

 

Last cruise we even had trouble with the fruit order not being filled every day. That should not happen. Room service is complimentary on every cruise line I know of so ordering fruit from Room service should not cost anything ... it is just a hassle that we should not have to go through.

 

We never ask for deck blankets for the balcony, but I guess you could. Seems to me on some ships they have been in the closet. HAL always used to have robes in the cabin automatically but lately I think you have to ask for them -- Princess too.

 

Now I am of the very strong opinion that if the cruise line (as almost all of them do) sets the tip amount and automatically charges it to our room, we should NOT have to tip extra for the expected excellent level of service. And the practice of tipping in advance as a form of bribery is abhorrent to me, and if I ever get the feeling that this is expected I will be complaining long and loud to the front desk and the home office.

 

Service aboard ship is still head and heels far above anything you can expect on shore, even at the best hotels.

 

And incidentally we bought a small portable luggage scale and it is one of the best things we have.

[Putterdude]

On Princess ships you will find fresh ice in a bucket in your fridge twice a day...if you need more than call room service. If it is not in your cabin then ask your steward for a card on which you request fruit...sometimes if you ask that they replenish the fruit daily they will do so but as often as not you have do fill out a card each night and hang it on your door...as an alternative you may want to order enough fruit to last you a few days. As Princess's mattresses are very, very firm you may want to ask your steward to place a foam eggcrate topper on your mattress. As for tipping, most people tip at the end of the cruise.

[pamesacruisin]

Ask him to make you cool towel animals!

 

On our first 2 NCL cruises, I loved the towel animals waiting in our room each evening! On our last Cruise, the Diamond Princess, there were never any towel animals, and the front desk told me they don't do them. Does that apply to all Princess ships? We did get (free) fresh fruit for the asking.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

On Princess ships you will find fresh ice in a bucket in your fridge twice a day...if you need more than call room service. If it is not in your cabin then ask your steward for a card on which you request fruit...sometimes if you ask that they replenish the fruit daily they will do so but as often as not you have do fill out a card each night and hang it on your door...as an alternative you may want to order enough fruit to last you a few days. As Princess's mattresses are very, very firm you may want to ask your steward to place a foam eggcrate topper on your mattress. As for tipping, most people tip at the end of the cruise.

I agree about Princess' beds. You have to ask for the egg crate very early as they sometimes go quickly!

 

I also tip at the end of the cruise and add extra if the service was above and beyond. I agree with MercedMike - to tip in advance is bribery. I expect excellent service - and so does the cruiseline. I have had waiters/stewards who go beyond excellent without a bribe. Those are the ones who deserve the extra amount, IMHO.

[luvlake]

On our first 2 NCL cruises, I loved the towel animals waiting in our room each evening! On our last Cruise, the Diamond Princess, there were never any towel animals, and the front desk told me they don't do them. Does that apply to all Princess ships? We did get (free) fresh fruit for the asking.

 

When we were on the Coral I never received any towel animals. But for some reason my grand daughters in my daughters room did!:) Guess we know who counts. Our steward at three little girls at home and was very nice to my grand daughters and they loved the towel animals and nice things he did for them. He was great!:)

[goinmobile68]

RCI-7 nights & NEVER saw a steward. Room service cheese plate-2 of 5 pieces moldy-and they weren't blue cheese! Talked to guest services & ended up running 4 floors up to get water/ice to take meds every day. Oh well, I DID lose weight on board!

[travelbuds]

 

Curious how you order this--by phone?? And how do you check that it will be there? Extra cost? Thanks.

[Putterdude]

Curious how you order this--by phone?? And how do you check that it will be there? Extra cost? Thanks.

 

You can send them a FAX but frankly we have tried this without success and now just see our steward just as soon as we are aboard and have him get us one...but do as soon as you are aboard as there is a finite number of them on each ship. There is no cost for the eggcrate topper.

[Denali2003]

When we fill out our cruise personalizer with Princess (on line) You can request certain things. In April I requested fruit in our cabin. There was a bowl waiting for us when we checked in.

This time we are traveling with 2 teenagers (15 & 17), so we requested fruit again and bath robes. The girls were excited about the fruit.

Since there will be 4 of us, the bowl will be plenty (for the first day). The girls love to eat fruit. They will probably order a bowl every day to eat in the morning. They will have their own cabin.

On the Royal Princess we had used the bottle of water that they put out for you (and have to pay for). It wasn't until the 2nd to last night that they put another out. We never thought to ask. This time, if we use the water and want another one, we will ask - but we shouldn't have to.

For towel animals. We have cruised 4 times and only had the animals once. We took the girls to the Caribbean in 2007. We had separate cabins and they were 5 cabin apart. So we had two different stewards. Mine didn't do anything special. DH's was great. She made the animals every day. I know they are not suppose to do this, but ---- if there was a bracelet or pair of sunglasses on the night stand, she would use them to accessorize the animals. It was quite cute and we did not mind her doing that. She was real nice and we gave her something extra at the end of the cruise.

I wonder something: have you ever gotten a "sob story" from your steward? DH's in 2007 told us that she was on the ship for 6 months and she had a 10 month old baby at home. She was growing up without her. The stewardess was suppose to be going home in 2 weeks, but was just told that she had to stay on board for another 3 months.

Do you wonder if these stories are true or do they just say that to get extra money?

We like how some of the staff knows you by name when they see you walking around the ship. You have to wonder how can they remember your name with 3,000+ people on board. It really is the simple things that matter.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I wonder something: have you ever gotten a "sob story" from your steward? DH's in 2007 told us that she was on the ship for 6 months and she had a 10 month old baby at home. She was growing up without her. The stewardess was suppose to be going home in 2 weeks, but was just told that she had to stay on board for another 3 months.

Our waiter on our last cruise (RCI - Mariner of the Seas) was one of the best we have ever had. She was 30 years old and had a 6 month old baby at home (Phillipines). I felt that was very sad, but she did not give us a sob story at all. She was very happy & proud of the baby. We asked her to show us pictures so the next day she brought several of her family. Her husband was staying home with the baby and they lived with his parents. The baby was very loved and well cared for. I personally cannot imagine living this way - away from my child. However, people do what they need to do and she was very proud that she could support her family in this way. We also gave her an extra tip. Not because of the baby, but because of her EXCELLENT service.:D

[Dinda]

We were recently on deck 8 on Radiance going to Alaska and had a wonderful cabin steward. He came by right after we got in the cabin and welcomed us aboard. I asked for ice and in just a few minutes he was back with it and I never had to ask for it again because it was always there for us. We saw him in the hallway several times during the day or evening and he was always smiling and friendly. We left a note one time to ask for the bedspread to be removed and a light blanket for our bed as the bedspread was too heavy, but we needed something to cover with other than the top sheet. He had it on our bed that evening. We were very pleased with the service we received from him (and we did get animal towels).

[travelbuds]

Thanks.

Have just put this on my "to do" list.

[travelbuds]

 

We leave a post-it to remind them to leave 3-4 bottles of water out for us each day. Works out well for us.

[Denali2003]

Travelbuds - I see that you are going to AK in May. We leave for ours out of Seattle this Saturday. The cruise leaves this Sunday. This is our 2nd time there. Our first cruise was just me & DH. We did the 7 day Inside Passage from Vancouver to Seward. Then a 4 day land tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks. We stopped in Denali & Mt. McKinley. I LOVED the land tour. The cruising is nice, but I'd rather just do a land tour vacation. DH loves the cruising part.

This time we are taking DH's daughters 15yr old & 17 yr old. They've never been.

This is our 5th cruise and our first with an interior cabin. In order for us to afford to take the girls, we had to book the lowest category interior cabin. We did not pick our cabins, we're just guaranteed 2 cabins - at least a category M on Deck 5 at the front of the ship (we're on the Sapphire Princess).

When we did the Inside Passage (2003) we had a mini-suite. Great viewing from our balcony.