Room Stewards

[Maui Girl]

I agree that the issue is really more the number of people in a cabin and how messy they are. Its no different than a hotel room, some people leave behind total chaos (because we paid for it:confused:) others clean up after themselves like they do at home. Even in a mini suite, we pick up any garbage and put away/organize our belongings each day before we leave, and tip extra at the end of the trip. The cruise lines don't have any way to charge "slobs" extra tips:D

[Coral]

I really have to disagree with you. We have booked every category of cabins. When we book a suite, we don't use any more towels, so don't have to replace. We are very neat, so no picking up after us. We rarely have meals in our room, so no taking out dishes. There is more space in a suite, but that is about it.

 

Tell me again why my tips should be more. We always leave extra tips no matter what cabin we have.

 

Just don't see your logic.

 

I have also booked every type of cabin including suites. Let's see - there is more space to vacuum, more space to dust/wipe down, more coffee tables/end tables to clean, a wet bar, and the bathroom includes both a shower and a tub which both needs to be cleaned (which they often do 2x a day). Inside/outside and balcony cabins just have a shower. Minisuites have a tub/shower combo. The bathrooms alone will require more time to clean as they are more then double the space of other bathrooms in lower categories.

 

Let's see - an inside cabin that is 170 square feet vs a 500 square feet suite. There is a difference and it would be odd to think that it takes the same amount of time to clean 170 square feet compared to 500 plus square feet (up to 1500? square feet for a grand suite). There are also additional suite items that are stocked differently than regular cabins. It does require more time.

[cruiselvr1]

For the most part, stewards are a very hard working bunch... I really appreciate all of the efforts they make to give us a great vacation! :)

I agree. They have always helped make our cruises special.

[ONT-CA]

I'm of the opinion that the steward has a routine, which is followed by rote. He/she can complete that at a certain speed if there is no diversion or distraction. That is why we do not ask for any changes to their routine even though it might in our eyes amount to less work. Towels are changed whether or not they are placed back on the racks so we pile them for easy disposal. Other than that it's sort of, here's our cabin, do your thing.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

One of two things may be the case:

 

1. Some people are always untidy. :eek:

2. Some people know that someone else will do the cleaning and the Cabin Stewards are not complainers.

I think Cabin Stewards do have one of the most difficult jobs onboard. I hope these people who are extremely untidy tip their Cabin Steward really well. I am saying in addition to the auto-tip.

 

Me too. I have never had a bad room steward. Of course, I also don't leave my room in a messy condition (I tend to be tidier onboard than at home LOL). They work too hard for their pay/tips.

[cdngrl]

I also don't leave my room in a messy condition (I tend to be tidier onboard than at home LOL).

me too, i don't want to make more work for them.

 

i haven't always had the best stewards, a couple of times i've had new ones on their first cruise. funny story: i needed conditioner (i am not a fan of the eucalyptus, but that's a whole other thread). i went to have a shower, opened up the bottle and it seemed really thick to me. it was lotion...in fact all i had was lotion. i bring my own now. :)

[PescadoAmarillo]

I have mixed feelings about that. We book suites and as I said before, I put everything away so it doesn't take much time. And since there is more room to move around, it is easy to get around in the suite whereas it is pretty tight in some of the other cabins. That daily tip is shared by many people so the room steward only gets a small amount of it. If you add 50 cents a day, the steward probably wouldn't get 5 cents. I have seen them spend twice as much time in cabins around us. We leave a very nice tip the last day. Maybe everyone isn't like us but there are people in every category cabin that don't leave much of a tip and then some leave very nice tips. We pay more than four times as much as insides so I think that is more than enough.

I'm sure your steward very much appreciates your approach, but I'm not certain you are the norm (in fact I'm pretty sure you're not).

 

I've seen several suites in use, as we were right across the hall from them for 20 nights, and they are much harder used than an inside cabin because their occupants spend so much more time in them (go figure). If the room steward gets $3.00 per day of the normal autotip per person, I still maintain that they are due at least $3.50 per day if not $5.00 per day for suite occupants. There is simply no comparison in the amount of work required between cleaning suites and cleaning inside cabins.

 

For our final cruise last winter, a cabin steward who had been cleaning suites and inside cabins and whom we had gotten to know moved to our section, with balcony cabins and insides. He openly discussed that he was thrilled to get away from the suites. I asked if extra tips didn't make up for the difference in the amount of work and he just smiled and said that, perhaps when people were paying more for their cruise, they didn't feel the need to add to the autotip.

[EdmPair]

Been on one Princess cruise but have seen hotel rooms before. If you are going to live in a small space, it seems to me easier if you neat up after yourself. When you walk past a room while cleaner as inside and see a rats nest of clothes and bottles and garbage, you have to feel for the room steward. Granted they are paid and get tips but that does not mean you should make such a mess.

 

In the planning by the ship, they will set an average number of rooms the steward can handle. They will know some will be disasters and other moderate. Alas, sometimes a steward will get a section of 'slobs' who think the cleaner needs to clean up anything. Pity it is for the same money.

[Wehwalt]

I do not leave an extra tip. That's what the daily service charge is for. If there was none, then I would certainly tip. But I've never stayed in anything above a balcony.

 

I try to make my cabin steward's life relatively easy, at least for my part. I try to keep stuff off the floor. If I took something on a plate back to the room, I will return the plate if I can and not be a problem to him. That sort of thing. Common courtesy. I'm not one of those who spends a lot of time chatting with him, though I try always to call him by name. I think a distressing number of people don't know their cabin steward's name. But I figure he's got better use for that time, if only sleeping.

[1 HappyCruiser]

The worst nightmare for any steward is seeing bunches of kids alone in a room without parents nearby. :eek: It spells a week of hell cleaning up after them.

[tgwabd]

That the people that remove the auto tip are reading this thread, I also have walked by cabins where you could not see the floor, I guess some people live that way.

[snowman]

We are suite passengers (after my wife worked me from inside to balcony and now in full suites. We always tip over and above. Also, before we leave on cruises we buy a small box of Godiva candy and leave it on the bed so he will see it on turn down with a note saying thank you you are doing a great job. We do this on day 3. It puts a smile on their face and they won't forget you.