Room Steward Horror Stories

[Tbay-eh]

Lol! You're assuming people only sleep in their beds.

 

We don't just sleep either but if I changed the sheets every time - well I'd be doing laundry almost every day.

[Zoey]

Sounds to me like you had "high maintenance" expectations.

 

The room steward has lots of other cabins to service.....he isn't at your beck and call.

 

I'm not seeing any "horror" here......just someone who paid $ for a vacation and expected to be treated as if he spent $$$$.

 

 

"Give me a C....give me an A.......give me a R........."

[Brenna's Mom1]

I've stayed at any number of hotels from mid-price to luxurious 5 star establishments and I don't think I have ever known the name of or thought about the staff that cleaned my room. If I want ice I either walk to the ice machine or if I feel rich I'll call room service and have them deliver it. If I choose to stay in bed until 1pm I can be pretty certain that I won't get my room made up for the day since most cleaning personnel are off by then. If the maid forgets anything and I have seen their cart in the halls I just go and grab what I need if no one is around or I call the front desk and "eventually" housekeeping will bring it up. If I drop and break something, especially in a public place, I pick it up the best I can and then inform someone of my accident. If I suspect I may be "missing something" like a schedule in the stack of papers left on the desk...I'll walk down to the concierge desk and find out the information...or sometimes I'll just call them.

 

So...getting on a ship is the same. I don't expect my steward to be my personnel butler. In fact, I am always amazed at how much they really do do for me during the cruise and how many things they get so right. Having been really sick on a cruise I can attest for how wonderful these people are. Being stuck in a cabin for 3 straight days where my steward made sure I got "hot" meals and my tea pot was never empty I have nothing but good things to say.

[MsTabbyKats]

"Give me a C....give me an A.......give me a R........."

 

Sorry to disappoint you...

 

I'm just a very lucky person (business wise) who would never treat anyone who was hired to do "menial work" and getting "menial pay" as my servant.

 

The steward is there to do a job....he/she isn't there to give me personalized service.

 

I can still empty a fridge, look for a menu etc all by myself.

 

When I'm paying "so little" and "getting so much"......I'd be willing to even clean the room myself for that price! (Shhh......don't tell Carnival) :)

[dolphiness]

Not a "horror" story, but felt a little apprehensive afterwards! We went to our cabin, found a bag with air fresheners and a case of bottled water, still wrapped in plastic. So not wanting to assume anything we called the desk, they sent an officer up to check it out. He talked for awhile, very nice, then decided the previous passengers must have left it. He asked if we wanted it removed and my daughter said no, if it's o.k, we'll keep it cause we both drink alot of water! Well, not 10 min. after he left a little female rushed thru the door without even knocking and snatched up the stuff, yelling .....dis fo me...dis fo me!!! And looking at me like I stole her children!!! I told her fine, if she wanted it and that was all we saw of her! Our cabin was kept fine, towels, ice, and so forth. But never a word or a sign of her the whole time! Just a little wierd!!! Other than her, everyone we've ever had has spoken to us in the halls and said our names and smiled! Maybe she was new?? Don't know! And NO we did not take our tips back.

[OKCruiseMan]

We've only been on a few cruises and never had any bad problems, but some have been much better than others. So, I guess I could believe there could be bad examples.

 

We always try to add add'l tip money during the cruise, but that doesn't seem to always make that much of a difference. I consider the "automatic" tips just part of the cost, but try to use our add'l tips to show good service can be appreciated. Our best service was on our first cruise and I didn't add any add'l tips (didn't know then what I know now). Wish I had a do-over.

[rlkubi]

I have gone on 18 cruises and never had a bad room steward. Some were very quiet but always cleaned the room, etc. However, I'm not high-maintenance either. I empty the mini-bar myself and don't ask for ice in anything but the ice bucket. If we "sleep in" until 9ish I don't even expect them to clean the room. To me once would be enough :). They all work very hard and I appreciate not having to do it myself! I'm cruising and on vacation!

[fergusonvt]

I certainly don't think of the cabin steward as a servant but people have posted stories of getting charged for the contents of the mini fridge if they empty it themselves. That is the main reason I always ask the steward to empty it. I also think getting daily ice in the room is part of their job. I don't feel like I paid just a little for my cruise. With the cabin's I choose it is just as expensive as a nice land based vacation and I expect the same type of service that I would from a chamber maid in a nice hotel. Ice, clean sheets and fresh towels at a minimum.

[Tapi]

If I drop and break something' date=' especially in a public place, I pick it up the best I can and then inform someone of my accident.[/quote']

 

Since I wrote about my experience with a broken item on my previous post, I'll reply to this comment. :)

 

I agree, if something breaks, specially in a public place, I'd do my best to contain it and inform a crew member as soon as possible.

 

Unfortunately, my experience with this situation involved a cabin steward who physically and verbally tried to restrain us in our cabin, who then attempted to get us in trouble with the staff by accusing is of bogus charges, and who then stalked us in an attempt to intimidate us.

 

I do agree that the vast majority of cabin stewards do an exceptional job, even more considering that Carnival is a budget cruise line. Except for this one bad experience, every cabin steward we've had has done a great job.

[Cruachan]

I feel the same way when someone uses "the boy" instead of "my son".

 

Don't know if the OP comes from the right hand side of the Atlantic, but "the wife" is very common usage in UK, especially in Scotland.

 

J

[lizziez00]

why do you use the term.."the wife" and not.."my wife"?

 

This is what I don't understand.

lololol... My husband and I have this discussion all the time about his friends talking about their wives...at least after 20 years ,mine is smart enough not to use that term AROUND me !!!

[PCHENG]

I have had less than satisfactory stewards, but none that would rise to the level of a "horror story".

 

My last cruise, Carnival Spirit to Alaska May of 2012, my 2 year old daughter got a throat infection shortly after leaving Vancouver, and we had to spend a large amount of time staying in the cabin to accompany and take care of the baby. We wanted her to get as much sleep as possible so she can make a quick recovery, and we told the steward not to come in and clean the room because the noise of the vaccum will disrupt the baby's sleep. The steward doesn't seem to understand our instructions, and he would knock on the door every hour (even though we had the no disturb sign out) asking if we are going out and he can clean our room, which obviously is not helping matters because it wakes the baby up and prevents her from getting a full rest. I thought about reducing the tip, but decided against it eventually as I know he is simply trying to do his job.

[Lovefuninthesun]

We have never had anything but pleasant, helpful stewards.:)

Some of them have been more outgoing than others, but all have been thorough and amenable.

 

On our most recent cruise aboard the Freedom, the steward was great and went above and beyond -- for example, he remembered my request on the first night for a Diet Coke, and always kept some in the fridge and our ice bucket was always fresh and full. We couldn't leave the cabin for a second without returning to clean towels! And he always energetically greeted us by name in the hallway.

 

I know there must be some bad apples out there, but our experience has always been good service, but in response to our genuine thanks and gracious attitude. I expect there is a link between the attitude of the guest and the service staff -- same goes for MDR service, IMHO.

[Tbay-eh]

Don't know if the OP comes from the right hand side of the Atlantic, but "the wife" is very common usage in UK, especially in Scotland.

 

J

 

I think sometimes it is a generational thing as well as "old country" - my FIL was Ukrainian and would always call our son by his name but our daughter was "the girl". It use to bother me that he would not call her by name but I knew he loved her and treated her exactly the same so I finally just let it go. I absolutely hate it when someone refers to "the wife" as the "old lady" - I will instantly call them an old goat and will continue to do so until they stop.

[MrPete]

Don't know if the OP comes from the right hand side of the Atlantic, but "the wife" is very common usage in UK, especially in Scotland.

 

J

 

It's also common of the left side of the Atlantic.

[scperk]

Two words--Hotel Director...........Dennis

[pattimelt]

SO glad I've never had a bad steward!! For some reason, I have pretty good luck on meeting my steward as soon as I get to my room or shortly thereafter, and while the group I cruise and room with are not demanding in the least, we only ask for 2 things.. keep the cooler filled with ice each day, and please, once you make a towel animal for me, could I keep them until the last day?? I like keeping my "zoo" and take individual pictures of them each day, and then a couple of the final zoo on the last night. We DO tip extra to our stewards, too, as there are 5 of us in a GS.

 

This one steward I met a couple cruises ago, wish I could find him again!! One morning, he came to clean the room, and I was still in the room, and he asked if I would mind if he cleaned while I was there, and while he cleaned, we talked and talked and talked.. Nicest guy ever!! Learned a lot about his favorite ship and ports and stuff that normal people wouldn't hear about.

[nitro2448]

I have never had a bad room steward, I'm not saying there are not any bad ones, just never had one. And even though room steward's should always remain professional, some passengers can make that difficult. When someone asks for something a little extra,give them $2 or $3, it won't break you but can make a big difference in the service you receive. Look your room over before you bother you're steward, if you tell them something is not in your room when it really is, especially multiple times, they might get irritated. The room stewards are some of the hardest working people on the ship. When I read how quickly some you people take back you're tips, kinda tells me what kind of person you probably are, you take back you're tips because you didn't get an " extra " wash cloth, really ? Maybe he didn't have any when you asked, but intended on bringing you one later, and just forgot, remember they are very busy.

[jlk806]

We never met our cabin steward on our cruise, but our rooms were kept very clean the whole time. No complaints.

 

I think from the OP's post the main fault of the steward was the rudeness. I think a couple of the expectations were a little high. But it is not unreasonable to expect you will be treated and talked to with respect (assuming you do the same!)

[kristy29]

On our cruise on the Imigination in 2002 we had a bad steward. One night my brother in law got sick and vomited in his bed. When we informed the steward and asked for clean sheets he said no he didn't have any more king sheets. Um, so were he and my sister supposed to sleep in vomit for the rest of the week?? Needless to say we did remove his tips for that one, and it was deservedly so!

 

As for the pp who said if they want the sheets changed they remove them, that's gross. I have no problem sleeping in the bed but I'd rather not see the mattress. If I were to see anything on that mattress I would not be able to sleep for the rest of the cruise. Although I do agree with the person who said they don't need their sheets changed on a 7 day cruise. I don't change my sheets at home everyday so I don't need it done when I'm away either.

[nitro2448]

"Give me a C....give me an A.......give me a R........."

 

Post you're own opinion and look out, here comes the " CHEERLEADER " comments. Lol, please

[qbanrican84]

I've only had ONE steward from hell. It was on my first Carnival cruise back in 1994 aboard the Tropicale. It almost made me choose to NEVER cruise on Carnival again.

 

It all started on the first day as we were getting ready to disembark at our first port of call, and I knocked a glass on the floor as I was walking out of the room. The cabin steward was in the hallway and heard the glass shatter so he walked right over. I was expecting for him to say something like "don't worry, I'll take care of it!". Instead he said something along the lines of "You are not going anywhere until YOU clean that up!". I was a bit dumbfounded, but I told him that if he wasn't cleaning it, I would need to do so after I returned from my shore excursion (I was hurrying out the door). He would not have it and physically blocked the door to prevent me from leaving the room. This was the only time I've ever felt the need to put a cabin steward in his place. I told him that I was paying HIM to clean that up and that I was leaving. I pushed my way out of the room, fuming.

 

That night, I decided to stay in the cabin and study (I was in my last year of college, taking summer courses and I had actually taken a week off school to go on this family cruise) and needless to say, I needed to keep up with my studies if I wanted to pass my classes. Well, the next morning, an officer knocks on the door and claims that there were many complaints of loud partying coming from my cabin late into the night. :confused: I explained to the officer that I had been in the cabin studying all by myself and that not even the TV was on. He didn't believe me. So I asked who had filed the complaint, and the officer said that our CABIN STEWARD had received the complaints and reported them!:mad:

 

I was angry, and I explained to this officer that apparently this steward had some bone to pick with me and that the accusation was bogus. I demanded to speak to the Hotel Director so I was able to have a sit down conversation in his office. I explained to him what had occurred the day before and that I did not want someone like him cleaning my cabin and having access to my things (call me paranoid, but if this steward had lied about me partying it up, next thing he could "find drugs" in my cabin or some other bogus charge). I demanded to be moved to a different cabin but the ship was full. The Hotel Director agreed to give us a different cabin steward though.

 

Even though we had a new cabin steward, the old one kept lurking and stalking us. He would stand in the hallway and give us a "what?!" attitude with arms up, trying to intimidate us. If our new cabin steward was around, the old steward would say something to our new steward in his ear and point at us.

 

Even though that was the extent of his intimidating behavior for the rest of the cruise. It made for a very uncomfortable rest of the week. I couldn't relax, and I was always returning to the cabin to search and make sure that all of my things were there, or that nothing out of the ordinary had been left in the cabin.

 

Thankfully, this experience was a ONE time thing, and I've never experienced anything remotely like it. For many years, I shied away from Carnival due to the experience, but thankfully I returned. If I hadn't, I would've missed on many wonderful cruises since that first experience. :)

 

 

Holy crap, now THAT's a horror story! :eek:

[nitro2448]

@Kristy29, Just out of curiosity, what do you think you might see ? Possibly a " vomit " stain from the previous passenger ? And don't you think it would be gross for the room steward to remove sheets you're brother in-law vomited in ? Out of courtesy I think I'd remove them.

[tef43]

It's also common of the left side of the Atlantic.

As is "the old ball and chain." :rolleyes:

 

The best room stewards we ever had were the ones we never ever saw. They did their job and stayed out of our way. Couldn't ask for anything more.

[leadout_kv]

I also don't expect the room stewards to be my personal butler. I don't mind doing things myself.

 

One question with regards to the fridge. I have read that if a passenger does not have the steward remove the chargeable items that are in the fridge the passenger runs the risk of being charged for some or even all the items. Can anyone confirm this?