Cabana Boys - Do they exist?

[cruisin'sz]

Some folks seem to have wonderful experiences with cabana boys while others say they barely exist. Is it merely a tipping issue or do some people confuse cabana boys with butlers?

 

Bottom line - when you rent a cabana - does a cabana boy come with it? And if so, how many cabanas is one cabana boy supposed to serve?

[spcl4cs_gal]

The only time one cabana gets their very own cabana boy/butler is when you pay for the butler service. If you don't you usually have to share one cabana boy with three other cabanas.

[Iggipolka]

This is completely a language thing..and I want to emphasize that I don't mean to step on anyones toes or be snarky. It's just the term "cabana boy"....these are grown men with families who work so hard for their paycheck. They certainly aren't boys..and I know, that the term "cabana boy" is an old one, but could we try and phase it out? Maybe it's just me, but it makes me really uncomfortable.

 

Now..as to your question, if you purchase the Butler package for the cabana, you'll have a butler to assist with your every need throughout the day. Otherwise, there's one staff person to every 3 or 4 cabanas.

 

MMm..I want to be on HMC right now. :)

[ryansmemom]

This is completely a language thing..and I want to emphasize that I don't mean to step on anyones toes or be snarky. It's just the term "cabana boy"....these are grown men with families who work so hard for their paycheck. They certainly aren't boys..and I know, that the term "cabana boy" is an old one, but could we try and phase it out? Maybe it's just me, but it makes me really uncomfortable.

 

Now..as to your question, if you purchase the Butler package for the cabana, you'll have a butler to assist with your every need throughout the day. Otherwise, there's one staff person to every 3 or 4 cabanas.

 

MMm..I want to be on HMC right now. :)

 

 

Thanks Iggy,

 

This has been a pet peeve of mine too. I find the term offensive. I also find the term "cabin boy" offensive as well. Several people use this term regularly and it's like chalk on a chalk board to me. I have wanted to say something but you opened the door.

 

Linda

[S.S.Oceanlover]

When we cruised on the Zuiderdam last week the cabin steward knocked an introduced himself stating that he would be our cabin boy.

 

Also on Half Moon Cay when the cabana guy finally came around and introduced himself at 1pm he also stted he was our cabana boy. :confused:

 

That was the one and only time we saw the cabana guy all day. Needless to say he didn't receive a tip. He fixed us though by letting the ship know we had 5 at our cabana. We were charged an extra $45 for the day.

 

That was my one lowlight of the cruise. Ever the air not working in our suite for the first couple of days didn't stop us from having fun. :)

 

Bill

[Krazy Kruizers]

S.S.Oceanlover

Which suite were you in on the Zuiderdam where the air-conditioning didn't work for the first couple of days?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We were in 5186. It was on and the thermostat was turned to the coolest setting but it sure didn't cool the room satisfactorily. They gave us a fan which helped immensely. Finally after day 2 they got it where it was working pretty good.

 

Bill

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for answering.

Glad you were able to get a fan to help cool you down.

[trubey]

There have been a bunch of discussions on the board about the employees of HAL and how we should refer to them. I vote we start referring to them as 'HAL employees' and dispense with describing them solely by their relative positions, viz., "the HAL employee who worked our Cabana on HMC", or "the HAL employee who is in charge of the dining room".

 

This will end a lot of embarassment and arguments over class distinctions vis-a-vis the language of job titles. Let's lose this nonsense!

 

LANE

[sail7seas]

There have been a bunch of discussions on the board about the employees of HAL and how we should refer to them. I vote we start referring to them as 'HAL employees' and dispense with describing them solely by their relative positions, viz., "the HAL employee who worked our Cabana on HMC", or "the HAL employee who is in charge of the dining room".

 

This will end a lot of embarassment and arguments over class distinctions vis-a-vis the language of job titles. Let's lose this nonsense!

 

LANE

 

 

Good suggestion, Lane, but, with all due respect....

 

I really am comfortable referring to the waiter who serves us dinner in the dining room as Dining Steward. I refer to the person who takes care of our cabin as Cabin Steward. I think that is the 'title' for the postion and the job they do. If I am incorrect, or (hopefully not) disrespectful in using those descriptions, someone please correct me.

 

 

I refer to the person who brings us a drink in a lounge as a Bar Steward (or Stewardess).....is that okay?

[trubey]

Good suggestion, Lane, but, with all due respect....

 

I really am comfortable referring to the waiter who serves us dinner in the dining room as Dining Steward. I refer to the person who takes care of our cabin as Cabin Steward. I think that is the 'title' for the postion and the job they do. If I am incorrect, or (hopefully not) disrespectful in using those descriptions, someone please correct me.

 

 

I refer to the person who brings us a drink in a lounge as a Bar Steward (or Stewardess).....is that okay?

 

Sure, call them whatever you want -- I am simply pointing out that I think we should class-neutralize their titles to dispense with any elitist Victorian claptrap, if simply only to avoid argument amongst ourselves. Remember when I got flamed for calling a HAL employee whose job it was to make my bed a "servant"?

 

This is all third-person stuff anyway -- at least I HOPE you don't summon a French Waiter by saying, 'Garçon'!

 

:rolleyes: LANE

[blackbird71]

Good suggestion, Lane, but, with all due respect....

 

I really am comfortable referring to the waiter who serves us dinner in the dining room as Dining Steward. I refer to the person who takes care of our cabin as Cabin Steward. I think that is the 'title' for the postion and the job they do. If I am incorrect, or (hopefully not) disrespectful in using those descriptions, someone please correct me.

 

 

I refer to the person who brings us a drink in a lounge as a Bar Steward (or Stewardess).....is that okay?

 

Ya and that silly guy that drives the boat wants to be called Captain..

[trubey]

Ya and that silly guy that drives the boat wants to be called Captain..

 

This is cool!! Did any of you hear about the HAL employee who was driving the Tender and managed to ram the ship (HARD!) twice? This was before he ripped out the cleat and about three square feet of fibreglas on the starboard foredeck by jamming the thing in forward and gunning it while it was roped in.. This was on the September '04 Prinsendam Mediterranean cruise. Jim was on the cruise, and cactus lady too.

 

Somebody from ship's services came on and took down all our names and cabin numbers . . . so if the boat sank they could notify our next-of-kin, I guess.

 

Then they broke a window in the Oak Room winching it back on board.

 

We laughed about the "Tender from ****" over dinner, I tell ya'!

 

I don't know what THIS guy's job title was. Mud, maybe.

 

Lane

[sail7seas]

That was SOME kind 'a tender ride. :)

 

 

Whoa.....wonder where he got his next job. :eek:

[Grumpy1]

I, personally, see no reason to use a phrase such as "the HAL employee who" followed by a description of that person's duties when there is a well accepted one or two word title that defines that person's duties. Not everyone that provides services to you on the ship is a HAL employee, so, if refering to the person behind the counter in the gift shop, or the ship photography staff, that phrase would be incorrect.

 

I think it is admirable that people would like to eliminate class distinctions, but this politically correctness stuff gets carried to extremes. Years back, when I drove a truck, I was a truck driver. I was not a transportation engineer or some other inflated title. It is true that some titles that were common at one time are viewed as offensive now by the people that hold those positions, but if a person introduces him/herself to you with a specific title, then that is the title that should be used. If you think that person uses the title because the employer has instructed them to introduce themselves that way, e.g. "cabin boy", then take the matter up with top management and let them know that you feel that they should use a different term. Keep in mind that a term that is offensive in one culture can actually be complimentary in another culture.

 

The most important thing, to me, is to treat the person with respect and not worry about the title.

 

Grumpy... retired... yeah, that means I'm unemployed... usually associated with getting old... so please refer to me as a senior living practitioner...

[trubey]

This is TOTALLY off subject, but it's funny anyway. Maybe this is what happened to the pilot of that tender.

 

When I was supervisor of a big jewelry repair department. (17 jewelers, 3 setters, 7 polishers, 2 clerks and an assistant. We did 1300 envelopes a week, average 1.6 rings per envelope) I got a new Diamond Setter on staff hired by "Upstairs".

 

In the jewelry industry, pretty much everybody knows everybody. I was sitting having coffee with my boss a few weeks later and we were talking about a guy I had heard about, a setter. It seems that when the guy broke a stone or wrecked a setting, he's flush the whole thing, envelope and all, down the toilet. When they caught him, the place he was working found a few of their missing jobs in the plumbing, but some were lost forever.

 

Boss laughed. "Ha-ha, I wonder where he's working now!?!"

 

"Oh, you just hired him." I said.

 

Lane