Was Your Upper Down?

[CruisingSoon88]

My 2 DS will be going on their 9th cruise in a couple of weeks. I say this not to say we're special, but to show that we are experienced cruisers who have cruised a few times. We have a certain routine on embarkation day that has always worked for us in the past. Our cabin has always been ready when we got to it.

 

On our last cruise, on the Conquest in April, the upper was still locked in the ceiling and the sofa had not been made into a bed, yet. My kids are still young at 6 and 9 and we always utilize the time after we board and then grab lunch to unpack our luggage and let the kids take a nap. By the time that the drill comes, they are refreshed and we are unpacked and really ready to start vacation mode.

 

When we realized that the upper was not ready, I went and found our steward and asked him if he could please come and get our room situated so our kids could take a nap. He stated that Carnival no longer allows them to unlock the uppers and make up the sofas until the evening now.

 

He said that he could not do it until we went to dinner. I told him that we did not have reservations until 8:30 that night in the steakhouse and that meant that my kids could not even use their beds until we got back at 10:30. He said that was the new policy.

 

Now he was by far one of our least favorite stewards ever so I don't know if he was just saying that because he didn't want to do it or if there really is a new policy.

 

So, was your upper or your sofa made and ready for sleeping when you got to your cabin on embarkation day? I would love to know what to expect on our upcoming cruise.

[loxley]

Your room steward was lying.

[SadieN]

Mom, Sis and I travel in a triple. The third bed, upper or sofa, has never been made up at embarkation. This has been true on Carnival and Princess.

 

The kids can sleep in the big bed.

 

During the cruise the upper has always been put up.

[CruisingSoon88]

Mom, Sis and I travel in a triple. The third bed, upper or sofa, has never been made up at embarkation. This has been true on Carnival and Princess.

 

The kids can sleep in the big bed.

 

During the cruise the upper has always been put up.

 

Well this is the total opposite of what we have experienced on Carnival for 7 cruises. Once the upper was pulled down, it has never been put back up.

 

We use the big bed to put the suitcases on to unpack. There is no way that they would fit on the sofa and our kids would never go to sleep if they were in the same bed. Hopefully this was just a lazy steward.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

No...uppers are not let down nor are couches made up until the evening of the first day in most cases in order to provide guests more room to get situated and to have a place to sit outside of the bed.

 

I am surprised, though, that your steward wouldn't make the bed up before they went off duty. Next time if they don't respond to your request just call hotel services and work it out with them.

[k2excursion]

It's been a mix for me. I do remember that the last time I had more than 2 in a room, the sofa was not made up upon arrival. But it (or the upper bunk) have been made up before. I'm just not sure how many of each. And with the exception of my 1st 2 cruises, once the upper bunk is down and/or the sofa is turned into a bed, they stay that way the entire cruise. They don't switch them back & forth by day & night, although that can be done by request. Some stewards will switch them back & forth automatically, but that has not been the norm.

 

Your room steward was being lazy. I understand that most people probably want more space to unpack, so that would make it the automatic thing for stewards to wait until evening to make up the extra beds. However, they should always be willing to fulfill your request for the opposite.

[Rosefloater]

Been on about 10 cruises with a 3rd person in the cabin and the upper has always been put up each morning and lowered each evening and has never been put down when we first got to the cabin on embarkation day.

 

OP - If this happens again with the room steward, call either housekeeping or GS and let them know about this.

 

I had a problem on a 10 night princess cruise. My bed was the pull out bed from the couch. There is supposed to be a waffle mattress topper on the thin mattress. The room steward didn't put it on and when I called him to do it, he wasn't too happy. He actually told me he would have to check with his supervisor if it could be done. (I know it is supposed to be on as I had the couch on a previous cruise) Then he said that he wouldn't be able to remake it back to a couch during the day. If it stayed out, it would have blocked the door to the balcony. Wasn't too happy with him. But he got the topper and he redid the couch everyday. Except every night I would have to look for the comforter as he would put it in a different place. :eek:

 

Bottom line is there are lazy stewards on every cruise line.

[RuthlessBoss]

A 6 and 9 y.o. need a nap? They aren't babies anymore.:confused:

[bnorris10]

A 6 and 9 y.o. need a nap? They aren't babies anymore.:confused:

 

Rude much ... Who are you to say someone does not need a nap

 

I am 34 years old and still take naps

[RuthlessBoss]

Rude much ... Who are you to say someone does not need a nap

 

I am 34 years old and still take naps

 

I do too, at times. It sounded strange for them to need a nap on embarkation day:D

[bnorris10]

Every day that it is possible that I can take a nap I do

 

This includes embark day

I purposely make sure I am among the first to get on the boat so I can go grab so lunch then go back to my room and take a nap before muster so that once we set sail I am ready to roll

[RuthlessBoss]

Every day that it is possible that I can take a nap I do

 

This includes embark day

I purposely make sure I am among the first to get on the boat so I can go grab so lunch then go back to my room and take a nap before muster so that once we set sail I am ready to roll

 

I'm not talking about an adult who has done all the planning, I'm talking about a 6 and 9 y.o. who are usually full of energy at that age.

[bnorris10]

I'm not talking about an adult who has done all the planning, I'm talking about a 6 and 9 y.o. who are usually full of energy at that age.

 

Some kids still need naps regardless of the age - my daughter is 9 and will take a nap with us when we go back to the room she does not have to if she does not want to she could watch tv but she chooses to take a nap

 

Another friend of mine has children who are special needs and have to take naps

 

Some people travel a long way to get to the cruise ships and just frankily are tired

 

Really a whole multitude of reason's on why a person or a child might be taking a nap

[RuthlessBoss]

Some kids still need naps regardless of the age - my daughter is 9 and will take a nap with us when we go back to the room she does not have to if she does not want to she could watch tv but she chooses to take a nap

 

Another friend of mine has children who are special needs and have to take naps

 

Some people travel a long way to get to the cruise ships and just frankily are tired

 

Really a whole multitude of reason's on why a person or a child might be taking a nap

 

Gee, I'm sooooo glad to learn reasons for a nap. It must be your specialty.

[bnorris10]

Gee, I'm sooooo glad to learn reasons for a nap. It must be your specialty.

Apparently you need the lesson's since you can't seem to understand why someone would need a nap ... Why it's any of your business to begin with is beyond me though

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

To nap or not to nap is up to the parents and the children but post your preference on an open forum and you leave yourself open to people who agree or disagree.

[nessz79]

Don't know why it's anyone's business why anyone would nap or not on embarkation day.

 

That being said, I believe that our beds were not done the last time we embarked either. However, I can't understand why the steward wouldn't make it up for you if you specifically asked.

[slim501]

We have taken my son on 5 Carnival Cruises and his bed has never been made until the evening of embarkation day.

[Confuzzled]

We just got back from the Liberty. Our upper was down and it was just my husband and me. We had to call the steward to put it away.

[turbidblue]

3 cruises for us....2 with 4 people in a room, 1 with 3 people in a room. Our cruise on the Breeze (2013) with 4 people, the upper and the couch were both made up and ready to use as beds when we boarded. Our cruise on the Liberty (2014) with 4 people: couch and upper were not made up when we boarded. We asked the cabin steward, he told us they were waiting for more linens from housekeeping. Both were made up in a timely fashion (after muster, but well before dinner time). Our cruise on the Paradise (April 2015) with 3 people: upper was not pulled down and ready to use when we boarded.....but it was down and made up when we arrived back to our cabin after muster.

 

During all 3 cruises, the uppers were never been put back up....nor has the couch been converted back to a couch. Now the ladder for the upper......that's a different story. Our Breeze cruise.....the steward would tuck the ladder away every day and we'd have to pull it back out if the kids wanted to rest.

[Barbluvstocruz]

It has varied for us. We have 2 children so we use the couch/bed and an upper. Last week on the Pride the beds were made when we boarded.

 

Last year we were on the Elation and they were not. On the Legend they were.

 

Guess it depends on the ship and the room steward.

 

Have a fabulous cruise! :D

[stargate fan]

My 2 DS will be going on their 9th cruise in a couple of weeks. I say this not to say we're special, but to show that we are experienced cruisers who have cruised a few times. We have a certain routine on embarkation day that has always worked for us in the past. Our cabin has always been ready when we got to it.

 

On our last cruise, on the Conquest in April, the upper was still locked in the ceiling and the sofa had not been made into a bed, yet. My kids are still young at 6 and 9 and we always utilize the time after we board and then grab lunch to unpack our luggage and let the kids take a nap. By the time that the drill comes, they are refreshed and we are unpacked and really ready to start vacation mode.

 

When we realized that the upper was not ready, I went and found our steward and asked him if he could please come and get our room situated so our kids could take a nap. He stated that Carnival no longer allows them to unlock the uppers and make up the sofas until the evening now.

 

He said that he could not do it until we went to dinner. I told him that we did not have reservations until 8:30 that night in the steakhouse and that meant that my kids could not even use their beds until we got back at 10:30. He said that was the new policy.

 

Now he was by far one of our least favorite stewards ever so I don't know if he was just saying that because he didn't want to do it or if there really is a new policy.

 

So, was your upper or your sofa made and ready for sleeping when you got to your cabin on embarkation day? I would love to know what to expect on our upcoming cruise.

 

I wonder if there is/was an issue with Conquest. When we sailed her in February, our stateroom on Lido was not ready even though we are Platinum and automatically have immediate access. Perturbing, yes. Did it ruin our cruise? No. But it was a pain to schlep our carry-ons for a while. That was the first time we experienced this since becoming Platinum.

[Speedy55]

Just got off Legend on Tuesday our first cruise and the beds were ready for sleeping.

[JinxyB]

My room steward on the Liberty told me he wasn't allowed to get a crib for my child until after 7:30PM embarkation day. I was furious! I told him this was unacceptable as my child needed to nap (he was 15 months at the time). No crib until that evening despite having checked with Carnival before the cruise if the crib would be in my room upon embarkation. He said his supervisor would not allow this which is a load of BS.

[CruisingSoon88]

Thanks for all of the replies. It seems that we just lucked out on all of our past cruises when our room was ready. It wouldn't ruin our cruise either way, but it is much easier for us when the beds are made.

 

As for my kids needing naps. Yes, they are 6 and 9 but we travel for 2 days to get to the port. By the time that we get on the ship, they are exhausted and so are we. I am 40 and DH is 39 and we sometimes take naps on embarkation day after we get unpacked, too.

 

They are plenty excited when we get on the ship, but let's face it, after 8 cruises in 4 years, they know that the first day includes some not so exciting things like the drill and unpacking.

 

Hopefully our next cabin will be ready or our steward will be a little more willing to help us out.