Steward carts in the halls.

[nutensteve]

I remember the carts on the cruise I took on Princess only because my mother had an accident and had to use a wheelchair. it was a challenge to get past them sometimes but the room steward always appeared magically and moved it so no problem there. I know it was mentioned that HAL also uses carts but I have never seen any on the cruises I have taken.

[fuzwuz12]

We usually ask our steward how many cabins he has and it has always been 18. At 20 minutes per cabin that is six plus hours. From what I have seen in some cabins we pass it looks like 45 minutes would not be long enough to clean the mess some people make..

[moki'smommy]

And my last cruise on the Grand Princess, there were always (I mean always) dirty dishes out in the hallway. We would oftentimes ask room service to pick up our dishes from our room when they dropped off breakfast for us, usually taken care of without question. One guy did tell me that we needed to ask our room steward to do this. I had no idea -- we have always been told by our room steward that room service took care of this but honestly cannot remember on which line they told us that. It didn't bother me much at all, but very noticeable on this cruise whereas I don't think I have seen that so often on any other ship.

 

One explanation for this may be that on some lines the crew is either delivering fresh food OR dealing with dirties, but never both without a thorough washing up. So if they are delivering only your tray, they could take your dirty dishes back to the kitchen and wash before taking the next tray to the next guest. On the other hand, if they brought a cart with 3 trays of fresh food, they would not be able to handle used dishes until all their trays had been delivered. Dirty dishes are removed by both the room stewards and the room service personnel. Yes, a card on the tray saying "Please call XYZ for removal" would be most helpful!

[KruzPrincess]

I was on the Royal Princess for 20 nights in October. This topic is actually one of the only things that I had a problem with on the Royal. I was in a mini suite which was next to a balcony cabin and this caused a "turn" or corner in the hallway. I really liked my cabin steward and I think he did a fine job, but he parked his cart in the "corner" outside my cabin all day. He used that corner as a spot to pile up dirty dishes and trays of uneaten food, so I got to see a pile of garbage and dirty dishes almost every time I opened my cabin door. I normally don't even think about carts, but this one time it did bother me. I didn't complain about it because I liked the guy and he did a good job. He was super conscientious on almost everything. I'm sure he didn't think about my view when I opened the door and I didn't want to make extra work for him.

 

For the person who wondered how many cabins each steward has: I asked that steward and he said he had either 15 or 19. I think he said 19, but it may have been 15. My memory isn't great. I know it was a lot more than your estimated 10 cabins because I was shocked.

[Kinkacruiser]

We certainly notice them and I think it's fair to say that it's not an attractive feature. But they aren't avoidable unless we choose another cruise line (like HAL, where we have never seen them). So, I think the OP has the right idea. We don't let them bother us, but we would still prefer that they weren't parked in the corridors for 9-10 hours every day.

 

Ditto trays of dirty dishes that people set in the hallways. Actually, those do kind of bother me.

 

I wish fellow passengers would leave their room service trays in the room...I don't like seeing food scraps and dirty dishes in the corridors.

[broberts]

Carts are a fact of life. As fewer staff are tasked with servicing more rooms the length of time they are in the corridors extends. I have noticed too that some corridors seem more littered for longer than others. I can only presume that this is down to differences in staff and/or supervisors.

 

Many can simply ignore the carts. Sadly, those with mobility challenges often find them troublesome.

[Loonbeam]

This is what I think as well. The more rooms they do, the longer the carts need to be out and the more detritus will pile up.

 

Not only should they not bring the carts into the rooms for multiple reasons, in most cases the carts could probably not make the turns to get into the doors anyway.

 

It would be great if they could put insets into the walls for the carts, but every inch of space on a ship is at a premium so that will not happen.

 

One thing I have noted is that if a steward knows they have someone in a scooter or other mobility device, they will try to park the carts so that its not between those cabins and the nearest elevator. Obviously this is not always possible depending on where the cabin is located or they may have more than one such person.

 

Carts are a fact of life. As fewer staff are tasked with servicing more rooms the length of time they are in the corridors extends. I have noticed too that some corridors seem more littered for longer than others. I can only presume that this is down to differences in staff and/or supervisors.

 

Many can simply ignore the carts. Sadly, those with mobility challenges often find them troublesome.

[Greyhound3]

For the person who wondered how many cabins each steward has: I asked that steward and he said he had either 15 or 19. I think he said 19, but it may have been 15. My memory isn't great. I know it was a lot more than your estimated 10 cabins because I was shocked.

 

We asked our steward on the Crown what his workload was - he told us 18 cabins. Sounds like that's the norm in this day and age.

 

 

Grey

[avcruz]

I remember something to that effect, not the exact wording, asking us to leave the tray in the cabin on our last cruise. Maybe in the book with the room service menu? Not obvious unless you read everything in that section of the book. And, the only reason I noticed it was because of previous threads on CC about the room service trays and what you were suppose to do with them.

 

 

Recently on the Royal they advised to not leave dishes in the hall on the safety video on the TV plus our room steward mentioned it to us personally on the first day.

[moki'smommy]

.

 

One thing I have noted is that if a steward knows they have someone in a scooter or other mobility device, they will try to park the carts so that its not between those cabins and the nearest elevator. Obviously this is not always possible depending on where the cabin is located or they may have more than one such person.

 

The location of the HA cabins can help a lot with this issue. On Princess, all the HAs that I'm aware of are located adjacent to the elevators. It is reasonably easy to avoid parking a cart between and HA cabin and the elevators.

 

On the other hand, on the classic Disney ships, the HA cabins are all far forward or far aft--as far from the elevators as it is possible to be. In this setting, it is essentially mandatory that there will be one (or as many as three) carts between the HA cabin and the elevators. The stewards are VERY aware when we come out with a wheelchair or walker and move the cart out of the way for us, but the location of the cabins makes it impossible to avoid the problem.

 

Bottom line--the carts are a necessary evil and that isn't going to change. The staff really tries to minimize the inconvenience they can cause.

[Lucky TGO]

I thought they left them there so we could take extra towels when we need them.:D

 

That what I thought too. LOL

Tony

[tml1230]

Never give them a second thought.

I am too busy enjoying myself. ;)

 

I am right there with you….

[johnmik1]

Never have seen a cart on HAL as they have a small room that the stewards use!

[FritzG]

I wish fellow passengers would leave their room service trays in the room...I don't like seeing food scraps and dirty dishes in the corridors.

 

The carts don't bother me unless they smell bad, but I hate to see food trays with half eaten food on them. There are notices to leave them in your cabin, but some people ignore them. When I see one in the hall I push it into the indentation by the door to move it out of the way a bit.

[BarbaraP]

The carts don't bother me unless they smell bad, but I hate to see food trays with half eaten food on them. There are notices to leave them in your cabin, but some people ignore them. When I see one in the hall I push it into the indentation by the door to move it out of the way a bit.

 

We have had cabin stewards request that we leave them in the hall when done in the morning.

[moki'smommy]

There are notices to leave them in your cabin, but some people ignore them.

 

Which line has these notices? With at least 34 cruises on 4 different lines, I've never seen one.

 

The only notice I have ever received on a tray said "When you have finished, kindly call XXXX for removal of your tray." It didn't say whether to place it in the hall or keep it in the room and wait for someone to knock. This is not completely clear because if the tray is being removed by food personnel, they will not have a key to the room...what if I've chosen to leave?

 

I've never seen anything that said "Please keep your tray in your room" followed by instructions to call or wait for removal. That said, we normally keep the dirty dishes/tray in the room and the steward removes the stuff during his servicing.

 

Unless a cruise line makes their desired procedure clear, passengers will be uncertain about what to do. New cruisers see a couple trays in the halls and assume this is what they are supposed to do. And then, there will always be people who will do what they wish no matter what.

Edited December 31, 2015 by moki'smommy

[CRUISEWITHH]

The carts in the hall pose a very difficult situation for my husband who uses a mobility scooter. On most of the Princess ships the hallway is too narrow for him to pass.

 

Even thou the Accessible staterooms are located near one set of elevators, sometimes it involves taking the elevator down to a deck that has access for him to cross, and then waiting again for an elevator to take it down to another deck.

 

On our last cruise, it seemed that the carts were out more than usual. The stewards put them out first thing in the morning even thou they are not able to start cleaning staterooms. Then they go out in the evening and again sit there for some time until the early diners leave for dinner.

 

If we are assigned the dinning room at the aft of the ship, it can sometimes take us 15 minutes to get there, with waiting time for the elevators.

[moki'smommy]

The carts in the hall pose a very difficult situation for my husband who uses a mobility scooter. On most of the Princess ships the hallway is too narrow for him to pass.

 

Even thou the Accessible staterooms are located near one set of elevators, sometimes it involves taking the elevator down to a deck that has access for him to cross, and then waiting again for an elevator to take it down to another deck.

 

On our last cruise, it seemed that the carts were out more than usual. The stewards put them out first thing in the morning even thou they are not able to start cleaning staterooms. Then they go out in the evening and again sit there for some time until the early diners leave for dinner.

 

If we are assigned the dinning room at the aft of the ship, it can sometimes take us 15 minutes to get there, with waiting time for the elevators.

 

We've decided to specifically request to NOT have dining in Palm on our future cruises for exactly this reason. Sorry, but the combination of mobility aids and limited elevator access to this location was a real pain.

[Thrak]

The carts have only been a problem for us when cruising with our son who is in a wheelchair. We try to move them to get by but the stewards jump on it immediately and apologize for the carts. We tell them it's no big deal and we don't have a problem with the carts. When my son is in the hallway without us it's the same thing. The stewards rush to move the cart and apologize. He tells them the same thing: "Don't worry about it." He also thanks them for their assistance.

[rockdoctor]

Cruising must be great if all we have to complain about is the steward carts.

[GFLeeper]

The carts always seem to be parked on the same side as the hallway hand rail. DW, who has some mobility issues, likes to use the rail when walking down the corridor.

 

I find it a bit awkward navigating around the carts when there is some ocean motion to the ship and it is prudent to use the hand rail.

[broberts]

Cruising must be great if all we have to complain about is the steward carts.

 

Complaining about potential safety issues does not strike me as a frivolous endeavor.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

I thought they left them there so we could take extra towels when we need them.:D

 

I like that one!!!.:D When I see the cart, I like to say "Hello" to my steward.:)

[Chief Vette]

Not a big deal to me. How else do you expect the stewards to clean the rooms?

[Happy2cruise]

Cruising must be great if all we have to complain about is the steward carts.

 

Hitting the like button;)