2/13 Freedom Departure Delayed

[TXcruiser13]

I am glad that overall you had a good trip.

 

I believe your experience with your stateroom steward is a perfect example of why one should not tip in advance, with or without the expectation that one will receive better service than other guests that do not tip in advance. A tip in advance is not necessarily a guarantee of better service.

 

It wasn't given in anticipation of a higher level of service than other passengers would receive. It was a gesture of appreciation for his service during the week we would be onboard. I've always given a tip at the beginning and again at the end. His performance was below Carnival standards, period. He was tired and harried and just didn't pay attention to things. For example - we were only given one water glass. We had to ask for a second one - which fell and broke after he left it on the counter. He grumbled about having to clean up the glass and never bothered to bring a second one the entire rest of the cruise. It was one of many small slips of detail. Little things like that add up over the course of a week, however.

[tonit964]

Its understandable as an experienced cruiser to tell someone to just relax. But for people who cruise very rarely or for the first time, sail away is a really big part of the adventure. So please don't be so quick to write off a new poster for commenting on this topic. It's not helpful or friendly.

 

I posted not just to whine, but because I know as a longtime lurker here (see my start date) that fellow posters often have the inside scoop on issues such as this.

 

That's a bummer and I get it. It's not the end of the world to the OP but still disappointing.

 

After all my cruises, I still love sail away and wouldn't want to be having dinner during it.

[cruzelover55]

It wasn't given in anticipation of a higher level of service than other passengers would receive. It was a gesture of appreciation for his service during the week we would be onboard. I've always given a tip at the beginning and again at the end. His performance was below Carnival standards, period. He was tired and harried and just didn't pay attention to things. For example - we were only given one water glass. We had to ask for a second one - which fell and broke after he left it on the counter. He grumbled about having to clean up the glass and never bothered to bring a second one the entire rest of the cruise. It was one of many small slips of detail. Little things like that add up over the course of a week, however.

 

We also tip at the beginning and at the end. And I haven't any problem confessing that we do indeed do it to hopefully get a better level of service. Knock wood, so far it has always paid off.

[skidawg79]

Cheers all,

 

We're currently on the Freedom and departure has been delayed until 6:30-7:00 pm tonight due to "a late arrival of a team member due to unforeseen circumstances".

 

We're slightly irritated, as we'll now miss sail away while eating dinner. Mostly we're just curious as to how high up of a member one has to be for them to delay departure by 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

 

Saw this on John Heald's Facebook page.....glad you still had a good time and sorry to hear about the room steward, generally they are amazing...

 

Message: We are back from the the Freedom and the same cruise on 2/13 you were on. Never saw you by the way. I have a nasty taste in my mouth because the captain made an speech that the departure from Galveston would not be until 6:30-7:00 pm tonight due to "a late arrival of a team member due to unforeseen circumstances".

We were pissed. The sail from port is the big start to the cruise and we had to miss it because we were stuck at dinner.It is unfair to us and all the passengers to do this and not explination was given and no free drinks or anything done to say sorry!!!

Well, that’s an interesting one and I actually think I forgot to mention last week that we had sailed late as I had just come on board that day. Anyway, we sailed late because we were waiting for the lead nurse who was due to join the ship and whose flight had been delayed getting into Houston. As she was en-route and due to the importance of having her on the ship we did decide to wait. I am sure the Captain did apologise or indeed did the CD Malcolm. However, I do realise that the sail away is a big part of the cruise experience so I sort of understand Gary’s comment.

Is the sail away from home port a big part of your overall cruise experience?

Please answer yes or no

cheers

[crusinpsychRN]

Are you sure you didn't throw away the room service menu? It's on a piece of paper in your cabin with a bunch of other papers advertising the spa and things.

[TXcruiser13]

No, the menu didn't get tossed out. We simply didn't have one in our room. He brought us one and stuck it in the mirror next to the phone and we used it several times during the week after that. We've cruised Carnival before; we know 'the program' and have had great stewards in the past. This go-round we simply got an overworked and tired complainer. It's bound to happen sometimes. He did things like remove cold champagne from our ice bucket to add more ice, then left the bottle on the counter to get warm. He missed servicing our room twice during the week, and we only got two towel animals. Just various little things like that. He was clearly running on empty. Happens to us all.