Curious incident final night of my 1st princess cruise

[newcruzer2]

Well I am writing to see what seasoned Princess cruisers think of what happened.

I'll start by saying that I booked four days before the Caribbean princess sailed the last week of February so it was an impromptu trip. but I couldn't wait to give Princess a try (until my regal Princess trip in December) and we got a heck of a deal on a ocean view cabin.

The first part of this incident started Wednesday evening when I put the do not disturb sign up before heading out for dinner and the show. When we returned the room Stewart had clearly come in for turndown service ,unaware whether this was a princess cruise lines thing meaning that other cruise lines room Stewart is not supposed to come in but I was unaware whether this was the case for princess. My husband urged me to just let it go as it wasn't a big deal. But the real problem or incident I should say, actually happen the final evening of the cruise 90% of my stuff was packed in the large suitcase we brought. All that was left out in the closet was our clothing and underclothing to disembark. All week long I'd had both ropes hanging on a hanger in the closet and they still were. Well my clothing and underclothing were hanging to the left of the closet where all of my clothing has been for the week and my husbands was hanging to the far right were his clothing had been for the week and the robes in the middle and empty hangers strung about. When we returned for the evening after dinner, to my complete shock everything in the closet (small amount of items) was all rearranged. Including my underclothes. she had smashed my clothing and my husbands clothing altogether in the very center of the closet in order to organize the empty pant hangers and shirt hangers. The robes were now hanging on the pegs on the bathroom door. My husband didn't seem to think this is a big deal but as an obsessive-compulsive person who has a hard time with people touching my things, and feeling as though I've taken precautions, i.e. having my bra and underwear behind the small wooden section of the closet where no one could bump into it and having my clothing in front of it. (Yes I had my under things hanging, NO that's not normal, it was just this way to disembark)

Once again my husband urged me to let it go as it wasn't a big deal to him. but I felt like this being the second incident ,that I needed to know if this was a princess thing or whether this particular room Stewart was anxious to turn over the room and organize the hangers.

I went downstairs to the front desk ,kind of feeling like a crazy person trying to explain what had even happened. the guy was very nice ,very understanding and even repeated my story to me to make sure he was understanding what my problem was . He assured me that lady should not have come into the room when the do not disturb was up and assured me that no, she should not have touched my clothing ,underclothing and rearranged everything.

I left ,returning to my room feeling as I accomplished what I could in this situation. Around five minutes later there was a knock at the door, I assumed it was the room stewerd but when I open the door I found a manager standing there. He introduced himself and asked if he could come in. he came in and asked me to repeat the story, so that he could make sure he was understanding correctly. He apologized for the incident and I told him it was fine that I had only really complained in order to find out,whether this was a princess policy or was it just this particular room Stewart.

He reiterated what the front desk guy said that no she should not have come in the night the do not disturb was up BUT however he had a different take on the incident with the moving of the clothing. he said that in the future, especially on my cruise in December, that might be helpful if I were to inform the room steward that I did not want my clothing touched.

which left me confused, because now I did not understand whether this was a normal thing for princess room stewards, to organize your clothes and hangers the last night. I DON'T want to misrepresent the facts in no way was this manager implying it was my responsibility or fault for what happened he just said for my comfort I may want to say something to the next room steward but this statement now leaves me confused.

so my question is basically , was this just an oddball incident that I should not worry about on future Princess cruises or should I take some other precautions for my final evening .

I feel that the front desk guy and the manager did an exceptional job and all that they could .... once this cat was out of the bag, haha what was anybody really gonna do and I appreciate their thoughtfulness.

And your feedback. Thanks.

[cdnmr]

I hope you didn't tip Stewart, the lady, steward AND your Steward. :D

[Pam in CA]

Stewards should not touch your clothing unless they need to access or use something. I often leave my suitcase 90% packed with a few things left to put in and have never had anything moved. (Not the case on Royal Caribbean years ago when my steward went through my drawers.)

[TracieABD]

I know that the stewards are in a rush to do as much as they can to turn over the room the evening before disembarkation. My guess is that in the preperation to get the cabin ready, she just did not think about how it would impact your experience.

[fishywood]

While the details were not exactly the same (admittedly I gave up on ferreting all the specifics from your story well before the end) I had a somewhat similar experience the final night of my first cruise on one of Princess' corporate cousins (Cunard Line). Subsequently I read here on the Princess board stories in the same vein: the cabin stewards doing as much prep as they possible can for turnaround morning on the final evening while each passenger is at dinner.

 

Bottom line is that you are doing both you steward and yourself a favor by being completely packed before you leave the cabin for dinner--even if you have the 5:15 sitting. Yes your steward is normally supposed to abide by the DND sign on the door but I would not be surprised if ignoring the sign in order to perform their pre-cabin-turnover duties is an action their supervisor would defend.

Edited March 7, 2016 by fishywood

[MrPantsOz]

My room steward rearranged the clothes that were hanging to dry in my shower. I found it a little weird to start with but boy did that man know how the clothes would dry best. I let him go for it!

[Colo Cruiser]

I hope you didn't tip Stewart, the lady, steward AND your Steward. :D

 

 

Really? :(

[Colo Cruiser]

We have had them move things before. I don't really pay attention.

I agree with the post about getting as much prep work done for turnaround as possible. There have been times when we head to dinner that I forget to turn the tag over on the door so he/she knows they can make up the room for the evening. I am glad they have come in anyway knowing we left because we say our greetings in the passageway as we go by.

They work hard.

In all our cruises I have really not had an issue other then finding my cabin on the Emerald filthy when I boarded in Houston last year. Prior passengers soap laying on top of the pump bottles in the shower and the rest of the cabin basically untouched. :(

[Jeremiah1212]

I'm sure on any other night they would have seen the DND sign and moved on but on turnover night (on other lines anyway) they're always trying to get anything and everything done they can to have a jump start on the next morning.

 

I would imagine they don't have a formal policy that would prohibit them from touching odds and ends left in the room. Some people leave their cabins looking like their suitcases exploded. If they couldn't touch anything at all, they wouldn't be able to make up cabins for those people. I've stayed in higher end hotels where service borders obtrusive levels and they will organize and arrange nearly everything, where as others won't do as much as move a pair of shoes in the floor to vacuum.

 

If we see our attendant in passing we do usually try to let them know what are plans are especially if we will be in the room a while. I always think they appreciate the heads up.

[colonialinnkeeper]

Regardless of what the "policy" is for Princess, if you are concerned about this kind of thing, I would talk to the steward on your first day and tell him what your preferences are. They are most agreeable to requests and happy to accommodate your needs.

 

Turnover is an impossibly busy 18 hours and I'm sure anything they can do to get some of the smaller jobs out of the way, the better.

[thinfool]

Maybe OCD passenger met OCD steward! :D:)

 

As for 'next time' advice, I recommend taking it. Easily done and may head off any repeat of this experience.

[newcruzer2]

lol ,well we went from, "your too long winded for me to bother reading your story" to "funny comments on my oh-so professional writing"

LOL glad y'all were at my karaoke performance LOL

[qqwer123]

That is indeed weird. We sail Princess all the time and when the do not disturb sign is up nobody has ever entered. With your stuff being rearranged... I would be upset too. Our room stewards have always had the utmost respect and try to not even touch our stuff when they are cleaning the rooms..leaves to to wonder, if this person was new and did not get that she shouldn't do that. I that case, she probably won't be working on a cruise ship for long. I would have been concerned as well! Don't blame you one bit for your reaction.

[j3000]

If i were your husband I'd be worried about this Stewart guy .....

[CineGraphic]

Most people don't have hang-ups about people touching their clothes. I think the manager that came to your cabin and suggested that you say something on your next sailing is simply to avoid having this happen again, not because it's a Princess policy to touch people's clothes. Might I suggest that you bring some Xanax on your next trip and try to relax.

[keithm]

Well I am writing to see what seasoned Princess cruisers think of what happened.

I'll start by saying that I booked four days before the Caribbean princess sailed the last week of February so it was an impromptu trip. but I couldn't wait to give Princess a try (until my regal Princess trip in December) and we got a heck of a deal on a ocean view cabin.

The first part of this incident started Wednesday evening when I put the do not disturb sign up before heading out for dinner and the show. When we returned the room Stewart had clearly come in for turndown service ,unaware whether this was a princess cruise lines thing meaning that other cruise lines room Stewart is not supposed to come in but I was unaware whether this was the case for princess. My husband urged me to just let it go as it wasn't a big deal. But the real problem or incident I should say, actually happen the final evening of the cruise 90% of my stuff was packed in the large suitcase we brought. All that was left out in the closet was our clothing and underclothing to disembark. All week long I'd had both ropes hanging on a hanger in the closet and they still were. Well my clothing and underclothing were hanging to the left of the closet where all of my clothing has been for the week and my husbands was hanging to the far right were his clothing had been for the week and the robes in the middle and empty hangers strung about. When we returned for the evening after dinner, to my complete shock everything in the closet (small amount of items) was all rearranged. Including my underclothes. she had smashed my clothing and my husbands clothing altogether in the very center of the closet in order to organize the empty pant hangers and shirt hangers. The robes were now hanging on the pegs on the bathroom door. My husband didn't seem to think this is a big deal but as an obsessive-compulsive person who has a hard time with people touching my things, and feeling as though I've taken precautions, i.e. having my bra and underwear behind the small wooden section of the closet where no one could bump into it and having my clothing in front of it. (Yes I had my under things hanging, NO that's not normal, it was just this way to disembark)

Once again my husband urged me to let it go as it wasn't a big deal to him. but I felt like this being the second incident ,that I needed to know if this was a princess thing or whether this particular room Stewart was anxious to turn over the room and organize the hangers.

I went downstairs to the front desk ,kind of feeling like a crazy person trying to explain what had even happened. the guy was very nice ,very understanding and even repeated my story to me to make sure he was understanding what my problem was . He assured me that lady should not have come into the room when the do not disturb was up and assured me that no, she should not have touched my clothing ,underclothing and rearranged everything.

I left ,returning to my room feeling as I accomplished what I could in this situation. Around five minutes later there was a knock at the door, I assumed it was the room stewerd but when I open the door I found a manager standing there. He introduced himself and asked if he could come in. he came in and asked me to repeat the story, so that he could make sure he was understanding correctly. He apologized for the incident and I told him it was fine that I had only really complained in order to find out,whether this was a princess policy or was it just this particular room Stewart.

He reiterated what the front desk guy said that no she should not have come in the night the do not disturb was up BUT however he had a different take on the incident with the moving of the clothing. he said that in the future, especially on my cruise in December, that might be helpful if I were to inform the room steward that I did not want my clothing touched.

which left me confused, because now I did not understand whether this was a normal thing for princess room stewards, to organize your clothes and hangers the last night. I DON'T want to misrepresent the facts in no way was this manager implying it was my responsibility or fault for what happened he just said for my comfort I may want to say something to the next room steward but this statement now leaves me confused.

so my question is basically , was this just an oddball incident that I should not worry about on future Princess cruises or should I take some other precautions for my final evening .

I feel that the front desk guy and the manager did an exceptional job and all that they could .... once this cat was out of the bag, haha what was anybody really gonna do and I appreciate their thoughtfulness.

And your feedback. Thanks.

First off it's Steward not Stewart! Personally, I think you're really going over board! You say you're "Obsessive Compulsive". I have to agree. We only did Princess this one time Feb.7-21. We had a good time, but feel Celebrity still better meets our needs. I will say the staff is one reason I'd go back. Never ever had poor staff on any cruise,but the people on Princess were just about the best we ever had. If Regal did full 14 day trips(like Celebrity Eclipse) rather than combining two 7 day trips(where I feel the return to Ft. Lauderdale is a waste) I'd most certainly book them again. The menu repeated completely for the second week, even though it was to a different part of the Caribbean. I'd recommend having a chat with your cabin attendant & explain your wishes to him/her when you first meet. I did find they are responsible for 20 cabins, which is more than Celebrity attendants have to deal with & they have an assistant as well.

[keithm]

If i were your husband I'd be worried about this Stewart guy .....

Cute!

[sunsetbeachgal]

I have never had a Steward enter the room when the Do Not Disturb signs on. Matter of fact last cruise one evening when we went to dinner we mistakenly left the sign out on the wrong side saying Do Not Disturb, (we leave the Please Make up Room sign out when we leave for breakfast and dinner as we know the Steward appreciates that)., of course the same wet towels were on the bathroom floor and, gasp, no pillow chocolates. Our bad! Our Steward asked us the next morning if we were ok, which I thought was nice.

 

You are 100% correct, the Steward should not have entered your room.

Edited March 8, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[pablo222]

The first part of this incident started Wednesday evening when I put the do not disturb sign up before heading out for dinner and the show.

 

When were you expecting the steward to turn down the room,

after you returned from the show for the evening?

 

Perhaps the steward was simply tired of being called stewart

so many time...

[fishin' musician]

I've had stewards that have actually picked up and folded things I left out or had piled up. DW hates it, I say you go man! Same at some hotels.

[newcruzer2]

When were you expecting the steward to turn down the room,

after you returned from the show for the evening?

 

Perhaps the steward was simply tired of being called stewart

so many time...

 

I didn't want the turn down service, but there was no stopping stewarT.

[j3000]

.....hahahahaha..... glad to see you have a scent of humor...

now if you could only get over that underwear phobia.....

Edited March 8, 2016 by jargey3000

[cruisequeen4ever]

We have had stewards rearrange our stuff in an attempt to tidy up. I too feel uncomfortable about someone else touching my things, especially my under things! I have heard the same as you that you just need to ask your steward not to rearrange your things. I would be proactive in Decemeber and ask the steward to not "worry about tidying up your things". I worded it that way, so the steward didn't feel affronted by my request. Then you won't have to worry about it. As for the DND sign, that should have been honored. I do remember one time when we forgot to flip the sign when we left for dinner, and the steward still cleaned our room since we crossed paths in the hall, and he knew we were gone. We thanked him for it because I would have hated to come back to a room without clean towels.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[newcruzer2]

.....hahahahaha..... glad to see you have a scent of humor...

now if you could only get over that underwear phobia.....

 

SCENT of humor, very funny. :)

[rbslos18]

There are two issues. The DND sign should always be respected assuming it wasn't turned around by some jokester.

 

When the stewards come into the cabin it is not uncommon for them to tidy up. Some take it to a unexpected level such as yours. I think the advice of the Manager was wise. The next cruise instruct the steward how he can best help you.