Cabin service only once a day??

[Je Souhaite]

Just back home from the Victory today. Our experience with the new cabin service policy. Our room steward met us outside the room and asked us the first day if we wanted morning or evening service. He said exactly that once a day service was a new thing Carnival was trying. When I had read this debate on here I didn't realize how much this would affect our enjoyment of our cruise.

 

I was in a three person room with a trundle bed. Room service once a day meant that they did not put the trundle bed away at all. It was out in the middle of the inside room we were sharing all day.

 

Not having service more than once a day many that we (three girls one a teenager) were reusing towels which sometimes were not dry after returning from Port and wanting to get ready for dinner.

 

We did have towel animals in the mornings with our service.

 

Why didn't you push back and tell him you knew he was lying, and then remove all his tips for lying flat out to you?

[Sea Legs]

We were just on the Conquest and had excellent cabin service twice daily. We did not have to request it!

[MCFTJCH2V]

We were just on the Conquest and had excellent cabin service twice daily. We did not have to request it!

 

That ship is not one of the 4 pilots.

[MCFTJCH2V]

Sailed the Sunshine March 5 twice a day service

 

That ship is not one of the 4 pilots. I think that and the Liberty have Noro.

[MCFTJCH2V]

Why didn't you push back and tell him you knew he was lying, and then remove all his tips for lying flat out to you?

 

Someone is lying. Can't exactly figure out who.

[KatieCharlotte]

Why didn't you push back and tell him you knew he was lying, and then remove all his tips for lying flat out to you?

 

Because some people don't want to have an unpleasant confrontation with a steward while on vacation -- an overworked, underpaid steward who also has access to their room, their toothbrush, and all their belongings. :confused:

[MCFTJCH2V]

Because some people don't want to have an unpleasant confrontation with a steward while on vacation -- an overworked, underpaid steward who also has access to their room, their toothbrush, and all their belongings. :confused:

 

This is the type of person Carnival employs?

[TerReuv]

Just back home from the Victory today. Our experience with the new cabin service policy. Our room steward met us outside the room and asked us the first day if we wanted morning or evening service. He said exactly that once a day service was a new thing Carnival was trying. When I had read this debate on here I didn't realize how much this would affect our enjoyment of our cruise.

 

I was in a three person room with a trundle bed. Room service once a day meant that they did not put the trundle bed away at all. It was out in the middle of the inside room we were sharing all day.

 

Not having service more than once a day many that we (three girls one a teenager) were reusing towels which sometimes were not dry after returning from Port and wanting to get ready for dinner.

 

We did have towel animals in the mornings with our service.

 

Very curious to know why you did not push back with either the Steward or Housekeeping? Since you read about this on the board, wouldn't it have been good to at least go and talk to the head of housekeeping?

 

I know that folks don't want to have confrontations on their vacation, but I just don't understand why someone wouldn't want to challenge this? Especially since it obviously affected your trip.

[KatieCharlotte]

This is the type of person Carnival employs?

 

Carnival employs a very large number of people. Like in any large organization, not all employees are the best. No employer does a perfect job in hiring. Some employees don't last very long.

 

Even if the steward would never retaliate, I would feel bad calling him a liar because I don't know how many cabins he was required to service or how many hours he worked.

[LMaxwell]

Even if the steward would never retaliate, I would feel bad calling him a liar because I don't know how many cabins he was required to service or how many hours he worked.

 

I would not call them a liar either; but I would let them know they are not telling me the policy correctly or that they are told a different policy than guests. How many cabins he services and hours worked is between him and his employer. I'm the guest and while I may empathize with doing more work with the same, or less, resources, I'm not going to be the one getting the short end of the deal.

 

Again, if guests pay the bulk of earnings to stewards and this is something that can have a big impact on guest satisfaction, why is Carnival doing this at all? I've been looking for the net gain here and I just am not seeing it. These changes don't seem better for the guest or the employees.

[TerReuv]

Carnival employs a very large number of people. Like in any large organization, not all employees are the best. No employer does a perfect job in hiring. Some employees don't last very long.

 

Even if the steward would never retaliate, I would feel bad calling him a liar because I don't know how many cabins he was required to service or how many hours he worked.

 

It's not about calling him a liar. It could be that he doesn't understand the way the new system is to work. I would certainly confront them about it and if that didn't work, I would go to head of housekeeping.

 

If I actually thought a steward would retaliate because I pushed back on something I know is not true, then I would also request a new steward. Doesn't matter how many cabins they have to service. That is not my problem, they should take that up with their employer.

[MCFTJCH2V]

Carnival employs a very large number of people. Like in any large organization, not all employees are the best. No employer does a perfect job in hiring. Some employees don't last very long.

 

Even if the steward would never retaliate, I would feel bad calling him a liar because I don't know how many cabins he was required to service or how many hours he worked.

 

Your post insinuates that you know they do this first hand.

 

And that should they lie to us, we should still tip an underperforming employee at the normal rate. This will not force a bad employee to leave. I would hope people would NOT tip a bad employee forcing them to leave their job, and saving us from having to put up with inferior workers.

 

That's the reason for tips. For a job well done.

[ryanpatricksmom]

I gave up trying to read the entire thread, so maybe this isn't true, but I feel like I'm the only one on the planet that actually would prefer service once a day. When we used to buy Bon Voyage bottles, we would make a point of getting up and out of the cabin each morning so that we could get our mini-cooler filled with ice. I couldn't have cared less if they ever came back after that.

 

We actually are the type of pax that like to come in and out of the cabin a lot during the day. We may get up or sleep in. Since we will be purchasing Cheers this cruise and won't need ice, we'll request evening service during our dinner time. That way I don't have to worry about whether the room is clean, the towels replaced, etc. without avoiding our cabin throughout the morning hours. I cannot tell you how many times we returned from working out, wanted to take a break from the sun, or hide from bad weather, only to come back to the cabin to find the steward in the middle of working on our cabin. I won't miss it at all.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Just back home from the Victory today. Our experience with the new cabin service policy. Our room steward met us outside the room and asked us the first day if we wanted morning or evening service. He said exactly that once a day service was a new thing Carnival was trying. When I had read this debate on here I didn't realize how much this would affect our enjoyment of our cruise.

 

I was in a three person room with a trundle bed. Room service once a day meant that they did not put the trundle bed away at all. It was out in the middle of the inside room we were sharing all day.

 

Not having service more than once a day many that we (three girls one a teenager) were reusing towels which sometimes were not dry after returning from Port and wanting to get ready for dinner.

 

We did have towel animals in the mornings with our service.

 

Sorry for your experience. These kind of reports are troubling.

 

The unusual thing about this cutback is that Carnival has generally been very good at minimizing the impact of cutbacks on passengers. However, there are few staff members that have a more direct impact on the passenger than the steward.

[enki]

I gave up trying to read the entire thread, so maybe this isn't true, but I feel like I'm the only one on the planet that actually would prefer service once a day. When we used to buy Bon Voyage bottles, we would make a point of getting up and out of the cabin each morning so that we could get our mini-cooler filled with ice. I couldn't have cared less if they ever came back after that.

 

We actually are the type of pax that like to come in and out of the cabin a lot during the day. We may get up or sleep in. Since we will be purchasing Cheers this cruise and won't need ice, we'll request evening service during our dinner time. That way I don't have to worry about whether the room is clean, the towels replaced, etc. without avoiding our cabin throughout the morning hours. I cannot tell you how many times we returned from working out, wanted to take a break from the sun, or hide from bad weather, only to come back to the cabin to find the steward in the middle of working on our cabin. I won't miss it at all.

 

No offense, but just because you think the policy would be convenient for you doesn't make it a good one. I'm pretty sure that you could always have instructed your porter to only do service once a day. I could be wrong, but I doubt that they would have argued with you and said they have to clean your room twice a day no matter what. So you could have gotten what you wanted before. Unfortunately now, it looks like they're planning on taking it away from everyone. Giving people the option is certainly fine. Restricting people, or guilting them, into only one service a day is unacceptable -- unless they want to adjust the prices and tipping accordingly.

Edited March 18, 2016 by enki

[Hog Rider]

Just back home from the Victory today. Our experience with the new cabin service policy. Our room steward met us outside the room and asked us the first day if we wanted morning or evening service. He said exactly that once a day service was a new thing Carnival was trying. When I had read this debate on here I didn't realize how much this would affect our enjoyment of our cruise.

 

I was in a three person room with a trundle bed. Room service once a day meant that they did not put the trundle bed away at all. It was out in the middle of the inside room we were sharing all day.

 

Not having service more than once a day many that we (three girls one a teenager) were reusing towels which sometimes were not dry after returning from Port and wanting to get ready for dinner.

 

We did have towel animals in the mornings with our service.

 

Hope you reduced the tip?

[Cruise, J.D.]

No offense, but just because you think the policy would be convenient for you doesn't make it a good one. I'm pretty sure that you could always have instructed your porter to only do service once a day. I could be wrong, but I doubt that they would have argued with you and said they have to clean your room twice a day no matter what. So you could have gotten what you wanted before. Unfortunately now, it looks like they're planning on taking it away from everyone. Giving people the option is certainly fine. Restricting people, or guilting them, into only one service a day is unacceptable -- unless they want to adjust the prices and tipping accordingly.

 

Yep. Their problem could have easily been solved with a quick conversation with the steward. The only housekeeping requirement is that the steward has to enter the cabin at least once per day.

[Warm Breezes]

I gave up trying to read the entire thread, so maybe this isn't true, but I feel like I'm the only one on the planet that actually would prefer service once a day. When we used to buy Bon Voyage bottles, we would make a point of getting up and out of the cabin each morning so that we could get our mini-cooler filled with ice. I couldn't have cared less if they ever came back after that.

 

We actually are the type of pax that like to come in and out of the cabin a lot during the day. We may get up or sleep in. Since we will be purchasing Cheers this cruise and won't need ice, we'll request evening service during our dinner time. That way I don't have to worry about whether the room is clean, the towels replaced, etc. without avoiding our cabin throughout the morning hours. I cannot tell you how many times we returned from working out, wanted to take a break from the sun, or hide from bad weather, only to come back to the cabin to find the steward in the middle of working on our cabin. I won't miss it at all.

 

You are not the only one. But I can see both sides of the coin. We now travel in 2 rooms since our kids are older and we will be asking for PM service with extra towels. We won't want to be disturbed in the morning. But we would like the extra towels since we normally shower more when cruising. However back in the day when the kids were younger and we slept 4 to a cabin, I would have preferred both AM and PM so beds could be put away/taken down and we wouldn't have towels all over the place. We will be sailing on the Dream in May and will be requesting PM service with extra towels and we will leave our gratuities as is and give extra when we feel it is due.

[euphscott]

 

Again, if guests pay the bulk of earnings to stewards and this is something that can have a big impact on guest satisfaction, why is Carnival doing this at all? I've been looking for the net gain here and I just am not seeing it. These changes don't seem better for the guest or the employees.

 

I have gone through this mental exercise as well. The best I can come up with is if they are servicing less, they can hire fewer employees. While we pay them each week we are on board through tips - there is a cost associated with hiring, transporting, and training employees from the homes of the stewards to the ships.

 

I have to believe this is going to blow up in Carnival's face. If the one time a day servicing is the goal, then rip the band aid off and make that clear. Don't play this cat and mouse game that puts the staff in an uncomfortable position, puts the guests in an uncomfortable position, and just creates a hostile and/or confrontational environment.

[TerReuv]

Looks like they have made the forms with both now and they are working their way to the ships.

 

So much for those who like to think that once a day is policy! Guess not.

Edited March 18, 2016 by TerReuv

[CruisinHelloKitty]

 

We did have towel animals in the mornings with our service.

 

Wow, that's pretty bad ! You would think they would at least put up the trundle bed !! Thanks for letting me know about the towel animals, if they didn't make them, that would be the last straw !!!!:eek::eek:

[ryanpatricksmom]

No offense, but just because you think the policy would be convenient for you doesn't make it a good one. I'm pretty sure that you could always have instructed your porter to only do service once a day. I could be wrong, but I doubt that they would have argued with you and said they have to clean your room twice a day no matter what. So you could have gotten what you wanted before. Unfortunately now, it looks like they're planning on taking it away from everyone. Giving people the option is certainly fine. Restricting people, or guilting them, into only one service a day is unacceptable -- unless they want to adjust the prices and tipping accordingly.

 

No offense taken, but I was making an observation comparing my preference to the majority, which seems to be the exact opposite. I didn't comment on the policy at all. I fully acknowledge that I don't have a horse in this race.

Edited March 18, 2016 by ryanpatricksmom

[Cruise, J.D.]

Looks like they have made the forms with both now and they are working their way to the ships.

 

So much for those who like to think that once a day is policy! Guess not.

 

Wow, where did that pic come from?

Edited March 18, 2016 by Cruise, J.D.

[Florings]

Thanks for showing the pic of the new form the "both" on it, TerReuv. I would not be happy with one service a day. I know which box I will be checking!

[Micahs Grandad]

Looks like they have made the forms with both now and they are working their way to the ships.

 

So much for those who like to think that once a day is policy! Guess not.

 

Thanks for sharing this. Sure took them a long time to correct this.