Harmony; Purpose of privacy locks on stateroom door & staff policing guest services?

[Hey Tina]

On my last sailing on the Harmony I noticed while in the room with the privacy lock turned the stateroom was still able to be accessed from the outside so I'm wondering what the purpose of that Iock is? We were traveling with someone about 20 doors down the hall in a different stateroom category and their door when "locked" from the inside was also easily opened with a key from the outside so I figured it must be a feature, not a flaw.

 

Why are there locks if they don't do anything?

 

Also, what do the associates who are standing at the entrance to the guest services line actually do? I learned early that in order to not have to bother talking to them that I could just say I was adding money to my cash account and enter the line regardless of what my actual purpose for being at GS was, so for those of you who stop and talk to those associates, what are yall doing?

[Johnamac123]

On my last sailing on the Harmony I noticed while in the room with the privacy lock turned the stateroom was still able to be accessed from the outside so I'm wondering what the purpose of that Iock is? We were traveling with someone about 20 doors down the hall in a different stateroom category and their door when "locked" from the inside was also easily opened with a key from the outside so I figured it must be a feature, not a flaw.

 

Why are there locks if they don't do anything?

 

Also, what do the associates who are standing at the entrance to the guest services line actually do? I learned early that in order to not have to bother talking to them that I could just say I was adding money to my cash account and enter the line regardless of what my actual purpose for being at GS was, so for those of you who stop and talk to those associates, what are yall doing?

 

Maybe those GS staff are just providing simple answers or tasks...so that others that need actual GS actions can move through more quickly....

[JoyMouse]

Maybe those GS staff are just providing simple answers or tasks...so that others that need actual GS actions can move through more quickly....

 

 

 

That's been my experience, or they have directed me to a specific, more experienced guest service rep who would be able to handle complex requests.

 

 

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[lbjen]

They were trying to help people who had questions that they could easily answer. I was enquiring about show availability and she had an iPad that she could check on. There's nothing sinister in it, but if you want to wait an extra 30 minutes in line for no reason, go ahead I guess.

[Hey Tina]

They were trying to help people who had questions that they could easily answer. I was enquiring about show availability and she had an iPad that she could check on. There's nothing sinister in it, but if you want to wait an extra 30 minutes in line for no reason, go ahead I guess.

 

Well I didn't think there was anything "sinister" about it, I was just curious.... I'm still curious about those privacy locks on the doors though...that was really peculiar.

[reallyitsmema]

Maybe those GS staff are just providing simple answers or tasks...so that others that need actual GS actions can move through more quickly....

 

Exactly, they handle the quick question that someone might have or send someone off to the correct area of the ship to handle their issue. My DH lost his sunglasses and there was a huge line at guest services. We told the person who was at the entrance to the line that we were looking for lost and found, they asked for a description of the glasses and went out back to check the sunglasses drawer. They weren't there, unfortunately, but it saved us a lot of time in line.

[gerif]

Well I didn't think there was anything "sinister" about it, I was just curious.... I'm still curious about those privacy locks on the doors though...that was really peculiar.

They NEED to be able to access cabins - think possible emergency situation - but access might be limited to supervisors or security. I had a friend who went into a diabetic coma in a hotel. When no one could reach her, hotel security was able to override locks.

[FLHugh]

My guess, only the Security Staff have a key to the extra lock and it is only used in Security related situations.

[Hey Tina]

They NEED to be able to access cabins - think possible emergency situation - but access might be limited to supervisors or security. I had a friend who went into a diabetic coma in a hotel. When no one could reach her, hotel security was able to override locks.

 

I understand the need for access, but in our case these locks were overridden by a simple room key. If I was in the room and turned the lock, the other occupant who had a key could come right in. Which means the lock has no real purpose, except to ease your mind (until you figure out that it's a fake lock)....I stay in hundreds of hotel rooms a year, and they all have a lock that will stop the door from opening more than a couple of inches even if a supervisor/manager/security opens it with a master key, however I also know from experience (privacy latch latched itself once when I left the room) that those can be fiddled with from the outside to gain access if need be.

[Hey Tina]

My guess, only the Security Staff have a key to the extra lock and it is only used in Security related situations.

 

That was not the case for our two rooms. If there was one guest in the room with the lock turned the other guest could open the door with their key as if the lock wasn't turned.

[lbjen]

Well I didn't think there was anything "sinister" about it, I was just curious.... I'm still curious about those privacy locks on the doors though...that was really peculiar.

 

The way that you made such an effort to avoid them made it sound like you really didn't trust them, or maybe you thought they were for the 'lesser' classes.

[Hey Tina]

The way that you made such an effort to avoid them made it sound like you really didn't trust them, or maybe you thought they were for the 'lesser' classes.

 

Interesting. Thanks for your feedback. For the record I didn't distrust them or think they were for 'lesser' classes. I didn't consider myself to be in a different class than any other customer on the ship.

[gliles]

Interesting. Thanks for your feedback. For the record I didn't distrust them or think they were for 'lesser' classes. I didn't consider myself to be in a different class than any other customer on the ship.

 

Hey Tina, I was curious too. Oftentimes there are people at the airport with handheld devices helping people too, you'd be amazed at how many people get in line at the gate who don't need to be so I assume the same is true with guest services, maybe they can save some people the wait?

 

As for the locks, I wouldn't call them fake, they make for a double lock. I would think with the instances of people having medical emergencies and those who like to throw each other off the balconies, they need to be able to access the room. I always wonder about those swing bar locks in hotels and how they get in when there's an emergency. But I get what you are saying, it would be nice if the extra lock could only be opened by security .

[GJustice]

That was not the case for our two rooms. If there was one guest in the room with the lock turned the other guest could open the door with their key as if the lock wasn't turned.

 

There's a HUGE difference between "the other guest" registered in the room and "any guest" being able to open the door. I'd not have any problem with my being able to "unbolt" the door if my spouse had bolted it against "strangers."

[Hey Tina]

Hey Tina, I was curious too. Oftentimes there are people at the airport with handheld devices helping people too, you'd be amazed at how many people get in line at the gate who don't need to be so I assume the same is true with guest services, maybe they can save some people the wait?

 

As for the locks, I wouldn't call them fake, they make for a double lock. I would think with the instances of people having medical emergencies and those who like to throw each other off the balconies, they need to be able to access the room. I always wonder about those swing bar locks in hotels and how they get in when there's an emergency. But I get what you are saying, it would be nice if the extra lock could only be opened by security .

 

For your first point I get what you're saying. I guess since I know what I'm doing (or are fine to accept personal responsibility if I wait unnecessarily) I was right to just get into line.

 

For your second point, I have to disagree. In my situation, it was a fake lock. Nothing was "double locked". If you just closed the door, it was locked and could be opened by a key to your room. If you closed the door and turned the lock, it was locked and could be opened by a key to your room. In the instance where my hotel room privacy locked itself it was one of those newfangled ones that look like and L and swing over to block the door. The staff was able to finagle something to swing it back "open" through the couple inches of space the door was able to open with a key.

 

There's a HUGE difference between "the other guest" registered in the room and "any guest" being able to open the door. I'd not have any problem with my being able to "unbolt" the door if my spouse had bolted it against "strangers."

 

I never said or intended to communicate that any guest was able to open our door with their key. If the door is not bolted, it's still locked, so your spouse wouldn't be bolting it against "strangers", they would be bolting it for absolutely no reason at all. While it's great that you don't have a problem with the fake locks, I don't see how it's relevant to my post. I obviously do have a problem and the purpose of my post was to try to figure out why the locks are there if they literally do nothing.

[GJustice]

I never said or intended to communicate that any guest was able to open our door with their key.

 

You implied that ANYONE could open the door when the deadbolt was turned, but the 2 examples you gave were of the person registered in the room opening their room even if it was deadbolted. This doesn't IMHO make it a fake lock. I've never tried to open my own door with my key when it was deadbolted. We always leave it undeadbolted if one of us leaves the room. Didn't know we could get past it. Typically, housekeeping can't open the door when deadbolted and would require a higher access key to do so.

 

NOW, if a guest opened the door with a different room key while deadbolted I'd call it a fake lock.

 

I ALWAYS use the door retainer in hotels, since I've (more that once) had front desk people assign people to my room and give them keys that opened the lock.

[Hey Tina]

You implied that ANYONE could open the door when the deadbolt was turned, but the 2 examples you gave were of the person registered in the room opening their room even if it was deadbolted. This doesn't IMHO make it a fake lock. I've never tried to open my own door with my key when it was deadbolted. We always leave it undeadbolted if one of us leaves the room. Didn't know we could get past it. Typically, housekeeping can't open the door when deadbolted and would require a higher access key to do so.

 

NOW, if a guest opened the door with a different room key while deadbolted I'd call it a fake lock.

 

I ALWAYS use the door retainer in hotels, since I've (more that once) had front desk people assign people to my room and give them keys that opened the lock.

 

Again, I never said or intended to communicate that any guest was able to open our door with their key. If you are not able to accept that what I DID communicate (according to you) is not what I INTENDED to communicate, I don't know what to tell you. I also thought that typically housekeeping (room steward) couldn't open the door when deadbolted, but in my situation they could. If there was a door retainer, I would have used that, but there wasn't. In my situation, the deadbolt was just for show, e.g. a fake lock. What would make it a fake lock in your opinion, since that doesn't seem to meet the criteria?

[Homosassa]

I think we need to know the whole story behind this question.

 

Yes, housekeeping (supervisor) will override locks to a cabin if the housekeeping staff has been unable to access the cabin for an extended period of time.

 

It is a manner of making sure that everything is on the up and up in the cabin.

[Hey Tina]

I think we need to know the whole story behind this question.

 

Yes, housekeeping (supervisor) will override locks to a cabin if the housekeeping staff has been unable to access the cabin for an extended period of time.

 

It is a manner of making sure that everything is on the up and up in the cabin.

 

I'm happy to explain further or answer any questions you might have.

[Big_G]

My access control experience is restricted to a college campus and government buildings. That said, prox cards and farbs can be programmed to open multiple locks. My educated guess is your seapass or wristband opens both locks while your cabin attendant's card only opens one and requires a supervisor for the second. That's just my guess.

 

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[GJustice]

Yes, if the steward's "normal" card opened the deadbolt, I'd call that either a fake lock, or a serious breakdown of the ship's security protocols. The "emergency" card (that can unlock the deadbolt) should be reserved for emergencies.

[Hey Tina]

Yes, if the steward's "normal" card opened the deadbolt, I'd call that either a fake lock, or a serious breakdown of the ship's security protocols. The "emergency" card (that can unlock the deadbolt) should be reserved for emergencies.

 

I can't be certain (I suppose I don't know if he used the "normal" card and while extremely unlikely it's possible we forgot to turn the lock) but I'm almost positive that happened. I didn't bring it to the attention of anyone in charge because after doing the experiment with the deadbolt and our normal cards on two different rooms, like I said earlier, I thought it was a feature, not a flaw.

[GJustice]

Most of the lock systems have several security levels as well as a toggle to allow the physical lock to be unlocked. I want to try my card next time I'm on board to see if the deadbolt opens.

[BillOh]

Maybe those GS staff are just providing simple answers or tasks...so that others that need actual GS actions can move through more quickly....

 

 

Correct and in some cases if you are turning in a form, they take it and keep you from having to stand in line. On Oasis in 2011 I had a cabin problem and was unable to reach Maintenance via the button on the phone. On the way to dinner I stopped by GS and saw the long line. When I talked to the "screener" at the front of the line he said, he would call Maintenance for me. After dinner the problem was fixed and I made dinner on time.

[JC5240]

So to conduct your experiment with the deadbolt being opened by housekeeping, someone remained in your room with the door bolted shut until housekeeping came? The only way you can deadbolt a door is from the inside I'm assuming, so someone had to stay behind and "wait it out" so to speak...yes?