Telling room stewards told to hawk Carnival merchandise is wrong!

[Don Kehote]

And their motivation for doing that?

Weakness.

[tallnthensome]

Jump much to conclusions? We know you hate Carnival. We get it.

No, I just see things for what they are and I wouldn't have booked another Carnival Cruise a month ago for next year if this were the case. I criticize all cruise lines. Like the other poster said about you, it's your position that Carnival can do no wrong .... ever. You're a hardcore fanboy and not everyone is lying or has a perfect experience with Carnival.

[evandbob]

37 or 38 Carnival cruises and I've never been asked to buy any merchandise by a room steward. I do see an insert delivered with the fun times that does this, along with advertising spa specials, art auctions, etc., and it goes right into the garbage.

 

If I am ever asked, I would just laugh and say nope, not interested, and wouldn't give it a second thought.

[sparks1093]

Weakness.

 

In whom, the employee or the passenger?:) I doubt that the stewards have been directed by Carnival to "push" the items in the brochures because if they have been than from my own experience and the empirical evidence of this thread the vast majority of them are falling down on the job, so if they haven't been directed to do this and they get no benefit from doing this then the question remains, why would they do this?

[riffatsea]

It sounds similar to what happens at the spa when they try to sell you products.

No one forces you to buy anything. You just tell them up front you are not interested and that's that!

I have never had a room steward try to sell us anything but if they did I'd just say no thank you and that's that. No problem at all!

[Jenn1974]

Heald addressed this issue this morning. He said it is fake news. Stewards receive no incentive for selling items.

[bobandsherry]

I asked person who was a steward just 6 months ago, he laughed first and then said no extra for time off or money for sales. So unless something changed in past 6 months, that's word from person who was in the field.

 

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[asalligo]

I have never even been asked on a cruise, but I have purchased both a towel and a robe and love them both.

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Just got off our first Carnival cruise. We were shocked when we were approached by our room steward and asked if we wanted to buy any of the Carnival-branded items (robes, towels, etc.) from a brochure left in our cabin because "for each item we buy, he gets credit toward days off". This seems wrong on so many levels - puts us in a very awkward position, and he was certainly not happy about asking. I felt like Carnival was trying to shame us into buying their products - and rewarding employees not for exceptional service, but by how many towel books they sold. We have taken many cruises on other lines. This has never happened before. Is this normal for Carnival?

 

Please. This has never happened to me, but I think you are overreacting. Do you feel "shocked" when they ask you if you want dessert in a restaurant, fries with that at McDonald's, ask if you want an extended warranty at Best Buy or if you wanted to add batteries to your purchase at Toys R Us? It is called suggestive selling and a normal part of business. That is right I said business. Carnival is a business (shocking, I know!) and they want to sell stuff. Plain and simple. There is nothing wrong with saying no politely and going on with your day.

[TEXSUN46]

No, I just see things for what they are and I wouldn't have booked another Carnival Cruise a month ago for next year if this were the case. I criticize all cruise lines. Like the other poster said about you, it's your position that Carnival can do no wrong .... ever. You're a hardcore fanboy and not everyone is lying or has a perfect experience with Carnival.

 

I have no doubt it could happen and have no reason to believe the OP was not being truthful. However, I have never had anything even remotely similar happen to me on CCL or any other cruise line. I find it peculiar that OP found it to be so appalling regardless of what cruise line they were on, and would not affect my decision to use that cruise line.

[kctwinmommy]

We've never had that happen either! But like others said, I'd have no problem telling them no thanks.

[Doggielover68]

Like others have stated, I don't see this as a big deal. While it has never happened to me personally as mentioned earlier in this thread, to me it is no different than a photographer asking if you want your picture taken, a roaming waiter asking you if you want a drink, etc. If I am not interested, I simply tell the person no thank you and they move on.

 

I also find it hard to believe the OP has never been approached by anyone asking to buy something while on a cruise.

 

 

 

This. Not sure if the part about earning extra time off is true since they all get time off during the day anyway. Sales are pushed everywhere on the ship, everywhere at ports, amusement parks, the mall, even the Directv guy at Costco will never leave me alone. All you have to do is say "no thanks" and then move on with your life.

 

 

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[Sparky2]

Just got off our first Carnival cruise. We were shocked when we were approached by our room steward and asked if we wanted to buy any of the Carnival-branded items (robes, towels, etc.) from a brochure left in our cabin because "for each item we buy, he gets credit toward days off". This seems wrong on so many levels - puts us in a very awkward position, and he was certainly not happy about asking. I felt like Carnival was trying to shame us into buying their products - and rewarding employees not for exceptional service, but by how many towel books they sold. We have taken many cruises on other lines. This has never happened before. Is this normal for Carnival?

 

Not true. I don't mean OP is wrong, but we've never had a steward try to get us to buy anything in all our 20 cruises.

Edited August 20, 2018 by Sparky2

[JohnSpo]

With all the sales pitches we all get during the duration of ours cruises and the pitch from the room steward bothers the OP. Give a polite no thank you and just move on and enjoy your cruise. That's what I do all week.

[Towel Critter]

I'm not saying this does or does not happen. I've never experienced it... and hope I never do. But the bothersome thing about it, if it does happen, is that it happens in your cabin. Sales pitches are expected in public areas, but I see my cabin as I see my home, a refuge. No, it is not my home, but it should be a private place. A door to door salesman you can simply turn away and not invite into your home. This can't be done with a steward, so if it does happen, I have a problem with it. Save the sales pitches for public areas. JMHO.

[Don Kehote]

Please. This has never happened to me' date=' but I think you are overreacting. Do you feel "shocked" when they ask you if you want dessert in a restaurant, fries with that at McDonald's, ask if you want an extended warranty at Best Buy or if you wanted to add batteries to your purchase at Toys R Us? It is called suggestive selling and a normal part of business. That is right I said business. Carnival is a business (shocking, I know!) and they want to sell stuff. Plain and simple. There is nothing wrong with saying no politely and going on with your day.[/quote']

 

New Restaurant failure rate: 90-95%

Best Buy - Just closed 250 stores.

McDonald's - Pays its employees so poorly that they put out a sample budget sheet for them that assumes they have TWO full-time jobs and that healthcare is $20 a month.

Toys-Backward R-Us - Out of business.

 

What's interesting here: 20% of "upsold" customers are unprofitable, accounting for 70% of total "Customer Loss". At this point, I'd be more shocked if a business were to force upsells on their customers, knowing the intrinsic losses associated with them. But that's just business, I guess.

[twodjs]

In response to other posters, our room steward was not the only one. I also heard the the room steward for the next group of cabins giving the same pitch. I believe this is totally different than the pitch done by other employees, since we are seeing this same person every day of our cruise multiple times and he cleans our cabin. How is that not incredibly awkward? I did hear the other room steward approach a guest in a neighboring cabin again...she made the excuse that "she hadn't had time to discuss it with her husband yet...could she have a couple more hours?" We always pay additional tips for excellent service, but this approach is way out of line. We were on the Inspiration, deck 11 in the front.

[twodjs]

I'm not saying this does or does not happen. I've never experienced it... and hope I never do. But the bothersome thing about it, if it does happen, is that it happens in your cabin. Sales pitches are expected in public areas, but I see my cabin as I see my home, a refuge. No, it is not my home, but it should be a private place. A door to door salesman you can simply turn away and not invite into your home. This can't be done with a steward, so if it does happen, I have a problem with it. Save the sales pitches for public areas. JMHO.

 

Yes, exactly the point I'm trying to make. A pitch in front of my cabin door by my room steward is wrong!

[Elaine5715]

Just got off our first Carnival cruise. We were shocked when we were approached by our room steward and asked if we wanted to buy any of the Carnival-branded items (robes, towels, etc.) from a brochure left in our cabin because "for each item we buy, he gets credit toward days off". This seems wrong on so many levels - puts us in a very awkward position, and he was certainly not happy about asking. I felt like Carnival was trying to shame us into buying their products - and rewarding employees not for exceptional service, but by how many towel books they sold. We have taken many cruises on other lines. This has never happened before. Is this normal for Carnival?

Fixed it

[Elaine5715]

I am throwing the BS flag. Doesn't ever matter what a steward does, nothing gets them a day off.

[twodjs]

I am throwing the BS flag. Doesn't ever matter what a steward does, nothing gets them a day off.

Then why would our steward and the one down the hall say this? What is their motivation? And I said that this has never happened before because we have been on 48 cruises on a variety of cruise lines (this was our first on Carnival) and we have never been approached by a room steward for a sales pitch.

[chengkp75]

I am throwing the BS flag. Doesn't ever matter what a steward does, nothing gets them a day off.

 

Can't say for Carnival, but on NCL, there is a monthly winner based on the number of positive review cards that crew member receives, and the typical reward is a day off with pay. I'm sure Carnival has similar incentive programs.

[BlerkOne]

No, I just see things for what they are and I wouldn't have booked another Carnival Cruise a month ago for next year if this were the case. I criticize all cruise lines. Like the other poster said about you, it's your position that Carnival can do no wrong .... ever. You're a hardcore fanboy and not everyone is lying or has a perfect experience with Carnival.

 

You routinely accept hearsay as fact. We get it. A number of people have replied that this has never happened to them. You apparently think they are all lying. We get it.

[BlerkOne]

And we know you love Carnival and will defend them to the ends of the earth. And the "we are not happy " comment lends credence to the thought that you work for Carnival.

 

Concerning the steward's pitch, that has not happened to me in 90+ Carnival cruises.

 

And we know you hate Carnival and love Royal. We get it.

 

But thanks for confirming that as far as you know, stewards aren't hawking.

[Onagh]

I was asked to buy the Towel Animal Book on my 2nd Carnival Cruise but I never heard anything about Commission or Days Off.

 

 

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