Cleaning - What do they do?

[HappyTexan44]

I am trying to set my expectation.   Things people have mentioned that is done during the room cleaning

 

1. Take dirty towels and leave clean towels.  
2. Take away dirty dishes.  
3. Make the bed.
4. Leave ice if requested.
5. Leave towel animals (maybe no longer?)   
6. Leave the Cruise Compass in the evening (probably no longer)
7. Put up and later down the non-standard beds.   (probably no longer)
   
   Do they ever?
8. change the sheets?
9. Vacuum? 
10. Clean the bathroom?

 

[Donsyb]

Vacuum- yes

Clean bathroom - yes

 change sheets - I don’t think so on a 7 day sailing, but not sure. I assume on more than 7 days, yes

 

[teddie]

2 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I am trying to set my expectation.   Things people have mentioned that is done during the room cleaning

 

1. Take dirty towels and leave clean towels.  
2. Take away dirty dishes.  
3. Make the bed.
4. Leave ice if requested.
5. Leave towel animals (maybe no longer?)   
6. Leave the Cruise Compass in the evening (probably no longer)
7. Put up and later down the non-standard beds.   (probably no longer)
   
   Do they ever?
8. change the sheets?
9. Vacuum? 
10. Clean the bathroom?

 

Of course they clean the bathroom, vacuum, tidy,etc. and supposedly sanitize room for new sailings.Not sure what that entails, tho.

 

Teddie

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I am trying to set my expectation.   Things people have mentioned that is done during the room cleaning

 

1. Take dirty towels and leave clean towels.  
2. Take away dirty dishes.  
3. Make the bed.
4. Leave ice if requested.
5. Leave towel animals (maybe no longer?)   
6. Leave the Cruise Compass in the evening (probably no longer)
7. Put up and later down the non-standard beds.   (probably no longer)
   
   Do they ever?
8. change the sheets?
9. Vacuum? 
10. Clean the bathroom?

 

They clean your room. Remove dishes, make your bed, replace towels, replace cups, ice, leave cruise compass and advertising and time change notices, deliver mail, refill coffee/tea supplies, change linens per schedule and as needed. vacuum carpet, dust pictures and shelves, wipe countertops, refill soap/shampoo/body wash, replace sanitary bags, refill tissue, refill toilet paper, empty trash cans, scrub shower/bath, scrub sinks, scrub toilets, mop floors, clean windows, wipe down balcony furniture, clean balcony glass railing, fold clothing left lying around, organize shoes

[HappyTexan44]

They do all that every day?  So they vacuum every day for example?  Or is some of that just for the between cruise cleanings?

[Jimbo]

They are not suppose to take out dirty dishes out of your cabin but they do. You really are suppose to call room service to come get your dirty dishes.

[BirdTravels]

14 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

They do all that every day?  So they vacuum every day for example?  Or is some of that just for the between cruise cleanings?

Every day

 

Did you expect them to leave piles of sand on your stateroom floor?

Edited February 19, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Tree_skier]

56 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I am trying to set my expectation.   Things people have mentioned that is done during the room cleaning

 

1. Take dirty towels and leave clean towels.  
2. Take away dirty dishes.  
3. Make the bed.
4. Leave ice if requested.
5. Leave towel animals (maybe no longer?)   
6. Leave the Cruise Compass in the evening (probably no longer)
7. Put up and later down the non-standard beds.   (probably no longer)
   
   Do they ever?
8. change the sheets?
9. Vacuum? 
10. Clean the bathroom?

 

Have you not been on cruise before?

[HappyTexan44]

I didn't know, that is why I asked.   What I have to go on is hotel experience.  I expect cruise cleaning to be better, but I wasn't sure how much.  

[HappyTexan44]

5 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Have you not been on cruise before?

Nope, I am intel gathering for our first cruise in a year.   I've picked up some gems. 🙂  
For example, if they don't vacuum daily, then a pile of dirty clothes in the corner won't be a problem.  If they do, I'll have to fuss at DH to actually use the pop-up hamper we'll have.  

Edited February 19, 2023 by HappyTexan44

[poocher]

You have a hamper for dirty clothes & he uses the floor anyway???  Slap that man upside the head!

[HappyTexan44]

3 minutes ago, poocher said:

You have a hamper for dirty clothes & he uses the floor anyway???  Slap that man upside the head!

 

He is really a great guy.  It used to bug me, then many years ago, I stopped doing his laundry unless he put it in the hamper.  He puts his nice clothes in the hamper because I'll wash it nicely and hang it up.  But otherwise I don't notice his clothes anymore and often walk on them.  If people are coming over, I tell him to take care of his clothes and he'll gather them up. 
 

[ARandomTraveler]

On my last cruise our floor never got vacuumed, and our sheets never got changed (I know because they were ripped). But our room steward came in and cleaned 3, sometimes 4 times a day. I was really surprised at how often she was in there. It's like every time she saw us come and go, she went in there and minimally emptied the trash, even if there was only 1 thing in there. At least once a day she swapped out our towels (even when we left them hanging up for re-use), made the bed, and cleaned the bathroom. And if we had used pool towels in the room, she swapped them out for fresh ones.
 

Our balcony did get washed and the glass cleaned during the cruise, but it was not done by the room steward, it was done by a separate crew. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[poocher]

10 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

He is really a great guy.  It used to bug me, then many years ago, I stopped doing his laundry unless he put it in the hamper.  He puts his nice clothes in the hamper because I'll wash it nicely and hang it up.  But otherwise I don't notice his clothes anymore and often walk on them.  If people are coming over, I tell him to take care of his clothes and he'll gather them up. 
 

Hell no!  You gotta train that man 😁.  Clothes left on the floor for more than a day get thrown out!!  😁😁😁

[HappyTexan44]

15 minutes ago, poocher said:

Hell no!  You gotta train that man 😁.  Clothes left on the floor for more than a day get thrown out!!  😁😁😁

Honestly, he wouldn't notice.   He has a ton of ratty clothes.  I do sometimes throw them out when as we joke, "They get too religious" i.e. Holey.   I've also developed selective eyesight which seems like a good thing in a marriage.  Like that dent in the back bumper on my (our nice) car that he put there.   
 

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, HappyTexan44 said:

Nope, I am intel gathering for our first cruise in a year.   I've picked up some gems. 🙂  
For example, if they don't vacuum daily, then a pile of dirty clothes in the corner won't be a problem.  If they do, I'll have to fuss at DH to actually use the pop-up hamper we'll have.  

I usually put dirty clothes such as socks, tshirts, underwear into the paper bag they have hanging in closet that is to send clothes out to be washed and keep it in bottom of the closet.  Then I pack that bag and wash when I get home.

[CntPAcruiser]

We designate one of the suitcases for dirty laundry and put everything in there, and it resides under the bed, so it's out of the way and not taking up space in the closet. I'm not sure how the room attendants navigate around the piles of stuff everywhere in people's cabins. We try to keep things picked up to make their job easier. 

 

If you ask, they will change your sheets (for instance, if they get sweaty and you need fresh ones). I just wouldn't ask to have new sheets every day. 

[BirdTravels]

17 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I didn't know, that is why I asked.   What I have to go on is hotel experience.  I expect cruise cleaning to be better, but I wasn't sure how much.  

I expect my room to be vacuumed and my bed to be made in a hotel every day... at least in the midrange hotels we stay in. 

 

If there is a pile of laundry on the floor, your room steward will likely just ignore it. Maybe have DH put it at the bottom of the closet instead of the floor. 

[cruiselvr04]

There have been cruises where I know the floor wasn’t vacuumed the whole week by what was on it.  I don’t say anything.  I could ask nicely and I’m sure they’d do it but I don’t as it feels awkward. One Oasis cruise we walked on sand all week and I almost went out and grabbed Henry myself.  Those are the weeks no extra tip is left.  
 

It totally depends on your steward as to how “clean “ things are.  We wipe our cabin down ( yes we are one of those) when we get there.  Most of the time I find very little dirt and once in a while it’s kind of disgusting. 

[Peachy59]

18 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

They do all that every day?  So they vacuum every day for example?  Or is some of that just for the between cruise cleanings?

I have never had a steward vacuum, unless we requested it, except on turn around day.

[superduper123]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

There have been cruises where I know the floor wasn’t vacuumed the whole week by what was on it.

Same

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

I expect my room to be vacuumed and my bed to be made in a hotel every day... at least in the midrange hotels we stay in. 

You might expect it, but they don't.   It is rare that they even have a vacuum cleaner with them.  My knowledge is from pre-Covid.    Mostly Marriott, all levels.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

we use a large plastic grocery bag (or several) for the dirty laundry. Not a t-shirt that can be worn again, but for underwear and socks and such. Just stuff all the dirty stuff into a bag, and at the end of the cruise toss that bag into a suitcase.

 

We bring lysol wipes with us and give every wipeable surface a good once over. We are not overly clean people, and we have dogs and dirty floors, but we don't want to touch stuff that may not have been cleaned in years on a cruise. Norovirus is icky. Some cabins have been super clean, but some - not so much, especially on older ships. Sometimes the wipes become very dirty after a couple of swipes. So, I make sure to wipe everything in the bathroom - toilet, toilet lid, shower handles and switches, even the small shelves, every light switch in the cabin, TV remote, phone receiver and buttons, the tops of nightstands, outside of the safe, door handles...

 

Some cabin attendants are exceptional and we see them every day. And then there were cruises where we never saw our cabin attendant. Not even once.

 

But other than wiping everything with lysol wipes (we also do that on the plane), the cabin attendant takes care of everything else BirdTravels said, with the exception of "clean balcony glass railing, fold clothing left lying around, organize shoes."

[brillohead]

On port days, I undress in the shower stall, so I don't get sand in the room.  Why should the carpet be vacuumed daily when there's not dirt tracked onto it daily?

Typically on a weeklong cruise, sheets are changed mid-week.

Toilet paper and tissue/Kleenex is checked/replenished daily, and the end of the toilet paper is folded into a point.  I've noticed that the toilet is usually scrubbed daily (as evidenced by cleaner and bubbles still in the bowl), although I'm not sure why.  It's not like there are rust (or any other) stains in the bowl that need daily scrubbing.  

Bed is made daily.  Trash is emptied daily.  Towels are refreshed daily as needed.  If I used the cups in the bathroom, those would be changed out daily as needed.  If I got stuff on the mirrors, those would be wiped daily as needed.  Window curtains are opened/closed each morning/night if applicable. 

I don't leave clothing or other items out that need to be folded or straightened, but I know some people leave their room looking like a tornado has gone through. I also don't request ice in my room.  

There's actually very little my room attendant needs to do.  Make the bed, empty trash, switch out towels.  

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

oh, one more thing. On RCI ships you have to check out the pool/beach towels with your card (sea pass card). When you check them back in, you have to tap your card again.

 

On our Allure cruise our cabin attendant saw us come back from the port with wet towels and very helpfully offered to take them to check them back in. Well, you have to double check with the towel attendant on the pool deck because when I did - the towels were never checked IN under our cabin number. We would have owed $25 per towel. I told the pool/towel attendant that our cabin one was supposed to have returned them on the previous day... He did the appropriate check-in stuff.