Role of a steward.

[fishmaniac]

First time cruiser here.

 

Just wondering what they're job description is...

 

Are they like waiters, housekeepering, concierge, hall monitors or gofers? Mixure of all? So far, the only reference I've been able to find, are of them filling ice buckets.

 

Thanks,

[dforeigner]

First time cruiser here.

 

Just wondering what they're job description is...

 

Are they like waiters, housekeepering, concierge, hall monitors or gofers? Mixure of all? So far, the only reference I've been able to find, are of them filling ice buckets.

 

Thanks,

 

The cabin steward will clean your room, change towels, sheets, bring and take you luggage and change the ice twice a day. With Princess, he will leave a number where he can be reached in case you need something. Princess dose not have a concierge per say. The waiters are located at the restaurants.

[fishmaniac]

Hi DF, thanks for the info. So basically they're the combination of a porter & housekeeping, yes?

 

Do I get a specific steward assignment? In other words, does the guy that brings my luggage also in charge of my room? How many stewards to a deck?

 

Thanks again

[dforeigner]

Hi DF, thanks for the info. So basically they're the combination of a porter & housekeeping, yes?

 

Do I get a specific steward assignment? In other words, does the guy that brings my luggage also in charge of my room? How many stewards to a deck?

 

Thanks again

 

Yes, your cabin steward will be the same throughout the week. Everyone works 7 days a week and two shifts per day. This includes the Steward and waitstaff. Since you are sailing with Princess (I am only familiar with Princess). I know my steward brought and took the luggage from my room. At the dock, you will have a local individual working as a porter. Then everyone's luggage is place in huge metal baskets and loaded onto the ship. From there, I have no idea as to how it it managed. If each room steward has to go downstairs and pick it up or if someone brings it to the floor and your steward then brings it to your cabin and vice-versa.

[dforeigner]

Here is a picture of the luggage being off-loaded from the ship.

[Cotton]

Probably pretty much the same on all lines, but as I'm more familiar w/Carnival, here's what a cabin steward does:

 

The steward is assigned a certain number of cabins for the cruise. (I've always had great stewards.) Sometimes they have an assistant, sometimes not.

 

He/she will clean the cabin twice a day, refilling the ice bucket each time. He will replenish the items in your amenity basket/bowl in the bathroom, and 'tidy up' your cabin. He does turndown service while you are out for the evening, leaving a mint on the pillow and the ships' newsletter for the next day's activities.

 

The steward is usually off-duty from around noon till 5pm, but there is a number to call if you need anything.

 

Room service is not part of the steward's job; that is a separate dept. If you need ice during his off time, call room service; although what I do is ask the steward where the nearest ice machine is located, and get my own if needed.

 

I've heard several folks on these board complain because they never see their steward. Well, that's part of his job - being unobtrusive, doing his job without disturbing passengers. However, I like to get to know my stewards a little, like where they're from, their family, etc. For me, having a little personal one-on-one is nice. I always leave an extra tip at the end of the cruise....as I think most do.:)

[JanuaryBlue]

First-time cruiser here!

 

Thank you for your input about stewards, all the posts were very helpful to me.

[jlp20]

Hi DF, thanks for the info. So basically they're the combination of a porter & housekeeping, yes?

 

Do I get a specific steward assignment? In other words, does the guy that brings my luggage also in charge of my room? How many stewards to a deck?

 

Thanks again

 

 

While it is possible your steward might get involved with your embarkation luggage, the chances are slim. Entire gangs or crews work different areas of the ship delivering thousands of bags. Your steward if far to busy to get involved with this.

 

Different cruiselines, different ships and ship areas with different sized staterooms come into play, but your steward will be looking after 16-20 cabins a cruise.

 

On the first day, there will be introductions where the steward will give instructions on how you contact the steward (most likely by beeper). They start early and end late, so there are usually a couple of hours during the day where they are “off”. If the room has not already been set up for you preference, the steward will change twin beds to queen or the reverse.

 

As a rule, the steward will be in your cabin twice a day. The first time, they clean the bathroom and restock towels and toiletries, vacuum the main cabin, empty the trash, make the bed, remove any dishes from room service, refill the ice bucket and straighten up YOUR stuff you have left on the desk.

 

During the dinner hours, they return again turn down the bed, replenish towels if necessary, refill the ice bucket and deliver any paperwork such as room service request cards and “patters” for the next day.

 

The steward is your go between for 95% of the interactions between the cruiseline and your party. Unless it has to do with your account, shore excursions or dinning, the steward will be the one you contact first.

 

Odds are, you will see your stewards in the hall ways several times a day, so be sure to get the pronunciation of his name down on the first day, stewards come from around the world. It will be quite rare to find a Steve, Janet or Bob in the group.

 

Now for the ugly facts of life. Stewards sign “contracts” to agree to work on a ship for a given time frame, usually in months. The cruiselines provides travel to and from the ship to the Steward’s “home”, room and board (a very small cabin with a upper and lower bunk for two is the standard on Princess), uniforms and medical coverage. In exchange, the steward is paid a token salary of less than $200 a month. The vast majority of their income is from TIPS, plain and simple.

 

Not to long ago, cruiselines started to cutback on “free” services and started to charge extra for them. At the same time, they dropped the base cost of the cruise. Where the average cruiser was spending $130+ a day before, it is now possible to cruise for well under $80 a day. Unfortunately, a lot of people were taking cruises looking at that $80 a day as their limit and stiffing all the staff.

 

To protect the stewards and dinning room wait staff, the automatic tip policy went into effect. Your steward gets somewhere between $5 and $6 a person a day from the cabins he is responsible for. We haven’t had that many cruises, but have had one poor steward and another that was just adequate. The others all were above and beyond in the service they provided. Those stewards we tipped "extra" in cash by the fourth day to show we recognized their worth.