I need to butter up my Steward...

[LegalCat]

Ok I need some suggestions for buttering up our Steward, we are 8 girls with three cabins next to each other.... my cabin which is a balcony suite is gonna be party central and we really wanna make sure our Steward takes really good care of us as far as keeping our drinks iced.. restocking clean glasses etc... I'm normally a neat freak and we usually wash our glasses and keep everything very picked up and put away and neat and tidy... I plan on doing the same but this time im sharing my room with several other people and plan on having people over for drinks etc... I definately wanna make sure the Steward takes good care of us and keeps us well stocked...

 

Whats the best avenue? A tip up front and if so, how much... we have 8 people all together in three rooms, all of us having pre-paid our tips.. so in addition to those... I wanna make sure we meet him/her as soon as I can and introduce myself...

[woodey]

yup tip him up front $20 or so. and let him no what you'r expectations are. this is not unheard of at all, also another small tip at the end if he lives up to you'r expectations.

[jayesouthworth]

Tipping upfront NEVER worked for us! On our very first cruise we tipped the steward $30.00 and told him to keep ice bucket filled for us. Didn't happen and we think he figured that was the only tip he was going to get so he did not do anything EXTRA! So, that was all he got from us and even that was too much. We were not impressed with our first-time cruise steward. But heh, you might get lucky.

[*Mach*]

I wrote a note introducing myself, asked for certain simple things (soft side ice chest full of ice... clean glasses...) and stapled on a twenty dollar bill.

 

I had FANTASTIC service all week.

[KenMo]

One time I tipped $20 upfront (also left the auto-tips on) and asked the steward to keep my cooler full of ice. She filled it once and that was it. Never crossed my mind that she might have thought that was all she was going to get. Maybe that was the problem.

 

Now I just leave a note everytime I want extra ice and a tip attached to the note.

[habby]

We've never given any cash at the beginning of the cruise. The cabin stewards always come by when we first get to our cabin to get acquainted. We don't ask much extra of the stewards other than keeping the ice bucket filled. On our last cruise it was refreshed twice a day!

 

The decision to give cash at the beginning, middle or end of the cruise is yours. I'm just reporting what our experience has been, and we always leave our prepaid tips on our S&S account.

[cruisinCLT]

I also gave a nice tip in the begining of the cruise and had awful service. Ice was never refilled and towels were barely stocked. I will for sure not tip a head of time this time.

[LegalCat]

I cant say we've ever had a bad experience, but like I said, we usually really keep the room clean and put away... we are both neat freaks to an extent and like everythin in its place so its not like we ever left a giant mess that needed to be fixed up... we usually made our bed and picked up and folded our towels etc.. of course I prefer someone else making the bed because thats just more vacationey lol...

 

I dont know what I really expect... i just want to make sure we are looked after more than usual... maybe $20 up front and specify that its a little "extra" for him.. and a nice big smile, and hopefully we will be well attended to... I know we will need a lot of ice, we are buying the alcohol from Carnival but carrying on water and soda... its only a weekend cruise not like its a 7+ day cruise.. but id like to know at least that the ice is always kept stocked and stuff... I'm bringing disposable cups so we dont need to keep looking for clean glasses... but I definately want him to empty the mini bar and remove the other "charge" sodas and waters so we dont get charged for those since we are carrying on our own...

[woodey]

Hey Mach...

 

Can you pass the Popcorn Please?:)

[jerick]

Just a thought to avoid a potential misunderstanding. If you want to give a pre-tip to the steward for special service, how about mentioning that it is a "down payment" (or something similar) on their overall tip for the cruise?

 

Jeff

[Kurbanfan]

You don't need to mention anything up front. If you feel like giving the steward extra up front go for it. It is totally your decision and I might add a personal decision. Only your experience can dictate what is right;)

I think you will figure it out:)

[woodey]

Just a thought to avoid a potential misunderstanding. If you want to give a pre-tip to the steward for special service, how about mentioning that it is a "down payment" (or something similar) on their overall tip for the cruise?

 

Jeff

Well i wouldnt use the word down pymt. but let him know that if he does a good job more will come.....that works for me...I have never had a problem also killing them with kindness and thanks never hurts the issue:) :)

[QTPieTrader]

I have found it ALL depends on the steward. I have tipped some and got no better service, and other times have not tipped until the end of the cruise and got superior service.

I think it all depends on the steward.

Good luck.. :cool:

[NCTribeFan]

I've had female room stewards (stewardesses, I guess). Maybe that big smile won't have quite the same effect if you get a female. Then again, maybe it will.

 

:p

 

I have my first ever balcony coming up. Not wanting to be a grouch or anything, but I really hope my neighbors aren't "party central" or I'm going to be a little disappointed. I'm hoping my balcony will provide some nice, peaceful, away-from-the-crowds relaxation.

 

But I'm sure no CC person would dream of annoying a fellow cruiser, would they? ;)

 

I don't expect to need any "extras" although I just might need a little ice during the day in case the fruit punch I bring down from the Lido deck needs to be refreshed. Know what I mean? Wink, wink.

[Sammienole]

I just returned from a cruise and had a wonderful experience w/ my steward. I gave him $20 at the beginning and chatted him up a bit w/ the "where are you from?, how long have you worked for carnival?" etc. What I learned is that they like to feel like people, and not just servants. So my my "interest" in him and the extra tip he treated me like a queen all week. He is what I miss most about being home from my cruise. I think if you treat your steward well, he will treat you extremely well and service your every need. I imagine he will get a kick out of all the girls partying!

[itty]

Ok I need some suggestions for buttering up our Steward, we are 8 girls with three cabins next to each other.... my cabin which is a balcony suite is gonna be party central and we really wanna make sure our Steward takes really good care of us as far as keeping our drinks iced.. restocking clean glasses etc... I'm normally a neat freak and we usually wash our glasses and keep everything very picked up and put away and neat and tidy... I plan on doing the same but this time im sharing my room with several other people and plan on having people over for drinks etc... I definately wanna make sure the Steward takes good care of us and keeps us well stocked...

 

Whats the best avenue? A tip up front and if so, how much... we have 8 people all together in three rooms, all of us having pre-paid our tips.. so in addition to those... I wanna make sure we meet him/her as soon as I can and introduce myself...

 

Last year I give my room Steward Wind chimes. One for each crew member. Normally there are 3 people who work on your room. It was her first gift that anyone had ever given her.

I also go and find the Room Steward. If they are busy at that time, they will be right there for you. At that point I do the introductions, ya da ya da, hand them the GIFT!

My view on giving money is you want extra service. A gift is from the heart.

Candy from your area that might be different, or just a hat with GreenBay Packers logo works just fine. (I would suggest another team but)

p.s.

My extra tip is given at the last (morning) cruise day. I make an animal towel and put the money in the puppies paws.

 

If you also order room service and don't want a plastic coffee cup to drink out of, write that on the order card that you wish for a ceramic cup. Always sign your name with a thank you.

 

Any clothes that I leave behind are left in a bag with a note:

Clothes for Room Steward from Itty. dated and signed. and give this bag personly to them.

 

Do I get What I want all the time, No but the majority of the time I have great service.

 

Itty

[shargurl]

We have always received exceptional room service from our stewards. We left a few dollars for him everyday, and would greet him in the hallway. Talked to him everytime we saw him and our service was great everytime.

[halos]

My method is payment after service.

I communicated to my steward via post-its every day. Sometimes just to wish him a good day, other times to make a request. If my request was met, I would then leave him money with a thank you, have a great night! post-it that he'd find when he came in the cabin for turn-down.

Then the next morning before we left the cabin for the day, I'd leave another note just to say HI...or to also make requests again for that day.

Worked GREAT for me and the steward always wrote something cute back to me. This was a 2 week cruise. By day 3, I never had to make a request at all. He knew what we wanted and needed and always provided it, but we kept up with the notes through the whole cruise. Besides the regular tips & the daily tips, he also got an envelope at the end. He deserved it.

[OHCruisin]

My method is payment after service.

I communicated to my steward via post-its every day. Sometimes just to wish him a good day, other times to make a request. If my request was met, I would then leave him money with a thank you, have a great night! post-it that he'd find when he came in the cabin for turn-down.

Then the next morning before we left the cabin for the day, I'd leave another note just to say HI...or to also make requests again for that day.

Worked GREAT for me and the steward always wrote something cute back to me. This was a 2 week cruise. By day 3, I never had to make a request at all. He knew what we wanted and needed and always provided it, but we kept up with the notes through the whole cruise. Besides the regular tips & the daily tips, he also got an envelope at the end. He deserved it.

 

What a great idea. I'm sure the fact that you smiled and spoke with him didn't hurt either. I find I get much better service from the stewards I take a few minutes to chat with.

[English Tim]

I've tried both ways and still got excellent service. If I didn't get such service I'd soon make it known that if things didn't improve dramatically, my tips would be adjusted accordingly.

 

I'm sure that any male steward attending to 8 girls, wouldn't need any buttering up, just a few seductive glances!;)

[nothomeonacruise]

Great suggestions.. I see nothing wrong with being straight forward in the beginning. You can let him know ahead of time what you expect. (with an extra tip)

I love the idea of the post-it notes. I'm buying them before our next cruise.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I've only cruised once and it was with NCL but I had great service and this is what I did.

 

I found my room steward right away. I saw her in the hall and asked if she was our steward & she said yes. I pulled her into my room and gave her a kit-kat bar with a $20 wrapped around it and asked her to empty the fridge of the expensive stuff so we had room for our soda/water and ice bucket filled. We came back to our room that afternoon and everything was taken care of including turn down service that we didn't ask for. Each day I left a post it note with a smiley face and a personal note saying Thanks for your hard work, or Have a Super Day etc. If we needed anything, we asked for it, such as towel animals. We always got what we asked for. If I asked for something such as the towel animals, I left another candy bar with a $5 around it. She always said hi and smiled at us in the hall.

 

By the way, everyone else on our cruise complained about the service but we had WONDERFUL service. I figure they get very little of the auto-gratuity ($3/day?) so I just figure that is part of the cost of the cruise. I tip if I want something.

[L2J]

Look....3 cabins....8 women...I'm sure you can figure out a little daily offering that would get his/her attention...

[LegalCat]

Look....3 cabins....8 women...I'm sure you can figure out a little daily offering that would get his/her attention...

 

Hey I'm not shy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLLLLL

 

Depends on if he (or she, LOL) is to our tastes... lol

 

I love the $20 wrapped around a candy bar idea thats cute. I think I will do that and go from there... its not like we are gonna be total pigs... I just wanna ensure that if I need some extra towels or some extra ice or whatever, that he/she will be attentive... I dont mind spending some extra $ to ensure good attention...

[luckycruzer]

hit n miss..and sometimes they never come..all I ask is Ice bucket 2x aday..morning while I'm at b'fast, and mid aft..there is extra, if my req's are honored.