Stateroom issue question/input

[Geomom]

I'd definitely say there was something off that day--you did nothing wrong. I always make sure I put the 'room occupied' sign on the door when there's someone in the room (unless we're doing a quick stop by to grab something) and we take the sign off when the room is empty. I especially make sure the sign is on if my kids (teens) are still sleeping and DH and I have gone to breakfast as that's a likely time the stateroom host would normally come by. It's always seemed magical to us...we leave our rooms, come back later and they're made up...sometimes we haven't been gone long and it's already done. Usually the evening one is done during our dinnertime.

 

[lanejudy]

I agree with others that most likely your host(ess) was probably ill and unexpectedly unable to complete his/her workload that day. In our experience, the stateroom host almost seems to have eyes in the back of his head -- they are watching the comings and goings of their guests. My guess is someone was covering, and saw you come to your room but didn't catch you leaving again in short time - which may be why they didn't return while you were out. And they try not to knock if they know you are in there.

Since you only mentioned this happened once, I would assume your room was serviced in a timely manner for the rest of your cruise. We always meet our stateroom host the first day and kind of set basic expectations (such as "the kids always nap between 1-3pm so please don't knock" or "we like to sleep late, please don't come by before 10am" or "it's ok to knock when we are here" or such). No guarantees, but it helps.

Enjoy your future cruise!

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

This has happened to us but only on one cruise. It seemed like the room was never made up when we expected it to be. Example: on Castaway Cay day we were off the ship from about 9:30-2:30 and the room wasn’t made up when we returned. We saw the stateroom host in the hall and he looked surprised to see us and said “you’re back early!” Um, no. He said he would clean it so we had to go busy ourselves elsewhere when we really just wanted to relax in the room.

Most other stateroom hosts we’ve had have been really good at keeping an eye on when we’re out of the room, and asking what we’re about to do, I think so they can figure out if they have time to pop in and clean. So I think we just had a bad one on that cruise.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I don’t think they have the “please clean” hang tags anymore.

^^^This is definitely the case. Too bad, as it makes things harder for both guests and room hosts/hostesses.

 

[MomOTwins]

This has happened to us but only on one cruise. It seemed like the room was never made up when we expected it to be. Example: on Castaway Cay day we were off the ship from about 9:30-2:30 and the room wasn’t made up when we returned. We saw the stateroom host in the hall and he looked surprised to see us and said “you’re back early!” Um, no. He said he would clean it so we had to go busy ourselves elsewhere when we really just wanted to relax in the room.

Most other stateroom hosts we’ve had have been really good at keeping an eye on when we’re out of the room, and asking what we’re about to do, I think so they can figure out if they have time to pop in and clean. So I think we just had a bad one on that cruise.

In fairness to the host, when we got back on the ship at 2:30 on CC day it was an absolute ghost town and my kids rode the aquaduck a ton with zero wait. So you were kinda back early based on most people's CC day habits.

But yeah, to the OP's post, DCL would not have sent a replacement room cleaner unless your host was sick or something.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

In fairness to the host, when we got back on the ship at 2:30 on CC day it was an absolute ghost town and my kids rode the aquaduck a ton with zero wait. So you were kinda back early based on most people's CC day habits.

True, but we kept the same schedule on Castaway on another cruise and the room was made up when we returned. (And the ship wasn’t a ghost town—since we had to go find something to do while he cleaned our room, we went to the pool deck and could barely find a couple of lounge chairs). And as I said, it happened other days as well. Of course I have no way of knowing if it was just the host or if maybe our room was at the end of his rotation so he always got to us last.

 

[SuperDry]

In our experience, the stateroom host almost seems to have eyes in the back of his head -- they are watching the comings and goings of their guests.

... and listening! My experience is that the good ones (which is most of them) keep careful track of who has their Do Not Disturb tags out, and what their schedules typically are. Since they have stateroom door propped open while they're cleaning, they can hear doors open and close nearby. When they hear a door, they can often tell which direction it is and how many doors down, and if they want to talk to you, they'll magically appear out of the room they're in when they hear you come and go. If you're prone to leaving your room but accidentally leave the Do Not Disturb tag out, they'll pop out when you leave to ask you if you'd like your room cleaned. This has happened several times to me.

on Castaway Cay day we were off the ship from about 9:30-2:30 and the room wasn’t made up when we returned.

we kept the same schedule on Castaway on another cruise and the room was made up when we returned. ... Of course I have no way of knowing if it was just the host or if maybe our room was at the end of his rotation so he always got to us last.

Well that's the thing - somebody has to be first, and somebody has to be last. Some people tend to be gone all day, and others tend to come back often. I think most hosts try to clean the latter's rooms first, and don't just do the rooms in order. They are good at figuring out your schedule,

 

[Mitura]

I don't think you did anything wrong.

What happened to us was similar. Our room wasn't clean, turned over all day. Then we realized we put the Do Not Disturb sign out left it out all day! We had to call guest services and have the top bed brought down.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Thanks everyone!

As some have mentioned, perhaps something was going on with her (sick, personal issue, etc.) or perhaps she was newer and just made a mistake. We rarely ran into her the whole weekend.

Overall, we really loved our Disney cruise and plan to do another in a few years when the kids are around 6 & 7 years old. They are 3 & 4 now and just had a blast. We booked this totally last minute (2.5 weeks in advance) and are so happy we did.

 

[SG131]

That was our only issue with our Disney cruise. It was a 7 night and the room was always being cleaned at bad times. We actually asked if he could come a little earlier and still no luck. We would usually eat lunch around 1 and then my mom liked to go back to the room for a bit and inevitably that’s when he would try to clean. Our servers at dinner were amazing, but the room host was a bit disappointing after all the good things I’d heard about DCL (which I then used to convince my mom it was worth the extra money over RC which she frequents).

 

[bumbershoot]

Disney properties (resorts & ships) started changing the "Do Not Disturb/Please Clean Room" signs in 2018.

Which was after Vegas. How have I never heard of the deaths you mentioned?

So yes, you better arrange it in advance. Talk to your cabin steward.

I’ve never had to do that on either line I frequent. Sometimes we had odd schedules so if we saw the attendant we would tell her/him when what our plans were in passing to be polite, but we never *had to*

 

[mevelandry]

Which was after Vegas. How have I never heard of the deaths you mentioned?



I’ve never had to do that on either line I frequent. Sometimes we had odd schedules so if we saw the attendant we would tell her/him when what our plans were in passing to be polite, but we never *had to*

You don't "have to" but sometimes it's useful for both party.