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One of the more frequently asked questions I see on cruise message boards is: “what can I ask my cabin steward to bring or do for me?”. As I keep seeing the same limited list of suggestions, I decided to make this as, based on my experience, I can see cruisers are missing out on many more things cabin stewards can do and bring.
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One of the more frequently asked questions I see on cruise message boards is what can
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I ask my cabin steward to bring or do for me? As I keep seeing the same limited list of suggestions, I decided to make this, because
0:12
based on my experience, I can see cruises are missing out on so many more things cabin
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stewards can do and bring. Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge, making it easy for you to ensure that your cabin
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steward can help make your next cruise even more amazing. Before I get into the physical stuff they can bring, I want to talk about some even
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more valuable and underused ways cabin stewards can add to your cruise
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First, information. One question I always ask my cabin steward when I meet them for the first time is, what
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does this cabin grade I'm in get me? I ask this for two key reasons
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First, every cruise line has different perks, inclusions and included extras, even for the
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same grade. For example, the Balcony Cabin on Majestic Princess that I was in a few weeks after I
1:00
had been on one on Norwegian Encore had a very different set of perks and inclusions
1:05
like a common beach bag and bottles of water that would be replaced, which I didn't have
1:09
on Norwegian. Second, cruise lines frequently change the inclusions and perks, so even when you are
1:15
returning to a familiar line, I like to check. For example, on returning to Oceania just the other month, I found I was going in the
1:22
same grade I had last time, but now it included three free sets of laundry and had a canap�
1:28
menu that I could choose from each day. But I have found a second, equally revealing question that I always ask the cabin steward
1:39
Now I ask my cabin steward, what are the things you get most requested to do or bring most
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frequently these days? This sometimes throws up things they can do, but I forgot to mention in the first question
1:52
Although I will get into a full list of things you can get later, I did find through asking
1:56
that the six most asked for things by passengers are regular ice bucket refills, glasses and
2:01
a corkscrew, extra hangers, extra towels and a paper copy of the daily programme
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Another thing which a cabin steward can do that most passengers don't tap into is provide
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tips and tricks about the ship, the itinerary and the port. Let me give you a couple of examples
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First for tips about the ship, I will come back to the laundry example
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When I was on Norwegian Viva recently, I asked my cabin steward about doing laundry
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I had been on a pre-cruise stay and had a pile of dirty washing
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He told me, don't put it in now, wait until day three of the cruise, because every three
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days there would be a promotion where I could fill a bag for a low fixed price and it was
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dramatically cheaper than sending it away when I was planning to. That was a great tip from him
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Cruise lines tend to run the same promotions and offers on a regular schedule during the
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cruise, and the cabin steward can tip me off on what is likely to be coming up
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Next the cabin steward can usually give me fantastic port tips. For example, on a recent Silver Sea South African trip three months ago, I had a lot
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of concerns around safety of exploring ports alone. My cabin steward was able to tell me what ports I should not go exploring by myself
3:18
and which were OK based on his and other crew experiences. For example, he said in Durban I should do an excursion or use the same taxi service
3:27
that all the crew do when they are there to go to a specific mall, because the taxi would
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wait and charge a set fee. He also recommended the best restaurant to go to try traditional South African babuti
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and bunny chow food. He also suggested the best eSIM to buy based on his experience, which was a company called Aerolo
3:45
My mobile service plan did not have roaming in South Africa, and I needed good 4G because
3:50
the WiFi on the ship was not great and I needed to do some video uploading. I wanted the security when I was out and about of being connected
4:00
He was also able to tell me the best place in each port to go for WiFi, if I was trying
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to find a pharmacy or grocer and so on. I also found the cabin steward is often the best person to solve little problems
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For example, on another recent cruise on MSC Virtuosa, a friend of mine was also on and
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had broken the handle of their suitcase. They spoke to their cabin steward and he was able to get it sorted out by connecting them
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to a handyman on the ship who was happy to do it for a small tip
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Now let me talk about the more specific things a cabin steward can bring and do for you in
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your cabin beyond those six most asked for items I mentioned earlier
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There are eight key things that I think you should know about. First is around beds and sleeping
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The cabin steward can change the setup of beds. Most cabins on cruise ships have two beds that can be set up as twins or get pushed
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together to make a double bed. They can change that configuration easily
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They can also move the side table configuration around. For example, my sister really likes her bed being against the wall on one side when she
5:01
sleeps, so she will ask for the bed to be against the wall instead of a side table each
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side and the side table is moved. You can ask for changes of configuration like that
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They can also usually change your pillows. I really like a feather pillow, but not all lines have them as standard
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I've found almost every time, no matter the grade of the line or what level I'm in, the
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cabin steward can usually find me at least one feather pillow. They can also make the bed harder or they can make the bed softer by bringing in a mattress
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topper to make the bed softer. Also get rid of that uncomfortable line where the two beds are pushed together
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And often they can bring a board to put under the mattress to make it firmer if you want
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the mattress to be firmer. Of course they can do other things like bring extra blankets
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I also often ask my cabin steward to change the bed linen less frequently
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On some lines, like Oceana Vista recently, they asked whether I wanted the bed changed
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less frequently. It's a small environmental move, but it also gives them less work to do as well
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Which links me to my next point around frequency of service. Some lines have gone to once a day cabin service, like Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O Cruises, and
6:10
some that do have twice a day are offering the option to opt into once a day, like I
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was on a Holland America trip recently and they had that option. And of course you can just simply ask for even less if you prefer from your cabin steward
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if you only want it done every couple of days. However, what I personally like to do is to get the cabin steward to tailor when my cabin
6:30
is serviced to meet my schedule, which they are usually willing to do
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For example, I tend to go to breakfast in the main dining room if I can for breakfast
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every day and just when it opens. So I ask my cabin steward at the start of the cruise if they can do my room at that
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time each day. The same for dinner, because I eat early when it opens so I can then do some post dinner
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work on my channel and then go and see and explore the ship later on
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The cabin steward then does my room really early to match with my dinner and my plans
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to return to the cabin. So you can get them to tailor the timing of your service
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But anyway, let's get back to the cabin itself and see what they can do for you in
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the bathroom. Many cruise ships have moved to those big refillable toiletry bottles
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If you really don't like using them, you can ask them if they have still got the small
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individual bottles that the line used before. Although it is becoming increasingly rare, quite a few still have stocks of the small
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individual bottles as they phase them out, and often the cabin steward can rustle some up
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On luxury lines they still use them as standard. Also check with the steward if they have a choice of brands, as many of them do, and
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they are set up with the most popular brand or with what the last guest used
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Some of them I found that I could replace the Bulgari toiletries, which are fine, with
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L'Occitane that I love just by asking. They can of course bring other things that you might need, like a sharps container or
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a magnifying mirror for shaving or make-up if there is not one as standard in the cabin itself
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They are also normally able to empty your mini bar if you want to have it cleared to
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store your own drinks and snacks, or to resist the temptation or risk of buying those costly
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mini bar items, especially because mini bar items are not usually included in your drinks package
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The other thing that I found is possible sometimes is if a cruise line offers perks in some grades
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but aren't available in your grade, it is sometimes possible that the cabin steward
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can swing it. The one that they can most often get is bathrobes
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The other that I have not tried, but friends of mine have, is ask for a coffee machine
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or tea and coffee making facilities. You can also ask cabin stewards to not make tile animals if you are on a line that does
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them because you are worried it could take up too much time, or you can ask them to make
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specific ones if you have one as a favourite. If a line does not do tile animals as standard, and you are travelling with kids and really
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want one, talk to the cabin steward and see if they will make one, because often they
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will be more than delighted to. If you need extension cords, the cabin steward will try and help, especially if you have
9:07
those CPAP machines. But if you really do need one to plug in a machine like that, it is absolutely essential
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that the cruise line knows in advance so they can ensure they have one that will enable
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you to have the machine next to the bed. Really important that they know in advance
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Depending on the line, I have found the cabin steward can sometimes help with adapters or
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even chargers. On one region cruise, I had for some reason forgotten to pack my bag that has adapters
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and chargers, and when I asked the cabin steward if he knew if the onboard shop sold adapters
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and where in the next port I could buy an iPhone charger, he brought me both of them
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I think they were left in the lost and found by past passengers
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Is there anything that you found a cabin steward has done for you that I haven't mentioned
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If so, leave it in the comments. But while you think about that, join me over in this video where I share things that polite
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cruisers do that actually drive cabin stewards and crew crazy. And find out why
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See you over there
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