I’m going to tell you my secret to solving problems on a cruise.
That I am absolutely sure will work for you too.
I like things to be spot on when I cruise, but I suffer from one of the biggest problems
in the world when it comes to complaining - and that is I am British.
Whilst we are masters at moaning amongst ourselves, we hate to make a fuss and actually go and
complain.
So, I tend to suffer in silence and rely on my classic British stiff upper lip and "keep
calm carry on" mentality- even when things aren’t right.
Until I had a stroke of inspiration and found the way that gets cruise problems solved that
not only works better, but works within my limitations
I am Gary Bembridge, and let's go cruising complaining.
Like most of you I normally go to the reception / the front desk / guest relations desk (or
whatever it happens to be called on that ship) when I have a problem.
You know the drill: usually long lines, tetchy and pushy passengers having a go at
the staff behind the desk, and them expertly batting away the complaints and issues.
Other than really minor issues, like a wrong charge on my bill or a faulty cruise card,
I never had any substantial problem solved this way - like a noisy cabin.
"Sorry, there is nothing we can do" is the usual outcome.
Then I hit a really big problem, where I decided I absolutely had to find a way to get it solved.
I was on a Costa Cruises trip.
I was in an Oceanview cabin, and I couldn’t go to sleep as when we started sailing there
was a constant metal clanging noise.
I just could not go on like that for another six nights.
So, I went to the front desk in the morning, and after waiting in that line for ages all
I got was "we'll look into it".
Nothing happened, as usual.
I bought earplugs to try that night.
That didn’t help.
I even knocked on the next door cabin to try and find it they had the problem.
They did not speak English and just shrugged at me.
I stayed awake really late until I was so exhausted and eventually I did go to sleep.
This cruise was turning into a nightmare.
As I lay awake at 2am, I realised I had to find a way to get this fixed.
It then came to me that I couldn’t be the only one to have suffered from this in this
cabin, and wondered if there are "dud" and "problem" cabins on board cruise ships that
the crew actually know about, and if they know about it, is there something that they
can and will do for me.
So I decided using the cabin steward for my cabin could be the way to go.
Finding an ally to fight my corner and having someone on the inside could be the trick.
In the morning I asked him to come and listen to the noise while we were still sailing before
I went to breakfast.
He agreed it was an issue, and I made it his problem by asking him to solve it.
Then there was a whirlwind of action.
While I was at breakfast, he spoke to his deck supervisor who also checked out the noise,
and she escalated it to the Hotel Director, and by the time I returned from breakfast
there was a call from the hotel director telling me that they were moving my cabin.
My finding an ally in the crew, making it their problem to solve, and letting them use
the levers they know will work was so much more effective than going to the front desk.
They moved me to a fantastic cabin.
From an Oceanview into a balcony cabin, and I enjoyed a wonderful and restful cruise.
Of course, the question then for me is: was this a once off fluke or was this just
something bigger that I had stumbled on.
I resolved that if I ever had problems in the future, I would try it out.
And here is how it played out.
A couple of tears later, I had a similar problem with clanking noises, that do seem to follow
me on cruises when in an Oceanview cabin at bottom of the ship.
It was on an Antarctica cruise on Silversea Silver Cloud.
From around about 5 am intermittent but consistent clanging under the cabin, and it carried on
through the day until about 6pm.
I raised it with my Cabin Butler and asked him to find a solution.
Later in that day, I got a call again from the Hotel Director, and like on Costa I was
moved me to another (and better) cabin.
This got me thinking again if there are known issues on-board cruise ships that if
you do raise those to the crew specifically who are working in that area, they know they’re
an issue and will escalate them quickly and they get addressed.
Unlikely via the front desk.
As you've gathered I am very much about having a good comfortable and quiet cabin, and about
a year after that Silversea cruise, I was able to draw on this same process on a CroisiEurope
Mekong River Cruise.
During the night and day there was a strong vibration underneath my cabin which reverberated
through the bed.
Same process as in the past, spoke to my cabin steward who immediately said that is the
generator, to leave it with him and within less than hour the hotel manager had moved
me.
But does this only work for cabin issues?
I really wondered that, and this is what I found out.
I tried a similar approach when I was on a cruise line excursion, who of course use local
contractors.
I was on line a cycling tour off a P&O Cruises ship.
The tour guides were disinterested, they rushed us, did nothing when a woman fell off her
bike and we all had to help her while they rode off ahead, and they did not even go the
full excursion time.
I know on cruise line excursions there is always someone from ship on these as their
ears and eyes, and also to stay in contact with the ship if running late.
Normally it is someone junior and they stay anonymous, so many people on the excursion
have no idea this happens.
I had spotted on this one it was one of the dancers, so I spoke to her on the tour and
at the end, and got her to agree there was an issue with the excursion, and that she
would raise it with the excursion manager.
Before I could follow up with excursion manager myself, he contacted me to apologise we were
refunded for the excursion, again proving that finding an ally within the crew that
acknowledges your problem and you ask to solve the problem is a much better way than dealing
with it straight on with the front desk.
Also, we found out from talking to others on this excursion that they had not been contacted
nor refunded.
By being friendly, polite and respectful to the crew that I come into contact with every
day, when I ask for help they are vested in solving it, as they know I am not just being
overly demanding and trying to push my luck.
They become vested in my problem and they know the levers and who behind the scenes
to talk to solve my problem.
This smarter was of solving problems on a cruise has meant my ingrained British reticence
to complain is kept intact, but works for me.
Worth a try next time you have a problem on cruise, don't you think?
If you want more smart cruise tips that most cruise passengers don't know, I've created
this short playlist for you to watch.
Enjoy