Smooth Sailing Ahead: Discover 7 Surprising Perks Your Cabin Steward Brings to Your Voyage

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Imagine not having to clean your room or make your bed.

That your bathroom with always be spotless and you will have freshly laundered towels.

This is a place like this that exists. A cruise ship cabin.

And the person that is responsible for keeping your stateroom spotless is your cabin steward, also known as a stateroom host.

Your Cabin Steward is that person who works tirelessly to make sure you are comfortable and that you have everything you need in your stateroom. By the end of the cruise, you are usually wishing that you could take them home with you!

Your cabin steward with usually come and introduce themselves on the first afternoon of your cruise.

Here are some of the things that they will do for you:

Extra Comfort for the Beds

Usually, the beds on cruise ships are fabulously comfortable. So much so that some cruise lines even sell their bedding online.

But sometimes the bed just isn’t to your liking. Ask your room steward for a mattress topper.

On some cruise lines, you can ask for your bed to be converted into two twins or a Queen. Many cruise ship lines offer this on their ships, but Disney Cruise Line does not. All their main beds are in Queens and cannot be converted.

One feature that Disney Cruise Line does have that others don’t for their beds is that if you have children you can ask for Disney movie-themed sheets for the beds.

Unfortunately, they don’t have Queen size so this is just for the kids!

You can also ask for extra pillows and blankets. Your stateroom host will be happy to help.

Let’s Talk About Towels

It is always a treat to come back to your cabin in the evening and find a towel animal waiting for you. Many cruise lines, including Disney, make sure that your room steward leaves a towel animal for you.

Sometimes you will even find they are wearing your sunglasses!

If you need any extra towels to use, well, as towels rather than making extra animals, you can always ask your stateroom host for those too.

Many cruise lines also have robes available – some will already have them in their stateroom and others (such as Princess cruises) you need to request either on the cruise line app, or simply ask your cabin host.

Disney Cruise Line and many others also provide ample pool towels on the pool deck.

Be aware though of the specific rules of your cruise line. If you are sailing on Carnival Cruise Line and do not return the pool towel that is placed in your room, you will be charged $24.95 for it.

Related: How To Pack a Carry On Like an Expert

Time for a Drink

Many cruise lines allow you to take some limited amounts of alcohol on board.

Disney Cruise Line allows each guest aged over 21 (or 18 in Australia) to take up to 2 bottles of wine or 6 beers onboard.

So you might need a corkscrew! Just ask your stateroom host and they will be glad to help. They will also bring wine glasses so you can enjoy your favorite beverage.

You can also ask for an ice bucket to be brought to your stateroom every day. This helps cool down white wine and sparkling wine, as usually the cooler in your cabin can’t get it quite to the right temperature.

Related: Princess Cruise Package Bundle – Is it Worth it?

Help with Some Extra Items

Your stateroom hosts will do whatever they can to make your stay more comfortable.

If you need extra hangers for the closet just ask. No need to bring your own from home.

They will also keep the toiletries in the bathroom well stocked. If you need more then just ask.

Most cabins have sharps containers in the bathroom these days, but if you need one and it isn’t there, then ask your stateroom host for one.

They can also help if you have a CPAP machine and can bring extra extension cords and distilled water. Note though that often you have to notify the cruise line before you sail that you will be using a CPAP machine.

They Can Even Make Your Balcony Bigger

Well, not really, but on many cruise lines the partition between the balconies can be opened or removed.

This means that if you have adjoining cabins with family or friends, you can enjoy a double-width balcony.

If this is important to you, always check that this is possible with your particular stateroom before you book. For example, most, but not all of the verandahs on Disney Cruise ships can have the partition between the balconies opened up. But some you can’t.

So always check before you sail.

Related: 7 Things You Must Not Do on Your Balcony

Help On the Move

Sometimes you can sail on one cruise, and immediately follow it with a cruise on the same ship.

This is called a back-to-back cruise.

On many cruise lines, including Disney, if you sail on a back-to-back cruise and have a different stateroom for the second cruise, you simply have to pack and your stateroom host will move your luggage for you.

Unfortunately, you have to do your packing!

Remember How Hard They Work

As you can see, there are many things that your stateroom host can help you with.

They do an amazing job of keeping your stateroom clean and tidy.

In general, most of their take-home pay is made up of gratuities. You will probably have paid an automatic tip as part of your cruise. If your cabin steward has done an amazing job (and after over 40 cruises I can only think of one who didn’t) then consider adding something extra.