The best service I’ve ever received — how overdelivering blew me away
How a cabin crew on a cruise ship showed me how to do a job better than anybody else.
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My wife and I were on a cruise for the first time in our lives. It was fantastic, and we saw many incredibly beautiful places. But I remember Katherine and Taro for a long time. These two were responsible for our cabin during the trip.
The theme of this article is why we will remember these two beautiful people for a long time to come.
What we expected
On a cruise ship, the cabins are, of course, looked after by housekeeping, just like in a hotel on land. The beds are made. The floors and bathrooms are cleaned, and towels changed.
The first surprise was that the cabins on the ship are done twice a day by housekeeping. We did not know this from normal hotels.
So we expected our beds to be made and everything to be nice and clean. We didn’t have any higher demands.
In the hotel you almost never see the housekeeping service staff. They come when the guest is eating or on the way. Sometimes you see them in the hotel corridors and greet them.
If you know when housekeeping comes typically, you make sure that you are not in the room during this time so that the men and women can do their work undisturbed.
So our expectations were something like this: We spend our time on the pool deck, on excursions or eating and in between our cabin is cleaned inconspicuously.
What we got
Already on the first day, when we had moved into our cabin, Katherine and Taro introduced themselves to us personally. They were both very cordial and explained to us how the service would work.
Like most of the staff on board, they both came from the Philippines. To our surprise, Katherine even spoke some German, which is why she talked most of the time.
So the first impression was charming. We felt welcome. Of course, you expect friendly staff as a guest, but they were believed to be friendly. They were simply authentic.
