Norwegian Cruise Line Changes Cabin Cleaning, Reduces Crew

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has implemented significant changes to stateroom cleaning on turnaround days for its Norwegian Cruise Line brand. 

This move has allowed the company to reduce the number of cabin stewards by 500 across its fleet while maintaining, and even improving, guest satisfaction scores, according to Patrik Dahlgren, Executive Vice President of Vessel Operations.

These changes are part of NCLH's new transformation office, which has been examining all aspects of the company.

For the cabin cleaning initiative, Dahlgren explained that they analyzed how cabin stewards prepared and cleaned rooms on turnaround days. 

“We did a time and motion study,” he said at the company’s investor day event in New York City earlier this week. “It outlined all the different steps the cabin steward had to take, in and out of the cabin, in order to set up and clean the cabin.”

Dahlgren described the previous process as inefficient, with cabin stewards frequently traveling to and from the main laundry area, resulting in considerable transit time.

“Each cabin steward had to do this same over and over again. With our new process, we have significantly fewer steps for the cabin stewards to set up the cabin,” he said, noting the cross-utilization with other departments that had available manpower on turn days.

“We had the same scores from guests, or higher, through the entire change. We also managed to reduce the headcount for the Norwegian brand for these cabin stewards by 500 people.”

Dahlgren called it a win-win situation, noting that cabin stewards now have more time to interact with guests, providing service and answering questions.