Bar Service in Main Dining Room

[lkdry]

Last year on AOS they seemed to suspend bar service in the dining room. It was darn near imposssible to get a drink. Has anyone else noticed this or was it just a fluke with that cruise?

 

The service had gone down so much last year that we booked a cruise(for DH & myself) on a different line for this year. However I am taking the kids on a 5 day with RCCL in 2 weeks. I am hoping to see that the old level of service being restored.

[cb at sea]

Bar service has always been rather slow, that's why we get a drink BEFORE we go into the dining room....that way, if we have a wait, we also have something to "tide us over" until someone takes our order!

[Scotty G]

Barmen were removed or reduced in numbers in the MDR last year. The Assistant Waiters picked up the wine chores and a barman would be called if you needed an adult beverage. This may have changed again but was this way on the Jewel and Monarch earlier this year.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Supposedly they changed it back when they found out it was a terrible idea. My Aunt and Uncle were on explorer I think back in March (no, I think it was late Feb.) when they were implementing the NO bar service from bar maids (I mean bar tenders, lol). There are now 5 bar servers handling deck 3 and 3 bar servers handling deck 4 and 3 handling deck 5. (On Explorer) I am sure bar service has been reinstated fleetwide in the MDR. We were told it was a fiasco when they tried it and realized they could not cut costs by eliminating MDR bar service.

[goinmobile68]

On Radience last week the wine list in the MDR was amazingly limited-choice of 1 or if you're lucky, 2 wines by the glass at twice the price in the bar! My husband ordered a cocktail & they had to "go find someone". In a "sell at all costs" environment I find this to be bad business-wouldn't they make it as easy as possible to sell you drinks? I agree that if you want to have a drink outside of the bar you better get good at juggling from the bar to your room or wherever-hint-wear sandals that you can slip off easily so you can push the elevator butttons!

[lkdry]

You would think this would be a big money maker serving drinks during dinner. I am not a big drinker but that is when I will have one or two. I have enough trouble walking is heels, I don;t need to be juggling a drink.

 

We found that the assistant waiter had no idea what some drinks were. And you would wait like a half an hour before it would come. Seriously we were practically done with dinner before the drinks came out. My husband likes to have drink while looking at the dinner menu....not the dessert menu. It was very disappointing.

 

Who would really think this was a good idea?

[Debde]

I noticed a big change on Serenade this year. One guy and he had way to many tables to take care of.

 

Advice: [ given already]

Stop at a bar and get a drink before going in the MDR.

[jdkt18]

Just returned from LOS July 4th and I had NO problem getting a drink in MDR!

[kyriecat]

I was spoiled on Legend by a fantastic bar server who had practically had our drinks ready when we entered the MDR. LOVED HER! She even stopped by after our appetizers arrived to see if anyone needed more to drink, and again with dessert.

 

On Serenade the service was AWFUL! First problem was getting the bar server to our table. Most of the time we had to ask the waiter to get him. If I ordered a drink when I ordered my meal, I was lucky if I got the drink by the time my entree arrived. I like a drink with my dessert too. One night I ordered a drink and after over 30 minutes, it still hadn't arrived. We had finished dessert and everyone else at the table had left. I had to ask our waiter to find the bar server to cancel my order and get my Seapass card back because we wanted to go to a show. Another time I ordered my dessert drink at the start of my meal and it never did arrive. I didn't give him my Seapass card that time so we ended up leaving without the drink. Tipping extra didn't improve the service any nor did complaining to our head waiter. I guess on the plus side, my bar bill was much lower than usual. Normally I have 2 drinks during dinner. On Serenade, I think I only had 4 drinks at dinner during the whole cruise. It was simply too difficult to get a drink in a timely manner. By mid-cruise, the others at my table had given up trying to get bar drinks also.

[Marie51]

I was on the Liberty in April and it took forever to get a drink, even a Coke. They need to bring back the bar servers to the dining rooms.

[PeggyMc]

I am disappointed to learn this.

 

Enjoyed the option of being able to bring 2 bottles of wine per person on other cruise lines, but I hear not so on Royal Caribbean. Now to hear that drink service is slow to non-existent is not what I want to hear.

 

Doesn't make sense that they wouldn't want to push overpriced drinks in the dinning room. What is the logic?:confused:

[pltag]

Bar service in the MDR is NOT GOOD !! When we get a server the first night, we tell him that everynight he sees us we want ..... this drink and that drink. We give him a large tip. This seems to work pretty well.

[Puffinater]

On the Mariner in Jan/March and just off the Majesty yesterday. We encountered no problems at all getting bar service in the MDR.

[Jimnbigd]

We had MDR bar service on our March Voyager of the Seas, but it was slow. The best bet is from a previous poster -- get your drink and take it with you to the MDR. Some passengers don't realize you take your drink just about anywhere on the ship. This is true for shows also -- get your drink and take it to the show.

[eal]

No problem with MDR drinks on the Jewel in April. Carlos was great, he'd see us walk in and with a nod, a round of drinks would appear!

 

FYI...wine by the glass drinkers...did you know you can order a bottle, drink what you want, and save the rest for another night?

[lkdry]

Maybe it is just certain ships. AOS had wonderful service until our cruise last year. It was terrible. They lost alot of money.

 

Does anyone know how the bar service is on the Grandeur? I sail on that next Saturday.