Longer cruise, better service & food???

[ramby]

I am wondering if on the same ship, there is an advantage to booking a longer itinerary, such as 10 nights vs. a shorter one, such as 5 nights (other than having a longer vacation). In particular, is the food better quality on the longer sailings and is the service better?

[STEVE-O]

Have done 3 15-night cruises...

 

I found the MDR service better than the shorter cruises....likely because we had the same wait team for over 2 weeks...and we got to know each other very well.

 

The food.....about on par with the shorter cruises. More options ( I don't think any of the menus were rerun during the cruise......) maybe.

[cb at sea]

Actually, I've found that by day 8, I'm SICK of the food....they don't repeat menus, but the selections (especially in the last couple of years) get old really fast.

Service-wise, I've found no difference in the length of the cruise.

[ramby]

Actually, I've found that by day 8, I'm SICK of the food....they don't repeat menus, but the selections (especially in the last couple of years) get old really fast.

Service-wise, I've found no difference in the length of the cruise.

 

I noticed from photos that most of the selections in the MDR come covered in sauce. I wonder if that contributes to everything tasting the same... The sauce might be different each night but it is a same sort of "mouth" experience.

[jjb415]

As far as service is concerned, it is always great, no matter the length the trip !! :)

[vegasres]

Just back from a 9 night on the explorer. The service was great, and we thought the food was excellent. We ate in the MDR every night. Maybe it doesn't take much to please us, but we thought it was awesome. Comparing it to the Adventurer and the Mariner, we liked the Explorer best.

[ChipLondon]

We have experienced both Long and short Cruises, and have not really noticed any difference, although on longer cruises it is possible to get to know your table mates wait staff better, which if they are good makes for a better trip. On the other hand...............

[hypercafe]

We have taken 2 night to 14 night trips spread out on all mass market lines. All that I've seen change is the longer the trip is the older the passengers get. As a side note most of the food is covered in sauce so it doesn't dry out on the way to the table. They feed 1500+ people at the same time so it's not made to order.

[windjamming]

I've been on several 12-night cruises. For better or for worse, the waitstaff seem to genuinely want to get to know us more on the longer cruises, and the inside jokes that always seem to develop by Day 3 or 4 become full blown laughs by Day 10.

 

That said, I have never experienced poor service on a shorter cruise. Just not the familiarity that naturally happens on the longer cruises.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

We have been on 5 nights, 7 nights, 9 nights and 12nights. I think service has always been the same, never noticed a difference! Friendly, knew our names, likes and dislikes immediately..but to answer the question of quality...the food is the exact same from short sails to longer. imho

[kyriecat]

I don't think cruise length or cabin type has anything to do with service.

 

The absolute WORST service that I ever encountered from a waiter and cabin steward was on Legend of the Seas 13-nt cruise in a junior suite. By worst, I mean that our waiter would sigh and roll his eyes at me if I asked for a recommendation and there were many times that he would disappear for extended periods of time. A few times he didn't bring menus so we didn't know what our dinner choices were when he came to take our order. When that happened, he would slam the menus down on the table and act like it was our fault that we weren't ready to order.

 

Our cabin steward didn't bring towels or ice unless I remembered to ask her EVERY DAY and she didn't clean our cabin for 5 days - no emptying the trash or making the bed. I can excuse alot since I know the stewards are busy but I had to complain about service that cruise.

 

On the flip side of that, the BEST service that I had from an assistant waiter was on that same cruise. He worked extremely hard and covered for many of the waiter's errors. We made sure to mention his name on the comment card, to the head waiter, and to the maitre d'. (Hi to Branislov!)

 

The BEST service I had was my first Rhapsody cruise (OV) in 2004 and Sovereign (JS). Rhapsody was a 7-nt cruise and Sovereign a 3-nt. Both ships had fabulous waiters and cabin stewards. I wanted to take them home with me. (Hi to Oscar, John, Betty, and Marisa!)

[jmraggs]

I have never noticed a significant difference in the shorter cruises versus the longer ones.