Radisson Going "MASS MARKET"!

[JoAnne B]

"We questioned this aspect of service with Radisson officers on board and they mentioned that the new personnel lacked the appropriate "training" and were learning on the run. Again, a Rad officer explained to us that Rad pays their crew in dollars and with the dollars record "low" against the Euro, the European crew was going elsewhere."

 

I was told just the opposite by crew members here on the Diamond. Basically, that RSSC had "changed policy" and was no longer hiring European staff, only "oriental". The impact of the weak dollar was mentioned as a hardship on the European staff, but they were clear that it was RSSC who had made the policy change, not staff leaving voluntarily. Much of the staff impacted have been with RSSC for many years, and are very sad at being left behind. Personally, I don't care what the nationality of the people serving me is, but I do have concerns about the level of training and service orientation. I don't think this bodes well for the future.

[Dolebludger]

JoAnne B:

 

Actually, we noted the shift in service crew from European to Asian over a year ago. At that time, service was not suffering. Then, we noted that most of the service crew were from the Phillippines. We were told both by service crew and senior staff that there had been a serious economic recession in the Phillippines, resulting in the reduction or closure of many top notch resorts, and making service people available to Radisson and other cruise lines. I'm rather sure that the weak $USD against the Euro is continuing that trend.

 

However, at that time, our Asian crew was VERY capable. Perhaps even better than the previous European crew. But at that time (over a year ago) the Asian crew was also VERY WELL TRAINED by Radisson. Like you, I recognize that there may be valid reasons for Radisson to hire personnel from differing parts of the world. But there is no excuse for Radisson to put a "green" untrained service crew of any nationality on any cruise. There is no excuse for Radisson to "train on the go" as service to the guests suffers. Very sorry to hear this is going on.

 

Thanks,

Richard:(

[med4bike]

I think the change in the makeup of the crew can be a combination of the two: a change from European crew to Philippine crew as a specific design of Radisson and the European crew leaving because of the pay scale decreasing due to the decline in the dollar.

 

At a few meals we had a European waiter and he explained to us that Radisson was replacing the wait staff with Philippine crew because of a combination of the above. He stated that his commitment was not up for a few months and when it was he was looking elsewhere.

 

On our second day in port our European stewardess was replaced by a new stewardess from the Philippines and she was totally inexperienced. What a difference. She was, in effect, learning on the fly. Thank goodness that the original stewardess had trained her assistant and he was quite good.

 

Maybe it was our misfortune that both the stewardess and the wait staff that we encountered periodically lacked training and understanding of the English language. Just an example. On our second day at sea, I went to breakfast by myself in the Compass Rose. I asked the waitress for Earl Gray decaffeinated tea. For 15 minutes, no tea. I then ordered a smoked salmon omelet with a toasted bagel. The tea never came because I believe that the waitress did not understand what "decaffeinated tea" was all about. She then proceeded to bring me smoked salmon on a plate ( all by itself without the requisite toasted bagel). She was very sweet and apologized and I didn't make a big deal of it. I called over another waiter who delivered the tea in 2 minutes and the omelet in 5 minutes. It was the lack of understanding the English language that was the root of her problem. I guess she was too embarrassed to ask me to explain what I wanted again. This went on again on other occasions but to a much lesser degree. The feeling I got was that this new crew, who just boarded, were not trained very well in all respects. I had wine spilled on me on at least two occasions, the order of courses mixed up, etc.

 

I feel it was the lack of training that was the root of the problem. However, I must state that on each occasion the person involved could not have been nicer. Surprisingly, the only "attitude" problem we encountered was with the Maitre D, and assistants in the Compass Rose and Signature.

 

As a side note, when one cruises on a "leg" of a world cruise when the wait staff and crew know the "world cruisers" by name and face, the "rest of us" take a back seat in service. That is a fact of life! On more that one occasion, the Maitre D tried to move us to a table away from the window, although there was one clearly available. Was he saving it for his personal favorite "world cruiser"? In any event, although he "guided us" to another table, we headed right to the window table, sat down and was served immediately ( in spite of him). There are many, many funny stories concerning the treatment of the "world cruisers" vis a vis the "rest of us". But that is for another time.

 

The world cruisers were treated to many “special events” just for them and the “rest of us” did understand that Radisson should treat them with “special kid gloves”. That did not irk us at all. They deserve all the priority treatment they receive for they are the “bottom line” for this cruise line. Do you realize the number of repeat world travelers there are on a world cruise. It is unbelievable. This cruise had 320 world cruisers on our leg. Wow! Figure the numbers!

 

We hope that Radisson is not going too far astray from the policies that has made them on of our favorite cruise lines. Only time will tell.

[Dolebludger]

Med4bike:

 

You bring up an issue that was not present on our last Radisson cruises, which had mostly Asian crew -- and that is language. The Asian crew members we encountered a year or so ago when Radisson first made the switch spoke English as well as the former Eastern European service crew --- and maybe just a bit better. It is indeed sad to learn that Radisson is now placing people (of any nationality) in guest service positions who cannot speak English well enough to do their jobs.

 

Thanks,

Richard:(

[petlover]

Maurice,

I'm so sorry to hear about some of the unfortunate experiences you had on your WC segment. We were fortunate to have virtually all the same wait staff, steward and stewardess all the way from Los Angeles. In fact, I wasn't even aware of the new "trainees" that apparently boarded in Rome as we never encountered them. We became quite close with certain members of the staff and had one of those waiters or bartenders each and every day.

 

The only time we ever experienced service which was less than wonderful was at Signatures, before you boarded. On one particular night we had a waiter with a "can NOT do attitude". It's as if he forgot who was there to serve whom. We called this to the attention of Steph (the food and beverage manager) and Mike (the executive chef) and from then on we received excellent service on 2 subsequent visits to Signatures.

 

Hiring personel who lack a good grasp of speaking English is inexcusable. I do hope that this doesn't happen to you again or anyone of us on future RSSC cruises.

 

BTW, Tom and I very much enjoyed meeting you and Amira and hope to see you again on future cruises!

[neviboy]

This is all very distressing. One Mariner and three Voyagers were perfect as far as we were concerned. Two of them were enhanced with Jaime and Diane, and also with the rapport that we had with the mainly European staff.

We are leaving on Sunday for a Silver Shadow cruise, for the first time. Perhaps we will meet some RSSC cruisers and then we can get a better slant on things. It really is a sad situation to witness this deteriation in quality.

Perhaps an amalgamation is in the offing. We will never cruise on the megaships.

[Dolebludger]

Nevil:

 

We have the same attitude. We will never again cruise on a ship larger than the Voyager (700 guests max.). Should the time ever come that ships larger than this are all that are available to us, we will spend our travel time in ways other than cruising.

 

I'm sorry if I seem to have "hijacked" this thread, but at least it has now evolved into a friendly, fact-finding thread. Please report back if you learn anything on Silversea. Here's the situation. None of the bits of negative information on Radisson that have popped up recently is, in itself, a terribly serious matter. But taken together, they MAY be. And they are certainly causing concern among folks like us, for whom a Radisson cruise is a fairly "big ticket" purchase.

 

Thanks,

Richard:confused:

[Island Cruiser]

I am pleased to see this thread has evolved to constructive dialogue. And I am most distressed to hear that Radisson would hire a service person without the requisite language skills to do the job properly. Wow. And I am equally distressed to read that the quality of food has, in the opinion of an enlightened and constructive poster, declined. Not good! I don't even like the idea that "world cruise" guests receive noticeably better treatment in the restaurants. The fact they are invited to "special events" is fine by me. They paid for the extras and are entitled to them. But preferential seating in a dining room I might have paid an equal sum or more to enjoy? Forget it! I do hope we will not be reading more posts like this. We'll be on the PG for two weeks beginning 5/21 and will post our impressions.

[Dolebludger]

Island Cruiser:

 

Yes, please fill us all in on your PG cruise. Actually the PG is the ship over which there is perhaps the most concern, due to the nebulous involvment of GCT and Vantage in its operation. Post from onboard, if you can.

 

BTW, if you are doing a "back to back" on the PG, you may receive a bit of preferential treatment yourself, unless things have changed. When we did our PG back to back in Feb. '03, the Hotel Director and other staff ALWAYS seemed at our disposal, and this was true of the other "back to backers" at that time. I even asked about this and was told "we support those who support us."

 

HOWEVER, we were given no preference as to dining tables (that I can recall) and we asked for none. That situation would be a bit over the line!

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[canadagal]

I second that idea Island Cruiser. If you can manage to fit in an onboard post while on the P.G. that would be so much appreciated by several of us. Are you doing a pre-cruise stay before embarking the ship? I would like to hear how things have changed re: the travel arrangements now that Rad is no longer overnighting pax in LA. That little extra was something that always set Radisson apart from the mainstream lines and to me was a special part of the P.G. experience. It was one of those not so postive changes that have been made in my opinion. It would also be nice to hear if anyone has actually stayed at the new Radisson hotel yet too and what they thought of it. I know that part of Tahiti was interesting to see when hubbie and I rented a car to tour the island and the history and black beach in that area was intriguing. Neville have a great cruise and calm seas! Shall be interesting to see if you run into any other Rad past pax who have any recent experiences to report. You will love SS! Yes, Richard this thread has taken on a nice turn...............reminds me of the old CC of days gone by, so thank-you's would be more appropriate not apologies dear fellow imho.

Pat

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Pat,

 

I'm not sure what you mean about Radisson no longer overnighting people in LA. We certainly are being overnighted, at the Hilton as usual, about two and a half weeks from now. Is this a recent change?

[Dolebludger]

My understanding is that Radisson is looking for, and using, early morning "red eyes" that will connect with the international flights to Papeete at LAX WHERE THEY ARE AVAILABLE. In other words, the "old Radisson" would have rejected a 6:00 take off time from Colorado Springs that would have so connected on the grounds that it is too early (IT IS) and instead given the guest overnight accomodations in LA. But the "new" Radisson uses the red eye. But in some origination cities, even the reddest red eye won't make the connection, and overnights are still provided.

 

But that is just my understanding. I'd like to hear more detail on this.

 

Thanks,

Richard:confused:

[mpfund]

Canadagal,

 

My husband and I stayed at the Radisson in Papeete and just loved it. We had a standard room and thought it was decorated beautifully. The only complaint I had was that the tub/shower combo required very long legs to get into! The food in the restaurant was good, but like everywhere in Tahiti, quite expensive. However, portions were so large that we wished we had shared items. The pool is terrific -- in fact we never made it to the black sand beach!

 

We booked the hotel independently as it was not connected to a Radisson cruise.

 

If you decide to stay there, don't be dismayed by the exterior appearance of the hotel, which resembles a motel. It really is a nice place.

 

If anyone has questions, I'll be glad to help.

[canadagal]

Wendy: I have heard of several people having to take the red eyes too. Maybe for now people out of the east such as ourselves are still being overnighted in LA but what really concerns me is what is going to happen after July/05 when non stop service starts out of New York city. The flight from New York is 14 hours non stop. Will Rad try and connect Toronto through JFK all on the same day? I guess we will have to wait and see what happens with that one still. Mpfund, thanks for the report on the new Radisson Hotel. The pictures on their website look nice. Happy to hear that the food is good also as I remember the food at both the LeMeridien and the Beachcomber being only so so and also very expensive. Were you pleased with the size of the rooms and the amenities at this hotel? Was the water pressure balanced and temperature correct? I also remember people complaining about that problem in the past, particularly at the Le Meridien.

Pat

[mpfund]

The room we had at the Radisson (a standard) was not huge, but was so well designed that it felt bigger than it was. There was a king sized bed, 2 night stands, a bench at the end of the bed, and past that a small "living area" -- as I recall, a couple of chairs and a coffee table. There was sufficient storage (closets and bureau), a desk, coffee/tea set up and a balcony with 2 lounge chairs and small table between.

 

The water pressure and temperature were just fine. Odd you should mention that as showers are a pet peeve of mine and this one passed with flying colors!

[Kathy Z]

I am also counting my blessings as Radisson has given us an overnight at the LAX Hilton next month when they fly us from Detroit to Papeete.

[canadagal]

Hey KathyZ, I'm so happy for you and Wendy that you both were over-nighted at the Hilton LAX. It really does add to the experience and helps break up the long flight days. Mpfund, your hotel stay does sound very nice. Thanks for the details. One does not need a huge room but I'm with you if the shower and water pressure/temperature is not right then I'm an unhappy camper. We will definately have to keep the new Rad hotel in mind for our next trip. Even if we just manage a lunch or drive over there it's worth it as we really enjoyed that part of the island last time.

Pat

[Dolebludger]

While hotel quality in Tahiti is not Radisson's fault (unless of course it is the Radisson Hotel!), we feel the Le Meridien is really to be avoided. Water pressure and tenperature is unpredictable. Air conditioning won't get the temp down below about 78 to 80 in upstairs rooms. A lot of insect problems in the rooms --- particularly ants. And on our last post-cruise day room stay, a rude desk clerk tried to put a mini bar charge on me because I had some Cokes I had taken from the PG! I had to stand and wait while they went to the room and did a mini bar inventory!

 

The Le Meridien USED TO BE the best resort hotel in Papeete, and that is why Radisson used them originally. I don't know the status of that now, but we will specify "no Le Meridien" on our next PG cruise on a "put us there and we won't go" basis.

 

On a happier note, there have been good reports on the Intercontenental (Beachcomber) since its remodel a couple of years back. That is to say "good" by Tahitian hotel standards, which are not high, to say the least.

 

 

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[canadagal]

When we did our pre-cruise stay at the Le Meridien in 2003, we experienced all of those problems and more that Dolebludger described and it would be my last choice of a hotel in Tahiti. If it was to be our day room after the P.G. then I would ask if we could be moved to any other hotel. Anything to avoid going there ever again. I will say though that they had a beautiful pool and tropical landscaped grounds. I'll give them that much at least. Also people that stayed in the over water bungalows seemed to have a much better stay and experience then those in the standard hotel rooms. However, I did like the Intercontinental Beachcomber Hotel. We were booked in a standard hotel room after the P.G. but when the desk clerk saw my Intercontinental member card they upgraded us to lagoon location over water bungalow and it was pure heaven. Beautiful rooms and good service. It was a wonderful way to end our Tahiti vacation. I would not hesitate to ever book and pay for a hotel room at the Intercontinental Beachcomber but I agree that the Le Meridien should be avoided unless it happens to be under new management and has had a major renovation done recently. The people there seemed so shiftless and non caring,unlike most Tahitians you meet elsewhere.

[Island Cruiser]

I'll try to do a post or two during our PG B2B beginning 5/21. Keep you fingers crossed for me. I am, to say the least, computer challenged. But I'll give it a try.

 

Fred and I are flying down to LA on 5/19 and staying at the Airport Hilton and flying on to Tahiti on 5/20 on the 1:00 p.m. Air Tahiti departure. We purchased the accommodations through Radisson. But we DID have to pay since we can, clearly, get to LAX from Seattle in time to connect to Air Tahiti on the same day. That's fair. No complaints!

 

We will be spending Friday night (5/20) at the Intercontinental. It will be a standard room booked through Radisson. We've heard good things about the hotel. Apparently the site is beautiful. We expect our standard room to be very ordinary, just enough for one night. We'll be returning home on the Saturday 8:20 a.m. Air France departure. Since we will have spent 15 days in the South Pacific, we decided to leave first thing on Saturday morning instead of hanging around all day to catch the air Tahiti red eye. Sleeping in my own bed with my own dogs beats sleeping in an aircraft seat hands down!

 

I wouldn't turn down any special attention that comes my way as a B2B client. We'll see.

 

Pat

[venicecruiser]

After reading through this thread, I am somewhat surprised and dismayed to read some of the comments concerning a "downturn" in the Radisson experience.

 

I've only done a btb, last April, on Navigator and my experience at that time was outstanding. I had decided to "move up" from mass-market after experiencing a definite downward trend on Celebrity. I knew I had made the correct decision after being on Navigator.

 

Since the Radisson btb, I've also tried Seabourn and must say that Seabourn far surpassed Radisson in my opinion. At that time, there was still a marked difference in pricing for the two lines, but after seeing Radisson's 2006 pricing that difference has narrowed considerably.

 

I had thought about sailing on Radisson again, but decided on Seabourn. After reading comments here, and other sites as well, I'm glad I didn't persue another Radisson cruise at this time.

 

Perhaps this is just a "bump" in the road for Radisson that will soon be put right..........

 

Claudia

[Leejnd4]

Just FYI, my mother and I are on the Voyager right now, just leaving Agadir. We boarded on Sunday. We're having a FABULOUS time, and as far as I'm concerned, whatever problems existed on the last leg must have been resolved, at least to a great degree. The service has been exquisite, the food wonderful, and yes, the entertainment was fantastic. I haven't had a single language problem, and our waiters have been fun and delightful. Our cabin attendant Rosemarie is a doll and has been most helpful.

 

Last night was formal night, and I had the Beef Wellington, along with a lobster tail on the side. I can't imagine it done better. The creamy mushroom/truffle soup was out of this world. The smoked duck was only okay, but it was just one small part of an otherwise splendid dinner.

 

I tend to be particular about wine, and on the first night I requested something other than the Australian Shiraz they were pouring. Our waiter, Jason, brought me two other red wines to try, and I selected a Cabernet from Washington State. Then, last night, we had a different waiter, yet he seemed to know that I'm a wine lover, and immediately began discussing what my options were! I was quite happy with the one they were pouring (a 1999 Chianti Classico Riserva), and he made a fun, charming little production about having ME be the taster for our large table. It was cute.

 

Tonight we're going to try Signatures, and I'm looking forward to it very much.

 

I'll be happy to provide more of my impressions as the cruise progresses.

 

LeeAnne

[Dolebludger]

LeeAnne:

 

Great to see that your cruise is going well! Yes, Please continue to post concerning your experiences.

 

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[Kathy Z]

LeeAnne,

 

Like Richard, I am so happy to hear that this cruise you looked forward to for such a long time has started off so well. Post again if you have the time but first priority is for you and your mom to continue to have a great time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Island Cruiser (Pat),

 

Yes, as someone who is also doing the same b2b with you, I too am looking forward to all the special treatment they can dish out!

 

Canadagal, if they started routing us through NY, don't know what I would do. Probably they would offer LA as a deviation in that case, which would mean paying the fee, plus a hotel. Still worth it, but I admit the hotel is a nice perk.