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br76jook

By br76jook,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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br76jook

br76jook

Posted
Posted

Does anybody else think Carnival's wait service has gotten worse? I just got back from the Inspiration and was not impressed. At almost every meal in the MDR at least one person in my party had to ask for something more than once or just never got part of their order. Was it just because we were anytime diners? It happened mainly at dinner but also breakfast and lunch. I was on another ship about a year ago and don't remember having a single problem.

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TaraLynne

TaraLynne

Posted
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As someone who worked in the restaurant industry, I know their reasoning for insisting on pre-paid tips. I understand their reasoning. But I seriously believe that's why the service isn't what it used to be - they make it very difficult for you to not pre-pay tips, so most people don't bother trying to do it on their own, and the servers know that they'll at least get that min from the vast majority of passengers nowadays ::shrug::

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klmorg

klmorg

Posted
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That's a rather general statement/observation since there are tons of ships & cruises & service personnel serving tons of meals, but we have not seen any decline in the dining room service. It's always been very good, especially with anytime dining (service was BETTER than traditonal dining)!

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tnincy

tnincy

Posted
Posted
As someone who worked in the restaurant industry, I know their reasoning for insisting on pre-paid tips. I understand their reasoning. But I seriously believe that's why the service isn't what it used to be - they make it very difficult for you to not pre-pay tips, so most people don't bother trying to do it on their own, and the servers know that they'll at least get that min from the vast majority of passengers nowadays ::shrug::

 

completely agree with what you say. however, if i do not get the service i expect, i have no problem going to guest services and adjusting the auto tips and explaining why. i never pre pay my tips. let me add i am not quick to do away with the tips, the service would have to be terrible before i would adjust them. p.s. have never had to in the past

 

 

edited to add that last cruise we noticed staff cutbacks, but still got food in reasonable time.

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valtandc

valtandc

Posted
Posted

My waitstaff was great on Miracle 8 nighter. My waiter always seemed a bit stressed and I felt a bit sorry for him. these people work there tales off. Mistakes happen and there is so much detail in every order. Our assistant waiter was amazing and sure to be a waiter soon

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H82seaUgo

H82seaUgo

Posted
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I keep hearing about staff cutbacks , but then I hear how the waitstaff strictly wworks for tips , so why would you cut back on staffing that you are paying little or nothing for....just a question.

 

apparently they've run out of beds. this is also the sad excuse abiut why 4 piece bands are 2, bands are being replaced with monster video screens, show lounge musicians cut in half, and supper club duo's eliminated.

 

it was quite the joke on our last carnival cruise. over a 5 night cruise, not one complete order came to our table correctly.

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H82seaUgo

H82seaUgo

Posted
Posted
As someone who worked in the restaurant industry, I know their reasoning for insisting on pre-paid tips. I understand their reasoning. But I seriously believe that's why the service isn't what it used to be - they make it very difficult for you to not pre-pay tips, so most people don't bother trying to do it on their own, and the servers know that they'll at least get that min from the vast majority of passengers nowadays ::shrug::

 

there are no pre paid tips on carnival except those that choose that option.

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H82seaUgo

H82seaUgo

Posted
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I thought the tips were automatically added to your S&S as soon as you board?

 

those are autotips, not prepaid tips.

 

they are added on day 1, but would have the same affect if they were added day 7. you don't actually pay anything till the end of your cruise. with pre tips, you pay before you sail.

 

and you can adjust them to whatever you want in between.

 

i am quite sure someone giving lousy service knows that his tips can be wiped out in a blink of an eye, or the tap of the keyboard.

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Rosefloater

Rosefloater

Posted
Posted
That's the price of booking anytime dining. I notice a difference in the wait staff if we dine in MDR for breakfast or lunch (seldon do) The wait staff is human and if they think there may be a pot of gold at the end of the cruise...

 

Only 1 time (1 day) in the 5 times (25 evenings) doing ATD, have we had lousy service. The rest of the time the servers were the same or better than set dining waiters.

 

The one good thing about ATD is you can sit in a different wait staff section the next night if you want better service. That's what we did. With Traditional dining, it is harder to change tables.

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TaraLynne

TaraLynne

Posted
Posted
those are autotips, not prepaid tips.

 

they are added on day 1, but would have the same affect if they were added day 7. you don't actually pay anything till the end of your cruise. with pre tips, you pay before you sail.

 

and you can adjust them to whatever you want in between.

 

i am quite sure someone giving lousy service knows that his tips can be wiped out in a blink of an eye, or the tap of the keyboard.

 

I simply called them prepaid because even if I'm not technically paying for them until the last day of my cruise, they're there on my S&S account when I get on the ship. I've never had such terrible service that I felt the need to remove them, but I've heard numerous stories (and not just from people who were on Carnival cruises) of people literally having to fight to have those "autotips" removed or reduced...not to mention the waiting in line at the purser's desk...

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abisha

abisha

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I found our servers to be wonderful, but we did have incidences where they would completely forget to bring you something altogether which happened at least once each night. Tea without cream and sugar or bread and no butter. They would forget to ask if you even wanted any kind of beverage. A couple of times, we saw our meals just sitting there for awhile with the covers on them waiting to be brought to the tables. These are little things to us and in no way ruined our dinner or cruise experience and we were completely aware they were sooo busy and overworked. But once we asked for it, we got it right away with a sincere apology. We had late seating at dinner and I definitely noticed signs of fatigue from working hard all day long. In spite of that, they still managed to be happy and friendly and smiling. We loved our servers..Alfredo and Michelle on the Destiny.

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gapearl

gapearl

Posted
Posted
Does anybody else think Carnival's wait service has gotten worse? I just got back from the Inspiration and was not impressed. At almost every meal in the MDR at least one person in my party had to ask for something more than once or just never got part of their order. Was it just because we were anytime diners? It happened mainly at dinner but also breakfast and lunch. I was on another ship about a year ago and don't remember having a single problem.

 

I disagree. I was on the Inspiration a few months ago and had great service. I've never had any complaints about MDR service and usually tip a little extra to my servers because I always get treated so well. That being said, I have never used ATD. I always do late dining, which is always less crowded. Many tables sit empty and the servers aren't as busy. On my Freedom cruise, the servers at times were literally standing around waiting for us to ask for something. Sorry you had a bad experience and better luck on your next cruise.

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afcj1

afcj1

Posted
Posted

I've been on recent cruises and had received good service. I did notice that it seemed as tho the turnover between the early and late seating was stressful to the servers. Maybe not enough time. It's not like they can tell the early diners to get out.

 

I used to work in food service and serve tables and everyone knows that there are a lot of people that speak down to a server or anyone in the service industry and then expect them to turn into happy robots. Unless you've been in that environment you have no idea how rude people are everyday, all day to service staff.

 

I don't excuse or make excuses for poor service, but I don't dwell on it either. Certainly, if it was an everyday occurance, then speak to the MD with constructive feedback.

 

Otherwise don't gripe:rolleyes:

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imluvncruzn

imluvncruzn

Posted
Posted

I think it's hit or miss and reflects directly on the particular waiter you get not necessarily any particular ship. In 10 cruises I can say that we've only had one "less than satisfactory" waiter and that was on the Inspiration last October. He just seemed miserable, inconvenienced, and made a lot of errors including forgetting to bring out entire meals.

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