Memorable Royal Caribbean crew member experiences

[Bargeo]

He was a room steward on the Empress of the Seas a few years ago.......deck two. He was very tall....had to bend way down while making the bed to miss the pull down beds on the sides. He was from Jamaica and his name was Roberto. Said his name was really Robert, but THEY thought Roberto sounded more exotic. He was so pleasant, and always did his job with a smile on his face. A couple days into the cruise my husband became ill and was confined to the cabin. I mentioned to Roberto that we had a private excursion booked in Barbados for the next day with friends, and we would lose our money, since it was too late to cancel. He encouraged me to go and said he would take care of hubby. Upon my return, my husband said he couldn't have been in better hands. Roberto checked on him continuously during the day (even a couple times when he was off duty)....brought him lunch and liquids to keep hydrated, and couldn't do enough to make him comfortable. We, of course, rewarded him with a generous tip at the end of the trip.

 

We will never forget his kindness and that beautiful smile, and have often wondered where he is, since the Empress left the fleet shortly after our cruise.

We have been on eighteen cruises and have had mostly good stewards, however, he was the BEST.

[Sinppu]

Our stateroom attendant on our first cruise was Garnet from Jamaica. Garnet was wonderful. He knew our names the first time we met and he kept greeting us using our names for the whole nine days.

We brought a bottle of champagne with us from the MDR one evening and as soon as he saw us he whipped up two glasses, ice and a cooler in seconds without us even asking for them :eek:

 

On the Oasis our stateroom attendant was Ancel and I think he was from New York. He was a gentle, funny man who always had a smile and a joke for us. He kept calling my husband "my man" and "brother" and we thought that was endearing since DH is as pale a Finn as they come :D

 

We loved them both.

[crookedhalo]

On our first trip with RCCL in 2006, our bar server in the dining room was Rohan. It was a 9 night trip, and as it progressed Rohan would see me on the pool deck or around the ship during the day and would stop me and ask what drink I wanted for dinner that night. I would either tell him a specific drink or a type of drink I wanted and voila! it would be waiting when I sat down for dinner each night:) He made some great choices on the days I didn't know what I wanted, I was never unhappy;)

[Familygoboston]

Here is the book I am reading now

 

Cruise Confidential

By Brian David Bruns

 

The only American crew member following his girlfriend who is also a crewmember

 

___________________________________________________________

 

Cruise Ship SOS

Bert MacFarland

 

Tales from a cruise ship doctor

Thanks for sharing these titles...just downloaded the Bruns book onto my ipad...should be fun to read while Im on Jewel next month;)

[Bobal]

This is a really nice idea for a thread. :)

 

Two spring to mind:

 

Jude (from India), our waiter on Legend a few years ago in MTD. His service was impeccable, totally professional. When he found out we liked curry he would bring us a different (off-menu) dish each night in addition to our order (even seeking us out one night when we didn't get to sit at one of his tables). We often used to chat with him at the end of the night and he showed us photos of his lovely young wife (he'd recently married). We would love to bump into him again one day

 

On Mariner last year we were lucky enough to be served by Florentin (from Romania) in the Diamond event. This was his first contract but he was so efficient. We were a small group and he did everything to make us all welcome, bringing different wines, making glass/napkin arrangements and even moving the tables to ensure the group got to meet each other rather than sitting in separate groups. I was really pleased to see that he's signed up for another contract on Navigator in April. I'm sure this young man will go far

[Brunelphil]

Our waiter on our first cruise on the Brilliance in April 2005 was a wonderful guy from Panama called Gregorio. We were a group of 6 and he made our whole dining experience a fantastic experience every night, he even had a special cake made for my wife and I on our wedding anniversary after our daughter told him the day before.

 

Anyway, fast forward to August 2006 and we were again on the Brilliance, on the fist day we were standing at Guest Services when we heard a voice behind us calling our names "Mr Phil, etc...", we turned around and there was Gregorio coming towards us with a massive grin on his face. We had a good chat and catch-up and were somewhat stunned that he had remembered all of us after so long a time.

[insulationbabe]

Funny you should mention Gregorio - last time on the Jewel - in December we had a waiter/bartender in the concierge lounge a handsome young man - not sure where he was from - but he was substituting for the bartender who was ill and without a doubt he was the best bartender we have had on a cruise ship- wonder if its the same "GREG" - before we even sat down the second night - he had our drinks in front of us and when we left for dinner - he quickly had the drinks poured into paper cups to take with us - he got a WOW card:)

[minsterman]

We were on Radiance in Nov/Dec 11 out of Sydney to NZ, with my parents.

 

We had all booked My Time Dining and were dealt with by our head waiter, Jeannie. Most head waiters we've seen (owell on our previous cruises) seem to wander round and you catch a glimpse of them maybe 2 or 3 times a cruise when they ask if everything's ok.

 

Jeannie however spent lots of time talking to guests.

 

When my Mum asked for a Fanta orange, the bar waiter just said they didn't have any and we asked Jeannie if that was correct and she said it was, but she knew they had it in the crew bar and within 5 minutes my Mum had a can on her table!

 

Jeannie suggested making a fresh orange/lemonade mixer in future and every night thereafter she came our table to make sure my Mum had a suitable drink.

 

We gave her our "Wow" cards on the last night and she seemed genuinely pleased as she clapped her hands together in an excited way and went straight off to tell her boss about the cards!!!

 

She was excellent and in our view just went that extra mile.

[johnx7]

It was not on a Royal Caribbean ship, but on Island Cruises ships (at the time Island Cruises was owned by Royal Caribbean).

 

On 2005 I sailed on one of their ships and in the specialty restaurant the waiter, Mohammed, provided me an outstanding service, and even suggested me the courses based on my dietary restrictions (I am vegetarian). In another ship, 2 years later, I am in the buffet line and I ask somebody about vegetarian options, and that is when he comes literaly running towards me with a big smile and greets me by my name, saying he recognized me by my voice :eek:

 

It was 2 years later, he was on another contract and it was on another ship. He could really provide an individual service, what made passengers feel special - but the other waiters complained that all passengers always requested to be on his station lol.

[LESLIEKURZ]

Here is the book I am reading now

 

Cruise Confidential

By Brian David Bruns

 

The only American crew member following his girlfriend who is also a crewmember

 

 

Just started the sequel and am liking it.

 

 

We cruised in February and again in May a few years ago on the Monarch. While we were in the Windjammer one morning on the May sailing a man who was our MDR waiter in February recognized us and stopped for a chat. He was shocked that we remembered the conversations we'd had with him about his family and told us we made his day. He also thanked us for the large tip we gave him. Since I have a food allergy and am basically a pain in the ass in the MDR because of it we felt it was more than appropriate and told him so. It was nice.

[BillOh]

Does anyone have memorable moments or experiences with a Royal Caribbean crew member they'd like to share? Maybe someone who went above and beyond for you or your family? Someone that made a really memorable impression?

 

 

My two favorites have both been waiters. Most recently Oliver on Allure (I've heard recently he was seen working in Chops there, I don't know how often they change up) I was a little worried going in that the waiters were very overworked and slow on this class of ship, but Oliver was absolutely great for us. He was the most personable we have ever had and to us he appeared as genuine and sincere as possible. I've never received bad service, but I do remember standing behind a man at the explorations desk on Navigator after coming back on ship from Belize. The man in front of me threw such a fit and made such a fool of himeself that I wanted to tell him this poor girl that he was abusing had nothing to do with his excursion problem, but I restrained myself, but when his tantrum was over and he walked away, she turned, smiled at me and then helped me in a gracious manner, I thought that I'd never be able to do that.

[Cruise_Kitten]

I have to say on our last cruise on Independence was very memorable.

 

James at the Customer Service desk was brilliant. Nothing was too big for him which was great and it was dealt with whilst we were there at the desk.

 

Dennis is the Cigar Lounge was fantastic, he introduced us to what is known as the crew drink.....Jack Daniels and Red Bull.....my ultimate drink from now on.

 

Tito who started off in the Cigar Lounge but got promoted while we were there to head of all bars. He was a great laugh and always made jokes.

 

The guy in the nightclub...never got his name, made me a flower out of a napkin, pretty awesome.

 

Our cabin attendent, Ceaser was awesome, I told him that on my last cruise I only had one towel animal the whole time, I had one every night!

 

And finally our assistant and head waiter knew my boyfriends starter and main meal before he even asked (steak and fries guy). And they kept our drinks filled up to the point where I had to ask him to stop :D

 

Hope to see them all again in 88 days!!

 

CK x

[Brunelphil]

I have to say on our last cruise on Independence was very memorable.

 

James at the Customer Service desk was brilliant. Nothing was too big for him which was great and it was dealt with whilst we were there at the desk.

 

Dennis is the Cigar Lounge was fantastic, he introduced us to what is known as the crew drink.....Jack Daniels and Red Bull.....my ultimate drink from now on.

 

Tito who started off in the Cigar Lounge but got promoted while we were there to head of all bars. He was a great laugh and always made jokes.

 

The guy in the nightclub...never got his name, made me a flower out of a napkin, pretty awesome.

 

Our cabin attendent, Ceaser was awesome, I told him that on my last cruise I only had one towel animal the whole time, I had one every night!

 

And finally our assistant and head waiter knew my boyfriends starter and main meal before he even asked (steak and fries guy). And they kept our drinks filled up to the point where I had to ask him to stop :D

 

Hope to see them all again in 88 days!!

 

CK x

 

 

James was in charge of the Diamond Lounge on the Indy last summer, have to agree he was absolutely outstanding, as you say nothing was too big a task for him. Hope he is there again this summer.

[brokenglass]

Our first cruise (Monarch) was great - room attendant was great (do not remember his name) but the two that stand out the most for us was Sci and Kevin at Boleros. Excellent service and great conversation - they even got my mother in law to drink a sip of Jaeger (she hardly ever drinks lol) they just made our evenings much better :p

[Mike&Nancy]

Priscilla in the Champagne Bar on the Serenade last year. She always was ready with my drink and a smile. Knew our names after our first visit and would wave and chat when we saw her whether we were having a drink or not. I felt like family during that trip!

 

Priscilla was a real firecracker, lol. We were lucky enough to have her for 2 weeks in the Schooner bar on our B2B on Serenade. She was lots of fun. I still think SR has the best crew ever. That's my favorite ship, and part of that is due to the crew. Alok was another great bartender. I need to get back on that ship now, lol.

 

Nancy

[Oshawapilot]

Basil in the main MDR on Allure. The only word that befits him was "Stupendous". He wowed us each and every night we were in the MDR (I honestly don't know how they do everything they do, from remembering every nuance and preference about your service to simply remembering EVERYBODY'S name), and he made such an impression on our children that to this day when we eat out somewhere they always joke that they wish Basil was our server instead of the restaurant employees. :D

[moneycanbuyhappiness]

On our very first cruise on the Explorer we had a charming waiter named Edmund from Dominca. He was a joy to have. His assistant was a young man named Zarko from Croatia on his first contract. He was always in the background. Very quiet but made sure we had everything we needed. Fourteen months later we were back on the Explorer. In the Windjammer that first day, Zarko recognized my husband and greeted him by name. He made sure to stop and talk to us whenever we were in the Windjammer for lunch. He let Edmund know we were on board and he also stopped by our table at dinner to say hello.

[olibubble]

Here is the book I am reading now

 

Cruise Confidential

By Brian David Bruns

 

The only American crew member following his girlfriend who is also a crewmember

 

___________________________________________________________

 

Cruise Ship SOS

Bert MacFarland

 

Tales from a cruise ship doctor

 

________________________________________________________

 

The Truth about cruising

Jay Herring

 

An IT aboard a cruise ship

(Maintains computers and the network)

 

 

ive read the truth about cruising, and i got cruise confidential for xmas! (not sure what the relevence t the thread is though!)

[Cruise_Kitten]

James was in charge of the Diamond Lounge on the Indy last summer, have to agree he was absolutely outstanding, as you say nothing was too big a task for him. Hope he is there again this summer.

 

I remember him saying something when we were on board last year (April) that he was going to be doing the Diamond Lounge over the summer, but he hoped he would be back at customer services for when we come on board, we aren't Diamond just yet so we wouldn't been able to see him. Hoping he has moved back by the time we get the at the end of April!

 

CK x

[cruiser-007]

Wow! it's nice reading about so many of those cruise staff that make our vacation's memorable. I will put in my mention about "Carlton"- deck 8 room steward on the EOS. My wife and I devoted our 'Wow' cards 100% to him. He took care of everything for us. Even got the shower fixed within a day. I will also mention "Irene" in the Winjammer, we didn't get to interact with her much but my parents did and they loved her so much they had to track her down on the final day to give her a nice cash tip. Good job Carlton and Irene for making our vacation worth every penny!:)

[birdylady]

WOW!! Great thread.

First and foremost, on our first cruise, Mariner-2007. Our Asst Waiter, Azmi, was phenomenal. After the first dinner where he noticed hubby could inhale his diet coke (thank you fro soda cards), every time he came to the table he brought 2 glasses of soda for him. Hubby never went without a drink the rest of the trip, including whenever Azmi was working in the Windjammer and saw us.

 

The other RCI employee that stood out was on Monarch-2009. Benjamin was our room steward. This young man had a smile that would shine all the way down the hallways. Anytime we got to our hall, if he saw us he always waved and gave a great BIG smile. If he was near enough, he would say hi and ask how our day was going and if there was anything he could do for us.

 

While there have been many employees that have done great jobs on 5 cruises we've been on, none stood out above and beyond as the two above. Needless to say we wrote on our comments card about these two. We would love to see them again. Who knows.....

 

Erika

[LBumb]

"Buzz" Aldron on the Mariner. He worked the cigar bar our week. He was awesome. Great guy and great service. We taught him the rules to baseball that week and he taught us cricket.

[Brendaflamingo]

My late husband and I played in the casino alot and we had a couple of ladies that waitress in the casino who took very good care of my hubbys drinks. They were very kind and made sure he had one before he needed to ask. They even searched the ship for matching the specialty keepsake glasses for us without even us asking that. You would swear we were the only people in the casino. So we gave them a large tip and put in an extra special comments about them on the ships comment card. We went on another cruise and there they both were. They called us by name and I told them we had such great service and that we are following them, booking any ship they are sailing on. Than they told us their supervisor had a meeting with all the bar staff and read our comment card to everyone and gave them both a large bonus. I was so happy for them knowing it made a difference. They must have told the rest of the ship about us because the rest of the sailing we had lots of staff verifing our last name. Boy did we get the extra service from everyone. Ha Ha

Brenda

[alohanails]

Alex Constantine who is now on the Oasis....a few years back he was the diamond and above lounge keeper up in the Viking bar on the Rhapsody going to Alaska....Imagine my surprise 1 1/2 years later on board the Allure when I heard poolside that familiar "Madame"....he kept the drinks a flowing....we hope to meet up with Alex again someday soon...

:)

[IMNiles]

I agree, she and her work partner Rusty are fantastic !!

 

They're the best!