What is good service?

[redrobin]

I know the question is very broad, but I'm looking for some input on "What is good service?" on a cruise. I'm just curious. I recently returned from a Princess cruise. Being my first cruise, I was very excited, but I tried to keep my expectations realistic, and overall had a great experience with no major problems, ie - upgraded cabin, no lost luggage, no missed ports, no one got sick, good weather and relatively calm seas, great excursions...:)

Everyone has different expectations and definitions of what constitutes "good service," and I'm wondering how others define it and what's important to you. (I know there are similarities to cruising and eating in a restaurant on land or staying in a hotel, but it's unique in its own way too.) What do YOU look for and what are your expectations?

Trying to think of an example... is good service when your room steward quickly brings you extra shampoo when you ask for it, OR when he puts some in your room without being asked. Is good service when your room steward remembers your name, or your traditional dining waiter remembers your drink each evening..... I know you all have lots of ideas and lots of cruising experiences. Thanks in advance for sharing them! :)

[phaelon56]

I define good service as a server/service person who repsonds quickly to request, gets the order/request correct with few mix-ups and is able to impart a sense of friendliness yet without being intrusive. In many cases a server may deliver good service in an efficient way yet doesn't deliver much of a warm sense of friendliness but personally I'm okay with that.

 

I define excellent service as the server who remembers your preferences and in some cases anticipates your needs or goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that you have a great experience. I've only cruised once, fall 2003 on the Princess Grand and found the room steward to deliver excellent service, the dining room staff good service and the remaining service personnel to be unforomly good althought there were a few (not many) who seemed a bit uninspired and allowed their boredom to be visible.

 

Relative to the service level I find to be typical these days in retail stores, hotels and mid level restaurants I thought the service on the Princes Grand excelled in comparison. The food on board was generally adequate and occasionally exceptional but it was the service that made my cruise so enjoyable and it's whay I'm crusing again soon.

[spongerob]

It's all relative to your own experiences and expectations. What impressed me with our first cruise was how much more personal the service was. When you are used to cattle-call airlines and hotels that are indistinguishable from each other, it was nice to be called by name, and treated like all that was really important was that you were happy. Plus, the crew really seemed to enjoy what they were doing, so it all felt genuine.

 

I guess that's how I separate great service from the rest - when the people involved are doing a great job because that's just the way they do things, not just looking for a tip, it comes across.

[Toto2Kansas]

For us, good service is that when the room steward and/or waiters do just what they are supposed to do, no more, no less. To us, this receives the standard tip per the Princess guidelines.

Great service is when they will go out of their way to anticipate your almost every need even before you request it. Remembering drinks in the dining room, getting orders straight without confusion, getting that room cleaned while you are at breakfast so that when you return it is all finished. Remembering your names so that you may be greeted when they pass.

 

The best service we have ever received, I have to admit, was on an RCI cruise this past spring. Great waiters and head waiters that I swear could read our minds. Drink orders always there and waiting for us from the second night onward. Bar waitress knew exactly what we wanted every night, and I mean the entire table. I swear if she could have she would have had our order sitting there waiting for us before we even sat down, but alas, she never knew who would be picking up the tab on any given night. Waiters were friendly, but never intrusive, and their suggestions on what to order were always right on target.

Our room steward would clean our suite the moment we left, and she was very speedy, we never once had to leave the room again because she wasn't finished. She was always there to greet us in the morning and the evening.

They all received an extra gratuity from us as they were the best of the best.

 

Some seem to go that extra mile for passengers and are usually rewarded handsomely for it, while others often times just look at it as a job and do only what is necessary. We will continue to reward those that go the extra mile for us on any ship.

[RM]

I second your opinion Toto. I love an excellent waiter/cabin steward, etc. and have no problem upping their monies for the service.

[MaryPoppinz]

For me, it is primarily a question of attitude.

 

A genuinely good attitude and a pleasant disposition goes a lot further for me than flawless, pampering service ever could.

[marly]

Redrobin: I think you asked an excellent question since I read so many varying posts on service. It's very common to have two completely different reviews coming off the same sailing.

 

I agree with the previous posters. My idea of service is to be treated cordially at dinner by the wait staff, have my food and beverage requests delivered promptly, my cabin cleaned timely and kept supplied. If the staff is able to remember my name and my preferences all the better, but I do not expect that.

 

I think many people going on a cruise have very high, impossible-to-meet expectations and they are not happy with what would be considered in every other industry to be standard service.

Marly

[Dreamer333]

I agree with the opinion that "attitude" makes a difference.

 

I am always impressed at how NICE most of the staff is onboard. Not only do they do a great job (remembering names, cleaning cabins, etc)... but they are also just so darn NICE!!!

[Genessa]

Good service for us is:

 

waiter - remembering what we drank and asking the second night if you would like it again

 

Excellent service is:

 

remembering what we have ordered in the past and recommending menu items, remembering you want lemon, milk, etc., with your coffee/tea, bringing you both desserts without asking if you were thinking out loud and finally chose one,

asking what you are doing in ports and making recommendations

 

steward:

 

good service is a clean room whenever we come back, keeping all supplies fully stocked, replenishing fruit bowl and bottled water without being asked and without filling out papers, providing patters in a timely manner

 

excellent service is virtually reading our minds - not just replenishing fruit bowl, but replenishing it with the fruit that we ate and removing what we haven't eaten in two days, putting extra conditioner (or whatever it is that we use more of) not just keeping us stocked, brining extra beach towels without being asked when he/she doesn't see them in the room

 

deck attendants:

 

good: coming around frequently but not "in your face"

 

excellent:

remembering your name, remembering your drink, recommending different drinks based on what they see you like

[sunprincess]

Being an Elite Member with Princess one of the things that I enjoy is crew remembering you. They remember your name, what you drink, that you like the shampoo, extra pillows, etc.

Attitude does make a difference. A smiling face from someone who enjoys what they do.

Courtesy, respect and service excellence.

[cruiseryyc]

Anytime someone else cleans my bathroom, replaces my towels twice a day, cooks my meals, serves my meals and does the dishes - that constitutes good service. If they smile at me while doing it - that's great service!!! I've had nothing but great service on my 11 Princess cruises.

[newfimom]

I treat everyone with respect regardless of their position. I expect the same.

 

Waiter - I want my waiter to at least say "hello" when I sit down to the table. I expect that he/she will spend a minute or two to let me know what is "good " for that evening's menu. I do not want to have to remind him 3 times to bring a lemon. I do not expect him to be rude when we speak to him, because he is busy or has not had a day off. I do not want to be hit in the head with a plate. I want to have a little small talk, I feel this is good to both parties. I expect to eat my food in a timely fashion, not two courses at one time. Rushing is not good. There used to be a time that the waiter would ask what you did that day or suggest a beach for the next day. Is that too much to ask for?

 

Asst Waiter - I expect them to speak English and understand English. I think this a problem all over, not just Princess. How are they going to be Waiters if they don't speak English?

 

Room Steward - Having your room ready when you come back from the pool or lunch. Noel was great at this. Providing extra towels when asked, or maybe extra soap. He was good at this too. Noel was a very cordial person. He always said hello when I saw him and asked how my day was.

 

Front Desk - Provide you with excellent service. They are the frontline of the cruise company. I can say that I have never had a problem with any front desk employees.

 

I may have high expectations, however, I too provide a high level of service to my clients.

[atlcple2]

I agree that good service is subjective and each person has a different opinion. Good service to me in the dining room is having a server be pleasant and we enjoy hearing about where they are from and so on, as attentive as one can be for serving so many people, and cordial. I am not bothered if a serve is busy giving good service to those they wait on (i.e., taking orders and delivering food timely). My daughter is a server at Longhorn and this is not always an easy task even here at home. We are pretty patient when it comes to this. We aren't in a hurry and enjoy each other's company so we don't usually have any issues with the waiter. The food...should be hot and taste good and served as quickly as possible. If I want my own personal waiter(s), I'll go to the specialty restaurants where I can expect and have complete and utter attententiveness. Our Room Steward...To be honest, I think we may have met 1 room steward in 3 cruises...we are out and about and when we return, our room has always been (and should always be) cleaned and neat when we return. We tend to sleep in even on cruises, so our room may not be cleaned until after lunch sometime...not their fault we decided to sleep in! We have had excellent (above good or great) service from our room steward in the past...to the point they even picked up our dirty clothes and folded them neatly on our bed. This is way beyond my expectations. I don't expect them to try to go out of their way to see us or even say hello...they have many cabins to take care of. If we happen to see them, that is great! Again, we enjoy hearing about where they are from and that sort of thing. We always have fresh ice in the ice bucket, which is nice too. We are easy to please and so our standards of "good" may not be what others' standards are. We try to cruise once a year and we tend to go with the flow so that we enjoy out cruises to the fullest. After all, we are on vacation! ; )

[redrobin]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I enjoy hearing specific instances when someone goes out of their way to provide excellent service. As a new cruiser, I'm looking forward to having a few more cruises under my belt to know better what to expect and look for as far as service. Below are a few random thoughts based on my first Princess cruise.

Customer Service: In general I think customer service needs to be better informed. For example, I was upgraded to a suite and wanted to find out what amenities that included. I called Princess and the woman didn't know, said she'd have to contact the "inventory department," and would have them fax the information to my TA. That never happened. I learned about the perks from my TA and CC, later confirmed by a notebook in the suite. I called Princess a few times pre-cruise with various questions, but discovered I got more complete and accurate information on these boards. Likewise, once onboard I went to the purser's desk to double, double check that the internet service was complimentary, because I had a suite, before giving my kids free rein to use it. At first I was told that since I wasn't a Platinum member, it was not free. However, after saying I didn't think that was correct, the man checked again and said it was free and would be credited back to my account (which it was without any problem). My questions were not uncommon, and I think the customer service folks, who were always nice, need to know basic Princess policies and information.

Staff: From the first person I encountered at the embarkation desk, the staff was very friendly. They typically said hello when passing you in the halls, usually with a smile on their face. I'll mention that because English was not always their first language, I did have a few instances during the cruise when I was not able to understand what they were saying when we talked. At those times I'd have to ask a second time to be sure. I felt the art director on the Sapphire, Cindy, did her job very well.

Dining: Having Anytime Dining, we did not develop a week-long relationship with a wait staff. However, some of the waiters in the anytime dining were very good. For instance, one night I had asked what the "gourmandaise" dessert was. I ended up ordering a souffle, but the waiter brought me both desserts, saying I should try something new too. A different night the waiter asked my husband how he liked his courses, always offering him a second serving if he wanted one.

Cabin: Our room steward was very efficient at taking care of our room and working around our anytime dining schedule and when we put out the privacy sign. A few times I wanted to ask him a question or needed something, but didn't see him. I felt like I'd be bothering him if I paged him, which I did only once the first day. Instead, I left him a note in the room so he could take care of it. I was very pleased with room service. It was prompt and always accurate.

[OTRlady]

The best service we ever had came on our 3rd cruise. We had been on the same ship three years previous, and had a wonderful table waiter named Gregory, from Trinidad. As we waited in the embarkation line for our second trip on this ship, we were greeted by name by a crew member who was working his way down the line handing out open seating tickets for dinner that night. We could hardly believe it, but it was Gregory! Even though he was not our waiter on that cruise, he made a special effort to greet us as we entered the dining room each evening, and several afternoons he serviced our table in the buffet. We talked at some length about his home country and where he had been since our last cruise.

 

He had been promoted to head waiter in the intervening three years, and it was easy to see why. Think about the fact that he had probably served over 3000 people since he last saw us, and yet he remembered us by name. We tipped him almost as much as our regular waiter at the end of that cruise.

[Grumm]

Good service for us is:

 

waiter - remembering what we drank and asking the second night if you would like it again

 

 

Good service for me is the waiter reminding me what I drank the night before and recommending that I don't do it again or else he WILL marry me

 

Alan

[kevinsac]

Good service is not only doing what is expected, but also having the right attitude. (Yeah, I know....we all have bad days once in a while....but that's not what I mean.)

 

Great service involves a good memory of what was requested previously and anticipating what might be wanted or what might be complementary.

 

A simple example......but something which has become a benchmark for me. I was raised in the deep South and I drink a lot of iced tea. I add sweetner (usually on the table) but I also specifically ask for a wedge of lemon. That's how I like my iced tea.

 

Sometimes the wait staff will bring a small plate of lemon wedges, and that's great, because I will easily drink 4-6 glasses of iced tea during a meal.

 

But, the "great service" comes in when the wait staff refills my drink and says, without being prompted, "Let me bring some more lemon for you."

 

If they recognize that, something very simple, then I know we are on our way to some great service. And you damned well better believe it--I compensate for great service.

[dawcruiser]

Good service to me is having a cabin steward who you never see, after your initial contact on ermbarkation day, but all you needs are met. In the dining room after the first evening having a waiter and busboy know what I like and not like and have my tea poured when I get at the table, my butter soft, plenty of bread, coffee after my meal with dessert and never having to ask for water refills. Plus suggestions of good choices from the menu. Also it is having the drink staff know I don't drink and not asking me if I want an order from the bar over and over after I tell them, No thank you I don't drink alcohol.

 

I know this might be unrealistic but I have had this kind of service on the Costa Atlantic.

 

Don

[dawcruiser]

Good service to me is having a cabin steward who you never see, after your initial contact on ermbarkation day, but all you needs are met. In the dining room after the first evening having a waiter and busboy know what I like and not like and have my tea poured when I get at the table, my butter soft, plenty of bread, coffee after my meal with dessert and never having to ask for water refills. Plus suggestions of good choices from the menu. Also it is having the drink staff know I don't drink and not asking me if I want an order from the bar over and over after I tell them, No thank you I don't drink alcohol.

 

I know this might be unrealistic but I have had this kind of service on the Costa Atlantic.

 

Don

[14A04]

Anytime someone else cleans my bathroom, replaces my towels twice a day, cooks my meals, serves my meals and does the dishes - that constitutes good service. If they smile at me while doing it - that's great service!!! I've had nothing but great service on my 11 Princess cruises.

 

Well said, I completely agree! Sure there may have been a few little mistakes here and there but they have always been very polite and appoligized if a mistake was made. That's all I ask for, everyone is human and messes up once in a while. I've made mistakes doing the job I do, I correct them and continue on, that's all I ask for from them. Some people can be very rude to some of the staff members and I really hate seeing that.

[Genessa]

Good service for us is:

 

waiter - remembering what we drank and asking the second night if you would like it again

 

 

Good service for me is the waiter reminding me what I drank the night before and recommending that I don't do it again or else he WILL marry me

 

Alan

 

ROTFLMAO!

[smudge's mom]

Good steward - one who remembers a request - i.e., extra wash cloths - and you never have to remind him. Other than that - I expect my room to be clean. The stewards on our 10 cruises have all provided "good" service - and a few have been excellent.

 

I really enjoy when staff members refer to you by name - or they refer to you by "incident" - when they remember something you were involved in and refer to it. I like when the staff members who serve you in the dining rooms remember you when they are working the other areas. I like when staff - who don't even know you - always have a friendly hello and a smile - that really sets the mood on the ship.

 

Good food - good service - a clean ship - well organized tours - those are all expected - "normal" service.

 

A friendly staff person who brings you the giant soda because they know you are soda-holics - the steward who brings extra candies because he knows you're candy freaks - that's "great" service.

[captainron]

Hi,

Good service is not what others perceive...rather what you perceive, for it is you the client that is in receipt of the service provided. If you feel that you have been treated well then you have received good service. If you were treated extremely well, then you had excellent service.

The bottom line is...did you get value for your cruise dollar. If you feel the service exceeded the value of the cruise then tip your cruise staff accordingly.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[Lady Vidora]

very informative. I leanred that I would SUCK as a server on a cruise ship. I actually probably wouldn't be very good at it on a land restaraunt either, though.:o