Dining Room Pecking Order

[Ship2Shore]

On many of the cruises we've been on, I noticed how well the waiter and ass't waiter work together. But on our last cruise, on the Voyager, the two REALLY complimented one another. They each anticipated the others needs and were really 'clicking'.

 

On our last night I remarked how well they worked together and asked them how long they had been paired. It was then that our waiter told us something we were never aware of in the past. He explained this was the first time he was paired with the ass't waiter and it was unlikely they would work together again. It seems they are 'rated' by the passenger comment cards and are assigned to particular areas of the dining room based upon passenger feedback.

 

He went on to say that a higher rating, would get him a section with bigger tables and more passengers. Naturally, this translates into more tips at the end of the week. He then said something very interesting - he claimed that the most desired section of the dining room was on the first floor. That, he said, was where all the 'big tipping New Yorkers' are seated. I don't know how true that statement really is, since WE are 'big tipping New Yorkers' and ended up on the third tier. LOL.

 

Anyway, I thought it was interesting. I knew the comment cards carried a lot of weight, but I always thought these guys were paired up as a team for the duration of their contract.

[dkjretired]

On many of the cruises we've been on, I noticed how well the waiter and ass't waiter work together. But on our last cruise, on the Voyager, the two REALLY complimented one another. They each anticipated the others needs and were really 'clicking'.

 

On our last night I remarked how well they worked together and asked them how long they had been paired. It was then that our waiter told us something we were never aware of in the past. He explained this was the first time he was paired with the ass't waiter and it was unlikely they would work together again. It seems they are 'rated' by the passenger comment cards and are assigned to particular areas of the dining room based upon passenger feedback.

 

He went on to say that a higher rating, would get him a section with bigger tables and more passengers. Naturally, this translates into more tips at the end of the week. He then said something very interesting - he claimed that the most desired section of the dining room was on the first floor. That, he said, was where all the 'big tipping New Yorkers' are seated. I don't know how true that statement really is, since WE are 'big tipping New Yorkers' and ended up on the third tier. LOL.

 

Anyway, I thought it was interesting. I knew the comment cards carried a lot of weight, but I always thought these guys were paired up as a team for the duration of their contract.

 

I had a somewhat different response from one of my waiters which actually made sense. He stated that their ship (Celebrity) assigned the good waiters closer to the kitchen doors as a reward for good responses on the comment cards. This required a great deal less carrying of trays during the course of an evening.

[JeffHatfield]

We were told much the same. An additional comment we had from a waiter on teh Grandeur (when the Grandeur's itinerary had both Labadee and Coco Cay) was that if the waiter had all excellents for the last week, he/she got to work on one of the islands, if he/she had all excellents for the last two weeks, he/she got to work both islands. He also said that RCI would not assign a waiter more than 20 passengers and the more excellents they received led to more paying passengers, naturally.

[EmJakeBubbie]

my comment is that I believe there is too much BS commenting made by any and all of the staff! for the most part they'll never see me again, yes? as well, it's their job and the tipping is their "reward" - I always wonder how true a story is when staff makes the time to share a personal tale w/me???I'll say it here again: I've had The Good The Bad The Ugly -- Dining Room Staff has a huge challenge- from the kitchen support to the table/passenger challenge. I wish I knew the answer to guarantee a Good Table Location; Good Service. Some of the best dining room experience has been on less than desireable ships whilst some of the worse has been on highly recommended ships! Sovereign of the Seas is getting excellent reviews, so I'm hopeful this sailing to have The Good:)

[Murphy]

We have had excellent waiters and head waiters and almost always request seating in the "balcony" dining room. Didn't know I didn't tip well enough for the "main" show!

[harrodsfan]

I had a somewhat different response from one of my waiters which actually made sense. He stated that their ship (Celebrity) assigned the good waiters closer to the kitchen doors as a reward for good responses on the comment cards. This required a great deal less carrying of trays during the course of an evening.

 

This explains our bad waiter in the back in the corner....

[kenandlaura06]

However, we can't request where we are seated in the dining room, can we?

[PartyHearty]

The ships that my wife and I have cruised on Carnival Triumph & Legend and RCL Granduer have a time set aside on boarding day for dining room seat and time changes. Based on availability of course.

 

On the Granduer we were able to get out dinner seating changed from late to early when we were give a late seating incorrectly, with no problem.

 

You might try to sneak into the dining room and scope out your table when you board and see if you like the location, if I remember right your table is indicated on your sail and sign card. If you do not like it you can try to get it changed, the worst that they can say is no.

[lmmn]

We had a table on the Majesty....worst table on the ship...not kidding!!!! Everyone else around us either went to alternative dining or moved to another area. I'm sure this is typical for these corner back tables. The waiter thanked us for not complaining. We had the best service ever, and our waiter was extremely good. I would think the waiters must rotate in the dining room.

[RSGS315]

The waiters do rotate, and they also don't have the same assistant on every sailing.

We have been on back to back cruises, and changed our table in order to keep our excellent waiter. He had a different assistant on the second cruise.

The cruise line wants their assistant waiters to be exposed to several waiters, in order to gain the experience.

Ginnie

[uptheboro]

Please could someone explain exactly who does what in the waiter/assistant team?

Thanks

[nancyfisch]

We sat in the back corner on RCI Serenade (it was the first public voyage) and had the best wait staff! Our waiter and assistant couldn't do enought for us. We were the last to leave the dinning room each night. We cruised on the QM@2 July 2 of this year, our table was downstairs and close to the enterance and we had terrible service form the waiter, ast and bar waitress....I guess it is just luck with who you get.

[digital_curator]

In terms of who does what, at least on our cruise.

 

The waiter took our order and brought our food.

 

The assistant refilled our water glasses, took our drink order and brought my wine (the bar waiter brought my husbands beer), and brought our bread.

 

Both checked on us regularly and chatted throughout our meal.

 

We were so impressed with the service and attention to detail.

 

The first night we asked for medium steak- the rest of the week they remembered this request.

 

We said we never take pepper and they removed the mill from our table.

 

The bar server was also excellent. My husband had red stripe every night. One night he changed to something else. The bar server came over to make sure that the assistant waiter had not made a mistake. The same bar server also said hi to us by name whenever he saw us up at the pool bar.

 

Our head waiter came to our table every night to ask what we had done that day, give suggestions for the next port and to ask about our service. We had heard that this person is often nearly non-existant on a cruise so we were pleasantly surprised.

 

We made sure to single our servers out by name on the comment card for their excellent work and tipped accordingly.

[dad son team]

As a "big tipping NYer", I will confirm that on 2 RCI sailings, I was on the first floor both times. First time with a couple from Illinois, and the next with a family from Canada and honeymooners from Indiana. Service was great both times. Worst service I had, believe it or not, was on Disney! GASP!

[goodml]

I had a somewhat different response from one of my waiters which actually made sense. He stated that their ship (Celebrity) assigned the good waiters closer to the kitchen doors as a reward for good responses on the comment cards. This required a great deal less carrying of trays during the course of an evening.

 

That's so funny because we were actually told the exact opposite. We had a fabulous wait team on one of our cruises and when they did the obligatory 'please give me an excellent on the comment card' he explained that the better rated waiters were given more tables and located farther away from the kitchen because they were able to serve the patrons more quickly and efficiently and could be counted on to manage the tables farther away. His name was Scarlet and he was the best waiter we've ever had.

 

Funny thing is, on our cruise on the Jewel last December we had a table for 10 right at the kitchen door (less than 5 ft away!) and we had great fun with our wait staff but I've got to admit that they were not real great at their jobs:D . The waiter was finishing his contract - had one more week after ours - and he just kept saying he couldn't wait to get off the ship. Said jokingly (sort of) that he just 'wasn't a good fit' with cruise line dining rooms. He was a really funny guy but definitely not happy to be there. He only had our table and 1 other and he had some trouble keeping up. At the end he said, 'I'm supposed to ask you to put excellent on the comment card for dining staff but truthfully, I don't care because I'm going home.' It reminded us of what the other waiter had told us about the good ones being farthest away from the kitchen and it seemed to make sense.

[MellyBell]

Wow! That explains why we had bad service at the table closest to the kitchen.

[reallyitsmema]

This thread is from 2005!

 

Hard to make a comparision between 2005 and 2009.

[cruzendude]

This thread is from 2005!

 

Hard to make a comparision between 2005 and 2009.

 

I don't see why not..I'm SURE the dining room policies are pretty much the same between then and now...obviously except for MTD but for traditional its no different.....

 

I always laugh at these posts...half the board police complain when someone asks a common question without doing a search first and the other half of the board police whine when someone actually does a search and pulls out an oldy but goodie! :rolleyes:

[reallyitsmema]

I don't see why not..I'm SURE the dining room policies are pretty much the same between then and now...obviously except for MTD but for traditional its no different.....

 

I always laugh at these posts...half the board police complain when someone asks a common question without doing a search first and the other half of the board police whine when someone actually does a search and pulls out an oldy but goodie! :rolleyes:

How can you be "SURE" that the policies haven't changed since 2005 if you have never even sailed on a RCCL ship?:rolleyes:

 

I am far from a member of the "board police". I will point out when someone is trying to compare apples and watermelons.

[Rancher Dave]

Wow! That explains why we had bad service at the table closest to the kitchen.

 

 

I ditto that thought...worse when we had that waiter...she was sick all week yet still worked with our food every day. Yuck!!!

[cb at sea]

I'm not a New Yorker, but we've always been seated on the 1st level! (But, we do tip well, when the service warrants it!) How would they know who tips how, since it's done at the END of the cruise!????

 

As far as being near the kitchen....we were seated there once, with 2 other couples...best table EVER! Hot, Hot food, great service, great, funny tablemates...we had an absolute BLAST!

 

Had a bad waitress once...thank God for the Ass't. waiter....he got the "extra" tip we would have given her....she was horrendous.....no personality, no attempt to make our service personalized....forgot orders.....anyway, the ass't waiter got more "tip" than she.

[Kailyn]

There definitely IS a hierarchy in the dining room, at least with waitstaff! (not passengers). We have been on the main floor every cruise except for 1. Our best EVER waitstaff were on the 2nd floor on Navigator.

 

BEWARE the middle of the main floor, near the captain's table! This is where they put the "last resort" people - last minute changes, mistakes, etc. That is where they also put the worst waiters! Most miserable experience on any vacation, ever. Overworked waiters that had just come off vacation, etc. They changed our waitstaff 3 times in the first 2 days and we ended up with 4 waiters/asst waiters. None of them coordinated and we ran the gamut from never getting our orders taken to recieving doubles of our entrees!

[bilyclub]

The bigger question is why was this thread brought back from the dead ?

5 years is a long time ago.

[newaggieparents]

There definitely IS a hierarchy in the dining room, at least with waitstaff! (not passengers). We have been on the main floor every cruise except for 1. Our best EVER waitstaff were on the 2nd floor on Navigator.

 

BEWARE the middle of the main floor, near the captain's table! This is where they put the "last resort" people - last minute changes, mistakes, etc. That is where they also put the worst waiters! Most miserable experience on any vacation, ever. Overworked waiters that had just come off vacation, etc. They changed our waitstaff 3 times in the first 2 days and we ended up with 4 waiters/asst waiters. None of them coordinated and we ran the gamut from never getting our orders taken to recieving doubles of our entrees!

 

Couldn't disagree more! When we've been seated in the middle of the main floor section near the captain's table we have had the absolute best waiters and service! The waiters also told us that that was the area they "earned" by getting great comments. We are delighted if we are fortunate to be seated in that area and it's happened several times for us.

[Kailyn]

Couldn't disagree more! When we've been seated in the middle of the main floor section near the captain's table we have had the absolute best waiters and service! The waiters also told us that that was the area they "earned" by getting great comments. We are delighted if we are fortunate to be seated in that area and it's happened several times for us.

Maybe this is different on other ships, but it's definitely how it worked on Freedom earlier this year. We were moved there because they had split up our party (5 in one seating, 1 in the 2nd seating) and had no tables left for us. They continued to move people into this area throughout the cruise, they even made us get up in the middle of dinner the first night and move tables again. Just awful.