Reason for staffing "reductions": delays in Visa application approvals?

[peaches from georgia]

Esme said: ....there was a shortage of staff in the dining room on the Rotterdam last month and Willie, the Bar Manager, said his staff was down...

That sounds like a fact to me re the pax service staff on the Rotterdam, whether the overall crew of the Rotterdam had decreased or not.

[gizmo]

Sounds like a fact to me too.

[Orcrone]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> (The grass is green; the sky is blue.)

(I only place the above observation in certain posts....only a few.)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That's a cryptic answer, but I'm also pretty dense. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America
4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration
10/30/2004 - Maasdam

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Till sailing on the Maasdam

[lknick]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I think we are talking apples and oranges when you get into a World Cruise. From what I have been told, things are different on these cruises. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
In price, in passenger compliment, in menu. As to itineraries and staffing:

1/20/04 Los Angeles 437 Crew – World Cruise
9/12/03 San Diego 431 - Panama canal, repositioning for New England
5/17/03 San Francisco 394 - Alaska<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>One thing that bothers me is the removal of serving stations in the dining room. This leads me to believe it is more of a cutback than a visa problem.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Your conclusion does not take into consideration that the system has been revised. The assistant servers are now runners, and therefore serving stations are no longer required.

Everyone has an opinion, but how many cruised with HAL during 1988, the year they were heading for bankruptcy. There were no assistant waiters and each waiter had 35 passengers.

Or would you rather have one waiter to a table, as I did in 1937 on QM1, and pay in today's dollars $21K.

You can't have everything! Only I am entitled to have it.

40 cruises: mainly Cunard, Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCI, Starclipper, Seabourn. ~511 days total, ~325 on HAL

[gizmo]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Your conclusion does not take into consideration that the system has been revised. The assistant servers are now runners, and therefore serving stations are no longer required.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This system was not working very well on my cruise.

What would you say was a reasonable time to have your order taken? Let's say from the time you were handed the menu , until the steward took your order.

How about from the time your order was taken to the time your appetizer arrived?

[sail7seas]

Gizmo....

I have sensed that you have cruised a great many days on HAL. I have also sensed lately that you are quite displeased with HAL.

Is is a cumulative little bit of this and a little bit of that that is displeasing you or was it a giant goof up on your last cruise?

Or....in the alternative, am I incorrect and you are happy as can be with HAL these days?

<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[gizmo]

There was no giant goof up on my cruise. If you read my review I had a great time, as a matter of fact I just posted this on another thread the other day. Cumulative would be a correct assumption.

[lknick]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> What would you say was a reasonable time to have your order taken? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Somewhere between McDonalds and La Tour d'Argent.

When I'm enjoying my table mates, as I do, then time is not of the essence.

40 cruises: mainly Cunard, Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCI, Starclipper, Seabourn. ~511 days total, ~325 on HAL

[raydon]

Is it liar or lier....This board is way too serious for me......

Radiance of the Seas
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[sail7seas]

Oh my goodness. Must be the first time in the history of this Board.

I made a spelling error. I'm so very happy you took the effort to point it out for me. What a pity it would have been for it to go by unnoticed.

Shame on me.

So very sorry to offend.

<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[pollux]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img] S7S, They just found out you not perfect. I also [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] have been accused on this board for: Bad grammer etc. etc. I may not spell right but I sure can talk up a storm in several lanquages. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] I still keep cruising as long as I can.

[localady]

S7S-
U mean we are suposed to speel korectly tu??? I is a chilld of the kalifornia skool sisdem.... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Happy Cruising!

7/04 Ryndam Alaska B2B
12/04 Rotterdam Panama Canal
7/05 Prinsendam Baltic

RCCL x2(1999), Volendam (2000), Millinneum (2000), Veendam (2001), Disney (2001), Statendam (2003), Amsterdam (2003)

[sail7seas]

Whaddayagonna Do??? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]



[img]http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/SmileyHug.gif[/img]

<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[Orcrone]

Phynalle, eye ken undahstand dem posts!

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America
4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration
10/30/2004 - Maasdam

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0924ff&cdt=2004;10;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img]
Till sailing on the Maasdam

[gizmo]

I find it ironic that JKM7 alias S7S gets caught with a misspelled word on this board,after picking on a some poor person about their grammer on cruisemates. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

[sail7seas]

Wow, am I ever glad this wasn't my PhD dissertation. Sure ranks close up there in importance, but....whew, that would have been a real bummer.

Must be great to be perfect. Boring, perhaps, but we should all strive for perfection.


[B]Gizmo.....[/B] You do yourself no service with such nastiness. It is beneath you and very uncalled for.



"the grass is green; the sky is blue"

(figured it out yet???) [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]



[img]http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/SmileyPeace.gif[/img]



<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[raydon]

At least it made y'all move away from who was correct about whether or not the service on HAL had reached a new low.

Radiance of the Seas
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[sail7seas]

In which dictionary would we find "y'all"? As long as we are going to criticize spelling...... I daresay my Merriam Webster does not have such a word.

<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[gizmo]

Like you prefer to stick to the numbers, I prefer to sick to the facts. I am quite sure what you post you believe to be the absolute truth...as do I.
As far as your grass and sky goes, there is nothing to figure out, since I don’t need an explanation.

Raydon,
You hit the nail on the head! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Since there are those that refuse to believe there could possibly be an issue and don't want to hear it anymore they turn the thread into something else.

[raydon]

This is truly fascinating.....nothing like striking a soft point. I am just having some fun. I love cruising, like HAL, actually haved cruised in their suites, like other lines as well and finally just got off the Golden Princess where I thought the service was great and truly enjoyed the sailing. I guess I always find the best things about my "holidays" and I bet we will truly enjoy our Thanksgiving cruise on the Radiance because all of our friends and family will be with us. In a couple of weeks we are off to Atlantis with a Grandchild...is it okay to admit I have those.....hopefully the service will still be the same!![img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img][img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img][img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Oh, never did the piled higher and deeper thesis but did the more s... one!

Radiance of the Seas
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[raydon]

Merriam Webster online does recognize y'all....defines it as a variant of "you all".
It is just that Jensen Beach is near Okeechobee and the "speak" here catches on!

Grass is only green here if you use the sprinkler system, but the sky is always blue!

Radiance of the Seas
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[localady]

Sky is only blue if you don't live in smog...[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

But the sea is always blue, isn't that why we are here???

Happy Cruising!

7/04 Ryndam Alaska B2B
12/04 Rotterdam Panama Canal
7/05 Prinsendam Baltic

RCCL x2(1999), Volendam (2000), Millinneum (2000), Veendam (2001), Disney (2001), Statendam (2003), Amsterdam (2003)

[sail7seas]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Guess no one has figured it out yet. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]


Quite remarkable for such clever folks.

<img src=http://domania.us/DaveEdwards/HALlogo.gif>

[TedC]

Breathe in, breathe out.

[LizB1]

A few of my oservations on our recent Rotterdam cruise about reduction in staff. There has definitely been a reduction in the Dining Room and Ocean Bar staff. Where there used to be about four waiters/waitresses in the Ocean Bar and one person serving the hors d'oeuvres we only had one waitress and one waiter for the
whole lounge with another serving hors d'oeuvres. Our table was full with about ten of us each night and the supervisor was helping out to keep things moving.

In the dining room the two stewards were working as fast as they could with at least four more tables than they used to have, and we did find the service to be slow even though they were doing their very best to accommodate every table in a timely fashion.

I also spoke with Will and he told me the same thing he told Esme when she sailed. I believe since s7s sailed in March and when we were on the middle to end of May there has been a gradual cutback. Also found this to be true of deck stewards.

I find it hard to believe that this situation in reduction of staff is caused solely by the Visa situation...more like a combination of factors and perhaps some of the crew are not happy either with some of the changes and are not returning to the ships!?