Tampering with breakfast hang tag

[family man57]

How spooky ! Just thought i'd check in the Holland America message boards having just returned from a week long trip on the Ryndam (fabulous BTW) , where on the morning of disembarkation eight omlettes with bacon and sausage were delivered to our room .

Upon phoning room service in case another family was waiting for their order , the waiter came along with the room card which had clearly be altered by some scrote .

I hate waste , and to see the mound of food being discarded made me very annoyed .

[sapper1]

I can't help but wonder, upon reading this thread through, if the thread will serve to put ideas in the heads of those who think practical jokes are funny. Maybe there will be an increase in such incidents.

 

Luckily it has never happened to us and one would think that, given the more mature HAL demographic, passengers would be mature in mind as well as body.

[ETinCA]

Lets be clear here that it's not always kids. Quite often it's adults that also think it's funny to do such things. I've seen it.

[POA1]

I can't help but wonder, upon reading this thread through, if the thread will serve to put ideas in the heads of those who think practical jokes are funny. Maybe there will be an increase in such incidents.

 

Luckily it has never happened to us and one would think that, given the more mature HAL demographic, passengers would be mature in mind as well as body.

Well, I suppose that narrows the suspect pool to Cruise Critic readers. It's no longer just a CC Meet & Greet. It's a Meet, Greet, & Mess with What People Eat.

[yj_eugene]

McDonalds is already starting to replace employees with ordering kiosks and this is just the beginning

 

Yeah, before you know it, items will be already prepared and waiting for you in a climate-controlled display, and all you have to do is pay, open a door to get your food, and be on your way. No ordering involved! And I've got just the catchy name for it: an "automat". :p

[POA1]

Yeah, before you know it, items will be already prepared and waiting for you in a climate-controlled display, and all you have to do is pay, open a door to get your food, and be on your way. No ordering involved! And I've got just the catchy name for it: an "automat". :p

As I read your post, I was thinking "vending machine" or "automat." Then I read the close. Thanks for the laugh.

[Ricktan]

Exactly. Also there's the speed issue. I can order our breakfast in under a minute using the card. There's no way the interactive TV could compete.

 

Turn on TV.

 

Press room service button.

 

Select breakfast.

 

Choose omelets.

 

Select eggs, not egg whites.

 

Press omelet fillings.

 

Choose cheese.

 

Select Cheddar.

 

And so on....

 

At this point, the hang tag users have been asleep for 15 minutes. (I'm a former Bell Labs systems engineer. I can state with authority that sometimes manual processes are better. Way better.) :)

 

NOW I understand why I relate to your humor....you're an engineer!! I should have realized .....my older brother (about your age if I remember correctly from one of your earlier posts) is an engineer (runs 6 nuclear power plants for Duke Power). He has a very similar humor....quick, smart and sometimes so dry that it flies over right over heads a lot of times! Even after all these years, he easily pulls my leg without ever cracking a smile......:)

[Cruising-along]

Although we've never had any problems with other passengers changing/taking our hang tag breakfast orders, something happened on our last cruise (Statendam) that we've never experienced before.

 

Towards the end of the 15-day cruise, every day our hang tag had no hole cut -- no way to hang it. :p Luckily I had a small pair of scissors with me, and just cut a hole each time. I didn't want to bother our overworked steward with something so trivial, but I still chuckle when I think of it. Almost like a practical joke itself. :D

[sun~]

I don't think it is always someone tampering with the food hang tag. On several of our HAL cruises we have received a whole pile of unordered food at least once during the cruise.

 

What happens is that hubby and I order different breakfasts, say a fruit plate for one order and a hot breakfast for the other (it doesn't matter what it is, but there are two different orders). It says clearly it is for two people. I also clearly state one order of X and one order of Y. We have received double of each. This has happened several times. It is the fault of the person filling the order.

 

I have tried to attach a photo. I took a photo of the pile of stuff we got one morning. Such a waste.

[LMaxwell]

Oh, yes. The last night of the second E-dam cruise, several of us in a string of cabins had our hang tags changed---presumably by the kids who had been wreaking havoc up & down the passageway for the previous 10 days.

What a waste of food! Seeing as how the parents refused to reel them in all cruise, I'm not surprised at their last little display.

 

We were all up in plenty of time to go to the Lido instead, but it was still a shame that so many people worked to put up those orders, deliver them, and clean up afterwards.

Isn't the cabin number on the tag?

 

Edit. I misread. I thought they changed tags door to door. Duh

Edited August 8, 2015 by LMaxwell

[Wehwalt]

Lets be clear here that it's not always kids. Quite often it's adults that also think it's funny to do such things. I've seen it.

 

The first time I would grin and bear it. The second I would talk to the cabin steward and arrange for him to see that the hang tag gets to room service. If that didn't work out, I'd just call it in the night before, explaining the situation.

[rkacruiser]

The first time I would grin and bear it. The second I would talk to the cabin steward and arrange for him to see that the hang tag gets to room service. If that didn't work out, I'd just call it in the night before, explaining the situation.

 

I am pretty sure the cabin steward has nothing to do with the hang tag getting to room service. One of their staff would be the pick-up person, I would think.

 

Calling in the order the night before might work. A visit with the Guest Relations Manager, just to inform him/her of the issue, would also be order.

[Wehwalt]

I am pretty sure the cabin steward has nothing to do with the hang tag getting to room service. One of their staff would be the pick-up person, I would think.

 

Calling in the order the night before might work. A visit with the Guest Relations Manager, just to inform him/her of the issue, would also be order.

 

The cabin steward can certainly see that it gets where it is supposed to go, handing it to the right person. I'd say that's within what we can expect as part of service. I'd be trying to do this as low impact as possible, not involving complaints to the front desk about the prank, they really can't do much about it. I'm sure the cabin steward doesn't want a fuss made either.

 

One of my few advantages of being sumo wrestler sized: kid runs into me, kid falls down, I may or may not notice :)

 

Then mom pops up and starts laying into you with her umbrella, regardless of fault after all her kid is perfect and the next brain surgeon astronaut president.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Wehwalt

[dakrewser]

The cabin steward can certainly see that it gets where it is supposed to go, handing it to the right person. I'd say that's within what we can expect as part of service. I'd be trying to do this as low impact as possible, not involving complaints to the front desk about the prank, they really can't do much about it. I'm sure the cabin steward doesn't want a fuss made either.

 

Do give poor stewart a little time to sleep, not chase around looking for your tag, for the room-service stewart, etc. Why don't you see that it "gets where its supposed to go", or better still call in the order the night before.

[MrdeRastignac]

I CONFESS: I tampered with someone else's breakfast card :eek::eek:

 

In my defense though:

1) On a sea day I planned my wake up call @8:30 am. However room service banged on my cabin door @6:30 am. I did not sleep afterwards.

2) My Sherlock skills lead me to believe the problem was caused by bad handwriting of some other guest so I started my investigation

3) My research showed that guest A's '6' was actually more of a '4'. And that would explain the situation

4) I knocked on guest A's cabin door twice, but he didn't open. Even though I heard his TV and some walking around both times. I probably just looked scary with my Sherlock hat on.

5) I asked a crew member (just outside his door) next evening to change his weird '6' into a '4' because I felt it was inappropiate for me to do so. Or knock on his door for me.

6) But she refused and just said she would communicate the problem with room service, and advised me to change it myself.

7) So I did, but because I didn't feel like checking his door every single evening I left him a note with a lot of smileys explaining my problem. He responded by writing me a nice note himself

 

That's playing Sherlock in 7 steps for you all ;)

 

(Actually, I had quite some service issues on my first HAL cruise...so it wasn't all fun and games unfortunately)

Edited August 9, 2015 by MrdeRastignac

[3rdGenCunarder]

I am pretty sure the cabin steward has nothing to do with the hang tag getting to room service. One of their staff would be the pick-up person, I would think.

 

Calling in the order the night before might work. A visit with the Guest Relations Manager, just to inform him/her of the issue, would also be order.

 

I agree. Most people put the orders out rather late, after the room stewards have finished their evening rounds.

[POA1]

I agree. Most people put the orders out rather late, after the room stewards have finished their evening rounds.

We turn ours in late, but you'd be surprised how many breakfast cards are out by the time late fixed dining starts.

[cruz chic]

We turn ours in late, but you'd be surprised how many breakfast cards are out by the time late fixed dining starts.

 

Hey, I've seen them out coming back from dining on the early shift:D.

[Wehwalt]

My experience is that room stewards are anxious to handle minor problems themselves rather than have you go to customer service, which might reflect on them. YMMV.

[cruz chic]

My experience is that room stewards are anxious to handle minor problems themselves rather than have you go to customer service, which might reflect on them. YMMV.

 

Of course, but this isn't something that a cabin steward takes care of. Why add to their pile of work?

Edited August 9, 2015 by cruz chic

[Wehwalt]

Of course, but this isn't something that a cabin steward takes care of. Why add to their pile of work?

 

How about this then (sigh). If such a thing happened (which it is unlikely to as I do not use room service much), I would ask the cabin steward if he is aware of a problem there, and ask his advice as to how to avoid the issue.

[cruz chic]

How about this then (sigh). If such a thing happened (which it is unlikely to as I do not use room service much), I would ask the cabin steward if he is aware of a problem there, and ask his advice as to how to avoid the issue.

 

How would he know if passangers are going to act like children. I do not like to add the workload of others. Sigh.

[sammiedawg]

I don't use room service but if I did I would not worry. Passengers are not responsible to problem solve the hang tag issue.

[Wehwalt]

How would he know if passangers are going to act like children. I do not like to add the workload of others. Sigh.

 

He would know if there had been other complaints in his part of the ship. Evidently you have your own way of doing things, and I have mine. We'll agree to differ.