State of RCI Drink/Bar Service...Just off FOS and Disappointed

[monctonguy]

My observation(and I have only cruised since the packages started) is that the service is much different now than it was even 2.5 years ago on my first cruise. I can remember that it seemed like you couldn't go 5 mins between drinks on the pool deck without someone asking you if you wanted another.

 

Now, they walk around once a hr or so maybe, which creates longer lines and waits at the bar.

 

My experience in the MDR is you have to ASK for someone to bring you a drink and if you ask for a 2nd drink, you will get it once your meal is done they are so slow.

 

Of course what this creates is people getting annoyed, frustrated and of course trying to bribe the bartenders with cash to get quicker and better service.

 

I do admit, that being friendly and/or getting to know at least one of the bartenders at each bar you visit defn helps move things along a little quicker. :)

 

So I am not sure its just that those who don't have a drink package get served quicker/better...I think that RCI has cut back on all their bar/drink service...as a result of the packages in general.

 

Always exceptions to the rule of course but.....

[rudeney]

Slight misconception here: ALL TIPS ARE POOLED. Even the "direct tips" are pooled with the drink package tips and distributed to the bar staff (and a variety of support staff) around the ship.

 

I had heard this, so I decided to ask the bartenders on our Oct 18th Navigator cruise how they handle tips. I asked at the pool bar and the bartender in the CL. I was told this: Cash tips collected at that bar that day are pooled among that bar's crew that worked that day. Cash tips include the 18% gratuity added to non-package drinks, plus and additional tip added to package or non-package drink sales. For drink packages, tips are allocated based on the number of drinks served that day at that bar, among all crew working that bar that day. I am guessing that the ship calculates the "tip per drink" for packages based on the revenue from the sale of packages divided by the cost of drinks served.

 

As for the OP's observations, there seemed to be times when there were plenty of roaming waiters at the pools and theaters. But then again, it seemed like whenever I wanted a drink, and the bars were crowded, there were no waiters. In the MDR and specialty restaurants, I never had a problem getting a drink or bottle of wine from my wait staff.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Just off B2B on the Adventure of the Seas. We had the Ultimate package and cocktail waiters were very sparse on the pool decks. We ended up walking over to the bar to get our own drinks. Also, noticed the same lack of service in the dining room. I never even saw a waiter coming around after dinner hawking the after dinner shots like they used too. (i i used to get one every night!)

Was very disappointed in RCI this time around.

[ewenix]

I've noticed this on the last several cruises as well.

 

Deck waiters very sparse, and not particularly fast.

Going to the (on deck) bars means consistently waiting in line behind 3 or 4 other people. Other (below deck) bars I've had varying degrees of wait times.

MDR service is nearly nonexistent. On Oasis we rarely saw a bar service waiter and we were never asked if we wanted anything from them.

On AOS we got asked the first night and never again after, so on the next cruise I specifically asked for bar service. When he came I told him to come back every night, which he did. Based on that I think it's possible to get drinks but it's sub par service and not what I would expect on a line that's now pushing the "royal" part of their name. That level of service is definitely not worthy of an 18% gratuity.

Edited November 3, 2015 by ewenix

[steveru621]

So my wife and I along with some friends just got off Freedom of the Seas (Oct 25 sailing). Some observations from our trip are below and I'm interested if others have experienced the same. I'll preface my observations by saying we previously cruised RCI in 2012 (Freedom of the Seas) and 2013 (Oasis of the Seas). Both times we had great experiences with different groups of friends. In 2013 on Oasis, my wife and I both had the drink package (packages were not available in 2012). This most recent cruise last week, I alone had the drink package and several of my cruise-mates had the package as well. Overall the cruise was good but we had some major disappointments with the level of bar/drink service. There was a marked difference in just the few years since our last cruise:

 

-In the MDR, the drink waiters were NOWHERE to be seen. With the drink package it was almost impossible to get an alcoholic drink at dinner, never mind more than one (e.g. multiple glasses of wines with each course or a pre-meal cocktail then wine). We were even buying the occasional bottle of wine. It was extremely disappointing given the table next to us seemed to have beer/cocktails waiting for them before they even arrived. I can't help but assume they didn't have the drink package (more tips) versus the folks at our table. It left a very bad taste in my mouth and forced us to actually leave the MDR to get a drink a the nearby R-Bar and bring it back into the MDR on several occasions. I'll add that our waiter did his best to facilitate but even at his prodding we wouldn't get service, there seemed to be too few drink waiters who were uninterested in taking our orders. Maybe we just got a dud drink waiter in our area but it made us not look forward to our MDR meals.

 

-Around the pool, I noticed much of the same thing...very few waiters to take orders around the pool. The ones who were there, seemed equally uninterested in taking our order.

 

-All the bars in the pool area had no menus...this was a very obvious change from my previous cruises where you could always bet on a colorful menu to give you ideas for yummy pool drinks.

 

Overall, the drink package was still the right move for my friends and me but we couldn't help but be bummed feeling they had our $400 and were doing their best to cut liquor costs by cutting back server staff, trying to limit the liquors we drank, and providing disincentives to drink/bar staff for waiting on us by creating two drinking classes...those without the package (who obviously are higher value to servers due to direct tips) and every other poor sucker who paid the $400 thinking it made more sense.

 

Unfortunately I think RCI has achieved their stated goal of pushing cruisers to the drink packages (e.g. higher profits) but at the expense of customer service.

 

Has anyone else had similar experiences, I'd be interested to hear? Thx

 

Sorry to read you had problems. We are like the table next to you that always has drinks waiting at the table before we arrive. Package or not. Yes there is less bar service, you just need them to focus on you.

 

Tell your waiter you want Bar Service. Make sure you let Bar Service know you will order drinks every night, and if you do the same every night when you want it. Then the first night add $1-2 to the tab. I order a cocktail before dinner, and an after dinner drink with dessert. It's there on time every night. :)

 

Doesn't do much good now, just for future reference.

[CP3o]

I've read some of these same complaints about Carnival and NCL so I think it's a function of the packages. A shame they can't just make enough off of the thing to keep bar staffing up. Waiting in line doesn't feel like a vacation and will contribute to poor reviews.

 

Perhaps they allowed wine w/o the corkage fee to help have pax drink their own wine and better be able to tend to the others drink orders in MDR. I DO like that you can bring your own wine and enjoy where ever now. And the bar staffing reviews have me considering trying to bring an extra bottle on which would make me a smuggler...........:eek:

[FloridaGator]

We were also on this 25 Oct cruise on FOS. The casino bar in particular was absolutely awful trying to get service. The schooner bar was just as bad. We were also stuck with MTD and the overall service has slipped to a point that we stopped going to the dining room. What has happened? Higher prices and lesser service.

[thwatcher100]

I have always found the drink waiters in the mdr to be dreadful, right from my very first cruise in 2010. I learned after that cruise to tell them to leave the bottle on the table.

Just off oasis with a drinks package and it was the best drink service i ever had, not a drink waiter to be seen.

 

On 2 nights in the mdr 1 server did the job of 2 servers and a drink waiter, fair play to them they are run off their feet.

 

The conversation is gone, but they still persist with the singing and dancing 3 of the nights, RCL would want to cop itself on.

[docd]

I had the Premium package on my November 2014 FOS cruise. I found the bar service to be lacking for the most part. I had to work to get my drinks! Wasn't horrible, but could have been a lot better. Some bars were noticeably better than others though. Also, an extra tip seemed to help a lot for follow up service.

 

The MDR I had great service. I had a bottle of wine put on my table as soon as I sat down every evening, without even requesting it [with the exception of the first night of course].