Experience In Chez Jacques

[kitty9]

We were dining at Chez Jacques last night, and had a not so great experience. This was not because of bad food or service, but because of inconsiderate passengers. We had been seated for about 5 minutes when two young women came in, carrying party decorations. They wanted to drape streamers, crepe paper and balloons around their table and while the Maitre'd said ok, he also said don't do too much, as it would disturb others. The women did a little decorating, and a few minutes later, in walked the rest of their group, including a 2 year old. Well, that's when the fun started. As 2 year olds are known to do, and no one faults the child, he began acting like a toddler, screaming and yelling in a two year old's high pitched voice. Every couple of minutes, he's screech like a howler monkey, and I can tell you, every time I jumped in my chair (our table was next to theirs). When the parents couldn't get him to stop, they gave him the lovely Jacques rolls to toss back and forth----the waiters were busy picking up rolls from the floor. When that got old, they began batting a balloon around the table. And finally, they let Jr run around the tables, while the wait staff were working so hard to serve everyone. The poor Maitre'd was so flustered, he was running around to all the tables, apologizing to everyone. While we were all none too happy, we realized this had nothing to do with the staff, but with a very inconsiderate family who should have realized that a lovely restaurant like Chez Jacques is no place for a balloon party at 7:30 at night with a two year old.

[Pet Nit Noy]

We were dining at Chez Jacques last night, and had a not so great experience. This was not because of bad food or service, but because of inconsiderate passengers. We had been seated for about 5 minutes when two young women came in, carrying party decorations. They wanted to drape streamers, crepe paper and balloons around their table and while the Maitre'd said ok, he also said don't do too much, as it would disturb others. The women did a little decorating, and a few minutes later, in walked the rest of their group, including a 2 year old. Well, that's when the fun started. As 2 year olds are known to do, and no one faults the child, he began acting like a toddler, screaming and yelling in a two year old's high pitched voice. Every couple of minutes, he's screech like a howler monkey, and I can tell you, every time I jumped in my chair (our table was next to theirs). When the parents couldn't get him to stop, they gave him the lovely Jacques rolls to toss back and forth----the waiters were busy picking up rolls from the floor. When that got old, they began batting a balloon around the table. And finally, they let Jr run around the tables, while the wait staff were working so hard to serve everyone. The poor Maitre'd was so flustered, he was running around to all the tables, apologizing to everyone. While we were all none too happy, we realized this had nothing to do with the staff, but with a very inconsiderate family who should have realized that a lovely restaurant like Chez Jacques is no place for a balloon party at 7:30 at night with a two year old.

 

I'm sorry to hear the staff couldn't control the situation in real time and that you suffered as a result, but I sure hope the maitre d' from each of the restaurants has a meeting with the ship's restaurant manager and the cruise director to work out a strategy should this happen again. The cruise isn't over; some form of disruption may happen again with such clueless people.

 

I would also approach the maitre d' at Jacques or the concierge and tell them you want a replacement reservation to compensate for an utterly failed evening through no fault of yours.

 

Did you say anything when the maitre d' came over to apologize to you as the events were unfolding?

[RJB]

I'm sorry to hear the staff couldn't control the situation in real time and that you suffered as a result, but I sure hope the maitre d' from each of the restaurants has a meeting with the ship's restaurant manager and the cruise director to work out a strategy should this happen again. The cruise isn't over; some form of disruption may happen again with such clueless people.

 

I would also approach the maitre d' at Jacques or the concierge and tell them you want a replacement reservation to compensate for an utterly failed evening through no fault of yours.

 

Did you say anything when the maitre d' came over to apologize to you as the events were unfolding?

This is one of the reasons that I continue to say NO KIDS. Oceania should make a rule.

[bitob]

We had a similar experience on an Alaska cruise. Two screaming toddlers in the specialties ruining everyone's meals and adults who didn't care. I believe there needs to be a minimum age to dine in the specialties. 8? An age where a child can exercise self control

[orchestrapal]

This is one of the reasons that I continue to say NO KIDS. Oceania should make a rule.

 

+ 1. I guess O is encouraging families and at the same time turning off regulars.:mad:

[Mura]

I totally sympathize with those who have had such unpleasant experiences in a restaurant. While we've had to endure noisy children at times, it's never happened to us on an Oceania ship.

 

Personally, I think the family should have been thrown out.

 

I contrast these people with friends of mine who had a totally spoiled child. But at three years old this little girl routinely dined at fine restaurants and loved frog's legs and escargots. I never saw her act out EVER. Today she's an attorney ...

 

How she behaved at home, however, was another matter! But obviously it can be done if the parents give a darn.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

That is very unfortunate

I do hope you talk to the Concierge or Hotel Manager

Oceania will do nothing unless more people complain

The restaurant managers hands are tied & they do not want to offend the guests even the disruptive ones

I agree they should have a age limit in the Specialties, 8 sounds like a reasonable age & most are well behaved

 

JMO

Lyn

[pthjudy]

I totally sympathize with those who have had such unpleasant experiences in a restaurant. While we've had to endure noisy children at times, it's never happened to us on an Oceania ship.

 

Personally, I think the family should have been thrown out.

 

I contrast these people with friends of mine who had a totally spoiled child. But at three years old this little girl routinely dined at fine restaurants and loved frog's legs and escargots. I never saw her act out EVER. Today she's an attorney ...

 

How she behaved at home, however, was another matter! But obviously it can be done if the parents give a darn.

 

Mura

We have friends who often cruise with son, DIL, and 2 grandsons. Even though the boys are now 7 and 13 (and very well behaved and used to fine dining), they have always hired a sitter for the adults' evening out at a specialty. I understand that Oceania doesn't have a kids program as other lines do, but there is no reason why a few of the staff could not be available for paid sitting purposes. Perhaps when dining reservations are made and small children are part of the group, the sitting option could be offered. No one wants to take the "specialness" factor out of the specialties by having to cope with unruly children.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm with Mura. And for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would choose Jacques as a place to decorate the table and bring a 2 year old to celebrate whatever they were celebrating. It's about the last restaurant on Riviera I would choose for that sort of thing.

 

Guess we were lucky; there were no children on our cruise except for one adorable and sweet little boy, the son of one of the Chefs I believe.

[LHT28]

They could have booked Privee & then the child could have the run of the place

[Travelcat2]

I strongly disagree that staff should be available to watch children. Rather than changing the way Oceania runs their ships, how about parents taking their children on age appropriate cruise lines and/or travel with their children at times of the year where other children may be on board?

 

Many parents are clueless about the bad behavior of their child(ren) - everyone thinks that their children act just fine. The only way to control a situation such as the OP described is to have the Dining Room Manager nicely explain to the parents that their child is disrupting other passengers and that the child either needs to sit quietly or have a parent take him/her out of the restaurant until they calm down. This certainly would be done in any land-based restaurants.

 

In addition to annoying passengers, it is a safety issue. If hot food or coffee was spilled on a child due to the server tripping over him/her, the child could be seriously injured (and the parents would not hesitate to sue Oceania). IMO, behavior that is disruptive - by an adult or child - needs to be dealt with - not ignored.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Travelcat2

[SellaVee]

Actually I'm going to be rather harsh here and say that I think the situation had everything to do with the staff. The maitre d' should have had a word. Parents, ie the grown ups, are responsible for the behaviour of their children. If the parents couldn't get the child to stop screeching it should have been suggested that one of the parents removed him until he quietened down because he was disturbing the other diners. No one party in the restaurant has the right to ruin everyone else's evening - in my opinion.

 

I speak as someone who adores babies and children. Two year olds are potentially distractible and can even be bribed into good behaviour, but parents have to act quickly. I've seen charming waiters do it (but I'm not suggesting that that is part of their job - some just have the knack). Bad behaviour is usually down to a lack of attention. Little ones get bored easily.

 

If Oceania are selling their specialities on food and ambience then they need to do a better job of maintaining it. Sounds like that toddler spoiled the evening for everyone, probably including himself.

 

I second what Pet Nit Noy said.

[SellaVee]

Travelcat, looks like we were posting at the same time.

[Flatbush Flyer]

This is one of the reasons that I continue to say NO KIDS. Oceania should make a rule.

 

 

Sure - punish all the parents/grandparents who have taken great pains to raise well-behaved and civil children and who want them to have quality travel experiences.

[bitob]

Oceania will never offend a paying guest by asking them to leave. They can avoid offending everyone by establishing a reasonable minimum age for dining in the specialties or they will stop being special. On celebrity I believe the minimum age for the specialties is 12.

[Travelcat2]

Sure - punish all the parents/grandparents who have taken great pains to raise well-behaved and civil children and who want them to have quality travel experiences.

 

It sounds like the only people being "punished" were the other guests in Jacques. Certainly it is important to have well-behaved civil children that could have a quality travel experience. However, things need to be taken gradually. A parent or grandparent should ask themselves if the child has learned to sit at a dinner table without screeching or running around under normal circumstances. Then determine how long they can behave. It is asking a lot of a 2 year old to sit quietly during dinner -- it takes practice.

 

Once a child can be well-behaved during meals at home and children friendly restaurants, they can advance to more upscale dining - keeping in mind their time tolerance. Also consider what there is to do on a ship for the child to keep them occupied and allow them to burn off energy (without disrupting others).

 

Our best child-friendly cruising experience was on Disney Cruise Lines. The parents were in the theater and the Disney characters arrived and skipped off with the children to do age appropriate activities.

 

From what I have seen over the years, it is the parent/grandparent that is being a bit selfish by putting their needs before their children/grandchildren. What 2 year old would pick Oceania over Disney, NCL and other cruise lines that specialize in insuring that both the parents and children have a great time?

[bitob]

There is no such thing as a two year old who can sit for two hours quietly while his /her parents dine. The specialties are no more an appropriate venue for a toddler than is a fine restaurant. If the adults who bring toddlers on Oceania will not be considerate to their fellow cruisers then Oceania should just set a reasonable age minimum. This is not a novel idea. I don't even think it's controversial.

Edited March 8, 2016 by bitob

[RJB]

Sure - punish all the parents/grandparents who have taken great pains to raise well-behaved and civil children and who want them to have quality travel experiences.

To start with very few parents/grandparents want to take kids on an Oceania cruise as there is nothing for them to do except get into trouble. Take them on Disney, RCCL, NCL, where they can have a good time and do not put them in a position where they might bother most of the other people on board. Kids do not belong on Oceania.

[hypercafe]

I think this falls squarely on Oceania. They have no problem taking money for the tickets for any and all children. They could make the line adults only but chose not to. They could make a age limit for some restaurants but if they do IMO they should offer child sitting for a fee as other lines do, they chose not to. I do not know of a adults only cruise line however Oceania could be the first if they wanted to.

[newbie60]

From the description of the balloons and streamers, these so-called adults had no interest in being polite to the other diners. Why would the child?

[Iamthesea]

Oceania will never offend a paying guest by asking them to leave. They can avoid offending everyone by establishing a reasonable minimum age for dining in the specialties or they will stop being special. On celebrity I believe the minimum age for the specialties is 12.

 

Apparently NOT because we had the same thing happen to us in Qsine on the Celebrity Reflection last March. :mad: Child was probably around 18 months. When she wasn't screaming, the parents and those around her, were cooing and baby talking to her throughout the entire dinner. :rolleyes: They were sitting directly behind me.

 

We have also run into this in the Formal dining rooms, particularly on ships out of PR, when large family groups travel together.

[Travelcat2]

I would love to see Oceania have a few "adults only" cruises during the year (at least one during the summer so school teachers could go). After all, there are special "children" cruises so why not for adults? Based on what I've read over the years on the Oceania, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea boards, an adults only cruise would be very popular and would undoubtedly sell out quickly!

[Paulchili]

Irresponsible and SELFISH parents, as these parents quite obviously we're, put staff in difficult situations by this type of behavior - and staff should never be put in that position.

This type of scenario and behavior to me is much more reminiscent of main line cruise experiences than Oceania ones - at least what Oceania used to be.

Jacques is not Chuck E Cheese's and any sensible parent should know the difference!

PS I wonder what the child had from the Jacques' menu? Foie gras :D

Edited March 8, 2016 by Paulchili

[riandei]

We sailed on Renassiance years ago and I remember they had a slogan

 

no kids

no smoking

no kidding

[RJB]

From the description of the balloons and streamers, these so-called adults had no interest in being polite to the other diners. Why would the child?

So true. Mostly children follow the lead of adults, so if the adults don't care why should the children.