Dream Mutiny Averted

[oscarshep]

We never thought we would ever have reason to report a bad experience on a Thomson`s cruise based on the others we have sailed.

At different times of the day and night the bar service was unable to cope with demand which at busy times could mean waiting over half an hour just get the opportunity to get the attention of a waiter place your order. When customers went directly to the bar to get around this the supervisors told them not to queue as this was forbidden and a waiter would come to their table. This didn`t go down well and only added to the growing frustrations of all of those feeling ignored. It was the talk of the ship...everyone we talked to had the same gripe. The bar staff were not at fault in my opinion but they were the frontline and took a bit of flack which was for the most part unfair.

Whoever is responsible for the running of the bars on this Enchanting Vistas cruise failed their staff and their customers very badly. They knew how many people were on board so either by accident or design mismatched resources to demand. All other aspects of our cruise, food, excursions and entertainment were spot on as usual.

[McDream12]

Spot on with your summary Oscarshep. I noticed that on some occasions there was more waiters serving in the Waters Edge at 11.30 than there was in the Medusa Lounge at 8.30. But didn't spoil another great Thomson cruise.

[Julessmiles]

Haven't a lot of the staff gone from the Dream to the Discovery? I'm wondering if their replacements weren't in place before they moved them? Not acceptable though!

[JUSTLOVEIT]

Yes we felt that the waiters couldn't cope. We heard from someone else who said 400 staff had been moved over to the Discovery and had been replaced by trainees. I wondered what 'Ass Waiter' meant on someone's badge (assistant) so as yet not fully up to speed.

[Julessmiles]

Yes we felt that the waiters couldn't cope. We heard from someone else who said 400 staff had been moved over to the Discovery and had been replaced by trainees. I wondered what 'Ass Waiter' meant on someone's badge (assistant) so as yet not fully up to speed.

 

They have Waiters & Assistant Waiters and yes the Waiters are more senior but they are still fully trained & should know what they are doing. You usually find in the Dining Room that there will be a waiter who will work with an assistant waiter

[jolinbra]

This was our 8th Thomson cruise. Poor start, we were dumped outside the terminal in 30+ temps. it took ages for a Thomson rep to come and negotiate us into the terminal. We were less than impressed by the constant selling of extras, poor buffet food, trainee staff etc.

Cabin steward good, waiter(Hendrick) great in Orion. Food was OK but really inconsistent, some courses good some not so good.

Waiting ages for drinks. In the theater one night (front stalls)one poor little Philippino girl working so very hard all on her own, apologizing for waiting times. I felt sorry for the staff who have always been a strong point and always praise worthy. No napkins - issue with laundry, wait for courses - issue with galley. The staff must feel under valued by the company. We were on a training ship but paid full price. I know Thomson is basically 3 to 4 star cruising but this was so much less satisfactory than we have previously experienced. Even the oranges were dry and pithy. I will not risk the Dream again.

[merciaman]

When we were on at the end of Feb, new staff were coming on board then. We saw at least 40.New waiters wore "Trainee waiter" badges.I would think they have done a gradual change of staff over the last few weeks so most would be fully trained by now so I doubt that lack of training was the problem.As somebody said maybe management fault assigning insufficient staff in busy areas.

[mtt]

When we was on in march there was 150 staff being trained to transfer to the discovery waiters, bar staff,housekeeping, asst managers and managers, plus some of the staff from the dream were going too