"Please fill out the email survey"

[Loracpin2]

We had the same experience as the OP on our January 2018 Silhouette sailing. We booked Aqua class for the seventh time because we always enjoyed dining in BLU. On three of the seven nights, I sent my entrée back. I won't go into the details why, but by the time the replacement entrée was served, my husband was already finished eating his entrée. The last two nights of the cruise, we were told repeatedly by our waiter to make sure we rated both food and service a "10". I told him that while his excellent, diligent service was a 10, based on the week's kitchen experiences, there would be no 10 evaluation for food. He explained that unless both food and service received a "10", it would reflect on him. While I felt sorry this would be the result, needless to say, the food got a 7 and that was being generous.

[bigbeergut]

Isn't it just a lot easier to tell them you understand the system and you're giving them 10's. Perhaps they'll stop bothering you and then you can fill out the survey appropriately.

[jkgourmet]

I'm not thrilled with the repeated 'reminders' for a score of ten. But it annoys me even more that the format and phrasing of that survey leaves little opportunity for a little criticism. And virtually no opportunity to explain exactly why you're unhappy with anything.

 

Early in my career, I worked in market research. Survey design is scientific. This one is designed to produce the desired positive results.

[Baron Barracuda]

Understand paranoia of waiters in Traditional dining. X knows who they served, so they are on the hook for those guests survey results. Not the same level of accountability in Select where you can have different wait staff every night. For this reason we've typically seen Traditional waiters provide better service.

 

On Royal's survey form they ask if any crew member asked you for a high score. If so they want to know that crew members name and position.

[Lady Chew]

Any company - cruise line, airline, car dealer, widget manufacturer - that sends me a survey asking me to rank things on a scale of 1 to 10, is unlikely to receive all tens. It's possible, but not probable. If they only want tens, don't give me the option for anything else!

 

In spite of that bold statement, I do give tens to my direct service personnel on cruise lines.

[Bojeanne]

Yes, the begging for 10s is annoying, but fearing that my cabin attendant may be held in chains below decks if he gets a poor score, I will probably give him the 9 he deserves. But then I am not a very demanding passenger, so his job with me and my husband was relatively easy. I think the cruise line encourages them to beg for high scores so that Celebrity can then brag off about the high consumer scores they get. We -- and the crew -- are indeed being manipulated, and it is below the dignity of good workers to be put in this position, doing the hacking for father Celebrity.

[TFLG]

OMG, On the Summit there is a guy who looks DEAD that every time he saw us, tried to get us to dine at Tuscany a second time. If he didn't seriously look like this guy ↓ I might have said yes, the restaurant itself was good but I couldn't talk to him for more than 10 seconds!!

 

 

Pretty sure we had that same guy as our head waiter on the Mariner. Short with ridiculously wide shoulders and spoke just like the old Dracula/igor actors. we busted up every time he came to the table.

[jkgourmet]

 

On Royal's survey form they ask if any crew member asked you for a high score. If so they want to know that crew members name and position.

 

Does one carry around a pad of paper and pencil? Heck, I don't remember the name of anybody within 12 hours of departure except one single CD (Sue Denning) and the Italian First Officer I dated in in 2002-3 following the cruise on which we met.

 

I think the cruise line encourages them to beg for high scores so that Celebrity can then brag off about the high consumer scores they get.

 

 

Bingo. Hence the reason why there are so few opportunities for giving any kind of negative feedback. As I explained in post #28.

 

We -- and the crew -- are indeed being manipulated, and it is below the dignity of good workers to be put in this position, doing the hacking for father Celebrity.

 

"Below the dignity of good workers"??? They are doing their job, what their employer asks them to do, and what they are paid to do. Asking for those high scores is equivalent to the receptionist who tells a caller that the boss is "in a meeting" when he/she is sitting in their office playing trash can basketball. Seriously - dignity has nothing to do with this. Is Celebrity manipulating the customer? Sure - but we all have the choice of not answering that survey to avoid being manipulated.

Edited September 26, 2018 by jkgourmet

[TeeRick]

We have been reminded about the importance of the surveys to the staff on many cruises. A few times we have been told of the importance of 10's but not too often. I did not ever characterize it as begging or hounding. That has not been my experience anyway. By the way, I have bought cars, furniture, etc on land and have been rather routinely asked to rate the salesperson a 10 at the end of the process. Also on telephone calls with customer service for many various situations and have routinely been asked to respond to surveys with high marks. This seems to be part of life in general these days- not just cruise ships. Why put the energy into getting annoyed? It is your choice how you want to respond and grade.

[Wine-O]

Does one carry around a pad of paper and pencil? Heck, I don't remember the name of anybody within 12 hours of departure except one single CD (Sue Denning) and the Italian First Officer I dated in in 2002-3 following the cruise on which we met.

 

The three people I most likely interact with the most are the waiter/assistant, and the stateroom attendant. I take a picture of the placard on the table for the names of the wait staff, and most stateroom attendants lately have a business card with their name and extension. I use that info when filling our any positive/negative comments at the end of the cruise -- mostly positive.

[davekathy]

Understand paranoia of waiters in Traditional dining. X knows who they served, so they are on the hook for those guests survey results. Not the same level of accountability in Select where you can have different wait staff every night. For this reason we've typically seen Traditional waiters provide better service.

 

On Royal's survey form they ask if any crew member asked you for a high score. If so they want to know that crew members name and position.

Your experiences but not ours. Only speaking for my wife and I what you posted has not been our experiences in the MDR. We have always had the same excellent service in SD as in TD. We have the same table and wait staff in SD each evening.

[davekathy]

The three people I most likely interact with the most are the waiter/assistant, and the stateroom attendant. I take a picture of the placard on the table for the names of the wait staff, and most stateroom attendants lately have a business card with their name and extension. I use that info when filling our any positive/negative comments at the end of the cruise -- mostly positive.

Agree. Exactly what I do.

[Toofarfromthesea]

We had lovely servers and stewards and entertainers and maitre d's etc etc, etc on our recent cruise. But all of us (group of six) were annoyed by the constant pleading on the last three days of our cruise, to "rate them a 10" on the comment survey. I had to actually say to our waiter "we get it, we get it, you have said it many times, we will rate you a 10". It is as though they will be fired if we do NOT complete the survey, and God forbid give the service an 8?

 

If that is actually the case, shame on Celebrity for making it so. Otherwise, hell, stop it already.

 

Are we alone in being a little annoyed by this?

 

I'm tired of ALL the requests for reviews whether it is the cruise line, excursion tour companies, car rental companies, hotels, everyone. So I don't do them at all.

[cmhdoogalsatsea]

The three people I most likely interact with the most are the waiter/assistant, and the stateroom attendant. I take a picture of the placard on the table for the names of the wait staff, and most stateroom attendants lately have a business card with their name and extension. I use that info when filling our any positive/negative comments at the end of the cruise -- mostly positive.

 

It's got to be pretty memorable for me to add a negative comment so I don't track those moments, but I do keep a "note" on my phone of folks whose service i want to compliment as the cruise goes on. Celebrity ships have some wonderful crew, many working in "nameless" positions polishing handrails and keeping washrooms clean. When any of those folks make a good impression, I jot their name on my phone so that I have a list when it's time to complete the form at the end of the trip or when a comment card appears in the suite.

[Iamthesea]

The three people I most likely interact with the most are the waiter/assistant, and the stateroom attendant. I take a picture of the placard on the table for the names of the wait staff, and most stateroom attendants lately have a business card with their name and extension. I use that info when filling our any positive/negative comments at the end of the cruise -- mostly positive.

 

It's got to be pretty memorable for me to add a negative comment so I don't track those moments, but I do keep a "note" on my phone of folks whose service i want to compliment as the cruise goes on. Celebrity ships have some wonderful crew, many working in "nameless" positions polishing handrails and keeping washrooms clean. When any of those folks make a good impression, I jot their name on my phone so that I have a list when it's time to complete the form at the end of the trip or when a comment card appears in the suite.

 

Great ideas! I try to always fill out the "Attention to Detail " cards. If these cards are not left in your stateroom, you can simply request them at Guest Services. The response is almost immediate! We have filled cards out and handed them in before lunch. Then we have had stateroom stewards and waiters thank us that evening. :*