Does Royal still only want 10's on the Guest Survey?

[ReneeFLL]

 

6 hours ago, sellwingri said:

......When you hear a company boast about “customers rated us best” it’s based on this survey. 

That's also what I think. They want the employee's to get 10's so they can fool newbies into thinking they are the best cruise line out there.

[FLACRUISER99]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

That's also what I think. They want the employee's to get 10's so they can fool newbies into thinking they are the best cruise line out there.

They are the best mass market line.

[Iamcruzin]

5 hours ago, Armac said:

A few years ago on Enchantment we had a very experienced good waiter who only had two tables of 4. When we asked why he only had two tables he reluctantly told us he was being punished for a bad survey.  On a previous cruise he had a difficult table that he could not please no matter how hard he tried. From the good service he gave us I tend to believe him. Sad  

Hook line and sinker. Translation, please give us 10’s

[Iamcruzin]

What I find curious is if you have my time dinning and different wait staff each night how do the pin the bad service on one individual? Unless you mention someone by name they will never know. One night we had outstanding staff so I mentioned them by name and filled out a comment card. All these staff members with sob stories must have either been dealt with immediately upon incident or called out by name in a survey. If the company really wanted all 10’s they would set the goals at 100%. 

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure I can do much about it. Here it is again:

 

 

That's better Biker19.

Thanks.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Both work (most of the time); it's pretty easy to do cut/paste on a desktop.

I have been on CC 31 months and never used my laptop,all my posts have been done on my Android phone.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

What I find curious is if you have my time dinning and different wait staff each night how do the pin the bad service on one individual? Unless you mention someone by name they will never know. One night we had outstanding staff so I mentioned them by name and filled out a comment card. All these staff members with sob stories must have either been dealt with immediately upon incident or called out by name in a survey. If the company really wanted all 10’s they would set the goals at 100%. 

I always mention by name on my survey anyone who has been excellent towards us.

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I always answer factually 

I do too and praise individuals who deserve it 

TBH I can't recall being asked to give a 10 but have been asked to mention names on my survey.

[Scotty G]

On 7/24/2019 at 6:34 PM, John&LaLa said:

No one on Empress asked for 10's, but several asked that we remember to fill out the survey.

 

I didnt get one this week, but Laura did

John,

Don't the surveys go to whoever "Owned" the reservation? I don't recall us getting more than one per cruise.

[John&LaLa]

Just now, Scotty G said:

John,

Don't the surveys go to whoever "Owned" the reservation? I don't recall us getting more than one per cruise.

 

We've been getting two ever since I added a second email.

[Scotty G]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We've been getting two ever since I added a second email.

OK! Linda would kill me if I added her email. She already gets to much 😉

[kevinkingmd]

I got off the Mariner a couple weeks ago. Our waiter spent about 90 seconds asking for 10's . She even said that the quality of the food (which, in this instance, was not good) was her responsibility (!). Weird and didn't jive well with me. We gave her an 8 and the food a 6.

 

No one else even mentioned the survey.

[kevinkingmd]

9 hours ago, hapster85 said:

On 7/24/2019 at 5:39 PM, cb at sea said:

EVERY survey, everywhere, wants 10's...I refuse to fill out those surveys......it's time-consuming.....if there is a problem, rest assured I will let you know.  Otherwise, ASSUME it's 10's across the board.  Waste of time to do this.  

For once, I agree with cb. Surveys have become far too pervasive. I refuse to do them anymore.

 

I get your frustration. However, this can be detrimental to people doing a good (not spectacular job). I'll use myself as an example. I got a recent "customer" survey (I'm an emergency medicine physician... don't even get me started about how useless and misleading patient satisfaction surveys are....) where I got a 50% satisfaction rating.  During the three month period, I saw over 500 patients.  Two filled out the survey. One gave me a "zero" rating because the nurse was "mean" to the patient.  Said "Dr. K was okay" but gave me a "0".  The other patient gave me a "10". I got a talking to.  

 

Please fill out the surveys. Just one disgruntled moron can crush an otherwise competent employee. I too do not give out 10s except in exceptional circumstances.

[icsys]

44 minutes ago, kevinkingmd said:

I got off the Mariner a couple weeks ago. Our waiter spent about 90 seconds asking for 10's . She even said that the quality of the food (which, in this instance, was not good) was her responsibility (!). Weird and didn't jive well with me. We gave her an 8 and the food a 6.

 

No one else even mentioned the survey.

 

Yes, the quality of the food is, apparently, the waiters responsibility.

I've been told that several times and my reply was:

You didn't cook it, so why should you be expected to take responsibility for it?  We bring more until you are happy.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

They are the best mass market line.

 

According to who and what? I would think that would be subjective. 

[ReneeFLL]

16 minutes ago, icsys said:

 

Yes, the quality of the food is, apparently, the waiters responsibility.

I've been told that several times and my reply was:

You didn't cook it, so why should you be expected to take responsibility for it?  We bring more until you are happy.

 

So who does Royal blame if someone has MTD and uses different wait staff or eats in the Windjammer? If it's true that the food quality is the waiters responsibility then Royal must be a ***** to work for. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I have been on CC 31 months and never used my laptop,all my posts have been done on my Android phone.

99% here as well

[hapster85]

 
I get your frustration. However, this can be detrimental to people doing a good (not spectacular job). I'll use myself as an example. I got a recent "customer" survey (I'm an emergency medicine physician... don't even get me started about how useless and misleading patient satisfaction surveys are....) where I got a 50% satisfaction rating.  During the three month period, I saw over 500 patients.  Two filled out the survey. One gave me a "zero" rating because the nurse was "mean" to the patient.  Said "Dr. K was okay" but gave me a "0".  The other patient gave me a "10". I got a talking to.  
 
Please fill out the surveys. Just one disgruntled moron can crush an otherwise competent employee. I too do not give out 10s except in exceptional circumstances.

Two completed surveys are not enough data to form any sort of conclusion. Whoever gave you a talking to in that situation is a moron. I know the type. Have worked for a few myself in my 34 years with the company. Once had a boss that wanted to call two unrelated incidents a trend and lecture everyone for not being diligent.

[travelplus]

They must have an inflated  average to up an 1 to a 3  a 3 to a 5 and so forth because if you are getting false statistical Data especially from the dining room which has MTD so guests have a tough time rating them Is it unfair that if two nights of the seven in MTD are bad and you rate it a 4 but the rest of the nights are good? Shouldn't  it be on a night by night rating?

 

The same goes for your stateroom on the first night and final night you don't get a tidy  cabin would it be fair to rate it an overall 6? 

 

Activities is also very subjective would a 90 year old give  a 3 because of Hip Hop Music or a 20 year old rating it a 3 because of too much Frank Sinatra or acts for an older demographic?

 

I can also see Shore Excursions do you rate a 3 because the bus driver drove too fast but the guide was good? Or the food at the included restaurant was bad? Does the poor tour guide take the brunt of things out of their control? 

 

Another area Guest Services would a passenger give them a 2 because they got a bad cabin and no upgrades were made available or the coffee machine broke down in the Diamond lounge and guests could get free specialty coffee from Cafe Promenade?

 

How does the Guest Experience Department know fully if a guest is rating because things beyond their control are being rated down?   So being the "Best Cruiseline out there"" should come with an asterisk that "We are inflating our ratings and using false statistics to make it look good".

 

You know ratings are subjective.  A 3 star aspiring cruiseline trying to get 4 or 5 stars is very hard let alone Michelin rated restaurants. Do you think these two or three star restaurants are subjective like Yelp.

To me I do not go off based the rating I read the reviews and see what applies to me.  A bad steak at Chops well hmm did the guest tell his server or was quiet about it and decided to not let them fix it and complain later?  Its one nigt x 100s of diners on any given night so this one rating could really ruin it for the staff  if the guest decides to wait and complain and give an unfair rating as the staff  never had a chance to fix it. On our last cruise our Chops experience was not good and the Head Waiter made it up by giving my Father and I a free Galley Lunch and a bottle of wine on our next visit on the same cruise. We rated them very well for the service recovery and second chance. 

 

  Or a Guest perceived that a crewmember was rude because he was denied access to a Diamond and above only event and thought he should have access too? 

 

See where I am going. I put in effort to writing in detail the reasoning for my rating. and following up with the Guest Executive Relations Department if needed. Other guests will give a 0 or  1 with no explanation. The Guest Relations post-cruise department I would  hope follows up and tries to do a service recovery but at what extent doe they see if the passenger is really telling the truth or is lying to get a free cruise? There are legitimate complaints and frivolous ones  the same goes for other vendors in Tourism.

 

If you get more than one complaint of the same kind then a lightbulb goes on and says" Ahh there is a pattern". But if its an isolated issue then do you give the benefit of the doubt and let it slide and give the guest compensation or where do you draw the line and back your crew up and tell the guest that he or she is dead wrong?

 

Thoughts? 

Edited July 26, 2019 by travelplus

[WeMissSeaView]

In over 140 cruises, I have met three different passengers that think a “5” is average on the survey.  I have tried to explain to them what a 5 will do to a crew member, but their mind could not be changed.  

[John&LaLa]

18 minutes ago, WeMissSeaView said:

In over 140 cruises, I have met three different passengers that think a “5” is average on the survey.  I have tried to explain to them what a 5 will do to a crew member, but their mind could not be changed.  

 

5.5 is average😉

[holiday-shrek]

16 hours ago, hapster85 said:

On 7/25/2019 at 12:39 AM, cb at sea said:

EVERY survey, everywhere, wants 10's...I refuse to fill out those surveys......it's time-consuming.....if there is a problem, rest assured I will let you know.  Otherwise, ASSUME it's 10's across the board.  Waste of time to do this.  

For once, I agree with cb. Surveys have become far too pervasive. I refuse to do them anymore.

I can totally understand this!

Stopped doing ANY surveys!

[Board_Shorts]

OP again here. Regarding those mysterious APD's.

 

MDR Waiters are now told to promote the Specialty Restaurants, Galley Tours, Backstage Tours, Champagne Lunch, etc, etc, to their guests.

 

It's terribly awkward for them, because it will usually be mid-cruise and it seems very strange to guests that their waiter is trying to make them go somewhere else for Dinner.

 

It always used to be someone connected to those restaurants walking around the MDR and trying to get guests to sign up.

 

So you have probably noticed waiters doing this lately, they would never do that by choice, they want you there every night.

 

The Head Waiter of that section will also do the same thing once a week.

 

It feels like we are all being interrupted at some point every night for something or other.

 

It's true that Good Grades / 10's / Being personally named on the survey, does earn them small rewards.

 

For example, the waiter who has the highest number of successful sales to specialty restaurants each week might be rewarded with a day off (they don't get to choose which day)

 

Another reward is a solo Dinner for the winning waiter in one of the Specialty Restaurants.

 

There are a few others rewards too.

 

My method of avoiding all this is to deal with it on the first night.

 

As soon as the waiter asks if I enjoyed my starter and if we are happy with the service. I reply with "It's a 10, and so are you at the moment."

 

They instantly know what I'm talking about, give a knowing look, and obviously thank us. I say "At the moment. But if it gets mentioned, you'll lose a point every time.

 

Of course this exchange is all done happily and jokingly, not abruptly or rude as it looks here written down.

 

I then always say, "you can be relaxed with us."

 

I think it helps that we're in our mid thirties and are perhaps more relaxed than most. 99% of the time we build a really great rapport with our waiters.

 

One of our best ever waiters (actually, our assistant waiter, who we had absolutely clicked with) Asked if we had plans for the next day in Bonaire. We'd done a great tour of that island the year before, so we didn't have plans.

 

He said, "Come with me then!" So we did!

 

We met at the gangway at a certain time and had the most wonderful day and a private tour of Kralendijk, by our assistant waiter.

 

That was the first part of a back to back, and although I'd requested the same table for both cruises. The waiters change every week. But he never failed to come and say hello, he also told our new waiter our exact preferences.

 

It was just perfect.

 

Of course at the end of the two cruises we became Facebook friends. He's now back home in Malaysia, and very successfully playing the real estate market!

[FLACRUISER99]

11 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

According to who and what? I would think that would be subjective. 

According to me and yes very subjective.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

13 hours ago, kevinkingmd said:

 

I get your frustration. However, this can be detrimental to people doing a good (not spectacular job). I'll use myself as an example. I got a recent "customer" survey (I'm an emergency medicine physician... don't even get me started about how useless and misleading patient satisfaction surveys are....) where I got a 50% satisfaction rating.  During the three month period, I saw over 500 patients.  Two filled out the survey. One gave me a "zero" rating because the nurse was "mean" to the patient.  Said "Dr. K was okay" but gave me a "0".  The other patient gave me a "10". I got a talking to.  

 

Please fill out the surveys. Just one disgruntled moron can crush an otherwise competent employee. I too do not give out 10s except in exceptional circumstances.

I work part-time driving for Uber. I don't do it often so I have almost a top score of 5. Last week I took a teenager somewhere and the little butthole gave me a 1. With such small #'s of passengers it really throws off my rating. I agree, fill out the surveys.

 

So staff are now not supposed to ask for 10's? I was asked several times by the waiter and head waiter to give them 10's a few weeks ago. Sheesh, it is as bad as the upsell in the spa which I stopped several years ago by telling them not to try to sell me anything.