Intrusive Staff in Main Dining Room

[loman]

Just take a picture of their name tag and tell them you will give them a 10/10

and they will probably lighten up if you think they are overbearing.

[HappyTexan44]

I see a conflict, not with what happened to the OP but the attitude excusing it.  

 

On one hand you have the excuse of the poor dears are worried about their jobs.  There is such competition for these jobs.   They are supporting their families at home with these jobs.   If they don't get enough 10's they will be fired ...   Those statements weren't all made here, but that is the general attitude when people complain about the service.  

 

Then you have "Ships are understaffed" excuse for lowered service and them trying out a skimpy MDR menu.   In the thread on that skimpy menu someone pointed out all the cruise employment ads they are seeing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Moonarino]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Managed a Restaurant years ago where one things Corp required was waitstaff to ask how meal in 1 min after dropping it off. 99% time I'm traveling SOLO fortunate as Royal Staff usually leave me in peace. 

FYI, that would annoy me too. "1 min after" isn't time to even begin to rate a restaurant meal, unless it's really bad.

 

30 minutes ago, BND said:

I waited tables in college.  We also asked how meal was, but after that, we would only come by and peek to see if anyone needed anything and made sure they saw us so they could call us over if needed. We never interrupted a conversation. 

MUCH better, just make sure you can see us if we're waving to you for some reason. Big thumbs up there.

 

25 minutes ago, BND said:

. . . doesn't mean we have to be interrupted multiple times while eating or talking with our tablemates.  Our experience after more than 35 cruises, is that it is the case on the majority, especially since they started sending the survey by email.  Our waiter the first week was so concerned and all four of us had to reassure him everyday at dinner and anytime we ran into him.  It was almost bizarre how worried he was.  . . .

"Bizzare" is a word I might've also used when I've encountered insecure wait staff and so on.

 

I've mostly just been interested in reading here how most have reacted or would react to overly intrusive wait staff (yes "intrusive" when they can't get the message the first two or three times they ask).

 

I'm posting now because "fuddy duddies" finally sent me over the edge. Come on. Some (or many) of us just want to be left alone as much as possible to enjoy our dinner in the quiet pleasure of each other's company in the ambience of a cruise ship. I have certainly enjoyed certain wait staff on past cruises but I enjoyed them because (among other things) they showed the good sense of when to "be there" or when to just leave us alone. Waiters that interrupt every 5 minutes or more don't do a thing for my/our mood. Is that selfish? With what I'm paying for the cruise and amenities, yeah you can call me selfish if you still want to be (rude and) judgemental of somebody else's preferences while on vacation.

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Moonarino

[Tree_skier]

21 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Ironically I just received, last night, a rather lengthy surgery on the MDR. 

The survey covered everything from menu design, food choices, lighting, sound, place settings; and yes, expectations of wait staff. 

I got one on ports of call

[HappyTexan44]

I'm getting flash-backs to dining in the early 90's - maybe.   There was this dining fad that you'd tip better if they acted like your best friend.   I even remember the waiter sitting down at the table to chat while taking our order.  

 

I can be quite friendly.  I can see us getting to know the cabin steward, for example.  Towel attendants, a bartender or two are also likely.  But, as a family we tend to do our own thing and then connect at meals.   I'm even glad that we shouldn't have a problem getting a table for just us 4, so no strangers at the table.   I don't want to become buds with the waiter.   As a young-in, I was an excellent waitress and I know what makes a good one.  

 

 

 

[Billy Baltic]

9 minutes ago, Moonarino said:

yeah you can call me selfish if you still want to be (rude and) judgemental of somebody else's preferences while on vacation.

Couldn’t agree more. My wife and I are 15 odd years away from retirement. Our kids are busy with school and after school activities. Life is very busy. Vacation time is very very precious. I’m not going to waste that time on staff who are intrusive. I will be polite but I’m not going to sit quietly while they ramble on. 

[davekathy]

11 hours ago, schmendrick b said:

 

😮 ... but looking for a confused face ...

Welcome to CC. Stick around for awhile and you'll understand the CC humor. 

[jjsparkles]

We had a very similar to the OP on Harmony last year. It felt like an interrogation each night but it was not our waiters, it was the head waiter. Our actual waiters were lovely, friendly but not overbearing. 
 

The WJ wasn’t open in the evening and we soon started to dread our meals in MDR. We had missed the first two nights because my husband had been ill and the head waiter went on and on and on asking why we hadn’t eaten there. Was our meal good, would we be back tomorrow, what was the food like in the other places on the ship? Did we have room service, was it good? Would we be back tomorrow? One evening we didn’t feel like having dessert after finishing our main course and he made such a scene, ‘I can have it here in 30 seconds, do you want to take it to your room, do you want me to send it to your room? Why are you leaving, will you be back tomorrow ?’

 

This was our first RC cruise and we have another booked for next year. Our experience put us off MDR but I accept that we might have been unlucky with our head waiter. 
 

We were also approached by another man in a suit who asked us some questions about MDR whilst we were eating. 
 

I have no problem having a chat about our day and plans for the next and as I said, our waiters were really good. They were clearly experienced, we spoke about other ships they’d been on. But I don’t want to play 20 questions every night. It was exhausting. 

[Moonarino]

20 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I'm getting flash-backs to dining in the early 90's - maybe.   There was this dining fad that you'd tip better if they acted like your best friend.   I even remember the waiter sitting down at the table to chat while taking our order.  

 

. . . I don't want to become buds with the waiter.   As a young-in, I was an excellent waitress and I know what makes a good one.  

 

On my bold #1, I've had that happen too. And here's the thing: You've either got the personality (and good sense) to pull it off, or you don't. Probably 99% just ain't got it.

 

Bold #2, you should shout that from a mountain top. Like any profession, one either knows it/can learn it, or not. If you don't know it/can't learn it, find something else.

[ldubs]

On 11/23/2022 at 4:52 AM, John&LaLa said:

 

We like to be done in an hour, any dietary concerns, how Laura likes her chicken noodle soup (that may change😪), don't worry if Laura doesn't clean her plate (she's a light eater), things like that.

 

With cabin steward, its bring two compasses, an extra blanket, no towel animals, once a day clean (evening), and no ice.

 

Used to ask for first clean of the day, but they seem over taxed and one clean really is enough for us

 

Thanks.  I am also of the opinion that one cabin clean a day is fine for us.  

 

It would seem reasonable to think a once/day policy would result in a need for fewer cabin staff.  I can see a possible staff utilization issue with a once/day clean if they were all expected to happen in the morning.  Especially with a lot of passengers sleeping in. 

[Oceansaway17]

I too feel a good waiter should know when to interrupt a conversation and best way is to smile and hold up hand waiting to be acknowledged.

 

I do know ratings are big thing for them. Let me share recent experience. So I had two appetizers which I enjoyed then came the entree. After watching several tables in lower level not eat and send back the same gnocchi dish, I looked at mine and took one taste and was unhappy.

 

So I got up to leave and three wait staff including the manager of MDR immediately came over. They were most upset and pleaded with me to stay. I politely said nope I will just go to WJ and mentioned the lousy gnocchi dish.

what happened next was alarming to me as well as some staff in WJ. The MDR manager about 10 minutes after I got my food in WJ frantically yes he did approach me and again begged to see what he could do to get me back to MDR. I told him their menu that day was not very good for entrees and that I wanted to enjoy my veggies in WJ. I mentioned seeing others send back gnocchi as well.

 

It was only when I told him I would not give MDR any bad ratings that he finally left.

But nearby staff all came over to see what happened and why manager of MDR was up in WJ.

so I really think too much pressure in MDR for ratings is causing behavior changes and it will get worse.

[Moonarino]

2 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

. . . I really think too much pressure in MDR for ratings is causing behavior changes and it will get worse.

I'd say that wraps it all up. Too much pressure to pressure (annoy) guests, and if management is too dumb to see how negative a thing that is, one does have to wonder if will ever change for the better.

 

I probably won't sail Royal until next fall, but I'm sure I'll think about this thread as we make our way to the MDR on our first night.

[davekathy]

Just hang your cabin "do not disturb" sign on the back of your chair. 🤣

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

I got one on ports of call

 

Got one yesterday for UWC. 

 

Wanted to verify email and a few questions about air travel plans

[st5310]

I've been reading all these replies and I agree with some.  OP has a point, but I haven't experienced that level of intrusive waitering in 40+ cruises.  I do have a related nit to pick, however.  A couple years ago on the Anthem the four of us were interrupted in the middle of dinner by a besuited member of Food & Beverage who aggressively peddled their wine-tasting event.  We were sure he approached us because we had recently ordered a high-end cabernet, but still we resented this obnoxious marketing intrusion during dinner.

[2chiefs]

Too bad the waiters in the MDR for breakfast aren't graded. It's quite the opposite. Trying to get coffee refills is a major chore! Many times they ignore you when you are standing and waving your hands wildly!!

[DirtyDawg]

7 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Dang Vienna sausage fingers on a small phone keyboard!!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving 

Vienna sausage fingers or not I'm just thankful for the best straight line since "Who's on first? 😁

 

🦃

 

Go Cowboys!

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[BecciBoo]

8 hours ago, loman said:

Just take a picture of their name tag and tell them you will give them a 10/10

and they will probably lighten up if you think they are overbearing.

I actually take a photo of the table block with their names, they don't say much to us just at the end of the cruise.

[John&LaLa]

26 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

I actually take a photo of the table block with their names, they don't say much to us just at the end of the cruise.

 

Always take a pic of the block

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

Another thing that is intrusive is all the upselling the first day on a cruise. We were cruising with a couple of friends this summer and it was their first cruise. My friend was actually put off by all the contact and efforts to sell us something on the ship the first day. First we were approached about buying the Drink Package when we sat at the English pub, we politely declined. 5 minutes later another guy comes and starts giving us the sell pitch on the Chefs Table. Before we sat down there were a girl trying to sell spa treatments to my wife and my friends wife. My friend commented that this starts to look like Egypt or Turkey or timeshare sellers, will they ever leave us alone? I told him it would stop the second day and it did. But sometimes people need to back off a little and read the situation before they make their sales pitch.

[mek]

2 hours ago, UnregisteredUser said:

Another thing that is intrusive is all the upselling the first day on a cruise. We were cruising with a couple of friends this summer and it was their first cruise. My friend was actually put off by all the contact and efforts to sell us something on the ship the first day. First we were approached about buying the Drink Package when we sat at the English pub, we politely declined. 5 minutes later another guy comes and starts giving us the sell pitch on the Chefs Table. Before we sat down there were a girl trying to sell spa treatments to my wife and my friends wife. My friend commented that this starts to look like Egypt or Turkey or timeshare sellers, will they ever leave us alone? I told him it would stop the second day and it did. But sometimes people need to back off a little and read the situation before they make their sales pitch.

We were on Allure last month and never once were we approached to buy anything and we were sitting right in front of Sorrento's while we waited for our room.  I never thought about it until now, but it never happened on this last cruise.

[BND]

15 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Too bad the waiters in the MDR for breakfast aren't graded. It's quite the opposite. Trying to get coffee refills is a major chore! Many times they ignore you when you are standing and waving your hands wildly!!

And, getting pastry was a major issue.  It's like we were bothering them when we asked for them.  One morning they'd be walking around with a platter and the next you'd had to ask and they'd want to know exactly what you wanted and only bring that over.  But, the majority of the time, we'd have to ask for it.   Funny, for us, we have to tell them repeatedly, no more coffee.  DH puts sugar in his and doesn't want it diluted, plus, wow coffee on Jewel was soooo strong everyday.

[BND]

1 hour ago, mek said:

We were on Allure last month and never once were we approached to buy anything and we were sitting right in front of Sorrento's while we waited for our room.  I never thought about it until now, but it never happened on this last cruise.

Inconsistency from ship to ship and day to day is the theme of this thread.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, BND said:

  DH puts sugar in his and doesn't want it diluted, plus, wow coffee on Jewel was soooo strong everyday.

I agree that in the MDR for breakfast, which I rarely do, it is hit or miss. I do not mind strong coffee in the Windjammer since I can quickly add a touch of hot water immediately when I first fill it.

[jencruzin]

On 11/23/2022 at 12:36 PM, csnarpy said:

All I want to know is, how every time wait staff ask you how things are - your mouth is stuffed with food. 
 

it’s like they went to school for that exact timing !

 

😜

Hubby deliberately answered the HW's questions to him one night when his mouth was full😁