Hotel Directors Appointed - or should that be reappointed?

[Txcotn]

52 minutes ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

I think in addition to the cruise line, some times there is not only a difference in the kitchen staff, but some ships provisioning can cause a difference in the food quality because the food might arrive at a different time and the vendor might be different as well so there is inconsistent quality. Was the lobster frozen or fresh

 

Probably "fresh frozen", the experts on CC tell me it's basically the same. 🤣

[Cruise-y]

The best lobster I ever had anywhere on land or sea was my last cruise on Crystal, just a few months before Covid. None of this whole tail stuff. It was tender claw meat served over risotto at Waterside - and very early in the 2-week cruise. When I asked for it later, the waiter told me it was fresh and they were not in an area where they could get it again, unfortunately. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Cruise-y

[bitob]

Where the food is provisioned is definitely a factor. On splendor eg the escargot in compass rose were amazing. Cruise started in Rome 

 

on voyager, which started in Cape Town, I was disappointed in the escargot. I spoke to the chef. He told me escargot from Cape Town not the best. Wait until second leg when provisioning done in Rio. He was right. From Rio onward escargot amazing again. 

[Keith1010]

I'm not sure how we got onto food since this thread is about Hotel Directors but so it goes.

 

Yes sourcing can be a problem just as food preparation and other factors can be a problem.  Not every Lobster we have had at the same restaurant on land or say at Crystal was the same. In general we had much better success with the quality of food in the dining venues than we did on other cruise lines including two cruises on SS and yes last one was six years ago.  

 

An observation. On Crystal if there was a problem in Waterside and you told the Senior Waiter in minutes or less a Head Waiter came over and made it right. An example would be food not hot enough or food incorrectly cooked in as quick as possible they would bring a new item out to you.  My experience on SS and the experience of a good friend who was just on board one of the new ships less than two months ago is when problems occurred including one member of their party not served while the other three were not once but I believe three nights and on another occasion for breakfast when orders were wrong is there was no head waiter to rectify the problem and in the case of the three dinners it often took 20 minutes to get the meal out to him meaning the others had no choice but to eat.  Another thing I was told was that there were a lot of new waiters and that just added to challenges. And there was never an apology given.

 

Again, not every meal we had on Crystal was the best. The vast majority were but things happen but if we brought it to their attention it was rectified with an apology.

 

I thought on our cruises with SS the dining venues were very pretty and the specialty restaurants were more intimate but the food was not close to Crystal.

Again a subjective view as most are.

 

As to Lobster the key is fresh not frozen and cooked to the correct temperature. Yes, the taste and look and texture does vary based on where it came from whether say Maine Lobster, South African Lobster or Australian Lobster which is the three we had with Crystal.

 

What sets the dining venues apart in my view is when you have a "seasoned restaurant team".  This includes waiters, head waiters, head waitress, maitre d' and having strong F&B managers and Hotel Directors who know what to look at when going through the galley or other areas such as the food stations.

 

Keith

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

I'm not sure how we got onto food since this thread is about Hotel Directors but so it goes.

 

Yes sourcing can be a problem just as food preparation and other factors can be a problem.  Not every Lobster we have had at the same restaurant on land or say at Crystal was the same. In general we had much better success with the quality of food in the dining venues than we did on other cruise lines including two cruises on SS and yes last one was six years ago.  

 

An observation. On Crystal if there was a problem in Waterside and you told the Senior Waiter in minutes or less a Head Waiter came over and made it right. An example would be food not hot enough or food incorrectly cooked in as quick as possible they would bring a new item out to you.  My experience on SS and the experience of a good friend who was just on board one of the new ships less than two months ago is when problems occurred including one member of their party not served while the other three were not once but I believe three nights and on another occasion for breakfast when orders were wrong is there was no head waiter to rectify the problem and in the case of the three dinners it often took 20 minutes to get the meal out to him meaning the others had no choice but to eat.  Another thing I was told was that there were a lot of new waiters and that just added to challenges. And there was never an apology given.

 

Again, not every meal we had on Crystal was the best. The vast majority were but things happen but if we brought it to their attention it was rectified with an apology.

 

I thought on our cruises with SS the dining venues were very pretty and the specialty restaurants were more intimate but the food was not close to Crystal.

Again a subjective view as most are.

 

As to Lobster the key is fresh not frozen and cooked to the correct temperature. Yes, the taste and look and texture does vary based on where it came from whether say Maine Lobster, South African Lobster or Australian Lobster which is the three we had with Crystal.

 

What sets the dining venues apart in my view is when you have a "seasoned restaurant team".  This includes waiters, head waiters, head waitress, maitre d' and having strong F&B managers and Hotel Directors who know what to look at when going through the galley or other areas such as the food stations.

 

Keith

That's all very well Keith but those of us that have been cruising regularly on different lines since covid can tell you first hand that the staffing issues have been the problem.

Many staff at sea or on land are not in the business any more since covid and therefore the hospitality business and especially on ships has been hit hard.

I'm sure many of us that have been regularly sailing will have experienced poor meals and poor service at some point on a cruise.

All lines are recruiting fiercely and at some point they will all be back to the "well seasoned"team days that you remember before covid.

Nothing is perfect in our world at the moment.We can only hope going forward.

[Keith1010]

11 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

That's all very well Keith but those of us that have been cruising regularly on different lines since covid can tell you first hand that the staffing issues have been the problem.

Many staff at sea or on land are not in the business any more since covid and therefore the hospitality business and especially on ships has been hit hard.

I'm sure many of us that have been regularly sailing will have experienced poor meals and poor service at some point on a cruise.

All lines are recruiting fiercely and at some point they will all be back to the "well seasoned"team days that you remember before covid.

Nothing is perfect in our world at the moment.We can only hope going forward.

Yep, I am well aware of that.

So when most of the crew returning to Serenity and Symphony that is a big plus IMHO.

 

As to the days before Covid, I though on SS that the wait staff in their equivalent of the dining room lacked training and those little touches that you see on board Crystal.  I can name many examples of that so to me pre-covid still needed a lot of work.

 

Keith

[AtA]

6 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

That's all very well Keith but those of us that have been cruising regularly on different lines since covid can tell you first hand that the staffing issues have been the problem.

Many staff at sea or on land are not in the business any more since covid and therefore the hospitality business and especially on ships has been hit hard.

I'm sure many of us that have been regularly sailing will have experienced poor meals and poor service at some point on a cruise.

All lines are recruiting fiercely and at some point they will all be back to the "well seasoned"team days that you remember before covid.

Nothing is perfect in our world at the moment.We can only hope going forward.

The cruises I had post Covid on Crystal and the one I had just last week on Regent did not have staffing issues. Both did an excellent job. However staffing definitely was an issue on both SB and SS. Big difference!

[Jimmycruiser]

Bitob I apologize. I see our posts were deleted which they should have been. It was a tough day on Maui Today.😎

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, AtA said:

The cruises I had post Covid on Crystal and the one I had just last week on Regent did not have staffing issues. Both did an excellent job. However staffing definitely was an issue on both SB and SS. Big difference!

It clearly varies - our current Silver Muse cruise is fully staffed (almost feel like it’s over staffed in some areas - in a positive way) 

Our December Regent cruise also seemed fully staffed - certainly no visible gaps that could be attributed to lack of staff 

So for us there was no difference and both were as we would expect in terms of service delivery 

 

I truly can’t believe someone commenting on a cruise experience on a line 5 or more years ago as if it was relevant in todays cruising world - it can only be misleading and certainly not relevant to todays experience on lines 

[bitob]

28 minutes ago, Jimmycruiser said:

Bitob I apologize. I see our posts were deleted which they should have been. It was a tough day on Maui Today.😎

I have no idea what was deleted but no need for apology. I don’t take anything said on these boards personally. 

[Keith1010]

4 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

 

 

I truly can’t believe someone commenting on a cruise experience on a line 5 or more years ago as if it was relevant in todays cruising world - it can only be misleading and certainly not relevant to todays experience on lines 

As I said I have shared experiences from two sets of friends who sailed SS (two different sailings) the past two months.  I then said some of what they experienced was the same I did 6 years ago and gave examples of that.  

 

On a related note, I don't see you raising the same concern when one poster provides comments from 10+ years ago about Crystal.

 

 

[Jayayeff]

9 hours ago, bitob said:

I have no idea what was deleted but no need for apology. I don’t take anything said on these boards personally. 

 

Wise decision - hopefully you don't take it too seriously either!!!   Having spent a large part of my working life in five star hotels, which is not too dissimilar to the hotel operations onboard ships, the views of armchair experts with regard to the onboard hotel management, service, staffing levels etc.is interesting to say the least!!!!    🥱

 

Anne.