Crew who solicit for good survey review or Navigator App compliments. How do others feel about that?

[oakridger]

If a crew member asks me to give them praise on the app or survey, I do not do it.  I had two separate crew on Rotterdam last fall ask me to give them a good review before they had even done any service at all for me!  I did mention this on the app to the management and asked if they trained the crew to do this. (I didn't give their names because I didn't want to get them in trouble) I didn't get a response to my question.  😉  One crew who was pushy about it I did discretely and politely tell him how I felt and that I would not be giving him a positive review because of that.  It was actually the best crew members that NEVER asked me to give them kudos who were the ones that I praised on the App and the post cruise survey!  Most of them also got extra gratuity from me at the end.

 

How do others on here feel about crew soliciting for good survey and app compliments?  Am I being unreasonable?  

 

 

~Nancy

Edited June 5, 2023 by oakridger

[jakkojakko]

Our last cruise on Nieuw Statendam in may 2023 was the first one where no one asked for good reviews. Maybe on that ship it is policy not to do that.

 

In the past I wouldn't change a review if asked for a good one, however I was never comfortable with it.

[oakridger]

As someone pointed out, I will say that I'm OK if a crew member just reminds me to fill out the end of cruise survey if they only say that and not ask for themselves personally to be complimented.  I really prefer that it's not mentioned at all by the crew.  A notice on your booking documents or in the daily program is okay.

 

~Nancy

[Mary229]

I don’t mind if it comes up during the course of pleasant conversation and as a natural segue.   I can’t say I have ever experienced a spontaneous request for a review

[ski ww]

I have never been asked by a crew member for a positive review, and would not if asked by a crew member. But I always mention by name those that gave good service on post cruise survey. 

[ExpatBride]

The only scenario where I think it would be "ok" is if I complimented a crew member on their work and they asked me to pass it along to management. If someone asked me out of the blue to give them a good review, I wouldn't do it on principle.

[Florida_gal_50]

It happens often to me, more so in specialty restaurants than anything else.  It’s a huge turn off for me.  Like the op, I find the ones that do the best job never mention this and I’m more than happy to mention them any way I can.

[trivia addict]

I hate it. I have not encountered this too much on HAL, but it happens very often on Royal, usually in the Main Dining Room. And it’s usually not a quick request but a long speech to a captive audience that I must sit through.

I find it uncomfortable to be in a position where someone must beg me for a review and think how awkward it must be for the server to have to do this.

[Mr. Boston]

I treat it the same way that I treat businesses that solicit good reviews, I ignore them. I’m happy to give good reviews when warranted but not when asked to do so.  Sort of changes the concept of hospitality into begging.

[3rdGenCunarder]

35 minutes ago, Mr. Boston said:

Sort of changes the concept of hospitality into begging.

 

That is a perfect way to say it! As others have commented, the really good ones don't beg for praise. I wonder if the ones who ask for good reviews are new or have had some negative comments and are looking to bolster their rating. 

 

I'm used to the last night "don't forget the survey" from the waitstaff in MDR. I don't mind that unless it gets too emphatic or the speech is too long, but I always consider that a general reminder, like time changes or early port departures. As a throwback to when everyone ate in the MDR, waitstaff were told to give various reminders. 

[albingirl]

I wouldn't mind at all.  In their cultures it can be very different than ours. Sometimes, if you don't ask, you don't receive.

[SilvertoGold]

Once we had a nice bottle of wine gifted to us from someone at HAL Seattle Head Office (not a PCC).  We took this bottle to the MDR and on the last day of this 21 day cruise our main waiter asked if we could mention him to this Seattle person.  Hmm, we didn't because he was, surprise, really a bad waiter.  Seems he was trying to impersonate the smarmiest waiter in a low-end Italian restaurant, he even chose an Italian "name". He was too casual and talked way too much. It was a l-o-n-g cruise as far as dinner went! 

 

We often used to mention to the room stewards and waiters that we would be filling out the emailed survey and would mention them: very few seemed to care. We don't bother to mention this now, we just fill out that survey as usual.

Edited June 5, 2023 by SilvertoGold

[Torquer]

It happened to us in March on the Nordam from our room stewards.  This was the first time ever.  I guess I don't mind if they simply remind us to fill out the survey but when they spend a few minutes telling us how good reviews help their career, that is over the top.  I really don't like it when anybody tells me how to fill out a survey, and I usually give bad reviews because they did that.  New car dealers are the worst with this; one dealer actually tried to make us fill out and sign their own form stating we are completely satisfied with how the dealer handled the sale; obviously, we made scathing comments about this on the official manufacturer's survey about that dealer.  As for our room stewards, we did give them generally favorable reviews on the HAL survey since their service was really spectacular on that cruise.

[seaoma]

The crew on Disney cruises are so relentless with pushing for favorable reviews on the after cruise survey, that Disney added a question to their survey -  Did you feel pressured by staff to give a favorable review?

[AV8rix]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It happens often to me, more so in specialty restaurants than anything else.  It’s a huge turn off for me.  Like the op, I find the ones that do the best job never mention this and I’m more than happy to mention them any way I can.

Yeah, happened to me in Canaletto a few years ago (forget which ship).  Chef came out and I saw him chatting with each table.  When he got to me, he asked to have a good review.  NO WAY!  However, I ALWAYS do compliment my excellent (fixed seating) MDR  stewards and my awesome housekeeping stewards on the Navigator app.

[BetsyS.]

I agree with all the above comments. When I was on the Niew Statendam last August, I made comments on Navigator app. My stepfather and I never got emails with post cruise survey. I emailed guest relations in Seattle and asked for survey.  We never got them. I'm glad I used the Navigator app and I will use it again on my next cruise. 

I agree with others who said that the crew who give the best service never ask for a review.  I don't mind it if crew says on last night to fill out post cruise survey, as long as it's a quick reminder.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

3 hours ago, albingirl said:

I wouldn't mind at all.  In their cultures it can be very different than ours. Sometimes, if you don't ask, you don't receive.

I agree with you ..

[YourWorldWithBill]

The only times that happened to me was after some unusual service and if I had made a remark about how helpful they had been. And the staff I encountered were very careful about their remarks.

[taxmantoo]

I apply the same policy as when someone asks me for a tip ... the asking part is actually begging and and that does not deserve a tip.  Same for a request for a good review.  

[Sir PMP]

It should never come from the crew, but from the passenger.

[OlsSalt]

I hate it, and think it is very degrading - this has happened from time to time in the past too, sorry to hear it is back - give 5 star ratings or else, even encouraged by the Cruise Director. Which makes the whole official feedback benefit useless and annoying.

 

We go our of our way to give personal feedback, and know others continue to do so as well.

[CruiseIreland]

Any crew member who solicits a review from us can Foxtrot Oscar!!

[Lakesregion]

17 hours ago, oakridger said:

If a crew member asks me to give them praise on the app or survey, I do not do it.  I had two separate crew on Rotterdam last fall ask me to give them a good review before they had even done any service at all for me!  I did mention this on the app to the management and asked if they trained the crew to do this. (I didn't give their names because I didn't want to get them in trouble) I didn't get a response to my question.  😉  One crew who was pushy about it I did discretely and politely tell him how I felt and that I would not be giving him a positive review because of that.  It was actually the best crew members that NEVER asked me to give them kudos who were the ones that I praised on the App and the post cruise survey!  Most of them also got extra gratuity from me at the end.

 

How do others on here feel about crew soliciting for good survey and app compliments?  Am I being unreasonable?  

 

 

~Nancy

You are far from being unreasonable. Crew members are hired and paid to be "of service" to the passengers and any praise or extra gratuity beyond the daily assement should be earned not solicited.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Lakesregion
spelling

[Galesa]

On Majestic Princess Pacific Cruise in January on the final night, MDR staff wore hats with "10" written on them. We were handed a note from the Maitre D with his name on it. The Cruise Director and staff even suggested that passengers not consider a 9 but to give them 10s if they thought they did a good job.

 

Obviously management have created an atmosphere where crew are extremely concerned that bad reviews may result in no new contract and that cruise ship employment rests on crew receiving not good reviews but excellent reviews.

[sciencewonk]

This has been an interesting thread.  I've never had a crew member ask me for a good review.  The closest I came was a room steward who said "please remember to fill out your survey" on the last day of the cruise.  I was fine with that.  I don't think I would like a crew member to ask for a good review.