How is staffing on the ships?

[Steelers36]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:04 PM, D&L Thomas said:

Just off Caribbean 8/30. Crew seemed very short-handed. The ship was full and everyone had to be mostly inside (bad weather), and the wait for a beverage was excruciatingly long. Even in the Elite lounge, we sat at least 20 minutes just to order a drink. Dinner service was very slow too. And our poor room steward was clearly overworked although he tried his best, he was very harried and always rushing.

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54 minutes ago, ken_ll said:

Just off the CP today in Quebec City, ship was about 95% full, no issues with bar or dining room staff.  Drink orders while seated or at bar had responsive service and no delays.  From various accounts I read, I was expecting challenges getting a drink, it was the opposite.  No issues on cruise.

Interesting opposite views for the same ship in the same general time period.  BTW, the ship code is "CB", not "CP".

[TarHeelCruiser81]

We're just off the Regal Princess after sailing 12 days around the British Isles. Servers were far understaffed in all areas we visited.  Horizon Court was good for first 2 days and the last day but all days in between it was self-service for beverages and clearing tables at the times we ate.  Very disappointing service when ordering drinks in bar, Piazza, Princess Live! and a few other venues. 

This was only our second cruise, the first being in 2017 on RCL Mariner of the Seas which was an excellent experience.

[SDWalt]

We were recently on the Grand southbound Whittier to Vancouver and crew/staff was really hit or miss.  There didn't really seem to be a shortage of staff, but I think there must have been a recent staff change over.  A lot of staff seemed lost, were rude and generally poor at their jobs, while others were fantastic.

An example would be in Sabatini's; we had one waiter that was the worst ever on any cruise.  For the suite breakfast we had the same waiter the first day and ended up requesting a different waiter for the duration of the voyage.  Thankfully the maître d' was very accommodating.  Staff at the Explorer's Lounge were the worst we've ever encountered at that venue.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, staff at the customer service desk were the friendliest and most helpful ever as were the staff at the Piazza bars and International Café.

I will note, overall the staff seemed less ethnically diverse on this cruise which I find diminished the experience.  Part of what we like about cruising is meeting all the different crew from all over the world!