Dining Room Song and Dance

[scubaslayer]

In 2022 they had the servers performing a song and dance thing during the MDR service on a couple of nights. Are they still doing this? I am sure some people enjoy this but honestly it takes away from our meal and my sensory teen doesn't like it at all. If they are still doing it, is it on specific nights?

[DennysDad]

4 minutes ago, scubaslayer said:

In 2022 they had the servers performing a song and dance thing during the MDR service on a couple of nights. Are they still doing this? I am sure some people enjoy this but honestly it takes away from our meal and my sensory teen doesn't like it at all. If they are still doing it, is it on specific nights?

Yes

[HicksRA]

I always find it annoying. 

[scubaslayer]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

I always find it annoying. 

It really doesn't fit with a multi-course dining experience in my opinion. Plus it takes the servers away from what they are trying to do. I find it more annoying than the survey speech. If I know when it is going to happen, I can at least prepare the kid so she knows when to excuse herself to the bathroom for 15 minutes.

[Tatka]

We witnessed it on several ships when dined during assigned early/late times (not MTD, but sometimes it coincides). 

 

It  is cute. Does not bother us at all, but I can understand people with sensory issues. I cannot imagine how people with such issues survive on ships...

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

I always find it annoying. 

Same here.  It definitely takes away from the whole environment.  Let the servers do their work.

[Tatka]

5 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Same here.  It definitely takes away from the whole environment.  Let the servers do their work.

 

Servers do their jobs pretty well from our experience and if not this is not because of small performances 😉

 

Royal's experience is pretty much entertainment experience just like other similar family lines. This does not happen on Celebrity, Holland, Cunard.

[time4u2go]

6 minutes ago, Tatka said:

Servers do their jobs pretty well from our experience and if not this is not because of small performances

I'm not suggesting that they don't do their jobs.  I'm suggesting that there is no need to make them do extra work by doing this silly performance.

[scubaslayer]

6 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

Servers do their jobs pretty well from our experience and if not this is not because of small performances 😉

 

Royal's experience is pretty much entertainment experience just like other similar family lines. This does not happen on Celebrity, Holland, Cunard.

It wasn't on Royal for our pre-covid sailings either. It takes away the servers from clearing and serving. Our last cruise it was while they were trying to get desserts served to everyone.

 

As for sensory overload, my teen is generally fine on a ship. Some shows are a bit much but kid loves theater and tolerates it for the most part or excuses herself and heads to something else. Of course my kid has had to learn a lot of coping mechanisms to avoid the stares and comments when the tourettes flairs and the spastic tics begin. Ships have plenty to do and spaces to escape. It is actually a great vacation, as you can really customize it to what works for you.

[cruiselvr04]

We don’t care for it.  I would prefer our waiter serve us our dessert and let the conversation keep flowing.  However some servers really seem to enjoy this part of the job by getting to sing and dance.  If they like doing it, I don’t want to take that away from them.  So we don’t complain on our surveys but for us it gets old and would like it to go away. 

[time4u2go]

3 minutes ago, scubaslayer said:

It wasn't on Royal for our pre-covid sailings either. It takes away the servers from clearing and serving. Our last cruise it was while they were trying to get desserts served to everyone.

 

1 minute ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We don’t care for it.  I would prefer our waiter serve us our dessert and let the conversation keep flowing. 

These are both great points.  If nothing else, it disrupts the flow of the meal.

[lovesthebeach2]

Yes they still do this and I wish they would stop because I feel bad that the servers are displayed like that. 

[Ashland]

On our recent (Feb) Explorer cruise they did this the last few evenings at the entrance to the WJ.

[scubaslayer]

7 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We don’t care for it.  I would prefer our waiter serve us our dessert and let the conversation keep flowing.  However some servers really seem to enjoy this part of the job by getting to sing and dance.  If they like doing it, I don’t want to take that away from them.  So we don’t complain on our surveys but for us it gets old and would like it to go away. 

 

I think this is where I am with it. First I would not complain about my servers on this, as they are doing their job. I mostly would just like to know in advance so my kid can plan accordingly. It isn't acceptable for her during her meal and I would like her to be able to escape before it begins and not miss out on her meal. I may not enjoy it but it is what it is. It just sucks if my kid is interrupted while eating and comes back to cold food. I guess I will speak to our server and see if we can arrange some sort of signaling so she can excuse herself at the correct time and it be less noticeable.

 

I am aware that some like it and Royal is likely to continue with it as they shift more from "fine dining" and acting more like a family friendly chain restaurant. As my kids get older we may switch lines but right now they want the slides and to act like kids and I'm all for that as long as it lasts.

[BecciBoo]

13 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Yes they still do this and I wish they would stop because I feel bad that the servers are displayed like that. 

Their routine was devised for THE CREW not the passengers.  They are proud of their accomplishments and this little few minutes in the limelight is a morale booster for them.  You can always leave early.  It is quite obvious when it is about to take place. And you can advise your server to let you know.

[prmssk]

Just now, BecciBoo said:

Their routine was devised for THE CREW not the passengers.  They are proud of their accomplishments and this little few minutes in the limelight is a morale booster for them.  You can always leave early.  It is quite obvious when it is about to take place. And you can advise your server to let you know.

I have my doubts that many find it a morale booster, especially the routine earlier in the cruise that is just song and dance without specific recognition.  I often notice how many servers find ways to busy themselves so that they never have to participate.  I don't doubt that some have personalities that enjoy a limelight like this but I don't think it is the majority.  

[scubaslayer]

9 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

It is quite obvious when it is about to take place. And you can advise your server to let you know.

It isn't that obvious when you are enjoying your meal and having a conversation. I am often not paying close attention to what is happening everywhere around me. Dinner is when I have the best conversations with my kids about the day. The rest of the time they go off doing teen stuff and enjoying their freedom.

 

If the crew enjoy it and want to do it, that is fine. My servers last time did not seem to be in that group but I do understand majority rule in things like this. I deal with that in my job as well.

[time4u2go]

27 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

You can always leave early.

Not if you want your dessert and they haven't served it to you yet.

[snaefell]

Just hate that sort of thing,not experienced it on a cruise yet but I have in restaurants,I never know if giving them money means they go away or stay for another song!😵😵

[prmssk]

4 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Just hate that sort of thing,not experienced it on a cruise yet but I have in restaurants,I never know if giving them money means they go away or stay for another song!😵😵

They don't ask for money and giving them money won't make them go away in this case.  They have their routine that they follow.

 

At least Royal is better than Carnival.  We only had the song and dance twice (so far - we have one night left) on our 8 night cruise on the Adventure.  On Carnival, it is a nightly event.  With MTD, you can sometimes time it right to avoid it.  There is no way to avoid it if you have fixed dining, unless you want to skip dessert or skip eating the MDR altogether.

[not-enough-cruising]

37 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Their routine was devised for THE CREW not the passengers.  They are proud of their accomplishments and this little few minutes in the limelight is a morale booster for them.  You can always leave early.  It is quite obvious when it is about to take place. And you can advise your server to let you know.

Absolute nonsense. 

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, scubaslayer said:

 

I think this is where I am with it. First I would not complain about my servers on this, as they are doing their job. I mostly would just like to know in advance so my kid can plan accordingly. It isn't acceptable for her during her meal and I would like her to be able to escape before it begins and not miss out on her meal. I may not enjoy it but it is what it is. It just sucks if my kid is interrupted while eating and comes back to cold food. I guess I will speak to our server and see if we can arrange some sort of signaling so she can excuse herself at the correct time and it be less noticeable.

 

I am aware that some like it and Royal is likely to continue with it as they shift more from "fine dining" and acting more like a family friendly chain restaurant. As my kids get older we may switch lines but right now they want the slides and to act like kids and I'm all for that as long as it lasts.

Are you doing MTD?

[HicksRA]

I cringe every time I’m enjoying a quiet dinner and all of a sudden I hear “IT’S SHOWTIME!” blasting over the loudspeaker.  
In my opinion, most of the waiters hate it but do it with a smile on their faces. They’re already overworked and have to drop everything they’re doing and do the obligatory dance routine. 

[time4u2go]

I'm always confused and a bit disturbed when these activities include guests twirling their napkins around in the air...the same napkins that people have been wiping food from around their mouths onto.

[scubaslayer]

25 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Are you doing MTD?

Maybe? We have MTD reserved 4 7pm every night so we can fit in the shows, but after issues booking entertainment (because Royal IT is great) I spoke to my TA who possibly had us changed to a 7:30 fixed dining time and waitlisted for early. So I am guessing we will have dinner with MTD at 7pm or the new fixed time at 7:30 (unless that is some how light dining). Either way after talking to the TA, all of my entertainment was able to be booked and we will deal with whatever, because the worst day cruising is still better than being at work. I plan to speak to our servers and plan it out so kid can step out but plan food around that issue. It isn't the first time we have altered plans slightly to accommodate. Things are much improved over the days of oh crap surprise fireworks when we attended events.