Giving honest answer on survey, but don’t want to negatively affect staff wages??

[Tulsacoker]

13 hours ago, jlawrence01 said:

Two comments on the subject.  We have been on eight cruises on seven different lines.

The ONLY cruise line where we were always hounded for a good review was RCCL.  It got to the point of being annoying.  

 

Second, if you are unhappy with any aspect of service, it is better to take it up with a manager immediately as it is likely that others are having the same experience.  That allows the problem to be resolved.

Completely agree, the hounding for a 10 is BS and if we did have any issue that I thought needed correcting, I would politely bring it to their attention on the ship. I've quit filling out the survey for cruises and any other service I paid for.  

[doghog]

I always fill out the mid cruise surveys. Once I noted a complaint. Man, it was less than a half hour from the time I turned the form in to GS that I immediately received a  phone call from the head of that department I made the complaint against and also followed up shortly by the Hotel Director. Problem solved before the ink was dry on the form. 

Edited May 2 by doghog

[lostchild]

Usually if a survey result would affect financially, they will let you know before you fill out the survey.  Years ago, we were on a cruise, and our dining servers told us if there is anything we don't like about the food or food service, please let them know immediately and they would fix it.   If they receive less than full scores on the after cruise survey, it would affect their contracts renewal.

 

Similar thing happened at a car dealership long time ago.  The sale person told me that if she did not get all 5 stars on the after survey (even with the questions about appearance of the dealership and such), she will get a reduction on the commission of the sale. 

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for sharing this.  Was this onboard a cruise?  I've never proactively spoken to management onboard any ship about an outstanding employee.  I've relied on surveys for this.  Perhaps I should start?  Two lessons that I get from your story:

 

1) One person can make a BIG difference in someone's life

2) Sometimes greatness isn't obvious; sometimes it needs to be pointed out by someone who notices and cares.

Silhouette out of Southampton.

To give you the full story. The Assistant Waiter originally allocated to our table had had to be moved from day 1 because his ability to speak a particular language was required at another table for a passenger who didn't speak any English.

As a result we were allocated an Assistant who was still relatively new which meant they were working their way up i.e. working as a "floater" and not allocated to a particular table/team. From day 1 it was obvious that our new Assistant was more than ready to be assigned to their own table/team and that is what we told to Maitre D.  We were delighted that our actions helped the person concerned get a quicker move up.

On the other hand we also reported a waiter who assured us 3 times that the "special drink" they were offering free to all diners was alcohol free when in reality it wasn't. On taking a sip it was clearly not alcohol free at which the waiter said it contained only a little alcohol and laughed - unfortunately for me "only a little" is medically too much. The Maitre D said that the Waiters actions were totally unacceptable, he was forced to apologies, was removed from our table and was sent for retraining.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

Good staff reports help with promotions (we had an outstanding Assistant Waiter who we spoke to the Manager about. A few days later the Manager came back and told us he had checked the person’s assessments, watched their performance for 2 days and they had now been offered a place on a training course to be a  Waiter - The Assistant Waiter was on tears when she found out. 

 

5 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for sharing this.  Was this onboard a cruise? 

 

28 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Silhouette out of Southampton.

To give you the full story. The Assistant Waiter originally allocated to our table had had to be moved from day 1 because his ability to speak a particular language was required at another table for a passenger who didn't speak any English.

As a result we were allocated an Assistant who was still relatively new which meant they were working their way up i.e. working as a "floater" and not allocated to a particular table/team. From day 1 it was obvious that our new Assistant was more than ready to be assigned to their own table/team and that is what we told to Maitre D.  We were delighted that our actions helped the person concerned get a quicker move up.

On the other hand we also reported a waiter who assured us 3 times that the "special drink" they were offering free to all diners was alcohol free when in reality it wasn't. On taking a sip it was clearly not alcohol free at which the waiter said it contained only a little alcohol and laughed - unfortunately for me "only a little" is medically too much. The Maitre D said that the Waiters actions were totally unacceptable, he was forced to apologies, was removed from our table and was sent for retraining.

Thank you for the rest of the story! 🙂

[robbinsca]

8 hours ago, the penguins said:

Be honest. The survey differentiates between “service” and “quality”. If you mark the staff are good marking the qyss as quality poor has no affect on the staff.

If the quality is poor or excellent we tell the Maitre D on the day.

Good staff reports help with promotions (we had an outstanding Assistant Waiter who we spoke to the Manager about. A few days later the Manager came back and told us he had checked the person’s assessments, watched their performance for 2 days and they had now been offered a place on a training course to be a  Waiter - The Assistant Waiter was on tears when she found out. 

We also mentioned the level of service from an Asst Waiter to Celebrity and she was promoted from the MDR to the Aqua Clas dining area.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, robbinsca said:

We also mentioned the level of service from an Asst Waiter to Celebrity and she was promoted from the MDR to the Aqua Clas dining area.

This is also very interesting. How long did it take from mention to promotion? If it was during the same cruise, this would be the height of mixed emotions for me, assuming I wasn't in AQ.

 

It's also telling that Celebrity thinks that moving to the AQ is a promotion, and at least some moves there are based on merit.

[robbinsca]

35 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

This is also very interesting. How long did it take from mention to promotion? If it was during the same cruise, this would be the height of mixed emotions for me, assuming I wasn't in AQ.

 

It's also telling that Celebrity thinks that moving to the AQ is a promotion, and at least some moves there are based on merit.

My SIL was on the ship two weeks later. We had told her to look for Samantha and try to get her table at dinner. She found her in the buffet one morning as she said that she had been moved.

[Honolulu Blue]

26 minutes ago, robbinsca said:

My SIL was on the ship two weeks later. We had told her to look for Samantha and try to get her table at dinner. She found her in the buffet one morning as she said that she had been moved.

Thanks for the reply.  Celebrity moves fast!  I'll make a note of this.  You never know when it might come in handy.

[phoenix_dream]

11 hours ago, the penguins said:

Be honest. The survey differentiates between “service” and “quality”. If you mark the staff are good marking the qyss as quality poor has no affect on the staff.

If the quality is poor or excellent we tell the Maitre D on the day.

Good staff reports help with promotions (we had an outstanding Assistant Waiter who we spoke to the Manager about. A few days later the Manager came back and told us he had checked the person’s assessments, watched their performance for 2 days and they had now been offered a place on a training course to be a  Waiter - The Assistant Waiter was on tears when she found out. 

Actually, from what I have been told numerous times, including by staff members I have come to know and sail with many times, you are incorrect.  Marking the food as poor definitely has a negative affect on the staff.  I do agree with you that the best approach is to address the situation promptly with the correct senior staff person.  

 

And in response to some of the other posts on this thread advocating answering honestly or why answer at all - yes, normally I would agree with that.  But not in this case.  I 100% refuse to allow a great, very hardworking employee to suffer because of situations out of their hands due to the unfortunate way that Celebrity designs their surveys.  I honestly don't think Celebrity really wants to hear anything about improvement.  If they did there would be a question (like there used to be years ago with their written surveys) about how they can improve things.  There is no such question.  The only place to add comments is written such that it is asking for compliments.  I always use that space to specifically name and extol the great employees who served me on my cruise.  That is the one and only reason I bother to do these as those mentions definitely get management's attention.  If I have any issues I address onboard, and if they are not resolved and are serious I follow-up with Corporate.

[Liao]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Actually, from what I have been told numerous times, including by staff members I have come to know and sail with many times, you are incorrect.  Marking the food as poor definitely has a negative affect on the staff.  I do agree with you that the best approach is to address the situation promptly with the correct senior staff person.  

 

And in response to some of the other posts on this thread advocating answering honestly or why answer at all - yes, normally I would agree with that.  But not in this case.  I 100% refuse to allow a great, very hardworking employee to suffer because of situations out of their hands due to the unfortunate way that Celebrity designs their surveys.  I honestly don't think Celebrity really wants to hear anything about improvement.  If they did there would be a question (like there used to be years ago with their written surveys) about how they can improve things.  There is no such question.  The only place to add comments is written such that it is asking for compliments.  I always use that space to specifically name and extol the great employees who served me on my cruise.  That is the one and only reason I bother to do these as those mentions definitely get management's attention.  If I have any issues I address onboard, and if they are not resolved and are serious I follow-up with Corporate.

Good points to consider, thank you!

[chisoxfan]

14 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Actually, from what I have been told numerous times, including by staff members I have come to know and sail with many times, you are incorrect.  Marking the food as poor definitely has a negative affect on the staff.  I do agree with you that the best approach is to address the situation promptly with the correct senior staff person.  

 

And in response to some of the other posts on this thread advocating answering honestly or why answer at all - yes, normally I would agree with that.  But not in this case.  I 100% refuse to allow a great, very hardworking employee to suffer because of situations out of their hands due to the unfortunate way that Celebrity designs their surveys.  I honestly don't think Celebrity really wants to hear anything about improvement.  If they did there would be a question (like there used to be years ago with their written surveys) about how they can improve things.  There is no such question.  The only place to add comments is written such that it is asking for compliments.  I always use that space to specifically name and extol the great employees who served me on my cruise.  That is the one and only reason I bother to do these as those mentions definitely get management's attention.  If I have any issues I address onboard, and if they are not resolved and are serious I follow-up with Corporate.

Totally agree. The survey is flawed like many (most) and when I have done them feel that my real sentiments are not communicated. It is a convenient place to list exceptional crew members.

[doghog]

Received an Email this morning from Celebrity. A survey about checking out a cruise on their website also about our future cruise with Celebrity and cruising with Celebrity.

 

[Bateau_de_croisiere]

I struggled with completing the survey honestly (but I did), after the rotten Edge cruise I just got off of. You know, the one that went to close to the Big Island shoreline. Other cruisers recommended honesty, though I doubt doing so makes any impact whatsoever other than screwing the crew.

Edited May 14 by Bateau_de_croisiere

[doghog]

1 hour ago, Bateau_de_croisiere said:

I struggled with completing the survey honestly (but I did), after the rotten Edge cruise I just got off of. You know, the one that went to close to the Big Island shoreline. Other cruisers recommended honesty, though I doubt doing so makes any impact whatsoever other than screwing the crew.

I look at it this way. If problems, issues aren't reported then they can't be addressed and the next passenger gets to deal with the problems and issues.  

[Liao]

3 hours ago, Bateau_de_croisiere said:

I struggled with completing the survey honestly (but I did), after the rotten Edge cruise I just got off of. You know, the one that went to close to the Big Island shoreline. Other cruisers recommended honesty, though I doubt doing so makes any impact whatsoever other than screwing the crew.

Just wondering other than the shoreline issue, what was so bad about your cruise?

[Mariettte]

I was on that cruise, with friends. We had a fabulous time and found the ship and the staff were wonderful. No complaints at all from our group, spread over several categories of stateroom. 
 

The close visit to the Na Pali coast was a sad ending to a really good experience. 

[Liao]

3 hours ago, Mariettte said:

I was on that cruise, with friends. We had a fabulous time and found the ship and the staff were wonderful. No complaints at all from our group, spread over several categories of stateroom. 
 

The close visit to the Na Pali coast was a sad ending to a really good experience. 

I wonder if word had not spread that it got to close to shore would anyone on board have known?  Or would you all have just thought wow what a treat?

[CruiseDad-NYC]

I don't mind filling out the cruise survey and actually appreciate being given the opportunity to give feedback on my cruise experience and hopefully improve things for future cruises (and help give recognition to crew members who had a positive impact on my vacation).  I don't know if it helps anything, but it is nice to be given an opportunity to speak.

 

I do find it off-putting, however, and think it cheapens the vibe to be implored many and multiple times to fill out the surveys.  On my recent Eclipse cruise, we were implored probably the most we have been in recent memory to fill out the survey.  By waiters. Managers. The cruise director.  I think even the captain may have done it during his final talk in the theater.  It was too much.

 

I will give excellent crew ratings, because I think they all deserved it.  I am not going to lie and say the food was good, because it wasn't.  For some customers, these cruises are a lot of money and maybe the trip of a life time.  Falsely stating that things are good when they aren't hurts those people and doesn't help the cruise line overall, because word gets out, including at CruiseCritic!

[Mariettte]

10 hours ago, Liao said:

I wonder if word had not spread that it got to close to shore would anyone on board have known?  Or would you all have just thought wow what a treat?

Probably just wow, what a treat. It looked close but not enough for me to know it was too close. 

[DaKahuna]

We just left the Millennium after a 13-day cruise and only three times was the survey mentioned.  Once by our room attendant/Retreat Host, once by our primary waiter, and once by the assistant Luminae waiter who also worked mornings in the Retreat Lounge.  All three times it was a simply “please do not forget to fill out the survey, The results are important to each of us.”  No begging for 10’s or even the mention of a 10.  

 

 

[chisoxfan]

Just curious..... has anyone ever been contacted by X as a result of comments or scores given on a survey?

[Honolulu Blue]

36 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

Just curious..... has anyone ever been contacted by X as a result of comments or scores given on a survey?

I have not, but I've heard of such.  Also, I have contacted cruise lines (not Celebrity) via letter not related to any survey and received responses by letter, e-mail, and phone.