Uncomfortable experience with sommelier

[chefchick]

7 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

As the guy said, it was just for the toast. You didn't have to drink it, and after the toast you could have offered it to someone who'd have appreciated a little extra.

Way over the top reaction by some on here. 

Would you say that if the OP had a shellfish allergy for example and was being asked repeatedly to eat an oyster?  The point is, they weren’t asking for a price break for no champagne and they brought it up beforehand as to not make a big deal out of it by allowing the server to come up with an appropriate substitution.  Again, I can’t believe this doesn’t come up on almost a weekly basis and a NA toasting beverage isn’t at the ready.  This is a service issue and it should be brought up while still on board so it can be discussed (as a food and beverage manager I would want to know).

[Trevor Fountain]

The guy has been a cc member since 2005 and has 53 posts. I can't find anything he has wrote that could be helpful to other members, or anything positive about his on board experiences.

After 19 years he comes up with this. 

If I was so bothered about a situation on board a ship, like some have said, I would go and report it on board. 

One thing we do know is no alcoholic drink was poured into the glass, and I really would have to cast doubt on there not being a non-alcoholic alternative available. 

Unfortunately we only have one side of the story here, I'd love to here the Sommeliers version.

[notscb]

9 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

it was just for the toast.

Yes, it was just for the toast, and it would have been just as easy for the OP to be given literally anything else or nothing. Instead, RCL staff made an uncomfortable situation out of something that should have been nothing at all and the easiest request they've gotten all day. 

[notscb]

11 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

and I really would have to cast doubt on there not being a non-alcoholic alternative available

There clearly was if OP was offered ginger beer. Also, is water not easily and readily available, if "just for the toast" it wouldn't really matter what was given to OP the moment OP said "no" to the alcohol. I'm confused as to why OP's choice is being downplayed as if alcohol somehow is more important than the guest?

 

12 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

I'd love to here the Sommeliers version.

I wouldn't. A guest told them "no" and it should have been the end of the story.

 

I was on RCL Freedom of the Seas and went to a hibachi lunch where I asked for no alcohol, just water, and was pressured by crew to take the alcohol. I'm not surprised that OP had this experience, and it seems like a lot of folks on these boards are downplaying the idea of consent and the struggles folks have in life.

[zitsky]

If someone said “I’m allergic to alcohol” would we get the same second guessing and minimizing in this thread?  “What’s the big deal?”  Do you folks tell someone with an allergy to “just try some”?

 

Why is it different if it is a personal choice?  Maybe someone doesn’t like it or doesn’t like how it makes them feel?  

Why do some people have to insist that it’s no big deal to be forced to take something you don’t want.  What happened to personal freedom?

[hiccups]

I hope OP does bring it up, because they could save someone else from a similar situation.  IMO Celebrity would address this concern.  If they don’t know about it, they can’t correct it.

 

I don’t drink, either, and typically I just say “No thank you” once and the glass is removed.  Clearly the sommelier needs more training, but won’t get it if the issue isn’t raised.

[vswan]

There are any number of reason someone prefers to stay away from alcoholic beverages. Perhaps they are an alcoholic, perhaps their parents or ex-spouse had issues with alcohol and they prefer not to have reminders of past bad experiences. Maybe their body doesn't process it and it makes them ill. Whatever the reason really doesn't matter. The OP took the time to lay out their preferences ahead of time, and yet felt that they were being pressured. They should have been given an alternative.

 

I am one of those people who rarely complains. I used to do marketing and one of my clients was a hotel which included a restaurant. When meeting with the GM I told him that my recent dining experience was far from good. He asked if I said anything to the waitstaff. Of course I hadn't, I just ate what I was given. He told me that I need to let them know - if I, who dealt with the company on a regular basis, wasn't willing to say anything, how many others weren't saying anything either and just would never come back. How do they know what to fix if they aren't told what was wrong.

[NMTraveller]

5 minutes ago, vswan said:

.He asked if I said anything to the waitstaff. Of course I hadn't, I just ate what I was given. He told me that I need to let them know - if I, who dealt with the company on a regular basis, wasn't willing to say anything, how many others weren't saying anything either and just would never come back. How do they know what to fix if they aren't told what was wrong.

Most just do not go back with a negative experience...

 

In Celebrity's case they are not listening...

 

We have a recent poll on this board that shows that 75% are looking at other lines.  

 

In this time companies should look at social media and use ML to see how they stack up.

 

Celebrity used to be a stellar company with many of us that just automatically booked the next cruise.  Not the case anymore...

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[NutsAboutGolf]

Perhaps complaining on board is NOT the best option as they may only talk to this individual sommelier.  This is something that should be part of all serving crew training and brought to the Exec Office's attention

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

As the guy said, it was just for the toast. You didn't have to drink it, and after the toast you could have offered it to someone who'd have appreciated a little extra.

Way over the top reaction by some on here. 

 

You forget he paid for an experience and requested an appropriate request.   Would it be OK to serve a shrimp cocktail to a person with sever seafood allergies?  I believe the problem persisted throughout the complete meal.  Unacceptable. 

[NMTraveller]

7 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Perhaps complaining on board is NOT the best option as they may only talk to this individual sommelier.  This is something that should be part of all serving crew training and brought to the Exec Office's attention

Easier said than done.  Dealing with it onboard can be stressful.

 

You are trying to enjoy a vacation and then it turns into something different ...  Do you call Miami and talk to the board and get all spun up?  That is a difficult decision.  

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[Carried_Away]

I'm sorry you had this experience. I agree with others who have said it's worth reporting to management. Celebrity and all of its employees need to understand that while many customers (including me) enjoy alcohol, it's a serious danger to the health and safety of others. Pushing alcohol on people who don't freely choose it --- whether by insisting on pouring a drink for someone who has declined or by requiring everyone in a room to purchase an alcoholic beverage package if one person chooses that --- is grossly insensitive and irresponsible.

[Jim_Iain]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Perhaps complaining on board is NOT the best option as they may only talk to this individual sommelier.  This is something that should be part of all serving crew training and brought to the Exec Office's attention

 

I have been told directly by Sommelier's, Hotel Directors  and Maitr' d's they wish to be advised immediately so they can take appropriate actions otherwise other guests may have the same problem.   If they know about it they can address it.

 

I once had a problem with a Sommelier (I don't drink) and Iain's Glass set empty for over 20 minutes forcing me to get up and retrieve our Purchased full bottle to fill his glass.   I complained only asking that we get more attentive service.   They went over board and the Head Sommelier called me and sent a nice bottle of wine to our room.   He dropped by our table that night and advised he would be serving us for the remainder of the cruise.   It was overkill and I swear the Sommelier was shooting eye knives our way every time he walked past our table.  

 

Last cruise Iain asked for his favorite Chardonnay and was told it was aboard but was not unpacked yet.  After the 3rd day with the same excuse,  Iain sent an Attention To Detail message.   The FB Manager called him and wanted to meet with him.  We did and he apologized and said it was available and there was no reason it should not have been served.   He was assured it would be available for the remainder of the cruise which it was.   Next night the Sommelier served it and then dropped a bill on the table to be signed.  Iain politely said it was under the by the glass limit and had no intention of buying a bottle... if he had a problem call the FB Manager.... I think the problem was the guy was new and was not properly trained.... no excuse.

[Jim_Iain]

9 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Easier said than done.  Dealing with it onboard can be stressful.

 

You are trying to enjoy a vacation and then it turns into something different ...  Do you call Miami and talk to the board and get all spun up?  That is a difficult decision.  

 

Doesn't have to be difficult or stressful.   Just shoot the QR Code for Attention to Detail Form on your phone and state your complaint.    You will hear back quickly --- these forms go directly to the Hotel Director and his team -

[NMTraveller]

7 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Doesn't have to be difficult or stressful.   Just shoot the QR Code for Attention to Detail Form on your phone and state your complaint.    You will hear back quickly --- these forms go directly to the Hotel Director and his team -

Is that local or Miami?  Oh local...  That is OK if they do not try to hide it...  And perhaps different if you are in a suite ...

 

Local only deals with the problem on the current ship...

 

It should not be difficult or stressful but at times it is not handled properly and in a retaliatory fashion..

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[the penguins]

23 hours ago, snoopydo said:

Currently on Summit and did the Chef’s Table dinner last night. (Other than the galley tour it’s not worth it but that’s not what this post is about.)

 

You meet for the dinner at the large table outside of sushi restaurant for a toast, a short speech, and a photo before going down to galley tour and Tuscan Grille for the dinner. Here is the very short version of what happened:

 

I do not drink alcohol so about 30 minutes before the meeting time I went up and let the wine person setting things up that I don’t drink. He kept saying “oh it’s just for the toast” and I kept repeating but I don’t drink. After a couple rounds of this I sort of gave up and walked away.

 

Then the event starts and he is pouring Prosecco for everyone. He gets to me and pauses. I again tell him I don’t drink and he again tries to press me to take some “just for the toast.”

 

It does not matter if you drink or not: we all know people who, for various reasons, choose not to drink. For some people that choice is a constant struggle. To have a crew member basically pushing me to drink became very uncomfortable. 
 

In the end I had to finally get a bit more loud with my no to him. So he just left me there with my empty glass. I guess it finally occurred to him that was not a good look so offered me some ginger beer. At that point I just wanted to run away and hide in my cabin. 
 

The whole experience was at best uncomfortable and worst upsetting. I keep thinking about those who struggle more than I do with alcohol and how triggering such an interaction could be. 
 

I don’t see any point in bringing this up to management onboard as we all know I will just get the standard platitudes “I’m so sorry I’ll let someone know” response and nothing will come of it. I just felt the need to share this experience to get it off my mind as best I can. 

we have had a similar situation when we (along with everyone else) were offered a "special drink" in the MDR. 4 times I asked if it contained alcohol and explained that I was allergic to it and each time was assured it didn't. As soon as I took a sip I realized that the drink did contain alcohol at which point the waiter laughed and said " yes but only a little". 

Straight after dinner I took the matter up with the Hotel Director (not ranting just explaining the facts as you get more with sugar than with salt) after which the waiter was made to apologies, was suspended from working in the MDR for the rest of the cruise and was sent for retraining. I also received a formal apology from the HD along with some chocolate covered strawberries. 

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 minute ago, NMTraveller said:

Is that local or Miami?  Oh local...  That is OK if they do not try to hide it...  And perhaps different if you are in a suite ...

I've never booked a suite in my life but have had issues twice on Royal.

 

Once I used the mid-cruise comment card because the labeling for gluten-free on the menus was horrid (one dish with an orzo base was listed as gluten-free and my server tried to convince me it was - thankfully the table next to me and my friend has a child with celiac and her mom backed me up) and my servers were not making any indication I could ask about other things, especially ordering the night before - which was quite a difference from my experience 2 years prior where my server was actually making suggestions. The very next day the dining room manager was over at my table and asking both me and the mom at the table next to us about examples and making notes - and then he made it abundantly clear to us AND to our server that we could get things such as gluten-free pasta, etc. especially with advance notice.

 

The second was this February - also on Royal, but... I'd been hit in the face with a slush ball as the ship was departing (we had snow in the NYC area on embarkation day and tables in a bar area were not cleared), and the people in the area who were holding slush balls in their hands acted clueless when I politely suggested they be careful. None of the bartenders at the bar said anything. The next morning at the Meet the Officers thing, I mentioned it to the Guest Services director (who pulled the Hotel Director over) and suggested ensuring that snow/slush was cleared from the bar areas before opening them. They were extremely apologetic and asked if I'd had to go to medical or if I needed to go to medical (I hadn't, and did not really bruise or swell, so I knew nothing was broken) - they also took note of which bar and the timing and assured me they would speak with the bartenders present as well. I knew it was after the fact, but I also knew the Anthem would be out of NYC for the rest of Winter and they'd have another ship this upcoming year, so snow on embarkation remains a possibility and it's something they need to be aware of. If the slush ball had been even half an inch over I could have had a broken nose and/or a damages eye...and if it had been someone older than me, it could have been a very different situation to just having a red welt for a bit.

 

As others have said, they cannot do anything if they don't know about it. And it's not fair to not say anything and then ding them on social media and/or the post-cruise survey if they haven't had the chance to rectify it.

[NMTraveller]

15 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I've never booked a suite in my life but have had issues twice on Royal.

 

Once I used the mid-cruise comment card because the labeling for gluten-free on the menus was horrid (one dish with an orzo base was listed as gluten-free and my server tried to convince me it was - thankfully the table next to me and my friend has a child with celiac and her mom backed me up) and my servers were not making any indication I could ask about other things, especially ordering the night before - which was quite a difference from my experience 2 years prior where my server was actually making suggestions. The very next day the dining room manager was over at my table and asking both me and the mom at the table next to us about examples and making notes - and then he made it abundantly clear to us AND to our server that we could get things such as gluten-free pasta, etc. especially with advance notice.

 

The second was this February - also on Royal, but... I'd been hit in the face with a slush ball as the ship was departing (we had snow in the NYC area on embarkation day and tables in a bar area were not cleared), and the people in the area who were holding slush balls in their hands acted clueless when I politely suggested they be careful. None of the bartenders at the bar said anything. The next morning at the Meet the Officers thing, I mentioned it to the Guest Services director (who pulled the Hotel Director over) and suggested ensuring that snow/slush was cleared from the bar areas before opening them. They were extremely apologetic and asked if I'd had to go to medical or if I needed to go to medical (I hadn't, and did not really bruise or swell, so I knew nothing was broken) - they also took note of which bar and the timing and assured me they would speak with the bartenders present as well. I knew it was after the fact, but I also knew the Anthem would be out of NYC for the rest of Winter and they'd have another ship this upcoming year, so snow on embarkation remains a possibility and it's something they need to be aware of. If the slush ball had been even half an inch over I could have had a broken nose and/or a damages eye...and if it had been someone older than me, it could have been a very different situation to just having a red welt for a bit.

 

As others have said, they cannot do anything if they don't know about it. And it's not fair to not say anything and then ding them on social media and/or the post-cruise survey if they haven't had the chance to rectify it.

One should not have to spend hours on the phone with Miami while on an excursion...

 

One should not get calls from the local ship as retribution at 12 midnight for calling Miami.

 

You can fight your battles with Celebrity but lose the war...  You are on vacation after all.  It should be relaxing and uneventful.

 

Celebrity should monitor social media.  Other companies do.  

 

I do not think that I would report another incident myself...

 

You can raise the Celebrity cheerleader flag.  But Celebrity failed...

 

Did I say Celebrity failed.  They should strive to do better and this should be a part of their training 10x over.

 

Celebrity:

DON"T FORCE BOOZE ON PEOPLE

 

Celebrity should have their own people on the ships to evaluate the service levels.  This was a #FAIL.

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

20 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I've never booked a suite in my life but have had issues twice on Royal.

 

Once I used the mid-cruise comment card because the labeling for gluten-free on the menus was horrid (one dish with an orzo base was listed as gluten-free and my server tried to convince me it was - thankfully the table next to me and my friend has a child with celiac and her mom backed me up) and my servers were not making any indication I could ask about other things, especially ordering the night before - which was quite a difference from my experience 2 years prior where my server was actually making suggestions. The very next day the dining room manager was over at my table and asking both me and the mom at the table next to us about examples and making notes - and then he made it abundantly clear to us AND to our server that we could get things such as gluten-free pasta, etc. especially with advance notice.

 

The second was this February - also on Royal, but... I'd been hit in the face with a slush ball as the ship was departing (we had snow in the NYC area on embarkation day and tables in a bar area were not cleared), and the people in the area who were holding slush balls in their hands acted clueless when I politely suggested they be careful. None of the bartenders at the bar said anything. The next morning at the Meet the Officers thing, I mentioned it to the Guest Services director (who pulled the Hotel Director over) and suggested ensuring that snow/slush was cleared from the bar areas before opening them. They were extremely apologetic and asked if I'd had to go to medical or if I needed to go to medical (I hadn't, and did not really bruise or swell, so I knew nothing was broken) - they also took note of which bar and the timing and assured me they would speak with the bartenders present as well. I knew it was after the fact, but I also knew the Anthem would be out of NYC for the rest of Winter and they'd have another ship this upcoming year, so snow on embarkation remains a possibility and it's something they need to be aware of. If the slush ball had been even half an inch over I could have had a broken nose and/or a damages eye...and if it had been someone older than me, it could have been a very different situation to just having a red welt for a bit.

 

As others have said, they cannot do anything if they don't know about it. And it's not fair to not say anything and then ding them on social media and/or the post-cruise survey if they haven't had the chance to rectify it.

I don't sail Royal anymore there is a very good reason ...

No one should have to sail Royal.

 

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[Ex-Airbalancer]

42 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

One should not have to spend hours on the phone with Miami while on an excursion...

 

One should not get calls from the local ship as retribution at 12 midnight for calling Miami.

 

You can fight your battles with Celebrity but lose the war...  You are on vacation after all.  It should be relaxing and uneventful.

 

Celebrity should monitor social media.  Other companies do.  

 

I do not think that I would report another incident myself...

 

You can raise the Celebrity cheerleader flag.  But Celebrity failed...

 

Did I say Celebrity failed.  They should strive to do better and this should be a part of their training 10x over.

 

Celebrity:

DON"T FORCE BOOZE ON PEOPLE

 

Celebrity should have their own people on the ships to evaluate the service levels.  This was a #FAIL.

Celebrity  does monitor SM , just not this one 

I have had Celebrity call me from posting on FB 

[NMTraveller]

11 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Celebrity  does monitor SM , just not this one 

 

Perhaps they should.

 

Other posters berating people for posting is just not warranted...

Edited July 14 by NMTraveller

[michri]

Every night at dinner we had at least three different servers offer alcohol within the first five minutes of being seated.  One night, I ordered from the second server when a few minutes later, the third server asked if I wanted a drink.  I replied that I had ordered from another server, only to be told that they (the third server) was supposed to take my order.

I found it to be very odd.

[NutsAboutGolf]

22 minutes ago, michri said:

Every night at dinner we had at least three different servers offer alcohol within the first five minutes of being seated.  One night, I ordered from the second server when a few minutes later, the third server asked if I wanted a drink.  I replied that I had ordered from another server, only to be told that they (the third server) was supposed to take my order.

I found it to be very odd.

 

At the MDR?  We tend to have the exact opposite problem in the MDR, they stop by once and while we usually see them two times, there have been a few times they never stop by our section again with neighboring tables complaining about the same.  I always thought another secret perk of Blu, the Sommelier will visit more often than you need (for most) lol.  Yet, if you tell them the first time no thanks, you won't see them again during the meal

[michri]

16 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

At the MDR?  We tend to have the exact opposite problem in the MDR, they stop by once and while we usually see them two times, there have been a few times they never stop by our section again with neighboring tables complaining about the same.  I always thought another secret perk of Blu, the Sommelier will visit more often than you need (for most) lol.  Yet, if you tell them the first time no thanks, you won't see them again during the meal

It was in the MDR.  You are correct about not coming back if you decline at first.  I found that as well in the lounges.

[Pushka]

After reading the most recent posts today, including those commenting on your credibility I totally understand why you were reluctant to even raise the matter. Please ignore them. You will know who they are.