TarheelFan, this is for you~Tammy......

[Lois R]

Hi:) I would have emailed you but cannot find your address.

 

I was just curious about your comment concerning the Maitr'd

while you were sailing on Mercury to the Mexican Riveria.

You said something to the affect that unless you had been

there you would never have believed it.

Was he rude to pax? Or were pax rude to him?

I couldn't quite get the meaning of the post...would you mind

explaining?

Thanks:)

[tarheelmjfan]

Hi Lois,

Our modem went out, so I'm having to use dial up access on my laptop until our new modem gets here. Hopefully, I'll get this posted before I get kicked off again.

 

We had requested a table for 2 for our Mercury cruise, because we don't plan to leave our DS home again for quite awhile. Soon after boarding the ship, we went to check our table assignment. Getting off the elevator, we were met by others telling us not to bother. The Maitre'd wasn't seeing anyone. No problem! We then went back to our cabin content to wait until dinner to check our table. We were puzzled as to why these people seemed so upset over something so insignificant. Finally, it was time to head to the dining room, which is why we cruise after all. Upon entering the dining room, we were escorted to a large table. We didn't even look to see who was seated there, because we were really hoping for a table for 2 & didn't want anyone to think it was anything personal against them. From there, we were shown to the Maitre' D. Again, we're encountering guests leaving there less than cordial. Dutily, we took our place in line. This was when learned why we had encountered so many unhappy passengers. The puzzle was solved. My DH inquired about our table assignment & was promptly told there was 25 other couples on the list in front of us wanting these tables. He was told that he'd put our name on the list, if we insisted. He was then very rudely reminded what our table number was, & was told to sit there if we wanted dinner that evening. The way he said this made the words sting that much more. My DH is a very easy going guy. It's pretty hard to get my him angry, but this guy managed. Kenneth still didn't respond to him with the same deplorable attitude, but needed time in the cabin to cool down. We decided to go back to the cabin & order room service, while attempting to put this incident behind us.

 

What made things worse was that there were others in line with us who were treated even worse than we were. He actually told one couple that their table number was 605 & if they wanted to dine in the dining room during the cruise they would take it. The way he said it was shocking. These people hadn't been rude to him in the least. It was so bad that I still remember their table number, when I had to look ours up. Another couple in line were hoping to change their table to dine with the rest of their party. They were travelling with a party of 8 & 6 of their party had been seated with 2 strangers. Yes, the other couple who had made a request on their reservation to dine with the others in their party were seated at a table for 2. He wasn't happy about accommodating them either. The message of the evening was to make the guests feel that this fiasco was their problem. The Maitre' D took no responsibility & made no apologies.

 

My DH made another visit to the MD the next day hoping for the best. It turns out the guy hadn't even bothered to put us on his list. It was obvious, he had no intention of bothering to please us. After DH spoke with him, he finally assigned us to a table for 4. This worked out fine, as we really enjoyed our table mates. However, the way it was handled & his total disregard of guests requests really left a bad taste in our mouths. With this attitude, this guy would be fired in most any venue. He definitely wasn't the type of crew member we've come to expect & appreciate on X ships.

 

Now that I think about it, I called him the MD, but I'm not sure he was. He could have been an Asst. We never saw him again, after the 2nd morning. We never saw anyone else representing the position of MD either. We only saw our Asst. MD twice on the 10 night cruise. We had to hunt him down on the last evening to give him the tip envelope. This was certainly a change from our Nov., Century cruise where the Asst. MD came by every evening & showed a genuine interest in our dining experience. To be fair, our Asst. told us the 1st evening that he only had 2 weeks left. He was moving to Minnesota to become a restaurant Manager. I think he had mentally already moved on to his new life. This was understandable, & it really didn't bother us that he didn't stop by.

[Lois R]

Tammy, so sorry to hear of your encounter:(

I hope the Maitr'd we get is nicer..there is a couple on our

Roll Call who wants to change from early to late and sit with some

us at dinner.

I keep telling them it is no problem:eek: as I have never heard

of the treatment you received before.

Normally they are always so accomodating!

 

I will still be seeing the Maitr'd after boarding and hoping

for a better result:)

[FinelyCruising]

Lois - If who you see is a tall guy with dark hair and trendy glasses you're pretty much doomed. :(

[Lois R]

Lois - If who you see is a tall guy with dark hair and trendy glasses you're pretty much doomed. :(

 

Hi FC,:) but Tammy said he was off the ship in the following 2 weeks

so that would have been past already, right? Not sure when

she sailed? I read where a few other folks had Richard from Poland

as their Maitr'd...maybe he is the one doing the seating assigments

and if so..I know him from CENTURY:D

 

Doomed? Say it ain't so....and besides there

is always "The Restaurant Manager";)

[BrooklynGirl2]

Lois...I think Tammy was refering to the guy she called the "Assistant" Maitre'd, the one she had to hunt down to tip, who was leaving the ship in two weeks. She was not referring to the nasty guy.

 

All I can say is "wow" that is soooo totally opposite the experience we had on Zenith (and I know that you had too). Jose was wonderful and very happy to accommodate our seating request. He also stopped by every night to chat and seemed really interested in what we had to say. And I was very happy to tip him extra.:D Even Viorel on our first Zenith cruise stopped by every evening to say hello and ask if we needed anything special. All the AM'ds were very visible on Zenith.

[tarheelmjfan]

If who you see is a tall guy with dark hair and trendy glasses you're pretty much doomed.

 

This is the guy. :eek: I can't believe he has treated passengers on other sailings like this, & still has a job. Unfortunately, it was our Asst. MD who was getting off the ship. Like I said, we understood why he wasn't very visible. In his mind, he had already moved on. That happens, & we were happy for him. :) The guy FC described is a different person, & the guilty party. I wish we would have gotten his name, but at that time we were too stunned to remember our own names. :o

 

This is a totally different experience than what we've encountered on other X ships as well. As I mentioned earlier, we were on Century in Nov. We requested a table for 2 that cruise too, because we were celebrating an annivesary. Also, this was the 1st time in 13 yrs. that we had been anywhere alone. We checked our table assignment upon boarding the ship. The MD not only was accessible, but had waiters there to show you to your future table to see if you were happy with it. The Asst. MD was always visible, & very friendly. Two totally different experiences in less than 5 months.

 

We know this wasn't typical of an X cruise, & have no intention of jumping ship yet. ;) We have 3 more X cruises booked at the moment. We don't expect to encounter anyone like this guy again.

[FinelyCruising]

Lois - If it's the same guy and he is off then awesome! The guy that I refered to was the one who makes the table changes, and since he is neither a tipped out guy or one who stops at tables to say hello during the cruise, then I am not sure what title the cruiseline gives him.... but I sure have one for him!

[FinelyCruising]

uh oh...posting at the same time. Here are some thoughts...as another couple with their daughter did after he stiffed them....maybe if the same thing happens to you, guest relations handled the matter for this gentleman and his wife and daughter after they described the events. The guy later on went and took credit for the change of dining times as though it was his effort and acoomplishment, and to these peoples faces.

 

All I can say there were at least a half dozen or more stories some of us can tell about him.

 

In the end, I'd take the same exact cruise all over again with the same 11 days of bleach and the same outcome of inconvenience, and it would still be better than the short contact I had to endure with this guy on day one.

[Lois R]

Hi ya'll...Lori, thanks for the clarification...so the same

nasty Maitr'd is still on board:rolleyes:

 

Well, we shall see what happens. I am still going to see him as

2 of my cruisemates would like to sit with me and 2 others from

our Roll Call.

We did cross reference it on the internet but they didn't remember

originally they had asked for main seating and I eat late.

So of course I was going to the "Table Assigning" Maitr'd.

 

I will be prepared for "Mr Negativity", hoping for a Mr Positive.

 

Now should he speak in that tone or make me feel like a moron,

well, I heard the Hotel Director is "where the buck stops" on

the ships when it comes to staff.

Lets hope everything goes smoothly and I won't have to request

a meeting....or even a meeting to say how wonderful things have

gone;)

 

Thanks for making me aware of the situation.

 

Anyone more recently sailing on Mercury have any other

Maitr'd experiences??? Good ones would be nice:D ...but either way!

[Longboysfan]

Lois - If who you see is a tall guy with dark hair and trendy glasses you're pretty much doomed. :(

 

I used to look like that. :eek:

 

About 10 years ago. After all the complaints - I had hoped the plastic surgery would have concealed or changed my features.

[FinelyCruising]

Lois - Perhaps with your cirumstances he may be able to be more agreeable. He has a front man before you ever get to his highness! Here's hoping for your sake that things go simply and well. Its not his tone, its that he refuses to adress your concerns, and only knows the condition of 'no'. He is not one who tries to please, he clearly choses nopt to please, and I am certain pleasing the guests is not even part of what he thinks his job description is. You are smart enough to know what to do if he stops you from getting what you want.

 

Longboy - That was too funny! But risky. I hate this guy.