Does the Comment Card carry power?

[happy cruzer]

Hi, We all notice that some themes reoccur here at cc. Some examples are the prices of drinks, prices of excursions, quality of food, time in ports, etc. And often we are reminded to use the comment card to voice our opinions.

 

1) Has anyone got an example of a comment card got that a response.

 

2) Do you think they just look at the numerical scores and toss the verbal comments?

 

3) Any suggestions on how to get an individual comment heard?

 

I always been told by the staff that the comments cards really matter but do they any more? Or has the big corporation and bottomline take over?

[iluvcruzin]

I was told while on the Radiance in February, that the comment cards that you fill out and drop in the box (not the ones where you give a score and have a small mini comment at the end of the cruise) are read. The forms are located throughout the week near the pursers desk.

[wolfcathorse]

Praising an assistant waiter on those comment cards helps make him a waiter. Promotions (or demotions) and incentives are handed out based on comments received.

[MGoBlue2]

Whether they do or not, the ship's staff believes they do. Of course, that could just be a ploy to get the staff to work harder, kind of like the $20 per missing towel charge to get people to take better care of their towels.

[Murphy]

We were on a B2B in April on the Grandeur and had the same cabin steward both weeks. On the second day of week 2, he came and thanked us for the comments we had made on the comment card. He had just come from his regularly scheduled meeting with his supervisor and they went over every comment as well as rating #. He knew exactly what we had written. So, yes, at least housekeeping reads these cards!

[MGoBlue2]

We were on a B2B in April on the Grandeur and had the same cabin steward both weeks. On the second day of week 2, he came and thanked us for the comments we had made on the comment card. He had just come from his regularly scheduled meeting with his supervisor and they went over every comment as well as rating #. He knew exactly what we had written. So, yes, at least housekeeping reads these cards!

At least on that ship, at that time.

[stillababe]

We were on a B2B in April on the Grandeur and had the same cabin steward both weeks. On the second day of week 2, he came and thanked us for the comments we had made on the comment card. He had just come from his regularly scheduled meeting with his supervisor and they went over every comment as well as rating #. He knew exactly what we had written. So, yes, at least housekeeping reads these cards!

 

That's really good to hear! There have been some stewarts, waiters and casino dealers that I have had exemplary service with, and have always named them personally on the comment cards. I'm glad to hear that they would actually receive those compliments, and know who gave them.

[sf2]

I can tell you for SURE - those cards are analyzed and dissected! and read thoroughly SHIPBOARD staff. Good comments are posted and passed to the employees, and bad comments have to be 'accounted for'. By the time the go to shoreside, it's more of a graph, charts, 'trends' and numbers thing.

 

But as far what the OP's asking . . . as long as people are fully booking ships, and still buying the drinks and excursions - I can't see those prices going down. Food quality? 3000-6000 passengers and crew per ship, 3 meals a day plus snacks, 7 days a week year around? Times in port are based on fuel economy and berthing availabilty (and getting people back on board for revenue).

 

On the ship - the best way to get a comment 'heard' it to go to the Guest Relations desk and fill out a form, or request a meeting with the respective department head. Sending a letter shoreside works too - but remember RCCL is a HUGE corporation . . . and bueracracy at its best.

[LAKaye]

From what I have gathered on our very many cruises on RCI, the comment cards matter a great deal ON THE SHIP, among the staff.

 

I also believe that none of it, or very little, goes past the ship to RCI.

 

If you praise or complain about a person or a condition on the ship and they have the wherewithall to do something about it, it will get done. (Noticed on B2Bs). If it is bigger than the ship, such as "bring back the wine sommeliers, or we would like more days at sea, or the dining room wait staff is overworked, or there should be more/less smoking areas...." your comments probably do little to nothing.

 

Leslie

[cnmiranda]

Yes, regarding the employees the comment cards mean a lot. We ran into our favorite employee on a ship for the second time a few weeks ago and he told us because of our party's comments (it was our 10 year anniversary with 17 family members) he was promoted.

 

We love this employee and he certainly deserved the promotion and I was glad to hear our comments made a difference for him. So if there is an employee you especially like do take the time our to write a compliment about them. They all work very hard as we already know:)

[glgolfer]

The last few cruises as Diamond members we have received "Commodore Cards" to name a staff member that had given us exceptional service. We have always designated one staff person and explained why the service was so good. I hope this means something to the individual named. If anyone knows for sure, I would like to know.

[Nitra]

Those cards go in their employee file. My husband worked for RCCL on the ships and recently we called them about his possibly going back, they pulled up his employee number and were able to see all the comments etc he received. He got so many in one week he was given the night off and had dinner with the Captain and had his photo made.

 

He is now on NCL and has gotten days off with pay, bonuses etc based on those comment cards.

[glgolfer]

Nitra - Thanks for the info. I thought it might work like that, but didn't know for sure. I'm glad it does something good for the individual.

[happy cruzer]

Hi, Reading all the comments is very interesting. I have noticed the one thing that is consistently rated high almost as high as in the past is service. So the fact the comment cards are used on the ship for the on the spot managers to use to help them makes sense. Hopefully they don't rely solely on the cards, sometimes the sqeaky wheel is just squeaking if you know what I mean.

 

I wonder how creative the corporate managers could get if they would look at the comment cards in detail.

 

My pet peeve is the lower quality ingredients the chef and dining room staff have to work with - meat, seafood, caviar, one cruise ran out of eggs, etc. I think the chef can compensate in food preparation somewhat but he needs the ingredients. I managed in a large corporataion and was handcuffed by policies most of the time but every once in awhile I was able to be creative and make a difference to customers and employees without affecting the bottomline. Too bad the cruiselines don't seem to be listening, then they at least would have a chance to use the info.

[a-tx-brit]

"My pet peeve is the lower quality ingredients the chef and dining room staff have to work with - meat, seafood, caviar, one cruise ran out of eggs, etc. I think the chef can compensate in food preparation somewhat but he needs the ingredients. I managed in a large corporataion and was handcuffed by policies most of the time but every once in awhile I was able to be creative and make a difference to customers and employees without affecting the bottomline. Too bad the cruiselines don't seem to be listening, then they at least would have a chance to use the info."

 

Caviar?

[BearySweet2Cruise]

"My pet peeve is the lower quality ingredients the chef and dining room staff have to work with - meat, seafood, caviar, one cruise ran out of eggs, etc. I think the chef can compensate in food preparation somewhat but he needs the ingredients. I managed in a large corporataion and was handcuffed by policies most of the time but every once in awhile I was able to be creative and make a difference to customers and employees without affecting the bottomline. Too bad the cruiselines don't seem to be listening, then they at least would have a chance to use the info."

 

Caviar?

 

yes... the ships serve cavier

[DeepWaterMariner]

I generally agree with the responses on this thread...that the comment cards matter as it applies to dinning room service and room strewards. My problem with the cards is they usually don't ask the right questions to address my issues. I've found a well worded e-mail to the CEO or COO of the cruise line does a better job of getting my message heard on issues that I feel are outside the control of the individual ship or crew...like lower quality menu selections since the menus come from the home office. Problems with service, dinning room or cabin, should be addressed immediately and not at the end of the cruise on a comment card.

[TahoeBob]

Hi, We all notice that some themes reoccur here at cc. Some examples are the prices of drinks, prices of excursions, quality of food, time in ports, etc. And often we are reminded to use the comment card to voice our opinions.

 

1) Has anyone got an example of a comment card got that a response.

 

2) Do you think they just look at the numerical scores and toss the verbal comments?

 

3) Any suggestions on how to get an individual comment heard?

 

I always been told by the staff that the comments cards really matter but do they any more? Or has the big corporation and bottomline take over?

I don't know anything about comment cards on a ship, but I do know comment cards in a Casino in Nevada. Harveys casino Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Once a week I would copy every card By deptartment (FOOD, HOTEL, BARS, GAMES ECT.) I would them make between 15 to 20 sets of every dept cards. a set od copied cards would then be given to the president of the Co. the V.P. general manager, depts heads managers ect. so I would say they read.

 

Funy thing is that a complaint about me one time somehow got lost before copying.

[gambler]

All comment cards are reviewed and it is a direct reflection on the crew member. In the dining room, less than excellent = less tables the next week = less tips. A few less than excellents = working in the pizzeria or windjammer for the week where there is little chance of tips.

[rubrrick]

I generally agree with the responses on this thread...that the comment cards matter as it applies to dinning room service and room strewards. My problem with the cards is they usually don't ask the right questions to address my issues. I've found a well worded e-mail to the CEO or COO of the cruise line does a better job of getting my message heard on issues that I feel are outside the control of the individual ship or crew...like lower quality menu selections since the menus come from the home office. Problems with service, dinning room or cabin, should be addressed immediately and not at the end of the cruise on a comment card.

 

Care to share some names and email addresses??

 

Rick

[Brad1185]

I believe the comment cards go directly into the trash. Big waste of time filling them out and writing all those comments.

[gambler]

Brad1185 - So not true, just look around the next time you are in the dining room, notice the waiters with 2 ten person tables and the waiters with the one 8 person table only. I am a personal friend with a waitress, not making this up.

[happy cruzer]

Hi, I think that is an excellent point about writing/email the CEO or COO. What I had been doing was using the area at the end of the end of cruise comment form for general comments in hope that the general comment would end up going to the responsible party whoever that may be so that they would have a chance to fix it without the big boss whacking 'em.

 

As I said the quality of ingredients is my pet peeve. but I bet for many people it was the poor bedding and it seems to be getting upgraded slowly. That may have been in response to another line's doing it more that listening to their customers. That would be sad.

[DeepWaterMariner]

It doesn't take inside information to find out the names and guess the e-mail addresses of these cruise line execs. A quick search with google and you'll have the names. A little reasoning is required to come up with likely e-mail addresses but I usually get them right within two or three tries.

[superjerryw]

Comments you make about the service provided by the staff are definitely reviewed and acted upon. I think the remainder of the comments are ignored. Countless people have indicated that they think Jamaica is horrible but the ships still go there.