uncomfortable waiters

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

REDLEF: I didnt mean to imply that you said anyone looked foolish, those were my words and my opinion.

 

My point being is that these people work 7 days a week and arent as fortunate as you and I to have a choice of jobs to support their families.

 

NEWSFLASH: There are many people in this country who are one or two paychecks away from being on the street. I am sure they would take any job they could to support their family. At the same time they deserve respect and dignity.

 

It may be a cold hard world out there, but it doesnt mean you have to be cold and hard too.

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

We should also keep in mind that these people are far from home and family for months and months at a time. So do I show them a little more compassion than the college girl serving me up some food at Olive Garden? YOU BET!

 

Whats wrong with being friendly and asking the wait staff about the family and home life? Vacation can be educational too you know. Plus it might even brighten their day to know that someone actually cares.

 

Does your family appreciate what you do to support them? Or are they cold hearted too and just hold out their hands on payday?

[critterfriend]

I think the dancing/singing should be cut down to maybe just every other day. I enjoy it but can see how it may bother some. On formal night I feel like it needs to be skipped over altogether. Have those who have posted on here sent emails to carnival about this topic and their thoughts/opinions? As for the waiters liking/not liking it..... Many appear to enjoy doing the singing/dancing. I would love to hear from those who work on the ship that post on this site as to if they really do like it or hate it.

[dan40]

When the singing and dancing starts, if you notice a couple very pointedly walking out. That's Barb and I. Tho we would much rather relax and enjoy a coffee, the sloppy dancing, off key singing, and scratchy music piped in thru poor speakers, and NO waiters, make it impossible. So its out the door for us. And we do cruise other lines. We love enough about Carnival to cruise them 1 in 4 cruises. But let the dining room not be the "dinning" room.

 

Dan

[mdmomof7]

Oh my! Somehow I didn't realize how elaborate this performance in the dining room would be! Yikes! I haven't even seen it yet and hope it's not so much a spectacle in the negative sense of the word.

 

Wow!

[freedomrider]

Does the singing/dancing happen every night on all Carnival ships? If not, which ones do not?

 

I have been on a total of one cruise so far. It was on Royal Caribbean and they did indeed do a song and dance in the dining room one night. It was a casual night and the wait staff were all rushing around near the end of the meal trying to finish service so they could go lip-sync to a Beach Boys medley. There were very few of them that seemed to enjoy it (or maybe there were just a few that were able to hide their displeasure in having to do it). I know I could have done without it. The last night they also had a "parade of flags"...the wait staff marched around the dining rooms waving flags of different countries with a bit of a "can't we all get along" theme to it. I could have done withhout both productions.

 

Casual night or not, eating in the main dining room is a bit of an elegant affair and the song and dance took away from that, IMO.

 

I very much want to do more cruising now that I am hooked, but I certainly do not need the song and dance, especially not every night.

[redlef]

Oh my! Somehow I didn't realize how elaborate this performance in the dining room would be! Yikes! I haven't even seen it yet and hope it's not so much a spectacle in the negative sense of the word.

 

Wow!

 

Don't worry MDMOMof7. We're just killing time arguing over silly cruise things. It's tough to focus on work when you leave for vacation in 3 days.

 

It's not a negative spectacle, and if "Mom of 7" means you're going to have some little ones with you, they will absolutely love it. Bring your video camera. By the time you reach VIP status, you'll get sick of it, but for your first Carnival trip, it'll be fun.

 

To the poster who said they couldn't get coffee because the waiters were too busy singing: I once had to wait ten minutes for coffee, too:eek:. Luckily, I survived.

 

It must be hard to show compasion for a server under those torrid conditions!

[luvtrips]

Love the dancing waiters, love the towel animals, love the hairy chest contests(DH enters every time, won a ship-on-a-stick once), love the silly games, love the conga line,love the atmoshphere, the price, and the FUN ship!!!

If you've sailed Carnival before, you know what you're in for, if you don't care for these types of activities, just try another cruiseline that will make you happier. Everyone's tastes are different. If you go with Carnival, take a great attitude with you. Every waiter we've had so far has seemed fine with the dancing and singing, some even showed some talent, and we've got some great pictures to prove it.

[Peto]

Poor gal sitting at my table one night was feeling kind of ill (too much sun ) but was practically forced to get up and do the conga line.

[mdmomof7]

Don't worry MDMOMof7. We're just killing time arguing over silly cruise things. It's tough to focus on work when you leave for vacation in 3 days.

 

It's not a negative spectacle, and if "Mom of 7" means you're going to have some little ones with you, they will absolutely love it. Bring your video camera. By the time you reach VIP status, you'll get sick of it, but for your first Carnival trip, it'll be fun.

 

To the poster who said they couldn't get coffee because the waiters were too busy singing: I once had to wait ten minutes for coffee, too:eek:. Luckily, I survived.

 

It must be hard to show compasion for a server under those torrid conditions!

 

Okay, well, we'll just have to wait and see. We have our 7 and our friends are cruising with us with their 3. Their youngest will be almost 6 and ours almost 9, then the rest are 11 up to 20.

[MamaParrotHead]

Poor gal sitting at my table one night was feeling kind of ill (too much sun ) but was practically forced to get up and do the conga line.

 

Sounds like someone needs lessons in how to be polite but assertive. Unless they were physically twisting her arm, it's her own fault she didn't stay seated.

 

Oh my! Somehow I didn't realize how elaborate this performance in the dining room would be! Yikes! I haven't even seen it yet and hope it's not so much a spectacle in the negative sense of the word.

 

Wow!

 

It's not for very long, not even the "10 minute affair" people are whining about. It's ONE song. In all my 30+ years, I have YET to come across more than a handful of songs longer than 5 or 6 minutes. Actually, I'm listening my Windows Media Player right now, and one of the songs we danced to was 4 minutes and 16 seconds long and another I have on here is 4 minutes and 5 seconds. WAAAAAAAAAAAH to those whining about waiting 4 minutes and 16 seconds to get their coffee (in all honesty, it's been my experience that if you arrive at dinner on time, your waitstaff is competent, you don't order a dozen things per person off the menu, then you're almost finished with dessert, and enjoying coffee, by the time the singing even STARTS).

 

I think the dancing/singing should be cut down to maybe just every other day. I enjoy it but can see how it may bother some. On formal night I feel like it needs to be skipped over altogether. Have those who have posted on here sent emails to carnival about this topic and their thoughts/opinions? As for the waiters liking/not liking it..... Many appear to enjoy doing the singing/dancing. I would love to hear from those who work on the ship that post on this site as to if they really do like it or hate it.

 

On our formal nights, both of our cruises, the singing and dancing were skipped.

[Leo Jay]

Oh, puh-lease. Pity the poor insulted, demeaned waiters.

 

It's the job they signed up for, but ok, we all have things about our jobs we don't like, so it's fine that they feel that way. There is NO excuse, however, for expressing dissatisfaction in your job by making it evident in the performance of your job, or by complaining to passengers about it. That's just plain crap, and unprofessional in the utmost.

 

I didn't 'enjoy' scooping ice-cream at Haagen Dazs to make money for college, but even at 17, I wasn't unprofessional enough to roll my eyes and bitch to my customers to make sure they knew I thought it was 'beneath' me.

 

Geezus. People are so freakin' spoiled. Maybe they'd prefer jobs cleaning the toilets?

 

:rolleyes:

[Leo Jay]

Sounds like someone needs lessons in how to be polite but assertive. Unless they were physically twisting her arm, it's her own fault she didn't stay seated.

 

 

 

It's not for very long, not even the "10 minute affair" people are whining about. It's ONE song. In all my 30+ years, I have YET to come across more than a handful of songs longer than 5 or 6 minutes. Actually, I'm listening my Windows Media Player right now, and one of the songs we danced to was 4 minutes and 16 seconds long and another I have on here is 4 minutes and 5 seconds. WAAAAAAAAAAAH to those whining about waiting 4 minutes and 16 seconds to get their coffee (in all honesty, it's been my experience that if you arrive at dinner on time, your waitstaff is competent, you don't order a dozen things per person off the menu, then you're almost finished with dessert, and enjoying coffee, by the time the singing even STARTS).

 

 

 

On our formal nights, both of our cruises, the singing and dancing were skipped.

 

Ditto.

[KAWS]

I agree - once is enough! In my earlier cruises, late '80s, the dancing/singing waiter routine was done only one night...and it was quite enjoyable, almost a special event to look forward to.

 

I don't think Carnival realizes how hokey it seems to do it every evening. A good thing can be ruined very easily, and they've managed to accomplish this.:p

 

On the Miracle in March they didn't do it every night. I remember that week they did it twice only. I loved it and got up and danced with them. Even made my son and his gf get up too - the big lumps! :D

[river_sand_bar2]

I think it significantly declines the fake formal environment that so many seem to think exists... I wish they would just create a formal/non-formal option for a dining room dinner - I do not want the buffet thank you...

 

Well said... I agree completely....

 

Everyone argues about the formal night being soooo prim and proper... and YET, they have the waiters dance like fools... I have YET ever been to a 5 star dinner, where they put on such a silly show..

[redlef]

Well said... I agree completely....

 

Everyone argues about the formal night being soooo prim and proper... and YET, they have the waiters dance like fools... I have YET ever been to a 5 star dinner, where they put on such a silly show..

 

I think the "formal night" is a cruise tradition. The song & dance is a Carnival "tradition."

 

The formal night is not particularily formal, it's just an excuse to rent tuxedoes and sell photographs. It certainly isn't prim and proper, with me sitting in my tuxedo, the man to my left in a business suit, and the man to my right in a Ozzie Osborne T-shirt with a bathing suit. I haven't see the Queen come aboard to offer an audience and the Captain isn't browsing from table to table to chat lightly with Mr. Astor and the Rockefellers.

 

The song & dance - I still think it's funny. Sorry if it ruins the cruise for some of you other folks. Maybe you should try to find something to enjoy instead of looking for things to dislike. Or travel Cunard next time.

 

Maybe after this third Carnival cruise i won't think it's as funny. If I can ignore the ill mannered brats eating macaroni & cheese out of the buffet with their bare hands, and the morbidly obese passenger shoving me out of the way because they can't wait to get a fifth slice of that peperoni pizza, than I can sit there quietly and allow the other cruisers who haven't seen the song & dance routine to enjoy the show. I can wait the extra 5 minutes for my desert, if that's the case. I'm in no rush.

[halos]

JAPT.

 

Just Another Produce Thread?? :D

where?? :confused: I thought it got poofed??? :p

[Cotton]

If I want to waste my time hearing worthless opinions, I can always watch Paris Hilton on Larry King . . .

 

Then perhaps you should not have clicked on this thread???:rolleyes:

[redlef]

Then perhaps you should not have clicked on this thread???:rolleyes:

 

C'mon, give a hypocrite a break. If I don't read these threads, that means I have to work. :D

[fireofficer5]

Without the waiters singing and dancing dinner would be about 15 minutes shorter.

[river_sand_bar2]

Without the waiters singing and dancing dinner would be about 15 minutes shorter.

 

And that means I get to go to the casino sooner.....:D

[Leo Jay]

And that means I get to go to the casino sooner.....:D

 

 

There you go:

 

Dear Uncle Bob,

 

I think you should be aware that your RWB game and singing waiter traditions are not only intrusive to your passengers and demoralizing to your staff... but are also causing you to lose a significant amount of casino revenue!

 

See, now at last all you bitchers and moaners have a rational and compelling case to make!

 

You can thank me later.

;)

[redlef]

Without the waiters singing and dancing dinner would be about 15 minutes shorter.

 

Is that good or bad?

[kiwicruiser83]

there really is something very sad about the waiters performing. It is the same sadness I feel when you see the animals at seaworld perform the same old tricks day after day

[Leo Jay]

there really is something very sad about the waiters performing. It is the same sadness I feel when you see the animals at seaworld perform the same old tricks day after day

 

And their grateful barking after the maitre d' finally tosses them their reward of raw fish is enough to make one cringe in embarrassment.

:(