6 hour warning for a plate of cheese

[RichardK]

Good post.

You describe what I have often referred to as Harvard Business School 101 "tactics".

[sultan_sfo]

Just like Express Laundry, may be Princess should introduce an express service for these plates and charge double. Then let us see whether OP is willing to pay for instant gratification or goes for the 6-hour!

[woodofpine]

I suspect a big slide in quality a-coming or in progress on the big lines ('The Crash') for a few immovable reasons,

1) I'm pessimistic about the US economy (locally we're in the tank);
2) More/Bigger ships will keep fares depressed as the lines struggle to fill (over) capacity;
3) Wall St. will keep pressure up for ever increasing earnings and profits;
4) Cost cutting will thus continue... on and on...
5) Add - Quality crewman will be harder to find with fleets growing and the US$ declining as an attractive payroll currency.

This is an industry problem, hardly X' alone. I'm sorry to be gloomy about it.

In sum, maybe because I'm located in the epicenter of the burst real estate bubble, but I think the cruise industry is on the verge of realizing enormous over capacity. To those that cite fully booked ships... I say - only at fares that continue to decline relative to costs and inflation. Product quality can not be maintained in the present supply and demand environment.

IMHO

[AZbeachboy]

Now we are beginning to have some very good discusions about the cruise industry and its service. Thanks y'all.

[Bassnote_1]

[quote name='gooch47']There are ships with good service and ships with bad service. I don't really know what determines which are which.[/QUOTE]


Wind direction, the position of the sun in the current constellation, and which shoe the captian put on first. The whole butterfly/hurricane thing.:D

I don't think that the six hour thing is standard, but rather somebody on the ship's staff was confused about the request.

If the buffet is open, however, that could be a good option. I did request some stuff to be delivered to the cabin at a specific time after an excursion through our room steward. Not the standard way to go but she took EXCELLENT care of us and was WELL rewarded for her extra efforts. I even wrote to the line about her, I hope she was recognized as I never heard back from RCI on the subject.

[messy]

[quote name='m steve']It still is rediculous to take 6 hours to cut up a few pieces of cheese and put a couple of bags of cheap crackers on a tray. They are being paid for this LUXURY! I didn't have this problem on HAL or Celebrity.[/quote]

Actually when we were on HAL we had a suite and the concierge told us we had to order appetizers early in the day to receive them in the afternoon - we thought we could order them an hour before we wanted them but that was not the case.

[Coral]

[quote name='Bassnote_1']
I don't think that the six hour thing is standard, but rather somebody on the ship's staff was confused about the request.

[/QUOTE]

Have you read the others posts on this thread? The Room Service MENU says this item takes 6 hours as it is a party platter! No confusion what soever except for the OP who didn't read the menu correctly.

[A Sixth?]

[quote name='B40 Tha Cruisa']What does that have to do with my post? It certainly is a chat area, and people may complain about whatever they want. However, some people just expect too much. For the amount of money a person pays to cruise on a mainstream ship, they shouldnt expect it to be flawless. Like I said steward service, room service, someone serving you food all day, bringing you drinks by the pool is more than what you paid for. If one paid 900 for a seven day cruise(balcony stateroom), that breaks down to about 125 dollars a day(give or take). This person gets a beautiful balcony stateroom, all the food they want and tons of other ammenteties on board. To expect things to be perfect is just unreasonable. Service is subject to debate, but if you want perfect service, go on a high end line like seaborn, but youll pay 3-5 times the amount...[/quote]

Well, you must have very simple expectations.

You seem to think the OP is a whiner, I see the post as another cog in the conversation that is Cruise Critic and IMHO the OP has a legitimate beef.

6 hours for a cheese plate :eek: That's unacceptable

[Host Caroline]

I[COLOR=navy]f Princess' policy regarding specialty room service requests tick you off that much, why on earth would you ever cruise them again????:confused: ... if it's that big a deal. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=navy][/COLOR]
[COLOR=navy]People have diff. expectations AND diff. amounts of tolerance what they perceive to be or not to be "service"... you can state those but pleeez do it nicely:rolleyes: geez... [/COLOR]
[COLOR=navy][/COLOR]
[COLOR=navy].. and really.. it takes a lot more than the specialty room menu policy to tick me off.. I guess I'm way too easy going.. on a ship. being waited on, don't have to cook, don't have to do laundry, don't have to get up at 6:30 a.m. ... :D [/COLOR]

[bdjam]

[quote name='m steve']For all the Princess appologists and menu posters I bring this to your attention. Even if there is a notice that it requires 6 hours notice for a plate of cheese and crackers which I was willing and happy to pay for do you think that it SHOULD take 6 hours to do this? Do you think that it should take over 20 minutes for room service to answer the phone? Is that what Princess' CRUISE is about.I didn't have this low level of service on the Diamond or even the Sun and definately not on HAL or X.
How long does it take for you to cut up a few chunks of cheese and put a few bags of cheap crackers on a plate? Maybe they should change the name from ROOM SERVICE to room pleadings.
Next they might post the dinner menus on the TV and require you to makeyour choices 6 hours ahead so that they will have time to prepare your special request dinner.[/quote] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]Perhaps if we knew what the processes were in the galley, we could comment from enlightenment. I seriously doubt that there's someone in the galley waiting for cheese patter orders. But whether or not it should take six hours, it does. It's clearly stated and more than likely cooperation around Princess' guidelines would have brought satisfaction. [/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]I personally think this is a classic case of someone not getting their unreasonable request and then screaming bad customer service. By telling passengers up front what the preparation time for cheese platters is, Princess is providing very good customer service.[/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]And did you really wait on the phone for 20 minutes without hanging up for Room Service to answer? Or did you hang up and call back throughout that period (which probably put your call at the end of the phone queue each time)?[/FONT]

[LARGIN]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Black]If you want instant cheese and cracker service all you have to do is get off your a**, wander up to the horizon and fill up a plate. You can also add some fruit and other munchies and be back in your cabin in less than 15 minutes.. How's that for service and you don't have to tip... [/COLOR][/FONT]:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[m steve]

I just feel that 6 hours notice for something that is available in the horizon grill is too long regardless of what they publish. It is also lousy service to be on hold for morew than 20 minutes to get room service to answer their phone. I'm talking logic and not rules. I will sail whatever line I choose and expect excellent service if that is what they promise and advertise. Those who choose to insult me can go to H---! I justfelt that Princess was not being responsive and decided to post that thought on CC. I did go up to the Horizon, got my cheese plus a big plate of shrimp that would have cost me $12 a dozen if room service was responsive.(That saved me $36 as I really loaded up the plate) I have been on many cruises and room service was just that. SERVICE!
Now this thread should be locked up as there is nothing more to say while you wait for your special orders. I was not whining but stating a fact that that particular service stank!

[FritzG]

How badly are we going to beat this very dead horse?
The menu clearly states 6 hours. No matter how you feel about it, that is the policy. As others have stated, HC has a lot to chose from, go get it yourself. You don't know the inner workings of the ordering process, and I'm quite certain the policy was not specifically set up to ruin your cruise.

Can't we close this thread?

[bdjam]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Right - the ordering of a specialty item and expecting it in less time than is published on the menu is expecting too much. Princess not being able to deliver in less than the time they've stated they can deliver isn't a sign of bad service...just an over anxious passenger.[/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS]But I will buy the 20 minute wait for room service to answer as being an issue. But again, I think we need to establish if that 20 minute wait was during one call, or repeated calls during a 20 minute period. If the latter, it's totally understandable as they answer the first call that comes in first, and hanging up and redialing only puts the caller at the end of the list. If the former, why would someone wait on the phone for 20 minutes?[/FONT]

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

[quote name='A Sixth?']Well, you must have very simple expectations.

You seem to think the OP is a whiner, I see the post as another cog in the conversation that is Cruise Critic and IMHO the OP has a legitimate beef.

6 hours for a cheese plate :eek: That's unacceptable[/quote]

No, I just dont expect everything to be handed to me ASAP. It is clearly stated on the menu, therefor it is not unacceptable. If the OP read the menu correctly and throughly then this would not have been an issue. It is the way is. If you want someone to bring you a plate of cheese, your going to have to wait. If you want to get it yourself you can have it in 5 minutes.

My expecatations are not simple, they are reasonable...

[AZbeachboy]

[quote name='B40 Tha Cruisa']No, I just dont expect everything to be handed to me ASAP. It is clearly stated on the menu, therefor it is not unacceptable. If the OP read the menu correctly and throughly then this would not have been an issue. It is the way is. If you want someone to bring you a plate of cheese, your going to have to wait. If you want to get it yourself you can have it in 5 minutes.

My expecatations are not simple, they are reasonable...[/quote]

Great Idea, get it yourself and fore go having to give a tip. The least work they do the fewer tips, that the ticket, save yourself some money.

[Sadebud]

[quote name='mike35']We were on the Grand in August and just got off her sister ship - the Star. On the Grand, the captain and senior officers were frequently seen mingling with the passengers, and consequently checking on service, quality, etc. On the Star - 17 day T/A crossing - one seldom, if ever, saw any of the "brass" out and about the ship. I'm a firm believer that service emanates from the top down -- if the Captain emphasizes it and follows Princess' "C.R.U.I.S.E" *****, then it generally follows that all departments will toe the line.

By the way, C.R.U.I.S.E is an acronym for "Courtesy, Respect, Unfailing In Service Excellence"[/QUOTE]
We were also on the Star for the TA cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale, and I have to say I disagree about the Captain on this trip...we saw him out and about many times throughout the crossing, and we found the service to be wonderful (excpet for the Purser's Desk). The Captain was friendly, and we were most ipressed with his updates on the dreaded Norovirus outbreak. We were on the Star last year, Copenhagen to NY, with the same Captain, but the service was not as good and the Captain was not as visible. I agree with you in theory...we found that to be the case last year, but I disagree on this trip...we were impressed with the positive changes.

[bdjam]

[quote name='AZbeachboy']Great Idea, get it yourself and fore go having to give a tip. The least work they do the fewer tips, that the ticket, save yourself some money.[/quote] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]LOL - this thread gets curiouser and curiouser. Not even the original poster said that this had anything to do with money... :rolleyes: [/FONT]

[Bassnote_1]

[quote name='Coral']Have you read the others posts on this thread? The Room Service MENU says this item takes 6 hours as it is a party platter! No confusion what soever except for the OP who didn't read the menu correctly.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I read them and nope I ain't stupid like you are thinking. I believe that the kitchen thought he wanted the four person party platter, and I believe the OP just wanted a plate of cheese. Since it was on the menu he ordered it. Lots of people miss the fine print. You ever missed the fine print? Probably not.;)

[bdjam]

[quote name='Bassnote_1'] Lots of people miss the fine print. You ever missed the fine print? Probably not.;)[/quote] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]What fine print? The scans of the Room Service menu show the 6 hour prep time in the same size font as the description of each of the platters. I agree with you on the confusion - apparently the order needs to be specific (although I don't see any other "plate of cheese" on the room service menu).[/FONT]

[RichardK]

Tough crowd...................

[AZbeachboy]

[quote name='bdjam'][FONT=Comic Sans MS]LOL - this thread gets curiouser and curiouser. Not even the original poster said that this had anything to do with money... :rolleyes: [/FONT][/quote]

You are right old wise one. Just trying to be funny and expand the conversation. Too many dont talk but continue to slam others. How many times do we have to hear "can you read".

The note was in reference to those who say go get your own. Ofcourse i tried to do that once with pizza on RCI and they took it from me as i left the deck, said we could not take it back to room.

[awhcruiser]

This thread is getting cheesier by the minute.


:D

[dforeigner]

[quote name='awhcruiser']This thread is getting cheesier by the minute.


:D[/quote]

I guess the OP did not get enough whine with his cheese. :eek: