A problem with dinning service

[cocos]

Good afternoon everybody, I´m glad I´ve been able to be a (very small) part of this HAL’s forum. I’ve written very few times, but I’ve read a lot, lot of threads. Recently (July 24-31) we enjoyed a HAL 7-day Alaska cruise on Ryndam. Also wife, parents, kids ages 6, 4 and 1. I must say I had not sailed with HAL before, and we really enjoyed the cruise a lot (because of the food, ship’s look and interiors, size, cabin size, cabin steward service, Neptune’s service, Lido’s variety and quality of food, pretty dining room, etc.) but we had a recurrent complaint. It seemed to us (we all agreed with this) that dining stewards (at Rotterdam) were generally very impersonal, all-about work, never a smile, or nice words. We traveled with little kids, and therefore we thought our dining stewards would be more inclined to be nice with them... not at all. We were in open seating and had 3 different waiters in our 7 nights, and none of them was nice. We've traveled before with RCCI and Princess, and I can tell you dining service in both companies was a lot nicer than HAL in regards of friendliness. I wish to assume it was plain bad luck, and it’s not the rule in HAL’s dining stewards. But then I read some threads the last days precisely about the same topic (service not as good as it was). Has anybody else experienced something similar? If not, I’d be glad to hear about it, because I would want to give HAL another chance, and in all other things we really liked HAL.

[IRL_Joanie]

Good afternoon everybody, I´m glad I´ve been able to be a (very small) part of this HAL’s forum. I’ve written very few times, but I’ve read a lot, lot of threads. Recently (July 24-31) we enjoyed a HAL 7-day Alaska cruise on Ryndam. Also wife, parents, kids ages 6, 4 and 1. I must say I had not sailed with HAL before, and we really enjoyed the cruise a lot (because of the food, ship’s look and interiors, size, cabin size, cabin steward service, Neptune’s service, Lido’s variety and quality of food, pretty dining room, etc.) but we had a recurrent complaint. It seemed to us (we all agreed with this) that dining stewards (at Rotterdam) were generally very impersonal, all-about work, never a smile, or nice words. We traveled with little kids, and therefore we thought our dining stewards would be more inclined to be nice with them... not at all. We were in open seating and had 3 different waiters in our 7 nights, and none of them was nice. We've traveled before with RCCI and Princess, and I can tell you dining service in both companies was a lot nicer than HAL in regards of friendliness. I wish to assume it was plain bad luck, and it’s not the rule in HAL’s dining stewards. But then I read some threads the last days precisely about the same topic (service not as good as it was). Has anybody else experienced something similar? If not, I’d be glad to hear about it, because I would want to give HAL another chance, and in all other things we really liked HAL.

 

I am so sorry to hear of your experience in the dining room being unfriendly.

 

We've been very lucky in having been on 2 of the HAL ships. Our 1st was ms Oosterdam. MAN WHAT AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!!!

 

Our 2nd was this past May on the ms Westerdam.

 

We had early seating in the main dining room on the Oosterdam (table for 6) and late seating on the Westerdam (table for 2).

 

Both ships the dining experience was fantastic!!

 

The dining staff was the same personel for each evening and they knew you by name and preference in drink etc. I drink only water, no ice with a few lemon wedges and hubby hot tea. On both cruises after the 1st night, our server would automatically bring our drinks almost before we were ready.

 

By the way, anyone going on the Oosterdam, make sure you say a BIG hello to Hunky Dory in the Lido Restaurant!!! (That man NEVER forgets a name or face!!!) And if you have Why You (spelling?? and yes, that is his name) as your cabin steward Tell them Roger and Joanie say HI!!!!

 

Back to the dining, I think you might have had less personalized care probably because of the open seating. When you have a set time and table number you will in general have the same staff. But with open seating your table changes every time, which means so does your staff. And from what I saw last trip, the open seating had the staff working double time to make sure everyone got their food, drinks, etc., in a timely manner and to be able to open tables for the people waiting to come in and eat.

 

We already know that only one of our wait staff will not be with us in February on the Westerdam, because he will be visiting his family during that time. All the rest know when we are coming and are looking forward to our return (at least that's what they said in May). LOL

 

Glad to hear that you really enjoyed the rest of your cruise. Aint Alaska and HAL fantastic???

 

Joanie

[cocos]

Joanie, maybe you're right, our dining steward had to do a lot of things, probably he was so concentrated trying to do everything right that he forgot to be friendly. Maybe it's a problem with open seating in general (when we traveled in RCCI and Princess we had fixed dining).

And YES! HAL is generally a terrific cruise line.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have read many times that people who have open seating tend to have more problems with the dining staff than those who have traditional dining.

The waitstaff for the most part know that they will not see the same people night after night -- and many of them are assigned more tables/passengers to take care -- and they know that with the constant rotation of different every night they will not get any extra tips at the end of the cruise.

[cruisecrasy]

I have read many times that people who have open seating tend to have more problems with the dining staff than those who have traditional dining.

The waitstaff for the most part know that they will not see the same people night after night -- and many of them are assigned more tables/passengers to take care -- and they know that with the constant rotation of different every night they will not get any extra tips at the end of the cruise.

 

So u are suggesting the wait staff is just being pleasant for the extra tips?

Say it isn't so!! :)

 

U are so right re: staff & pax rotation and I also believe that they are overworked in the open seating.. Sign of the times...I wish I cld go back to when I paid more..yes but the service & food for the most part was impeccable..Something to be said for the past over the present and esp the future...:(

 

Happy cruises & lots of 'em! :)

[dandro]

We also had open seating, had different waiters/steward every night. They did seem a bit rushed, not much time to chit chat but that's o.k. with me, I didn't need to make them into my new best friends. They smiled, they were cordial, but that's the extent of it. That was o.k. by me. Sometimes waiters can be a bit too overly friendly and that can be annoying, too. The service was prompt and courteous and that's what counts.

[CowPrincess]

We also found the open seating to be somewhat disorganized, and less personal. We thought that service suffered overall because the dining stewards in the open seating can't really get into any kind of rhythm. They are providing menus, setting up tables, watching tables to see if new people are seated, taking orders, around and around and around. It has to be a difficult assignment for them.

[pms4104]

We have had only traditional fixed seating ... our dining room staff always have been polite and cordial and, for the most part, professional. Does seem of late that all dining staff are more rushed and less personally passenger-involved than in the past, possibly responsible for more tables or assigned more duties, all to operate with fewer dining room staff and save some $$$$.

 

I consider it a dining problem if the server dumps food in my lap (they have not) or presents to me food or beverages ordered by others at my table while delivering my order to others (yes, they have done that several times recently).

 

As dandro stated, I don't expect to make the staff my new best friends ... I just expect them to be professional and cordial and, yes, to get the orders right.

[boccismom]

It's been over a year, but we had open seating on the Zaandam and didn't have any problems. After the second evening, we decided we loved the staff at a certain table and reserved it for the rest of the cruise. All it took was a very quick phone call in the AM and it was done! Raswan and Septo were fantastic, very friendly and never missed a preference. The wine steward for that area, Antonio, was just as good. My single glass of wine was there within minutes of our seating.

[cardbucfan]

We had open seating on the Veendam last year right after it was implemented and didn't care for it. All the problems listed above and just the hassle of getting a reservation for a time we wanted-didn't care for it. So on our Alaska cruise we had fixed dining and were much happier. We had a couple of nights we didn't go to dinner because we were so enthralled with watching the wildlife and scenery from our balcony we ordered room service and ate outside. I will say, over servers were very good and treated our kids great but they never did get to that point that they automatically remembered how we liked things like past fixed dining servers did. Glad your cruise was great otherwise and that you didn't let this ruin your vacation!

[CC Help Michell]

Last summer in Alaska we had open seating and had no problems at all. I don't know if I'd characterize our dining staff overall as "friendly," but they certainly were competent, polite, and prompt, and that's good service, to us.

 

I think perhaps it's the open seating thing which the OP didn't like. We prefer it, and were so glad HAL began offering it. I consider the dining room on a ship just a restaurant, to be honest. Apart from our usual waitress for our weekly trivia night, I've never made friends with waitstaff in any restaurant, so I don't expect to do that onboard, either.

 

Perhaps the OP could post a bit more about what the "dining problem" referenced in the thread title was? I am not sure what "he wasn't nice" means, to be honest. Was he rude? Surly? Or did he just not smile a lot, spend time playing with your kids, etc? If the latter, then I think this is a problem with the open dining format -- perhaps it just doesn't suit your cruising preferences.

[leoandhugh]

First, the wait staff in the dining rooms of most cruise lines are really over-worked and do not have a lot of time to be friendly and pass the time of day with passengers. They are trained to give good service; if they have time to do more than that, they usually will.

But I think we US citizens tend to want to be everybody's buddy and are not happy when we just get service with a smile. Unless your server is rude or impolite or just not giving good service, IMO opinion, they are doing their job(s). I have found that the same waiters who are working their tails off at dinner, tend to be much more relaxed and "friendly" at breakfast or lunch. Just my opinion folks and probably why I have seldom had a complaint about wait staff or cabin stewards.:)

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Cocos was on my recent Ryndam cruise, and I think I saw him and his family in the dining room one evening, off in the distance (I also had open seating). Hola, Cocos! I happen to know that he and his family are from Mexico. Cocos, I would say the next time you try HAL, that you ask for the "fixed seating" arrangement in the main dining room. That way, your servers have a chance to get to know you and any special needs or requirements you may have. You will get more personal service. I have cruised with my family on HAL with fixed seating, and the staff had much more time to interact with us, in my experience, than they do at open seating.

[sylteach]

It sounds like the waitstaff for the open seating are working really hard. Since we will probably eat in the dining room most evenings with open seating would it be appropriate to tip our waiters after each meal? We will probably go at different times and will not have the same waiters each evening. Any ideas on the amount we should tip?

[CowPrincess]

We usually do tip extra, but for the open dining this last cruise, we just let the auto-tip take care of it. I don't think the stewards in open dining can even KEEP the tip you give until the end of the cruise -- because if you removed auto-tips they'd have to put your cash tip in the pool, y'know? So I suspect the money would be "held" somewhere until it was certain you'd kept the auto-tips in place. IMHO, it is WAY too difficult to try to tip the stewards in open dining.

 

One suggestion I made to another poster was to note the table # and steward, then on the last night give the maitre d' envelopes addressed to the steward & table # for distribution.

[pms4104]

It sounds like the waitstaff for the open seating are working really hard. Since we will probably eat in the dining room most evenings with open seating would it be appropriate to tip our waiters after each meal? We will probably go at different times and will not have the same waiters each evening. Any ideas on the amount we should tip?

The dining room servers all participate in the tip pool courtesy of the Hotel Service Charge. Additional monies would be at your discretion but certainly are not necessary.

[Boytjie]

I have been on three charters on HA ships and our dinner arrangements have usually been 2 fixed dining times but with open seating, except on our February Eurodam cruise there was a choice between flexible open dining (which we chose) or fixed open dining.

 

In all cases I have found the dining room staff to be very friendly. My biggest hassle was that the wine stewards were hard to find and sometimes slow in service.

[PenelopeCorelli]

We had early seating in the main dining room on the Oosterdam (table for 6) and late seating on the Westerdam (table for 2).

 

Both ships the dining experience was fantastic!!

 

By the way, anyone going on the Oosterdam, make sure you say a BIG hello to Hunky Dory in the Lido Restaurant!!! (That man NEVER forgets a name or face!!!) And if you have Why You (spelling?? and yes, that is his name) as your cabin steward Tell them Roger and Joanie say HI!!!!

Joanie

 

See, another thing I missed! I heard about Hunky Dory just as about the Yum Yum man, but I was so excited about everything that I forgot to check this out! We really liked the O!!! One day I took 65 photos of lunch in the Lido so I could show everyone how spoiled we were!:p:eek:

[kyriecat]

OP, I'm not sure how many times you have cruised. With a few exceptions, I've noticed declines in service for the past few years. My first cruise was 9-years ago. Then, the waiter had 2 tables of 8 people. He was fantastic - joked with us, knew who we were, made dinner recommendations, asked about our day, and still had time to get the plates out. The service was just fabulous! You couldn't even take a sip of water without the assistant waiter being there to refill it.

 

Since then, I've noticed that the waiters get more tables and have less time for interaction with the passengers. There are a few that manage to interact with the passengers but for the most part, they are focused on getting orders and delivering food. On Maasdam our waiter had 5 tables - 2 for 6 and 3 for 4 so he had 24 people to serve. He never learned our names and unless asked, never made any recommendations about the food. We rarely saw him smile during the two weeks we were onboard. He seemed overwhelmed most of the time. It was the same for the assistant waiter. Many times our water glasses remained unfilled because he was doing some thing else.

[tomc]

I'm an entertainer (not on ships, but in real life), working in radio. When I broke into the field, I was told, "You need to have a gimmick." I carry that over into my cruises and, while I won't spill mine, I will tell you that the first day out I start working the Lido with some simple quick hand tricks as I introduce myself twice each time.

 

As the waiters gravitate to the dining room for Open Seating, they remember me. I don't get the type of service (knowing preferences) I would get with Traditional, but they do recognize me and it's a bit more personal.

[wander]

Stewards and open/set dining.

 

Thinking back to my waitress days, I am a very outgoing person, but I can tell you it was much easier to be "friendly" with repeat customers versus first time customers and it had NOTHING to do with tips. When I saw the same customer a second, third ....time, each time it felt more like seeing an old acquaintance. I never had time for long chats, but a few words each time add up. (Then there were a few repeat customers that when sighted I would think to myself - oh no, not him/her again, but there were few of them.)

 

I have found the same on cruise ships these days. I agree that in past decades the dining room stewards had more time to chat, but those days are gone for now. However, I have found that with most stewards, a repoire (sp?) can still be built with a few friendly words each dinner.

[serendipity1499]

It sounds like the waitstaff for the open seating are working really hard. Since we will probably eat in the dining room most evenings with open seating would it be appropriate to tip our waiters after each meal? We will probably go at different times and will not have the same waiters each evening. Any ideas on the amount we should tip?

 

We usually do tip extra, but for the open dining this last cruise, we just let the auto-tip take care of it. I don't think the stewards in open dining can even KEEP the tip you give until the end of the cruise -- because if you removed auto-tips they'd have to put your cash tip in the pool, y'know? So I suspect the money would be "held" somewhere until it was certain you'd kept the auto-tips in place. IMHO, it is WAY too difficult to try to tip the stewards in open dining.

 

One suggestion I made to another poster was to note the table # and steward, then on the last night give the maitre d' envelopes addressed to the steward & table # for distribution.

 

The dining room servers all participate in the tip pool courtesy of the Hotel Service Charge. Additional monies would be at your discretion but certainly are not necessary.

 

I agree with cow princess & camp..When we had different waiters every night, on our Alaska cruise in Aug., we just let the auto tip take care of the waiters..

However on the Maasdam in Nov. we could not get fixed dining,(booked 2 weeks before departure) so we took open seating with our Friends..We had a table for 8 & bonded very quickly with the other four passengers..We all talked the Head waiter into confirming reservations for the same table & the same stewards every night..Our waiters were fantastic & we tipped them extra at the end of the cruise..

 

For our next cruise in Nov. we have fixed seating which we really enjoy..

 

Betty

[cocos]

OP, I'm not sure how many times you have cruised. With a few exceptions, I've noticed declines in service for the past few years. My first cruise was 9-years ago. Then, the waiter had 2 tables of 8 people. He was fantastic - joked with us, knew who we were, made dinner recommendations, asked about our day, and still had time to get the plates out. The service was just fabulous! You couldn't even take a sip of water without the assistant waiter being there to refill it.

 

Since then, I've noticed that the waiters get more tables and have less time for interaction with the passengers. There are a few that manage to interact with the passengers but for the most part, they are focused on getting orders and delivering food. On Maasdam our waiter had 5 tables - 2 for 6 and 3 for 4 so he had 24 people to serve. He never learned our names and unless asked, never made any recommendations about the food. We rarely saw him smile during the two weeks we were onboard. He seemed overwhelmed most of the time. It was the same for the assistant waiter. Many times our water glasses remained unfilled because he was doing some thing else.

 

That's exactly what I was talking about. You know, in past cruises (with fixed seating) our dining steward had time to chat with us, interact, joke with the kids, that's what I call being friendly. Twice one of our kids was asked to join the stewards in the show it was made in the dining room. Of course, you all are right, it's a lot easier when you get to know your steward daily.

 

Middle-aged mom, you're GOOD! Did you (and your party) enjoyed the cruise?

[suse]

That's kind of confusing about the hand tricks and gimmicks in the Lido.

What is that?

I just think that if I'm always nice and smile often that I will get great service and it really works! I have never, ever, had an aloof strange waiter who was kind of weirded out that I was there.

Take care.:)

[pipedreams62]