No more Bartenders at dinner????

[lkdry]

Just got off the Adventurer of the Seas. This was our 3rd time on this ship in 3 years. Last two years the services was EXCELLENT! Not sure what happened this time.

 

There were no bartenders in the main dining room to take drink orders. Now your waiter does that. Problem is your waiter is already too busy as it is to now take drink orders. Ours had no clue. I actually spelled out the name of my drink and 20 minutes later my waiter came out and asked me to actually write down the name. Drinks came half way through our dinner. Not cool.

 

Then there was the coffee/tea problem. We received our tea after we completely finished dessert. The following night we never got our tea...got the cups but no tea. Spoke to another couple and they told us one night they received the tea but never any cups. The following night we decided we had enough and went to Portofino. By the end of the cruise they got their act together but only because the head waiter started pitching in and delivering drinks.

 

Our room attendant was not as quick as we had in the past. I suspect he probably has more rooms to attend to now.

 

Overall we still loved the cruise but a lot of the little "extras" were missing.

 

Anyone know why they made all these changes? The ship was full, they can't be hurting for business. So why all the cuts?

[critterchick]

The ship may be sailing full, but it's likely that RCI filled her up by deeply discounting cabin prices. They (along with many, if not most, of the other cruise lines) are in a world of hurt financially. It's been in the financial news for some time.:) So they are cutting costs to the bone, sometimes digging into the bone as well.

 

The bar waiters in the MDR have been phased out throught the fleet (it may still be an ongoing thing). If I wanted an alcoholic something besides wine with my dinner I would bring it in from one of the bars. Of, if I know I'm going to want an after-dinner drink I would order it up front.

[Jiffymom]

Wow I enjoyed ordering margaritas and we all enjoyed ordering jello shots or Bailey's after dinner.Hard to believe they will miss out selling cocktails or after dinner drinks.

[cb at sea]

One solutions is to stop by a bar on the way to dinner, and bring your cocktail in with you---that way, you'll have one to start with, and you can order another, but you'll still have something in the meantime!

[goneclear]

One solutions is to stop by a bar on the way to dinner, and bring your cocktail in with you---that way, you'll have one to start with, and you can order another, but you'll still have something in the meantime!

 

I Like this line of thinking.

[wineandbeach]

We just got off the Explorer and were amazed what the expect from the waiters. It definitely shows in the service. We ordered wine each night and they would put the bottle on the table and never open it. We quickly learned to bring a cork screw and opened our own (while hiding it so one got in trouble) Our Assistant waiter seemed to be constantly getting yelled at by the waiters (he was working for more than 1) for not being in three places at one time. The service was not near what we had on Adventure last year or any other cruise we were on but it was not because they weren't trying.

[lkdry]

I don't blame the waiters as far as the cocktails are concerned. RC is expecting too much of them. Still not bringing tea really shows the decline in service. Our waiter also forgot to return our Seapass card after ordering drinks. That was the night we never received tea at all.

 

Yet there were plenty of bartenders with nothing to do at the shows.

 

We did bring a drink to dinner the one night but that really is a pain in the butt. Shouldn't have to do that to make up for their lack of service.

[Ladylouwho]

Hi All,

We were on the Liberty of the Seas last month. We had a group of 15 (two tables) at late dining. The first night my husband and I said we would get the wine and the after dinner shooters for our table (the adults in our group). Our waiter was the one who brought the bottles of wine and the after dinner drinks. When he brought back my sea pass card and the bill, I entered an extra tip on the bar bill because he had gone out of his way to give us good service despite his extra work.

 

He looked at me and shook his head. I laughed and said, "What, you don't want the extra tip?" He said he wouldn't get it, that it would be divided up between all the waiters. So I asked him how I could get him the extra tip and he said at the end of the cruise. I said, can I still prepay the tips (we were paying tips for 6 people) and he said yes, but cash for the extra. I thanked him as I didn't want others to get HIS tip from me.

 

We had great service from him all week. The Head Waiter also helped him out a little every night by stopping by and opening the wine, etc. We saw more of the Head Waiter on this cruise than any other. At the end of the cruise I and others gave our waiter extra the last night.

 

Our waiter was on his last week with Liberty. He was headed home for a couple months then going to the Oasis for training. Since we are all going on the Oasis next June he gave us his e-mail address so he can make sure he gets our tables.

 

It was interesting to note that throughout the cruise, most of the best servers, casino waiters, etc. are all headed to the Oasis. By the end of the cruise we could almost predict which folks were going to the Oasis. All the best ones. So looking forward to great service on the Oasis.

 

Colleen

[monkeyinhat]

I get iced tea I order 1 time out of 5. don't even get water refills. Waiters don't mess with beverages. On Liberty in February our waiter missed taking orders, just walked off never finished. didnt let me finish, he walked off. He only had 10 people to wait on, our table had 4 people. he was bad

 

I think Royal is really missing out with the bar service in MDR. we are much more likely to order drinks and even 2nd drinks at dinner, than the bar. And like previous poster mentioned, buying wine for the table.

 

ROYAL CARIBBEAN, BRING ME A DRINK !

[derrick22]

Two weeks ago on the Radiance the bar waiter came by the first night. Since no one ordered anything we never saw her again. Not even for the after dinner love cups which I usually order.

 

Our waiter took care of the wine bottle order for the table and my free house wine.

 

Our service all week was top notch and we tipped extra in cash.

 

Denise

[bikn4fn]

We noticed the same thing about bar service in the MDR. When we asked about it we were told they don't have the bartenders anymore unless specifically asked. I told our waiter to make sure a bartender was there each evening for the after dinner shooters. That is our one treat one each cruise. When the bartender arrived the first night I made it a point to let him know we wanted the shooters every night. I did all of this in a very nice way - not bossy. He was there right on time each night. We made sure to set aside an envelope for him the last night of the cruise. I hope this works for the next cruise. If not, I speak to somebody to let them know our displeasure.

[Limmer]

We were on the Adventure Aug 2 to 9. Our service was outstanding. We had cocktails every night (frequently more than once), wine service, our pop was always full as were our water glasses. Our assistant server Andrei was right on top of any kind of beverage we ordered. I had tea every evening after dinner and I was presented a box of teas to choose from. I'm sorry your service was so poor but Carmelita and Andrei were top notch and we made very sure they knew how happy we were with their service.

[OHCruisinDad]

Hi All,

We were on the Liberty of the Seas last month. We had a group of 15 (two tables) at late dining. The first night my husband and I said we would get the wine and the after dinner shooters for our table (the adults in our group). Our waiter was the one who brought the bottles of wine and the after dinner drinks. When he brought back my sea pass card and the bill, I entered an extra tip on the bar bill because he had gone out of his way to give us good service despite his extra work.

 

He looked at me and shook his head. I laughed and said, "What, you don't want the extra tip?" He said he wouldn't get it, that it would be divided up between all the waiters. So I asked him how I could get him the extra tip and he said at the end of the cruise. I said, can I still prepay the tips (we were paying tips for 6 people) and he said yes, but cash for the extra. I thanked him as I didn't want others to get HIS tip from me.

 

We had great service from him all week. The Head Waiter also helped him out a little every night by stopping by and opening the wine, etc. We saw more of the Head Waiter on this cruise than any other. At the end of the cruise I and others gave our waiter extra the last night.

 

Our waiter was on his last week with Liberty. He was headed home for a couple months then going to the Oasis for training. Since we are all going on the Oasis next June he gave us his e-mail address so he can make sure he gets our tables.

 

It was interesting to note that throughout the cruise, most of the best servers, casino waiters, etc. are all headed to the Oasis. By the end of the cruise we could almost predict which folks were going to the Oasis. All the best ones. So looking forward to great service on the Oasis.

 

Colleen

 

We just came off the Liberty last week and while I did notice that the barman was missing, our waiter and assistant closed the gap and provided excellent service. Pablo (Philippines) and Serkan (Turkey) worked well together and never missed a beat regarding drink or wine orders or keeping the wine glasses filled. The kid's soft drinks and Shirley Temples were refilled without request and before the glasses were empty. Pablo is very good and that's probably why he is also off to the Oasis in October for training. He will be missed. Both of these hard working servers received extra in their gratutiy envelopes because they went beyond the norm to serve and care for their assigned tables and guests.