Drinks at Dinner

[dolphincruiser404]

I have been on 2 RCI cruises. The first cruise last year on the Sovereign, and recently on the Navigator. I had no problem getting alcoholic drinks at dinner last year, but could not seem to get one on the Navigator for the life of me! One night I finally got a Pina Colada, but it had no Rum in it! Has anyone else had a problem getting drinks in the dining room?

[SiestaSand]

Not at all! We got mixed drinks and wine served promply and had no problems what so ever on the NOS 5/1

 

5/1/04 - Navigator of the Sea

[dolphincruiser404]

I was on the 5/1 sailing as well. Were you the first or second seating? What dinng room?

[SiestaSand]

We were in the second seating on deck 4. Our servers were Sam and Evaline. They were great and such fun.

 

5/1/04 - Navigator of the Sea

[mattinla]

RCI, along with many cruise lines, seem to have really cut back on the number of wine stewards/drink waiters in the dining rooms.. and it can get really hard to get a drink. What I do the first night is give them $5 in cash, and I guarantee you your drink will always be waiting... and if I have trouble finding the drinks waiter to beging with, I ask my regular waiter to get them for me..

 

CRUISES: Queen of Bermuda '89 Tropicale '99, Explorer of the Seas '02, Radiance of the Seas '02, Vision of the Seas '03, Queen Elizabeth 2 '03, Infinity '03, Serenade of the Seas '03, Monarch of the Seas '03, Norwegian Star '03, Queen Mary 2 '04,

Diamond Princess, '04

 

Detailed ship pix: http://community.webshots.com/user/mattinla

[Adventure Girl]

On the first night I always tell the dining room bar server to make sure he/she stops by my table first thing every night. After the first night, my "usual" cocktail was waiting on the table for me when I entered the dining room.

 

Monarch of the Seas 4/02

Disney Wonder 11/02

Adventure of the Seas 10/03, 3/04

Voyager of the Seas to Canada 9/5/04

 

"Girl's Getaway" on Mariner of the Seas 11/7/04

[2theship]

While we don't always order drinks with dinner, we make sure to do so on the first night. After that, the bar waiter seems to have us on his or her "rounds" and always stops to see if we need anything. If we don't on the first night, we can never seem to flag one down.

 

 until the Voyager of the Seas

 

[Psee]

It does seem harder now to get a drink than it used to be so the first night dictates the rest of the cruise. I make it a point to order several rounds the first night and that does the trick (for me and the bar waiters).

 

Mariner/Labadee Pics

 

Mariner 01-11-04

Golden '02

Radiance '01

Century '00

Grand '00

Mercury '99

Grandeur '98

Atlantic '90

Atlantic '89

[gene624]

I have noticed that, if one does not order a drink when the bar waiter first comes by, one may have a hard time flagging him down later.

[Adventure Girl]

Remember that the bar servers earn their wage from tips. So, naturally they are going to concentrate on the tables that are drinking the most. If the bar server comes by your table once and you decline ordering a drink, why would the bar server come around again? They are going to spend time catering to the tables where they are making money.

 

Monarch of the Seas 4/02

Disney Wonder 11/02

Adventure of the Seas 10/03, 3/04

Voyager of the Seas to Canada 9/5/04

 

"Girl's Getaway" on Mariner of the Seas 11/7/04