Should Carnival get rid of the waiter dance in the MDR?

[tikimon]

I voted no,

But it would be nice to only have it maybe the last evening for a farewell song though! ;)

[Tenga1899]

But it would be nice to only have it maybe the last evening for a farewell song though! ;)

 

That would work out really great for everyone that hates the singing, removes auto-tips so that they can personalize it all by tipping in person, and then don't show up on the last night in the MDR to tip their wait staff! :eek: ;);)

[G'ma]

 

As you can see, everyone is having a terrible time...bored silly!!!

 

 

Those folks standing near the upper railing are throwing rotten eggs because they are soooooo unhappy with the whole thing.

 

 

Even "Mr. V., the Maitre'd" is having an awful experience. Notice he is holding the tray above his head to prevent the stuff being thrown from hitting him on the head.

 

Terrible, for sure......:D:D

[trock]

 

As you can see' date=' everyone is having a terrible time...bored silly!!!

 

[img']http://lh3.ggpht.com/_R4T2ckv6x-E/SXAjYo4cHRI/AAAAAAAAA38/zp8RB9oF25M/s512/IMG_4358.JPG[/img]

 

Those folks standing near the upper railing are throwing rotten eggs because they are soooooo unhappy with the whole thing.

 

 

Even "Mr. V., the Maitre'd" is having an awful experience. Notice he is holding the tray above his head to prevent the stuff being thrown from hitting him on the head.

 

Terrible, for sure......:D:D

 

Yea.. by the looks of your fellow passengers, in the photos, they looked 'thrilled'

[Tenga1899]

Yea.. by the looks of your fellow passengers, in the photos, they looked 'thrilled'

 

...Now we have photos to match faces with all those that say yes!! :p

[martinchem]

Kind of like the midnight gala, something that's really nice to experience, but after a few times gets kind of old. Nice for the newbies, but needs to be changed a little now and then, also should be done just a couple times a cruise.

[newt98]

I still find it interesting that some people feel that stopping the singing/dancing would somehow emancipate the slaves by freeing them of 3-5 minutes of forced labor. The fact is these servers are waiting on them hand and foot, carrying huge trays, placing napkins in their laps, stooping to busing tables on the Lido, forced to smile and address us by name, working 15 hours a day but trying to look like they're thrilled to see you at the 8:15 seating. If you have read Cruise Confidential you know that many of these talented, skilled servers are also required to do other non-food service jobs around the ship. Things like cleaning the escalators. But, somehow the 3-5 minute break they get to sing and dance is an issue. Let's not let them have any fun. Yeah...Carnival is really cracking the whip by adding that to their day.

 

Maybe I just have a higher opinion of the intelligence of these people than some others do. I believe they are capable of deciding whether or not they want to work for Carnival and sing and dance in the dining room. I think they are capable to decide whether or not they want to be treated in a demeaning way by others - whether that is dancing, placing napkins in a lap, being spoken to like a servant by rude obnoxious customers, smiling when they don't feel like it, etc. etc.

 

 

blah, blah, blah...

[trock]

...Now we have photos to match faces with all those that say yes!! :p

yea.. sure.. ok.. Look again.. :p

 

I still find it interesting that some people feel that stopping the singing/dancing would somehow emancipate the slaves by freeing them of 3-5 minutes of forced labor. The fact is these servers are waiting on them hand and foot, carrying huge trays, placing napkins in their laps, stooping to busing tables on the Lido, forced to smile and address us by name, working 15 hours a day but trying to look like they're thrilled to see you at the 8:15 seating. If you have read Cruise Confidential you know that many of these talented, skilled servers are also required to do other non-food service jobs around the ship. Things like cleaning the escalators. But, somehow the 3-5 minute break they get to sing and dance is an issue. Let's not let them have any fun. Yeah...Carnival is really cracking the whip by adding that to their day.

 

Maybe I just have a higher opinion of the intelligence of these people than some others do. I believe they are capable of deciding whether or not they want to work for Carnival and sing and dance in the dining room. I think they are capable to decide whether or not they want to be treated in a demeaning way by others - whether that is dancing, placing napkins in a lap, being spoken to like a servant by rude obnoxious customers, smiling when they don't feel like it, etc. etc.

 

 

The fact they are actually busy with their "real" jobs which is run on a schedule.. should be reason enough to dissolve this silly practice. I find it neither demeaning, or enslavement or any other ridiculous claim.. I just find it annoying during dinner.. It's not relaxing to me.. -but I will not leave my dinner or run out because this side show is happening..

I am also quite sure the staff does not have a choice in the matter...

 

And if you think they are forcing themselves to smile, looked thrilled when they see you... I agree.. imagine how forced it must be to look like you enjoy dancing on a banquet table?

 

 

 

blah, blah, blah...

 

 

Exactly

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Like I said in an previous post... It's all irrelevant.. its a meaningless poll and those that want it are quite ahead

[Cardancer4]

I love dining in the MDR with my kids, because its a great opportunity for us to talk about our day and catch up and for them having a "formal" dining experience is fun, but I think having the waiters stop and having to sing and dance every night is too much work for the waiters and although some of Carnival staff look like they are having a great time, some just get thru the routine.... Maybe Carnival should only have the "show" twice a week and surprise us with the 2 nights they have it and mix it up a little and then we all would really look forward to it? Opinions? BTW last cruise we were on the Liberty and our server was Dario and he was fabulous!:):):):)

[Vanessa L]

Yea.. by the looks of your fellow passengers, in the photos, they looked 'thrilled'

 

LOL, that's EXACTLY what I thought!!!

[gecko2gecko]

I asked our waitress about this just a few days ago and she said for the most part they all really enjoy doing it. She said it gives them a chance to just be silly and let loose. I wouldn't dare suggest taking that away from someone who's busted their butt all day long working. Her perspective was that the ones that really don't want to do it find ways to miraculously be busy at just that time. LOL

[limakid]

I didnt vote because I'm torn... We do like the singing/dancing waitstaff and most times actually join them....BUT.... I do not like that they have to stop what they are doing (most times waiting to serve desert) and start the show...

 

Usually my coffee is cold by the time the show is over and the desert is served... So, my vote would be to drop it down to maybe 2 times during the week at most...

 

Hi. I was team waiter for 10 years. As company procedure, all wait satff should stop what we are doing to set up the parade, UNLESS WE ARE SERVING MAIN COURSE which is followed by condiments, sauces, etc.

 

When the Lights flashes, when the parade announcement is given, no waiters can go to pick up dessert because is the parade time. That means that if the guest has coffee, an the parade starts, sorry, the guest needs wait for the dessert.

 

The problem is that many waiters want to "go ahead" and many times sacrifice the parade just for serving the coffee. dessert, etc. If 10 people ordered souffle, of course should be served right away. But to avoid this "hurry" better do not bring souffle until the dancing/parade finishes.

 

Bear in mind that some guest are "too special/demanding" or came late that

[limakid]

I didnt vote because I'm torn... We do like the singing/dancing waitstaff and most times actually join them....BUT.... I do not like that they have to stop what they are doing (most times waiting to serve desert) and start the show...

 

Usually my coffee is cold by the time the show is over and the desert is served... So, my vote would be to drop it down to maybe 2 times during the week at most...

 

Hi. I was team waiter for 10 years. As company procedure, all wait satff should stop what we are doing to set up the parade, UNLESS WE ARE SERVING MAIN COURSE which is followed by condiments, sauces, etc.

 

When the Lights flashes, when the parade announcement is given, no waiters can go to pick up dessert because is the parade time. That means that if the guest has coffee, an the parade starts, sorry, the guest needs wait for the dessert.

 

The problem is that many waiters want to "go ahead" and many times sacrifice the parade just for serving the coffee. dessert, etc. If 10 people ordered souffle, of course should be served right away. But to avoid this "hurry" better do not bring souffle until the dancing/parade finishes.

 

Bear in mind that some guest are "too special/demanding" or came late that changes all the normal routing of the service, so to syncronize correctly the service with the parade time is utopic.

 

You can drink the coffee and for the dessert time you get refilling. If you are on vacations, you need caffeine! All the best 4 U. But did you know that the salary, the SALARU from Carnival arcades is just us$ 74 per month aprox...??? Yes, 74, no 740, no 1,740, but only seventy four bucks. 45 salary and 29 for vacations. Holidays: 11.54 bucks.

 

Next time, when you see a team waiter with the tag of "Assistant Waiter", that means he is on training and will NOT receive the gratuities the Co. discounts you from the S&S card. Before they did, but no, no more.

[Angileyze1]

We LOVED it. We missed a few nights in the MDR because of a steakhouse reservation and one night my mom wasn't feeling well. We both commented that the singing and dancing is what we would miss the most! We love to look around and see who's waiter is the "best" and we always smile at them and tell them what a great job they did. We loved it even more on the Freedom in May when our Ma'tradi (sp?) Sang to us. He had such a great voice!

[md10074]

After experiencing Joseph the "supercharged" Maitre d', I have to say we LOVED it. He was certainly entertaining and both he and the waiters looked like they were having a good time to me. If they thought it was demeaning, you could have fooled me.

 

Most of the time it started just when I was supposed to get dessert. I didn't mind waiting at all. I wouldn't have eaten it then anyway because I had my video camera out!

 

It entertained my kids, it was fun to look at, and I love that they do it. It sure changed a lot since my last cruise 15 years ago when all we mostly got was the waiters parading and bringing the food out, and if it was Italian night they would sing an Italian song, etc. This is a lot more fun and I hope they don't ever get rid of it. Although, maybe they should get rid of that Flo-rida song because I looked up the lyrics when I got home because I never heard it before and yikes, it's kind of dirty!

[hubofhockey]

Two nights a week would be more than enough. One of the many reasons we chose anytime dining on the Magic is to avoid this disruption. (Magic has separate floor of MDR for anytime dining). But I understand that Carnival has many customers who enjoy the Farcus designed ships and singing waiters. These are both things I'd like to see Carnival move away from.

[med2cruise]

The dance was a nice little part of entertainment. My husband and I said that this would have never happened on our last cruise. My daughter 19 really enjoyed it, thought it was entertaining.

[princesskristen]

Unless there's a real issue with the staff not wanting to do this, I wouldn't eliminate it. I saw a lot of interaction between the staff and passengers during the dance. Made it feel like a party. I thought it was fun.

 

That's how I feel about it too. Back in March, our waiter actually grabbed me and my friend to dance with him and it was A LOT of fun!

[elcuchio24]

I am still suprised by the results of this poll.....

[MrPete]

I am still suprised by the results of this poll.....

 

Why is that?

 

I was just watching some old videos of past cruises this week, and was reminiscing the frivolity of those old times, old tablemates, and long forgotten serve staff.

 

And the fun everyone was having,

 

Went to a wedding last year, where the bride wanted to "cut all that nonsence" out of her reception. Most boring wedding I EVER attended.

[f7prez]

It's not what I'm looking for at dinner. Save it for the after dinner show.

[SueG]

I LOVE IT!!! It puts a smile on my face every time.

[dmdiver]

I enjoyed it the first couple of times, but I can do without it. What bugs me is when my food is sitting there waiting to be served & the dance begins.

[flynnsport]

it can go...

[tmackel]

Some of the waiters are better dancers then the performers in the night shows. My two older DD (22 and 18) love it!