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

[Green Boy]

Kidlets are back in school here. Teachers went back the end of July and kids back the first week of August. :eek:

 

Hey paulandfran, are you from Ga ?

is so, what part ?

 

oh and on the dancing, I can take it or leave it..

I don't mind a couple of nights, but not every night.. it gets really OLD...

[mississauga]

We enjoy it and the waitstaff seem to. :) If you don't like it, request My Time Dining. It's not done there as the waitstaff are in different stages of their serving.

 

For staff who really do not want to do it, they too could ask to be stationed in the My Time Dining.

[leftcoast]

Sorry, but you were hired to serve and entertain me. If you don't like it, find another job.

Yes, you need to be entertained by the waiter because of your lack of social skills with the people you share the table with. "Dahhh, When's the entertainment coming? I wonder if they'll feed me too". You're probably someone who wants extra towel animals made for your cabin. The entertainment is down the hall on the stage genius.

[huggs]

We personally really enjoy this time and I love the look on the faces of children in the dining room during this....and yes there are those wonderful children on board Carnival Ships and us BIG kids that appreciate that life is too damn short not to have fun ! Humour and fun in the workplace is actually a proven retention factor and the waiters that we have had the pleasure of knowing seem to truly have fun with it. On our first Carnival CRuise during the last night song leaving on a fun ship...I actually cried with our server...she made the cruise an experience we will never forget !

So I say keep it !! I was not aware it was not done during any time dining...that seems a reasonable alternative ??

[paulandfran]

Hey paulandfran, are you from Ga ?

is so, what part ?

 

 

Near ATL.

[Jimnbigd]

My thoughts...

* Get rid of it? No.

* Cut it back to just 1 or 2 nights? Yes.

* Grab guests hands and get them to participate? No.

[SMSACE6]

For people on their first cruise It it is fun & different. I would not want to deprive them of their fun, but it really gets old after a few cruises. Maybe a comprise could be reached with the first & last night having the singing & dancing, with a relaxing dinner the other times.

 

I agree, and I like your idea of the first and last night for those performances. I have fine tuned my cruise dining now, so that I am in and out before the performance begins. It usually works, when it doesnt, I actually cringe through it. I feel bad for the waiters to have to perform like that. I think the time could be better spent with a more relaxing paced service. JMHO:)

[MrPete]

Yes, you need to be entertained by the waiter because of your lack of social skills with the people you share the table with. "Dahhh, When's the entertainment coming? I wonder if they'll feed me too". You're probably someone who wants extra towel animals made for your cabin. The entertainment is down the hall on the stage genius.

 

Yes you got it. except I expect the towel animals to be animated for me.

[lillian marie]

I think it's past stupid and demeaning to the dinner staff. A waiter from Eastern Europe told us he detested doing it, felt like a monkey in a zoo.

[sjn911]

I agree, and I like your idea of the first and last night for those performances. I have fine tuned my cruise dining now, so that I am in and out before the performance begins. It usually works, when it doesnt, I actually cringe through it. I feel bad for the waiters to have to perform like that. I think the time could be better spent with a more relaxing paced service. JMHO:)

 

I would like this too..I think it is almost a rush along the crowds thing..but it's a job to clear things and get ready for the next one..sjn.

[pnjkeith]

a waiter from eastern europe told us he detested doing it, felt like a monkey in a zoo.

 

 

:d:d

[zano 59]

:eek::eek::eek: No

[MiddleAgedBroad]

The very IDEA of dancing waiters had us dining at the buffet every night on our Glory cruise....well, that and the panoramic sea views.

[violettennyoshi]

That must be pretty annoying on a busy night... even the simple stuff our waitstaff does is a little. demeaning... I would never stop what I was doing just to entertain a crowd with a song and dance!

[WeBeCruisin']

It's interesting to note that, according to the poll, two out of three people don't want to see the wait-staff entertainment discontinued.

 

Yet probably 9 out of 10 of the posts on this thread are from people complaining (often repeatedly) about how offended, disgusted and mortified they are by it.

 

In most threads, it seems that the complainers are disproportionately represented. They seem to derive so much enjoyment from voicing their complaints and seem to get off on whining and grumbling.

 

I've been on quite a few cruises and the wait staff I've talked to almost all love the entertainment aspect and they love the attention they get and the break they get from hearing customers complain and demand special meals that aren't on the menu. :)

 

The "entertainment" lasts for two minutes and brings enjoyment to the majority of the passengers. For two minutes, the complainers can just put on their "Big Boy or Big Girl Undies" and deal with it. :rolleyes:

 

Some of the entertainment is very much first class. Maitre d' Ken Byrne and his performing and singing come to mind. Here's a video taken from our dinner table on the Splendor:.

 

 

He is also an outstanding Frank Sinatra impersonator.

 

 

 

And it's always fun to see the staff so enthusiastically performing "Hey Baby" the old Bruce Chanel standard.

 

To the "negativists", I say you just need to lighten up., guys. It's not always just about you. :D

[jaxcruiser23]

I agree its pretty uncomfortable to watch

[pafam4]

We enjoy it and the waitstaff seem to. :) If you don't like it, request My Time Dining. It's not done there as the waitstaff are in different stages of their serving.

 

For staff who really do not want to do it, they too could ask to be stationed in the My Time Dining.

 

We sailed on the Dream in July. We had Any Time Dining, and the waitstaff did indeed dance every night. My family really enjoys the performances, and we usually all get up and join in.

[TripLLLe]

I understand the views of some here who say that if the waiters don't want to do it, the whole process can be awkward. Personally, I dislike dancing, and few things are worse than when people try to make me do it. That being said, these servers did accept the job knowing that it was required. I know my mom and I loved watching the dances, and often stayed past our dessert to watch the performances. Maybe it's because I first experienced it as a 12 year old, but I know I looked forward to it each night!

[30knotsCruzinspeed]

don't like the idea of rushing courses so that they can all be ready for that silly dance routine. :(

 

I agree....although the staff really does seem to enjoy it, especially when some of the diners get up and join in.

[kujobie]

I haven't read through all 344 posts, but this is one of my pet peeves with Carnival. I would pay extra $ to not have to witness this. It's humiliating for the servers and it's just stupid. Please, FTLOG, don't do it any more. I have walked out of the dining room and forsaken my beloved chocolate melting cake just because I can't stand to watch this nonsense.

[madge57]

leftcoast - I do stop in the middle of my work and dance at times!! I have a busy schedule but I do it because I like it and so does the kids!!! So in my case your debate didn't work!! Sorry!!! Yes I know the waitstaff is very busy in fact the entire ships crew are busy. So I never take anyones job as not being important. They work too hard to do that!! So keep the music and the dance and have fun doing it you only live once so enjoy it!!

[kujobie]

leftcoast - I do stop in the middle of my work and dance at times!!

 

You must be the one that everyone whispers about...

[violettennyoshi]

its a little too hectic while serving courses to put on a show... id rather have them take a 5 minute break...

[Nanaimobound]

Well we have only been on one Carnival cruise and we really enjoyed it.

Our whole family had a wonderful time at dinner although it wasn't like other cruises we have been on, it was Carnival and we had fun. Our wait staff seemed to be having fun with it. I think whether they enjoy it depends on how we react to it. We were there to have a good time and our waiters knew that and really gave us a good show. For weeks afterward we were all saying Fun Fun Fun times!

[md10074]

 

Some of the entertainment is very much first class. Maitre d' Ken Byrne and his performing and singing come to mind. Here's a video taken from our dinner table on the Splendor:.

 

 

He is also an outstanding Frank Sinatra impersonator.

 

 

 

And it's always fun to see the staff so enthusiastically performing "Hey Baby" the old Bruce Chanel standard.

 

To the "negativists"' date=' I say you just need to lighten up., guys. It's not always just about you. :D[/quote']

 

 

Wow, he's really good. I hope we get him some time.

 

I found this video of our supercharged maitre'd on youtube. He can't sing, but look at the fun he's having, and the other waiters seem to be having a good time too. I mean one moment he's this dignified guy in a tux and the next minute he's wearing a pirate hat and light up glasses and going crazy on the table. lol Most of the anytime dining people were hanging over the balcony to see. I didn't see anybody grabbing anyone to make them dance. He gave fair warning before he did it, he would say it's showtime and then not do it for a few minutes, so all the haters could leave if they wanted. He was one of the highlights of my cruise.