Wine Waiters

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I have seen a few reviews on another site that suggests wine waiters have been abolished. Is this true? Have these staff been allocated to general waiting duties?

 

Thanks, Stephen.

[Parsman]

Yes, it is correct that there are no longer wine waiters on Fred. Olsen ships. Whether they have integrated them into the main waiting staff I don't know. There was a significant reduction in staff when the "Black P:(rince " was sold so they may have been included in this.

I think it is a great shame. It certainly slows down the service at dinner as your table staff have to open and serve wine before they get on with taking the meal orders. Also it was good to have someone to chat to about the wines on offer.

I am afraid it is yet another cost cutting move which spreading across the whole cruise industry.

[Popsey Wopsey]

Yes its right, puts more work on already overworked waiters and more grumbles from passengers.:(

[simonpjd]

Yes it is true - no wine waiters.

BUT wait all is not lost. On Balmoral (maybe others) you can preorder the wine thru your cabin telly and blimey there it was on the table as we walked in. So it didnt cause us any problems at all.

[Freecall]

It certainly is the case. Following the lay-offs of staff earlier this year, there is now a noticeable change in the way that things are run. The abolition of the wine waiters has had a knock on effect in that the table staff now have to deal with the drinks orders which makes things very hectic at mealtimes. Although the staff are as friendly as always they are clearly unhappy with the extra workload. The Maitre d’ and assistants now have to muck in to clear tables etc to keep things moving and there is much less opportunity to discuss food etc with the waiters.

 

Sign of the times I suppose.

[Parsman]

Yes it is true - no wine waiters.

BUT wait all is not lost. On Balmoral (maybe others) you can preorder the wine thru your cabin telly and blimey there it was on the table as we walked in. So it didnt cause us any problems at all.

 

This works well. On all the ships you can pre-order wine by completing an order card at the wine station near the restaurants. This saves a lot of time. The dinner menu is on show close to the order point so you can select the wine appropriate to the meal you plan. I agree, all is not lost.:)

[1160451]

I agree the loss of the Wine Waiters is sad, but as PP says we pre ordered wine on Feb cruise and it was jolly good.

 

Maybe without wine waiters you will have to pour your own after the bottle is opened:)

[Parsman]

I agree the loss of the Wine Waiters is sad, but as PP says we pre ordered wine on Feb cruise and it was jolly good.

 

Maybe without wine waiters you will have to pour your own after the bottle is opened:)

 

That certainly was the case in the Avon restaurant on the "Balmoral" last month.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

Thank you for the information. Very sad about the news. Fred advertise themselves as traditional and somewhat formal. It will have a effect on overall quality of the dining experiences. Fred is not particularly cheap compared to Cunard or P&O if you want a balcony. Do they think we do not notice these cutbacks. I still miss the in room biscuits.

 

Thanks again, Stephen.

[Freecall]

 

Maybe without wine waiters you will have to pour your own after the bottle is opened:)

 

On a recent trip this was not the case, the waiters would pour but no ice buckets for white.

 

This is detail though, the real issue is that the waiters are now so rushed the whole experience has changed.

 

.

[Dartmoordan]

I agree the loss of the Wine Waiters is sad, but as PP says we pre ordered wine on Feb cruise and it was jolly good.

 

Maybe without wine waiters you will have to pour your own after the bottle is opened:)

 

 

Oh dear when did this happen we had a wine waiter on our caribbean cruise in March, we did pre order our wine on interactive TV and it was opened on our table when we arrived , on a couple of nights if we didn't finish a bottle this was taken away and kept for the next evening.

[Pugwash123]

Sadly not only have the wine waiters gone but they also seem to have reduced the waiting staff. In my opinion there has been a marked reduction in the quality of service provided especialy at busy lunch and breakfast times. On our last cruise queing seemed to be the order of the day at several lunch times due to the fact that there were spare tables available but not enough staff on duty to clear them for other diners.

 

Regards

 

Pugwash123

[Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines]

The situation with the wine waiters is that they have actually been redeployed as part of the overall restaurant waiting staff in order to even out work loads.

 

 

Regards Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Head Office, Ipswich

[simonpjd]

FOCL being perhaps economical with the truth here. Redeployed eh. It seems like they are being 'redeployed' somewhere else and not in the restaurants. There is no doubt whatsoever that the waiters seem to have more tables to do and are being pushed harder.

So FOCL where are all the missing wine waiters.

[Pugwash123]

FOCL being perhaps economical with the truth here. Redeployed eh. It seems like they are being 'redeployed' somewhere else and not in the restaurants. There is no doubt whatsoever that the waiters seem to have more tables to do and are being pushed harder.

So FOCL where are all the missing wine waiters.

 

Perhapse FOCL would like to assure us that the number of dining room staff per passenger has not declined in recent years.

 

Regards,

 

Pugwash123

[Freecall]

FOCL being perhaps economical with the truth here. Redeployed eh. It seems like they are being 'redeployed' somewhere else and not in the restaurants. There is no doubt whatsoever that the waiters seem to have more tables to do and are being pushed harder.

So FOCL where are all the missing wine waiters.

 

I totally agree. It is blatantly obvious to anyone who has cruised FOCL before that the work rate has changed in the dining room.

 

.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

> Regards Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Head Office, Ipswich

 

Thank you for your contributions to this board. So few cruise lines are so helpful.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

[monas queen]

I find this very sad. Yet another cost cutting exercise, which is bound to reduce standards even more. Are dinner times to be changed to allow the waiters extra time to open/serve wine? Are waiters to be trained to discuss the merits of different wines?

[Robbo123]

I find this very sad. Yet another cost cutting exercise, which is bound to reduce standards even more. Are dinner times to be changed to allow the waiters extra time to open/serve wine? Are waiters to be trained to discuss the merits of different wines?

 

They have recently mentioned 1st sitting to start 15 minutes earlier at 6.15. This may be due to the wine waiters, but also allow the time at the end of the meal to re-set all the tables for 2nd sitting. Agree it is a sad move, but in recent cruises have seen them be used less - in my opinion - by the passengers.

[gk5336]

We are just back from the Braemar's Italy cruise.

We did not find the absence of dedicated wine waiters caused any problem. Our table (in Grampian) was hosted on formal nights by either the Hotel Manager or Head of F & B and so, clearly on those nights the service was absolutely spot on. But on other nights the wine was served just as quickly as I might have wanted. And the rest of the service was of a very high standard. I think there may have been a less slick service at Breakfast but only on two occasions was it such as to cause irritation.

For second sitting diners the earlier start of the first sitting is a bonus. No queuing outside the entrance at 8.30!

[Colin_Cameron]

... but no ice buckets for white.

Can anyone confirm if this is the case on Braemar?

 

Heading off in 48hours and wondering if it would be worthwhile taking along one of those chill jackets.

 

Regards, Colin.

[dthompsond1]

On Balmoral in December, no ice buckets but one of those modern wine coolers that dont require ice to keep your wine chilled. Have one at home and they work fine. Also, waiter was always on hand to top up wine glass when required, never a problem. Pre ordering wine through the interactive tv was just the ticket. Dennis

[Colin_Cameron]

Thanks, dthomsond1.

 

That's one less thing to pack.

 

24hours and counting.

[Colin_Cameron]

The situation with the wine waiters is that they have actually been redeployed as part of the overall restaurant waiting staff in order to even out work loads.

 

 

Regards Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Head Office, Ipswich

... There is no doubt whatsoever that the waiters seem to have more tables to do and are being pushed harder.

So FOCL where are all the missing wine waiters.

 

I checked with our waiter last week and he confirmed the official position above. Having been a wine waiter himself he said all the wine waiters became waiters.

 

My own view is more in line with simonpjd. Our waiter (and assistant) covered five tables, four were six-tops, the fifth I'm not sure about. About thirty heads per waiter (and assistant). Just how many people were they serving before they got the assistance of the (ex-)wine waiters?

 

P.S. We had a great time and I'll post my view of the cruise as a whole on a new thread.

 

Regards, Colin.