Friendly Bar Staff - Just a Diet Coke!

[Sarah@Sea]

As you can see I sail a variety of cruise lines, after my recent cruise on HAL I have to post here to praise Carnival staff. By far from the RCCL, Carnival, and HAL cruises I've taken since September, Carnival's staff and crew were the best, most friendly and great service. One thing that has really stood out to me is the bar staff. I rarely drink alcohol, on a cruise we might get one or two drinks by the pool, etc. On RCCL I bought the beverage package, which I have to say the disappointment with that was being in the Windjammer and having a waiter ask me if he could get me a drink and when I said "diet cherry Coke", he replied "oh you'll have to get that from the machine yourself"...ok no problem...yet another waiter then came by and asked (I was watching table while mom was getting her food)...and when I said I was going to get it myself since I wanted a special drink HE went and got it for me. Anyway...

 

On Carnival we decided not to get a beverage package, we really like their ice tea...but on occasion we ordered sparkling water or a diet coke. Ming the bar server in the MDR was super, he make little artwork with the straws each time, and our waiters actually kept back the leftover sparkling water for the next night like they do bottles of wine...we were very surprised and thankful for that. Despite not racking up a large bar tab, we were treated with great service, and the one evening I did want a drink to take the casino I ordered it from Ming at the end of my meal.

 

Now, on HAL, when bar staff came by to ask if we wanted something they seemed disappointed that I didn't want wine and only wanted a diet coke. In the specialty restaurant Taramind, after I said 'two diet cokes'...she came back with "vodka and diet coke?"...I said no "just diet cokes"....then it we didn't receive them for a very long time, I didn't say anything but she came back later in the meal and said since it took so long to bring our drinks there would be no charge....which was nice. But I know we are not the only cruisers who do not order alcohol regularly....am I the only once who senses the staff disappointed reaction?

 

Again...kudos to Ming on Carnival Victory! And yes, I mentioned him and our MDR staff by name in my survey comments!

[Tapi]

We are Diet Coke drinkers as well. We rarely purchase alcoholic drinks on cruise ships either (I probably ordered a total of 3-4 beers during the entire length of a 7 day cruise).

 

On our last HAL cruise, we actually pre-purchased soda cards which turned out to be a great deal. I must say that not once did we encounter any issues with rude staff or sub-par service because we were just ordering sodas (and to top it off, using a pre-paid soda card). In fact, the entire bar staff throughout the ship was very pleasant.

 

Kudos to Ming for making your Victory cruise extra special and for making Carnival stand out among all the cruise lines. Sometimes that's all it takes for a cruise to be memorable; the exceptional service from just one crew member.

[golfadj]

On our Dream cruise last week one of our tablemates had the soda package.

 

He has found out that if he gives the waitress a buck every night a soda will be waiting for him and she will come back with another during dinner.

 

In the past no buck no soda.

[jimbo5544]

On our Dream cruise last week one of our tablemates had the soda package.

 

He has found out that if he gives the waitress a buck every night a soda will be waiting for him and she will come back with another during dinner.

 

In the past no buck no soda.

It appears cruising is like most everything else in life. Money does make the world go round. Tipping bar staff with drinks has gotten us a heavier pour as well.

[LMaxwell]

Service staff on Carnival always known for being friendly. Glad this continues.

 

Have you done any reviews/comparisons? You racked up quite a bit of cruises lately. Going on Freedom next year, strongly looking at Eurodam/Nieuw Amsterdam also.

 

Is Victory a spirit class ship? Carnivals Hawaii itinerary is super tempting too. :eek:

 

Vacations getting in the way of work...

[golfadj]

It appears cruising is like most everything else in life. Money does make the world go round. Tipping bar staff with drinks has gotten us a heavier pour as well.

 

It does seem to grease the wheels

[Sparky2]

Service staff on Carnival always known for being friendly. Glad this continues.

 

Have you done any reviews/comparisons? You racked up quite a bit of cruises lately. Going on Freedom next year, strongly looking at Eurodam/Nieuw Amsterdam also.

 

Is Victory a spirit class ship? Carnivals Hawaii itinerary is super tempting too. :eek:

 

Vacations getting in the way of work...

 

No, Victory is not a spirit class ship. Spirit, Pride, Miracle, & Legend are Spirit class ships.

 

Victory & Triumph are a category of their own.

[cruisingknut]

Good or bad I tip a dollar and get the diet coke with a cherry at the table when I arrive. Plus refills. That is with a drink card,

[Colorado Kat]

Getting a diet coke takes the same amount of work for the waiter, but with les tips attached. It shouldn't matter, but it does. The $1 nightly tips make a difference.

[golfadj]

Getting a diet coke takes the same amount of work for the waiter, but with les tips attached. It shouldn't matter, but it does. The $1 nightly tips make a difference.

 

15% of an alcoholic drink brings them more than a soda.

[tmac04]

We don't drink either. I always purchase the soda package because I don't like iced tea and have only had trouble on one ship. On the Carnival Fantasy the guy that delivered drinks came to our table the first day and never came back. We sat with another family (12 of us total) and 4 of us had the soda package. After that I just went upstairs to the bar and got my own coke. By the end of the cruise the nice guy had a coke all ready for me!

[ccruisequeen]

I asked for a banana split(virgin dirty banana) and the bartender tried to charge me for the alcohol. I noticed the extra price and told him to redo it. When I saw it on my bill towards the end of the cruise I complained but luckily it was deducted.

On top of that, he forgot to add the chocolate and I had to point it out.

Hard to get a good virgin drink anymore! Then the ones listed on the menu that say they can make, they won't (chocolate mocha getaway and mudslide)

[Dave85]

On our Dream cruise last week one of our tablemates had the soda package.

 

He has found out that if he gives the waitress a buck every night a soda will be waiting for him and she will come back with another during dinner.

 

In the past no buck no soda.

 

I've used that approach myself and it works more often than not.

[Sarah@Sea]

It does seem to grease the wheels

 

I usually add additional tip on bar receipt...was surprised HAL didn't have us sign anything...and the receipt didn't appear to have a spot for additional tip either.

 

As for the $ greasing the wheels...off topic of bar staff...got off HAL in Port Everglades and got a porter as usual and was surprised to see all porters waiting in line with passengers and luggage, not heading to front to escort through customs...yes I tip once outside so it's not even slipping $ to get the service as usually they don't know if a person will tip or not (hope all do). POM and Canaveral the porters escort out, not sure why Everglades they were not, but again it was ALL porters, not just ours...it did not affect the tip I gave him...I still got the service of luggage assistance which is what I needed.

[Sarah@Sea]

15% of an alcoholic drink brings them more than a soda.

 

Yes, but getting my diet coke during dining room time doesn't/shouldn't take away from any of their possible alcohol customers...they have their assigned area, correct? So it's either the 15% (plus in my case) on my diet coke and bottled water or nothing at all from our table.

[cruise pup]

On my recent Splendor cruise we had a bar waiter come to us in the dining room. After the first night we didn't order anything from him but he always came by, knowing we weren't ordering anything, just to say "hello." He even did this when I passed him in the Promenade. Just a sweet fellow with whom we bonded during the cruise.

 

I don't drink and couldn't even have carbonated beverages or anything with sugar, so that basically left me with water. On QM2 in the Chart Room a waiter would bring me water every evening without me even asking. I made sure to tip him. Once, mid-cruise and then again at the end of the cruise. I mentioned that I know he wasn't earning his usual tip from me and I wanted to make sure he received a gratuity. When I went on Legend of the Seas after asking for water once the waiter avoided me for the rest of the cruise. I got the water at the bar instead.