"This might be YOUR vacation, but it's MY life"

[The_Big_M]

When do you receive these surveys? just one at the end of the cruise? Because i'm doing a back to back cruise on the Harmony. So i dont want to hear the speech at the end of the first cruise, tell them the truth (if i was unimpressed) and then on the second cruise have them be all salty with us :/

 

It's sent about 12-24 hours after disembarking. However, there are 7 days to collate the results and then the results are sent back to the ship, so there's a week before the ship gets the results of the previous sailing.

 

Further it's more about an overall result rating the ship and staff, not looking at individual customers. Unless you put negative written feedback in referring to yourself, they wouldn't see anything identifiable.

[ReneeFLL]

I only read a few pages so I'm not sure if this was already mentioned.

 

I wonder if Royal is pushing them to get all 5's so that they can turn around and say that Royal is rated #1 by customer satisfaction? Sounds like an underhanded thing to do.

[Clarea]

When do you receive these surveys? just one at the end of the cruise? Because i'm doing a back to back cruise on the Harmony. So i dont want to hear the speech at the end of the first cruise, tell them the truth (if i was unimpressed) and then on the second cruise have them be all salty with us :/

Most times we get the survey on the same day we leave the cruise. Also, if we're on a back to back, sometimes we get an access code for WiFi so we can fill out the survey for the first cruise for free.

[John&LaLa]

Most times we get the survey on the same day we leave the cruise. Also, if we're on a back to back, sometimes we get an access code for WiFi so we can fill out the survey for the first cruise for free.

It's a nice scam to get a free day of internet. [emoji6]

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[Host Jacquelyn]

I only read a few pages so I'm not sure if this was already mentioned.

 

I wonder if Royal is pushing them to get all 5's so that they can turn around and say that Royal is rated #1 by customer satisfaction? Sounds like an underhanded thing to do.

 

Was reminded of this yesterday - I had a furnace maintenance technician at my house, and he asked me to give him all 10's in the email survey. Only 10's will do, anything less is considered unsatisfactory.. This really is pervasive.

[TubbyMrT]

Oh my, yet another reason to avoid the main dining room. :D

 

Fortunately, I've never had any survey pressure applied to me by any of the Windjammer staff.

 

To ensure that my "survey results" reach each person and that they are properly rewarded, I always provide my "survey results" verbally, face-to-face, along with cash.

 

Yep, "survey results" to each person that wowed me during the cruise. Us old folks call it a "tip". This method cuts out the middle-man, and ensures effective communication of the message.

 

I will also fill out the survey, but I often feel that data falls on deaf ears or is diluted into a pie chart somewhere.

[maryjaden]

Maybe it's possible that Guest Services could clue in my room steward or whomever once I have automatic gratuities removed - but I really doubt it. I'm on the Liberty of the Seas now & have been so pleased with 90% of the service here. I have my cash with me & am all ready to tip when the time comes.

 

P.S: I was NOT hit up in the dining room for perfect scores or even told about a questionnaire ... so far. Will update if that changes!

 

5/14/17: Royal Caribbean, Liberty of the Seas

9/25/17: Norwegian Jade, Path of the Vikings

 

We did the all access tour on the Oasis a few years ago and did see a list of cabins posted that had the gratuities removed. So (at least on that sailing) house keeping did know.

 

On our Adventure sailing last November our survey was 1-5, but on other sailing we have had 1-10 for options. We received a very polite request for all 5's from our dining room staff at the end of the meal on the first night. Our reply was to keep up the great service and it would not be a problem!

[*Miss G*]

We need volunteers to contact all the cruisers who don't visit this board to inform them of this outrage! I am overcome with grief knowing that people's lives are at stake!! Think of the children!!! :loudcry::loudcry:<|3:loudcry::loudcry:

[JustLoveToGetAway]

We did the all access tour on the Oasis a few years ago and did see a list of cabins posted that had the gratuities removed. So (at least on that sailing) house keeping did know.

 

On our Adventure sailing last November our survey was 1-5, but on other sailing we have had 1-10 for options. We received a very polite request for all 5's from our dining room staff at the end of the meal on the first night. Our reply was to keep up the great service and it would not be a problem!

So good to know! Who knows if that applies to all the other ships - but I'll be heading to Guest Services to have auto-gratuities removed on the tail-end of my cruises instead of the beginning from here on out. FTR, service professionals on last week's Liberty of the Seas were all excellent. The questionnaire came in yesterday & I gave everyone a perfect score.

 

However, my comments were reserved for the ridiculous new $7.95 room service surcharge Royal Caribbean began implementing in March. When I learned of it, I called room service & flat out asked: "So I'd be charged $7.95 fee each time I order a small cup of iced tea, correct?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Okay, thanks!"

 

Duly noted.

 

5/14/17: Royal Caribbean, Liberty of the Seas

9/25/17: Norwegian Jade, Path of the Vikings

[lbjen]

I also get frustrated when asked to give top marks on a survey, especially when it's accompanied by a sob story.

 

I think Royal needs to stop using these surveys as a way to punish their staff. Either they want the truth, or they don't. I'd rather just not bother than lie, because I don't want to see someone lose their job over something that wasn't trivial enough for me to ignore but isn't worth losing their job for.

[the mistral wind]

We did the all access tour on the Oasis a few years ago and did see a list of cabins posted that had the gratuities removed. So (at least on that sailing) house keeping did know.

 

On our Adventure sailing last November our survey was 1-5, but on other sailing we have had 1-10 for options. We received a very polite request for all 5's from our dining room staff at the end of the meal on the first night. Our reply was to keep up the great service and it would not be a problem!

Maybe they preferred to pay cash in hand.

[bUU]

I think Royal needs to stop using these surveys as a way to punish their staff.

And instead use what?

 

Either they want the truth, or they don't.

They want the truth. You just don't like how some people are telling you that they use the truth. I sure wouldn't want to work in such a system, but I bet half of you posting in this thread do jobs I wouldn't want to do. That's non-sequitur.

[grapau27]

And instead use what?

 

They want the truth. You just don't like how some people are telling you that they use the truth. I sure wouldn't want to work in such a system, but I bet half of you posting in this thread do jobs I wouldn't want to do. That's non-sequitur.

Every customer service company in the UK now want you take surveys and some offer incentives to take part.

You seem well versed in most threads what does your job entail?.

[bUU]

Every customer service company in the UK now want you take surveys and some offer incentives to take part.

Normalized surveying is the most powerful way to gather input for customers. While responding to unsolicited feedback is necessary, it is not normalized data and therefore unsuitable for use in managing an enterprise.

 

 

You seem well versed in most threads what does your job entail?.

My current job is just carrying me into retirement. My experience relevant to this thread comes from the years I worked as a certified third-party. That gave me an inside view into how literally hundreds of companies operate with an eye toward those matters affecting how they service customers, how they develop their infrastructure and human resources, and how they comply with relevant laws and regulations.

[lbjen]

I would like to be honest about my feelings about the cruise without worrying that someone was going to lose their job over something that is worth mentioning, but not worthy of someone losing their livelihood. I'm not the kind of person who feels someone always needs to be fired, especially since most of the time it's the fault of the cruise line for understaffing in the first place.

 

It's the same with online reviews now, I'd like a way to filter out all the ones that were given in exchange for a free product. They're meaningless and not at all helpful.

[bUU]

I would like to be honest about my feelings about the cruise without worrying that someone was going to lose their job over something that is worth mentioning, but not worthy of someone losing their livelihood.

There's a form of survey error that is attributable to the inclination of respondents to enter only extreme values about the matters they wish to affect (and accurate values for everything else). In other words, the respondent gives the best marks not to what is best but rather to what they want to change the least, and gives the worst marks not to what is worst but rather to what they want to change the most. From the standpoint of the cruise line, your statement could be perceived to be a variant of this form of survey error. You're saying that you stand behind what you say to the extent that you believe it will change the cruise line's actions but not to the extent that it would change crew members' situations, i.e., that you're providing feedback solely in the interest of trying to manipulate the survey to prompt specific changes by the cruise line, as opposed to providing the cruise line what they were requesting, i.e., an accurate measurement of the quality of the service provided from the perspective of the person to whom the service was provided.

 

I'm not the kind of person who feels someone always needs to be fired, especially since most of the time it's the fault of the cruise line for understaffing in the first place.

A fundamental principle of world-class operations management is that all work is part of a process and failures are almost always a failure of management to appropriately manage the process. There are rules in regulatory and industry standards that specifically require that all work be the responsibility of specific people, and that management - specifically - be held responsible for performance of the process.

 

We don't have any cruise line declaring publicly that they are going to fire any crew member who gets a bad score on a single passenger's feedback survey. Some people choose to believe it based on what they've heard from what they consider reliable sources or based on their own self-professed first-hand knowledge, but I'm skeptical when people accuse a long-standing profitable enterprise of such a direct violation of such pervasive management standards. It fails the sniff test because it is not profitable to replace staff members who were unfairly assessed by an individual passenger.

 

By contrast, it does make sense, and it is proper, for staff to lose their jobs if that is determined by management, based on performance indicators, that that staff is underperforming what newly acquired staff would likely be able to achieve. It's a cold and calculating way of managing and it is the only way of managing that honors the obligations to both owners and customers.

[skyking]

I didnt look back to see if this had been mentioned, but I got the survey for our Oasis cruise, and I noticed this page.

 

[grapau27]

Normalized surveying is the most powerful way to gather input for customers. While responding to unsolicited feedback is necessary, it is not normalized data and therefore unsuitable for use in managing an enterprise.

 

 

My current job is just carrying me into retirement. My experience relevant to this thread comes from the years I worked as a certified third-party. That gave me an inside view into how literally hundreds of companies operate with an eye toward those matters affecting how they service customers, how they develop their infrastructure and human resources, and how they comply with relevant laws and regulations.

Good luck and a long and happy cruising retirement when you decide the time is right x

[grapau27]

There's a form of survey error that is attributable to the inclination of respondents to enter only extreme values about the matters they wish to affect (and accurate values for everything else). In other words, the respondent gives the best marks not to what is best but rather to what they want to change the least, and gives the worst marks not to what is worst but rather to what they want to change the most. From the standpoint of the cruise line, your statement could be perceived to be a variant of this form of survey error. You're saying that you stand behind what you say to the extent that you believe it will change the cruise line's actions but not to the extent that it would change crew members' situations, i.e., that you're providing feedback solely in the interest of trying to manipulate the survey to prompt specific changes by the cruise line, as opposed to providing the cruise line what they were requesting, i.e., an accurate measurement of the quality of the service provided from the perspective of the person to whom the service was provided.

 

A fundamental principle of world-class operations management is that all work is part of a process and failures are almost always a failure of management to appropriately manage the process. There are rules in regulatory and industry standards that specifically require that all work be the responsibility of specific people, and that management - specifically - be held responsible for performance of the process.

 

We don't have any cruise line declaring publicly that they are going to fire any crew member who gets a bad score on a single passenger's feedback survey. Some people choose to believe it based on what they've heard from what they consider reliable sources or based on their own self-professed first-hand knowledge, but I'm skeptical when people accuse a long-standing profitable enterprise of such a direct violation of such pervasive management standards. It fails the sniff test because it is not profitable to replace staff members who were unfairly assessed by an individual passenger.

 

By contrast, it does make sense, and it is proper, for staff to lose their jobs if that is determined by management, based on performance indicators, that that staff is underperforming what newly acquired staff would likely be able to achieve. It's a cold and calculating way of managing and it is the only way of managing that honors the obligations to both owners and customers.

Great explanation.

[Pstreet12]

They use these surveys to justify reducing services and food quality. As long as people are still giving 5's they can say "see, everyone is still happy after we made XYZ change/cut". That's because it is a sympathy 5, not an honest 5.

 

If enough people rated honestly they'd stop putting the poor workers on the chopping block for it and examine the real causes and correct them. If they were actually interested in that.

I agree. Getting 5's on everything leads to being able to say they are outstanding in all areas...and that's not true. Obviously, we like Royal enough to keep coming back, but they aren't outstanding in everything, and saying they are just leads to management deciding there are more spots where they can "shave a little off" because no one will notice.

[grapau27]

I agree. Getting 5's on everything leads to being able to say they are outstanding in all areas...and that's not true. Obviously, we like Royal enough to keep coming back, but they aren't outstanding in everything, and saying they are just leads to management deciding there are more spots where they can "shave a little off" because no one will notice.

A new perspective and interesting too.

[Suzieanna]

I think surveys are a crock. I will play the game and tick the 10 box. I will take their surveys as seriously as they do.

 

If something is not to my liking I will bring it up at the time and know that if it can be sorted, it will be.

 

If there is a serious staffing issue, well - I am not Royal management. It's not my concern. I don't pay $$$ to be an assessor of their staff. I would expect their management to notice and rectify such things.

[the mistral wind]

I would handle it the following way. I would ask for the waiter's full name and let him know that I would be writing to the corporate office and let them know that I felt that the Service was worth a '5' but the food was not, and that the rating of the food should not be held against the waiter. I would make sure that the waiter's name was mentioned and that he should be commended for his excellent service and rewarded appropriately. I would also attempt to reach out to the head of food services on the ship or higher and make sure that this is know as well.

 

I would not hesitate to let the corporate office know that it is not only inappropriate to make the staff ask for a '5' on the ratings in every category, but by doing so, it places the customer in an uncomfortable position where they should never be.

 

Personally, if they are so concerned that there will not be a '5' in every category, then maybe they need to return to the days when a '5' in every category would not be a request but instead a pleasure to give.

You hit it on the nail. exactly. Especially return to the days when a 5 was not a request but a pleasure to give. I remember those days.;)

[LMaxwell]

On a recent MSC cruise the only thing that stood out was one night the CD introduced the heads of each department and they said they were proud of the hard work of all crew and staff and hoped we would be too.

That was it. No mention of any scores, surveys, nothing. No speech in the dining room. No pandering by any staff member for anything. To me that's a lot better than smiling in my face begging me to rate something that is average as being excellent.

[toyisland8]

Maybe we should interrupt them on the first night and say they currently have all 5's, please try and keep it that way. ;)

 

Love this! If approached at the start, this is exactly what I think I will say.