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

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

If you book the same time for every night we have found often they try to sit us on the same table or with the same waiters.

 

That's what they did for us on the Navigator of the Seas. I have to say that was really good team work in the MDR for us. Every night we were seated at the same table they were really great. Kudos to the MDR staff on the Navigator.:D

 

I agree. I had made reservations for the same time each night for my Med cruise last year on Brilliance. Initially I was just hoping I could get the same table and servers, but about a month before the cruise my doctor put me on a gluten-free diet so it became something I was definitely going to be more comfortable with. I went to talk with the head person in the MDR once I was on board and he checked my reservations and said that yes, as long as they were the same time each night I could have the same table and servers. Most of us in the area (among a variety of servers) all had made reservations for the same time every night as we saw each other pretty much every night.

 

So definitely I think if you do make reservations for the same time (and for those who say "Why not just do traditional dining?" this is a way to dine at a time in between so it's neither too early nor too late) they will try to get you at the same table and with the same servers. Though I suppose if you didn't like the servers perhaps they could move you. Fortunately I had an awesome team.

[Domino D]

I don't know the answers about grading Royal's service on the survey, but this thread is a 5 out of 5. 229 days and going strong.

[mommamd]

Surveys are a terrible waste of time and not accurate. I give everybody a 5 because they are paid based on the survey and I think they deserve to get paid. That is just my personal philosophy. If something deserves a comment otherwise I put that in the comments. Many of us are paid on surveys. "Awesome is the new adequate". Why hurt somebody's paycheck?

[Cuizer2]

Reading another thread, I was reminded by what the assistant waiter said on my last cruise.

 

We did not find the food in the MDR on our last cruise to be all that great, and frequently left over. The crew would ask if they could bring us something else, and I just said no, we would grab a slice of pizza or something from the cafe.

 

One night, the assistant waiter came by and confirmed with us that we would be giving all 5s on the Guest Satisfaction survey - for service, food, etc. I told him of course we would give 5s for service, but we did not find the food to be "5" caliber. He said it didn't matter, we should give 5 for everything, and then write what we did not like in the comments. I told him that would not be my honest opinion, and he stressed that I needed to give 5s for everything, even the food. He then said, "This might be YOUR vacation, but it's MY life". It was really chilling, and I felt quite uncomfortable.

 

What do you make of this, and what would you have done? I am embarrassed to say that I did not complete the survey because of his words. I could not give all 5s for food that I found to be sub-par, but I did not want to affect this guy's livelihood.

 

I don't give fives for anyone anywhere (ship or land) unless they deserve it. If the service is a five and the food is a three then that is how I would answer the survey. You can still make comments at the end.

[bUU]

And that's what makes surveys significant: Those that don't apply discernment don't obviate the survey results as driven by those who do apply discernment.

 

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[Biker19]

I give everybody a 5 because they are paid based on the survey and I think they deserve to get paid.

They may not get paid much longer with 5s on a survey has scores out of 10.

[Crusingdiva62]

They may not get paid much longer with 5s on a survey has scores out of 10.

 

 

 

Some surveys 5 are the top others it's 10.

 

 

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[marci22]

I've never heard a '5' requested by the dining room staff. They always ask for 10s.

[Aquahound]

Surveys are a terrible waste of time and not accurate. I give everybody a 5 because they are paid based on the survey and I think they deserve to get paid. That is just my personal philosophy. If something deserves a comment otherwise I put that in the comments. Many of us are paid on surveys. "Awesome is the new adequate". Why hurt somebody's paycheck?

 

Just curious....who told you the crew is paid based on survey results? I'd really like to know what is making people believe this stuff.

[Clarea]

Just curious....who told you the crew is paid based on survey results? I'd really like to know what is making people believe this stuff.

The only thing that comes to mind is that dining room staff who get the best ratings are given more tables, which affects their gratuity income.

[Cuizer2]

Just curious....who told you the crew is paid based on survey results? I'd really like to know what is making people believe this stuff.

 

If it is on the Internet, it must be true.

 

I posted a completely made up (ridiculous) new rule for Royal Caribbean (not on April 1). Everyone wanted where I read it. Then they got really made when I told them I made it up. I ended up having to buy a new, heavy duty, flame resistant suit.

 

I'll bet you that if I posted that Trump is going to resign next week because of pressure from his own party, some people would believe it.

[Cuizer2]

The only thing that comes to mind is that dining room staff who get the best ratings are given more tables, which affects their gratuity income.

 

So, what happens when all of the dining room staff get the same perfect scores? It means that the best ones are then in the same group as the worst ones. It is not fair to the good ones to give high scores to the bad ones, which is likely one of the reasons that service is going downhill on Royal Caribbean (in my own opinion).

[Biker19]

Some surveys 5 are the top others it's 10.

I don't remember a single question in the MDR section of the post cruise survey (which is what we're talking about) that is out of 5.

[Clarea]

So, what happens when all of the dining room staff get the same perfect scores? It means that the best ones are then in the same group as the worst ones. It is not fair to the good ones to give high scores to the bad ones, which is likely one of the reasons that service is going downhill on Royal Caribbean (in my own opinion).

I agree, having a minimum acceptable score of 10 for everyone makes no sense to me.

[richstowe]

I agree, having a minimum acceptable score of 10 for everyone makes no sense to me.

Perhaps all servers should be given a participation award . :D Maybe that's what RC is going for .

[bUU]

Maybe that's what RC is going for .

I suspect the opposite: The cruise lines want honest reviews - they want you to gives 3/5 or 6/10 and 4/5 or 8/10 when that's what the service warrants, so they have a better view of which employees to renew and which employees to be happy to see the last of.

[Aquahound]

Perhaps all servers should be given a participation award . :D Maybe that's what RC is going for .

 

Ha! Sounds like a practice for NCL's Pride of America amongst their Millennial American crewmembers. ;)

[richstowe]

I suspect the opposite: The cruise lines want honest reviews - they want you to gives 3/5 or 6/10 and 4/5 or 8/10 when that's what the service warrants, so they have a better view of which employees to renew and which employees to be happy to see the last of.

If so they have a funny way of showing it . Having anything less then the top score being worth no more then the worse score , judging employees on things that are totally out of their control ,putting the customer in the very uncomfortable position of being responsible for someones livelihood - You have a completely different take on RC's actions . They may want honest reviews but they are doing their best not to get them !

[Cuizer2]

If so they have a funny way of showing it . Having anything less then the top score being worth no more then the worse score , judging employees on things that are totally out of their control ,putting the customer in the very uncomfortable position of being responsible for someones livelihood - You have a completely different take on RC's actions . They may want honest reviews but they are doing their best not to get them !

 

Maybe Royal Caribbean's IT department is responsible for the rating system.

[bUU]

If so they have a funny way of showing it . Having anything less then the top score being worth no more then the worse score , judging employees on things that are totally out of their control ,putting the customer in the very uncomfortable position of being responsible for someones livelihood - You have a completely different take on RC's actions . They may want honest reviews but they are doing their best not to get them !

Nonsense. It sounds to me that you just don't have the stomach for how the data is used and so you're throwing whatever rhetoric you can think of to try to make a point which doesn't exist. Furthermore, now that cruise lines are increasingly punishing staff for confronting passengers about it, only those who read Cruise Critic and the like would be reminded of it repeatedly. Finally, as I said before, those who don't have the stomach for how the data is used and instead always give perfect scores don't affect the rankings: They're effectively deferring to the passenger who do provide honest appraisals, and it is only their appraisals that will affect what occurs.

 

Let's turn it around on you: Given that the reason why they want honest reviews is to make decisions on which employees to keep and which to let go, how would you get the service-receivers' input instead?

[richstowe]

Long ago I was given some good advice - Never argue with idiots . Onlookers only see two idiots arguing .

[Milwaukee Eight]

Our review of MJ (we both got one on Monday before we got home) asked if we were asked to give a good score and by whom (not individual but by area).

 

MJ rated HIGH except for the ship itself.

[bUU]

Long ago I was given some good advice - Never argue with idiots . Onlookers only see two idiots arguing .

That's interesting. What we teach our children is to be kind and courteous to other people. Different strokes for different folks.

 

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[Biker19]

I wonder if Super Mario fills out the surveys.

[marci22]

Nonsense. It sounds to me that you just don't have the stomach for how the data is used and so you're throwing whatever rhetoric you can think of to try to make a point which doesn't exist. Furthermore, now that cruise lines are increasingly punishing staff for confronting passengers about it, only those who read Cruise Critic and the like would be reminded of it repeatedly. Finally, as I said before, those who don't have the stomach for how the data is used and instead always give perfect scores don't affect the rankings: They're effectively deferring to the passenger who do provide honest appraisals, and it is only their appraisals that will affect what occurs.

 

Let's turn it around on you: Given that the reason why they want honest reviews is to make decisions on which employees to keep and which to let go, how would you get the service-receivers' input instead?

 

This gets a wut from me.