Is it me or does staff seem miserable on Royal Caribbean?

[awestover89]

31 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I've seen more stateroom attendants that don't seem very happy anymore.  I've been told that every time Royal adds staterooms, they don't add stateroom attendants, Royal just adds more staterooms to their workload.

 

I have noticed it seems like I see the stateroom attendants less often now than I used to (Our recent 3N cruise on the Navigator I saw our attendant only once, and that was when he was confirming that we knew the muster drill was going to start in 15 minutes)

[Labmom3]

We had one hostess in the main dining room who would joke and laugh with us each night.  Her manager told her to stop because her laugh was annoying and said she sounded like an animal.  On the survey I mentioned her by name and how lovely her laugh was and how we looked forward to seeing her each night.  I too agree that the cabin stewards are overworked, they have a very hard job.

[lovesthebeach2]

Usually I see only happy faces....but one cruise we did on Brilliance that had just completed the TA back to Tampa from the summer in the Med, we noticed the staff seemed tired.  In fact, our room steward had just come back from his break and it showed. He was late every day to do the room, I asked him a few times to please vacuum because the carpet was filthy from the previous cruisers, and he never got around to it.  I finally just opened the door and swished all the stuff into the hall.  I cut him some slack and let it go since he had just come back from break and needed to get in the groove. I didn’t want to let it upset my cruise.  

Mostly the crew is very friendly.

[HicksRA]

My only experience with a less than pleasant employee was on the Symphony TA last year.  Our cabin steward was a constant whiner and was totally disinterested in his job. On day 1 his first statement when i asked for an extension cord for my CPAP (which had already been confirmed through a medical accommodation request) was a complaint of how many Diamonds and above were on the ship and how demanding they are. Our balcony door was so filthy you couldn’t see out of it and after it not being cleaned when I asked, I had to clean it myself. 

BUT, one bad employee out of thousands of over the top great employees is certainly not a negative reflection on the cruise line. 

[davekathy]

One or two over the years. We just ignore them like we do grouchy passengers. 

[ownedbypets]

Only one stand out as being unhappy.  He had no problem telling us too. We were in a suite that had a lot of buttons so we asked how to use them. He told us they were broken. My husband asked for coffee for the machine in the room and was told the ship didn't have any. He said that his contract was up at the end of the week and he couldn't wait to get home to his wife that had gone back into prostitution. He was not signing another contract. After the second day my girls were scared of him and I found out that he was making sexual comments to them. 13 years old. I confronted him and he admitted it. I reported it and we never saw him again. 

[Jarmo]

45 minutes ago, ptf2009 said:

Agree...the cabin attendants work so hard and have always been so kind. On our recent HOS, when I waited line at the Cafe Prom to ask for a paper cup and lid (which are now behind the counter, out of reach)for my tea, the young lady turned her back from me and walked to the back room  before I could say a word. HOS would have only one crew member at a time in Cafe Prom, even after a show when there would be an influx of people creating a long line. The food selections were also VERY minimal in Cafe Prom. for how many cruisers there were on the ship. From then on, I just went to the Diamond lounge to get my paper cup and tea. Our past RC cruises had many happy crew members who seemed to love their job....it was just really different on the recent OS. The other 5 people I cruised with felt the same way...just a strange vibe all around.

Wow, they even shortened the name to Cafe Prom?  Major cutback.

[RickAinley]

26 minutes ago, davekathy said:

One or two over the years. We just ignore them like we do grouchy passengers. 

Actually that statement sums up this week on Harmony. I’ve seen way more rude and mean passengers than grumpy staff. I’ll save the stories for another day but they remind me why I could never do customer service. 😀. They would get a soup shampoo followed by a coffee conditioner. 👀 I would be dropped off in a dinghy before we gone an hour. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by RickAinley

[DfDinLA]

Miserable?  I certainly have not seen that.  I've seen employees who were not friendly, but that's a long way from miserable.

 

I admit my sample size of cruises is small but I have encountered mostly friendly employees and no one anywhere near miserable.  

 

[Arzeena]

I have seen superb crew and staff.

However both times on the Allure that seemed to be the exception.

[The Fun Researcher]

There's always those cruises and crew that are going to be at one end of the "bell curve".  OP I think you had the exception, not the norm.  ...at least that's our experience.

Dan

[karena1]

6 hours ago, kimstoess said:

I’ve been on a lot of cruises on 6 different cruise lines. Is it just me or does the royal Caribbean staff seem very unhappy. Don’t get me wrong we have encounter some friendly staff but over half of the workers never smile and they seem inconvenienced when you ask for items. Even the kids club staff acted like they hate children. I’ve never experienced this on other cruise lines but it seems like royal Caribbean it’s every cruise.

Have no idea, been on over 100 Royal Caribbean cruise and have yet to meet any staff that did not look/seem happy and meet us with a smile and "hello".  But then again, we always say hi and talk to the staff when we see them.

[bonsai3s]

6 hours ago, kimstoess said:

I’ve been on a lot of cruises on 6 different cruise lines. Is it just me or does the royal Caribbean staff seem very unhappy. Don’t get me wrong we have encounter some friendly staff but over half of the workers never smile and they seem inconvenienced when you ask for items. Even the kids club staff acted like they hate children. I’ve never experienced this on other cruise lines but it seems like royal Caribbean it’s every cruise.

 

Trying to think back of any miserable crew members we've met on Royal....can't think of any.

[amzgirl]

There's been a lot of itinerary changes due to hurricanes lately, perhaps they are tired?  

[GTO-Girl]

8 hours ago, ptf2009 said:

We just got off Harmony on Sunday and I brought up this issue on my survey. We noticed there were few smiling faces and even rude crew members at the Cafe Prom. This was our 19th cruise with RC and it was the unfriendliest cruise we have been on. We refused to let this ruin our good time.

we sailed on Harmony on 8/25 and the staff was VERY friendly and just outstanding!!

 

I made the comment to my husband that this was the most friendly and interactive crew I have ever had!! 

Edited September 28, 2019 by GTO-Girl

[cured]

9 hours ago, kimstoess said:

I’ve been on a lot of cruises on 6 different cruise lines. Is it just me or does the royal Caribbean staff seem very unhappy. Don’t get me wrong we have encounter some friendly staff but over half of the workers never smile and they seem inconvenienced when you ask for items. Even the kids club staff acted like they hate children. I’ve never experienced this on other cruise lines but it seems like royal Caribbean it’s every cruise.

We sailed our first RCI cruise last month, so our recollections are first impressions, usually the most memorable impressions.

 

We had exactly the opposite reaction.  We were amazed at how friendly and helpful the employees were.  We felt like we were treated very special guests.  It seemed everyone bent over backwards to be friendly.  We took the All Access tour and even walking down 1-80, when we were in their space, it seemed everyone went out of their way to be friendly.

[cured]

6 hours ago, travelplus said:

We have had great service on Royal except for one Shore Excursion Manager who yelled at me(but he was busy so I understood his frustration) but I still reported it because you do not yell at your customers. I was giving feedback  with regards to a tour where they did not direct my Father well to the meeting point for our bus back.  The Shore Excursion Manager got huffy but I remained calm and smiled.   I hope he does not work in this capacity if he looses his cool even under stress with passengers or crew!

This wouldn't have been on the Oasis was it?

 

The only crew member we had an issue with was the Shore Excursion Manager that led our All Access Tour. Not only was he arrogant, he was rude to the nth degree. He wasn't tired or unhappy, just plain nasty and quick tempered.

 

He blew a gasket and got into a passenger's face and belittled her for a good 3 minutes because he thought she had said that the earpieces were still not working after he fiddled with them for 10 minutes (she was right, they weren't.). Even though another member of the tour group said she was the one who said it, he continued to get in the face of the other member and totally embarrass her in front of the group.  It was jaw dropping behavior for anyone, let alone a customer service manager.

Edited September 28, 2019 by cured

[tomika75]

I have not sailed other lines for comparison, but I agree with you. My Liberty sailing had some seemingly disinterested employees in my opinion. They seemed to be all over the ship, too, maybe they were homesick, tired, etc.  I'm not sure what the issues were, but it was very distracting.

 

I ran into a lady that worked the MDR on my first sailing, that I never saw a smile from at any time. I notice that a lot of staff do not speak in the hallways unless spoken to as well. Met one perfect room attendant on Anthem, and a host of forgettable ones.

[mikenbon]

Unfriendly crew and staff was what we noticed on our Adventure of the Seas cruise last spring, except for our room steward and our dining room wait staff. Our room steward never called us by name like they always do on Carnival, but she always smiled and briefly chatted whenever she saw us. The "washy washy lady" at the entrance to the Windjammer was always super happy and she made the morning bright with her friendly attitude. We had the same table each night in the dining room, and the wait staff were great! Throughout the ship, we noticed other staff walked with heads down so they wouldn't make eye contact, or they walked right by and still wouldn't make eye contact. 

We loved the ship and will be cruising on her again in March, so hopefully the vibe is improved. No matter what, we will have a great time.

[grapau27]

14 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Kill  them with kindness.  Smile until your face hurts.  Make their day.  🙂

 

Good idea plus ask them about themselves and their family.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Who cares if staff is happy or not🤔 - as long as they do their job - I'm fine! 👍

[Thorben-Hendrik]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good idea plus ask them about themselves and their family.

Totally intrusive! 🙄😱

[Thorben-Hendrik]

15 hours ago, Labmom3 said:

Her manager told her to stop because her laugh was annoying and said she sounded like an animal.

That would be quite annoying for other people near her section.... 🤔

Good call from the manager! 👍

Edited September 28, 2019 by Thorben-Hendrik

[123funcruiser]

37 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Who cares if staff is happy or not🤔

 

Humans !!!

[Thorben-Hendrik]

1 minute ago, 123funcruiser said:

 

Humans !!!

Really? 🤔