Dining Room service is awful

[weacat]

We are week off of the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing from 11/6 - 11/13.  This will probably be our last sailing with HAL for awhile.  We found that customer service was very spotty.  The dining room was a mess.  We had anytime dining and the first night was bad.  It constantly got worse as the week went on.  The first night we sat with 2 other couples and there was only 1 waiter taking care of us - no assistant.  We understand that the first night is always a little "rough".

 

The next night we ate in the Lido and it was great!  Fast service and servers coming around every 5 mins to refill drinks.  This was true every time we ate in the Lido.

 

The 3rd night we went back to the dining room as a table of 2.  We sat at our table for 40 mins before having our orders taken.  After 90 mins and complaining to the asst Maitre D - we finally had our appetizers.  Dinner took over 2 hours??

 

The 4th night in the dining room, we were sat again at a table for 2.  Service was a bit better, but then our ordered drinks didn't arrive until we asked for them 3 times - We were almost finished with dinner before we received our wine.

 

Finally, the 5th and 7th night were better because we had the asst Maitre D watching out for us.

 

Breakfast in the dining room was even more of a disaster - food always arrived cold.  We had to ask for refills of coffee constantly.  No passed breakfast pastries.  One morning, we had asked for a refill of coffee (we only received our first cup) 4 times and it still never happened.  We ended up leaving the dining room and going up to the Lido to get more coffee!

 

On the other hand, the service in the Lido, Tamarind, Billboard, and casino was amazing.  

 

We really enjoy eating in the dining room and even though we're not President's Club or even 3 Star Mariners - we expect a better service level from HAL.  

[oakridger]

Oh my!  That sounds bad. I was on NA in September and October and MDR service was fine. I do eat a little later, about 8pm if that makes a difference. I agree that Lido and bar service was always good. ~Nancy 

[Roz]

Your Mariner status shouldn't have a bearing on service levels.  I had similar bad service on the Rotterdam in March, so I know of what you speak.

[0106]

We ate in the MDR on the Oosterdam 12 of 14 nights on our 11/5-19 cruise.  We had a fixed table for 2, excellent server and assistance, never spent more than 1 hour at dinner.  After the first night they knew our drink orders and food preferences which is why I prefer fixed to anytime dining.  
 

We ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido so we could pick and choose a bite of several dishes.  Service was excellent there too.

[Hlitner]

38 minutes ago, weacat said:

We are week off of the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing from 11/6 - 11/13.  This will probably be our last sailing with HAL for awhile.  We found that customer service was very spotty.  The dining room was a mess.  We had anytime dining and the first night was bad.  It constantly got worse as the week went on.  The first night we sat with 2 other couples and there was only 1 waiter taking care of us - no assistant.  We understand that the first night is always a little "rough".

 

The next night we ate in the Lido and it was great!  Fast service and servers coming around every 5 mins to refill drinks.  This was true every time we ate in the Lido.

 

The 3rd night we went back to the dining room as a table of 2.  We sat at our table for 40 mins before having our orders taken.  After 90 mins and complaining to the asst Maitre D - we finally had our appetizers.  Dinner took over 2 hours??

 

The 4th night in the dining room, we were sat again at a table for 2.  Service was a bit better, but then our ordered drinks didn't arrive until we asked for them 3 times - We were almost finished with dinner before we received our wine.

 

Finally, the 5th and 7th night were better because we had the asst Maitre D watching out for us.

 

Breakfast in the dining room was even more of a disaster - food always arrived cold.  We had to ask for refills of coffee constantly.  No passed breakfast pastries.  One morning, we had asked for a refill of coffee (we only received our first cup) 4 times and it still never happened.  We ended up leaving the dining room and going up to the Lido to get more coffee!

 

On the other hand, the service in the Lido, Tamarind, Billboard, and casino was amazing.  

 

We really enjoy eating in the dining room and even though we're not President's Club or even 3 Star Mariners - we expect a better service level from HAL.  

We learned a lesson, on HAL, a few years ago when it came to wine service in the MDR.  Our rule is very simple.  We will not order dinner until after we have our wine!  Even when we have shared large tables (our norm) there has been agreement (from table mates) about our "wine rule."   I should mention that we generally follow our wine rule (do not order until the wine has been delivered) on other cruise lines.  We like to enjoy wine with our food, not as an after-dinner drink.

 

DW and I tend to dine late (on HAL that would be after 4pm 🙂 ) which means after 7:30 or 8.  HAL has a rule in their MDR that none of the staff gets to leave until the last passengers have finished their dinner.  If service is slow, we simply relax, chat with our tablemates, and have a good time.  If it were to take 4 hours for them to serve dinner, then it will be around midnight before any of the staff get to go down below.  Of course, this has never happened on HAL :).

 

Hank

 

[REOVA]

We've seen spotty service in dining room for the past 4 years (even pre covid) but there are many crew who go out of their way to make it better (or try). I do notice the bigger the ship, the more hurried the crew (staffing issues?) And more issues pop up. There appears to be many new crew faces nowadays and since we try to converse with them and get to know them, it's easier to try and help them learn and rectify. We always talk with asst maitre d' about happenings (or other supervisors we meet) just to let them know what we see, not actually complaining to them, but helping. Many times things can be fixed if someone who knows the big picture (from kitchen, bar to table) can work the kinks out. Helps in their planning and training. I love having great service, but also love to help them modify for the better in their process (if they are willing). Post covid I'm sure we've all seen more spotty service both on the ships and in our hometown. 

[rodndonna]

We've done 3 cruises now with HAL.

First was fixed dining (late) and service was excellent.

Second cruise we tried anytime (eating later) and service was somewhat hit and miss, depending on how busy it and certainly not as personable (which makes sense)

Third cruise we went back to fixed dining and found the service was excellent.

 

Although we like some flexibility, we are now going to stick with fixed dining for HAL for our upcoming cruises.

[Roz]

After reading reviews from several posters and taking into account my own experience, the only thing consistent on HAL is inconsistency. 

[highscar]

After many HAL cruises not one complaint about the dinning room service.  We treat as we wish to be treated.  

[Mosaic]

Simply put, we have not dined in the MDR for years now.  Poor food and hurried mediocre service at best. Period. Lol, in the not-too-distant future, we will be trying it for maybe 10 nights.  We will see....

[Baabaaa]

We were on the same cruise as the poster with anytime dining.  We had a different waiter each night but did not experience any problems with the wait staff.  We did notice a brief delay between the appetizers and main course but we tend to go with the flow and enjoy.  The food was quite good and much improved since we sailed on N.A. right before the pandemic.

[AncientWanderer]

I don't doubt the OP had a bad experience, but in all six of our post-Covid cruises, including recent NA, the service in MDR has been excellent.  They have been kind and really prompt with everything, food and beverages.  That said, they really are hustling around to deliver that high level of service and it makes the MDR too hectic.  I wish they had more hands on deck so that the waitstaff didn't have to run, run, run to get everything just right.

[DFD1]

We gave up on the dining room years ago. The idea of taking 3 hours for dinner is foreign to our way of thinking. I understand and respect the dining habits of others, but it's not for us.

 

The Lido, on the other hand, suits us just fine and we more often than not enjoy our meals out doors on the aft deck. Sunrise or Sunset, it's a lovely place to dine.

 

We sail on the Rotterdam tomorrow and are really looking forward to it.

 

 

[Sir PMP]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We learned a lesson, on HAL, a few years ago when it came to wine service in the MDR.  Our rule is very simple.  We will not order dinner until after we have our wine!  Even when we have shared large tables (our norm) there has been agreement (from table mates) about our "wine rule."   I should mention that we generally follow our wine rule (do not order until the wine has been delivered) on other cruise lines.  We like to enjoy wine with our food, not as an after-dinner drink.

 

DW and I tend to dine late (on HAL that would be after 4pm 🙂 ) which means after 7:30 or 8.  HAL has a rule in their MDR that none of the staff gets to leave until the last passengers have finished their dinner.  If service is slow, we simply relax, chat with our tablemates, and have a good time.  If it were to take 4 hours for them to serve dinner, then it will be around midnight before any of the staff get to go down below.  Of course, this has never happened on HAL :).

 

Hank

 

No, that's what happened to us on the Koningsdam once on a packed New Year's cruise with Arnold on board.

[oakridger]

I’ve had a good time here on Rotterdam for the last thee weeks. I only ate in the MDR once but mostly for an unrelated to service personal reason. The dressy menus weren’t really inspiring or had enough variety to me though, but the quality of food seemed good. I thought the lido food variety and quality was the best lido food I’ve had on HAL on any of the ships I’ve been on. Canaletto food ad service was very good. Hot, well plated and cooked as described. Have a great trip on Rotterdam!!   ~Nancy 

[Roz]

3 hours ago, highscar said:

After many HAL cruises not one complaint about the dinning room service.  We treat as we wish to be treated.  

 

Are you implying that those of us who've experienced poor service treat the wait staff badly?

[Ellencruise]

Wow sorry for your unsatisfactory experiences in MDR. Just off NS and MDR staff was great.

[Florida_gal_50]

I can tell you I would not be happy to be in anytime dining on the koningsdam tonight.  I came to club orange at about 5:40 tonight and it was full.  The line up to get into the mdr was half way down the ship for probably an hour.  I recently read that there is no line up on the koningsdam for anytime dining.  Tell that to the people that were probably 300 deep in line to get in 🙄.

[BetsyS.]

DFD1 - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[karen_6161]

We were on the Koningsdam in May and had anytime dining.  Dinner was at 6pm and we were out in a hour.   Of course , that was with 60% capacity.  We were back on the Koningsdam in October and had early dining.  Dinner took close to two hours every night.   We were seated at 5:15 and was done at 7:15 barely making the 7:30 show.  That being said , we loved the MDR and the wait staff.  Some days it did get frustrating b/c we didn't know why it would take so long.  However seeing the line start at 5pm for anytime dining which as a previous poster mentioned, was all the way down past club orange , I am still glad I had a fixed seating. :)

[mcrcruiser]

49 minutes ago, karen_6161 said:

We were on the Koningsdam in May and had anytime dining.  Dinner was at 6pm and we were out in a hour.   Of course , that was with 60% capacity.  We were back on the Koningsdam in October and had early dining.  Dinner took close to two hours every night.   We were seated at 5:15 and was done at 7:15 barely making the 7:30 show.  That being said , we loved the MDR and the wait staff.  Some days it did get frustrating b/c we didn't know why it would take so long.  However seeing the line start at 5pm for anytime dining which as a previous poster mentioned, was all the way down past club orange , I am still glad I had a fixed seating. 🙂

We are booked on the K  for December   B2B  & both re anytime dining . From what we read here seems to be that the lido has even a better selection than the MDR    .We are not sure where we will eventually have dinner but ,I do know 3 days will be in  the speciality restaurants  . 

 

 Probably need to test the waters one day in the MDR & one day in the Lido & then go from there

[highscar]

@Roz   Absolutely not.  Just personal experience.     Sorry you interpreted differently.     

[VennDiagram]

14 hours ago, weacat said:

We really enjoy eating in the dining room and even though we're not President's Club or even 3 Star Mariners - we expect a better service level from HAL.  

 

As others have said, your Mariner status shouldn't matter at all.  An acceptable level of service should be standard.

 

On our last cruise, before Covid, our MDR late seating was ridiculously bad.  We thought we were in the trainee section.  Table of 8.  Appetizers were served randomly, with long waits between deliveries, so 1 or 2 of us would have our app in front of us, and everyone else would be waiting 10 or more minutes.  Then another 1 or 2 would arrive.  Repeat, repeat.  The same happened with the main courses and desserts.  After the second night with no improvement, we asked to be moved to a different section.  The service in that section was perfect. Service should be at least "good" everywhere in the dining room.  I'm sorry you had such an awful experience.

[albingirl]

When we've had bad service, or no service at all, we've just gotten up and left. Someone always comes running over like they've never seen anything like this before. We've also left when the MDR is so loud you can't hear your dining companion.  When we cruise, we like it a bit elegant and not like a lousy restaurant.  We can stay home for that.

[VennDiagram]

1 hour ago, albingirl said:

When we've had bad service, or no service at all, we've just gotten up and left. Someone always comes running over like they've never seen anything like this before.

 

When we left the MDR on the second night of our cruise, I announced quite loudly while standing up from the table that I was DONE with the dining room.  As I stormed off, DH behind me, one of the "someones" came running over to the table and asked the man who'd been seated across from me why HE was upset.  So yeah, for us the gong show continued 😄

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by VennDiagram