Whose Responsibility?

[Baron Barracuda]

It's been frequently discussed on cc (but not on the Viking board) how staff, including managers are unwilling to intervene in these situations out of fear that the loudmouth will take offense and lodge a complaint against them jeopardizing their position or employment. 

 

[Frenchberet]

I think you should have either brought the matter to the attention of the loud talkers, or to management when it occurred.  No point in re-hashing it now.  

[KBs mum]

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

It's been frequently discussed on cc (but not on the Viking board) how staff, including managers are unwilling to intervene in these situations out of fear that the loudmouth will take offense and lodge a complaint against them jeopardizing their position or employment. 

 

The perils of poor management and a questionnaire system. Bit like table checks, sure sign of low quality simewhere

[junglejane]

3 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

I think you should have either brought the matter to the attention of the loud talkers, or to management when it occurred.  No point in re-hashing it now.  

I believe the OP is posing a sincere question about how best to handle such a situation in the future, not rehashing the past. The consensus seems to be that one can't expect the staff to proactively deal with the situation. It's so hard to predict how people will react to either the staff or a fellow passenger admonishing them. If it were me, I'd be mortified and immediately lower my voice. As someone suggested, they may have just gotten carried away and not realized how loud they were. On the other hand, one can imagine a situation where they respond with hostility.

Edited September 15, 2023 by junglejane

[SWFLAOK]

On 9/14/2023 at 7:30 PM, Redtravel said:

Not everyone talks quietly.  Viking has lots guests.  Some may have hearing loss. 

Having hearing aids makes it even worse when the table next to you is yelling. If you have hearing loss, use hearing aids (they're affordable at Costco, and if you're on a Viking cruise, you can afford them), or order room service.

[SWFLAOK]

I think the first thing to do is mention it to the staff, and let them have a chance to mention it. If that doesn't solve the problem, then asking them to keep it down is the next step. Since one of us uses hearing aids, which make it much worse with loud talking, I'd let him inform them of that. If that doesn't work either, we would make a complaint against the  restaurant's manager since their job is managing the restaurant.

[longterm]

On 9/14/2023 at 5:20 PM, anaco_angler said:

Be assured there was no ill intent with my reference to Texas.

That's totally okay, because if it weren't for our 3 grandchildren, we'd be living elsewhere. 🙂

 

 

[longterm]

On 9/15/2023 at 11:36 AM, island lady said:

My DH also wears hearing aids.  If he can't turn them down enough (they are the kind of set that has volume wheels on each one)....he just pulls them out.  Yeah, that's when I envy him.  😉 

I started wearing them 6 months ago, even though my hearing's not THAT bad... but having spent about 40 years in the music business and going through the rock band era in the 70s, I discovered lots of upper hearing loss.

 

At any rate, I've learned in the last 6 months to take them out at baseball and football games; so far, it's been okay at concerts, but in a noisy restaurant, they go right into my pocket.

[ChrisB123]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

That's totally okay, because if it weren't for our 3 grandchildren, we'd be living elsewhere. 🙂

 

 

Funny you should say that, if it weren't for my 5 grandkids and 4 great grandkids, I'd love to move to Texas and leave the quagmire of California. 😂  Well, except for Austin or Houston.  😂

[Frisky070802]

22 minutes ago, ChrisB123 said:

Funny you should say that, if it weren't for my 5 grandkids and 4 great grandkids, I'd love to move to Texas and leave the quagmire of California. 😂  Well, except for Austin or Houston.  😂

I sense a rom-com coming on ... house swap! 

[island lady]

15 hours ago, longterm said:

I started wearing them 6 months ago, even though my hearing's not THAT bad... but having spent about 40 years in the music business and going through the rock band era in the 70s, I discovered lots of upper hearing loss.

 

At any rate, I've learned in the last 6 months to take them out at baseball and football games; so far, it's been okay at concerts, but in a noisy restaurant, they go right into my pocket.

 

I have surprisingly good hearing...though my eye sight is failing...drats.  I cannot escape the loud noises at things like you mentioned.  So I tend to avoid places that are loud.  Still have not found a decent set of ear plugs...but I am trying.  

 

Bucky's hearing loss is mostly do to Vietnam....sigh.  Think Forest Gump.  

[longterm]

22 hours ago, ChrisB123 said:

Funny you should say that, if it weren't for my 5 grandkids and 4 great grandkids, I'd love to move to Texas and leave the quagmire of California. 😂  Well, except for Austin or Houston.  😂

We live about 45 minutes north of Dallas, and it's really nice where we are; we have our families and our house and life is good. We try to ignore the crazies, avoid road rage at all costs, and most of all, spend lots of days planning and dreaming about our next trips. 🙂

 

Now if I could just win Megabucks, we'd get to all the trips on our list.

[uktog]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:40 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

It's been frequently discussed on cc (but not on the Viking board) how staff, including managers are unwilling to intervene in these situations out of fear that the loudmouth will take offense and lodge a complaint against them jeopardizing their position or employment. 

 

The loud mouth may also be a big tipper. 
We certainly noticed staff were far less empowered to tackle a range of issues than on other lines. 

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

The loud mouth may also be a big tipper. 
We certainly noticed staff were far less empowered to tackle a range of issues than on other lines. 

 

They may also be a strong repeat guest.  We know, or we are told, that 75+ percent of every Viking cruise are repeat guests, and ourselves, we have cruised 7 times now with Viking with 3 future bookings.

 

It could be that they just leave well enough alone...

 

Especially if the experience is that other lines do something about this kind of behaviour.

[Christmas-Tree]

"Hi, could we ask you to speak a little softer?"  If you don't want to do that, at least tell the manager. The manager can't randomly go up to tables and tell them to pipe down if nobody is complaining - it puts him or her in an impossible situation. But if you say something, perhaps he could talk to them, change someone's table or otherwise fix the situation.  My two cents, just asking people politely can work wonders. 

[WanderingBrit]

Bearing in mind how frequently we hear questions around dress code - "I know it says no Jeans, but will they actually refuse us entry?" - one has to assume that there are plenty of entitled travelers who might well complain if asked to turn it down.

 

It's a tough situation; as a guest my dinner should not be negatively impacted either by another guest's boorish behavior, or the socially uncomfortable need to ask them to do something about it - either directly or via the staff. I had commented elsewhere that I didn't like the noise level in The Restaurant, or being bellowed at from two tables away by someone who felt they just had to strike up a conversation with strangers (us). Plenty of responses suggested that people didn't know why I'd go on a cruise if I wasn't interested in random conversations over meals with strangers, so clearly expectations are not aligned.

[Christmas-Tree]

Sure, but if someone gets put out or upset by a polite request, it's on them.  At that point I would involve a manager.  People can't read minds; we have to be able to express themselves directly.  Or, make a decision to put up with the situation.  

 

Blaming the restaurant staff for not intervening without actually telling them something is wrong - maybe so far as they could tell, everyone was happy and having a good time - is not reasonable. They can't do a good job without feedback of some sort.

 

I'm not one to talk to random strangers either, so I know where you're coming from.  But these sort of interactions happen all the time in life.  Responding to them is just a learned skill that gets easy with practice.

[Twitchly]

I’d just ask if we could be moved. That way the other table can continue to enjoy themselves and so can we. 

[Breckski]

We really try to avoid dining at the Restaurant due to the volume and the table 3' away joining our dining experience.  We've dined many times (mainly in Europe) where the tables are ultra close or even at a common table where the person touching elbows with us never joins our conversation.  On the cruise it's different for some reason.

 

We're currently booked on 4 Viking cruises but intend to cancel 2 of these.  Keeping the other 2 due to payment/timing/location.  We recently booked a Seabourn cruise for the first time, and it'll be on a smaller ship.  One of the main reasons was to see if the dining experience is different.  We're ones that do not care if folks wear jeans to dinner but do expect common manners.  

 

 

[farmecologist]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:06 PM, mwike said:

We really try to avoid dining at the Restaurant due to the volume and the table 3' away joining our dining experience.  We've dined many times (mainly in Europe) where the tables are ultra close or even at a common table where the person touching elbows with us never joins our conversation.  On the cruise it's different for some reason.

 

We're currently booked on 4 Viking cruises but intend to cancel 2 of these.  Keeping the other 2 due to payment/timing/location.  We recently booked a Seabourn cruise for the first time, and it'll be on a smaller ship.  One of the main reasons was to see if the dining experience is different.  We're ones that do not care if folks wear jeans to dinner but do expect common manners.  

 

 

Late to the party here...but here goes.

 

Darn..so it looks like the dining experience on Viking Ocean isn't all that intimate?  We typically like a "table for two" at meals that isn't elbow to elbow, etc... We were disappointed in the seating situation on our Viking River cruise...and resorted to trying to snag one of the few tables for two out on the terrace.  We were mostly successful...but we had to "camp out" there well before dinner was served. 

 

Any venues on the Viking Ocean ships that have true "tables for two"?   We don't really like the pseudo "tables for two" that are lined up and you nearly touch elbows, as you mentioned.  We have had no problems with this on many other cruise lines...but this seems to be an issue on Viking.  

 

BTW - we are not antisocial or anything...and we socialize at the bars and lounges, etc... However, we do enjoy eating dinner in a more "intimate" setting.

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by farmecologist

[LindaS272]

It’s only an issue for some people. It’s never been an issue for us. There are private enough two tops in all venues—and when close to others you can either request another table or make it clear you’re not interested in conversation. Like I said—never been an issue for us.

[janetcbl]

10 minutes ago, farmecologist said:

 

Late to the party here...but here goes.

 

Darn..so it looks like the dining experience on Viking Ocean isn't all that intimate?  We typically like a "table for two" at meals that isn't elbow to elbow, etc... We were disappointed in the seating situation on our Viking River cruise...and resorted to trying to snag one of the few tables for two out on the terrace.  We were mostly successful...but we had to "camp out" there well before dinner was served. 

 

Any venues on the Viking Ocean ships that have true "tables for two"?   We don't really like the pseudo "tables for two" that are lined up and you nearly touch elbows, as you mentioned.  We have had no problems with this on many other cruise lines...but this seems to be an issue on Viking.  

 

BTW - we are not antisocial or anything...and we socialize at the bars and lounges, etc... However, we do enjoy eating dinner in a more "intimate" setting.

 

There are a few tables for two at the very rear of the dining room that aren’t on top of the adjoining table. We had one many nights and we could actually hear each other speak. Other nights we were at window tables for two, with a four too right next to us and the evening was more “sociable”. We liked both setups.

[farmecologist]

4 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

There are a few tables for two at the very rear of the dining room that aren’t on top of the adjoining table. We had one many nights and we could actually hear each other speak. Other nights we were at window tables for two, with a four too right next to us and the evening was more “sociable”. We liked both setups.

Ok great!  That certainly sounds much better than I was thinking, and much better than the river cruise situation.

[farmecologist]

17 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

It’s only an issue for some people. It’s never been an issue for us. There are private enough two tops in all venues—and when close to others you can either request another table or make it clear you’re not interested in conversation. Like I said—never been an issue for us.

 

Well I'm happy for you...but it certainly is an issue for some...hence the discussion.  Not sure what your point is?  🤷‍♂️

 

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

1 hour ago, farmecologist said:

 

Late to the party here...but here goes.

 

Darn..so it looks like the dining experience on Viking Ocean isn't all that intimate?  We typically like a "table for two" at meals that isn't elbow to elbow, etc... We were disappointed in the seating situation on our Viking River cruise...and resorted to trying to snag one of the few tables for two out on the terrace.  We were mostly successful...but we had to "camp out" there well before dinner was served. 

 

Any venues on the Viking Ocean ships that have true "tables for two"?   We don't really like the pseudo "tables for two" that are lined up and you nearly touch elbows, as you mentioned.  We have had no problems with this on many other cruise lines...but this seems to be an issue on Viking.  

 

BTW - we are not antisocial or anything...and we socialize at the bars and lounges, etc... However, we do enjoy eating dinner in a more "intimate" setting.

 

I'm with you!  We've been sat in these tables for two that were about just far enough apart from the next table that the server can squeeze between.  We've been unlucky a couple of times, once with a really drunk guy and his wife that couldn't take the hint that we didn't want to be his new best friends and another time when we just wanted a quiet, intimate dinner and the couple seated right next to us wanted to share their life stories.  We're also not anti-social, just don't always want to have a social dinner.  So now, when we tell the person seating us that there are 2 of us, we add that we'd like a quiet, romantic table, and they usually accommodate us.