Caribbean Princess Rude Staff

[cruise4fam]

I see you've only posted 15 times, so you haven't been around here much. If you had done some research before your cruise you would have learned that Anytime Dining is problematic for large groups. Almost all the complaints about Anytime Dining are from large (over 8 or so...) groups. You should have gone traditional dining.

 

I didn't think it really mattered how many times I posted. I just felt people needed to know some things that might make their experience easier.

[Hebejeebe]

Sounds like the guy had a bad day. I'm sure if he treated customers this way normally he wouldn't last long with Princess. Since he's had some favorable reviews from other CC passengers it sounds like he was "off" for some reason.

[spongerob]

In the OP's defense (and thanks for the follow-ups) it is not unusual to find a difference in how the Maitre d's in the two Anytime dining rooms handle such situations. Friends of ours in AD on one cruise found that one was much more cooperative than the other, and simply went to that dining room instead.

 

Since you were in Anytime, it's not possible to link the seatings together. That might have been an oversight on your TA's part, or just a lack of understanding.

[roe2ship]

The name "Nicolo" sticks in my mind and I can't remember if this is the very friendly handsome man from South Africa with highlights of silver/gray hair -OR- the thin tall bald man from Italy. If it was the latter one, I must say he is in need of a new personality.

 

Sorry you couldn't receive your first choice of traditional dining with a large group. We are cruising with 20 people next year and still plan on doing "anytime" but as soon as we board, the husbands are going to find the maitre'd with money on hand to be certain we are all together.

[huskerdan25]

Hi All,

Just got back Saturday from the Caribbean Princess boy when did it become ok for staff to be rude to passengers. Well since there was many rude staff I can't say that it was a 1 time thing. The staff in the buffet and all were great those guys work hard. This was my 1st Princess cruise and I think it will be my last. I have cruise almost 20 times between RCL, NCL, Carnival & Holland America and never had 1 problem with staff not bending over backwards to help.

Long story short I was yelled yes yelled at by the Head Maitre'd Nicolo when I tried to get a table for my whole party to be seated at together. I don't think it's to much to ask to have your party eat together on a vacation. We were 10 in total and he wanted to give us 2 tables of 4 and a 2 person table. I was very upset to be yelled at that I told Nicolo I wanted him to come to the purser desk he let me know that he was to busy and I could go do what I wanted. I went to talk to the hotel manager. Also trying to get to talk to hotel manager is a major thing they don't want to let you talk to him. They let us know that he is very busy and that he had important things to do.

The ship is beautiful amenties were great.The rooms were a nice size with plenty of room to hang your clothes. Childrens program was very good the kids had a blast. 2, 14 year olds, 12, 9. Teens had a really great time. The youth staff is all aroung to keep things in check.

I did email Princess from the boat and did not get a response which leads me to believe customer service is not what it use to be. Which surprised me very much since I have heard great things about Princess in the past.

Not trying to bash Princess or anything just giving my experience. Any one else have rude staff problems on this boat or others in the Princess lines?

 

Janice :rolleyes:

 

The problem with this post is we have heard only one side of the story. How do we know if the OP was being pleasant or rudely demanding to the maitre'd? We don't. The OP could have been extremely rude and of course, the OP isn't going to say that. So, all we know is the story from the OP.

 

How about more facts, like was this traditional dining or anytime dining? Was the attempt to get a table for 10 during the busiest time or when very few people were eating?

 

From my experience on my cruise on the Sapphire back in January in traditional dining, there were a number of groups that had to be set up with 2 or more tables, but they were all in the same area so they could still communicate. We say at a table for 7 and I saw very few tables that were much bigger than that.

 

The OP says that she won't sail Princess again because of the rude staff but I'm willing to bet that the rudeness came from the OP and the inability to understand that the request could not have been met and after a bit of rudeness from the OP, the maitre'd finally had enough. I witnessed a similar situation on my cruise where an elderly passenger told the maitre'd that he and his guest selected anytime dining but wanted to eat in the traditional dining room. When the maitre'd explained that there were no available tables, the passenger yelled loud enough for almost everyone in the room to hear that he was in a wheelchair and deserved better treatment, yet the maitre'd was gentle in his response to the passenger's demands.

 

Maybe to OP should look a bit closer at her behavior. I'm sure the elderly passenger that was really the rude person in the event I witnessed told everyone else that the maitre'd was the rude one, but that would be dishonest, wouldn't it?

[cjh]

If you had PC dining why didn't you switch dining rooms and go to the other PC room? As a diabetic I know you have to eat around when you take your medication so there is a way to get around eating at the same time everyday.

[babybeluga005]

we were a group of 11 on the sapphire in march. 2 of our group booked just 3 weeks before sailing and were assigned a different dining room for early dining. we were told to check in with the maitre'd, after boarding, which we did. they told us they would check into it and let us know by dinner time. by the time we went back to our room to change for dinner, we had a note stating we were all at the same table for the early seating. they were very accomodating and could not have been nicer about it. they did say it was easier to seat us at early dining than personal choice. maybe that would be a better choice for you especially if you have a diabetic with you. we cruise in the fall with a party of 6 or 8, one being a diabetic, and choose early dining or go to dinner early for personal choice. it seems if you go early for personal

choice, it's easier to be seated.

[crusdiva]

The name "Nicolo" sticks in my mind and I can't remember if this is the very friendly handsome man from South Africa with highlights of silver/gray hair -OR- the thin tall bald man from Italy. If it was the latter one, I must say he is in need of a new personality.

Sorry you couldn't receive your first choice of traditional dining with a large group. We are cruising with 20 people next year and still plan on doing "anytime" but as soon as we board, the husbands are going to find the maitre'd with money on hand to be certain we are all together.

Hi roe,

Nicola is the tall thin man from Italy, he's the Maitre'd. The very friendly handsome silver/gray gentleman from South Africa is Dion.

Dion is now on the Golden.;)

[Hebejeebe]

The problem with this post is we have heard only one side of the story. How do we know if the OP was being pleasant or rudely demanding to the maitre'd? We don't. The OP could have been extremely rude and of course, the OP isn't going to say that. So, all we know is the story from the OP.

 

How about more facts, like was this traditional dining or anytime dining? Was the attempt to get a table for 10 during the busiest time or when very few people were eating?

 

From my experience on my cruise on the Sapphire back in January in traditional dining, there were a number of groups that had to be set up with 2 or more tables, but they were all in the same area so they could still communicate. We say at a table for 7 and I saw very few tables that were much bigger than that.

 

The OP says that she won't sail Princess again because of the rude staff but I'm willing to bet that the rudeness came from the OP and the inability to understand that the request could not have been met and after a bit of rudeness from the OP, the maitre'd finally had enough. I witnessed a similar situation on my cruise where an elderly passenger told the maitre'd that he and his guest selected anytime dining but wanted to eat in the traditional dining room. When the maitre'd explained that there were no available tables, the passenger yelled loud enough for almost everyone in the room to hear that he was in a wheelchair and deserved better treatment, yet the maitre'd was gentle in his response to the passenger's demands.

 

Maybe to OP should look a bit closer at her behavior. I'm sure the elderly passenger that was really the rude person in the event I witnessed told everyone else that the maitre'd was the rude one, but that would be dishonest, wouldn't it?

 

Since you don't know the facts why do you presume that the OP was rude?

[huskerdan25]

Since you don't know the facts why do you presume that the OP was rude?

 

Why should I assume the maitre'd was rude? Why should I take the OP's word? My point is we only got one side of the story and I would prefer to assume the OP was the rude one that probably pushed the maitre'd to rudeness because I give the maitre'd the benefit of the doubt based on believing that he/she is in that position for a reason. Most that I have ever witnessed have good person skills.

 

Additionally, what people view as rude is in the eye of the beholder. The passenger on the cruise I was on was the rude one yet there is nothing to stop that person from coming to these forums and crying that the staff was rude. Some people think that if their request isn't met the person is being rude to them. Is that really rude, to explain to someone that there are not available tables or one big enough to accomodate their request? Of course not, but in our "I'm a victim" world we live in, there are plenty of people who think it is rude.

[laurashelby]

Hi All,

Just got back Saturday from the Caribbean Princess boy when did it become ok for staff to be rude to passengers. Any one else have rude staff problems on this boat or others in the Princess lines?Janice :rolleyes:

 

Hi Janice, I just got off the same cruise you were on and only experienced friendly staff in all areas. I was always greeted with a "hello ma'am" when passing an employee by in the corridors or on deck. Our wait staff, including head waiter and cabin steward went above and beyond for us. I'm sure sorry you had such a bad response from them.

[TBR]

In the OP's defense (and thanks for the follow-ups) it is not unusual to find a difference in how the Maitre d's in the two Anytime dining rooms handle such situations. Friends of ours in AD on one cruise found that one was much more cooperative than the other, and simply went to that dining room instead.

 

Since you were in Anytime, it's not possible to link the seatings together. That might have been an oversight on your TA's part, or just a lack of understanding.

 

Sorry but you are wrong,I link cabins together all the time,and if this would have been booked as a small group,the TA could have requested a table for 10 and it quite possibly would have been set up in a PC dining room with a set table and time. I have done it before on this ship with no problems. Unless this was booked last minute then that might be why the dining confusion.

[idssms]

Was this the Maitre D?

[idssms]

Or was this him.

 

They were both stellar individuals IMHO. They both had Italian names.

[cruise4fam]

Sounds like the guy had a bad day. I'm sure if he treated customers this way normally he wouldn't last long with Princess. Since he's had some favorable reviews from other CC passengers it sounds like he was "off" for some reason.

 

You are right he might have had a bad day or experience before me but this is no reason to take it out on me. :)

[cruise4fam]

In the OP's defense (and thanks for the follow-ups) it is not unusual to find a difference in how the Maitre d's in the two Anytime dining rooms handle such situations. Friends of ours in AD on one cruise found that one was much more cooperative than the other, and simply went to that dining room instead.

 

Since you were in Anytime, it's not possible to link the seatings together. That might have been an oversight on your TA's part, or just a lack of understanding.

 

Ok I am not sure what OP stands for but I am sure it is referring to me as the passenger. What does it stand for?

 

My TA did link the bookings, even when I talked to Princess they let me know that they could not do traditional seating for the early seating for all 10 of us, but a table for 10 at anytime dinning would be no problem. :rolleyes:

[idssms]

Ok I am not sure what OP stands for but I am sure it is referring to me as the passenger. What does it stand for?

 

My TA did link the bookings, even when I talked to Princess they let me know that they could not do traditional seating for the early seating for all 10 of us, but a table for 10 at anytime dinning would be no problem. :rolleyes:

 

 

OP = Original Poster which is you..

 

 

Don

[cjh]

My TA did link the bookings, even when I talked to Princess they let me know that they could not do traditional seating for the early seating for all 10 of us, but a table for 10 at anytime dinning would be no problem. :rolleyes:

 

There are 2 anytime dining rooms maybe they were prepared for your group in the other dining room. Maybe when your group showed up at the dining room he did the only thing he could do was seat you the way he tried to the first time. Which dining room were you in?

[cruise4fam]

The problem with this post is we have heard only one side of the story. How do we know if the OP was being pleasant or rudely demanding to the maitre'd? We don't. The OP could have been extremely rude and of course, the OP isn't going to say that. So, all we know is the story from the OP.

 

How about more facts, like was this traditional dining or anytime dining? Was the attempt to get a table for 10 during the busiest time or when very few people were eating?

 

From my experience on my cruise on the Sapphire back in January in traditional dining, there were a number of groups that had to be set up with 2 or more tables, but they were all in the same area so they could still communicate. We say at a table for 7 and I saw very few tables that were much bigger than that.

 

The OP says that she won't sail Princess again because of the rude staff but I'm willing to bet that the rudeness came from the OP and the inability to understand that the request could not have been met and after a bit of rudeness from the OP, the maitre'd finally had enough. I witnessed a similar situation on my cruise where an elderly passenger told the maitre'd that he and his guest selected anytime dining but wanted to eat in the traditional dining room. When the maitre'd explained that there were no available tables, the passenger yelled loud enough for almost everyone in the room to hear that he was in a wheelchair and deserved better treatment, yet the maitre'd was gentle in his response to the passenger's demands.

 

Maybe to OP should look a bit closer at her behavior. I'm sure the elderly passenger that was really the rude person in the event I witnessed told everyone else that the maitre'd was the rude one, but that would be dishonest, wouldn't it?

 

Ok I am telling my side of the story and what happened in my situation. You can believe what ever side you like. Do you think the M'd is going say he yelled at a passenger? I think not, so his side would be false. Just because you witnessed a situation where someone was rude to the M'd first does not mean that I was.

 

If anyone did read my earlier post, I did state that we were at anytime dinning. We did try before the cruise to get early seating and were wait listed. When I contacted Princess before I left they let me know that it would not be a problem to get seating for 10 at anytime dinning.

 

How rude is it of you to assume that I was the rude one. What do you base this on? That you had witnessed a problem on another ship with a passenger and you just assume all passengers who have issues with staff are the rude ones? My choice is not to sail on Princess when it comes to choices with cruise lines. My parents have cruised Princess 5 times in the last 2 years with Princess with no problems. I feel the Caribbean Princess has staff problems and Princess needs to address them. Other people have stated this also.

I don't understand why people are bashing me I was the one who had the issue and wanted to let people know of potential problems. If I had heard before I left I needed to suck up to people to get good service I would have laughed but I guess they are on to something. :(

[idssms]

Why have a stroke about this now.. WOW

 

Let it rest,, its over. Life is too short to burst a vessel for this non sense..

 

 

Don

[cruise4fam]

If you had PC dining why didn't you switch dining rooms and go to the other PC room? As a diabetic I know you have to eat around when you take your medication so there is a way to get around eating at the same time everyday.

 

The first dining room we went to we were told their wasn't a table big enough for us. So we had to go to a different dining room and that's when the problems came about. Then when we finally got a table we kept it for the whole week to avoid other issues.

 

My mother likes to keep to the times that she is use to eating when home if she goes to long she gets the shakes. :)

[cruise4fam]

we were a group of 11 on the sapphire in march. 2 of our group booked just 3 weeks before sailing and were assigned a different dining room for early dining. we were told to check in with the maitre'd, after boarding, which we did. they told us they would check into it and let us know by dinner time. by the time we went back to our room to change for dinner, we had a note stating we were all at the same table for the early seating. they were very accomodating and could not have been nicer about it. they did say it was easier to seat us at early dining than personal choice. maybe that would be a better choice for you especially if you have a diabetic with you. we cruise in the fall with a party of 6 or 8, one being a diabetic, and choose early dining or go to dinner early for personal choice. it seems if you go early for personal

choice, it's easier to be seated.

 

We were trying to go to eat at 6 and no body was in front of us when we got to dining room. We didn't think it would be a problem with so many empty tables and nobody around. Boy was I wrong.

[cruise4fam]

Since you don't know the facts why do you presume that the OP was rude?

Thank you so much for being understanding. Bad enough to have a problem and then people jumping on you and insisting you are at fault. :)

[cruise4fam]

Why should I assume the maitre'd was rude? Why should I take the OP's word? My point is we only got one side of the story and I would prefer to assume the OP was the rude one that probably pushed the maitre'd to rudeness because I give the maitre'd the benefit of the doubt based on believing that he/she is in that position for a reason. Most that I have ever witnessed have good person skills.

 

Additionally, what people view as rude is in the eye of the beholder. The passenger on the cruise I was on was the rude one yet there is nothing to stop that person from coming to these forums and crying that the staff was rude. Some people think that if their request isn't met the person is being rude to them. Is that really rude, to explain to someone that there are not available tables or one big enough to accomodate their request? Of course not, but in our "I'm a victim" world we live in, there are plenty of people who think it is rude.

 

Since you just would rather think the passengers are all rude and of course the staff can do no wrong. Ok so the staff memember who has a bad day and takes it out on a passenger is the rude one. Maybe he just got done with a rude person that maybe he was at fault with or not. If you want to be treated rude by a employee be my guest it doesn't seem to bother you at all. But it does bother me.

How come the hotel manager was able to come up with a table for 10 in about 10 minutes when the M'd couldn't....hmmm seems maybe the M'd could not care to help and was being rude. Since the M'd let me know that a table for 10 was not available. Just my facts. :cool:

[cruise4fam]

Hi Janice, I just got off the same cruise you were on and only experienced friendly staff in all areas. I was always greeted with a "hello ma'am" when passing an employee by in the corridors or on deck. Our wait staff, including head waiter and cabin steward went above and beyond for us. I'm sure sorry you had such a bad response from them.

Hi Laura,

You are right when employees passed they did say "hello ma'am. I do not think the whole boat was rude but I found more then a couple were. Glad you had a great cruise. Besides the rude issue we had a great time and didn't let it bother us.

The boat is so pretty and I thought there was tons to do and love just hanging out by the pool under the shade and watching TV at the pool. That was just so cool.:)