Staff knowing our names?

[calteacher]

I've read so many threads where the poster reports how the staff knew their name--from the cabin attendant, to the DR steward, to the person handing out plates in the Lido. We have not been on many cruises (only four) and have not been in suites. Would that be the reason why no one seems to be able to remember us? (And, our name is quite easy to pronounce.) We are greeted with smiles and "hello, how's your day?"--crew is always very friendly--but we're never greeted by name.

[RevNeal]

I generally book inside cabins when I cruise alone, though I have sometimes booked outside cabins. I have never booked a Deluxe Suite. However, I have cruised a great deal ... both short and long cruises. And, I talk with the staff. I believe that their memory of me has more to do with my repetitive, lengthy cruises with them combined with my sociability.

 

Some staff don't remember me when I see them again on subsequent cruises, other staff do. Some remember my name ... particularly those I've seen on 3 or 4 cruises or with whom I have had regular dealings on lengthy cruises. For instance, one waiter with whom I enjoyed 28 days on the Maasdam in 1998 remembered me, my name, what I did, and inquired as to where my parents were when he saw me and served as my waiter on the Volendam in 2002; and, again, he called out to me and came over to shake my hand this month on the Noordam when he spotted me across the dining room. A month of seeing someone every day, and chatting with them on many occasions, will leave an impression. Other times staff may not remember my name or other particulars but they do remember me ... my face and on which ship we first met, etc. And, then, there are occasions where the staff I've seen several times simply don't remember me at all. Nor am I surprised, hurt, or disappointed when such is the case. That's simply the way things are.

 

In short, it doesn't have to do with the category one books. Sometimes it is just the "luck of the draw," the degree to which one is pleasant with the staff, and the length and number of cruises one has taken in which the same staff see and interact with you.

[hammybee]

I have a very easy Anglo name and yet no one has ever remembered it. My DH has an ethnic ( Ukranian ) name and the crew always seems to remember him and his name. I have yet to figure it out other than DH is quite distinctive in his appearance and I am, well, invisible, I guess, but outgoing :)

 

I will know our room steward's name, his wife and children's names an so on and DH is lucky, very lucky, if he knows the name of the ship he is on.

 

Go figure.

[Vic The Parrot]

Cabin accomodation doesn't have anything to do with that.

 

 

Like rev and hammy said, it's the crew/staff. And some are good with names, some aren't.

 

 

I was surprised at hearing some stories about pax occupying the most expensive abodes, and treating the crew like garbage. (And sorry to say that I've witnessed a few episodes )

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have always been amazed at how the HAL crew remember people's names.

 

Didn't have that on other cruise lines.

[cruznon]

We found that (as stated earlier) it can depend on crew members and your conversations with them. On the Statendam last July, a young server in the Crow's Nest, Jade, asked our names and ALWAYS remembered our names and greeted us warmly AND remembered our drink preferences. I've never experienced that on other cruise lines.

[mfd25]

On my family's recent Noordam cruise a young man came across the pool deck and greeted my father by name and inquired after my mother again by name. My dad was amazed that this crewman remembered him and the particular circumstances they had met on a Zuiderdam cruise in 2004.

 

matt

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I joined Cruise Critic in early 2003 and remember reading reviews and comments about how so many crew knew you name and they would go on cruises and see cabin attendents and dining room stewards they had before and remembered them. I have to admit I thought that will never happen or if it does it will take a very long time. Well, I can tell you we are there:D It has simply been amazing and fun. It has actually happened on the last 4 or 5 cruises. But the one that stands our was our short 4 day Veendam this past September. We go up to the Lido for lunch do our usual of Tom grabbing the table I go grab food and who greets me by names non other than Shy.Of course we had to give each other hugs. Then we go to our cabin and the cabin steward come to our cabin and it is yet another familiar face that remembers us from being our cabin steward on the Ryndam in 2004. Then we walk into the Neptune and again another familiar face the concierge who remembers us. One thing I do notice is that if you meet a crew on a S Class ship for the most part you may see them on another S Class ship (but not always) same with the Vista Class ships. We have only been on one R Class ship and that was the Zaandam and we really did not see but maybe two familiar faces for the most part they were just new friends.

I also agree with others that it does not matter the cabin category. Yes, we have been mostly in S Suites but not always. I think it also is important to always be friendly with them as they are with us.

[kakalina]

Isn't it wonderful how much the staff remembers? DH and I are memorable in more ways then one, yet it never ceases to amaze me when we are greeted over and over by staff and crew we have met on previous cruises. We have only sailed in a veranda suite once and a big suite once all others are your basic guaranteed inside. I know the fact that I speak Inodnesian and some Tagalog helps in the remembering but not as much as you'd think.

 

We do so look forward to boarding a HAL ship and seeing who is on board that we know and remember, unfailingly we meet up with several on each cruise. It is one of the reasons that we enjoy sailing with HAL so much.

 

I must say it is beyond me how servers like Hari and Shy can remember so many names. We have been on b2b's with them and watched in amazed awe as they drop the old names and learn the new pax name within what seems like hours.

 

My hats off to all the hard workers that see so many passengers and remember so many of us.

[sonocruiser]

i have only been on one cruise last may to alaska ( i am hooked and trying desperately to plan another) anyway- so i don't know about staff remembering from cruise to cruise but my group was remembered by name after day two with various staff. i traveled with my husband and my two girlfriends. when we went to a bar the servers would always greet us by name- sir/miss ________, how nice to see you! because my husband was traveling with three women they would tease him a little and we had a great time. in fact the bar staff and activities staff remembered us more than our dinning room attendants.

[Randyk47]

We pretty much frequent the same places on our cruises so staff usually have learned our names within a couple of nights. My most unusual experience was to have a member of the Crow's Nest staff remember me from 4 years earlier. Donald not only remembered me and my favorite drink but also noticed I had a different wife. :o

[innlady1]

I have a very easy Anglo name and yet no one has ever remembered it. My DH has an ethnic ( Ukranian ) name and the crew always seems to remember him and his name. I have yet to figure it out other than DH is quite distinctive in his appearance and I am, well, invisible, I guess, but outgoing :)

 

I will know our room steward's name, his wife and children's names an so on and DH is lucky, very lucky, if he knows the name of the ship he is on.

 

Go figure.

 

 

hammybee....that made me chuckle! I can relate! Thanks for the humor. :D

[Mary Ellen]

I don't know how/why they remember names/faces, but we've experienced it. I don't believe it has anything to do with cabin type, but the individual crew member's memory and how 'memorable' you are.

 

We were part of a family group on the Amsterdam in Aug 2002. In May 2003 as my brother & SIL were boarding the Zaandam, Ari (the Yum-Yum man from the Amsterdam) asked them where we and 'Mom & Dad' were. I've got to admit our family group was pretty memorable (as a group we don't blend into the crowd :eek: ). Dad just adored Ari on the first cruise and was absolutely thrilled to have another cruise with him.

[lougee1043]

we were told by a crew member once that they are taught word association in order to remember names --- we introduced ourselves to ahmed (cabin attendant) the first time we saw him and he always called us by name everytime he saw us

[FinelyRetired]

On the Amsterdam, our cabin steward, Bayu, asked us on our 2nd meeting if he could call us by our 1st names as our last was too hard for him to pronouce. It is for most people. We gave him our first names(nicknames not on log) & he remembered them the rest of the cruise.

 

And, of course, there's Superman on Amersterdam at the Lido who's memory is phenomenal and legendary! He only asked us our names once. Asked for me by name the next day when DH went to breakfast alone & greeted us by our first names the only 3 other times we went to Lido on a 10 day cruise.

 

This was our first HAL cruise. Clearly there is training in name recognition on HAL.......of course, some better than others at that.

[airlink diva]

I guess that I'm also lucky that crew members recall my name. On each of my cruises, I have staff the greet me by name.

I guess the one shocker that I got with someone recalling my name is in the port of Costa Maya. I sailed on the Westerdam in November 2005 and spent the day at Pez Quardo. A small bar in the village. I had a great time and due to the late sailing of the Westerdam, I was one of the last to leave. In April 2006, I was on the Miracle and went to the same bar. The first words out of one of the owner's mouth was "Tamara, you're back!! I was so shocked that this woman recalled me. She turned around and spoked to the other staff and everyone else greeted me like a old friend. Now I know they see so many people every day, but to recall me by name was a shocker!!

[OceanLiner]

Oh yes, this had always been very interesting to our family. Usually by the begining of the first full day we are ALL being addressed by our names throughout the ship. This has happened on other lines as well, including Disney. How they are doing this is a great mystery to me and I have never had a satisfactory answer. This has also happened to us at several hotels, most notably The Carlyle in NYC. Every elevator operator, waiter, or staff member knows your name, your room, your drinks.....all within minutes of checking in. How they communicate this to each other is really something.

[bingobeach]

;)

I've read so many threads where the poster reports how the staff knew their name--from the cabin attendant, to the DR steward, to the person handing out plates in the Lido We are greeted with smiles and "hello, how's your day?"--crew is always very friendly--but we're never greeted by name.

 

:D While not to disrespect your opinion, I always tip more with a sincere smile and concern comes my way...as a teacher with over 40 yrs. experience, who now sits students alphabetically :confused: so that by the end of the first month I can remember 50 of my 100 or so students, some of us, just don't have the knack for remember names on the spur of the moment...but we can all smile and be sincere...smiles are contagious, I am not sure about our names....well that is how I feel this morning in Southern Ontario.:)

[adjournthis120]

I've only been on two cruises so far, both on RCI, and have found that by day two, my dining room staff has always remembered our names. Cabin stewards, likewise, have always called us by our names after day one. As for other staff, no one has ever really remembered our name except the bingo caller, and that's because we were there so often! I think so much has to do with which staff member you are dealing with as to how much effort they are willing to expend to learn your name and use it.

[snownyet]

This is an interesting topic, Im constantly amazed at the crews ability to remember not only names but what you drink... At one point I told the wife they must sneak polaroid pictures of us and note our names and favorite drink on them.. then post them on the wall in the crew area and force each other to memorize them..lol

[zdude]

There was a guy on the Zuid in the Lido that asked you name once and remembered everyone pretty much and said hi to everyone. It was pretty silly and comical, but he was pretty darned good.

 

Cabin attendents should not be that hard, I call them by name and they do the same.