spencerdrivecruiser Posted December 12, 2009 #26 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I would also place Juan Barbano at the top of the list. Had him on the Solstice last year. Recently heard that he has left the company. Juan left last year and couldnt live without the excitment and is now on the Infinity and having a great time as a waiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #27 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Juan left last year and couldnt live without the excitment and is now on the Infinity and having a great time as a waiter. it must have been difficult to adjust to a "regular" life on land after seeing so many new people with each new cruise. I am sure that even though monetary consideration (income) is primary reason for most of the people to work on ships I also think that it takes a certain kind of personality to enjoy this kind of work. People who choose to work on a cruise ship must get bored easily without some kind of excitement and change in their workplace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmodog Posted December 12, 2009 #28 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Ercan from Turkey is the best, we have had him twice on Constellation Transatlantics and I hope to see him again and have the pleasure of his service on another cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #29 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Ercan from Turkey is the best, we have had him twice on Constellation Transatlantics and I hope to see him again and have the pleasure of his service on another cruise. Yes, I had him on Constellation Transatlantic as well and he is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuLaLuvlee Posted December 12, 2009 #30 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) Our favorite was a wonderful woman (our first and only female waiter:) ) who called herself Zaza because she said her name was too hard for people. We met 3 years ago this month on a Christmas cruise. She was SO wonderful...her husband worked on the ship, too, but we never met him. Her customer service was exemplary. We always dined at her table...never rushed nor too long --just the perfect amount of time for a pleasant evening. She always escorted us to the lift after dinner and thanked us for a lovely evening. She was a very special woman. We hope all her wishes have come true in the passing years and that she has the baby they so wanted. She made the nicest memories we have of that trip. Edited December 12, 2009 by LuLaLuvlee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #31 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Our favorite was a wonderful woman (our first and only female waiter:) ) who called herself Zaza because she said her name was too hard for people. We met 3 years ago this month on a Christmas cruise. She was SO wonderful...her husband worked on the ship, too, but we never met him. Her customer service was exemplary. We always dined at her table...never rushed nor too long --just the perfect amount of time for a pleasant evening. She always escorted us to the lift after dinner and thanked us for a lovely evening. She was a very special woman. We hope all her wishes have come true in the passing years and that she has the baby they so wanted. She made the nicest memories we have of that trip. Was she from India? It is true that very few waiters on cruise lines are women. I wonder why. Maybe they are not considered strong enough to carry the heavy, dish laden trays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuLaLuvlee Posted December 12, 2009 #32 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) No not from India. I am having a "blonde moment" and cannot recall her country. :confused: She is a lovely tall woman ( taller than I and I am 5'8). Her area was upstairs in the MDR..we had a deuce along the rail. She worked the Cova in the mornings. She always called me "my queen" but, tbh, I thought she was the one who was regal. Edited December 12, 2009 by LuLaLuvlee typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley G Posted December 12, 2009 #33 Share Posted December 12, 2009 My favourite waiter has to be Milen on the Constellation. He was our waiter in July 2008 and again last February. He has a twin brother Trian who is also a waiter on the Constellation. Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spearmint Posted December 12, 2009 #34 Share Posted December 12, 2009 A few come to mind for me as well......Adrian, from Romania was my waiter on Mercury and I just saw him on Equinox. He has been promoted to Asst' Maitr'd.:) One of my favorites no longer works on the line....Milan from Bosnia. When I was on Mercury in Sept I met another couple who also spoke about him.:D He was my waiter twice on Zenith and again on Mercury. And I ran into another waiter from Bali on Equinox...his name is Miniarta but we were told to call him "Mini":D...he was my waiter on Galaxy back in January and after the ship left the fleet he was transferred to Equinox. His smile can light up a room:) and it was such fun seeing him again! Lots of wonderful wait staff:) Mini (Miniarta) was also our waiter on Constellation in 2006, Lois, and yes, he was absolutely terrific. He is right up there for us as well. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Chip Cookie Posted December 12, 2009 #35 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Wilmar from the Philippines is the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drb Posted December 12, 2009 #36 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Savio, from Goa India was our waiter last December on the Summit and without doubt was the finest waiter I have had in any restaurant. Our 8 top closed down the dining room many of the nights and I believe that his level of service was a major element in how our table of four un-affiliated couples came to enjoy each others company. Is it possible to find out if he might be working on the Summit again for our return in a week prior to boarding and checking with the Maitre de? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #37 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I can think of a few: Seri from Turkey on the Galaxy years back. Juan Barbano from Uruguay Michael from India (Millie) Singh from India Polat from Turkey Hope some of this great waiters are still with the company. I am quite impressed that you remember all the names. I guess they really did a great job to stay so memorable and that's saying something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjm07 Posted December 12, 2009 #38 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I can't resist this opportunity to tell about the staff who made our very first cruise so memorable. September 2004, Barcelona to Venice on board Millennium. Dining room staff head waiter Hayden, from South Africa, Oliver, assistant waiter, from Bosnia, Devon, bar service, from Jamaica, Gunther, Sommelier (sp?) from Austria. Outstanding!! Dinner was the entertainment for the day - these guys knew what they were doing and made good judgements of their customers and were witty, kind, efficient and jokers. They were so awesome that we remember each of them still in 2009. I keep hoping we will run into them again somewhere. They are each completely responsible for us being hooked on cruising. The internationality of the service group on Celebrity impresses us so much; all from different parts of the world, they work together to make incredible memories for their customers. That's why we sail Celebrity... We miss them still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehrlichpuppy Posted December 12, 2009 #39 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Anyone been on the Centurty lately? who is good & can you request a certain waiter/waitress ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelpug Posted December 12, 2009 #40 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Our favorite was a wonderful woman (our first and only female waiter:) ) who called herself Zaza because she said her name was too hard for people. We met 3 years ago this month on a Christmas cruise. She was SO wonderful...her husband worked on the ship, too, but we never met him. Her customer service was exemplary. We always dined at her table...never rushed nor too long --just the perfect amount of time for a pleasant evening. She always escorted us to the lift after dinner and thanked us for a lovely evening. She was a very special woman. We hope all her wishes have come true in the passing years and that she has the baby they so wanted. She made the nicest memories we have of that trip. Zaza was our asst. server on the Galaxy back in 2004! I can't recall the name of the waiter we had at the time, but he's since been promoted to Butler on the Summit. As a team they couldn't be beat, and we've NEVER had anyone like the two of them again. If I recall she was from Hungary.....and she is BEAUTIFUL!! I still have pictures of both of them! Now it makes me want to go through all of my old cruise scrapbooks and find out HIS name! ~Jaime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #41 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I can think of a few: Seri from Turkey on the Galaxy years back. Juan Barbano from Uruguay Michael from India (Millie) Singh from India Polat from Turkey Hope some of this great waiters are still with the company. I think I met Polat on one of my recent cruises. He was extremely gracious and knowledgable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #42 Share Posted December 12, 2009 By the way, the waiter you would like to acknowledge for his/her exceptional service doesn't need to have been your MDR waiter. It can include any of the wait staff in any of the other venues on the ship. They all work very hard to keep us happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onemorewave Posted December 12, 2009 #43 Share Posted December 12, 2009 He might not be classified as a waiter but as a bartender, Togi at the Martini Bar (Constellation, Solstice & now Equinox) has got to rank right up there due to his humor & personality. The single women really do a swoon over him too. Nivia (I'm married :D) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orator Posted December 12, 2009 #44 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Juan left last year and couldnt live without the excitment and is now on the Infinity and having a great time as a waiter. Guess I must cruise on the Infinity.I know that Juan wanted to go to the Equinox. I saw Armstrong, who was his Asst. Waiter ( and also wonderful) on the Equinox in November. Armstrong is now a waiter and hope to see him when we are on Equniox on Monday. I know that Juan often reads the boards and want to let him know that I couldn't reach his e-mail address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Blue Sky Posted December 12, 2009 #45 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Highly recommend Kurt in the MDR on Solstice for our cruise during July, always had a smile for us and very patient while we decided on our meal options, and very happy to stop and chat about our day and his upcoming holiday to Cuba with his family and his future plans to go to University. Also Ellena the Soft drink waitress always spot on with serving our daughter and myself with Sprites etc, during our meal a real delight. Mrs Blue Sky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted December 12, 2009 #46 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) By the way, the waiter you would like to acknowledge for his/her exceptional service doesn't need to have been your MDR waiter. It can include any of the wait staff in any of the other venues on the ship. They all work very hard to keep us happy. George, all the bartenders:D...Vince, from the Phillipines~I met him a few years ago on Mercury and then saw him again on Galaxy. He is FUN:D Juro, from Croatia was a bartender on Mercury. Then he trained to become a Sommelier. One of my all time favorites:) And when I was on Mercury in Sept I saw Glenn who I met many years ago. He is the "main man" in Michael's Club in the afternoons/evenings. He runs the late shift in there. When I left that sailing I was going to say good bye and he said, "not good bye" but "until the next cruise":)....He is terrific. Edited December 12, 2009 by Lois R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheffip Posted December 12, 2009 #47 Share Posted December 12, 2009 My vote goes to Goran who was our first waiter on our first cruise...Horizon in 2005. Very well informed and incredibly entertaining.:) No idea where he is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #48 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) Zaza was our asst. server on the Galaxy back in 2004! I can't recall the name of the waiter we had at the time, but he's since been promoted to Butler on the Summit. As a team they couldn't be beat, and we've NEVER had anyone like the two of them again. If I recall she was from Hungary.....and she is BEAUTIFUL!! I still have pictures of both of them! Now it makes me want to go through all of my old cruise scrapbooks and find out HIS name! ~Jaime I think I may have met Zaza on one of my cruises a long time ago (her description by you and another poster seem very familiar to me) but for some reason I didn't think she was from Hungary. All I know is that she seemed a very kind person and a great waitress. You say that you have pictures of her and the waiter she worked with. Would you be able to post those pictures (or a link to them) here? I would love to know if we are talking about the same woman. Edited December 12, 2009 by GeorgeL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencerdrivecruiser Posted December 12, 2009 #49 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) I am quite impressed that you remember all the names. I guess they really did a great job to stay so memorable and that's saying something. When you meet someone in life who is special or gives excellent or outstanding service you just never forget and visa versa! We have met some stellar crew on cruise ships and that makes cruisiing worthwhile. Its more then the food or the entertainment or the drinks IMO. There have been some excellent restaurants managers: Jose Sanchez (no longer with X) Big Mario (just left last month) Chaydee from S Africia (no longer with X) Ally Still with X Nikola (one of my favorites) Czijka from Poland Still with X Millivoy Still with X Each of the above bring back a fond memory still.. Spencer Edited December 12, 2009 by spencerdrivecruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeL Posted December 12, 2009 Author #50 Share Posted December 12, 2009 When you meet someone in life who is special or gives excellent or outstanding service you just never forget and visa versa! We have met some stellar crew on cruise ships and that makes cruisiing worthwhile. Its more then the food or the entertainment or the drinks IMO. There have been some excellent restaurants managers: Jose Sanchez (no longer with X) Big Mario (just left last month) Chaydee from S Africia (no longer with X) Ally Still with X Nikola (one of my favorites) Czijka from Poland Still with X Millivoy Still with X Each of the above bring back a fond memory still.. Spencer It is the same for me. I hope cruise lines realize that their (wait) staff plays a huge role in making a cruise a success (or not). That is why I started this thread...to highlight passengers' acknowledgment of some very special people who contribute so much to our enjoyment of a cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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