RCCL Main Dining reached a new low

[7leagueboots]

Odd that no one seems floored by the steak issue. It was the equivalent of going to a speciality restaurant and getting handed the main dining room menu.

 

I was thinking the same thing! I wonder how often that happens. :confused:

[EVALUATOR]

And as one local driving school has on the back of his car here: "Be patient, we all have needed to learn at one stage or another".

 

But the person driving that car is paying to learn, not being paid to provide a service.

 

Training wheels are for learning to ride a bike. Assistant waiters are to learn to become waiters.

 

Many times on the Indy, we noticed the head waiters assembled together talking during dinner service. They are there to help out, not just supervise. Once during breakfast in the Windjammer, on this cruise, a head waiter asked if he could get me something to drink. I asked for a glass of OJ. He called a waiter from across the busy windjammer, and told them to get me an OJ. When he came back later, he asked if I got my OJ. I said I got one from the waiter, but was still waiting for the one he said he was going to get me. When he finally "got it" (my point) he got it (an OJ.)

 

This cruise was our second worst dining experience. Our worst was on the Sovereign in 2003. After two nights if insulting, terrible service, we went to see the Maitre'd for some assistance in getting a different waiter. That night at dinner, at the start of service, the head waiter showed up, with the same waiter at her side. She explained at the full table how "someone" had complained about the service and wanted to know what was wrong and if everyone really wanted to change the waiter. Classy (not):mad:

[rolloman]

In the past I have been very fortunate to have good to great service in the dining room on all cruise lines, but with this particular instance I think the biggest difference was the lack of urgency or determination to succeed. If someone is giving their all it is hard to fault them, but when you are presented with a "if you think this is bad, wait until you get a load of me tomorrow" situation, well it just kind of makes you cringe.

[CruisinNole]

Depending on the Celebrity ship, you may not get any better service. We did Select Dining (same as My Time Dining) on Celebrity Millennium in Feb and the service was atrocious! I ended up in tears by the third night, since we were with a group and I was the trip planner! It was AWFUL!

 

One night we missed a show we really wanted to see because dinner took 2 hours and 45 minutes (due to terrible, SLOW service!). The Maitre'd had the nerve to tell me, in the most condescending tone that, on a cruise ship, dinner often takes 2.5 hours or more, implying that it was fine dining and that I was ignorant for thinking that we should have received more prompt service.

 

All I can say is don't hope for a great improvement on =X=, if our 11 days on Millie is any indication!

 

I could not agree with you more regarding Celebrity and Select dining but not exactly for the same reason. We were on Celebrity Equinox in Feb. and trying Select Dining for the first time. The area set aside for Select Dining was obviously too small since the tables were jammed so closely, the wait staff had problems serving. We "joked" that once we were seated, we hoped there wasn't an emergency since we probably wouldn't be able to get out. We were rushed through dinner. One evening, we were seated with another couple who had already ordered so the waiter rushed us through ordering so we would get our food at the same time. We were very displeased with the service. The food was great but we're back to traditional dining for our next cruise.

 

I think that if I should have the same problems as the OP on a future cruise and have no success with the head waiter, I would try to talk to the restaurant manager. I'm not sure what his title is but he's one of the officers. Also, be sure to make comments on your survey at the end of the cruise regardless of the outcome. RCI does look at them. I made some comments on the survey regarding our Select Dining experience and received a call from RCI about a week after the cruise. I don't know if it will make any difference but if they don't know there's a problem, they can't do anything about it. And I sure would be sending a complaint letter or email to RCI if the problem meant I'd never cruise with RCI again.

[spammie]

For those of us who remember the "good old days" where you actually had a bar server come around, had your iced tea and water refilled without asking and actually looked forward to dinner as a "special" experience we have accepted the new lower standards as normal. I feel bad for the crew who are stretched thin but refilling a glass doesn't take that much effort.

 

We used to hate to miss eating in the MDR because of the overall experience. Now we know to stop at a bar and bring our "adult beverages" with us and have also started going to the Windjammer for a couple of dinners.

 

I work part-time in a restaurant so I think I am a little more forgiving with the servers but eating in the MDR for dinner certainly isn't what it used to be. Fortunately for us we don't let that take away for our overall cruise experience.

[falconfan]

... On Legend we had the most amazing bar server who practically brought our drinks when we sat down. She spoiled us...

 

Our Bar server on Mariner was like this. He recognized us walking on deck about an hour before dinner and said that he would have my ice cold Fosters at the table when we arrived for dinner and he did. Every night he was like that. He was always happy and moved very quickly. Other than that the rest wait staff was adequate but nothing more.

[mtchg]

...even back a few; I had to give Carnival the edge on MDR food quality (not necessarily service)...but it was close.

 

Now as I prepare for the Indy in July; my expectations are REALLY low when I read the repeated negative remarks, not from Royal flamers but from RCCL enthusiasts. (normally)

 

The good news is that I am prepared for a struggling MDR and can only be pleasantly suprised. Overall I have no doubt it will be a GREAT cruise nonetheless.

 

Mitch

[sportyjen]

We have been on several ships and the worst service we ever had was on freedom. I wonder if it is because the older smaller ships have the more experienced wait staff. We have been on EOS and service was okay. On AOS the service was spectacular.

[CptSticky]

...even back a few; I had to give Carnival the edge on MDR food quality (not necessarily service)...but it was close.

 

Now as I prepare for the Indy in July; my expectations are REALLY low when I read the repeated negative remarks, not from Royal flamers but from RCCL enthusiasts. (normally)

 

The good news is that I am prepared for a struggling MDR and can only be pleasantly suprised. Overall I have no doubt it will be a GREAT cruise nonetheless.

 

Mitch

I have not sailed the Indy, so can't speak to the service, but MDR food on RCI in general was getting pretty bad a couple of years ago. Then, suddenly, it improved. We mentioned the difference to the head waiter and he claimed it was a new head chief or whatever you call him. However, on the next few cruises on different ships, the food had also improved. The changes were very noticeable, like complete lamb shanks vs sliced lamb. Now if we could only get them to take some of the salt out of the food, I would not look like a balloon when I get off.:rolleyes:

[temple1]

I don't think anyone is "floored" by what is going on.

 

The definate lack of service and quality are SOP these days.:(

 

That is quite a sweeping statement. When was your last RCCL cruise to notice these problems are standard across the board?

[Bakincakes]

That is quite a sweeping statement. When was your last RCCL cruise to notice these problems are standard across the board?

 

We sailed Holland in the fall and were on Freedom in December.

 

We also took 2 cruises last spring and one in the Summer to Bermuda.

 

We have 4 booked this year. Admittedly, not all on RCI.;)

 

I've noticed the service on RCI declining for several years. Other posters agree so I guess my sweeping statement does apply.;) It does depend on the ship. We sailed Mariner 6 times...only the last cruise, the October before she went to the West, did we notice that service wasn't as good as it had been in the past. Nor was the MDR food.

[Paul65]

Odd that no one seems floored by the steak issue. It was the equivalent of going to a speciality restaurant and getting handed the main dining room menu.

 

I guess I would be "floored" by that, if a number of people were saying, "That happened to me, too." Sounded like a really bad issue for you, but not a conspiracy or anything like that.

[BecciBoo]

WOW! I must be the luckiest cruiser ever as we have never experienced this type of service in all our cruises. In fact, Vyacchislav at our group table next to the Captain's table on Voyager in February delivered the most professional quality service we have ever experienced. No problems getting our wine or drinks, in fact, we sent back a bottle of wine because it had vented and the cork was red...no problem, in fact the head waiter served our wine every night. And very promptly too! We cruised Liberty in her first season and also the pre inaugural and the service was impeccable then. No problem in service recently. However, the quality and variety of food has deminished recently. Not happy with that. But still enjoy the MDR better than WJ. Guess we'll just keep our fingers crossed for more of the same. We did notice our room steward was a little clueless, but didn't let that bother us. We assumed he was new. He didn't get extra on his tip, just the required amount!

[Paul65]

We sailed Holland in the fall and were on Freedom in December.

 

We also took 2 cruises last spring and one in the Summer to Bermuda.

 

We have 4 booked this year. Admittedly, not all on RCI.;)

 

I've noticed the service on RCI declining for several years. Other posters agree so I guess my sweeping statement does apply.;) It does depend on the ship. We sailed Mariner 6 times...only the last cruise, the October before she went to the West, did we notice that service wasn't as good as it had been in the past. Nor was the MDR food.

 

You'll find some people agree that service has declined; you'll find some who agree that service has improved; you'll find some who agree that it's about the same. Other posters agreeing with you is by no means a justification of any kind of "sweeping statement." ;)

[Bakincakes]

You'll find some people agree that service has declined; you'll find some who agree that service has improved; you'll find some who agree that it's about the same. Other posters agreeing with you is by no means a justification of any kind of "sweeping statement." ;)

 

 

Ok Paul.

 

Feel better?:p

[djmutters]

We sailed on the Independence of the Seas 2009 and we loved the ship however the food in the MDR was alway's cold we spoke to the waiter and the matri-d and ended up having a meeting with the hotel director and his excuse was that this was Indys first year travelling from the UK and most USA custormers preffered warm food to the British who prefer hot food and the staff was getting used to dealing with the Britsh holiday makers :eek:

 

I'm not going to bad mouth RCL because we have another holiday in June on the Independence of the Seas and I will be intrested to see if the food has inproved or not however this time we shall not be pre-paying our tips so our tips for the MDR will reflect this.

 

Nigel & Rob

[mysparky]

We were on 2/14/10 IOS and consistently had poor dining service for the week. We arrived at our table on the first night at 6:00, our waiter came over around 6:05 and the assistant waiter arrived separately a little after that. Orders were eventually taken and it took 30 minutes to receive our bottle of wine. Our appetizers arrived at approximately 7:10 (i.e. over an hour after ordered) and dinner arrived at 7:30. The assistant waiter never asked for drink orders (i.e. milk for the kids) and we actually didn’t see our waiter again as someone else delivered our dinner (we actually saw him, just not at our table). We switched tables after that first night in an effort to deal with a more experienced, coordinated service team.

 

Unfortunately, service wasn't much better at our new table. It was seemingly impossible to find either of our waiters after the bread was served or the order was taken. When dinner was served, it was critical to ask them for refills on water, a steak knife, etc, because if you didn't ask at that moment, you may not see them again for 15 mins when they were busy with another table.

 

Meals that were supposed to be hot, were room temperature, meals that were supposed to be cold/chilled (ice cream, cheesecake, shrimp cocktail) were room temperature. By mid-week we were annoyed and as the clock approached 7:00 and we still didn't have appetizers, my husband got up, found the head waiter and asked for assistance. At that time, our waiter was coming out with the appetizers and the head waiter helped deliver them. The head waiter didn't check back with us the next night and the same delay occured. That night, the other gentleman from our table got up and found the head waiter and again asked for assistance.

 

At the end of a poor week of dining service, I thought it was highly inappropriate when the head waiter came around looking for his tips and asked us to please refrain from giving them anything lower than "excellent" on our guest survey.

 

I don’t know if our servers were inexperienced, or overloaded, but the dining experience really was so poor. Although the food isn't always great, we simply enjoy getting dressed up and sitting down for a nice dinner at the end of the day. We were disappointed and surprised at this service because we've always found the dining service to be excellent.

 

We'll be sailing with RC again this summer and I just hope that our experience on IOS was an anamoly, rather than a trend. Based upon other replies, sounds as if IOS is definitely struggling in this area.

[temple1]

We sailed Holland in the fall and were on Freedom in December.

 

We also took 2 cruises last spring and one in the Summer to Bermuda.

 

We have 4 booked this year. Admittedly, not all on RCI.;)

 

I've noticed the service on RCI declining for several years. Other posters agree so I guess my sweeping statement does apply.;) It does depend on the ship. We sailed Mariner 6 times...only the last cruise, the October before she went to the West, did we notice that service wasn't as good as it had been in the past. Nor was the MDR food.

 

Thanks, other posters were citing specific instances of good, bad and indifferent so an overall statement is a little suspect, especially since in addition to RCCL cheerleaders there is a very strong contingent of RCCL bashers. :D

 

For us - I find the service is still good in the MDR on our cruises, but I was not blown away by the service when we used MTD. However, the food is generally okay to good. The biggest let down is always the deserts.

[critterchick]

I'm sorry to hear that a bunch of you are having consistently bad service :(

 

It's funny, though, how much it varies from ship to ship. We had amazing service on Grandeur with none of the problems that are being described here. Actually, a lot of them were things that I noticed the waitstaff did very well. I'd think that things would be more consistent across the fleet :\

 

We had the BEST MDR service on Rhapsody in March. Thanks to the fantastic Clayton (pity the cruise following ours was his last) and the superb Razvan! There was absolutely nothing they could have done better. May all of you that have had a bad experience be blessed in the future with service as good as what we experienced on Rhapsody.

 

Both are "small" ships, and I know from our equally wonderful experience on Rhapsody (in MTD) that many of the crew have been onboard her for years - that can only be good, since there are consistently excellent servers training the newcomers.

 

Rolloman, I'm so sorry to hear about your MDR experience. We tend to give it two nights tops and, if the service and/or food aren't up to par, we're gone. I would rather pay the upcharge at Chops/Portofino than try to find my headwaiter and see if he or she can fix a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. Most cruises we're opting for MTD, which worked brilliantly on Rhapsody - no insistence that we need reservations, no attitude, no delays, just the kind of service we remember from our first cruise in 1995.

[Bakincakes]

Thanks, other posters were citing specific instances of good, bad and indifferent so an overall statement is a little suspect, especially since in addition to RCCL cheerleaders there is a very strong contingent of RCCL bashers. :D

 

For us - I find the service is still good in the MDR on our cruises, but I was not blown away by the service when we used MTD. However, the food is generally okay to good. The biggest let down is always the deserts.

 

 

There seems to be an affection for the use of gelatin these days, and their chocolate desserts aren't nearly as good or as plentiful as in the past.

 

We love Lamb..one evening the shank was wonderful so we ordered the Lamb the second night it was offered. It was horrible. It just seems as if there is no consistency??

 

The specialties usually deliver a decent to good product but even then we've had some stinkers in those venues as well.

 

The service is also hit and miss. We never were concerned about our wait staff as we were never disappointed. Then about 4 years ago we noticed that was also questionable at times. Same with the room Stewards. Our last 4 cruises we didn't give any extra tips to any of them.

 

To be fair our, last Holland cruise wasn't quite up to par either. We were on our favorite Westerdam and found the MDR to be less of an experience than we are used to. But the crew on Holland are wonderful and didn't let us down.:)

[kyriecat]

Our Bar server on Mariner was like this. He recognized us walking on deck about an hour before dinner and said that he would have my ice cold Fosters at the table when we arrived for dinner and he did. Every night he was like that. He was always happy and moved very quickly. . .

Don't you love that! Hubby and I are creatures of habit and rarely change our drink orders from evening to evening. I guess after 2 or 3 nights of us ordering the exact same thing, the server remembered our order and had it ready for us. I wish I could still remember her name. I know I mentioned her by name and left a very nice comment on the cruise card for her (and hubby left her a very nice thank you tip for the fabulous service). Too bad she wasn't on Serenade for me. :(

[BillOh]

I'm sorry to hear that a bunch of you are having consistently bad service :(

 

It's funny, though, how much it varies from ship to ship. We had amazing service on Grandeur with none of the problems that are being described here.:\

 

Your right, I've read too much to dismiss all of the complaints, but I haven't had any bad service myself yet. I've got my fingers crossed for cruise #4, that might be telling. I was on Freedom before Indy joined the fleet and my perception was the best of the best were on Freedom that cruise. I'll be curious to see if that perception changes.

[SandraLee]

 

At the end of a poor week of dining service, I thought it was highly inappropriate when the head waiter came around looking for his tips and asked us to please refrain from giving them anything lower than "excellent" on our guest survey.

 

 

No kidding! I about fell on the floor when the Head Waiter tracks me down to make sure I didn't give anything but Excellent on the survey. Unfortunately for him, I had already turned in the comment card that afternoon. I was disgusted he even had the nerve to ask.

[Bakincakes]

No kidding! I about fell on the floor when the Head Waiter tracks me down to make sure I didn't give anything but Excellent on the survey. Unfortunately for him, I had already turned in the comment card that afternoon. I was disgusted he even had the nerve to ask.

 

 

I agree on that note.

 

It annoys me that crew would be so forward but on the other hand I know that if they receive less than excellent there can be h*** to pay. They can lose tables/cabins..etc. and that cuts into their income.

 

Some certainly deserve low grades for their performance but I can imagine that some may be graded unfairly for minor issues. Again...subjective..does a Steward deserve a failing grade because he/she forgot my ice one evening? I would say no but someone else may think that was a deal breaker.

[dfishner]

Not sure it this is an IOS thing but I do read many negatives reviews about food and service on that ship. We were on Freedom and had good food and attentive service throughout our week.