Complaints about lousy food service....

[che5904]

For example on our last cruise the two incidents of rudeness I encountered in the MDR were both from passengers - in one case a woman who did not like the menu selections literally shreiked (and I am unfortunately NOT exaggerating) at the hostess about her displeasure. I am not sure exactly what the hostess was supposed to do about it?

Wouldn't her complaint have been more effective (and a lot politer) if directed in writing at the hotel manager or on a comment card or to NCL Head Office? Instead she chose to scream at and humiliate someone who could not help her and could only politely accept her abuse.

 

Wow and some people say children do not know how to appropriately behave in public :D

 

So are you going to leave us in suspense of the 2nd incident? ;)

[bloomcruisers]

Well I have a prime example for you. We were just on the Feb 1 Gem sailing and ate in the 2 main dining rooms for dinner every night. We had mostly fine service with one woman in particular (we had her 2 nights in a row) who was outstanding. THEN... we had one dinner where the server was very slow in arriving after we were seated, had no personality whatsoever, just stood there silently with his pencil and after a longer than normal wait the appetizers arrived... and then the trouble began. We finished the first course and were chatting. All water glasses were empty, the bread basket was empty, and we waited...and waited...and waited...with no sign of our waiter or assistant waiter. We finally (politely mind you...no shrieking involved) flagged down a server from another table and asked him if he could find our guys. He went to the station and talked to another server who came over and poured water and left. Steve, the hotel director, was walking through and stopped at our table just then and he actually removed all our dishes from the first course as he chatted with us. At that point, we didn't want to get anyone in trouble since as the server wasn't there yet we thought he might have had a problem and would be there any second with an explanation. Well, we should have spoken up then. Another 20 minutes goes by with no sign of anything or anybody for our table. I told my husband we should just get up and go back to the hostess station and get seated somewhere else but the rest of the group kept being optimistic that waiter and food would be there any minute. My husband instead got up and went to the nearest wait station and talked to the 2 servers that were standing there (again no shrieking or yelling) asking again if anybody could find our missing attendants. Eventually, after over a 45 minute delay from when we finished our 1st course and with a table of empty water glasses, again, the entrees and our waiter finally arrived....with no explanation or apology and 2 of the 4 entrees were completely wrong! He acted completely innocent as if tables being abandoned for close to an hour like this is totally normal. It took about 10 minutes more to get the 2 entree mistakes corrected by which time the other 2 diners had pretty much finished eating. Needless to say we didn't stay for coffee and dessert!

[coffeebean]

We just sailed on the Pearl. We never encountered rude service but the food was sub-par at best. No lobster night, no shrimp cocktail and Beef Wellington was made with ground beef. Chicken was the Chef's special 4 of 7 nights. Quite different from the past. Budget cuts have obviously taken their toll. Check the most recent reviews of the Pearl.

Just wondering if the menu stated the Beef Wellington was made with ground beef. That is a very favorite dish of mine and I would be very disappointed if it were prepared with ground beef instead of Filet Mignon.

[bloomcruisers]

Needless to say we didn't stay for coffee and dessert!

 

I should add that, since the waiter had disappeared again at that point, we probably would have been another hour to get him to take our orders and bring the food and drink. He was nowhere to be seen when we got up and left.

[che5904]

Well I have a prime example for you. We were just on the Feb 1 Gem sailing and ate in the 2 main dining rooms for dinner every night. We had mostly fine service with one woman in particular (we had her 2 nights in a row) who was outstanding. THEN... we had one dinner where the server was very slow in arriving after we were seated, had no personality whatsoever, just stood there silently with his pencil and after a longer than normal wait the appetizers arrived... and then the trouble began. We finished the first course and were chatting. All water glasses were empty, the bread basket was empty, and we waited...and waited...and waited...with no sign of our waiter or assistant waiter. We finally (politely mind you...no shrieking involved) flagged down a server from another table and asked him if he could find our guys. He went to the station and talked to another server who came over and poured water and left. Steve, the hotel director, was walking through and stopped at our table just then and he actually removed all our dishes from the first course as he chatted with us. At that point, we didn't want to get anyone in trouble since as the server wasn't there yet we thought he might have had a problem and would be there any second with an explanation. Well, we should have spoken up then. Another 20 minutes goes by with no sign of anything or anybody for our table. I told my husband we should just get up and go back to the hostess station and get seated somewhere else but the rest of the group kept being optimistic that waiter and food would be there any minute. My husband instead got up and went to the nearest wait station and talked to the 2 servers that were standing there (again no shrieking or yelling) asking again if anybody could find our missing attendants. Eventually, after over a 45 minute delay from when we finished our 1st course and with a table of empty water glasses, again, the entrees and our waiter finally arrived....with no explanation or apology and 2 of the 4 entrees were completely wrong! He acted completely innocent as if tables being abandoned for close to an hour like this is totally normal. It took about 10 minutes more to get the 2 entree mistakes corrected by which time the other 2 diners had pretty much finished eating. Needless to say we didn't stay for coffee and dessert!

 

Thats too bad that, that night's experience was bad. Yes we too have experienced that in land based restaurants, even our most loved and frequented ones. It is very frustrating.

 

Too bad you had chosen not to bring this to Steve's attention when you seen him, so the rest of your dinner could have been better. But I truly hope you let him know after so he could perhaps save it from being repeated.

[Medtech2]

We were two weeks on the Epic and the best advice I can give is if you happen to get a really good server the first night, make a note of their name and request them each night. The first week we ate the lobster, our very excellent server removed the meat from the tail for me and offered to get us more. He also brewed tea for me in a pot at the table, with a selection of teas....The second week's lobster was put down on the table with not even a word and tea was brought in a cup, with no choice as to type. That server did his duty but obviously nothing above and beyond....I really wish I had taken the time to learn the first server's name and request him--he was a joy and a pro.

We also had a bad experience with a rude hostess and I wrote a note to the food director about it.That was the only rudeness we ever encountered and I wanted to let the FD know.

As far as service charge, it takes the headache out of figuring and splitting tips, and makes sure everyone is covered. We had some outstanding service, most notably from our steward, and I made sure to fill out a STYLE card to let management know.

To have across the board great service in all aspects for 2 weeks straight (except for that one hostess), made our vacation pure joy...I went back to work literally grinning and have become an NCL cheerleader, as you can tell...

[Nanny B]

Just came back from a 7 day cruise on the Pearl. Our 5th NCL cruise. Not once have we had rude or indifferent service on any of the ships. It is amazing what a "please", thank you", "have a nice day" and a smile will get you.:)

[bloomcruisers]

 

Too bad you had chosen not to bring this to Steve's attention when you seen him, so the rest of your dinner could have been better. But I truly hope you let him know after so he could perhaps save it from being repeated.

 

Yes, in hindsight, had we any idea how bad it would eventually get, we would have spoken up. But we tend to be overly accommodating since we are on vacation and trying to relax. Unfortunately, we did not see Steve after that incident though he was very available generally throughout the trip. Since it was a 1 time incident, nobody felt the need to go track him down to complain. But if they tried to seat us at that waiter's section again we would have certainly refused. HaHa!

[dockrocker]

Never have we had rude service on NCL. A couple of times it's been a bit slow, but nothing to worry about -- and it's easy to tell when the dining room's in a rush period and adjust expectations accordingly.

 

On the other hand, we had truly awful service on the Pride of Aloha. The American staff was absolutely personable, but most of them didn't seem to get that as much as we love to chat with the crew (and we do; we initiate most of the conversations), we also enjoy hot meals, water in our glasses, entrees served at approximately the same time as others' at the table are, etc. Many of them also didn't pick up on things like everyone needs a napkin, soup is eaten with a spoon, etc. You couldn't get annoyed at them because they were such nice people; we just kept laughing at the combo of their charming personalities and totally inept serving skills.

[mikewrit]

I sometimes wonder about the standard by which some negative folks measure service generally on cruise ships and particularly in the main dining rooms on NCL ships. I have only very rarely been treated better anywhere than I have been treated on cruises. The one glaring exception to the rule came at dinner one night in the Versailles on the Norwegian Star. The assistant waiter for our section (bus boy?) was grumpy, older than most and slow and clumsy about every part of the service. I was shocked! Shocked, I tell you! I surmised he had just been moved into that slot from some less public role and was supposed to be learning the business. Throughout the meal, the waiter had increasing difficulty disguising his displeasure with the assistant. Finally, after the fellow dropped my dessert on the table and growled, the waiter took him firmly by the elbow and dragged him off the station and into the kitchen. We never saw him again. If he wasn't dropped from his contract at the next port (Puntarenas, as I recall) I suppose he finished the cruise chipping rust spots down in the bilges.

[mypleasure]

Well I have a prime example for you. We were just on the Feb 1 Gem sailing and ate in the 2 main dining rooms for dinner every night. We had mostly fine service with one woman in particular (we had her 2 nights in a row) who was outstanding. THEN... we had one dinner where the server was very slow in arriving after we were seated, had no personality whatsoever, just stood there silently with his pencil and after a longer than normal wait the appetizers arrived... and then the trouble began. We finished the first course and were chatting. All water glasses were empty, the bread basket was empty, and we waited...and waited...and waited...with no sign of our waiter or assistant waiter. We finally (politely mind you...no shrieking involved) flagged down a server from another table and asked him if he could find our guys. He went to the station and talked to another server who came over and poured water and left. Steve, the hotel director, was walking through and stopped at our table just then and he actually removed all our dishes from the first course as he chatted with us. At that point, we didn't want to get anyone in trouble since as the server wasn't there yet we thought he might have had a problem and would be there any second with an explanation. Well, we should have spoken up then. Another 20 minutes goes by with no sign of anything or anybody for our table. I told my husband we should just get up and go back to the hostess station and get seated somewhere else but the rest of the group kept being optimistic that waiter and food would be there any minute. My husband instead got up and went to the nearest wait station and talked to the 2 servers that were standing there (again no shrieking or yelling) asking again if anybody could find our missing attendants. Eventually, after over a 45 minute delay from when we finished our 1st course and with a table of empty water glasses, again, the entrees and our waiter finally arrived....with no explanation or apology and 2 of the 4 entrees were completely wrong! He acted completely innocent as if tables being abandoned for close to an hour like this is totally normal. It took about 10 minutes more to get the 2 entree mistakes corrected by which time the other 2 diners had pretty much finished eating. Needless to say we didn't stay for coffee and dessert!

 

 

I found this post to be wonderful example of what bad service is. I doubt that many would have been so patient as your party were. Now as many of you know I am from over the pond and service here can be good but I have to say that on my many trips to the USA I have found service to be generally of a high standard but sometimes a bit, well, sort of over the top for us unfussy Brits.

 

This leads me to ask this; I don't like being rushed to order and having my food delivered immediately after each course is completed. Over here we tend to take a few minutes, probably 5-10 between courses, to digest and converse. So I see some folks saying service was slow, what do you think is an acceptable amount of time to spend over a meal assuming you are not wanting to rush off somewhere. At what point do you start to consider service slow?

 

For me I would expect my order to be taken within 10 minutes of being seated with a menu, appetiser if cold within 5 minutes or if hot 10 mins. 10 mins to eat and plates to be cleared within 5 of finishing. Entree to be delivered within 10 of appetisers cleared. 10 minutes to eat or sometimes 20 if a big meal such as in Cagneys or at least the waiter to pass by to see without stopping where we were at. Another 10 minutes after clearing before serving dessert. So I would not expect my meal to last less than 1 hour, more like 1 hour 15 mins.

 

Jean

[sparks1093]

For me I would expect my order to be taken within 10 minutes of being seated with a menu, appetiser if cold within 5 minutes or if hot 10 mins. 10 mins to eat and plates to be cleared within 5 of finishing. Entree to be delivered within 10 of appetisers cleared. 10 minutes to eat or sometimes 20 if a big meal such as in Cagneys or at least the waiter to pass by to see without stopping where we were at. Another 10 minutes after clearing before serving dessert. So I would not expect my meal to last less than 1 hour, more like 1 hour 15 mins.

 

Jean

 

I never watched the clock when we ate on the Sky but I'd ballpark it at an hour to an hour and a half for dinner. Seemed just right to me (dinners at home are always so rushed it was nice to relax through a meal:)).

[mypleasure]

Interesting that you should mention this because I was just thinking that the only rudeness I have encountered on any cruiseship was from passengers - either towards staff or fellow passengers.

 

 

Same here, I was talking with a bar server about the various drinks on the menu I was unfamiliar with. People came in and sat at the next table started clicking there fingers and saying "hey, we want to get some drinks here" Rude to both myself and the server. The server dealt with it by saying "I will be with you as soon as I have taken this lady's order" We were regulars in that bar every evening (it was the 3rd night of the cruise and we had been in every night so far) so I told him to go and deal with them before they dehydrated and to come back when he had a minute. He took their ordsers gave it to the barman and came right back to me and thanked me for my patience and we took up where we left off.

 

Next evening I missed the 2 for 1 martini special by 20 minutes but when my drink arrived I had 2 of them and a big smile.

[josumello]

On the Gem no rude service but terrible service!! There was no rhyme to reason who was waiting on our table. There was a diferent server for every aspect of the meal, no continuity and to find the sommelier was impossible. But he worse thing was the disappointing food, very sub par...., not to mention the disaster called free style cruising.

The rest of the cruise was fine,

Sue

[sparks1093]

the disaster called free style cruising.

 

One person's disaster is another person's treasure. :D

[oldguysandgalls]

We only encountered one rude server on all our cruises, and it wasn't directed at us, but this particular waiter (Eddie) became rather"rude" to put it mildly, with a fellow passenger.

 

On the 5th day of our cruise, this passenger was perusing the breakfast menu at his leisure, too much at his leisure in Eddies opinion we suppose. Suddenly, Eddie snapped at the passenger and said" it's the same breakfast menu every day"!! Whereupon our fellow passenger responded with " I am on Vacation, don't rush me" !!

 

Now years later, whenever we witness or experience rude service we say...ah there's another "Eddie" again.

[JimSS]

Just got off a B2B cruise on the EPIC, we ate most of our dinners in the "free" dining room and felt we had great service. At times we would have a bit of an extended dinner but we were "on vacation" and were not interested in rushing. We did have a couple of occasions where we wanted a quicker dinner and the waiter professionally accommodated our request.

[lunaxmars]

I have cruised on the Pearl before and with Norwegian 3 times. I have never experienced poor service- anywhere. It's been quite the opposite actually- I've gotten to know the servers and staff and they are always happy to see you. If you think about how many people serve you in the course of one day on board, $12 is a steal.

[LucyR.]

I am the OP. Thank you everybody for your comments. I booked the cruise first before reading the bad reviews on the service at dinner time.

 

I had not cruised with NCL in years and this is why I asked my questions to you cruisers who love NCL.

 

First of all.... I read somewhere that the Service charge was not really a tip. That I would also have to do tipping besides the Service charge. You all have made it clear that it is a tipping service charge which is okay with me.

 

Regarding dinner time at the free restaurants.... I plan to take some of the advise and look to see who are the best waiters who will be serving me. I plan to ask for them each time I go dinning. That is a great idea.

 

Bloomcruisers, gave me the best idea.... and that is to be moved to another table if the waiter and his assistant disappear and can't be found.

I am the type of person that understands that sometimes waiters have to wait on 30 persons at a time. I am very patient when I see that happening. I remember the days when all of the cruiselines had great service. Those days are gone due to cut-backs on wait-staff.

Many new hired waiters are not being trained to wait on us on the appropriate rules of serving cruisers.

 

I don't have a negative attitude. I was just afraid of extreme poor service at dinner time. But after all of your advise I know what to do now when I walk into the dinning room. Thank you all for you advise.

 

I started cruising in 1973 on NCL when the service was fantastic and the waiters used to spend time talking with us cruisers a lot. We got to know them really well. Those were wonderful days of great service.

 

I am cruising with a positive attitude... even if a waiter is rude to me. I just laugh it off because I am having fun and I do feel sorry for the cruise ship workers.