What are your stories of Gold Anchor service?

[CAT GIRL]

One time many years ago on the Vision my DH and I were eating

lunch in the Windjammer. I didn't really see anything that struck my

fancy so I was sitting there to keep my husband company. The

manager came by and saw I didn't have any food in front of me

and asked what was wrong. I said that I didn't really see anything

but not to worry that I was going to grab some pizza later.

A few minutes later, he walks up with and entire pizza just for me.

I will always remember that. Plus, he has moved to other ships

and he always remembers us. The last time we ran into each

other he had a glass of wine sent over to us.

[mathfanjan]

Like many of you who have responded to this thread, my story involves food. It is about the great service we received from our head waiter on Oasis last summer. On the second night of the cruise he came by our table and was asking us if there was anything he could do for us. My husband responded that he loved the sesame seed rolls, and that he really wished they were available every evening. The next five nights we were greeted with this

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu237/oliver_janice/Oasis%2035th%20anniversary/DSC00434.jpg

on our table when we arrived. My husband loves to tell this story because he surely does not get that kind of service at the dinner table at home.

 

I really am enjoying this thread because posts like the very negatiave OP's are so irritating. I also get upset when people who have never been on Oasis or Allure continue to say there is no way that you can get good service when there are so many people onboard. We had such a good time on Oasis and it was due in great part to the excellent service.

 

Jan

 

Sorry, forgot to use the little yellow button for uploading the picture, but you "get the picture." (Sorry)

[nydiana]

This is a silly little thing...but we had lunch at JR on NOS last Dec and I commented on some little paper napkin embellishment that the waiter did when he delivered our food. I told him that it looked like the kind of thing my daugther likes to create. We were sitting at the counter so between customers he proceeded to create this perfectly formed rose out of a few simple napkins. It was amazing! Then he presented it to me. It was quite delicate, so I transported it home inside my water bottle, so it wouldnt get crushed and gave it to my daughter who put it on our Christmas tree!

He was pretty busy, but he took the time to make something I was interested in just to make my cruise better! Pretty good!

 

I received a paper long stemmed rose from my waiter ;) on Song of America back in 1994. I brought it home in a RCI souvenir glass. Believe it or not I still have it. Thanks for reminding me of that memory! :)

 

Diana

[Esmerelda]

When we sailed on the Liberty about 3 years ago, we had ordered breakfast on our door the night before. I think we had something like; coffee, cream, some danishes, cereal, milk, and apple juice for our one son. When they tray came, we didn't notice until we sat down that they had forgotten the cereal box. I called back up and very politely asked that when someone was back in our area if they could drop off a box of Raisin Bran as it wasn't on our tray. (it was no biggie as my son takes a while to wake up anyhow). We never gave it any more thought. We are VERY easy going, easy to please people.

 

Later that night when we returned from dinner, there was this huge tray of chocolate covered strawberries on a platter with an apology note on it regarding the cereal box.:eek: I called back to the room service number and told them that was very nice but they really didn't have to do that. Too say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement. It was an EXTREMELY nice gesture on RC part and we were never even upset over the box. This is what I would definitely categorized 'Gold Anchor' Service. We are always treated like Royal when sailing with Royal but then again, you get what you give.

 

This type of thing is what makes us sail Royal over and over. We love it! :D

[Esmerelda]

Forgot one more! On our 2nd time sailing on the LOS, we had a great room steward. I think his name was "Huberto" or something close to that. He was SO amazingly nice, always stopped to chat with us for 5 minutes or so. Our room was spotless as well as our sons next door.

 

My husband was hoping we would get C/A hats for our gift that they put in your room. We got the really nice tan beach bags (this was 2 years ago) placed on our beds on day 4 or so. Although my hubby thought they were nice, he was so hoping for a hat (he needed a hat in general for the pool deck area). We asked Huberto about these C/A hats. He said, they don't give those out anymore. My hubby told him that was too bad, he really needed a hat and wanted that kind. Huberto said his friend worked in the one of the gift shops. Later that day, a C/A hat magically appeared on our bed (and we still got our great bags). Huberto received a very nice tip that day from my hubby he was so happy! Once again, another example of "Gold Anchor" service aboard a RC ship. This is why we keep coming back. :D

[nbsjcruiser]

I have two stories that stick out in my mind.

 

The first was on the Radiance of the Seas. We were at dinner on our first might when I noticed my wedding ring was not on my hand. needless to say I was very upset. I rushed back to the statement to see if it was there. When I arrived at out room the room Stewart was there and saw how upset I was. I explained that I lost my ring and he jumped right in to help find it. Arron (room Stewart) Took his time and ripped our room apart to find it. This was above and beyond what he needed to do. The ring was never found.

 

The second was on the Explorer of the seas. We had sailed this ship in 2004. Had a great time that we went on her again in 2006 with our sons. When we went to dinner the first night our waiter said that I remember you from 2004 and you sat at Richards table. This blew our minds that he remembered us since we were not even at his table. We had another great cruise and the waiters were great with our sons. Fast forward a few years later. We live in Saint John and the cruise ships come in our port in the summer. My husband and I decided to go into to town for lunch. We went to the city market and as we were eating our lunch a couple of cruise ship workers approached us and said that they remembered us. We invited them to have lunch and we started to talk and found out that one of them was our bar waiter in the dining room. He said Mr. Michael you always ordered Scotch with a small glass of water on the side. Wow blew our minds.

[Familygoboston]

I received a paper long stemmed rose from my waiter ;) on Song of America back in 1994. I brought it home in a RCI souvenir glass. Believe it or not I still have it. Thanks for reminding me of that memory! :)

 

Diana

Too funny! This fella was too young to have been the same waiter! We did SOA in 96! Small world- but thats another thread;)

[Todnet]

At dinner one evening we asked our waiter about the next evening's menu. He asked us what we would prefer, one of our group said that she would like scallops. The next evening our waiter brought 3 huge plates of the best scallops that I have had in a while.

 

We have always experienced this sort of service, that is why we keep coming back.

[Familygoboston]

Like many of you who have responded to this thread, my story involves food. It is about the great service we received from our head waiter on Oasis last summer. On the second night of the cruise he came by our table and was asking us if there was anything he could do for us. My husband responded that he loved the sesame seed rolls, and that he really wished they were available every evening. The next five nights we were greeted with this

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu237/oliver_janice/Oasis%2035th%20anniversary/DSC00434.jpg

on our table when we arrived. My husband loves to tell this story because he surely does not get that kind of service at the dinner table at home.

 

I really am enjoying this thread because posts like the very negatiave OP's are so irritating. I also get upset when people who have never been on Oasis or Allure continue to say there is no way that you can get good service when there are so many people onboard. We had such a good time on Oasis and it was due in great part to the excellent service.

 

Jan

 

Sorry, forgot to use the little yellow button for uploading the picture, but you "get the picture." (Sorry)

My Husband had the same roll thing on Navigator...he loved the sour dough and before he could get his napkin on his lap, the Asst waiter would have the sourdough roll on his plate!

[2tall]

Our best experiences were aboard the Empress of the Seas right before she left the fleet. On the first night, I ordered a diet coke and a glass of pinot grigio. The second night at dinner, my diet coke was waiting for me and so I ordered the pinot grigio again. By the third night and for the rest of the cruise, the diet coke and the pinot grigio were there just as I sat down.

 

At some point during the same trip, we must have told the wait staff that we travel around our wedding anniversary...and an order of chocolate covered strawberries magically made it to our room along with a "Happy Anniversary" note.

 

Before this cruise, we expected that the staff might be slacking off since it was their last "long" cruise before they were all transferred to other ships...but we've never had better service from a waiter and assistant waiter...EVER.

[constable145]

Remembering our name before I can remember theirs

 

Bringing items that aren't on the menu- my mom had shrimp cocktail on night 2. She then asked if it was possible to get it on night 3... the head waiter came over and told her he would have a shrimp cocktail delivered to her every night regardless of whether or not it was on the menu. The same arrangements were made for our party to have eggs Benedict.

 

While in port our cabin steward saw me drinking a beer... he recommend I drink one of the beers native to the area.. so I did.. It was very nice.

 

All in all, I've found the service on RCI to be amazing. I have no desire to try any other cruise line.

[travelplus]

On my Father and my first cruise last year on the Serenade from San Juan-Rome we had such a nice assistant waitress Celia and headwaiter Sajo in the MDR.

 

On the first night we ordered Arnold Palmers and the International Cheese platter and every night it was waiting for us in addition to the other appetizers. As we like Indian food Sajo gave us his personal recommendation on what night to order the Curry Dish. He was spot on.

 

When our assistant waiter cut her finger we asked how she was and I wrote a card wishing her well. When she returned she had a big smile and was thankful for the card.

 

There was a mixup with regards to the Meet and Mingle time and date. When I found out that we missed it the Loyalty Adviser apologized profusely and said that we must have gotten the invitations later than he expected. He sent us a bottle of champagne which we enjoyed.

 

At Chops I said how much we enjoyed their Mud pie and the waiter gave us each another serving to take with us to the evening show.

 

Our stateroom attendant saw that I had a stain on my shirt. Thinking not much of it when we left for the day he took the initiative to take it to dry cleaning to remove it. I was so touched by his attention to detail and his caring attitude towards us. He also noticed that we did not finish our room service and I mentioned that the eggs were a bit cold. He said can we wait for a few minutes? He personally returned with new plates of hot eggs and even brought us two specialty Lattes to apologize for our troubles.

 

The list goes on but due to the attentive service we booked our second cruise with Royal from New Orleans-Rome.

 

Its these little touches that make or break a cruise. As soon as I got home I wrote an e-mail to Adam Goldstein and told him how much we enjoyed the cruise and how Celia and Sajo went above the call of duty.

[reallyhooked]

Do you have a particular instance that sticks out as a time when something was done above and beyond your expectations? I was hoping for details in this thread :)

 

We were on BOS. When it was time for desert I told our waiter I would have it on the night they served Key Lime Pie. After that Key Lime Pie every night at dinner. On one of those nights we were invited to have dinner at the Captains table. When desert was served the waiter told me he would have my Key Lime Pie to take with me. Amazing how he new that I liked Key Lime Pie.

;)

Joyce

[lady_cruiser]

On my Father and my first cruise last year on the Serenade from San Juan-Rome we had such a nice assistant waitress Celia and headwaiter Sajo in the MDR.

 

On the first night we ordered Arnold Palmers and the International Cheese platter and every night it was waiting for us in addition to the other appetizers. As we like Indian food Sajo gave us his personal recommendation on what night to order the Curry Dish. He was spot on.

 

When our assistant waiter cut her finger we asked how she was and I wrote a card wishing her well. When she returned she had a big smile and was thankful for the card.

 

There was a mixup with regards to the Meet and Mingle time and date. When I found out that we missed it the Loyalty Adviser apologized profusely and said that we must have gotten the invitations later than he expected. He sent us a bottle of champagne which we enjoyed.

 

At Chops I said how much we enjoyed their Mud pie and the waiter gave us each another serving to take with us to the evening show.

 

Our stateroom attendant saw that I had a stain on my shirt. Thinking not much of it when we left for the day he took the initiative to take it to dry cleaning to remove it. I was so touched by his attention to detail and his caring attitude towards us. He also noticed that we did not finish our room service and I mentioned that the eggs were a bit cold. He said can we wait for a few minutes? He personally returned with new plates of hot eggs and even brought us two specialty Lattes to apologize for our troubles.

 

The list goes on but due to the attentive service we booked our second cruise with Royal from New Orleans-Rome.

 

Its these little touches that make or break a cruise. As soon as I got home I wrote an e-mail to Adam Goldstein and told him how much we enjoyed the cruise and how Celia and Sajo went above the call of duty.

 

Can I ask you how did you find this thread since the first post is dated March of 2011, almost two years ago? Surely it had to be buried way down here.

[murfturf]

I don't mean to be picky - but just because I tell the waiter I like a certain food, doesn't mean that I want it every night! Should I be careful and not say that, because it seems that they do that. I might love a chocolate dessert, but I'd also like to see what is different on the next night.

 

But back to the topic - Hubby finds the bar he would like to go to at the beginning of the cruise and says 'You're going to take good care of us, right?' builds up a good rapport. That bartender becomes "our bartender" and he makes us REALLY good drinks. One time he mixed mine and the shaker still had more in it. So as I drank, he kept pouring in more to top if off. He winks at me and gestures "Shhh" but it was so funny. Overall, it's not just that though - they genuinely have been great people and great service.

[murfturf]

Can I ask you how did you find this thread since the first post is dated March of 2011, almost two years ago? Surely it had to be buried way down here.

 

Searching for something related - like "Gold Service" or whatnot. I think it's great - rather than starting new threads with the same info. Or they were subscribed to the original and had something they wanted to add.

[Elkpad]

I was on a 3-day cruise out of LA with a large group of family that included my Aunt who is disabled and often needs assistance. The first night in the MDR, since she has a problem with one of her hands, I got up to cut up her food for her (as I usually do when we are together - didn't even think to ask, just a habit) since she ordered steak, and I swear I didn't even get that knife down to start the first cut before the head waiter ran over, stopped me, took the knife, and handed it off to the assistant waiter to cut it up so I could go back to my plate and eat. Every night after that, no matter what she ordered, if it was anything that needed cutting up, it was done before it even hit the table in front of her. I was pretty impressed. She also uses a straw most times as she has trouble handling glasses of soda (and I usually carry some in my purse for her just in case), and they made sure her drink every night had a straw in it and was placed in a convenient location for her after watching me put it in there the first night. I just figured that was pretty observant and definately beyond the call of duty!