When did main dining room servers start taking care of 4/5 tables?

[serene56]

We expect dinner take 2 hours and that is fine. However they do not have the time they used to in order to keep refilling water glasses and bread bowls.

 

As long as we have nice table companions not a big deal as we are too busy have nice conversations to worry about it.

 

you are in a minority. too many people complain that the waiter didnt talk with them over the course of the cruise if i get my food i dont care if the wait staff talks to me or not

[Sargent_Schultz]

Ive watched those passengers also and just shake my head at them and laugh..

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying cruisers are "high end"... they MAY THINK THEY ARE :cool: The have's and have-nots that just expect all the time.

In a shared dining room there are no "personal waiters"

 

Some sure do put themselves on a pedestal.

[Pellaz]

So far, Carnival is batting .500 for me when it comes to MDR dinner service.

 

On Imagination, my first Carnival cruise, the MDR service was really good. Timely service, personable wait-staff, just what you'd expect.

 

On Liberty about 11 months ago, our service was dreadful. We had early seating and on the first night, our desserts were finally brought to us at 8:00. Keep in mind that late seating starts at 8:15...and the maitre'd chided the dining room staff over the PA for their tardiness as we were finishing up. :eek:

Things improved slightly over the next few nights although there was one night when dessert service took so long that we thought they'd forgotten it and were getting up to leave when they arrived.

Drink service was terrible and didn't really improve during the cruise...I think we might have gotten soda refills once. The bar server even ignored one of our party who had ordered alcohol the first night...and then ignored him the second night. Lost revenue for CCL, there.

We had a Platinum couple sitting with us who said it was the worst they'd experienced on Carnival -- their 50th Carnival cruise and, they vowed, their last.

 

It just seemed like the galley staff was better or more "with it" on Imagination than on Liberty. When they delivered the Behind the Fun goodies to the cabin, Imagination's people took the trouble to paint chocolate tuxedos on the strawberries...on Liberty I got strawberries...with some chocolate poured on them. Little touches like that.

[AZbeachboy]

This is just another example of the decline of Carnival. To describe Carnival as the Wal-Mart of cruising would be to insult Wal-Mart.

 

Carnival should fire their CEO and get back to what they had been in the past, a good value for the money.

 

It is not just Carnival. I have traveled about the same amount on Princess and they have done the same thing. Theirs was worse. One and one for four to fave tables. It takes away the great service that we use to get.

[cantwait2cruise]

It is not just Carnival. I have traveled about the same amount on Princess and they have done the same thing. Theirs was worse. One and one for four to fave tables. It takes away the great service that we use to get.

 

Interesting that it's other lines too. I think when we took our first cruise 10 years ago, it seems like we had a waiter and an assistant for just our table (or maybe they had one other table)....amazing how it has changed.

[bplazo]

Maybe the service was slow because people have become such pitas. People ordering multiple entrees, desserts appetizers and then want to change ingredients, etc.

[sjcruiser]

I started cruising in 2006, and have cruised Carnival and Royal, and my waiters and their assistant always had 4-5 tables, and I think they have even more now. :eek:

[davids68girl]

This was my one major complaint about the Magic. We have loved getting to know our wait staff on other lines and on the Magic we couldn't. I really missed this aspect of cruising. The waitstaff we had was outstanding but they were just SO busy it seemed it was all they could do to keep their heads above water. They never let us down though and did their best in a bad situation. I hope Carnival reconsiders allowing at least the head waiter to get to know the passengers a little more. It really adds to the cruise to feel like you have a new friend or at least someone who is willing to slow down enough to ask you about your day and your plans.

[serene56]

Drink service was terrible and didn't really improve during the cruise...I think we might have gotten soda refills once. The bar server even ignored one of our party who had ordered alcohol the first night...and then ignored him the second night. .

 

 

On the GLory in January we had one bar waiter to serve the whole top floor of the dining room. I thought that was a bit much. Felt bad for those with soda cards---(LOL)

[cantwait2cruise]

Speaking of bar service, we had several soda cards in our party and did get sodas the first night. The bartender never came back the other four nights. We got up and went to a bar the second night and just stopped on the way to dinner the rest of the nights. Guess he knew he would get no gratuity, so he wasn't wasting his time on our table.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[vacruizer]

I ran into the same situation on the Pride last summer. Our wait team of three had two large tables of 8/10 plus two 6 top tables. The larger tables were a family who had arranged to have special menus every night from the ethnic menus and had allergies on top of it. The head waiter was COMPLETELY monopolized by this group. Our assistants really stepped up and took care of the other two smaller tables all while still doing assistant work with the big group. It definitely threw their rhythm off and they were very nice guys - just with way too much to handle.

 

We have really fantastic waiters probably a third of the time on Carnival and good/adequate ones most of the rest of the time. I've only had one cruise where the service was truly terrible (and the waiter had an attitude to go with it.)

 

It's been a while since we've had that great, attentive, remember-what-you-like type service that we had on our first few cruises, though. The servers are definitely a bit overwhelmed with table load since they went to the three waiter team system.

 

Going to try anytime dining next month for the first time - will see how we like it.

[golfadj]

This was my one major complaint about the Magic. We have loved getting to know our wait staff on other lines and on the Magic we couldn't. I really missed this aspect of cruising. The waitstaff we had was outstanding but they were just SO busy it seemed it was all they could do to keep their heads above water. They never let us down though and did their best in a bad situation. I hope Carnival reconsiders allowing at least the head waiter to get to know the passengers a little more. It really adds to the cruise to feel like you have a new friend or at least someone who is willing to slow down enough to ask you about your day and your plans.

 

The days of having enough staff to give you the service we used to get are long gone victim of cost cutting.

[Artemus]

I experienced the same situation on the Carnival Pride a couple weeks ago with 3 people taking care of a lot of tables. They moved really fast and spoke really fast when they came to the table and it wasn't a pleasant situation. There was almost no interaction or conversation with any of them because they seemed overworked.

[naz022292]

We were on the Glory for our first cruise last week. We had requested a large table, but were given a table for three for just us (is was me, my husband and 21y/o son). Since this was our first cruise, we don't have any others to compare it to, but we had excellent service. I have no idea how many other tables they had - at least 2 other large tables. Someone offered us bread every time we took a bite. Our water glasses never went 1/2 down. My son has a large appetite and he ate two meals each night - but after reading on these boards I had him order the two meals together - not wait to finish one. They brought them both out at the same time, would deliver all other meals and then just bring him over the 2nd meal. The waiters came over and chatted, knew all of us by name, the head waiter even did magic tricks at our table for us. They do work hard. I couldn't believe how well they still managed to chat, smile, and be so pleasant with all of that work. One thing that my husband pointed out was the team work. Although they took every opportunity to chat with passengers, the only conversation between each other was short quick direction - no small talk amongst themselves.

[OCruisers]

They do now have more tables to serve than they once did.

Also, cabin stewards have more cabins to clean ..... :(

 

LuLu

~~~~

[maggieworkman]

On our Splendor cruise we had late dining. There were 2 nights that our head waiter NEVER made an appearance at our table. The 2 assistant waiters took care of everything.

 

Our servers were great and tried really hard, but they just had too much to handle.

 

Maggie

[Sparky2]

On our Splendor cruise we had late dining. There were 2 nights that our head waiter NEVER made an appearance at our table. The 2 assistant waiters took care of everything.

 

Our servers were great and tried really hard, but they just had too much to handle.

 

Maggie

 

On our January 2013 B2B we have an absolutely fantastic waitstaff - female head waiter & 2 male assistants.

 

They had 5 tables with a total of 26 people. They were very efficient. We had a 2-top so we could have been in & out really fast, but we wanted to stay for the entertainment. They would let us know if there was entertainment so we'd know whether to leave or wait around.

[fireofficer5]

I was on the Freedom last Sept.

I thought the extra guy was just helping out.

the service was good, but seemed slow.

 

Now, do those hot shots who like to tip cash in person

tip all three servers.

 

If I was one of those hot shots, I would have missed

tipping one of my wait staff.

 

I also noticed there were not the name cards for the waiters

on the table.

[bitemyfly]

I was on the Freedom last Sept.

I thought the extra guy was just helping out.

the service was good, but seemed slow.

 

Now, do those hot shots who like to tip cash in person

tip all three servers.

 

If I was one of those hot shots, I would have missed

tipping one of my wait staff.

 

I also noticed there were not the name cards for the waiters

on the table.

I always do the auto tip thing

And to date have provided something extra to the waiters and the end of the cruise

I extra tip I'd to the people who serve me

.... Not sure if im a hot shot

Again for us the service has been good and timely

But then again aside from introductions , and small talk / chit chat

Our interactions with the wait staff is somewhat limited and revolves around food and beverage

[fireofficer5]

I always do the auto tip thing

And to date have provided something extra to the waiters and the end of the cruise

I extra tip I'd to the people who serve me

.... Not sure if im a hot shot

Again for us the service has been good and timely

But then again aside from introductions , and small talk / chit chat

Our interactions with the wait staff is somewhat limited and revolves around food and beverage

I didnt mean auto tippers.

 

I meant those that remove tips, then say they tip in cash at the approate time.

 

Sorry for any confusion.

[Ian2000]

One cruise I was on I saw my room steward waiting on tables in the main dining room and taking drink orders on the lido deck late in the afternoon. Wonder if he ever slept?

[halos]

Cutbacks cutbacks cutbacks.

They'll keep cutting until people stop booking.

Why wouldn't they? If I ran a business, I'd push it to see how far I could get without losing profit.

 

It's been over a year since I sailed CCL, but I never had a bad dining room experience on a CCL ship. The dining staff on out last cruise was exceptionally awesome as a matter of fact, and we were a table of 12 (or was it 10??? Either way...). I do however, believe the OP.

[Aplmac]

We had a head waiter and two assistants and they were taking care of 4 or 5 tables,

including two 7 top tables and one 8 top.

We had to ask for water, tea, bread, items were forgotten, entrees delivered wrong,

and the servers in general seemed very frazzled.

There is no way they can take care of that many people at once.

The most disturbing phrase in this whole scenario is

that the servers in general seemed very frazzled.

 

Frazzled = Stress = Unhappy Ship. :cool:

 

 

 

By complete contrast, we were on VALOR back in June

and the overall impression was that of a Happy Ship!

MDR service was excellent: no complaints, no stressed-out waiters.

OK maybe our bus-boy Yusuf was a bit hurried on occasion

but not all the time and every evening!

 

 

I don't like reading about workers being so stressed-out that they show it. :cool:

 

.

[soccersharon]

We've been extremely pleased with our dining staff on each of our 4 cruises (3 of which were with the new set up). Always attentive, personable, and provided great service. They were especially great with my kids doing magic tricks, and paying extra attention to them.

 

That said, we are not demanding in any way. We are very polite, and make sure they know how much we appreciate them. We do offer extra tips to each of our wait staff at the end of the cruise. Nice attracts nice!

[hayesktrm]

We just got off the Conquest a few weeks ago and had the best MDR service ever. I didn't notice any cutbacks.