Pushy Drink Vendors

[EnTnSA]

Is it just me, or have bar waiters been extra pushy lately?

 

Never really noticed it before, but we had a couple of rude bar waiters on board the Magic.

 

One was at Red Frog. Kept insisting that my wife order the fishbowl drink, even though I politely declined and let him know I wasn't drinking that evening. We said no thank you a few times, he kept touting the benefits of it, finally gave a bit of an annoyed look and dropped the niceties, started acting disinterested and mumbled back our order as he was caking off.

 

I got dehydrated drinking only beer in Jamaica, and needed to rehydrate on something other than booze, and he didn't seem to understand the concept of why someone on a cruise wouldn't want to just drink into oblivion. He came back 20 minutes later with 1 drink and no water. I asked him again for the ice water. He came back with 1 small cocktail glass of tap water, no ice, set it down without even acknowledging us and walked off. I assume he was upset we didn't order the fishbowl drink.

 

I got up and walked to the bar myself and finally got what I ordered.

 

Had similar, albeit not so pronounced experiences with other waiters in various places. One was up in the Serentiy area, waiter seemed annoyed that I wanted 1 beer, and the ladies I was with didn't want any alcohol. He kept insisting, and I kept politely declining, informing him they arent big drinkers. Then he was insisting i order a bucket of beer. I didn't want 4 beers where 3 get hot before I drink them.

 

Another was in the ocean plaza area, similar situation.

 

The waiters just seem dumbfounded that someone would be on a cruise and not drinking booze 24hrs a day. I was trying to be nice about it, but after a day or two of it, was getting kind of annoying.

 

Just figured i'd vent. I don't recall this level of drink hawking on our 5 other cruises. Maybe I was just being too sensitive…who knows.

Edited August 4, 2014 by EnTnSA

[GTO-Girl]

Is it just me, or have bar waiters been extra pushy lately?

 

Never really noticed it before, but we had a couple of rude bar waiters on board the Magic.

 

One was at Red Frog. Kept insisting that my wife order the fishbowl drink, even though I politely declined and let him know I wasn't drinking that evening. We said no thank you a few times, he kept touting the benefits of it, finally gave a bit of an annoyed look and dropped the niceties, started acting disinterested and mumbled back our order as he was caking off.

 

I got dehydrated drinking only beer in Jamaica, and needed to rehydrate on something other than booze, and he didn't seem to understand the concept of why someone on a cruise wouldn't want to just drink into oblivion. He came back 20 minutes later with 1 drink and no water. I asked him again for the ice water. He came back with 1 small cocktail glass of tap water, no ice, set it down without even acknowledging us and walked off. I assume he was upset we didn't order the fishbowl drink.

 

I got up and walked to the bar myself and finally got what I ordered.

 

Had similar, albeit not so pronounced experiences with other waiters in various places. One was up in the Serentiy area, waiter seemed annoyed that I wanted 1 beer, and the ladies I was with didn't want any alcohol. He kept insisting, and I kept politely declining, informing him they arent big drinkers. Then he was insisting i order a bucket of beer. I didn't want 4 beers where 3 get hot before I drink them.

 

Another was in the ocean plaza area, similar situation.

 

The waiters just seem dumbfounded that someone would be on a cruise and not drinking booze 24hrs a day. I was trying to be nice about it, but after a day or two of it, was getting kind of annoying.

 

Just figured i'd vent. I don't recall this level of drink hawking on our 5 other cruises. Maybe I was just being too sensitive…who knows.

 

 

Almost sounds like they are having to meet some kind of quota, doesn't it?

 

I sure hope that's not the case.....

[Shipbound]

Is it just me, or have bar waiters been extra pushy lately?

 

Never really noticed it before, but we had a couple of rude bar waiters on board the Magic.

 

One was at Red Frog. Kept insisting that my wife order the fishbowl drink, even though I politely declined and let him know I wasn't drinking that evening. We said no thank you a few times, he kept touting the benefits of it, finally gave a bit of an annoyed look and dropped the niceties, started acting disinterested and mumbled back our order as he was caking off.

 

I got dehydrated drinking only beer in Jamaica, and needed to rehydrate on something other than booze, and he didn't seem to understand the concept of why someone on a cruise wouldn't want to just drink into oblivion. He came back 20 minutes later with 1 drink and no water. I asked him again for the ice water. He came back with 1 small cocktail glass of tap water, no ice, set it down without even acknowledging us and walked off. I assume he was upset we didn't order the fishbowl drink.

 

I got up and walked to the bar myself and finally got what I ordered.

 

Had similar, albeit not so pronounced experiences with other waiters in various places. One was up in the Serentiy area, waiter seemed annoyed that I wanted 1 beer, and the ladies I was with didn't want any alcohol. He kept insisting, and I kept politely declining, informing him they arent big drinkers. Then he was insisting i order a bucket of beer. I didn't want 4 beers where 3 get hot before I drink them.

 

Another was in the ocean plaza area, similar situation.

 

The waiters just seem dumbfounded that someone would be on a cruise and not drinking booze 24hrs a day. I was trying to be nice about it, but after a day or two of it, was getting kind of annoying.

 

Just figured i'd vent. I don't recall this level of drink hawking on our 5 other cruises. Maybe I was just being too sensitive…who knows.

 

I've been on cruises where the servers push the drinks. But that is better than hearing announcements every 5 minutes which use to happen when I first started cruising, now that was really annoying.

 

Gary

[EnTnSA]

Almost sounds like they are having to meet some kind of quota, doesn't it?

 

I sure hope that's not the case.....

 

It honestly really felt like that.

 

I get that they are salesmen, and the more drinks they sell, the more money they make. I am perfectly fine with this. It was more the crass approach some of these guys seem to have on this trip. Even ordering a drink wasn't enough, I had to order 4 at a time, or whatever drink they were telling me I needed (which was typically whatever was the biggest most expensive thing they had).

 

Waitress in the ocean plaza seemed really annoyed when I ordered 2 ice waters and 2 diet cokes one day at lunch.

 

I think they just get programmed that everyone wants booze at all times, so when someone doesn't, it is probably startling…they don't really know how to act.

[losijon]

My wife and I and our friends ordered more drinks on our last cruise than we did on our first one and yes they seemed a little more pushy about it but not annoyingly so....

 

Sorry you had to deal with this.

 

 

.....................................................

Carnival Pride 7 day Mexican Riviera: September 2008

 

Carnival Inspiration 4 day Mexican Riviera: September 2013

 

Carnival Miracle 15 day Hawaii: coming October 2015

[cb at sea]

Since there is no tab to sign for ice water, they don't get tipped....

[PlanoTim]

Is it just me, or have bar waiters been extra pushy lately?

 

Never really noticed it before, but we had a couple of rude bar waiters on board the Magic.

 

One was at Red Frog. Kept insisting that my wife order the fishbowl drink, even though I politely declined and let him know I wasn't drinking that evening. We said no thank you a few times, he kept touting the benefits of it, finally gave a bit of an annoyed look and dropped the niceties, started acting disinterested and mumbled back our order as he was caking off.

 

I got dehydrated drinking only beer in Jamaica, and needed to rehydrate on something other than booze, and he didn't seem to understand the concept of why someone on a cruise wouldn't want to just drink into oblivion. He came back 20 minutes later with 1 drink and no water. I asked him again for the ice water. He came back with 1 small cocktail glass of tap water, no ice, set it down without even acknowledging us and walked off. I assume he was upset we didn't order the fishbowl drink.

 

I got up and walked to the bar myself and finally got what I ordered.

 

Had similar, albeit not so pronounced experiences with other waiters in various places. One was up in the Serentiy area, waiter seemed annoyed that I wanted 1 beer, and the ladies I was with didn't want any alcohol. He kept insisting, and I kept politely declining, informing him they arent big drinkers. Then he was insisting i order a bucket of beer. I didn't want 4 beers where 3 get hot before I drink them.

 

Another was in the ocean plaza area, similar situation.

 

The waiters just seem dumbfounded that someone would be on a cruise and not drinking booze 24hrs a day. I was trying to be nice about it, but after a day or two of it, was getting kind of annoying.

 

Just figured i'd vent. I don't recall this level of drink hawking on our 5 other cruises. Maybe I was just being too sensitive…who knows.

 

The only pushy drink waiter I noticed on the Magic a couple of weeks ago was the guy selling shots in the Northern Lights dining room in the evening. I don’t do shots at dinner and thought that a polite “no thanks” would have been sufficient – but it wasn't. He would try to talk us into it every night we were there. I also gave these same comments on my post-cruise survey.

Tim

[Nic6318]

Is it just me, or have bar waiters been extra pushy lately?

 

Never really noticed it before, but we had a couple of rude bar waiters on board the Magic.

 

One was at Red Frog. Kept insisting that my wife order the fishbowl drink, even though I politely declined and let him know I wasn't drinking that evening. We said no thank you a few times, he kept touting the benefits of it, finally gave a bit of an annoyed look and dropped the niceties, started acting disinterested and mumbled back our order as he was caking off.

 

I got dehydrated drinking only beer in Jamaica, and needed to rehydrate on something other than booze, and he didn't seem to understand the concept of why someone on a cruise wouldn't want to just drink into oblivion. He came back 20 minutes later with 1 drink and no water. I asked him again for the ice water. He came back with 1 small cocktail glass of tap water, no ice, set it down without even acknowledging us and walked off. I assume he was upset we didn't order the fishbowl drink.

 

I got up and walked to the bar myself and finally got what I ordered.

 

Had similar, albeit not so pronounced experiences with other waiters in various places. One was up in the Serentiy area, waiter seemed annoyed that I wanted 1 beer, and the ladies I was with didn't want any alcohol. He kept insisting, and I kept politely declining, informing him they arent big drinkers. Then he was insisting i order a bucket of beer. I didn't want 4 beers where 3 get hot before I drink them.

 

Another was in the ocean plaza area, similar situation.

 

The waiters just seem dumbfounded that someone would be on a cruise and not drinking booze 24hrs a day. I was trying to be nice about it, but after a day or two of it, was getting kind of annoying.

 

Just figured i'd vent. I don't recall this level of drink hawking on our 5 other cruises. Maybe I was just being too sensitive…who knows.

 

 

Hi

You know it might just be a question of the venue or the particular server. We were on the Glory just a few weeks ago and never had to say no thanks more than once.

We were at the Alchemy bar one time where my wife wanted one of their fancy drinks but I wasn't having anything. The server brought her the drink and an iced water with lemon for me without even being asked (Johanna). I appreciated the gesture. That's why I think that it may just be something to do with the venue, because in many of the other bar areas there isn't the same volume of patrons or drinks being served.

I know that's why once people find a bartender or server they like they frequent their area often.

 

Have a great day

Ian

[Wilgr]

I have seen a dozen posts about how hard it is to get any service.

[EnTnSA]

The only pushy drink waiter I noticed on the Magic a couple of weeks ago was the guy selling shots in the Northern Lights dining room in the evening. I don’t do shots at dinner and thought that a polite “no thanks” would have been sufficient – but it wasn't. He would try to talk us into it every night we were there. I also gave these same comments on my post-cruise survey.

Tim

 

Was he kind of a heavy set, eastern European guy? This was one of the guys that I was referring to specifically. He was in the serenity area one day too. Told me to refer to him as "Big D", because that is what the ladies called him…Really classy in front of my grandmother, mother, wife and sister in law…lol

 

I noticed he was also selling shots in the dining room, and saw his strong armed tactics in there as well.

[EnTnSA]

I have seen a dozen posts about how hard it is to get any service.

 

Hard to imagine, it seemed like everywhere I looked there was a bar waiter. I fully expected one to jump out of my closet in the state room and demand I order a triple decker long island ice tea with a 40z beer topper.

[PlanoTim]

Was he kind of a heavy set, eastern European guy? This was one of the guys that I was referring to specifically. He was in the serenity area one day too. Told me to refer to him as "Big D", because that is what the ladies called him…Really classy in front of my grandmother, mother, wife and sister in law…lol

 

I noticed he was also selling shots in the dining room, and saw his strong armed tactics in there as well.

 

That sounds like him.

[EnTnSA]

That sounds like him.

 

Funny. Well I guess I wasn't just being a whiner.

 

I mean, he was harmless, but it was kind of annoying that he just didn't want to accept no.

 

I really never understood the "shots" at dinner regardless. Who does shots at a somewhat formal dinner? I don't think I've done shots since I was midway through college.

 

I always laugh when the shot guy comes up and I'm at dinner with my grandparents, wife and children. Really? Shots? do we look like the shots type? lol…"sure, my grandma wants 2!"

[hartsnvt]

Back in the 90's there was no problem getting a drink in the MDR. The waiters were everywhere. Since I restarted cruising in 2012, there are very few in the MDR and it confuses me. Many people would like a cocktail with dinner. Now , on Lido my experience has been that if you say no, they move on. Hoping our upcoming Sunshine has no pushy waiters since hubby drinks, I do not and my 83 year old Mom may have 1 or 2 each day.

[evandbob]

I usually have a bottle of water with me when I hang out on deck, so all I do is point to that and the waiter moves on.......I don't drink beer or booze, but have never felt hassled by any waiter when I use this tactic. Sometimes I wagged a finger "NO" if he's loud.....use the same tactic in ports when someone offers weed: No No No I don't smoke it no more.......easy peasy

[tandemcruzr]

The only 'shots' we've been offered in the MDR are after dinner drinks.

[maxydu]

You are a nice guy....I think I would have found one of the guys in the white uniforms and

had a word with him and the server. Being rude to a traveler is unacceptable!

[elliair]

The moment you step on to the ship they are right there pushing the foo-foo drinks. Don't go to the Lido and sit because they're out in full force. Even sitting around the pool they are there bugging you. I've never purchased a drink from any meandering waiter, we always go straight to the bar and watch them mix the drink making sure they put booze in it.

[ScottsSweetie]

Hmmm. Never had a pushy waiter on lido or at the bars.

 

Have seen the "shot guys" in the MDR be a little pushy.

 

Have also seen a little attitude from wait staff when they notice that you have brought a self-made drink with you (made with our legitimately purchased Bon Voyage alcohol).

[amyh13]

I have seen a dozen posts about how hard it is to get any service.

 

 

I drink mostly wine with maybe a beer or fruity rum drink by the pool. However, if it has been a light day I like to start off with a martini at dinner. On our last carnival cruise, was only able to order ONE night. The bar service was no where to be found. Not complaining I usually had my wine available but a Grey Goose martini makes more money for carnival than a basic glass of Cabernet. I can adapt but it is their loss. It is the same on other cruise lines as well.

 

 

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[mzlinda]

I agree with those who say drink service in the MDR has declined significantly. It was practically impossible to get a grey goose Cosmo on the Breeze in January. On cruises in the 90's when I was married, we always had excellent drink service in the MDR. I wasn't sure if it was a sign of declining service overall or if we got crappy drink service because we were a table of women.

 

On the other hand, we were not harassed on the lido deck at all. We said no thank you to drinks a couple of times, then they left us alone.

 

Overall it worked out great because my bar bill was very low.

 

I might order a bottle from Bon Voyage before I cruise on the Fantasy in October. I think that along with the soda package would be enough for a 5 night cruise.

 

 

 

 

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[RWolver672]

From what I've seen on the last few cruises, the "Shots" are cordials and more than anything, they are hawking the glasses that they come in.

 

I do agree that it's getting harder and harder to get a bar wait staff in the MDR. The funny part is that on our last cruise, there were two of them that we could see and they just stood over in the corner of the MDR leaning against the wall. They made their rounds right when everybody was coming in, then they just stood there the whole meal.

[DocF]

Our last cruise was almost 3 years ago on the Magic's TA. There was a definite shortage of bar waiters on that cruise. One of the senior people in food and beverage explained that the contracts for all servers and stewards had expired. Those that desired to work from U.S. ports were extended (at least those the line wished to keep) while the rest were left in Europe. This made for much more work for the remaining help, but they seemed to cope quite well.

 

I have encountered only one pushy bar waiter. This guy was working at a very dead Lido deck bar, so he probably was not making much money unless the bar staff on that ship was pooling tips.

 

Doc

[yankee04]

I've been on three Carnival cruises. I never really had this issue. Sure, I did have to say no at least three times a day to drinks but that was the end of it. Why should they waste additional time with someone who doesn't want anything when they can ask someone else who does? That would be my reply if someone was pushy - informing them that their time would be better spent asking someone else.

[adriennerm]

I had the same experience on Valor. My acid reflux is under control unless I mix food and alcohol. Mixing the two causes me to be very uncomfortable for a long time. It's not worth the pain. I elect to wait about 45 mins to an hour after eating before I have an alcoholic drink.

 

During dinner the waiter was coming around with shots. I can not have shots during mealtime for the aforementioned reason. The waiter would not take no for an answer. He kept coming back to our table. I finally told him I will get very ill if I drink. IMO I should not have to tell him a medical reason to be left alone. Next night different waiter same issue. Very very annoying.