What standards do people expect exactly???

[Wasping73]

Two week ago I returned back from my first ever cruise on the Britannia and fantastic it was too! The Mrs and I are booking on again for next March (I don't think I will ever fly again!) anyway I wrote a review because I felt there were lots of bad reviews which just didn't give Britannia the credit I thought it deserves. Now I know it's all a matter of opinion but regardless of whether it was my first cruise or not (I didn't have a benchmark to compare my cruise to) how can people's opinions differ so much over the likes of service by staff etc? I thought the staff were superb and were polite, and went out of their way to make us feel special, yet other reviewers say that the same staff practically abused them! Is the service given by the staff really that different from person to person? I certainly never witnessed any RUDE staff, only passengers who seemed to think they'd paid for the right to speak to these people like dirt and demand instant service when it was plain to see the staff were already serving someone else.

Are my better half and I really that out of touch with what is good service or are these other cruise ships really that much better???

 

Personally I'm inclined to say that it's probably a case of reaping what you sow if you get treated rudely just wondered what the general consensus is????

[Sea Hag]

I think many times it's the people who are, themselves, rudest of all who complain the most of rudeness in others. So, I think you're right.

[TC1957]

I think you are being a little short sighted if you put the blame entirely on the passenger (reaping what you sow). While that can certainly play a part, the staff are also human. Just because Joe Waiter was prompt, attentive and polite to you does not mean they were those things to everyone the day before (or will be the day after).

 

You also do not know that level of service quality they received on their last/previous cruises. The staff on our second cruise was fantastic...the last cruise, not so much. They were not rude but they also rarely greeted you in the hall (or other public areas) with a "How are you doing today" or even a smile. The service was also noticeably slower or our last cruise.

 

As for judging a line for a first cruise, maybe the did a lot of research on places like this one so they could get a feel on what to expect. Maybe they know people personally that have sailed the line before. Maybe they are comparing it to service received in similar settings. Let's face it, we all know what good service from a wait staff should look like...same would be true in other areas.

[John Bull]

 

Personally I'm inclined to say that it's probably a case of reaping what you sow

 

That pretty-well sums it up.

 

But a few specifics:

 

First cruises are always great.

Those who've cruised frequently can become more demanding, and are more inclined to notice failings, And there are certainly perceptions of falling standards with all cruise lines. Human nature I guess.

 

P&O crew are more reserved than other cruise lines, especially the US lines. They're certainly not as "in-your-face" as some. Mebbe they're trained to be reserved or mebbe Indians have a more-reserved nature than the other Asian nationalities you see on other cruise lines, but to some folk this comes over as unfriendly or unwilling. Same with Costa & MSC, except where kids are involved.

 

The Arthur Meldrews. ;)

P&O has a loyal following, a lot have only sailed P&O. And P&O stalwarts (not all of them, by any means) have a reputation for being grumpies.

They'll moan - but continue booking with P&O.

Go figure :rolleyes:

 

All that said, P&O's satisfaction-rating is about average for the industry.

 

JB :)

[jocap]

To be honest, JB, I think some of the moaners would grumble about impertinence if they were addressed in the way of some other cruise lines.

I was asked by my cabin steward to join her in a crew evening one P&O cruise...making beds in public, of all things....:rolleyes: As we were going to be working together, I suggested that she call me Jo, but she could only call me madam...I believe it's the rules.

[sherilyn70]

I believe that about 75% of the time it is the cruiser and their attitude that makes things bad. There will however be bad moments on vacations or in restaurants and sometimes we are so unlucky to hit a streak of these. In the end it is what we chose to make of it, I try not to focus on the negatives. My very first cruise was with carnival and there were a good number of things I was not happy with (mostly customer service) but I realized it was just bad luck and so it didn't keep me from cruising again or even using carnival a second time.

[Floridiana]

I have never been on a P&O ship, but I was told of their passengers' reputation by an easy going Australian. I hope he was exaggerating. :D

[GUT2407]

Personally I don't expect much.

 

Clean room.

 

Fresh towels

 

Lest to relax

 

Reasonable food (subjective I know)

 

Not over powering service, I hate being fawned on.

 

None of the overt begging for tips.

 

Happy to get of my seat and go to the bar.

[SheehanDJ]

The worst service on a cruise is 100 times better than the best service on land.

 

sherilyn70 said 75% of the time it is the cruiser, I think this is a pretty conservative estimate. I've witnessed first had some of this "bad" service.

 

The waiter comes over says they are out of ice at the moment but here is a glass of water, I'll return when we have ice. 5 minutes later they come back with ice water. The cruiser looses their mind about not being able to get ice water with all the money they spent for the rest of the cruise. Every evening when sitting down they make sure to mention to the waiter that they want ice in their water.

 

Someone walks up to a bar, the bartender is juggling 15 drink orders at once and maintaining a conversation with another 30 people, looks at the cruiser with a smile to acknowledge their presence and is met with, "Can I have some service here!" Bartender says sure what can I get you, cruiser "two Coronas...sometime today"

 

That's just two small examples. Imagine how the server feels about us, the cruiser, I'm amazed most of the time that they bring us food and drinks.

[hubofhockey]

I doubt new cruisers will have the same expectations as those who have been cruising for several years on the mass market lines who have seen cuts in service and product to go along with more uncharge additions.

[sherilyn70]

The worst service on a cruise is 100 times better than the best service on land.

 

I have to disagree with that. You're trapped on a ship and have no option to go anywhere else. My first cruise was very frustrating since the wake up service was broken (but they didn't tell anyone) and was walking us all up late. We had to go find a travel alarm clock in port since the ship was not reliable. They kept messing up my excursion tickets (they'd never arrive) and so I spent a lot of time at the service desk. No one from management would call me back or come talk to me about the issues when requested and there wasn't a single apology offered. The crowds were loud and uncontrolled, no respect for personal space. I know there were other issues but is been over 10 years now, those are just the things I still remember. Everyone kept telling me that this was just a bad cruise, worst they'd ever been on as well, so not to judge it based on these things. On a land vacation there would have been apologies and some sort of credit offered for the inconvenience, carnival simply didn't care since I was a captive audience.

Edited September 22, 2015 by sherilyn70

[iancal]

I expect a clean environment, a well maintained ship, and a cabin in good working order-a/c, plumbing etc. i

 

Everything else is a bonus. We pay more attention to the ship than the cruise line. We simply avoid some older ships that have poor maintenance, no upgrades, or have had public areas renovated into additional cabins.

 

After that, everything is a bonus. We have never had a bad cruise.

[zqvol]

I have to disagree with that. You're trapped on a ship and have no option to go anywhere else. My first cruise was very frustrating since the wake up service was broken (but they didn't tell anyone) and was walking us all up late. We had to go find a travel alarm clock in port since the ship was not reliable. They kept messing up my excursion tickets (they'd never arrive) and so I spent a lot of time at the service desk. No one from management would call me back or come talk to me about the issues when requested and there wasn't a single apology offered. The crowds were loud and uncontrolled, no respect for personal space. I know there were other issues but is been over 10 years now, those are just the things I still remember. Everyone kept telling me that this was just a bad cruise, worst they'd ever been on as well, so not to judge it based on these things. On a land vacation there would have been apologies and some sort of credit offered for the inconvenience, carnival simply didn't care since I was a captive audience.

 

 

You just described a prime example of the cruiser being the problem.

[TC1957]

From my perspective, it seems many here prefer to "blame the victim". I always try to keep my expectations reasonable. I do, however, expect a business...cruise line, hotel, oil change shop, etc...to hold up their end and practice at least decent customer service. I do not expect concessions every time they fall short...just treat me with respect and understand your "failings" are adversely impacting me.

 

In an example above, complaining about having to purchase an alarm clock was a bit much. However I know that we probably averaged finding 5 pieces of paper on our bed each evening. If the cruise line knew they were having problems (and they apparently did), why not simply put another paper on each bed "...the service system is experiencing issues, we apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the problem." I promise you 95% of the people who were upset would have been placated. If the excursion desk kept falling short, all the person behind the counter has to do is apologize while solving the problem at hand.

 

Prime examples of the approaches occurred with me this last weekend. We were out of town celebrating my father's 80th. I had ordered a cake (not a custom made cake...just one of their regular offerings) over the phone and was to pick it up two hours before the party. When I got to the bakery the order had been lost. They quickly grabbed an undecorated cake and tried their best to decorate it in the way I ordered. The end result had little resemblance to the order. When they gave me the cake I thanked them but said "You realize your mistake is forcing me to take a sub-standard cake and this is something that will never happen again." Before I could add, "Your chain will never again get my business" the manager walked up and wrote PAID on the box and initialed it. I told him that wasn't necessary and I was willing to pay something for the cake but he said "We messed up and made your father's celebration less enjoyable. I insist." That is good customer service and I will consider them in the future.

 

That evening my wife and I went to a chain Italian place for supper and each ordered simple pasta dishes. After 47 minutes I stopped the waitress (who had never came by to refill the glasses, check on us or apologize for the delay) and told her if the food was not at the table in 3 minutes to cancel the order. The food arrive as my wife was getting her purse so we decided to stay. The meals were warm at best. I demanded the speak with the manager and expressed my displeasure...rather strongly...prepare to refuse the meals and leave. All she said was "Yes, the kitchen is slow. Can I get you anything?" Hello? Earth to Manager! Your staff (kitchen and table) are basically asleep at the wheel. Other people around us and checking their watches and looking toward the kitchen. Get someone to do something. Talk to the customer...offer something...at least apologize. Given that the last time we went to that chain (almost two years ago) we had a similar issue they will not get our business in the future.

 

When you choose to be in a "people" business you need to expect unhappy customers and be prepared to provide good customer service. The customer is not always right...but they are always the customer. A happy customer MAY tell a few people about a good experience. An unhappy customer WILL tell many, many people about their experience.

Edited September 22, 2015 by TC1957

[MOcruiserman]

Granted I've only been on two cruises but I've been amazed at how much criticism I found leveled by other passengers (including my friends and family who were on the cruises). Here are the main sources of criticism:

1-The food. People have a fit if one thing is not as they expected. My steak is overcooked! But there are so many options at each meal, if the steak is not to your satisfaction, just get something else!

2-The entertainment. People complain if the singer is "bad". But what's "bad" to one person is perfectly acceptable to someone else.

3-The service. If people don't get instant attention they get angry.

4-The maintenance of the ship. People seem to be obsessed with finding dirt and germs.

 

My conclusion is that many passengers are way too picky and as a result don't enjoy their cruise nearly as much as they could. That's not to say that there aren't times when the ship makes mistakes. It's not easy to keep 2,000 (or more) passengers happy and something is bound to slip through the cracks. Don't expect perfection and you'll have a much better time.

[Doggielover68]

Granted I've only been on two cruises but I've been amazed at how much criticism I found leveled by other passengers (including my friends and family who were on the cruises). Here are the main sources of criticism:

1-The food. People have a fit if one thing is not as they expected. My steak is overcooked! But there are so many options at each meal, if the steak is not to your satisfaction, just get something else!

2-The entertainment. People complain if the singer is "bad". But what's "bad" to one person is perfectly acceptable to someone else.

3-The service. If people don't get instant attention they get angry.

4-The maintenance of the ship. People seem to be obsessed with finding dirt and germs.

 

My conclusion is that many passengers are way too picky and as a result don't enjoy their cruise nearly as much as they could. That's not to say that there aren't times when the ship makes mistakes. It's not easy to keep 2,000 (or more) passengers happy and something is bound to slip through the cracks. Don't expect perfection and you'll have a much better time.

 

 

I agree. I have been on 3 cruises and so far have enjoyed each one more than the last. Sometimes there is food I don't like, but there are tons of other options. Sometimes the shows aren't the best so we leave and do something else, etc. No vacation is without flaws.

 

 

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[Wasping73]

All true comments but when everyone is getting the same fantastic 'cake' why do only a small proportion of people find fault enough to complain.

 

For example: my partner and I were looking at jewellery in the store in the Atrium on the left hand side coming out of Brodies bar on the Britannia, there were two young ladies staffing that side of the store and in the few minutes that we were browsing we were asked at least twice did we need assistance. No problem so far. We then decided on what we wanted and asked to try on a bracelet. Still no problem. We decided to buy the piece and went to the counter to pay. Still no problem. At the counter the other assistant is serving a customer before us so that's 2 staff serving 2 different customers everyone is happy.....except a passenger who is also looking at a display cabinet but is making it very clear she is unhappy at being ignored and treated like dirt!! As I said previously two staff serving two customers, not once did I hear the woman ask for any assistance during the time we were being served. Anyway long story short this escalated and her son and husband got involved and eventually she became very abusive to one of the staff demanding that she look her in the eyes and apologise for her rude treatment. (What rude treatment?)

Upon going downstairs to reception (we followed them down there to listen in on their complaint!😜) we stood by and listened them ranting about the member of staff and how disgusting it was etc etc and wanted to speak to a manager. After they left reception we stood in line and countered the complaint as it just didn't sit right that action may be taken against that member of staff for absolutely no reason. Whilst in amongst the people queuing to complain we heard some of the most ridiculous and laughable complaints ever! I genuinely think this was because it was the next to last day and maybe they were seeking discount or something. I nearly wet myself listening to a couple moaning that the prom deck was too short for their morning stroll....then they complained that the lack of stairs midship meant they had to walk either right to the front or rear of the ship during the safety drill!!!

The staff really were amazing and worked their nuts off, it's just a pity that P&O didn't kick the nuts off in Southampton!

[calliopecruiser]

Two week ago I returned back from my first ever cruise on the Britannia and fantastic it was too! The Mrs and I are booking on again for next March (I don't think I will ever fly again!) anyway I wrote a review because I felt there were lots of bad reviews which just didn't give Britannia the credit I thought it deserves. Now I know it's all a matter of opinion but regardless of whether it was my first cruise or not (I didn't have a benchmark to compare my cruise to) how can people's opinions differ so much over the likes of service by staff etc? I thought the staff were superb and were polite, and went out of their way to make us feel special, yet other reviewers say that the same staff practically abused them! Is the service given by the staff really that different from person to person? I certainly never witnessed any RUDE staff, only passengers who seemed to think they'd paid for the right to speak to these people like dirt and demand instant service when it was plain to see the staff were already serving someone else.

Are my better half and I really that out of touch with what is good service or are these other cruise ships really that much better???

 

Personally I'm inclined to say that it's probably a case of reaping what you sow if you get treated rudely just wondered what the general consensus is????

 

Sometimes it's you reap what you sow, but other times it's just that you really do get bad service and attitude.......different staff, or untrained staff, or staff that are hungover that day, or staff that are overburdened because another staff member called off sick, or staff that just had some bad news and aren't experienced enough to work through that, or staff that are 18 hours away from being re-assigned for bad service, etc.

 

I believe that most people are honest in their experiences (unless they are fake reviews and they have no experience - but that's why I never believe all the reviews). If their experiences don't match yours, I chalk it up to both different expectations, or just to timing

[maywell]

I'm pretty low-maintenance and low-key on vacation - the only service expectation I have is in the MDR; is my order taken & then deliver/serving of courses 15-20 minutes of each other/ending. And only other thing is cruise ship/line have activities/events/entertainment available at any given moment.

 

 

That's it - otherwise, I'm pretty much easy going and go with flow on vacation. True, I might have some stuff schedule but I can change plans at the spur of moment if something changes, like the weather.

 

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[sherilyn70]

From my perspective, it seems many here prefer to "blame the victim". I always try to keep my expectations reasonable. I do, however, expect a business...cruise line, hotel, oil change shop, etc...to hold up their end and practice at least decent customer service. I do not expect concessions every time they fall short...just treat me with respect and understand your "failings" are adversely impacting me.

 

In an example above, complaining about having to purchase an alarm clock was a bit much. However I know that we probably averaged finding 5 pieces of paper on our bed each evening. If the cruise line knew they were having problems (and they apparently did), why not simply put another paper on each bed "...the service system is experiencing issues, we apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the problem." I promise you 95% of the people who were upset would have been placated. If the excursion desk kept falling short, all the person behind the counter has to do is apologize while solving the problem at hand.

 

I believe you missed the point. It wasn't about buying a clock, it was that they made no effort to correct the issue on their own. They offered no solution or even apologies and said it had been broken for weeks. That is very poor customer service. If we had known in advance we would have taken other measures and not had to skip breakfast to get to our excursion on time.

 

I spent over an hour multiple days working on resolving billing and ticket issues as well. That should never have happened. The least they could have done was have management apologize, but they didn't even do that.

 

Thankfully I have never experienced anything like that again on any of my cruises.

[dorisis]

I expect cruise lines to live up to whatever their advertising offers. If they do not, I would not take it out on an employee. Management holds that responsibility

[legaljen1969]

Prime examples of the approaches occurred with me this last weekend. We were out of town celebrating my father's 80th. I had ordered a cake (not a custom made cake...just one of their regular offerings) over the phone and was to pick it up two hours before the party. When I got to the bakery the order had been lost. They quickly grabbed an undecorated cake and tried their best to decorate it in the way I ordered.....That is good customer service and I will consider them in the future.

 

When you choose to be in a "people" business you need to expect unhappy customers and be prepared to provide good customer service. The customer is not always right...but they are always the customer. A happy customer MAY tell a few people about a good experience. An unhappy customer WILL tell many, many people about their experience.

 

 

At least the cake placed TRIED to do a cake. Sure, they should not have lost the order and that is a problem. However, at least they tried. They made an effort. A little effort and a sincere apology if it is within their control is reasonable. Sometimes though, people have extremely high expectations or unreasonable expectations and they complain over every little thing.

 

Are there things on our last cruise that were not perfect? Yes. Did I complain? No. We were seated with another couple who complained about almost everything. After the second night, we just didn't go back to the MDR. It was so embarrassing to see the way they treated the waitstaff.

[FlyerTalker]

The worst service on a cruise is 100 times better than the best service on land.

You must frequent the worst places on land. Don't they say hello at your drive-up window?

[CowPrincess]

this escalated and her son and husband got involved and eventually she became very abusive to one of the staff demanding that she look her in the eyes and apologise for her rude treatment. (What rude treatment?)

 

Ah, yes, I've met them -- the "Entitled" family. They are everywhere. And they treat everyone who is in any kind of customer-facing position as a incompetent servant. My DH works in retail, and the stories he can tell are insightful ;)

 

There is a small but growing group of people who think the world revolves around them. And when one of them has to wait for service in a shop, or for the ice water to be replaced, or anything else that involves "please wait your turn", the reaction to the perceived slight is disproportionately spectacular.

 

I know that sometimes service on a cruise can be not-great and I also know that some people expect far too much. I sometimes travel with a friend, in separate cabins. We usually have the same cabin stewards. She is constantly complaining about "her" stewards, yet I have no complaints about the same stewards.

[sparky-elpaso]

Ah, yes, I've met them -- the "Entitled" family. They are everywhere. And they treat everyone who is in any kind of customer-facing position as a incompetent servant. My DH works in retail, and the stories he can tell are insightful ;)

 

There is a small but growing group of people who think the world revolves around them. And when one of them has to wait for service in a shop, or for the ice water to be replaced, or anything else that involves "please wait your turn", the reaction to the perceived slight is disproportionately spectacular.

 

I know that sometimes service on a cruise can be not-great and I also know that some people expect far too much. I sometimes travel with a friend, in separate cabins. We usually have the same cabin stewards. She is constantly complaining about "her" stewards, yet I have no complaints about the same stewards.

 

Those are the types of folks who probably would find something to complain about if they had the entire ship and staff just for themselves.

 

I'm sure every crew member could write a book about some of the passengers they've had to deal with.

 

So far we've had incredible service on all of our cruises. Perfect? No. But I tend to like what my grandmother always said. When she got to be perfect she could expect other people to be perfect.