Staff "demanding" good ratings?

[FLACRUISER99]

the title in your post is pure B.S. plain and simple......If you think for one second I believe one word of your post, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you!.......DEMAND is not the word to use. Asked, stressed the 10 score, yes sure. As you know by now from posters (or maybe you don"t) anything less than 10 might as well be a zero. That's what the crew is trying to impress on cruisers not in the know. Your post is misleading.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

Just maybe you haven't had it happen to you, I know just where the OP is coming from and do not think the post was B.S or misleading!

Edited March 23, 2016 by FLACRUISER99

[Thetrail]

Just maybe you haven't had it happen to you, I know just where the OP is coming from and do not think the post was B.S or misleading!

Then I have some swampland in Florida for sale that you might be interested in!!.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[LMaxwell]

Then I have some swampland in Florida for sale that you might be interested in!!.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

What's the pricing? Worked out pretty good for Walt.

[John&LaLa]

NEVER had any of those speeches either by cabin attendants or MTD staff.

 

Put me down as one who has seen this regularly in the last few years

[FPerillo81]

Bottom line is this- if they're acting like this, then it's more than likely a "top box" situation. When doing the surveys, keep this in mind. Look at it as 0-9=unsatisfactory and 10=satisfactory. If the service was abysmal from start to finish, rate it accordingly. If not, just don't be petty and give the 10, while saving the small elitist critiques for the comment sections. Don't let Royal's dumb process affect others. It's not that big of a deal.

 

 

 

 

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[gaylemh]

Put me down as one who has seen this regularly in the last few years

 

I've had them too, but not by cabin attendants, but by dining room staff. It was at every evening meal on Anthem.

[Aquahound]

Whenever they start to give me that speech, I like to tell them how happy we were with their excellent service, that we will certainly fill out the survey, and that they are number one (holding up 1 finger) in my book. They usually get a bit excited at that point and forget the rest of the speech.

 

I do basically the same thing. Once the speech starts I hold up my hand and say "you don't have to go there there's nothing to worry about". The speech then turns into a smile and it's all good.

 

Same here. I've gotten so used to the speech, I just stop them at the beginning and tell them they have nothing to worry about....even if it's not true. ;)

 

I can't say I've ever heard them "demand" it though, but that's just my experience.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Put me down as one who has seen this regularly in the last few years

 

Me as well - on DCL, HAL, and RCCL with varying tones of how it was delivered. DCL for me has been the easiest to defuse early by letting them know I understand the system and as long as there are no issues or what there are get addressed, they have nothing to worry about. HAL I ended up just going somewhere in my head while the server who had consistently messed up orders at our tables went on and on about how he hoped he had delivered "excellent service". RCCL I didn't find bad with our servers, but walking out of the MDR the final night I passed a table where I could hear the server going on and on - and the tone was definitely not the nice, friendly tone we had gotten from ours (who had been excellent and definitely earned his 10). That one I would have classified as demanding.

[go fish 44]

We have just got off the Serenade and our MDR waiter was very angry at us as he gave the speech on the second to the last night and we had left the table before desert as we wanted to get a seat in the show.

The next night he informed us it was rude for us to leave before he told us where and when breakfast was going to be served and how to do the rating of his service.

 

We have never been told we are rude before and all our tablemates were very surprized by this very hyper server.

 

We are Diamond Plus so I am sure we can figure out where breakfast is the next day and how to do the rating of his service.

[minn0315]

We are very loyal to Royal and this has never happened to us.

 

But the car dealers that advertise here on radio and television make a big point that their sales staff receive no commissions on car sales. They are rewarded by "10s" on the post sale surveys and we have been hounded about giving those tens or they may not be able to make their rent, etc...

 

Some service on RCI should be given a 12, some should be given -5, if they had those numbers on the survey.

[Chip and Dale]

the title in your post is pure B.S. plain and simple......If you think for one second I believe one word of your post, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you!.......DEMAND is not the word to use. Asked, stressed the 10 score, yes sure. As you know by now from posters (or maybe you don"t) anything less than 10 might as well be a zero. That's what the crew is trying to impress on cruisers not in the know. Your post is misleading.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Just maybe you haven't had it happen to you, I know just where the OP is coming from and do not think the post was B.S or misleading!

 

The OP's post is quite accurate. We have had this happen numerous times. On our Snowbird Cruise it was not only the waiter, the head waiter joined in. They were DEMANDING! The service was bad! The assistant waiter was out to lunch and although we repeatedly mentioned that we received rolls after our main course many nights, no coffee, water half way through our meal and no refills, she was no where in sight etc. etc., nothing was done! The waiter did her best to keep up, but she wasn't that great either and the head waiter should have assisted where required and did not.

 

On our Brilliance cruise Mar 12th the dining room manager did a speech requesting 10's while standing on the steps with the waiters behind him. It was over the top and offensive! He did not demand, it was more of a pack your bags you're going on a guilt trip! RCI really needs to rethink the practice of assembling the crew for a bow on the steps. It wastes time in the dining room when pax are finishing their dinner (ours was delayed due to the speeches) and delays spending the rest of your holiday doing something you enjoy on the ship or packing to put your bags out.

Dee

[John&LaLa]

I've had them too, but not by cabin attendants, but by dining room staff. It was at every evening meal on Anthem.

 

Actually you're correct, I don't recall hearing that from our cabin steward, just dining staff

[Big_G]

Same here. I've gotten so used to the speech, I just stop them at the beginning and tell them they have nothing to worry about....even if it's not true. ;)

 

 

Same here. To be honest, I can't remember when I haven't heard 'the speech' in some form or other in all the years we've been cruising. Unlike others, I don't think it's a recent phenomenon but I also don't ever recall a waiter attaching a number to the rating. Maybe because we stop him early on. I've never heard it from a cabin attendant.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Big_G

[Riff Sniff]

I first experienced this two years ago on the Majesty. It was our first time trying MTD, and we ended up at the same table with the same wait staff each night. The waiter was very aggressive about getting a 10 rating - definitely a demand, not a request.

 

I don't remember getting the speech on subsequent cruises (Radiance in Alaska or Jewel in PR). I'm curious to see if this happens on our Anthem cruise this summer as a previous poster mentioned.

 

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Edited March 23, 2016 by Riff Sniff

[SnorkelAway]

What always amazes me is how many people on here indicate that they have cruised multiple times but have not heard the "speech." We have cruised about 50 times on various lines (the majority on RC) and have heard a variation of the "speech" on more than half of our cruises - the intensity varying - most of the time this is from the waiters, but we have heard it from cabin stewards. It is not uncommon for CDs to make the point about how important it is - but I would not say any CD ever "demanded" a top rating. The most memorable for us was the "speech" from a dining room waiter on a Carnival ship more than 25 years ago - we cannot remember which ship - might have been on Carnivale in 1986 - but maybe later. This guy was not so much "demanding" as "begging" for a top rating - it was seriously pathetic and awkward, especially since this guy simply was not a good waiter. He probably was about to get fired because of prior problems and he knew it - he understandably was desperate to keep his job - I think we simply did not fill out a survey to avoid dealing with it.

[Clarea]

What always amazes me is how many people on here indicate that they have cruised multiple times but have not heard the "speech."...

Maybe they are skipping dinner in the MDR on the last evening?;)

[cruisingsince94]

You might be on to something Bob. We have heard the speech so many times that we are now dining the last night in the WJ or at Chops.

[BonTexasNY]

We can't stop the waiter from his strongly worded quest to get a 10 since we sit with other passengers at a large table and he has to be sure EVERYONE knows to give him a 10 and nothing less. We experienced this on at least 3 previous cruises. One cruise the waiter interrupted a lively discussion we were having at the table to tell us all about how we CAN'T give him less than a 10 because he wouldn't get a bonus and he would get a bad spot during the next rotation. He went on and on and on ad nauseum. Apparently, our version of the survey results differ from RCI's. Something needs to be done to take away the burden from the wait staff. They work hard and shouldn't have to deal with this in fear of not getting paid adequately or whatever the ramifications might be. So, we give them 10s unless there was something glaringly bad which so far hasn't happened.

[pspercy]

The speeches about needing a "10" rating is a recurring theme on our Royal Caribbean cruises. Staff retention and promotion is based on their reviews and ratings, so there is a lot of pressure on them to get good marks. I would generally think a 7 or 8 would be a great score, but it seems like nothing under a 10 counts, that a 9 or lower might as well be zero.

 

I have not always given a 10, but am more inclined to do so on board than I am when rating staff at work. In fact, if we want to give a staff member a 5 out of 5, we need to get sign off from the VP of our department.

 

If this issue is going to change on board, the change needs to start with management.

 

 

Apparently it's that way for most if not all companies' surveys these days.

[cruisingsince94]

We were told by our waiter on our last cruise that when people fill out a survey and rate the food poorly its them that gets in hot water and not the kitchen staff or chef.

The waiter said they are expected to interpret if a guest does not like their meal and make it right by getting them a new entree so the guest will be happy and give them a 10.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

We were told by our waiter on our last cruise that when people fill out a survey and rate the food poorly its them that gets in hot water and not the kitchen staff or chef.

The waiter said they are expected to interpret if a guest does not like their meal and make it right by getting them a new entree so the guest will be happy and give them a 10.

 

Well, I should be pretty easy for them to interpret - if I'm not eating it, something is not right.

 

Of course that also requires that they check back with you...

[wegiekat]

I too feel uncomfortable with this. I mean, do they really get reprimanded for scores less than 10, even an 8 or 9? I must admit that guilt usually gets the best of me and I give them a 10 even if they don't deserve it.

 

I would not be surprised. I work for a large international hotel corporation and any score for us under a 9 is a fail.

[BillOh]

We were told by our waiter on our last cruise that when people fill out a survey and rate the food poorly its them that gets in hot water and not the kitchen staff or chef.

The waiter said they are expected to interpret if a guest does not like their meal and make it right by getting them a new entree so the guest will be happy and give them a 10.

 

That might be why they are quick to offer something else if your not so happy with it. Seems obvious now that I say it ;) Also why some waiters seemed willing, perhaps even enthusiastic to bring multiple entre's My wife and I are weight loss surgery success stories and once in awhile we will share a meal and if we are torn between 2, they will almost always bring them both. If I try something new, and don't like it, I'm not worried because as we all know you don't starve on a cruise ship.

[misty57]

I always give a 10 regardless of how the actual service is. I always write couldn't be better! Who cares. Give the employee the benefit of the doubt!

 

I do the same. It costs me nothing to do this and I usually make a positive comment and mention names in our surveys. I don't do this for guest relations if they are snotty. I don't complain about things, but if I have a question, even if it seems to be a dumb one, I don't expect to be treated like an idiot when I have been polite. I get enough of that at work! Seriously, I probably have much more education than those folks at the guest relations desk . If I treated people the way some of them treat guests I would not be employed!

Regarding begging for a perfect rating, I believe that it does help people to understand the importance. People may rate lower if they didn't like some of the food or if the temperature of the room is too hot or cold. You never know what gets someone in a tizzy. I personally have a hard time asking my clients ( I work in health care) to recognize my service. I know some people do it all the time and as I joked to one person, they have so many stars and daisies on their badge they need a girl scout type sash to wear them all! I feel like people have more important things on their mind than filling out a form:rolleyes:. As someone once said, "It's more important to deserve praise than to receive it"!

[CookieDiva]

Hate hearing this. I hate ANY kind of solicitation. I avoid it like the plague.

I guess that we'll be eating in the Windjammer on our last evening and will be "missing" our room attendant every day.