RCL Staff? I felt uneasy

[robandana]

I love it when I board a cruise and a crew member comes up to me and says "hey Mr. Robert how are you, do you remember me from the Navigator last year?"

 

These people not only work hard, they meet thousands of people and for one of them to remember you WOW! This is who I give my WOW cards to.

 

We have had some amazing times with some crew members, they can really make your vacation special.

[3happyferrets]

There was likely a large crew turnover as well. There tends to be larger crew shifts with changes in "seasons" as in repositionings.

 

 

That's been my experience. When it's coming time to switch over the crew getting ready for their time off break seem more tired. I get it totally. I'm tired at the end of my work week and I get a whole weekend off in between my weeks.

 

 

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[WrittenOnYourHeart]

We did a Celebrity Infinity cruise last year from San Fran to Alaska and every time your talked to a crew member, be it cabin, dining or crew the standard answer to ' How are you ? ' was always ' Excellent'. Like they have been instructed to say 1 word and keep moving. I gave up trying to be nice.:(

Yes I know they have stuff to do.

 

You know they have stuff to do and yet you are disappointed that they won't stop to chat? I'm missing something here...

 

Personally, I will never give up on trying to be nice and cordial. I don't think management has instructed them to give one word answers and keep moving, but perhaps experience has taught them that it is the best way. I can only imagine how many cruisers complain to them about things that are totally out of their control and when they give the cruiser the suggestion of who to talk with about the situation, that cruiser is disappointed in the answer, expecting that the staff/crew member would drop what they are doing and attend to their matter.

 

Excellent point!! Also keep in mind that while the crew do need at least a rudimentary knowledge of English (how much would depend on their positions - the more guest contact, the more knowledge they would need obviously), for many of them it is a second (or third or fourth...) language and they may not be comfortable with extended conversations and may fear that anything more than a simple one or two word answer will draw them into a conversation they don't feel confident to handle. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the evening dining room crew or the stateroom hosts here - I am talking about those who clean the public areas, those who help to bus the tables in the Windjammer (or equivalent on other lines), those who do the exterior maintenance and cleaning on the ships.

 

Between the three lines I have cruised as an adult (Disney, Holland, and Royal), I have had various levels of interactions with the crew, and across all the lines there has been a marked difference in evident comfort in communicating in English between various positions - those with the most guest contact clearly have more comfort with English than those who rarely see guests (even among the "ducks" - those who do much of the exterior cleaning with hoses, etc. and are often in yellow water-guard suits hence "ducks" which yes, IS the term used with the crew - I've seen a big difference between those who I encounter in the early early morning hours when not many people are up and those I see later in the day). Between those three lines, I have by far had the best interactions on Disney followed by Royal and Holland is a distant third - there were times I would have been happy to even get an "excellent" no matter how scripted from the Holland crew as often I didn't even get a nod.

 

Going back to the initial post I quoted, I've also noticed and experienced that the level of conversation with crew DOES depend on what they are doing. Many times when a crew member is working, heading to work, heading to their break, or heading to a meeting the interaction is very brief - one or two words. But other times I'd encounter a crew member who did have time to chat - a bartender at a bar (or coffee shop) that wasn't super busy, my stateroom host as she was setting up her cart, etc. - and have had wonderful conversations with them. I well remember a conversation with a public area housekeeping crew member on the Disney Fantasy last year who had gotten permission to take a short break and watch us sail into St. Maarten where she had grown up. She began pointing things out to me and we had a wonderful conversation about her life and culture. But I didn't ask her to stop what she was doing to do that.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

That's been my experience. When it's coming time to switch over the crew getting ready for their time off break seem more tired. I get it totally. I'm tired at the end of my work week and I get a whole weekend off in between my weeks.

 

There is definitely end-of-contractitis that happens. PLUS they have a TON of stuff they have to do at the end of their contracts in addition to their work hours. There is paperwork to fill out, packing to do, etc. If they are "front of the house" crew, many of them still have duties on their last morning PLUS be at their assigned crew disembarkment area by the assigned time. I've had a head server on Disney who was in fact leaving for his vacation on the last morning - he DID come around to say good-bye, but the interaction was obviously different than it had been before. Though yes, he had told at least me earlier in the cruise that he was leaving for vacation the same day we'd be disembarking.

 

The crew are humans and they will naturally have human emotions and reactions. Just like any of us.

[Paulette3028]

The more I live, and hopefully I will live many more years, the more I realize that in this world if YOU expect to have conversations with others, be willing to put the first word OUT.

 

I say hello/nod/smile to all I come into contact with......its just me.........in a supermarket. I was taught that from my father, by his example, not any lesson he gave me. It doesn't hurt to give out a friendly nod, smile or even hello (if I can).

 

I really believe that 'others' whether workers on a cruise ship or fellow passengers on the journey of life, can appreciate a little of that 'soft niceness'. I work in a Customer Service position....NOT all of my customers are right, depending upon the situation....but all of my customers at the outset of our meeting, which could be just a momentary passing, can get a smile/nod from me. Often at some later time it opens up a different conversation.

 

It doesn't matter to me if I am the customer....I smile/nod to an employee when I pass them. I am a suburbanite....if suburbanites have lost the ability to say a pleasant hello to their neighbor, something is wrong....it doesn't matter if you live in the Washington Beltway or any other suburbs. It matters not if you live in a big city.

 

Too many have plunged themselves into their IPad (or other electronic device) and don't even pick up there head in acknowledgment that someone else is present. We are slowly (maybe quickly) losing the art of casual interaction.