How Was The Waitstaff ...

[Fern Crest]

... on your last cruise? :)

[almendrada]

Our waitstaff on the Pride in March was simply amazing. I probably miss them most out of all the crew members.

[firemanbobswife]

Great! Even had my Diet Coke waiting on the table before I arrived after the first couple nights!

[GMRPHRN]

Our wait staff on the Glory in October was amazing.

[summersigh]

Sunshine - January - Fixed Late Seating - EXCELLENT !!

 

By night 2 they knew our preferences and accommodated those without having to ask.

DH is not a fan of sauces on entrees - they were very good at describing what the sauce was and if he didn't want it ... they gladly delivered the entrée naked :D

[birdiebob1961]

Pride July 2016 - Early dining, waitstaff was excellent. Was a little off one night but knew our preferences and had some items on the table when we arrived.

[Fern Crest]

Thanks for the replies. One reason I'm asking is that there are a few people off of some recent cruises with distinctly unhappier stories.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Fern Crest

[Micahs Grandad]

They were ok but totally screwed up DW special ordering based on her food allergies.

 

She cannot eat green vegetables and her main courses constantly came with them. 5 th night her roast chicken came with huge pile of spinach on top.

 

Complained to head waiter and he shrugged his shoulders. Sad as he was the one who brought it to the table and he was the one that took her order the previous night. Asst waiter should not have accepted the plate in the galley in the first place.

 

Complained to MD and had meeting with head chef who did make it right the next night.

[Mike & Julie]

Breeze in January 2016, had a wonderful dinning team. They learned our names the first night and by the second night had our favorite drinks waiting for us . I have never placed any strong emphasis on reviews in this subject matter.

[TC Cruiser]

On Sunshine, service was mixed for anytime dining.

 

We asked for Francisco's section every evening once we had been seated there. His staff was excellent. Prior to that, service was pretty bad:

 

- Service pieces missing from table (bread plates, silverware, etc.). We HATE stealing items from other tables but we couldn't get anyone's attention on a couple of occasions

 

- Not being served bread

 

- The wait staff was serving all appetizers at once instead of as separate courses

 

- When both of us ordered the same appetizer the wait staff should have served them together at the same time but they didn't always deliver them that way

 

- Throwing our used forks and knives onto our bread plates between courses instead of replacing them. This is supposed to be fine dining, not Applebees.

 

This was really the first cruise we had taken where many of the MDR traditions and standards seemed to have been abandoned.

Edited April 12, 2016 by TC Cruiser

[chasinraynbowz]

Our waitstaff, Christian and his staff, were incredible on our last cruise on the Elation. I have food allergies and I was taken care of daily. I had to head back to my cabin one evening due to rough seas, and he made sure that dessert was sent to my cabin so I didn't miss out.

 

:D

[emm126]

I was on the Pride in February and had ATD. Our waitress the 1st night was Zarrah and we asked for her the rest of the cruise. I don't think I have ever had a better wait staff than Zarrah and her team. :)

[KatieCharlotte]

On Sunshine, service was mixed for anytime dining.

 

 

That was our experience. We didn't request a certain waitstaff and ended up with a different team each night. One team was especially amazing with our kids, most teams were excellent, one team got every single order wrong, and one team seemed determined not to bring me dessert for thirty minutes despite polite reminders. :confused: I understood why different people can have totally different opinions about the same MDR on the same cruise.

Edited April 12, 2016 by KatieCharlotte

[smitty89]

Honestly, we had the worst service that we've ever experienced on Carnival on our last cruise. We love going to the dining room. It's a highlight of our trip, and we don't like to miss the dinners there.

 

These may seem like some trivial things, but they really help add, or take away from, your cruising experience.

 

We had assigned late dining, which we love. We had our own table, group of eight of us. We had to ask for iced tea every night. And it wasn't just for them to get the pitcher to pour it. Every night they had to go get a pitcher. We like the pace of the dining room, but our service was very, very slow. One night it took 45 minutes from the time our appetizers were served to get the main course. We asked about where the main course was and the head server reply with quite the rude attitude. Food came out cold, consistently. I know that might not be the server's fault, but if the plate is cold and has a warm meal, something's off. We had to ask for sides for baked potato and prime rib, like butter and au jus. Main dishes were brought out while people were still had their appetizer plates in front of them, same for desert. We were always missing silverware for the next course once dishes were taken away.

 

It just felt like the staff was "off" for the whole cruise. We're willing to chalk it up to a new team not used to working with each other yet, but it was disappointing. Will it stop us from cruising again, nope, but it was a bummer.

[dljones]

They were great on the Freedom last summer. I can't remember when we haven't had the best service from any department really in all our experiences. But I'm not one to complain so I'm pretty satisfied most of the time about how things are and if there is a problem I wouldn't create a scene to ruin their day or mine for that matter. I would rather give them the benefit of the doubt unless it was just something egregious.

[sanmarcosman]

This is supposed to be fine dining

 

I disagree, dining room service on the mass market cruise lines is not fine dining and doesn't pretend to be anything other.

[StolidCruiser]

I disagree, dining room service on the mass market cruise lines is not fine dining and doesn't pretend to be anything other.

 

I agree - especially with the masses loudly demanding a more casual dining experience by wanting to dine in shorts and t-shirts.

 

When one asks for casual, one shouldn't get annoyed when one gets it.

[pusywillow]

We had a great team for ATD on the Breeze in March, Suki and I Made. We looked to forward to seeing them every evening. On the last night after giving them extra tips they told us they enjoyed serving us since we were pleasant and not demanding like many of their other guests.

[vwrestler171]

Last cruise the wait staff was meh until the 2nd to last night. We found a team that we meshed with. Asked for them the last night too.

[Kanyon71]

April 2016 - Valor - Early Dining:

 

Our waitstaff was outstanding. Every need we had was met, was a large group with kids and they treated the kids with the utmost respect and patience. I cannot speak highly enough about them and the job they did, so much so that my wife sent a comment to JH on FB while on our way back from the cruise.

[schusterj]

We had the best wait staff ever on our journey cruise during January in the Glory. Also the food was excellent.

[Itzmyn]

Just off Dream and ours were very friendly and accommodating. Did the Behind the Fun Tour and have a whole new appreciation for what they go through to order and deliver all those meals!!

[tigercat]

We were on a B2B on the Conquest in Jan. First week the wait staff were great. Apps came out one at a time if you ordered more than one. Then the main course in a timely manner. Cutlery was replaced and the food was great.

 

The second week however they put us in a different section and it was horrible. The head waiter decided that I didn't want any seasoning on my meal. It was ordered the night before because of allergies but I am fine with spices and herbs. I kept telling him that the food was tasteless and very dry. He kept insisting that I didn't want anything. I had never said anything about not wanting any seasoning. As well if you ordered more than one app they were all delivered at the same time. We were at a four top and the couple that we were dining with would order several apps and just kept putting their dirty dishes under the one they were eating.

 

If the second week had of been the only week on the ship I would have thought that was how the whole dining room was like. We thought of asking for a different wait staff but really liked the couple we were with. And the second couple were on a B2B as well but this was their first week. They let me know later that they were moved to a different section their second week and got great service.

 

tigercat

[Tigerlily75]

Late seating on Legend - brilliant. They were constantly checking on us, and noticed things like my daughters lamb being a bit too rare and quickly replacing it. Bringing us extra things to try. They were just lovely people!

[OCruisers]

On our Carnival cruises we'll found the waitstaff to be somewhat "brisk" because they had so many tables to attend.