"This might be YOUR vacation, but it's MY life"

[heisnuts]

You tell them what they want to hear..then do what you want. This is NOT the end of their career or job...You don't have to like or dislike any part of your cruise...it's YOUR vacation...you don't even NEED to do the questionnaire !

 

Could not have said it better myself.

[Host Jacquelyn]

 

The survey is only about the wait staff - the questions may appear to go beyond this but they don't. To pretend the survey is as it appears is a disservice to those who need it filled in correctly. Sure some people will refuse to play by the rules of the game but the majority of people are smart enough and agreeable enough to do the right thing once it has been explained to them what is really happening.

 

If the waitstaff are not up to standard then show no mercy in your feedback. If they are entirely acceptable or better then a "5" is the score that reflects this. If you want to complain about the food do so through a different mechanism since doing so via the survey on the wait staff will not achieve what you want.

 

The question *was* about the food, though. The server told us we should be giving 5's for the entire dining room experience, including service and food. even when we assured him we would be giving top marks for the service, he told us we must give all 5s for the food, even if we did not like it. He then said to put specific complaints in the comments section. I can only deduce from that comment that the ratings and the comments are treated differently.

 

Yes, I am sure you are right that someone in management would have said that a good server should have kept on bringing us food until we found something we liked, but that is not an enjoyable meal for me. They offered to bring something else, which I appreciated, and politely declined. There is more than enough food to be found on the ship that we wouldn't go hungry. Us not loving the dining room food should in no way have any bearing on the waiter's rating, and it is disconcerting that RCCL penalizes the waiters if passengers do not enjoy the food.

 

I know people have said to report the guy or to that they would have given their honest opinion, but his words never escape me. So what, the food wasn't the greatest, and this guy made me feel uncomfortable. After the vacation, I go back to my life, and this becomes an anecdote for me. However, my rating can have a direct repercussion to this guy's wages and livelihood, and in the end that is not something I can live with. The flipside, of course, is that RCCL will not get honest feedback, and things won't change.

[davy jones]

They use these surveys to justify reducing services and food quality. As long as people are still giving 5's they can say "see, everyone is still happy after we made XYZ change/cut". That's because it is a sympathy 5, not an honest 5.

 

If enough people rated honestly they'd stop putting the poor workers on the chopping block for it and examine the real causes and correct them. If they were actually interested in that.

 

I was about to say the same thing. Now I don't have to, because you said it very well.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

They use these surveys to justify reducing services and food quality. As long as people are still giving 5's they can say "see, everyone is still happy after we made XYZ change/cut". That's because it is a sympathy 5, not an honest 5.

 

If enough people rated honestly they'd stop putting the poor workers on the chopping block for it and examine the real causes and correct them. If they were actually interested in that.

There is some real truth in your comments above.

 

For the very same reason...reading movie or product reviews should be done with the understanding that they are "tainted" to reflect a wide range of views from reality to fiction.

 

As subjective tools to gauge customer satisfaction, surveys can be easily manipulated and tainted to reflect wrong views through intentional or unintentional good/bad responses.

 

Bottom line - people should either review things honestly or not review them at all if the intent is to accomplish sincere feedback. Sometimes that includes candor and sometimes praise.

[CruisinShips]

Whenever they start to give that spiel, I tell them they are "number 1" in my book and hold up one finger. They normally quit at that point.

 

Which finger?

[Clarea]

Which finger?

That's embarrassing, I should have been more specific.:o

 

Index.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

That's embarrassing, I should have been more specific.:o

 

Index.

Knew that was going to be the case with you Bob...but...keeping us in suspense did add some "lighthearted" humor for a few minutes. :D

[bay guy]

I've always disagreed with the waiters being graded by the "food" score. They have nothing to do with its preparation and should only be held accountable to good, friendly and efficient service.

 

Most good waiters will notice if you didn't like a dish they served. If you don't like something, many will try to get you to order something else in hopes that the new dish will make up for the first poor meal, thus effectively trying to raise your rating of the food at the end of the week.

 

Since we started cruising in 1979, we have noted a steady decline in food quality over the years. I blame that, in part, on the fast food nature of many peoples food tastes which allows the cruise lines to cater to that majority versus those who hope for a better quality of food on a cruise.

 

I'm not a food snob by any stretch of the imagination but when I hear someone say that they prefer the "Italian" food at Olive Garden over the equivalent meal on a ship, it makes me cringe because I know that more thought went into preparation of the shipboard meal versus the microwave equivalent at Olive Garden.

 

However, when most people are used to that level of chain food meals, they accept that on board so the ships match their expectations.

[CruisinShips]

That's embarrassing, I should have been more specific.:o

 

Index.

 

LOL. I was teasing (as you probably gathered!) :)

[Clarea]

LOL. I was teasing (as you probably gathered!) :)

I appreciate that, but as I looked back at my post, I realized it was poorly worded.

[GUT2407]

I did have one staff sort of ask her words were

 

"you put down I worst waiter you ever have"

 

As I'd already written a note to her supervisor about how good she was, I just gave my honest view on the survey.

[davekathy]

We always give glowing reviews regardless of the level of service or quality of the food. The highest marks possible. You would think they walk on water! I always write we will return soon because of the wonderful service. I in no way would want to have a negative affect on these people's livelihoods. So what if they are having a bad day or bad week. If it's so bad we just don't return.

 

Thanks for the laugh.

[BeachLove999]

Perhaps the food rating does not reflect on the server but on the kitchen manager. If the kitchen manager has power over the wait staff, the manager may pressure the wait staff to get the high food rating for them.

[John&LaLa]

I just filled out the survey from Laura's TA. She's still onboard so I did it before it expires. Anyway, most of the questions were on a scale of 10, so 5 is probably about right. ;)

 

Will do the final one next week, i'll try and pay more attention to the choices.

Edited November 23, 2016 by John&LaLa

[shipshape sam]

This is an interesting thread.

 

We can only hope Royal is reading.

 

For me, I HATE these surveys. With the staff asking for '5's', to me, it only skews what you actually think management wants to know.....is everything (service and product) excellent in the opinion of the customer....us!

 

 

You also have to assume management knows these requests are made and IF I were wanting this information, I would not promote/allow staff to ask for a score.

 

There are ways you can tell if staff is not performing and if they are. I would almost bet that the really great staff performers get mentioned in letters/comments on each cruise.

 

I (management) would encourage great service which would lead to notes/comments of that great service. I would use examples and share letters/notes/comments with staff. I would then provide bonuses in some appropriate form for getting a letter/note/comment.

 

I have NEVER been convinced to write something if I did not enthusiastically believe that the staff person earned the praise/recognition.

 

Finally, I have NEVER changed a score if I did not believe in it. I also make note of lower scores with comments so management can put a low score with something tangible that happened or did not happen.

 

Maybe if we write in notes we HATE the practice, it might stop, maybe, just maybe. :rolleyes:

Edited November 23, 2016 by shipshape sam

[Biker19]

Anyway, most of the questions were on a scale of 10, so 5 is probably about right. ;)

 

I was like :confused: when everyone kept saying the scale goes to 5 - I seem to remember the scale going to 10.

[GrooveInWhichWeMove]

I work in survey research, and I see this kind of thing all the time, in many industries. I echo the sentiments who see that the system is not doing its job.

 

It breaks my heart because I see more companies implement "Anything but the highest rating is a punishment" philosophy, and I want to yell at the top of my lungs, "This isn't how statistics or probability work!"... but that's what clients want, and that's the kind of surveys we end up writing and sending out.

 

At the end of the day, from a customer POV, I see both sides in terms of how to react and I don't think any response on a customer's part is wrong (whether it's to always give a 5 or to purposefully not give a 5). The fundamental problem is the system, and hopefully discussions like this raise awareness of how it's hurting good service, since customers don't have a honest feedback tool anymore. The problem is bigger than all of us, sadly. That said, writing a customer letter to corporate - independent of any survey - complaining about their abuse of surveys wouldn't hurt.

[molsonschooner]

We always give glowing reviews regardless of the level of service or quality of the food. The highest marks possible. You would think they walk on water! I always write we will return soon because of the wonderful service. I in no way would want to have a negative affect on these people's livelihoods. So what if they are having a bad day or bad week. If it's so bad we just don't return.

 

that really doesn't help make things better, does it

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I work in survey research, and I see this kind of thing all the time, in many industries. I echo the sentiments who see that the system is not doing its job.

 

It breaks my heart because I see more companies implement "Anything but the highest rating is a punishment" philosophy, and I want to yell at the top of my lungs, "This isn't how statistics or probability work!"... but that's what clients want, and that's the kind of surveys we end up writing and sending out.

 

At the end of the day, from a customer POV, I see both sides in terms of how to react and I don't think any response on a customer's part is wrong (whether it's to always give a 5 or to purposefully not give a 5). The fundamental problem is the system, and hopefully discussions like this raise awareness of how it's hurting good service, since customers don't have a honest feedback tool anymore. The problem is bigger than all of us, sadly. That said, writing a customer letter to corporate - independent of any survey - complaining about their abuse of surveys wouldn't hurt.

Thank you for posting your insights, especially given your direct knowledge.

 

I would agree with all of your statements (having worked with surveys within the framework of my career many times).

 

As you so eloquently pointed out, the intent is to obtain customer feedback to gauge would well products/services are being delivered and how they meet customer expectations. Unfortunately some companies use them for a "make a certain grade or else..." approach.

 

To underscore this reality...you can simply look at message boards like this one. Plenty of people have no hesitation at all to complain, vent, etc., but a smaller % of the posting population take the time to say "they did everything right, they did most everything right..." or something else of that nature.

 

The ideal scenario is to simply post a legitimate and honest report of an experience...which is what A&L reported in his recent thread about their Harmony of the Seas 11/12/16 cruise. Despite everything NOT being PERFECT...his candor and humor made that report a joy to read. That helps people.

 

Whiners who choose to simply vent about s single topic or "bad thing" over and over again do not help anyone but themselves from a short-term venting "therapy" perspective. They end up on ignore lists.

[RCLFan]

I find that this practice isn't exclusive to RCCL when it comes to Surveys in general. I recently had some service work done on a Car, and the technician also asked that I rate a "10" when I receive the Follow Up Call.

 

What's the point of a company doing a Survey if the results are going to be skewed, or if they put so much emphasis on the results of the Survey, that their employees feel potential repercussions. Isn't the company being short sighted to having honest assessments by creating such a culture?

 

Sorry for the Rant - I just see this all over.

[Yoshikitty]

On our recent RCI cruise, the food was really not good.

 

And we've done the survey accordingly. We'd feel sorry if our phantasrtic waiters would get punished for it, but that's why they particularly are seperating the food quality from the quality of service.

 

Even though, we wouldN#t have rated the food better because it would give the responsible people (chefs, buyers, hotel staff) an excuse or reason for dumbing down in a way "hey, that ratings are still at 5*, so everything that we've done worked obviously."

 

When we are not happy, we tell the people involved, if it does not change, we mention it in the survey.

[cooncat_mom]

I've heard this speech from the waiters as well, which is awkward for me since I believe 4 is very good (and I'm very happy with) and 5 is something that should blow me away. As you can see, my language is different from the corporate world's. These "surveys" have become increasingly intrusive and annoying - from RCL to my car salesman, to my mechanic to my doctor to the hospital! And they want all 5's (or "Exceeds"). I work in a hospital and they do surveys as well...if you answer questions about one unit and mention a criticism about another unit the first unit takes the ding. Thus surveys really aren't truthful or helpful.

 

I've started to write things like "Thank you for your interest, but my relationship with my doctor is personal and you're not invited into it". It won't do a THING, but makes me feel a little better!

[Baron Barracuda]

Understand concerns of waiters in traditional dining and dd classic. Royal knows your table assignment and who your waiter was. Seems odd though that same level of paranoia exists in mtd and dd choice. There, unless you inform them in comment section, Royal has no idea who waited on you, who gave you great service and who didn't. That's one reason we prefer traditional dining. Accountability leads to better service.

[sparks1093]

Reading another thread, I was reminded by what the assistant waiter said on my last cruise.

 

We did not find the food in the MDR on our last cruise to be all that great, and frequently left over. The crew would ask if they could bring us something else, and I just said no, we would grab a slice of pizza or something from the cafe.

 

One night, the assistant waiter came by and confirmed with us that we would be giving all 5s on the Guest Satisfaction survey - for service, food, etc. I told him of course we would give 5s for service, but we did not find the food to be "5" caliber. He said it didn't matter, we should give 5 for everything, and then write what we did not like in the comments. I told him that would not be my honest opinion, and he stressed that I needed to give 5s for everything, even the food. He then said, "This might be YOUR vacation, but it's MY life". It was really chilling, and I felt quite uncomfortable.

 

What do you make of this, and what would you have done? I am embarrassed to say that I did not complete the survey because of his words. I could not give all 5s for food that I found to be sub-par, but I did not want to affect this guy's livelihood.

 

I haven't taken the time to read the responses but my two cents- I would have filled out the survey as honestly as I could. If that had a negative impact on someone's career that is not my issue. If we don't give honest feedback things won't improve (but I don't see why the waiter would be held to task for the food quality).

[marci22]

We've gotten the same speech, to give the highest marks, not considering the food, and to criticize the food in separate comments. The hospitals do it now, and I was just at the car dealer, and he said the same thing: 'please give me all 10s, it is important to my job. If I you are unhappy with anything, please tell me before you fill out the survey'. It's depressing.