Whoa...what’s going on with Oceania!

[Mura]

I''m wondering if most people here do *not* need this message ... Maybe I'm giving everyone too much credit?  It does seem logical that you get back what you give.  I've seen lots of complaints -- make that comments -- on other threads about people who complain but never say thank you, who are quick to criticize, etc.

 

It's so easy to say thank you ... or just smile.  I do wonder why more people don't do so.

 

(Then again, I've seen people entering through a door just ahead of me, and they know I'm right behind them, but they let it slam in my face.  I don't expect anyone to hold a door for me if I'm a distance away, but if I'm right there????)

 

Don't get me started about how other pedestrians treated me when I was walking slowly with a cane.  They'd jump in front of me just to get ahead.  It didn't seem to occur to them that in doing so they could have easily knocked me down.  They didn't intend to, I'm sure ... but they didn't think about the consequences of their actions. However, as a result ... when I'm now following who is moving slower than I would like, I just slow down myself.

 

Mura

 

[DeanoNorthPerth]

7 hours ago, daveispar said:

We agree, "you get, what you give" !  Are you polite to the crew ?  Do you say, please and thank you to everybody?  Or do you get your drinks and food without a word ?  If not, then if I served you, I'd treat you the way you treated me.  And I'd go out of my way to please people who were polite to me.  So, guess what, I've never had to complain about any service on a ship or anwhere, really.  Try it, it works !

So true. My wife tells me I will cop a punch in the head one day but I can’t help it. Whenever I am standing at Terrace Cafe and someone says something like “I’ll take some scrambled eggs, some bacon and two sausages” I always say to the server “He (or she) meant to say please. He (or she) just forgot”. That usually results in a glare (as yet no smack in the mouth) but it just makes me angry when the staff are treated with such disrespect. No wonder some crew get grumpy towards the end of their contracts.

[clo]

52 minutes ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

So true. My wife tells me I will cop a punch in the head one day but I can’t help it. Whenever I am standing at Terrace Cafe and someone says something like “I’ll take some scrambled eggs, some bacon and two sausages” I always say to the server “He (or she) meant to say please. He (or she) just forgot”. That usually results in a glare (as yet no smack in the mouth) but it just makes me angry when the staff are treated with such disrespect. No wonder some crew get grumpy towards the end of their contracts.

Ooh, I'm stealing that one.  And it's my husband who would be warning me 🙂  Thanks.

 

And PS:  those people serving the food love YOU!!!!!

Edited August 17, 2019 by clo

[LHT28]

54 minutes ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

So true. My wife tells me I will cop a punch in the head one day but I can’t help it. Whenever I am standing at Terrace Cafe and someone says something like “I’ll take some scrambled eggs, some bacon and two sausages” I always say to the server “He (or she) meant to say please. He (or she) just forgot”. That usually results in a glare (as yet no smack in the mouth) but it just makes me angry when the staff are treated with such disrespect. No wonder some crew get grumpy towards the end of their contracts.

LOL

When I hear people order the staff   I just say "what are the magic words"  just like you do with children 😉

 

I guess they were raised in a barn as my Gran would say  😉

 

[firsttimers68]

I have to say we were disappointed with our first Sirena cruise. Having been on Riviera/Marina numerous times I guess we have been spoilt. We found the staff rushed off their feet and not all were happy. A lovely bunch but overworked and I am guessing some are new. Sommeliers making coffee in Baristas didn't work is one instance. We did have a great time, and met some wonderful staff but its highly doubtful we will cruise on Sirena again. In case anyone is wondering I am not the complaining type and go out of my way to be friendly and polite to fellow passengers and all the staff. 

[WESTEAST]

We are just off the Marina and have been sailing with Oceania since 2009 and enjoyed all cruises with pleasant staff and cuisine. The one change we noticed was that the wait staff at Red Ginger used to be mostly Asian however, this cruise most were Eastern European and in Toscana, we had Asian wait staff. Nevertheless, service and food was top notch. We've had butlers in the past and found other then assisting with additional Speciality Restaurants, we really didn't use their services.

[AtA]

I sometimes enjoy chatting with the staff even more than the passengers. I just love learning about them.

[clo]

46 minutes ago, AtA said:

I sometimes enjoy chatting with the staff even more than the passengers. I just love learning about them.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

That's one of the things we enjoyed about our Norwegian coastal cruise.  The staff are all Norwegian and of the passengers we were the only "Americans."

[welshfamily]

I am with first time cruiser  68. We got off Sirena on Friday. It’s doubtful we will cruise on her again. Staff were thin on the ground and overworked but cheerful and doing their best. We had a good cruise, but in no way was it worthy of its reputation re food. This coupled with small bathrooms and tight staterooms makes it even more important that standards are maintained in the quality and choice of food and the service. 

I would class Sirena as a 4* cruise ship. 

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, welshfamily said:

I am with first time cruiser  68. We got off Sirena on Friday. It’s doubtful we will cruise on her again. Staff were thin on the ground and overworked but cheerful and doing their best. We had a good cruise, but in no way was it worthy of its reputation re food. This coupled with small bathrooms and tight staterooms makes it even more important that standards are maintained in the quality and choice of food and the service. 

I would class Sirena as a 4* cruise ship. 

That is  too bad

Hope they are not cutting  staff   as well as food options

Oceania IS changing  but maybe not in a good way

 

[cruisesport]

very disappointing...we thought we might book iceland on sirena for 2021..now not so sure...unless we should book and hope things improve....

[firsttimers68]

Sorry to be so negative but we would NEVER book Sirena again. We love Riviera/Marina but feel there is a wide gulf between them and Sirena. I just hope it isn't cost cutting across the board, if so we will be changing lines. 

[daveispar]

On 8/16/2019 at 6:23 PM, DeanoNorthPerth said:

So true. My wife tells me I will cop a punch in the head one day but I can’t help it. Whenever I am standing at Terrace Cafe and someone says something like “I’ll take some scrambled eggs, some bacon and two sausages” I always say to the server “He (or she) meant to say please. He (or she) just forgot”. That usually results in a glare (as yet no smack in the mouth) but it just makes me angry when the staff are treated with such disrespect. No wonder some crew get grumpy towards the end of their contracts.

Last year we were on the brand new Norwegian Bliss, through the Panama Canal.   We went to the Tepanaki restaurant one night.  I no sooner sat down than the chef said, did you enjoy your omelets this morning ?  I guess, he had prepared them that morning.  I know, I said please and thank you, I always do.  My omelets weren't anything special or unique I must have said something that kind of made his day.  For him to have remembered me out of a ship of 4,000 people, sure made my evening !  Just another example of treat people the way you would like to be treated.  I think a lot of old people were in positions of power in their careers and now they don't have that anymore and maybe they don't realize how rude they are !

[Hawaiidan]

2 hours ago, daveispar said:

Last year we were on the brand new Norwegian Bliss, through the Panama Canal.   We went to the Tepanaki restaurant one night.  I no sooner sat down than the chef said, did you enjoy your omelets this morning ?  I guess, he had prepared them that morning.  I know, I said please and thank you, I always do.  My omelets weren't anything special or unique I must have said something that kind of made his day.  For him to have remembered me out of a ship of 4,000 people, sure made my evening !  Just another example of treat people the way you would like to be treated.  I think a lot of old people were in positions of power in their careers and now they don't have that anymore and maybe they don't realize how rude they are !

 

Just an observation and theory...  with the explosion of  electronic gadgets, many people seem to become  withdrawn and anti social  with an increasing difficulty or lack of care about others...          I  do not know  but when  you do not have to relate to and with real people  just an electronic gizmo and that is your world, how is that a good thing?     That might be part of  it

Edited August 18, 2019 by Hawaiidan

[Rob the Cruiser]

3 hours ago, daveispar said:

Last year we were on the brand new Norwegian Bliss, through the Panama Canal.   We went to the Tepanaki restaurant one night.  I no sooner sat down than the chef said, did you enjoy your omelets this morning ?  I guess, he had prepared them that morning.  I know, I said please and thank you, I always do.  My omelets weren't anything special or unique I must have said something that kind of made his day.  For him to have remembered me out of a ship of 4,000 people, sure made my evening !  Just another example of treat people the way you would like to be treated.  I think a lot of old people were in positions of power in their careers and now they don't have that anymore and maybe they don't realize how rude they are !

 

How old is old? At what level is a position of power? 

 

I'm 64 years old. Is that old? I was blessed to have been able to retire 12 years ago. Was I old then? Perhaps I held positions of power but your definition is probably different than mine. Earning a position of power doesn't mean that a person has to be rude to get there.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Rob the Cruiser

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, Rob the Cruiser said:

 

How old is old? At what level is a position of power? 

 

I'm 64 years old. Is that old? I was blessed to have been able to retire 12 years ago. Was I old then? Perhaps I held positions of power but your definition is probably different than mine. Earning a position of power doesn't mean that a person has to be rude to get there.

It may not be  a number  but a manner in which people conduct themselves

 

Do you snap your fingers to get attention from the waiters ??

Do you order the staff to do things rather than ask nicely?

Do you push to the front of the line ? 

We had a guy who decided  he was more important than the rest waiting to get into the Reunion party so he pushed through the others  waiting ..he tried to sneak in the other side  but the staff turned him back

 

 

[Rob the Cruiser]

@LHT28- I've never snapped my fingers at anyone or pushed to the front of the line and never will. 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Rob the Cruiser

[Shawnino]

Hate to interrupt all the humblebragging, but when traveling on the more upscale lines, O included, I've seen far more bad behaviour by staff than by pax--and most times pax are unwilling to make a fuss or call it out when maybe they ought to. Perhaps it's just wanting to move on ("I'm on vacation"); perhaps it's fear of retaliation down the track.

 

It does sound like Sirena has a problem.

 

I have not sailed R-ships: I've more or less been warned off them, compared to O-ships, based on both the hard and soft product. (Riviera is really good BTW.) If the service on R-ships is also slipping, one wonders, medium-term, how O will fill them. 

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, Rob the Cruiser said:

@LHT28- I've never snapped my fingers at anyone or pushed to the front of the line and never will. 

 never implied you did

But  some people in positions of power in their business life may carry this into their vacation life

I think that was the point DAVEISPAR was making ( I think)

Thank goodness not everyone  is like that

 

On our 1st O cruise back in 2004  there was a man that would sit in the Terrace & read his book ..no problem the exception was when he finished what he was eating he snapped his fingers at the wait staff to remove his  plate ..never looked up or said thank you

we saw him numerous times  do this

There was a line for the Tourist person   I was in line  & next up ...when the person ahead of me  left this guy just pushed past me

On his way back I stood right in front of his route ..He stopped  & looked at me  as if to say MOVE

I just looked back & said  " Oh so glad I am not invisible "

He was rude through out the cruise as if he was special some how

[daveispar]

20 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 never implied you did

But  some people in positions of power in their business life may carry this into their vacation life

I think that was the point DAVEISPAR was making ( I think)

Thank goodness not everyone  is like that

 

On our 1st O cruise back in 2004  there was a man that would sit in the Terrace & read his book ..no problem the exception was when he finished what he was eating he snapped his fingers at the wait staff to remove his  plate ..never looked up or said thank you

we saw him numerous times  do this

There was a line for the Tourist person   I was in line  & next up ...when the person ahead of me  left this guy just pushed past me

On his way back I stood right in front of his route ..He stopped  & looked at me  as if to say MOVE

I just looked back & said  " Oh so glad I am not invisible "

He was rude through out the cruise as if he was special some how

Yes, that was my point.  But, I don't think rude people will ever change.  I wish they could see themselves.   

[RJB]

22 hours ago, Shawnino said:

Hate to interrupt all the humblebragging, but when traveling on the more upscale lines, O included, I've seen far more bad behaviour by staff than by pax--and most times pax are unwilling to make a fuss or call it out when maybe they ought to. Perhaps it's just wanting to move on ("I'm on vacation"); perhaps it's fear of retaliation down the track.

 

It does sound like Sirena has a problem.

 

I have not sailed R-ships: I've more or less been warned off them, compared to O-ships, based on both the hard and soft product. (Riviera is really good BTW.) If the service on R-ships is also slipping, one wonders, medium-term, how O will fill them. 

+1     I have been on both of the ships and think that today the O ships are much superior to the R ships in food and service and cabin space.  We try our best to stay away from the R ships if possible .  

[acritic]

we had a butler...once.  he was so overworked that i felt guilty asking him for something.  he was constantly being called to help other passengers open their soap or fluff their pillows or bag their laundry or some other inconsequential thing.   i couldn't have a 3 minute conversation with him without someone messaging him. after 2 days of this, i told my husband to give him $200 and tell him we probably wouldn't be making requests because he needed to get some sleep. (this was in addition to the gratuities oceania requires).  

i've seen how some passengers act on these cruises.  many times, i am embarrassed to be an american.  the crew is there for your safety and to provide service.  they are not your personal slaves to be subjected to whatever mood you might throw at them at any given moment.

rant over.

[Mura]

I'm happy to say that I haven't observed these kinds of behaviors in crew OR passengers.  And we've always had wonderful service from room attendants -- even when in lower level cabins.

 

I'm reminded of a woman on our 1975 Norwegian coastal cruise (on Bergen Lines which now seems to be Hurtigruten).  Back then it was 6 days up from Bergen to North Cape and another 6 days back to Bergen.  An Italian group joined us a few days out of Bergen for 3 days.  The leader of the group was one of those people who pushes to the head of the line.

 

I should say that back then most passengers were in second class cabins.  There weren't many first class cabins and those of us in first class had a separate dining room.  It wasn't large, could seat maybe 50 people at most.  One day this woman was trying to force her way up to the front and I managed to block her.  She was trying to knock over an older woman at the time which irritated me more than a bit.

 

She didn't like me very much but I didn't much care.

 

Mura

[nvgal]

I recently noticed that the country of origin has been removed from the name tags and replaced with area of work. I really enjoyed looking where the crew was from and talking to them about this. 

[Kate-AHF]

14 hours ago, acritic said:

we had a butler...once.  he was so overworked that i felt guilty asking him for something.  he was constantly being called to help other passengers open their soap or fluff their pillows or bag their laundry or some other inconsequential thing.   i couldn't have a 3 minute conversation with him without someone messaging him. after 2 days of this, i told my husband to give him $200 and tell him we probably wouldn't be making requests because he needed to get some sleep. (this was in addition to the gratuities oceania requires).  

i've seen how some passengers act on these cruises.  many times, i am embarrassed to be an american.  the crew is there for your safety and to provide service.  they are not your personal slaves to be subjected to whatever mood you might throw at them at any given moment.

rant over.

 

I can tell you this is not specific to just one cruise line.  This spring we were on Seabourn, and one couple in one of the top suites made our (shared) stewardess their personal slave - even though senior management tried to rein it in. 

 

We ended up doing something similar to you... telling her frequently that we did not require service that day, only fresh ice.  I don't want towels replaced every single day, and I know how to make a bed and clean up after myself.  In return, she thanked us for this flexibility in a dozen thoughtful little ways over the course of the cruise.  We tipped her more than any other cabin attendant in our cruise history.