Question: report bad service?

[flamingos]

Situation that is new to me - really bad service in the MDR. 
 

Our team, as far as I can tell, have four tables. My 6-top has only four of us; the 6-top next to us has one two. But the other two tables look to be 10 tops, full. They seem to all be first-time cruisers being led by a man who shuttled between the tables the first night explaining the menu, in Dutch (??). None speak English. They are ordering wine for the table, have special requests, call the waiter over to explain. These two waiters are simply overwhelmed and we are getting the crap end of it. Our tablemates said tonight they are done,, they will be eating elsewhere - his iced tea arrived after appetizers, entrées were lukewarm, our table was never properly served: no soup spoons brought for appetizers, no crumb scraper. 😔

 

So I’m pretty tolerant and don’t want to jeopardize any one’s job, but should this be reported to the head waiter or maitre’d? These people need help. Suggestions? 

[time4u2go]

Yes report it.  Not to get the waiter in trouble, but to hopefully get some help for him.

[Seville2Cabo]

You need to report it and the reason why.  You should not have to suffer due to the other table.  I would ask to move - My opinion

[firefly333]

Have you talked to the waiter already? I'd ask to be moved, quietly perhaps if that doesnt work. 

 

I've had that and put up with too much, I let stuff go when it's my vacation too. I had a lady and her daughter order every item on the menu. Took forever. She was at my table.  ..and another time a 2 year old was allowed to drum on the table with silverware  .. I'm thru taking it. I'll be quicker to move.

[mo&fran]

The head water should have seen this and addressed it.

[cruise1957]

48 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Have you talked to the waiter already? I'd ask to be moved, quietly perhaps if that doesnt work. 

 

I've had that and put up with too much, I let stuff go when it's my vacation too. I had a lady and her daughter order every item on the menu. Took forever. She was at my table.  ..and another time a 2 year old was allowed to drum on the table with silverware  .. I'm thru taking it. I'll be quicker to move.

I can sympathize with the 2 year old drumming. We were on a cruise with our whole family, 12 of us, my grandson was about 5 or 6 at the time. There was a child of maybe 10 at the next table to us playing cymbals with the sugar container lids. I put up with it for one night, next night they are back again and he is doing the same thing as we arrived at the table, I took them right out of his hand and said we aren't doing that anymore, the didn't show up for dinner the rest of the cruise.

 

I know it wasn't the best action, but I'd just had it, the parents and grandparents weren't even attempting to do anything.  I want to enjoy my meal, not deal with clanging cymbals.

[Anton]

Yes, report it.  This is a headwaiter failure. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, cruise1957 said:

I can sympathize with the 2 year old drumming. We were on a cruise with our whole family, 12 of us, my grandson was about 5 or 6 at the time. There was a child of maybe 10 at the next table to us playing cymbals with the sugar container lids. I put up with it for one night, next night they are back again and he is doing the same thing as we arrived at the table, I took them right out of his hand and said we aren't doing that anymore, the didn't show up for dinner the rest of the cruise.

 

I know it wasn't the best action, but I'd just had it, the parents and grandparents weren't even attempting to do anything.  I want to enjoy my meal, not deal with clanging cymbals.

And when I mentioned it to the parents they proudly told me they bought a drum set at home for the 2 year old. They seemed to think all that noise was great. 

 

I took someone I met on cc ...turned out she was furious with me! She expected me to go and tell someone to change our seats. She was a higher loyalty rcl than me .. but I paid for the cruise true. Figured it was already paid for so I thought I was being nice inviting someone to share. I'm done with being nice .. now I'll speak up. I think covid changed me to tolerate people less.

[FOXTROT]

Just Ask to be moved to a different table. If asked tell them why, if not don't worry about it.

[poocher]

2 hours ago, cruise1957 said:

I can sympathize with the 2 year old drumming. We were on a cruise with our whole family, 12 of us, my grandson was about 5 or 6 at the time. There was a child of maybe 10 at the next table to us playing cymbals with the sugar container lids. I put up with it for one night, next night they are back again and he is doing the same thing as we arrived at the table, I took them right out of his hand and said we aren't doing that anymore, the didn't show up for dinner the rest of the cruise.

 

I know it wasn't the best action, but I'd just had it, the parents and grandparents weren't even attempting to do anything.  I want to enjoy my meal, not deal with clanging cymbals.

I understand your frustration but if it were me (and I would NEVER have allowed my child to do that) I would have taken strong exception to you taking something out of my child’s hands.  I think perhaps you know you should have asked the parents to intervene and then escalated to MDR staff if necessary.  You don’t know anything about the child.  Perhaps they had some type of behavioral challenge.  

Edited August 29, 2022 by poocher

[George C]

We had a issue with a waiter on another line , we reported it to head waiter , they put waiter on notice and we had perfect service for the rest of the week. 

[BirdTravels]

Talk with the restaurant manager. I would be appalled if I didn't get a crumb scraper. 

[flamingos]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Talk with the restaurant manager. I would be appalled if I didn't get a crumb scraper. 

We actually didn’t notice that until the second night. 🤣.  There are so many little things involved in good service that go unnoticed. 💖

[Casino Comp Chick]

8 hours ago, poocher said:

10 hours ago, cruise1957 said:

I can sympathize with the 2 year old drumming. We were on a cruise with our whole family, 12 of us, my grandson was about 5 or 6 at the time. There was a child of maybe 10 at the next table to us playing cymbals with the sugar container lids. I put up with it for one night, next night they are back again and he is doing the same thing as we arrived at the table, I took them right out of his hand and said we aren't doing that anymore, the didn't show up for dinner the rest of the cruise.

 

I know it wasn't the best action, but I'd just had it, the parents and grandparents weren't even attempting to do anything.  I want to enjoy my meal, not deal with clanging cymbals.

I saw a video online of a travel agents birthday party in the Haven restaurant on NCL a few years ago and one of his guests was playing a ukulele very badly,

 

I would have flipped if I had to sit through that so I 100% understand.
 

The haven restaurant is NOT Chuck-E-Cheese and the maître d’ should have put a stop to it instantly.

 

I think I would have smashed the thing about 30 seconds in.

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Casino Comp Chick

[Ret MP]

15 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Yes report it.  Not to get the waiter in trouble, but to hopefully get some help for him.

I believe it's the maître d’s fault and I'd complain about him/her to the dining manager.  He/she needs situational awareness and be able to adjust on the fly.  It doesn't sound like he/she was on his/her A game.  However, I think I would have gone to him/her early in the experience, express my concerns and hope he/she corrected it.  If not, next stop, the dining manager!

[rudeney]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I think covid changed me to tolerate people less.

 

COVID didn't change that for me - it was so many trips around the sun that did it.  I knew it was happening when I started yelling at kids to get off my lawn.  

[neverbeenhere]

a quick word that the team is overwhelmed by the particular situation is all that should be needed.

[klfhngr]

We had the same EXACT problem in May on X Reflection. Service was terrible the first 2 nights, we told the Manager. But we were so frustrated, that for the next 6 nights we ate at the buffet! When we did return, service was great for the first 5 minutes, after that, THE SAME @$#@ problem! Last night was spent at the buffet!

[Big_G]

Had a similar experience with a very large group of adults at MTD. The women all sat at one table and the men at another. There had to be two 10 tops. The men kept on asking the waiters to take their pictures in groups. Every picture ended with a cheer and then there were the toasts and it was loud. After the second night we asked not to be seated near them and hostess chuckled and said, "No problem." We heard them a few times more throughout the cruise but we weren't close enough to be a bother.

[Mapleleafforever]

Definitely report the bad service and if it doesn't change the next night go to guest services and remove the auto grats and dine at the WJ or specialty restaurants. 

[yogimax]

15 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Definitely report the bad service and if it doesn't change the next night go to guest services and remove the auto grats and dine at the WJ or specialty restaurants. 

Not a good idea.  Removing auto grats also removes stateroom steward and those who work in WJ (among others).  

[Mapleleafforever]

1 minute ago, yogimax said:

Not a good idea.  Removing auto grats also removes stateroom steward and those who work in WJ (among others).  

That's why it's a great idea!!! Tip your stateroom attendant and those who look after you in the WJ in cash instead.  When at guest services make sure to tell them the reason you're removing them. Only way service levels will improve is if people take action.

[loman]

15 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Definitely report the bad service and if it doesn't change the next night go to guest services and remove the auto grats and dine at the WJ or specialty restaurants. 

 Just tip your cabin attendant directly in cash and bartenders the same way . 

And any additional people you feel deserves a tip .

This auto grats thing is similar to giving kids participation medals.

[CruisinNole]

My philosophy is that if you don't tell someone that there's a problem, they won't know. I was always someone who didn't want to be labeled a complainer but started being more vocal about issues after a Celebrity cruise where we had a problem with our cabin door handle mechanism, not the card reader. It would work some times; other times it was very difficult to turn the handle. One day we were struggling with the handle when the cabin attendant came by and assisted us. He told us that we should have told him the first time it happened so he could have contacted maintenance right away. That's when we realized that although it wasn't a huge issue for us, it might be for someone else and once we leave the ship, it becomes a problem for the next occupants. Also, it really made me wonder how long it had been a problem! 

[cruise1957]

19 hours ago, poocher said:

I understand your frustration but if it were me (and I would NEVER have allowed my child to do that) I would have taken strong exception to you taking something out of my child’s hands.  I think perhaps you know you should have asked the parents to intervene and then escalated to MDR staff if necessary.  You don’t know anything about the child.  Perhaps they had some type of behavioral challenge.  

I totally agree, but in the moment I'd had enough! A few people at other tables thanked me. They also had a 2 year old with a toy that played music, that I could understand, trying to keep him occupied, but then the grandmother started playing the music on the toy when the kid wasn't playing with it. UGH!  Just one of those things, if they parents would have objected I would have apologized.