Staffing issues in the MDR.

[MicCanberra]

On 2/27/2024 at 8:12 PM, MicCanberra said:

My questions are,

Was it just our cruise/ ship, or is it occuring fleet wide?,

is it cost cutting having less staff doing more?

Thanks all for the mostly constructive advice.I suppose my questions have been answered, at least in part.

1) Some have said it not just the Oosterdam and it is across the fleet.

2)It seems you need to be in fixed dining or be really demanding to avoid similar slow service.

3)Whether it is cost cutting, or not, the lack of staffing levels will likely continue, and management and training of the staff they have is not sufficient.

It is such a shame as we would likely have cruised HAL much more. Now it will only be if the itinerary is a real corker.

[Ipeeinthepools]

15 hours ago, 0106 said:

I think that you started a very interesting and useful thread Mic.  

I have Club Orange on my cruise departing Sunday but I am committed to visiting the MDR at least once strictly for comparison purposes.

 

Maybe you should stay in Club Orange.  The MDR doesn't need any additional guests.

[Haljo1935]

On 2/27/2024 at 8:50 PM, cruisemom42 said:

I have for many years heard that having fixed seating makes for better service, but I can say that such was not the case on my November TA on Nieuw Statendam. 

 

I normally opt for Anytime dining as I don't like to commit to a fixed time when on a port-intensive cruise. However, since this cruise was a TA with many sea days, and the acquaintance who was also onboard wanted to select fixed late, we did that and had a table for 8 (though in reality only 7).

 

Dinner was very slow and there were repeated errors -- some courses for some diners never showed up, others got things they didn't order. There was no effort to serve or clear properly. On more than one night, one of our group was given a piece of cutlery that obviously wasn't clean.

I was also on that Nov/Dec TA sailing on NS, as well on the Rome RT before it. The Rome sailing was pre-dry dock; TA was post-dry dock.

Neither was a good MDR experience, both were tables for 2. The pre-dry dock, we switched mostly to Lido & specialty; last time we ate in MDR, we were stopped by Matre D as we were walking out - DH told him 30+ min was too long to wait for coffee.

For the TA, we had CO but it was no better and was so cold we gave up and stuck to MDR late dining. My travel mate (not DH) that cruise is not a buffet person, so no Lido.

Please do let us know @0106 how CO and MDR compare for you. And regardless, safe travels and enjoy your cruise!

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

For the TA, we had CO but it was no better and was so cold we gave up and stuck to MDR late dining.

 

LOL. I remember walking by CO on our way to the MDR and thinking "someone left the refrigerator door open". It was noticeably cold, even in the corridor passing by.

[Flts60]

I will relate an incident that happened on Oosterdam on a 2018 Med cruise.  In addition to being at an ever changing rotation of table mates, service was not what we had seen on previous HAL cruises.  Wrong orders, cold food as examples.  Toward end of cruise, on a formal night, I went up to Crowe's Nest for a drink pre- meal and a uniformed officer approached me and asked me how our cruise was.  We talked for a bit and I told him our experience in the MDR.  He revealed that he was Director of Food Service, pulled out phone and called someone in Food Service and told them our table number and make sure food was at proper temperature.  It was improved that night.  I have never had officer ask me again about service.  But I think my point was that Oosterdam is not unknown for hit or miss service.

Edited February 29 by Flts60
Misspell

[3rdGenCunarder]

8 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

As for special orders, people have allergies, and medical conditions that affect their lives every day. They usually aren't being picky (although there are those who just have to be special). My wife would love to have dishes with tomatoes, or mangoes but she's allergic. She would love to check out the full desert menu but alas, she's diabetic. Special orders are needed by many people, and they fill out their order the night before.

The problem is lack of organization. Plates come out on large trays and then the servers spend a lot of time clanging lids while they try to figure out what goes where.

I don't think Mic has unreasonable expectations, most people would have those expectations when going for dinner at a restaurant on land. The difference on land the restaurant knows there is a table down the road if they fail to provide proper service. On a cruise ship guests don't have that option.

 

 

Most of the times I've been at a table with someone who had specific dietary needs, it was handled very smoothly. At the end of the meal, the waiter brought out the menus and the person made choices. Unless you've got a diva who obsesses over every detail, this shouldn't take up too much time, especially in fixed dining when it's at the end of service. 

 

Organization could be part of it, but on my recent Zaandam cruise it just seemed to be sloppiness. I've done kitchen tours and seen the pictures of how a meal should look. But three people could order the same meal and one plate had a little sauce under the meat and another had the sauce drowning the meat and the whole plate. It's like they don't care. Just throw the food on the plate and let the waiter figure it out. 

 

@cruisemom42, I don't remember all of what you describe, but I do remember the vegetable service at the table. That's one of my complaints about dinner on HAL. The tiny veg "portions" are not how i like to eat. In the past, DH and I would ask for extra veg and we would get a bowl/plate of whatever veggies were on offer that night. After 2 or 3 days, our waiter just automatically brought extra veggies. Considering how little attention was paid to special orders, I didn't try that this time. 

 

[AKJonesy]

On 2/27/2024 at 7:59 AM, Mary229 said:

My successful strategy on the Oosterdam last month was to do anytime dining until I found a team that was a good fit for us.  We then went to the manager and had that table blocked out for us.  It did take 4 or 5 evenings before we found that team. 

Yes.  We have done this also.  

[OlsSalt]

It might be an initial error to think one is going to a land-based restaurant with dining in the MDR,  and not to a hotel banquet room when traveling on a mass market cruise line.

 

When one chooses to upgrade the experience to an onboard speciality restaurant for a surcharge, is when higher expectations appropriate to apply.  And yes, we too have had every possible good or bad experience onboard too. Comes with the nature of the beast.

 

But somehow it all evens out over the duration of the cruise. And whatever new service delivery scheme they are using at the time to try and make it work. 

[WriterOnDeck]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:50 AM, mawvkysc said:

@Gail & Marty sailing away that’s good to hear. Do you think there will be much turnover at the end of the GWV? I’ll be on the TA. (Fixed Dining)

Last year I stayed on for the TA after the GWV, and the ship was packed. 1,000 had Have It All, which also really slows down things because of the individual wine orders in the MDR.

 

I think there are two issues. One is the staffing level. I was on the Zuiderdam for the 2023 holiday cruise between the Grand Africa and the Grand World. We had more than 2,000 passengers, with just 1,200 for the GWV (and I assume a similar lower number for the GA). It's probably not reasonable to add staff for an 11-day cruise, so the MDR staff was really stretched.

 

Before the holiday cruise I was on the Zaandam for the Grand South America/Antarctica. The ship was far from full, but the restaurant managers said they knew the stewards would be shocked with a suddenly full ship for its holiday cruise. It could be the same for the TA after the GWV.

 

Also, the number of people in the MDR can really fluctuate depending on whether it was a busy port day (thus tired cruisers might just go to the Lido instead of dressing for the MDR).

 

You shouldn't have as much of a problem in fixed dining, particularly the later option.

[SDARCH]

10 minutes ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Last year I stayed on for the TA after the GWV,

Was that the May Fort Lauderdale to Rotterdam TA on the Zuiderdam?  We had the absolute worse experience with the MDR.  It was complete chaos.  The C.O. podium was useless since it was serving all three lines. 3 days in, we switched to the Lido for dinner - we had NEVER eaten in the Lido for dinner before and we have been on a few HA cruises....got our Bronze Medallion on that voyage.

Also, we learned A LONG time ago...if you want a glass of wine at dinner....bring it with you.  Didn't ruin our cruise though....we adapted and had a blast.

[WriterOnDeck]

2 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

Was that the May Fort Lauderdale to Rotterdam TA on the Zuiderdam?  We had the absolute worse experience with the MDR.  It was complete chaos.  The C.O. podium was useless since it was serving all three lines. 3 days in, we switched to the Lido for dinner - we had NEVER eaten in the Lido for dinner before and we have been on a few HA cruises....got our Bronze Medallion on that voyage.

Also, we learned A LONG time ago...if you want a glass of wine at dinner....bring it with you.  Didn't ruin our cruise though....we adapted and had a blast.

Yes. We expected it would be crazy and had arranged a reserved table for anytime dining before the GWV ended. And I got my Platinum Medallion on the post GWV voyage!

[SDARCH]

@WriterOnDeck Congrats on the Platinum Medallion -  lots of amazing memories to get there!!!  Smart to reserve a table.  Rumors that the MDR crew switched at the end of the GWV.  Any truth to that?  We had zero issues other than the MDR.

[WriterOnDeck]

35 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

@WriterOnDeck Congrats on the Platinum Medallion -  lots of amazing memories to get there!!!  Smart to reserve a table.  Rumors that the MDR crew switched at the end of the GWV.  Any truth to that?  We had zero issues other than the MDR.

Some switched, but not most. They do stagger them. And due to the large number of people boarding, a lot of crew I know who had planned to leave in Fort Lauderdale were asked to stay at least through the first post-GWV segment.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, SDARCH said:

Was that the May Fort Lauderdale to Rotterdam TA on the Zuiderdam?  We had the absolute worse experience with the MDR.  It was complete chaos.  The C.O. podium was useless since it was serving all three lines. 3 days in, we switched to the Lido for dinner - we had NEVER eaten in the Lido for dinner before and we have been on a few HA cruises....got our Bronze Medallion on that voyage.

Also, we learned A LONG time ago...if you want a glass of wine at dinner....bring it with you.  Didn't ruin our cruise though....we adapted and had a blast.

 

I tried getting my drink before dinner on Zaandam. A few minutes to five and the guy in Mix was "setting up" and couldn't serve me (he should have been open an our before that). Ocean bar was busy and I waited 10 minutes after ordering and then just gave up. (I had HIA, so the charge didn't matter.) Bar service on Zaandam was terrible, so I never tried that again.

[Haljo1935]

12 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

LOL. I remember walking by CO on our way to the MDR and thinking "someone left the refrigerator door open". It was noticeably cold, even in the corridor passing by.

LOL - 😆 It was brutal. Spend ridiculous amounts of time waiting for food and or service while you're freezing your tookies off - the payoff was not worth it. Brrr 🥶🥺

[mawvkysc]

3 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Last year I stayed on for the TA after the GWV, and the ship was packed. 1,000 had Have It All, which also really slows down things because of the individual wine orders in the MDR.

 

I think there are two issues. One is the staffing level. I was on the Zuiderdam for the 2023 holiday cruise between the Grand Africa and the Grand World. We had more than 2,000 passengers, with just 1,200 for the GWV (and I assume a similar lower number for the GA). It's probably not reasonable to add staff for an 11-day cruise, so the MDR staff was really stretched.

 

Before the holiday cruise I was on the Zaandam for the Grand South America/Antarctica. The ship was far from full, but the restaurant managers said they knew the stewards would be shocked with a suddenly full ship for its holiday cruise. It could be the same for the TA after the GWV.

 

Also, the number of people in the MDR can really fluctuate depending on whether it was a busy port day (thus tired cruisers might just go to the Lido instead of dressing for the MDR).

 

You shouldn't have as much of a problem in fixed dining, particularly the later option.

Thanks for the info.  Here I was thinking that a TA would be a smaller crowd! But I’ve mainly been on Caribbean/Bahamas cruises so I’m sure it will be less crowded than those. (New to HA) 

[Eric from San Diego]

I have never understand the business model for cruise lines.   A typical all inclusive resort in Cabo costs $500 and up per day for two.   I have never paid more than $350 per day for a veranda cabin with the drinks package.   Sometimes a lot less.  Seems like a lot of people go on cruises because they are so cheap and then complain because they aren't treated like royalty.  

[d9704011]

4 minutes ago, Eric from San Diego said:

I have never paid more than $350 per day for a veranda cabin with the drinks package.   Sometimes a lot less. 

For two people in the cabin?  If so, I don't believe you've cruised on a mainstream line over the last couple of years.

[MicCanberra]

59 minutes ago, Eric from San Diego said:

I have never understand the business model for cruise lines.   A typical all inclusive resort in Cabo costs $500 and up per day for two.   I have never paid more than $350 per day for a veranda cabin with the drinks package.   Sometimes a lot less.  Seems like a lot of people go on cruises because they are so cheap and then complain because they aren't treated like royalty.  

I am not sure I was asking for the Royal treatment, just some dinner. As for cheap, it seems you have got some great contacts to cruise for that price, or you haven't  cruised post covid.

[Blackduck59]

32 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I am not sure I was asking for the Royal treatment, just some dinner. As for cheap, it seems you have got some great contacts to cruise for that price, or you haven't  cruised post covid.

I agree Mic, we thought we were doing good at $700.00 CAD Per day.

[YourWorldWithBill]

20 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

LOL - 😆 It was brutal. Spend ridiculous amounts of time waiting for food and or service while you're freezing your tookies off - the payoff was not worth it. Brrr 🥶🥺

Now I'm worried! On the Rotterdam last May we had no problem in the CO dining room, and I've been telling everyone on these boards how nice it was.

But we're on the NS in May, and I guess we'll just tr to be prepared.

[Blackduck59]

5 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Yes.  I have a sense that the prices being quoted are the proverbial starting at, taxes and fees not yet included, partially or totally obstructed view, less desirable itineraries or time of the year, etc...

In other words apples to oranges.

[YourWorldWithBill]

10 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Now add the taxes and port fees and gratuities and hia package on a cruise that is actually interesting rather than a do over.

Exactly. Taxes, port fees, gratuities, HIA, Club Orange (if you want the upgrade), and not even including any excursions you've got the real (scary) price. Suddenly you're in a whole new category.

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Now I'm worried! On the Rotterdam last May we had no problem in the CO dining room, and I've been telling everyone on these boards how nice it was.

But we're on the NS in May, and I guess we'll just tr to be prepared.

 

Please fix any issues in the CO on the NS before we get there in September 😉

[OlsSalt]

3 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Now I'm worried! On the Rotterdam last May we had no problem in the CO dining room, and I've been telling everyone on these boards how nice it was.

But we're on the NS in May, and I guess we'll just tr to be prepared.

 

Best advice appears to be: stop by the Lido and fill your pockets with food, before you go to the MDR. Or arrange for room service to be delivered in the MDR and then you are fully covered.

 

Yes, there can be delays. They do happen. But we found this smooths out later in the cruise.