Staffing issues in the MDR.

[Crew News]

22 hours 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.

MDR as a solo:

When meeting my MDR waiter for the first time, I let them know that I will leave in 60 minutes whether I have had every course or not.  My NA October MDR complete dinner service times were 57, 52, and 49 minutes.  On the Eurodam last month, my dining times were 52, 49, and 43 minutes (best time in all of my cruises).  Meal courses can be staged at the wait stations and served within minutes of finishing each course.  Just ask.  A follow-up with a "Let us know" kudo guarantees great service for the duration of your cruise.

 

It is my experience that the cutback on beverage servers and Sommeliers in the MDR can slow service.  As posted, "bring your own" saves a lot of time.

Edited March 1 by Crew News

[ChinaShrek]

40 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.

I'm on the NS in July for 10 days. If Club Orange is freezing, I'll just go to the MDR. I'm traveling solo and don't want to eat alone all the time anyway!

[YourWorldWithBill]

39 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

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

We're on it! Problem solved. Of course, the older I get, the warmer I want the room, so.....

[Haljo1935]

5 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

I'm on the NS in July for 10 days. If Club Orange is freezing, I'll just go to the MDR. I'm traveling solo and don't want to eat alone all the time anyway!

The food was good once we got it, but that dining room never warmed up. Hopefully it was a fluke and they have it adjusted by July.

[Ipeeinthepools]

7 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

The food was good once we got it, but that dining room never warmed up. Hopefully it was a fluke and they have it adjusted by July.

 

Just another reason I always travel with my North Face fleece jacket.

[OlsSalt]

Keeping in mind the MDR temperature also needs to be a comfortable working temperature for the dining stewards, running back and forth carrying heavy trays.

 

Expect it to be on the cooler side for those of us, just sitting there. 

[MicCanberra]

I liked the temperature of the MDR except on some days it was too warm, it was an Antarctica cruise as well. 

Remember that if it is cooler people can put a jumper , shawl, coat on but if it is too warm, we can't go taking our shirt off.

[cruisemom42]

I like it cool, in fact I love it cool. But the temp in that area on Nieuw Statendam was like being in a freezer and I'm not exaggerating. Way, way, below anyone's comfort zone. 

 

[cbr663]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:58 AM, MicCanberra said:

....

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.

 

That's where we are now.  Unfortunately, we aren't seeing any interesting itineraries anytime soon.

[3rdGenCunarder]

31 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I like it cool, in fact I love it cool. But the temp in that area on Nieuw Statendam was like being in a freezer and I'm not exaggerating. Way, way, below anyone's comfort zone. 

 

I was shivering one night in MDR on Zaandam last month!

[Mary229]

We have passed by Club Orange every night on our way to the Koningsdam MDR and every night there is a very long line.  I don’t know why this is but it seems uncalled for.  Is it because people are showing up before their appointed time or is it because the staff is slow?  Either way it dissuades us from ever using Club Orange 

[Crew News]

15 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

We have passed by Club Orange every night on our way to the Koningsdam MDR and every night there is a very long line.  I don’t know why this is but it seems uncalled for.  Is it because people are showing up before their appointed time or is it because the staff is slow?  Either way it dissuades us from ever using Club Orange 

Pinnacle-class CO does not have an appointed time, rather guests come anytime.  My Pinnacle-class CO Hosts have always provided beepers to those who did not want to wait in line.  It is my experience that lines begin to form around 6:45 PM on  Caribbean cruises.

[Mary229]

20 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Pinnacle-class CO does not have an appointed time, rather guests come anytime.  My Pinnacle-class CO Hosts have always provided beepers to those who did not want to wait in line.  It is my experience that lines begin to form around 6:45 PM on  Caribbean cruises.

On the Koningsdam this week the line snakes almost to the Ocean bar at 5 pm.  There are usually far more people in line than will be accommodated in the first sitting. 

[cbr663]

41 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

We have passed by Club Orange every night on our way to the Koningsdam MDR and every night there is a very long line.  I don’t know why this is but it seems uncalled for.  Is it because people are showing up before their appointed time or is it because the staff is slow?  Either way it dissuades us from ever using Club Orange 

 

A couple of systemic issues with CO:

 

1.  It is simply too small for the demand.  There are only 19 tables in the dining room. We don't know how many CO packages are sold on each cruise, but we do know that there are 46 Neptune and Pinnacle Class cabins that have access to the dining room.  If every passenger sailing in a NS/PS one evening, even staggered, were to show up for dining then I would think that alone would put enough demand on the dining room,

 

2.  It is very disorganized.  During our Nov cruise I noticed that wait staff were all over the dining room.  When seated at the rear of the dining room one night I witnessed our waiter also serving tables at the front of the dining room.  This simply doesn't make sense.

 

3.  No bar access means they have to send a beverage waiter to the Ocean Bar to fill all drink orders (they do this also for Rudi's).  That person has to navigate through the crowded hallways with everyone waiting for tables in the dining room.  It simply isn't very efficient.

 

I think that CO is a great marketing option for HAL, its execution hasn't been the greatest.  

[Blackduck59]

While the subject of the thread is MDR staffing levels, it would seem that those who purchased Club Orange to get "front of the line service" are finding that many people bought that service, and now the special line is pretty long.

[Crew News]

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

On the Koningsdam this week the line snakes almost to the Ocean bar at 5 pm.  There are usually far more people in line than will be accommodated in the first sitting. 

It is my experience that the extreme times, both early and late, have lines.  My ideal time was 6:30 PM for arrival but that varies on each ship.  As a solo, I enjoyed the "community" table near the door rather than waiting. 

Edited March 2 by Crew News

[3rdGenCunarder]

I know that CO is "capacity controlled," but it sounds like HAL needs to take another look at the capacity limit for CO, especially on the Pinnacle ships. 

[ChinaShrek]

29 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

While the subject of the thread is MDR staffing levels, it would seem that those who purchased Club Orange to get "front of the line service" are finding that many people bought that service, and now the special line is pretty long.

Not to mention CO was promoted heavily in this forum.

[MicCanberra]

I think the length of the lines outside waiting for a table is related as it is affected by how well the dining room is functioning for those already seated and waiting for their meal and drinks. Too few staff for the tables you have is worse than having too few tables.

[cbr663]

19 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I think the length of the lines outside waiting for a table is related as it is affected by how well the dining room is functioning for those already seated and waiting for their meal and drinks. Too few staff for the tables you have is worse than having too few tables.

 

I also think that properly staffed dining rooms can also function poorly.  During our Nov cruise in the CO dining room I counted 9 staff for 19 tables.  They were not all waiters, yet it stands to reason that 9 staff for 19 tables and there shouldn't be a problem with service.  Something is not functioning well.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

A couple of systemic issues with CO:

 

1.  It is simply too small for the demand.  There are only 19 tables in the dining room. We don't know how many CO packages are sold on each cruise, but we do know that there are 46 Neptune and Pinnacle Class cabins that have access to the dining room.  If every passenger sailing in a NS/PS one evening, even staggered, were to show up for dining then I would think that alone would put enough demand on the dining room,

 

2.  It is very disorganized.  During our Nov cruise I noticed that wait staff were all over the dining room.  When seated at the rear of the dining room one night I witnessed our waiter also serving tables at the front of the dining room.  This simply doesn't make sense.

 

3.  No bar access means they have to send a beverage waiter to the Ocean Bar to fill all drink orders (they do this also for Rudi's).  That person has to navigate through the crowded hallways with everyone waiting for tables in the dining room.  It simply isn't very efficient.

 

I think that CO is a great marketing option for HAL, its execution hasn't been the greatest.  

 

I sailed on the Koningsdam on a B2B2B over Christmas and New Years and believe me, the ship was packed to the rafters. I would nearly say beyond capacity with the numbers I hear on sail away.  600 children add a lot to the mix.

 

I had CO and used that dining room.  I never waited for seating in the CO dining room other than one breakfast for 5 whole minutes.

I don’t know why anyone with CO would go to the MDR.  the MDR in the Pinnacle Class ships on the lower level is very loud and I saw the lineups at 5 pm.  I agree with @Mary229 on the point that there were too many to be served.  

 

I sailed again on the Rotterdam and again had CO.  I ate in that dining room and maybe waited 2 minutes one night.  that was the limit of the wait.

 

If I am sailing on a Pinnacle Class ship, I want CO and I will eat in that dining room.  Even if there was a wait, it would be less than at the MDR.

Any line up I saw there was usually people wanting to eat there not knowing about CO.  LOL.

On any other ship, I book fixed dining.  No wait - just go to your table and have the same waiters every night.  CO is similar to fixed dining as there are only so many waiters - each doing something and you get to know them all.

 

CO had more than 19 tables - at least on the Rotterdam - I didn’t count the Koningsdam’s.

 

All you have to do is ask the best times to come and follow the advice.  The manager suggested 3 times to me and I stuck by them.  Easy peasy.

 

[OlsSalt]

Change the name to Open Dining, instead of "As You Wish", since many are not getting what they wish.  The current name makes it an exercise in failed expectations,  right off the bat.

 

Open Dining might encourage people to enquire upfront about expected waits and pick better times to dine, knowing it is upfront Open Dining is a  free-for all,  and not everyone can be accommodated ... as they wish. 

[foodsvcmgr]

I’m putting on my Kevlar as I type, but I for one rue the day open dining options began.

IMO it has made the MDR experience worse for everyone, food quality, service issues, overpriced and under delivering specialty restaurants, the list goes on…..

No need to argue, it’s just my personal belief.

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

I’m putting on my Kevlar as I type, but I for one rue the day open dining options began.

IMO it has made the MDR experience worse for everyone, food quality, service issues, overpriced and under delivering specialty restaurants, the list goes on…..

No need to argue, it’s just my personal belief.

 

No need for Kevlar as far as I am concerned.  

 

Open dining has no control - if the whole ship booked on it wants to eat at 5 pm (why I don’t know?) then they will wait.  Go at 6:30 or whenever the Manager suggests and it’s a whole new kettle of fish - line up wise.

Spcialty restaurants didn’t change with any time/open dining I don’t think.  They are just inconsistent on the ships, sadly.

[BermudaBound2014]

Lots of reports of very poor mdr service on the current 35 night Koningsdam. Of course, there are reports of good service too so it seems hit or miss.

 

The fact remains that lots of other cruise lines can handle “as you wish” dining without issue.
 

Carnival just introduced new technology where you enter your dining time in the app and they tell you how long the wait (in case you want to change to another restaurant, but that wouldn’t work on HaL because they don’t offer alternates to the MDR sit down that are complimentary). Then they notify you in the app when your table is ready to avoid crowding outside restaurant doors. Technology exists to streamline the process.