No Lobster Sharing Allowed

[PhillyFan33579]

Ever since RCI implemented only one free lobster in the MDR on “formal” night, friends and family I cruise with who don’t like lobster have gotten into the habit of ordering lobster and giving it to someone else at the table. We have never had any issue doing this on any cruise (roughly a dozen or so). We have even had waiters encourage people to order a lobster when they ordered a different entree on the menu. 
 

However, last week on Radiance we had a far different experience. We were at a table of ten, where five people didn’t like lobster. Like previous cruises, these five people ordered lobster to give to the other five people, resulting in them having two lobsters each. When the waiter brought out the lobsters, the people who didn’t want them gave them to others at the table. Our waiter told everyone we were not allowed to do this. To make a long story short he eventually allowed us to do it but he wasn’t happy with us. 
 

I am curious if anyone has had a similar experience to what happened to us last week. 

[c-leg5]

17 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Ever since RCI implemented only one free lobster in the MDR on “formal” night, friends and family I cruise with who don’t like lobster have gotten into the habit of ordering lobster and giving it to someone else at the table. We have never had any issue doing this on any cruise (roughly a dozen or so). We have even had waiters encourage people to order a lobster when they ordered a different entree on the menu. 
 

However, last week on Radiance we had a far different experience. We were at a table of ten, where five people didn’t like lobster. Like previous cruises, these five people ordered lobster to give to the other five people, resulting in them having two lobsters each. When the waiter brought out the lobsters, the people who didn’t want them gave them to others at the table. Our waiter told everyone we were not allowed to do this. To make a long story short he eventually allowed us to do it but he wasn’t happy with us. 
 

I am curious if anyone has had a similar experience to what happened to us last week. 

What exactly did he propose doing with the 5 he had brought out?

 

However going by the original policy of one entre at a time I could understand him making the 5 wait for their desired entree until all lobsters were eaten or discarded. Or did they order for you after they had eaten their chosen entree?

[mets123]

It depends on the waiter. Two weeks ago on the Symphony, our waiter brought out extras for us and we didn't even ask.

[nelblu]

Never had a problem with lobster sharing.  If that waiter did that to our group he/she can forget the extra gratuity. His/her loss. 

[Ocean Boy]

Your waiter wasn't happy with you? I would have let him know how unhappy I was with him.

[Mapleleafforever]

Did he still beg for a top rating on the survey?

[fenton04]

19 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Did he still beg for a top rating on the survey?

sadly they all do.

[Jasukkie]

What's next, a clean plate club certificate before you can have dessert?

[pcur]

Just wait until the waiter leaves, then share.  I agree: this is weird behavior.

 

I also agree if it was me I would (politely) remind him that once he delivers MY dinner, it's MY food, and if I want I can share it.

[ReneeFLL]

If this is a rule Royal has implemented then that’s pretty pathetic. Curious to see what happens in the future of if it’s a one off. If it’s implemented, I feel bad for the waiters.

[Mick B]

WOW!

 

I always used to look forward to Lobster night before the changes and in the past my waiters would be more than happy to bring me a second and a third, which I would except as 1 lobster on its own is not a sufficient meal. My wife, however, is not fused about the Lobster so always ordered something else anyway,

 

Now, since the new rules, I have simply not bothered with the Lobster. This is my choice.

 

Now, back to the issue in hand. 

Firstly, is 1 Lobster included in everyone's cruise fare? I mean whether you want one or not, are there actually enough on board during a cruise for every passenger to have one?

 

Secondly, If you don't like it, but want to give it to your family members/guests at your table, then are you then entitled to another alternative meal?

 

I can see to a point where Royal is coming from, but if they are going to implement rules, then they need to make sure ALL staff are aware and ALL staff inform ALL guests of these rules.

 

It cannot be fair or right than a waiter at one set of tables is telling people they cannot share a Lobster, if at another set of tables the waiter turns a blind eye and/or even encourages having more.

 

I have not had any issues, but then again I only have My Time Dinning in the MDR and keep the same waiter(s) throughout, so by the time the Lobster night comes around, they have gotten to know us. 

Not sure from the post above whether the waiter who laid down the rules was their normal waiter or not. It would be interesting to know if anyone else has had this problem and if the waiters were their normal ones.

 

I too get told every cruise by our waiters that we will get a survey after the cruise and they ask us to give them a good score. Then when we get the survey it basically asks if any staff have asked us to give them a good score. Talk about spying on your staff and wanting us to do it for them!

 

As said above, if the waiter wants a tip (or a good score) then I cannot see why he would want to upset the passengers in this way, especially when you look around and see what food is left on plates being taken away afterwards.

 

BTW If Royal really wants to save money on food, then the best way would be to bring back the staff serving the food in the Windjammer like they did just after the restart and stop some people from pilling on sky high portions of food on their plates that will probably just get wasted.

 

Mick.

 

Edited June 10 by Mick B

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Mick B said:

 

BTW If Royal really wants to save money on food, then the best way would be to bring back the staff serving the food in the Windjammer like they did just after the restart and stop some people from pilling on sky high portions of food on their plates that will probably just get wasted.

 

Mick.

 

I prefer to serve myself, thank you very much.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, pcur said:

Just wait until the waiter leaves, then share.  I agree: this is weird behavior.

 

I also agree if it was me I would (politely) remind him that once he delivers MY dinner, it's MY food, and if I want I can share it.

My level of politeness would depend on how politely he told me that I couldn't do it.

[smokeybandit]

It's a tiny lobster. Sharing would be a bite

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

If this is a rule Royal has implemented then that’s pretty pathetic. Curious to see what happens in the future of if it’s a one off. If it’s implemented, I feel bad for the waiters.

Things like this are rarely as the result of something Royal has initiated fleetwide but instead due to an over zealous Hotel Director or F&B manager trying to make their bonus.  

[smokeybandit]

The sharing rules are there to prevent waste. I'm not saying you would waste any in this scenario but I bet it happened a lot

[LuCruise]

I think it depends on the waiters (or what they've been told).  One of our earlier cruises post the menu change on Oasis, I wanted to order both the lobster and the tortellini (as that is one of my favorites and both were on the same night and the pasta would work as a side).  The waiter said I could have the tortellini but only after I finished the lobster.  Thus, I think he was avoiding this scenario, or just in general two entrees.  (He ended up bringing both anyways as he didn't want to disappoint).

 

On our Odyssey xmas cruise this past December, our kids didn't want lobster. When they ordered something else, the waiter asked DH and I if we wanted him to bring us theirs so we could have two lobsters.  So in this case, it was even his suggestion.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Things like this are rarely as the result of something Royal has initiated fleetwide but instead due to an over zealous Hotel Director or F&B manager trying to make their bonus.  

 

I lean in the direction of your analysis. I find that when staff do these types of behavior, some supervisor has told them to do so AND is watching somewhere or keeping count in the kitchen as the waiter serves. If the waiter has 40 guests and 40 lobsters are delivered, he gets chastised because the supervisor knows from experience that not everyone likes lobster, and some people are sensitive to shellfish in general.

 

While it tends to be petty, as you said, someone is making money from its execution.

 

If I was a waiter, I would do whatever work around I could do to make the customer happy. This would result in a good service score as well as improving my chances of getting an additional tip at the end of the cruise.

Edited June 10 by Engineroom Snipe
clarity

[not-enough-cruising]

The moment the plate is set in front of me, NO ONE is telling me what I can and can not do with the food. 

[cruiseguy1016]

27 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

I think it depends on the waiters (or what they've been told).  One of our earlier cruises post the menu change on Oasis, I wanted to order both the lobster and the tortellini (as that is one of my favorites and both were on the same night and the pasta would work as a side).  The waiter said I could have the tortellini but only after I finished the lobster.  Thus, I think he was avoiding this scenario, or just in general two entrees.  (He ended up bringing both anyways as he didn't want to disappoint).

 

I had a similar experience a couple of months ago on Jewel. I wanted the lobster tail and the steak so I could have surf and turf. I told the waiter that I knew the "one at a time" policy but I was going to order both and I would like them delivered at the same time. He came back a few minutes later and told me that his head waiter told him it would be okay for him to serve both at the same time. He brought me my steak meal with a lobster tail on the side.

[TwoMisfits]

As for multiple entrees, the one night I asked for a cup of the Indian entree for my spouse b/c I knew he'd like the lamb and Indian (and wasn't sure which he wanted - he was tracking down why our teen was late to dinner), my waiter just happily brought my spouse both entrees at the same time, and apologized that the chef wouldn't just plate the Indian protein without the rice (we didn't care, we don't like wasted food, but a cup of rice was okay - the waiter/chef did skip the Indian "breads", so it was about right-sized)...

 

Symphony seems like their staff has customer happiness on point...

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The moment the plate is set in front of me, NO ONE is telling me what I can and can not do with the food. 

Food fights are still generally discouraged though.

[Tree_skier]

My suspicion is this was a one off with a waiter misunderstanding the instructions of the head waiter.  Had it been my table I would have immediately asked to speak with the head waiter.

[RFerrington]

Recently (probably the last year or so) we have been ordering the lobster tail as an appetizer since it isn't really a meal-sized tail.  At the same time, we order the chicken marsala as our main course.  We have done this on multiple ships and never had any pushback.  I think the "one main course at the time" was a short-lived mandate that most now ignore.  I suppose it's possible that some of the hotel managers are still pushing it but I think they are few.

[time4u2go]

15 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

To make a long story short he eventually allowed us to do it but he wasn’t happy with us.

I'm curious...what's the long story version of this?  Was there some sort of negotiation?  Did the head waiter get involved?