No Lobster Sharing Allowed

[c-leg5]

13 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Unless he’s really bad it’s easier to move to a new table. 

My suggestion WAS to move to a new table with new waitstaff.  They are on MTD there is no problem requesting a new table and waitstaff section as opposed to not going to MDR again as @Jkaczanowski  stated. If there is a problem with the policies ship wide it becomes more difficult to resolve.
 

I wouldn’t let one incident deter me from trying a second night. 

Edited June 11 by c-leg5

[Airbear232]

10 hours ago, Jkaczanowski said:

currently on Ovation.  Waiter (My time dining) said we could not order multiple entrees and had to finish one before ordering the next.  It was our first and last  time ever (for various reasons) eating in the main dining room.

Aren’t you contradicting yourself in saying you weren’t able to order multiple entrees AND had to finish one before ordering another?  You got me wondering.  On most cruises the Captain, HD or CD will say how much food (eggs, milk, fruit, veggies blah blah blah) is used each week onboard.  I wonder what percentage of that is waste?  This is not a criticism of you, it just got me thinking (and I’m someone apt to order more than one dessert). 

[Airbear232]

18 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Tough on waiters, especially new ones needing to balance demands of mgt vs desires of guests.  Usually, within reason, they seem to view unhappy guest as the greater threat. 

I agree, getting the good survey is paramount, then tips.  It’s very difficult for them and it seems the survey score is the ultimate driver of behaviour. 

[Pratique]

2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I was always curious if they served lobster in the WJ on lobster night.  Do they?

Yes they did on Symphony last month but it was on a different day. The seafood selection in WJ overall was more impressive than usual.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I remember 1 sailing they did on a TA on the Rhapsody in 2017.  Maybe a few others.  Not often though.  I believe on a December 2022 Voyager we had it (tails) plus shrimp.  Some of the scavengers I sailed with took the entire bowl of shrimp to their table for the whole family.  It was an interesting cruise!

we had those same family of scavengers on Odyssey TA last year when the WJ surprised us by serving shrimp, scallops, and mussels for lunch one afternoon……the scavengers each filled their plates and looking at them, there was no way they would eat them all, tiny people….and that same group one morning when they served warm croissants took the WHOLE TRAY! I’m not kidding, I said something to the young lady while she walked away…I asked her if she couldn’t leave at least 1…

[jean87510]

6 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

we had those same family of scavengers on Odyssey TA last year when the WJ surprised us by serving shrimp, scallops, and mussels for lunch one afternoon……the scavengers each filled their plates and looking at them, there was no way they would eat them all, tiny people….and that same group one morning when they served warm croissants took the WHOLE TRAY! I’m not kidding, I said something to the young lady while she walked away…I asked her if she couldn’t leave at least 1…

Lol.  The same cruise the herd took the chocolate DISPLAYS as well as filled up plates with everything.  The disembarkation am, more of the herd were dumping sugars, silverware, breads, (maybe a waiter?) in their purses and, in one instance, their carryon was open on the table and the one family was loading it.  

 

I have been on now 38 cruises and have left out of and disembarked in Spain, Italy, Australia, Tahiti, Texas, Louisiana, NYC, Bayonne, Charleston, Baltimore, every port in Florida, Barbados, and San Juan.  This was in San Juan.  I have left multiple times from this port and have never experienced anything like the human seagulls at the Windjammer.  Rude, greedy and obnoxious.

[grandgeezer]

On 6/9/2024 at 8:33 PM, 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.

Do you apply the same logic if you have a drink package? I’m guessing yes.

[Tree_skier]

49 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

The disembarkation am, more of the herd were dumping sugars, silverware, breads, (maybe a waiter?)

Best laugh I've had in a long time... Thank you.   

[Pratique]

18 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Do you apply the same logic if you have a drink package? I’m guessing yes.

While you raise an interesting ethical question, I think that it is much more common for people to share food than drink. I usually finish eating whatever my wife doesn't eat rather than ordering more food for myself and letting hers go to waste. We also tend to swap appetizers halfway through so we each get a sample of the other's. I personally have no issues with the lobster sharing. If Royal doesn't like it then they can start charging for all lobster to stop the practice rather than scolding the guests at the table.

[Jetdriver787]

At a pinch maybe they should put a claws in the contract? People have shelled out good money for their vacation. Taking it out on the waiters seems a little unfair. The sight of so many crushed Asians over so few Crustaceans is just sad! Another sorry tail in the cruise industry!

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, Jetdriver787 said:

At a pinch maybe they should put a claws in the contract? People have shelled out good money for their vacation. Taking it out on the waiters seems a little unfair. The sight of so many crushed Asians over so few Crustaceans is just sad! Another sorry tail in the cruise industry!

Do not start to get soft-shelled about it.

[Jetdriver787]

2 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Do not start to get soft-shelled about it.

Sorry. I wasn’t trawling for compliments.

[Mum2Mercury]

On 6/9/2024 at 11:33 PM, pcur said:

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

Waiting until the waiter leaves sounds like a good idea.  

On 6/10/2024 at 2:36 AM, ReneeFLL said:

I feel bad for the waiters.

Agree.  I doubt an individual waiter decided to make his job harder /look out for Royal's bottom line.  

On 6/10/2024 at 8:03 AM, smokeybandit said:

The sharing rules are there to prevent waste. 

Disagree.  

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

Do you apply the same logic if you have a drink package? I’m guessing yes.

Apples and oranges.  

You've paid for essentially unlimited food in the MDR.  No problem with sharing something on your plate. Same thing if you buy an individual drink -- you paid for it, and if you want to split it, no one else's business.  

On the other hand, when you buy a drink package you know it's meant for your own consumption only.  

[pcur]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

Do you apply the same logic if you have a drink package? I’m guessing yes.

No, I would not. The person I would be sharing my food with has ALSO paid for unlimited food.

Edited June 11 by pcur

[Pratique]

39 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

On the other hand, when you buy a drink package you know it's meant for your own consumption only.  

And that is also in writing.

 

"all packages are for single guest use and cannot be shared by multiple people."

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/beverage-drink-package-products

[Baron Barracuda]

Funny enough given the small size and low quality of the lobsters currently being served they might actually be cheaper for Royal than other seafood and beef entrees.

[renee1222]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

Do you apply the same logic if you have a drink package? I’m guessing yes.

If my dh and I have both purchased drink package,  yes. If I order a drink and decide I don't like it,  don't need another drink,  etc. I should be entitled to let him taste it, or drink the entire thing, instead of letting it go to waste. If he's reached his daily limit (if there's such a thing on Royal, I'm honestly not sure), but I still have 3 drinks left on mine, I should be able to share with him. I've shared my diamond drink vouchers with non-diamond cruisers,  just ordered 2 drinks on my tab and then handed one to someone else.  Bar tender knew I was doing it, no problem at all. We even had bar tenders ask if we wanted to share the vouchers when they noticed I had some unused.

 

Both parties have paid cruise fare that includes dining in the mdr. That fare includes 1 lobster tail when it is on the menu. It shouldn't matter who actually eats it. What if I eat 1/2 of it and become full, am I not allowed to let DH finish it? We often share bites from each plate to taste other dishes. Are they going to babysit every table and watch you eat??? If they want to limit the mdr to 1 entree to prevent sharing,  it should be clearly stated across all ships, not a different policy on each ship/sailing/waiter,  etc. 

[cello56]

In the Windjammer one morning I saw a family take an ENTIRE PAN OF BACON from the buffet back to their table. I am talking about a pan roughly 18 inches long, 14 inches wide piled high with at least 6 inches of bacon. Crazy!

[PhillyFan33579]

22 minutes ago, renee1222 said:

If my dh and I have both purchased drink package,  yes. If I order a drink and decide I don't like it,  don't need another drink,  etc. I should be entitled to let him taste it, or drink the entire thing, instead of letting it go to waste. If he's reached his daily limit (if there's such a thing on Royal, I'm honestly not sure), but I still have 3 drinks left on mine, I should be able to share with him. I've shared my diamond drink vouchers with non-diamond cruisers,  just ordered 2 drinks on my tab and then handed one to someone else.  Bar tender knew I was doing it, no problem at all. We even had bar tenders ask if we wanted to share the vouchers when they noticed I had some unused.

If you both have the deluxe drink package, RCI staff is not going to care if you share drinks. Just an FYI, there is no drink limit on RCI. The only cruise lines I know that have a drink limit are several cruise lines owned by Carnival Corporation. Drink vouchers for Diamonds and above are allowed to be shared. I have heard that countless times from bartenders (and higher) since they implemented this policy post COVID restart. 

[renee1222]

26 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

If you both have the deluxe drink package, RCI staff is not going to care if you share drinks. Just an FYI, there is no drink limit on RCI. The only cruise lines I know that have a drink limit are several cruise lines owned by Carnival Corporation. 

 

I always forget which one has the limits! We don't drink enough to warrant the package so I never really pay attention.  🤷‍♀️

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, cello56 said:

In the Windjammer one morning I saw a family take an ENTIRE PAN OF BACON from the buffet back to their table. I am talking about a pan roughly 18 inches long, 14 inches wide piled high with at least 6 inches of bacon. Crazy!

That was me... Sorry, I needed an extra shot of protein that morning. 😇

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, renee1222 said:

If my dh and I have both purchased drink package,  yes. If I order a drink and decide I don't like it,  don't need another drink,  etc. I should be entitled to let him taste it, or drink the entire thing, instead of letting it go to waste. If he's reached his daily limit (if there's such a thing on Royal, I'm honestly not sure), but I still have 3 drinks left on mine, I should be able to share with him. I've shared my diamond drink vouchers with non-diamond cruisers,  just ordered 2 drinks on my tab and then handed one to someone else.  Bar tender knew I was doing it, no problem at all. We even had bar tenders ask if we wanted to share the vouchers when they noticed I had some unused.

 

Both parties have paid cruise fare that includes dining in the mdr. That fare includes 1 lobster tail when it is on the menu. It shouldn't matter who actually eats it. What if I eat 1/2 of it and become full, am I not allowed to let DH finish it? We often share bites from each plate to taste other dishes. Are they going to babysit every table and watch you eat??? If they want to limit the mdr to 1 entree to prevent sharing,  it should be clearly stated across all ships, not a different policy on each ship/sailing/waiter,  etc. 

 

we routinely use leftover D drink vouchers for our room steward. Last cruise the bartender where we stopped would see us coming and know what to give us and where it was going. 

[karena1]

On 6/9/2024 at 7:06 PM, 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. 

We do it on every cruise that serves lobster.  I just leave mine sit in front of me until he is done with his and then we switch plates.  No one has ever said anything to us.  We are on Radiance in October, so guess we will see, but I don't know why there would care who eats it, it is still only 2 meals as I don't eat at night except maybe soup or veggies.

 

Edited June 11 by karena1

[time4u2go]

2 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

we routinely use leftover D drink vouchers for our room steward.

Are they allowed to use them?  I understand that they (crew) have their own bar.  I would be surprised if it honored passenger drink vouchers.

[lovesthebeach2]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Are they allowed to use them?  I understand that they (crew) have their own bar.  I would be surprised if it honored passenger drink vouchers.

We don’t give them the voucher, we buy what they prefer (water, soda, beer) and leave it in our cabin for them. We also buy snacks for them when we go ashore sometimes