Begging for 10's on the Anthem of the Seas

[cruiseguy1016]

15 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

 

I've always been curious about this in wondering whether they WANT crew members to ask or not. They always ask, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble either. I never know what to mark. 

 

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Kind of makes the entire survey thing pointless. How does management improve anything if the feedback is that everything is great... even if it isn't?

 

I always fill the survey out honestly. If somebody begs me for a 10, I answer the question with a "Yes". If somebody deserves a 10, they'll get one. If somebody doesn't deserve a 10, they won't get one. If something wasn't great, I say so. If something was great, I say so. They can't make improvements if they don't know what needs improving.

Edited Saturday at 11:48 AM by cruiseguy1016

[UKCruises66]

In fairness to Royal we sailed with them a lot when our children were younger but now they are grown up (over 18) our needs have changed, so perhaps that was a factor in how we felt about the trip on Anthem last year. If we ever have any grandchildren then perhaps we would go back but until then there are much better lines out there with better food (Virgin Voyages), a nicer environment where we can find a seat in the evening and see the sea (P&O Iona/Arvia), no awkwardness with regards to gratuities, ratings, etc and no nickel and diming (Virgin & P&O). Royal seem to have forgotten it is supposed to be a holiday! 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

 

I always fill the survey out honestly. If somebody begs me for a 10, I answer the question with a "Yes". If somebody deserves a 10, they'll get one. If somebody doesn't deserve a 10, they won't get one. If something wasn't great, I say so. If something was great, I say so. They can't make improvements if they don't know what needs improving.

Exactly this.^^

[not-enough-cruising]

On 9/12/2024 at 11:22 PM, Karma5 said:

I was asked this summer to give a 10 multiple times. My relatives and I decided to dine in the specialty restaurants several times then we got a phone call from our waitress in the Main Dining room asking why we were not there dining.....to be quite honest we chose the specialty restaurants to get away from this persons constant nagging about giving a 10............

I can one up that experience. 
The head waiter on Harmony tracked us down in 150 Central Park while we were having dinner and wanted to impress upon us the importance of a 10 on the surgery for the MDR. 

I filed a formal complaint 

Edited Saturday at 04:35 PM by not-enough-cruising

[Tenderpaw]

We were on the Anthem in July and didn't see in of this 10 stuff and didn't get asked.  Very odd.  They didn't all get 10s from me either.

[shipgeeks]

Interestingly, we have sailed on Vision a number of times recently, and I can barely recall the subject even being mentioned by any crew; maybe once during the HW microphone speech. However, Vision was named RC Ship of the Year for 2023, based on passenger surveys....so apparently lots of us are giving lots of 10s without being pressured to do so.

I wonder sometimes if some of the lower survey scores are from novices with unrealistic expectations of a cruise.  Elsewhere, I see posts like "Will they prepare my vegan meals in a strictly vegan kitchen?"

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

Interestingly, we have sailed on Vision a number of times recently, and I can barely recall the subject even being mentioned by any crew; maybe once during the HW microphone speech. However, Vision was named RC Ship of the Year for 2023, based on passenger surveys....so apparently lots of us are giving lots of 10s without being pressured to do so.

I wonder sometimes if some of the lower survey scores are from novices with unrealistic expectations of a cruise.  Elsewhere, I see posts like "Will they prepare my vegan meals in a strictly vegan kitchen?"

If you are correct in your assumption about the first time cruisers then I'm not so sure RCI can expect them to turn into repeat long time cruisers.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I can one up that experience. 
The head waiter on Harmony tracked us down in 150 Central Park while we were having dinner and wanted to impress upon us the importance of a 10 on the surgery for the MDR. 

I filed a formal complaint 

Why would you file a formal complaint? I don’t like the way RCI puts so much emphasis on survey results, but I would never chastise a crew member doing what they need to do to remain employed. 

[not-enough-cruising]

15 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Why would you file a formal complaint? I don’t like the way RCI puts so much emphasis on survey results, but I would never chastise a crew member doing what they need to do to remain employed. 

I do not tolerate being sought out and disturbed by a crew member from one venue while I am partaking in a different (upgraded and upcharged) venue.

It is tacky and unprofessional.

[cruiseboy89130]

On 9/13/2024 at 11:08 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Kind of makes the entire survey thing pointless. How does management improve anything if the feedback is that everything is great... even if it isn't?

That is why I stopped doing surveys some years ago - won't even do my companies employee survey anymore! Surveys all suck a total waste of time!

[Annie01]

24 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Why would you file a formal complaint? I don’t like the way RCI puts so much emphasis on survey results, but I would never chastise a crew member doing what they need to do to remain employed. 

There are ways to word a complaint so that it is not chastising a crew member, but chastising RCI for their horrible policy.

[Ocean Boy]

58 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Why would you file a formal complaint? I don’t like the way RCI puts so much emphasis on survey results, but I would never chastise a crew member doing what they need to do to remain employed. 

Doing what they have to in order to remain employed means providing service that is worth continued employment not begging for ratings.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Doing what they have to in order to remain employed means providing service that is worth continued employment not begging for ratings.

I assume you are not that familiar with RCI. The surveys literally determine whether staff continue to work for RCI in the future. 

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I assume you are not that familiar with RCI. The surveys literally determine whether staff continue to work for RCI in the future. 

You assume quite wrong. You are not the only long time cruiser on these boards. Do a good job and the desired rating will come without asking for it.

 

We once had a waiter on Explorer who was doing a great job. On multiple occasions he brought up the ratings even interrupting dinner conversations. After one of his appeals I remember telling my brother that if the guys brings this up one more time he could kiss his 10 goodbye.

[not-enough-cruising]

7 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I assume you are not that familiar with RCI. The surveys literally determine whether staff continue to work for RCI in the future. 

Stalking customers is no way to get a good report on the survey

[PhillyFan33579]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

You assume quite wrong. You are not the only long time cruiser on these boards. Do a good job and the desired rating will come without asking for it.

 

We once had a waiter on Explorer who was doing a great job. On multiple occasions he brought up the ratings even interrupting dinner conversations. After one of his appeals I remember telling my brother that if the guys brings this up one more time he could kiss his 10 goodbye.

I don’t disagree with anything you said. But 10s on surveys are critical for the staff, no matter how stupid the survey process is in my opinion. 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Stalking customers is no way to get a good report on the survey

No disagreement here. I think the whole survey process has become a joke. If anything less than a 10 is not acceptable, what is the point of the survey?

[Cruise>Work]

Our approach has been that the 2nd time they bring it up I tell them "I know the ratings are very important to you and you are doing a great job so just keep up what you are doing and you'll be fine with your ratings and don't have to worry about your score from us, but it does create kind of a negative feeling if we are asked over and over again so let's leave it there ok". It helps that we have always had good servers but this seems to work well for us. We know the ratings are crucial to their employment and this seems to keep it from being an ongoing conversation at every meal. 

[Travelgrrl]

I've never had poor service, and on the not-very-frequent occasions in the MDR when it's been brought up, I just say: "Of course I will give you all 10's! Don't worry about it." and I've never been hassled again.

 

I used to be scrupulous about the surveys but sometimes I do forget to turn it in on the last morning.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

No disagreement here. I think the whole survey process has become a joke. If anything less than a 10 is not acceptable, what is the point of the survey?

I agree with you on all counts.  Driving a workforce to believe there are only two outcomes in performance, perfection and failure, is a terrible management style.

[UKCruises66]

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I agree with you on all counts.  Driving a workforce to believe there are only two outcomes in performance, perfection and failure, is a terrible management style.

100% agree. I don’t go on holiday to be made to feel awkward by the staff. This was how I felt on our Anthem trip last year after repeated nagging from our waiter. It is just a very low rate experience but the cost of the trip is not, especially when factoring in the service charge. The food and service in the main dining room was very poor and it was only the 3 day speciality dining package, purchased at extra cost, that saved the trip. It just feels like an incredibly old fashioned approach now.

[trainbuff]

I'm on the Symphony now and the begging for 10s. has never been worse! I was politely asked for 10s in Hooked and 150 Central park.In the dining room my not very good waited spent almost 5 minutes inches from my face while I was eating telling me he needs a 10 to feed his family.What is the point of a survey of people are pressured to lie.My storeroom attendant who deserves a 10 did not ask me for a 10 but will get a 10 and a big tip. The waiter will get the rat ing he deserves and it is not a 10.

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

10 hours ago, UKCruises66 said:

100% agree. I don’t go on holiday to be made to feel awkward by the staff. This was how I felt on our Anthem trip last year after repeated nagging from our waiter. It is just a very low rate experience but the cost of the trip is not, especially when factoring in the service charge. The food and service in the main dining room was very poor and it was only the 3 day speciality dining package, purchased at extra cost, that saved the trip. It just feels like an incredibly old fashioned approach now.

 

7 hours ago, trainbuff said:

I'm on the Symphony now and the begging for 10s. has never been worse! I was politely asked for 10s in Hooked and 150 Central park.In the dining room my not very good waited spent almost 5 minutes inches from my face while I was eating telling me he needs a 10 to feed his family.What is the point of a survey of people are pressured to lie.My storeroom attendant who deserves a 10 did not ask me for a 10 but will get a 10 and a big tip. The waiter will get the rat ing he deserves and it is not a 10.

 

 

 

If the staff knows that guests are going to provide honest surveys then they would spend more time providing "10" service and spend less time pandering. Playing on guests' empathy by mentioning kids back home that need to be fed happens only because the staff achieves the desired response from the guests. People are blaming RCI for this culture of ratings begging when it is the guests who are really responsible for it by playing into it. This will not stop until the guests change their attitude about just handing out 10's because it is "no skin off your nose". I applaud RCI for taking action against staff that don't provide the expected service to the guests that are the income source of the company.

 

Yes, we can all afford to cruise but we all also have financial obligations back home. I don't need to hear about theirs and I won't burden them with stories about mine. Provide "10" service and a "10" you will get. 

 

[little britain]

On 9/14/2024 at 3:03 PM, UKCruises66 said:

In fairness to Royal we sailed with them a lot when our children were younger but now they are grown up (over 18) our needs have changed, so perhaps that was a factor in how we felt about the trip on Anthem last year. If we ever have any grandchildren then perhaps we would go back but until then there are much better lines out there with better food (Virgin Voyages), a nicer environment where we can find a seat in the evening and see the sea (P&O Iona/Arvia), no awkwardness with regards to gratuities, ratings, etc and no nickel and diming (Virgin & P&O). Royal seem to have forgotten it is supposed to be a holiday! 

Totally agree! VV is so refreshing with outstanding food quality and presentation, the staff are efficient and friendly and simply Doing Their Job; they aren’t trying to be your best friend to get tips or begging for a 🔟; it’s so nice not having to sign any paperwork 📑 when you get a drink or finish your meal. I think they will shake up the cruise market - especially here in England where we Brits generally hate all that faux friendly stuff. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

If the staff knows that guests are going to provide honest surveys then they would spend more time providing "10" service and spend less time pandering. Playing on guests' empathy by mentioning kids back home that need to be fed happens only because the staff achieves the desired response from the guests. People are blaming RCI for this culture of ratings begging when it is the guests who are really responsible for it by playing into it. This will not stop until the guests change their attitude about just handing out 10's because it is "no skin off your nose". I applaud RCI for taking action against staff that don't provide the expected service to the guests that are the income source of the company.

 

Yes, we can all afford to cruise but we all also have financial obligations back home. I don't need to hear about theirs and I won't burden them with stories about mine. Provide "10" service and a "10" you will get. 

 

AMEN