The good, the bad and the ugly

[Claret and Blue]

We’re on a back to back out of Athens so half way through. Here’s our interim review:

 

The Good:

The room is lovely.

The ship is beautiful. Top to bottom, inside and outside.

The food choice and quality is excellent - Sakura is to die for 😍

The entertainment is low key but we expected that, but we have enjoyed the house artists and Chloe Berry.

Big shout out to Cyril and Irene at the Atoll bar for the greatest service!!

 

The Bad:

Big groups - as individual people they are lovely but together they are noisy, and having to sit on a table behind them in Marble & Co ruined our experience. The maitre de knew exactly what he doing when he seated us. He really should not have seated anyone else anywhere near them! 
 

Indifferent service in Fil Rouge, especially for breakfast. Rosto potatoes are nice but lukewarm.

 

Why oh why are coffees and teas serviced at room temperature!! There must be a ban on boiling water on board!

 

English breakfast tea is very weak, Ask for 3 tea bags or bring your own 😉

 

The Ugly:

Spa prices 😳

Poor supply management - how can a company like EJ run out of rose wine!!

The MacDonald brothers as headline line entertainment!! Saw them on MSC years ago and I thought EJ was a step up in class!

Tours that expect you to find your own way back to ship and that are 3 times what we could have paid at Mykonos harbour for the same trip!

 

[uktog]

Fair assessment 

The groups are ruining guest experiences all over and managers do nothing about them except in some cases banter with them in their native language. 
 

I would add several crew are like overachievers desperate to grab your plate the minute you lay your fork down or snatch away a glass before it’s empty- speed not quality is how I’d describe it. 
 

The English language skills of some are very weak. 
 

Let’s see how wine gate progresses 😂😂😂

[parallax]

We had a similar issue with groups on Crystal a few years ago.  It seemed one group in particular, a bridge club, would follow us from dining venue to dining venue.  After the fourth day, we kindly requested to not sit near any large groups when we checked in with hostess.  That resolved the problem.  

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Edited September 20 by parallax

[Sololux]

I know it sounds confrontational but I’m now of an age where I don’t care.  I would approach the group, seeking out the probable lead, and tell them I don’t want to hear loud conversations in public.  If they don’t get it I would use my phone to pretend I’m calling someone then shout loudly in the phone, smile really nicely and say, sorry, am I disturbing you.  Then do it again.  Etiquette needs to be demonstrated before it is learned.

 

sorry, I did say I’m at an age……

[mnocket]

44 minutes ago, uktog said:

I would add several crew are like overachievers desperate to grab your plate the minute you lay your fork down or snatch away a glass before it’s empty- speed not quality is how I’d describe it. 

You've actually hit on one of my pet peeves.  Sometimes it feels like they can't wait to clear your table so they can get to bed.  It can feel like they're waiting in a corner intently watching to see when you take your last bite, so they can rush in and grab your plate.  Maybe they just see it as attentive service?  Better training might be in order.

[Sololux]

“I’ll be back!, in a minute.”

 

I'm definitely going to take a couple of written cards and bulldog clips with me!

Edited September 20 by Sololux