Rewarding management

[kdee69]

I'd love everybody's thoughts on this.

 

We had an issue whilst dining in the Jasmine Garden in that we ordered drinks and didn't get them. It was compounded by the fact that my DH's drink came from the bar downstairs rather than the restaurant. We asked several times and were told they were on their way. The Maitre D came across about 20 mins later and enquired how our meal was and we mentioned that whilst the meal was good, we only had water and were still waiting for drinks.

He assured he would get on to it. He returned about ten minutes later apologising that he needed the key card so the bar could charge our account - we'd given it to the original waiter.

We were still without drinks and had now finished our mains!

We decided to leave them to it and skip dessert and asked them to return it to us downstairs in the piano bar.

As we were leaving the restaurant the overall restaurant manager (who does his round of the restaurants every night) happened to come in and ask if we'd enjoyed the meal. My husband mentioned we'd had a bit of an issue with the drinks. He asked us to relay the story and that he could sort it out for us.

In essence, we received the card back within ten minutes, a bottle of sparkling for the inconvenience and when we got back to the room that night, the Maitre D had left a message asking us to revisit and that he would personally take care of us (we knew this meant we'd probably dine for free)

We returned about 3 nights later and had a wonderful free meal and a free bottle of wine.

The rest manager also rang us to see if we were happy with the resolve and could he assist further.

All this for some missing drinks! We were bowled over by the service....

 

 

NOW...finally to the ponit of the thread. :D

 

At the end of the free meal we tipped the maitre d very well and he looked almost embarrassed to take it and refused it at first. We then felt we'd made a faux pas by doing this - almost like we were slipping him a back hander for the meal.

 

We wanted to reward the manager and maitre d and another couple of managers but felt tipping wasn't the way to go. We filled in those good service cards but as we are unsure of NCL's policy didn't know if that would be good enough.

So in the end, in Lisbon, we bought 4 of them boxes of speciality biscuits we'd had made up for them.

 

What would you do to reward the management?

[insidecabin]

You could look at this another way,

 

It is managements job to make sure these sort of things don't happen in the first place.

 

For fixing an issue well, above and beyond

 

Personal thankyou, small gift, style card, seem more appropriate than money the higher up you go.

 

 

I have found that small errors(big enough to need pointing out) early in a cruise that get resolved by managment intervention can do wonders for the service the rest of the cruise.

[rxlowry]

I would add that a letter to NCL corporate would be a huge thank you for any employee that goes above and beyond for you. I have been a manager of managers at a larger corporation and speaking from personal experience a letter of gratitude even though they were few and far between in my industry (retail pharmacy) spoke volumes about the great employees!

 

Chris.

[uppitycats]

I'm glad the problem finally got resolved. I think the "upper management" folks were doing their job -- making sure that you, the customer, got the service to which you were entitled. I suspect the "upper management" folks had several long discussions with the wait staff, and hopefully they'll get their acts together for the next cruise..

 

I think a nice letter is a nice gesture...I probably would not have tipped extra.

[98Charlie]

JMHO but I feel that you handled the situation correctly.

 

• Somewhere along the line the system for drink delivery failed.
  
• When the Maitre d' asked about your meal you informed him in an apparently friendly and con-confrotational manner.
  
• You repeated the process with the hotel manager.
  
• Even though the damage was done, they took care to make sure that you were more than satisfied with the resolution.
  
• Tipping the Maitre d' is appropriate if you wish but not something that needed to be done in this case. Above the level of the Maitre d' I would not tip. The Maitre d' was probably more embarassed by the offer of a tip because he was correcting a error that should not have happened in his (yes, they are possesive) dining room in the first place.
  
• The gifts to management were not necessary but appropriate. I'm sure that they enjoyed them and possibly shared them with the staff.
  
• Comment cards with specific names are a great reward in the cruise industry. Likewise a follow up letter can help with promotions.
  

 

I cannot find a single thing that I would have done differently to improve on your handling of the situation.

 

Charlie

[kdee69]

I would add that a letter to NCL corporate would be a huge thank you for any employee that goes above and beyond for you. I have been a manager of managers at a larger corporation and speaking from personal experience a letter of gratitude even though they were few and far between in my industry (retail pharmacy) spoke volumes about the great employees!

 

Chris.

 

Thanks Guys - I did fire off an email to Colin Veitch re the great service and named the four members concerned - I think I was still riding high on the crest of the NCL wave at the time (if you'll excuse the appalling pun :D :D )

 

Oh to be sailing soon again..a year seems like such a long time:(

[Bennett'sCruise]

I agree that a letter to corporate is a wonderful idea, as well as those Comment Cards. I usually go to the front desk and ask for several cards and take the time to fill them out. They are read!

AND, you might also post on Cruise Critic the names of the ship's management that gave you exceptional service. The cruiselines *do* read these boards!

On one cruise I had an upper management staffer ask me "please write something nice about me!" (wink, wink) It was said in a playful manner, but in all honestly he deserved every good thing I said about him in my review.

[cruise4kicks]

What would you do to reward the management?

Write a letter to their boss. If you're seeking to reward the Maitre 'd, write a letter to the Food & Beverage Manager. If it's the Food & Beverage Manager, write to the Hotel Director.

[VoyageVirgin]

I like hearing such positive stories - and have to agree that you did the correct thing. Although it may be their job to ensure customers/passengers are satisfied it doesn't hurt to know that their actions are very much appreciated. Good stuff :)

[Down-Unders]

Thanks Guys - I did fire off an email to Colin Veitch re the great service and named the four members concerned - I think I was still riding high on the crest of the NCL wave at the time (if you'll excuse the appalling pun :D :D )

 

Oh to be sailing soon again..a year seems like such a long time:(

 

 

We know when we cruise there will be small problems from time to time. We are hesitant about giving out our cabin number unless it is a very serious issue, cabin numbers mean its official and staff can get into trouble, remember dining staff work 10 months a year mistakes happen!

If drinks etc don't arrive, I address the issue straight away, my wife says it is better for my blood pressure. :) :)

[cassrebecca]

It is so important to fill out those cards and return them to the desk. This is how they are awarded raises and promotions!!!:D