"Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

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qbman1
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"Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#1

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On our recent Adonia cruise, it was interesting to note that neither our cabin steward, nor any other crew members were badgering us to mark them as "excellent" on the end-of-cruise questionnaire. As has been well documented on here, it has become a bit of a nuisance, to say the least, with the stewards taking every opportunity to elicit top marks to protect their bonus. I just wonder whether enough complaints have been received at head office for them to issue directives to the staff to stop them pestering the passengers ?

Incidentally, our cabin steward and table waiters were first class, as always, but our wine steward and a couple of waiters in the Crow's Nest were pretty useless. We have never before had a hopeless wine steward but on more than one occasion, they had to draft in a couple of other waiters from the bars to bail him out. I just wonder whether they are still re-training the staff in P&O's ways following the fathom experience ?

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#2

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Is "pretty useless" now one of the boxes you can tick on the customer survey?


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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#3

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When we were on we found out that quite a few of the crew were new to the ship.


Lindsey

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#4

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To be honest, if someone badgered me for an excellent score, that's the very time I wouldn't give it! I hate having to score them anyway.
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#5

Post by Boris+ »

Mervyn and Trish wrote: 01 Aug 2017, 17:23
Is "pretty useless" now one of the boxes you can tick on the customer survey?
I wish it was! I've also wished for categories such as arrogant, slapdash and offensive in the past!

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#6

Post by david63 »

Cannot say that our cabin stewardess was that good on Adonia.

Let's put it this way - if we had finished the cruise she would not have got any "extra" in the way of a tip service charge

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#7

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Whynd1 wrote: 01 Aug 2017, 17:54
When we were on we found out that quite a few of the crew were new to the ship.


Lindsey
There were still quite a few left over from the fathom days too. Some of the stories about the Americans' eating habits you just would not believe !

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

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david63 wrote: 01 Aug 2017, 19:00
Cannot say that our cabin stewardess was that good on Adonia.

Let's put it this way - if we had finished the cruise she would not have got any "extra" in the way of a tip service charge
With the daily rate now up to £6 pp we decided to just leave the auto tips in place and (for the first time) not give any "extras" at all.

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allatc
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#9

Post by allatc »

I never mark restaurant service as excellent anymore. The best they can. get from me is very good , and I explain in the comments box that until they restore silver service in the mdrs they will never get excellent from me.

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#10

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qbman1 wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 09:02

With the daily rate now up to £6 pp we decided to just leave the auto tips in place and (for the first time) not give any "extras" at all.
Same here. We usually tip a little extra but after having one or two cabin stewards who were friendly and chatty during the cruise, but virtually ignored us once they had their envelope and a positive response on the questionnaire, we stuck with the auto tips for them and the dining room waiters as well. It's a shame in a way because we had a lovely lady and probably one of the best but that is what the auto tips are rewarding.

I still maintain including tips in the price should be the norm which would eliminate the tightwads who don't tip at all!!! The overall increase in cost would be minimal compared to the price of a cruise (and I would include the cost of shuttle buses - just add it to the cruise price instead of faffing about for the sake of a few pounds!!!).
There!! I've said!!

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#11

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allatc wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 09:45
I never mark restaurant service as excellent anymore. The best they can. get from me is very good , and I explain in the comments box that until they restore silver service in the mdrs they will never get excellent from me.
A fair point, but you are effectively penalising the waiters because of the company's policies over which they have no control. I believe the silver service issue is totally separate to the actual performance of the waiters themselves. If the waiters are doing what you consider to be an excellent job within the guidelines laid down by their employers then I think that they should be marked accordingly

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#12

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qbman1 wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 11:00
allatc wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 09:45
I never mark restaurant service as excellent anymore. The best they can. get from me is very good , and I explain in the comments box that until they restore silver service in the mdrs they will never get excellent from me.
A fair point, but you are effectively penalising the waiters because of the company's policies over which they have no control. I believe the silver service issue is totally separate to the actual performance of the waiters themselves. If the waiters are doing what you consider to be an excellent job within the guidelines laid down by their employers then I think that they should be marked accordingly
Not for me ... Silver Service places far greater demands on those who serve, the present food delivery service is just that and something that is almost impossible to exceed at.
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#13

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Don't agree - very few restaurants now offer traditional silver service and many dishes, even at top end Michelin restaurants often come plated. Even within the confines of the "food delivery service" as you call it, there is scope for the waiters to excel - by their manner, quickly learning the preferences of their customers and going above and beyond to please. Our team on Adonia certainly did that.

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#14

Post by Stephen »

I dunno

I thought your supposed to be on holiday not worrying about marking the quality of service, wages, tipping, silver service etc. They can stick it where the sun don't shine

If I wanted a working holiday I'd take one on a farm, not a cruise ship :roll:

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#15

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You mean Mrs S doesn't mark you out of 10 once a year on your birthday ?!

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#16

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qbman1 wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 12:54
You mean Mrs S doesn't mark you out of 10 once a year on your birthday ?!
Think you've got that the wrong way round.

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#17

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

qbman1 wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 12:03
Don't agree - very few restaurants now offer traditional silver service and many dishes, even at top end Michelin restaurants often come plated. Even within the confines of the "food delivery service" as you call it, there is scope for the waiters to excel - by their manner, quickly learning the preferences of their customers and going above and beyond to please. Our team on Adonia certainly did that.
I'd say especially at top end restaurants because they want the food to be plated as the chef intended. I'm afraid I can't get excited about so called silver service. Waiting for the waiter to plonk a few spuds and veg on your plate while the meat or fish goes cold? And it always used to be the same veg whether you'd ordered grilled sole or roast beef. No thanks. I much prefer the plated meals where the veg complements the meat or fish.

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#18

Post by david63 »

I have to agree with the "plated meal" camp - it quicker and more efficient and I suspect that there is less food wastage. And if you want another roast spud (other spuds are available) then you only need ask and they will bring you one, or two, or six!

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#19

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I completely agree about plated meals, far better and with the appropriate accompaniments, rtaher than brussel sprouts with sole for example - which is just wrong!
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

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david63 wrote: 02 Aug 2017, 16:02
I have to agree with the "plated meal" camp - it quicker and more efficient and I suspect that there is less food wastage. And if you want another roast spud (other spuds are available) then you only need ask and they will bring you one, or two, or six!
I normally do :thumbup:

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#21

Post by Manoverboard »

So, for future reference ... tis a grade of ' excellent ' for delivering a plated meal :o

ps ... we also prefer ' plated ' for vin ordinaire cruise food but we also enjoy ' Silver Service ' for the right occasion.

:thumbup:
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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#22

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I agree about plated meals, much prefer them - once had salmon with brussel sprouts and roast potatoes! Certainly the few Michelin starred restaurants I've been in have only ever served plated meals - chefs very fussy about what the meal looks like on the plate when it's presented. As for the waiters having less to do if they don't have to bother with serving vegetables I think they have plenty to do and they are very good about changing vegetables if you don't like what is accompanying your chosen meal. For examle, I don't eat cheese and whenever pommes dauphinoise is an accompaniment to what I've chosen they are always good at changing it for me. Not that pommes dauphinoise should have cheese in it according to traditional recipes but it invariably does.

I agree that it seems unfair to penalise waiters by excluding giving them 'excellent' on the comments card when they can't do anything about the plating of food. I've only once thought about not giving a waiter excellent and that was on our last cruise on Ventura. I often ask just for vanilla ice cream as a dessert and this waiter thought it was funny to give me a selection of flavours. The next night I said I'd prefer just to have vanilla - again lots of different flavours. The third night I put on my teacher's look and voice and said that if I didn't get just vanilla ice cream there would be trouble! I got my vanilla. The first night ok I took the joke but after that I felt he was just being annoying - it annoyed me anyway. This was at the beginning of the cruise and after that I think he realised he'd gone too far and was extremely attentive the rest of the cruise. I don't know whether his assistant had said something to him about the comments card I would fill in at the end of the cruise.

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#23

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Manoverboard wrote: 03 Aug 2017, 10:00
So, for future reference ... tis a grade of ' excellent ' for delivering a plated meal :o

ps ... we also prefer ' plated ' for vin ordinaire cruise food but we also enjoy ' Silver Service ' for the right occasion.

:thumbup:
It's all about HOW they deliver it and the other stuff they do

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Re: "Excellent" cabin stewards and waiters

#24

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qbman1 wrote: 03 Aug 2017, 10:37
Manoverboard wrote: 03 Aug 2017, 10:00
So, for future reference ... tis a grade of ' excellent ' for delivering a plated meal :o

ps ... we also prefer ' plated ' for vin ordinaire cruise food but we also enjoy ' Silver Service ' for the right occasion.

:thumbup:
It's all about HOW they deliver it and the other stuff they do
Interesting.

Our waiters have, over the years, definitely managed to do that ' other stuff ' to which you refer but my way of rewarding them is to give them an additional tip and an enthusiastic thank you at the end of the cruise ... this way they KNOW that their extra efforts were genuinely appreciated whereas they would have no idea at all what we may, or indeed may not, have annotated on the questionnaire.
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