Many cruisers love disney dinner service...is there anyone who thinks otherwise?

[PPink]

My family went for our first cruise year and a half ago. We did 3 day Dream and planning our next cruise on Fantasy. We loved the cruise and the new experience. We enjoyed the food but I found the service to be little bit annoying. Food person coming by to talk to us, drink person coming by to talk to us, the girl who oversees the tables coming by to talk to us...really...can I eat my food and talk to my family? Also at the last day dinner...they were all coming by to tell us to give them excellent grades on evaluations and took a long time talking ... all I was thinking was OK...go away...I will give you a tip just let us eat our food...thank you for giving Mickey sprinkles for my kids' ice creams but you do not have to spend 5 minutes at our table telling us how you did it all by yourself....Does anyone feels the same way? What do you suggest that we tell to our service staff on our next cruise so we do not come across as mean but also put our point across so we too can enjoy the dinner time?

 

[Rogillio]

My family went for our first cruise year and a half ago. We did 3 day Dream and planning our next cruise on Fantasy. We loved the cruise and the new experience. We enjoyed the food but I found the service to be little bit annoying. Food person coming by to talk to us, drink person coming by to talk to us, the girl who oversees the tables coming by to talk to us...really...can I eat my food and talk to my family? Also at the last day dinner...they were all coming by to tell us to give them excellent grades on evaluations and took a long time talking ... all I was thinking was OK...go away...I will give you a tip just let us eat our food...thank you for giving Mickey sprinkles for my kids' ice creams but you do not have to spend 5 minutes at our table telling us how you did it all by yourself....Does anyone feels the same way? What do you suggest that we tell to our service staff on our next cruise so we do not come across as mean but also put our point across so we too can enjoy the dinner time?

We welcome the talks we've had with our wait staff. If you found it too much then you should have politely said, "we value our private family time and you are cutting into it." If you say that with a big smile, they would understand.

 

[Magic Fanatic]

If you really don't want to be bothered, I guess you could order room service.

 

[KashasMom]

A lot of cruisers get very attached to their serving team. We're not that way so I can understand your point. The one thing I found extremely annoying was the push for excellent on the evaluations particularly since I didn't find anything about the service OR food excellent. It was very uncomfortable and annoying to have to sit through that speech. I have read here that people address that upfront with the servers telling them not to give them the speech. I would love to be able to do that but not sure I can.

As far as the other part of your complaint - I think we may have had the opposite experience. The 3 of us were alone at our table and had a tough time getting the servers' attention since they always seemed to be over at their larger tables. I had heard so much about the dining experience that I really wanted to eat in the dining room each night. Now because of our experience I am considering other options for our upcoming cruise. Maybe just the formal dinner and AP in the main dining room. Will see how it works out.

 

[KashasMom]

If you really don't want to be bothered, I guess you could order room service.

Wow.

 

[Rogillio]

A lot of cruisers get very attached to their serving team. We're not that way so I can understand your point. The one thing I found extremely annoying was the push for excellent on the evaluations particularly since I didn't find anything about the service OR food excellent. It was very uncomfortable and annoying to have to sit through that speech. I have read here that people address that upfront with the servers telling them not to give them the speech. I would love to be able to do that but not sure I can.

As far as the other part of your complaint - I think we may have had the opposite experience. The 3 of us were alone at our table and had a tough time getting the servers' attention since they always seemed to be over at their larger tables. I had heard so much about the dining experience that I really wanted to eat in the dining room each night. Now because of our experience I am considering other options for our upcoming cruise. Maybe just the formal dinner and AP in the main dining room. Will see how it works out.

I'm pretty sure there is a question in the survey now that asks if you felt pressured to give high marks.

Jus smile and them they will get the score they deserve.

 

[rentayenta]

Are the high marks attached to merit increases or choice of ships/dining rooms?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I guess one extreme would be to order room service.......not the best by far.

I would simple and politely say thank, we are all set to enjoy our meal!

maybe add...........if we need anything we will let you know!


You have to remember that this is part of the special DCL service and most people love the style and interplay with the servers.

I guess it called.*different strokes for different folks*.

AKK

 

[Magic Fanatic]

Wow.

Not sure but the "wow" meant, but I was serious. Every meal available is also available as room service. The compensation for these servers is tied to these surveys I completely understand them wanting guests to understand how important the surveys are. As for other visits to the table, I appreciate the information about the menu, recommendations, etc... I never found it to be too over the top to the point I would call it intrusive, but each of us has our own opinion.

 

[KashasMom]

Not sure but the "wow" meant, but I was serious. Every meal available is also available as room service. The compensation for these servers is tied to these surveys I completely understand them wanting guests to understand how important the surveys are. As for other visits to the table, I appreciate the information about the menu, recommendations, etc... I never found it to be too over the top to the point I would call it intrusive, but each of us has our own opinion.

No one should be forced to have their meals in their room because of over-enthusiastic (for a nicer term) servers. It was obviously important for the OP to have that nice time with her family - talking and enjoying each other in a nice setting - not sitting on their bed eating dinner.

Everyone who has ever been on a Disney cruise very well KNOWS how important those surveys are because we've all gotten the speech. I personally really don't need to be told how to fill one out and find it a huge turnoff. I bet the majority of people even lie on the survey and say they haven't been pressured about giving an excellent. Funny, but I've never gotten that speech on any other cruise line.

 

[AngelDisney]

I was on the Dream in 2011, and was never pushed or bothered. Our servers would drop by once in a while to check on us. We enjoyed both the service and the private time as we requested to sit by ourselves.

I am not sure if things have changed. I look forward to finding that out in August on the Magic! I think if you focus on eating your meal and try not to engage in longer conversation, they will get the cues and leave you alone.

Have fun planning!

 

[Magic Fanatic]

No one should be forced to have their meals in their room because of over-enthusiastic (for a nicer term) servers. It was obviously important for the OP to have that nice time with her family - talking and enjoying each other in a nice setting - not sitting on their bed eating dinner.

Everyone who has ever been on a Disney cruise very well KNOWS how important those surveys are because we've all gotten the speech. I personally really don't need to be told how to fill one out and find it a huge turnoff. I bet the majority of people even lie on the survey and say they haven't been pressured about giving an excellent. Funny, but I've never gotten that speech on any other cruise line.

Please relax. I only offered it as an option. Of course no one would force someone to eat in their room. Many times people seem to take these boards way too seriously. All the original poster needs to do is make their request to the head server on the first night and that will be that.

 

[sayhello]

No one should be forced to have their meals in their room because of over-enthusiastic (for a nicer term) servers. It was obviously important for the OP to have that nice time with her family - talking and enjoying each other in a nice setting - not sitting on their bed eating dinner.

Everyone who has ever been on a Disney cruise very well KNOWS how important those surveys are because we've all gotten the speech. I personally really don't need to be told how to fill one out and find it a huge turnoff. I bet the majority of people even lie on the survey and say they haven't been pressured about giving an excellent. Funny, but I've never gotten that speech on any other cruise line.

I totally agree with this! The OP paid for nice meals for their family in a nice setting just like everyone else, and overbearing service does not have to be accepted. Eating room service in your cabin is not like eating room service in a fancy hotel. There's no little table, no chairs, no coffee refills, etc. To suggest that they stay away from the dining room as a solution to unwanted attention from the servers is a rather extreme (and unrealistic) suggestion.

Sayhello

 

[neg58]

Not sure but the "wow" meant, but I was serious. Every meal available is also available as room service. The compensation for these servers is tied to these surveys I completely understand them wanting guests to understand how important the surveys are. As for other visits to the table, I appreciate the information about the menu, recommendations, etc... I never found it to be too over the top to the point I would call it intrusive, but each of us has our own opinion.

If you mean you can eat at about dinner time in your room, yes, you can. If you mean you can eat the same food in your cabin, no you can't. You can't order off the MDR menus to be delivered to a cabin. Who wants to eat pizza and steak sandwiches for dinner every night when they paid for soup, salad, and steak?

I think it is no different than any restaurant. Some restaurant servers are just a little too involved, others can't be bothered to come by your table with extra napkins. On DCL, most are of the 'extra friendly' variety. Most people enjoy it, but there are some who don't like it, don't want to share a table, don't want to talk about their day with the staff or others.

I think the best way to handle it is as someone said above - be polite and firm and say "Thank you, we have everything we need." If it continues, talk to the head waiter and just say you'd like a little more privacy.

You do have to be somewhat social to eat in the MDR. There aren't private rooms, there aren't private waiters. They hire people to please the most cruisers, and those tend to be the chatty, bubbly servers.

Nancy

 

[Mousemom]

We took our first cruise in March and don't even remember our servers asking us to make sure we fill out the survey form. I did fill out a questionnaire that I dropped off at the end of the cruise. We enjoyed our servers and felt they were very helpful and made sure we were always taken care of but not annoying or over bearing. Maybe it just depends on the servers you get. I would also like to say that we had a wonderful lady who cleaned our cabin. She was great and we always came back to towel animals and a clean well stocked room. We are planning our next cruise in September and will be on the Dream again. Our family is going to eat at Cabanas our last night this time just because we thought the menu looked good and we will have already eaten at all the other dining areas already. I am thinking that you could cut them off by letting your server know that you will be sure to fill out the survey and thank them politely for letting you know about it.

 

[disney1990]

Not sure but the "wow" meant, but I was serious. Every meal available is also available as room service. The compensation for these servers is tied to these surveys I completely understand them wanting guests to understand how important the surveys are. As for other visits to the table, I appreciate the information about the menu, recommendations, etc... I never found it to be too over the top to the point I would call it intrusive, but each of us has our own opinion.

Only if you are Concierge. We love the interaction with our Server and Assistant Server - love to hear about where they come from and their experiences.

 

[clten]

Every meal available is also available as room service.

Since when??? This is true for concierge but not for every guest. I can't imagine the work if every cabin was able to have their MDR meal delivered to their cabin!!!

There are other dining options available but the service level should be adjusted to meet the guests needs not the guest adjust to the server. My suggestion is that you meet with your head server right away. This is the person in charge of your dining team. (You can even stop by the dining changes area the afternoon of embarkation to talk with them since the first night is very hectic.) Let them know what you want from your dining team and they will give the instruction to the team. That way you can get what you want and not feel like you are causing any hurt feelings with the staff that is just trying to be friendly. I would still expect that the servers would provide good service, just not overly engage you and head server will be around to check that things are operating to your satisfaction. When the head server does their quick check, take the opportunity to adjust anything that needs to be adjusted. My history is that the head servers will only be by for a quick check in unless you engage them in a conversation.

 

[tajz90]

We don't love the conversations. We certainly know by now what we want to eat and don't care for the suggestions before very meal.

We do not get overly attached to our servers. We are polite. We are VERY thankful that take such good care of us, but we don't love them and want to be life long friends.

In the end, we know that we've been taken care of especially well and we are happy and thankful, but what stands out most to us is when we've been treated less than stellar. Out of 8 cruises with DCL cruises, there have been two servers who stand out. One who would say "I'll get it later" no matter what we asked for. We are still waiting on the jelly for our toast. . And our last cruise, Christmas week on the Fantasy, the woman would sshh us to ramble about the food and not one person could understand her. I'd have much preferred an excuse me or some other attention getter, but to be sshh'd is too much for me.

 

[Silver Queen]

We have always enjoyed the service from and interaction with our serving teams on DCL. We have also cruised RCL and has found their servers to be basically focused on taking orders and putting food in front of us, much less personable. We definitely prefer the Disney approach and have fond memories of the cast members who served us.

 

[hudson3709]

I think the best suggestion made was to mention it to the head server on the first night. He is there to oversee your wait staff, and then you don't have the interaction with the serving team that could feel awkward if you told them directly not to talk to much.