Begging and bullying from servers in the MDRs for excellent ratings on the end of cruise survey/comment card

[nmoody1]

What would be great would be of disney actually cared about improving things like food quality and not penalising servers.

I find most interactions with the wait staff cringe-worthy and fake. I'm European and have worked on cruise ships. I don't buy half the stories I'm told - because I've seem how most of these people will do anything for money..... I don't blame them, its a gold mine.... but if you try to tell me how I should be scoring I'm going to check out. Disney get away with a lot of sub-par food because guests feel pressured in not commenting how bad things are because of the repurcussipns on the people who don't cook the food.

 

[Suebee4516]

This is a HUGE problem starting in schools where we use a grading system that says C is average but expect our children to get all As. It irritates me more when people review books. Look on Amazon. How much literature is truly 5 stars? How often do you come across an equivalent to To Kill a Mockingbird? We have lost our ability to appreciate a nice, perfectly acceptable performance. We are using a nuanced rating system but turning it into a GO/NO GO test. You are perfect or a failure.

I agree talk to your service team the first night. But I would state clearly, the only way I will find the service Excellent is if I never hear about the survey or how Excellent the service is.

 

[Intr3pid]

Begging and bullying? Not our experience. Asking to avoid any surprises at the end? Sure. I would simply let the server know that I have no desire to be reminded of the ratings - and that should be it.

A vast majority of the Disney cruisers love the MDR experience. The MDR food can be all over the map, but I don't know how the food on the top deck can ever replace it.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

I always tell the servers and the head waiter on the first night when we discuss how many cruises we've been on, I know they want to provide excellent service and that is what I expect. If I don't get it, I will let them know right away so they are able to correct it and receive excellent scores. I won't wait until the end of the cruise and then complain. They always give a big smile and I never hear about the survey after that!2

I think many times people don't say anything about the service and then complain at the end. If people aren't happy, they need to speak up so it can be made right.

^^ this Has worked for us. I want to give them the excellent rating. We start there. if anything is not working for us, it is up to us to let them know. I love to mention CM's by name on the comment card and do, often, when I receive great service.

 

[owensamo]

I thought it was bad on DCL but then we took our first two Royal cruises this summer and found it everywhere. They even came over the PA system in the windjammer on the last day and announced it to everyone to please give them an excellent.

Even weirder was having the Mad Hatter sit down at our table at the end of our meal at Wonderland and give us the ratings spiel. On RCL you get it *everywhere*, and not just the MDR.

 

[freshmanjs]

Exactly. This is how Disney has gotten away with mediocre food AND SERVICE in the MDRs all these years.

We've been on 2 DCL cruises. Our servers were apathetic and lazy, to be honest. Our first main server could barely understand English. Seriously. Our assistant servers on the first cruise couldn't even refill drinks in a timely manner and on the second, our dirty plates piled up on our table rather than being cleared between courses.

Our preferences were never remembered and our sons were made to feel bad about not being more "adventurous" in their food choices. For reference, they were 9 and 7 and they are both autistic. That put me off, to be honest.

The food was fine. Very basic and everything needed more salt/seasonings. Everything.

The reason they "get away" with it has nothing to do with survey results whatsoever. It's because people keep paying and cruising.

 

[scoobysgirl]

I agree that it's annoying. I think there are easier / more productive ways to deal with it than avoiding the MDR. For example, on the first night, you could just say that you are aware of the comment card issue and you really prefer not to be reminded.

We're going on the Wish in November and that is good advice. I will definitely do that. Thanks!

 

[scoobysgirl]

I've just done my first and only cruise, (on the Wish). Not once did our server (head server, server or assistant server) ask us or hint about the comment card. The comment card was unknown to me until the CD mentioned it on day 3 (of a 4 day cruise). And that was even just a matter of "if" we wanted to complete it, and where to drop them. Maybe it's a new (non) approach they're taking?

I've heard nothing but good or great things about the rotational dining on the Wish. I haven't heard anyone mention that they have been bullied by the wait staff. I am very excited about going!

 

[auntlynne]

I was shocked in September when they didn’t give me the “excellent” pressure speech.

it was back in April, but only on the last night.

It is the #2 thing I dislike about DCL (after spiraling cost increases).

I am on vacation - I do not want to do employee evaluations. And any concerns are usually not a point if care issue by the person who delivers the care - they are usually system flaws.

I would love a meal where the food is delivered in a reasonable time at the proper temperature, drinks are kept full and one food check is performed after I have had a chance to verify the meat is at the right doneness.

Servers on all my cruises have been consistently good. Maybe not always excellent, but never detract from the cruise.

It sounds like I am not alone!

 

[scoobysgirl]

I'm American and I HATE being bothered. Restaurant, cab ride, stores. Unless I seek you out purposefully, I don't need you. I'm just very antisocial. And here we are going on a Disney cruise!

If you know all this and are still going on a Disney cruise, then you really can't complain, can you?

 

[auntlynne]

If you know all this and are still going on a Disney cruise, then you really can't complain, can you?

Sure they can. It’s the beauty of a forum - knowing you are not alone and having the opportunity to blow off steam. One issue does not necessarily make the entire cruise a bad experience.

 

[Karin1984]

What about leaving the part about the servers blank on the survey? No score should mean it doesn't influence your servers' rating. Or does it?

Like a protest vote.

 

[Lisann]

I want to vent for a minute about the begging and bullying from servers in the MDRs for excellent ratings on the end of cruise survey/comment card. You know, at dinner the servers campaign for you to give them an excellent rating by constantly asking if everything is "excellent." Of course on the last couple of nights on the cruise the servers become very direct about getting an excellent rating on the comment card.

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to cruise with DCL many times. The grade-grubbing from the servers is consistently the single biggest service fail on our cruises. Maybe it just hits us differently than others but we are so frustrated by it that we often don't eat in the MDRs. We get a couple of reservations at Palo and then eat room service or up on deck the other nights. For us, it's problem solved - we just remove ourselves from the part of the cruise we hate.


We have a cruise on the Wish booked for September. I would like to try out the MDRs on this ship since I've never seen them before. But, I don't want to hear about excellent ratings. My first night at dinner when the servers bring up the excellent spiel I plan on telling them as politely as I can that I don't want them to bring up the survey/comment card again. If they do, we'll leave. It is so tedious to me to hear this over-and-over again. I know Disney is aware of this problem and does nothing about it because for many of our cruises the survey/comment card includes a question asking if you were pressured by your server to provide an excellent score.

And for what it's worth, my wife and I always rate the service as excellent (though it rarely is) and always tip more than the recommended amount and/or bring gifts for our servers. This post isn't about whether the service is excellent and it is not about tipping. It's about the pressure campaign that servers run to get an excellent score. The blame for this has to be placed at Disney's feet. What, they can operate a 341m-long, 144,000t cruise ship with 1,250 guest staterooms to accommodate up to 4,000 guests but they can't figure out a way to ACTUALLY provide excellent service instead of making their servers gaslight their customers?

In my opinion far too much responsibility for one's MDR experience is placed on the server. It is our understanding that any complaint about MDR food is directed at the server. If a server believes someone is not enjoying themselves they are supposed to bring other dishes or more desserts so that the diner gets something they like. I mean, it's all Hyatt-catering coming out of the same industrial kitchens on the ship - I'm certain cooking on the ships outside of the upcharge restaurants is a soulless affair. I don't think there's anything the servers can do about the quality or type of food so what they're left with is to increase the quantity. Dumb.

I understand that others may think the service on the ships is excellent. I won't argue with them; I think this a matter of personal preference. In my experience the service is not excellent but not because of the servers. They are trying to feed hundreds of people at a time in a tightly packed catering hall setting and at times performing or dancing too. What does one expect? My issue is not with the service itself - it's with the system in which begging for excellent scores is required for the servers to feel safe in their position.

It's the begging...ridiculous. I agree with you.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

based on the probability that the servers are penalized if they don't get excellent ratings, not sure there is a way around this except telling them straight out that you will give them an excellent if they don't mention it and you will let them know right away if you have any issues.

 

[DCLDVC1]

We also found it extremely annoying. Like others, we just let our servers know on the first night that we're aware of the survey,

 

[Lisann]

based on the probability that the servers are penalized if they don't get excellent ratings, not sure there is a way around this except telling them straight out that you will give them an excellent if they don't mention it.

But that isn't the guests' responsibility. it also brings up the "guilting" of the guest into rating a server. It's just simply not something that should be done anywhere on a cruise or Disney property. It's not the guests' job to do this!

 

[Janis]

Been on 17 DCL cruises and never had this happen. I've have been reminded to fill out the survey but was never asked to give excellent ratings. Most recently I did the Maiden Voyage of the Wish and the survey wasn't even mentioned once.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

And we have received less than stellar service in these same MDR at breakfast and lunch.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

We have never ever been asked at Palo to give them an excellent rating for their service.

 

[Jsoenning]

Has happened on every Disney cruise, though some less obnoxious than others. You would think Disney would appreciate real ratings more as would do a better job of really identifying their top performers. Guessing they like the pressure to 5 stars as they can tout the high scores in their promotional material and can also avoid making improvements.