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

[nikem3]

Interesting thread. I was just on the Wish in July and our table had servers had 2 tables of 6 (next to each other and at a few tables with about 2 or 4 people) and never once did anyone mention the survey card. The only time it came up was the last night when the servers asked us if we will be at breakfast the next morning and if not to have safe travels and please don't forget to drop off your comment card in the designated boxes. On previous sails on the Dream and Magic, again never once did our servers mention the comment card. Also, our servers on the Wish were fantastic as was the head servers. I did notice that one of our head servers (there are two) remembered a few guests from one of the other ships, as did some of the servers.

Jennifer

This is my experience too. I've been on all the major cruise lines and probably over 30+ cruises and never had anyone badger me about comment cards. Typically, if anything, its the last night and its fairly quick. I'm glad I haven't had experience like some of these other people. That would be pretty annoying.

 

[DisCruiseFam33]

Thanks for a great discussion. This is classic labor vs. management, IMHO, and the issue can be very complex. To complicate matters further, Disney management on the ship likely takes on a different form than Disney Corporate in FL.

Based on what we have seen in our 4 cruises with DCL, I agree the MDR servers are under more pressure for high survey scores than any of the other staff. The servers who have been around for a while understand the game very well. They set expectations with the guests on day 1 for the "excellent" experience. Guests see them working 14-hour days for the duration of the cruise under a contract that DCL could choose not to renew at anytime. By the time the survey is distributed, I assume each of you is feeling the same thing we are (besides survey fatigue) when we fill in the bubbles. If this isn't pressure, I don't know what is. The savvy servers know exactly what they need to do to survive and many of them grab it with two hands. I don't know if I blame them, either.

Disney management is clearly leading the cruise division by a few limited survey metrics and they are doing their best to keep the feedback lean. If they were really interested in feedback, there would be more lines and fewer bubbles. Bubbles reduce problems by fitting them into a neat little box. It also eliminates some problems altogether because there might not be an applicable bubble.

 

[Froxfield]

DisCruiseFam33 is absolutely right. I find the Disney questionnaire is a complete waste of time. At one time in my career I had to work on questionnaire design and even went on a training course for that. There is no way that Disney management can use the results of their pathetic form to "improve" things. It offers no true discrimination in many categories. Thus I have sympathy for cast members who may feel pressured to get a "result".

Let us be honest. It is impossible in the MDR setting for every single dish at every meal in every restaurant to be truly excellent. Disney knows this! But chooses to ignore it. However, I have no wish to experience the local solution to a mediocre dish or one that I don't care for, which is to force feed me more food! I do not want to be pressed to try more than one main course. There is too much food anyway and I cannot believe how many times I see folks on Disney order more than one main course or extra dishes "for the table" and how much food waste I see. It takes all sorts, I suppose.

So I compromise with "the food is excellent overall for a mass catering experience". For example, DCL MDR food is, on the whole, better than I have experienced at wedding receptions or large hotel restaurants. On balance it is on a par, or better than, table service restaurants in WDW. Speaking frankly, I would never plan a holiday to WDW for the food! There are some exceptions (Topolino's for example) but by and large I have been unimpressed even by such fan raves as California Grill and the Hollywood Brown Derby. The portions are too large and over-salting food is common. One can always add salt to onion soup, try taking it out! I recognise that US and UK tastes may vary.

I also, like many here, try to short circuit the excellent debate by telling the servers at meal one, that we understand the game and will tell them if we have a problem. For the most part that leads to a more relaxed experience. Although DCL is not cheap (definitely not) the overall budget for each meal cannot be that great and one has to judge quality in that context or, as some people on disboards have said, reserve upscale dining for when ashore. That's cruising!

 

[katmigordon]

I think the word you're looking for is hyperbolic not egregious, I find it really hard to imagine anything a server is doing on board that warrants a term as series as gas lighting.

Wow! I've definitely had servers who've mentioned the comment card and some who've stressed its importance repeatedly, but I've never been bullied by my servers or manipulated by them into questioning my own sanity. That's, to say the least, egregious, and I hope you reported that. I'm so sorry you had that experience so many times.

 

[katmigordon]

I think we need to tell DCL to stop penalizing the server's paychecks for things that are out of their control, like whether the company hired someone in the kitchen who can cook or not.

Until they do that - of course the servers will be desperate, half of what they get held accountable for isn't even under their control - all they have is the chance to beg for mercy. Which is really what they're doing when they beg for excellents across the board.

I think DCL should tell their servers to not ever mention the survey at the end of the cruise. It taints the replies. We are all adults filling out the survey and we don't need or want to be pressured to answer with only excellent ratings.

 

[Trisaratops]

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.

Very apt statement of the underlying philosophical problem with society

 

[toodycat]

The rating system isn’t limited to DCL servers. More and more workers (cashiers, call center reps) are dependent on survey metrics to keep their jobs. If I knew I needed excellent ratings to keep feeding my family, I’d remind everyone to fill out the survey too. But this is a very limited and flawed way to judge a person’s work because people generally only fill out the survey when an experience has been either terrible or excellent. Management generally doesn’t concern themselves with the mid-range ratings anyway. The whole thing is a farce, but I always give positive ratings because I want people to keep their jobs.

 

[brentm77]

On the Magic this summer, our servers didn't mention it once, not even the last day. They just did an excellent job, and let their work speak for itself. I thought they were going there one night and tried to preempt them, when I realized they were going somewhere else with their comment, to my embarrassment.

It was light on the other two DCL cruises too, and ended as soon as I said I would give them nothing but excellent, and would let them know if I had any concerns so they could fix it.

If it was ever as bad as some experienced here, I would inform the head server that it would prevent us from giving excellents if it didn't stop, and I would take it above the head server if that didn't work. What I wouldn't do is just accept it and then cancel future cruises, because it usually isn't bad and is usually something you could fix if you speak up.

 

[71 Truck]

My wife and I have been on Twelve, seven day Disney cruises over the last twenty one years. Up till Covid we had been doing two a year from around 2016. Because of this over they many years we had gotten to know many of the crew,dinning room server, bartenders and the room steward cast we have interacted with over the years.

We always request the same head server in the main dinning room and one year we even had the same room steward we had the previous year. We have even had some of the same main dinning room servers multiple times.
The room steward was just luck, his name is Donovan. Our main dinning room server is Witt. Our bartender is Andrae.

With all that said most did not push the survey much other than to say how important it was for them. I am not sure if this was because they remember us giving them excellent rating from our past cruises. We also tip extra above the recommended amounts so they may also remember us from the past.

We were told the scores can go on their permanent record and this is what helps them get raises, ability to transfer to other ships, be cast on the newest ships and per motions and this is why it is so important to them.

As far as pushing it to the point of being obnoxious we have not seen this however I am sure it could happen especially with first time Disney cruisers.

 

[Kwami]

Our main dinning room server is Witt.

Witt is great! He's actually a step above head server, though, so he only handles a small section of the restaurant. We were lucky to have him as a head server back in September and then he handled our B2B cruise logistics in February. Surprisingly, he's the only repeat team member that we've had so far.

 

[71 Truck]

Witt is great! He's actually a step above head server, though, so he only handles a small section of the restaurant. We were lucky to have him as a head server back in September and then he handled our B2B cruise logistics in February. Surprisingly, he's the only repeat team member that we've had so far.

Witt has been our head server many times. We always have our Travel Agent request him. Our last Disney Cruise was a Christmas cruise back in November/December 2019.
We have our next Disney cruise booked late 2023 and hopefully he is still with Disney.

Depending on how things change with certain requirements to cruise, we have been invited to join, later on this year, good friends whose husband is a retired cast member, hopefully Witt will be on the ship.
The bartender we know is on leave right now. He told us back in 2019 he wanted to go to the Wish when it sailed so we might not see him for a while.

 

[auntlynne]

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[auntlynne]

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[MrMarcus]

We had the speech a second night on the Wonder tonight. "Excellent" was used many times both nights -- clearly not using a limit of two referenced previously. When I made it clear that I appreciated the comments but that further pitches would impact the rating it stopped tonight.

The main server foes recognize that that the assistant is dragging down service. She has started doing bread and drinks since he was so slow.

Unrelated but the Mickey Bars this week on the Wonder are bad. They seem to have been through cycles of unfreezing and freezing, have significant ice crystals, and some stickiness on the exterior. They are not excellent.

 

[HappySailor3758]

I think we need to tell DCL to stop penalizing the server's paychecks for things that are out of their control, like whether the company hired someone in the kitchen who can cook or not.

Until they do that - of course the servers will be desperate, half of what they get held accountable for isn't even under their control - all they have is the chance to beg for mercy. Which is really what they're doing when they beg for excellents across the board.

No server on the ships get discipline if you are not happy with the food. No server in dining rooms will be fired if you are not happy with the service. This is just not how real life is onboard.

 

[gatordoc]

DisCruiseFam33 is absolutely right. I find the Disney questionnaire is a complete waste of time. At one time in my career I had to work on questionnaire design and even went on a training course for that. There is no way that Disney management can use the results of their pathetic form to "improve" things. It offers no true discrimination in many categories. Thus I have sympathy for cast members who may feel pressured to get a "result".

This! The bubble form is next to worthless. And my conversations with someone in the know confirmed that Disney carefully crafts surveys to get the responses they want.
I have started using a separate piece of paper to add comments that address what I truly enjoyed and the problems I encountered. They may never read them, but it makes me feel better. I’m definitely sure they don’t like the fact that they can’t connect it to my stateroom/dining rotation/etc. because I don’t include any identifying information, use a different color pen and script style than I do on the survey card, and drop it in a different box at the end of the cruise. Probably crazy, but fun for me to play this little game to try to counter theirs.
And then there’s my favorite business quote, that unfortunately does not seem to fit Disney’s corporate ethos:
“Excellent firms don't believe in excellence -- only in constant improvement and constant change.”
Tom Peters, writer and management consultant

 

[happycamper47]

This! The bubble form is next to worthless. And my conversations with someone in the know confirmed that Disney carefully crafts surveys to get the responses they want.
I have started using a separate piece of paper to add comments that address what I truly enjoyed and the problems I encountered. They may never read them, but it makes me feel better. I’m definitely sure they don’t like the fact that they can’t connect it to my stateroom/dining rotation/etc. because I don’t include any identifying information, use a different color pen and script style than I do on the survey card, and drop it in a different box at the end of the cruise. Probably crazy, but fun for me to play this little game to try to counter theirs.
And then there’s my favorite business quote, that unfortunately does not seem to fit Disney’s corporate ethos:
“Excellent firms don't believe in excellence -- only in constant improvement and constant change.”
Tom Peters, writer and management consultant

We've been told that the separate letters do get read and if they contain kudos about certain CM's those are read to them in their group meetings.

 

[acndis]

We totally skipped the dining room on our last cruise (last week) for the reasons mentioned by OP. We ate in Remy 3x and Palo 2x and had a wonderful time. The service there was excellent. We still tipped the MDR team even though we never saw them.
It made my time much more enjoyable. I don’t like the games/puzzles at dinner as well as bringing more food than I ordered (not to mention the constant survey spiels). On a previous cruise, I did speak to the team about this (told them we were low maintenance and games/entertainment were not necessary) and they looked so hurt that I never tried it again. I think I just don’t like the culture of the dining room. I know many love it so that is why we just opted out this time and plan to go there as infrequently as possible when we are in the Magic in November.

 

[SweetSpot]

.

One other thing that I was not happy about is how much they push alcohol. Yes, they make lot's of $$$ and higher ups have them push it. One cruise was really bad (Western), I did not want to go to any of the clubs/comedy shows. You could not sit anywhere - lounge on one of the floors - had a bar nearby, watching fireworks up on the deck, etc. We were a large group. Some drank more than others but they were on top of you. I have one or two and that is usually my limit or I would say I am a recovering alcoholic........maybe that might work?

We will be on number 30 in 2 weeks. I have learned to stop the excellent speech before they get a chance to start. I also say something to the Head Server. I understand a need for the excellent rating, I will fill out the survey, but if they say anything after that I will not. It is usually the new servers or servers who got a bad rating on a prior cruise who push it the most.

It also drives me crazy when we are sitting around the pool and have someone interrupt our conversation or reading to ask us constantly if we want a drink. I say very clearly I don't drink and they stop asking. I do drink but am old enough to know how to ask for one when I actually want one. Don't want it shoved down my throat because I am on the pool deck.

 

[SweetSpot]

This! The bubble form is next to worthless. And my conversations with someone in the know confirmed that Disney carefully crafts surveys to get the responses they want.
I have started using a separate piece of paper to add comments that address what I truly enjoyed and the problems I encountered. They may never read them, but it makes me feel better. I’m definitely sure they don’t like the fact that they can’t connect it to my stateroom/dining rotation/etc. because I don’t include any identifying information, use a different color pen and script style than I do on the survey card, and drop it in a different box at the end of the cruise. Probably crazy, but fun for me to play this little game to try to counter theirs.
And then there’s my favorite business quote, that unfortunately does not seem to fit Disney’s corporate ethos:
“Excellent firms don't believe in excellence -- only in constant improvement and constant change.”
Tom Peters, writer and management consultant

Our daughter works for Disney corporate and her friend's job is to read Disney surveys and I guarantee DCL has the same department. They do take the surveys and emails seriously. Also, they read and personally answer email and will call you in response when needed. I will send an additional email if a CM went above and beyond. Twice I needed to send an email to bring their attention to something that should never had happened. (Worker on our balcony at 8AM the day of our departure as I was getting dressed, who stopped to look in and wave, for example.) We got an email and a call for that.