Has anyone noticed their server's being distant on the last night?

[clh2]

Our server and asst. server were wonderful the entire cruise - especially the last night and the breakfast before we disembarked.

And - we did not hear the "excellent" speech! It was not needed!

 

[jgalecpa]

Our servers (Liam from Jamaica and Beatta from Hungary) were terrific.

The last night, we were all hugs and tears, and couldn't bear to leave.

They were great, but I know not all are.

Tip night is awkward, I'm sure.

Jim

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by inkkognito
In 39 cruises, I haven't really noticed this (I mean on the last night...we usually skip the sitdown breakfast). As a matter of fact, on our cruise this last weekend, we lost track of time chatting with Richard (our server from Chile) on the last night and I was totally surprised at how late it was when I looked at my watch! I think we were the last ones out of the diningroom. We were having so much fun that the time just flew by.
Barb

Barb, I can't believe you had Richard again. We are in love with him! Was Levi his assistant server? I thought they are an awesome pair.

When are you cruising again? Are you planning to have Richard? Let me know.

 

[inkkognito]

This time Richard's assistant was Laszlo from Hungary, and they are quite the pair! They performed "dinner theater" for us, and I laughed so hard that my face literally hurt! We are sailing again for Thanksgiving...not sure if they will still be on board.
Barb

 

[Big Head Dave]

We just got back from the Wonder. Laszlo was now Server with Magdalene as his assistant. He did an excellent job for us.

 

[dclwdwlover]

We found kind of the opposite on our cruises. The servers & especially the Head Server, who we never see or hear from until the last night, bend over backwards the last night to be attentive.

I never even realized that there was a 'standard speech' until I read it here recently on the DIS. That sure explains some things, though. I don't know if we received it on the first two cruises, but we definitely got it on the 3rd.

The first two trips we had wonderful servers (2nd cruise was Danijel & Ante who were fantastic!). The last cruise they were fine, but definitely not exceptional (therefore, I won't give names). Our Assist. Server tried hard to entertain our kids & was very friendly, but he usually got our orders wrong - the entire trip - (didn't affect his tip, though - at least he was trying).

Our Server was nice, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to speak with us. He basically smiled & did his job. He didn't engage in any conversation UNTIL the last night. Then, he babbled on & on about how great (obviously he must have said 'excellent', but I don't remember his exact words) & kept asking & answering his own questions to us. "Everything was great (excellent??), yes? Yes, it was!" I thought it (he) was a bit strange, but didn't understand it until I read here why he was saying all of that stuff. Then, it clicked!

 

[spencersmom]

We were wondering what was going on because this exact thing happened to us! Our servers were wonderful (Manuel from Phillipines and Tio from Croatia) and did the magic tricks, we know about their families and why they work for Disney-that sort of thing. I thought it was very hard to leave them on Saturday morning-it was like you became friends with them. But on Friday night and especially Saturday morning they were distant and didn't have much to say. We tipped above the recommended amount so I didn't think it was that. We did think that they spend 7 days with us too and probably get used to a group and then they leave. It's probably hard to detach yourself from people that you are trying to build relationships with for a week and then have it end. That's all we could come up with.

I wasn't all that happy about tipping the head server that we never saw but from a distance though. We only saw him the last night when he exolained the surveys to us and wanted to make sure that everything was excellent.

Thanks for the post though! Makes me feel good that it wasn't just us! Ginny

 

[LAMPSKIES]

On our last sailing, 11/03 Eastern the last night the servers next to us were ABSOLUTELY PEEVED!!! There was a table of 10 that were totally rude all sailing.......the kids were out of control spilling things running around then the whole table didn't show up the last night. They thought they were getting "stiffed" and who could blame them......our servers told us it happens "often".

 

[sjcubedofct]

We just returned from the 11/5 Western Cruise on the Magic, and our servers were outstanding from the minute we arrived until the last minute of our last dinner. Atilla the head server, Trifonio the server and Wawan the assistant server were attentive every evening, performing magic tricks (how do they really get that cork out of the bottle??), remembering that I drink water by the gallon, and entertaining the kids. They all deserved "excellent" ratings, and we told them so before they could even begin the excellent speech.

 

[randytenn]

On all 3 cruises, our servers were very careful to tell us that on the disembarkation morning, they would be a bit less attentive, because they had to rush and prepare the ship for the next crew. They didn't want us to think "we got our tip, and now we are done".

Then, each time, we found them to be just as attentive as any other day.

I miss being served like that!

 

[Topper]

Originally posted by NYDisneyMom
We had Maria on our May cruise also!! (And now I can't remember her "real" name! I hate that!!) Wasn't she the best?!! We had Sasha from Croatia as our server, just loved the two of them and they were just the opposite of being distant with us on the last night. We were all hugging and saying goodbyes!! Sasha started to give a bit of a speech but we let him know we understood completely and not to worry.

Is Maria the adorable Asian woman with the delightful British accent? She was our assistant server for the NYE cruise in 2003/2004. She cried the last night saying she had never had some much fun with a group before! Glad she renewed her contract!

 

[jrabbit]

Our experience started after the servers got their tips and looked at them. We tipped the server a little over the recommended amount and we tipped the asst. server quite a bit over (since we didn't order any drinks during dinner w/autogratuity). It must not have been enough for them because they were cool throughout the rest of dinner and especially the next morning!

 

[callisa]

I have noticed the same thing on DCL as well as Princess and Holland America. I've always seen it as "you've already tipped me so I no longer have to pretend to like you".

I've also seen this in the stateroom hosts, although I think ours, Nicole, was an exception and was great all the way through.

Lisa

 

[disneygatorfan]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones, because I never noticed a change in our servers... I have always had excellent servers, my favorite being Depesh on the Magic... him being so amazingly cute didn't make me like him anymore either

He was a great server, and my experience has been great from day one, right thru to the last breakfast on the day you leave.

 

[natsmom125]

I have never noticed that before. On our last cruise...we all almost cried because we were leaving. The cruise before, the guys were the same way...And the cruise before that....all are(or were) still on the ship and are dear friends.

Can't wait to look them all up in 15 days.............

Phyllis

 

[buster478]

My family had a poor experience on our first cruise. Both the main server and the asst were not very good. We were very surprised due to the fact I base my tip on how good they are. The next cruise we took they were awesome. They were very busy and we had to wait for water sometimes but otherwise they took care of our every wish. Here is an example. One night they offered the kids cream of corn as part of their meal. My son really wanted regular corn. The server went to one of the other restaurants to get him corn. That is what he says anyway.

I think it just depends on how long they have been on board or how new they are. I have heard that some CM are on the ship for 4 months and off two. Four months is a long time to be on a ship. Our assistant told us one day he had worked for 12 hours straight. He says that is a regular occurance.

 

[disneybride96]

We were talking to our assistiant server at breakfast on debarkation morning. Think about this.....Although it is the last day for us, it is the first day of a new cruise for them. They get a whopping 2 hours off that morning before the new guests arrive. Our assistant was very friendly that morning, but the main server was obviously busy organizing for the next guests. I can't imagine a job where you have to shift gears so quickly (and work so manyhours.) They are amazing.

 

[two-foxes]

I had some good comparisions when we did the back to backs....our first set of servers were awesome the whole time. Our servers, Iso, contract was up on Saturday and he, in his right to the point kinda way said, "I just want to tell you that I will be very busy on Saturday morning. I'll be here, but you may not see alot of me. Just want to let you know that." He was around on Saturday, obviously anxious about getting away from the ship for the first time in several months and seeing his family, but still awesome....Catalin, his assistant, was great the whole time as well (he took care of us from time to time on our second cruise too!)

Our second set was good (no, not excellent) the whole trip, but they became obviously distant as the last night progressed, and barely friendly on Saturday. It made me wonder if they were bitter about tips, hate Saturdays, hated us????? There was no smile, no nothing on Saturday. We seemed to be more of a bother than anything to them (didn't get offered coffee, juice or water until we asked for it...our waiter was obvoiusly annoyed by our order, even though we didn't get anything special...just the express breakfast!)

I know they are busy on Saturdays. We had the opportunity to watch the turn over between the two cruises and the entire crew works their rear ends off! The stateroom stewards (not just ours) on deck 6 were so friendly to us, taking just a second to hollar, "hello, welcome back!" to us from the stateroom they were cleaning as we passed. I guess my point is that you can still be very busy and at least take a second to smile and acknowledge someone while you are working!

 

[huckster]

yes

 

[ca859093]

We just got back from our 1st cruise, I really have nothing to say about our servers, from the 1st night it was like we were troubling them; and we weren't even asking for anything. It was very disappointing all the way around.