Server envy

[Jmemac]

So last October we were super lucky enough to take our very first cruise on the Disney Fantasy. It was by far the most amazing family vacation we have ever taken and now we are planning our second on the wonder so I am busy reading trip reports again. I am really struggling with server envy though! It's silly, I know, but I read about all these adored servers who do cute little things and your kids fall in love with them and they are practically the highlight of people's trip! Our server was nice enough. He was really only at our table to take our order and he always seemed very busy and looked a bit scared. I guess every server has to learn and he wasn't unfriendly per say. I can remember a couple of smiles. But the experience was just like going to the local Olive Garden. Someone tell me I am not alone in my server envy and that I should let it go because in the grand scheme of things, I was on the greatest vacation ever!!! I think only a Mickey bar will get me over these silly blues.

 

[ImDMous]

Let it go, let it go! I know, it's overplayed, but it's useful.

We've been on 4 cruises and all our servers have been just fine. One team was actually a little less than that, but still, it was a great vacation. I have little memory of any of their names or countries of origin, bits and pieces here and there but I couldn't recite them. They were friendly, they brought food and drinks, they got good tips because all was well. They were fine. They are not my best friends and I don't expect them to be, they're just doing their job like I am at work.

We're two adults who often get put at a table of other adult couples and I actually don't remember any kids at the other tables our team had on our last cruise, maybe they get some input as to the kind of guests they get? Or maybe it's just luck of the draw. I actually don't know how they would have done with kids, they were kind of serious which made it our mission to get them to loosen up a bit. Luckily it was a 2 week cruise so we had time to work on them. After that long, they did get to know us fairly well and we joked a lot, but it was still acquaintance level, not long lost family friend level.

 

[Jmemac]

See, I knew not everyone has amazing service! I think part of my bad memories comes from our server team forgetting my daughters birthday after I told everyone from my TA to guest services to the server crew on the first day of the cruise. They sang to her and brought her cake the next day but she knew they forgot

 

[diznymom]

Our serving teams have been hit or miss. The first and third were OK. The second was much better. We'll see what happens on #4.

Room hosts have been hit or miss with us also. The first one was just OK....no complaints, but no WOWs either. The second was much better. The third...our host was good; however, the one next to ours (we were on the end between the two hosts) was fantastic. We saw him ashore and he was very helpful to us when ours was busy or "missing".

 

[Huskiesrule]

Got to agree on the hit or miss. 1st and 3rd cruise, couldn't tell you any names as they were very unremarkable. 2nd cruise was a different story. We LOVED our dining team, that was the best family dining week we ever had. They set the bar so high that the last cruise was a let down in regards to the dining team. To Neno, Mehmet and Kat wherever they are, we still talk about that cruise. I wish everyone on DCL gets a dining team like them once in their life.

 

[missyp]

I would watch these boards and see if someone recommends a great team. Or put the question out there if anyone had any great severs they can recommend. We were very happy with our server on our last cruise. He told us he would be onboard for our next cruise. We requested him and hopefully he will still be there and our request will be honored.

 

[Alexle2007]

We have had a great server but that is because we requested the same one as we had on our 1st cruise on the Fantasy. It had been over a year and a half but he seemed geniuenely excited to see us and that he remembered us. We will always request him when we sail the Fantasy.

 

[kmgt]

We just had Eddie and Emma on the Wonder and really liked them. They were very good and after just one or two meals started anticipating our tastes. They'd order burgers and chicken fingers for our kids if it wasn't on the menu. They'd have rootbeer for my youngest even though it wasn't offered. They were someone serious during ordering/serving, but at the end of the meal the smiles and fun came out. Emma did lots of tricks for the kids (we were a group of 18, kids from 4-21). She did puzzles out of toothpicks, origami, puzzles our of crayons. Mindbender type stuff. Eddie cracked jokes when we got him loosened up. Part of our group actually saw him out at the glacier and he took a pic with them. Hugs all around after our last breakfast.

 

[Krissy22222]

Was it Eddie Batac from the Phillippines? We requested him last time but he was on vacation. He is the best!

 

[PizzieDuster]

We've had both. I read that book Cruise Confidential and it was very eye opening. You will never want to be late to dinner again LOL. You may have gotten a newbie trainee. (I also read Diary of a Pissed Off Flight Attendent - I'll never fly the same again ;0 )

I did notice people looking at our table when the waiter had my sons in fits of laughter. Lots of riddles. Lots of jokes. Things with the crayons. Cutting my 15 year old's steak up just for the funnies. I'm sure he was not in training. He had it down! It's not a make or break for us. We are usually just hungry. Food. Please. I may add that the my sons still remember those times. When we had dinner at Palo, I expected my sons to want to order room service but they wanted to go to the dinning room by themselves and our waiter was delighted. I say they were 15 and 17 then. My husband walked them in and they had a great time dining alone with our table mates. They could be doing their own thing but come dinner time, they were excited. The assistant server once made a bed for my lil daughter with chairs and napkins for a pillow, covered her with a table cloth because she wanted us to enjoy and finish our meal.

 

[MunFam]

This was my biggest complaint about DCL. The inconsistency in crew. I felt like every server should be great, or even just okay...but when some are really great and some are just okay and then some just suck, its not a good look for Disney because people come back raving about the service and it sets a certain expectation. I admit, I went in...as a travel agent no less, with high expectations, along the lines of what I would expect from a Four Seasons, Fairmont, or even the nicer Westins. I left disappointed.

 

[wcw57]

on our first cruise ever...a dcl magic cruise...we had an "ok" head server and a brand-spankin' new asst. He was just ok...ok to not so good. The asst had deer in headlights look entire cruise. One night, asst was out "sick" (can't say we weren't a little happy about that...we're bad people) and the fill-in from the next table was AMAZING!!! Did funny napkin hats, goofy ears, asstorted schtick. He was fun and friendly. Once the normal asst came back, she appeared to be even WORSE..by comparison. Our team, to be fair, actually did get worse after the "excellent" speech!! Anyhow, I had read about all the wonderful stuff the servers do (we DID get mickey ketchup) and was completely let down.
THAT is an example of one of the basic problems with these boards for a newbie: the expectation bar is set too high. People go on and on about pixie dust and how wonderful the sail away or pirate night or whatever is. Sometimes the event or food item or drink or experience is just plain good..would be considered great if we weren't expecting something....MORE.
Kinda like getting 25 great presents from Santa but not getting that pony you were expecting.
I am looking forward to a better-informed second cruise with more realistic hopes and dreams.....

 

[markuehl]

I also had the same feeling our servers were fine but no magic just very basic service and our room attendant was not great either we still had a awesome trip and are going on our second cruise in july and are super excited !!!! maybe we will get lucky this time.

 

[thumpie's mom]

We have experienced the same thing...with the level of service being inconsistent. But having said that, it was really only 1 cruise that we felt our serving team did not meet our expectations. the main server was on his last cruise before going home for vacation and seemed pretty burned out, the assistant server had a new baby at home and you could tell that is where he wanted to be (can't blame him!). Other than that, our serving teams have been excellent. As far as room hosts, most are pretty good overall.

 

[tweis]

We've never experienced the "we just love our serving team" thing. We've had mostly great service but nothing spectacular. The closest we've ever came was when DH and I sailed solo a couple of years ago and had a pretty fantastic team. I got horribly sick the first night and was so disappointed because we were to dine in RP which is my favorite and I was going to miss some of my favorite dishes but they were nice enough to send them all up to our room. Needless to say, I could not eat them so they made sure I had those dishes the following night at dinner. They were really great but I didn't friend them on FB or anything after coming home. The last time we sailed, I felt like we were scolded for not dining in the MDR. Not acceptable.

 

[wcw57]

i, personally...and i said PERSONALLY here....don't get that whole facebook thing with the crew. There is a very nice washroom attendant at a casino in Atlantic City and I don't facebook him, either. I DO tip him, though

 

[LCoulter]

For our first Disney cruise, the wait staff were wonderful and interacted well with DD4. We are experienced cruisers on other lines and the wait staff on Disney exceeded the other lines.

Our second cruise a few years later, not so much (and by far was the worst service on any cruise) and I found myself envious of the other tables that our dining staff was taking care of. I’m not sure what happened with our wait staff but my guess is they were pissed off at us because the first night we were 10-15 minutes late. We had a table for just the three of us and I apologized for being late. We were not late any night after that on our 7 night cruise. Our table ended up being an “after thought” the entire cruise which was uncomfortable and weird.

Despite being on time the other nights, it took a lot longer for them to take care of us then the other tables. They were slow bringing menus, taking our order and slow with the food. They gave the couple next to us better service and since they were right next to us, it wasn’t as if they forgot we were there. The worst night was night 6 when they finally decided to give us our menus when dessert had arrived for the other tables. Night 7 was much more pleasant because we ate at the grill…lol. (And yes, we did call that morning to say we would not be at dinner and we even left the tip as is on our account just didn’t add the usual extra we have on past cruises.) In hindsight, I probably should have said something or asked to switch tables but we just made the best of it and DH and I joked about it each night and we still had a great cruise.

 

[jtba]

In hindsight, I probably should have said something or asked to switch tables but we just made the best of it and DH and I joked about it each night and we still had a great cruise.

that's a great attitude!

 

[wcw57]

LCoulter: You're obviously not from NY! THAT would have been tolerated for about thislongofaperiod. OOFAH!

 

[NCConch]

Our first cruise we had a wonderful server team. Extras, chit-chat, magic,... The team on our 2nd cruise was very average. Never saw the head server. It was the same with our cabin hosts. The host on our 1st cruise followed us into our cabin when we were allowed in on the first day and gave us all the info we needed to know. The host on our 2nd cruise could not remember requests.