Small gripe with traveling with concierge friends (anyone else experienced this?)

[lanejudy]

Not sure but I believe the dining team is only available to chat on embarkation day. You can definitely chat GS though, and they'll probably transfer the message to your MDR.

That was my thought - there is a way to get a message to the dining team if you can’t stop by in person.

 

[SirGoofy]

I wonder how many guests would realize the entire table is waiting if you decide not to dine for one evening. How would you notify the server not to wait . ?

At dinner the night before we go to Palo or Remy, we let our serving team know we won't be with them for the meal the next night.

 

[Doingitagain]

On one of our first cruises we were seated with a family that was late the first few days and we had to wait for them. From then on, we let the dining team know that our family wanted to be served right away and they did so, no problem. It is more efficient for them to handle the whole table at once, but they are more anxious to serve your needs.

 

[cwis]

At dinner the night before we go to Palo or Remy, we let our serving team know we won't be with them for the meal the next night.

We do the same though it's usually not required. They should already know.

 

[Cheburashka]

I've never sailed concierge or with concierge, but I have noticed large parties getting more attentive service in the MDRs. I typically sail as a party of 1 or 2. The service has still ranged from okay to excellent, never bad, but it's something I've noticed at times. That's one reason I like Palo and Remy. The service there is always very good or excellent, even if you're alone.

 

[Sakura1017]

That shouldn't be an issue with servers if your nonconcierge with concierge guests. If it is then u need to bring it up with dcl cuz then its a training issue.

 

[Clarkson U]

So I think the bigger issue here is not between concierge vs non-concierge guests but rather that ALL guests seated at the table were not arriving at the same time or close in time. When this happens (as this did to us pre-covid) the servers typically wait for the entire table to arrive and be seated before serving anyone at the table. One way to allievate this is to have a conversation with the other parties about what time everyone will arrive or discuss it with the Head Server the first night or even at the podium on your way out that going forward you don't want to wait for others to be seated at your table to be served. That should do the trick. I know it happened to the OP as a Concierge vs Non-Concierge but I think the bigger issue is about when all guests arrive at the table.

 

[Sykes]

Service teams try to have the whole table go together. This happens frequently in the MDR and is one reason why people complain about having table mates: if your table mates are late, you often have to wait to eat dinner until they arrive. I would argue that your friends in concierge were the rude ones by not arriving on time to dinner.

IMO, this is still 100% on the dining team. I usually sail with just one other person (either my wife or a close friend) so in pre-COVID days we were always seated with 2-4 other couples, which meant a variety of different preferences for the pacing of each course, as well as people routinely arriving late or leaving early. Our dining teams never failed to check in to see if we'd rather wait for the others or go ahead and be served, and were always good about accommodating different preferences for the pacing of the meal.

 

[jeffers102]

So I think the bigger issue here is not between concierge vs non-concierge guests but rather that ALL guests seated at the table were not arriving at the same time or close in time. When this happens (as this did to us pre-covid) the servers typically wait for the entire table to arrive and be seated before serving anyone at the table. One way to allievate this is to have a conversation with the other parties about what time everyone will arrive or discuss it with the Head Server the first night or even at the podium on your way out that going forward you don't want to wait for others to be seated at your table to be served. That should do the trick. I know it happened to the OP as a Concierge vs Non-Concierge but I think the bigger issue is about when all guests arrive at the table.

I agree that the case of waiting to be served was most likely unrelated to concierge vs non-concierge aspect, but the whole table being present as you say. However, our servers were absolutely more attentive to the concierge family, even on nights we all arrived at the same time. Even though that second part is not great, we shrugged it off as they did pay so much more than we did.

 

[Cheburashka]

I agree that the case of waiting to be served was most likely unrelated to concierge vs non-concierge aspect, but the whole table being present as you say. However, our servers were absolutely more attentive to the concierge family, even on nights we all arrived at the same time. Even though that second part is not great, we shrugged it off as they did pay so much more than we did.

It's still a shame. They really shouldn't act like that.

 

[cwis]

However, our servers were absolutely more attentive to the concierge family, even on nights we all arrived at the same time. Even though that second part is not great, we shrugged it off as they did pay so much more than we did.

I don't know about your friends, but if I were to be paying concierge, and guests at my table were treated like second-class citizens, I would be pissed real quick and would have raised the issue at the concierge lounge. It is a really unappropriate behaviour from the restaurant wait staff. DW and I don't travel upscale to show off to our family and friends, we just love the convenience and that's all it is supposed to be about.