Spooky levels of personal service -- how do they do it?

[mischief32]

We had an amazing room host on our first cruise on the Dream Sanaa in 2016 and I did not think our next room host could be as amazing on our next cruise in May on the Dream but he was( I admit I can drawing a blank on his name but I have it at home). It was my daughters birthday the week of the cruise and he did a birthday cake towel and a post card wishing her Happy Birthday and put princess sheets on her bed. On the last day he even washed and dried my husbands water shoes that were caked with sand. he was amazing. I think his name was Nass now that I think about it. We even had the same main server and he remembered us. The assistant server was new but was awesome. The cruise director even joked one night at the show that a man told he was just so impressed by the service because be got up one night to go the bathroom and the bed was made when he came back. Love the service.

 

[Sytrace]

Here is an experience we had with a wonderful cast member on the Fantasy a few cruises ago. And this is just isolated because I couldn't possibly have the time to share ALL of the fantastic service experiences we have had over our cruises.
His name is Morad and he was the ice cream attendant on one of our cruises. I was hanging out in the area between the adult deck where my husband was and the other pool area where my kids were. Every now and then we would have a chat (if he wasn't busy that is) Anyway, we chatted about the kids, my husbands business, that I home school the kids ...you know general small talk. He was friendly and pleasant and I made sure I took note of this on our comment card.

Flash forward to a cruise we took 6 months later. We were in Cabanas on embarkation day and the kids and Dan were getting food while I was finding a table. I heard Mrs. Sxxx and there he was! By then my husband and kids were back and he called the kids by name, asked them how school was going, asked my husband about the company..remembering EXACTLY what kind of business it was. It was incredible.
I think we are on another schedule because it has been a few cruises since we have seen him. But he was moving his way up thru service ranks and had made it to server in the MDR's the last I saw him.
Anyway, that is our experience that most stands out among so many others. I chalk it up to the magic of Disney

 

[Sytrace]

It amazes me how some of these Cast Members remember us after seeing so many people day in and day out. We have actually had bartenders come out from behind the bar (one during a cognac tasting seminar) to greet us....and the look genuinely happy to see us. Maybe it's a good act, but it does make us feel welcome and it's part of what keeps bringing us back to DCL. In fact we have a favorite server who we have sailed with 4 times now and requested her for our upcoming cruise. DS recently saw on instagram someone posted a picture of her, saying they had her the last week of her contract, so we assume she just got off for break. We were really upset we wont get to see her.

I agree...it seems like they have files on us or have some kind of natural recognition skill. My husband enjoys the Cognac and Whiskey tastings...has done them every cruise and we also like to go to the Meridian or Cove in the evening after dinner to hang out (husband and I that is) We have met some wonderful bartenders that no matter where they are moved to around the ship when we run into them, they know our names and drink preferences. Obviously, they know Dan likes Cognac, but to remember MY favorite drink as well (I am not much of a drinker) is pretty impressive. We have a couple of servers that we keep in touch with and we are so happy two of them will be on the ship for our next cruise. One is in Palo and we met him January 2016 and the other is a wonderful lady who we met on our FIRST cruise in 2013 who sometimes we get lucky and she is on when we are. It has worked out the past few cruises and will again in September. We are stoked!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

"Disney Magic and a little bit of pixie dust"

 

[girlbomb]

I love these stories! One of the ways we console ourselves after coming home from a Disney cruise is to compose a long email to Guest Services telling them about the employees who made our trip so great. We used to do this when we stayed at WDW, but the service on the boats is so outstanding, it's become a loooooooong email.

 

[AlexaDeParis]

They obviously have files of anyone who ever stayed at Disney, went to Disney parks, etc and is all probably tied to the Username that works on all Disney sites. Don't forget you have to list everyone on there when buying tickets, making dinner reservations, their name and birthday, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if there were pictures attached, as well as a master note file on each person that any disney cast member could read or edit.

 

[WestFamily]

I have been worried about how comfortable my 5 year old will feel, because he has a significant speech delay and often avoids talking to strangers at all because it's just so frustrating for him. I hope we have someone who makes him feel at home like some of the people mentioned here! Something like remembering his favorite drink would make him smile and relax so much!

Our youngest is/was speech delayed and two years ago on our first cruise our servers were absolutely wonderful to him. The first night he asked for a pancake, very quietly and with his stubborn "they won't understand me" attitude. Sure enough they understood him and while they couldn't make it the first night, every night one was brought out to him. He was in heaven especially because they called him Mr. Parker. Same with the kids club, he was overwhelmed with all the kids and such but he was always willing to go for a bit because they were so wonderful with him.

 

[Reese'smom]

I have been worried about how comfortable my 5 year old will feel, because he has a significant speech delay and often avoids talking to strangers at all because it's just so frustrating for him. I hope we have someone who makes him feel at home like some of the people mentioned here! Something like remembering his favorite drink would make him smile and relax so much!

My son was in the same situation when we went on our first cruise. He has sensory processing disorder and speech problems. He usually can get uncomfortable when strangers talk to him and goof around with him. Our servers understood every word he said and were so nice to him. They instantly found a way to connect with him. They didn't bat an eye when he ate the same thing every night. They never forgot his nut allergy. They made it such an easy and fun time. I whispered to them the last night how much it meant to us how special they made him feel and what a big deal it was that our son felt at home in the dining rooms. Our past cruise was nice too. However our son has advanced a ton in speech, eating and general behavior that no one really knew he had issues. I'm sure your son will have a great time and be able to leave with more confidence in his speech.

 

[BartmanLA]

Our room attendant on our recent WBPC trip in April was great, after the first day and explaining to him about how we liked things, everything was perfect everytime we went back to the stateroom, and we were in and out a lot and it seemed like he was in making up the room after each visit, his efforts on cleaning and making sure we had everything we wanted was excellent. We also found his towel animals amazing and amusing, he made a habit of taking my sunglasses (I would leave them on the desk after we changed for dinner) and our towel animal sported specs a lot of the time. We were greeted by name often and correctly. Another note, we have sailed on the Wonder 3 times now, and have been lucky enough to have the same server for our dinner's and brunches in Palo, on the WBPC trip we went to a group brunch and the server Sasha spotted me and came over to welcome us back on board and was very warm and friendly. It's the magic and treatment that DCL offer's it's guests that makes us only want to sail with the Mouse always.

 

[cmwade77]

We went to WDW one time and I didn't note my wife's shellfish allergy on the general reservation or the dinner reservation. We had mentioned on a cruise reservation several years before but never told WDW.

We went to dinner the first night and the server said they had a note about her allergy.

This reminds me of something that happened to us. On our first cruise we listed my wife's Walnut allergy, even though it isn't severe, just large chunks of them in things tears up the roof of he mouth. This was on a two night cruise to nowhere.

Our first server at Parrot Cay was Jose from the Philippines, we only had him for that one meal. He was great and we gave him a couple of dollars because he went above and beyond.

A couple of months later we decided not to list the allergy because it really is minor, cross contamination isn't an issue and it caused a few issues.

Well we got Jose again and he not only remembered us by name, he remembered her allergy when she wanted to order some cereal, which it did turn out had large chunks of walnuts.

Now this was after we had him for one meal previously, to say we we're floored is putting it mildly.

The other thing that amazed is with our second cruise was how many people remembered us by name from our first one that was only two days long, needless to say we we're hooked after that.

 

[TestingH2O]

Our first cruise was in august of 2015. We had a great dining room team and our assistant server was so wonderful with DD. Coast forward to a few weeks ago on the Wonder. On glacier day, I was walking around deck and saw our assistant server! He recognized me, not by name, but he knew he had been our assistant server on the Dream and who our server had been. He did remember DD's name though. It was remarkable.

 

[OKW Lover]

We arrived the first evening and we were seated at a 6 top. The server says "good evening Mrs XXXXX)
I'm thinking how did he know me. Then a few minutes later a family of 4 arrived. He greeted the MOM,
"good evening Mrs XXXXX.. They were from California, we were from New Jersey but we had the
same last name. We wound up bonding with the parents and had a great table.

The server knew you because they are told the parties that will be in their section. He knew he had a couple and a family of four at that table so when two of you arrived he knew which family you were.

 

[Ariel-Rocks]

On our 1st cruise our DD wasn't enjoying the cruise. She is very shy and wouldn't try the clubs at all. It was the 2nd day and I went shopping with my mom. I was talking to one of the cast members in the store about it. That night a Arcade card was placed on the starfish outside her cabin with her name on it. It was a nice bit of pixie dust.
She ended up asking her dad to ask the girl at our table if she wanted to go use it at the Arcade with her. She did and they are still friends today.
Well we all our friends another one of the perfect Disney table mate matches.

 

[saxmangeoff]

I have been worried about how comfortable my 5 year old will feel, because he has a significant speech delay and often avoids talking to strangers at all because it's just so frustrating for him. I hope we have someone who makes him feel at home like some of the people mentioned here! Something like remembering his favorite drink would make him smile and relax so much!

I have found that Disney excels at dealing with disabilities.

I have a modest mobility disability - just enough to be odd, but not a "standard wheelchair thing. One thing that has always amazed me about Disney is their ability to treat my needs as completely normal. I've bamboozled employees at Sea World, Universal, and other parks, yet Disney cast members never seem puzzled, surprised, or in any way disrupted by dealing with me.

 

[Amandine]

I have found that Disney excels at dealing with disabilities.

I have a modest mobility disability - just enough to be odd, but not a "standard wheelchair thing. One thing that has always amazed me about Disney is their ability to treat my needs as completely normal. I've bamboozled employees at Sea World, Universal, and other parks, yet Disney cast members never seem puzzled, surprised, or in any way disrupted by dealing with me.

This is so good to hear. I haven't run across any posts where people talked about experiences with children with speech delays, but I'm hoping he'll have a lot of fun and won't be too anxious, and because of his age he'll always have one of us with him to help him unless he goes to the kid's club, too (I'm not sure how that will work out, but we'll just play it by ear.)

He said he especially wants to meet Donald and Daisy, and he's told me in the past that Donald is happy is because he can talk to his friends (ie, they're not confused by his speech and just treat him like part of the gang.) I think it's awesome that he made that connection and I hope we do get to meet Donald

 

[Amandine]

I have found that Disney excels at dealing with disabilities.

I have a modest mobility disability - just enough to be odd, but not a "standard wheelchair thing. One thing that has always amazed me about Disney is their ability to treat my needs as completely normal. I've bamboozled employees at Sea World, Universal, and other parks, yet Disney cast members never seem puzzled, surprised, or in any way disrupted by dealing with me.

This is so good to hear. Until this thread I hadn't run across any posts where people talked about experiences with children with speech delays, but I'm hoping he'll have a lot of fun and won't be too anxious, and because of his age he'll always have one of us with him to help him unless he goes to the kid's club. (I'm not sure how that will work out, whether he'd be comfortable there or not, but we'll just play it by ear.)

He said he especially wants to meet Donald and Daisy, and he's told me in the past that Donald is happy is because he can talk to his friends (ie, they're not confused by his speech and just treat him like part of the gang.) I think it's awesome that he made that connection and I hope we do get to meet Donald

Edited again to add: I am so sorry this posted twice. I tried to delete the first one but can't figure out how.

 

[Amandine]

Our youngest is/was speech delayed and two years ago on our first cruise our servers were absolutely wonderful to him. The first night he asked for a pancake, very quietly and with his stubborn "they won't understand me" attitude. Sure enough they understood him and while they couldn't make it the first night, every night one was brought out to him.

This is precisely how my son gets sometimes - just assuming he won't be understood. Thank you so much for sharing your story -- I am feeling very encouraged by this thread!

 

[mevelandry]

A castmember told me they have files with pictures. It helps for identification and informations.

 

[mcgluvint]

Okay, I have trouble remembering my neighbors' names, and yet our servers and stateroom attendants greeted us by name every time we saw them, and they knew EVERYTHING about our stay ("Have a wonderful time at Palo tonight, Janice and William.") How do they manage to do it so consistently? How does one cast member offer me the same drink I ordered from a different cast member two days before? What kind of facial recognition tech and/or information sharing and/or incredible mnemonic methods are they using? I seriously wanted to check under Ryan's cart in the hall to see if Push the Talking Garbage Can was feeding him info or something.

in truth it is amazing. It isn't uncommon for workers to remember you. Most people on these boards have had a worker remember them. Ive had one, Fransisco on the Dream. He's the best

 

[wilkeliza]

They obviously have files of anyone who ever stayed at Disney, went to Disney parks, etc and is all probably tied to the Username that works on all Disney sites. Don't forget you have to list everyone on there when buying tickets, making dinner reservations, their name and birthday, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if there were pictures attached, as well as a master note file on each person that any disney cast member could read or edit.

They have been doing it even before the usernames. Having the same username across the company just made it easier.

Now there are differences of level. At the parks only guest relations CMs can see your full file and then concierge CMs and some hotel management plus backstage roles can access it but not as nearly detailed initially as the GR CMs . Even when a CM has a scanner all they can see is what you see on your MDE account so reservations that day to show you have a reservation at the hotel you are trying to enter or have a room where you are trying to use the pool etc. I believe at WDW there is not a photo but I am not 100% sure on that.

On the Cruise line they have a photo attached and that is why you don't have to retake your photo if you cruise often. I believe on the cruise line they can see much more even as a regular CM but they still can not see your entire file. So the bar tender isn't going to see if you made a complaint at GR but they may see a quick facts of favorite drinks and your photo.