The "excellent" speach

[AnnMorin]

Is it just me or the servers we get or is anyone else sick of the "excellent" speach. It never fails on the last night the speach starts about how they need you to check off excellent service on your survey. They go on about even if you were unhappy with the service at topsiders etc that is not your dining room service. I even inturpted him and told him this was our forth cruise I know the drill and he glared at me and continued on with his speach. Our sever was NOT excellent and if he had spent as much time taking care of us as he did memorizing his speach he would have gotten and excellent on my survey. (frankly if he had just stopped with the lecture I would have given it to him since I feel bad for them that their job depends on the survey rating)

 

[dis4me]

Ann WHo was your server? In 4 cruises only once did I actually get a speech about the forms. Every other time it was mentioned but not dwelled upon. I always rate it honestly however we have had 3 over the top servers and one so so (but only because he was actually an assistant who got bumped up because of illness) Even for him though I wrote that he did his best and was excellent at his job.
Sorry to hear you were not happy with yours

 

[Alex]

I blame DCL for this and I hope they read this!!
If my boss were to send out survey's to our customer's and they came back with 25% excellent 50% very good and 25% satisfied he would be a happy camper!!
By forcing everyone to shoot for excellent all the time you cheapen the meaning of the word. I have been on 4 cruises... all of our stateroom hosts have been at least very good and that is ALL I am asking for. The one on the last cruise was excellent.
There are so many circumstances that are just beyond the control of all the CM's anyway.
I expect certain things as a minimum from the crew.
I expect a clean cabin.
I expect to be treated politely
I expect servers to know how to do their job in a proffesional manner
I expect that if I make a request a reasonable effort will be made to fulfill it
I expect promises to be kept, both the ones that are made by DCL and by crew members.
If they can hit those basic goals then I recieved my money's worth. I know that every cruise some crew members will go above and beyond and supply that extra magic that makes DCL so special. Let me give them an excellent! Let me give everyone else a good or very good and have that be ok.

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by AnnMorin
Is it just me or the servers we get or is anyone else sick of the "excellent" speach.

I vote to get rid of the speech and the rating system. NO ONE IS EXCELLENT - and only God is perfect.

Rae

 

[clh2]

We did have excellent servers when we were on the Wonder in October. We didn't get the speech. Maybe it is because the servers were having such a great time clowning around with our DD, age 9! Maybe because they were trying to figure out why I didn't like some of the entrees/appetizers I ordered. (Heh - in their defense - I tried different things that I would have never tried back home!) And, then I was too stuffed to try something else - and I needed to save room for dessert.

We didn't get the "excellent" speech in the morning either, because they tried their darndest to get DD chocolate pancakes when they weren't being served in the buffet one morning. Of course, a different morning we didn't get the speech either because they were busy trying to figure out which characters my daughter still did not have autographs for in her autograph book.

Maybe we didn't get the speech because - when they are providing an excellent service - they know they don't have to ask for the excellent rating.

Maybe we didn't get the speech because our DD was guzzling down the shirley temples, and they were trying to stay 1 step ahead of her. Or maybe it was because when she ordered the Mickey ice cream bars for dessert - they spent time on a very artful presentation - different each night too!

Maybe they didn't have time to give us the speech because DH was asking about their homelands and their families, and it was a very interesting conversation.

Ann - too bad they felt the need to make up for the lack of excellent service with their speech. I would have been insulted too!

 

[AnnMorin]

On our very first cruise we had two guys named "tigger and pooh" (unfortuneatly I have never seen them since but our first was on the wonder and all other trips have been on the magic)
THEY were above excellent, as close to perfection as humanly possible, great service, great personalities,, just great all around, neither of them ever mentioned the excellent speach. On cruise number two we had sunny, he was pretty close to excellent, nice guy good service, he only mentioned it briefly, the assist. server was the one who went on and on, cruise three I don't even recall our teams name, the server gave the longest most obnoxious excellent speech, laying on the guilt of how he would not have his contract renewed if we did not put down excellent, I gave it to the guy because I felt bad for him but he was adequate or good not excellent. This last pair were ok, as I said before our server would get a bit short with you or annoyed, especially with the kids. What really got me angry was when I interupted his speech and he gave me a look and then continued, I was quite blunt saying something to the fact that I know you need the excellent and that is fine if you just let us finish our meal, then after his glare he just went on and on again about to not penalize him if we found things out of his control were not excellent.
Alex, I agree the "excellent" system cheapens the word. I wish DCL would not make their employees jobs contingent on the excellent rating, maybe more of them would be "excellent" if they weren't under such pressure.

 

[rae519]

You didn't get the speech!!!!! I'm heading into two digit cruises and have always gotten it on both ships - even from the servers who I have had before and always give high ratings to!!!!

Okay, inkognito, you need to put some input into this one! (BARB? TONY? Are you out there???? Ohhh, it's Christmas!!)

Rae

 

[inkkognito]

It may be Christmas, but we're still out here!!
We used to always skip Parrot Cay for Palo, so I don't know if our servers gave the speech or not. Now we usually skip Animators, and we've gotten the speech a couple of times but the majority of times we don't.
Personally, I think it should be discouraged, or actually forbidden, because if people give an Excellent rating based on being cajoled by their server rather than by receiving truly excellent service, then the whole rating system is not serving its purpose. DCL has a big commitment to quality, so they should want to know if there is a problem. I'm sure many people who get the speech feel guilted into giving a high rating, whether or not it is deserved. And there are others who might resent the pressure and give a lower rating just because they don't like that system.
No matter what, I always answer honestly (although it always cracks me up that they ask for a rating of the weather on your cruise...as if Disney could control it! They can't...yet ).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[AnnMorin]

Yeah I always thought the weather one was a funny question too
What I wish is that they would give you room to write in your comments not just fill in a dot.

 

[inkkognito]

Me too...the way I get around the absence of a "comments" area is to include a little note with my survey if I have something else to say. If you don't have any paper handy, just use the stationery provided in your desk!
I've also learned to bring little thank you cards for those in non-tipped (or even in tipped) positions who do that little bit extra.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[glindamood]

We have sailed 3 times on the Magic and only gotten "the speech" once that I can remember (2nd time) and it was lengthy. But we did sail to Alaska this past August and got it there too. I do feel that Disney is as near perfect as humanly possible with service (my experience but the truth) but I don't like being made to feel that is the rating I need to give.

 

[Alex]

I have heard from an "unnamed" source that the lack of a comment area is on purpose. As you can see they are computer scored and to parse out comments would take a lot more work.

 

[clh2]

This is what they do in school with their classmates when something is going on that is boring...(not in class - just when they are at lunch or recess)

When the conversation gets boring, those that aren't talking pretend to sleep and snore, when the talker stops, they instantly "wake-up" and ask "did I miss something?"

Maybe future cruisers should do this to their servers during the "excellent speech"


On the other hand...I feel like I got cheated out of the excellent speech...DCL should send me on a free cruise!

 

[KaitlinsMom]

We got the speech on our last cruise - and it was a loooong one!
This from a server that I thought was just OK - How are the servers suppose to improve if they get "excellent" all the time!

Maybe we should start giving a speech to the servers on the first night of dining. "If you want an excellant rating, then we demand excellant service!"

I'm only kidding of course, but it felt good to write!

Karen

 

[Alex]

Katilin's Mom...
YOUR BRILLIANT!!!
Let's write a DIS cruise line speech that WE can print out and give..as it happens more and more they will wonder what the heck is going on!!
I'll start

At the end of the cruise you are going to ask me to give you an "excellent" rating. I would be very happy to give that to you..
I can't do that though unless I feel you have earned it.
The things that are important to me are:
(insert whatever here)
If you can do that for me it will be my pleasure to give you an excellent rating and you won't even have to ask.

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by inkkognito
It may be Christmas, but we're still out here!! No matter what, I always answer honestly (although it always cracks me up that they ask for a rating of the weather on your cruise...as if Disney could control it! They can't...yet ).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

Barb - I knew you would be, we are sort of hard core at this now aren't we????

Yeah, loved that weather comment - hey, Disney may be able to solve the increase gas prices, and give peace to the world if they can control the weather!!!!

Again, I hate the speech and wish that they'd just realize that those forms are worthless to most of us because who in their right mind cares about it on the last night of the cruise when there is still so much going on and left to do????

Maybe they'd get it that we'd complain if things weren't EXCELLENT!!!!!!
Rae

 

[MrsPete]

What excellent speech?

 

[KaitlinsMom]

Originally posted by Alex

Let's write a DIS cruise line speech that WE can print out and give..as it happens more and more they will wonder what the heck is going on!!
I'll start

At the end of the cruise you are going to ask me to give you an "excellent" rating. I would be very happy to give that to you..
I can't do that though unless I feel you have earned it.
The things that are important to me are:
(insert whatever here)
If you can do that for me it will be my pleasure to give you an excellent rating and you won't even have to ask.

Could we have these forms pre-printed in lime green - Some blank spaces so that we could customize for each DIS'r?

 

[Alex]

Can you imagine? Just hand it to the servers at the begining of the cruise.
Pete's Mom...the servers give you a little speech at the end of the cruise about the form you get to rate the cruise and how basically you have to give them "excellent" or they are shafted

 

[wide awake]

I've only been on one DCL cruise, so maybe I'm just not getting it, but the speech didn't bother me. In fact, I almost started laughing because it reminded me of myself when I enroll a new family in the charter school I work for. I always give them a speech that this is their child's education, they need to be able to trust me, and if they're not happy they need to go to my boss. I always tell them though to please tell me first if there is anything I'm doing/not doing, give me a chance to be the best teacher for their family that I can be, before complaining or filling out a survey. That is what I got from the "excellent" speech. I took it that they just want to know how to treat YOU so that you feel YOU'VE had excellent service. Some of the things people have mentioned as being bad service I would take as good...example, ignoring the birthday. I HATE any kind of show put on for my benefit, I would be very uncomfortable with the cake and singing. One of my favorite things about the cruise was that I felt I was getting the same level of service that I provide my families, and that is not something I experience on a regular basis.