Tipping for poor service

[Cmbar]

I agree...seems like a bigger inconvenience to determine where to place the baby while you are standing there waiting for your server to accomodate your choice of seats. What if they can't do it immediately? Do you just stand there and wait for it, juggling the baby or babies in the meantime? That just seems odd.

The things that would most aggravate me is the shellfish issue, and grabbing of the baby's legs. The shellfish issue is just downright dangerous and DCL is better than that. They promote that they are very allergy friendly, and it is appalling that the servers wouldn't keep that in mind. I would also not like it AT ALL if a server was tugging on my child's legs. I think that is crossing a line.

I am so amazed that the OP got a server that allowed shellfish to be on the plate!! We just got off yesterday. I have Mild allergies to certain foods that will send my Crohn's disease into a tailspin in no time. I have to watch those foods and try to avoid them. I don't usually tell Disney and just work around it. But on our first night they asked and my MOM was with us and she was telling him I have three things I can't eat: Tomato, Mushroom and Rice. Well let me tell you there is Mushroom and tomato in A Lot of the recipes, but I could work around it. But they wouldnt let me!!! I ordered steak one night and they wouldn't give me the sauce that went over it because it had mushrooms, they made me order each night for the NEXT night and they would prepare my food before I got there. One night I wanted to try an appetizer that I didn't see the night before when I ordered (try ordering a full meal after you just finished one, Ugh). The head server came over and was so nice and explained that that appetizer had mushrooms in it and that he told the chef to prepare it without the mushrooms in it, so they made a scallops appitizer without mushrooms. I was so impressed and so irritated at the same time. I never wanted to put anyone out. They were over the top on the allergies and would even go to the point where our assistant server would ask that I not eat any of the dips for the breads until she could check to see if it had tomatoes in it. She even brought me separate bowls of bread to put in front of me because a few of the breads had some tomatoes in it.

I will never mention this again as I felt they were too over the top on trying to accomodate me. Not that I didn't think this was great service and I did indeed tip them all more generously, but it was more of a pain being excluded and singled out when I could simply have just not eaten the mushrooms on the plate! So I am SOOO surprised they delivered someone with a shellfish allergy a Shrimp!!! Of course these allergies are very serious so I am actually sorry to hear they did this. This would be one thing I would write to Disney about. Our servers would never have brought me a plate with it to begin with, but by all means they never would have said "are you ok with it". This server needs to corrected or replaced, so OP please write a letter. It is important because most of us have wonderful service but for those who don't, I am sure Disney wants to know.

By the way my BIL asked a server how much they make and was told they work about 90 hours a week and get 50 a month and that most of their income is tips. So the $13 a week was at least confirmed by one guy. Could have been the same guy!

 

[TKH]

I am so amazed that the OP got a server that allowed shellfish to be on the plate!!
I don't usually tell Disney and just work around it.
This server needs to corrected or replaced, so OP please write a letter.
QUOTE]

Like you, my husband generally doesn't tell anyone of his allergy. He's had it long enough that he knows what to avoid. He was annoyed that I told them this time! The allergy was not formally addressed, and we were okay with that. The problem was that he wasn't given the food he ordered. (Neither was I, but I rather enjoyed the 'surprises'.) He was going to eat what he was given, but then pulled a piece out and asked me if I thought it was shrimp. It was. We were just glad it didn't happen to a child.

Seriously, we're not 'mad' about anything. We were annoyed at times, but getting mad and letting it ruin our trip just wouldn't have been a productive thing.

We did fill out the comment card and will speak with Disney or write to them. I don't want these guys to lose their jobs, just learn to listen and watch for social cues.

 

[heatherwillmom]

I think the server went over the line by grabbing the baby's legs. That is riduculous. No parent wants a stranger tugging on their baby. No parent wants a stranger even touching their baby. If it had been my baby, I would have told him not to try to put the baby in the high chair. If he tried it again, the momma lion in me would have probably grabbed the server.

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

I think the server went over the line by grabbing the baby's legs. That is riduculous. No parent wants a stranger tugging on their baby. No parent wants a stranger even touching their baby. If it had been my baby, I would have told him not to try to put the baby in the high chair. If he tried it again, the momma lion in me would have probably grabbed the server.

This is absolutely true. I have calmed down as a parent since my youngest DD was little (she's 9 going on 40 now), but when my girls were little NO ONE was allowed to touch them.

Sure, I was a paranoid parent (I am mature enough now to admit that), but it was also because THEY didn't like other people touching them that they didn't know. If a server had tried to force oldest DD into a high chair she would have cried as the OP's child did. She probably would have been upset for much of the night, as she is a very sensitive child. And the Momma and Dadda lion in us would have reacted to protect her from that.

If they had tried that with youngest DD? They likely would have lost hair, teeth, sanity, etc. Youngest DD would have made her unhappiness known throughout the ship so our over-protective-ness was as much for the crew as for us. ;-)

 

[Lee Matthews]

I think the Allergy situations are a tough call.

When i worked at the Rose & Crown in Epcot, it was amazing the amount of people who had an allergy, not tell the server and then go and would order something which gives them a reaction of some type. A few would then threaten that it was our fault and were going to sue the company.

We would offer a chef to come and speak to tables that do have allergies and accommodate as best as possible. Surely it's better to be safe than sorry? But i can see how over fussing, can make an experience awkward.

Not sure how it works with cruiseline yet but i can expect them to be just as persistent and inclined to help

 

[lexlaw69]

At least half of you are nuts. You either want the service or don't want the service - your po'd because the server picked up the baby or didn't pick up the baby. Lordy - y'all are difficult and may want to rethink how many hoops you are making your server jump thru. Sadly - my guess is you don't care how many hoops you make them jump thru and always think your requests are infinitely (or infantly) reasonable. I'd challenge any of the complainers on here to take a step back, review the situation and see if their request was reasonable and communicated adequately.

 

[jilljill]

At least half of you are nuts. You either want the service or don't want the service - your po'd because the server picked up the baby or didn't pick up the baby. Lordy - y'all are difficult and may want to rethink how many hoops you are making your server jump thru. Sadly - my guess is you don't care how many hoops you make them jump thru and always think your requests are infinitely (or infantly) reasonable. I'd challenge any of the complainers on here to take a step back, review the situation and see if their request was reasonable and communicated adequately.

This is a bit over the top and generalizes that everyone that's posted on this thread is being difficult and is asking for the world on a silver platter. You might want to take a step back from this thread and think about how you've made others feel for posting their opinions and reviews which you obviously don't agree with.

 

[Dicecatt]

At least half of you are nuts. You either want the service or don't want the service - your po'd because the server picked up the baby or didn't pick up the baby. Lordy - y'all are difficult and may want to rethink how many hoops you are making your server jump thru. Sadly - my guess is you don't care how many hoops you make them jump thru and always think your requests are infinitely (or infantly) reasonable. I'd challenge any of the complainers on here to take a step back, review the situation and see if their request was reasonable and communicated adequately.

Well, before I refrained from telling you that you seem unpleasant and judgemental from your posts in a few threads, but I guess since the gloves are off...hopefully next time you cruise your server will serve you food you are allergic too, give a member of your party a dangerous instrument each and every night, and tug on body parts of a member of your party making them cry. Since you are so undemanding, you overtip them and enjoy the treatment. So sorry you won't be my tablemate next week.

 

[tesser21]

On our 7 night Eastern cruise, our head server was constantly pushing DH and I to order alcohol. I personally don't drink a lot, Dh is a beer drinker, but not with dinner, which is what we told her . We would order iced tea and coffee and every night she would ask if we were sure we didn't want an alcoholic beverage or if the kids wanted a smoothie drink, It was annoying and awkward. Our assistant server was great, so we ended up giving him a better tip than our head server.

 

[tinkerone]

we got off the magic yesterday and i can tell you our serving team was not very good. it was quite shocking actually, our other cruises must have spoiled me.
we were asked EVERY night what we would like to drink, even though the orders never changed. previously on our cruises our drinks were waiting for us after the first night. i shook my head on the last night when he still asked about our drinks. also, i have lime with my diet coke and do not like lemon in it yet every night i had to pick the lemon out of my drink, sometimes he put two in. he did, however, set a plate of cut limes out for me each night after the second dinner. oh, and drinks seldom got to us before the first course. water was poured but even that was normally ten minutes into the sitting. he kept spilling the ice on the table and then he would walk away leaving it for us to clean up. it was not good at all. he just was not very friendly, very moody and quite.
the head server was nice enough but seemed very frazeled. orders were taken about 20 minutes after we sat down (i timed it two nights) and first course never showed up before 45 minutes. we were pretty much the last to leave even though we always got there on time.
neither server could remembe my name and its very simple (judy). i did get called mama judy one night which bothered me a bit. where did THAT come from? i was with 5 other people and they were able to get most of their names right most of the time.
all in all it just was not the best dinning experience i have had. i just figured that they must be training for the dream.
now back to the original thread question....even though i did not get very good service i did leave the recommended tip. i wish i would have been able to at least lessen the assitant servers tips (he really was a bit on the nasty side) but i just could not bring myself to do it. i do think that some of the other people i was with did make a statement with the tips but i just couldn't. i'm such a chicken.....

 

[heatherwillmom]

This is absolutely true. I have calmed down as a parent since my youngest DD was little (she's 9 going on 40 now), but when my girls were little NO ONE was allowed to touch them.

Sure, I was a paranoid parent (I am mature enough now to admit that), but it was also because THEY didn't like other people touching them that they didn't know. If a server had tried to force oldest DD into a high chair she would have cried as the OP's child did. She probably would have been upset for much of the night, as she is a very sensitive child. And the Momma and Dadda lion in us would have reacted to protect her from that.

If they had tried that with youngest DD? They likely would have lost hair, teeth, sanity, etc. Youngest DD would have made her unhappiness known throughout the ship so our over-protective-ness was as much for the crew as for us. ;-)

I think you sound like a great parent for protecting your child

 

[Page4]

On our 7 night Eastern cruise, our head server was constantly pushing DH and I to order alcohol. I personally don't drink a lot, Dh is a beer drinker, but not with dinner, which is what we told her . We would order iced tea and coffee and every night she would ask if we were sure we didn't want an alcoholic beverage or if the kids wanted a smoothie drink, It was annoying and awkward. Our assistant server was great, so we ended up giving him a better tip than our head server.

We got the same thing. They must get commision on the drink upsells, or are required to sell a certain amount.

 

[Lee Matthews]

We got the same thing. They must get commision on the drink upsells, or are required to sell a certain amount.

15% commission for all sales

 

[grlzmom]

At least half of you are nuts. You either want the service or don't want the service - your po'd because the server picked up the baby or didn't pick up the baby. Lordy - y'all are difficult and may want to rethink how many hoops you are making your server jump thru. Sadly - my guess is you don't care how many hoops you make them jump thru and always think your requests are infinitely (or infantly) reasonable. I'd challenge any of the complainers on here to take a step back, review the situation and see if their request was reasonable and communicated adequately.

You should take your own advice, step back and re read your posts, because they are harsh and ridiculous, totally unreasonable.

On our 7 night Eastern cruise, our head server was constantly pushing DH and I to order alcohol. I personally don't drink a lot, Dh is a beer drinker, but not with dinner, which is what we told her

We don't normally have alcohol with dinner either and I would not be happy if they continued to push it after I already informed them about our drinking preferences.

we got off the magic yesterday and i can tell you our serving team was not very good. it was quite shocking actually, our other cruises must have spoiled me.

all in all it just was not the best dinning experience i have had. i just figured that they must be training for the dream.
now back to the original thread question....even though i did not get very good service i did leave the recommended tip. i wish i would have been able to at least lessen the assitant servers tips (he really was a bit on the nasty side) but i just could not bring myself to do it. i do think that some of the other people i was with did make a statement with the tips but i just couldn't. i'm such a chicken.....

We have cruises coming up on the Wonder and the Magic and hoping we don't have disappointing dining experiences. I've heard there are lots of new staff being trained.

For the first time this year (after 20 plus DCL cruises) we left LESS than recommended amount to a stateroom host and reflected it on the comment card (which by the way we had to get a new one as he had ALREADY filled in his part of the comment card). He had been horrible the entire cruise, we had tried to get the situation rectified several times without success. Our surrounding staterooms were also unhappy with him. When we cruised last time he was still there, and I'm amazed because the stuff he did was so bizarre.

If we ever receive poor service again, it will be reflected in the tip and on the comment card. When we receive above and beyond service, we tip over the recommended amount and that service is also reflected on the comment card.



It is inappropriate to touch someones child without asking permission.

Totally unacceptable to serve someone with food allergies something they are allergic to.

Silverware and utensils can be hazards for a baby. We know as our dd sustained a bad leg laceration when she was a toddler from a drinking glass placed in front of her at a restaurant.

DCL servers know this stuff and none of this is expecting servers to "jump through hoops". I'm so sorry to the OP for having this experience and hoping it's an isolated one and next time you cruise DCL it is excellent

 

[Cmbar]

At least half of you are nuts. You either want the service or don't want the service - your po'd because the server picked up the baby or didn't pick up the baby. Lordy - y'all are difficult and may want to rethink how many hoops you are making your server jump thru. Sadly - my guess is you don't care how many hoops you make them jump thru and always think your requests are infinitely (or infantly) reasonable. I'd challenge any of the complainers on here to take a step back, review the situation and see if their request was reasonable and communicated adequately.

First off you must not have cruised yet because if you expect Applebees service on your Disney Cruise you are way overpaying!

Second the only one on this thread being unreasonable is you. You are being rude and accusing others of expecting more than is reasonable. You clearly have anger issues with this and I suspect you are a very difficult person to deal with. I would guess that servers would much prefer a guest who politely asks for a service they are being paid to provide versus a crash, rude yet expect nothing guest.

The OP was well within her right to under tip for subpar service if she so chose to do that. You simply should not expect subpar service when you are paying 3k to 10k for a cruise. No way should a person with a seafood allergy have been served Seafood. Not the Disney way and the management needs to be told about stuff like that and a server should not be tipped well when they performed subpar. Simple really.

 

[Lee Matthews]

Just throwing this out there but could some of you please give me examples of the following:

Amazing Service, Completely above and beyond

Adequate service, what i would expect at least

Poor Service

Poor service to the extend of making serious complaints

 

[tinkerone]

Just throwing this out there but could some of you please give me examples of the following:

Amazing Service, Completely above and beyond

Adequate service, what i would expect at least

Poor Service

Poor service to the extend of making serious complaints

amazing service--the server takes the time to suggest things to the adults to do. takes the time to make paper plains, fold napkins, provide puzzles for the kids. this has been done on my past cruises, its not necessary but they become part of the 'family' when they do.

adequate service--they bring your drink order after the second night without having to ask. food is served with out problems, everyone gets what they order with no errors.

poor service--drinks don't come, food is distributed to the wrong people, long periods of time between courses.

poor service to the extent of complaints--no drinks come, no bread at the table, being agnored, food cold, rude comments.

this should give you a bit of an idea. there are reasons for everything. i'm sure others can provide more for you but this is a basis. the expectation for disney is high. the cost is more than most cruise lines and the service has, in the past, always been very high. if it falls, why would someone pay more to board their ships??

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Just throwing this out there but could some of you please give me examples of the following:

Amazing Service, Completely above and beyond

Adequate service, what i would expect at least

Poor Service

Poor service to the extend of making serious complaints

Good luck with joining the DCL team!

We're fairly easygoing so we don't have any particular things that have to be done for it to be considered excellent service such as having our drinks ready for us. That said, excellent service is very subjective and we've seen different styles work for us. Our best servers are the ones who really took the time to get to know our family. It seems like this is usually done during dessert and as we relax after dinner (we usually do the late seating). If you spend a little extra time asking about us and letting us get to know you, we find that everything else seems to run smoothly.

 

[Dicecatt]

Just throwing this out there but could some of you please give me examples of the following:

Amazing Service, Completely above and beyond

Adequate service, what i would expect at least

Poor Service

Poor service to the extend of making serious complaints

Amazing service: Remembering our names, bringing kids cups without asking, making paper animals out of menus, one server made a grafitti type name tag for my toddler on his time off and brought it to dinner. Just being friendly goes a long way! Once, one of my girls asked the server if there was creme brulee, and he said no, that is at the other restaurant. She was fine and ordered something else...and he brought her creme brulee also! Not because we demanded it or even asked for it, but just because.

Adequate: performing all duties perfectly well but lacking the extra friendly sparkle.

Poor: Being huried, making it seem like you are a burden to them, taking a long time to deliver anything ordered.

Poor that would lead to complaints: Physically handling my children, not having high chair at table night after night, wrong entrees repeatedly, bringing something that someone is allergic too, especially repeatedly, being absent and having long durations of no food and just waiting, dinner taking an overly long time directly because of the server.

Edited to add...we've experienced the top two, but never the bottom two

 

[jilljill]

Just throwing this out there but could some of you please give me examples of the following:

Amazing Service, Completely above and beyond

Adequate service, what i would expect at least

Poor Service

Poor service to the extend of making serious complaints

I just want to add that when you are a new server just let the guests know this and it should make you feel better and more relaxed. This past summer on the Magic it was our asst. server's 2nd cruise, the first couple of nights he was very nervous and trying to be 'over the top' with us and was very rigid and not friendly. The 3rd night we stopped him and just asked him a few questions about himself and when he told us that it was his second cruise we told him to just relax with us and everything would be fine. Once we broke thru that bit of a hurdle with him he was so much better with us and interacted with the adults and kids and his service improved. Since it was a 12 night cruise we told him a couple of times how much better he was getting and his confidence showed by the end of the cruise. He said he really appreciated the feedback we gave him and was glad that he could relax and was excited that we told him his service had improved.

Having the servers talk with us is a big plus in our books - it could be something as simple as asking us how our day was or what we did that day or what's planned for the next day.