To request a server or not?

[BNDisney55]

Do you all request servers on your cruises? If so, any current ones on the Fantasy we should request? We leave in a couple of weeks.

I read that sometimes you get paired better when you don't make any requests. We are a family of 3, with an only child, and I would love for her to be with other kids.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The only situation where I would request a certain server is if there is one I've had on a prior cruise that I loved and wanted again. Otherwise, I would leave it to chance. I've had good servers on all but one of my cruises, but not a server (outside of Palo) that I loved enough to want to request again.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do you all request servers on your cruises? If so, any current ones on the Fantasy we should request? We leave in a couple of weeks.

I read that sometimes you get paired better when you don't make any requests. We are a family of 3, with an only child, and I would love for her to be with other kids.

We've never requested specific servers. And we've never had a bad one. The worst server we've had wasn't really "bad", just new. She hadn't quite gotten the logistics of getting our drinks out early, but she would eventually get them to the table.

Typically, unless you are Concierge, you will be seated with others of the same family dynamics as yours.

 

[mevelandry]

We never request servers.

Sometimes you have to let go of controlling everything and let life surprise you.

P.s.: I'm a total control freak... but I've experienced nice surprises when I just let go of some details.

 

[BNDisney55]

We never request servers.

Sometimes you have to let go of controlling everything and let life surprise you.

P.s.: I'm a total control freak... but I've experienced nice surprises when I just let go of some details.

noooooooo......muuuuuuuussst cooooonnnnnttroooool everything lol

 

[OKW Lover]

Never bothered to request servers. We've had some very good ones that we wouldn't mind having again but honestly we really don't mind the luck of the draw.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I never have and probably never will unless I absolutely loved one we had on a previous cruise. I personally don't really get why people request servers they have never had themselves, but to each his or her own!

 

[FindMeAFishingSpot]

We've requested servers we've had success with on previous cruises - we've had a couple of servers we weren't entirely thrilled with and if I can increase my odds of a more enjoyable experience, I'll take it. Plus, our favorite server on the Dream is a big Marvels comics fan, so he and DS always have something fun to talk about!

 

[Iamaplanner]

It honestly doesn't matter enough to us to make a request for a specific server. All of our servers have been fine. Some better than others. None were terrible. We've been happy on every cruise. Besides, just because someone on here found a server to be awesome, it does not necessarily mean that you are guaranteed the same experience. Have fun!

 

[squirk]

Nigreshang Kangoo ("Ashang"). You won't be disappointed. We've had him twice and will be asking for him again in February.

To be fair, we've never had a "bad" server, either. Some were "OK", some were "very good", but Ashang was "great".

 

[cgolf]

We have never requested servers, but have requested a head server (Fitz) and we were lucky enough to get him a second time. While there are some we wish we could have again, we have really haven't encountered a horrible serving team, but of course some are better than others. It is kind of neat getting to see a different serving team each trip.

We also learned that some can have off weeks, we had a head server that was unbelievably awful one cruise, and on a later cruise he was amazing, so don't necessarily write off a serving team if you had a bad experience in the past.

 

[Sytrace]

On one of our cruises we had requested the same server (s) we had before. When we got onboard, we found she had been promoted to Palo and the assistant server was of course working with someone else.

Honestly, we have really liked all of our servers and head servers a lot and are always happy to see who we might get. And of course, getting to see all our previous serving teams at Cabanas or at lunch is always wonderful.

 

[mickeyluv]

We request a specific server each time we've cruised DCL. His name is Alex Ocampo, he's from the Phillipines. Does anyone know or remember him being on the Fantasy recently? Is there a way to find out if he'll be on a specific cruise date? He is an Amazing server & we just love him!

 

[clten]

We do request specific servers when we cruise. But we do it because we have had the server before and have had a great experience. We have allergies to deal with and not all servers handle them well. We have had to change servers a couple of times when we have gone with "luck of the draw". (One server mixed up the "allergen free" soup with a regular soup and insisted it was correct even though my sister started breaking out in hives almost immediately.)

But unless I have personal experience, I wouldn't request a server because someone else thought they were great. Each family is different and may interact differently with a server. (For instance a pp mentioned being lucky enough to get Fitz as a head server twice. For us once was too much. He was our least liked head server.)

We request a specific server each time we've cruised DCL. His name is Alex Ocampo, he's from the Phillipines. Does anyone know or remember him being on the Fantasy recently? Is there a way to find out if he'll be on a specific cruise date? He is an Amazing server & we just love him!

There is no way to find out from DCL if an employee will be on a specific cruise. The only way is to ask on a forum like this and hope someone who ran into them recently is familiar with their schedule.

 

[ludari]

I will request a server if I have been on that ship before and the server stood out. Aside from that I just accept whatever server assigned to me which has always worked out.

 

[DCLSailing]

Initially when we started sailing Disney we had a wonderful experience and requested the same server on subsequent sailings. However, when we ultimately had a different dining team for another sailing, we were even more impressed and had an even better experience. Since then we've stopped requesting and had new experiences with other dining teams. On back to back sailings they assume you want the same team. On our last back to back they were very concerned that we were dissatisfied when we simply wanted to experience the service of another dining team. Which incidentally was even better than the first half of the trip!

In my experience with requesting the same dining team on a couple occasions, while the service was outstanding, I definitely feel like we took a back seat to the 'new' or unfamiliar guests tables.

 

[PryncessLace]

We request a specific server each time we've cruised DCL. His name is Alex Ocampo, he's from the Phillipines. Does anyone know or remember him being on the Fantasy recently? Is there a way to find out if he'll be on a specific cruise date? He is an Amazing server & we just love him!

We LOVED Alex!! We had him on the Dream, but that was a few years ago.

We do request specific servers when we cruise. But we do it because we have had the server before and have had a great experience. We have allergies to deal with and not all servers handle them well. We have had to change servers a couple of times when we have gone with "luck of the draw". (One server mixed up the "allergen free" soup with a regular soup and insisted it was correct even though my sister started breaking out in hives almost immediately.)

This is my fear, we have several allergies at our table, and my sisters are severe.

 

[Loopster]

We LOVED Alex!! We had him on the Dream, but that was a few years ago.

We request a specific server each time we've cruised DCL. His name is Alex Ocampo, he's from the Phillipines. Does anyone know or remember him being on the Fantasy recently? Is there a way to find out if he'll be on a specific cruise date? He is an Amazing server & we just love him!

We just got off the Dream a few weeks ago and had Alex as our server. He is THE BEST! The kids and I cried when we had to say goodbye to him when it was over.

 

[Dug720]

Maureen Kaela on the Fantasy is the only one I've had that I would forego requesting a rotation to request. She was amazing!

The other ships I'm much more likely to request a rotation so I can plan Palo to avoid Triton's/Lumiere's/Royal Whichever as that is my least favorite menu by far.

 

[hanscarlet]

no we don't and twice I've regretted it but we're rolling the dice again this september and not requesting a serving team