Wonder servers - that bad??

[amberwc]

We had Roland last year in Alaska, he specializes in people with food allergies--my mom is allergic to onions. He was awesome, several nights I couldn't decide what to order, and he picked for me. He really got to know what we liked and even took care of pairing wines. We really appreciated him, and I would ask for him if we ever sailed the Wonder again!

 

[Dug720]

We had Roland last year in Alaska, he specializes in people with food allergies--my mom is allergic to onions. He was awesome, several nights I couldn't decide what to order, and he picked for me. He really got to know what we liked and even took care of pairing wines. We really appreciated him, and I would ask for him if we ever sailed the Wonder again!

Thank you! Do you happen to remember his last name and/or where he is from? I know that can often help with requests as sometimes there is more than one with the first name.

 

[amberwc]

Thank you! Do you happen to remember his last name and/or where he is from? I know that can often help with requests as sometimes there is more than one with the first name.

India - I think. I had to find a picture with him in it, and the country is hard to read.

 

[Dug720]

India - I think. I had to find a picture with him in it, and the country is hard to read.

Awesome, thank you!

 

[RedSox68]

Worst serving team I've ever had was on the Magic -- the server spent the whole week talking about how excited he was to be going on leave, and neglected many items in our orders and took too long to take orders or deliver courses. His poor assistant looked lost and it was obvious the server was not training him. Never had a bad team on any other ship on Disney!

 

[GeneralTso]

I would imagine there are fantastic and bad servers on each of the ships. This thread title is misleading and so negative.

 

[Dug720]

I would imagine there are fantastic and bad servers on each of the ships. This thread title is misleading and so negative.

Sorry I don't meet your criteria for an acceptable title. I based it on a lot of reports lately - including the famed Scott of the DCL blog on his Alaska cruise - reporting issues or "reserving judgment" with/on servers on the Wonder. So I am trying to get a feel for if this is systemic on the Wonder.

 

[GeneralTso]

Come ON....you know it's not "systemic"
Don't worry, you will have a great time. Trying to call out potentially bad servers is an odd thing to me. To ME.

 

[jetskigrl]

I don't think the servers are 'that' bad. We've only been on 1 cruise, Wonder, last August. We had Hernan (Chile) for our server, Olena (Ukraine) for our assistant, Rakesh (Trinidad and Tobago) was the head server. (I've seen Hernan mentioned with a different asst. server in the past couple of months.) We liked our team, they did magic tricks/origami and cut up DD12's salad. The head server came by daily to see how we were all doing (inevitably right after my girls had headed off to a restroom, which was kind of a running gag by the end of the trip). There was just 1 night that they seemed super busy that we felt a little neglected (to the point that my water glass was empty and the head server was helping out at the tables--I think he ended up refilling my glass.) Maybe they were short staffed that night. Anyways, it was just 1 night in the middle of the trip that was off. We are very undemanding people, and understand that there can be days like that.

I loved the server we had at the character breakfast, Felipe (Peru). DD16 was feeling seasick, he noticed, got her some green apple, told us to take it back to the room with us, etc. We saw Felipe the next day at Cabanas at lunchtime and he recognized DD16 and asked how she was doing.

He had Hernan on the Wonder back in 2012 and he was awesome. My kids both still have the origami that he made for them out of the kids menus (rose for DD, frog for DS). We have run into him a few times on more recent cruises.

We have cruised the Wonder 7 times and always had great servers. Actually, our only experience with less-than-stellar servers were on the Dream but we chalked that up to it being in service only a few months when we sailed.

 

[Dug720]

Come ON....you know it's not "systemic"
Don't worry, you will have a great time. Trying to call out potentially bad servers is an odd thing to me. To ME.

No - the most consistent reports of issues have been on the Wonder. So that does make the "is it systemic" question valid.

I said I was not asking for names but experiences. So I was not "trying to call out" specifics.

 

[lpandorf]

We were on the Wonder in June and best server ever. He even took care of us at lunch when he saw us at Cabanas. The assistant getting drinks wasn't the best though. Forgot to bring drinks, mixed up smoothies and had to remind her to bring the paper to sign for the drinks that cost money. The main server was so good though he made up for the goof-ups on the drinks.

 

[hanscarlet]

The last time we were on the Wonder was in 2015 but they were the best serving time we've ever had. Also our favorite Palo server was on the Wonder.

 

[cmwade77]

We are now Gold members and only two of cruises haven't been on the Wonder since we live out on the West Coast and I can honestly say that on all of our cruises we haven't had servers that were bad. The closest we ever came was on the Fantasy, one member of our party wasn't liking how slow the service was, although the rest of us didn't mind, but it was indeed a bit slow, we said something they fixed it the next night.

Here is what it boils down to, if you are getting bad service, speak with the head server, if they can't fix it, go to guest relations, it will get fixed.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

So 7 cruises- all ships but Fantasy. I can't say that we have had any bad servers. Some were outstanding, others were excellent. We only had one room steward that was kind of a dud-never met him, not once. Most I wish i could take home with me. LOL I feel some of the responsibility rests with me. If, I am unhappy with my service and don't speak up, then I do carry some of the burden. They can't read my mind. If it continues, despite my attempts to notify, that is a different story. As far as the surveys go I let my servers know that I fill one out each cruise and always mention those who give me excellent service, by name, on the form. That always seems to put a lid on the requests for an excellent rating. I try not to let an occasional check up with me bother me. I just remind them that I am happy, if I am!

 

[ironz]

He had Hernan on the Wonder back in 2012 and he was awesome. My kids both still have the origami that he made for them out of the kids menus (rose for DD, frog for DS). We have run into him a few times on more recent cruises.

We have cruised the Wonder 7 times and always had great servers. Actually, our only experience with less-than-stellar servers were on the Dream but we chalked that up to it being in service only a few months when we sailed.

Aww...Hernan would love this! We had him on our recent cruise to Alaska-- great guy, always spot on with the recommendations.
He told us how much it means to the servers that guests recall their good experiences with them!
And he brought one of our servers from a previous Wonder cruise (Andre) over to say hi to us, since we asked about him, having had wonderful service on our first DCL when he was our server.

 

[jetskigrl]

Aww...Hernan would love this! We had him on our recent cruise to Alaska-- great guy, always spot on with the recommendations.
He told us how much it means to the servers that guests recall their good experiences with them!
And he brought one of our servers from a previous Wonder cruise (Andre) over to say hi to us, since we asked about him, having had wonderful service on our first DCL when he was our server.

We will look for him next week when we are on the Wonder.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Without reading the whole thread & just addressing the initial post....

Our first experience with dining team on Wonder was pretty awful. We were their chore they didn't want to deal with the way I avoid dusting at home. LOL!

BUT, we have sailed Wonder 3x since and all the dining teams we've had since were great. They did a bang-up job. Favorite Palo server ever is on Wonder, too! Mad love for Alvaro! We also hear other excellent mentions for others in the Wonder Palo team. Of our 4 Wonder cruises most service in all areas has been par or better.

I think if you travel enough you'll eventually have an off experience. Ours was just that one Wonder sailing when all our eventuals synchronized. LOL!

 

[ludari]

I have not been on the Wonder in about three years but I have sailed on all the Disney ships and the majority of my cruises have been on the Wonder. That being said I have never had a bad server on the Wonder.

 

[ironz]

We will look for him next week when we are on the Wonder.

Please tell him (and Patricia if she is his assistant still--loved her!) that Betsy and David from Texas from the May 22 Alaska cruise say hi!!!

And have a wonderful cruise! We want to go back so badly.

 

[swooshbear]

Our favorite crew members are on the Wonder. At Palo, we are thrilled when Leo (India) is working and will request him every time. Our last cruise he was on vacation and his "cousin" Ashleigh was just as fun. We've been on the Wonder more than any other ship so we might be a little biased but it's always good to see familiar faces when we are onboard.

On our last Alaskan cruise, Geoffrey (Philippines) was our head server and set up a special Filipino breakfast for my DW and her family.