The pressure to provide "excellent" service

[TheRealDrDisney]

On my first cruise, the serving team treated us like we were their friends - so nice and welcoming. It was great. We got the "excellent" speech, and we provided the all excellents - which they didn't really deserve, but hey they were so friendly (and it was my first cruise so what did I know?)

We added cash to the envelopes and put in a handwritten note about how nice it was to meet them and learn about their lives and share about our families, etc. My wife even encouraged me to put in our email addresses so that maybe we would hear from them or stay in touch with our new friends.

The rest of the story is (now) predictable. We gave them their envelopes the last night at the MDR, then the next morning at breakfast they were all business, no smiles, and didn't care whether we were there or not. I can just imagine it like a kid at a birthday party where he rips open the card, dumps out the money, and moves on. It's a 50/50 bet whether they took the time to read our notes and laugh at them, or if they just dropped them right into the trash without a second glance.

We haven't made that mistake since then. We tip exactly what Disney requires, we are polite and friendly but remember that these people don't give a rat's azz about us really, and we fill out the survey honestly

Live and learn.

We would all do well to remember that it's a business transaction. We pay for what we get, and if they want a frank response at the end on a survey then we should provide it.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

I didn't realize hospitals went with the car dealership system. What an incredibly stupid place to do that! There are a million reasons why a person would ding a hospital stay that have nothing to do with the actual staff. I help my MIL fill those out, and she knocks them because they don't respond fast enough when she hits the call light. That's because she waits until she can't wait to "go", and she has zero empathy for the fact that they might be helping someone as sick as she was just two days prior

Not to get into politics on here, but you can thank our President with his "Obamacare" for the hospitals getting dinged if they don't receive excellent on their surveys. Hospitals getting their payments from Medicare and Medicaid is the worst because it is paid through the government and it is all based on the Patient Experience survey. Don't get me wrong, I do understand when patients give bad ratings for some thing that happen, they have every right to give that bad survey. My motto on surveys now is, "if I don't have anything good to say, I don't fill them out and throw them away." Just like the Disney survey, if nurses or other hospital staff get their names mentioned for doing something good in a survey it helps with their evaluations. So when I am filling out the Disney survey, I give all excellent, unless there is something that is just terrible I don't fill one out. I never thought to take extra paper, I will do this on our up and coming cruise. So if I don't fill one out, I can still drop that paper in the survey box with names of people that made our cruise magical. I try to list everyone that did something that made our cruise magical too. There is one dining room hostess that we just love and she has been on there 2 out of our 3 cruises we just love her. She told me that if a family mentions someones name (even if they were not assigned to your table or room) in the surveys, that is how they get promoted (after so many times of having their named mentioned). So try to give these people who made your and your family's trip magical an excellent rating if all possible, and try to list everyone by name and where they worked.

 

[anna08]

Not to get into politics on here, but you can thank our President with his "Obamacare" for the hospitals getting dinged if they don't receive excellent on their surveys.

This system was in place long before Obama was president - at least at all the hospitals in my town where both my husband and I had privileges.

Back on topic - I honestly believe the question about the "excellent" pressure on the survey came about after many folks on the Dis here posted about how annoyed they were by the speeches. Google disboards curmudgeon thread.

I'm in the camp that the survey bothers me. I strongly feel it is the Head Server's job to evaluate his servers and determine who is doing their job successfully. If they would cut out the smoozy handshake conversations and spend that time observing their staff, they would be able to see how long meals are taking, etc... I'm happy to tip generously for good service, but really don't want my servers to be my new bff. But I'm one of those that loves the Starbucks mobile app because I don't have to talk to anyone to get my coffee at the shop.

The best restaurant server to me when I'm eating with family or friends on vacation is one that really never converses except where necessary to order, but I view restaurant dining from the perspective that I am finally getting to sit down and have conversation with friends and family where normal life often precludes that.
The MDRs are not my ideal for dining for a multitude of reasons, but the server speeches are a huge turn-off.

 

[barrey]

The team that really deserved their "Excellent" ratings from us was the one that acted genuinely interested in talking with us, always had my kids' drinks and a small snack on the table when we came in, and somehow managed to get me lumpia, adobo chicken and noodles one night after a previous night's mention that I liked Filipino food. Turns out a lot of the kitchen staff was Filipino and they were happy to share.

Truly above and beyond. Never got bad service, and any food issues were quickly rectified.

If I get the speech, I'll put a stop to it, that's not what I want to hear on my vacation.

Only 3 cruises so far but on 2 of the 3 cruises the MDR crew truly deserved the rating. We were just being kind on the 3rd.

We're on the Fantasy in a few weeks, so hopefully everything is "Excellent"...

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--as I said the 3 cruises we were on we got great service and no speech whatsoever.

And I thought the food in the MDR's was just fine.

It's actually a "mass dining" sort of thing and I don't expect a 5 star restaurant experience.

And the servers should be friendly and prompt and attentive--but I don't expect them to shine my shoes.

 

[RedSox68]

On my first cruise, the serving team treated us like we were their friends - so nice and welcoming. It was great. We got the "excellent" speech, and we provided the all excellents - which they didn't really deserve, but hey the were so friendly (and it was my first cruise so what did I know?)

We added cash to the envelopes and put in a handwritten note about how nice it was to meet them and learn about their lives and share about our families, etc. My wife even encouraged me to put in our email addresses so that maybe we would hear from them or stay in touch with our new friends.

The rest of the story is (now) predictable. We gave them their envelopes the last night at the MDR, then the next morning at breakfast they were all business, no smiles, and didn't care whether we were there or not. I can just imagine it like a kid at a birthday party where he rips open the card, dumps out the money, and moves on. It's a 50/50 bet whether they took the time to read our notes and laugh at them, or if they just dropped them right into the trash without a second glance.

We haven't made that mistake since then. We tip exactly what Disney requires, we are polite and friendly but remember that these people don't give a rat's azz about us really, and we fill out the survey honestly

Live and learn.

We would all do well to remember that it's a business transaction. We pay for what we get, and if they want a frank response at the end on a survey then we should provide it.

This is unfortunately the norm that we have experienced. Our very first Disney cruise (and our first ever cruise) was a 4-night on the Wonder and we had a wonderful serving team who were just as glorious on the last morning. Then we cruised again, and discovered over the next two cruises that the serving team was NOT so glorious on that last morning after you gave them the tips the night before, so we stopped giving them their envelopes on the last night and waited until the morning. But after a couple more experiences with lousy attitudes at breakfast and no interest in us at all or frankly whether we were there or not, we stopped going. We found it a real downer to end the cruise with that last experience. The only time we went back for debarkation breakfast was the time we did back-2-back and just went to breakfast sans luggage, enjoyed it for what it was and went back to our room LOL. We now just get breakfast at Cabanas. And we, too, rarely if ever add extra cash to the envelopes as our last four cruises on Disney were hit or miss with service and attention. But then again, we don't add extra money on other cruises we take either since we pay the full recommended amount for gratuities.

 

[dreadpiraterose]

We haven't made that mistake since then. We tip exactly what Disney requires, we are polite and friendly but remember that these people don't give a rat's azz about us really, and we fill out the survey honestly

Live and learn.

We would all do well to remember that it's a business transaction. We pay for what we get, and if they want a frank response at the end on a survey then we should provide it.

What a horrible generalization to make about all servers based on your first cruise experience. We've loved our servers, and have never once received the brush off on disembarkation morning. We've stayed in touch with one, in fact, and consider him a friend at this point over the years.

I'm not discounting that you may have had a bad experience, but not all servers are as you described. Such a shame to dismiss them all that way.

 

[jdb in AZ]

On the last morning we prefer Cabanas because we can just get our food and go. The MDR's are a mad crush with all the luggage in there and at the entrance. The waiters are rushed because they have to hurry the disembarking passengers to get ready for the embarking passengers. I wouldn't be all smiles and gracious doing that. Good thing I'm not a waiter.

 

[timrousbeastie]

On our 3 cruises, we've had two main servers with the "excellence" issue. The third only gave us the speech once, slightly apologetic with a concise explanation of why he had to. He was very articulate and clearly very intelligent and perceptive, and his service was truly excellent the whole week. By breakfast on the last day, I gave him a considerable cash tip because I was so impressed, not only by his overall service, but also by how cleverly he had spared us for the problems that have been brought up in this thread. I requested him for our latest cruise, but, unfortunately, he was on another ship. Instead, we got a mediocre main server who constantly fished for "e"-word to the point where it was driving all of us crazy. His service wasn't that brilliant either. One evening, we explained to him that we (party of 9) wanted to skip dessert and go have it in the concierge lounge instead. He then informed us that it only was concierge guests that could use the concierge lounge - yikes!

If we can't my favorite server for our fourth cruise, I've decided to pull our main server aside the first evening, give him a good tip up front, and explain that this is on the condition that he doesn't talk about excellence all week. If he does anyway, I'll go to guest services the last evening and request that the tip be reduced correspondingly.

 

[Ariel484]

This system was in place long before Obama was president - at least at all the hospitals in my town where both my husband and I had privileges.

Seconded. Not an Obamacare thing.

Anyway...

I just took my 5th cruise (4-night Dream) and it seems like with each successive sailing they've put the pressure on a bit more...our guy didn't come right out and say it this time in those exact words, but we knew what he was getting at. It bordered on possibly starting to get annoying, so we didn't nip it in the bud (just said "yep, all is excellent, thanks") but it's something I'm going to think about before our next sailing for sure.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

So just a quick question…. On the last morning, the Cabana is open for breakfast and what time does it open? I hate going to the MDR for breakfast with the luggage we decided to keep to get ready that morning. It would be nice to go up there get our breakfast eat really quick and head down and wait for the ship to be cleared so we can be one of the first ones off.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

it seems like with each successive sailing they've put the pressure on a bit more

Just a thought….Maybe, everyone should drop a note in the box along with their survey's and tell them how annoying it is to get the "excellent" speech in the MDR. If everyone started doing this, they may tell them to stop. DCL may not even realize they are doing it. But with DCL putting the pressure on the staff to receive an excellent, the staff feel like they have to do whatever it takes to get that excellent. Honestly, I never have had the person that cleans our room (I forget their title), give me an excellent speech. So maybe the staff that works in the MDR must of all got together and decided to do it and it just keeps getting passed along when the new people start and now it has just got out of control.

 

[Sytrace]

Yes, he has a very big heart and I hope he stays that way, even if it means keeping me up at night worrying about whether or not the homeless cats he saw in San Juan are hungry right now or if people in jail miss their families. His big heart helps keep our family in check, always reminding us our worries are small and we are blessed. He's not on Disboards yet. Maybe some day.

I hope he stays the same as well. He sounds absolutely awesome.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

What a horrible generalization to make about all servers based on your first cruise experience. We've loved our servers, and have never once received the brush off on disembarkation morning. We've stayed in touch with one, in fact, and consider him a friend at this point over the years.

I'm not discounting that you may have had a bad experience, but not all servers are as you described. Such a shame to dismiss them all that way.

Thank you for the thoughtful response, I'll give it due consideration. I am just more cynical as I get older, and it seems to be easier to see behind the smiles and the handshakes to the more mercenary reasons that exist.

I'm glad you've made friends, that sounds like a wonderful experience. Maybe we'll try it again someday.

 

[85glht]

So just a quick question…. On the last morning, the Cabana is open for breakfast and what time does it open? I hate going to the MDR for breakfast with the luggage we decided to keep to get ready that morning. It would be nice to go up there get our breakfast eat really quick and head down and wait for the ship to be cleared so we can be one of the first ones off.

It is either 5:30 or 6 am... Can't remember exactly. This is the what we have done in the past and works well. Keep luggage in the room, eat, get luggage and get in line to disembark.

 

[RedSox68]

It is either 5:30 or 6 am... Can't remember exactly. This is the what we have done in the past and works well. Keep luggage in the room, eat, get luggage and get in line to disembark.

There is a certain freedom that comes with using Cabanas that morning. We've done both - left our luggage and gone up early, or gone up and gotten our food and taken it back to the room to eat while we get ready. Tripping over the luggage in the restaurants and be jammed at the door to get in is no longer worth the effort to see the servers one last time.

 

[Hundredacre]

Thank you for the thoughtful response, I'll give it due consideration. I am just more cynical as I get older, and it seems to be easier to see behind the smiles and the handshakes to the more mercenary reasons that exist.

I'm glad you've made friends, that sounds like a wonderful experience. Maybe we'll try it again someday.

We are cynical on this too. If you have worked in the service industry you are quite aware that it is overwhelmingly a transaction.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thank you for the thoughtful response, I'll give it due consideration. I am just more cynical as I get older, and it seems to be easier to see behind the smiles and the handshakes to the more mercenary reasons that exist.

I'm glad you've made friends, that sounds like a wonderful experience. Maybe we'll try it again someday.

Having a friendship develop on a cruise is a wonderful thing, but I expect it's also rare. We usually don't pay people to be our friends. If a friendship happens, that's great, but most interactions that involve giving/getting service don't end up as friendships afterward.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Just a thought….Maybe, everyone should drop a note in the box along with their survey's and tell them how annoying it is to get the "excellent" speech in the MDR. If everyone started doing this, they may tell them to stop. DCL may not even realize they are doing it. But with DCL putting the pressure on the staff to receive an excellent, the staff feel like they have to do whatever it takes to get that excellent. Honestly, I never have had the person that cleans our room (I forget their title), give me an excellent speech. So maybe the staff that works in the MDR must of all got together and decided to do it and it just keeps getting passed along when the new people start and now it has just got out of control.

DCL is aware of the excellent speech -- that's why the survey asks if you felt pressured to give the wait staff an excellent rating.

 

[MinnieMouse64]

DCL is aware of the excellent speech -- that's why the survey asks if you felt pressured to give the wait staff an excellent rating.

Now that you mention it, seems like I do remember seeing that on the survey!! It's been almost a year, can't wait until November..LOL.