Critique of 2.0?

[Launchpad11B]

I loved, loved, loved our serving team. Cesar and Carlo were just too much fun! My room steward was good. I didn't ask much of him and he was friendly when I saw him in the hall. I ordered from room service a couple of times during the cruise and the food was good and delivered when promised. My major complaint was the service in Wavebands. So much wasted opportunity for money-making on the part of the servers. I think I was there for over an hour on the last night of the cruise before someone approached the table to ask if we needed anything!!

Totally agree. I made multiple trips to the bar. It was that or go without. Not a big deal, but as you said, quite a waste of potential tips.

 

[Madi100]

Maybe I have low expectations, but I was very pleased. I thought that our head server was great, and our assistant server, Bubba, did great as well. I think Phillip is just hard to please. Coke, Dt. Coke. What's the difference????

I put special comments on our card for Savio and Neil, our stateroom attendant. Neil was very friendly and called us by name. He even left us an extra treat one night.

My opinion about the food - they should not try so hard for fine dining and just make sure the food tastes good. Although I liked my food every night. James did not. I think we have decided that we hate Triton's, and we would rather eat chicken strips by the pools.

Overall, we had a great time on the ship and nothing would stop us from going back again.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Just wondered what everybody thought of their Non-DIS experiences on PCC 2.0.

Val & I throughly enjoyed the ship. Discovered the upstairs area of Cove Cafe on day two and loved it. Also enjoyed a couple of the lounges before dinner each night, Cadillac Lounge and the Promenade Lounge. Normally we would have wine on our veranda before dinner, but the temps just didn't cooperate.

I also appreciated being able to see most of the Pats game on Sunday night in Diversions.

On the down side; we had poor experiences with our dining room servers and our cabin steward. I believe that they were rushed into front-line jobs before they had adequate training.

To say that our servers were slow is an understatement. Our table was often one of the last to get their food. One night I had ordered my appetizer and main course and specifically asked for a glass of wine to be served with the main course. Main course came, no wine. I was done eating before they finally brought it, which I sent back of course.

Our cabin steward was un-obtrusive but he just didn't do anything beyond towel animals (which aren't a big deal to us). We had to ask several time for extra shampoo/lotion/etc and only finally got them after we asked a different steward in the corridor. Also requested ice in the room each afternoon - never got it (didn't matter because our plans changed).

I did rate them lower on the cruise survey, which is something I'm loath to do since I know it affects their raises, etc. But Disney needs to know that more training is necessary.

It's funny you mention the room steward - I felt the same way about ours. He was very nice, but not exceptional. Our dining room servers were very good - no complaints there, and the food was better than what we experienced on the Magic in April (by a mile). Even still, we had some meals that were so-so, and a few that were quite good. But I agree, especially where the room stewards are concerned that more training is definitely necessary.

 

[kab407]

Maybe I have low expectations, but I was very pleased. I thought that our head server was great, and our assistant server, Bubba, did great as well. I think Phillip is just hard to please. Coke, Dt. Coke. What's the difference????

Bobba. Please, Phillip gave me enough grief over me calling her Bubba.

Hey! It's my Jersey accent.

 

[Madi100]

It's funny you mention the room steward - I felt the same way about ours. He was very nice, but not exceptional. Our dining room servers were very good - no complaints there, and the food was better than what we experienced on the Magic in April (by a mile). Even still, we had some meals that were so-so, and a few that were quite good. But I agree, especially where the room stewards are concerned that more training is definitely necessary.

Because I only expect them to make up the bed, change towels, etc., what do you consider exceptional service? Ours didn't go above and beyond when it came to our room. We had the typical towel animals, chocolates, shampoo/conditioner every day (except Wednesday), and when he saw us in the hallway, he called us by name. I considered this exceptional. My cruising experience is rather limited, and I know that we haven't experienced much. I would be interested to hear what you've had that is exceptional. Maybe ours was nothing great, and I don't know it

 

[WebmasterMike]

I have to say that our Servers were all wonderful and did great jobs. Our Stateroom Steward was OUTSTANDING! We tipped him way above the recommended amount. We had Winston, and he was fantastic. (Shhh, Christy has enough of the Body Butter to last till our next cruise!! Winston rocks!!)

 

[jcb]

Because I only expect them to make up the bed, change towels, etc., what do you consider exceptional service? Ours didn't go above and beyond when it came to our room. We had the typical towel animals, chocolates, shampoo/conditioner every day (except Wednesday), and when he saw us in the hallway, he called us by name. I considered this exceptional. My cruising experience is rather limited, and I know that we haven't experienced much. I would be interested to hear what you've had that is exceptional. Maybe ours was nothing great, and I don't know it

I agree with you. Our steward was very good, better than average. He was not only friendly but the room was always done when we returned. And that is saying something given DW and my schedules.

The servers we had were very nice but it was pretty clear they were not experienced. We did Palo the first night and missed the fight that our table's former servers had. Our dining companions were hysterical describing it.

 

[mainegal]

I am easily pleased and/or I have reasonable expectations.

The food and service was better than I get at home. I was happy.

Alana kept the room in good order. We did not get extra "amenities". There was enough shampoo and conditioner to last a week in those tubes!

I really enjoyed the tour "art of the ship". I would have liked more "educational" ship activities. Guess I would get them on a longer cruise?

 

[Madi100]

I agree with you. Our steward was very good, better than average. He was not only friendly but the room was always done when we returned. And that is saying something given DW and my schedules.

The servers we had were very nice but it was pretty clear they were not experienced. We did Palo the first night and missed the fight that our table's former servers had. Our dining companions were hysterical describing it.

And, I'm not arguing with Pete. I am just curious as to what he puts in the category of excellent service.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

And, I'm not arguing with Pete. I am just curious as to what he puts in the category of excellent service.

I assume Pete is referring to service that is above and beyond the norm. Perhaps he had special requests that were honored, etc.

 

[Madi100]

I assume Pete is referring to service that is above and beyond the norm. Perhaps he had special requests that were honored, etc.

I was just asking Pete what makes the difference between OK and exceptional. I didn't want jcb thinking that I was disagreeing. I'm honestly curious what Pete thinks.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I was just asking Pete what makes the difference between OK and exceptional. I didn't want jcb thinking that I was disagreeing. I'm honestly curious what Pete thinks.

I'm curious, too, Nicole, because I thought the cabin steward was great... so what constitutes outstanding versus normal service? So, I'd like to get Pete's perspective, too.

 

[OKW Lover]

And, I'm not arguing with Pete. I am just curious as to what he puts in the category of excellent service.

I'm not Pete, nor do I play him on TV, but I'll chime in about what I saw as lacking.

• We had a stray fork in our cabin when we arrived. I left it conspicuously obvious on the table in the expectation that he would take it away. It was still in the room the day we left.
• We tucked away the amenities so we would get more each day. None. We asked him in the hall for some extra. None. We finally asked another steward to pass the message along and got some the last night.
• When we arrived, we had asked for ice in the room in the afternoon. Never came.

We've done this on other cruises (DCL, Princess, RCCL) and Had he simply delivered those fairly simple requests we would have rated him much higher. Note that we didn't rate him bad, just that we didn't rate him exceptional. He did do a good job preparing the cabin each night and making the bed in the mornings, which is the minimum we expect.

 

[jcb]

And, I'm not arguing with Pete. I am just curious as to what he puts in the category of excellent service.

I didn't take your post that way at all. I wasn't very clear. I simply meant that I agreed that our steward was above average, since we had the same steward.

 

[deann]

I really had a wonderful experience with servers. My room steward was Sakol & he was very friendly. Each time I would put away the shampoo/conditioner/lotion, a new one would be put in my stateroom. I never had to ask. The room was always clean, and he always greeted me with a smile and asked me if I needed anything. I sent clothes to be ironed & they came back the next day nicely pressed.

I had room service a couple of times and the service was timely enough. I figured that they were serving the ship, so didn't expect immediate service, but they didn't make me wait either.

Our wait staff was excellent, in my opinion. Our head server was Deniz, main server was Cesar, and assistant server was Carlo. Our tablemate, Chris, likes spicy food, and as soon as he said that I said I liked spicy food, too, and our team took good care of us. Our steak the first night had a spicy rub on it and it was delicious. They're coming out to CA with the ship & I told them I'll request them. Told Carlo we'll show him LA when they come.

I went to the Cove Bar & enjoyed it, and the Promenade Lounge was nice. Had fun playing Bingo & winning, and playing trivia & winning. It was good. The time went too fast, though.

I do agree with Tom, though, that the service in Wavebands was a little slow, but then I am not much of a drinker, so it didn't really matter to me.

Oh, I really liked the emcee for the nighttime entertainment. He was a hoot.

We should take Carlo to Disneyland! My family would love to see Carlo again. Cesar too!

We had Cesar & Carlo and had great fun with them. I think Cesar worked out how we could take jokes and we played on that. Only problem was the last night when the food was slow to come out & we had to rush through our mains as Princess Emily was the pin trading kid with the officers and we had to rush to get her into Tinkerbell's gown before the start of pin trading. This meant I missed 1/2 of my main & all dessert.

Otherwise I found the room steward did not replace the shampoo unless asked and was basically OK nothing fabulous.

But I have still rebooked for 4.0

I loved, loved, loved our serving team. Cesar and Carlo were just too much fun! My room steward was good. I didn't ask much of him and he was friendly when I saw him in the hall. I ordered from room service a couple of times during the cruise and the food was good and delivered when promised. My major complaint was the service in Wavebands. So much wasted opportunity for money-making on the part of the servers. I think I was there for over an hour on the last night of the cruise before someone approached the table to ask if we needed anything!!

My family also had Cesar and Carlo. They were spectacular. We really enjoyed spending time with them. They made the cruise for us. The food was okay, but because of the great service we still really enjoyed our dinners. We spent a week at WDW afterwards and my 13 year old nephew kept joking about how Carlo would always come and ask "Would you like fresh ground pepper?" with all our food. But it just shows how Carlo was always there on top of things. Unfortunately during the second to last night of our WDW stay we had a horrible server Kona Cafe. We all were talking about how much we missed Cesar and Carlo that night.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We should take Carlo to Disneyland! My family would love to see Carlo again. Cesar too!.

I think they would get a kick out of it! Carlo has my email address. Hopefully he'll contact me & I'll let you know.

 

[deann]

I think they would get a kick out of it! Carlo has my email address. Hopefully he'll contact me & I'll let you know.

My brother has Cesar's email address. So we can also contact him.

 

[Madi100]

I didn't take your post that way at all. I wasn't very clear. I simply meant that I agreed that our steward was above average, since we had the same steward.

Phew

 

[wdwfreeksince88]

I had to chime in because of OKW Lover fork in the room. Because I found our steward to be very underwhelming. When we arrived in the room there was a bowl of half eaten dried cake and melted ice cream in the beverage cooler and a pair of used panties in one of the drawers. I had to mention this to him a couple of time before this was cleaned up. Also no ice was delivered. We enjoyed the food except animators palate, and the service was good but a little slow. But Palo on the other hand was friggin amazing. Best service and food I have had in a long time(anywhere).

 

[BriarRosie]

I had service all over the place because I switched around my rotation. The server and head server the first night impressed the heck out of me because of Tracey's food allergy. I thought the care they put into making sure she had the right food to eat was exceptional.

But I felt spoiled the following night by Roy at Palo. Kim already mentioned he said "It's my first night", and I didn't buy that for a minute. And at brunch, they ran out of a dessert I had wanted, and they delivered a bunch of them to my room, the next day....but too late to really enjoy them. Still, that rocked.

I did not stash my H2O products, so I never got any extras. I have a ton of H2O here at home that I still need to use. But I did like that my stateroom seemed to be cleaned by magic every day. I was fine with not seeing my stateroom attendant.

And I was one of the unfortunate people who had the lobster risotto the first night. Absence of flavor was what I called it. Bleh.