Vikings are Back

Yes, that's true. It's been like that on every ship we've sailed in.

Lola in Hamilton

kerry ambler wrote:
lola, we had 4 mini suites in a row. besides having the balconies open to
each other, my DH wanted the front door open too. (you have to know him,
he's a brat). someone explained (not the steward) that because of the star
fire,. if you have the door open it's like a cyclone blowing thru there.
yes it was.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Ok, I just have to ask......why would you want the door stop?

Lola in Hamilton

kerry ambler wrote:
lola, i saw that review too and was shocked. if the pax didn't have
interaction with the pursers desk, the head waiter, the maitre de, the
head housekeeper etc., they may not have noticed. gee, look at my
list...it was only the higher ups. our cabin steward was a love but a
few
requests were answered with "we are not allowed to do that" i.e. to
keep
the door stopper. (although she did make me towel animals that are
suppose
to be for the kids only). my grandchildren did not get the towel animals
becasue they did not ask. (aged 4 and 8).
and as far as the dining room, after the late traditionals opted out for
personal choice there were empty tables.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I just read a glowing review on cruisecritic on the Crown Princess.
The author said that they crew was wonderful and they had a great time,
although she did say that the food was hit or miss. I guess the surly
crew is not ship wide, just a few bad apples.

Lola in Hamilton

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:
If pooling tips expains why the Vikings had problems with the crew,
then why did those of us on the SGC (same ship, 3 months earlier) not
have any of the same crew/staff problems. The 2 crusies were like
night and day, but the way of tipping did not change.

sue

Diana wrote:
They pool the tips? That's a disaster if you want to incent people
to
provide above average service. To me it explains why you had so many
problems with the crew.
Allen

Charles wrote:

In article , Nonnymus
wrote:


It's my belief that you can separate out who does and who does not
get a tip. I sure as heck would have tried at the Purser's desk.
If
I found out that it was all or none, I'd have gone the "none"
route,
then tipped the folks that did a good job with cash. IMHO,
tipping a
surly person or receiving poor service only reinforces the
behavior.
These folks are there to get tips, and the most strident way to
insure good service is to keep the attitude that tips are OPTIONAL
and based upon satisfaction.



They pool the tips on Princess. The only part of tips that is not
pooled is if you give an individual an amount over the set amount.
They
can keep that. So if you go the "none" route it won't make any
difference if you tip individuals, they still have to put it into
the
pool.

Lee Lindquist wrote:

I wonder which ports they hit between seattle and hawaii, for a
snack...


Lol, exactly.

kerry ambler wrote:
one of the problems with the menu is that they are doing an experiment on
the crown. i just read a newly posted menu on the caribbean princess. it
was normal..appataisers (sp?) soups, salad, pasta, entrees etc. the
crown was different. small plates, large plates and all in the wrong
order. all vegetarian at the very end, it was 4 days before i saw the
vegetarian selections. very confusing.
their experiment is not working.


"Cal Ford" wrote in message
...
Hi Susette .......

Noticed the same thing on the Dawn a few weeks back. Details about the
Dining
venues were absent from the Patter. A lot of detail about whatever crap
was on
sale in the gift shops but nothing on where or when to eat.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises



Kerry,
sounds like you were guinea pigs. We had the same thing on our Disney
cruise in August. They were testing out new menus on us.
Had some good dishes on the menus but nothing to write home about.

I just got the latest menus from Princess yesterday for the CB and put
them up on my website.

Bill
--
Visit my Caribbean Princess website:
www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com

Jean O'Boyle wrote:
"Bill C" wrote in message
news:E0ldh.5397$QC.3784@trnddc02...
It's not in the Patter. It's usually in your room. It's looks something
like this one from the caribbean Princess.
http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/QDG.pdf

Bill

Bill that is what was in our cabin...but it was printed on a light green
card..Perhaps people are taking them home as souvenirs and the cabin steward
does not realize it and replace them.

--Jean


Jean,
That's quite possible. That's how I got the one on my website. Somebody
took it and sent it to me.
If I was a cabin steward and was turning the room over on embarkation
day it's not something I would be checking for.

Bill

--
Visit my Caribbean Princess website:
www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com

Is poor Kerry part and parcel of the group cruise coordinator? If so,
what is poor Kerry's role in the Viking cruise? What jobs did she have
the overrode her other "dining services" job? How did the 9 people who
"were not worth it" feel? Suddenly, this smells of week old fish, Sue.

Nonny

Lee Lindquist wrote:
On 5 Dec 2006 13:22:14 -0800, "Susette" wrote:

it. YES we could have gone to anytime with a set time BUT again this
would have meant poor Kerry ( who is designated to dining services)
would have been calling people and changing them not worth it for 9

It seems like doing so would have required less energy than
the whining in this thread because it wasn't done.


--
---Nonnymus---
In the periodic table, as in politics,
the unstable elements tend to hang out on
the far left, with some to the right as well.

Jeff wrote:
Lee Lindquist wrote:

I wonder which ports they hit between seattle and hawaii, for a
snack...


Lol, exactly.

Tobie and Barb, on Vancouver Island, frequently row out to passing
cruise ships with "native" snacks of Naniamo Bars. grin

--
---Nonnymus---
In the periodic table, as in politics,
the unstable elements tend to hang out on
the far left, with some to the right as well.

HI Cal

Yes I found this to be annoying as I really do read and depend on the
patter, I like how ROyal Caribbean has the part that you can tear off
adn take with you too..

I did hear that the Crown is in a "try out" phase with the menu- they
are seeing if this new menu works adn all the other ships do not have
this "Try out" HENCE it being different then the other sailings.. VERY
VERY confusing menu! Just give me the appetizer salad and entree
listings and that is that.. the Steak though tasted just like liver and
I do not like liver EEKS! I think I need to go on there and show them
how a Italian Cooks! hahaha

Cal Ford wrote:
Hi Susette .......

Noticed the same thing on the Dawn a few weeks back. Details about the Dining
venues were absent from the Patter. A lot of detail about whatever crap was on
sale in the gift shops but nothing on where or when to eat.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises



In article .com, Susette
says...

I never seen any mention in the patter of the Ice Cream and why they do
not post what time the Dining room is open for breakfast and Lunch
baffled me!


Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:
Charles wrote:

In article .com,
" wrote:


The ice cream in the buffet is not hidden. It's noted every day in the
patter


They did not note it in the patter. It might be on that small card
where they list the dining options. I think you could say it is
"hidden" because at the entrances to the side of the Horizon Buffet
where they serve the ice cream the signs say closed, use other side.

I have two of the Patters from our august cruise and I just looked
them over very carefully. There is no mention of the free ice cream in
the Horizon Buffet. There is also no listing of which food venues are
open when. This info must be in the book in your cabin, but I prefer
having this info in the daily paper.

sue

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:
Susette wrote:

I have sailed in Crown from NYC and it was MUCH better!
Maybe since it tipped it messed them up HAHAHAHA

Sue, the SGC sailed after the tip, so I don't think that has anything
to do with the problems you had.

sue

I was just joking on the TIP! hence the hahahha! They seem to be
experimenting with this ship... THe ship is gorgeous no doubt about
it elegant and all and by the end of the week i had no problem getting
around but I been on this ship before. WAs a BIG change from NYC though!

Kerry
HEre is a funny thing, After I ehard you say you never got your door
stop, When going out of my cabin that night I saw that the door stop
was on the floor, I had one the whole time!

Kerrys Hubby is a jokester he would want the door open so that
passersby would be invited in for drinks and snacks hahaha

BUT I had one! so the fire thing is a misnomer ! Yours got lost or
better yet Dale stole it haha

kerry ambler wrote:
lola, we had 4 mini suites in a row. besides having the balconies open to
each other, my DH wanted the front door open too. (you have to know him,
he's a brat). someone explained (not the steward) that because of the star
fire,. if you have the door open it's like a cyclone blowing thru there.
yes it was.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Ok, I just have to ask......why would you want the door stop?

Lola in Hamilton

kerry ambler wrote:
lola, i saw that review too and was shocked. if the pax didn't have
interaction with the pursers desk, the head waiter, the maitre de, the
head housekeeper etc., they may not have noticed. gee, look at my
list...it was only the higher ups. our cabin steward was a love but a
few
requests were answered with "we are not allowed to do that" i.e. to
keep
the door stopper. (although she did make me towel animals that are
suppose
to be for the kids only). my grandchildren did not get the towel animals
becasue they did not ask. (aged 4 and 8).
and as far as the dining room, after the late traditionals opted out for
personal choice there were empty tables.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I just read a glowing review on cruisecritic on the Crown Princess.
The author said that they crew was wonderful and they had a great time,
although she did say that the food was hit or miss. I guess the surly
crew is not ship wide, just a few bad apples.

Lola in Hamilton

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:
If pooling tips expains why the Vikings had problems with the crew,
then why did those of us on the SGC (same ship, 3 months earlier) not
have any of the same crew/staff problems. The 2 crusies were like
night and day, but the way of tipping did not change.

sue

Diana wrote:
They pool the tips? That's a disaster if you want to incent people
to
provide above average service. To me it explains why you had so many
problems with the crew.
Allen

Charles wrote:

In article , Nonnymus
wrote:


It's my belief that you can separate out who does and who does not
get a tip. I sure as heck would have tried at the Purser's desk.
If
I found out that it was all or none, I'd have gone the "none"
route,
then tipped the folks that did a good job with cash. IMHO,
tipping a
surly person or receiving poor service only reinforces the
behavior.
These folks are there to get tips, and the most strident way to
insure good service is to keep the attitude that tips are OPTIONAL
and based upon satisfaction.



They pool the tips on Princess. The only part of tips that is not
pooled is if you give an individual an amount over the set amount.
They
can keep that. So if you go the "none" route it won't make any
difference if you tip individuals, they still have to put it into
the
pool.

nonny, this is poor kerry. i am susette's assistant. i met her on the
first viking group cruise in 1998. (same day i met ermalee). i have worked
for her ever since. we work very well together. even though she's in new
jersey and i'm in california. she has her specialties and i have mine. i
do the dining, group photo, schedule, website (actually my brother does
the website), and some trouble shooting. i am a planner, she is a doer.
much of this is done before the cruise but then has to be carried out on the
cruise. the 9 people knew from the begining that they were not confirmed
for our dining room. they also knew i'd do my best to get them with us (and
believe me i tried) but it was not to be. we sacraficed for the itinerary.
most of them are booking into the VIKING GROUP CRUISE TEN and i assured them
we would all be in the dining room together as that is the way royal
caribbean lets us do it. princess has set table sizes. royal caribbean
changes the tops of the tables if you need different sizes. we once had a
table of 14. and i am a VIKING!!!


"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
Is poor Kerry part and parcel of the group cruise coordinator? If so,
what is poor Kerry's role in the Viking cruise? What jobs did she have
the overrode her other "dining services" job? How did the 9 people who
"were not worth it" feel? Suddenly, this smells of week old fish, Sue.

Nonny

Lee Lindquist wrote:
On 5 Dec 2006 13:22:14 -0800, "Susette" wrote:

it. YES we could have gone to anytime with a set time BUT again this
would have meant poor Kerry ( who is designated to dining services)
would have been calling people and changing them not worth it for 9

It seems like doing so would have required less energy than
the whining in this thread because it wasn't done.


--
---Nonnymus---
In the periodic table, as in politics,
the unstable elements tend to hang out on
the far left, with some to the right as well.