Our current ramble from Italy to the US via the Canaries and the Caribbean is soon ending. We like to give accurate and hopefully helpful reviews to help the line, future ramblers, and particularly, the hard-working servers and staff who made sure we left with happy memories of great experiences. Your cruise company sends out surveys that provide an excellent way to acknowledge what type of service you received.
When submitting a survey at the end of a cruise, it’s essential to provide constructive feedback that helps the cruise line understand your experience. Time and again, staff members have let Leah and me know it is helpful in the trajectory of their careers. Here are some aspects you might consider remarking upon:
Service Excellence
Recognizing outstanding service from specific cruise staff members is an important part of the surveys. Mention their names and highlight instances where they went above and beyond to enhance your experience. Ask first, but it might help to take a picture of the nametag with their face so you can be specific in your comments. While it may seem silly at the time, if the survey doesn’t arrive for a few weeks, it can be difficult to remember all of the names you wanted to mention. I also think it is helpful for the staff to know ahead of time that you plan to complete the survey. This isn’t to curry favor, but it doesn’t hurt either.
Cabin Comfort
Share your thoughts on your cabin’s cleanliness, comfort, and amenities. If your room steward provided exceptional service, acknowledge it in your survey. Having been on a few cruises now, the quality provided by the cabin stewards can vary greatly. It’s just as important, maybe even more important, to note excellent service than it is for just average or disappointing service.
Dining Experience
Comment on the quality of the food, the variety of dining options, and the efficiency of the dining staff. Note any standout meals or exceptional service in the dining areas. This has been easier when we have been on ships where we were assigned specific servers for the duration of the entire trip. By the end of those trips, we usually know quite a lot about those servers and have worked to develop a relationship with them.
Entertainment
Provide feedback on the onboard entertainment, including shows, performances, and activities. Mention any entertainers or performances that stood out positively. During this last trip, we got to know some of the performers and learned just how much their future contracts rely on guests’ feedback. As a service provider, the responses to the guest surveys let the cruise line know whether or not the performer should be kept on their lineup or not.
Excursions
If you participated in shore excursions, share your impressions. Comment on the guides, itinerary, and overall experience. Also, be sure and mention if any issues need improvement. This is especially helpful to the cruise company when the service is provided by them.
Onboard Activities
Discuss the variety and quality of onboard activities. If there were particular events or activities you enjoyed, highlight them. Conversely, if you felt something was lacking, provide suggestions for improvement. It is important to also keep in mind the type of ship you choose to board. For example, if you chose a cruise that offers tons of activities for children and teens, then it would be ridiculous to complain that there were too many children’s activities.
Cruise Ship Facilities
Share your thoughts on the ship’s facilities, including pools, fitness centers, spa services, and other amenities. Note any areas that exceeded your expectations or could be improved.
Communication: Comment on the effectiveness of communication throughout the cruise. If there were any issues with the cruise line’s app, printed materials, or announcements, provide feedback.
Cruise Staff Friendliness
Acknowledge the friendliness and helpfulness of the entire cruise staff, from guest services to housekeeping. Highlight positive interactions that contributed to your overall satisfaction. It’s also vital that you note anyone unfriendly. As representatives, the friendliness of the staff is very important to the company and those guest surveys are an important way for cruise lines to know how their service is being perceived.
All that said, I must mention that your attitude as a guest can definitely impact your perspective as well as your interactions with staff. On our Transatlantic cruise on the MSC Divina, we worked really hard to develop relationships with the staff. We worked to learn their names and asked them about their families at home. Asked them about their roles and jobs on the ship. (Most of them have at least a couple, many of them have more than that.) We did all this not because we were after any extras or because of an ulterior motive. We were curious, and interested, and wanted to meet and know as many people as possible. Not just guests, though that was also important to us.
However, after we had developed those relationships, the staff would bring us extra snacks, greet us by name when we came in, memorize our drink orders, and were always very welcoming and warm with us. By contrast, Leah had a lady gripe to her “Why don’t I ever get extra snacks? And why don’t they bring ME…. yada yada.?” We realized that the lady had been on the ship for 3 weeks, and didn’t even know the name of any of the servers, let alone where many of them were going to work in a few hours. To be fair, the lady seemed to always be unhappy about something, but she didn’t see any connection between her behavior and the staff’s. The staff were always courteous to her and remained helpful regardless, but I don’t think she ever saw them as people.
Suggestions for Improvement
Be sure and offer constructive criticism or suggestions for areas where you believe the cruise experience could be enhanced. Your insights can contribute to the ongoing improvement of service and the surveys sent by the line can make a difference.
Remember to be specific in your comments, providing details that can help the cruise line understand both positive and negative aspects of your experience. This feedback is valuable for the cruise line to maintain and enhance the quality of its services.
With very few exceptions, our experiences on cruises have been positive and extremely enjoyable. We have several more lined up for the next year and a half, so stay tuned!
