The Gold Anchor Service we received on board from staff (minus a few grumpy members who let the side down....more on them later), including the Maintenance Team, Public Area Housekeeping, Dining Room, Cabin Steward, Guest Relations, Pool Bar Staff and more should be awarded the Diamond Anchor Service award (if there was such a thing). Everyone we met was helpful and willing to please. You really felt as though nothing was too much trouble.
Waiter – Jerrica Enfiesta (Phillipines). We cannot say enough about Jerrica. From start to finish she was welcoming and helpful, funny and amiable, thoughtful, efficient, professional and an all round super star waiter. From the first night our personal favourites, likes & dislikes were remembered and delivered every night. Nothing was too much trouble. We were addicted to the mash potatoes so every night she would bring us some for the table. Two puddings were brought when we couldn't decide, wine was poured at the perfect time, extra vegetables were anticipated and she had a good knowledge of the daily menu to advise on choices. The service was slick, clean, well paced and efficient. If this waiter doesn't get to be a Head Waiter one day then there is no justice in the world. Jerrica delivers the service that so many hospitality companies talk about but rarely deliver. Assistant Waiter – Collen (St. Vincent) Collen was like a shadow. Suddenly your water was filled to the brim by an invisible hand. You finished the last piece of your bread and he was there offering you more before you'd even put your butter knife down. I actually asked him one night how many tables he had as he was so efficient I thought maybe we were the only table he was looking out for! He was courteous, friendly, amusing, efficient and assisted the Waiter with professionalism and skill. His pace of service was perfect, nothing was too much trouble. He remembered our coffee preferences, hot water and lemon for my mother every night, your favourite bread roll, and the fact that my husband seemed to be addicted to them. Collen was very amiable and always smiling. He was so polite and thoughtful. A credit to the Navigator dining team. Assistant Maître D Snr – Remzi. What a great guy. Remzi visited our table every night. He usually came from the table behind us and eventually he started to knock on the service station to announce his arrival to our table as he kept making me jump when he arrived and said “Good Evening”!! Remzi was great fun and often had us laughing. He enquired about our day, our meal and our cruise in general, including giving us advice on ports of call. It never felt like a rushed visit, he always made time to talk. Jerrica and Collen are a credit to him. They work very well together and our dining experience was just wonderful. Our dining team – always immaculately presented. The service was clean and slick. Not a drop was spilt or anything spoiled. Plates, cutlery and glasswear were always placed neatly and without clanging about like some waiters seem to do. It really was the perfect service, every night. We ate in Chops and Portofino for the experience, but other than that we chose the dining room every night even if we were really too tired to dress for formal. All four of us felt that we would be missing something if we didn't attend. All of us cannot praise this team too highly. They are a credit to Royal Caribbean, Navigator of the Seas and also to themselves. Perfect, perfect, perfect - and these comments come from two of us with industry experience. One a past hotelier and myself with restaurant, dining and front office management experience. We two tend to be a little more critical when it comes to reviewing service....we are not hard to please, but we do notice the little things. This team were spot on....Excellent and a tough act to follow. Our bathroom needed to have a little TLC as there was a heavy sewage smell upon arrival. We opened the balcony doors and tried to air the room but to no avail. Eventually I spoke to George at guest relations who organised for a plumber to come to the cabin. He did say it would be five minutes but 40 minutes later (and at gone ten o'clock) still no maintenance chap. So I called down again and he said he would chase them up. Five minutes later they arrived. I was in bed by this time as we were exhausted. Husband did the honours with the door and after much clinking, clanking and a sound above the bed that sounded as though the roof were caving in (much to my horror as I mentioned I was in the bed at the time)....the maintenance man said all was done but to contact them if it was no better. We slept with the balcony door open and by next morning there was an improvement. By the afternoon we were ocean fresh and all was well. We had one blocked loo incident but that too was sorted when we were at dinner. These things happen on a ship with the plumbing as it is but they put it right quickly and without fuss. George called us twice after this to make sure the smell had not returned. This follow up was very good I thought. Every single member of the maintenance team we encountered said hello...even the two chaps on the paint ladder outside our balcony. They went passed twice in one week and let me take a photo. They were painting the ship but we never experienced any smell of paint. All the maintenance crew were very friendly, moreso than some bar staff we encountered! Cabin Steward Nilda (Phillipines) – always a wonderful smile. Nilda kept our cabin spotless from day one. We had a nasty sewage smell in our suite upon arrival. We told her about it and she tried her best to get rid of it but in the end we had to call maintenance to sort it out (which they did superbly). Super towel animals with our sunglasses on, everything neat and tidy and sparkling. We keep our cabin tidy to make it easier for stewards to do their job! On two days we were late out of the cabin and told Nilda not to worry about doing the room and that evening turn-down would be fine. She nodded and smiled and we left the cabin. We returned half an hour later and she had been in and serviced the cabin.....even though my husband insisted that she took our cabin as a day off! She was so helpful and never stopped working (unlike one of the male stewards on our deck that seemed to spend most of his time propping up the wall or listlessly wafting a duster about but that of course may just have been an unfortunate observation). Nilda was always in a cabin or a store cupboard. We never saw her standing around talking. That girl deserves a day off as she was like a dynamo and never seemed to stop! Everything was kept as though it was the first day! She even straightened my slippers by the bed! The Compass, bedtime chocolates and towel animals were always displayed neatly and with care....(unlike on P&O where they appeared to have been hurled onto the bed in some sort of attempt at a collage!!!). Some evenings I commented to my husband that she looked really tired. At one point I wondered whether she was doing the cabins for this other male steward.... he was rather strange. He was really tall and rather imposing. I heard a guest commenting on something and the husband replied with a weak laugh “We wont argue with you though as you're bigger than me!”. I wouldn't have liked him to have been our steward. He just seemed to stand around all day chatting to another male member of staff. He grunted sometimes when you spoke to him and other days he was all “hello, how are you”. I really hoped that Nilda wasn't having to do his work for him. She was a super steward - and her diligence in keeping our cabin shipshape really added to the enjoyment of our cruise. |
| The RCI "Gold Anchor Service" |
| Dining Experience |
| Maintenance Team |
| Cabin Steward |
