Carnival Freedom Cruise Service Review; Pre Vacation

      IT'S SPRING BREAK! Time to get away from school, work, and stress and relax and have some fun. This year my boyfriend and I, along with another couple, are going on a cruise for the week. We are beyond excited and have been looking forward to this since last year. We chose to go on a 6 night/7 day Western Caribbean on the Carnival Freedom. We will be going to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. We will also be enjoying 2 relaxing days on the boat sipping margaritas, getting massages, and being waited on hand and foot. Just in case you haven't realized, I'M EXCITED!!

      Carnival is known as the "Fun Ship" catering to the younger crowd by creating a party atmosphere filled with dancing, shows, comedians, and of course alcohol. One of the most important aspects of a cruise is the service. No matter what it is suppose to be top notch; the best service you will ever receive. The waiter will know your name, what you like to drink, and will be dancing and telling you jokes after only a few hours. Although some ships have better service then others, there is really no way it could ever be horrible. 

      I've been on Carnival before, but never this exact ship, so I am not sure how the service is. Once I get back I will be sure to post about it, but for now I felt like it was a good idea to read over a some reviews and see how other people's experiences were. 

Service/Food Reviews:

- After reading the reviews on Yelp it seems that most of the people have positive remarks. People said the service staff was very nice, friendly, and helpful which is very important to me. Of course, there are always people that have negative things to say and didn't like the cruise at all, but all and all it seems like I am going to have a blast! 

- Of course, me being me I could never trust just one review. So I went over to Cruise Critic to get a second opinion. All together this ship received a 4.0 out of 5.0 for total overview and 80% of people loved the cruise. That sounds like pretty good statistics to me. The guest reviews were pretty close to those on yelp. Most people really enjoyed everything, including the service and food, while a few hated their entire experience. 

   
Explore the Carnival Freedom

      It seems as though we made a good choice going on the Carnival Freedom. It is not as upscale as some other ships like Royal Caribbean or Princess, but we're just a bunch of collage kids trying to have a good time so this should be perfect. 

      As for now, it's time to get these last two shifts at work out of the way, pack, and celebrate! 

Bon Voyage <3

     

Personal Service Tips From Yours Truly; Do's and Don'ts of the Restaurant Industry

      Every waiter has his or her own unique set of do's and don'ts that they feel affect themselves and their guests the most. There are thousands and thousands of tips out there, but I feel as though these are eight of the most important. Although they all come from my personal experiences, I feel as though anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows exactly what I am talking about. 

DO: 

1) Always Have Patience, LOTS and LOTS Of Patience
      - No matter what type of restaurant you work in, having patience is one of the best skills you could have. Many people, especially the elderly, tend to ask a lot of questions that can be answered if they read the menu or just listen to what their waiter previously said. There have been times where I had to repeat the four soups that we have to every person at a table when it where their turn to order. Not only did I say them five times by the time they were finished, but it is also listed for them in the menu. I just want to scream "read the menu and listen!" but I know I can't. It's my job to inform them however many times they need me to.

2) Be Caring/Outgoing/Personable With Your Guests 

    - Bringing your own personality to your tables will not only most likely get you a better tip, but also maintain a regular clientele. Sometimes it can be hard to devote the time to talk to and get to know every single one of your tables on a busy Saturday night, but just a little personality and love can go a long way. If you can tell that a guest is having a bad day, ask them if there is anything you can do to help them and let them know you are there for them. They might not be willing to dish their whole life story to you, but they will definitely be happy that you care enough to ask. Sometimes we are not only waiters, but listeners and psychologists that for some reason people feel comfortable talking to. And if worse comes to worse, try to get them a free dessert; that will definitely get them to smile :)

3) Always Ask For Help When You Need It 

      - "I'M IN THE WEEDS!!!!!" tends to be the most common phrase heard in the kitchen on any busy night. Most of the time while you are there freaking out and confused, there are at least a few other waiters standing around doing nothing. Don't be sacred to ask them for help! Everybody is there to work and make money and working as a team makes that a lot easier. Usually others will gladly help you (as long as they have the time) because they know when they need help they will be able to go to you. Don't stress yourself out thinking you have to do everything by yourself, you have a full wait staff able to help you! 

4) Be Sure to Know The Menu, Specials, Promotions, ETC. 

      - Working at Olive Garden our menu changes all the time as well as new promotions and specials every day, week, and month. Just as much as the guests are confused, so are many of the waiters. Every time a new dish or promotion comes out guests have many different questions that us as waiters have to answer. The more you know and knowledgeable you sound, the more likely your guests are to trust you and order those dishes. 

DON'T:

1) Never Judge Anybody or Assume Anything

      - As hard as this is to most servers, one of the worst things you can do is judge your tables based off of how they look. Not all cliches are true, and it is important to overlook them and treat all of your tables the same. My uncle, Robert Braun, told me a story the other day that I just have to share and relates exactly to this. While out to dinner with his family for his wife's birthday his waiter made a huge mistake. Without my uncle even saying anything he offered to give him the senior citizen discount. He is only 52 years old, 10 years away from being able to receive that discount. He felt very insulted, embarrassed, and kind of annoyed with the waiter resulting in a smaller tip then he would usually give. Lesson learned; never assume anything because..well you know the rest of that saying. 

2) Try Not to Let Your Personal Life Affect the Way You Work
      - We all know that it is impossible for people to be happy every day. Unfortunately, the guests at your table usually don't care about the fight you just had with your boyfriend, or that you drank to much last night and are now paying the consequences. Even when you are having a bad day, it is important to always greet your table with a big smile and worm welcome. I know it can be hard, there have been plenty of times when I couldn't even take my own advice because of what was going on in my life. But looking back, I can see that it really did effect my tips because I know I was not giving them the proper service. 


3) Never Lie to Your Guests 

      - I have been told many times by my guests that they appreciate my honesty when they ask me questions like "Is this dish popular?" or "What do you think about this dish?" I have no problem telling them what I think, what other people think, and if I am unsure I will always ask a manager to find out the truth for them. It is important to have an open and honest relationship with your guests if you want them to enjoy their meal and leave happy and full. If any of my guests are not happy with their food I want them to be able to tell me and be honest. Guests value your opinion, and they usually end up taking your advice.  

4) Try Not to Your Guests Your Favorite/Lucky Pens 
   - One thing I have learned after working in a restaurant is people WILL take all of your pretty, interesting, and good pens. I'm superstitious so if I get a really good tip when I give a table a certain pen I consider it to be lucky. However, somehow by the end of the day that pen is gone. All of my favorite pens have been taken, and it just makes me laugh. My employees and I have definitely learned to keep your most valued pens to yourself! 

Track Your Tips Daily Through the TipSee App!

      Have you ever wondered how much money you actually make every week being a waiter, or how much money you make an hour on a given day just from your tips? Well you're in luck, there's a new (FREE) app called TipSee that allows you to do just that! 

      Keeping track of your money is important and everybody has a different way of doing so. Some of my co-workers choose to write every tip they get down to keep track, while others don't even count their money at the end of the night. I think it is a good idea to write down every tip because then you know exactly what you are suppose to make at the end of the night, however on a busy night that could be pretty challenging. 

      Personally, I count my money after every shift to see how good (or bad) I did, and then I do the same thing at the end of every week. Sometimes at the end of the week, my total is less then it should be because I spent some cash throughout the week that I forget to count up. This is where the app could be helpful.

      At the end of every shift you can open it up and put in the amount of money you made as well as the amount of hours you worked for that shift. Then, it will tell you how much money you made per hour and will store that information in a calendar so that at the end of the week you know exactly what you earned. This can help you compare good weeks to bad weeks and show you which days are better to work the others. It will store your information for quiet some time, so you can always look back if you forgot your total income for a specific week. 

      After working a long and hard shift, it is the greatest feeling in the world knowing you made a lot of money and that it was all worth it. This app will help make it easier for you to be able to track your money and be aware of exactly how much you make every day and every week.

      To download go to your app store and type in TipSee. Remember it's free, so all you have to do is hit install and you are all set to go. I downloaded it a few days ago and I love it already. Give it a try and let me know what you think! 

   

Help Get Automatic Gratuity Back - Sign the Petition!

      In case you haven't heard yet, as of January 1, 2014 there will no longer be automatic gratuity added onto large parties. The government see's it as a "service charge" and feels that waiters should be taxed on it. This is why many restaurants choose to do away with it all together. While some people are okay with it and feel it does not make much of a difference, others feel the opposite and feel like it has really affected them or someone they care about.

      For those who feel that this has affected them negatively, there is now a petition in order to help get automatic gratuity back! It will only take a few minutes to go to the website and sign up. They need 100,000 signatures by March 12, 2014. A of today, February 19, 2014, they only have a little over 8,700 which means they need about 91,000 more.

      In order to sign this petition all you have to do is follow these 3 easy steps:

1) Create an account by putting in your: 

    - E-mail address 

    - Your name 

    - Zip code 

2) Go to your e-mail and open up what WhiteHouse.gov has sent you. Chick on the link they give you to verify you have a working e-mail. 

3) You're there! Now click on sign the petition and it will let you know what number you are and how many people are still needed.

      If you feel as though this has affected you, or any of your friends or family, please take five minutes of your time and sign this petition! I have attached the website below where you would go to take part in this. 

SIGN PETITION HERE!

My Special Valentine

         

      Valentine’s Day is one the craziest days of the year for most restaurants. Unfortunately this means that no employees are able to take off of work (at least at my job). I am scheduled to close on the busiest night of the year for us! We do not take reservations so from what I’ve heard from other employees the wait time can be up to 3 or 4 hours long!! Although I am hoping the money will be worth it, it upsets me that this is the first Valentine’s Day my boyfriend and I will spend apart. 

      However, knowing that I was unavailable for the night he did everything he could to make me feel special and loved all week long: 

•   Sunday: He took me out to a wonderful dinner at Big Bear Brewing Company (the waitress was pretty bad by the way). But anyway, we did not let that ruin our night and had great food, drinks, and of course the best company I could ask for.

•   Monday: After work we took a ride down to the beach and spent a couple of hours there talking about all the exciting things we have coming up and reminiscing on things from the Past.

•   Tuesday: He surprised me by cooking an AMAZING dinner followed by a glass of wine. What a perfect way to end the day.

•   Wednesday: Our busy schedule didn't give us much time together today, but throughout the day he never let me forget that he loved me and was thinking about me.

•   Thursday: After a long day of work and school I came home to a dozen beautiful red roses, an amazing, but funny card, and a new bottle of my favorite perfume (Victoria's Secret Angel). I was blown away considering I wasn't expecting anything.

•   Friday: Today it’s my turn to make him feel special! I feel terrible that I have to work tonight so I decided to surprise him at work with a bunch of different cookies, cakes, and of course a little love note ;) He was blown away and so happy to see me, just like I have felt all week. This Sunday I plan on cooking him a very nice and romantic dinner to thank him one more time for everything he did for me this week, and everything he does for me all year round.

      I had to get a bit personal there because he is really the best. It can be hard working in the restaurant industry and always having to work holidays. But sometimes it can be even harder for the significant other of that employee because they have to get used to spending those special days apart. He has done a great job at being understanding, helping, caring, and making me feel loved. It is important, even though the busy times, to make sure your loved ones feel special. 

      I will go into work tonight with the biggest smile on my face knowing that I have had such a great week because of how thoughtful my boyfriend is. I will be able to help every single one of my guests feel as special as he made me feel all week long. What could be a better gift then that?

Happy Valentine's Day To Everyone! <3