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While the end of one’s cruise vacation is certainly a letdown after days of attentive service, delicious dining, and fabulous entertainment, it is at the end of a cruise that many guests have the opportunity to fill out surveys about their experience.
Or do they? Carnival cruise guests have noted that fewer people seem to receive the post-cruise surveys, and gone altogether are the printed comment cards more experienced cruisers may remember.
One recent Carnival guest reached out to John Heald, the cruise line’s brand ambassador, about the missing surveys. Heald responds to hundreds of comments, questions, and requests every week on his popular Facebook page.
“Why don’t the ships offer comment cards anymore? Too many to read through?” the guest asked. “My husband and I like writing the comment cards and giving credit where credit is due. We don’t like having to wait until we get home to reply to emails.”
The guest does emphasize that they are eager to share which crew members provided excellent service during their cruise, so management can acknowledge their great work.
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Heald responded with an interesting insight about the post-cruise surveys.
“We do send approximately 40% of [guests on] each cruise [a] review card online,” he explained.
Of course, this means that 60% of Carnival’s cruise guests do not receive an email survey. Unfortunately, the printed comment cards that were handed out onboard and turned in to special drop boxes near the Guest Services desk have long since vanished.
Offering Feedback to Carnival Crew Members
There is another way guests can offer feedback about their Carnival cruise experiences. Even without comment cards or email surveys, guests can send those comments to Heald directly.
“It is of course another reason that I’m here,” Heald noted. “If anybody has any comments, feedback, or praise for the crew I will make sure that it is seen by the right people.”
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When someone submits a specific comment to Heald, whether it is praise for a particular crew member or a complaint about an issue onboard, he can reach out to the specific ship or even the specific manager onboard to pass along the information.
This can also help get any problems resolved quickly, whether it might be a simple misunderstanding about onboard policies, a maintenance issue in a guest’s stateroom, or a more unusual situation.
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In terms of rewarding individual crew members, Heald has frequently noted that positive feedback from guests is passed along and is very gratifying for crew members to hear.
Furthermore, consistent positive feedback can help crew members receive promotions, bonuses, and more favorable contracts, depending on their individual position.
Other Ways to Thank Crew Members
It’s no surprise to any cruiser, whether they’ve been on just one cruise or have been sailing for many years, that crew members work exceptionally hard to try and give everyone a great experience.
While feedback and surveys can be very helpful to thank and reward crew members, there are also other options.
Of course, gratuities are always appreciated. This could be the automatic gratuities that may be pre-paid before sailing or paid onboard, or some extra cash handed to a particularly attentive crew member in person.
Taking the time to personally greet a crew member and chat for a minute (without disrupting their work!) is a friendly and welcome gesture. Asking about their families, their hobbies, their life onboard, or their home country is always kind.
Guests can also ensure they aren’t making more work for crew members in different ways, like keeping their stateroom tidy, minimizing special orders for meals, placing room service dishes in the hallway, and being sure to follow the onboard code of conduct and other rules.
