Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Cruise Travel: Hospitality & Service

At one time many of the hospitality staff members on cruise ships were from islands in the Caribbean. While it's become more popular across the cruise industry to offer "European" style service, we miss the friendly islanders, especially those from Jamaica. We remember returning to our cabin after a day in Mazatlan, Mexico to find a towel animal in the shape of SeƱor Frog fashioned by our Jamaican room steward. Far from home and family, they always delivered a smiling "no problem" response to any request for more ice or an extra towel. Not that their European and Asian counterparts don't do a good job, it's just not the same.

We were reminded of this during a recent stay at the Riu Resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Our favorite waitress greeted us in the dining room on our last morning with the breakfast table message pictured above. We were certainly touched and hope to return. Now, that's hospitality.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Jamaica is one of the friendliest places to travel, but it's funny how "no problem" is a vocabulary phrase used so often there.