A recent Reddit post about Royal Caribbean has sparked a very relatable question for cruise travelers: when does attentive service start feeling like pressure?
The discussion started when a cruiser shared their experience on Icon of the Seas, saying their group felt the Main Dining Room (MDR) staff were checking in so often that it disrupted dinner instead of improving it.
The post, titled “Pestering by Staff?”, struck a chord with other cruisers who said they had noticed similar issues, from repeated feedback requests to frequent specialty dining sales pitches.
When Helpful Service Started Feeling Like Too Much
According to the Reddit post, the biggest frustration was how often staff asked for feedback during meals in the MDR.
The cruiser explained, “The MDR waiting staff was incredibly overbearing asking for feedback.” They then described a pattern that many cruisers can instantly picture: the assistant waiter, waiter, and manager all stopping by in close succession to ask if each part of the meal was okay.
The poster summed up the problem clearly: “The assistant waiter, waiter and manager came and asked if the apps, main course, and dessert were ok. Back to back to back. We felt like we could barely talk to each other.”
That last sentence is the key issue. Most cruisers don’t mind one or two check-ins. In fact, good service usually includes that. But dinner in the MDR is also about conversation, slowing down, and enjoying time together. When interruptions pile up, it can start to feel awkward, even if the staff are genuinely trying to help.
In this case, it affected the group enough that they stopped going back to the MDR after the first two nights.
The Calls To The Stateroom Made It Worse
What really pushed this from “annoying” to “too much” for the cruiser was what happened after they skipped MDR dinner.
They wrote, “Starting the third night, the manager called our staterooms every day asking for feedback as to why we hadn’t returned that night.” For a lot of cruisers, that would feel surprisingly personal. Cruise guests expect some follow-up in certain situations, but repeated calls about where they chose to eat can feel intrusive.
The poster made their point bluntly and humorously: “Like bro we’re at the Empire Supper Club/Giovannis/Izumi, not sure why we need to explain anything.”
That gets at something a lot of cruisers care about: having options. One of the big perks on ships like Icon of the Seas is being able to choose where you eat. If someone decides to go to a specialty restaurant, they usually don’t expect to explain that choice.
It Wasn’t Just MDR Feedback
The same cruiser also noticed something else: more direct specialty dining sales pitches than on past cruises.
They wrote, “We also had a seemingly unusual amount of people approach us asking to book specialty restaurants. I believe it was 5 times, so almost once a day.”
They clarified that it wasn’t wildly excessive, but it stood out compared with their previous sailings on Symphony of the Seas, where they mostly saw staff holding signs in the Windjammer rather than actively approaching guests.
It also shows the problem wasn’t only the Main Dining Room. It was more the overall feeling of being approached again and again — whether it was for feedback or to book something.
Why This Happens On Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean puts a big emphasis on guest feedback, and crew members know the post-cruise surveys matter.
From the cruise line’s side, that makes sense. Surveys help measure satisfaction and catch problems before guests leave unhappy or post negative reviews. It also helps explain why dining staff may check in throughout the meal — they’re trying to make sure issues are fixed in the moment, not discovered later.
Where it gets tricky is when that crosses the line from attentive to repetitive. What feels like proactive service to one person can feel like pressure to someone else if it happens too often.
And based on what many cruisers describe, the level of follow-up in this case sounds heavier than usual. A waiter checking in is normal. A head waiter stopping by occasionally is normal too. Repeated calls to the stateroom asking why guests didn’t return to the MDR can happen, but most cruisers wouldn’t see that as standard.
The Replies Showed This Wasn’t A One-Off
The replies showed this wasn’t just one person on Icon feeling uncomfortable. A lot of cruisers said they had seen similar behavior on other Royal Caribbean ships, especially around repeated feedback requests and dining-related follow-up.
Several comments focused on the specialty dining sales push. One cruiser said they experienced “abusive pestering about specialty dining” and were approached “on average 4 times a day.” Others said they were able to negotiate prices, including one comment that said, “We got Empire Supper Club for half off by just asking the guy trying to sell it.”
Many responses also backed up the MDR issue and stateroom calls. One person wrote, “I had everyone at dining ask me to leave good reviews – at every meal. It’s annoying.” Another solo traveler said it was “the first time I was called twice on why I didn’t come to MDR” and added, “Don’t bug me, I will eat where I choose.”
A big theme in the thread was the mixed message: MDR staff pushing attendance and reviews while other staff push specialty dining. One commenter said, “It feels like two different divisions competing internally for attendance and good reviews.”
At the same time, some people were sympathetic, with comments like “This is Royal Caribbean, not the employees” and “Have a little compassion,” suggesting the pressure may be coming from the company’s ratings and survey system rather than the crew themselves.
What Cruisers Can Learn From This
The main takeaway isn’t “avoid the MDR” or “blame the staff.” It’s that even good service can feel frustrating if it becomes too frequent. If you want fewer interruptions, it’s completely fair to say so politely. And if you know you’ll be eating elsewhere on certain nights, telling your waiter in advance may help avoid follow-up calls or confusion.
What made this post resonate is that it wasn’t a full-on rant. The original poster even said, “The cruise was still overall good, I was just curious if others felt this has increased, or if it was even Icon/Star exclusive, being a newer boats.”
That’s a question a lot of cruisers care about — not just whether something happened once, but whether it’s becoming more common and changing the feel of the onboard experience.
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