Pay More...... Get More.

[world~citizen]

I don't cruise to eat. I would prefer it the other way around. Pay less for those who want only modest portions and offerings. Tired of subsidizing others larger appetites than my own. :rolleyes:

 

I don't think it is portions that people complain about when referencing disappointment with food. For us, it starts with interesting menus, preparation, presentation and taste. Service figures into this too if courses are missed or presented cold.

 

We don't cruise for food, we cruise for the whole experience, of which dining is a part of.

 

What Sail refers to exists on Cunard. You choose your dining room when you book. Now you get into the whole issue of sailing under a class system which for some (not all) this represents.

 

Having said that, people cruise for different reasons. People who buy a newspaper for the sports and weather may not miss the social columns. People who buy newspapers for news may not miss the comics. If you buy it for the market news and that is taken out, you will notice it, but not everyone else will. For them the paper is still good value.

 

Same with cruises. If something is eliminated which you never cared much for anyway, you will be much happier than those who delighted in it but now it is gone.

 

Every cruise line will have to define its experience. Now that HAL has so many ships, and they are so big, their experience is changing to put pax in cabins.

 

People will decide if they want to pay a little more for something of the old charm, or bite the mass market bullet and choose more modest fares (and service).

 

We will probably choose both from time to time as the occasion suits.

[rafinmd]

Oh please don't! you have raised some great stuff here, keep up the good work. :D

 

Ditto too:)

 

Ditto three

 

Roy

[DFD1]

This flies in the face of some previous posts on this thread, but NCL has essentially set up a program that "forces" passengers into their specialty "pay as you go" restaurants. They do this by serving food in the MDR that is ordinary at best and is essentially the same every night...admittedly with some small variations.

 

So, back to the OP's idea....NCL already does this.....without actually saying so.

 

IMO

 

PS: HAL's MDR food "ain't what it used to be" either.

[swedish weave]

Theoretically speaking - if implemented - guaranteed that the MDR quality would go way down quickly (take a look at NCL) so you would literally have to eat in a specialty restaurant or order off the 'expensive' menu.

 

for me, depending on the costs of course - if I have to pay extra to get a decent meal (as you do on NCL IMO) then either the fares have to go down to balance it (guaranteed that won't happen) or the more expensive cruise lines just got another plus why you should sail with them. JMVHO

 

 

I disagree with your comments about NCL food !! I have cruised NCL extensively and find the food very good. My most recent cruises on NCL were last October. and the quality is up to par with the other mainstream cruise lines. You do NOT have to pay extra for quality food.

[sail7seas]

Ditto three

 

Roy

 

 

Thanks. :D

 

Whenever anyone wants me to stop these odd 'discussions, just say so. :o

 

I was thinking a little bit of a carry over from RCI when I started the thread. When I first heard they were charging extra for a 'good steak', I was unhappy to hear it but the idea has grown on me.

 

I would actually pay extra to be offered a plate of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce. How silly is that?

I have tried for years for them to offer whole wheat pasta and they only make it an occasional thing. Charge me for it..... I'd pay to have it. Add a chicken breast to the plate and I'd enjoy it.

YES< I can easily make that at home and certainly I do. But sometimes I would like it on a ship .... far more than their 'whatever' meat 'slathered' (their word, not mine) with brown sauce.

 

I'd like a baked sweet potato offered on the always available list. Charge me if you must but please have it available.

 

I suppose what I am saying is that I am becoming more receptive to MODIFIED a la carte dining.

And, YES, I agree with those who will say that will be the opening of the door to having all 'pay as you go' food service on the ships. I personally believe that is coming sooner rather than later anyway.

JMO

 

 

Maybe some in the age sixty and over crowd will understand where 'I'm at'.... :)

I'm at the stage in my life where I want what I want. If it is something within reason that should be easily accomplished, then I feel very comfortable asking for what I want at the time I want it. If I must pay for it (within reason), then I am grateful that for such small things as a baked sweet potato, we are able to take out our cruise card in order to provide me with that 'extravagance'. :D

 

I stress the 'within reason' part of that concept.

 

 

[swedish weave]

This flies in the face of some previous posts on this thread, but NCL has essentially set up a program that "forces" passengers into their specialty "pay as you go" restaurants. They do this by serving food in the MDR that is ordinary at best and is essentially the same every night...admittedly with some small variations.

 

So, back to the OP's idea....NCL already does this.....without actually saying so. (quote)

 

 

 

I am very experienced in cruising on NCL, and find these statements blatantly untrue !!!!

 

NCL food in the MDR is very good, and they DO NOT try to force you into the specialty restaurants.

 

All mainstream cruise lines have followed NCL's changes in the cruise industry, and perhaps some are unable to accept that NCL is a leader in innovations.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I disagree with your comments about NCL food !! I have cruised NCL extensively and find the food very good. My most recent cruises on NCL were last October. and the quality is up to par with the other mainstream cruise lines. You do NOT have to pay extra for quality food.

 

According to friends who cruised in one of the high-end suites on NCL recently, you don't even get it at the extra-fee restaurants. They weren't disappointed in the cruise overall. the suite was lovely and the service was good, but they said the food was nothing special. (And they're not picky eaters)

 

<snip>

What Sail refers to exists on Cunard. You choose your dining room when you book. Now you get into the whole issue of sailing under a class system which for some (not all) this represents.

 

<snip>

 

People will decide if they want to pay a little more for something of the old charm, or bite the mass market bullet and choose more modest fares (and service).

 

 

You bring up an interesting point. For years, I've seen posters complain about Cunard's class system, how it's elitist and snobby and pretentious etc etc. But in recent years, other lines have been adding a "first class" although they'd never dare call it that. But suites with their own private sundeck/pool and dining room are cropping up around the industry. For example, HAL does a tiny bit of it with the Neptune Lounge and breakfast in Pinnacle. NCL has some sort of posh enclave. Somebody told me the only way to go on Celebrity (I think it was Celeb) was to go in "Aqua class." The NCL and X fans who bashed Cunard for having a "class system" are now sailing on ships with a class system!!!!

 

I never found a problem with this. Except for dinner times when we went to our separate dining rooms, passengers on Cunard mingled and nobody in Queens Grill would refuse to chat with someone in a low-deck inside "steerage" cabin. I did sail in three of Cunard's 4 classes on QE2 (never made it up to Queens Grill status), and I could see that I got more if I paid more. As you say, "Is it worth it to go above minimum grade?" (which is VERY nice on Cunard, BTW) is a question that each passenger must decide for him/herself. But the paying more was up front, not an extra charge here and an extra charge there during the cruise.

[arzz]

Pay up front (luxury cruise line, Queen's Grill, etc) -- fine with me -- but extra charges here and there -- IMHO not the way to go.

 

How do we feel about the airlines who now charge to check a suitcase or eat a snack on a four hour flight? An airline, really, that takes you a significant distance from home in a relatively short time, charging for you to bring the things with that most travelers will need? or charging to feed you when you are confined to their space for several hours? One suitcase in the baggage hold and a snack should be assumed and part of the fare -- yet it is not. The result is that passengers are squeezing more and more stuff into the overhead bins and under seats which makes boarding, sitting comfortably and exiting the aircraft more cumbersome for all. If it were part of the fare, most of it would be in the baggage hold.

 

The airlines have made out like bandits with this approach and have collected billions in extra fees -- some are even charging to use the bathroom now. And we hate all of that. We complain all of the time.

 

And aren't these boards full of folks offering suggestions as to how to sneak alcohol on board so as not to pay the cruise line's fees? Will we also start to sneak food on board soon to feed ourselves?

 

Permuting the cruise experience to "pay as you go" is not going to make most folks love cruising. IMO quite the opposite.

 

We choose cruising because we do not have to pack or unpack, we have sea days for down time, and we can depend on suitable meals (admittedly not necessarily gourmet but extensive and tasty nonetheless) without having to budget separately. We did land vacations for years and eating was always a big question mark in the budget. We, at times, went way over budget in order to feed ourselves appropriately -- and at other times we ate rather poorly on the economy of the foreign nations we were visiting.

 

When cruising we always know we will have a great breakfast and dinner -- and we can, if we wish, eat out and experience the cuisine of a foreign nation during the day. The security of the situation is that there is always lots of good food on board when we are presented with the unexpected -- such as the price of food in the Scandinavian countries a couple of summers ago where a simple hot dog type of sausage could cost $15 or more, and a bowl of soup can go for $30.

 

Cruising allows us to eat, sleep and be treated well when visiting foreign lands and allows us to budget with relative certainty for the most important features of our travels. The more ala carte it becomes, the less predictable -- and in my opinion folks will turn toward other all inclusive options rather than deal with the uncertainties. Or, they will just cruise less often.

[English_in_Spain]

I disagree with your comments about NCL food !! I have cruised NCL extensively and find the food very good. My most recent cruises on NCL were last October. and the quality is up to par with the other mainstream cruise lines. You do NOT have to pay extra for quality food.

 

I agree. I don't know why everyone makes negative comments about NCL food.

 

As I said before, we were on NCL Jade a couple of months ago and the food was as good as I have had on other cruise lines (except Windstar which is exceptional).

 

You are not forced to eat in speciality restaurants. In fact, they offer 24 hour dining (at no extra charge) which HAL do not. The chicken wings in Blue Lagoon were the best I have ever tasted.

 

[hypercafe]

Yes NCL already does this, however we have sailed on them often and I do not think the food in the MDR is bad, it's wedding food same as all mass market lines, others, like HAL, just ad more silverware and dishes and used to have better service however now I think NCL has better because their ships are built for this while lines like HAL have played copy cat with anytime dinning and the galley and dinning room can!t do it in a timely fashion. I believe what the OP has in mind is like RCCL, where there are things on the MDR menu that have a extra charge. When you order them it's like getting a drink, the waiter comes back at the end and asks for your card. I have seen this on HAL, years ago on the Rotterdam I ordered a shrimp cocktail and was told it was a charge on 75 cents per shrimp, guess HAL was on the leading edge!! Back to NCL, we love the whole concept of their product however I have seen people love it or hate it. I would think most HAL lovers would hate it as it is most non traditional.

[sail7seas]

Yes NCL already does this, however we have sailed on them often and I do not think the food in the MDR is bad, it's wedding food same as all mass market lines, others, like HAL, just ad more silverware and dishes and used to have better service however now I think NCL has better because their ships are built for this while lines like HAL have played copy cat with anytime dinning and the galley and dinning room can!t do it in a timely fashion. I believe what the OP has in mind is like RCCL, where there are things on the MDR menu that have a extra charge. When you order them it's like getting a drink, the waiter comes back at the end and asks for your card. I have seen this on HAL, years ago on the Rotterdam I ordered a shrimp cocktail and was told it was a charge on 75 cents per shrimp, guess HAL was on the leading edge!! Back to NCL, we love the whole concept of their product however I have seen people love it or hate it. I would think most HAL lovers would hate it as it is most non traditional.

 

 

Yes, Hypercafe.

 

What I have in mind are select menu items that would bear an additional charge.

 

Pay extra from the usual menu in order to add caviar as an appetizer, for example.

 

No charge for the majority of the menu.... most would be included at no additional charge.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Yes, Hypercafe.

 

What I have in mind are select menu items that would bear an additional charge.

 

Pay extra from the usual menu in order to add caviar as an appetizer, for example.

 

No charge for the majority of the menu.... most would be included at no additional charge.

 

 

As others have said, the way HAL is set up now, the galley would have a very difficult time dealing with extra items. I suppose they could have the "splurge" entree of the day or something like that, but I just don't like the precedent for paying extra in the MDR.

 

Maybe the answer is to expand the Pinnacle menu? Maybe make it ala carte as in land restaurants, so if you want to pay more for caviar, you may have it.

[Nutriosotoo]

Am generally negative on this issue. Seems like there would be too many logistical problems to iron out. They may be too much for HAL to accomplish. I would rather have another specialty restaurant if space is available. Otherwise, there seem to be enough selections on the menu in the MDR and in the specialty restaurants for me.

----Penny

[readytogo2]

I can only base my opinion with Princess as I have sailed more with them than any other line. I have noticed since the trend of specialty restaurants started, the quality of food in the MDR has gone down. I only speculate that it is the same with HAL and the other cruise lines. It only makes sense if the food included in the price of a cruise is a lower quality, then passengers will make more reservations in the Pay restaurants...seems we did it to ourselves. So my answer has to be.. no to pay extra for anything.

[sail7seas]

HAL Pinnacle Restaurants are not that large as to be able to accomodate the large numbers some imply HAL might be encouraging to spend more for. Pinnacle on the "S" Class ships cannot sit more than maybe 50 people.... probably less and maybe they have 1 1/2 turnover each evening. I don't think they do two full seatings every night.

 

That is not a motivation to lessen the MDR experience IMO

 

Only two ships of 15 in the fleet have Tamarind. There are no plans to add a Tamarind to the other ships.

 

[Hawaiidan]

We, as a matter of principal dont patronize the extra cost restauraunts because we feel thats a self defeating prospect for us in the long run and encourages the ship/line to further degrade its non pay offerings:o. It is as we see it, shooting your self in the foot.

 

When we want better food, service, ambiance or what ever we go to a line which offers that level we seek. Rather than paying at the Pinnacle for meals, we would rather seek a line that offers not only that level of food but offers it trhoughout the ship for every aspect. service, cabin, food,

 

Chasing after luxury on a non luxury line is folly.Like ordering lobster at jack in the box

[world~citizen]

...Chasing after luxury on a non luxury line is folly.Like ordering lobster at jack in the box

 

Very good point.

 

Of course HAL calls itself "premium". That can mean whatever they want it to mean. It seems to me the "premium" in HAL is in the stuff you pay extra for. Its not luxury you chase, its "premium". Then, when you add up the charges you accrue for "premium", you have to ask yourself if you would have been better off on a "luxury" line.

 

Parallel menus in the MDR would be a mess for all the reasons people have noted. I believe HAL is in transition. I am unsure as to where but the direction is not appealing to me. On our last cruise, many meals were not worthy of the dinnerware they were served on.

 

So ask yourself this. If past is preface, will the food improve in the future, or the dinnerware be downgraded?

 

We all have our own opinions but it is pretty clear where I stand on that one.

[cruising cockroach]

Hm, sounds like the slow cutbacks in airline food catering (and in-flight service) worldwide, and even the premium cabins on (previously) premium airlines aren't excluded. No BOB yet for premium cabins but who knows when that is coming.

[igraf]

Celebrity's aqua class costs only slightly more than their standard verandas. Aqua class is an alternative class, not a premium class.

 

igraf

 

 

 

....But in recent years, other lines have been adding a "first class" although they'd never dare call it that. But suites with their own private sundeck/pool and dining room are cropping up around the industry. For example, HAL does a tiny bit of it with the Neptune Lounge and breakfast in Pinnacle. NCL has some sort of posh enclave. Somebody told me the only way to go on Celebrity (I think it was Celeb) was to go in "Aqua class." The NCL and X fans who bashed Cunard for having a "class system" are now sailing on ships with a class system!!!!...

[Hawaiidan]

Celebrity's aqua class costs only slightly more than their standard verandas. Aqua class is an alternative class, not a premium class.

 

igraf

 

This is the sort of pretend elite and class systen that mass market lines are introducing to delude their passengers into beleiving they have special class and status akin to "first class or luxury" service .

 

Cant wait to see this applied to other mass market products

Maybe you can be a" 6 bun Golden Arch Elite", and pre book a table in a Ronalds Reverve table....

[caladezi]

Just gimme food and make my belly full. I'll be a happy camper.

[Typhoon1]

:o I'm sorry. I'll try to limit some of these subjects I tend to raise but I admit I usually find the conversation interesting.

I'll try to restrain myself. :)

 

 

Keep it up. We need to stimulate more interesting discussion here.

[SilvertoGold]

This is the sort of pretend elite and class systen that mass market lines are introducing to delude their passengers into beleiving they have special class and status akin to "first class or luxury" service .

 

Cant wait to see this applied to other mass market products

Maybe you can be a" 6 bun Golden Arch Elite", and pre book a table in a Ronalds Reverve table....

 

Agreed! Love the last sentence above!!!!!!

 

I read through this whole thread at one go and it has made my head hurt.

 

The logistics of this idea are way, way too much for HAL to handle with any success. They are really having a hard time of it just as it is in the DR, according to many (food quality, service time, waiters as beverage stewards, selections, etc).

 

Hawaiidan has made a great case for looking at the "big picture", logistically and money-wise. Thanks for your posts!

[kazu]

I can only base my opinion with Princess as I have sailed more with them than any other line. I have noticed since the trend of specialty restaurants started, the quality of food in the MDR has gone down. I only speculate that it is the same with HAL and the other cruise lines. It only makes sense if the food included in the price of a cruise is a lower quality, then passengers will make more reservations in the Pay restaurants...seems we did it to ourselves. So my answer has to be.. no to pay extra for anything.

 

Thank you very much - I noticed the same thing on NCL - so I guess I wasn't totally out to lunch.

[Watson's aunt]

NO NO NO Stop this now.. We pay good money to go on cruise. If some people are willing to pay a two tier dinner in the MDR the cruise ship will just start charging more for meals in dinning room.

 

I hate being nickled and dimed. what next will they charge for Show's to get off ship first. for pillow animals, turn down?? come on people soon we will be paying for everything on the ship that use to be free. Look back at what was included 5,10 20 years ago and if you want to do it now you pay extra

 

 

Mary