Cost Savings or Cutbacks You Noticed on Princess

[caribill]

Similar to Skywalker's on Princess ships, which has restricted evening cocktail hour.

 

Usually, only half of Skywalkers is reserved for this. Anyone else is welcome to be in the other half.

[Happy2Crews]

Noticed a cost savings or cut back that seems a little minute but I guess it adds up and doesn't really affect anything. The toilet tissue roll is smaller in width. quote]

 

HA!!!! LOL..... WAY TOO FOCUSED HERE!.....not a bad day of cruising if that's as bad as it gets.

[baldercash]

But they are setting themselves up for a huge disappointment in switching to Celebrity for the first time:

Celebrity discontinued lunch on port days long before Princess did--and on one sea day a self service brunch replaces both breakfast and lunch;.

 

Fishywood is entitled to their opinion / bias but for the record Celebrity has not canceled lunch on port days.

The "self service brunch" is a huge and very successful new event on Celebrity but was likely implemented as a cost saving.

What Celebrity did was eliminate the Midnight Buffets a long standing sea going tradition. The cost and wasted food at those events must have been huge, in their place they do the equivalent to a Midnight Buffet as a brunch. So Ice sculptures, fruit carvings,huge spreads of deserts, specialty cooking stations with crepes, waffle & omelet stations, meat carving stations, and full lunch buffet all set up in the Grand dinning room. White table cloths, full table service and waite staff in attendance. This is a gala event to say the least, one you bring a camera to!

You can forgo breakfast and join in the gala brunch, trust me you won't be eating lunch after. I was able to have fried chicken and waffles for the 1st time on any ship I have sailed! Plus they serve excellent / premium sushi, even roe.

This was a brilliant move on Celebrities part as it is a huge labor and wasted food saver and allows one to still enjoy the efforts of the staff in a far more accessible venue then at a 11:00pm buffet that few attended and even fewer ate at.

A cruiseline can save money and still supply exceptional service to ones guests.

 

Amazing how one could pass the brunch off as something to be scorned or as a lowering of standards on Celebrity. There is no event on Princess that comes close to this "self service brunch"!

[rdsqrl]

. . . I was able to have fried chicken and waffles for the 1st time on any ship I have sailed! Plus they serve excellent / premium sushi, even roe.

Sushi is the very definition of cost-cutting: no energy or labour costs in raw food. How clever of Celebrity. (The less said about "fried chicken and waffles," the better . . . )

Amazing how one could pass the brunch off as something to be scorned . . .

"brunch" is always something to be scorned. What meal is it supposed to be: is it breakfast? Is it lunch? Pick a side; we're at war.*

 

*Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, June 19, 2007).

 

 

[Bowie MeMe]

I've noticed smaller serving dishes for the salads and less selection of desserts and pastries at the IC on both the Crown in June and a BVE on the Ruby last week. The move to 30 min shows and only having one form of entertainment (production show, comedian etc.) each night is also a cost saving mechanism.

 

I know this is subjective, but I believe the new menus are also a major example of cutbacks as well.

 

I think that I agree with you. The new menus don't seem to have that much variety with the dishes being the same (Salmon, chicken, Alfredo pasta, and roast beef) and only 4 changing dishes fish, vegetarian and 2 others. The desserts in reality only change the top 2 or 3 and the rest are standard (fruit, ice cream, cream burle, Princess love boat). On lobster night the shrimp tails were larger than the lobster tail and no seconds seen served in my section of the traditional dining room. These seemed to be differences from cruise on Star in Jan. 2012. Portions are "well controlled". As for the 30 minute shows -- I thought the new ones were fresh and exciting and the talent was excellent. Most of the lounge acts were pretty good also -- better than the Star in Jan. I have done 9 Princess cruises (4 in the last 3 years) and the product is still very consistent and pleasing. Need to invest in new pillows for the bed -- really bad lumpy uncomfortable pillows. Diamond needs a bit of freshing -- Star was just off a major update and you could tell the difference.

For all these comments, Princess cruises are still the best bargain in vacation offerings in my book.

[caribill]

The desserts in reality only change the top 2 or 3 and the rest are standard (fruit, ice cream, cream brule, Princess love boat).

 

And only one flavor of the cream brule for the entire cruise.

 

They used to have a different flavor each time it was offered.

[baldercash]

"brunch" is always something to be scorned. What meal is it supposed to be: is it breakfast? Is it lunch? Pick a side; we're at war.*

 

*Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, June 19, 2007).

You do realize Colbert is a satirist?

 

 

Sushi is the very definition of cost-cutting: no energy or labour costs in raw food.

So why does one have to pay for it on Princess, nuff said.

[compozer]

Yes, I was very disappointed with the dessert selection. Especially being on a b2b2b. After the first week we decided we were eating too much and cut out desserts.

 

I also was surprised at the beds. They say pillow top mattress but the pillow top was not part of the mattress - it was a separate covered pad - not foam. Better than nothing, especially since the bed itself was sunk in the center and without that extra top, it would have been terrible. And this was in a full suite. Years ago we had the best beds in the Coral suites.

 

I still thought most of the servings were large. I told our waiter that they should make smaller portions - like a cup of soup instead of a bowl but he said that when they make them smaller, people complain even when they are told they can have another one. I guess it is hard to please all people.

[rickdeni]

I am a TA and all of the lines have had cutbacks in the last 2 years. Princess is not the worse. I love Princess and still enjoy the food in the buffet and dining room. I can always find something I like. On our last cruise on the Crown I did have fried chicken at dinner which another poster said he only had seen on Celebrity. As for waffles Princess has always had them and Disney has Mickey waffles. My only issue with them is the entertainment which I use to enjoy. It was never the best but only Disney has the best entertainment. I have been on Celebrity, Carnival, Disney, and RCI as well as Princess for a total of 20+ cruises.

[shopperwhite]

just off of the emerald. new menus were in effect. loved the creme brulee . no more rack of lamb gone to crown grill.... like holland america you are seeing mac and cheese, meat loaf sheppards pie etc....

such are the breaks.

entertainment is only slightly better than holland america which is the worst. not even comparable to royal caribbean, celebrity or carnival.

 

cruising is still the best deal going. good food entertainment and travel to different places. i expect to continue to seeing more and more cut backs.

[PeteC22]

Sushi is the very definition of cost-cutting: no energy or labour costs in raw food.

So why does one have to pay for it on Princess, nuff said.

 

It's still offered and free on Princess.

[Esprit]

Just got off Island Princess having not cruised with Princess for over two years.

 

The things I therefore noticed were no large bowls of prawns in the Horizon Court. Instead the prawns are mixed in with other salad items.

 

Burgers as a meal in the MDR you can order any night! They are exactly the same as those offered in the Lido pool grill.

 

No spiders crab legs on the special dining night

 

No milk and cookies at 4 pm offered to passengers on the Lido decks.

 

That said, the cruise was very good and the crew were brilliant. Just a shame that after 11 pm it was a ghost ship even with 4 sea days and two clock changes backwards.

[compozer]

CB still had the hot cookies and milk on Lido deck and around the IC.

[2little time]

Each ship seems to be a little unique. On the Emerald we found cookies and milk each day at the IC and on deck. I noticed the decrease in dessert choices on the MDR menu but loved the Creme Brulee and had it almost every day. The MDR menus do get rather boring but I can understand they try to please many different tastes. One thing I did notice that had changed was the size and composite of the fresh flowers placed in the suite. They are usually quite large but this time it was a modest bowl with carnations and a few daisey type flowers. We did have daily Soduku/crossword/puzzles available in the library which we enjoy.

[Kinkacruiser]

There's only one "free" gym class i.e. Morning Stretch. There used to be a sequel "Abs workout". It's no big deal as I can do my own.

[compozer]

One thing I did notice that had changed was the size and composite of the fresh flowers placed in the suite. They are usually quite large but this time it was a modest bowl with carnations and a few daisey type flowers.

 

Yes, they were not very nice. They only lasted four days and I thought the third cruise was because we got into a different port in NYC and probably no deliveries because of Sandy but they all were the same. You use to get bird of paradise. They were mainly carnations and some spent lilies. I must say the the flowers that came with the balcony dinner were twice the size and so fresh but then again, nothing special. I had planned to give them to my favorite waitress but when we came back after dinner the last evening to get a bottle of wine and the flowers for her, they were gone. That has never happened before - he was so good in every other way that I hated to say anything to him.

[luv2travel77]

In my opinion, pricing has increased and in some cases significantly.

 

Example:

 

In 2009 we took the first 10 day Baltic cruise of the season on the Emerald Princess. We booked it 8 months in advance. Looking at the first 2013 Emerald 11 day cruise to the Baltic (now 6 months in advance), the per day (since it is now one day longer) pricing is 82% higher than we paid when looking at the same category cabin.

 

Princess has also reorganized the pricing for its categories of cabins (beginning late-April 2013) which most probably contributed to the huge price increase you're seeing. On top of that it will have been 4 years since your cruise to the Baltic when you compare the fares. :)

[caribill]

Princess has also reorganized the pricing for its categories of cabins (beginning late-April 2013) which most probably contributed to the huge price increase you're seeing. On top of that it will have been 4 years since your cruise to the Baltic when you compare the fares. :)

 

I was comparing the lowest price category of the same type room, so the changing of which cabins were in each category did not change the comparison for being apples-to-apples.

 

Yes, it was 4 years. The posting was in response to a post that said "If you want a cruise line to maintain the same levels of services and amenities year to year, expect cruise prices to increase anywhere from 1 to 6 percent annually at the base."

 

82% higher in four years is much more than a 1%-6% annual increase. It is 17% compounded annually.

 

My point was that even with all the cutbacks, cruise prices are rising significantly, at least on many itineraries.

[baldercash]

It's still offered and free on Princess.

 

The sushi was offered for "free" once on a 12 day cruise we just finished. It was not fit to eat. It was truly horrible and dry, too much poorly cooked rice, no selection of fish. Limited to smoked salmon laid on a huge rice ball, some shrimp but that was it. We asked multiple times when it would be available no one new. While wandering about the buffet on the last sea day we met our MDR waiter he mentioned it was available at the back of the ship.

We were told by staff if we wanted decent sushi we needed to by a glass of wine to get it the wine bar.

 

Not great.

[bdjam]

No matter what the cruise lines use (typically "Heavenly" brand), we'll always toss a couple of rolls of Cottonelle in our suitcase! ;)

I'm not sure that's a good idea...Cottenelle is sure to clog up the Evac system.

 

I've noticed smaller serving dishes for the salads and less selection of desserts and pastries at the IC on both the Crown in June and a BVE on the Ruby last week. The move to 30 min shows and only having one form of entertainment (production show, comedian etc.) each night is also a cost saving mechanism.

 

I know this is subjective, but I believe the new menus are also a major example of cutbacks as well.

I just got off Star Princess' last cruise. I was standing in line at the Coffee Bar a couple of mornings and looked over at the dessert selection at the International Cafe and was somewhat amazed at the number of dessert offerings...at least a dozen different types of cakes, pastries, cheesecakes and puddings. The question in my mind was why there wasn't this large a selection on the dining room menu.

 

I didn't notice smaller salad dishes, but I did notice that the new menus offered one or two additional "always available" items and fewer other selections...which helps lower costs in the kitchen as they can standardize their inventory and preparation methods. Even more so with the dessert menu. The food was excellent, however.

 

And I'm not sure what they are doing with the entertainment program. The way it was set up on Star Princess, there seemed to be as many entertainers as there was before, but because of the schedule, people would leave full lounges to go to other venues for entertainment, often the Piazza...seems to me what they would save on entertainment they would lose on alcohol sales when everyone leaves the lounge.

[Mom33]

Although not a cutback, the price increase in the self laundry and the price increase in the coffee card are changes that affect the bottom line.

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'm not sure that's a good idea...Cottenelle is sure to clog up the Evac system.

...

 

No complications thus far in hundreds of days of sea trials !

 

Tom

[highheel girl]

No complications thus far in hundreds of days of sea trials !

 

Tom

 

 

How would you know????? :confused:

[Loonbeam]

There is also a demand factor to consider. I'm the one who said that and was looking at more of an overall average per cabin across all grades. On any given ship/itinerary there will be some that are higher and some lower. You also have to compare time of year (for example, someone compared Alaska in Sep with Alaska in July and complained they were being ripped off...). Of course it doesn't cost the cruise line more in Sep, but demand is higher.

 

If that cabin type is more in demand, 82% is high, but not unheard of.

 

I was comparing the lowest price category of the same type room, so the changing of which cabins were in each category did not change the comparison for being apples-to-apples.

 

Yes, it was 4 years. The posting was in response to a post that said "If you want a cruise line to maintain the same levels of services and amenities year to year, expect cruise prices to increase anywhere from 1 to 6 percent annually at the base."

 

82% higher in four years is much more than a 1%-6% annual increase. It is 17% compounded annually.

 

My point was that even with all the cutbacks, cruise prices are rising significantly, at least on many itineraries.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

How would you know????? :confused:

 

Let's put it this way. I don't care for the quality of tp that cruise lines, or hotels for that matter, provide for their guests. Cottonelle is safe for septic systems (that's good enough for me), and we have not had problems ourselves from it - so we'll continue to use it.

 

Tom