Are cruise lines cutting back??

[Hula Hips]

we just cruised princess. hated the food. very bland. no flavor, no sugar in desserts?? we heard several people say they are ALL cutting back? no more chocolate midnight buffets?? no more chocolates on bed on Holland? is all this true??

[1025cruise]

I don't think anyone does a midnight buffet anymore. Too much waste.

 

If you thought the desserts were bad on Princess, skip HAL. On my one HAL cruise, we actually wrote on the comment card to send the pastry chef back to school. Chocolate cakes only identifiable as such by the label, definitely not by the taste.

 

Unfortunately, the mass market lines have to cook for so many people, that unfortunately, things will be a bit bland.

[cruzeluver]

Cannot speak to the specific situations you reference, but in general, yes the mass market lines have made cutbacks. They have to. As they take on more and larger ships, in order to fill berths they must keep prices very low. To be profitable they have had to make cutbacks. IMHO some have done a better job than others of keeping the cutbacks reasonable and still providing a good product.

 

To get an experience similar to what you got years ago on the mass market lines you would now need to move up to the more luxury-minded ones.

[Keith1010]

In general, most cruises lines have cut back but at the same time if you adjust for inflation I find that it is less expensive to cruise today than say ten years ago.

 

As to no midnight buffets most cruse lines eliminated them because of the shear waste since many passengers did not go to them anyway.

 

Keith

[Langley Cruisers]

First of all, I'm sorry you did not enjoy your cruise. These things happen, and food is an extremely subjective thing. The people next to you may have LOVED the food on Princess.

 

Also, in reading some of your previous comments over the years, it appears that you have not had much success with cruising. Many, if not most of your posts are complaints about various things. Perhaps, I dare say, cruising is not for you. It's not for everyone. Maybe another type of vacation would suit your needs better. :)

 

Best to you.

.

[luddite]

Yes, they are cutting things.

Menus.

Bands.

Shows.

[Hula Hips]

oh thanks for a honest reply. I thought that might be possible as the shows only lasted 35 minutes. hardly worth walking to.

[Hula Hips]

First of all, I'm sorry you did not enjoy your cruise. These things happen, and food is an extremely subjective thing. The people next to you may have LOVED the food on Princess.

 

Also, in reading some of your previous comments over the years, it appears that you have not had much success with cruising. Many, if not most of your posts are complaints about various things. Perhaps, I dare say, cruising is not for you. It's not for everyone. Maybe another type of vacation would suit your needs better. :)

 

Best to you.

.

 

yes perhaps it isn't for us but we were not going to try one or two and say we hate cruising so we decided to try every line and then make our final decision on how to travel in the future. This way we can say we certainly gave it a fair shake and take it from there. Our final attempt will be Celebrity and we do expect a lot from them. Hope they are great. We are looking forward to it.

[iheartbda]

As someone else said, you seem to have many complaints about every line you've sailed on. I love Celebrity but with everything you've mentioned, you will probably be unhappy with them as well.

Edited December 6, 2013 by iheartbda

[Hula Hips]

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made. First of all, the food, have you cruised Princess recently?? Second the chairs outside, not being lounge chairs?? The quiet area is quiet for a price?? And lastly, the shows being ONLY 35 minutes. All this ok with everyone for the price we pay?? I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

[sail7seas]

HAL still has a late night service in Lido. It is themed and might be Mexican food one night, French, Italian etc It is offered at about 10:30 or so each night for an hour. We never go but I am sure it is still on the daily schedule.

 

Edited December 6, 2013 by sail7seas

[runner15km]

The biggest cutback I have noticed is in the price. I am paying less for a cruise now then 12 years ago. Its all good. :)

[Sherlock43031]

I just returned from a 12 days cruise on the SOS. The food in the MDR was excellent and if the waiter thought you were trying to decide between several choices you ended up with all of them. between the wife and I we ordered 3 or 4 deserts to share between us and were always asked if we wanted more of anything. WJ for b'fast has about everything one could think of and lots of stuff I would never think of (baked beans/strewed tomatoes/cold deli meats). late afternoon if we got back the ship by 3 or so I would head for the park cafe and load up on ranger cookies and coffee.

[Sherlock43031]

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made. First of all, the food, have you cruised Princess recently?? Second the chairs outside, not being lounge chairs?? The quiet area is quiet for a price?? And lastly, the shows being ONLY 35 minutes. All this ok with everyone for the price we pay?? I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

 

the simple answer is if you are not happy vote with your $$$ and move on. whether or not anyone else is happy really doesn't matter.

[cb at sea]

Of course they are...everyone is. Folks don't have as much extra money nowadays, but the cruiselines still will try to attact as many as possible, and that means they have to lower fare AND amenities...those who have never cruised think they are getting a bargain....because they don't know what it used to be like.

 

You get less for your money with everything, nowadays. Thank our government for that.

[Langley Cruisers]

Our final attempt will be Celebrity and we do expect a lot from them. Hope they are great. We are looking forward to it.

 

I'm actually nervous about your attitude going in that you expect "a lot" from them. Perhaps if you lowered your expectations, did not sweat the "small stuff", and attempted to enjoy your cruise, it might work out for you, no disrespect intended.

 

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made.... I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

 

I see you've already been to the Princess board and are discussing this at length there. Not sure what you expect here. ;)

 

.

[Shmoo here]

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made. First of all, the food, have you cruised Princess recently?? Second the chairs outside, not being lounge chairs?? The quiet area is quiet for a price?? And lastly, the shows being ONLY 35 minutes. All this ok with everyone for the price we pay?? I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

 

we just cruised princess. hated the food. very bland. no flavor, no sugar in desserts?? we heard several people say they are ALL cutting back? no more chocolate midnight buffets?? no more chocolates on bed on Holland? is all this true??

 

HAL still has chocolates on the bed. At least they did as recently as last month.

[Watson's aunt]

hi

 

Just off the HAL Zuidenmdam Hated the new daily progrma. Food in MDR was outstanding. Had chocoolates bed every night.

 

Nov 8 2013

 

MAry

[navybankerteacher]

The "good old days" are over. Of course cruise lines continually try to cut costs- a standard goal in virtually every business. Our recent trans-Atlantic on Celebrity was enjoyable: the food, while not as good as that on cruises, was perfectly satisfactory. No one in their right mind seriously expects a gourmet experience in any environment serving a thousand or so at each seating.

 

If OP wants superior food, he should either pay the extra charge and eat in the alternate restaurants, or else switch to truly upscale lines -- and simply stop whining. If he wants the economy of mass market cruising he should accept that he will not get more than what he is willing to pay for.

 

I am willing to wager that, if cruise lines had maintained all levels of service, entertainment, and food quality which existed 20 or more years ago, you can be sure that they would not be able to offer the low prices of today -- and then OP would be whining about sky-rocketing fares --- he is clearly the sort who will always find something to whine about.

[SPacificbound]

OP's first two posts in this thread pretty much says it all. :rolleyes:

[LHT28]

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made. First of all, the food, have you cruised Princess recently?? Second the chairs outside, not being lounge chairs?? The quiet area is quiet for a price?? And lastly, the shows being ONLY 35 minutes. All this ok with everyone for the price we pay?? I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

Maybe you need to try some of the upmarket lines

You will pay more for the cruise than some of the main stream lines but you will get better food etc...

 

Works for us ;)

[MermaidWatcher]

we just cruised princess. hated the food. very bland. no flavor, no sugar in desserts?? we heard several people say they are ALL cutting back? no more chocolate midnight buffets?? no more chocolates on bed on Holland? is all this true??

 

Like every other business, their comes a point when expenses have risen, and either revenue must increase or costs must go down. Obviously no one wants to raise prices, especially in the highly competitive cruise market, so money has to be saved somewhere. It was our opinion that the food had gone down a good bit on our last two RCI trips, so that helped to prompt us into trying HAL. We think the food was much better than RCL, but I see many HAL old timers saying that food is down from what they have come to expect. I don't know if the lines are buying lesser quality, but I can readily see that the serving sizes have been reduced drastically. While this helps cut waste in the MDR, it does not help the amazing waste that we all see in the self serve casual dining venues. There is no doubt that the time is near when the days of people loading plates to overflowing and taking two bites, then trashing the rest and going back to repeat the cycle at a different station are numbered.

We just sailed HAL on 11/8, and there are still chocolates on the bed, but I have seen posts that they also are not the same rich quality that they used to be.

[iheartbda]

I notice no one directly answers or addresses the complaints I have made. First of all, the food, have you cruised Princess recently?? Second the chairs outside, not being lounge chairs?? The quiet area is quiet for a price?? And lastly, the shows being ONLY 35 minutes. All this ok with everyone for the price we pay?? I would like to see someone address each and every topic I did bring up Especially if you have cruised Princess within the last couple months

 

We cruised on the Caribbean Princess in Oct. on a Canada/New England cruise. Is that recent enough?

 

Food is utterly subjective. Someone on the Princess board said the food on Celebrity was the worst they've ever had. I do wonder if she cruised on X more than once. We've cruised on Celebrity 5 times and have thought the food was the best of four lines.

 

We thought the food in the MDR on Princess was good, not great but certainly nothing to complain about. I DO love the International Cafe with the best panini with fresh mozzarella and tomato, wonderful grilled vegetables, among other things, as well as lots of good desserts. No complaints about the buffet for breakfast or lunch with lots of choices. If someone cannot find something, there's something wrong with them.

 

What kind of lounge chairs are you looking for? I thought the teak semi-reclining chairs with cushions on the promenade deck were quite comfy. I've had back surgery and it's hard for me to find something comfortable. The promenade was very peaceful with only quiet walkers and jogger going by.

 

OOPS, hit reply and not finished, need to look up a few things.:o

Edited December 6, 2013 by iheartbda

[iheartbda]

We were up in Skywalker's Nightclub during the day and it was quiet and deserted with big comfortable chairs to sit and read or just watch the wake. People were reading and some even dozing off.

 

I did not time the shows but I'm sure they were more than 35 minutes, 45 at the very least. The production shows were lively with the singers and dancers, a tribute to Barry Manilow, a vocal impressionist who everyone at our table raved about, a magician and an illusionist who was in the finals on America's Got Talent, then there's Movies Under the Stars.

 

We had three served meals a day plus food available in places 24 hours a day, a cabin the was cleaned and checked on at least twice a day....just don't know how the steward managed to replace any wet towels. I swear there's some kind of wet towel alert that he jumped on every time it rang.:) Add in all sorts of entertainment in different venues, like the wonderful classical musicians in the Piazza so for everything that was available and included, we consider it a bargain, as the OP says, for what we paid.

 

Sailed on the Crown Princess 3 years ago and I would say my experience then was the same.

Edited December 6, 2013 by iheartbda

[Lerin]

Cruises are also much less expensive than they used to be.

In the early 1980s a basic cruise ranged from $1500-3 grand.

 

30 years later and you can cruise for less than that, in many cases a third that price. I'll take my lower price in exchange for no bedtime chocolate. :rolleyes: