Could management be deliberately setting Regal up for poor reviews?

[Loreni]

Royal is the lowest rated (by far) ship in the fleet. Regal is essentially her twin and will likely have a similarly poor approval rating. So why is Regal being targeted for unpopular up charges? This cannot possibly increase its favorability rating; anyone could predict this. Could it be that there is an internal battle at Princess over the design of new ships. Maybe if Regal breaks the 65% level for "loved it" it means more ships like Regal. But, if it doesn't, maybe that means more ships with reasonable sized balconies, central stairs and a promenade deck that isn't "in name only."

 

It is hard to explain these new up charges any other way. Ten dollars for Alfredo's to keep the crowds down? What crowds? I have never seen crowds at Alfredo's on any of the other Princess ships that have them. Have any of you? We don't drink wine or soda, so we will not be going to Alfredo's if this up charge goes fleet wide. Frankly, I prefer Prego's pizza.

 

As for room service, well we don't use it much for breakfast because nearly every offering is high carbohydrate. We can't eat that way. I might be OK with the three dollars if 1) a full hot breakfast was available and 2) I was certain that the tips were going to the waiters. I have learned that any tip I give to the waiters at the I.C. is not allowed to be kept by them...it goes to Princess. So I assume the same would be true for the three dollars. If this policy goes fleet wide and makes the dining room so crowded for breakfast that we can no longer get a table for two, we will rethink cruising on Princess. I won't fight the buffet at breakfast and I can't eat the high carbohydrate breakfast offerings currently on the room service menu even if I were OK with the up charge.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Loreni

[Working 2 Cruise]

Yet another thread regarding the charges...

 

Princess is looking for ways to maximize profit. I also think that your premise is incorrect. Like it or not, bigger ships are now the norm. I don't think Princess will go back to smaller ships.

[Pam in CA]

I won't fight the buffet at breakfast and I can't eat the high carbohydrate breakfast offerings currently on the room service menu even if I were OK with the up charge.

When I have an early tour, for instance meeting at 7am for an all-day tour, I order room service: tea, cranberry juice, fruit, cottage cheese and a muffin. Am I missing something that this is too high carbohydrate?

[Loreni]

When I have an early tour, for instance meeting at 7am for an all-day tour, I order room service: tea, cranberry juice, fruit, cottage cheese and a muffin. Am I missing something that this is too high carbohydrate?

 

Maybe not for you.

[Loreni]

Yet another thread regarding the charges...

 

Princess is looking for ways to maximize profit. I also think that your premise is incorrect. Like it or not, bigger ships are now the norm. I don't think Princess will go back to smaller ships.

 

Bigger is OK. But it would be nice to have normal sized balconies, central stairs, and more (rather than fewer) pools. There should be room for these things on a "bigger" ship.

[Astro Flyer]

I agree that this would have been better added to the current threads but I strongly disagree with the speculation that Princess, or any company would intentionally do anything to make their products fail. :eek:

Edited May 25, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[seamwoman]

I agree with Pam. When we have a tour I order fruit, yogurt and muesli. High carbs? It is like I eat at home. An egg breakfast would include more carbs and calories. Karen

[Loreni]

I agree with Pam. When we have a tour I order fruit, yogurt and muesli. High carbs? It is like I eat at home. An egg breakfast would include more carbs and calories. Karen

 

You think fruit, muesli and yogurt have less carbohydrates than eggs???

 

Well, hopefully we can at least agree that the dining room offers more options for people who need to control their diets. I hope the room service fees do not go fleet-wide and do not lead to crowding in the dining room at breakfast.

[Loreni]

I agree that this would have been better added to the current threads but I strongly disagree with the speculation that Princess, or any company would intentionally do anything to make their products fail. :eek:

 

Normally, I would agree. But internal battles are not that uncommon. It could be that some people are heavily invested in maintaining that the Royal and Regal were not missteps. Others, may be advocating that the design of future ships need to be reconsidered. A low approval rating for Regal would help the latter group make its case. If this is not true, then Princess has decided to hobble an already flawed ship with an unpopular policy. What sense does that make?

[fishywood]

I agree with Pam. When we have a tour I order fruit, yogurt and muesli. High carbs? It is like I eat at home. An egg breakfast would include more carbs and calories. Karen

 

Two eggs + two slices Canadian bacon = 200 calories, 18g protien, near zero carbs;

 

One glass reconstituted orange juice syrup = 300+ calories of pure liquid carbs

Pre-packaged muesli has more added sugar than most kiddie breakfast cereals.

 

All the foofraw over the room service charge would serve a better purpose by sparking further discussion as to why Princess remains so behind the times in not offering full breakfast room service to all cabins.

[Astro Flyer]

Normally, I would agree. But internal battles are not that uncommon. It could be that some people are heavily invested in maintaining that the Royal and Regal were not missteps. Others, may be advocating that the design of future ships need to be reconsidered. A low approval rating for Regal would help the latter group make its case. If this is not true, then Princess has decided to hobble an already flawed ship with an unpopular policy. What sense does that make?

 

We're each entitled to our opinions & my opinion is that your conspiracy theory to doom the Regal to failure is far-fetched & I do not agree.

 

Throughout the years Princess management has made other questionable decisions however none of those were done to damage their product. To me the current changes on the Regal are simply bad management decisions (with the implementation even worse) and not in-house fighting about future Princess ships.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Mom33]

Setting up Regal to fail? Seriously? Charging a fee for Alfredos and 3.00 for room service? The charges were introduced on Regal and will go fleet wide. Should we all sell our Princess stock? Are they out to sink the ships? :rolleyes:

[Loreni]

Setting up Regal to fail? Seriously? Charging a fee for Alfredos and 3.00 for room service? The charges were introduced on Regal and will go fleet wide. Should we all sell our Princess stock? Are they out to sink the ships? :rolleyes:

 

Are they going fleet-wide?

[Astro Flyer]

Are they going fleet-wide?

Based on the most current Princess Facebook replies these changes are planned to go fleetwide. However that was last night and since then they've ignored comments about the changes.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[OCruisers]

It seems unlikely management would deliberately be setting Regal up for poor reviews. :confused:

LuLu

[wilfros]

I like this idea

 

With all this discussion about room service charges who has time to talk about all the other things that are wrong with their brand new ship?

[shredie]

When I have an early tour, for instance meeting at 7am for an all-day tour, I order room service: tea, cranberry juice, fruit, cottage cheese and a muffin. Am I missing something that this is too high carbohydrate?

 

Pam, the Atkins Diet (and its kin) calls for high protein and low carbohydrates. A breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and ham would be just the thing for an Atkins' devotee. Dairy (cottage cheese), fruit and any bread-like product would have too many carbohydrates in that system. I don't know if OP follows Atkins or not, but the room service menu would indeed be too high in carbs for some diets.

 

As for Princess trying to shoot Regal in its foot (so to speak) their recent actions really do tempt one to think that way. I just think someone in upper management is tone-deaf when it comes to public relations.

Edited May 26, 2014 by shredie

[Loreni]

OK. This changes things. While I had considered the possibility that internal fighting was going on and Regal had been singled out, I now think this is quite unlikely. If Regal had been singled out, then these changes would be less likely to go fleet-wide. But Princess has actually announced that it IS going fleet-wide. Still seems like an odd decision to select Regal for the initial roll-out. Why not give Regal every chance to shine?

 

 

These changes won't directly affect us that much; however, I am concerned about the indirect effect on crowding in the MDR for breakfast.

[Loreni]

Pam, the Atkins Diet (and its kin) calls for high protein and low carbohydrates. A breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and ham would be just the thing for an Atkins' devotee. Dairy (cottage cheese), fruit and any bread-like product would have too many carbohydrates in that system. I don't know if OP follows Atkins or not, but the room service menu would indeed be too high in carbs for some diets.

 

As for Princess trying to shoot Regal in its foot (so to speak) their recent actions really do tempt one to think that way. I just think someone in upper management is tone-deaf when it comes to public relations.

 

I am not doing Atkins, or trying to lose weight. I do need to watch my carbohydrates. I don't remember cottage cheese on the room service breakfast menu, but if this is available (maybe as a write in) that is good to know.

[Coral]

 

As for Princess trying to shoot Regal in its foot (so to speak) their recent actions really do tempt one to think that way. I just think someone in upper management is tone-deaf when it comes to public relations.

 

Not sure if you will appreciate the irony, but Jan Swartz (new President at Princess) used to be VP in charge of Marketing and Customer Service. Previous position put her as VP of Strategy and Business Development at Princess. Go figure. It may be more calculating than you thought.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Coral

[Astro Flyer]

I just think someone in upper management is tone-deaf when it comes to public relations.

According to a Princess news release the new president's background includes customer service..."sales, marketing and customer service".

 

http://www.princess.com/news/press_releases/2013/11/Jan-Swartz-to-Become-President-of-Princess-Cruises.html#.U4KEUtq9KSM

Edited May 26, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[sashas_mom]

Royal is the lowest rated (by far) ship in the fleet. Regal is essentially her twin and will likely have a similarly poor approval rating. So why is Regal being targeted for unpopular up charges? This cannot possibly increase its favorability rating; anyone could predict this. Could it be that there is an internal battle at Princess over the design of new ships. Maybe if Regal breaks the 65% level for "loved it" it means more ships like Regal. But, if it doesn't, maybe that means more ships with reasonable sized balconies, central stairs and a promenade deck that isn't "in name only."

 

It is hard to explain these new up charges any other way. Ten dollars for Alfredo's to keep the crowds down? What crowds? I have never seen crowds at Alfredo's on any of the other Princess ships that have them. Have any of you? We don't drink wine or soda, so we will not be going to Alfredo's if this up charge goes fleet wide. Frankly, I prefer Prego's pizza.

.

 

I also like the Prego's Pizza more, however, I don't think you can compare Alfredo's on the other ships to the one on the Royal/Regal. The ambiance is so beautiful as well as the location. The new additional food choices were so good we ate there 4 times on our 18 day TA, sometimes for dinner. If they are doing the new charge on the other ships, which I'm not happy about, I don't know why unless they offer the same new dishes. I would love to see the menu expand in the other Alfredo's, it is awesome!