Well, I think SHARE is Great

[TNTLAMB]

Assuming you are right' date=' that Share is great, why do you suppose it was not added to the new Majestic Princess? And that it was not added to the Royal Princess during dry dock? And that it was not added to the Grand Princess, during her recent dry dock? Not to mention missing Share on the Coral Princess:)

 

What a quagmire to ponder:)[/quote']

 

Prolly for the same reason Harmony, and La Mer, were not added to the rest of the fleet. They are adding specialty restaurants based on recent redeployment and geographic markets. In fact plan on a lot of changes in that regard. The ships will continue to be differentiated by shows, dining, and even the "bars" Share was only intended for 4 ships and was cancelled on one when it was permanently deployed to the Southern Caribbean.

 

Wait until they start pulling the Coffee Bar out of the International Cafe and the new expanded AMULETO CAFÉ (not sure yest wheteher that is what they will be called) concept specialty Restaurants start appearing next year. There will REALLY be some screaming then on CC

Edited February 13, 2017 by TNTLAMB

[jennybenny]

You guys resurrected my thread from 3+ months ago to ask these penetrating questions?

 

I do like Cruise Junky's response:

 

 

 

But, of course, I also feel the need to expand.

 

Like it or lump it, Princess must do things to expand their customer base--their dying away.

 

I think it's great that the offer multiple dining options. It lets me choose where I am going to dine.

 

I agree that my characterization that SHARE is great is purely personal. Don't you appreciate the fact that I am willing to pay the fare for the cruise AND pay the upcharge for this restaurant? Every dollar that I spend at SHARE is good revenue for Princess. That means, they can actually charge other travelers less for their fare. OK, I agree that the reduction is pretty small, but the logic works.

 

I tried to be diplomatic but I guess I was too subtle. Why, I must ask, do you feel that SHARE is any kind of threat? There are multiple dining options available. Why can't you just go to them and avoid SHARE? I'll give another example. I do not understand the appeal of the Pub Lunch. However, it is amazingly popular. If people enjoy it, maybe they have a better appreciation than I have. I think it is great that they have the option of enjoying it. I'll just go my way.

 

Why is it that my enjoyment of SHARE causes so much grief for others?

 

"Well, now we can't go to Sabbatini's."

 

And I get that--to an extent. I enjoy Sabbatini's very much. On ships with Sabbatini's we will dine there 2 or 3 times per cruise. Also, however, I've read enough cruise critic posts to know that there is a fairly large population out there that does not like Sabbatini's, either. I've read comments about "I don't like pasta" or "They have too much seafood." At least people who don't care for Sabbatini's are not shouting, "Die, Sabbatini's."

 

Here is something else, though, to consider. In this thread I mentioned that I was able to chat quite a bit with the staff. I know this will be characterized as "hearsay evidence," but, heck, this is an internet forum where there is a lot of blurring of the truth.

 

I was told that Curtis Stone has a five-year contract with Princess. You know that Princess wants this to work. They can't just say, "Nice try, Curtis, but it's not working out. Here is a pile of money for the balance of your contract. Now, go away."

 

Yes, every contract can be broken. I am also sure that there are performance clauses in the contract. However, if the performance levels are not attained, remedies will be attempted before the contact is terminated. My guess is that the new menu implemented in the fall was such a remedy.

 

We'll see what happens.

 

My wife and I are booked on the Emerald in 2018. If there is a SHARE on the Emerald at that time, we will enjoy it. If they change that room to something else, we'll try it (well, if it is English Pub Food, maybe not). Regardless, we'll have a great cruise.

 

I completely agree with you. We LOVE Shares!!

We normally do a few nights of specialty dining, and sadly we only got to do one night in Shares when we were on the Ruby. Loved it so much we actually booked the Ruby again. I wonder if we got to enjoy the "new" menu in November? When on a ship without Shares (which we normally are) we go to Sabatini's and Crown Grill each at least once, mostly twice.

 

I think another reason they haven't put Shares on more ships is that it has a higher price point, and something crazy like 60 people seated per night? If that's truly the case then Shares might make sense in a smaller venue? But I digress, given that they have a 5 year deal, I'm sure Princess needed to test it out before/if it gets distributed fleet wide. Anyway, I enjoy Shares, I enjoy Sabatini's and I enjoy the Crown Grill. If Princess puts another venue on, I will try it. I tried Salty Dog, not a fan for dinner, but I like the lunch idea for $12 and will try when I'm on the Ruby again.

[Emperor Norton]

Isn't a generally expecpted principle in life that those who complain tell 10 times more people than those who are happy with an experience? If this hold true, then a truer reflection of the quoted 2 to 1 ratio is that for every 2 that were unhappy, 18-20 were happy? FOOD for thought :cool:

 

When I worked in CS our company hired a firm to do a survey. The findings were: every good experience would generate about 3-5 positive mentions. A negative experience generated about 12-15 negative mentions.

[TNTLAMB]

When I worked in CS our company hired a firm to do a survey. The findings were: every good experience would generate about 3-5 positive mentions. A negative experience generated about 12-15 negative mentions.

 

What did NO experience generate?

[notentirelynormal]

What did NO experience generate?

 

HaHa. You just reminded me. A few years ago there was a poster that was constantly giving advise to newbies and answering tons of questions. The thing was though, the Poster had never set foot on a cruise ship and had no first hand knowledge. She was just repeating what she had read from other cruisers and stating facts as if it was gospel. Finally people wised up about her and started calling her out on it. Her comments ranged from things like (and this is an exaggerated unremembered specific details) all the pillows in the XX lounge were blue up until 5:00 pm then they changed them to a different color. Or the dress codes are never enforced. The photographers will hound you to death.

 

Once I and many others started calling her out on her cruising knowledge and experience she finally admitted that her first cruise would be in a few months and that she had actually never set foot on a ship.

 

So yes, TNTLAMB, people with no opinions will give theirs as well.

[WupperAV]

IMHO just another up sell and you have to pay for seconds of food no one except New Yorker's recognize. Loved your comment Cruizinrabbit. I would like to see Down Home Southern Cooking. They do come close in Horizon with Taters, fried chicken but havn't had fried chicken and waffles because their waffles are awful with the fake Maple Syrup.No Chicken fried steak with Sausage gravy either. The English Pub food was probably close to England. Soggy Chips, Soggy tasteless fish and served lukewarm. 2 times I might add.