Its in the math

[beentothere]

What seems not to be understood is that the cruise lines are:

 

1) perpetually looking to lower cost labor based on the pay rate and the number of staff.

 

2) So let us say that in 1995 the quality level or service per staff member was 100. And the amount of labor hours in direct service was also an index of 100.

 

3) Say today both of the these numbers may have shrunk to maybe 90 (to be gracious).

 

4) Now these ratings vary by staff member so that means on a random basis you periodically will experience less or poorer quality than before.

 

5) Thus on any particular cruise on any particular day who gets the shaft is somewhat random.

 

6) Each year please expect the numbers to decrease.

 

7) Some will find the cruise experience wonderful, some not. The percent of not will slowly grow. That is slowly I say. The more experienced proactive cruiser will know how to deal with circumstances.

 

8) Just remember that it seems that 90 percent of all responses to all complaints are memorized from a manual. If the answers vary: Fired or

Fined.

 

9) Therefore the most experienced of us will be able to still enjoy, but a little slice of pleasure will disappear each year, on the average.

 

What say you all?

[dd likes to cruise]

I suppose that is the same with most companies, etc, not just cruiselines. The bottom line is make more money. How they all do it is cut back on quality, quantity, and service. Stores, restaurants, airlines, tourist attractions, our places of employment, you name it.

[cb at sea]

The "crew to passenger" ratio has shrunk a bunch over the last several years. Perhaps, things will improve now...but don't count on it. Ships are still sailing full, despite the cut-backs. New cruisers know no differently.

[Bo1953]

Sounds like airlines as well...

 

There was a time when flying First Class one automatically got access to the Club, no more, have to pay for it unless a frequent flyer... not to even speak about the meals aboard planes in FC...

 

 

bon voyage

Edited January 14, 2018 by Bo1953

[beentothere]

You can change your percentages by suiting it or a costly by up.

 

The same issues faced a Japanese company. They overcame most of the negative triggers through the concepts of an American quality control engineer.

He taught the company to grow beyond and the company became more than successful. So why don't more companies apply the same logic as Toyota did?

 

Automation and technology could go a long way in improving the service gap by improving its delivery efficiency.

[mek]

What seems not to be understood is that the cruise lines are:

 

1) perpetually looking to lower cost labor based on the pay rate and the number of staff.

 

2) So let us say that in 1995 the quality level or service per staff member was 100. And the amount of labor hours in direct service was also an index of 100.

 

3) Say today both of the these numbers may have shrunk to maybe 90 (to be gracious).

 

4) Now these ratings vary by staff member so that means on a random basis you periodically will experience less or poorer quality than before.

 

5) Thus on any particular cruise on any particular day who gets the shaft is somewhat random.

 

6) Each year please expect the numbers to decrease.

 

7) Some will find the cruise experience wonderful, some not. The percent of not will slowly grow. That is slowly I say. The more experienced proactive cruiser will know how to deal with circumstances.

 

8) Just remember that it seems that 90 percent of all responses to all complaints are memorized from a manual. If the answers vary: Fired or

Fined.

 

9) Therefore the most experienced of us will be able to still enjoy, but a little slice of pleasure will disappear each year, on the average.

 

What say you all?

 

I say the little slices of pleasure added to cruise ships outweigh the cutbacks. I've been cruising since 1972 and no way would I ever want to go back to that experience. I like bells and whistles and honestly in 60+ cruises, I have never had bad service. I don't need someone hovering over me 24/7. Quite frankly, looking back, cruises were really boring back then, but I spent all day in the sun and I have paid for that later in life.

 

Maybe as I get older, things that were important to me 30-40 years ago just aren't any more. I want to have fun, chill out, eat and dress casually,(which does not mean sloppy.) I'm very active and the thought of just sitting in a lounge chair for hours makes me want to shoot my eye out.

 

So, it's not just newbies that "don't know any better" who are happy with cruising today, some of us old timers are as well.

[Tomato53]

"What say you all?"

 

 

I say it's time to explore other vacation options.

[bigbeergut]

What seems not to be understood is that the cruise lines are:

 

1) perpetually looking to lower cost labor based on the pay rate and the number of staff.

 

2) So let us say that in 1995 the quality level or service per staff member was 100. And the amount of labor hours in direct service was also an index of 100.

 

3) Say today both of the these numbers may have shrunk to maybe 90 (to be gracious).

 

4) Now these ratings vary by staff member so that means on a random basis you periodically will experience less or poorer quality than before.

 

5) Thus on any particular cruise on any particular day who gets the shaft is somewhat random.

 

6) Each year please expect the numbers to decrease.

 

7) Some will find the cruise experience wonderful, some not. The percent of not will slowly grow. That is slowly I say. The more experienced proactive cruiser will know how to deal with circumstances.

 

8) Just remember that it seems that 90 percent of all responses to all complaints are memorized from a manual. If the answers vary: Fired or

Fined.

 

9) Therefore the most experienced of us will be able to still enjoy, but a little slice of pleasure will disappear each year, on the average.

 

What say you all?

 

Not exactly true. Your analysis is based on the assumption that the crew is doing everything today that they did in 1995. Not true. Celebrity has cut back in a number of areas so, they should be able to cut back on staff without anyone getting shafted. (Perhaps you could argue that everyone is getting shafted everyday because of numerous cut-backs) Passengers getting shafted is often due to poor training.

[NordicPrince]

I think the OP is being overly negative and it's time for the OP to stop cruising for awhile.

 

DW and I were talking the other night and she says she still gets excited seeing the ship for the first time and sitting in the rear of the ship watching the wake as the ship leaves port and just breathing in the clean crisp sea air.

 

I don't see the general cruising population getting shafted on that.

 

Focus on the positives and enjoy your cruising days.

[Lastdance]

I am leaving at the end of April for a cruise in Europe and then training to Cinque Terre. I can't wait to step aboard Reflection again...I plan on arriving early and enjoying the ship as much as possible. When the time comes that my DH and I do not enjoy cruising with Celebrity, I will definitely move on because I love to travel. Time goes by way to fast to analyze everything about a cruise and how it used to be. Those times are gone and people seem to remember them being almost like a fairytale, but that was then and this is now...make your own new fairytales and live it the moment. The past is gone, the present is now! Carpe Diem...do what makes you happy because time marches on...

 

These are solely my opinions!

[GUT2407]

I think the OP is being overly negative and it's time for the OP to stop cruising for awhile.

 

DW and I were talking the other night and she says she still gets excited seeing the ship for the first time and sitting in the rear of the ship watching the wake as the ship leaves port and just breathing in the clean crisp sea air.

 

I don't see the general cruising population getting shafted on that.

 

Focus on the positives and enjoy your cruising days.

 

 

Yep, when we stop getting excited, when I stop counting days and hours till I board it will be time to find something else.

[neverbeenhere]

Yep, when we stop getting excited, when I stop counting days and hours till I board it will be time to find something else.

 

After 100++ cruises, we still find cruises exciting and fun. We still head to the pier to welcome the ships in when we are on vacations near cruise ports.

[Luvcrusn]

I evaluate each vacation separately. If we enjoy a vacation, be it land based or cruising, we're likely to repeat it with variations in the future. If we leave less than thrilled we look at other options. We've had cruises and land vacations that we've loved, and some not so much. That's why we're glad that it's a big world and that we're fortunate enough to be able to make travel choices and enjoy. What we don't do when we're planning a new vacation is try to duplicate an experience from 30 years ago. We realize that the world has changed, not just cruise vacations. We can only choose what's offered today.

[srdancer]

We have only been on 7 cruises over the last 71/2 years - 2 on HAL - Statendam and Zuiderdam, 2 on Oceania Marina, 3 on Celebrity - Summit, Infinity, Equinix. First cruise was Alaska cruise tour on Statendam. Ship rattled - they had to send an engineer to fix our headboard which rattled all night, food was edible -barely, entertainment was bad. We had a wonderful time. Last cruise was Med cruise on the Marina - heavenly. We had a wonderful time.

Pluses and some minuses on any cruise. We have loved each one. Have 3 scheduled this year - RC, Celebrity, Oceania. I'm sure we will love them too.

[neverbeenhere]

We try to keep the headboard rattling all night long still. :evilsmile:

Edited January 14, 2018 by neverbeenhere
Everyone needs a (changed for modesty) :)

[srdancer]

The friends we were traveling with were in the next room. I wonder.......

[Host Jazzbeau]

When people no longer felt they were getting value from newspapers, they stopped buying them. They didn't go on newspapercritic.com and complain about the cutbacks. The fact that there are so many threads like this on many many Cruise Critic boards tells me that people still find value in cruising despite the perceived cutbacks. Otherwise, they would just walk away. As for me and my house, we're going on a cruise tomorrow and looking forward to it!

[OzKiwiJJ]

I've only been cruising for just over three years but I have noticed cutbacks on one of the cruise lines we favour in that period. So far it hasn't stopped us cruising on that line though.

 

However airline cutbacks some years ago led us to stop flying domestically on one major Australian airline and switch to another.

[Redking]

Thank you to all the balanced and wise people on CruiseCritic. We have on occasion been inclined to find fault at the expense of appreciating the wonder of cruising. Thanks to all the wise folks on CC I've learnt to have a quite word with the appropriate person if I'm not happy about something. Most recently this resulted in my OCD hubby getting the dining experaince he prefers, admittedly it was in Luminae, but there were still some minor issues that irked him that were sorted after a polite word with Telma our outstanding Maitre'd and her fabulous wait staff. Out of interest, I just compared what we are prepared to pay for a suite with the cost of some upmarket resorts here in Australia (rate include breakfast and dinner, but not all the other addtions on a cruise). Cruising wins hands down on cost alone, let alone the wonder of cruising that others have mentioned - not sure what price to on that.

[neverbeenhere]

When people no longer felt they were getting value from newspapers, they stopped buying them. They didn't go on newspapercritic.com and complain about the cutbacks. The fact that there are so many threads like this on many many Cruise Critic boards tells me that people still find value in cruising despite the perceived cutbacks. Otherwise, they would just walk away. As for me and my house, we're going on a cruise tomorrow and looking forward to it!

 

Not so sure the newspaper analogy is the best. Newspapers were subscribed to by everyone and the complaints were listed in the paper on a daily basis through letters to the editor. Also, people complained to friends and family about the short comings of the newspaper as compared to the TV or internet. (Boy, we don't even need get into those shortcomings)

[neverbeenhere]

I might go for the Model T. Everyone thought it was the greatest thing since pre-sliced bread (Except that pre-sliced bread wasn't really invented until after the Model T went out of production), everyone wanted one because they were relatively cheap and were getting cheaper every year. Then came the competitors with new styles, colors and features. The model T went the way of the dodo. But, the new model autos became stronger and stronger even though they were not as cheap as the model T.

 

(Pretty tough reach?)

[Keith1010]

Keep in mind that when you adjust for inflation sailing on many cruise lines can be done at a lower cost then years past.

 

Same is true of airlines.

 

Fortunately sailing most cruise ships/lines is still a wonderful experience.

 

And yes there is more pressure on pricing but I think back to the time that many cruise lines were on the brink of going out of business and some did.

 

Keith

[ElmaLee]

We have enjoyed every cruise we've been on in last 17 years, across 6 different lines and 11 ships. Yes, things change but there are other cruise lines which offer very personal service if you choose to pay. The competition across cruise lines is much greater as is number of ships and passengers. This has made most of them look at their prices. Most use pricing as the key to their and their travel agents' marketing.

 

We always look forward and count the days to every holiday, even if it's just a few days away in Scotland.

 

It's not just about the maths. You always have a choice.

[G.M.T.]

We try to keep the headboard rattling all night long still. :evilsmile:

 

Men with a bald patch at the front of their head are great lovers, men with a bald patch at the back are great thinkers, men with both think they are great lovers.:halo: