One Main Course

[OlsSalt]

4 hours ago, Roz said:

It was her choice to pay double for the cabin, but for the cruise line to charge her for a 2nd entree on top of that is unconscionable. 

 

Roz 

Actually, it is not unconscionable. It is only ten bucks.

$100 bucks MDR surcharge for regular menu entrees would be unconscionable.

[RDC1]

4 hours ago, SetAnOpenCourse said:

Lots of people dressed formally on the two formal nights, on Caribbean Princess a couple weeks ago.  In fact, next time I’m on a Princess cruise I’ll probably bring a black sport coat and white shirt, as well as a tie.  (On HAL I feel fine with a sport coat and dress shirt of any color, or even just slacks and polo.)

on the cruise I just got off of the Sapphire Princess in Singapore maybe 70% of men had at least a sport coat and tie. About 30% were in shirt and slacks. Princess has not enforced the suit requirement for a few years..

[terrydtx]

15 hours ago, kennicott said:

We have only cruised on HAL, Princess and Regent. No more HAL for us and for a bit we were not sure what Princess was going to do, but they have held fast and provide excellent formal nights, which we just experienced for a month ending at the end of 2018.

Another good reason of many for us to not cruise Princess, when I am on vacation I do not want to wear any formal wear, coats or ties. Formal nights are a thing of the past and I approve of the current HAL Gala Night dress over the old formal nights. We are also booked on our first Viking Ocean cruise next year and one of the many things VO is not, is no formal nights or dress.

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I would imagine that HAL does not absorb the printing costs of their contracted ancillary services.

 

Interesting comment. I hadn't thought about it, but except for fliers promoting future cruises, the bulk of the "junk mail" is from the spa and the jewelry shops. So HAL might not be paying for those. And I guess it's possible that promoting these services could be a contractual obligation, so HAL can't reduce waste by eliminating them. I'm often tempted to collect the junk mail and mail it to Mr Ashford to protest the waste of paper.

 

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Another good reason of many for us to not cruise Princess, when I am on vacation I do not want to wear any formal wear, coats or ties. Formal nights are a thing of the past and I approve of the current HAL Gala Night dress over the old formal nights. We are also booked on our first Viking Ocean cruise next year and one of the many things VO is not, is no formal nights or dress.

 

Having cruised both lines, I can say that despite what the formal nights are called, black tie apparel still seems to be more abundant on HAL than on Princess.  

[sail7seas]

Most companies in all industries are trying to cut costs to avoid  raising  prices to their consumers.  Nothing new about that.  :)

 

Nor is  it new to the cruise industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

21 hours ago, J4NEC said:

I don’t understand why there is all this indignation.  Who would dream of ordering two main courses? 

 

 

Here, here.   🙂
 

 

[SetAnOpenCourse]

8 hours ago, RDC1 said:

on the cruise I just got off of the Sapphire Princess in Singapore maybe 70% of men had at least a sport coat and tie. About 30% were in shirt and slacks. Princess has not enforced the suit requirement for a few years..

I don’t know what the requirements are, nor am I aware of any effort on Princess to enforce them.  The impression that I got was that the many people who dressed formally did so because it enhanced their enjoyment of the ship’s atmosphere on those nights.

[ottahand7]

On 3/15/2019 at 1:29 PM, *Miss G* said:

I don’t think HAL is the target line for food waste but I do understand why they chose it for testing.  If they are looking to increase revenue on HAL then I think they should start with their Excursions office.  When passengers go out of their way to book alternate options then that is a good indication that their product is not only overpriced... it is seriously lacking.  And that includes their surly, defensive, and anti customer-oriented staff too.

Agreed.  They make excuses all the time.  Their descriptions and reviews are meager at best when signing up.  We had two major fails one in Lisbon (poor audio and no directions to rest rooms) and Gibraltar listed as medium activity level when it was strenuous.  They basically blamed us for signing up for them instead of the wheel chair friendly trips. 

[Swice]

Another thought today:

 

This appears to take away one of the things that made cruising a special kind of vacation.     What they are really taking away is the illusion of a floating fantasy where passengers are treated like royalty.   It’s not so much that passengers “need” a second entrée (breathe holier than thou health police), it’s the knowing we “could” order the second entrée that was a part of the allure of cruising.

 

It’s like the now-gone Chocolate Extravagana late night buffets where they used to set up those massive beautiful dessert displays.    They were photo ops to show your friends and family the edible works of art that you would only see and taste on a cruise.    At some point, a debate started internally about costs.   Slowly, the displays became less extravagant.    Some of the displays were even fake – cardboard cakes covered with icing for photos only.   The desserts the passengers were allowed to eat were the less fancy and bland.    The allure had been broken and people stopped going.    They also stopped taking pictures and showing them to everyone when they got back home.   So now, instead of the free word of mouth advertising, the marketing department has to spend more on slick commercials and photo shoots to create a new illusion.

 

Cost cutting sometimes ends up costing more.

[VennDiagram]

16 minutes ago, Swice said:

This appears to take away one of the things that made cruising a special kind of vacation.     What they are really taking away is the illusion of a floating fantasy where passengers are treated like royalty.   It’s not so much that passengers “need” a second entrée (breathe holier than thou health police), it’s the knowing we “could” order the second entrée that was a part of the allure of cruising.

 

I agree.  This availability, the possibility, the opportunity to have more food/sample different items  .... it is/was a differentiating factor for cruising. 

 

(And again, for the record, before someone accuses me of gluttony -- I have NEVER ordered a second entree.)

[SetAnOpenCourse]

I have a second entree sometimes.  I walk most of it off the next day.  Too bad the line with the most walkable promenades is the one discouraging extra entrees!

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Interesting comment. I hadn't thought about it, but except for fliers promoting future cruises, the bulk of the "junk mail" is from the spa and the jewelry shops. So HAL might not be paying for those. And I guess it's possible that promoting these services could be a contractual obligation, so HAL can't reduce waste by eliminating them

 

If HAL is as environmentally concerned as they "say" they are, how can such a waste of paper, i.e. natural resources, be philosophically justified? 

 

Oh, I know.  They get $$$$ by doing this.  Rather hypocritical, I think.
 

[OVgirl]

17 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Actually, it is not unconscionable. It is only ten bucks.

$100 bucks MDR surcharge for regular menu entrees would be unconscionable.

Or asking passengers for $50 to have meals in Club Orange with basically the same menu as the dining room.

 

That brings up another question, will those who eat in CO also be charge another $10 if they order a second entree?

[kazu]

30 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

Or asking passengers for $50 to have meals in Club Orange with basically the same menu as the dining room.

 

That brings up another question, will those who eat in CO also be charge another $10 if they order a second entree?

 

Now THAT is a good question 😉   LOL 

 

I can just about guarantee that it’s a safe bet on the answer - YES 🙂 

 

Heck, HAL hasn’t even gotten it in place to offer Mimosas in the PG.  Room service yes, PG no.  If they can’t figure out their suites, they’ll never get Club O figured out 😉

 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Now THAT is a good question 😉   LOL 

 

I can just about guarantee that it’s a safe bet on the answer - YES 🙂 

 

Heck, HAL hasn’t even gotten it in place to offer Mimosas in the PG.  Room service yes, PG no.  If they can’t figure out their suites, they’ll never get Club O figured out 😉

 

 

 

 

But they do offer mimosas in CO. Just one more thing that varies from ship to ship. 

 

sigh...

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

If HAL is as environmentally concerned as they "say" they are, how can such a waste of paper, i.e. natural resources, be philosophically justified? 

 

Oh, I know.  They get $$$$ by doing this.  Rather hypocritical, I think.
 

 

I think the whole notion that they're reducing waste by having this charge is hypocritical when you see that there are other wasteful practices, like the excess paper. 

 

How's this for hypocrisy? I may have posted this already, but with so many pages I'm not going to backtrack to see. HAL is trying to save paper. I was in a NS, and one day when I was in the lounge, the concierge asked me what my disembarkation plans were. She told me she was asking people in person rather than sending out the form where people choose their time because they were saving paper. 

[*Miss G*]

I could never understand why you could get free mimosas in your room (and now in CO) but not in the PG.  

[LMaxwell]

Cheap and chintzy is the final impression.  Not a good look for a premium company.  

[kazu]

10 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

I could never understand why you could get free mimosas in your room (and now in CO) but not in the PG.  

 

Agree.  It never made sense to me either 😉 

[ABoatNerd]

19 hours ago, Swice said:

Another thought today:

 

This appears to take away one of the things that made cruising a special kind of vacation.     What they are really taking away is the illusion of a floating fantasy where passengers are treated like royalty.   It’s not so much that passengers “need” a second entrée (breathe holier than thou health police), it’s the knowing we “could” order the second entrée that was a part of the allure of cruising.

 

It’s like the now-gone Chocolate Extravagana late night buffets where they used to set up those massive beautiful dessert displays.    They were photo ops to show your friends and family the edible works of art that you would only see and taste on a cruise.    At some point, a debate started internally about costs.   Slowly, the displays became less extravagant.    Some of the displays were even fake – cardboard cakes covered with icing for photos only.   The desserts the passengers were allowed to eat were the less fancy and bland.    The allure had been broken and people stopped going.    They also stopped taking pictures and showing them to everyone when they got back home.   So now, instead of the free word of mouth advertising, the marketing department has to spend more on slick commercials and photo shoots to create a new illusion.

 

Cost cutting sometimes ends up costing more.

 

Well said.

 

Your analysis is similar to a current thread on the Celebrity board - on nostalgia - ie when Celebrity was the best of the mass lines. 

 

Cruising 2019 on a mass cruise line is a far cry from the originating days of cruising up to about 2010 when the original model died. Yeh, it is all about change, heard that before, and on, and on.

 

But there are many vacation options out there, cruising is just one of them. You can explore other ways of seeing the world.

 

What a pathetic, cheap move by HAL but all part of the downward spiral of mass cruising.

[RDC1]

1 hour ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

Well said.

 

Your analysis is similar to a current thread on the Celebrity board - on nostalgia - ie when Celebrity was the best of the mass lines. 

 

Cruising 2019 on a mass cruise line is a far cry from the originating days of cruising up to about 2010 when the original model died. Yeh, it is all about change, heard that before, and on, and on.

 

But there are many vacation options out there, cruising is just one of them. You can explore other ways of seeing the world.

 

What a pathetic, cheap move by HAL but all part of the downward spiral of mass cruising.

kind of died as companies failed, or sold themselves to larger companies to avoid failure. You are getting what you are getting due to the economic non sustainability of the old model.  HAL, Princess, P&O, Cunard, Celebrity. There is a reason that they are no longer independant companies.

[cruzin4us]

Seriously, who cares if someone orders another meal?  The food police need to quit worrying about what others do and just worry about themselves.  A lot of HAL passengers are on the older side of 50 and probably don't eat as much as those that are more physically active.   If you don't want to order a second entree, more power to you.  For instance I don't complain that you ride the elevator and don't take the stairs.   Everyone is on vacation and should  be able to enjoy themselves as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else.   My eating and 2nd entree in no way effects any of you, so quit judging me/us that choose to eat an additional entree.   

 

The reduction of food waste is a farce and we all know it.  It's about the mighty dollar and HAL wants to see if they can get away with charging $10 without people putting up a fuss. 

 

For that matter, cruising in general is a waste of fuel, etc.  So if you are really concerned about waste, then don't cruise. 

 

 

[Hawaiidan]

14 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

But they do offer mimosas in CO. Just one more thing that varies from ship to ship. 

 

sigh...

Club Orange.....Ha....  I think they need to name it  something  really silly    "  MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF THE SEA"....if you remember  that  you will remember the King Fish too.       Do Club Orange members get to wear an orange sash while on  deck so that they will be distinguished from the other common rabble..      Then people could take a selfie with them and show it to all their friends and tell about the special experience.................. My goodness.

[Hawaiidan]

15 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

S

 

For that matter, cruising in general is a waste of fuel, etc.  So if you are really concerned about waste, then don't cruise. 

 

 

You know...I think your on to something.  And think, each evening your saving $10 !!!    Thats $70 a week !!!.    Maybe the ship just stays tied up too....and you can call Grub Hub and have your choice of local restaurants deliver to your cabin !!!!