Tablecloths in MDR.

[vicky3vicky]

1 hour ago, CorvetteLady said:

OP here, I checked back after my post, got an answer and hadn't been back on CC until today.  Imagine my surprise to see it was now 4 pages!  For those who have said it's beating a dead horse, well I did a search, phrased it several different ways and nothing came up, I asked more out of curiosity because I was surprised when I heard tablecloths were no longer a thing.  

 

Would I stop going on Carnival because they no longer use tablecloths everyday? No. I do enjoy the MDR experience and I think the tablecloths were a nice touch, they made it different than the restaurants at home that we eat in all the time.  Some have argued that it's all so casual now, well so are NCL, RCCL and most cruise lines but they still use tablecloths.  Also Carnival is not cheaper then NCL or RCCL, the only other lines that I have sailed.  Like most cruisers how we pick our cruises depends on a lot of things.  We picked the 14 day cruise on the Breeze because of the ports, 7 different ones for us.  Booked before I even looked at CC, even with all the changes on Carnival we would still have booked it.  It will be interesting to see all the changes in the last 7 years, hope more good than bad.

Are you talking about the Breeze journey cruise in November? We will be on that one, and because it is a journey cruise, there will be all sorts of special things going on.

[CorvetteLady]

2 hours ago, vicky3vicky said:

Are you talking about the Breeze journey cruise in November? We will be on that one, and because it is a journey cruise, there will be all sorts of special things going on.

  

Yes, we are going on this cruise.  Booked late and only had GTY balconies left, hoping to get a cabin assignment soon.  I have read about some of the things that they do on journey cruises, really getting excited about it.

[ray98]

On 9/4/2019 at 7:53 AM, LMaxwell said:

 

Since you seem to know, tell us 

 

Know what?  It is obvious there were several changes all at once when they went to the more casual atmosphere that coincided with American Table.  Two obvious changes off the top of my head were the addition of water carafes to the tables, bread baskets and decorative bread plates.   

 

So....in creating the new atmosphere they will realize some minimal savings due to less laundering and handling of the table cloths but there was an outlay for the new table accessories which come with their own handling and cleaning costs.

[coevan]

13 hours ago, vicky3vicky said:

I need to put that on my list on how to save money on a cruise! You rock! lol

 

 

How is stealing pens saving money?

[n6uqqq]

Didn't this debate already occur multiple times years ago? Must be " groundhog day " .

[ParrotRob]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

How is stealing pens saving money?

 

Steal 50,000 pens, sell for ten cents each on eBay, Bingo, free cruise!

[VentureMan_2000]

2 hours ago, ParrotRob said:

 

Steal 50,000 pens, sell for ten cents each on eBay, Bingo, free cruise!

 

That's a lot of cocktails... 😲

[vicky3vicky]

15 hours ago, CorvetteLady said:

  

Yes, we are going on this cruise.  Booked late and only had GTY balconies left, hoping to get a cabin assignment soon.  I have read about some of the things that they do on journey cruises, really getting excited about it.

Have you signed up for the cruise critic roll call or the 2 different facebooks for this cruise? Lots of fun stuff being planned. There is going to be an 80s' day complete with a dance we are encouraged to dress up 80s' style. Are you going to dress up for it?[ I don't want to be the only one!]

 

 

[grandmarnnurse]

On 9/3/2019 at 4:36 AM, ParrotRob said:

Honestly?  I just got off a seven night cruise and I could not even tell you what, if any, evenings featured a tablecloth and which did not.

 

It was a no big deal to me, either. I thought it would be, but I hardly noticed.

[CorvetteLady]

6 hours ago, vicky3vicky said:

Have you signed up for the cruise critic roll call or the 2 different facebooks for this cruise? Lots of fun stuff being planned. There is going to be an 80s' day complete with a dance we are encouraged to dress up 80s' style. Are you going to dress up for it?[ I don't want to be the only one!]

 

 

 

Signed up for the CC roll call and on one of the facebook pages. I would dress for the 80's day if only I could think of an outfit!  Can't remember what I wore in the 80's. 🙂

[CdrescherRBL152]

On 9/3/2019 at 2:48 PM, N7786W Flyer said:

 

I have to agree with this...

 

As someone who retired from the hospitality industry (hotels, cruise ships, resorts, etc.), USUALLY a customer (meaning Carnival) buys 2X or 3x the total # of beds (or in this case, tables) they have onsite.  This allows for some wear and tear on the product as well as some flex time between laundering and return to service.  In essence, it allows them to "rotate" the products in and out of service as laundering and product failure dictates.

 

If you would assume that Carnival has 200 tables per ship...and 26 ships, we're talking about a sizeable purchase as well as significant resources (labor, chemical costs, etc.) needed to maintain the product.

 

While it may not be a "cut back" in the conventional sense, getting rid of the table cloths certainly represented an ongoing cost savings for Carnival.  How much the actual savings are is anyone's guess.

 

Garnett

Great point, however you hit on the problem. There are many on here that whenever Carnival does something that saves them money.  Jump to call it a cutback. 

And as you point out not all cost saving moves are cutbacks. 

[Steve551]

On 9/5/2019 at 6:37 AM, ParrotRob said:

 

Candies on the pillow, boxed cereal, butter pats AND a plastic pen?!  A PLASTIC PEN?!  Sign me up for Princess right away.  That plastic pen alone is worth the cost.

That's what I told my wife....

[gatour]

On 9/5/2019 at 9:11 PM, VentureMan_2000 said:

gatour:  Bingo, you got one of the points I was trying to make, in one of my first posts.

 

 

Yup, I agree.  I focused on the numbers as everyone tried to make it sound like the use of tablecloths was exorbitant, and there was a lot to be saved by eliminating them.

I still think they did this due to the new cruise edicate of 'casual dining' that went into discussion around 2006, and sometime after was implemented.  Dress and edicate has changed greatly in the last 15 - 20 years.  I use to wear a 3-piece suit for years when I started working in the 80's... then in the 90's, they started casual Fridays where you could dress down and where dockers and a polo.  then in the early 2000's, casual Fridays meant jeans and a polo.  By 2012, I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals to work.

Anyway, I think the tablecloths disappeared from everyday use just the way my 3-piece suit did... and pretty much during the exact timeline. 

I don't disagree that casual dining was also a factor.

 

In fact, over 25 years ago, me and a coworker started a casual Friday dress code trend on a Headquarters AF base.  I was a GS'er he was a contractor.  We stopped wearing suits, and started wearing khaki's with polo's on Fridays.

[gatour]

On 9/5/2019 at 10:02 PM, coevan said:

 

 

You mean Darden. In the late 80's I managed OG when our checks said General Mills. 

You are correct.

 

Unless you were are in the chain restaurant industry, someone may not understand "holding" companies, thus my reference to Olive Garden as opposed to Darden.

 

Bill Darden established Red Lobster and grew it out.  He then established Olive Garden.  I remember going to one of the first dozen Olive Gardens when they actually made fresh made pasta near the front hostess stand.

 

The company evolved trying different concepts (bbq, asian) among others some were failures and some with success.

 

He was truly a pioneer in the casual restaurant sector

[ParrotRob]

4 hours ago, gatour said:

I don't disagree that casual dining was also a factor.

 

In fact, over 25 years ago, me and a coworker started a casual Friday dress code trend on a Headquarters AF base.  I was a GS'er he was a contractor.  We stopped wearing suits, and started wearing khaki's with polo's on Fridays.

 

We went one better on our Army base - Casual Friday morphed into Hawai'ian shirt Friday.