Going forward will cutbacks ruin cruising?

[scpirate]

On 2/27/2021 at 4:57 PM, Thrak said:

 

I can see why this would be done but I'm unsure as to how to get the desired amount. In my case I often take a very small amount of a number of things so this method might result in waste on my part. Of course I do (often) see people who load up tons of stuff they never eat so maybe this would actually result in less wasted food.

I don't know why people keep harping on wasted food.if you take the food and don't eat it ,it goes to the fishes.if you don't take it and it's left over at the end of the day it still goes to the fishes.maybe they should give everyone 3 m.r.e.'s a day and tell you to enjoy.

[PaperSniper4]

10 hours ago, scpirate said:

I don't know why people keep harping on wasted food.if you take the food and don't eat it ,it goes to the fishes.if you don't take it and it's left over at the end of the day it still goes to the fishes.maybe they should give everyone 3 m.r.e.'s a day and tell you to enjoy.

Pretty sure it doesn't go to the fishes....maybe a hog farm at the end of the day? 😉

 

I believe folks think it's "wasted", because a few passengers are taking more than they eat,  but all of us are paying for that excess.

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Pretty sure it doesn't go to the fishes....maybe a hog farm at the end of the day? 😉

 

I believe folks think it's "wasted", because a few passengers are taking more than they eat,  but all of us are paying for that excess.

Soft food waste does go to the fishes. It is macerated and released into the ocean. A problem I see if a lot people take much more food than they can eat, is that a lot more food has to be cooked. Therefore it increases costs.

[Thrak]

On 3/3/2021 at 6:10 PM, scpirate said:

I don't know why people keep harping on wasted food.if you take the food and don't eat it ,it goes to the fishes.if you don't take it and it's left over at the end of the day it still goes to the fishes.maybe they should give everyone 3 m.r.e.'s a day and tell you to enjoy.

 

Some of us grew up poor. Waste of any kind bothers us. Okay, it bothers me. Why take a huge plate of food you won't eat? If nobody did that maybe they wouldn't prepare so much. I remember the platters they used to have in the buffet. We took the round plates but there were big oval platters that most folks used. They would pile them high with tons of stuff "because it was free" and then they would maybe eat half of it. Sometimes they left the platter half full and went back for another one. I found it not only wasteful but also disgusting.

[PaperSniper4]

14 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Soft food waste does go to the fishes. It is macerated and released into the ocean. A problem I see if a lot people take much more food than they can eat, is that a lot more food has to be cooked. Therefore it increases costs.

That was my poorly made point: it increases costs. The fish don't pay for the honor of eating our leftover grub; the hog farmers would! <g> It took me years and years to be able to NOT eat all the food I received in the MDRs on cruise ships. I was raised to eat everything on my plate; it was a hard habit to break. At least at the buffet I could only take what I thought I could eat. The cruise line's supply officers have a tough job to do, trying to determine what and how much to order. I deplore the wasted food also, but I don't think that if gonna change anytime soon....or maybe it will. But I cannot imagine anyone ever going hungry on a cruise ship!😲

 

Doug

[voljeep]

we also don't waste food - my wife and I almost always split an entre  - like today , got a Pub Sub ... my half was pretty basic and her half included a 'salad' on top of the meat

 

can't eat nearly the amount I used to could ... that's why we are going back and forth on a UBD - not the cost , but the amount of food that we couldn't eat at one sitting

[ontheweb]

47 minutes ago, voljeep said:

we also don't waste food - my wife and I almost always split an entre  - like today , got a Pub Sub ... my half was pretty basic and her half included a 'salad' on top of the meat

 

can't eat nearly the amount I used to could ... that's why we are going back and forth on a UBD - not the cost , but the amount of food that we couldn't eat at one sitting

When we were on the HAL Maasdam, DW always said they gave her too much of every ingredient she asked for in her salads. Of course, not very many people can take a Subway 6 inch sub and get three meals out of it.

[sfaaa]

Regardless of different point of views, why would anyone want to waste food? It's just not a right thing to do.

[rbtan]

On 2/26/2021 at 4:44 PM, skynight said:

Loreni. Maybe you should wait a few years, see what happens before you book another cruise. We certainly will not cruise again until cruising becomes normal on board and at ports of call. Figure it may take until 2023. Cost control is always a part of any business, but butter was a myth, not a valid example. You could get as much butter as you needed by asking.  From the Best Sale Ever promo and pricing it looks like the almost all inclusive option may be here for some time which is kind of the opposite of cutbacks. These type of promos began in 2019.

Celebrity switched to all inclusive. I'm fine with the gratuities, but neither of us drank much. A bottle of wine or cocktails every few days. Now we'll get billed for a service we really don't use. Another reason to switch from Celebrity.

[Incognito1]

On 2/27/2021 at 1:14 AM, caribill said:

 

Here is part of what it will look like on Royal Caribbean:

 

"We've developed technology for contact tracing, using a combination of technologies. One of them is a Tracelet, which each guest wears and can tell exactly how long and where they've been in contact with everybody else who's wearing a Tracelet. We have artificial intelligence connected into CCTV cameras that use facial and body recognition to then double check and verify contact tracing in the event that somebody did have COVID onboard to ship."

Wow.  Not a good wow.  Where is that found?  Not really willing to be surveilled on vacation.  Guess there are always the anti-facial recognition shirts and glasses...

 

(Never mind; found it: https://www.*****.com/category/category/technology)

Edited March 11, 2021 by Incognito1

[Incognito1]

2 hours ago, rbtan said:

Celebrity switched to all inclusive. I'm fine with the gratuities, but neither of us drank much. A bottle of wine or cocktails every few days. Now we'll get billed for a service we really don't use. Another reason to switch from Celebrity.

Exactly.  The non-drinkers (or small drinkers) end up subsidizing the alkies, big drinkers, and the bingers.

[nocl]

On 3/4/2021 at 4:55 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

Pretty sure it doesn't go to the fishes....maybe a hog farm at the end of the day? 😉

 

I believe folks think it's "wasted", because a few passengers are taking more than they eat,  but all of us are paying for that excess.

Even with the waste cruise lines spend in the 12-13 dollar range per passenger (according to their SEC filings).  That food spend may include food for the crew as well in the total.

[Ombud]

3 hours ago, rbtan said:

Celebrity switched to all inclusive. I'm fine with the gratuities, but neither of us drank much. A bottle of wine or cocktails every few days. Now we'll get billed for a service we really don't use. Another reason to switch from Celebrity.

A bottle of wine lasts me 5 days (longer at home), get 2 coffee programs, I've never run out of elite internet minutes so the B.S.E has little value to me (other than gratuities inc). So I'll bring 1 bottle per week onboard and just pay the $15

[caribill]

3 hours ago, rbtan said:

Celebrity switched to all inclusive. I'm fine with the gratuities, but neither of us drank much. A bottle of wine or cocktails every few days. Now we'll get billed for a service we really don't use. Another reason to switch from Celebrity.

 

In the past Celebrity advertised an inclusive price, but one could always ask for the equivalent of the Princess Savers rate without the amenities.

 

Have they really eliminated the basic rates?

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

They are all trying to increase revenue, especially now.  Since you all have choices, what is the issue?  If you're upset with the offerings, you can certainly select an alternative.  

[Treasure Hunter]

On 2/28/2021 at 12:39 AM, gardenbunny said:

I love cruising - been on 2 World Cruises.  I love that it is a great way to see a lot of the world in long cruises to all the different regions.  Usually do 4 per year.  I miss it more than I thought.  Moved a lot to August and September of 2021 thinking surely we can cruise again.  Regardless of what CDC required, I was teady to go.  

 

My August Alaska just got cancelled.  And when I asked the CSR about my 3 Enchanted trips in the Med in September from Rome the answer was not encouraging.  I was mostly going for the new ship and a few ports I had never been to. She said “we will probably know soon”. Not sure what that means but I am thinking May/June time frame. 2022 they will be putting Enchanted to Canada New England.  Regal will be doing Med with no Corsica or Malta (ports I wanted) but adding Istanbul and Kusadasi.   Discovery will be Alaska 2022.

I will probably cancel and start over for 2022.  

 

My BIG question....can cruise lines afford another year of no revenue?  I am really concerned for their futures.  Airlines got some Fed help but cruise lines cannot. Airlines are flying again and should have a better year than 2020 and probably looking ahead for 2022.  Air flights are flown in hours with hundreds on board.   Cruises are for days with thousands.  

 

Looking into some USA trips - like the 5 Mighty national parks in Utah. Have a booked since 2019 Rocky Mountaineer train in Canada that we moved from 2020 to 2021.  Now it is harder to get into Canada than Hawaii!  Probably cancel that, too.

 

Feeling a bit down.....

 

We booked the new Viking Mississippi (11 days) for 2023 because 2022 was totally sold out ( maybe get on a waitlist?) Now I just got an email from Tauck that they chartered a small steamship to do the Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans with their signature excursions. There will be new stuff coming out. Hang in there. We moved our Tauck riverboat ( Paris to Normandy) from last May to this May to next May and our Enchanted Princess Barcelona to Rome from last October to this October 2. Haven't heard anything yet but I'm not hopeful. Sigh

[rbtan]

22 hours ago, caribill said:

 

In the past Celebrity advertised an inclusive price, but one could always ask for the equivalent of the Princess Savers rate without the amenities.

 

Have they really eliminated the basic rates?

That's what I found when we booked one(which cancelled)a few mo. ago. I tend to think they will still offer the basic rates(Oceania does)for those of us who just want the cruise & will choose on our own as to what "free" perks we will choose to pay for. If your icon is a Westie, I applaud your uncommonly good taste in dogs, & your dog's good taste in choosing you!

[pris993]

On 2/26/2021 at 1:28 PM, AF-1 said:

Pretty soon wearing a mask will be normal; and you will put it on just like you do a seat belt

Never normal in my view. when I drive I take it off, when I get in my cabin if required on a ship, it will  come off immediately... masks are not normal.    When I walk out side I have a mask, at 1/2 mask most of the time unless here others. 

[skynight]

10 hours ago, pris993 said:

Never normal in my view. when I drive I take it off, when I get in my cabin if required on a ship, it will  come off immediately... masks are not normal.    When I walk out side I have a mask, at 1/2 mask most of the time unless here others. 

Agree, never will be normal. For us we wear a mask when in public, but at some point it will not be necessary. When we do have a mask on it is very difficult to see, glasses get fogged. 

[Roberto256]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:55 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

Pretty sure it doesn't go to the fishes....maybe a hog farm at the end of the day? 😉

 

I have never seen the lido buffet referred to in that way, but I get it!

[pris993]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Agree, never will be normal. For us we wear a mask when in public, but at some point it will not be necessary. When we do have a mask on it is very difficult to see, glasses get fogged. 

I find hard to read and see as well with bifocals with fogged glasses.  

[AF-1]

someone needs to come up with a non fogging mask.  That would be a big seller

[Astro Flyer]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

someone needs to come up with a non fogging mask.  That would be a big seller

Wonder if the anti-fogging solution used for snorkeling/diving masks would help? 🤔

 

At my eye exam the optometrist used medical tape to seal off the top of my mask to avoid fogging. 😷

[donaldsc]

On 3/10/2021 at 3:13 PM, rbtan said:

Celebrity switched to all inclusive. I'm fine with the gratuities, but neither of us drank much. A bottle of wine or cocktails every few days. Now we'll get billed for a service we really don't use. Another reason to switch from Celebrity.

 

We could unbundle everything on  a ship and only have to pay for what we use.  However, if you use that approach and carry it to its logical conclusion, things could get ridiculous.  For example, I never use any of the pools on a ship and I also don't use the exercise room.  Do we want to charge admission to use these facilities?  On the other hand, I almost always to to on-board lectures if they sound interesting.  How about selling tickets to the lectures.  

 

We will end up with cruising being like flying on Spirit Airlines.  Pay for your seat.  Pay for your luggage.  Pay for any food.  Pay for use of toilet paper or haven't they instituted that policy yet.

 

DON

[West Coast Gal]

7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

someone needs to come up with a non fogging mask.  That would be a big seller

We have those, it is called ENVO - pricey but lovely mask, we love them (as mush as you can enjoy any mask lol).  Does not slip off your nose and is highly effective, and no fogging