Cost cutting procedures

[KeithJenner]

3 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Cool, got you beat by a couple of years.. but i do understand what your trying to explain! Thanks for the talk!!

More than a couple of years, based on your signature.

 

It's all opinion at the end of the day. I may be right, I may be wrong. 🙂

 

[aubreyc1988]

the biggest cost cutter was when O'Sheehan was replaced with DelRio and now we have no more mozzarella sticks in cute little baskets at O'Sheehans for late night drunk munchies. 

[JamieLogical]

58 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Personally, however much I hate kids (which is a lot)...

 

Interesting that you hate kids, yet chose to have one! I too hate children. I vaguely tolerate (and love) my nephews and niece, but kids of my own would be the worst. There is a non-zero chance I would be in jail right now for infanticide.... 

[Red-Sol]

15 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

the biggest cost cutter was when O'Sheehan was replaced with DelRio and now we have no more mozzarella sticks in cute little baskets at O'Sheehans for late night drunk munchies. 

Don't remember which ship it was on but we had a very strange experience in O'Sheehans with mozzarella sticks. The way it was setup was there was a bar type area with tables that encircled looking down into the atrium...and then on the other side was a more traditional restaurant seating area. We were at a table that was looking into the atrium....ordered a burger and some mozzarella sticks. The burger comes out but no stix! Waiter told be that you could only order the stix if you were sitting in the restaurant type area. Say What??!?!! Never did get a good explanation as to why that was!

[BirdTravels]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:01 PM, mpdog42 said:

This is the attutude that has allowed the cruise lines to do cost cutting!! The "if i don't use it, then why should I pay for it"......

Not Really. NCL is trying to keep up with the contemporary cruiser. They are targeting their next generation customer. Us "old folks" will keep cruising. They need to attract new, younger passengers who are into looking at their phone app and not carrying around pieces of paper. I "help pull up the average age on a cruse", but I much prefer using my phone than a piece of paper.... That being said, the NCL phone app is really bad... so I photograph my piece of paper and use that to plan my day. 

 

Old folks used to be fine with eating frozen fish sticks, thrown in the fryer for lunch in the main dining room. NCL did away with that and replaced it items like poached salmon, Pho, popcorn shrimp, skirt steak, Mediterranean chicken, etc.  

 

Yup, they did away with the midnight chocolate buffet. Why, not so much to save money, but the contemporary cruiser was not going there. The demand for it went away. 10's of thousands of pounds of chocolate was being thrown in the grinder each week and fed to the fish. The contemporary cruiser was down in the clubs and bars, dancing the night away. So, more money was spent on non-revenue-generating spaces like the Bliss Ultra Lounge, Cavern Club, The Social with dueling pianos, 5-O'clock-somewhere, sugarcane bar, etc. 

 

NCL has replaced some of the old-time production shows with the not-so-funny-comedians and reject-magicians in the theater and replaced them with licensed Broadway productions.  

 

We have been cruising for nearly 3 decades. As far back as I can remember, there was always specialty dining rooms. Not popular, but they were there. The contemporary cruiser wants the specialty dining experience, so more options are added,,, and that is what the contemporary cruiser raves about (that's all you see here on CC, requests for menus and recommendations). We cruise often, and there are many cruises that we'll eat in the MDR every night except for our free dinners. 

 

Folks talk about paying for the Vibe, when we started cruising, you would have to rent deck loungers and tip the deck attendant to set up that hard, wooden lounger for you. You could be a chair hog all you wanted, if you paid for the loungers. And they were often sold out because they cold be reserved for those in First Class, while folks in Third Class was first-come-first-serve. 

 

[Yinster]

Unless you are in a haven cabin, room service has a charge. Breakfast is complimentary but I think there's three items on it that's not.

 

As well as decreasing the speciality dining package, in the restaurants, if you use it, you are limited to how many dishes you can order. I'm sure the first time we had the dining package, we could pretty much order what we want

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

32 minutes ago, Red-Sol said:

Don't remember which ship it was on but we had a very strange experience in O'Sheehans with mozzarella sticks. The way it was setup was there was a bar type area with tables that encircled looking down into the atrium...and then on the other side was a more traditional restaurant seating area. We were at a table that was looking into the atrium....ordered a burger and some mozzarella sticks. The burger comes out but no stix! Waiter told be that you could only order the stix if you were sitting in the restaurant type area. Say What??!?!! Never did get a good explanation as to why that was!

That happened to us as well!  But I wouldn't ***** about that now, because I miss them on the menu so much! 

[Red-Sol]

11 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

That happened to us as well!  But I wouldn't ***** about that now, because I miss them on the menu so much! 

Definitely! Sometimes it's the little things that mean a lot and wonder if certain cost cutting modes really are getting a payback that is expected.

[Barb Nahoumi]

On 6/3/2021 at 12:42 PM, HowardK said:

By 2018 they removed lox from the breakfast buffet. Not cost cutting but on my 2018 cruise I upgraded my room for I think $50, but they charged $20 as the gratuity increased on my promo from the year before. 

Lox & Bagels are on the breakfast menu in the MDR.  At least they were on our last cruise before the Pandemic.  Be sure to ask for the whole bagel, or they will serve you 1 half.  In the buffet you can get a Lox & cheese mousse, which is probably cheaper for them to make.

 

[Barb Nahoumi]

On 6/3/2021 at 9:25 AM, robcolem said:

They reduced the specialty dining nights from 3 to 2.  

 

In opposite, they have added fee based activities as "benefits" like the go carts and laser tag. Just takes away the deck space and makes what's left even more crowded.

 

Overall, I say the inclusiveness has been reduced and fee based activities and eateries have been added.

They won't get any additional fees from us on those things, because we don't choose to do them.  For the specialty restaurants, we go when they are part of our Platinum Comps, or free at sea deals.

[mpdog42]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Not Really. NCL is trying to keep up with the contemporary cruiser. They are targeting their next generation customer. Us "old folks" will keep cruising. They need to attract new, younger passengers who are into looking at their phone app and not carrying around pieces of paper. I "help pull up the average age on a cruse", but I much prefer using my phone than a piece of paper.... That being said, the NCL phone app is really bad... so I photograph my piece of paper and use that to plan my day. 

 

Old folks used to be fine with eating frozen fish sticks, thrown in the fryer for lunch in the main dining room. NCL did away with that and replaced it items like poached salmon, Pho, popcorn shrimp, skirt steak, Mediterranean chicken, etc.  

 

Yup, they did away with the midnight chocolate buffet. Why, not so much to save money, but the contemporary cruiser was not going there. The demand for it went away. 10's of thousands of pounds of chocolate was being thrown in the grinder each week and fed to the fish. The contemporary cruiser was down in the clubs and bars, dancing the night away. So, more money was spent on non-revenue-generating spaces like the Bliss Ultra Lounge, Cavern Club, The Social with dueling pianos, 5-O'clock-somewhere, sugarcane bar, etc. 

 

NCL has replaced some of the old-time production shows with the not-so-funny-comedians and reject-magicians in the theater and replaced them with licensed Broadway productions.  

 

We have been cruising for nearly 3 decades. As far back as I can remember, there was always specialty dining rooms. Not popular, but they were there. The contemporary cruiser wants the specialty dining experience, so more options are added,,, and that is what the contemporary cruiser raves about (that's all you see here on CC, requests for menus and recommendations). We cruise often, and there are many cruises that we'll eat in the MDR every night except for our free dinners. 

 

Folks talk about paying for the Vibe, when we started cruising, you would have to rent deck loungers and tip the deck attendant to set up that hard, wooden lounger for you. You could be a chair hog all you wanted, if you paid for the loungers. And they were often sold out because they cold be reserved for those in First Class, while folks in Third Class was first-come-first-serve. 

 

 

[mpdog42]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Not Really. NCL is trying to keep up with the contemporary cruiser. They are targeting their next generation customer. Us "old folks" will keep cruising. They need to attract new, younger passengers who are into looking at their phone app and not carrying around pieces of paper. I "help pull up the average age on a cruse", but I much prefer using my phone than a piece of paper.... That being said, the NCL phone app is really bad... so I photograph my piece of paper and use that to plan my day. 

 

Old folks used to be fine with eating frozen fish sticks, thrown in the fryer for lunch in the main dining room. NCL did away with that and replaced it items like poached salmon, Pho, popcorn shrimp, skirt steak, Mediterranean chicken, etc.  

 

Yup, they did away with the midnight chocolate buffet. Why, not so much to save money, but the contemporary cruiser was not going there. The demand for it went away. 10's of thousands of pounds of chocolate was being thrown in the grinder each week and fed to the fish. The contemporary cruiser was down in the clubs and bars, dancing the night away. So, more money was spent on non-revenue-generating spaces like the Bliss Ultra Lounge, Cavern Club, The Social with dueling pianos, 5-O'clock-somewhere, sugarcane bar, etc. 

 

NCL has replaced some of the old-time production shows with the not-so-funny-comedians and reject-magicians in the theater and replaced them with licensed Broadway productions.  

 

We have been cruising for nearly 3 decades. As far back as I can remember, there was always specialty dining rooms. Not popular, but they were there. The contemporary cruiser wants the specialty dining experience, so more options are added,,, and that is what the contemporary cruiser raves about (that's all you see here on CC, requests for menus and recommendations). We cruise often, and there are many cruises that we'll eat in the MDR every night except for our free dinners. 

 

Folks talk about paying for the Vibe, when we started cruising, you would have to rent deck loungers and tip the deck attendant to set up that hard, wooden lounger for you. You could be a chair hog all you wanted, if you paid for the loungers. And they were often sold out because they cold be reserved for those in First Class, while folks in Third Class was first-come-first-serve. 

 

First Class? Did you sail on the Titanic?😁

[winemama]

On 6/4/2021 at 4:50 PM, aubreyc1988 said:

the biggest cost cutter was when O'Sheehan was replaced with DelRio and now we have no more mozzarella sticks in cute little baskets at O'Sheehans for late night drunk munchies. 

when did they replace O'Sheehans??? is it on all ships..

[aubreyc1988]

6 minutes ago, winemama said:

when did they replace O'Sheehans??? is it on all ships..

Newer ships have something called "the Local", probably because Kevin O'Sheehan doesn't work for NCL anymore. I would imagine all of them will slowly get renamed on ships

 

[Barb Nahoumi]

On 6/6/2021 at 12:25 AM, mpdog42 said:

 

I'm OK with not having to eat frozen fish sticks in the MDR for Lunch.  The Poached Salmon and other newer menu offerings are much healthier.

[zerooveride]

On 6/3/2021 at 9:58 AM, graphicguy said:

or the more eco friendly paper vs plastic straws

 

Please, Please . . . don't tell me they use the paper straws on the NCL ships! I HATE (and that is calling it mildly) the paper straws. I don't mind the newer plastic like compostable straws but paper are the worst. 

 

I may have to pack some straws to bring with me . . .

[JamieLogical]

3 minutes ago, zerooveride said:

 

Please, Please . . . don't tell me they use the paper straws on the NCL ships! I HATE (and that is calling it mildly) the paper straws. I don't mind the newer plastic like compostable straws but paper are the worst. 

 

I may have to pack some straws to bring with me . . .

 

They use paper straws. Have been doing so for a few years now. When they made the switch, I ordered one of these and I bring it with me every cruise:

 

https://final.co/

[zerooveride]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

They use paper straws. Have been doing so for a few years now. When they made the switch, I ordered one of these and I bring it with me every cruise:

 

https://final.co/

They had regular straws on the POA in 2017

[bkrickles1]

4 minutes ago, zerooveride said:

 

Please, Please . . . don't tell me they use the paper straws on the NCL ships! I HATE (and that is calling it mildly) the paper straws. I don't mind the newer plastic like compostable straws but paper are the worst. 

 

I may have to pack some straws to bring with me . . .

They have used paper straws for my last 2 sailings on escape and encore.

I knew ahead of time and my wife brought a whole package of her own.

She was popular at the bars when she pulled them out. Lmao.

[JamieLogical]

Just now, zerooveride said:

They had regular straws on the POA in 2017

 

I just looked through my email and found the confirmation for my Final Straw order from November 2018, so they must have eliminated plastic straws sometime around then.

[zerooveride]

5 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I just looked through my email and found the confirmation for my Final Straw order from November 2018, so they must have eliminated plastic straws sometime around then.

This really sucks. I won't even get drinks that require straws from places that have paper as I hat them so much. The ruin the whole experience and they become very rough after being exposed to water.

 

I am all for environmentally friendly improvements, but paper straws are not an improvement. Albany County (NY) has outlawed plastic straws and thank goodness most places went with the compostable or corn based straws. 

[JamieLogical]

10 minutes ago, zerooveride said:

This really sucks. I won't even get drinks that require straws from places that have paper as I hat them so much. The ruin the whole experience and they become very rough after being exposed to water.

 

I am all for environmentally friendly improvements, but paper straws are not an improvement. Albany County (NY) has outlawed plastic straws and thank goodness most places went with the compostable or corn based straws. 

 

I agree that there are some drinks that really require a straw. Ever try drinking a mojito without a straw? Hope you like a mouthful of mint and lime! And, of course, a lot of frozen drinks benefit from straws as well, though I will say that after they dropped plastic straws on NCL, they tended to blend the frozen drinks so that they were a bit smoother/runnier to make them easier to drink. Definitely get yourself some of collapsible straw that you can fit in your pocket or hang from your lanyard. Makes life much easier when you come across drinks that really require a straw to enjoy.

[Diane67B]

Jamie, what length is the straw you ordered? I am ordering some from Amazon for my frosty adult beverages. 🍹 

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, Diane67B said:

Jamie, what length is the straw you ordered? I am ordering some from Amazon for my frosty adult beverages. 🍹 

 

I ordered a Final Straw direct from the web site, so I am not sure... I would guess it's 8 or 9 inches unfolded?

[Diane67B]

Thanks Jamie!