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Planks and Steamers officially DOA?

sonomaphil

By sonomaphil,
in Princess Cruises

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drowelf

drowelf

Posted
Posted (edited)

Neither was open for business on our recent 16 Days on the Caribbean Princess, which made it nice for dinner as the area in the lido for dinning is very limited. I don't know what folks would have done without both those areas for seating. For breakfast they used the buffet area for made to order omelets and additional breakfast fare. At lunch it would host a station for the daily specials. Not sure I ever saw it used much for dinner.  

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SomewhereGirl

SomewhereGirl

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Posted
39 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Neither was open for business on our recent 16 Days on the Caribbean Princess, which made it nice for dinner as the area in the lido for dinning is very limited. I don't know what folks would have done without both those areas for seating. 

Same on Emerald Princess.  Those areas were my go to places for a less crowded meal.

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voljeep

voljeep

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1 hour ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:


Only other ship I know that had them was Emerald.   Planned for Crown and Ruby but never retrofitted. 

retrofit the Crown class ships to a Gigi's (aka Alfredo's) - major score/ win for Princess

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sonomaphil "Live from...." Rare

sonomaphil

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1 hour ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:


Only other ship I know that had them was Emerald.   Planned for Crown and Ruby but never retrofitted. 

Interesting question then about the Emerald.  The Emerald goes into dry dock around October 10th, I believe for 16 days. I'd guess removal of all mentions of the two will occur.  Back to buffet or something new? 

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skynight

skynight

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54 minutes ago, voljeep said:

retrofit the Crown class ships to a Gigi's (aka Alfredo's) - major score/ win for Princess

It's an option. Downside is that there would greatly diminished buffet seating during the busy lunch period. Downside, for Princess, is Alfredo's is a no revenue area, I think Princess would like to add a revenue area.

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voljeep

voljeep

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21 minutes ago, skynight said:

It's an option. Downside is that there would greatly diminished buffet seating during the busy lunch period. Downside, for Princess, is Alfredo's is a no revenue area, I think Princess would like to add a revenue area.

which, would also reduce the seating area for the non-revenue buffet... according to most posts here - planks and steamers was never really a revenue producer - much like the pop-up Crab Shack

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  • 11 months later...
insidecabin "Live from...." Rare

insidecabin

Posted
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On 9/8/2022 at 8:01 PM, skynight said:

It's an option. Downside is that there would greatly diminished buffet seating during the busy lunch period. Downside, for Princess, is Alfredo's is a no revenue area, I think Princess would like to add a revenue area.

They fixed that now.

 

(Was looking for info on Planks found this thread)

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JimmyVWine Great Review Rare

JimmyVWine

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8 hours ago, insidecabin said:

They fixed that now.

I'm not so sure.  If 75% of passengers buy either Plus or Premium at no additional cost over what it used to be, and get Alfredo's included in their package, then PCL derives no additional revenue from this changeover unless some sub-percentage of the other 25% go in and spend out of pocket cash to dine there.  Of the 25% "Standard" guests, some are going to fall into the "I don't like Alfredo's and don't want to pay extra to dine there" crowd; some will be in the "I am trying to keep costs down and don't want to incur any extra costs" crowd; and some will be in the "I can sail with Standard and still enjoy a meal or two at an extra cost Casual Restaurant and come out ahead" crowd.  Princess only derives revenue from this third group.  I can't imagine that the cash flow is material.    

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Schmoe38

Schmoe38

Posted
Posted
On 9/7/2022 at 10:22 PM, CineGraphic said:

Someone currently or recently on board posted just the other day that Steamers and Planks would not be reopening.

That may have changed with the most recent sailing of Caribbean Princess. Someone currently on board suggested Planks and Steamers are open for casual dining business, however, are not open every night.

 

We’re on Caribbean Princess in mid September, so I guess we’ll be able to see first hand.

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Torfamm

Torfamm

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20 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

That may have changed with the most recent sailing of Caribbean Princess. Someone currently on board suggested Planks and Steamers are open for casual dining business, however, are not open every night.

 

We’re on Caribbean Princess in mid September, so I guess we’ll be able to see first hand.

I am on board and haven’t seen or heard anything about them opening. Will try to keep watching 

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insidecabin "Live from...." Rare

insidecabin

Posted
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2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I'm not so sure.  If 75% of passengers buy either Plus or Premium at no additional cost over what it used to be, and get Alfredo's included in their package, then PCL derives no additional revenue from this changeover unless some sub-percentage of the other 25% go in and spend out of pocket cash to dine there.  Of the 25% "Standard" guests, some are going to fall into the "I don't like Alfredo's and don't want to pay extra to dine there" crowd; some will be in the "I am trying to keep costs down and don't want to incur any extra costs" crowd; and some will be in the "I can sail with Standard and still enjoy a meal or two at an extra cost Casual Restaurant and come out ahead" crowd.  Princess only derives revenue from this third group.  I can't imagine that the cash flow is material.    

The point of these changes is to get more people buying plus and premium.

 

The uptake must have been below where they wanted it as they were putting it on offer a lot.

 

Was included in the 30% and 50% offers that went out on selected cruises earlier this year and there was a 50% promotion on for 2024 cruises recently.

 

The new P+ price rises have obviously failed as they keep adding stuff to try to make it more attractive.

 

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JimmyVWine Great Review Rare

JimmyVWine

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

The point of these changes is to get more people buying plus and premium.

100%.  Goal #1 = Increase Revenue.  How that gets done is a labyrinth of interconnected strategies but the simplest of these is to push people into packages.  I don't think anyone made a PowerPoint presentation at HQ showing how additional revenue from Alfredo's would be a game changer. I wouldn't be surprised if they started employing even more strategies that make Standard fares a sure loser.  They want everyone to have a package and I suspect that soon they will get there.  "Inside cabins can only booked if you have a package."  "Advanced Dining Reservations can only be made if you have a package."  "Pool hours from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. are limited to those who have a package."  Don't laugh.  

Edited by JimmyVWine
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insidecabin "Live from...." Rare

insidecabin

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12 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

100%.  Goal #1 = Increase Revenue.  How that gets done is a labyrinth of interconnected strategies but the simplest of these is to push people into packages.  I don't think anyone made a PowerPoint presentation at HQ showing how additional revenue from Alfredo's would be a game changer. I wouldn't be surprised if they started employing even more strategies that make Standard fares a sure loser.  They want everyone to have a package and I suspect that soon they will get there.  "Inside cabins can only booked if you have a package."  "Advanced Dining Reservations can only be made if you have a package."  "Pool hours from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. are limited to those who have a package."  Don't laugh.  

The issue then is to stay competitive you have to reduce the base fare and that teens to zero(taxes/fees only)

 

We are getting cruises with taxes/fees drinks and speciality meal for the price of the princess plus just need to add some optional grats.

 

(Obviously not on princess)

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