Death by a thousand cuts

[LB_NJ]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

Something tells me it's likely to get even worse before it starts to get better  in the distant future😕

 

Once service starts to go downhill it usually continues that way almost in a death spiral.  Quality goes down, potential passengers eventually realize this and start to abandon the brand, they have to reduce price to fill up the cabins and then to continue to make a profit they have to reduce quality further.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Once service starts to go downhill it usually continues that way almost in a death spiral.  Quality goes down, potential passengers eventually realize this and start to abandon the brand, they have to reduce price to fill up the cabins and then to continue to make a profit they have to reduce quality further.

LB - The problem here is service has declined similarly on all the mass market cruiselines.  Want upscale move from HAL, RCCL, Princess etc to Oceana.

2024 cruises seem to be priced higher.  We will see what happens.  I agree with your premise, but competition for selling cruises is intense and the number of complaints is still small.

[Bill Miller]

Geez, and I thought Death by a thousand cuts was another rant on the Celebrity IT department.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

(In my best Gomer Pyle voice):

 

SURPRISE - SURPRISE - SURPRISE !

 

Osman, maître d' of Murano (who also was checking in folks today at the Lawn Club Grille), surprised me with the cookie dessert at the end of our meal in Murano this evening!!!

 

 

Tom

[LB_NJ]

55 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

LB - The problem here is service has declined similarly on all the mass market cruiselines.  Want upscale move from HAL, RCCL, Princess etc to Oceana.

2024 cruises seem to be priced higher.  We will see what happens.  I agree with your premise, but competition for selling cruises is intense and the number of complaints is still small.

 

I really like Oceania however I have not sailed on them since pre-COVID.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

@Tom-n-Cherylglad you got the cookie for dinner tonight. Was there any explanation for why it was not offered at lunch?  Is this a one off, or ongoing? Even the MDR has, or at least had, dessert for lunch.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by CHEZMARYLOU

[LB_NJ]

3 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

 

 Even the MDR has, or at least had, dessert for lunch.

 

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

14 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

They do not offer lunch in the MDR on port days but when it is offered on sea days they have always had desserts on the menu.  The App has been wonky recently, no breakfast shown in any of the restaurants and only lunch in Luminae on boarding day. Curious as to why LCG had lunch but no dessert.

[NutsAboutGolf]

21 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

 

5 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

They do not offer lunch in the MDR on port days but when it is offered on sea days they have always had desserts on the menu.  The App has been wonky recently, no breakfast shown in any of the restaurants and only lunch in Luminae on boarding day. Curious as to why LCG had lunch but no dessert.

 

On embarkation day the MDR is open for lunch for Concierge, Zeniths and B2Bs; guessing suite guests can go as well 

[calicakes]

42 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

I really like Oceania however I have not sailed on them since pre-COVID.

We sailed in Feb on O.  It was awesome. 

[jelayne]

31 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

The app and particularly the menus are not accurate until very close to sailing.  Had a 12N cruise and the app showed 12N$  but every dining venue was showing  closed for all meals after day 9.

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Then again - noticing that these places were much busier than in February could have to do with the fact that in February, we didn't even have 900 guests onboard. This sailing it's triple that (2,777 last I heard)

 It might also have something to do with the weather.  We were on Silhouette in April and thought about dining there but found it too windy and cool on sea says. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

(In my best Gomer Pyle voice):

 

SURPRISE - SURPRISE - SURPRISE !

 

Osman, maître d' of Murano (who also was checking in folks today at the Lawn Club Grille), surprised me with the cookie dessert at the end of our meal in Murano this evening!!!

 

 

Tom

I say that was pretty good service.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

 

On embarkation day the MDR is open for lunch for Concierge, Zeniths and B2Bs; guessing suite guests can go as well 

No suite guests have Luminae for lunch on embarking. They cannot go to the MDR.

Edited November 23, 2022 by CHEZMARYLOU

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

The app is not even close to final until embarkation day and then the night of your embarkation day they push out a last update so you may even see some tweaks day 2.  The MDR was open for all sea days on the Constellation when I was on her earlier this month.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Gearing up for Murano this evening - and my cageless goat cheese souffle. 🙂  

 

Maybe it's now made from the milk of free-range goats... 🤣

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

No suite guests have Luminae for lunch on embarking. They cannot go to the MDR.

 

 

As someone who travels in Suites and is also a Zenith CC member, Suite guests can actually attend the Concierge, B2B and Zenith luncheon in the MDR offered on turnaround/embarkation day.  Not quite sure why you would want to but it is allowed.

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

As someone who travels in Suites and is also a Zenith CC member, Suite guests can actually attend the Concierge, B2B and Zenith luncheon in the MDR offered on turnaround/embarkation day.  Not quite sure why you would want to but it is allowed.

Only reason I can think of is to join friends/family who are not staying in suites

[mnocket]

6 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

LB - The problem here is service has declined similarly on all the mass market cruiselines.  Want upscale move from HAL, RCCL, Princess etc to Oceana.

2024 cruises seem to be priced higher.  We will see what happens.  I agree with your premise, but competition for selling cruises is intense and the number of complaints is still small.

That's actually what I have done.  For the first time I have booked on a luxury line (Regent).  Even though it cost significantly more I now think it offers a better value than the degraded mainstream cruise lines.

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Only reason I can think of is to join friends/family who are not staying in suites

 

That is the only reason I can think of either.  Embarkation lunch in Luminae is much superior to the Concierge class embarkation event.

[Mark_T]

10 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

On a cruise I have planned for January (Constellation) the app only shows lunch in the MDR on day 2.  Either they will update the app closer to sailing or no MDR lunches on sea days except for day 2.

Until you get very close to sailing, the app will usually reflect the pattern of the itinerary the ship is currently on, so number of days, port/sea days etc. will reflect that cruise, not yours...

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Oh, I wanted to add... In my opinion that 🍪 dessert is the best dessert on the ship. It was like eating hot/barely cooked dough with ice cream... BLISS !

 

If you're at all a cookie aficionado, you'll understand. If not, move along - nothing to see here. 😁

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

14 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

@Tom-n-Cherylglad you got the cookie for dinner tonight. Was there any explanation for why it was not offered at lunch?  Is this a one off, or ongoing? Even the MDR has, or at least had, dessert for lunch.

 

 

No explanation, beyond they "don't offer dessert with the specialty burger lunch (now or in the past)".

 

Tom

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Oh, I wanted to add... In my opinion that 🍪 dessert is the best dessert on the ship. It was like eating hot/barely cooked dough with ice cream... BLISS !

 

If you're at all a cookie aficionado, you'll understand. If not, move along - nothing to see here. 😁

 

Tom

Oh sure, rub it in. 😁

[Whinenowine]

18 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Actually it was! We tried the wine pairing menu (I think it was ~$95pp extra?) on the Century, and upon tasting that wine, I was sold on reds. Prior to that, during my earlier wine years, I had not ventured down the red path. Of course, it was difficult following that, as many traditional reds fell short. I think we ended up purchasing 2-3 bottles on future cruises, but have not in several years now. 

 

I was curious, so I went back through some old emails (this was from 2008, Carnival Glory). If I saw a bottle for $198 now, I'd definitely give it a go. Of course, on Carnival, they have an ongoing promo where you get 50% off wines in the Steakhouse on the first night, and the first "cruise elegant" night. That puts Dom, Caymus Special, etc, down near the $100 price point, a relative value at sea!!

 

---------------------------------

Hi Tom,
 
We do have Chateau Lafite Rothschild on board.
 
The following vintage are available
 
1983, 1985, 1989 & 1993 and the prices are between $198 - $395 excluding 15 % gratuity.
Thank you,

Tiz
Emerald Room
Ext: 1078
Beeper: 34189

------------------------------

Needless to say, Carnival no longer stocks such wines...

Tom

 

Wow...this is why keeping old emails is both dangerous and depressing!  🥲

 

Even for 2008 those were good prices. But now, an off vintage bottle is $600-700, and the good stuff is pushing $1000.  I've lost track of how many wines I've been priced out of over the last 5 years.  On cruises I've resorted to BYOB'ing 3-4 bottles on board for our nicer. meals.

 

I'm thinking about a last minute Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Reflection in February, so if you have more thoughts about the ship I'm happy to read the posts!  Thanks, Tom!