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Awful State of Ocean View Cafe for dinner

Arubamoose

By Arubamoose,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Goldenknight said:

The queue to go to the Wednesday night lobster buffet at the Palms is typically a three hour wait.  Prices have risen astronomically here for buffets ;   Wynn dinner buffet averages $80 per person.  Queues to go are up to two hours most nights. Wicked Spoon Buffet at the Cosmopolitan has always had individually plated "small plates" of most of their food choices. . .  to minimize guests scooping huge quantities of food onto their plates.

If this is the case in LV....these prices for reduced servings (small plates) are off the charts.  Are you suggesting that X should highly increase their prices for all of us to justify more OV choices for some of us?  Yes they're busy and have a high waiting period for a high price but gamblers gamble...maybe take a chance they can return more than once or twice....😉

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stringbean10

stringbean10

Posted
Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

Do you feel better now, mocking us for being concerned about what we get for our money?  So glad you see $3K as a pittance!   It's embarrassing to stand up for ourselves as consumers?  I think it's embarrassing that you're ok with companies walking all over you!

Everything I've read on Celebrity's app says *menu subject to change.  They changed it. 

Edited by stringbean10
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Guest TopoChico

Guest TopoChico

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, stringbean10 said:

Everything I've read on Celebrity's website says *menu subject to change.  They changed it. 

We can all read.  Let’s hear about some of your firsthand dining experiences, a paragraph about your personal experiences cruising X.  What ships have you sailed on lately? Where did you go. Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska? I mean, you sure have a lot to say about other people’s experiences. Let’s hear about yours.  What made you so angry that you need to pop off  to get a negative response. I don’t think you’ve gotten one positive response in the 827 + posts here. Let’s see some photos! 

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stringbean10

stringbean10

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, TopoChico said:

We can all read.  Let’s hear about some of your firsthand dining experiences, a paragraph about your personal experiences cruising X.  What ships have you sailed on lately? Where did you go. Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska? I mean, you sure have a lot to say about other people’s experiences. Let’s hear about yours.  What made you so angry that you need to pop off  to get a negative response. I don’t think you’ve gotten one positive response in the 827 + posts here. Let’s see some photos! 

Did you erase your other post? 

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, stringbean10 said:

Everything I've read on Celebrity's website says *menu subject to change.  They changed it. 

Yup....in a nutshell.  Small print is everything most of us decline to read...haha...too small to read.  The cruise lines have many disclaimers.  But PR is important despite that we seem to have no legal recourse (usually)...so it's in their best interest to make some kind of acknowledgement, not only in print, but also dealing with the actual problem...provide more choice in the OV, design healthy but upscale MDR items on the menu as far as budget will allow, and continue to provide what we PAY FOR in the Specialty restaurants. 

Edited by Oceangoer2
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bonagrad

bonagrad

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, stringbean10 said:

Everything I've read on Celebrity's app says *menu subject to change.  They changed it. 

Sure does, on the MDR tab.  It doesn't say that under the OVC tab and it certainly doesn't say they'll reduce it by 80%!

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AnnaNicole

AnnaNicole

Posted
Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, stringbean10 said:

Link to the article.

 

https://thehustle.co/the-economics-of-cruise-ships/

Did you even read the article you posted?   Interesting that you missed the most important parts of the article.

 

That means that at full capacity, a single ship like Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas might make $9.8m in revenue ($1.7m of which is profit) during one 7-day excursion. That’s $239k in profit per day at sea.

 

 

As 50% of this money comes from American travelers, one might expect the cruise industry to be a substantial contributor to the US tax system.

But there’s a catch: These companies aren’t technically American. And they harbor what one legal expert calls a “dirty little secret.”

 

Headquartered in Miami, yet....

 

According to annual report filings, the major cruise lines pay an average tax rate of 0.8% — for below the 21% US corporate tax rate.

 

 

Under an obscure, 99-year-old section of the US tax code, cruise companies are able to register their ships with countries that have more lenient laws than the US — an act called flying a “flag of convenience” — and avoid paying into the US tax system.

It’s a tax loophole big enough to drive a cruise ship through.

 

 

While cruise ships avoid paying US taxes, they simultaneously benefit from the services of taxpayer-funded federal agencies.

Professor Klein, who has testified before Congress on matters of cruise ship safety, says that in the past 25 years:

  • 361 passengers have fallen overboard on cruise ships (14 per year)
  • 353 gastrointestinal/norovirus outbreaks have broken out on cruise ships
  • 500+ environmental violations have been charged to cruise ships

In many of these cases, US agencies have to intervene — and taxpayers, not cruise companies, usually eat the cost.

 

They show that a single cruise ship passenger rescue effort can cost the US Coast Guard and the US Navy from $500k to $1m+. One 2009 search for a woman who fell overboard off the coast of Florida set the Coast Guard back $813,807.

 

MORE:

 

They might also promise a boost to the economies they frequent. But Klein says they work out deals with local vendors where they take up to 70% of the onshore revenue — and studies have shown that local populations in foreign ports don’t get much out of such partnerships.

 

The standard contract for a crew member like a cleaner or dishwasher requires a mandatory 308 hours per month — 11 hours a day, 7 days a week, for as long as 8-10 months, with no days off — for the equivalent of $400-700 per month, or $1.62 to $2.27 per hour.

 

 

Edited by AnnaNicole
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cw2go

cw2go

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

As is with the entire thread, you entirely miss the point on every single comment made here. 
 

Instead of posting links no one will click on, and making comments solely to flame, why don’t you tell us all about your experiences. The cruises you’ve taken recently, details about your dining experiences, cabins you’ve stayed in, what you enjoy about cruising.  Because it seems to me, you don’t cruise at all and probably have never eaten in a 3* Michelin chef’s restaurant. 

Right here @stringbean10

 

Now will you provide first hand information? 

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AnnaNicole

AnnaNicole

Posted
Posted
46 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

As is with the entire thread, you entirely miss the point on every single comment made here. 
 

Instead of posting links no one will click on, and making comments solely to flame, why don’t you tell us all about your experiences. The cruises you’ve taken recently, details about your dining experiences, cabins you’ve stayed in, what you enjoy about cruising.  Because it seems to me, you don’t cruise at all and probably have never eaten in a 3* Michelin chef’s restaurant. 

Read the link.  It is a scathing condemnation of cruise ship's profit and failure to pay any real tax to the US yet uses their services at an astronomical cost to taxpayers.   

 

I am surprised Stringbean10 posted is as a defense to cruiseline's profit.   

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cw2go

cw2go

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, TopoChico said:

I find it humorous that for some reason there’s a perception that just because people can afford the more expensive cabins that they somehow have finer palates and are only interested in the hoity toitiest culinary offerings.

 

My husband’s friend from college is a head surgeon at a world renowned hospital. When he comes to visit us, his favorite thing to do is go to all the dive bars in Philly and have buffalo wings and Pabst Blue Ribbons. 
A close family member was the CFO for Dow Jones for many years. His favorite meal was a burger, a Yoo Hoo and Twinkies. When they went in to New York, they could afford to eat anywhere. They always chose Fridays.
The Rothschild’s in the most expensive suite on the ship like chicken fingers with honey mustard dipping sauce just like the rest of us. 
 

 

@stringbean10 this one? @TopoChico has posted many times and I see them all. 

 

But I don't see you answering any direct questions. 

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Oceansaway17 Holiday Sharing Rare

Oceansaway17

Posted
Posted

well I had a nice time last year on my 6 Royal and 1Celebrity.  I found Celebrity buffet to be slightly better for salad bar and also at lunch.

 

I think 2023 will be a year of upheaval as all the cruise lines now try to pay down debt.

Once Carnival started with all their changes, one by one the other cruise lines will also do. they copycat each other. 

 

I predict once people scratch their itch to travel, they will then ease back.  

I found the You tube video on page one by the OP to really be alarming though.   I mean really a bit sad.

 

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stringbean10

stringbean10

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

@stringbean10 this one? @TopoChico has posted many times and I see them all. 

 

But I don't see you answering any direct questions. 

I'm not going to address the questions because they aren't relevant to the discussion as to why celebrity is making cut backs.  Why would it matter if I've only been on 1 cruise or 300+ as to what is happening on Celebrity today?  If I eat at McDonald's or finest restaurants in the country?  


If all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about WHHYYY?? HOOOWW COULD THEY DO THIS???

 

I've tried to provide answers. 

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bonagrad

bonagrad

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Yup....in a nutshell.  Small print is everything most of us decline to read...haha...too small to read.  The cruise lines have many disclaimers.  But PR is important despite that we seem to have no legal recourse (usually)...so it's in their best interest to make some kind of acknowledgement, not only in print, but also dealing with the actual problem...provide more choice in the OV, design healthy but upscale MDR items on the menu as far as budget will allow, and continue to provide what we PAY FOR in the Specialty restaurants. 

Exactly!  They do it to cover their back, but that typically implies that what you see may be different options, not a completely different product.  And if they want to, maybe they want to consider updating their website and marketing, because this does not fit what we've seen from the subject to change OVC! 

 

image.thumb.png.0548315d64b3e11fc8253d58968dccad.png

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cw2go

cw2go

Posted
Posted
Just now, stringbean10 said:

I'm not going to address the questions because they aren't relevant to the discussion as to why celebrity is making cut backs.  Why would it matter if I've only been on 1 cruise or 300+ as to what is happening on Celebrity today?  If I eat at McDonald's or finest restaurants in the country?  


If all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about WHHYYY?? HOOOWW COULD THEY DO THIS???

 

I've tried to provide answers. 

 

Without knowledge of your cruise experiences, your answers aren't relevant.

 

This isn't a discussion about why there are cutbacks, this is a thread with video proof of what was recently on a Celebrity Cruise Ship in an OVC and how awful it was, hence the title. 

 

 

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