Further Cheapening of the Brand as Half and Half Disappears from Cruises

[ReneeFLL]

On 6/12/2023 at 5:40 PM, MacGuffin3 said:

Can you get full/whipping cream for your coffee on the NCL encore anywhere?

You might want to ask on the NCL boards.

[PWP-001]

From our friends at Wiki....

 

"Half and half" or "Half-and-half" is a mixture of milk and cream, which is often used in coffee and with breakfast cereals. In the United States, half and half is a common liquid product produced by dairy companies in premixed form. It was invented by William A. Boutwell of Boutwell Dairy in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, which distributed the blend regionally between 1927 and 1956.^[16][17][18]

 

In the United States, half-and-half must contain between 10.5 and 18 percent milkfat.^[19] It is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and may be homogenized.^[19]

 

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As a heavy morning coffee drinker, I can tell you that there is a great difference in taste.  Personally I do NOT enjoy coffee with half & half.  My preference is skim milk, and most Café Promenades don't offer it.  Thankfully I can get an individual serving carton somewhere onboard and bring it with me.

 

I'm on Harmony now and I can report that they have half gallon jugs readily available that they use for the pitchers labeled cream.

[Alamana]

Just got off a Vision sailing to Bermuda this morning (5 nights). There was "cream" available the whole time for coffee in the am. I put it in quotation marks because it seemed a lot more like milk to me than the half and half I use in my coffee everyday. But they called it "cream" and there were separate containers for milk and cream in the windjammer by the coffee. 

[chazzinator8]

5 minutes ago, Alamana said:

Just got off a Vision sailing to Bermuda this morning (5 nights). There was "cream" available the whole time for coffee in the am. I put it in quotation marks because it seemed a lot more like milk to me than the half and half I use in my coffee everyday. But they called it "cream" and there were separate containers for milk and cream in the windjammer by the coffee. 

 

That's precisely what I was told by the waitstaff in the MDR. At least on the Ovation, they claimed that milk was served in place of half and half for all of the venues that had free, regular coffee.

[Alamana]

18 minutes ago, chazzinator8 said:

 

That's precisely what I was told by the waitstaff in the MDR. At least on the Ovation, they claimed that milk was served in place of half and half for all of the venues that had free, regular coffee.

 

That totally makes sense. When I had my coffee I used the jug that said "cream" and kept thinking "this can't be cream, or even half and half." 

[JsMom2]

Supply chain issues affect us on land and sea.  Have been on cruises where there was no Coke Zero for days.  Don’t even get me started on the nasty canned water!  Creamer for the coffee maker in the suites has come in many different forms in the past year.  I now bring hazelnut and French vanilla flavored creamers with me just in case.  If there’s cream in the suite, great.  If not I get a treat!  I also still bring splenda packages with me, even though the ships have had it onboard for years now.  Because it’s something I don’t want to be without.  
 

At the end of the day, Royal is doing the best they can to keep the entire fleet stocked as it travels around the world. 

[dunrobbin]

On 6/6/2023 at 2:09 PM, island lady said:

I go into the SL or CL very early for Bucky's coffee and my morning Latte.  Have many times been in there when they were checking, cleaning, and refilling the fancy coffee machine in there. 

 

Have never, ever witnessed them putting half and half in the machine.  It was always just plain milk.  Sometimes small containers, sometimes those big bladder things, sometimes box milk....but always milk.  No half and half. 

Alaska cruise in May. Coffee station outside the  Buffet had  2 jugs. Cream and Milk.  After arguing with the staff that there was milk in both several times and proving it, I realized it was a **** change again.  At least say Milk if its milk!

 

[dunrobbin]

On 6/12/2023 at 9:39 PM, Newcruiser2012 said:

Just off the Serenade today and WJ had a carafe of milk and a carafe of half and half side by side at the coffee stations each morning. 

It said it was, did you actually test it?  We were on Brilliance with the same, but no, was milk in both.

[kruzerci]

2 hours ago, JsMom2 said:

Supply chain issues affect us on land and sea.  Have been on cruises where there was no Coke Zero for days.  Don’t even get me started on the nasty canned water!  Creamer for the coffee maker in the suites has come in many different forms in the past year.  I now bring hazelnut and French vanilla flavored creamers with me just in case.  If there’s cream in the suite, great.  If not I get a treat!  I also still bring splenda packages with me, even though the ships have had it onboard for years now.  Because it’s something I don’t want to be without.  
 

At the end of the day, Royal is doing the best they can to keep the entire fleet stocked as it travels around the world. 

Supply chain argument is worn out. 
 

And no they aren’t- Royal is doing the best they can to keep their costs as low as possible and is willing to compromise customer experience and quality to get there. 

[island lady]

7 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Supply chain argument is worn out. 
 

And no they aren’t- Royal is doing the best they can to keep their costs as low as possible and is willing to compromise customer experience and quality to get there. 

 

Easy way to navigate the shortages.....if the purchase price they have to pay has increased....it is suddenly "out of stock/supply chain issue" excuse from them.   Go figure.  🤑

[SailorMarg]

On 6/22/2023 at 2:36 PM, chazzinator8 said:

 

That's precisely what I was told by the waitstaff in the MDR. At least on the Ovation, they claimed that milk was served in place of half and half for all of the venues that had free, regular coffee.

This is exactly as we found it.  Ask for half and half or cream with your coffee in the MDR and get low fat milk.  They literally had nothing else to offer when questioned.

[SailorMarg]

On 6/23/2023 at 11:19 AM, dunrobbin said:

Alaska cruise in May. Coffee station outside the  Buffet had  2 jugs. Cream and Milk.  After arguing with the staff that there was milk in both several times and proving it, I realized it was a **** change again.  At least say Milk if its milk!

 

This is a problem for sure.  Don’t say cream if it’s milk.  Don’t bring milk if cream or half and half is requested, unless you let the passenger know.  What they are doing is wasting a bunch of milk because the gray brown swill that coffee turns into once milk is added gets thrown away.  It is undrinkable to those that use cream or half and half.  Don’t lie to the consumer!  I can understand change, but never being lied to.