Recent Experience at Alfredo's Restaurant

[DrSea]

10 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Whatever they do with it, they are making money.

 

Even if they do not sell one Alfredos pizza on a cruise they are saving all of the money that it would have previously cost them to meet the (considerable) demand for free Alfredos pizza.  Some of the previous posters in the 'world is ending because charges are being introduced for casual dining' club would have us believe they ate (free) Alfredos pizzas at least once every day of their cruise.  Thus, the cost savings will be substantial even if they are not actually selling many pizzas under the new arrangements.  And, they'll also have been able to make a substantial saving on staff, redeploying surplus to busier areas.  

 

It may be that they can generate more revenue by re-branding, but I wouldn't expect the suits to be losing much sleep with what has happened in the early weeks of this new set up.  And given how busy it used to be, I can believe that many used to eat both there and at MDR.  I suspect that staff costs were higher at Alfredos than in the MDR, so can understand how it would cost pretty much the same to provide a pizza there as it did a meal in the MDR, especially if a percentage of passengers are having meals in both locations at any given mealtime.

I don't understand your assumptions. Why is staffing at Alfredo more expensive than the MDR?

 

People eat ungodly amounts of food.  I would think it would be cheaper to feed them cheap pizza than 3rd or 4th entrees in the MDR.

 

 

[Pat King]

On 9/30/2023 at 7:39 PM, Shaver John said:

Does making a pizza really cost as much as a full meal in the dining room?

Exactly. Plus the move generated a lot of ill will. We used to love the vibe at Alfredo's.

Now we are reconsidering future cruise plans.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Pat King said:

Exactly. Plus the move generated a lot of ill will. We used to love the vibe at Alfredo's.

Now we are reconsidering future cruise plans.

I'm not so sure about us changing cruise lines over the loss of Alfredo's but it was sure more convenient than the main DR, especially on embarkation day. 😒

[sunviking90]

We ate at Alfredo’s a few days ago on the Majestic for lunch. There were maybe 5 other tables in use. This was a port day and the MDR was closed. We don’t have a package so we were going to use our OBC as Alfredo’s was always a favorite. We were seated and given menus and 10-15 minutes later we had to flag the host down to take our orders. There was a fellow filling waters but he didn’t appear to be a waiter as he was completely oblivious to the fact that we were waiting to order. Our salads came pretty fast and were delicious, but another 20-25 minutes passed and our pizza (to share)still hadn’t arrived. The cooks seemed to be making a lot of pizzas, so I don’t know if they were going to room service or what. The tables around us also seemed to not be getting food. We were about to get up and leave when our very sad pale pizza (no Al forno marks on it at all) arrived. We quickly ate it as we were pretty hungry, while agreeing to never eat there again. Meanwhile the nearby tables got their pizzas which looked great! I wish we’d sent ours back. I did complain after and they didn’t charge us for the meal, but we didn’t end up using that OBC on anything else, so they got their money anyway, (sort of).

We used to Love Alfredo’s, but what a disappointment. The other tables around us were ordering a few drinks, so I would guess they were on the package and using their “free” meal. 
I’ve often said that Alfredo’s was good enough that they could charge a $5 cover, but what they’ve done has likely killed it.

Interestingly, we love the Majestic, but both of our paid meals (also went to the crown grill) we disappointing.

 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

2 hours ago, Pat King said:

Exactly. Plus the move generated a lot of ill will. We used to love the vibe at Alfredo's.

Now we are reconsidering future cruise plans.

reconsidering future cruise plans over a venue that isn't even offered on half the fleet?

[tkline]

We e eaten at Alfredo’s and also Gigis many times even back when it was included for all and never had a problem getting a table except for one day when there was a canceled port due to bad weather and everyone decided to get pizza for lunch. Other than that it’s always been fine, we like the pizza there a lot. We are getting the plus package so that means we will only get to go theee twice on our next cruise 😞

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

16 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

reconsidering future cruise plans over a venue that isn't even offered on half the fleet?

We are reconsidering Princess for future cruises too but not just because of Alfredo's... but it does go in the mix. The offering from Princess is changing but that isn't new. Cruising has always had changes. But it is the way that the changes are implemented that get to us... without any consideration for the customer. It is that lack of consideration, or respect if you like, for the customer that is making us look elsewhere.

[Pat King]

19 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

reconsidering future cruise plans over a venue that isn't even offered on half the fleet?

Yes, exactly.

[RD64]

1 hour ago, Pat King said:

Yes, exactly.

You cruise with Princess only because of Alfredo’s?

[Oxo]

Those of you who believe only Princess is changing, must not cruise other cruise lines.

 

They all are doing the same thing!

 

Charging for an extra entree, lobster, raisings tips, etc.

 

All cruise lines are sailing at capacity. So  you have choices to cruise on any one.

Happy Cruising! 

[whitecap]

4 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Those of you who believe only Princess is changing, must not cruise other cruise lines.

 

They all are doing the same thing!

 

Charging for an extra entree, lobster, raisings tips, etc.

 

All cruise lines are sailing at capacity. So  you have choices to cruise on any one.

Happy Cruising! 

I can agree concerning RCCL.  Just returned from 14 days on the Adventure of the Seas and there were charges for just about everything.  And if I crewmember/staff/cruise director staff made the comment, "if you are getting good service don't forget to tip a little extra", one more time, I was gonna puke.  At the beginning of every show, at the end of every show, even on a loudspeaker in the buffet.  Changes can be good, but sometimes they are simply horrible, annoying and just plain a pain in the A--!

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, whitecap said:

I can agree concerning RCCL.  Just returned from 14 days on the Adventure of the Seas and there were charges for just about everything.  And if I crewmember/staff/cruise director staff made the comment, "if you are getting good service don't forget to tip a little extra", one more time, I was gonna puke.  At the beginning of every show, at the end of every show, even on a loudspeaker in the buffet.  Changes can be good, but sometimes they are simply horrible, annoying and just plain a pain in the A--!

So true.  If you’ve not cruised on other lines in a while, be prepared.  We were so surprised in the amount of changes and charges.  
We’re sticking with PCL, for the time being.  Nice to have choices.

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

May be it is time to consider other types of holiday. Cruising is great but not at any cost.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, whitecap said:

I can agree concerning RCCL.  Just returned from 14 days on the Adventure of the Seas and there were charges for just about everything.  And if I crewmember/staff/cruise director staff made the comment, "if you are getting good service don't forget to tip a little extra", one more time, I was gonna puke.  At the beginning of every show, at the end of every show, even on a loudspeaker in the buffet.  Changes can be good, but sometimes they are simply horrible, annoying and just plain a pain in the A--!

When they do thinks like that, I tend to tip even less.

[ExploringTheGlobe]

4 hours ago, Pat King said:

Yes, exactly.

Seems drastic when over half the ships don't even have it as an option. 

[Oxo]

19 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

May be it is time to consider other types of holiday. Cruising is great but not at any cost.

I agree with you.

However, what is reasonable or cheap these days?

Price a hamburger meal, burger, fries & coke, $12 or more. Subway 12" $12 or more.

 

Cruising is still a bargain! JMHO

 

HAPPY CRUISING! 

[SeaCBear]

We had the Plus package and ate at Alfredos twice on the Sapphire last week.  It was almost empty both times, which meant we got a window table each time.

 

We were told we could have anything off the menu.  There is only one appetizer - grilled veggies with fresh mozzarella - it was good. There is also only one dessert - Tiramisu - which was also very good.  We both really enjoyed our pizzas.

 

I didn't look at the prices, so I'm not sure what the 'special' pizzas are that people have referred to here? Anyway, we weren't given any restrictions on what we could order. 

[MissP22]

56 minutes ago, Oxo said:

I agree with you.

However, what is reasonable or cheap these days?

Price a hamburger meal, burger, fries & coke, $12 or more. Subway 12" $12 or more.

 

Cruising is still a bargain! JMHO

 

HAPPY CRUISING! 

Especially when you can get additional food if your still hungry. 

Try that in a land based restaurant. 😄

[BlerkOne]

On 10/1/2023 at 6:52 PM, DrSea said:

People eat ungodly amounts of food.  I would think it would be cheaper to feed them cheap pizza than 3rd or 4th entrees in the MDR.

 

Charge extra starting with the 3rd entree like Carnival does. Problem somewhat mitigated.

[Hawk73]

With all of the things being taken away by Princess we no longer have any incentive to stay loyal to the line. We will now be comparison shopping for the best deal available through all cruise lines.

[MissP22]

23 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Charge extra starting with the 3rd entree like Carnival does. Problem somewhat mitigated.

Third entrée ? .... If you're not satisfied after appetizers, soup, salad and 2  entrée's, well..😄

 

 

8 minutes ago, Hawk73 said:

With all of the things being taken away by Princess we no longer have any incentive to stay loyal to the line. We will now be comparison shopping for the best deal available through all cruise lines.

I can understand your point of view but unless you can actually find a vacation which offer's more for around the same price I'll stick with Princess. All the cruise lines have increased their prices, some more, some a little less.

Let us know. 

[Oxo]

13 minutes ago, Hawk73 said:

With all of the things being taken away by Princess we no longer have any incentive to stay loyal to the line. We will now be comparison shopping for the best deal available through all cruise lines.

You should always check other cruise lines. Never stay with one cruise line as it gets old.

Ship designs, food, entertainment.

We cruise Celebrity, MSC, NCL, Princess and RCI each year. They all have their pluses and minuses. 

Happy Cruising!

[Oxo]

3 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Third entrée ? .... If you're not satisfied after appetizers, soup, salad and 2  entrée's, well..😄

 

 

I can understand your point of view but unless you can actually find a vacation which offer's more for around the same price I'll stick with Princess. All the cruise lines have increased their prices, some more, some a little less.

Let us know. 

I have an 8 day Central Park Balcony that I know cannot be beat by Princess. If you look, compare, you can find them. MSC has some of the best pricings. Their ships are beautiful, too. JMHO!

Edited October 12, 2023 by Oxo

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, Oxo said:

I have an 8 day Central Park Balcony that I know cannot be beat by Princess. If you look, compare, you can find them. MSC has some of the best pricings. Their ships are beautiful, too. JMHO!

We've got enough booked right now.

My waistline can't afford anything more. 

[Oxo]

15 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We've got enough booked right now.

My waistline can't afford anything more. 

Ha Ha LOL, you going to have to do one of two things.

1. Cut the amount of cruises.

2. Eat less.

Happy Cruising!