Cutback Conversation..... I'm curious

[suse]

You know those bumper stickers that say "a bad day fishing beats a good day at work"? Well, I think the same could be said about cruising. I've no complaints about cruising while I am presently sitting at my desk at work.:)

[Mary Ellen]

You get paid to surf the CC????

[suse]

:) I don't have a boss. Just me.

[suse]

I fired me once but hired me back.:)

[kryos]

It seems to me that RCCL is spending all their money on their mega ships at the expense of the cruise experience on all the other ships in their fleet.

The particularly bad thing about the cuts that cruise lines such as RCI, Carnival and NCL make is that they may cut out a lot of stuff, but then they also have more opportunity than ever before to make mega-bucks from their passengers once they are onboard. HAL has nowhere near the opportunity for onboard revenue than the cruise lines with the mega ships have. For example, I read that the new Oasis of the Seas will have more added charge restaurants than on any previous RCI ship (and probably ship of any other cruise line). Since they can offer so many different choices, they have at least the potential of some serious onboard revenue. And ships like Oasis, with all of those "venues" and amenities that are going to be available ... do you seriously think all of those things will be free? I doubt it.

 

Now that's what scares the crap out of me with HAL. How can they compete against the large ships with the room to offer so much in the way of choice? They have at most two premium added charge restaurants on some of their ships; only one on most. There really are no extra amenities they can charge for, so where does HAL make its extra money?

 

I fear that HAL will eventually have to change or die. Either start building the huge ships and adding "family friendly" amenities to them, or morph into a luxury line that caters to only a certain class of passenger and offers everything that type of passenger demands.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Himself]

No trays in the Lido don't bother me at all. I find I eat less and get some exercise going over the the food line.

[tomc]

HAL just called. I've been upgraded to a suite for four. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.

 

"Cutbacks," they said.

[RevNeal]

HAL just called. I've been upgraded to a suite for four. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.

 

"Cutbacks," they said.

 

That gives "back-2-back" a new meaning!!!! :D :eek:

[catl331]

The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.

 

"Cutbacks," they said.

Ahhh ... the new Micro Suites! :)

[cruz chic]

Even when Princess single supplement is 200%, a 145% HAL fare for comparable accomodation and ports is significantly more than Princess.

Ive have to agree with you for the most part. People constantly say on this board that HAL has the best single supp rate. Yeah maybe so but you have to compare apples to apples....look at the total price. In the past I have found Princess prices to be better the HALs. Because I have been dissapointed with HAL for a while now I would rather go Princess. The prices have been sky high on Princess for the cruise I've been interested in lately. If these next 2 cruises continue to disappoint price won't be much of a factor for me.

[Copper10-8]

HAL just called. I've been upgraded to a suite for four. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.

 

"Cutbacks," they said.

 

Just make sure you don't drop the soap!:eek:

[Fishfindergirl]

Just got home from work read all these and just laughed !!!! Thanks all for the good start to my weekend.:D

[kenevenpar]

Just make sure you don't drop the soap!:eek:

 

Dropping it is not the real problem, bending over to pick it up could be:eek:

[Pettifogger]

That's just another example of HAL's kindly attitude towards its passengers. I understand that on some mean cruise lines, the Hotel Manager throws contraband trays out to sea with a frisbee-like motion.

[RuthC]

HAL just called. I've been upgraded to a suite for four. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.

 

"Cutbacks," they said.

That's one way to solve your cruise's overbooking problem, I guess.

[tomc]

[b]Pettifogger --[/b] [quote]I understand that on some mean cruise lines, the Hotel Manager throws contraband trays out to sea with a frisbee-like motion.[/quote] I think you may have misunderstood this. Those cruise lines have introduced skeet-shooting and they bought the illegal trays for just that purpose. The "bird shot" is eco-friendly and dissolves as it hits the water.

[pipedreams62]

[quote name='Pettifogger']That's just another example of HAL's kindly attitude towards its passengers. I understand that on some mean cruise lines, the Hotel Manager throws contraband trays out to sea with a frisbee-like motion.[/quote]


Ten trays for $5

[IMG]http://i.pbase.com/o4/53/623853/1/56987767.JCSkeetShooting.jpg[/IMG]

[Taxguy77]

"Food is better. Last "X" cruise was New England - Canada (9/08) and would you believe Lobster night was half a lobster and 2 shrimp and we were guest at the Captains Table! (and Lobster is cheap in this area!)"

[COLOR="Black"][SIZE="2"]We booked "X", but they spun off AZ as a "luxury" line. Lobster night was 'Lobster 4 ways' which sounded great.
It was 3 crackers with a dad of pate and a "lobster" smaller than the prwns in some shrimp cocktails I've had!:eek:[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[suse]

Yeah. But you could order 16 lobster tails if you want. Who cares.
I personally don't like them, too greasy with butter yick, but really nothing is stopping anyone who wants to go crazy!:) I think, though, if you eat too much, you might gain weight and that would not go over well at home, am I right?:eek: Oh Yeah, you can block me out if you don't like this. Everyone else does.:)

[mamaofami]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b]tom.........[/b]

[b]pssst....... I hid our tray aboard and you're welcome to use it. :d[/b]


[/quote]

lol !

[Copper10-8]

[quote name='pipedreams62']ten trays for $5

[img]http://i.pbase.com/o4/53/623853/1/56987767.jcskeetshooting.jpg[/img][/quote]

[font=comic sans ms][size=7][color=navy]pull!!![/color][/size][/font]

[ger_77]

[quote name='tomc']I've been upgraded to a suite for four. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've re-named the categories: I'm still in a small inside double and it's two to a bed.[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]I want pictures of your inside suite . . . does it have an inside balcony as well ? ? ? Get one of your roomies to take a picture of you out/in there![/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Be careful if they tell you that you need to have a swimsuit on in order to access the Neptune lounge - it may very well be underwater![/FONT]

You kill me. :)


[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Smooth Sailing! :):):)[/FONT]

[CowPrincess]

I'm following this thread with a great deal of interest, because HAL is the only line we're cruising. (not trying to spoil anyone's fun -- have at it :D -- but I think this is a really good topic)

In summary, this is what I've been able to get:

----
On our last X cruise (in Jan 09) the lobster tail was only 1/2 a tail
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Found HAL a step better and a more friendly and better trained staff. Better service and faster and so on.

Food is better. Last "X" cruise was New England - Canada (9/08) and would you believe Lobster night was half a lobster and 2 shrimp and we were guest at the Captains Table! (and Lobster is cheap in this area!)
-----
Now I know I have had only one Carnival cruise, but I did much research for quite some time before I booked the Freedom. So, I know that I had a good idea as to what to expect. The only cutback that I saw, again based upon the research that I had done, was in the dining room. The beef quality was not as good as expected. Every steak offered in the dining room was a Flat Iron Steak. No Filets; no New York Sirloins. The Prime Rib was not "prime" and really was more like a generous slice of pot roast with gravy, not au jus, rather than a Prime Rib.

Other than that, my expectations were fulfilled and I really did enjoy my Carnival Freedom cruise. I plan to cruise with Carnival again.

----

We are regular Princess (Platinum level) cruisers and really see only very minor changes...smaller lobster tails comes to mind (but you can order as many as you want) and some folks complain (I know it is hard to believe that you see complaints on these boards...) about more "nickel and diming" on Princess.

------

We sail HAL, =X=, and RCCL, and prefer the lines in that order (DW would switch HAL & =X=). Here is what we have noticed:

Definite cut-backs in all lines. The impact of those cut-backs seems to be noticeable on individual ships, rather on the line. For example, our last Summit (X) cruise, the food in the MDR was mediocre at best, the food, experience and service in Normandie were without a doubt the best we ever had on a ship. Was the food in the MDR the result of cut-backs? I don't know. Our cabin service was OK at best (sky suite), but our butler was amazing (not sure I really need a butler, but he was amazing).

RCCL has always been a full notch below the other two, IMHO. We have noticed cut-backs in some areas, less staff. However, the food in the MDR was better than the last =X= cruise, and the staff everywhere was tremendous, as good as any HAL cruise. Now, we have been on many RCCL cruises, and that is not usually true (Grandeur has the reputation for a tremendous staff)

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Ok, we sail Disney and HAL. To be perfectly honest, we do prefer Disney. I know you didn't ask about Disney, but Disney had cut out their Pub Master position.

Maybe not important to many, but to those of us who frequent the sports bar, a noticeable (and unwelcome) change.

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We just returned from a 14 day cruise on the Queen Victoria (Cunard Line). The ship was spotless, service was outstanding, our cabin was terrific, entertainment was excellent and the food was wonderful.

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I've sailed Princess often, and did a recent two week cruise on Maasdam.

The service on both lines is consistently good to excellent. I don't comprehend the "complaints".

----


So what I'm getting from this is that most lines ARE experiencing cutbacks to some degree. [B] S7S,[/B] did you post this same question on other boards?

[tomc]

[b]ger_77 --[/b][quote]I want pictures of your inside suite . . . does it have an inside balcony as well?[/quote] Funny you should ask that. There is a mural on the wall that shows the view we would get from a balcony and, at night, the steward pulls a black curtain over it. Mighty clever, I'd say.

[b]CowPrincess --[/b] [quote]On our last X cruise (in Jan 09) the lobster tail was only 1/2 a tail.[/quote] I'm sorry to hear that, as my three favorite things on board are lobster, tail and beer.

[bobincm]

We were on the Mariner of the Seas to Mexico in April and I did notice the quality was less but I expected given the economy and what we paid for our cabin. We are sailing on the Eurodam with our adult children in November and expect that HAL won't be to the standards they were the last time we sailed in February 2007. The cost of the cruise is less for the same cabin. What can you expect?:D