Goodbye to Free Burgers and Mast Grill ???

PoppyandNana, you are making a mistake keeping MSC off your radar. The ships are magnificent, and the food and entertainment are very good. If you go into the Yacht Club, it will totally wow you the way you are treated.

PoppyandNana, you are making a mistake keeping MSC off your radar. The ships are magnificent, and the food and entertainment are very good. If you go into the Yacht Club, it will totally wow you the way you are treated.

Whenever someone gets upset on these boards, there is always someone plugging MSC. It's very suspicious.

Whenever someone gets upset on these boards, there is always someone plugging MSC. It's very suspicious.

Every cruise line has their "cheerleaders" as well as their detractors. MSC is no exception. Read the MSC boards and you will find all kinds of opinions...just like here on the Celebrity board. Nothing suspicious..just the usual differences of opinions.

Hank

At least on a cruise, I can get off at ports and see new locations, people, etc.

 

I'm with you on camping. Had to camp a couple days in Uganda when trekking up to sit with the gorillas and sleeping in a tent and outdoor facilities are not for me, but I'll suffer through it for the right experience.

 

May I suggest Crystal as a replacement for Celebrity. I also cruise with them and the service, inclusions, etc. are fantastic.

Agree that Crystal (or perhaps Regent, Seabourn, etc) is a far better (overall) cruise line then X. However, one does need to temper that evaluation with the "cost factor." We can cruise on mass market lines (such as X) for under $200 per passenger day (sometimes less then $100 per passenger day)...but Crystal can cost you 3-6 times the cost of Celebrity. Its kind of like comparing a Holiday Inn to a Ritz Carlton. The Ritz if far superior....but are you willing to pay the price.

Hank

My February cruise with X will cost more than the last one we took with Windstar. Mind you, small ship is not for everybody, its lacks activities and venues and the last time we were aboard, did not have "Gourmet" burger. :D

Our 2 weeks in a veranda on X in September have cost the same price per person per day as the 3 weeks we have booked on Oceania in a concierge veranda next April.

When the prices are the same there is no contest and X will lose our business.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

24 pages about Hamburgers? :'):'):')

Once again, this thread is not about hamburgers. Please read the posts.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

They still could create a better burger that is included and then for those whose want to spend $$$ have a burger with even more expensive meat, i.e. Kobe or whatever. Kinda like hamburger that is 93/7 vs 80/20 (meat/fat content percentages).

 

Celebrity will start making all cruises free before they actually serve Kobe beef.

Generally around a 70/30 ratio is considered optimal for burgers - if the fat content drops much below 30% the flavor suffers and much more risk of the texture being dry/tough.

Once again, this thread is not about hamburgers. Please read the posts.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

And if you have settings set right, it is only 3 pages!

Once again, this thread is not about hamburgers. Please read the posts.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

I did. It's all about hamburgers.

For sure anyone thinking of a much smaller ship should do plenty of homework to make sure they know what they are booking. I plan to do that. We have friends that are booking a European river cruise and understand the differences, but want to try the river experience.

 

We think we might enjoy that too, but not in the next few years.

We absolutely loved our Windstar experience, more of a yachting experience than a Vegas hotel on it's side, but it's not for everyone. No big 'Vegas style' show. Only a couple of bars. Very small pool. Few, if any, sea days.

It's more than made up for IMO by being able to get to smaller islands that the big boats can't. Only 300 cruisers descending on some ports instead of thousands from multiple ships. No waiting for tenders. Spending a couple of days at single islands gives you a chance to see and do more. Embarking/Disembarking at smaller ports pretty much eliminates the hassles.

Our 2 weeks in a veranda on X in September have cost the same price per person per day as the 3 weeks we have booked on Oceania in a concierge veranda next April.

 

When the prices are the same there is no contest and X will lose our business.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Similar location. itineraries and inclusions?

I did. It's all about hamburgers.

If you think that, you definitely missed a bunch of posts, including my ill-advised one about watches. :):)

PoppyandNana, you are making a mistake keeping MSC off your radar. The ships are magnificent, and the food and entertainment are very good. If you go into the Yacht Club, it will totally wow you the way you are treated.

Thank you for the advise. I will certainly take a closer look at them for our next set of bookings. These kind of pricing issues aside we really do like X. I feel strange though when I read about these kind of changes. Like I have been "dissed". Stupid way to feel isn't it? Thing is I have touted X to other people who have not sailed on her. I felt X was above the nickel and diming I read so much about, particularly on NCL. What's next? charge for room service? Charge for the delicious ice cream?

All the free laundry in the world can't make up for these kind of changes. Their fares are more than a tad higher than HAL with comparable service and amenities. Tough for a 70 year old couple to know who deserves their business.

Agree that Crystal (or perhaps Regent, Seabourn, etc) is a far better (overall) cruise line then X. However, one does need to temper that evaluation with the "cost factor." We can cruise on mass market lines (such as X) for under $200 per passenger day (sometimes less then $100 per passenger day)...but Crystal can cost you 3-6 times the cost of Celebrity. Its kind of like comparing a Holiday Inn to a Ritz Carlton. The Ritz if far superior....but are you willing to pay the price.

 

Hank

The lines we sail the most are =X= and Crystal. We are currently sailing a Pacific Coastal cruise aboard Infinity. Two of us in a Sky Suite for $6500 with the Go Best price structure. Next month Crystal is sailing the same itinerary (11 nights on Infinity vs 10 nights on Crystal) for the same price, but in an ocean view stateroom. So although the accommodation comparison is apples and oranges (or in California terms artichokes and avocados!), the oceanview on Crystal is nearly the same size cabin as our Sky Suite, has a full bath/tub, etc.

But aside from stateroom type comparisons, any category on Crystal gives you what a suite requires on =X= (access to all venues, gratuities, etc) since Crystal is all-inclusive.

So in this case, if you can survive without the balcony, the price comparison is next to nothing. We "shop" cruises all the time and lately we've found the price gap narrowing between =X= and the luxury lines, where you'll never see a surcharge for a specialty burger!

So in this case, if you can survive without the balcony, the price comparison is next to nothing. We "shop" cruises all the time and lately we've found the price gap narrowing between =X= and the luxury lines, where you'll never see a surcharge for a specialty burger!

Completely agree with this, which is why we have booked Oceania for next April (and that's a balcony cabin for the same price =X= were offering)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The lines we sail the most are =X= and Crystal. We are currently sailing a Pacific Coastal cruise aboard Infinity. Two of us in a Sky Suite for $6500 with the Go Best price structure. Next month Crystal is sailing the same itinerary (11 nights on Infinity vs 10 nights on Crystal) for the same price, but in an ocean view stateroom. So although the accommodation comparison is apples and oranges (or in California terms artichokes and avocados!), the oceanview on Crystal is nearly the same size cabin as our Sky Suite, has a full bath/tub, etc.

 

But aside from stateroom type comparisons, any category on Crystal gives you what a suite requires on =X= (access to all venues, gratuities, etc) since Crystal is all-inclusive.

 

So in this case, if you can survive without the balcony, the price comparison is next to nothing. We "shop" cruises all the time and lately we've found the price gap narrowing between =X= and the luxury lines, where you'll never see a surcharge for a specialty burger!

We agree with you although the best price deals on Crystal are only on certain cruises. DW and I tend to book regular cabins so we normally compare balcony to balcony. But our thinking is that with the constant drop in overall quality on Celebrity (and some other mass market lines) we might replace most of our mass market bookings with luxury line bookings. We used to think that Celebrity was a "good enough" quality line to meet our needs, but now are rethinking our entire cruise booking philosophy. We are not going to book any more Celebrity cruises until after our upcoming (Nov) Reflection cruise....and see how it goes. If the down hill slide continues from our last X cruise.....then X will drop far down our list of favored cruise lines.

Hank

Yes,it's official. Kobe Bryant will be hand crafting $10 burgers aboard Connie. He promises to use only the finest pre-frozen 73% chuck. Expects the 18% grat will exceed his NBA salary.

If rollout goes well he plans to add official Kobe frozen pizza made of all un-natural ingredients.

 

Yes,it's official. Kobe Bryant will be hand crafting $10 burgers aboard Connie. He promises to use only the finest pre-frozen 73% chuck. Expects the 18% grat will exceed his NBA salary.

 

If rollout goes well he plans to add official Kobe frozen pizza made of all un-natural ingredients.

Wait! I have been told this thread is NOT about hamburgers 🍔🍔🍔

Celebrity will start making all cruises free before they actually serve Kobe beef.

 

 

Generally around a 70/30 ratio is considered optimal for burgers - if the fat content drops much below 30% the flavor suffers and much more risk of the texture being dry/tough.

Interesting to know. My numbers were just examples of common ratios of hamburger meat. I know you have stated before about Kobe, but they use the term so again I was just making a point that they could serve a high end burger and still improve on the current 'hockey' puck and NOT charge for the improved burger AND serve it pool side.

It might be a BOLD step for Celebrity to improve on a product offering and not then charge for it. It would though be a welcomed step by many of its customers.

Interesting to know. My numbers were just examples of common ratios of hamburger meat. I know you have stated before about Kobe, but they use the term so again I was just making a point that they could serve a high end burger and still improve on the current 'hockey' puck and NOT charge for the improved burger AND serve it pool side.

 

It might be a BOLD step for Celebrity to improve on a product offering and not then charge for it. It would though be a welcomed step by many of its customers.

Yes, totally agree would be nice to see them improve their included burger and keep it included; would not be difficult for them to do (as the current rendition uses such absurdly inexpensive, poor quality ingredients). Celebrity calling their "gourmet" beef Kobe is the equivalent of the jewelry shop on a Celebrity ship calling something a diamond that is actually cubic zirconia. It is false advertising.

Celebrity's current burgers are hockey-puck like as they do not have enough fat to begin with, and since they are such poor quality meat they need to be cooked well-done (which further exacerbates the problem) - as most of the moisture is gone by the time the burger is well done. The more done a burger is cooked, the higher the fat ratio needs to be at the beginning to retain some moisture/flavor. Then if the burgers sit out for a while, they become even more tough and dry.

HAL press release issued today on their burger offerings. HAL's free choices sound tastier than X's pay alternative.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/every-day-is-national-burger-day-on-a-holland-america-line-cruise-with-20-featured-gourmet-hamburger-options-300464092.html

HAL press release issued today on their burger offerings. HAL's free choices sound tastier than X's pay alternative.

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/every-day-is-national-burger-day-on-a-holland-america-line-cruise-with-20-featured-gourmet-hamburger-options-300464092.html

Are you sure they are all included in cruise price? They sound too good not be upcharged?

Why can't Celebrity just copy that!

Are you sure they are all included in cruise price? They sound too good not be upcharged?

 

Why can't Celebrity just copy that!

The answer to your last question is that Celebrity and RC seem hell bent on testing the market to see how many things they can upcharge for including room service and burgers . Given how many here are loyal to them , that list of extra fee items will continue to grow . And grow .

Are you sure they are all included in cruise price? They sound too good not be upcharged?

 

Why can't Celebrity just copy that!

The HAL equivalent to the Mast Grill would be their "Dive In" window...where all burgers, fries, dogs are free..and cooked to order. Burgers served in the MDR and their Lido are also free. The only place where there is a fee is at the Pinnacle Grill (which is HAL's premium alternative restaurant) which is sometimes open for lunch on Sea Days. There is always a fee at the Pinnacle (it varies depending on lunch, dinner, and whether your are a 3 or 4 Star Mariner). The burger on the Pinnacle Menu (lunch only) used to be a Wagyu Beef Burger and it was really great. Since I am a 4 Star Mariner we get a 50% discount...so lunch only cost me $5. And consider that it includes a full meal...not just the burger. About 2 years ago HAL stopped using Wagyu Beef and now does not specify the type of beef...but it is certainly a hand formed burger made from a high grade of beef.

Hank

I've enjoyed HAL's Dive In special burgers since they were introduced in 2014. When HAL made the change over from the previous grill, I never gave a thought to the possibility of them starting to charge for the upgraded burgers, which made Celebrity's decision all the more unpalatable.