How many would be willing to give up shows for better food

[cruisemom42]

Your onboard bill might be higher, but your initial cruise cost would be lower, and your total could be lower. For example if someone wants 2 dollar slice of pizza for lunch and I want a 20 dollar sit down lunch, why should the pizza eater subsidize me? I might skip a 5 dollar show at night. It would be easy to implement just swipe the cruise card. This way the cost of getting on the ship is kept low and everyone can customize their vacation with features that are important to them. I suspect, whether we like it or not, this is the future. As far as me going to a more premium all-inclusive line, that is the complete opposite of what I am suggesting.

 

For me (and I suspect many others), it's not about whether my bill would be marginally lower or marginally higher. I do not cruise to be charged for something every time I turn around. I can take other kinds of vacations if I want to pay at each meal, for entertainment, gas, a bed, etc.

 

I already find myself gravitating toward lines that are more rather than less inclusive. When all the costs are added up, these lines that initially seem more expensive can actually end up being less. Case in point: in regards to my HAL cruise last Fall and the one a month later on the more inclusive Voyages to Antiquity (all shore excursions included, wine/beer with dinner, gratuities, etc), the V2A cruise actually ended up being about the same cost -- and MUCH more enjoyable not having to constantly run a balance sheet in my head. Both cruises were the same length and featured similar itineraries.

 

Perhaps you, too, should look at other lines? :cool:

[Astro Flyer]

Your onboard bill might be higher, but your initial cruise cost would be lower, and your total could be lower. For example if someone wants 2 dollar slice of pizza for lunch and I want a 20 dollar sit down lunch, why should the pizza eater subsidize me? I might skip a 5 dollar show at night. It would be easy to implement just swipe the cruise card. This way the cost of getting on the ship is kept low and everyone can customize their vacation with features that are important to them. I suspect, whether we like it or not, this is the future. As far as me going to a more premium all-inclusive line, that is the complete opposite of what I am suggesting.

Then maybe my other suggestion to try RCCL or NCL where you can pay for upgraded food & entertainment because I don't want to pay extra to enjoy Princess.

 

The prices are already much cheaper than our 1st one 25 years ago without even considering inflation. Your suggestions for a fairer way to pay as you go was already tried & failed miserably in Europe...EasyCruise. :eek:

 

Again, I've considered your suggestions & like many others I am very happy with a Princess cruise. Maybe consider our opinions about not wanting such changes and move on to another subject...one without all of the added fees you keep proposing. :rolleyes:

 

I appreciate new ideas & I'm all for an open exchange of ideas but your suggestions on ways to pay as you go are not what has made cruising so popular & nothing I care to see more of on a Princess cruise. :rolleyes:

[hughdm]

We love the entertainment and the food is plenty good. We want our cruise to be as "all inclusive" as possible, and I want to think LESS about what I am spending all the time rather than more. If anything was to drive me AWAY from a cruise line, it's nickel and diming me.

[Andee]

Most of the time, we find the food OK, and the shows mediocre--we'd happily give up the shows for better food.

[Dena]

I think the trend (unfortunately) is to dilute the quality of the MDR food and try to drive people more and more to specialty restaurants or other pay venues. The cruise lines seem to be devising more and more ways to get you to pay extra for food. But I don't think the solution is to start charging for shows.

 

Good point. I too have thought that the lines are making the MDR food worse so that people will go to for-fee restaurants. I am probably OK with doing so, as long as my total cost for the cruise remains a good value. But what would happen if the lines are too successful at this strategy? The specialty restaurants will not have enough capacity to hold everyone who wants a decent meal.

 

I really don't know what the solution is. Every cut potentially hurts someone. And when many cuts are occurring at the same time, many people will see their on board experience diminished. And every time this happens the cost-benefit analysis chages. Yet fuel prices are high, food prices are increasing, and according to the CCL quarterly report, revenue from the European itineraries been disappointing. More changes are likely coming. I am looking at other lines. But this problem is one the entire industry is dealing with and the trend seems to be to take away something that was once included and then to charge for it instead. Of course with some ofthe recent cuts, things are being taken away and we are not even offered a chance to pay for them.

[Sunviking]

I think the trend (unfortunately) is to dilute the quality of the MDR food and try to drive people more and more to specialty restaurants or other pay venues. The cruise lines seem to be devising more and more ways to get you to pay extra for food. But I don't think the solution is to start charging for shows.

 

There was just a thread on this board about Crown Grill and Sabatinis which is now on page 2. My impression from reading it was that the majority who posted felt that they could get food that was just as good in the Dining Room. Our experience was not the same as many of the posters on that thread, but food is a very subjective thing and we are just 2 people. Clearly there are many people who think the main dining room food is great and don't see a dilution of quality. We have been cruising for nearly 30 years and, frankly, we don't either.

[Dena]

There was just a thread on this board about Crown Grill and Sabatinis which is now on page 2. My impression from reading it was that the majority who posted felt that they could get food that was just as good in the Dining Room. Our experience was not the same as many of the posters on that thread, but food is a very subjective thing and we are just 2 people. Clearly there are many people who think the main dining room food is great and don't see a dilution of quality. We have been cruising for nearly 30 years and, frankly, we don't either.

 

I think the food is still OK. But if you search the internet for photos of the food from around 2005 (the plates still had flowers on them back then) and compare to recent photos, the quality appears lower and this matches our experiences.

[Dena]

:D

 

. for the price of a cruise i couldn't stay in a hotel, eat, travel to other countries and be entertained for anything close to the price i'm getting it from with princess. i doubt the base cost would be lower in a user-pay system, it would just bulk up the profits.

 

In general I agree, but sometimes we (and others) cruise only for the onboard experience. This is especially true for those from cold climates who are looking for sun and warm weather. Quite a few people rarely leave the ship in Mexico or the Caribbean. So if the onboard experience is diminished, the cost benefit analysis changes. I am not sure if we have reached our breaking point, but I expect more cuts are coming. I know most people don't like my pay as you go idea. Another solution could be for CCL to reduce their profit margin until the economy recovers rather than continue to chip away at the cruise experience and risk alienating a portion of their customers. Why give people an excuse to look around? They may find something they like better and it could be hard to win them back. For those who are OK with the current cuts, please realize the next one could affect you.

[cdngrl]

Another solution could be for CCL to reduce their profit margin until the economy recovers rather than continue to chip away at the cruise experience and risk alienating a portion of their customers...For those who are OK with the current cuts, please realize the next one could affect you.

i like the idea of ccl reducing their profit margin, but i'm not a shareholder. i would imagine they would think differently.

 

its always a personal decision to take the cruise or not. if the cuts became a deal-breaker for me i'd have to look at alternatives. shhhh...don't tell princess, but i'm not there yet! :p

[JulieRose]

Forgive me as I am a total newbie to cruising. Are the shows really worth the time? I hadn't even considered going to any of them. I kinda assumed that they would be geared toward an older audience and thus be a waste of our time. Would a couple of 29 and 32 be interested? I'm a fan of theater but my FI hasn't really been exposed to it...

[Sailingpeace]

Shows are one of the nice moments every day. Food is fine, the nice thing about cruising is the variety of things. Movies I have at home and for food I can go to different countries on gastronomic adventures if I want to focus on that.

[cdngrl]

Forgive me as I am a total newbie to cruising. Are the shows really worth the time? I hadn't even considered going to any of them. I kinda assumed that they would be geared toward an older audience and thus be a waste of our time. Would a couple of 29 and 32 be interested? I'm a fan of theater but my FI hasn't really been exposed to it...

my family is involved in musical theatre so we find them really fun. and that includes my 25 year old who is a singer and dancer and the 23 year olds who love them too. i wouldn't say they're geared to an older audience. i think you will be surprised at how much of the music you know--and like!

some are much better than others. if you have time check it out. and i hope you have a great cruise.

[Dena]

i like the idea of ccl reducing their profit margin, but i'm not a shareholder. i would imagine they would think differently.

 

its always a personal decision to take the cruise or not. if the cuts became a deal-breaker for me i'd have to look at alternatives. shhhh...don't tell princess, but i'm not there yet! :p

 

I am a CCL shareholder. Reducing profits short term could work to hang on to the customer base. The problem is that nobody really know when this recession is ending. Both strategies have risk. I have just about resigned myself to a diminished dining experience. Well as Pam says, we will not go hungry, although it may be a bit rougher on DH with his celiac disease. Maybe it is better that food not be such a focal point anyway, better for our waistlines. But the industry needs to stop overselling the dining experience if they can no longer deliver.

[snoodqueen]

Each cruise is different. Sometimes the entertainment is fantastic, other times - not so much. I have no problem with the food - it varies as well. I've yet to starve or be bored so I guess Princess is doing something right, at least in my eyes.

[Pam in CA]

Again, I have no problem with being charged extra for some things as long as the cost of my cruise doesn't increase. I never drink specialty coffee so I have no desire to pay for someone who drinks a lot of it. I'm having a hard time trying to think of things that used to be included and that I got/used, but now pay extra, and I'm coming up blank.

[TM]

Dena,

 

With all due respect you seem to have done nothing over the last week or so but complain about everything or try to ask questions to get support for your point of view. Princess offers a product which many of us have enjoyed for many years. Yes there are things that are no longer offered. Yes the quality of some things might not be what it used to be. But yes the cost per day of cruising today, even without calculating in inflation, is far less than what it was 20 years ago. If you don't like the product being offered, don't partake of it. Go find something else that better suits your needs and expectations. But don't expect the seller, in this case Princess, to modify a product that meets the mass market to suit the needs of a very small minority. Apologies for being so blunt but your ranting and complaining is getting out of hand. And yes I have the option of not reading your posts, but until I do so there is no way of knowing what the subject matter really is. Taking a poll like you are doing is not in any way going to influence what Princess will do in the future.

[Sunviking]

I think the food is still OK. But if you search the internet for photos of the food from around 2005 (the plates still had flowers on them back then) and compare to recent photos, the quality appears lower and this matches our experiences.

 

How does one figure out the quality of food from photos? If I did that, then I would think places like Denny's or other chains that advertise on TV had the world's best food. I don't think so.

[Dena]

Forgive me as I am a total newbie to cruising. Are the shows really worth the time? I hadn't even considered going to any of them. I kinda assumed that they would be geared toward an older audience and thus be a waste of our time. Would a couple of 29 and 32 be interested? I'm a fan of theater but my FI hasn't really been exposed to it...

 

We don't enjoy most of shows very much especially the musical production type, but the theater is beautiful. Some of the shows were pretty good. We liked PianoMan and one show with 60's spy music. However, on our last cruise, we saw a really depressing show, Do You Wanna Dance. Very old music and sad music too. I would skip this one. Another show had a comedienne making jokes about child abuse. Then there is always a juggler or hypnotist - we think once is enough for this type of show. Another show a few years back had a Nat King Cole impersonator, he was pretty good. Then there was one with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis impersonators, these two were put off the ship, but I don't think it was because the show was bad, althought the show was bad. We generally prefer a moonlit stroll to the shows. I think the crew talent show is the best show and the most fun.

[Dena]

How does one figure out the quality of food from photos? If I did that, then I would think places like Denny's or other chains that advertise on TV had the world's best food. I don't think so.

 

You can tell the size of a lobster tail from a photo. You can tell if a piece of meat is fatty. You can tell if the vegetables are plentiful or scarce. I have never found the photos Denny's shows to be very appealing, but to each his own.

[jrzebird]

I enjoyed both the food and entertainment (for the most part) on my recent CB cruise. The entertainment was far and above what I saw last year on the same cruise, or on other cruises. The lighting, music, talent, costumes - all were extremely well done, and I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The food had its great days and its 'ok' days, but the service and table talk were always 1st class, and that is what I am looking for. The food was always edible and the choices were good. I realize that this is just my opinion but out of 40 posts I think 3 agreed with the premises that the OP set forth.

 

I don't want to pay more for food, entertainment or anything else. I already pay quite a bit extra to sail as a solo, but it's worth it for me to get on the ship and not have to be swiping my card every time I walk into a room. Maybe they could charge to use the bathrooms? Perhaps a charge for social gatherings like the M & G? The list could be never-ending, and none of it acceptable.

 

And keep in mind that they could have reinstituted the surcharge for fuel a couple years ago but have not. I think that this is very good business sense and shows they are trying to keep costs down.

 

I have no idea what the big draw is of having lunch in the MD. I did it a few times. It was very nice and I enjoyed it but I also enjoyed picking a little of this and a little of that in the HC, or sitting in the Piazza and enjoying a light lunch from the IC while people watching. Or room service on my balcony. Going ashore in some of the ports and having a 'local' lunch was also a delightful experience. As I said in an earlier post, I'm sure that Princess knows how many people eat in the MD on port days and have found it to be non-cost effective.

[dakacz]

I think the food is good. Having the shows , the deck party, etc. are all an integral part of the cruise for me. I am already paying for these things and would not cruise if they were extras. I don't go to the specialty restaurants. For me food is only a small part of the cruise experience. I like the fact that when I go on a curise I have paid for all of the necessary expenses up front except for the gratuities. I know I can have a good time for what I have paid.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Dena, as you said in your last post, "to each his own."

 

But it seems like reading this thread that I share the opinion with most posters here that the food is fine (I'm the first to admit I'm not a foodie) and some of the shows are enjoyable. And I'm not that far from many shows -- there's even a quality venue that just opened within the last year within seven miles of me. And my daughter has been involved in musical theater for several years, albeit for children and school. So I love the chance for her to walk from our cabin to the Princess theater if she wants to. So what if much of it is corny -- most of the time we do enjoy the shows and the other live entertainment onboard.

 

And since we're not big or fancy eaters, we have never partaken of a meal in a specialty restaurant. And we'll even eat in the Horizon.

 

Maybe if you're not interested, you can research cruiselines to find one that doesn't have entertainment. Maybe a river cruise.

[Tina G]

I have always enjoyed the musical review shows on Princess, as well as many of the featured entertainers.

We tried HAL this year. The quality of the production shows was acceptable, but nowhere near as good as Princess. Their musical shows have (UGH!) computer synthesized accompaniments! I couldn't handle it. Princess tapes live acoustic musicians. I spent most of that HAL cruise listening to their string quartet, instead.

The relaxed atmosphere of the shows on Princess is one of the things I really enjoy, even when I have seen the show before on other cruises. HAL's food was better, but I missed the good shows. We're coming back to Princess!

[Iamcruzin]

You can tell the size of a lobster tail from a photo. You can tell if a piece of meat is fatty. You can tell if the vegetables are plentiful or scarce. I have never found the photos Denny's shows to be very appealing, but to each his own.

 

I have to agree that the portions are not as large as they were 20yrs ago however; I prefer this because it gives me the opportunity to try more of the appetizers and soups without feeling so full that I can't finish the main course or worse yet have no room for dessert. I have also been able to order more than one entre if I couldn’t decide between two of them.

[RickEk]

You are suggesting a fundamental shift in the way cruising has historically operated. A European cruise line tried this, actually, and they went out of business. People do not want to constantly have their cruise card swiped for every activity in which they choose to engage. And, if you had even a smidgen of business sense, you'd realize that no cruise line would want that to happen, either -- they do their best to make it imperceptible how they're separating you from your money onboard; why would they switch to a system where passengers are reminded at every turn that they're spending money?

I agree with the others above who've accused you of trying to start some sort of rebellion here. I think we all know what the genesis of this was, and while many of us were in agreement with your disappointment about the closing of the dining room on port days, you have now succeeded only in squandering that goodwill, at least on my part. Frankly, if anything, I'm moved to cheer on the dining room closing now, just because. Childishness; it's contagious.

 

Right on sister!! I'm with you! :D

 

Dena,

 

With all due respect you seem to have done nothing over the last week or so but complain about everything or try to ask questions to get support for your point of view. Princess offers a product which many of us have enjoyed for many years. Yes there are things that are no longer offered. Yes the quality of some things might not be what it used to be. But yes the cost per day of cruising today, even without calculating in inflation, is far less than what it was 20 years ago. If you don't like the product being offered, don't partake of it. Go find something else that better suits your needs and expectations. But don't expect the seller, in this case Princess, to modify a product that meets the mass market to suit the needs of a very small minority. Apologies for being so blunt but your ranting and complaining is getting out of hand. And yes I have the option of not reading your posts, but until I do so there is no way of knowing what the subject matter really is. Taking a poll like you are doing is not in any way going to influence what Princess will do in the future.

 

I'd agree with this also... Dena, maybe it's time to get over it and move on... :rolleyes: