gillianrose Posted August 31, 2012 #1 Share Posted August 31, 2012 How much will the top suites (O-V-O) fare be reduced to reflect the takeaway of the special dinner that was held either in La Reserve or in the patio area of the smaller ships? It was a pretty big perk and important to enough people that they posted about it. And a follow-up question. WHY were these dinners really cancelled? Jan has posted that they were cancelled for "more than one reason" but I haven't seen any post that gave the reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissing Seahorses Posted August 31, 2012 #2 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I, too, will miss the dinners but they were never an advertised perk so I'm sure there will be no change in fares. That is why some things are left unadvertised, so if they go away, there are no ramifications. I'm sure most people would not know about them at all unless they experienced them firsthand or read about them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted September 1, 2012 #3 Share Posted September 1, 2012 When a cruise line takes something away it is usually for only one reason....to save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillianrose Posted September 2, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted September 2, 2012 When a cruise line takes something away it is usually for only one reason....to save money. Yes, probably, but if it alienates the people who book the top suites and want that nice perk (especially if they have experienced it in the past), those customers may well not book the cruise at all or will book much less expensive suites (or lower category cabins). It will definitely change the category of cabin I would book next time. Nothing above a PH, and if there's a reduced benefit in that category, then I'm not sure whether we would book a lower cabin or switch to a comparable cruise line. We want to save money just as much as the cruise line does. Jancruz posted that there is "more than one reason" for canceling the perk, so maybe it is not only to save money. Can you think of any other reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted September 2, 2012 #5 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I understand your feelings, Gillianrose, but if I were to book and OVO suite it would not be for a free meal. However, they could compensate by offering a different perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitraveler Posted September 2, 2012 #6 Share Posted September 2, 2012 The newer, bigger ships have way more suites than the R ships. I'll wager that's the main reason for doing away with the suite dinners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted September 2, 2012 #7 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Since one is able to order from the specialty restaurants each night or get reservations the one dinner won't make any difference to us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillianrose Posted September 2, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted September 2, 2012 The newer, bigger ships have way more suites than the R ships. I'll wager that's the main reason for doing away with the suite dinners. That is incorrect. There is an increase in top suites of only 1, and proportionately, based on passenger capacity per ship, that puts the R-class ships way ahead in "top suites", and they have twice as many aft Owner's Suites. The R-class ships have 10 top suites. 6 Owner's Suites and 4 Vista Suites. The O-class ships have 11 top suites. 3 Owner's Suites and 8 Vista Suites. The O-class ships have 14 Oceania suites. The Special Dinner (it's not just another "free" meal; it is exclusive in nature and inclusive of alcoholic beverages) could be restricted to only the top suites (Owner and Vista), as those are the suite occupants who have paid top dollar on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted September 3, 2012 #9 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The Chef's Patio Dinners were not cancelled to save cost or because of the increased number of Suites on the O Class. In fact, the greater number of Suite passengers on the larger ships probably kept the Dinners running for longer than they otherwise would have. The fly in the ointment, and I have heard this from numerous sources both on the ships and off, is that the passengers who were invited to the Patio Dinners simply were not taking advantage of them, which left a number of high priced Executive Staff giving up their evenings to interact with an increasingly small pool of passengers. That is why they began to insist on an RSVP, about two years ago. In the beginning, the Patio Dinners had novelty on their side, but as time passed, Oceania's high repeat passenger rate, the Port Intensive Cruise Itineraries and the malaise of "we've done all this before" worked against them. This may be disappointing for some people who are just now entering the "Suite above a Penthouse" World, but some of Oceania's most fervent big Suite clientele have now sailed thirty or forty times, so dinners planned to introduce them to the Executive Staff were bound to lose momentum. Having said all of that, the Executive Staff, and particularly the Hotel Managers, have always entertained those Full Suite Passengers in many other ways. Luncheons, shore-side dinners, special shore excursions, all of that will surely continue, and perhaps increase. :D Who knows? You may enjoy the next divertissement even more... Don't say no, say maybe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.