The evolution of cruising

[jimbo5544]

There have been several threads (mainly comparison threads between the main lines) discussing how innovative (or not) each cruise line is. Fairly recently, there have been more dramatic changes (or enhancements) announced by Royal and NCL. The ones I am referring to are the movement away from the MDR concept by Royal and the all inclusive option NCL recently announced.

 

Today I saw that Celebrity has begun to implement portion control (I believe they call it buffet concept or the small Las Vegas concept). This would mean a move back to trays and stations where the food is already portioned out (in smaller portions, their words not mine).

 

What is everyone thoughts on the changes that seem to be coming more and more frequent in the industry, in general and more specifically in regards to Carnival?

[RWolver672]

I'm not overly excited about some of them but if it can keep the cost of cruising down, I can live with them. We've been cruising since 1999 and the prices haven't really gone up that much.

 

As for the food being plated for you, from what I've seen on our cruises, it would save the cruise industry thousands of dollars. So much waste from people taking twice what they eat and throwing the rest away. Unsupervised kids are the worst offenders.

[snc_cam]

I do agree that there is waste on the ships, but I would much rather dish out the food myself for what I want. Otherwise, there will be lots of plates on my tray.

[stevenr597]

Most of the cruiselines already do portion control as a sort. In respect to the main dish, it is often served to you instead of you taking the item yourself. This helps to keep portions down.

 

Many of the cruise lines, in an attempt to keep costs down, have slected cheaper items on the buffet lines. More pork roasts than beef. A lot of fried foods such as fried chicken. Less number of deserts.

 

I do hear a lot in that the cruise industry has not raised prices. One must realize that we are only now coming out of a recession, and in general prices overall have not risen in the last several years.

[golfb4cruzing]

I envision the cafeteria scene from Animal House and Bluto's tray, heaping with plates of food. Maybe I'll eat a prewrapped sandwich while moving through the line. I see us trying to find another vacation vehicle if the cruiselines keep wiping out the good stuff (Lido bands) and trying to keep please the mainstream crowd. We enjoy cruising for the uniqueness not landbased restaurants and rap crap music.

Edited August 25, 2014 by golfb4cruzing

[Tapi]

I'm completely in favor of portion control. Every time I see someone walk away from the buffet with enough food to feed a small country, I cringe. Who can eat 4 slices of pizza, a pound of french fries, a hamburger, jerk chicken, roast beef, pasta salad, fried chicken wings, and half a bowl of fried rice, all at once?? Not only is it a waste of money, but eating THAT much junk can't be healthy. And then there's that nagging thought in the back of my head saying "while this a#$@e is piling up his plate with food that will undoubtedly be thrown away, there's someone starving somewhere else in the world" :rolleyes:

 

Either having food pre-plated, or having one staff member serving it does soemthing else. It minimizes the spread of germs and diseases. When you have hundreds of people touching the same serving utensils, you know its a matter of time before someone who went to the bathroom and who never learned to wash his hands spreads some nasty disease to unsuspecting fellow passengers.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Tapi

[Tapi]

Unsupervised kids are the worst offenders.

 

I agree, there are some unsupervised kids that are pretty bad, but I'm more bothered by the adults that should know better.

[jimbo5544]

Makes you wonder if this was not a driver for Royal to kind of do away with the Lido-windjammer concept on Quantum.

[Ship's Wake]

It is just a matter time before a cruise line (perhaps Carnival) follows what some hotel chains are doing (like SPG properties) where you can forgo having a housekeeper clean your room each day and get a perk in return. SPG allows you to go a maximum of three days before they come in to clean up.

 

In the case of SPG you get more SPG points for each day you participate. Maybe for a cruise line you get a coupon for a beverage or a credit in the casino, or something along those lines for each day you opt to do this.

 

Of course, the marketing aspect will promote "Go Green" to make it appear the choice is going to help save the environment.

Edited August 25, 2014 by oysterdam

[Shipbound]

I'm not overly excited about some of them but if it can keep the cost of cruising down, I can live with them. We've been cruising since 1999 and the prices haven't really gone up that much.

 

As for the food being plated for you, from what I've seen on our cruises, it would save the cruise industry thousands of dollars. So much waste from people taking twice what they eat and throwing the rest away. Unsupervised kids are the worst offenders.

 

I agree there should be some type of portion control but I do not know how that will be done it will be interesting if CCL come up with a plan. I have noticed the guests that take enough food to feed a small army are rather large to begin with so they probably eat like that at home and since the food is included it the cruise rate those guests will take more.

I am not a big guy so I take just enough food to fill me and that is the way I eat at home besides I try to make healthy choices in my food selection. I can not believe what people eat from the buffet line but that is their body and there choice. Waste is the reason the Grand Buffet was discontinued which I agree with. Since the price of bacon is going through the roof what will the cruise lines do if anything.

 

Gary

[mzloolue]

Truthfully, I could do with one visit from the steward a day.

And I am over the towel animals.

 

The turn down service is nice though.

I have always thought that they like to keep an eye on what is going on in the cabins.

 

And I think that more of a cafeteria type service would improve the buffet area.

 

My husband and I went on our first cruise in 1982 on Royal Caribbean's Song of Norway.

 

There was one dining room and no buffet.

On port days they set up a little buffet in the dining room.

A lot of Norwegian type food and lots of herring.

Room service could bring sandwiches.

They were little sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

Various breads, meats and cheeses, but they all tasted exactly the same.

As far as I remember that is about all they had.

Food was not so available.

In the afternoon they had those same sandwiches set out on a table near the pool. And some left over deserts from the night before.

At 4:00 they had ice cream out by the pool.

They kept a fruit basket in the cabin.

I remember that I was never hungry enough to eat the fruit.

 

The food service was a bit more basic, but adequate.

No one was starving for sure.

 

The truth is that we have become accustomed to excess.

 

So while we are talking about the evolution of cruising, that is where I started.

 

Oh, they only had professional entertainers one night.

Most of the time it was stuff that people participated in.

Like they threw handfuls of spoons into the pool and had a contest for who could gather the most.

The did limbo contests.

The horseracing game, ping pong, and stuff like that.

Kind of like summer camp.

It was not loud by the pool.

 

And there was no television in the cabins.

There was no casino, just one slot machine outside the dining room.

It took DH seven days to lose his whole roll of dimes.

 

We were not bored.

I never heard anyone else say that they were bored.

It was fun.

I guess people entertained themselves better in the past.

 

If cruising devolves a bit it will not bother me at all.

[ravenhunt60]

hmmmmmm........let me see..........so we ban smoking.......which is ok.......but i kinda question it on the balcony......but I understand.......so they lost some smokers.......no big deal to them........now they will really do it........portion controls.......less food.........can you imagine the people they will lose.......because I look at the size of most cruisers and you know they come for the unlimited food.......nah.......they will never do portion control overall.......they would really lose customers

[jimbo5544]

There have been several threads (mainly comparison threads between the main lines) discussing how innovative (or not) each cruise line is. Fairly recently, there have been more dramatic changes (or enhancements) announced by Royal and NCL. The ones I am referring to are the movement away from the MDR concept by Royal and the all inclusive option NCL recently announced.

 

Today I saw that Celebrity has begun to implement portion control (I believe they call it buffet concept or the small Las Vegas concept). This would mean a move back to trays and stations where the food is already portioned out (in smaller portions, their words not mine).

 

What is everyone thoughts on the changes that seem to be coming more and more frequent in the industry, in general and more specifically in regards to Carnival?

Was there a problem accessing any thread earlier? Edited August 25, 2014 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

I don't know if they would anything at all. My point in the original post, is that it appears cruising is changing. This was just one potential area.

[Shaded Lady]

I know many of you would look at me and say, Wow- at her size look at how much she eats! But you don't know me, and therefore please don't judge... but as for waste, I find the biggest problem I have with the buffet food is I take just a little bit of a few different foods, hoping I'll find one that actually tastes good... too often what I've selected is inedible. The quality of the food is so bad that I'm afraid to take something to try, because like many of you, I hate to waste. But if it doesn't taste good, I'm not eating it. I stick almost exclusively now to the chicken tenders (no fries- they're awful) and the deli... when I'm not eating in the dining room.

[cjknox]

The cruise industry has and will continue to evolve.

 

With that said I'm not in favor of the dining changes being introduced on the Quantum and from what I've read about the concept it just seems to be a bit too much hassle, and NCL's "All Inclusive" program seems like an all inclusive rip off. But not all change is bad as Royal just announced that on the Quantum passengers can take care of documents at home and walk from shore to ship in ten minutes or less, and Celebrity's portion control initiative is a good idea which I could see becoming an industry norm eventually.

[aaron3219]

I would be ALL for not having the room steward(es) come into the room 5 times a day to clean up. I can take care of my own space, and would prefer it, Honestly.

 

The portion control on the buffet is fine. I tend to eat like a hog and gain 10lbs, but that's ok.

[jimbo5544]

I know many of you would look at me and say, Wow- at her size look at how much she eats! But you don't know me, and therefore please don't judge... but as for waste, I find the biggest problem I have with the buffet food is I take just a little bit of a few different foods, hoping I'll find one that actually tastes good... too often what I've selected is inedible. The quality of the food is so bad that I'm afraid to take something to try, because like many of you, I hate to waste. But if it doesn't taste good, I'm not eating it. I stick almost exclusively now to the chicken tenders (no fries- they're awful) and the deli... when I'm not eating in the dining room.

Still looking for inedible food on a cruise ship. Actually I am not looking for it, but have never found it either.

[jimbo5544]

The cruise industry has and will continue to evolve.

 

With that said I'm not in favor of the dining changes being introduced on the Quantum and from what I've read about the concept it just seems to be a bit too much hassle, and NCL's "All Inclusive" program seems like an all inclusive rip off. But not all change is bad as Royal just announced that on the Quantum passengers can take care of documents at home and walk from shore to ship in ten minutes or less, and Celebrity's portion control initiative is a good idea which I could see becoming an industry norm eventually.

 

They announced more changes today (RCI). Had the distinctive feel of disney speed pass wrist bands.

[D4]

We rarely have our cabin steward to the morning service. I just let him know that at the beginning of the cruise and then stick a reminder note on the door each night before we go to bed.

 

We shower before dinner so our cabin doesn't need servicing twice a day.

[cjknox]

They announced more changes today (RCI). Had the distinctive feel of disney speed pass wrist bands.

 

Yes, very similar, I don't like the idea of having to walk around the entire cruise with a wristband on.

[aaron3219]

Yes, very similar, I don't like the idea of having to walk around the entire cruise with a wristband on.

 

Do you have a hi resolution verision of the second picture in your signature? I love that picture and would love to use it as a background on my desktop.

 

My daughter hated that wrist band she had to wear all week!

[Ship's Wake]

They announced more changes today (RCI). Had the distinctive feel of disney speed pass wrist bands.

 

I had the same thought. Perfect tracking device.

 

I wonder if they will put mini readers of the tracking bands in the "preferred" stores ashore to help track their commissions earned when customers buy there.

[jimbo5544]

I had the same thought. Perfect tracking device.

 

I wonder if they will put mini readers of the tracking bands in the "preferred" stores ashore to help track their commissions earned when customers buy there.

 

Talk about big brother watching over you. This is not my idea of improving cruising

[jimbo5544]

Yes, very similar, I don't like the idea of having to walk around the entire cruise with a wristband on.

 

We seem not to far off to having a chip implanted somewhere. :eek::confused: