Cafe bacio...bad news

[Happy2cruise]

It's been a few years but I really miss the Black and White cookies and the little ham sandwiches. We used to take the sandwiches wrapped on our excursions (Cafe Al Bacio's suggestion)

OMG, the Black and White cookies were the best:D

[ghstudio]

We used to take the sandwiches wrapped on our excursions (Cafe Al Bacio's suggestion)

 

You will now find signs where you exit for ports that tell you not to take food ashore.....and you may find some cute dogs on the docks greeting passengers as they disembark for the day. Warning....those are very expensive little dogs if they suddenly like you.

 

BTW.....Cafe Bacio still has the best coffee on the ship....and it's the only place where you can be sure it's freshly made to order. One white chocolate coffee surely exceeds anyones daily calorie limit by itself...but it's sooooo goood.

[Fish Lover]

I assume that many like the whipped cream fillings and icing although I'm a butter cream person. Reminds me of my NY days and liking bread with a firm crust...then moving to the south where they seem to strive to see who can make the softest crust. Different strokes.

 

What ever happened to chewy rye bread? I really miss the Sunday morning trip to the bakery for hard rolls (hard to find nowadays...and not to be confused with stale) and a good old rye with seeds (freshly sliced).

[davekathy]

OMG, the Black and White cookies were the best:D

 

Agree. Yum! I grew up in Upstate New York (250 miles NW of NYC) and my mother made them all the time when I was a kid.

[davekathy]

I thought taking food off the ship was strictly forbidden.

 

It is if it's not prepackaged type of foods. Same restrictions apply for bring food onboard.

Edited December 21, 2016 by davekathy

[Islandbuoy]

I just got off the Equinox yesterday and I thought they have very nice selection of pastries and cakes. I was getting my morning cappuccino and almond croissant everyday - missing it already.

Same here- 10 days on equinox--same old good stuff!

[I&J Cruisers]

I just got off the Equinox yesterday and I thought they have very nice selection of pastries and cakes. I was getting my morning cappuccino and almond croissant everyday - missing it already.

 

 

 

The almond croissants with my morning coffee are all I care about. Thanks for passing that on.

[theriac]

This title scared me, I'm happy to read reports everything has stayed the same. I was on the Constellation last month and loved Cafe al Bacio. I'm taking my father in 2 weeks on a quick cruise and he would have been very disappointed if the cakes and pastries were no more. He tells everyone how amazing the peanut butter chocolate cake is.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[cruiserone]

Say it isn't so:eek:

 

I was upset when they did away with the black and white cookies over a year ago. We were told it was a cost cutting.

 

We enjoy Cafe Bacio and have had wonderful conversations with staff and passengers there.

[Cruise a holic]

We enjoy the venue and having good coffee and conversation. They also had piano music or strings throughout the day it was very relaxing and wonderful IMO the treats aren't great.

[ChucktownSteve]

BTW.....Cafe Bacio still has the best coffee on the ship....and it's the only place where you can be sure it's freshly made to order. One white chocolate coffee surely exceeds anyone's daily calorie limit by itself...but it's sooooo goood.

 

On our Equinox cruise last week I noticed that the bar in Oceanview Buffet had the espresso machine where they can make the same coffees as Cafe al Bacio. You may not have noticed it.

 

Have you noticed though that different pastries/cakes are available perhaps based upon the ship or crew in the bakery? On the Summit there were Macadamia cookies but a few months later on the Constellation they told me they don't make Macadamia cookies.

 

In the MDR and buffet I ordered Americano's and were brought them by the bar server. In Silk Harvest I ordered a Johnny Walker Platinum which was available in the World Class bar and the bar server brought it.

 

Earlier you made a comment about the size of the pastries being smaller. I believe that is a trend across all venues. They have downsized entrees too however you can order a second if you want more.

 

At first I was taken aback at how small the portions had become. Then I realized that I was full and didn't need the larger portions because I ate more than I needed previously. I'd much rather have the quality increase than the size decrease.

 

My last two future booked cruises are on lines that are said to have better quality foods. I decided to give them a try to see if they're worth the difference in quality and service or if I'll include Celebrity again in the future (hopefully after Queen Lisa has departed).

[ghstudio]

You are right, I did not notice expresso machines in Oceanview Grill. Were they actually using them??

 

On previous sailings, Cafe Bacio had larger tarts with more fruit/etc...and the "tartlets" with four berries on them were served elsewhere. Those wonderful larger tarts seem to have disappeared along with the black and whites and carrot cake....but as I said, they do change things during the days, so I might have just missed them. The cake portions were the same size as always. The cookies were still good, just different...perhaps a different outside supplier.

 

I actually didn't notice or mentally didn't mind smaller entree portions at dinner...perhaps it was the JW Platinum that you introduced me to.

 

We are on Princess next, then we may try a windstar cruise. I think we're down to one Celebrity cruise a year which we do with friends.

[I&J Cruisers]

On our Equinox cruise last week I noticed that the bar in Oceanview Buffet had the espresso machine where they can make the same coffees as Cafe al Bacio. You may not have noticed it.

 

Have you noticed though that different pastries/cakes are available perhaps based upon the ship or crew in the bakery? On the Summit there were Macadamia cookies but a few months later on the Constellation they told me they don't make Macadamia cookies.

 

In the MDR and buffet I ordered Americano's and were brought them by the bar server. In Silk Harvest I ordered a Johnny Walker Platinum which was available in the World Class bar and the bar server brought it.

 

Earlier you made a comment about the size of the pastries being smaller. I believe that is a trend across all venues. They have downsized entrees too however you can order a second if you want more.

 

At first I was taken aback at how small the portions had become. Then I realized that I was full and didn't need the larger portions because I ate more than I needed previously. I'd much rather have the quality increase than the size decrease.

 

My last two future booked cruises are on lines that are said to have better quality foods. I decided to give them a try to see if they're worth the difference in quality and service or if I'll include Celebrity again in the future (hopefully after Queen Lisa has departed).

 

 

 

Everyone seems to be missing the point. Apparently X has noticed that the general public is attracted by lower bottom line prices. They are giving what people want by cutting costs and increasing extra charge venues. The increasing cost of these extra charge venues is getting prohibitive. So called luxury lines charge higher bottom line prices but give you more of the cruise experience we are looking for. Add up what you are really spending on a cruise. You'll find that the higher price lines are not that much more than the total cost of of an X cruise. The cruise lines are businesses they exist to make money.

[ChucktownSteve]

Everyone seems to be missing the point. Apparently X has noticed that the general public is attracted by lower bottom line prices. They are giving what people want by cutting costs and increasing extra charge venues. The increasing cost of these extra charge venues is getting prohibitive. So called luxury lines charge higher bottom line prices but give you more of the cruise experience we are looking for. Add up what you are really spending on a cruise. You'll find that the higher price lines are not that much more than the total cost of of an X cruise. The cruise lines are businesses they exist to make money.

 

I didn't miss it. :D Celebrity used to be a cut above the other mass market lines. The current CEO has taken an approach to dumb down the product to be more like them. Thus they're becoming a me too line.

 

I did the math vs. cruise experience and saw that the higher price lines' gap narrowed with Celebrity raising prices while cutting costs. But why would Queen Lisa want to eliminate the niche that took so long to create? Racing to the bottom?

 

Perhaps we should give Celebrity Cruise Lines a participation certificate so they can feel good about themselves.

 

When I was in business, we were always more expensive than our competitors. However we made up for it with value added. We generated more revenue/profits than our competitors because we attracted the better, more loyal customers. When you only play the price game you lose and become a commodity that your customers will jump ship for 50 cents.

Edited December 23, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[ghstudio]

 

When I was in business, we were always more expensive than our competitors. However we made up for it with value added. We generated more revenue/profits than our competitors because we attracted the better, more loyal customers. When you only play the price game you lose and become a commodity that your customers will jump ship for 50 cents.

 

Excellent! My number one rule in business, in investing and in anything I get involved with......Focus on your quality and your value add...don't try to buy customers with price. It doesn't take long to see if an executive understands this...those that do are almost always great executives running successful companies. Those that try to gain or keep market share by lowering their quality, downsizing their products and reducing prices eventually fail. Sometimes it takes some time, but unless you can sell your value, you are in a commodity business with no loyalty. How loyal are you to your gasoline company?

[richsea]

Everyone seems to be missing the point. Apparently X has noticed that the general public is attracted by lower bottom line prices. They are giving what people want by cutting costs and increasing extra charge venues. The increasing cost of these extra charge venues is getting prohibitive. So called luxury lines charge higher bottom line prices but give you more of the cruise experience we are looking for. Add up what you are really spending on a cruise. You'll find that the higher price lines are not that much more than the total cost of of an X cruise. The cruise lines are businesses they exist to make money.

 

That would make sense if their cruise fares were not increasing, but they are generally increasing. Sure, you can still find reasonable fares, but they are harder & harder to find. I had been tracking 10 night cruises on X & Princess, sailing one day apart, & wound up paying about 45% less for the Princess sailing.

[I&J Cruisers]

Enjoy princess. Their cuts started long before X and have gone further than X.

[jagoffee]

That would make sense if their cruise fares were not increasing, but they are generally increasing. Sure, you can still find reasonable fares, but they are harder & harder to find. I had been tracking 10 night cruises on X & Princess, sailing one day apart, & wound up paying about 45% less for the Princess sailing.

 

I like Princess And Celebrity. I have never found Princess 45% less expensive for the same general cruise. Princess is usually more expensive especially when the perks are factored in. I usually cruise Princess for the unique itineraries. Can you give me the Celebrity cruise, ship, and date and the Princess cruise ship, and date with the 45% difference? I would like to review them on the fishy site to see the price comparison.

 

Thank you.

[richsea]

Enjoy princess. Their cuts started long before X and have gone further than X.

 

It's not so much the X cuts; in fact, despite the title of this thread, most here seem to agree that nothing much has changed re Cafe Bacio. Being retired & on a fixed income, we have only so much discretionary income, so must spend accordingly. Celebrity is pricing themselves out of our budget. The fact that we have only limited sailings on Princess makes us blind to many of their cuts. We do know that Princess has many more activities staff than Celebrity. We find that both lines offer a similar cruise experience, at increasingly different price points.

[richsea]

I like Princess And Celebrity. I have never found Princess 45% less expensive for the same general cruise. Princess is usually more expensive especially when the perks are factored in. I usually cruise Princess for the unique itineraries. Can you give me the Celebrity cruise, ship, and date and the Princess cruise ship, and date with the 45% difference? I would like to review them on the fishy site to see the price comparison.

 

Thank you.

 

Royal Princess mid ship balcony, January 19th 10 nights was $1,199 per person; Equnox January 20 sailing 10 nights bslcony was $2,299 per person.

[Myron E]

We had black & white cookies on Reflection last month. They were not at Al Bacio, but at the Oceanview Café.

 

I am getting perturbed at all these changes, alleged or real. Are you telling me I have to add another activity to my busy day, and wander the ship's feed lots seeking to find where they moved my cookies? I have also noticed that they have sometimes delayed the time when they post the day's MDR menu; it should be posted when I go there to look. How hard could that be?

 

"I tell ya, it ain't easy being me."

[jagoffee]

Royal Princess mid ship balcony, January 19th 10 nights was $1,199 per person; Equnox January 20 sailing 10 nights bslcony was $2,299 per person.

 

Thanks. I will be back shortly.

[jagoffee]

Royal Princess mid ship balcony, January 19th 10 nights was $1,199 per person; Equnox January 20 sailing 10 nights bslcony was $2,299 per person.

 

Thanks. I will be back shortly.

 

Off topic of this thread, but I see what you are saying. On 12/22 the Princess cruise dropped to $1199 for two days. Congratulations on nailing that one. If you review the pricing over the last 12 months you will not see that difference, but your is a good example at a point in time. The Royal Princess still has lot of cabins available and the Equinox is almost sold out with only one Balcony category available at $1899.

Enjoy your bargain. $112 a day for a mid ship/mid level Balcony is a good deal no matter how small the Balcony.