Equinox Mast Grill Now Extra Cost

[missthesea]

Someone (Majkman) just posted a new thread saying that Celebrity has ditched the pay for burgers by the pool.

 

They haven't yet answered where they got the information but it sounds like they are on Equinox.

 

 

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He was in the July 23 roll call group for the Equinox. Hope he will post some more details! I was just looking up the corporate address for an old-fashioned letter, as emails and calls were not responded to.

 

 

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[gimletgal]

Someone (Majkman) just posted a new thread saying that Celebrity has ditched the pay for burgers by the pool.

 

They haven't yet answered where they got the information but it sounds like they are on Equinox.

 

 

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They are definitely on the Equinox - great news!!!

[ECCruise]

They are definitely on the Equinox - great news!!!

Yes but we need to hear if that continued after day 1. They were no cost on Constellation day 1, full price after that.

 

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[kwokpot]

Yes but we need to hear if that continued after day 1. They were no cost on Constellation day 1, full price after that.

 

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Really? That makes no sense to me. I have never heard of any cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies within a sailing.

 

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[ECCruise]

Really? That makes no sense to me. I have never heard of any cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies within a sailing.

 

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Every sailing in Sushi on 5. Dined in Celebrity specialties 3 dozen times. Never paid full price once. Happens all the time.

 

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[kwokpot]

Every sailing in Sushi on 5. Dined in Celebrity specialties 3 dozen times. Never paid full price once. Happens all the time.

 

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I've never eaten there. So how does that work?

 

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[dkjretired]

Good article on Kobe and Wagu beef.

 

https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2017/04/25/anthony-bourdain-red-flag-menu-foods/22055251/

[gimletgal]

Yes but we need to hear if that continued after day 1. They were no cost on Constellation day 1, full price after that.

 

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You're right. I had forgotten about that. Let's hope it continues past Day 1. :)

[wrk2cruise]

Really? That makes no sense to me. I have never heard of any cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies within a sailing.

 

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I can see them serving free burgers (old quality) on embarkation day due to how busy the buffet is. Then switching it to a pay venue for the rest of the cruise. Not that I think it's a good idea as first time cruisers who may think it's a free venue will feel what we are all feeling when they figure out it's now for $$$$.

[kwokpot]

I can see them serving free burgers (old quality) on embarkation day due to how busy the buffet is. Then switching it to a pay venue for the rest of the cruise. Not that I think it's a good idea as first time cruisers who may think it's a free venue will feel what we are all feeling when they figure out it's now for $$$$.

Again, I don't recall a cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies that dramatically. I have over 70 cruises under my belt cross several lines. I know of discounts, packages, and/or pricing policy differentials for different mealtime (or free for lunch, but cover/a la Carte for dinner) but I don't recall a no cover/fees for embarkation and different rules for the rest of the cruise. My last Celebrity cruise was in December on the Solstice and no fee for Sushi on Five was definitely never advertised in the dailies.

 

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[Kaos28]

I was on the July 16 sailing on Equinox. Day 1 burgers @ Mast Grill were free. Day 2 fee implemented because that's the day 'Corporate' came on board when docked in Key West to give the OK. That's what I was told by staff @ Mast Grill.

 

 

Again, I don't recall a cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies that dramatically. I have over 70 cruises under my belt cross several lines. I know of discounts, packages, and/or pricing policy differentials for different mealtime (or free for lunch, but cover/a la Carte for dinner) but I don't recall a no cover/fees for embarkation and different rules for the rest of the cruise. My last Celebrity cruise was in December on the Solstice and no fee for Sushi on Five was definitely never advertised in the dailies.

 

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[Quo Vadis?]

Good article on Kobe and Wagu beef.

 

https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2017/04/25/anthony-bourdain-red-flag-menu-foods/22055251/

 

Great article...

 

 

"A sucker born every minute"

 

"a fool and his money is soon parted"

[jagoffee]

Again, I don't recall a cruiseship dining venue that changes it's payment policies that dramatically. I have over 70 cruises under my belt cross several lines. I know of discounts, packages, and/or pricing policy differentials for different mealtime (or free for lunch, but cover/a la Carte for dinner) but I don't recall a no cover/fees for embarkation and different rules for the rest of the cruise. My last Celebrity cruise was in December on the Solstice and no fee for Sushi on Five was definitely never advertised in the dailies.

 

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IMO it is not really a change in payment policy as much as a change is what is being served. If the for fee burger is anything like the Lawn Grill burger the change will be obvious.

 

Serving the more traditional burgers on embarkation day is good for those that wish to have one. IMO it is better than either keeping it closed on that day or offering the up scale burger. If enough people are unhappy that the Mast Grill serves the traditional burgers on embarkation day then I am sure that it can be stopped.

 

As is expected most of the discussion is concerning the elimination of the traditional pool side burger and not the enhanced offering. Not really surprising. At least we should be confident hat it will not happen on the Reflection or Silhouette, that have the Lawn Grill for the up scale burger.

Perhaps it will be like the Gastro Bar implementation on the Equinox (replacing the Wine Cellar) that was not implemented on the other ships. The later implementation of Gastro Bar in the passport bar on the Eclipse did not really negatively impact anything. But of course the Wine Cellar is still seldom used. Maybe Celebrity can move the up scale burgers to the Wine Cellar or offer them in the passport bar.

[ChucktownSteve]

Good article on Kobe and Wagu beef.

 

https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2017/04/25/anthony-bourdain-red-flag-menu-foods/22055251/

 

My favorite quote of the article is Anthony Bourdain's:

Are you contributing to the "douche economy"? If you shell out the big bucks for overpriced dinner "specialties" like Kobe beef sliders, you very well might be .

[Banjo]

Someone (Majkman) just posted a new thread saying that Celebrity has ditched the pay for burgers by the pool.

 

They haven't yet answered where they got the information but it sounds like they are on Equinox.

 

 

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On the Celebrity website regarding the Equinox, they don't even mention the Mast Grill:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-equinox/eat-and-drink/restaurants-and-cafes

 

The other S Class ships Mast Grill is listed.

 

Not that I eat in the Mast Grill a lot (once on a recent 13 day TA cruise and that was on embarkation day when the Oceanview was way too crowded). Charging for a hamburger is really nickel and diming. Now if they start charging for the scooped ice cream in the Oceanview, that would upset me :')

[waverunner43]

It's a sad day when both RC & Celebrity are being out-classed by Carnival but with all of the nickel & dining it has finally happened. Celebrity/RC can take my Elite/Diamond status and stick it. At one time I could agree that Celebrity was best in class but those days are gone. Princess & HAL have surpassed them and it's only a matter of time before NCL & Carnival do the same. Celebrity has become the United Airlines of the seas with all of its ridiculous charges and cutbacks.

 

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[Hawkstar33]

They really crossed the line this time. As if the cutbacks in service, the underhanded chartering of partially booked cruises, and a one-sided contract, was not enough. Forget about the lack of pool servers on deck. Skip the part about the ever increasing price of the specialty restaurants, and the extra charge items on the menu there. And don't even mention the complaints about the less then mediocre entertainment. This has truly topped all of these things. I anticipate this being one of the most viewed posts in history, with the most comments. I suppose this is another one of those BUSINESS, bottom line, faceless decision making, scenarios again. As crazy and bizarre as it sounds, this has realistic potential to affect this cruise line. Come sail with us on Celebrity. Where you can spend thousands of dollars on a dream vacation, but have pay $10 extra for a hotdog or hamburger. The Kobe beef lie must be covered under some special wording in the contract somewhere. And someone had the nerve to post about negativity. REALLY..If it didn't happen to me and I'm not affected in any way, then it didn't happen I suppose.

I called it...

[Hawkstar33]

Corporate needs to look at corporate. Stop checking on the ships. They are fine. The Captains, The Crews, are excellent. They have always been. It's these horrendous business decisions of late that are creating a major reputation problem. Anybody can see this. 30,000 views...

[waverunner43]

If Celebrity is looking for more cash, maybe the Board of Directors needs to start looking at paying the CEO and the other top executives what they are worth. That alone should save a few million more than they will make on the burgers. Better still, clean the swamp at corporate and start over with some folks that will grow the business rather than tarnish its reputation.

 

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[The_Big_M]

Corporate needs to look at corporate. Stop checking on the ships. They are fine. The Captains, The Crews, are excellent. They have always been. It's these horrendous business decisions of late that are creating a major reputation problem. Anybody can see this. 30,000 views...

 

Which is one of the things they don't ask you about in the survey...

[DYKWIA]

Which is one of the things they don't ask you about in the survey...

 

I was reading in the news yesterday that with businesses "shrinkflation" is all the rage. Rather than put up prices businesses are giving you less for your money - smaller portions, cheaper ingredients, perhaps best exemplified by recent changes at Toblerone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37909035

 

Celebrity seemed to have adopted this with gusto with many examples cited here and elsewhere. This might not be quite so bad if Celebrity hadn't also increased prices and intriduced prices In previously free areas.

 

Price increases on some cruises have gone up massively. On a 14 night med cruise Celebrity prices have gone up about 100% in 3 years (albeit with "freebies" thrown in ). On board Service charges up 20%, speciality restaurants up 80-100% a la cartevpricing in speciality restaurants where you've already paid a fee to dine (Tuscan Grille) .

[CaroleSS]

Every sailing in Sushi on 5. Dined in Celebrity specialties 3 dozen times. Never paid full price once. Happens all the time.

 

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ok, so kwokpot and I wanna know how that works!

 

We've never done a specialty restaurant, but are tempted to try this next sailing. We will have 8 in our group and will likely eat at So5 upon embarkation as I'm SURE we won't be able to get a table for 8 in the OVC!!

 

Please share your secrets.....I promise I won't tell anyone! ;)

[ChucktownSteve]

ok, so kwokpot and I wanna know how that works!

 

Easy. Throughout the cruise, crew walk around trying to sell the specialty restaurants at discount. The biggest discount is upon embarkation. The first offers are 20 or 30%. You can sometimes get it for 50% off if they have many open reservations. The better your negotiating skills = the bigger discount.

 

There's also a discount station usually set up outside the buffet entrance.

[dkjretired]

I was reading in the news yesterday that with businesses "shrinkflation" is all the rage. Rather than put up prices businesses are giving you less for your money - smaller portions, cheaper ingredients, perhaps best exemplified by recent changes at Toblerone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37909035

 

Celebrity seemed to have adopted this with gusto with many examples cited here and elsewhere. This might not be quite so bad if Celebrity hadn't also increased prices and intriduced prices In previously free areas.

 

Price increases on some cruises have gone up massively. On a 14 night med cruise Celebrity prices have gone up about 100% in 3 years (albeit with "freebies" thrown in ). On board Service charges up 20%, speciality restaurants up 80-100% a la cartevpricing in speciality restaurants where you've already paid a fee to dine (Tuscan Grille) .

 

Go to a supermarket, try and find a pound of coffee, five pound bag of sugar, hundreds of items. Prices haven't changed much. I've been complaining about this for a long time, never hear any of our politicians mention this when the cost of living is discussed, probably because most of them haven't been in a supermarket for years.

[Jade13]

ok, so kwokpot and I wanna know how that works!

 

 

 

We've never done a specialty restaurant, but are tempted to try this next sailing. We will have 8 in our group and will likely eat at So5 upon embarkation as I'm SURE we won't be able to get a table for 8 in the OVC!!

 

 

 

Please share your secrets.....I promise I won't tell anyone! ;)

 

 

 

I believe they were just saying they never pay full price. When the specialty restaurants are empty the crew offers discounts.

 

 

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