Ten Dollar Meals in MDR

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I would speculate that it will return but will likely be increased to $20 with a 25% discount for 3 Star Mariners and a 50% discount for 4-5* Mariners :).  Perhaps they can bring back fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast (only a $9.99 surcharge) and actually be very bold and offer omelets made with real eggs for only $9.99.

 

The reality is that it truly is a pandora's box and current management is unlikely to close that box.

 

Hank

 

I think they'll round up OJ and omelets to $10. Much easier to figure the Mariner discounts on $10 than $9.99. (You were planning on offering a discount for the OJ, I hope!!)

 

[TAD2005]

I would love to see that implemented in the Lido Market.

When you enter the Lido, a guy asks you for your key card and he swipes that through a reader which generates a lunch or dinner ticket.   You get your food in the lines at the Lido and your ticket is punched.  No ticket, no food.  If you try to go back for a 2nd main course, your ticket is already punched, so you have to go back to the guy at the entrance and swipe your key card for another ticket.  That generates the $10 hit.   

That would really work out well for HAL's public image !!!   No way !!  Never happen unless HAL wants to lose thousands of customers. 

 

Something I noted on the Eurodam.... when you place your order at the Dive-In or NY Pizza, they are now asking for your cabin number.   They write that on the ticket.  No explanation, and I can't figure our what that data would be useful for.   Maybe if you come back for a 2nd pizza they will bill you ??  They don't ask for your keycard, so you could give them any cabin number.

Edited April 23, 2019 by TAD2005

[Shmoo here]

45 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

I would love to see that implemented in the Lido Market.

When you enter the Lido, a guy asks you for your key card and he swipes that through a reader which generates a lunch or dinner ticket.   You get your food in the lines at the Lido and your ticket is punched.  No ticket, no food.  If you try to go back for a 2nd main course, your ticket is already punched, so you have to go back to the guy at the entrance and swipe your key card for another ticket.  That generates the $10 hit.   

That would really work out well for HAL's public image !!!   No way !!  Never happen unless HAL wants to lose thousands of customers. 

 

Something I noted on the Eurodam.... when you place your order at the Dive-In or NY Pizza, they are now asking for your cabin number.   They write that on the ticket.  No explanation, and I can't figure our what that data would be useful for.   Maybe if you come back for a 2nd pizza they will bill you ??  They don't ask for your keycard, so you could give them any cabin number.

I believe it has to do with the pager they hand you.  In case you don't respond to the page, when your pizza is ready.  They know where to track it down.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Shmoo here

[slidergirl]

23 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

Considering the level of bad press and public opinion that this "test plan" generated, I am amazed that as a CCL shareholder,  you would want to promote a plan that had a negative impact on the company.  If the plan was successful, then it would be a done deal.  It apparently was not well received by passengers AND crew, so it was dumped.   As told to me by the food & beverage manager on the Eurodam, one of the test ships, the real food waste is in the Lido market, not the MDR.  The revenue gained by hitting up the few guests who actually ask for a 2nd main course is far offset by the bad publicity of the program.

The "level of bad press and public opinion" - do mean the posters on Cruise Critic?  A drop in the ocean.  I haven't seen any press on it, other than the announcement that it was happening.  Anything official, or just rumor and innuendo?  Was it not well received by all passengers or just CCers or just 4-5 star Mariners?   Data please.

[avian777]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This kind of thing is happening across most of the mass market lines (we cruise on many lines).  Some of the cut-backs are almost laughable such as when Celebrity stopped giving those in Aqua Class...unlimited free bottled water (which cost them pennies).  Princess has been experimenting with a supplemental menu in their MDR which offers some higher end steaks (that are also available in their alternative restaurant).  MSC is also playing with add-on items (for an extra fee).  And now we are seeing a trend to charge for room service and/or some room service items.  I recently heard that Carnival has been playing around with cabin stewards only servicing a cabin once per day...and I can see a future where folks will have to pay extra for twice a day service in regular cabins.   It is a downward spiral when it comes to the quality of mass market cruising.

 

Hank

 

Good insights.  Thanks for sharing.

[avian777]

4 hours ago, slidergirl said:

The "level of bad press and public opinion" - do mean the posters on Cruise Critic?  A drop in the ocean.  I haven't seen any press on it, other than the announcement that it was happening.  Anything official, or just rumor and innuendo?  Was it not well received by all passengers or just CCers or just 4-5 star Mariners?   Data please.

👍👍👍  Excellent post with especially good (rhetorical) questions!

[avian777]

12 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

.. I'm not a marketing specialist so I have no suggestions, but I know that Happy Cruisers become return customers, and that's good for the stockholders!   m--

 

Getting repeat business is only good for the stockholders IF the corporation makes a profit.  So, if HAL loses money on each passenger (by under-pricing its fares, meal add-ons, gift shop merchandise, etc.), the passengers may become Happy Cruisers (return customers) but that most assuredly would not be good for shareholders of its parent corporation, Carnival Corporation.

[DaveOKC]

11 hours ago, slidergirl said:

The "level of bad press and public opinion" - do mean the posters on Cruise Critic?  A drop in the ocean.  I haven't seen any press on it, other than the announcement that it was happening.  Anything official, or just rumor and innuendo?  Was it not well received by all passengers or just CCers or just 4-5 star Mariners?   Data please.

I cannot speak for the passengers, but I can tell you that the dining stewards did not like it at all (they told me this the following week - Eurodam).

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

I cannot speak for the passengers, but I can tell you that the dining stewards did not like it at all (they told me this the following week - Eurodam).

 

I'm not surprised they didn't like it. HAL's service is very much a culture of "yes, of course." And this makes it "yes, but..."  And because people didn't know in advance and may not have read the notice on the menu, I'm sure the waiters had to deal with a lot of disappointed and some angry passengers. On top of their discomfort at enforcing an awkward rule, the stewards may also have received lower scores on the post-cruise survey. And all of this through no fault of their own.

 

[cruisemom42]

14 hours ago, slidergirl said:

The "level of bad press and public opinion" - do mean the posters on Cruise Critic?  A drop in the ocean.  I haven't seen any press on it, other than the announcement that it was happening.  Anything official, or just rumor and innuendo?  Was it not well received by all passengers or just CCers or just 4-5 star Mariners?   Data please.

 

It may not have made the mainstream press, which cares little about cruising except when someone goes overboard or a ship gets stranded somewhere. 😒 However, it certainly has made news in the cruising community -- and that is the relevant audience HAL should care about.

 

In addition to Cruise Critic, a quick Google search reveals articles posted on the following cruise-centric sites:

• cruisepassenger.com
• cruiseradio.net
• cruisemaven.com
• cruisefever.net
• *****   (edited to add: oops, apparently that site is not allowed to be cited here....)

and it even is the subject of a video on YouTube with over 2700 views (and quite a few comments) and was a topic of debate on HAL's FB page.

 

Also it is not just the HAL loyal who noticed: there were posts on the home forums for at least two other cruise lines that I saw here on CC, and there were posts on the cruiseline-specific forums for Royal Caribbean cruisers (name not allowed by CC) and disboards.com (Disney) about it.

 

To be fair, the opinions expressed as a result of these news items were mixed, but tended more negative than positive. However, I think that if I were involved in communications at HAL, I would be pretty horrified to see some of the headlines (which end up shaping opinion) -- such as "HOLLAND AMERICA ADDS US$10 CHARGE TO CURB PASSENGER GLUTTONY"  -- not a positive image, even if one agrees in principle. Phrases such as "cheapening the brand" also appear in most of the stories -- again, not a positive image.

 

Personally, if I wanted to see HAL curb waste, there are so many ways to go about doing it that would be both more effective and less controversial. After all, how effective can a $10 fee for an additional entree be at curbing waste when one is still free to order unlimited numbers of any other course?  😐

 

And if I wanted to see HAL profits increase as a shareholder, I would suggest that this initiative would have a pretty paltry effect on the bottom line relative to the amount of discord and negative feeling generated.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by cruisemom42

[Hawaiidan]

14 hours ago, slidergirl said:

The "level of bad press and public opinion" - do mean the posters on Cruise Critic?  A drop in the ocean.  I haven't seen any press on it, other than the announcement that it was happening.  Anything official, or just rumor and innuendo?  Was it not well received by all passengers or just CCers or just 4-5 star Mariners?   Data please.

This entire thread is very telling into the psyche of HAL's demographic....   Amusing   and insightful

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

This entire thread is very telling into the psyche of HAL's demographic....   Amusing   and insightful

 

“HAL’s demographic”... or just those who choose to post their thoughts?

[Hawaiidan]

7 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

“HAL’s demographic”... or just those who choose to post their thoughts?

Maybe...maybe not 

[*Miss G*]

SMH

[RocketMan275]

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I cannot speak for the passengers, but I can tell you that the dining stewards did not like it at all (they told me this the following week - Eurodam).

I'm a bit skeptical.  Crew will always try to agree with passengers.  Why would they want to get into an argument with passengers?  Much simpler to agree with the passenger (Yes, Sir, we don't like it either) than get the passengers mad at themselves.  Why endanger their ratings or their tips?    

[boards]

17 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I'm a bit skeptical.  Crew will always try to agree with passengers.  Why would they want to get into an argument with passengers?  Much simpler to agree with the passenger (Yes, Sir, we don't like it either) than get the passengers mad at themselves.  Why endanger their ratings or their tips?    

Right on.

[DaveOKC]

20 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I'm a bit skeptical.  Crew will always try to agree with passengers.  Why would they want to get into an argument with passengers?  Much simpler to agree with the passenger (Yes, Sir, we don't like it either) than get the passengers mad at themselves.  Why endanger their ratings or their tips?    

While I agree with your thought on the Crew agreeing with me, you had to see the expression on their faces when I mentioned it.  First, they were surprised that I even knew about it and second, they looked "pained" about the deal.  For what its worth......

 

[Hawaiidan]

34 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

SMH

Smh????  What word were you trying to write????

[Hawaiidan]

7 minutes ago, boards said:

Right on.

We dont like it"........  really?.......file that with  " This  mortgage is assumable"  and "the check is in the mail"...."trust  me"

[boards]

4 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

We dont like it"........  really?.......file that with  " This  mortgage is assumable"  and "the check is in the mail"...."trust  me"

you're so clever??

[RocketMan275]

25 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

While I agree with your thought on the Crew agreeing with me, you had to see the expression on their faces when I mentioned it.  First, they were surprised that I even knew about it and second, they looked "pained" about the deal.  For what its worth......

 

Was the policy in effect on your cruise?

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

SMH

 

37 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Smh????  What word were you trying to write????

They have this newfangled thing called Google. Give it a try. 

[DaveOKC]

34 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Was the policy in effect on your cruise?

No - but it was on the one just prior to it.  We boarded on April 6.

[RocketMan275]

9 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

No - but it was on the one just prior to it.  We boarded on April 6.

If the stewards wanted to avoid 'unpleasantness' with a passenger, I can understand why your mentioning this policy would have caused a 'strained expression'.

[slidergirl]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

It may not have made the mainstream press, which cares little about cruising except when someone goes overboard or a ship gets stranded somewhere. 😒 However, it certainly has made news in the cruising community -- and that is the relevant audience HAL should care about.

 

In addition to Cruise Critic, a quick Google search reveals articles posted on the following cruise-centric sites:

• cruisepassenger.com
• cruiseradio.net
• cruisemaven.com
• cruisefever.net
• *****   (edited to add: oops, apparently that site is not allowed to be cited here....)

and it even is the subject of a video on YouTube with over 2700 views (and quite a few comments) and was a topic of debate on HAL's FB page.

 

Also it is not just the HAL loyal who noticed: there were posts on the home forums for at least two other cruise lines that I saw here on CC, and there were posts on the cruiseline-specific forums for Royal Caribbean cruisers (name not allowed by CC) and disboards.com (Disney) about it.

 

To be fair, the opinions expressed as a result of these news items were mixed, but tended more negative than positive. However, I think that if I were involved in communications at HAL, I would be pretty horrified to see some of the headlines (which end up shaping opinion) -- such as "HOLLAND AMERICA ADDS US$10 CHARGE TO CURB PASSENGER GLUTTONY"  -- not a positive image, even if one agrees in principle. Phrases such as "cheapening the brand" also appear in most of the stories -- again, not a positive image.

 

Personally, if I wanted to see HAL curb waste, there are so many ways to go about doing it that would be both more effective and less controversial. After all, how effective can a $10 fee for an additional entree be at curbing waste when one is still free to order unlimited numbers of any other course?  😐

 

And if I wanted to see HAL profits increase as a shareholder, I would suggest that this initiative would have a pretty paltry effect on the bottom line relative to the amount of discord and negative feeling generated.

 

 

 

 

 

thank you for being the FIRST to offer something concrete, other than spurious "everyone said" type of comment.    You and Hlitner are usually the only ones I count on for honest info.