PAYING for Pizza in Sorrento’s

[not-enough-cruising]

36 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

That’s a new one on me. Hope I never cruise in a cabin near you since that stuff can wreck havoc on the lines and clog them. 

No, this is incorrect, please see post #341

 

It is important to recognize the distinction between "marine heads" which do indeed require special paper, and "vacuum toilets" which the ships use and do not have any such requirements.

Edited August 15, 2023 by not-enough-cruising

[Engineroom Snipe]

57 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No, this is wrong information, the "ultra smooth, thick, quadruple-ply, luxurious TP" breaks down in exactly the same way that the single ply garbage they provide does. The "blob" it forms actually helps the system operate at greater efficiency.  This has been confirmed time and time again on these boards by the chief, and was even asked at a Captains call a few years back.

Truly meant as fun and tongue-in-check. What you want to use is up to you. I was hoping the emojis would let you know to take it as an attempt at humor. Most plumbers I have known in my lifetime would always roll their eyes when they came to a plugged septic tank after a customer mentioned anything but single-ply TP.

[cruisemiser1]

Bottom line, vote with your money. I have a 2 cruises booked for next year and if they implement this Sorrentos charge, these will be the last 2 with RCL for a long time.

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

I wouldn't assume that.

Agreed. IMO it’s more likely to be an executive deciding to take a look here and then close the webpage when they discover the “outrage”. 

 

2 hours ago, rolloman said:

Which part? I am not assuming they monitor the boards. A for it being good people voicing their opinion...probably true as you never know what you get in cracker jacks. 

 

1 hour ago, rolloman said:

Just a suggestion, if you work for/with RCCL you can check with their Social Media team and report back. There is a high interest in these boards and other/similar social media sites. I am not going to divulge how I know this.  

If they are monitoring because they care they would not have increased tips, when cutting daily service.
 

If they are monitoring this forum because they are curious of our opinions, this and other threads about reduced MDR food quality/options, milk VS creamer, charging for pizza etc… would have brought them to their senses and they would have undone their cuts/actions. 

I’m more of the thought that if in the past they paid someone to monitor CC, that individual was fired to save the payroll. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by A&L_Ont

[not-enough-cruising]

26 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Truly meant as fun and tongue-in-check. What you want to use is up to you. I was hoping the emojis would let you know to take it as an attempt at humor. Most plumbers I have known in my lifetime would always roll their eyes when they came to a plugged septic tank after a customer mentioned anything but single-ply TP.

Gotcha. 
no one has ever accused me of being overly receptive to the obvious.  🤪🤪

[HicksRA]

I agree with the thought that charging for pizza might cost them more money in the long run. Rather than grabbing a quick free slice or two, if they’re charging, a lot of people would just run up to the WJ and grab a hamburger, a plate full of fries, two pieces of chicken and three of the bland desserts instead. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

19 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

I agree with the thought that charging for pizza might cost them more money in the long run. Rather than grabbing a quick free slice or two, if they’re charging, a lot of people would just run up to the WJ and grab a hamburger, a plate full of fries, two pieces of chicken and three of the bland desserts instead. 

Agreed, no one will starve, just find a way to eat even more (stress eating, not enough pizza).

 

😁

[cmich068]

Royal's complementary food options are already in the dumps compared to the competition, especially outside meal hours. So completely not surprised they're thinking about getting rid of what remains. 

 

My last few cruises have been on Carnival and Celebrity, I am doing one more Royal Caribbean cruise this winter just to secure Diamond Plus status before they change the qualification criteria, but honestly don't know if I'll be coming back after that.

 

Was already getting frustrated with all of Royal's cutbacks and that was before COVID and everything that has happened since. 

[Ret MP]

Do I believe that the industry monitors these types of social media sites?  Hell yes, I do.  Do I believe that they change any single (individual issue) thing that is being discussed (the flavor of the day)?  NO!  Do I believe they pay attention to the, let's call it, the temperature of things?  YES, I do.  Are they paying attention to the culmination of negative comments about once-a-day cabin service, increase in tips, reduction of menu options, loss of traditional offerings, and on and on?  YES, I believe so.  Will they make noticeable changes right away?  NO!  Will they slowly reintroduce some items using different titles and/or marketing strategies?  Yes.  Will the fare increases stop until inflation catches up to them or at least close?  Maybe!

 

That's my 2 cents!

[HBE4]

Royal is playing someone to read these boards all day, every day  & all of us are doing it for free?? 

 

Where do I apply?

[bstreep]

Wow. This isn’t very encouraging.  We are on Radiance in 3 days, after doing a NCL cruise last week.  NCL was surprisingly good.  MDR food was better than it was a year ago.  NCL has a restaurant and bar open 24 hours a day.  Drinks (free at sea) are a fraction of RCL.  And their fares are cheaper to start with.  
 

I’m truly shocked that the cruise line we liked best is stooping to these levels of cost  cutting.  It’s SO easy to

lose a customer now.  And there are many other options.  My opinion is that NCL is going to exploit these fumbles by RCCL and steal their base.  “We know you have a choice when you fly”…

Edited August 15, 2023 by bstreep

[rolloman]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Agreed. IMO it’s more likely to be an executive deciding to take a look here and then close the webpage when they discover the “outrage”. 

 

 

If they are monitoring because they care they would not have increased tips, when cutting daily service.
 

If they are monitoring this forum because they are curious of our opinions, this and other threads about reduced MDR food quality/options, milk VS creamer, charging for pizza etc… would have brought them to their senses and they would have undone their cuts/actions. 

I’m more of the thought that if in the past they paid someone to monitor CC, that individual was fired to save the payroll. 

The CC community is relatively small so there is no one singular RCCL person who is tasked with monitoring this particular board. Social Media offers great Insite to the pulse of what the general feel is toward the marketing of a product. (In this example RCCL). To blindly say RCCL Marketing/Finance/Compliance is not intrigued with what social media has to say about their product is extremely naive. Right now the cruise industry is looking for ways to make up for Covid losses. They currently are in a "bend but do not break" strategy. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by rolloman

[DrProfessor]

16 hours ago, PACrew said:

RCCL is pushing pricing and service cutbacks just like Disney. Until demand slows, Royal has no reason to stop. 
 

For me, Royal is diluting the whole cruising experience. Food and cruising has been synonymous. Service too. I don’t need/expect 5 star but I do want value and Royal is not giving it. To charge for pizza is a slap in the face IMO. If you want to cut waste, limit slices a person. If someone eats it all, they can get more. People can live with that. 
 

For our next cruise, we (9 guests) are trying MSC. For the price, it’s worth the try (royal is double the $$$ on the same week and identical itinerary). I see value here with MSC and willing to try. 

 

We are doing the same.  While I have 3 cruises booked with Royal (next one in less than 60 days now!), we decided that after staying with Royal for many years, we would try another line and I know a couple of people that liked MSC.  When I looked into it, I also noticed the dramatic difference in price.  We have one booked in Feb on MSC and if we really like it, we may end up moving more of our business to them based on the skyrocketing costs for Royal vacations.  We love our Royal cruises, but even when sticking to the older ships to keep the cost down, the value for what you pay is quickly disappearing.

[mramella]

The biggest thing I've learned from these comments and the comments located here is that Royal's pizza is not good. Perhaps Royal should consider upping their pizza game first before even considering charging one red cent for it.

[HicksRA]

It seems to me that Royal is trying to change its clientele to younger families (thus only new amusement park ships) who are ignorant to how cruising used to be (what us seasoned cruisers are accustomed to and have come to expect). They say you don’t miss what you never had. 
 

Maybe they’re trying to run off all the old farts that are sucking up 4, 5, 6 drinks a day and not spending money like a couple with a gaggle of kids do. 
 

Maybe the bean counters are saying “How do we get rid of all that dead weight at the top”.  Maybe it’s remorse over the double point fiasco that promoted thousands to P, D+ and D. 
 

If so, I think it’s working. 

[RFerrington]

36 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

It seems to me that Royal is trying to change its clientele to younger families (thus only new amusement park ships) who are ignorant to how cruising used to be (what us seasoned cruisers are accustomed to and have come to expect). They say you don’t miss what you never had. 
 

Maybe they’re trying to run off all the old farts that are sucking up 4, 5, 6 drinks a day and not spending money like a couple with a gaggle of kids do. 
 

Maybe the bean counters are saying “How do we get rid of all that dead weight at the top”.  Maybe it’s remorse over the double point fiasco that promoted thousands to P, D+ and D. 
 

If so, I think it’s working. 

I think you are absolutely on target.  We [older, long-time clients] are no longer their target audience.  It's ok with the cruise line if they lose us - they are targeting the young family crowd who will (presumably) stay with Royal for THEIR cruising lifetime.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

It seems to me that Royal is trying to change its clientele to younger families (thus only new amusement park ships) who are ignorant to how cruising used to be (what us seasoned cruisers are accustomed to and have come to expect). They say you don’t miss what you never had. 
 

Maybe they’re trying to run off all the old farts that are sucking up 4, 5, 6 drinks a day and not spending money like a couple with a gaggle of kids do. 
 

Maybe the bean counters are saying “How do we get rid of all that dead weight at the top”.  Maybe it’s remorse over the double point fiasco that promoted thousands to P, D+ and D. 
 

If so, I think it’s working. 

The young families will all want Oasis and Icon bells and whistles. RCI needs those of us who would be happy on R/V/F class ships, too.

[Ocean Boy]

44 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I think you are absolutely on target.  We [older, long-time clients] are no longer their target audience.  It's ok with the cruise line if they lose us - they are targeting the young family crowd who will (presumably) stay with Royal for THEIR cruising lifetime.

The economy has always gone in cycles. RCI will need us again just as they needed us for the restart.

[LobsterStalker]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

It seems to me that Royal is trying to change its clientele to younger families (thus only new amusement park ships) who are ignorant to how cruising used to be (what us seasoned cruisers are accustomed to and have come to expect). They say you don’t miss what you never had. 
 

Maybe they’re trying to run off all the old farts that are sucking up 4, 5, 6 drinks a day and not spending money like a couple with a gaggle of kids do. 
 

Maybe the bean counters are saying “How do we get rid of all that dead weight at the top”.  Maybe it’s remorse over the double point fiasco that promoted thousands to P, D+ and D. 
 

If so, I think it’s working. 

 

45 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I think you are absolutely on target.  We [older, long-time clients] are no longer their target audience.  It's ok with the cruise line if they lose us - they are targeting the young family crowd who will (presumably) stay with Royal for THEIR cruising lifetime.

 

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

The young families will all want Oasis and Icon bells and whistles. RCI needs those of us who would be happy on R/V/F class ships, too.

Agree with Ocean Boy completely ! Anyone who believes the higher tiers aren't important because Royal is going in a different direction is far too shortsighted IMO . Even the clowns at the top that are currently pushing our buttons know who cruises once , maybe twice a year on family vacations and who the driving factor is on keeping their company profitable. 

 Take a look at some of the profiles on here and pay attention to the stories of the many who take 5 , 10 , even 20 or more cruises a year... Often also in the most expensive room categories  . If Royal thought they could afford to lose them , It would be a short lived experiment !

 

Cheers

 

[J0Y0US]

On 8/10/2023 at 11:35 AM, DamonG said:

I just finished this latest survey myself. They are also asking questions about $399 and $499 per guest per 7 days for unlimited dining packages. 

My next cruise on Symphony is 8 nights and I have booked the package for myself and wife at $250 each. 

Cruise prices are increasing dramatically and now they are floating the idea of $800 more per week per couple for dining package? 

 

That is dead simple. I go to Sandals or elsewhere at that point. 

 

Heck $50/person is a good meal on land most places outside major cities. 

[FOXTROT]

Wife' eats 1 piece of pizza a night. I eat, maybe, one piece per cruise. That's an extra $8.00 per 7-night cruise. So, an extra $40 - $48 a year. 

[nferr]

Everybody is an expert on here. RCL will continue to raise prices and cut things until it starts to affect revenue. They certainly haven't seen that yet. The ships are running at capacity and they claim future bookings and pricing are strong. That's the way capitalism works. If a change starts to negatively impact the bottom line they'll reverse it. Not happening yet.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I don't eat pizza so I have no skin in the game to argue. However, this will only make sense to other Brits reading this, I would like to see, and happily pay to use, a branch of 'Greggs' on board.

 

Whenever possible I will select a med cruise that calls into Gibraltar outbound. That way I can call into Morrisons supermarket and stock-up on savoury bakery products for 'emergency' use on board when both WJ and MDR let me down.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[ace2542]

15 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

That definitely isn’t the best cheese and doesn’t have the price of cheese I would eat at home. As for the electricity the ovens use, it would be no different than an oven in the WJ cooking pizza.

Do you know how much power those ovens use when on 18 hours a day perhaps? The ovens in Windjammer are only on a few hours a day.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Do you know how much power those ovens use when on 18 hours a day perhaps? The ovens in Windjammer are only on a few hours a day.

How much power do all the lights on the ship use? I don't really care about the answer to either your or my questions.