Now $1.50 for gelato in Windjammer

[firefly333]

25 minutes ago, mkmaj said:

I know that these things are happening on all lines since Covid but I don't see nearly the amount of complaints about quality and up charges on the other lines right now. 

 

We will make the best of it and won't feel cheated for the price we paid... But I don't think we'll be back to Royal at current prices unless we find the complaints to be exaggerated and things are great onboard.

I agree royal pax on cc do whine and complain more than any other board I'm on. Carnival goes to once a day steward, hardly a whimper. Royal does the same thing .. weeks later they are still complaining about it. 

 

There were lots of cut backs pre covid. I remember mints on my pillow. I remember free sushi in the WJ, lots of things I miss but I choose to keep cruising. Try and not take it some seriously as other lines are doing the same cut backs.

[bucfan2]

50 minutes ago, mets123 said:

They used to be tasty. Now their bland and boring.

Thanks again for restating your opinion.  I'd agree w/ ya, but then we'd both be wrong. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by bucfan2

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I remember free sushi in the WJ

 

Boy do I miss that one!

 

Way down the list of impacting the overall experience, of course, but since I rarely eat it at home, I used to grab a plate as soon as WJ opened every night. I think we were still eating in the MDR pretty much every night back then so it was always my pre-dinner snack.

[Engineroom Snipe]

54 minutes ago, mkmaj said:

We will make the best of it and won't feel cheated for the price we paid... But I don't think we'll be back to Royal at current prices unless we find the complaints to be exaggerated and things are great onboard.

 

I have doing Royal since my first honeymoon cruise in 1988. I enjoyed all of my cruises.

 

My main point is that I take into consideration the price points when I critique.

 

You are OK for the price you paid. You will have a great time.

 

I am OK with the prices I PAID (emphasis past tense).

 

If the prices stayed the same as I paid, I would book more even knowing some of the cutbacks.

 

I am not paying 2 to 3 times more for the exact cruises with the cutbacks.

 

That simple.

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

21 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Boy do I miss that one!

 

Way down the list of impacting the overall experience, of course, but since I rarely eat it at home, I used to grab a plate as soon as WJ opened every night. I think we were still eating in the MDR pretty much every night back then so it was always my pre-dinner snack.

Yes, the Windjammer Sushi station would open early at 5:30pm which allowed time for a 6:00pm MDR and was a great snack if you had 8:00pm main dining.

[RD64]

Why is this gelato thread still a thing? If you want the gelato that bad then pay for it? If you don’t want to pay for it then:

 

1. No gelato for you

 

2. Select a cruise line - at a higher fare - that will enable you to have unlimited gelato.

 

Problem solved - on RCL you can’t have your gelato and eat it too.

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Yes, the Windjammer Sushi station would open early at 5:30pm which allowed time for a 6:00pm MDR and was a great snack if you had 8:00pm main dining.

I remember that. And miss it. 

[nelblu]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:59 PM, goldfish65 said:

I believe you can get ice cream in the MDR at no extra charge. 

Yes, I get double scoops and chocolate syrup.  On Oasis August 20 sail. 
 

The ice cream lines at the pool deck were out of this world. Very popular with both kids and adults. 
 
No problem in getting double appetizers, entrees or desserts. 
 

Starbucks has cakes and pastries for a charge. 
 

Gelato is a different breed than ice cream

[ldubs]

On 8/28/2023 at 3:44 PM, Engineroom Snipe said:

OMG!

 

Please say another attempt at nickel-and-diming is not happening!

 

We are getting to the point that $2.00 plus gratuity for a hot cookie on Celebrity and $1.50 for a gelato on RCI are becoming the norm.

 

😢

 

 

 

$1.50 for the gelato is the better deal.  

[bjlaac]

On 8/28/2023 at 8:02 PM, vision14k said:

I get it, but at the end of the day they’re a business and it’s only about making money.  They really don’t care about any of us.  When demand drops, so will the prices.  Until then, while people pay the high prices, they will remain high.  They offer a “perceived by some” superior product that people are apparently willing to pay for and that likely won’t change.

I use to think that way too...vote with your wallet and eventually the cruise lines will learn their lesson, but the truth is they rarely, if ever, reverse the changes they make.  As booked as these ships are over half of the passengers on every cruise I've been on (and I've been on close to 100) are first timers.  Their starting perspective is a lot different than a seasoned cruiser. To them paid specialties or one day cabin service or $1.50 ice cream in the windjammer is the norm, so when the cruise line makes a change that seems ridiculous its shrugged off as no big deal.

 

To me, and a lot of folks on these boards, I really question the value of a cruise these days.  We have two booked in January but nothing after that.  For us, the turning point was the menu changes last January and now coupled with less cabin service and charges for simple ice cream in the windjammer is pushing us away, at least from RCL.

 

We originally sailed NCL mostly and then tried RCL and found the food superior and sailed exclusively with RCL for 3 or 4 years, enough to make Diamond in that time.  Recently we tried NCL again and discovered the pendulum has tilted back to NCL in the food department.  Of course that's subjective, but the point being for 4 years we were perfectly content to be exclusive to RCL and now "they" have given us incentive to look elsewhere with the recent changes so many are dismissing as insignificant.  Yes a lot of cruise lines are making similar changes which makes them less and less different.

 

Will that make RCL reverse some of these decisions or miss us, I doubt it, but they are losing the dedication of a couple that cruise 3 to 4 times a year.  We've been replaced by new clients with a whole new perspective and expectation of baseline cruising and as long as they are returning year after year nothing will change.

Edited August 31, 2023 by bjlaac

[A&L_Ont]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I agree royal pax on cc do whine and complain more than any other board I'm on. Carnival goes to once a day steward, hardly a whimper. Royal does the same thing .. weeks later they are still complaining about it. 

Head over to the Celebrity boards or other social media pages relating to them. A lot of unhappy suite guests with cabin amenities cut combined with cruise fare increases.  

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, bjlaac said:

I use to think that way too...vote with your wallet and eventually the cruise lines will learn their lesson, but the truth is they rarely, if ever, reverse the changes they make.  As booked as these ships are over half of the passengers on every cruise I've been on (and I've been on close to 100) are first timers.  Their starting perspective is a lot different than a seasoned cruiser. To them paid specialties or one day cabin service or $1.50 ice cream in the windjammer is the norm, so when the cruise line makes a change that seems ridiculous its shrugged off as no big deal.

 

To me, and a lot of folks on these boards, I really question the value of a cruise these days.  We have two booked in January but nothing after that.  For us, the turning point was the menu changes last January and now coupled with less cabin service and charges for simple ice cream in the windjammer is pushing us away, at least from RCL.

 

We originally sailed NCL mostly and then tried RCL and found the food superior and sailed exclusively with RCL for 3 or 4 years, enough to make Diamond in that time.  Recently we tried NCL again and discovered the pendulum has tilted back to NCL in the food department.  Of course that's subjective, but the point being for 4 years we were perfectly content to be exclusive to RCL and now "they" have given us incentive to look elsewhere with the recent changes so many are dismissing as insignificant.  Yes a lot of cruise lines are making similar changes which makes them less and less different.

 

Will that make RCL reverse some of these decisions or miss us, I doubt it, but they are losing the dedication of a couple that cruise 3 to 4 times a year.  We've been replaced by new clients with a whole new perspective and expectation of baseline cruising and as long as they are returning year after year nothing will change.

 

I actually began to see the writing on the wall and spoke out about it in another cruise social media blog when I was loyal to Rustbucket Cruise Lines (which has nothing to do with rust). The "brand ambassador" was proud of the decision of the cruise line to eliminate tablecloths in the MDR and falsely claimed that even the most upper crust of restaurants were doing the same.  Then, not because of that one thing, we decided to move over to RCCL, all was well, then the elimination of the included Room Service.  I stated, on other social media cruise sites, that this was going to be the beginning of the "slippery slope".  I feel vindicated.  

[HappyTexan44]

On 8/29/2023 at 3:50 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Please share the target number, because I think I could beat it.

 

I had to ask.   It was 10.  

 

[Ret MP]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I agree royal pax on cc do whine and complain more than any other board I'm on. Carnival goes to once a day steward, hardly a whimper. Royal does the same thing .. weeks later they are still complaining about it. 

I beg to differ.  I spent many years on John Heald's blog and I can't tell you how much complaining there was going on there.  It was a crap hole of complainers.  This site, to my surprise when I joined about a year + ago is very tame compared to that site, at least as it pertains to complainers.  Yes, we have a lot of complaining going on here, no doubt.  BUT, it is, for the most part, civilized complaining with, again, mostly factual and verifiable complaints/complaining.  In the other blog, much of the complaining was made-up, malicious stuff.  

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

This site, to my surprise when I joined about a year + ago is very tame compared to that site, at least as it pertains to complainers.

 

That's a scary thought, lol.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

That's a scary thought, lol.

Yeah, show up at the equivalent of their "Diamond Lounges" and physical altercations would follow the verbal arguments.

 

I would chalk the "high spirits" of passion being caused by liquid spirits.

 

😬