How About a "Premium Dining" Option?

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:) what your looking for is what we used to get 10 years ago in the main dining room

[cruzincurt]

Along those lines, we could have "premium" pool, "premium" chaise lounges, "premium" seating in the theatre. Heck, RCCL already charges for Jhonny Rockets and Ben & Jerreys. Really.... Don't give them any ideas. Wasn't it NCL that tried to charge $10 for certain shows? I undersand it didn't quite work out.

 

There is already "premium" dining, the dining room rather than the Lido serve yourself. Ahh, nothing like fine dining out of a steam table.

[kryos]

Plus this morning for some weird reason, I was thinking about the changes HAL is going through now and what more will happen when the bigger ships come out in two years. And I was thinking that maybe they will keep some things the same and add the stuff that they think "main stream" cruisers want. Then I thought yep they will charge the traditionalists more and price the "main stream" to compete with RCI and NCL. yuck, but it may be coming.

Exactly. Today's young cruiser looks at price primarily. And HAL will have to compete on that level. In fact, I'd be willing to bet the bigger the ship, the cheaper the price will be and that's exactly how HAL will compete. Let's face it, the bigger the ship, the more cabins that have to be filled in order to sail with an acceptable profit margin. If you can't fill those cabins, every cruise will be a loser to the line.

 

The younger, first-time cruiser (or cruiser with not that many voyages under their belt) will be apt to spend more onboard. They'll want to play in the casino, try all those fruity drinks, take a few spa treatments, make some jewelry or art purchases, maybe play bingo or whatever new games the cruise line will devise ... in other words, they can probably be depended upon to spend more onboard. So, even if HAL has to price their basic accommodations at a loss, they will recoup that loss at the end of the cruise when the onboard charges are tallied. The more traditional cruisers, however, probably don't spend as much onboard now. We've already tried the spa, are sick of bingo, and hate the art auctions. We just want a first class cruise experience, and with the bigger ships operating at the much lower price points, we are only gonna get that by paying a premium price for "upgraded" ammenities ... a price the younger, family-style cruiser is not gonna want to pay.

 

I honestly think you'll see a lot more options available when HAL's "bigger and better" ships begin hitting the seas. And these options won't be restricted to dining venues alone either.

 

Just my humble opinion ... but I am sure glad I'm cruising now ... while the smaller, more elegant ships are still sailing. Even though I personally don't care for the formal dress-up nights, I'm willing to pay that price in order to have a small ship with a more "refined" atmosphere. Sadly, I think we're gonna lose a lot of that over the next ten to 15 years as these smaller ships go out of service. Then it will be all mega ships ... 3500+ passengers, and my idea of a vacation is not to be onboard such a vessel. When that time comes, I guess I just won't be cruising any longer.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Qm2 does offer premium dining.....it's called the Queens Grill.....just below

that is the Princess Grill.....for everyone else there's the Brittania Restaurant.

And I think the QE2 offers even a fourth option ... another one right above the general dining room, or in the case of the QM2, the Brittania. This fourth option on the QE2 has the flexible dining time, but an assigned table. There is also a smoking section in that restaurant. That's the one I'll be in on my QE2 sailing next year and I don't mind the flexible dining time in that case because I'll be sailing with a companion on that cruise. On a cruise where I am sailing solo, I would hate the flexible dining time.

 

It's gonna be interesting, that much I'll say. Cunard seems to be a cruise line entirely in its own class as for the way they do the dining thing. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

Just my opinion.....;) But I feel we are well down the road toward, "Pay as You Go"

 

I think it only a matter of (short) time until if you want a hamburger, you will pay for it. If you want a steak, you will pay for it........like any shoreside hotel/restaurant.

 

I have a sense that is where most (many) of the cruise lines are headed in terms of food. I also think that when that happens the food will be even better than it is now.

 

I think they are working up to getting the food as good as they can before they spring this new concept on us.

 

JMHO......

[kryos]

To me it just sounds like an excuse to lower the quality of the food.

That's exactly what would scare me if HAL ever went to something like this. It would just be an excuse to have barely edible food in the dining room (because the lower prices required for cruises on the larger HAL ships coming out would require quality to be sacrificed), and people would be forced to pay a premium for pretty much what we get in the dining room now.

 

From what I understand, a lot of the other lines with the "mega ships" have lower quality food in the dining room. Then they have multiple specialty restaurants, with surcharges, if you want something decent.

 

Heck, what's next? Don't include food on a cruise at all? Make people pay to dine on the boat?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Just my opinion.....;) But I feel we are well down the road toward, "Pay as You Go"

Sadly, I have to agree with you, Sail. Once these big ships start sailing, I have a feeling you maybe will have a buffet venue ... like the Lido ... where the food is included. All dining rooms, however, will be a surcharge ... the size of which depends on the venue. :(

 

Crusing will be a whole lot different then, I'm afraid. But that's the sacrifices we will make for the bigger, more impersonal ships. :(

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Along those lines, we could have "premium" pool, "premium" chaise lounges, "premium" seating in the theatre. Heck, RCCL already charges for Jhonny Rockets and Ben & Jerreys. Really.... Don't give them any ideas. Wasn't it NCL that tried to charge $10 for certain shows? I undersand it didn't quite work out.

Princess charges for the premium ice cream too. I think you can only get the soft serve for free in their Horizon Court buffet.

 

And believe me, I can envision the day that the cruise line will charge an admission price to certain shows ... maybe ones where they will bring a semi-big name onboard to entertain a couple of times a week. It's not a stretch to imagine the newer, larger ships having the room for a second show lounge where the premium shows will be staged.

 

While it wasn't HAL, I remember reading about a cruise that was taking place on another line. I can't remember the guy's name, but he was one of the stars in the old Battlestar Gallactia series. People booked the cruise through his travel agent and paid a price similar to what anyone sailing on that cruise paid. Then, he was gonna be doing several lectures during the cruise, for which people would pay an admission fee to attend. He was also going to host some shore excursions and cocktail parties ... again, people would pay a premium to participate in these events. No reason the cruise lines can't offer something similar by bringing their own entertainers onboard. Special lecturers, special musicians, special everything ... you don't have to buy ... but if you want anything other than the traditional cruise fare, you will. And the quality of that traditional cruise fare will surely decline in order to encourage you to part with your money for the better stuff.

 

Believe me, there are a lot of potential money-making schemes the cruise lines can come up with. I'm not even in the industry and I can think of several. I am sure the big brains at HAL will come up with many of them in the coming years.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Grumpy1]

On our recent Prinsendam cruise, we were offered a Premium dining experience. One evening the waiter came around to the table near the end of the meal with a menu and asked if we would be interested in a special dinner the next evening. It was priced at $75 per person for a "gourmet dinner" that included wines. We had other plans for that evening so I didn't check out the details. I'm not sure where it was going to be served.

[kryos]

On our recent Prinsendam cruise, we were offered a Premium dining experience. One evening the waiter came around to the table near the end of the meal with a menu and asked if we would be interested in a special dinner the next evening. It was priced at $75 per person for a "gourmet dinner" that included wines..

$75 per person?!?!?!?

 

Holy ravoli! I wouldn't pay that in a land-based restaurant, let alone on a ship ... where my food is supposedly included.

 

LOL ... guess I'd better guess used to lots of hamburger while on a cruise, cause that's what I'll be eating if this sort of thing becomes widespread. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[AAAAmerican]

The days prior some remember.. A and B actors entertainers.. Great FOOD was always served yes PRIME BEEF YUMMmm we used to even get real Cream Cheese Cake that was NY style without flour.... and not having to Pay more and go down the floor to get what we used to have ..But

Now with so many ships afloat on the waters and people filling them its hard getting good acts/performers if they do not want to pay scale at least..

 

 

The Cruise Lines may have classes coming back again.:mad:

 

If they can get good acts would youall pay for that? Instead of the low prices afforded by so called discounts off the Listed Price..

 

Does anyone pay STICKER on a Motor Vehicle anymore?

 

Do you call service without a TOLL FREE LINE? Consumers are used to what the Companies make us get used to.:rolleyes:

 

So the BEST ((IMHO)) method to convey your thoughts, desires and requests is to write/CALL/FAX the Chairman and CC the Presdent of the Cruise Lines.. Tell them ..they really want to hear what we as consumers want and will thusly pay for...:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just my Dollar Three Eighty...

[gizmo]

 

 

If they can get good acts would youall pay for that? Instead of the low prices afforded by so called discounts off the Listed Price..

 

 

 

 

And believe me, I can envision the day that the cruise line will charge an admission price to certain shows ... maybe ones where they will bring a semi-big name onboard to entertain a couple of times a week. It's not a stretch to imagine the newer, larger ships having the room for a second show lounge where the premium shows will be staged.

 

While it wasn't HAL, I remember reading about a cruise that was taking place on another line. I can't remember the guy's name, but he was one of the stars in the old Battlestar Gallactia series. People booked the cruise through his travel agent and paid a price similar to what anyone sailing on that cruise paid. Then, he was gonna be doing several lectures during the cruise, for which people would pay an admission fee to attend. He was also going to host some shore excursions and cocktail parties ... again, people would pay a premium to participate in these events. No reason the cruise lines can't offer something similar by bringing their own entertainers onboard. Special lecturers, special musicians, special everything ... you don't have to buy ... but if you want anything other than the traditional cruise fare, you will. And the quality of that traditional cruise fare will surely decline in order to encourage you to part with your money for the better stuff.

 

Many cruise lines, Carnival, Costa, having been doing this for a long time. For instance, 50/60, Rock and Roll, and Doo Wop. You must book through a certain TA and you get to see all the special entertainment. The cost of the entertainment is in your price of the cruise. On a couple of them they allowed other pax to buy tickets on board, but from what I have learned this has stopped do to the very high number bookings.

 

This type of music is very popular with the baby boomers. :)