Scoops free???

[NJRonbo]

Was this advertised? I was wondering how anyone would know it was free....

 

Let's put it this way....

 

First time cruisers probably thought it was free.

 

The rest of us, like myself, probably went up to the counter to inquire.

 

I presented my cabin card expecting to be charged.

 

But really, what tipped me off, is that I watched the line of kids

getting ice cream and not presenting a card. I also saw the portions

were very small. If they were being charged, I would have expected

a much larger serving size.

[IL_NY]

We were on the repo cruise too and I can confirm that we got free cones every day at the Scoops ice cream counter.

 

However it did not appear to me that they were offering the afternoon ice cream at the Horizons Court... granted I only checked one of the days.

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Scoops has been free on the CB since the April 5th cruise (in the very least).

 

Below is a link where several of us on that sailing reported that Scoops (the ice cream parlour with the huge plastic ice cream cone between the 2 main lido pools) was giving soft serve ice cream for FREE ALL WEEK.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=967230&highlight=free+ice+cream

 

They offered chocolate, vanilla, and swirl. They had chococolate sprinkles and rainbow sprinkles. All for free. All soft serve. This was the same area where they made waffles in the morning.

 

On a side note, The hard pack ice cream was offered free in the dining rooms at dinner and also in Horizon Cafe between 3:30-4:30 daily.

 

Cheryl :)

[Ash's Aunt]

I was on the CB 5/3 to 5/10. I saw a lot of people walking around the pool deck with soft serve ice cream cones the first day so I went to check it out. I was told the ice cream was free every day. They were open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

I thought the amount of ice cream on the cones was more than adequate. After the first cone, I started asking for a small vanilla cone. (That let me fool myself that eating two a day wasn't bad :D). After the second day, I didn't even have to order. As I walked up, they would smile and say "small vanilla cone?" Great service, great smiles, yummy ice cream!

[CruisingJs]

We were on the CB for the 5/3 sailing. Scoops had soft serve ice cream free starting at 11:00 am every day. (We rarely missed a day :p). They did have chocolate, vanilla and chocolate/vanilla swirl. You could also get sprinkles. The chocolate was excellent...very creamy. The last time we were on the CB this wasn't offered. It's definitely new.

[Toto2Kansas]

I wonder if this isn't another one of Princess 'experiments', as so far it seems to be only recent passengers of the CB that have found the soft serve free at scoops??? Princess is known for trying out new things on only one ship, and if they decide it's a 'go' they slowly bring it forward to other ships in the fleet.

[idcruisers]

It would be great if they rolled it out fleet wide. We always try to hit the free ice cream in HC in the afternoon, but sometimes just can't seem to make it.

 

My FIL always says that his biggest complaint about Princess and the thing that he likes most on other lines is the always available free ice cream. We will be with the in-laws on the Grand in July and it would be a great suprise for him if they had it on the Grand by then. Keeping fingers crossed. :D

[CrimsonT]

Just got off the CB on the repo from San Juan to New York and YES, the ice cream and sprinkles were free!! The vanilla, chocolate, and mixed were all free of charge as well as the sprinkles and toppings (butterscotch & strawberry).

[kooljamming]

Come on, Pam. I think my messages are easy to read.

 

Sorry you don't like my posting style. I still love yuh anyway!

 

And now there are three passengers telling everyone that SCOOPS

was serving free vanilla and chocolate cones on the Caribbean Princess.

 

If you are going to report something that is unfamilar

it's best to have a picture as proof:D

 

BTW like your posting style, easier on the eye:)

[NJRonbo]

BTW like your posting style, easier on the eye

 

Thanks. Don't tell Pam that. ;)

[GottaLuvCruising]

I love Scoops (soft-serve is my favorite!) and would rather they NOT make it free. I don't mind the minimal charge to keep the quality up and lines down.

[Rebecca J]

My grown daughter is on the CP now from New York and I talked with her yesterday when they were in port. I had purchased an ice cream gift certificate for her as a bon voyage gift. She says the ship no longer charges for ice cream and the $18 I spent for the card was put on her account as an on board credit. They told her that Scoops has been free for two months on the ship, but there is no Hagan Daaz anymore. Can't say what is being served. She says she has never gotten any ice cream yet however, as the lines are long or they have been out of ice cream everytime she has stopped by. Thanks, Rebecca

[AlaskaGolden]

My grown daughter is on the CP...She says the ship no longer charges for ice cream...They told her that Scoops has been free for two months on the ship, but there is no Hagan Daaz anymore...the lines are long or they have been out of ice cream everytime she has stopped by...

 

Good to hear they're offering free soft-serve ice cream at Scoops on the Crown Princess!

 

Really not good to hear that there are long lines or they run out of ice cream! Perhaps they're lots of kids (of any age! :D) on the ship eating up all the free ice cream?!? :eek:

[Iamcruzin]

Was this advertised? I was wondering how anyone would know it was free....

 

I didn't see any avertisement for the free ice cream but I never read the Patter. When I was on the CB in November we purchased the ultimate kids card for our children. I didn't notice them selling it last week. We didn't travel with the kids this time so I didn't inquire about it. I saw a line for the ice cream between 3:30 and 4:30 and just assumed that it was the free ice cream that they normally serve during that time period. I should have realized that it was free all week because they didn't have the usual menu with the prices listed like they have had in the past.

[jtmalt]

Princess charges for ice cream ONLY at the specialty ice cream bar near the pool. It's free and unlimited in the dining room for lunch and dinner as well as in the buffet in the afternoon when they have the "make your own sundae" set up. Anything anywhere would be better than HAL's ice cream. It was the worst I've ever had. :( I wouldn't even call it ice "cream" -- just a scoop of frozen "stuff" without the cream. Yuck.

 

To Reiterate what NJRonbo said, we were on CB from 5/10/09 to 5/17/09 and:

 

1) Scoops IS the specialty ice cream bar near the pool.

2) They no longer serve specialty ice cream at Scoops, at least on CB

3) Instead, they serve soft serve ice cream with sprinkles & other simple toppings.

4) It is indeed absolutely free, all day long and into the early evening.

5) It was pretty good ice cream, certainly not premium, but not the junk I've had on "other lines".

 

I love Scoops (soft-serve is my favorite!) and would rather they NOT make it free. I don't mind the minimal charge to keep the quality up and lines down.

 

With that logic, we should pay extra for ALL of our meals.

[DrivesLikeMario]

It wasn't free on the Ruby last month. Sure hope they expand it to all the ships though. Very nice to get it free! I wonder if it had to do with so many people complaining about having to pay for it over the past few years?

[Clutterlady]

I think that's a great thing to have free soft serve ice cream!! Just hope it doesn't turn into the gritty ice milk they serve on other lines:( Also, hope they don't do away with the wonderful creamy ice cream that's free in the Horizon Court every afternoon:)

[dsawyer]

I wonder if this isn't another one of Princess 'experiments', as so far it seems to be only recent passengers of the CB that have found the soft serve free at scoops??? Princess is known for trying out new things on only one ship, and if they decide it's a 'go' they slowly bring it forward to other ships in the fleet.

 

 

Yep, I agree. Just like the Elite lounge they are experimenting with on The Ruby. I was told it was going fleet-wide but so far its still seems to be on The Ruby.

[GottaLuvCruising]

To Reiterate what NJRonbo said, we were on CB from 5/10/09 to 5/17/09 and:

 

1) Scoops IS the specialty ice cream bar near the pool.

2) They no longer serve specialty ice cream at Scoops, at least on CB

3) Instead, they serve soft serve ice cream with sprinkles & other simple toppings.

4) It is indeed absolutely free, all day long and into the early evening.

5) It was pretty good ice cream, certainly not premium, but not the junk I've had on "other lines".

 

 

 

With that logic, we should pay extra for ALL of our meals.

 

A) Cruise lines do charge for specialty restaurants (and you called this the "specialty ice cream bar").

B) As you noted, it isn't the "junk" available on other lines and I want it to continue to be better than the others.

C) With the "free" experiment on the CB, guests are reporting long lines and limited availability at Scoops.

 

For all of these reasons, I'd still prefer Princess to keep the minimal charge at Scoops. This is not logic suggesting a charge for all meals, but acceptance that some optional items having a charge benefits those who choose to enjoy them.

[jtmalt]

A) Cruise lines do charge for specialty restaurants (and you called this the "specialty ice cream bar").

B) As you noted, it isn't the "junk" available on other lines and I want it to continue to be better than the others.

C) With the "free" experiment on the CB, guests are reporting long lines and limited availability at Scoops.

 

For all of these reasons, I'd still prefer Princess to keep the minimal charge at Scoops. This is not logic suggesting a charge for all meals, but acceptance that some optional items having a charge benefits those who choose to enjoy them.

 

At most, I saw two people in line at any given time...and that was when the Captain and another officer stopped by for a cone.

 

Our other discussion regarding surcharges is probably best saved for a more appropriate thread at another time.:)

[westovercopper]

I was on the Caribbean Princess last week. Ice cream (soft from machine--not hard scooped) was free at "Scoops" bar on Lido deck near the pool. There was no ice cream available in Horizon that I could find. Hard ice cream was always available on menu in dining rooms. I missed the hard ice cream, but probably didn't gain as much weight as I could have!:)

[litehouz70]

I hope it's free on the Crown when I go in Dec

[NJRonbo]

Someone brought up a good point about whether ice cream going free

would deteriorate the quality of the product over time in an attempt to

save costs.

 

I know on Royal Caribbean they offer free ice cream during the day

via a self-serve machine located on their promenade. The problem is,

the stuff is terrible. Ever eat soft-serve ice cream that has that gritty

texture? That's when you are eating the cheap stuff that is more ice

milk than ice cream.

 

Fortunately, the quality of what they were serving at Scoops on the CB

last week was good stuff.

[AlaskaGolden]

Someone brought up a good point about whether ice cream going free

would deteriorate the quality of the product over time in an attempt to

save costs.

 

I know on Royal Caribbean they offer free ice cream during the day

via a self-serve machine located on their promenade. The problem is,

the stuff is terrible. Ever eat soft-serve ice cream that has that gritty

texture? That's when you are eating the cheap stuff that is more ice

milk than ice cream.

 

Fortunately, the quality of what they were serving at Scoops on the CB

last week was good stuff.

 

NJ, you bring up some good points! Once everyone is aware of the free soft-serve ice cream at Scoops we can at least expect longer lines. Longer lines means more people are consuming, which means higher costs for Princess without any additional revenue (in accounting this is known as a net loss :eek: ). A loss for Princess MAY mean either discontinuing the free ice cream, or substituting a lower quality product to minimize the loss.

 

Jeez, I better go on another cruise this year to just to experience the really good free soft-serve ice cream! ;) It might not be there next year! :eek:

[GottaLuvCruising]

NJ, you bring up some good points! Once everyone is aware of the free soft-serve ice cream at Scoops we can at least expect longer lines. Longer lines means more people are consuming, which means higher costs for Princess without any additional revenue (in accounting this is known as a net loss :eek: ). A loss for Princess MAY mean either discontinuing the free ice cream, or substituting a lower quality product to minimize the loss.

 

PRECISELY why I'd rather keep the minimal charge!