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Beachdude

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Posts posted by Beachdude

    $7.95 Room Service Charge

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I did not say "managing high demand is about profit control". You probably would be better off letting my words speak for themselves rather than trying to twist them into something you can argue against.

     

    *Business* is about profit. What is your problem with that?

     

    Problem? I was being frank, not critical.

     

    I simply disagree with your opinion because it doesn't fit Royals past performance, and doesn't make good business sense, in my opinion.

     

    Burt

    $7.95 Room Service Charge

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I don't understand what you were getting at. If customers like something, that means that they value it, and if there's high demand that means that they value it far more than the price of it (i.e., complementary, in this case, at least during the day). Value-based pricing would dictate to increase the price based on an analysis of consumer price sensitivity to just the level consumers place its value. That's pricing optimization in a nutshell.

     

    So, you are saying "managing high demand" is about profit control, not staff workload control as stated by Royal. Unlikely! Most of the changes Royal (and other lines) is working toward is reduced staffs, not satisfying customers. I see this move as discouraging a popular service with a purposeful intention to ease customers into less expectation of the service on future cruises. Charging for the service but not totally cutting it saves the risk of a rebellion. After all Royal's competition is still providing room service.

     

    We aren't to far from Main Dining Room services getting replace by higher scale buffets. That will allow a huge reduction in staff.

     

    Burt

    Question about Chair hogs.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Be careful about removing personal items. Sally found two empty chairs one morning on the Oasis and set her stuff down to save them while she retrieve me. She found me not 30 seconds later and when we got to the chairs, a man was walking away with her stuff. When she stopped him, he chewed her out for taking their chairs. He got about 10 seconds into his rant when his wife walked up and interrupted him to say he went to the wrong chairs. He looked so demoralized that I actually felt sorry for him. He must have had a bad morning. Still, if my wife had not seen him walking away, who knows where her stuff would have gone.

     

    Burt

    $7.95 Room Service Charge

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Must be hard on Sally to give up her favorite ship so you can have cold eggs on Carnival. [emoji33]

     

    LOL, that hurt. :D

     

    Chapter 3 in the great book "A Husbands Guide to Surviving Marriage" says: To remain a love partner, the wise husband never says, "Honey, life isn't fair". :cool:

     

    For the record, my love learned of the new charge and suggested the change. She had already flipped a coin several times between Royal and another new ship.

     

    On a side: While your post suggest wisdom, we haven't sailed Carnival in 10 years, so I can't compare the eggs. But based on our recent sailing, Royal doesn't have anything to brag about.

     

    Burt

    Have you ever been booted off a cruise?

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    My parents cruised Royal and there was a large religious group traveling with them. The children ran around unsupervised, tried to play in the casino, and took over elevators. The captain for the first three days kept making announcements that parents are responsible for their children. Finally a family got thrown of in St Maartin and had to find their own way home.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

     

    We might have been on that ship. It was a sizable group and their kids were running around uncontrolled everywhere including the bars. The comedian walk off the stage in mid act.

     

    I didn't see a family get booted off, but nobody would be surprised.

     

    Burt

    Cruising with an infant

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Hmmm...."Selfish act with zero value" I wonder if you would have voiced that opinion to a few of the younger Captains we've cruise with that happened to have had their wife and infant onboard to cruise with them :rolleyes:...We've seen this a few times....one infant in particular was approx 8 months old.

     

    Hmm, this isn't the same thing.

     

    Strange posts to defend bringing babies on a cruise. OK, bring them, but there is a responsibility to understand that the other passengers paid a lot of money for their vacation. Just be responsible.

     

    Burt

    Cruising with an infant

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Many times, babies cry, and there isn't much you can do about it.

     

    Gee, no kidding. As a parent of three, I feel bad that I complained that we couldn't get any sleep on our vacation.

     

    Maybe I should have been more clear, but the baby was in a separate room (they had a suite). I can only assume so the parents privacy wouldn't be interrupted.

     

    Burt

    Cruising with an infant

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    I won't say our one experience is common, but family next to us had a two room cabin and stuck the loud crying baby in the next to us every night. No amount of complaining to the ship staff and from ourselves kept the family from caring for the crying baby.

     

    I agree with the one poster that too many parents who take babies are thinking it will be a couples (romantic) experience when in reality it is a family experience.

     

    Burt

    Ethical Question- Beverage Package

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Hmmm, OK. But what does that have to do with whether it's ethical or not to share a beverage package? :confused:

     

    After 30 replies of the same answer, I thought the thread needed a breather. I know it goes forum protocol to hi-jack a thread, but the discussion can continue now.

     

    So, ethical or not?

     

    Burt

    Alaska Excursions, helicopter to glacier

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Heavier passengers of the group always sit in the middle to keep the helicopter balanced. And while you do sit shoulder to shoulder, I don't remember feeling cramped. I'm not claustrophobic, but there are a lot of windows in the helicopter.

     

    I'm partial to taking the sea plane tour, but I'm and old pilot and enjoy that nostalgic type of flying.

     

    Burt

    Best Hawaiian helicopter tour?

    in Hawaii

    Posted

    All aircraft tours are just about equally safe because the FAA requirements are pretty strict as far as safety procedures and maintenance. And because the tours are so competitive, tour operators can't afford bad publicity as a result of bad procedures.

     

    The airplanes give very good tours and their narrow fuselage design allows a better view than the helicopters. But they are more limited on flight paths near some of popular sites. We personally didn't see much of difference between the helicopter and airplane flight paths, but flight paths are dependent on the weather and we may not have flown the helicopter on an optimal day.

     

    If you want a really good view (especially if you are photographer), then choose the helicopters that remove the doors. It might sound a little intimidating at first, but you get comfortable with the open air pretty quickly and what a view. Take a jacket because the breeze can be a little cool.

     

    The other helicopters with doors provide a great tour, but their bigger structural design limits the visibility for the passengers sitting in the middle seats. If you happen to be seated in the middle, well you will be reliant on the generosity of the passengers by the windows sitting back and not blocking the view with too many pictures. You don't really have a choice of seats because aircraft design limits require the heavier passengers sit in the middle. I weigh 170 lbs and was seated in the middle.

     

    One last bit of advice, place your cameras as close to the windows as possible to limit the reflection off the glass. If pictures are important for your experience, then tour with the helicopters without doors or consider the airplane tour. The windows in the airplane have less reflection because they are flat, and every passenger sits next to the window.

     

    Burt

    Hawian Cruising

    in Ask a Cruise Question

    Posted

    Hawaii has the most beautiful beaches in the world. Most are just a walk away because the beaches surround the islands.

     

    We are beach people but we found ourselves renting cars to search for beaches. Because the islands are made from lava, each beach has it's own personality and we just kept wanting to see more. I can't say one island has better beaches than another.

     

    However, renting a car would be best in Oahu because a 45 minute drive is required to get out of the city of Honolulu where the ship is docked. It's no so much distance as it is slow city traffic.

     

    Oahu has dozens a beautiful beaches around the island that will take your breath away. But first timer visitors never forget their first experience of seeing the North Shore. There are no beaches like them in the Caribbean. You will talk about the experience for a long time.

     

    Burt

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