Cutting costs

[KansasCityGuys]

We will be on the CB for the OCT 29th sailing, can anyone either on this particular cruise or anytime after please clarify whether the CB had the sail-a-way buffet or not.

[synet165]

Hi,

 

Yes, the Executive Chef makes the difference in the quality of the food.

We have sailed on the CB twice and the food was very good (we are dining room people). But last October, we were on the Golden Princess for 14 nights and the executive chef was Jeremy Snowden and the food was not good in any dining place, except Sabatini's.

If th executive chef doesn't care it doesn't matter if the service is wonderful, the food is not good. Our Chef's Table experience was terrible in very way except for the Maitre'D and waiters. Forget about Horizon Court, the sandwiches were pre-wrapped, they looked like they were there for days. There was very little choice in what was being served.

The comments from the wait staff was the Chef doesn't care and they can't do anything about it and were sorry.

Since the Golden experience, we have checked to see who the Executive Chef is on the cruise that we are interested in. Having had a bad experience, we will not sail with Chef Snowden again and have told Princess so.

synet165:)

[bdjam]

Interesting the different perspectives between this and the original post. As stated, doesn't make the original post invalid, but certainly is interesting.

 

When I read the original post, I too thought "why not just go to another coffee station or ask one of the staff members?" I think the original poster is assuming a maintenance sign on the spigot means Princess is really cutting costs by not serving the coffee and putting up a maintenance sign to throw people off the scent. Sounds sneaky.

 

I agree about the French Toast thing - if the waiter hadn't indicated it would take a longer time and it was ordered, the passenger would probably have been upset for having to wait. This way the waiter avoided further upset. But I'm not sure how telling the passenger that making a special item not on the menu will take a while is a sign of cost cutting?

 

The thing I like about Traditional Dining is that you don't have to advise the wait staff of what your likes and dislikes are every night. I like wine - my traditional waiter knows to keep my glass full and when the bottle is dead, to ask me if I want to order another. He's also aware that I don't want bottled still or carbonated water and that the tap water is fine - so he doesn't keep asking me. The original poster didn't indicate whether or not they had Anytime or Traditional Dining - and while hard sell is a sign of trying to increase revenue, if it was the same waiter every night it would seem he or she would be wasting their time asking the same question over and over again.

 

Closing pools to facilitate turn around due to an approaching hurricane makes sense. I'm not sure how the original poster can claim that closing the pool is a cost cutting measure when they indicate they don't know why the pool was closed...?

 

Anyway, thanks for the different perspective.

 

Well Lost, I was on the same cruise and I guess it's all in the perception. I really didn't see what you did, but that doesn't mean your observations aren't valid.

 

As for the coffee, I encountered the "closed for maintenance" sign a couple of times. It was simple, I walked to the coffee station at the other end of the dining room and got it. Or, I sat down and one of the waiters would come and ask what I wanted to drink. I was always greeted with a smile and some personal chit-chat about the weather, what I was going to do that day, etc. I prefer the buffet for breakfast because of the vast selection, and I was never disappointed. Granted, I don't eat eggs or french toast, but love the fruit selections and various cheese, fish and museli. Everything I ate was fantastic and the service was over and above in the buffet, better than I have experienced in several years. Oh, and much to my surprise, the coffee was GREAT! Last year it was undrinkable.

 

I think your experience at breakfast in the dining room was a result of the waiter telling you that it would be some time if you got the French Toast. How annoyed would you have been if you had ordered it and it took 20 minutes to get, without warning?

 

On the last day they were covering all of the pools in anticipation of the hurricane. They had to do a fast disembarkation and an even faster embarkation and get out of there by 3:00. They started to prepare as much as they could the day before, without interrupting our enjoyment of the cruise, and I think they did a great job. All of this while customer relations was trying to rearrange bookings or book passengers as a result of cancellations of flights and closing of mass transit in NYC. I understand that 600 passengers on our cruise stayed on for the next one, getting off in either Halifax of back to NYC. And they mostly all had to get new staterooms!

 

I had Traditional Dining and there has never been finer service in any dining room. I'm sorry that you had a different experience because mine was amazing. The food the first couple of dinners was not memorable at all, but the other 5 days were culinary delights. Our waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter were so attentive and service was perfect. Not once did anyone try to sell us water or wine. The first night they asked if we preferred bottled water or tap and if we wanted wine. No to both questions and we were never asked again. And every night the waiter brought me my iced tea, and other folks at the table their drink of choice.

 

The entire crew, the productions shows, the food service and customer service were all awesome. I did this same cruise last year and the production shows were 200% better this year. The entertainment staff that ran various activities were personable and went above and beyond to include me and others. I was in the Pop Choir and that was an amazing time.

 

Again, I didn't notice any deterioration of service, and I am a tough task master. However, I did go on the cruise determined to enjoy my first solo cruise, and I did. I hope that the OP finds his perfect fit for cruising.

[Mrterryl]

We eat at he buffet when it is convient and not looking to eat much food. Then I choose only the foods that appeal to me. Cruise prices have been held in the same range for years. You get what you pay for so there has to be cost cutting. If you want better then pay more money and cruise on Silverse or Seabourn etc

[Carolyn R]

Oh, and the comment about cheap labor from the Phillipines and cheaper from India - well it hit me the wrong way. But, nonetheless, I saw about 10 people from India working there and the vast najority were from the Phillipines. Good, hardworking, honest people all, and I'm sure where they come from doesn't mean they give poor service. Geesh.

 

Ditto!

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

The OP has taken the time to post there views, thoughts about their cruise,

 

while we can debate issues raised, may be give advise or details of our cruises,

 

we were not there, they were.

 

So we have a free choice accept or not, what has been posted,

 

May be Princess is having to cut costs, may be quality is not what it used

 

to be, may be many of us here to choice Princess because of past

 

standards, but the question that needs to be answered, is Princess still

 

giving a good value product for the cost compared to other cruise lines

 

charging the same, I know I can pay more and I will get a better quality

 

cruise but is that extra cost still going to provide me with good value.

 

 

 

yours Shogun

[BosoxI]

Apropos of the comment regarding traditional waiters service, any good waiter will never allow a patron to pour his own wine or water. I have seen horrified looks on the faces of Princess waiters when they see someone pouring his own beverage. A good waiter keeps the glass supplied and knows when the bottle's empty and that should be the case in any decent restaurant including Anytime Dining on a cruise ship. So you shouldn't have to be in Traditional Dining to get that kind of service.

[moniquet]

Also, there are posters who are apologists for Princess and who will defend against any comment they perceive as negative, no matter how innocent or well founded that comment might be. Sometimes I think certain posters are shills planted by Princess to counter honest but critical comments. And I am a loyal Princess customer but I'm not married to the line

 

I have noticed that too!

 

We thought service in the dining room was excellent. We did get tired of the hard sell...chefs recommended wine, special coffee, cook book, tickets for wine tastings. Feel as if they think we are a soft touch!

[mishdoob]

I don't understand why some feel the need to criticize/denigrate others when they are just trying to express their personal opinion... that said, we were just on the Golden and were also disappointed, based on our previous Princess and RCCL cruises, in the buffet lunch choices (really?! BLT's for 2 lunch days?... ).

 

I was, however, very happy with the IC choices for lunch - shrimp salad and paninis were great - and I usually had my lunch from the IC. Others we spoke in the hot tubs, etc. were also disappointed in the buffet and commented that they hadn't expected to be eating hamburgers and pizza for lunch (out of a lack of other options) on a Princess cruise.

[dclark]

I was on the Golden 6/09 and again 6/10. The latter cruise had remarkably poorer quality food in the HC and no, the head chef had nothing to do with it. In fact, he on both ships. What changed was the QUALITY and TYPE of food.

Some examples:

'09- there was prime rib three different times

'10- prime rib once, tough roast beef other times

'09- lots of large shrimp dishes

'10- never saw large shrimp in the HC

'09- made to order waffle bar

'10 -cold waffles sitting in a heating tray

Doesn't take a genius to see that the '10 sailing cut costs, had nothing to do with "subjective taste preference".

[4cats4me]

I don't understand why some feel the need to criticize/denigrate others when they are just trying to express their personal opinion... that said, we were just on the Golden and were also disappointed, based on our previous Princess and RCCL cruises, in the buffet lunch choices (really?! BLT's for 2 lunch days?... ).

 

I was, however, very happy with the IC choices for lunch - shrimp salad and paninis were great - and I usually had my lunch from the IC. Others we spoke in the hot tubs, etc. were also disappointed in the buffet and commented that they hadn't expected to be eating hamburgers and pizza for lunch (out of a lack of other options) on a Princess cruise.

 

This is how we felt after our last cruise on the Golden 2 months ago. However, the buffet food on the Sapphire in March was very superior.

When we were on the Golden in '07 we also felt the buffet food was somewhat poor, and I even wrote a review stating that they were cheaping out with the cuts of meat, et cet, even in the dining room.

The Potato gnocchi was awful. The beef medallions were pretty bad.

The beef medallions were excellent in 2010 though. I had a lot of disagreement when I posted my experience on the last Golden cruise. The cruise itself was wonderful and the itinerary fabulous, but I was very disappionted to see the downhill slide of the buffet food.

And on the Sapphire they had a wonderful waffle bar; not so on the Golden. The food was passable, and it's hard to go wrong with their breads, cheeses, salads, fruit, but the sandwiches looked so nasty all wrapped in the cellophane.

On RCCl last november they had really nice lunch meats and sandwich fixins but the RCCL burgers were horrific looking, unlike Princess's grill which has really good fare. The IC had nice choices, but very very limited. Liked the mozzarella basil tomato paninis. On day one the guy pressed it in the Panini maker for a long time so the sandwich was nice and hot. On subsequent occasions the sandwich was half hot-half cold depending on who was in charge of Panini pressing.

Although the shrimp salad and feta cheese/Greek salad was decent, it wasn't all THAT. And that seemed to be about it for the week, and some kind of chicken salad. But definitnely an improvement over the cellophane wrapped sandwiches up in the HC.

[BosoxI]

My wife ordered a chicken breast appetizer and was served 3 slices of what appeared to be pressed chicken that might have come straight from the cooler in any supermarket in the country. It was so pitiful we couln't help but laugh

[Loonbeam]

It could be a combination of both. No one is denying they have cut back on ingredients, but also different preparations can be used because of those ingredients which can make it subjective.

 

Price variations on specific ingredients can make a difference as well. Right now, at least around here, shrimp are extremely more expensive than last year. Beef and port, however, for many cuts, is cheaper. On average, food prices (wholesale) are up about 8% over prior year, some items way worse (wheat for example).

 

Also something I have said before, we have only ourselves to blame. How many people on the boards constantly troll for price drops and scream at the slightest hint of a price increase ("OMG, look how much this cruise is! - I must now hunt incessantly for a cheaper fare!"). We do it to airlines too, complain that flying cross country for $300 is just too damn much, and by the way, we want spacious seats and free bags and food!

 

Next to Fuel, Food is probably the second biggest expense on a cruise ship (yes, more than staffing). I will admit this is an estimate based on the amount indicated as to staff wages as follows. On the coral, there were 800 crew to 2100 passengers. If each of those crew were paid $20 per day that's $8 per day per passenger. I'm going to take an educated guess and say they spend a lot more than $8 per day per passenger on food. Probably closer to $30. (Yes, I know I am not counting senior staff and CD staff but they are a relatively small portion of the crew and the numbers hold up pretty well)

 

This means when you can't raise fares enough, you cut costs in your highest areas. They can't do much about fuel, so food next, then staff...

 

To use one ship for comparison - the same cruise we took on the Coral in 09 looks to have been about 6% higher than we paid for the same cruisetour/cabin class, time period. I'm sure there is some variance but lets go with that for now as a baseline. Fares increased 6% in 2 years. Wholesale food 8% in one. You do the math...

 

 

 

If Princess were to say they were keeping the HC open, but no longer honoring price drops at all, ever, how much screaming would there be???

 

Or, if they upped the food to people's expectations and raised all fares 20 percent to cover it.

 

Hey, they could even institute a food surcharge when prices spike on the commodities market...

 

I was on the Golden 6/09 and again 6/10. The latter cruise had remarkably poorer quality food in the HC and no, the head chef had nothing to do with it. In fact, he on both ships. What changed was the QUALITY and TYPE of food.

Some examples:

'09- there was prime rib three different times

'10- prime rib once, tough roast beef other times

'09- lots of large shrimp dishes

'10- never saw large shrimp in the HC

'09- made to order waffle bar

'10 -cold waffles sitting in a heating tray

Doesn't take a genius to see that the '10 sailing cut costs, had nothing to do with "subjective taste preference".

[lovevacadays]

It could be a combination of both. No one is denying they have cut back on ingredients, but also different preparations can be used because of those ingredients which can make it subjective.

 

Price variations on specific ingredients can make a difference as well. Right now, at least around here, shrimp are extremely more expensive than last year. Beef and port, however, for many cuts, is cheaper. On average, food prices (wholesale) are up about 8% over prior year, some items way worse (wheat for example).

 

Also something I have said before, we have only ourselves to blame. How many people on the boards constantly troll for price drops and scream at the slightest hint of a price increase ("OMG, look how much this cruise is! - I must now hunt incessantly for a cheaper fare!"). We do it to airlines too, complain that flying cross country for $300 is just too damn much, and by the way, we want spacious seats and free bags and food!

 

Next to Fuel, Food is probably the second biggest expense on a cruise ship (yes, more than staffing). I will admit this is an estimate based on the amount indicated as to staff wages as follows. On the coral, there were 800 crew to 2100 passengers. If each of those crew were paid $20 per day that's $8 per day per passenger. I'm going to take an educated guess and say they spend a lot more than $8 per day per passenger on food. Probably closer to $30. (Yes, I know I am not counting senior staff and CD staff but they are a relatively small portion of the crew and the numbers hold up pretty well)

 

This means when you can't raise fares enough, you cut costs in your highest areas. They can't do much about fuel, so food next, then staff...

 

To use one ship for comparison - the same cruise we took on the Coral in 09 looks to have been about 6% higher than we paid for the same cruisetour/cabin class, time period. I'm sure there is some variance but lets go with that for now as a baseline. Fares increased 6% in 2 years. Wholesale food 8% in one. You do the math...

 

 

 

If Princess were to say they were keeping the HC open, but no longer honoring price drops at all, ever, how much screaming would there be???

 

Or, if they upped the food to people's expectations and raised all fares 20 percent to cover it.

 

Hey, they could even institute a food surcharge when prices spike on the commodities market...

 

I think you make excellent points. I paid a cheaper price for my Sapphire cruise in April then I did for my first Sapphire cruise in 2005 or so. I'm sure cost of food and many other things have gone up but my cruise fare didn't. I did think the food in the HC wasn't as good on my latest cruise (MDR and steakhouse seemed the same)but I'd rather have my cruise fares stay stable if it meant the HC food went done a little bit in quality.

[seamist]

Hi,

 

Yes, the Executive Chef makes the difference in the quality of the food.

We have sailed on the CB twice and the food was very good (we are dining room people). But last October, we were on the Golden Princess for 14 nights and the executive chef was Jeremy Snowden and the food was not good in any dining place, except Sabatini's.

If th executive chef doesn't care it doesn't matter if the service is wonderful, the food is not good. Our Chef's Table experience was terrible in very way except for the Maitre'D and waiters. Forget about Horizon Court, the sandwiches were pre-wrapped, they looked like they were there for days. There was very little choice in what was being served.

The comments from the wait staff was the Chef doesn't care and they can't do anything about it and were sorry.

Since the Golden experience, we have checked to see who the Executive Chef is on the cruise that we are interested in. Having had a bad experience, we will not sail with Chef Snowden again and have told Princess so.

synet165:)

 

How does one go about finding out who the executive chef is on the cruise you've booked?

[Love.II.Cruise]

Maybe this is off topic, but after reading this I would like to know how I find out who the executive chef will be on a future Princess sailing. I guess I could try calling Princess and asking them, but I've not always found it helpful (maybe because who I talk to doesn't want to work).

 

Thanks!

[Ethel5]

And this matters because...???:confused:

 

I was going to ask the same question! One of the best servers we've ever had was from India. If I knew what ship he was on, I would book a cruise and ask for him.:D

[landnsea]

And this matters because...???:confused:

 

Don't be so naive pal, you know exactly what I'am refferring to, better yet on your next cruise, pick a port day find a crewman from the Philippines on his own time,walk up and ask him how he feels being replaced by someone from India, he'll break it down for ya.

 

John

[dclark]

How does one go about finding out who the executive chef is on the cruise you've booked?

 

What difference does it make? It is like asking who is working the line at McDonalds, hoping that you'll get a better burger.

The head chef doesn't cook or make anything (except during the cooking show). He supervises the kitchens and above all, orders the food. He has a budget to work with, one that that must be adhered to.

No shrimp in the HC? Blame the chef. No prime rib in the HC? Blame the chef. Of course, he'd probably blame corporate ( and he'd be right!)

When you see cutbacks, don't blame the chef, put the blame where it belongs- it belongs to Princess.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Maybe this is off topic, but after reading this I would like to know how I find out who the executive chef will be on a future Princess sailing.

Simply put, you don't. And you don't worry about it. But then, I believe food quality depends more on the food and less on who is overseeing the galley.

[Woobstr112G]

I was on the Golden 6/09 and again 6/10. The latter cruise had remarkably poorer quality food in the HC and no, the head chef had nothing to do with it. In fact, he on both ships. What changed was the QUALITY and TYPE of food.

Some examples:

'09- there was prime rib three different times

'10- prime rib once, tough roast beef other times

'09- lots of large shrimp dishes

'10- never saw large shrimp in the HC

'09- made to order waffle bar

'10 -cold waffles sitting in a heating tray

Doesn't take a genius to see that the '10 sailing cut costs, had nothing to do with "subjective taste preference".

 

We were on the Golden this past February. The food in the HC, yes I know this is always subjective, was truely the worst buffet food I've ever experienced on any of our cruises on the various lines we sailed on. Hot items were never hot, plastic wrapped sandwiches that looked like they were made days prior, hardly and variety of items (usually the same items nearly everyday. ABout the only thing I found of consistant good quality was the fruit and the cookies.

 

Bob

[dclark]

ABout the only thing I found of consistant good quality was the fruit and the cookies.

 

Bob

 

That's what we found out and funny thing is, we'd never eat a cookie from there, prefering to get them hot from the atrium:D

[Whirlybird]

I wanted to thank the OP for their comments. I've sailed exclusively on Princess since 2000 and been on about 17 cruises with them during this time. I would agree that service levels have deteriorated since Carnival Corporation purchased Princess some 9 or 10 years ago.

 

Carnival being a very large US based corporation, its clear that there is a serious profit motivation behind the management of the cruise line.

 

But its still my favorite line.

 

I agree about the closing of pools, that is frustrating because there is usually no communication from the cruise staff informing the pax in advance or explaning why. We took a 10 day cruise to the caribbean last April and after leaving one of the ports at about 4pm, with the sun shining and the temp above 90, the main pool on the Lido deck was dry as a bone and closed. There was no advance warning of this and no explanation. I really felt sorry for the little children coming back to the ship from their excursions, they were obviously hot and wanted to hop in the pool to cool off and enjoy the remainder of their afternoon, but the only pool available was the adult pool at the back of the ship. So some of them started getting in there and I really understood that.

 

As to the food in HC, it is so variable from one ship to another. And I feel like the staff in those rooms can sometimes be downright rude. But not all of them. Still, we eat almost every meal in the HC because we like the variety and don't want to spend 2 hours being served in the MDR. I appreciate the indian influenced dishes because I just love that type cuisine. On one ship a few years ago, they only offered two types of tea bags in the HC, I was amazed. Then on our next cruise on a different ship, they had probably 12 different type of tea bags. As to the seafood buffet, we tried that a few years ago and were really disappointed. None of the food was fresh, it was all frozen and in my opinion had very little taste. After eating primarily fresh seafood for the last 20 years, I just don't enjoy frozen so I personally don't miss the seafood buffet which I have noticed is not offered on most ships any longer.

 

In terms of selling bottled water or whatever, I shut that down the first offer with a very firm NO. The sales pitch on Princess is much softer in my opinion than on Carnival. I just make it clear to my server what I want and do not want and never have any problem. When I walk onto the ship I know that there is a revenue generating element to the trip and expect that, but I deal with it firmly and don't let it affect my enjoyment of the cruise.

 

I think if the OP feels they get better value on Carnival vs Princess, they should go back to Carnival. I'll continue to cruise Princess and never miss a beat.

 

We're booked on a 14 day cruise in December and just cannot wait to get back on Princess. This time I think its the Crown.

[dw64]

We are Elite with princess. It is our #1 cruiseline.

 

I am no different than most cruisers. I want the CHEAPEST price I can get.

 

Do I think the food has gone down on HC? Yes..will it stop me from cruising? NO. There are always plenty of choices of food.

About the servers trying to sell me water or soda cards. I smile & say" no thank you ". They have a job to do. I am not rude. I love cruising. I will continue to cruise. We will be on the Emerald in Nov & are deciding now on which ship for Spring.

[AWDMIKE]

To the original poster. Thanks for your honest comments. Don't pay attention to the folks who sit by their computer and wait for someone to slam Princess (or any other cruise line) just so that they can come back and tell you what YOU really experienced and how if you would have done your homework, you would not be so disappointed (or perhaps have such high expectations).

 

I made a review of the Golden Princess if March of this year (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80921) and believe me, it did not sit well with a lot of people here.