Moderno price increase

[ddlb]

I wonder if they increased the prices on Modernos and Tappanyaki  to keep people who don't have the dining pkg away?  Since so many NCL offers include all 5 perks - maybe the restaurants will be jam packed with people complaining they can't get reservations!  Of course since they raised the price of the package for those not getting it as a perk I guess they have to make the dining pkg seem like a real deal!

[Alatraveler1]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:45 AM, Alatraveler1 said:

 Now on hold for one hour and 7 minutes,  beginning to believe there isn't an actual department or NCL employee working air reservations.....

 

2 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

you are right on two counts: 1-some people live in areas where they do not have Japanese Steak houses, plus this is one case where I think NCL does a little better job than the cheap ones I have been in. and 2-Modernos is very good, but overpriced. We do usually eat at both as we have the UDP and plat plus but neither is worth the price they are paying. Of course most of us do not expect to get the same quality of food on ships as we do on land. Or, at least those who know today's cruising do not. 

 

I think it is easy to figure out, the introduction of "free at sea" have influenced the increase in specialty dining restaurants. For those who say they have eaten at some of these restaurants and the place has been empty or almost: I am betting you have eaten very late. We have eaten at all of them, more than once: no, not always full by any means but far from just one other couple or group eating at the same time. 

 

Years ago when Disney began to introduce their free dining promos, the table service restaurants at Walt Disney World especially in EPCOT were of high quality and you thought nothing of making day of reservations.  This was true even for the most (at the time) popular locations.  In the years following the introduction of advanced dining reservations or whatever they are calling it this week, it turned dining into a sprint to make reservations months in advance. Those that plan vacations including this "free" promo (for which they must pay rack rates at WDW hotels) must decide where and when they will be eating sometimes before park hours or any other information is finalized.  The result is packed restaurants, greatly increased pricing for paying guests to "prove the value" of the promo, and a sharp decline in quality due to cost cuts.  So, they have created demand, increased profitability and also increased time consuming table service dining to spread out the guest load from the theme parks, helping to keep lines shorter without spending $$$$ on attractions to accomplish the same goal.  As many have stated, NCL does much the same with "sailaway" pricing and no perks being one amount and the same room with perks a higher amount.  In addition, the extra "free at sea" gratuities help compensate staff so they can contract with employees for competitive wages yet pay them less from regular revenues.  Make no mistake, while NCL may only have one person working to process your refund from a modified cruise, they have teams of accountants (Walt Disney called his the sharp pencil boys) that do nothing but brainstorm to create ways to increase profits.  The UBP, UDP and other promos are great at doing just that.    It hasn't stopped me from booking cruises or land vacations, but realizing this causes me to do more work comparing benefits, perks and discounts (and sometimes pricing without any of those things) to ensure I get the best value for me.