Carnival dining changes, will Princess follow?

[wannagonow123]

Part of the issue on Carnival is not he "Gluttony"  but the waste. There is that "I paid for it" mentality. I just got off a 10 day Carnival cruise, and a lady sitting at a table next to us ordered one of each entree, put the proteins on one plate and never touched the sides. She would take a few bites of each protein, then ask for her desert. The waiter asked her if she just wanted the proteins and her response? " I want everything I have paid for. 

 

At lunch, the Lido has wonderful dessert cakes. Best food on Carnival. Many folks will take a slice of each, and leave the majority after sampling them.  Waste on Carnival ships is horrible. That is why food cost is so high, not the price of food. I have traveled a lot on the major cruise lines and I don't see the waste like on Carnival. 

[JimmyVWine]

7 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

hmmm. $29 seems excessive already. 

And yet other cruise lines are charging (and getting) 50%-100% more than Princess. That can’t be going unnoticed. 

[DCThunder]

1 minute ago, wannagonow123 said:

[Waste] is why food cost is so high, not the price of food. 

Well, this is partly true.

[Cruiser933]

I haven’t been on Carnival for a while, but my experience always was that if the menu says an item comes with a certain side or protein, there was no swapping. So there were times when we knew we wouldn’t eat a certain side, but had to take it, even though we would have preferred a side that came with something else. Biggest issue was steak and lobster night. We wanted the steak, but not the lobster tail. Always told them not to bring the lobster, but they always brought it. Fortunately, we usually found a tablemate that wanted it. Point is, unless they have changed, they create some of the waste due to their inflexibility. I have found Princess waiters far more flexible in adjusting orders.

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, wannagonow123 said:

Part of the issue on Carnival is not he "Gluttony"  but the waste. There is that "I paid for it" mentality. I just got off a 10 day Carnival cruise, and a lady sitting at a table next to us ordered one of each entree, put the proteins on one plate and never touched the sides. She would take a few bites of each protein, then ask for her desert. The waiter asked her if she just wanted the proteins and her response? " I want everything I have paid for. 

She probably reserves her lounger on the Melanoma Deck with a towel and a magazine as well - she paid for it!

[Mike45LC]

4 hours ago, Cruiser933 said:Biggest issue was steak and lobster night. We wanted the steak, but not the lobster tail. Always told them not to bring the lobster, but they always brought it. Fortunately, we usually found a tablemate that wanted it. Point is, unless they have changed, they create some of the waste due to their inflexibility. I have found Princess waiters far more flexible in adjusting orders.

I greatly prefer not having the shellfish on my plate and Princess is always happy to leave it off.  I just imagine that the lobster contaminates the rest of the meal, but that imagination still effects the meal!

 

I usually ask for the sides not to be served and on Princess that is done.

[Kay S]

12 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

hmmm. $29 seems excessive already. But I bet you it is coming..

Okay, my memory is sketchy, but wasn't SHARE more?  Like $10 more?  Has that thing gone from the Ruby?

[XBGuy]

5 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Okay, my memory is sketchy, but wasn't SHARE more?  Like $10 more?  Has that thing gone from the Ruby?

 

I am going from memory.  I am pretty sure that you are correct, and the cover charge for SHARE was originally $39 pp.  However, after a year, or so, it was reduced to $29,

[rj59]

HAL tried to do something similar a few years ago, but dropped it after outcries--I think they even wanted to charge for a second entree. Instead the upscale lines seem to be going towards adding extra-cost entrees like steak, and doing the same with room-service, to encourage you to splurge. Ordering 3 or more entrees with the intent of sampling seems wasteful and sort of disgusting, although I can see if someone doesn't like a dish and wants something different, or wants two desserts, or a second lobster tail instead of a steak. But then I feel vague guilt over taking a single piece of bread from a bread bowl, knowing the rest will be fed to the fishes, as a waiter once told me. I blame it all on parents nagging about the poor starving children in China and being encouraged to be a 'clean plater' in childhood.

[malba2366]

1 hour ago, rj59 said:

HAL tried to do something similar a few years ago, but dropped it after outcries--I think they even wanted to charge for a second entree. Instead the upscale lines seem to be going towards adding extra-cost entrees like steak, and doing the same with room-service, to encourage you to splurge. Ordering 3 or more entrees with the intent of sampling seems wasteful and sort of disgusting, although I can see if someone doesn't like a dish and wants something different, or wants two desserts, or a second lobster tail instead of a steak. But then I feel vague guilt over taking a single piece of bread from a bread bowl, knowing the rest will be fed to the fishes, as a waiter once told me. I blame it all on parents nagging about the poor starving children in China and being encouraged to be a 'clean plater' in childhood.

You're 100% right.  On the flip side perhaps the cruise lines should allow diners to request half or even quarter portions of each meal incase someone wants to sample the different options....this would cut down on the people who order everything just because they want to try it.

[Over from NZ]

6 hours ago, Kay S said:

Okay, my memory is sketchy, but wasn't SHARE more?  Like $10 more?  Has that thing gone from the Ruby?

Wouldn't know sorry. What's SHARE?

[NSWP]

5 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Wouldn't know sorry. What's SHARE?

Specialty Restaurant with cover charge.

[SantaFeFan]

6 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Specialty Restaurant with cover charge.

 

A cancelled specialty. It is no longer on Princess ships. 

[JimmyVWine]

48 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Wouldn't know sorry. What's SHARE?

Look up “spectacular specialty dining failure” in the dictionary. There you will find a description of SHARE.  It was a concept that sunk like a Stone. 

Edited November 6, 2022 by JimmyVWine

[Over from NZ]

3 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Look up “spectacular specialty dining failure” in the dictionary. There you will find a description of SHARE.  It was a concept that sunk like a Stone. 

Now I recall. It was Curtis Stone. Didn't take much notice on past cruises. 

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

I am going from memory.  I am pretty sure that you are correct, and the cover charge for SHARE was originally $39 pp.  However, after a year, or so, it was reduced to $29,

As I recall, SHARE only included 1 entrée per person.

When we saw the portion size we decided to spend our money elsewhere. 

[DrSea]

I order 3-5 entrees. The portions can be small, especially the beef entrees. Sometimes I skip breakfast and lunch and just eat dinner. I also just like prime rib and my fillet mignon.

 

I shouldn't have to pay extra for extra food. This is the culture of cruising ever since its inception. I am leaving CCL bc of this stupid surcharge. The more than we can differentiate between CCL and PCL, the better.

 

Please PCL, don't add any surcharges. 

[Ombud]

On 11/2/2022 at 6:15 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Neither is the decreasing the quality of your product to the point that formerly loyal customers are going to the competition, yet that's the path Carnival is on.

They're charging for the 3rd entree. Obesity is a real issue.  No one needs appetizer + salad + dessert + 3 entrees

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Ombud

[Ombud]

14 hours ago, malba2366 said:

You're 100% right.  On the flip side perhaps the cruise lines should allow diners to request half or even quarter portions of each meal incase someone wants to sample the different options....this would cut down on the people who order everything just because they want to try it.

You can ask for it to be appetizer size .... that was a little less than 1/2

[DrSea]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

They're charging for the 3rd entree. Obesity is a real issue.  No one needs appetizer + salad + dessert + 3 entrees

 

 

You could just opt for 3 entrees, no sides, which I have done.

[MissP22]

17 minutes ago, DrSea said:

You could just opt for 3 entrees, no sides, which I have done.

Or 6 appetizers with some sides, no entrees and 2 desserts. 😄

[DrSea]

Eh...After the loopy conversation on the CCL board...I consider this is settled matter. 

 

If PCL charges extra for entrees. then I am leaving. Happened to me on HAL in 2019. I have not sailed with since and don't plan on doing so. Just isn't for me. 

[Ombud]

32 minutes ago, DrSea said:

Eh...After the loopy conversation on the CCL board...I consider this is settled matter. 

 

If PCL charges extra for entrees. then I am leaving. Happened to me on HAL in 2019. I have not sailed with since and don't plan on doing so. Just isn't for me. 

But it's for the 3rd entree.

 

Pretend I'm your patient with a BMI of 30 and relatively inactive. I want to eat 3 dinners. What is your reaction?? Do you still say 'pick another ship if there's a $10 surcharge?'

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Ombud

[tonit964]

On the Sapphire last September, at dinner our waiter would bring out extra entree's & desserts we didn't ask for nor want. We aren't big eaters and get full pretty quick, we asked him not to but the next night he would do the same thing, until he saw we didn't touch it, then he stopped.

 

It's interesting to me that if you don't finish your meal, they assume something is wrong with it. I guess they are so used to people eating huge amounts of food.

 

I also notice on the last day of every cruise, it seems like people are in a food frenzy to try and get as much of it the last day as possible.

[Martha1974]

28 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

 

It's interesting to me that if you don't finish your meal, they assume something is wrong with it. I guess they are so used to people eating huge amounts of food.

 

I agree - having eaten at Sabatinis on the last night of our cruise on the Sky Princess I totally overfaced myself by ordering something for every course and although the entree was delicious there was nothing about me that could have eaten it after 4 courses of amuse bouche, appetiser, soup and primo (all of which were delicious by the way). Explaining to our excellent server that the issue was my greed not the quality of the food was difficult - the assumption always seems to be that there’s a problem with the food not that a lot of people can’t eat 5 courses!