PAYING for Pizza in Sorrento’s

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, BND said:

Princess pizza is actually good.  That said Sorrento's for us has always been an occasional snack in the middle of the afternoon since we do late dining.  It's not a meal for us.

That’s what I thought to myself when I heard of Princess charging for pizza.  Must be dang good pizza if they feel they can charge for it.  I just don’t see this happening on Royal for grab and eat items like pizza, especially considering it’s not top quality.  It’s fine but that’s about it.

 

It’s almost akin to charging for the buffet, not that I’m suggesting that but it just seems odd that they would even ask about charging for pizza on Royal

[The Fun Researcher]

38 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Same thing happened at Disney….they hired a new guy and he was all about money, and was so bad that he got fired and Bob Igor had to come back from retirement to fix the mess.

Speaking of Bob “Paycheck “?  😂. I agree and it’s now hurting them with park attendance significantly down.  Pretty soon you break the camels back.  We love Disney World as well and have cut back with them due to the price hikes and new charges (Genie+ and $ILL)

[crazyfrazee]

With all the increased prices, cutbacks on food quality, cutbacks on service, they have just about priced me out of cruising with them. I'm not crazy about Sorrentos but i enjoy it while hanging out and people watching. If they start charging for it I'll be gone over the principle of it. Cheap food should be included in fare.

[rockmom]

Aside from the pizza, what I found interesting was the model for the dining package they also asked about.  Yes, $399, but it would get you $499 worth of food credit.  Note, it didn't say 'unlimited dining' and here's why.  In their one scenario, all the specialty dining would be priced a la carte.  When you run out of package credit, that's it.  The rest is on you.  $499 is about $71 per day for the 7 day cruise.  Most people would run out of that credit well before the end of the cruise by the time you add in a dinner at chops, maybe lunch or a snack at Playmakers--or a perhaps a slice or 2 of pizza?  😛   Forget about a second appetizer, dessert...and definitely entrees.  The other idea that was floated was $399 and you could go to the specialty restaurant and choose 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert.  No a la carte pricing, but limits amount you can have. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by rockmom

[mramella]

These guys are constantly challenged, at the highest of levels within the RCCL organization, to come up with ways to cut corners, save money, and maximize profits. Nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. I'm all for maximizing profits! It's a publicly traded company, and the number one priority (even above customers and employees) is return on shareholder value. Period. The trick is walking the fine line to not upset and alienate your customer base to the point where they no longer buy your product or service. So until that happens, yep, you better believe it, you continue looking for ways to cut corners, save money, and maximize profits!

 

Mark my words, soon, Sorrentos pizza will no longer be included in your cruise fare! I won't buy it! LOL! But I'll probably still cruise on RCCL (for the time being, or until the constant cuts, nickel and diming, etc. become too much for me).

Edited August 10, 2023 by mramella

[loman]

32 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Here is a link to the survey, for anyone interested in taking it and didn’t receive it 

 

https://royalcaribbean.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5olRm0KsVY1NHq6

Can only be taken by invitation .  Wont open .

[ShillyShally]

9 minutes ago, loman said:

Can only be taken by invitation .  Wont open .

It worked for me (opened in another tab) - they got my thoughts and may regret it 🙂

[Plum Happy]

4 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Could be worse, some Lines are charging to eat in Main Dining

Please name the cruise line.

[GoochDSA]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Same thing happened at Disney….they hired a new guy and he was all about money, and was so bad that he got fired and Bob Igor had to come back from retirement to fix the mess.

 

26 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Speaking of Bob “Paycheck “?  😂. I agree and it’s now hurting them with park attendance significantly down.  Pretty soon you break the camels back.  We love Disney World as well and have cut back with them due to the price hikes and new charges (Genie+ and $ILL)

 

Don't kid yourselves. The Board decided they wanted to raise prices, not Chapek. They probably had a meeting with the 2 Bobs and Josh D'Amaro, explaining the new pricing and G+ and all that, gave Iger a chance to step aside so not to tarnish his reputation and hired Chapek purely to be the face of the dirty work, knowing full well once everything was in place he was going to be made the scapegoat. Then Covid happened. They were able to make an excuse for all the pricing and with revenge travel people still paid. They probably planned to put Josh in charge once everything was in place to recomfort guests, but because everything was put in place too quickly, once revenge travel slowed, so did attendance (don't be fooled, the parks aren't as empty as some would make it seem, just look at the wait times) and thus Iger was brought back to smooth things over.

 

Dining amongst the more affordable cruise lines is just a shame across the board. All lines have cut quality, increased prices and have looked for every way to nickel and dime food. When I started cruising in the 90s, dining was an elaborate event. Now it just seems like it's the cruise lines vs the passengers and everyone is trying to outplay everyone else. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Pretty soon there will be $$ for each menu item in the MDR.  Want an appetizer?, pay $10.  

 

Windjammer will be like the old cafeterias.  Go through the line and select what you want.   Each items/side has a cost.  Even a pat of butter has a cost. 

 

YIKES!  

Maybe they could do an automat like Horn & Hardart’s.

[Jerseygirl1416]

I love pizza. I’ll even eat bad pizza but RC pizza never sits right with me. It always give me indigestion. Idk what’s in their pizza that does that but I definitely wouldn’t pay for it.

[cruiselvr04]

We average one slice per cruise.  No we wouldn’t pay for it. It’s ridiculous to even put that out there.  Some body is really greedy. 

[RedIguana]

4 hours ago, barbeyg said:

Is RCI in that much financial distress?

Their highest 12 months pre-pandemic revenue was under 11 billion. Their last 12 months revenue is over 12.5 billion, with fewer ships operating. Pre-pandemic debt was about 10 billion, it is at 21 billion or so now (give or take a billion on these, going from memory from 4-5 months ago). Their market cap is over 26 billion. Theoretically they could issue new stock to reduce their debt to at or below pre-pandemic levels and actually start issuing dividends again, but it would cut the stock price in half. I say theoretically because the issuance of that much stock would probably tank the offering amount and really piss off current stock holders. Long term viability is just not as important as the current stock price anymore.....

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

This is what happens when one of the longest serving CEO’s steps down and is replaced by a CFO (Chief Financial Officer), everything becomes all about money. I can’t help but think that when Richard was CEO of RCG, he actually cared about the guests and feedback was very important to him and was careful to balance guest experience with finances. Nowadays, Jason Liberty is just trying to squeeze every last penny out of you, while trying trying to keep his pennies in his pocket! Cruise prices are going one way and the experience is going the other! If they carry on with all of these cut backs, then they will just dilute the brand and start to build a bad reputation like MSC, where food and service quality becomes poor and every activity and dining venue is at an additional cost.

You could not have said this any better. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, loman said:

Can only be taken by invitation .  Wont open .

curious.

 

I know dozens it has worked for

[loman]

10 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

curious.

 

I know dozens it has worked for

Tried it again ,  it doesnt like me . 🙂

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, loman said:

Tried it again ,  it doesnt like me . 🙂

won't work for me either any longer.

 

I wonder if they got slammed with responses when the link went public, and then shut it down.  Probably got more than they bargained for.

[loman]

2 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

won't work for me either any longer.

 

I wonder if they got slammed with responses when the link went public, and then shut it down.  Probably got more than they bargained for.

I hope the message was loud and clear. 

The prices for cruises next year has increased to the point that i am losing interest in booking anything

with RC. 

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, mugtech said:

Got a survey today, mostly about food.  Asked me if I would pay for Sorrentos pizza.  Hell no was not one of the choices, had to settle for NO.  Asked me if I would still sail RCI if there were charges for pizza.  Told them I have no trouble ignoring Sorrentos, would be amused to see people paying for that stuff.

I love Sorrento’s pizza .I find it interesting that a person who posts on various CC threads stating that Sorrento’s pizza is terrible was on my last cruise and I saw him several times eating a large amount of Sorrento’s pizza.

[mugtech]

19 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I love Sorrento’s pizza .I find it interesting that a person who posts on various CC threads stating that Sorrento’s pizza is terrible was on my last cruise and I saw him several times eating a large amount of Sorrento’s pizza.

Was not me.

[robntawn]

I can already tell you how this is going to work. People will either not respond, or indicate that they wouldn’t pay for it, but still be willing to travel with Royal Caribbean. And then Royal will continue to nickel and dime everybody. Until we rise up and tell them “hell no”, it will continue.

 

[NateUpNorth]

Insanity.
Regardless of if it's decent pizza or not, it's one of few food options available for free after the MDR closes up shop. Pretty soon it'll be a FAQ:

Q: Are there any non-pay food options available after the MDR/Windjammer closes.
A: No, you must pay for food after 9PM. Each guest is permitted to carry on one box of cookies and 1 small bag of candy per stateroom to enhance their experience.

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by NateUpNorth

[George C]

Rccl would have to pay me to eat that pizza, MSC has excellent pizza they even had free delivery to your cabin if you booked their yacht club. I haven’t sailed Princess in a long time but remember that being good. 

[lenquixote66]

13 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Was not me.

It was a guy from Illinois.

[Another_Critic]

Just now, robntawn said:

I can already tell you how this is going to work. People will either not respond, or indicate that they wouldn’t pay for it, but still be willing to travel with Royal Caribbean. And then Royal will continue to nickel and dime everybody. Until we rise up and tell them “hell no”, it will continue.

 

And that has been the problem from the beginning.

 

Royal added specialty restaurants and people continue to pay $$$, so Royal cuts back on quality of free food.

Royal expanded Coco Cay and people pay $$$$.

People continue to pay $$$$ for beverage packages.  

People continue to pay $$$$$ for suites.

People continue to pay extra gratuities when service is cut.