survey I just received

[teddy]

I took the survey while the link was still active for everyone.   I said I wanted complementary New England style seafood.  Maybe we can work out a deal for Sorrento’s. 

[CanHardlyWait]

59 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

My point isn't about who is right or wrong, more about not getting too anxious about something that hasn't been announced.

I think Royal was data mining with that survey, trying to decide what they may or may not offer on new ships. An example would be Fish and Ships, some items are free on certain ships, while others are only for a fee. I could see them changing Sorrento's' on Icon 2 and other builds. 

My point wasn't about who was right or wrong. Sorry that's what you took from it. 

Again, (not sure how else to say it?) I just think there is ample evidence to support a survey question being half way to a done deal anymore based on how the past 12 months have gone. Frankly I believe if Royal can conceive of a way to cut things, charge for free things, etc they will and surveys have become mini unofficial announcements. Again, just going by the odds and trends so far this year. But odds are not definite. 

[Pattycruise]

3 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

My point wasn't about who was right or wrong. Sorry that's what you took from it. 

Again, (not sure how else to say it?) I just think there is ample evidence to support a survey question being half way to a done deal anymore based on how the past 12 months have gone. Frankly I believe if Royal can conceive of a way to cut things, charge for free things, etc they will and surveys have become mini unofficial announcements. Again, just going by the odds and trends so far this year. But odds are not definite. 

I agree

[Sea Squirrel]

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

So you expect axe throwing to appear in the immediate future too? There were lots of questions in that survey, not just about Sorrento's.

We had archery on Oasis in July at the sports court. We didn’t do it but it uses as foam tip so I assume the target senses where the arrow hits. Ax throwing might use the same technology so not so far fetched to believe that it could soon becoming to a ship near you. 

[CanHardlyWait]

1 minute ago, Sea Squirrel said:

We had archery on Oasis in July at the sports court. We didn’t do it but it uses as foam tip so I assume the target senses where the arrow hits. Ax throwing might use the same technology so not so far fetched to believe that it could soon becoming to a ship near you. 

I've been to places with axe throwing. They use real axes. Also they were bars. People did shots between throwing an axe. So not crazy to think they might really be considering it. Apparently drinking and throwing axes is becoming a thing. 

[Sea Squirrel]

Honestly, sounds like fun to me, lol. I could throw it at my $1 slice from Sorrento’s. 

[BigKarl]

8 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I've been to places with axe throwing. They use real axes. Also they were bars. People did shots between throwing an axe. So not crazy to think they might really be considering it. Apparently drinking and throwing axes is becoming a thing. 

I believe that this is more or less what they had in mind for "Axe Throwing". We experienced this activity on a Princess Cruise to Alaska in May while docked in Ketchican.

[CanHardlyWait]

9 minutes ago, BigKarl said:

I believe that this is more or less what they had in mind for "Axe Throwing". We experienced this activity on a Princess Cruise to Alaska in May while docked in Ketchican.

Lots of places use the real thing so who knows. That looks like fun too.

[Sea Squirrel]

I vote to bring back metal tipped lawn darts in Central Park. Are you listening Bayley?

[Xaa]

4 hours ago, BrianSTL said:

t is the only way a business will learn.

So true.  I'm hoping but doubtful that they will learn from their survey.

If they surveyed for information they might, if they surveyed to confirm a decision they've already made, then we'll have decisions to make.

[Xaa]

11 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

My point isn't about who is right or wrong, more about not getting too anxious about something that hasn't been announced.

I think Royal was data mining with that survey, trying to decide what they may or may not offer on new ships. An example would be Fish and Ships, some items are free on certain ships, while others are only for a fee. I could see them changing Sorrento's' on Icon 2 and other builds. 

I agree with you.  If, and it is an if, the target of the survey was only Sorrento's, I think they explored a few things around the venue which could also indicate its complete removal on future builds as you suggest.  As I went deeper in the survey it appeared to be a lot about specialty dining as a whole.

Of course it's an easy topic for the fake Matt in the posted youtube video to cover and even the thought of paying for the currently included riles us all up.

RCI has to live with the reputation they've earned around recent changes so I completely understand the skepticism.  We'll all be around to see what happens and free to make our choices.

If it happens, "free pizza" will be one of those items in the ubiquitous "What do you miss..." threads right next to ice sculptures and midnight buffets.  @Jolly Ogre will be there to mention skeet shooting.  

[FionaMG]

11 hours ago, Rackham said:

With the amount of food currently offered during specialty dining, I'm sure Royal's had many post-cruise surveys saying it was just too much and they'd like an à la carte option during specialty dining. [...] Thus they'd be able to capture people who don't think they'd eat enough for specialty dining and people who don't want to concern themselves with the cost once aboard the ship.

This is us exactly. Most of the specialty dining venues have items on them that we would love to try but we're full after a starter and a main or a main and dessert and there's no way we're going to pay upwards of $50 for that. We would definitely visit some of those restaurants if they had an à la carte option.

[Ray]

10 hours ago, GatorCruiser said:

The axe throwing was subterfuge misdirection for the real point of the survey… the Sorrentos question. 

Unless they want to combine the two so they can reduce costs by having less staff and increase revenue from pizza sales! 

You pay for a slice of pizza then instead of a server cutting it up and serving it to you, you have to throw an axe at the pizza to cut a piece off yourself! 

[CanHardlyWait]

4 hours ago, Xaa said:

 if they surveyed to confirm a decision they've already made

Bingo. That has at least been the ongoing trend this year. 

[Xaa]

It has been trending to a degree, but this survey was much less focused.  I'm not sure they even surveyed around the housekeeping.  They may have.

I understand why you are skeptical.  I'm not going to borrow trouble.  I'm just going to deal with what is and when what is becomes different, I'll deal with that.

This was a broad survey and they are building new ships and reimagining included food.  I personally stop short of saying that they are charging for pizza as some here have gone to.  When they decide to charge, if they do, I certainly won't be surprised or shocked.

I first cruised with my wife on the SS Norway.  There was no free pizza, no pizza at all and only 1 specialty dining location the first time. (I think 2 on subsequent trips).  There were opulent midnight buffets that I loved, but could only stay awake for some.

The buffets went away, I miss them, but my overall cruises are just as fun.  Housekeeping has gone to once per day, but back then I felt that I saw my steward too much.

I'll deal with what is.  Today that is free pizza in Sorrento's.  

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, Xaa said:

I understand why you are skeptical.  I'm not going to borrow trouble.  I'm just going to deal with what is and when what is becomes different, I'll deal with that.

Exactly how I look at it.

[Mark_A]

14 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

It better be better pizza than what is offered now. I would not pay for Sorentos pizza. Its good enough and serves it's purpose but not at a charge. 

IF it was as good as the New Giovanni's pizza, then I might consider paying.  but for the current Sorento's, I wouldn't pay a dime for it....

[steverk]

Charging for Sorrentos, or any venue is always a possibility.  However,  I think it would be self defeating for Royal to do so.

Yes, revenue would increase from those willing to pay. But expenses would also increase. Why? Because Pizza is one of the cheapest things they can serve. For each person that decides to skip paying for pizza, they'll fill up on other, more expensive,  food. Add the impact on customer satisfaction,  and you've got a bone headed decision. 

[smokeybandit]

The more important thing to me *if* they charged for pizza is, what does this mean for off hour complimentary food choices?

[Geezer Of The Seas]

Lure Shaq away from Carnival, replace Sorrento's with a Big Chicken, keep it an included venue like Carnival. Problem solved. BTW, for the Orlando area folks, a Big Chicken will be opening on East Michigan Street in the fall. How I wish that was Seminole County.............

[Starrynight0154]

They’ll have a pizza package for $30 a day, and we’ll see a bunch of posts about is the “pizza package worth it” and “how many slices to eat per day to break even” 

[Rackham]

1 hour ago, Starrynight0154 said:

They’ll have a pizza package for $30 a day, and we’ll see a bunch of posts about is the “pizza package worth it” and “how many slices to eat per day to break even” 

The Top Tier Event gets replaced with the Crown and Anchor Pizza Party.  When will the madness end?!

3 hours ago, steverk said:

For each person that decides to skip paying for pizza, they'll fill up on other, more expensive,  food. Add the impact on customer satisfaction,  and you've got a bone headed decision. 

I've been thinking how charging for Sorrento's could impact food waste and the Windjammer. I could see a new, popular "hack" in certain circles where you build a cold plate for the evening at lunch and leave it in the cabin fridge. The waste part comes in when people decide they don't want what they took earlier or they took way too much to make sure they had enough. Having cheap, avaliable food is a win for Royal in the long run. 

[OCSC Mike]

11 minutes ago, Rackham said:

I could see a new, popular "hack" in certain circles where you build a cold plate for the evening at lunch and leave it in the cabin fridge.

This isn't new for me, lol, I always have snacks in my cabin, although they may not need to be in the cooler.

I always have a gallon ziploc bag full of cookies (I replenish when I run low/out), often a few breakfast pastries like croissants in another ziploc, and occasionally a dessert or two in the cooler.

I don't normally have many actual savory meal type items but I've kept some pre-packaged stuff like wraps from Park Cafe in the cooler before.

No worries about wasting food with me though. Trust me.

[TheMaxRebo]

Definitely bummed to see they are even considering this.

 

This is one of the very few places open for food very late and one of the food options my son really ate. It almost became a tradition to pick him up at the kids club and then go down and get pizza together 

 

IF this came along with keeping the windjammer open later or some other late included option I guess I could deal, but not expecting that 

 

Definitely not happy and definitely would make me less likely to pick RCL 

[JBC]

On 8/9/2023 at 3:48 PM, Al Miller said:

I know right? They already took the Anti-Pasti away. Scaled the WJ way back. Gutted the MDR menu. Rolled back cleaning service. Doubled or tripled nearly every fee on Coco Cay. That mostly all happened the first month after Fain stepped down. I could have understood this stuff more when the restart first happened and they were actually just barely getting by. But it seemed like Fain was trying to protect the product. Now, it seems nothing is off limits and they are testing the waters to see how much they can get away with. It's a slippery slope.

This is spot on from the first page.  Add steeply increased prices on drink packages and internet packages to the list as well.  One at a time these things don't seem like huge issues but add them up and you get to a huge issue quick.  I will be at Coco Cay this Saturday, will be my first time going there not going to the beach club.  The price is insane and I refuse to pay it.  So I will see what the "complimentary" Oasis Lagoon experience is like.  Odds are it won't be nearly equal to the beach club.  So that will lead to the line of thinking that maybe it's time to check out another cruise line, just on the principal of it. 

As everyone says, Sorrento's is bad to average pizza at best.  But at midnight after hitting the bars, it's good enough.  I will not pay a fee for it though.  Honestly that might be the nail in the coffin.  There is nothing else available late, and I don't want a cold sandwich that has been sitting out for hours.  If they take Sorrento's out of new builds, what are they replacing it with?  What hot food option could be cheaper for RC than Sorrento's?

I really hope people start speaking with their wallets.  Although Disney Cruises did this same thing (extraordinary price increases across the board) many years back and it didn't seem to slow their demand.   

      

 

[dogs4thewin]

I started a thread about a possible middle ground to this here

 

 https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/42532-charging-for-the-pizza-possible-middle-ground/

 

Charge at certain times or even and this JUST came to me for certain pizzas, but have it free between X and Y time they do that both with room service and on certain ships with Johnny Rockets as well.  Heck even in the MDR they have a few items that are extra.  

 

[TheMaxRebo]

This got posted in another thread but thought it would be good to add her too 

 

The free pizza isn't going anywhere