We are regular Cruisers but on our latest Cruise we noticed, although the price had increased, the value for money had somewhat decreased in small but impactful ways.
The first thing was you used to get half a bottle of bubbly in your room but now you are brought a glass each.
These are small changes, in one of the Premium Restaurants, they have made some changes. There is no longer fruit added to the compliementary champagne, there used to be Raspberries or Blueberries added. At the end of the meal, there used to be a small bowl of tiny fish shaped chocolates, but these are no longer provided.
The next restaurant we went into was the Italian Restaurant. It is advertising a whole new menu. You used to get Arancini Balls, a Starter, a Pasta Course, a Main and a Dessert. Now the Arancini is one ball. The new menu is a course less as the pasta course items are now either a starter or a main. This means one whole course has been removed, yet the price has increased. Don’t get me wrong, there were too many courses, we had never had the pasta course and very rarely had a starter but that isn’t the point, a course has been removed and the price has increased.
You can pay extra for a Premium Package, which includes complimentary Room Service. However, more than half the items have been removed from Room Service now and there are no mocktails, limited cocktails and only basic Spirits and don’t even get me started on the limited food choices.
Let’s not forget when an Airline removed an olive from all the meals they provided they saved £100,000 a year so what are the Cruise company saving?
When you go somewhere and you are paying more than ever, you expect the product to be at least the same, if not better so I would say buyer beware, check out what you are getting before you book – it may be a lot less than you are expecting.
