Our ship has finally moved past the “There she blows!” (clean up Deck 4) to “Land ho!” Almost. The sure sign that we had reached calmer water was the bowls of apples disappeared and the apple infused products appeared on the buffet line on Deck 10. Apple roasted pork loin, apple Kruger bread, apple turnovers, apple topping for your ice cream. Yeah, the kitchens on Deck 10 is where fruits goes to die. No brown spotted bananas. Banana bread, anyone. We are steaming our way to the Island of Bermuda. Our clocks took a break last night and we did not fall back an hour. I know we have to fall back 1 more time before we reach Tampa, not sure what that game plan is, but even Eddie has become an early riser. The Adventure bar drops considerably after this many days at sea. Today, 400 people showed up for the Egg Drop from deck 5 to 3. The rails were full of cheering folks. There were few divisions..children (there are 9 on board, bless their hearts), engineers, and regulars. You have to devise a structure to protect the egg from things available and preferably recyclable on board ship. We all have had way to much time on our hands. You know it is challenging when you get a notice that the Suite Manager, Nora, is holding crochet lessons in the Retreat Lounge for Suite guests. I should have sent Eddie down, as he excels in fabric arts. But is was during his nap time.
As we have little to keep ourselves busy, Eddie has gone to his “I don’t understand” mode of why things have changed so much since we last cruises Celebrity. (2022, but he complained then, too) I think the term is unmet expectations…you wait two years for something and keep building up the dream sequence…there is no way dream will meet reality. Happens a lot theses days. Enter our cruising friends from Portland…Ed-2 and Betsy. We met them on a cruise in 2016. There were actually 3 Ed’s on that trip. A bit of serendipity, Ed-3 and his wife, JoAnne, are on this same trip. Creepy..just a little. Ed-2 is a little hard to like at first. Grumpy by nature but actually has a heart of gold. He and Betsy have supported many young families and students dreams over the years, as they have no children of their own. All they ask is a phone call, card, text or email to say they are being thought of or that someone out there cares. They overtip onboard like crazy (with $2 bills so they will-be remembered)…but it makes them more lovable to us. That is the plus. The minus is they will also complain like it was an Olympic sport. They are always on the medal stand. So, after 13 days together (remember we were in Rome before the cruise) football games both college and pro are mostly done, the mutual anxiety about the TSA, ATC and United’s mandated cut backs, Congress-What is left? Let’s trash the food, overworked employees, cut backs in services…the list is endless. My mom had a frequently used comment, “well, it is just not as good as it use to be”. Right, Kathy? Eddie has been on a general lack of powder puffing soapbox since we endured the embarkation process. Misery does love company. Eddie and Ed-2 are like two pigs in mud…wallow, wallow.
Let’s start with the food quality. Whether it is sourcing, cost cutting measures, staffing or whatever. Sauces on food should not have to be cut…cut with a knife..because they sat in a big banquet warming box too long…cornstarch thickening tends to do that. Fish should be flaky not jerky texture or mush. In an effort to cut waste and make the operation more time efficient, they are depending on a lot of things that live in a banquet serving box far longer than need be…or are preloaded. Best example is the Coffee Shop on Five-Cafe Al Bacio. It has always has been the place for a pastry/sugar/calorie ladened treats and Starbuck coffee style coffee selections-to go or to sit and savor. Always hopping. Upcharge for a few, but a very few….unlike the upcharge Gelato stand on the other side of Deck 5, Midship. Cricket, cricket. Poor use of space in my opinion. Previously, it was made one cup at the time, fresh ground beans, fresh espresso trickles from the machine, add hot steaming milk…boom, magic in the morning. I know because I am the designed coffee bitch. 25 years of cruising, I bring cappuccinos to Eddie in bed. I understand my job description. Yes, we have a butler that is glad to bring it to us, at a designated time. Please place hanger on door before 2:00 AM, but Eddie’s wake up time is random. Back to my AM observations. Now the espresso is preloaded 10 cups at a time. There are three baristas, one on espresso machine, one on steam milk-almond, oat, skim, whole, and one on taking orders, getting your sea pass card and handling squirts of sugar free or regular flavorings. Efficient yes, does it taste the same, yes, but it lacks the powderpuff flourish. Glad Eddie does not get coffee…. So, fast forward to cocktail hour with our travel buddies. Ed-2 and Eddie were discussing the food quality in the various locations around the ship, to include all the restaurants we have access to. Betsy is a doer…a fixer…so, she sprang into action. She requested a meeting with the suite manager and the head of food service. Eddie and I warned her, “don’t go there”. We told her that she/they/us (see, I can do pronouns with the best of them) would be hot boxed by various staff members during meal time. Our poor regular waiter, Gabriel, with too big glasses that slide down his nose will be blamed. Told her to hold her comments until the email survey that occurs after the fact. We have been there done that. We simply do the don’t eat it, stir it around the plate move if it does not meet our expectations…then order dessert. Nope, nope, nope. Betsy was determined to get to the bottom of it. Dog vs bone kinda of thing….and she is a bulldog. Well, post meeting has food improved or change. Nope. Has our table been hot boxed daily by an assortment of people. Absolutely. Has Gabriel been a nervous wreck? Yup. We did get to meet the Head Chef who showed up awkwardly at our table one evening. I have shoes and underwear older than he is. A little young guy from India. Explains a lot of the food on the Buffet service line…which is one of the only places you can get lunch on at sea days. See, efficiency meets bottom line. Doing more with less….no waste.
On that note, for sh*ts and giggles I used my free Wi-Fi in the early morning hours to look for information on the cruise lines. Most financially successful in 2025…the folks at Carnival (and all the brands that sail under them). They are the sharks in the water for sure, they pick up assets from failing companies….P&O Australia, comes to mind. They are also vertically ingrates…for example, they own the various hotels and trains in Alaska and get first choice on the Glacier lottery.., private islands in the Caribbean. The most leveraged and most vulnerable is NCL (and all of their brands). Queue the Jaws music. Pity, we like them…as we tend to sleep around. Ed-3 and JoAnne are big Regent cruisers (NCL brand)…a Quick Look at Regent Seven Seas online brochure says Ed-3 and JoAnne are not going to leave any money to their kids. Pricey. Another factoid is precovid there were about 300 ships in the Ocean, Lake or River Water, now there are 370 in service. Celebrity is under the Royal Caribbean umbrella of brands. It is middle of pack. Not bad returns or financials (Full disclosure, like on any of the business shows on TV, we own stock in RCCL-just enough to get a discount (IF you can get around the exclusions) and receive the annual report.) During Covid lots of ships’ staff were not well cared for, and found other employment on dry land. RCCL paid their employees during Covid, and flies them back and forth to home between contracts. Some have been with the company for 25-30 years. You take care of me, I take care of you kind of loyalty. The competition for quality employees is stiff. They all now pay better, especially if you have experience and don’t turn green in rough seas. So, efficiency experts on how to do more with less, for sure. It is survival. Even when you pay more, powder puffing was one of the first things to go. Eddie and Ed-2 may never get over that. Next up, Dinner with the Dillards and a pivot from the Bermuda stop. Breaking news…. So, another day at sea. Will there be a human or spousal dropping from the top decks as an afternoon Passenger challenge? Perhaps.
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