For the most part, we have our cruise-ship meals at the eateries included with the price of your fare, but once in a while we’ll splurge and spend $15-$25 to dine on the cruise line’s finest menu. We have never been disappointed.
Now we’re seeing what may be the start of a new trend. Cunard revealed this month that when the Queen Elizabeth comes on board in October, it is considering an a la carte menu for The Verandah, the restaurant (above) that’s being revived from its halcyon days on the original Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary.
So, instead of paying a flat fee of $15-$30 per person, you’ll pay something like $6 for an appetizer, $18 for a main course and $6 for dessert.
Hmmm.
What’s behind all this? Cunard’s executives say it’s because The Verandah was a famous restaurant that cruisers loved, and because it’s an alternative to the celebrity-chef restaurants on the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria. Could it be that the specialty restaurants lose money because the staffing to prepare the food, serve it and provided that personalized attention costs far more than the $15-$30 customers pay? On our last cruise, there were as many employees as patrons in the specialty restaurant.
Could it be the restaurants aren’t fiscally efficient because people who pay the cover charge spend the evening feeling they’re entitled to eat everything in sight? It’s kind of unspoken that this first-class service includes bring you “whatever you like.”
Could this be a sign of what’s to come in the cruise industry?
What do YOU think?