Cruise cost cutting; a temporary thing or not?

I think that the staff are coming into your cabins as little as possible due to Covid, ditto placing the chocolate on your pillow. They want to stay away from you in case they are carrying Covid or Norovirus, imo.
Even Hotels are asking you to let them know if you want the room cleaned!
I don’t think that some things will ever get back to ‘normal’

We went on a Cruise in July to the Norwegian Fjords.

We had a turndown service, complete with chocolates.

There was always a steward available if needed.

Food was of a high quality (we only ate in the speciality restaurants in the evening.

Full compliment of staff who were were friendly, professional and efficient.

Obviously depends on the Cruise Line you book on then.

Oopsadaisy1

Obviously depends on the Cruise Line you book on then.

I think you are right, our cruise was far from cheap.

There were no rumours of Covid being on board, our friends who we went with are part of a Facebook Group for passengers of the Cruise Line and they would have been very vocal regarding Covid or D & V viruses.

They are cruising from Australia to New Zealand to Haiwaii early 2023 with the same Company.

I can’t say I noticed this on the Saga cruise we went on in August though I didn’t think the speciality restaurants were as good as the ones on P&O pre-pandemic but these you paid for. We had chocolates on the pillow every night and the cabin butler didn’t seem to get that after 28 were accumulated it meant we didn’t like them so we got hold of him and asked him to remove them and bring no more.

We’ve booked one for Feb next year. Sets off from Melbourne so we don’t have to cope with airports and that was part of the attraction. There are 3 ‘sea days’ to get up to Fiji and we are cruising round the islands and New Caledonia. Hope there are no cyclones though. Last time we went over that way there was one which was scary.

I think you get what you pay for, and that is NOT a put down to those whose budgets are small, but it is one of the truths of life.

We are not cruisers by nature, but after a portside half day spent going round the Cunard QM2, we decided we wanted to sample the Cunard QM2 in action and booked on a one week cruise to Norway and went early this September.

As Grannygravy says of her cruise, no lack of staff, no lack of luxury, no lack of food and no lack of service, turndown and chocolate included.

However, we did feel a bit jaded on the day we got home and when we tested, yes, we all had COVID, but all three of us were fully vaccinated and none of us had it seriously,

That’s good to know. Might try Cunard next time. We’ve always cruised with Princess and the NZ cruises have never been anything but wonderful. They seem to attract more mature people, too . Couldn’t stand a party ship full of drunks.

Whatever Cunard is, it is not a party ship full of drunks. In fact, DD used to go into one of the bars around 11.00pm, just before she went to bed and order up what she described as a superb hot chocolate and would relax in a lounge with her kindle while she drank it. She was not the only one.

I’ve just been reading the reviews of Cunard on Cruisecritic and they are mixed. I think I will just wait a while and see what happens. It is a lot more expensive than Princess. On the other hand, reviews are not the be all and end all, are they. Some people do complain about the slightest thing. Our very first cruise on the Dawn Princess was fabulous but some reviewers disagreed. One complained that there were no towel animals. Princess never do them, thank goodness. Pointless.

We are going with Princess again. We have also been with Viking and they don’t allow anyone under 18 which we like! Had enough screaming kids in my life, don’t want them on holidays. Especially not anyone else’s!bViking we’re very good but maybe not as fun as Princess.

We thoroughly enjoyed our short cruise, we experienced absolute luxury for a week, but for me it was a 'tick' experience, been there, done that. I am not sure I would want to do another one.

I actually prefer non-luxury holidays, usually self-catering, with lots of sight seeing and walking. We had a week with the whole family on a cabin cruiser on the Broads this Easter (2021's holiday, delayed), cramped, beds, not the most comfortable, lots of leaping around clutching ropes, and looking for pumping stations for water and sewage tank emptying. That is my type of holiday.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, MOnica. I agree, it wouldn’t be the only type of holiday we like. Loved hiring a car and driving all over the UK. We have really been off the beaten track and had some wonderful experiences.
nanna8, I agree about the screaming kids. We find the NZ cruises have few children and Princess is a nice, middle of the road cruise. People seem to dress decently and we have bever seen any disorderly behaviour.

We like Viking. Small boats, very small number of passengers. Interesting destination tours, private if you wish. Good crews, many nooks to get away and be alone watching scenery. Nice dining and staff.

We recently took a 2 week scandinavian cruise , we got a great deal for Iglu Crusies. We sailed with MSC on their newest ship from Southampton, it was fab . Plenty of staff , food and drink was amazing. We had to do a lateral flow before boarding, but that was it . We had a great time , as did everyone we spoke too