Good price, good ship, what about the service?

I had in interesting chat tonight with one of my customers about the Crown Princess cruise she had just been on.

She loved the ship, loved the food, loved the price she paid but felt it lacked in other areas.

Her 3 main points were.

1. Buffet breakfast kept running short of items and having to wait for re-stocking.
2. When ordering drinks in the bars and lounges it took too long to receive them.
3. Anytime dining had a wait of up to 45 minutes, each night had a longer than expected wait time.

So why was this?

My opinion is that by slashing their prices they are slashing their staff ratio. Why do I think this? These are my opinions to the issues.

1. Not enough cooks cooking.
2. Not enough bar staff to take the orders or serve the drinks.
3. Not enough waiters to clear and prepare tables in between guests leaving and arriving.

A common denominator can be found in my answers and I have not hid it well!!

So what is the answer? Do we pay more and get more? Pay less and get or expect less?

What about those that paid the full price, they are receiving the same poor, slow service.

Something has got to give.

I think it is a hard one, what would I want? Would I be happy to pay an extra £100pp knowing the service would be so good that I would leave knowing I had a good time?

My idea of a great buffet.

Would I pay £100 less at the expense of good service?

To be honest I really don’t know.

What would you do?

Have you noticed a decline in services recently? Let me know.