Sorry, but I blame the traveling public. We are the ones who demand low, low fares and seemingly don't care what we give up to get it. Somehow people are more happy booking a bargain-basement cruise and then getting nickel-and-dimed the whole time than paying a slightly higher fare for significantly better service.

If I ran HAL, I would actually be bucking this trend. I think HAL used to have a nice, big niche positioned above all the mass-market lines but below the luxury ones. People searching on Expedia for the lowest cruise fare wouldn't find HAL, but then again those aren't the customers I think they should be going for anyway. There IS a set of consumers who are willing to pay a bit more for things like you mentioned--little touches such as generous hot canapes in the lounges before dinner. HAL should market the heck out of what makes them better and different, instead of trying to compete on price.