Charge for second meal
 

Holland America is now experimenting with charging $10 for anyone ordering a second dinner meal in the Main Dining Room. My information suggests this is being done on 4 of their ships now. We will be boarding the Eurodam shortly and will know first hand, as this is said to be one of them. So much for surf and turf? Ordering a second meal and sharing it with your significant other. Will have to see what happens if you just don't like the first one. Steak too tough? Food cold? I ordered it without the ______? Can I have 2 more lamb chops please?

Anyone aware of another cruise line doing this...or similar? Experience with HAL and this policy?

My guess is you are the exception to the rule about 2nd meals, and that most who order them are in fact overweight gluttons (or perhaps "Over Enthusiastic Food Consumers".

We have given up on HAL, so no stake in this. However, I have a relative on the Eurodam now, and will reach out to see if there has been implementation.

The ad-hoc ordering option allows the cruiseline to make up for horrible courses that they serve: Hate the mahimahi or strip steak on your plate, no problem-- now, just order something else. I can only imagine the future arguments that will ensue when a piece of trash meal is now replaced with an additional meal that costs another $10, Wow...the profit motive is becoming clear.

Will this changed be rolled-out to all-inclusive lines as well? HAL owns Seabourn. I fear eventual standardization. Oh, I guess I do have a stake in this!

I hope there's pushback on this. Either that or sit-down dining will soon enough become for-pay (and the buffet will not have a commensurate increase in seating capacity). That's sort of the case at Aida, the German-market sister line. At least wine and beer are complimentary.

If meal is sent back because it is improperly prepared, unappetizing or unsatisfactory in any manner then there shouldn't be a charge. But if the meal is consumed and the diner demands another for no apparent reason other than to fill their face then perhaps a charge is in order.

On a cruise (not HAL) we were seated in the MDR with a couple of substantial girth who on the first night ordered three entrees apiece, polished them off and proceeded to order multiple desserts. We arranged to be moved to another table for the rest of the cruise.

Would you think a business would change their dining policy because of a couple of outliers? If there was a charge for multiple meals, then those people would just switch to the Lido and perhaps eat more?.

We share a hamburger at Red Robin for lunch. On the road we have share a 12 inch subway, and drink most of a bottle of wine. We are 74 and seldom eat as much.

On the one gala night they have lobster tail, we often will ask for a second. We seldom have lunch on a cruise, and find that the 4-5 oz. tail now served is not much different from the 10-11 oz one they served some years ago, only when you order two. We only have rice with it.

I, not my wife, have been known to ask for another short rib on that night, but not another meal. The deserts are too rich, so we normal each have ice cream. Most of the people on HAL, at least the longer cruises, are even older that we are (on average perhaps another 5 years). It is seldom I have seen anyone ask for a second meal, except when the first one was poorly done, or not as advertised. The everyday steak is often to tough for me to eat.

HAL must have observed more of what you saw, than what I have seen to take such a drastic move. Maybe on the shorter cruises, with many more younger people multiple orders are more common? We are 4 star with HAL and have just not seen this as a problem. More we have seen HAL service eroding, and there offering degraded. They have allowed there ratings to fall off seriously. Are they becoming Sears on the seas?

Some on cruise critic have hypothesized it's due to those using social media (Instagram, blogs and the like) who are ordering dishes just to photo it and not eat it. I still think it is the (whipped) bean counter theory as you surmise. I can see the mass-market lines in the future just offering a menu with a choice of one of each category, like at French restaurants, with supplements for various dishes (the latter of which I understand some cruisecos have tried in the past).

I am just amazed how the whole "cruising product" continues to deteriorate with a new business model that nickels and dimes people to death. Been on 137 cruises since my first at age 21 and yes in my younger days I might have ordered 2 entrees at most. But it was just nice to know you could do so. Now I've had enough, no more for me. Cruises once were a relatively all-inclusive product (other than drinks and gratuities) but now prepare to have your pockets picked from the moment you've made your reservation!

Either the fares go up or the amenities go down. You can't have both as the airlines have shown.

Requiring gluttons who order multiple entrees to pay a little extra to stuff their faces doesn't seem unreasonable.

Adjusted for inflation, the price of cruising has gone down over the decades. For as much as people complain about cruising, they sure don't complain about the lower prices. Generally, when a company makes cuts, they cut something that is only utilized by a few, but has a disproportionately higher cost. The best victim statement people can make here is "cruising no longer will have an appeal if I can't try a bunch of dinner at no charge, and finish none of them". Excuse me as I shed a few tears. These poor cruisers have nothing to eat.

A few cruises ago, I sat next to a large, gluttonous family who ate multiple dinners each night. One night, I made the mistake of quickly glancing at the young boy who was eating 2 bowls of ravioli after eating 3 appetizers. I was immediately berated by his mother. This would be doing them a favor.

There can be a very limited push back from the likes of us. Cruise lines have been dropping PP charges for the tickets but going to town on other "enhancements" like private restaurants.

My counter argument is ships have gotten a lot, lot larger so there are greater economies of scale. Growth in cruise capacity supply has probably also exceeded growth in demand driving down fares (need to fill those mega ships). Also, no cruiseco wants to sink or scrap old ships so there's all this supply floating around that needs to be filled. Another problem, I surmise, is cruiseco execs trying to grow earnings faster than revenue, which is not mathematically possible in the long-term.

What a First World situation ! :td:

Wow. Impressive. I am still waiting to go on my first at age 63.

You gotta go while you can still walk on your own !

Princess does not have this restriction. The only time I have ever done it was for lobster night.

You just gave them an idea to add on extra $$$ !

I don't know that they tend to provide smaller portions of entrees, or even part of an entree. One night on QM2, there was a steak dish and a seafood dish that included a lobster tail. I ordered the steak and just a lobster tail, and they brought the steak dish with sides and the full seafood dish with sides. Luckily my wife didn't like her entree and ate the rest of the seafood and sides, so nothing went to waste.

Princess
 

My last Princess cruise last month, I saw MANY fellow cruisers ordering two entrees with no problem.

Nor should you have seen any issues. Holland America is testing the upcharge right now and only on a few of its ships. If they determine it's worthwhile then I'd imagine it'll first go fleet-wide on HAL and then Carnival Corporation will decide whether or not to implement on their other lines. I'm kind of ambivalent about the upcharge but I see it as another revenue generator by a mass market line. HAL, and probably every other line for that matter, has been making a lot of small changes to either generate more revenue or cut costs. In and of themselves they're maybe not that big of an issue but taken in total I think it really has diminished the overall experience. Certainly has driven us away from the mass market to the higher end all inclusive lines.

Agree. It used to be that the wait staff would offer to bring multiple entrees especially if you were having a hard time choosing.

We need to get used to "extra charges" for what you may have as a freebie / included.

Costs have gone up for most things in life, if we want cheaper tickets we have to pay for other things ! When most of us started cruising we had never heard of "Specialty Restaurants" , Italian, Sushi, Steak what have you. We also have Johnny Rockets and now I heard will have Dave & Busters on board. It is buyers beware when you board. I still think they are excellent values if you can zap a sale and can live with an O/V cabin !
Just think, which hotel ( take a Holiday Inn, or others in that class, where will you get a bed made twice a day, unlimited food, activities, different ports, a state of the art gym etc etc for $ 200 per couple per day ?

1995 on my first cruise on one of the biggest ships afloat (at that time) Monarch of the Seas, they did bring all 3 entrees when my newlywed couldn't make up her mind.
Also had free soda in the MDR (opps now the restaurant). Ahh memories.

Just returned from the Eurodam this morning...on a 28 day cruise...1/2 were sea days. Because of the number of sea days the MDR was almost always busy starting at 5:15PM for the open seating. The fixed seating, normally confined to upstairs was over subscribed, so many of the tables downstairs were not available for open seating.

Talked to "our waiter" (sat at a table for 4, but only 2 of us all cruise..(.no two's were available for prebooking). about this issue after a few nights. Then we asked the supervisor for Our "section". We had dinner in the Main Dining Room each night (less one night at the Pinnacle Grill). A $10 surcharge is in place for a second meal, with exceptions. If your meal is not prepared in the manor ordered, or when they think they should replace your selected choice. This would not include a meal eaten first! That is what we were told. NOTE: NONE OF THIS IS DISCLOSED ON THE MENU or in the paperwork surrounding the booking of passage. This is a test, so I am not sure how often this came up. Long cruise on HAL tend to be filled with senior-seniors, who often eat less, not more.

We only had to return one meal. It was nearly raw rack of lamb, ordered medium. Guessing the chef got in a time bind, or had an over issue, as the replacement was the same. Not surprisingly lamb chops were served grilled in the Lido for lunch a couple days later. I ate most of mine, but the wife did not. She could have asked for another item, but did not. Lots of negative comments on this dinner selection. The rack of lamb was served a couple other times, cooked to perfection (medium rare), barely acceptable to my wife but perfect for me.

The last gala night included surf and turf on the menu. We each ordered double surf (lobster) and no turf (filet), and no change applied. The lobster tails have been reduced to about 4 ounces. As with most of our meals, I asked for white rice and none of the vegetables or other items served with the entrée. I am a bit of a fussy eater. I also hate food waste. 75% of the time my wife ordered a small portion for the entrée. Most of the time they complied. One night, we wanted to try a taste of another entrée with no sides, and were brought a small piece on a side plate to share.

On a related subject, the MDR had the same two offerings on the menu each night that had a surcharge. One item was lobster for $20 (told 9-10 oz.) and a multi-pound steak for $75. I have not idea how many people go for this, but I never heard anyone order either, or overheard anyone talking about doing so.

On a similar subject, when we ate in the Pinnacle, the surcharge was $35 (we only pay 1/2 as 4 star mariners). They also had menu items with added surcharge, in case you wished to pay even more that $35.

One final thought, the service in the MDR was close to perfect.

I hope sharing our experience helps with this subject.

Would not surprise me if it returns, but after testing our different customer messaging and staff training.

Please do.

I wondered about the hassle to staff, but figure fewer people would order a 2nd entree than order alcohol, and staff are trained to charge for that, so.....

Don't wait. At 65 we did our first. Completed #2 in April and have another scheduled in October.