Is the Punchliner Brunch another cut back?

[lhp]

In the past on Sea Days, the Main Dining Room was open for Breakfast and Lunch.

(MDR closed on Port Days for lunch)

With the addition of the Punchliner Brunch....now on Sea Days, the Main Dining Room will only be open for one meal (brunch) instead of 2...

breakfast and lunch....

Is this another cut that Carnival has slid in under the guise of "adding something"?

[zydecocruiser]

No.

For the extended hours of the brunch you can easily eat at least two meals.

Carnival is also adding Guy's burger's and other choices.

It's about change and it's about choice.

[green_rd]

Interesting question. It would be informative to see the attendance at the Punchliner's Brunch and how long people hang around. We kind of prefer the brunch idea on sea days because we or not necessarily up and at'em types if we don't have to be.

[zydecocruiser]

I think one of the main reasons for the brunch is to get more people eating in the underutilized, except at dinner, MDR, and the posts I have read would indicate it is working.

There is too much underutilized space on cruise ships and this is a way to increase utilization while reducing congestion on Lido.

A cutback? Nah. Brilliant? Absolutely.

[OKGIRL]

I had heard somewhere that traditional open seating breakfast would continue to be served in the forward dining room. If that's true then I don't consider this a cut back, but if the traditional breakfast is not offered then I do think this is a cut back.

I'm an early riser and I don't like to eat at the buffet, so it would be hard for me to have to wait until 9 or after to get a regular breakfast.

[lhp]

Originally Posted by OKGIRL

I had heard somewhere that traditional open seating breakfast would continue to be served in the forward dining room. If that's true then I don't consider this a cut back, but if the traditional breakfast is not offered then I do think this is a cut back.

I'm an early riser and I don't like to eat at the buffet, so it would be hard for me to have to wait until 9 or after to get a regular breakfast.

I am like you....we eat breakfast at 8AM in the Main Dining Room and then go back for lunch at noon....

I had not heard about them still offering the traditional in one of the dining rooms.

In fact, I have my doubts that having both (punchliner and traditional) will work ...

since they are going to be trying to feed an entire ship (that normally takes both dining rooms and TWO seatings) in ONE seating in ONE dining room???

[lhp]

Originally Posted by green_rd

Interesting question. It would be informative to see the attendance at the Punchliner's Brunch and how long people hang around. We kind of prefer the brunch idea on sea days because we or not necessarily up and at'em types if we don't have to be.

If all they offer is the Brunch...I know the staff will love it...they will get to sleep an extra hour!!

[Mike M]

We did the Comedy Brunch on Breeze and Liberty. It was ok. My biggest issue was that there is a long lag time between comedy acts. If I remember right the comedy acts didn't start until later in the morning and then it was each hour or longer.

We actually left the brunch on Breeze because it would have been at least one hour before the comedy act and there were very few "gluten free" items on the menu. The gluten free thing is just my issue but the time between acts was something I wish they could speed up.

Take care,
Mike

[Waiting4acruise]

Originally Posted by lhp

If all they offer is the Brunch...I know the staff will love it...they will get to sleep an extra hour!!

I may try the brunch since I rarely get up early to eat breakfast.

[Donna]

Does sound more like a cut back, but may be good for more cruisers that never had breakfast in the MDR....time will tell.

[zydecocruiser]

Regular breakfast is still served in the MDR on Port days.

The staff get no break between breakfast and lunch like they used to. I also suspect they are busier now.

I'm not sure there is anything I like on the breakfast menu that isn't available on the brunch menu. I know bacon is available, and now steak and eggs, too!


Breakfast menu:
http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/new_11_11/BR1111.jpg

Brunch Menu:
http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/P...ch%20MenuL.pdf

[Kuki]

When I was on the Breeze, I interviewed Buth Begovitch... one of his duties was implementing the George Lopez Punchlines brunch.

Butch Begovitch - A Rising Star at Carnival

I did not talk to him about breakfast on sea days (because I didn't even think about it to tell you the truth). But he did say the purpose of the "brunch" was really about spreading out passengers; easing the demand in Lido buffet, Guy Fieri's and the C side bar-b-q.

He did say it's actually a tough gig for the comedians, trying to do a 10 minute act, while people are shuffling around and eating.

But... he did say they were averaging 1000 people per day, on the sea days, for the brunch. To them, that was very successful.

[Cruznut2]

I take most of my meals in the MDR. I like it much better than standing in line in the over crowded lido buffet. I also find it a great way to meet even more of the passengers.

Laura

[lhp]

Originally Posted by Cruznut2

I take most of my meals in the MDR. I like it much better than standing in line in the over crowded lido buffet. I also find it a great way to meet even more of the passengers.

Laura

I prefer to eat my meals in the Main Dining Room as well....

just my little routine on Sea Days of Breakfast at 8AM ( usually there when the doors open since 8AM is kinda late for me.... ) and lunch at Noon...

[bulldogsrus]

Never had brunch on Carnival. Maybe they can offer a champagne brunch. Now that would be nice.

[OKGIRL]

Originally Posted by bulldogsrus

Never had brunch on Carnival. Maybe they can offer a champagne brunch. Now that would be nice.

The brunch doesn't include champagne, but does have a traveling Mimosa and Bloody Mary cart that comes around. Charges apply of course, and they are actually more expensive than the morning drink specials at the bar.....captive audience I guess........

[Waiting4acruise]

Originally Posted by OKGIRL

The brunch doesn't include champagne, but does have a traveling Mimosa and Bloody Mary cart that comes around. Charges apply of course, and they are actually more expensive than the morning drink specials at the bar.....captive audience I guess........

I hope they have the brunch on the 9/30 Conquest cruise.

[zydecocruiser]

Originally Posted by Waiting4acruise

I hope they have the brunch on the 9/30 Conquest cruise.

Sorry, not until after the Conquest dry dock in October. We hope to be checking it out and all the other Funship 2.0 Upgrades (not cutbacks) soon after.

[kaylaw25]

Originally Posted by zydecocruiser

I think one of the main reasons for the brunch is to get more people eating in the underutilized, except at dinner, MDR, and the posts I have read would indicate it is working.

There is too much underutilized space on cruise ships and this is a way to increase utilization while reducing congestion on Lido.

A cutback? Nah. Brilliant? Absolutely.

I think its under utilized because people don't know. I went on my first cruise last year & ate breakfast at the lido deck everyday. I thought the MDR only served dinner. Am I the only person that didn't know?! I found out only a few week ago through message boards that breakfast was served there too. I'm very excited to try breakfast/brunch on my next cruise next week on the Fascination.

[green_rd]

Kayaw - it is listed in the fun times but unless you read them line by line it is easy to miss. There is a lot of information in them.

[wanderingjew]

Inotice on the Magic Funtimes it only says Brunch on sea day

[lhp]

Originally Posted by wanderingjew

Inotice on the Magic Funtimes it only says Brunch on sea day

That is because the dining rooms are totally closed for lunch on Port days....

have been for a least a year maybe longer....

yet another "cut" that was just kinda done...no annoucement....

it just stopped opening on Port days for lunch....

[green_rd]

I didn't think the MDR was ever open on port days. Guess we were never on board to look.

[zydecocruiser]

Originally Posted by kaylaw25

I think its under utilized because people don't know. I went on my first cruise last year & ate breakfast at the lido deck everyday. I thought the MDR only served dinner. Am I the only person that didn't know?! I found out only a few week ago through message boards that breakfast was served there too. I'm very excited to try breakfast/brunch on my next cruise next week on the Fascination.

Times and locations vary, but be sure to study the Fun Times each day. You can eat about 100 meals a day if you want to!

[zydecocruiser]

Originally Posted by green_rd

I didn't think the MDR was ever open on port days. Guess we were never on board to look.

If speaking of lunch, it was rare and underutilized. A waste of money. I appreciate Carnival keeping the cost of cruising low.

If you go back far enough, there were no loyalty programs or any of that nonsense, so you can't cutback on something that didn't exist.

[Blogger]

We enjoyed the Punchliner Brunch menu very much, but IMO it does lack a variety of "lunch type" items.

The only lunch thing that interests me in the least is the salmon and it sounds very plain and boring.

We'll eat here for breakfast but it's doubtful for lunch, although we ALWAYS ate breakfast and lunch (when available) in the MDR in the past.

On our last Caribbean cruise the MDR was even open on our port day in Cozumel, but we didn't arrive until 1:30 PM. Great surprise and we were able to enjoy the ribs and the best German chocolate cake ever on the old lunch menu!

We also found it difficult to wait until 9 AM for breakfast but I did hit the Lido for some prosciutto and melon to hold me over.

If Carnival really wants to try and reduce the demand on Lido for breakfast and lunch then they really need to promote these other options with more than a one liner in the Funtimes.

Although most of us will find it very difficult to understand not everyone reads through the Funtimes and even more don't read every little line.

[Cruise Cat]

Definitly a cut back. You used to be able to eat hot breakfast in the MDR every day . Now it is only port days and only for 2 hours at a time. You used to be able to have a full lunch in the MDR except o port days. We never got to the MDR for breakfast on Magic as it is the sea days we used to go, plus we need more than a 2 hour window!

[Waiting4acruise]

Originally Posted by lhp

That is because the dining rooms are totally closed for lunch on Port days....

have been for a least a year maybe longer....

yet another "cut" that was just kinda done...no annoucement....

it just stopped opening on Port days for lunch....

The dining rooms have always been closed for lunch on port days.

This is not a cutback.

[Snoozeman]

The MDR used to be open for lunch on port days. Promise.

[Waiting4acruise]

Originally Posted by Snoozeman

The MDR used to be open for lunch on port days. Promise.

That must have been before I started crusing in 2006.