Would Starbucks Allow this?

[Taffy, Wales]

On Eclipse we love to have a nice Coffee in Cafe al Bacio on deck 5 ,but quit often its full no seats anywhere,but when you look round there are lots of people not drinking just reading or have a good sleep,particularly on a wet sea day .
They have notices on the table asking you to let other use it when your finished and the staff do come round clearing up and asking if you need anything else ,we even had manager doing the rounds all to no avail.
What can a cruise line do to move people on ,I am sure if I went into Starbucks or Costa and just went to sleep they would move me on pretty quickly....Taffy

[annie, Glasgow]

Hi Taffy

The seating area available in Café al Bacio is very small. It needs to be expanded or the coffee shop moved to the area allocated to the self-dispensing wine bars where I have rarely seen anybody.

However in both chains, it is not unusual for tables to be occupied by one person for hours - normally using free wifi. To be fair, they nurse the same coffee. They are not moved on.

Annie

[dst87, Falkirk]

Starbucks are a great chain for allowing someone to sit all day. They won't kick you out, and even offer free refills on drip coffee. You could sit for hours on a £1.50 cup of coffee! Then again, most Starbucks have substantially more seating than Café al Bacio and, in busy cities, there are about ten of them in every direction.

I agree that on a cruise ship where there is one venue and thousands of potential customers they should make more effort to enforce this. On S-class ships like Eclipse I'd probably sit in Team Earth if I just wanted a quiet chat or a book without drinking a coffee. You could always get a takeaway coffee and sit in Team Earth instead. It's not as nice (no sea views) as Café al Bacio though.

The absolute worst is when you just want a quiet coffee but Celebrity have decided that a popular singer will perform there. On our Infinity cruise we had a fantastic musician Ric Steel who performed every night typically. He would fill any of the lounges but occasionally they'd stick him in Café al Bacio and the entire area around the café was jammed with people.

[Fred Bloggs, Tyne and Wear]

Thanks for this information. I'm not a tea drinker so always enjoy a good coffee. It's strange that people are doing this on Eclipse & hogging the cafe.

On Azamara Quest which I know is a much smaller ship that never happens. People have a coffee & then just move on. Never saw anyone having a sleep or reading. Never had a problem with getting a seat. Will just have to have a takeaway.

Oceania's Marina & Riviera have nice little cafes next to their library where you can sit & drink. Maybe Celebrity should have a rethink & do something like that.

Something to suggest on the feedback questionnaire methinks! If we don't tell them they'll never know.

[trevor432990, East Sussex]

Most of the MSC ships have lots of nice cafes and no problem at all to find places to sit normally apart from the ones in the atrium when they have musicians playing and the coffee is excellent too.

[Taffy, Wales]

Fred do try the lemon tarts they serve there? Seat hogging was not a problem every day just now and then mainly on sea days when it rained, one man slept for over an hour in there.
I am not a coffee shop user so suprised that they allow people to stay in there for ages, as they say you live and learn.
I did put a comment in regarding the problem and someone else suggested they open up the Bistro on 5 to serve coffee at busy times...Taffy

[jc, liverpool]

Hi all
I was delighted to find a Costa Coffee franchise on my recent P&O Azura cruise,,and the Double Macchiato was the same price (£1.80) as my local shop.
Plus you get a great slab of cake free,although they don't advertise this very clearly,,,when i told one couple after about 4 days,about the free cake,they went bananas.

The thing is,,,,,,do all P&O ships have Costa Coffee café's.

Its one thing having a coffee shop,but another if the coffee is lousy.

Viva Costa Coffee!!!!!
JC

[Liz, Harrogate]

I think this is a common problem in ship coffee shops. Lack of seating was a problem on Azura and Ventura and also on Crown Princess which actually had a large area of the atrium devoted to coffee drinkers. It is quite frustrating if you see people asleep or settled down for a long read when you want somewhere to sit for a quick coffee. We get takeaway coffees and then go on deck or find somewhere else to sit.

[Brian, South Ockendon]

Hi Taffy,
Cattle prod is the answer
Brian.

[morris, st. columb]

Hello JC ....Ventura has a Costa Coffee shop where they offer a free slice of cake with a coffee.... we had several during our recent cruise to the Canaries!!

[Seacoasters, Hampshire]

Hi Taffy, I agree with you re the 'full house' situation in the Cafe Baccio, recently returned off the Eclipse, and I think the reason now is that so many have drinks packages, which of course includes all the Special coffees etc that more are partaking this experience than ever before, hence the lack of seating. The pastries etc, delicious, naughty but nice are another attraction

I agree that the 'cellars' would be ideal to make into an extra seating area, as it is normally deserted and a waste of space.

[cornish girl, falmouth]

The problem on the Eclipse and Constellation is the coffee shop is not that large but very comfortable , even people popping in for a coffee over stay, it is annoying when all you want is a nice coffee and chat and someone has taken up the seats to sit and read. CG

[poshtotty, north yorkshire]

Spot on Seacoasters, we spent more time in Café Baccio on seadays when we had the drinks package..We enjoyed many speciality coffees ..I would curl up in one of the high backed chairs with my book ,while my husband did his crossword...One of the "problems" I observed was a large group monopolising a whole section of the café ( by the windows) "saving "empty chairs.

[bill, newcastle]

Is seat hogging the new sun lounger hogging? So you get up early to put your towel out, go back to bed, go for a seat I the coffee shop but do not buy, wife keeps the ats while you have breakfast, back to the seat in the coffee shop. Check your sun lounger is still there but don't sit on it back to coffee shop.......

[g21, hampshire]

How long before the coffees arent included in the drinks packages ?