Carnival Cutbacks?

[ShakyBeef]

Thanks to all those that mentioned things I had forgotten. I think I've added them all in below. Keep 'em coming and we'll have the whole list, for whatever it might be worth.

 

 

MDR / FOOD

• No more wine stewards in MDR - switched to your head waiter taking your wine order
  
• now, most recently, no one asks you about wine at all. If you want it, you have to try to catch an over-worked and sometimes hard-to-find bar server that's wandering the MDR
  
• switching from 1 head waiter and 1 assistant waiter per table, with fewer tables to the 3-waiter system where they have more tables and they are spread too thin. The service has suffered dramatically
  
• Removing higher-end foods such as the roast duck from the menu and replacing them with cheap 'comfort foods' like meatloaf.
  
• Lower quality food ingredients being used in MDR dishes
  
• Less of the pricey ingredients (for example, about half the seafood now on the Penne Mariscos compared to how it was served just a couple years ago)
  
• Ice milk now served on the side of the WCMC instead of real ice cream
  
• no more free cappuccino or espresso in MDR, now you've gotta pay (over $3) for it
  
• no longer a full place setting of appropriate silverware for the dishes served
  
• cheaper and smaller variety of teabags
  
• iceberg lettuce and red cabbage now passed off for the "mixed field green salad" that used to actually be mixed field greens.
  
• itty-bitty little shrimp replaced the decent-sized shrimp in the shrimp cocktail
  
• Terrible 'steak' replacing the decent steaks that used to be served.
  
• 'au jus' for the Prime Rib is now seemingly jarred gravy (which tastes horrible, BTW)
  
• main ingredients in sushi now cream cheese and avocado instead of the better, pricier fish and other ingredients.
  
• No more cheddar cheese (at the Deli, but I'm guessing elsewhere, too). Only crappy, fake American 'cheese'.
  
• No more Midnight Mexican Buffet.
  

IN THE CABINS

• the once-wonderfully comfy mattresses have been changed out for super-hard, pain-inducing mattresses
  
• although seemingly not consistent, more and more often now, no more pen and notepad in the cabin
  
• cheap white "SOAP" replaced the better, green Bien Venue soap
  
• room service menu no longer in the nice binder, but just a single sheet of easy-to-miss paper mixed in with advertisements with your FunTimes
  
• No more hardcover 'coffee table book' with all the cool information about the ship.
  

ENTERTAINMENT

• no more live music on Lido deck, and less live music elsewhere, too. Replaced with much cheaper DJs.
  
• far less production-type shows, replaced by much cheaper "Playlist" shows and more shows which use (for free) the customers such as talent shows and gameshows.
  
• smaller production show cast
  
• Fewer organized activities onboard. And sometimes, they expect staff whose job it is not to do double duty hosting these games (example - Piano Bar player expected to play the music for and run the game of Name That Tune, when the Entertainment Host did not show up. It was not possible. So the game did not happen. This could be a fluke, but it seems to be a trend.)
  

LOYALTY PROGRAM

 

• (I really can't remember all they did here, as I'm not Platinum and wasn't affected by these cutbacks. Someone else please fill in this area.:o
  
• Platinum no longer free entry into slot-pull - now a BOGO offer
  
• Free Laundry for Platinum more limited
  
• Platinum now gets "priority" dining time instead of the former "guaranteed"
  

OTHER

• no more FCCs. I used to buy one every cruise. With an FCC in hand, we were a lot more likely to make our next cruise a Carnival cruise because we had made that deposit (in the form of FCC 'purchase') and had OBC waiting for us. Now, no such incentive. Big mistake, Carnival.
  
• Overall cut in crew-to-passenger ratio. This is most noticeable in the MDR, but is clear in many other areas as well, including more rooms for each room steward.
  
• Probably part of the above, less (slower) cleaning getting done of tables on Lido and in Buffet.
  
• No more hurricane-style souvenir "Best Day Ever" DOD cup that gets you a discounted refill price. Now, the Lido drinks are served in smaller, plain cups.
  
• No more Fun Farewell Party
  
• This could be a fluke, but I noticed it A LOT on my last two Pride cruises - the hand sanitizer dispensers were often empty or broken.
  

That's all that's coming to mind right now. I know there are others that I'm just not thinking of. Please, everyone, feel free to cut and paste my list and add to it if you like.:)

[ShakyBeef]

not sure the complaint about ice milk since the machines on the ship serve it. also the dairy queen has been serving ice milk for years. most soft serve machines are ice milk.

 

But it used to be (just last year, in fact) real, hand-scooped ice cream served in the MDR, not the same as the soft-serve from the machines.

[larkz]

Nothing of any importance to me over the last four years, and as for the things that people mention they used to receive before my recent run of cruises, bleh.

 

No part of the Carnival package is free -- they aren't giving these extras away of course -- and I'd just as soon not have to pitch in extra bucks in the base cruise fare so people can have more live bands, additional pseudo-Broadway shows, and more fancy-schmancy selections in the main dining room. And everything else. Apparently other cruise lines do a stunningly fabulous job with those things, so if it matters, then that's the place to go.

[private92656]

ShakyBeef, great job with the list.

I was thinking about that "Mexican buffer", it was actually a step down from the mid-night gala buffer they used to offer.

[private92656]

A few more items no longer served in MDR:

crab cake (yes, it had way too much bread crumb, but it was still crab cake), escargot, lamb chop, shrimp scampi.

[cathyz]

We haven't been on Carnival since last fall, but many of these issues have been discussed here for a couple of years and we have cruised on Carnival in that timeframe and we just haven't had some of the issues that folks are mentioning. Of course, not everything matters to me (as everyone says, not everything matters to everyone). Just a couple of examples, on our last cruise, we had the best MDR wait team we have had in all our other cruises, no food issues, no delays, no issues with wine, very attentive, etc. We also commented several times that the folks on the Lido cleaning the tables were almost too efficient, trying to take our trays before we were finished, they would actually clean the stuff up in stages, as we were finishing, we never had or saw a dirty table problem on that cruise or the one before it either. So maybe some of this stuff is hit and miss and specific to certain ships, not sure, but it sure isn't 100% of the ships 100% of the time.

[Holders3]

And if all these "cutbacks" could be restored, I wonder what the price of a cruise would be?

 

I get that I'm new to cruising although we did cruise once in the 80's but I remember the ports and not much about the ship, it just got us there.

 

It seems the cruise industry is well positioned to provide just about any experience one can imagine or pay for. We just have to decide what we can afford and go enjoy our vacation.

[ShakyBeef]

ShakyBeef, great job with the list.

I was thinking about that "Mexican buffer", it was actually a step down from the mid-night gala buffer they used to offer.

 

Thanks.:o Yes, you're right, the Midnight Gala Buffet was so much nicer. But that seems so long ago, like the crumb scraper and the watercolour prints. I didn't want to be accused of comparing now to the 'days of old', so I tried to keep the list limited to those things that have been downgraded since 2009.

 

Nothing of any importance to me over the last four years, and as for the things that people mention they used to receive before my recent run of cruises, bleh.

 

No part of the Carnival package is free -- they aren't giving these extras away of course -- and I'd just as soon not have to pitch in extra bucks in the base cruise fare so people can have more live bands, additional pseudo-Broadway shows, and more fancy-schmancy selections in the main dining room. And everything else. Apparently other cruise lines do a stunningly fabulous job with those things, so if it matters, then that's the place to go.

 

But we're not comparing apples to oranges here, as we would be if we compared Carnival to other cruise lines, as you suggest. We're talking apples to apples here - Carnival cutbacks in just the last four years. And as we have pretty much all said, it is understood that not all the cutbacks matter to all of us.

 

When one takes a Carnival cruise and gets a certain level of service and quality, then one expects to get at least a very similar level on one's subsequent Carnival cruise a few months later. But that, sadly, has not been the case for many of us. The cutbacks are numerous and piling up fast.

[Cruizinman]

LOYALTY PROGRAM

• (I really can't remember all they did here, as I'm not Platinum and wasn't affected by these cutbacks. Someone else please fill in this area.:o
  
• Platinum no longer free entry into slot-pull - now a BOGO offer
  

I'll chime in on a few of those that are most noticeable to me since the LP change ,others will follow I'm sure .

 

Platinum / Diamond members have been shown less respect with this new Loyalty program , Carnival in their greed are showing their most loyal where the exit door is. That much is obvious to me.

That in itself is an insult to their members.

 

The Bogo offer is a joke waiting to happen, not with this cruiser :rolleyes:

How can you take a perk away and classify it as a brilliant program.

Thats an insult to the intelligence of any Concierge Club member.

[Disconnections]

LOYALTY PROGRAM

Platinum / Diamond members have been shown less respect with this new Loyalty program , Carnival in their greed are showing their most loyal where the exit door is. That much is obvious to me.

That in itself is an insult to their members.

 

The Bogo offer is a joke waiting to happen, not with this cruiser :rolleyes:

How can you take a perk away and classify it as a brilliant program.

Thats an insult to the intelligence of any Concierge Club member.

 

You mean like this? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=34210726&postcount=19

[gfh77665]

Well, at least they got away from the EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED advertizing they had for so long. Now it says: ALMOST everything is included. (Except whats listed below, LOL).

 

 

 

 

MDR / FOOD

• No more wine stewards in MDR - switched to your head waiter taking your wine order
  
• now, most recently, no one asks you about wine at all. If you want it, you have to try to catch an over-worked and sometimes hard-to-find bar server that's wandering the MDR
  
• switching from 1 head waiter and 1 assistant waiter per table, with fewer tables to the 3-waiter system where they have more tables and they are spread too thin. The service has suffered dramatically
  
• Removing higher-end foods such as the roast duck from the menu and replacing them with cheap 'comfort foods' like meatloaf.
  
• Lower quality food ingredients being used in MDR dishes
  
• Less of the pricey ingredients (for example, about half the seafood now on the Penne Mariscos compared to how it was served just a couple years ago)
  
• Ice milk now served on the side of the WCMC instead of real ice cream
  
• no more free cappuccino or espresso in MDR, now you've gotta pay (over $3) for it
  
• no longer a full place setting of appropriate silverware for the dishes served
  
• cheaper and smaller variety of teabags
  
• iceberg lettuce and red cabbage now passed off for the "mixed field green salad" that used to actually be mixed field greens.
  
• itty-bitty little shrimp replaced the decent-sized shrimp in the shrimp cocktail
  
• Terrible 'steak' replacing the decent steaks that used to be served.
  
• 'au jus' for the Prime Rib is now seemingly jarred gravy (which tastes horrible, BTW)
  
• main ingredients in sushi now cream cheese and avocado instead of the better, pricier fish and other ingredients.
  
• No more cheddar cheese (at the Deli, but I'm guessing elsewhere, too). Only crappy, fake American 'cheese'.
  
• No more Midnight Mexican Buffet.
  

IN THE CABINS

• the once-wonderfully comfy mattresses have been changed out for super-hard, pain-inducing mattresses
  
• although seemingly not consistent, more and more often now, no more pen and notepad in the cabin
  
• cheap white "SOAP" replaced the better, green Bien Venue soap
  
• room service menu no longer in the nice binder, but just a single sheet of easy-to-miss paper mixed in with advertisements with your FunTimes
  
• No more hardcover 'coffee table book' with all the cool information about the ship.
  

ENTERTAINMENT

• no more live music on Lido deck, and less live music elsewhere, too. Replaced with much cheaper DJs.
  
• far less production-type shows, replaced by much cheaper "Playlist" shows and more shows which use (for free) the customers such as talent shows and gameshows.
  
• smaller production show cast
  
• Fewer organized activities onboard. And sometimes, they expect staff whose job it is not to do double duty hosting these games (example - Piano Bar player expected to play the music for and run the game of Name That Tune, when the Entertainment Host did not show up. It was not possible. So the game did not happen. This could be a fluke, but it seems to be a trend.)
  

LOYALTY PROGRAM

 

• (I really can't remember all they did here, as I'm not Platinum and wasn't affected by these cutbacks. Someone else please fill in this area.:o
  
• Platinum no longer free entry into slot-pull - now a BOGO offer
  
• Free Laundry for Platinum more limited
  
• Platinum now gets "priority" dining time instead of the former "guaranteed"
  

OTHER

• no more FCCs. I used to buy one every cruise. With an FCC in hand, we were a lot more likely to make our next cruise a Carnival cruise because we had made that deposit (in the form of FCC 'purchase') and had OBC waiting for us. Now, no such incentive. Big mistake, Carnival.
  
• Overall cut in crew-to-passenger ratio. This is most noticeable in the MDR, but is clear in many other areas as well, including more rooms for each room steward.
  
• Probably part of the above, less (slower) cleaning getting done of tables on Lido and in Buffet.
  
• No more hurricane-style souvenir "Best Day Ever" DOD cup that gets you a discounted refill price. Now, the Lido drinks are served in smaller, plain cups.
  
• No more Fun Farewell Party
  
• This could be a fluke, but I noticed it A LOT on my last two Pride cruises - the hand sanitizer dispensers were often empty or broken.
  

That's all that's coming to mind right now. I know there are others that I'm just not thinking of. Please, everyone, feel free to cut and paste my list and add to it if you like.:)

[firefly333]

We did a group cruise last Sept with 180 of us with a TA I use. He planned a party cruise and many of this group will never set foot on Carnival again. I dont know what was wrong, but our server never served anything hot for dinner. Some sent stuff back (not me, I didnt bother), and things like soup would come back cold. Our TA finally went to talk to someone and the very last night he got us served hot dinners.

 

Only time this happened to us. We had late dinner. Once it was after 9 pm and I walked up to him and said I want to order dinnner already.. he said someone wasnt in their seat so thats why he didnt take orders.. if someone wants to walk around taking pictures.. so thats a good reason to ignore our table?

 

The dinner service alone is what turned many first timers and some who had never been on Carnival who flew over from England the Europe off on Carnival. The TA is from the UK and did say he liked that Carnival was easy to work with, so he wasnt displeased.. but it was wierd that just this one week of all my Carnival cruises.. dinner was cold nightly. Im not that picky and eat cold stuff anyway at home.. but it was noticeable.

 

I just chalked it up to a sign of the times.. but the following week I was on Magic and food was extra good. Perfect.

[larkz]

And if all these "cutbacks" could be restored, I wonder what the price of a cruise would be?

 

I get that I'm new to cruising although we did cruise once in the 80's but I remember the ports and not much about the ship, it just got us there.

 

It seems the cruise industry is well positioned to provide just about any experience one can imagine or pay for. We just have to decide what we can afford and go enjoy our vacation.

 

Nicely put.

[golfadj]

We did a group cruise last Sept with 180 of us with a TA I use. He planned a party cruise and many of this group will never set foot on Carnival again. I dont know what was wrong, but our server never served anything hot for dinner. Some sent stuff back (not me, I didnt bother), and things like soup would come back cold. Our TA finally went to talk to someone and the very last night he got us served hot dinners.

 

Only time this happened to us. We had late dinner. Once it was after 9 pm and I walked up to him and said I want to order dinnner already.. he said someone wasnt in their seat so thats why he didnt take orders.. if someone wants to walk around taking pictures.. so thats a good reason to ignore our table?

 

The dinner service alone is what turned many first timers and some who had never been on Carnival who flew over from England the Europe off on Carnival. The TA is from the UK and did say he liked that Carnival was easy to work with, so he wasnt displeased.. but it was wierd that just this one week of all my Carnival cruises.. dinner was cold nightly. Im not that picky and eat cold stuff anyway at home.. but it was noticeable.

 

I just chalked it up to a sign of the times.. but the following week I was on Magic and food was extra good. Perfect.

 

The second or third night me and the MD would have gotten to know each other.

[chill6x6]

I've often thought that most of the dining room issues started about the same time that the Maitre d's gratuity became a certainty instead of something earned.

[golfadj]

Stu,

 

Did you find a non CCL ship that fits into your schedule yet? :)

 

Bill

 

We had booked an NCL for this Feb but due to a family illness cancelled before final payment.

 

By the time we decided we could go Carnival was much cheaper and we did the Liberty the same week.

 

Next year want to do one in Europe and that appears if it works out will be a non CCL one.

[Cruizinman]

You mean like this? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=34210726&postcount=19

That's a start, ;)

[golfadj]

I've often thought that most of the dining room issues started about the same time that the Maitre d's gratuity became a certainty instead of something earned.

 

Dont agree. Besides supposedly they increased the MD's salary and dont encourage us to tip them.

I think service got worse when they went to head waiter and two assts with more customers to serve.

[Havingfun2010]

Just off the a short RCCL trip and compare in Red for $60.00 more!

 

OK, here goes. These are cutbacks I've noticed since 2009, so I'm not comparing cruising today to 'ye olde glory days'. I'm sure I'll not remember all of them but I'll do my best. Disclaimer: of course, not all of these cutbacks will be noticed by or matter to every cruiser. Some of them don't matter to me, either. I'm just listing all that I have noticed and can remember...

 

 

 

MDR / FOOD

• No more wine stewards in MDR - switched to your head waiter taking your wine order--Does not have a wine steward, but the bar waiter was always by before dinner and after first night had my order ready fast.
  
• now, most recently, no one asks you about wine at all. If you want it, you have to try to catch an over-worked and sometimes hard-to-find bar server that's wandering the MDR
  
• switching from 1 head waiter and 1 assistant waiter per table, with fewer tables to the 3-waiter system where they have more tables and they are spread too thin. The service has suffered dramatically--had 1 assistant and one waiter and they had 4 tables (20 people to serve) plus a head waiter that was around to help.
  
• Removing higher-end foods such as the roast duck from the menu and replacing them with cheap 'comfort foods' like meatloaf. -- had an entire half roasted duck for one dinner. Also had a hefty cut of meat at each meal.
  
• Lower quality food ingredients being used in MDR dishes -- stays the same (not great, but good)
  
• Less of the pricey ingredients (for example, about half the seafood now on the Penne Mariscos compared to how it was served just a couple years ago)
  
• Ice milk now served on the side of the WCMC instead of real ice cream
  
• no more free cappuccino or espresso in MDR, now you've gotta pay (over $3) for it
  
• no longer a full place setting of appropriate silverware for the dishes served--not on RCCL.
  
• cheaper and smaller variety of teabags
  
• iceberg lettuce and red cabbage now passed off for the "mixed field green salad" that used to actually be mixed field greens--All the salads were consitent to the menu listing.
  
• itty-bitty little shrimp replaced the decent-sized shrimp in the shrimp cocktail--large shrimp
  
• Terrible 'steak' replacing the decent steaks that used to be served.--every night has on menu a Manhattan steak (new york strip) that was abount one inch thick, and looked to be about 8 - 9 ounces.
  
• 'au jus' for the Prime Rib is now seemingly jarred gravy (which tastes horrible, BTW)--was real
  
• main ingredients in sushi now cream cheese and avocado instead of the better, pricier fish and other ingredients.
  
• No more cheddar cheese (at the Deli, but I'm guessing elsewhere, too). Only crappy, fake American 'cheese'.
  

IN THE CABINS

• the once-wonderfully comfy mattresses have been changed out for super-hard, pain-inducing mattresses-
  
• although seemingly not consistent, more and more often now, no more pen and notepad in the cabin
  
• cheap white "SOAP" replaced the better, green Bien Venue soap
  
• room service menu no longer in the nice binder, but just a single sheet of easy-to-miss paper mixed in with advertisements with your FunTimes
  

ENTERTAINMENT

• no more live music on Lido deck, and less live music elsewhere, too. Replaced with much cheaper DJs.--ship had live band for lido deck plus another band as the "party band" aound the ship, not to mention the live orchrestra for all shows and in the centruim prior to dinners
  
• far less production-type shows, replaced by much cheaper "Playlist" shows and more shows which use (for free) the customers such as talent shows and gameshows. -had a magic act, late night adult comedy, plus two dance shows (4 singers and 8 dancers)
  
• Fewer organized activities onboard. And sometimes, they expect staff whose job it is not to do double duty hosting these games (example - Piano Bar player expected to play the music for and run the game of Name That Tune, when the Entertainment Host did not show up. It was not possible. So the game did not happen. This could be a fluke, but it seems to be a trend.)
  

LOYALTY PROGRAM

 

• (I really can't remember all they did here, as I'm not Platinum and wasn't affected by these cutbacks. Someone else please fill in this area.:o --RCCL has a loyalty program for all repeat guest! Free slot play, a bogo beer/wine, discount coupons etc. Yes, you can get your free drink at any time of the day, not just breakfast!
  
• Platinum no longer free entry into slot-pull - now a BOGO offer
  

 

OTHER

• no more FCCs. I used to buy one every cruise. With an FCC in hand, we were a lot more likely to make our next cruise a Carnival cruise because we had made that deposit (in the form of FCC 'purchase') and had OBC waiting for us. Now, no such incentive. Big mistake, Carnival.
  
• Overall cut in crew-to-passenger ratio. This is most noticeable in the MDR, but is clear in many other areas as well.
  
• No more hurricane-style souvenir "Best Day Ever" DOD cup that gets you a discounted refill price. Now, the Lido drinks are served in smaller, plain cups.
  

That's all that's coming to mind right now. I know there are others that I'm just not thinking of. Please, everyone, feel free to cut and paste my list and add to it if you like.:)

 

 

Plus Carnival will take $50.00 and call it faster to the fun, but on RCCL, if you arrive early, than you get to be faster to the fun without paying for it!!!! Arrive early, get on ship early = faster to the fun for free.

The reason to point that out is simply because I paid $60.00 more for my cruise, but if you add the $50.00 in, that it means for $10.00 for 2 people, you get real steaks in the MDR everynight if you want, plus live bands and much better entertainment. Everyone says that Carniva is more for the lower budget, but it is not. They are just taking you money, and giving you less for it.

[ShakyBeef]

Just off the a short RCCL trip and compare in Red for $60.00 more!

 

 

 

 

Plus Carnival will take $50.00 and call it faster to the fun, but on RCCL, if you arrive early, than you get to be faster to the fun without paying for it!!!! Arrive early, get on ship early = faster to the fun for free.

The reason to point that out is simply because I paid $60.00 more for my cruise, but if you add the $50.00 in, that it means for $10.00 for 2 people, you get real steaks in the MDR everynight if you want, plus live bands and much better entertainment. Everyone says that Carniva is more for the lower budget, but it is not. They are just taking you money, and giving you less for it.

 

 

That's good to hear, considering my next cruise is on RCI. But we'll be in a Grand Suite with full Gold Card perks, and we paid a bunch more:eek: for it than any of our Carnival cruises. So comparing it to any of my previous cruises, Carnival or otherwise, would definitely be apples to oranges. But I sure am looking forward to it!:D

 

As far as the Carnival cutbacks and cruise cost, I wish Carnival would just adjust the price as needed to keep up with rising costs and inflation and give us the product we were used to getting. I feel like each Carnival cruise I go on, I'm getting a little more bait-&-switch from them. But they have shown they are not interested in keeping repeat cruisers like me. They want to pack in the super-budget-conscious, oblivious-to-what-was-included-just-last-month, "just-get-me-on-a-ship-and-I'll-be-happy-with-anything", new cruiser.

[CruisersNC]

There have been numerous cutbacks in the past 5 to 10 years. Some people care and some don't. Many only care about one thing....the price. But here's the thing that worries me......what will a Carnival cruise be like 5 to 10 years from now? If they're going to maintain their mission to keep fares low and profits high....what will they be cutting back on in the years to come? What will the food be like in 2018-2020? What about the entertainment? What won't be included in the fare price anymore? What perks will be gone? Only time will tell.

[shof515]

What will the food be like in 2018-2020?

 

everything will be a la carte, making you pay for every dish you consume. Seems other cruise lines are adapting this policy and putting in new for-fee restaurants onboard as well are paying extra for certain things.

[halos]

everything will be a la carte, making you pay for every dish you consume. Seems other cruise lines are adapting this policy and putting in new for-fee restaurants onboard as well are paying extra for certain things.

 

Carnival won't ever do that. They'd lose their entire customer base...the exact people they market to. The cuts have been made because CCL passengers want (and I have grown to hate this phrase) 'a good bang for their buck'.

[Cruizinman]

There have been numerous cutbacks in the past 5 to 10 years. Some people care and some don't. Many only care about one thing....the price. But here's the thing that worries me......what will a Carnival cruise be like 5 to 10 years from now? If they're going to maintain their mission to keep fares low and profits high....what will they be cutting back on in the years to come? What will the food be like in 2018-2020? What about the entertainment? What won't be included in the fare price anymore? What perks will be gone? Only time will tell.

 

This question was asked here in the past, someone posted a picture of john boat with one oar ;):o:D

[John Reid]

Last year, we cruised Pride out of Baltimore in October (7 days - Grand Turk, HMC). We had the lowest priced obstructed balcony for about $1,590 with taxes. In January, we sailed RCI Enchantment out of Baltimore (9 days - 4 port Caribbean itinerary). Cheapest oceanview about $1,250 with taxes. We enjoyed both and will sail Pride again this September and RCI Grandeur in January next year. For us there was a huge difference in entertainment and music availability. As mentioned by others, there were only three nights of actual shows out of seven nights on Pride. I know there is a comedy club on Pride; whenever we went, we could not get seats. There were seven nights of shows on Enchantment (no show Superbowl night). There were two production shows, two very good comedians (in the main theater/easy to get seats), a magician, a singer/entertainer, and the Drifters. There was live music in three venues every night. There was live music at the pool. There were live house musicians. Quest and the love and marriage shows were additional. To Pride's credit, their two crew stage shows had a much bigger and better cast and were better productions.

 

Additionally, there was a full-blown late night deck party with an extensive food assortment. On Carnival, there was a very limited late "Mexican buffet" in the Lido buffet. We found the quality of food in the buffet at all meals superior on RCI.

 

We enjoyed both cruises, so much so we are repeating both this year. But our experience was that RCI was able to offer much more for similar money.

 

So, I'm really not able to discuss Pride cutbacks, but I can share what we got for the money in the same market. Additionally, we had sailed Enchantment out of FLL 5 years ago. Contrary to cutbacks, we found the experience better this time around.