Carnival Cutbacks?

[firefly333]

RRLLAL I dont think there is any question that there are new things that people love.

 

The thread though asked what cuts have you noticed.. not what additions do you like.

 

I dont know why you take it so personally, when someone says Oh I miss so and so, but dont miss that.... if they dont also say, hey I love guys burgers when the thread isnt about that.

 

To me there were quite a few posters who posted who were off topic and trying to hijack the thread from what the OP asked.

 

I dont see what the problem is with answering the question .. and not posting other stuff not asked for or requested by the OP and going off topic.

 

Of course none of this means people now dont like Carnival. Its not personal. They are just discussing what their viewpoint is. Carnival isnt anyone's child and people should not take anything that sounds negative as if its a attack on a family member.

 

It would also be silly to pretend there are not some cuts. We all know its to keep the prices low and most of us are fine with it.. all lines are cutting, not just Carnival. Its life.

[Racegirl6]

I have only cruised once, 10 years ago, but I will miss the Captain's Cocktail Party. I just thought it was a nice touch on formal night.

[larkz]

To me there were quite a few posters who posted who were off topic and trying to hijack the thread from what the OP asked...

 

Have to disagree a bit with this, not to be overly technical, but -- The OP did ask for a list, but also prefaced that with a couple of thoughts, which seem to mesh pretty well with RRLLAL's point of view on the matter.

[RRLLAL]

RRLLAL I dont think there is any question that there are new things that people love.

 

The thread though asked what cuts have you noticed.. not what additions do you like.

 

I dont know why you take it so personally, when someone says Oh I miss so and so, but dont miss that.... if they dont also say, hey I love guys burgers when the thread isnt about that.

 

To me there were quite a few posters who posted who were off topic and trying to hijack the thread from what the OP asked.

 

I dont see what the problem is with answering the question .. and not posting other stuff not asked for or requested by the OP and going off topic.

 

Of course none of this means people now dont like Carnival. Its not personal. They are just discussing what their viewpoint is. Carnival isnt anyone's child and people should not take anything that sounds negative as if its a attack on a family member.

 

Swedish explained it well as I also have noted just a few if many things that aren't true. The impression was being given that these were cuts to Carnival. They can't be cuts to Carnival if they still appear on some ships. There was also much embellishments. And the OP asked if there were other cuts. It is fair to respond to him that some cuts aren't cuts but reassignment of budget spent.

 

People are also goes going back so far that it is then also fair to say the large screens, the slides, etc are all adds.

 

Sent using my Commodore 64

[dclark]

T? 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.

 

Their mission ro keep fares low? What, did you make that up? No cruise has a mission to keep cruise fares low! None!

Cruise lines have this goal- sail full with every cabin sold for as much as possible.

If a cruise is selling out faster than expected, they raise prices. If a cruise is selling slower than expected, they drop prices. It is really that simple. Pay attention and you'll see them doing this.

CCL prices are low because fewer people want to sail with CCL. Lower demand = lower prices.

They can't raise prices because that would mean sailing with empty cabins. So they lower prices. To maintain profit, they cut back. Cut, cut, cut.

In the future, they will make more cutbacks.Count on it. I predict that the theater will be filled with cabins and turned into a lounge,food quality will further go down hill and more nickel and diming

T

[larkz]

Carnival's mission is, no doubt, to keep making money in the niche that they've carved out of the market.

 

Value proposition. They offer X (not triple deluxe X) and realize that the price will have to be X (not triple deluxe X). They certainly do what they can to keep the prices as low as needed to attract customers within this niche. And if they can eke out a little more, they do. Shocking.

 

As for cutbacks, what about the skeet shooting and shuffleboard that we had on Mardi Gras! And the lovely Muzak that was piped throughout the ship. Outrageous that they would take these things away. They've been cutting since 1977.

[swedish weave]

I don't agree. I have only been on one carnival cruise so it i were to cruise them again the "cutbacks" would not be noticeable as I didn't sail when these things happened in the first place. So they would not impact my decision to sail carnival or not.

 

You also comment about people posting factual information. What listed is not factual?

 

 

The posts may apply to one ship, but are worded to make the reader believe they apply to the entire cruise line. This, in effect, is untrue !!

[swedish weave]

Their mission ro keep fares low? What, did you make that up? No cruise has a mission to keep cruise fares low! None!

Cruise lines have this goal- sail full with every cabin sold for as much as possible.

If a cruise is selling out faster than expected, they raise prices. If a cruise is selling slower than expected, they drop prices. It is really that simple. Pay attention and you'll see them doing this.

CCL prices are low because fewer people want to sail with CCL. Lower demand = lower prices.

They can't raise prices because that would mean sailing with empty cabins. So they lower prices. To maintain profit, they cut back. Cut, cut, cut.

In the future, they will make more cutbacks.Count on it. I predict that the theater will be filled with cabins and turned into a lounge,food quality will further go down hill and more nickel and diming

T

 

Any statistics to back up your statements? They seem way out of line with the business model Canival has established.

Carnival has 24 vessels and control over 21 percent of the world market. They didn't get to this point by being stupid.

 

Carnival was the pioneer in the industry by providing shorter less expensive cruises.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Cruise_Lines

[firefly333]

Have to disagree a bit with this, not to be overly technical, but -- The OP did ask for a list, but also prefaced that with a couple of thoughts, which seem to mesh pretty well with RRLLAL's point of view on the matter.

 

lol I wasnt even talking about RRLLAL as being off topic.. I was thinking of some of the earlier posts like this.. that did not answer the OPs question or address it.

 

I'll keep coming back!

 

Somehow me trying to tell him to calm down, his first born isnt under attack and saying some posters to me were off topic.. you ran the two together and ASSUMED I meant him.

 

... oh goodie.. now im off topic too, trying to defense myself from a attack saying I meant what I didnt say.

 

I give up. Byeeeeee. done with this thread. I knew the topic would raise hackles. There are some who cant stand to talk about the cuts, which do exist.

[EZ4]

The posts may apply to one ship, but are worded to make the reader believe they apply to the entire cruise line. This, in effect, is untrue !!

 

Oh, stop it. You're killing me here. LMAO!

[ccruisequeen]

Farewell party cut (lack of interest?) shorter cruises are denied things like creme brûlée and past guest party.

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Cruizinman]

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).

 

 

That's Rich ;) !

[molole]

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.:)

 

Thank you for this list. It put a few things into clarity for me. What bothers me the most is the declining shows and music. It's funny to know as much as I have felt the cut backs, I supposedly don't even know what Carnival's golden days were like be earlier part of 2000s.

[firefly333]

Any statistics to back up your statements? They seem way out of line with the business model Canival has established.

 

Plain as the nose on my face. Any business including Carnival will charge what the market will bear. If the product isnt selling, they lower the cost.. if the product starts selling better, prices will rise.

 

Have noticed myself prices on Carnival are starting to go back up lately. They were down with the bad PR but coming back. As a stockholder Im glad.

 

They dont sail with many empty cabins, even a low price with people onboard hopefully buying stuff is better than leaving the cabins empty.

 

What you are arguing with is how business's like Carnival operate. What do you mean .. you want statistics to prove this is true? What kind of stats?

 

I better go to bed when people are arguing black is really white.

 

GO CARNIVAL, you rock.

[clemsontyger04]

I will be honest I have only cruised 3 times, and on just two ships, but the "cutbacks" depend on the ship. When we cruised Fascination I felt at times they were running out of things to offer cruisers, but my cruise on the Dream just a couple weeks ago was jam packed with things to do and see. There were at least 3 production shows, a magician/comedian one night, comedy at the punchliner lounge all but 2 days (back to back port days). Always something going on the Lido deck or in the Dream atrium. Ocean plaza had some form of live band/music every night. The shows had a live band. If someone had cruised their first cruise on the Dream and then say cruised the Fascination you would have noticed "cutbacks", but i chalk that up to a shorter cruise, but also a smaller boat as well. Again as someone said, a cruise is what you make of it.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Any statistics to back up your statements? They seem way out of line with the business model Canival has established.

Carnival has 24 vessels and control over 21 percent of the world market. They didn't get to this point by being stupid.

 

Carnival was the pioneer in the industry by providing shorter less expensive cruises.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Cruise_Lines

 

What dclark says makes total sense to me. I doubt Carnival is keeping prices low because it's their business model.

 

If that were true why would they charge more in the summer than in the off season when families can't cruise?

 

They charge more in the summer because that's what Carnival can get people to pay unlike the off season.

 

Bill

[larkz]

Keep in mind that part of Carnival's decision to cut back, keep, or add various features to their cruises is in response to the surveys (the long form of which is quite extensive), as well as real live participation.

 

I'm the guy who indicated in multiple surveys that he was not interested in live bands, theatre on the ship (love it in Chicago and Milwaukee, don't need it on a cruise), and various other things that have been reduced or cut back.

 

I guess I wasn't alone in those survey choices.

 

It's hard to criticize a company for responding to surveys and putting money where people are voting for it to go. It's also presumptive to think that just because I like something, everyone else does, and therefore it is unfair of Carnival to take it away.

[swedish weave]

Plain as the nose on my face. Any business including Carnival will charge what the market will bear. If the product isnt selling, they lower the cost.. if the product starts selling better, prices will rise.

 

Have noticed myself prices on Carnival are starting to go back up lately. They were down with the bad PR but coming back. As a stockholder Im glad.

 

They dont sail with many empty cabins, even a low price with people onboard hopefully buying stuff is better than leaving the cabins empty.

 

What you are arguing with is how business's like Carnival operate. What do you mean .. you want statistics to prove this is true? What kind of stats?

 

I better go to bed when people are arguing black is really white.

 

GO CARNIVAL, you rock.

 

I don't believe I asked you for statistics but you are welcome to provide them if you choose.

 

I questioned DClarks statement that Carnival's goal is not to provide low priced cruises. That is the platform that the company has used to become the largest in the world, and they are still following that plan.

 

If you have statistics that show otherwise, please post them so we can benefit from your knowledge.

[swedish weave]

What dclark says makes total sense to me. I doubt Carnival is keeping prices low because it's their business model.

 

If that were true why would they charge more in the summer than in the off season when families can't cruise?

 

They charge more in the summer because that's what Carnival can get people to pay unlike the off season.

 

Bill

 

Can you name ANY cruise lines that consistently offer lower fares than Carnival ?

 

You are disputing the statements in Wiki as well as mine, but haven't provided any info to back up the statements.

 

Do ANY of the mainstream cruise lines charge the same fares year around?? No need to answer that, because they all adjust their prices for the season and demand.

[Waterloomarc]

We took 6 cruises between 2009 and last August and even in that short of period (or perhaps because of it?) the cutbacks were very evident. I agree with the poster above who said just raise the price to keep the same level. Don't keep or lower the price and give me a different product. (I would love to buy a half gallon of ice cream or orange juice or box of cereal with more than 6 pieces in it too!)

 

To me the entertainment cuts and to a lesser degree the food service cuts have affected us the most.

 

We've decided to leave carnival for now and enjoyed our NCL cruise in September and have another booked. We're looking at Celebrity next... But at $3600 for 7 days one has to appreciate what Carnival does give for less than half the cost.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[larkz]

I questioned DClarks statement that Carnival's goal is not to provide low priced cruises. That is the platform that the company has used to become the largest in the world, and they are still following that plan.

 

That is without a doubt the foundation of Carnival's market plan, right up from the beginning, bringing affordable cruises to a niche that had not previously even considered cruising because it seemed like something for the very rich. It's the foundation of their advertising from the 70s to the present. You're right on here. This is what drew my dad to take his first cruise, and then turn around and scrounge up the money to take his kids.

 

Of course they look for ways to keep prices low enough to attract their niche.

[zeke11]

Ugh. No more Caribbean band? That really stinks.

 

Kris

[iwannacruznow]

 

I'm the guy who indicated in multiple surveys that he was not interested in live bands, theatre on the ship (love it in Chicago and Milwaukee, don't need it on a cruise), and various other things that have been reduced or cut back.

 

I guess I wasn't alone in those survey choices.

 

.

So its your fault.:D

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Can you name ANY cruise lines that consistently offer lower fares than Carnival ?

 

You are disputing the statements in Wiki as well as mine, but haven't provided any info to back up the statements.

 

Do ANY of the mainstream cruise lines charge the same fares year around?? No need to answer that, because they all adjust their prices for the season and demand.

 

I don't know what statistics you are talking about on wikipedia. Anybody can post on there so how do you know if they are factual or do you just agree with them because it backs up your argument?

 

Of course they raise their prices when they can because that's what the market will bear.

 

If they could more than $319 for an 8 day cruise on the Splendor (inside cabin) in November don't you think they would?

 

To think they are charging those prices to provide us with what we want is silly.

 

Bill

[ano]

With all the Carnival "problems" and cost cutting to compensate, I can't wait to see what they cut on my next cruise. My last RCL cruise wasn't much better, and all I could think on it was, the price difference I paid for RCL sure wasn't worth. Little did I know Carnival was dropping even more in the mean time.

 

I might be done with these two and will likely seek out another cruise line that at least brings back some of those lost perks. When you think about it, when you consider limited vacation time, flights, hotel, etc., the actually cruise expense is only one part of the total, and it might be worth it to pay more to bring back the old cruise experience.

 

I know this has turned into a complaint thread, but there other choices. The sad fact is Carnival can make these cuts because people still go on their cruises, and why shouldn't they make cuts if it doesn't slow their business a bit. If I was the CEO of Carnival, I'd do the same. They won't stop the cuts until it hits their bottom-line and they loose customers, and thus profit.