Upcoming Dining Changes

[Hotdog 52]

We have ATD when we cruise. Last cruise, the first night the service at our table was slow. The second night we asked for a different section. Service was great. If you don't like the service the first night you're not locked in to that table. We love ATD.

[afrayedknot]

It makes sense to me. It sounds better to say that they are improving things rather than say the truth- that they are cutting more corners.

Imagine if they made a commercial for tv where JH said

"Here at CCL, we are making many brilliant changes. We have stopped flying in professional guest entertainers and instead, your fellow passengers will entertain you. We have replaced live bands with a guy playing loud mp3 hip hop noise, and in the dining room, we have made brilliant changes like decreasing the number of servers so it takes two hours to get through dinner and replacing things like filet mignon with meatloaf, replacing ny steaks with challenging to the jaws flat iron steak. You'll never feel alone on CCL as we proudly have the most crowded ships in the industry!

Book a CCL cruise now to see what other brilliant changes we are making."

 

Brilliant sarcasm!!

 

Love it;)

[golfadj]

Absolutely...still love CCL food. But don't try to tell me that it's better now than it was before. Manipulative, or worse, thinking that I am stupid and willl be easily brainwashed into thinking this is so.

(I have never had one complaint about service on CCL. The crew are hard working and wonderful)

 

I do think that besides cost cutting when it comes to food, that there is a huge impact in quality die to the fact that ships are so much bigger these days and there are way too many passengers to feed. I do wish they'd stop making therse mega-ships and pull back a little on the gross tonage. My ideal ship is no more than 90,000 gt and has no more than 2800 passengers sailing it.

I am never going to get that wish.

 

Food is certainly not better now. They can tenderize cheaper cuts of meat but a NY strip is still going to be a better cut of meat than a flat iron steak.

 

this last cruise one of the servers actually brushed away my crumbs before dessert. this was shocking to me as I had not seen this in years.

 

Ships aint going to get smaller as it is more efficient to sail better ships.

 

Will be doing our first Princess cruise next year (TA) and already see a huge difference in what the people on our ship are looking for compared to Carnival.

 

Have a feeling we are mostly done with Carnival as cruising in the future will be more about where we go.

[kcwingwalker]

Absolutely...still love CCL food. But don't try to tell me that it's better now than it was before. Manipulative, or worse, thinking that I am stupid and willl be easily brainwashed into thinking this is so.

(I have never had one complaint about service on CCL. The crew are hard working and wonderful)

 

I do think that besides cost cutting when it comes to food, that there is a huge impact in quality die to the fact that ships are so much bigger these days and there are way too many passengers to feed. I do wish they'd stop making therse mega-ships and pull back a little on the gross tonage. My ideal ship is no more than 90,000 gt and has no more than 2800 passengers sailing it.

I am never going to get that wish.

 

Agree and love the smaller ships!

[cruisecrazy82]

Sadly most people don't get that... They don't want to pay for quality service, they expect it at any price.... We now live in a "entitled" society where everyone thinks they're entitled to everything.

 

I agree about the entitlement people do unfortunately seem to demonstrate everywhere in this world. Not just within cruising. Everybody wants something for nothing.:rolleyes:

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Yes, but Carnival was also quick to eliminate the comedian (but kept the additional menu items) during brunch once they realized most passengers did not want them.

 

 

 

I've been using Yourtime Dining since it was 1st offered. I have never had it effect the length of my meal one way or anothr. I'm also quite impressed that the servers still manage to remember diner's idiosyncrasies despite having more people to remember. My friends & family love Yourtime Dining. Your experience may have just been coincidental. For example, on my last cruise, it seemed like it took forever to get through breakfast, yet dinner was always efficient as ever. I would encourage you to give it another shot.

 

By the sound of your post it sounds like you get the same servers for the week with YTD.

 

I don't think the majority of people who pick YTD have the same servers all week.

 

Bill

[golfadj]

By the sound of your post it sounds like you get the same servers for the week with YTD.

 

I don't think the majority of people who pick YTD have the same servers all week.

 

Bill

 

On the Liberty last month we did ytd for first time.

 

One of the people we sailed with got the recommendation of headwaiter and we asked for her and got her section all week.

 

and she was excellent

[halos]

Food is certainly not better now. They can tenderize cheaper cuts of meat but a NY strip is still going to be a better cut of meat than a flat iron steak.

 

this last cruise one of the servers actually brushed away my crumbs before dessert. this was shocking to me as I had not seen this in years.

 

Ships aint going to get smaller as it is more efficient to sail better ships.

 

Will be doing our first Princess cruise next year (TA) and already see a huge difference in what the people on our ship are looking for compared to Carnival.

 

Have a feeling we are mostly done with Carnival as cruising in the future will be more about where we go.

 

LOL...I didn't want to imply that I thought YOU thought the food was better now. I totally meant that JH was implying this is so.

 

PLEASE let us know what you think of Princess after you sail. I want to try them but hesitate because I am fearful of the passengers demographic being too old. I had that happen on Celebrity and it wasn't fun.

I'm 51 myself at this point, but prefer to sail with a mix of ages :)

Edited November 10, 2013 by halos

[golfadj]

LOL...I didn't want to imply that I thought YOU thought the food was better now. I totally meant that JH was implying this is so.

 

PLEASE let us know what you think of Princess after you sail. I want to try them but hesitate because I am fearful of the passengers demographic being too old. I had that happen on Celebrity and it wasn't fun.

I'm 51 myself at this point, but prefer to sail with a mix of ages :)

 

I was wondering at first what you meant but have read enough of your posts that I didnt think you were referring to me.

 

So far the roll call is awesome and 6 months from the cruise all of our tours are booked. Surprising to me but the roll call folks are serious travellers out to see the ports. Only concern is entertainment during the TA and that we will see what happens.

 

Been meaning to branch out and the NCL we booked for earlier this year was cancelled. Thinking that if we enjoy this might only be back to Carnival on cheaper winter cruises to the Caribbean.

 

We shall see.

[halos]

.

 

Been meaning to branch out and the NCL we booked for earlier this year was cancelled. Thinking that if we enjoy this might only be back to Carnival on cheaper winter cruises to the Caribbean.

 

We shall see.

Were you booked on the Pearl, by chance? That ship is charted out a LOT in the months of Jan/Feb. We are booked on it for Feb 2015 and I am mentally prepared to be booted from it.

[golfadj]

Were you booked on the Pearl, by chance? That ship is charted out a LOT in the months of Jan/Feb. We are booked on it for Feb 2015 and I am mentally prepared to be booted from it.

 

Oops my bad. We booked the Pearl but we had to cancel.

[halos]

Oops my bad. We booked the Pearl but we had to cancel.

 

Oh, OK :)

[chesapeake2atlantic]

It doesn't take a PhD in sociology to understand what "young people" want today. By and large, 20something men will not dress up for anything and will certainly never wear a tie, and that includes much of Manhattan, where, on any Saturday evening, I see young gals dressed to the nines and their male dates garbed in Levi's and untucked shirts. Growing numbers of young people dress casually for work, weddings and funerals, so instead of being inspired and wowed by elegance--by chandeliers and tuxedoed servers and finessed cuisine--they feel uncomfortable. Instead of aspiring to be sophisticated and polished in their presentation, millions today prefer a food court/sports bars atmosphere. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm talking trends.

 

In other words, I see Carnival heading the way of a 24/7 shorts and t-shirts atmosphere, where the MDR will segue into a food court--without the "food court" appellation--and the branding of Carnival much more sharply focused on an ultra-casual party experience for the young, and young at heart.

[golfadj]

It doesn't take a PhD in sociology to understand what "young people" want today. By and large, 20something men will not dress up for anything and will certainly never wear a tie, and that includes much of Manhattan, where, on any Saturday evening, I see young gals dressed to the nines and their male dates garbed in Levi's and untucked shirts. Growing numbers of young people dress casually for work, weddings and funerals, so instead of being inspired and wowed by elegance--by chandeliers and tuxedoed servers and finessed cuisine--they feel uncomfortable. Instead of aspiring to be sophisticated and polished in their presentation, millions today prefer a food court/sports bars atmosphere. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm talking trends.

 

In other words, I see Carnival heading the way of a 24/7 shorts and t-shirts atmosphere, where the MDR will segue into a food court--without the "food court" appellation--and the branding of Carnival much more sharply focused on an ultra-casual party experience for the young, and young at heart.

 

You could be right but sure hope you are wrong.

[Ocean Dancer]

It doesn't take a PhD in sociology to understand what "young people" want today. By and large, 20something men will not dress up for anything and will certainly never wear a tie, and that includes much of Manhattan, where, on any Saturday evening, I see young gals dressed to the nines and their male dates garbed in Levi's and untucked shirts. Growing numbers of young people dress casually for work, weddings and funerals, so instead of being inspired and wowed by elegance--by chandeliers and tuxedoed servers and finessed cuisine--they feel uncomfortable. Instead of aspiring to be sophisticated and polished in their presentation, millions today prefer a food court/sports bars atmosphere. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm talking trends.

 

In other words, I see Carnival heading the way of a 24/7 shorts and t-shirts atmosphere, where the MDR will segue into a food court--without the "food court" appellation--and the branding of Carnival much more sharply focused on an ultra-casual party experience for the young, and young at heart.

 

Good Heaven's NO!!!!!!!!!!!

[CarnivalBreeze319]

It doesn't take a PhD in sociology to understand what "young people" want today. By and large, 20something men will not dress up for anything and will certainly never wear a tie, and that includes much of Manhattan, where, on any Saturday evening, I see young gals dressed to the nines and their male dates garbed in Levi's and untucked shirts. Growing numbers of young people dress casually for work, weddings and funerals, so instead of being inspired and wowed by elegance--by chandeliers and tuxedoed servers and finessed cuisine--they feel uncomfortable. Instead of aspiring to be sophisticated and polished in their presentation, millions today prefer a food court/sports bars atmosphere. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm talking trends.

 

In other words, I see Carnival heading the way of a 24/7 shorts and t-shirts atmosphere, where the MDR will segue into a food court--without the "food court" appellation--and the branding of Carnival much more sharply focused on an ultra-casual party experience for the young, and young at heart.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself

[afrayedknot]

You could be right but sure hope you are wrong.

 

I, too, hope you are wrong. But you may be right. At some point, I'll live/travel in other countries, in a manner more frugal.:)

[gtaylor]

When I don't have my children with me I love long leisurely meals.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Heck, it sometimes takes us an hour just to grab a burger at Carl's Junior.

 

We eat slow(ly).

 

gary

[ccruisequeen]

Oops posted in wrong thread! Anyone have a Berry blast? Wonder if they make it virgin?

 

 

Edited November 11, 2013 by ccruisequeen

[bitemyfly]

LOL...I didn't want to imply that I thought YOU thought the food was better now. I totally meant that JH was implying this is so.

 

PLEASE let us know what you think of Princess after you sail. I want to try them but hesitate because I am fearful of the passengers demographic being too old. I had that happen on Celebrity and it wasn't fun.

I'm 51 myself at this point, but prefer to sail with a mix of ages :)

just turned the same age and was fearful of X , we have only done the Caribbean on them and found that it was the same age as CCL sans the kids more couples , less family but then again who knows we may have just lucked out but it quickly became our favorite .. S class

[afrayedknot]

I'm with you on this one. My wife and I went on our first cruise and were Wow'ed by it. There wasn't one thing that we could complain about. CCL maybe cutting corners, but they are trying to keep their cost down so more people can cruise. Their costs my be huge. Things in the world aren't getting cheaper. I wonder how much it costs to fill one ship up on fuel? Or what their insurance costs are? There isn't to many cruise lines left that don't charge you a fuel tax. If you don't like CCL that's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I don't understand how people can come here and say Its a known fact that their food and entertainment sucks. If it was the repo man would be knocking on their door and taking their ships. To me who cares on what color the table cloth is. Just as long as the meal is half decent. And every meal I had on the ship was excellent. Sure I'm sure people have gotten bad meals, but how many hasn't gotten a bad meal when paying a lot of money in an expensive restaurant?

 

So glad you posted. I concur.

[desert sand]

I got off the Legend yesterday. Although the food was great, it was not a new menu. No one on board mentioned the new menus. They have a brunch on sea days in the main dining room from 8:30 to 1:30 but did not do that.

[halos]

I'm with you on this one. My wife and I went on our first cruise and were Wow'ed by it.

 

 

Of course you were. People like yourselves who are new to cruising are exactly what CCL is marketing to and winning over. This is not a bad thing by any means...however, you new cruisers all must try to understand that those of us not new to cruising, see changes in the product that we just aren't happy with and this is why we express dissatisfaction.

 

I understand that the rates they charge don't allow for what we had in the past....my issue is that I wish they had kept the product the quality same and raised rates accordingly. Like every other business/product, people expect inflation to raise the cost of things. CCL didn't raise costs, they opted to keep costs down but make cuts.

If you are new to cruising, obviously you wouldn't notice any difference.

CCL is not a bad product..but it also is not anywhere near as good as it once was.

 

just turned the same age and was fearful of X , we have only done the Caribbean on them and found that it was the same age as CCL sans the kids more couples , less family but then again who knows we may have just lucked out but it quickly became our favorite .. S class

 

 

 

I think because we often do long itineraries I always wind up with a more middle aged crowd with some mix (on NCL) but our 14 day cruise on X was literally all 70-80 year old people. Even when I am 70, I won't want to sail a ship with EVERYONE that age. I like a mix. It makes things better imo.

Edited November 11, 2013 by halos

[Warm Breezes]

By the sound of your post it sounds like you get the same servers for the week with YTD.

 

I don't think the majority of people who pick YTD have the same servers all week.

 

Bill

 

You can request them with YTD. However on our last CCL cruise we did not request the same team every night and yet when the server who had our table the first night saw us in the dining room all of the other nights, he always made a point to stop and talk to us. We requested him again our last night. We love YTD and have never had a 2 1/2 hour dinner nor have we waited more than 15 minutes a couple of times to be seated. The majority of the time we are seated right away and are done in about an hour.

[Joie]

We are in our late 50's and early 60's and love a laid back dining atmosphere....not shorts and sandals but nice clean daily clothing.

I would like to see Carnival have a dining area for those that want to dress up to the 9s and not be put with others who dress casually. I don't mind, but some do and I don't want to be looked down on for enjoying my meal in comfort. It's not the old sailing days it use to be.....its a family cruise.....and the food doesn't warrant a tux anymore.....just my opinion.

I would like to have prime rib like I do downtown and not have to have to pack fancy clothing with heels and bangles.....like I said....just my opinion.

A lot of people would say GO FIND A FANCY CRUISE....but I don't think that is fair to say. Just provide a different part of the dining room area or something.