Tired of the Bashing

[mrBit]

I have to say, I wouldn't mind trying another cruiseline and look forward to it one day. I peak in at the royal board on here from time to time. Lots of Carnival insults and bashing. I feel like if I ever did cruise with them, I would have to keep it to myself that I had sailed all Carnival before. Good thing is that I know several folks personally who love Royal but are not so down on Carnival. It's a preference and not superiority. I would hope that's more representative of the majority.

 

 

 

Here is another story from our Navigator cruise. We met a nice couple at wine tasting and later that day we had an issue of an over charge... so the same couple happened to come up behind us in the customer service line. We got to talking and they started complimenting RCI and then started bashing Carnival. This time I decided to say something, i told them we have sailed Carnival 5 times and loved it... get this... they then said... yea we sailed them too, mainly with our grandkids and kids and it was fun.....

 

the conversation changed after that

[dawnjam1]

I am not only an avid cruiser but I am also a former cruise ship employee. I have been on MANY different lines and now that I do not go as often, the first one I turn to is Carnival! I have also been a member on these boards for a long time! Two different memberships but probably since close to the beginning! I have heard it all!

 

Here's my opinion. A cruise is what YOU make of it! So is any day of the week on land! ALL lines are different. But is you CHOOSE to be there by booking it, you have no room to look for only the faults and then complain!

 

This does not pertain to the Costa incident as that was tragic and clearly avoidable....but if I had been on the Triumph and had an extra few days at sea, I personally would have made the best of it and enjoyed my time! After living through Katrina and Ike.....an extra day on a ship would be welcomed!

 

Just sayin!

[Phlybice]

A cruise ship is a place to vacation.

 

This is the place to talk about it. The good. The Bad. The Ugly. Don't take it too personally.

[sjn911]

What annoys me. And I have 13 cruises on Carnival in last 8 years.

 

Carnival is always the cheapest.

Really?

 

If you keep up with prices, and I know many people work full time and have to depend on others to do that for themselves......but if you can track prices..........do not have to fly to ports...........You can cruise on any of the Mass passenger lines for less than Carnival costs for same cabin, etc.

 

2012...Princess brought the C. princess back from San Juan. If you checked A certain on line TA board...every day.......you saw a shocking price for the New Year's Eve Cruise...to Aruba and Cureso. $699 for an inside. $799 for oceanview. and so on. I called that minute. By the time that ship sailed......our cabin, which was a balcony..not an expensive one was selling for almost $3,000. I kid you not. We paid right at $1,000. New year's Eve. Seven days. Best cruise in my life.

 

Right now we are booked on Celebrity. 8 day cruise. $799 for a mid ship ocean view. With the choice of a free drink card..$200 OBC or Free gratuities. An 8 day cruise on Carnival for the equivalent cabin........more. And no freebies. Or OBC.

 

So. CArnival is not always the cheapest. If your joy is cruising, then make looking for bargins..ships that come back.....ships that have a lay over week or two and run one or two cruises........................And I like the Carnival Product. I would not keep going back if I didn't. I am soured on the Management right now..but the Staff and All on carnival...........just fantastic people. And the ships are squeaky clean. LOVE than. the food is not bad. The pizza is excellent. The grilled ham and cheese is the best sandwich I have had in my life. The Pasta BAr leaves me cold. but the Hamburgers..even the Pool ones..good to me. Salad bar is great. Chocolate chip cookies melt in your mouth. They must be pure butter. Yum.

We love Trivia. Always have a blast. Win some times. Not enough. This time my Triiva team is traveling with me. (DD, SIL, Grandbaby).

 

And Celebrity is not snobby. We were on the Zenith. Elevators iffy. Cool Air iffy. But we loved it. The passengers were the most fun of any ship we have ever been on. Half of the ship...for real turned out for Trivia Games..Battle of the sexes and they were hilarious. Very competitive but very good natured.

 

HAL...best food at sea imho. I ate myself silly. Ice Cream Parlor. Served. name your choice of toppings. Divine. Quiet. A sense of being alone at sea. Loved it. Fresh flowers. Awesome Paintings. Like being in a museum. Some cruisers are old. But they are all sweet. entertainment.blew me away. Who knew?

 

 

I love how you put it...want a few things to get better management wise on some things..but still now after the bad taste of last cruise is out of mouth..would try again and almost did on latest Carnival deals..but others have them too and want to try different lines..but love the way you put it..all are good and all have different pluses...one has to shop...alot depends week to week and when you can go when "whatever" is a better deal.

[Mira28]

Since I'm still relatively new to cruising, and to these boards, I like to read posts on the Norwegian and Royal forums, since I will likely take a cruise on of those lines in the future as well.

As many of you certainly know, there is plenty of negativity on those forums too. While I can't possibly judge whether specific complaints are valid or not, suffice it to say that, if one took all the bashing too seriously, it would be tough for a new cruiser to actually book a cruise on ANY line! Most common complaints (and most contentious threads) are about gratuities (fair, unfair), food (bad) and the quality of entertainment(declining), along with criticizing fellow passengers behavior and dress. Most recurrent theme is, "Things are not the way they used to be". Sound familiar?

I understand that there is a lot of money, time and expectations involved in planning what may be a rare and most wished for vacation. I do have empathy with disappointment when it happens. However, I still hope to rack up my cruise credentials on Carnival and see for myself how I feel about my experiences. I expect I will be pleased.

[hebbynan]

The food was fine on our Carnival cruise a couple of years ago. We took DH's mother with us. The staff were fine. It's the fellow passengers we had trouble with. Due to DH's job at a community college, we can cruise only during school breaks. That means there are lots of students out of school at the same time--and they flock to Carnival in great numbers. Most were well behaved. I was actually impressed at how well they cleaned up for the one dress up night in the dining room. It's the behavior of a few that impacted our cruise.

 

The first incident was waking up to someone banging on our door the first night after midnight. DH jumped up thinking something must have happened to his mother next door. It turned out to be a drunk teenager who couldn't find his cabin.

 

A couple of nights later, we were woken up after midnight again. This time it was teenagers congregating in the corridor outside of our room and talking loudly. The teenagers and college aged kids also took over the pools and hot tubs on the ship.

 

Once we retire and can cruise at times when schools are in session, I'd consider going on Carnival again. Until then, we'll stick to Princess and Holland America primarily.

 

I agree with your comments on the other passengers. We went on a cruise that was during spring break - had no idea when I booked it. It wasn't one of our more enjoyable cruises - not Carnival's fault at all - just the rowdy college kids that were acting worse than some 10 years olds. All our other cruises have been with a more 'mixed' age group and I can honestly say that I've had a blast!! I agree with those that say it's what YOU make of it. It's my vacation and I'm going to have fun...no matter what cruise line I'm on.

[Dave85]

IMHO, although there's the occasional inappropriate comment, I see a lot more well founded criticism, (sometimes brutally honest) than bashing.

 

We are all different. For some, Carnival is the perfect cruise line. For others, it's a nightmare. Then there's the rest of us, who love some things about Carnival and dislike (sometimes hate) others.

 

Some of my posts may sound like "bashing". I'll be the first one to tell you how much I dislike the DJ by the pool, how I think that fried chicken and meatloaf at the MDR is a new low, and how loyalty program cutbacks are an insult to those of us who've been cruising on Carnival for 20 years. But I will also tell you that Carnival's Steakhouses are the best specialty restaurants at sea, that I'm grateful for the low prices and convenient ports of departures, and that the Comfort Bed System is awesome.

 

Carnival is a business. I don't love them so I don't take offense when someone takes a stab at them here or on another board. Comments like the "Carnivalization" of Celebrity may sting some Carnival lovers, but it's one of those brutally honest observations that have more merit than some may want to realize.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Well said, and I agree. Folks, Carnival is a for-profit business. I've never understood why some people take valid criticism of a for-profit business with which they occasionally associate so personally. Even if you are one who loves taking Carnival cruises to the exclusion of other lines, nobody is criticizing you personally when they criticize Carnival Cruise Line. They are criticizing a business on a website called Cruise Critic, not you. I will add that this behavior is not by any means limited to the Carnival board.

 

That said, I completely respect the fact that the OP and others like him/her may be tired of reading any criticism of a company they like. Fortunately there's an easy solution -- avoid critical threads and block posters whose opinions you don't care to read.

[Dave85]

Our first cruise was also Nordic Empress which I agreed to only after years of DW trying to get me to try cruising. Think we went about 1996 and were also blown away by cruising.

 

30 or so cruises later on both Carnival and RCCL, with most on Carnival, we have liked all of them but there are things we have not liked about both but we keep coming back.

 

They have all had to make major cutbacks to survive in this environment and nothing wrong with us giving our opinions of the changes.

 

Personally think the food on Carnival is still very good but think the entertainment quality has gone way downhill and we will be trying other cruse lines this year.

 

Just dont understand why some have to make personal attacks when they disagree with posters.

 

Also well said.

[anastasia3939]

A lot of cheerleading for someone who hasn't sailed Carnival in 5 years. Many changes since you last sailed.

 

 

Exactly!! I loved my first two Carnival cruises. Took one last year and was very disappointed in all of the changes. The value just isn't there for me anymore. Sometimes we complain hoping corporate will get the hint. Maybe we can also save some other people some money.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[jimbo5544]

A lot of cheerleading for someone who hasn't sailed Carnival in 5 years. Many changes since you last sailed.

OK, I have ;) (note the signature for my cruises). Your opinion of cheerleading and my opinion of bashing could be different. The point was not so much of cruisers and their opnions of their cruises (we all have different opinions) but more along the lines of people who have not sailed Carnival (at least in a while) and whose main purpose is to spread venom.

[AmandaBlue]

My husband and I have heard so much negativity about Carnival. But we're still giving it a try. The Magic looks like a great ship, I am very excited about the room we have, and all around - I can make my own fun!

 

(I did look into Royal Caribbean, but their prices were more expensive at the time we were looking. So price won this time around!)

[jimbo5544]

My husband and I have heard so much negativity about Carnival. But we're still giving it a try. The Magic looks like a great ship, I am very excited about the room we have, and all around - I can make my own fun!

 

(I did look into Royal Caribbean, but their prices were more expensive at the time we were looking. So price won this time around!)

 

 

The Magic is a wonderful ship. Let us know your thoughts when you get back.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app from my IPhone

[cruiseclues]

I'm not sure which people are bashing...some complain about events...service from a few of many...a few about food.

 

As far as class...Carnival is just as classy or more so as most of their competitors (even including some of the really expensive ones)...their new food venues...mostly without charge, are some of the best at sea...even just the standard buffet, not including the many extra outstanding food venues...has food sitting in pans which do not taste as if they have been sitting for a long time like most of the other lines..on our recent Glory and Breeze (B2B), the buffet was the freshest we've ever encountered on all our cruises...and the choices with all the food venues are so many it's very hard to decide what to eat each day...who else offers a filet mignon with eggs during brunch? Carnival is setting the pace for all the other lines...and even RCI has upped their food quality to try to keep pace. It's amazing how Carnival can deal with so many passengers in such a high quality way.

 

As far as reasonable complaints...this is Cruise Critic...we try to keep the cruise lines up to a high standard...and as far as negative generalizations go...until specifics are offered...they have little value or any real meaning.

 

That being said...most of what is said on message boards is opinion...and certainly everyone is entitled to theirs...

 

Have fun on your cruises...the very best vacation value. :):):):)

[meatloafsfan]

For me, I dislike the "bashing" by people who have never sailed Carnival or those who have unrealistic expectation/utilize severe hyperbole in describing their experience.

 

If you've not yet sailed Carnival, how can you give an opinion as to how good/not good it is.

 

If you expect Carnival to not be mass market (no lines, one on one service), then you'll be disappointed.

 

If you say that "the food on Carnival was all like dog food" and "everyone I met was falling down drunk" and "all of the workers couldn't speak English and were angry and surly", I discount what you're saying and question the motive.

 

Things aren't "all", "never" "everyone" "no one". There are always exceptions and variety.

Edited March 6, 2014 by meatloafsfan

[Thebosn1]

If you're tired of the bashing (as I am), do what I do and skip those threads. For some reason, there's a saying that comes to mind. "Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time, and it annoys the pig." Kind of how I feel when trying to reason with someone that bashes Carnival and only has negative things to say.

 

Nice quote haha. Once in a while I see a legitimate complaint, but the things that get me are the people that say they "will never sail Carnival again" because they couldn't get a chair right next to the pool or they didn't get towel animals every day, or (I loved this one) "they shelled my lobster tail but not my shrimp"!

 

If someone had a real bad experience and want's to let people know so that they can aviod it, that's one thing. But some of these complaints are very petty. :cool:

[golfb4cruzing]

Carnival, McDonalds, Walmart, Microsoft, Google. Everyone loves them. Everyone hates them. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Some of us have been cruising since the 90s or earlier. I value those opinions. Folks just starting or 2 cruises (both on Carnival) have nothing to compare to. The same can be said for this board from one year ago.

[crzndeb]

Carnival, McDonalds, Walmart, Microsoft, Google. Everyone loves them. Everyone hates them. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Some of us have been cruising since the 90s or earlier. I value those opinions. Folks just starting or 2 cruises (both on Carnival) have nothing to compare to. The same can be said for this board from one year ago.

 

Isn't that the truth? LOL

 

I started cruising in 1980 on Sitmar. The whole cruise industry has declined in the last 5-10 years. It doesn't stop me from cruising. If I don't like the way something is going, I change what I do. It's all about choices, and I'm sure glad we have them.

 

And I cruised 20 years before message boards...the anticipation was exciting, and there were no expectations.

Edited March 7, 2014 by crzndeb

[mrBit]

Isn't that the truth? LOL

 

I started cruising in 1980 on Sitmar. The whole cruise industry has declined in the last 5-10 years. It doesn't stop me from cruising. If I don't like the way something is going, I change what I do. It's all about choices, and I'm sure glad we have them.

 

And I cruised 20 years before message boards...the anticipation was exciting, and there were no expectations.

 

Very true, the old way... a truly genuine experience.... you only have what you have and wing it.

[cjknox]

The bottom line is that we all have our preferences and there is definitely nothing wrong with that. For my family and I though, we love vacation variety, which is why we think it is important to try an array of cruise lines and a variety of land vacations as well.

 

My love of cruising and travel in general lured me to start reading and eventually participating in the CC forums for many years now. Unfortunately though, it has become extremely evident that some posters on here seem to enjoy making inflammatory statements (which are not always true) just to see what kind of reactions they can pull out of others or what controversy they can stir up next. Unfortunately, this kind of activity is detrimental to websites like cruise critic because they are no longer places where genuine information, ideas, and opinions are shared. This means that when people (especially new cruisers) visit CC for needed information, opinions, or assistance they instead may get misinformation.

Edited March 7, 2014 by cjknox

[Lace]

The bottom line is that we all have our preferences and there is definitely nothing wrong with that. For my family and I though, we love vacation variety, which is why we think it is important to try an array of cruise lines and a variety of land vacations as well.

 

My love of cruising and travel in general lured me to start reading and eventually participating in the CC forums for many years now. Unfortunately though, it has become extremely evident that some posters on here seem to enjoy making inflammatory statements (which are not always true) just to see what kind of reactions they can pull out of others or what controversy they can stir up next. Unfortunately, this kind of activity is detrimental to websites like cruise critic because they are no longer places where genuine information, ideas, and opinions are shared. This means that when people (especially new cruisers) visit CC for needed information, opinions, or assistance they instead may get misinformation.

 

If you're as young as you sound, you wouldn't remember many of us used to go on vacations without the benefit of the Internet. No input unless something was in a travel magazine, or a face to face discussion.

 

One must also realize that one every cruise, every ship, every sailing, there is at least one that really hates their experience, one that really loves their experience, and everything else in between.

 

Yet the one you tap into whether face to face, in an opinion column, or now the Internet, that experience is solely theirs, and they are sharing it.

 

Personally, I love the input of all assorted cruisers, instead of the blindness we all walked into 20ish + years ago. Their experience might match my expectations, or not, but always realize its their experience.

[jackparts]

As someone else posted, you have not been on CCL in five years. How can you defend, let alone support, anything that has had so many changes? I have had good and bad cruises and explain what I feel has happened to me. That does not mean someone else has had the same experience due to their expectations. My recent NCL cruise was TERRIBLE and was made worse by NCCL's decisions but I do not tell anyone else not to cruise NCL. Bashing any line is fine, we are all allowed to have our own opinion, but please, have an accurate mindset.

[Beachdude]

For me, I dislike the "bashing" by people who have never sailed Carnival or those who have unrealistic expectation/utilize severe hyperbole in describing their experience.

.

 

 

I'm saying you are wrong, but how do you know they haven't cruised Carnival?

 

Burt

[jimbo5544]

As someone else posted, you have not been on CCL in five years. How can you defend, let alone support, anything that has had so many changes? I have had good and bad cruises and explain what I feel has happened to me. That does not mean someone else has had the same experience due to their expectations. My recent NCL cruise was TERRIBLE and was made worse by NCCL's decisions but I do not tell anyone else not to cruise NCL. Bashing any line is fine, we are all allowed to have our own opinion, but please, have an accurate mindset.

Offering opinions of your (or mine) cruise whether positive or negative is fine. The "bashing" comes into play from posters who have not sailed (or at least in a long time) whose main purpose is to spread negative comments, specifically regarding Carnival.

[fergusonvt]

I understand what the OP means. Whenever I told anyone last year that we had a CCL cruise booked they flinched. It ended up being one of my most favorite cruises and we would probably be doing another one next year except I had an NCL future cruise certificate to use. I did however book another CCL this morning for 2016 and I'm looking forward to it. I found that between CCL, NCL and RCI there wasn't a whole lot of difference. I actually thought the MDR on CCL was much better than RCI. Our RCI cruise was basically $1,000 more for a similar cabin (aft corner). Yes the ship was great with the climbing wall and wave rider but those are two things I can do without.

[Terre]

We have sailed on Celebrity, RCCL, NCL, Princess, and some that are no longer around, and when my non-cruising friends (and even those who've cruised a little) ask me which line is my favorite, they always seem surprised when I say Carnival. Someone even answered the other day, "really, even better than Royal Caribbean?" I said "yes", of course!

 

We love Carnival and have never had an issue with service, food, or anything else. In fact, I think the food is better on Carnival than on some of the other cruise lines I mentioned above.

 

I'm not sure how or when Carnival got a bad reputation, but my experience has been that it's just like all the others and better than some! I guess the "party" reputation depends on the time of year you go and that's the same on all lines, too.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Terre