Bring back the tablecloths!

[1kaper]

Oh MY, DH will love this, he is a perfectionist and likes things to go as scheduled. And possible water drops on his pants will not do. Those cocktail napkins to pack may not be a joke!

 

I guess the wine is what is paired with dinner as a suggestion? Then we would want it in a chilled container tableside......do they still have those anymore? Is iced tea still available upon request?

 

No world problems solved here.

 

It is the same type of red wine each night (again can't remember which) so I doubt it is paired with the meals.

You can get iced tea, not sure about the chilled container, we didn't order any wine this trip.

[Ocean Dancer]

It is the same type of red wine each night (again can't remember which) so I doubt it is paired with the meals.

You can get iced tea, not sure about the chilled container, we didn't order any wine this trip.

 

Again bad planning on their part. IMO the wine should be paired with the dinner menu and changed each night. It just makes sense to me!

 

I just put pretty cocktail napkins on my shopping list, Must be prepared! We can't let tablecloths, or lack of ruin a cruise.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Ocean Dancer

[sjn911]

I recently saw a photo of a friend...has sold cruises for a long time and now only goes 5 and 5 star and mostly Crystal. Whatever restaurant they were in and this was out of context so not sure what ship..there was way more room and placemats..huge round placemats and huge leather chairs for each seated. I guess the arguement could go either way for less room on needing table cloths..

 

I am so glad many still reporting good food and service..but cold and slow service is happening much more now too..keep getting your groove back Carnival...and definitely first world problem. But know a guy in India from a blog who got chef training at a 5 star and he did send a cruise photo with he and his buddies..but we are fancier and so very fortunate..we just have to find a way to all be living well I pray for this planet..end of soapbox..back to wanting next cruise to be like 2009 in dinning room..with or without tablecloths..but I love them..LOL...they just dress it up...Sarah

Edited March 22, 2014 by sjn911

[skiwee]

We were on the Pride in November when tablecloths were used. Honestly the dining room felt like a Denny's. Was loud, crowded, and not very classy. I don't think tablecloths helped it.

 

 

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[Boozebabe]

In my opinion if you have 2 nights in the dining room called "cruise elegant" I think that should justify tablecloths. I guess next we'll get paper plates, napkins and plastic forks. Note this day 3/21/2014 BoozeBabe predicted paper plates on Carnival cruise ships. I think if they want to save on laundry they could cut back on cabin linens. Afterall who changes their sheets daily at home? The beginning of the cruise would be fine with me and change ONLY if requested by passenger. I'd also re-use the bath towels. Just give me clean wash cloths every day and make the bed. Thank you. But keep the damned tablecloths on the tables.

[Ocean Dancer]

We were on the Pride in November when tablecloths were used. Honestly the dining room felt like a Denny's. Was loud, crowded, and not very classy. I don't think tablecloths helped it.

 

 

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We also were on the Pride recently and had a different experience. We were the ONLY ones seated at a table for 8, many tables were empty around us, only a few were full. A good thing I like my DH as we could not make any new friends during dinner, and had to talk to each other! It was fun to people watch, and our server Beatrice was a gem! No it was not noisy , or feel like Denny's. But it was way more relaxed as we remember.

[1kaper]

In my opinion if you have 2 nights in the dining room called "cruise elegant" I think that should justify tablecloths. I guess next we'll get paper plates, napkins and plastic forks. Note this day 3/21/2014 BoozeBabe predicted paper plates on Carnival cruise ships. I think if they want to save on laundry they could cut back on cabin linens. Afterall who changes their sheets daily at home? The beginning of the cruise would be fine with me and change ONLY if requested by passenger. I'd also re-use the bath towels. Just give me clean wash cloths every day and make the bed. Thank you. But keep the damned tablecloths on the tables.

 

I may be misunderstanding your post so forgive me if I am, but just to clarify, there are tableclothes on Elegant night.

[ShakyBeef]

We were on the Pride in November when tablecloths were used. Honestly the dining room felt like a Denny's. Was loud, crowded, and not very classy. I don't think tablecloths helped it.

 

 

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Yes, the Normandie Dining Room is very loud, isn't it? The worst of any MDR I've been in, on any line. The design of that space is just wrong, somehow, making for really bad accoustics.:( I keep thinking lack of tablecloths is only going to make the noise worse in there. And I've never seen any Carnival MDR that was very classy. Have you?:cool::p

[ShakyBeef]

In my opinion if you have 2 nights in the dining room called "cruise elegant" I think that should justify tablecloths. I guess next we'll get paper plates, napkins and plastic forks. Note this day 3/21/2014 BoozeBabe predicted paper plates on Carnival cruise ships. I think if they want to save on laundry they could cut back on cabin linens. Afterall who changes their sheets daily at home? The beginning of the cruise would be fine with me and change ONLY if requested by passenger. I'd also re-use the bath towels. Just give me clean wash cloths every day and make the bed. Thank you. But keep the damned tablecloths on the tables.

 

 

Uh... I, too, may be misunderstanding your post, but do you think they change the linens daily now? They don't. You're already sleeping on the same linens all week;), so there's not much room for more cutbacks in that department.:rolleyes::p

[GranysT]

Yeah, they haven't changed the sheets daily, on a cruise, since I don't remember when. It's been awhile though.

 

Not so sure on getting paper plates and plastic forks.:eek:I would think having to buy all those things constantly, would be a lot more expensive than washing the china and silver.

 

Of course, if a bean counter suggests them "washing" the plastic ware. Well, who knows.

[cruisin2ccu]

I remember when, at dinner, they would pull your chair out for you and place your napkin in your lap. Not so much anymore, and not saying that I can't do it for myself, but it was one of those little things that made a cruise seem...special. From what I'm seeing here they are leaving water on the table rather than refilling the glasses for you...again, not something I can't do for myself, but kinda changes the dynamic of the evening. I still love to cruise and have a great time but it seems that lately something has been missing.

[tinkerbella]

My concern is not so much the lack of tablecloths but a sanitary question. I've seen this in dozens of restaurants and question the cleanliness. When the tables are wiped (washed off), how clean is the cloth used and how many tables are wiped with it before washing or changing to a new one.

Our favorite restaurant (with bare tables) has a squirt bottle with some type of disinfectant (or other solution) they use to spray the table and then wipe off with paper towels which are immediatly discarded. With the chance of Noro and some people not disinfecting their hands before eating there seems to be a better chance of contamimation. Just my opinion.

 

Just Off the same sailing as Grouchpuss, No tablecloths any night and I never knew what to do with my ice tea spoon or fork between courses. I didn't want to put them back on the table. Also after putting the napkin on my lap I had to leave the clean silverware on the table. I watched the waiters use the same rag to bus several tables. It actually was kind of gross. I utilized my bread plate as much as possible.

[1kaper]

I remember when, at dinner, they would pull your chair out for you and place your napkin in your lap. Not so much anymore, and not saying that I can't do it for myself, but it was one of those little things that made a cruise seem...special. From what I'm seeing here they are leaving water on the table rather than refilling the glasses for you...again, not something I can't do for myself, but kinda changes the dynamic of the evening. I still love to cruise and have a great time but it seems that lately something has been missing.

 

They still pulled the chair out for me every night.

 

From what I understand, they are supposed to pour your water and keep it refilled. Every night they poured it for me, but only one waiter kept on top of keeping it full. Another did it a few times and one we had didn't at all. But I drink a lot of water too, so keep that in mind. I pretty much drank the whole carafe myself every night.

[skiwee]

Yes, the Normandie Dining Room is very loud, isn't it? The worst of any MDR I've been in, on any line. The design of that space is just wrong, somehow, making for really bad accoustics.:( I keep thinking lack of tablecloths is only going to make the noise worse in there. And I've never seen any Carnival MDR that was very classy. Have you?:cool::p

 

 

I've only been on one Carnival cruise so have no idea what others look like. We ate during any time dining so the noise from the downstairs funneled up. It was horrible.

 

 

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Edited March 22, 2014 by skiwee

[skiwee]

We also were on the Pride recently and had a different experience. We were the ONLY ones seated at a table for 8, many tables were empty around us, only a few were full. A good thing I like my DH as we could not make any new friends during dinner, and had to talk to each other! It was fun to people watch, and our server Beatrice was a gem! No it was not noisy , or feel like Denny's. But it was way more relaxed as we remember.

 

 

We were in any time dining so we prefer to eat alone and converse. We were on the floor above where you ate. The noise funneled up to that area. Wasn't pleasant but we only ate dinner there once. We ended up at David's every night after that.

 

 

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Edited March 22, 2014 by skiwee

[Pine Bluff]

1st world problem

 

 

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Where else could one have one on a 1st world vacation?

[kew1031]

We haven't been on a cruise since early October, 2012. We were on the Magic then.

I'm not a fan of stuffy formal dining, but some of the elegance was nice.

We've always done early dining, usually assigned at a 10 top with other couples in our age bracket.

This upcoming cruise on the Triumph, we just got confirmation for Anytime dining, which we've never done before.

so, Triumph? fancy or not fancy? tablecloths or not? and how's the Anytime dining on this ship?

[Boozebabe]

Uh... I, too, may be misunderstanding your post, but do you think they change the linens daily now? They don't. You're already sleeping on the same linens all week;), so there's not much room for more cutbacks in that department.:rolleyes::p

 

I cruised the Breeze twice last year and they changed our linens every day. I can tell when there are sheets that I have already slept in.

[missy428]

1st world problem

 

 

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THIS!!!! Lol

 

 

I don't think I would mind no table cloths unless the table was really gross, I think no table cloths makes the experience more warm and cozy. White tablecloths seem stuffy and old fashioned to me

Edited March 25, 2014 by missy428

[ShakyBeef]

I cruised the Breeze twice last year and they changed our linens every day. I can tell when there are sheets that I have already slept in.

 

Wow, really? I didn't know any of the ships were still changing bed linens daily. That's surprisng and impressive. The ships I have been on in the last few years have not changed the sheets daily. On our 10-day Celebrity cruise in 2010, we got a linen change mid-week. And I believe we did on our 10-day Royal cruise a couple months ago, too. But all our week-long cruises on Carnival have been with the same bed linens all week. And this is all I've heard from others as well. I guess if the sheets were obviously stained or soiled each night they would have to change them daily.