Carnival Cruisers What Would Make you leave Carnival?

[fuddrules]

Could you elaborate on what you mean about "class system", and "keeping some areas of the ship for the exclusive use of first class passengers"? I've never experienced that. What exactly do you consider "first class" passengers? I know that Carnival changed their past guest party to be for only Platinum and Diamond cruisers about a year ago. Is that what you're referring to?

 

The new Vista does have the Havana area. It's not considered first class but the cabins do come at a premium. Some of the area is for the exclusive use of those staying in the Havana designated cabins until 5 pm. After 5 pm it's open to all.

 

I guess it's kind of a way to get away from the crowds on the Lido during peak times.

[Thebosn1]

They will probably eventually price themselves out of my economic reality.

 

Or if the main dining room offerings become grim and the numbers of extra fee eateries increases.

 

And if they do more of the "class system" sort of things, like keeping some areas of the ship for the exclusive use of "first class" passengers.

 

We have been platinum for quite a while, but I shop all the alternatives for every cruise.

So I guess we are loyal to ourselves and our budget.

 

What "class system" things are the currently doing? You kind of lost me on that one.

[Thebosn1]

The new Vista does have the Havana area. It's not considered first class but the cabins do come at a premium. Some of the area is for the exclusive use of those staying in the Havana designated cabins until 5 pm. After 5 pm it's open to all.

 

I guess it's kind of a way to get away from the crowds on the Lido during peak times.

 

Interesting, I didn't realize that. I have to check that out, I had no idea. I just thought the cabins were more expensive because of the location, like a spa balcony or something.

[golfb4cruzing]

Everyone claims Carnival to be the cheapest. I think the whole vibe onboard is cheap. Carnival is/has turned into an extension of home. We go away for something new/different. Carnival crowd is not my day to day crowd so spending a week trapped, does not get me excited. The whole experience is less than decades ago and luckily we have the freedom to go where things have not fallen off to that extent yet. When it does, we'll move on again.

[cmukid87]

I'm sure a lot of people have said this but, I'll stop when Carnival doesn't offer me the cheapest cruise.

 

All I really care about is going somewhere warm on vacation. On average, Carnival seems to be the cheapest overall for my family. I like cruising out of Galveston because the port fees and taxes are less than in Florida and airfare for my family is cheaper than any other port.

 

It's all about the $ for me. I feel fortunate to be able to spend money on vacation with my family. It's something my parents were never able to do so I love it either way. And I'd like to vacation and cruise more over cruising less on a different line (right now).

[Podna's]

Everyone claims Carnival to be the cheapest. I think the whole vibe onboard is cheap. Carnival is/has turned into an extension of home. We go away for something new/different. Carnival crowd is not my day to day crowd so spending a week trapped, does not get me excited. The whole experience is less than decades ago and luckily we have the freedom to go where things have not fallen off to that extent yet. When it does, we'll move on again.

 

 

Gotta say I definitely cruise a different Carnival than the one you are describing. If so I can't wait to be "trapped" on my next 3 CCL cruises.

[Warm Breezes]

Everyone claims Carnival to be the cheapest. I think the whole vibe onboard is cheap. Carnival is/has turned into an extension of home. We go away for something new/different. Carnival crowd is not my day to day crowd so spending a week trapped, does not get me excited. The whole experience is less than decades ago and luckily we have the freedom to go where things have not fallen off to that extent yet. When it does, we'll move on again.

 

I don't know where your home is, but my home nothing like Carnival. On Carnival people cook my family good meals and do our dishes, clean our rooms, entertain us, drive us to beautiful places, and gives us a place to hang out with a beautiful ocean view. I don't get any of that at home. The family demographic is perfect for us and we have never felt "trapped". We actually hate it when they kick us off at the end of the week. You were right to move on because Carnival does not meet your wants for a vacation....but I certainly wouldn't call the vibe onboard "cheap"...I do find it to be a great value for our money though. FWIW we are not loyal to Carnival because they don't always meet our wants for a certain vacation....but I sure would rather sail on Carnival for my vacation than have a staycation at home.

[Indytraveler83]

The "Carnival is cheap" crowd bugs me. Carnival is very informal with relaxed rules and dress code. I've found significantly better prices with NCL on occasion, but still went with Carnival.

 

If this isn't for you, great, RCI or Princess is certainly more formal. But I spend most of my days at work being told what I can and can't wear, what I can and can't do and find myself on a never ending and impossible schedule.

 

For vacation I don't want to have to schedule every part of my day months in advance, I want to go to dinner in jeans and a t shirt and if I have to pack a sport coat, someone better be dead or getting married, they don't belong on vacation for me. The vibe on the more formal ships feels like the environment I work in.

 

Don't make Carnival try to be like RCI. They are different for a reason. If Carnival's vibe is too informal, sail with someone else. That's not an insult or cheerleading. It's a simple statement, sail with the company that best fits you and enjoy.

[cmukid87]

The "Carnival is cheap" crowd bugs me. Carnival is very informal with relaxed rules and dress code. I've found significantly better prices with NCL on occasion, but still went with Carnival.

 

If this isn't for you, great, RCI or Princess is certainly more formal. But I spend most of my days at work being told what I can and can't wear, what I can and can't do and find myself on a never ending and impossible schedule.

 

For vacation I don't want to have to schedule every part of my day months in advance, I want to go to dinner in jeans and a t shirt and if I have to pack a sport coat, someone better be dead or getting married, they don't belong on vacation for me. The vibe on the more formal ships feels like the environment I work in.

 

Don't make Carnival try to be like RCI. They are different for a reason. If Carnival's vibe is too informal, sail with someone else. That's not an insult or cheerleading. It's a simple statement, sail with the company that best fits you and enjoy.

 

Amen. That sums it up pretty stinkin' well.

[snookcruiser]

Sailed with Carnival many times with a co-worker(we were both Platinum) until she went on a Baltic cruise that I did not sail with her. She was told that she had to put her luggage out the night before because of some kind of shuttle situation. That was the last time she saw her luggage. She had to argue with Carnival many, many times to get more than $50 that was offered to her. She lost all her clothes and all of her souvenirs from the many ports she visited. She was tired of being told that there wasn't anything that Carnival could do for her. She finally received a fair compensation for her belongings but not without much aggravation, time, and stress. From then on, she would not sail on a Carnival cruise ship and never put out luggage again. We cruised again but with Norwegian and Princess. Unfortunately, she was undergoing chemo treatments for breast cancer at the time all of this was happening which added to her stress. She and I took our last cruise together in March 2015 before she passed away in June 2015. I now with take my luggage off the ship and will not put it out the night before we disembark.

[Tapi]

The "Carnival is cheap" crowd bugs me.

 

Why should it? Carnival cruisers come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, social levels, incomes, etc. What one person may consider cheap someone else may consider luxury. Who's wrong? Who should be "bugged" by the others opinion? In my opinion, nobody. It's all about personal life experiences and perceptions.

 

For example, I have friends on the Elation right now who saved for over two years for this cruise. They drove down to New Orleans and spent the night before the cruise at the Days Inn. The highlight of the cruise will be going to Margaritaville. And they've excitedly posted every single moment of this vacation on FB! For someone else, just the thought of staying at a Days Inn would've made them cringe, yet for my friends, the experience is something that they are not used to on a regular basis and something to be thrilled about. For them, this entire vacation is a luxury that they can only splurge on every couple of years. Once again, who's wrong? Should someone be bugged by my friend's perceptions?

 

Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed my Carnival cruises over the decades, but I've done so because, when I sail on them, I go with realistic expectations. I expect convenient, casual, laid back, and yes, cheap. Not for a moment do I expect anything beyond that. I don't try to convince myself that the Carnival experience won't be a budget one. Otherwise I'd be setting myself up for disappointment. Nothing wrong with cheap as long as I embrace it and don't complain about it later.

 

I do agree that people shouldn't sail on Carnival and then complain because it's not Princess or Royal, etc, just like people shouldn't sail on other cruise lines expecting Carnival. I will agree that it does bug me when I read reviews from people who chose a Carnival cruise because of price, but then they are disappointed because the experience fell short of expectations. Thoughts of "did these people do ANY research in advance?!" and "what did they expect at these prices?!" always cross my mind, and I'm pretty sure I know the answers.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Tapi

[ryano]

 

If this isn't for you, great, RCI or Princess is certainly more formal. .

 

Meh, not really. Royals ships may be a little more "fancier" or "elegant" decor wise but I really dont find the guests to be any different or any more formal than my last Carnival cruise almost 8 years ago. Royal is not enforcing any kind of dress code whatsoever and its just about anything goes in the MDR these days.

 

In fact, I doubt much about my upcoming cruise with Carnival will be that much different at all.

 

I can already tell you about two pluses for Carnival over Royal for me is that the steakhouse on Magic will serve me a USDA Prime cut of beef instead of trying to charge me 18-20 dollars extra on top of the 35.00 per person charge that Chops charges AND Guys is included instead of paying 6.95 pp for a mediocre Johnny Rockets :D

 

For me, Carnival IS "cheaper" than my last cruise on RC but Im ok with that. Royal prices on everything is getting outrageous!

Edited February 23, 2016 by ryano

[TaDaaa!]

I look for the ports I want, the type ship I want, and the cost. Then I see who is the cheapest. I am loyal to my wallet, not a cruise line (which is why I have sailed 5 cruise lines so far). So almost anything will make me sail someone other than Carnival (though usually Carnival is the cruise line that fits the bill hence more sailings on Carnival than anyone else).

[Giffer]

We are moving away from Carnival for several reasons, not just one. We despise the American Table. The limited menu along with no table clothes just irritates us. The change in the VIFP program (lack of return cruiser party for Gold status). The now limited wait staff in the comedy club and in the main show auditorium. In January they had two bar waiters working the Punchliner. One show we never did have one come near our table. The next night we had a server come by our table, but her attitude was poor. We ended up with two warm cans of soda with no glasses, no ice and no straws on our table. Finally the socioeconomics status of the Carnival clientele is going down hill. While I understand it is the "affordable" cruise line, it is also becoming the WalMart cruise line. It appears to us that more of the cruisers are just uneducated, ill mannered and uncouth. We have one more cruise in September on Carnival and then it is Royal Caribbean and Norwegian only.

[ryano]

We are moving away from Carnival for several reasons, not just one. We despise the American Table. The limited menu along with no table clothes just irritates us. The change in the VIFP program (lack of return cruiser party for Gold status). The now limited wait staff in the comedy club and in the main show auditorium. In January they had two bar waiters working the Punchliner. One show we never did have one come near our table. The next night we had a server come by our table, but her attitude was poor. We ended up with two warm cans of soda with no glasses, no ice and no straws on our table. Finally the socioeconomics status of the Carnival clientele is going down hill. While I understand it is the "affordable" cruise line, it is also becoming the WalMart cruise line. It appears to us that more of the cruisers are just uneducated, ill mannered and uncouth. We have one more cruise in September on Carnival and then it is Royal Caribbean and Norwegian only.

 

These same complaints can be found on every mass market cruise line forum here. It almost seems like a race to the bottom on how much they can cutback and get away with it.

 

Speaking for Royal Caribbean only, they have cut back on staff to the point that service in the MDR is mediocre to just downright terrible at best most of the time and its about impossible to get a drink in the dining room, by the pool, in the theater or just about anywhere else onboard unless you pad the pockets of a favorite bartender :rolleyes: Cabin attendants now have twice the cabins to attend most of the time with no assistant. Service is not even CLOSE to what it was 3 or 4 years ago IMO!

 

I wont comment on the "socioeconomics" of the guests but if you think you wont find the same type guests on RC of Norwegian, Im afraid you are in for a big surprise :o

 

The grass isnt always greener on the other side :)

Edited February 23, 2016 by ryano

[cmukid87]

We are moving away from Carnival for several reasons, not just one. We despise the American Table. The limited menu along with no table clothes just irritates us. The change in the VIFP program (lack of return cruiser party for Gold status). The now limited wait staff in the comedy club and in the main show auditorium. In January they had two bar waiters working the Punchliner. One show we never did have one come near our table. The next night we had a server come by our table, but her attitude was poor. We ended up with two warm cans of soda with no glasses, no ice and no straws on our table. Finally the socioeconomics status of the Carnival clientele is going down hill. While I understand it is the "affordable" cruise line, it is also becoming the WalMart cruise line. It appears to us that more of the cruisers are just uneducated, ill mannered and uncouth. We have one more cruise in September on Carnival and then it is Royal Caribbean and Norwegian only.

 

"Socioeconomic status"....YIKES! I'd hate to be the type of person that is worried about the socioeconomic status of fellow cruisers. If you are concerned with status level, then good riddance. That's not the type of person I'd like to meet on the ship anyways.

[Giffer]

Having sailed twice with Royal in the past two years, we have not seen the lack of staff issues. I'm not saying that there aren't issues, they just aren't as important to us. And honestly I find the clientele on Royal a few grades above carnival. Yes, there are still some who I would not care to associate with, but I find them fewer in numbers. No line is going to be perfect, and I realize that.

[Pesh]

Finally the socioeconomics status of the Carnival clientele is going down hill. While I understand it is the "affordable" cruise line, it is also becoming the WalMart cruise line. It appears to us that more of the cruisers are just uneducated, ill mannered and uncouth. We have one more cruise in September on Carnival and then it is Royal Caribbean and Norwegian only.

 

"Socioeconomic status"....YIKES! I'd hate to be the type of person that is worried about the socioeconomic status of fellow cruisers. If you are concerned with status level, then good riddance. That's not the type of person I'd like to meet on the ship anyways.

 

I think the point Giffer was trying to make isn't about "status level" but about how some passengers act. Everyone likes to let loose and have a blast on board. But when you're in the nightclub and a fist fight breaks out or you wake up to find puke in the hallway and a passed out passenger, it really is a turn-off.

[halos]

There are many cruise lines for many tastes. We enjoyed CCL for many years and then we stopped enjoying it. Because we aren't monogamous to any cruise line, we sailed a few different ones and after a while stopped booking with CCL because we just felt like we got more elsewhere.

 

Entertainment on CCL was cut so much at one point that it was more than noticeable and after our last CCL cruise, back in 2012, (which was a 15 day cruise to Hawaii...many sea days and a big lack of things to do on board) we just stopped booking with them. I don't know if Carnival has improved since our last cruise on them or not, but I don't foresee us even tempted to give them another chance in the near future.

 

I am not one to say 'never again', but we honestly don't even look to Carnival when booking cruises anymore....so to answer the question, it was the lack of entertainment that put us off and the fact that other lines just seemed to give us a better cruise. We are paying a bit more for what we feel is a preferable (to us) cruise, but our vacation time is precious and to us, getting what we want is worth a little extra money.

 

Who knows, one day we might be back, just not in the near future. We have friends that just returned from one of the newer/bigger CCL ships (forget which one) and I was shocked to learn they had to choose between a morning or evening visit from the cabin steward....if you wanted your bed made and cabin freshened up in the mornings, then there was no night time turn down.

 

I'm praying other lines don't follow suit with this. To some this would be no big deal and I guess in the grand scheme it really isn't...but it is just another change on top of sooooo many.

 

 

I think the point Giffer was trying to make isn't about "status level" but about how some passengers act. Everyone likes to let loose and have a blast on board. But when you're in the nightclub and a fist fight breaks out or you wake up to find puke in the hallway and a passed out passenger, it really is a turn-off.

 

This is true and I agree totally.

Edited February 23, 2016 by halos

[Giffer]

I think the point Giffer was trying to make isn't about "status level" but about how some passengers act. Everyone likes to let loose and have a blast on board. But when you're in the nightclub and a fist fight breaks out or you wake up to find puke in the hallway and a passed out passenger, it really is a turn-off.

 

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. While we like to relax, we also like to be around people who have some standards in life.

[Pesh]

We have friends that just returned from one of the newer/bigger CCL ships (forget which one) and I was shocked to learn they had to choose between a morning or evening visit from the cabin steward....if you wanted your bed made and cabin freshened up in the mornings, then there was no night time turn down.

 

A lot of people on these boards say the decrease in cabin service doesn't matter to them. And people say table cloths, food selection, the entertainment, etc all don't matter either - they're just minor things. But all of those little things add up to create the ambiance of your vacation. How many little things get eliminated until the overall experience suffers?

 

Right now, I still enjoy cruising on CCL. I can't wait for my cruise in a few days! But I am concerned about losing the touches that made cruising special.

[Jeafl]

My deal breakers would probably be:

 

A steep decline in service

A large increase in prices with no more amenities to show for it

All restaurants having an extra fee

 

Other than that, I would have to say when I stopped having a good time. I can deal with pretty much anything else.

[ryano]

I think the point Giffer was trying to make isn't about "status level" but about how some passengers act. Everyone likes to let loose and have a blast on board. But when you're in the nightclub and a fist fight breaks out or you wake up to find puke in the hallway and a passed out passenger, it really is a turn-off.

 

Ive seen all that on Royal too :D

[tkportersat]

Glad you are happy, I lost vacations with my parents now. :(

 

What would make me bail on Carnival?

 

If they reinstated smoking on balconies. We didn't cruise on Carnival for a long time because of the smoking on balconies. When they got rid of it, we came back to Carnival.

[dmdiver]

Not really sure what my leaving point would be. I imagine it would not be just one thing, more like several things. I do not pay extra for food on my cruise & don't intend to. I would hate to see the comedy shows go away - I really enjoy those. And of course, it still has to be a good vacation value. While I think Breeze & Magic are beautiful ships, I was disappointed that there was no adult only pool. I love the Serenity area, but on a hot day, it's nice to be able to lounge in a pool without kids jumping in all around splashing & screaming.