Really missed the Carnival Experience

[meatloafsfan]

So we got home late last week from our side to side cruises on the Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) and Celebrity Summit (Celebrity).

 

I have always been a big supporter of not cruising only 1 line - each line has it's good and bad and reasons why to sail/not sail for that specific cruise.

 

That being said, I now have to say, I really missed Carnival.

 

Royal didn't have much going on entertainment wise for us (we're not active sport people) and we ended up eating in specialty dining 3 of the 6 nights. Food in the buffet was not good and MDR was okay (but not as good as Carnival). Service was the same around the ship but our room steward wasn't good (she announced herself by saying she only worked from 8-11am and then from 4-7pm). Dining service in the MDR was fine but I really missed the 3 person teams from Carnival. The beds are terrible and the pillows even worse. It's like they don't want you to sleep! On demand movies in the cabin are $12.99. The casino was terrible - all of the machines are up high. It was too uncomfortable to play for me (I'm short) and for my mother (in a wheelchair).

 

The plusses to Royal are the adult solarium pool (it has stairs in and is fresh water), and the refreshment package (non-alcoholic beverages).

 

The 3 of us agreed - no more Royal Caribbean - no matter what great deal I find!

 

 

Celebrity proved much better. We love Café Al Bacio, dining is better, they have a great buffet (cooked to order steaks, chicken breasts, fish or pork chops at lunch), good beds and bedding (fluffy pillows, soft blankets and comfortable beds). We also had a great room steward and experienced lots of great service around the ship.

 

Our MDR servers though weren't good. And I found the plethora of unneeded silverware, low lights and weak fake candles, tablecloths that almost dragged on the floor and overly complex and sometimes downright "weird" dishes to be too much. It made me truly appreciate the American Table menus and dining setting (I'll admit though - I've always been a fan of the AT - this just drove home the "why").

 

We still missed the hourly trivia that Carnival holds and the dining room shenanigans - plus the relaxed vibe and "get to know your fellow cruisers" atmosphere.

 

I'm very glad that 3 of the 4 of our upcoming cruises are on Carnival (with the 4th one being Disney).

 

I can't wait to be "home".

[bnorris10]

We did MSC Divina at Christmas and came to the same conclusion ... Now you can't go wrong with Disney its just an amazing boat and while I would love to spend another week aboard I just can't justify the price of it :-)

 

After my Divina experience the hubby and I decided that Carnival is now the ship of choice - We have one smaller cruise line that does night trips we will go on but from here on out I will just work on becoming platinum

[FloridaMommyof3]

June is my last cruise for ... I am actually not sure. I was considering (if I cruise again) to try RC as I really want to experience one of the Oasis class, but when I read things like this I change my mind, and it seems I hear it a lot.

[bnorris10]

June is my last cruise for ... I am actually not sure. I was considering (if I cruise again) to try RC as I really want to experience one of the Oasis class, but when I read things like this I change my mind, and it seems I hear it a lot.

 

 

For the right price I might would try the Allure ship once just to have that experience but the price is never right so I will just stick to what I love

[meatloafsfan]

June is my last cruise for ... I am actually not sure. I was considering (if I cruise again) to try RC as I really want to experience one of the Oasis class, but when I read things like this I change my mind, and it seems I hear it a lot.

 

 

We cruise for food, sleep, casino and a bit of entertainment. Royal didn't deliver this time for any of the 4 categories.

 

There are some definite plusses to Royal like the Solarium pools, the headliner shows (for most people it's a plus), their consistency in cabins (not too many hidden odd ones like Carnival's 4J's or whatnot) and their discounts for specialty dining (I paid only $50 per person for all 3 specialty restaurants due to their BOGO offer for the first two nights and a steep discount for Sabor on the last night).

 

If you really want to try an Oasis class ship - do it. They have multiple entertainment venues (though book ahead), and lots of specialty restaurants and more "free eateries" than their other ships. Just go in expecting to specialty dining for good to excellent food.

[DebJ14]

"I found the plethora of unneeded silverware." Seriously? Glad to hear that Celebrity is still setting the table assuming that people know what to use for each course. Cruise lines used to set the table every night for 5 course meals. I hate being handed my silverware one piece at a time like they do on Carnival. I figure they think their passengers are too stupid to know which fork or knife to use for each course.

 

 

If you came to my house for a dinner party or for a holiday meal you would find that plethora of unneeded sterling flatware as I set the table properly and assume my guests know which of the 3 or 4 forks, 2 or 3 knives, butter knife and 3 spoons they are supposed to use for each of the 5 courses served. The exact silverware pieces used depends on what is being served at that particular meal. Oh, and you will never eat dinner at my dining room table without a tablecloth.

[meatloafsfan]

"I found the plethora of unneeded silverware." Seriously? Glad to hear that Celebrity is still setting the table assuming that people know what to use for each course. Cruise lines used to set the table every night for 5 course meals. I hate being handed my silverware one piece at a time like they do on Carnival. I figure they think their passengers are too stupid to know which fork or knife to use for each course.

 

 

If you came to my house for a dinner party or for a holiday meal you would find that plethora of unneeded sterling flatware as I set the table properly and assume my guests know which of the 3 or 4 forks, 2 or 3 knives, butter knife and 3 spoons they are supposed to use for each of the 5 courses served. The exact silverware pieces used depends on what is being served at that particular meal. Oh, and you will never eat dinner at my dining room table without a tablecloth.

 

 

Yes - it bothered me.

 

You sit down to 3 forks, 3 knifes, a soup spoon, and a dessert spoon.

The servers were constantly having to reach around the table to remove the extra silverware after each course (if my mother only had soup - no appetizer or salad, they would come back to the table and remove the appetizer/salad fork and knife - and we rarely stayed for dessert). It felt like the servers were constantly removing stuff from the table and it felt wasteful - both of their time and of the resources used to wash and reset everything.

 

I know which piece of flatware to use with each course. I prefer to have only what I need and not have someone flitting around the table constantly removing stuff. By the end of the cruise, I felt the need to pile up all of the unused silverware into the used dishes so that it didn't cause more work for the server or assistant server.

 

I'd rather have a clean, nice table than whatever is trying to be hidden by a tablecloth.

[nhsails]

I'm with DebJ. There is a difference between eating and dining. We prefer dining. I find American Table menu boring and uninspired, so adjust accordingly. The joy of many cruisers, try many and find a few you enjoy and feel comfortable with. Happy Sailing

[mishka422]

We cruise for food, sleep, casino and a bit of entertainment. Royal didn't deliver this time for any of the 4 categories.

 

There are some definite plusses to Royal like the Solarium pools, the headliner shows (for most people it's a plus), their consistency in cabins (not too many hidden odd ones like Carnival's 4J's or whatnot) and their discounts for specialty dining (I paid only $50 per person for all 3 specialty restaurants due to their BOGO offer for the first two nights and a steep discount for Sabor on the last night).

 

If you really want to try an Oasis class ship - do it. They have multiple entertainment venues (though book ahead), and lots of specialty restaurants and more "free eateries" than their other ships. Just go in expecting to specialty dining for good to excellent food.

If you cruise for the casino, you're going to be disappointed on Disney. They don't have one.

 

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[StolidCruiser]

So we got home late last week from our side to side cruises on the Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) and Celebrity Summit (Celebrity).

 

.

.

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I'm very glad that 3 of the 4 of our upcoming cruises are on Carnival (with the 4th one being Disney).

 

I can't wait to be "home".

 

 

The lovely thing about having choices and variety in cruising options is finding the one that satisfies you the most.

 

Enjoy the one that makes you happy! :D

[ryano]

Ive been on Freedom of the Seas twice. She is a beautiful ship! She is huge and flows very nicely and there is a WOW factor the first time you step foot on her or at least there was for me. Thats about where it stops for me though. It is my opinion that least on Carnival Magic, the food (both included and upcharge), service and everything else about the cruise was better and for less money.

 

Im gonna cruise on Oasis just to say i have but I too see myself sailing Carnivals newer ships more often. Cant wait til Breeze comes to PC.

[PhotoMike]

 

I'm very glad that 3 of the 4 of our upcoming cruises are on Carnival (with the 4th one being Disney).

 

 

I don't have anything to offer this thread other than I'm pretty jealous that you have 4 more upcoming cruises planned...:D

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

I loved my rccl cruises. If prices were the same, I'd be on oasis in a heartbeat

 

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[Alaskan Joe]

Yes - it bothered me.

 

You sit down to 3 forks, 3 knifes, a soup spoon, and a dessert spoon.

The servers were constantly having to reach around the table to remove the extra silverware after each course (if my mother only had soup - no appetizer or salad, they would come back to the table and remove the appetizer/salad fork and knife - and we rarely stayed for dessert). It felt like the servers were constantly removing stuff from the table and it felt wasteful - both of their time and of the resources used to wash and reset everything.

 

I know which piece of flatware to use with each course. I prefer to have only what I need and not have someone flitting around the table constantly removing stuff. By the end of the cruise, I felt the need to pile up all of the unused silverware into the used dishes so that it didn't cause more work for the server or assistant server.

 

I'd rather have a clean, nice table than whatever is trying to be hidden by a tablecloth.

 

 

I'm with you meatloafsfan give me a spoon, fork, and a knife (steak knife if I get a steak). No need to remove and replace for apps, main course, and dessert. I will just lick them off and reuse :eek:....LoL. Right after I typed that I swore I heard my DW say Kevin James knock it off, your embarrassing me, and she not even here to see me type this...LoL. I would rather them spend more time on making the meal better then setting/removing table items.

[meatloafsfan]

I don't have anything to offer this thread other than I'm pretty jealous that you have 4 more upcoming cruises planned...:D

 

 

I plan ahead - far ahead. Many of my cruises are booked more than a year in advance. This way, I always have something to look forward to.

 

I'm with you meatloafsfan give me a spoon, fork, and a knife (steak knife if I get a steak). No need to remove and replace for apps, main course, and dessert. I will just lick them off and reuse :eek:....LoL. Right after I typed that I swore I heard my DW say Kevin James knock it off, your embarrassing me, and she not even here to see me type this...LoL. I would rather them spend more time on making the meal better then setting/removing table items.

 

 

I'm okay with being given clean silverware for what I'm eating - I just don't see the need to set a table for all possibilities and then have to keep taking stuff away - as my mother frequently said, "Do you think we're going to steal it?"

[meatloafsfan]

If you cruise for the casino, you're going to be disappointed on Disney. They don't have one.

 

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I've sailed Disney 6 times - I know about the no casino. It's our one non-gambling trip. Love that they have the movie theatre on board, free on demand movies, character meet and greets and Disney shows.

[skywalkr2]

I agree that I prefer my food to be good, but also that the dining experience be more casual. I don't want to be worried about people scrutinizing my table manners during the meals.

[gfsmith]

I'm with you meatloafsfan give me a spoon, fork, and a knife (steak knife if I get a steak). No need to remove and replace for apps, main course, and dessert. I will just lick them off and reuse :eek:....LoL. Right after I typed that I swore I heard my DW say Kevin James knock it off, your embarrassing me, and she not even here to see me type this...LoL. I would rather them spend more time on making the meal better then setting/removing table items.

 

 

Amen !!!! I;m right there with you just clean it off and bring me the next course. LMAO If it offends someone oh well, they should worry more about why their watching me eat :eek: :D

[gfsmith]

I've sailed Disney 6 times - I know about the no casino. It's our one non-gambling trip. Love that they have the movie theatre on board, free on demand movies, character meet and greets and Disney shows.

 

 

We did Disney and personally i wasnt impressed, but for the kiddos it was great which is why we went Disney in the first place. They offer a A+++ children program.