Diminishing Quality on Carnival?

[spleenstomper]

I do feel like the food is down, but the upcharge restaurants are still good.

[Etta1213]

I have cruised Carnival and RC, loved each cruise. One preference, not a gripe, is the easier buffet setup on RC, with folks able to use both sides of some shorter buffet stations. However, I will NEVER turn down a cruise on either one!! It amazes me how the whole cruise, with food, cabins, for thousands, is accomplished!! Our favorite part of cruising, second to the magnificent ocean, is getting to talk to staff from many parts of the world, hearing their experiences, views.

[declansdad]

I'm sorry, but if you think your hotel is doing away with these services to lower the carbon footprint, you're extremely naive. They do it to lower their operating costs, plain and simple.

 

 

Why could it not be both?

[DukeASUGirl]

Why could it not be both?

 

Of course it's to lower their costs. But it has the benefit of lowering the carbon footprint as well. And they say you can choose to get service daily if you like. I choose to forgo since it's really not needed and I hate to waste water.

[NavarreCruiser]

Maybe I'm just low-maintenance, but I honestly don't understand why it's such a horror to have your room serviced once per day? Heck, the last land-based resort we went to (a nice one in Sedona over 4th of July just a few days ago), you had to specially request daily service. Many hotels and nice resorts are going to this model to save water/lower the carbon footprint of daily cleaning/washing sheets/towels/etc.

 

Why do you need your room cleaned twice per day? I don't get it

 

Lately, I have requested morning service but also asked for ice refill at hight. My stewards are very happy at that level of service.

[E@syPe@zy]

If you want to vacation and leave a smaller carbon footprint, may I suggest that you forgo cruising and do some eco backwoods camping.

I did the whole back pack camping and hiking when I was younger and 100 times more mobile. And I enjoyed it very much! So you can thank me for taking the low carbon footprint vacations for many years, but now I like to be a little pampered. And I'm not asking for anything extra that is not offered.

Just please don't try to guilt me into cleaning my own stateroom, making my own bed, and trying to dry off with damp towels. I've been taking care of my family and home for over 40 years in a frugal and conservative manner. I think a week or two a year of someone else taking over those duties is not to much to ask. Particularly when those services are offered.

If that's what you want to do, then fine, but nobody is asking you to do that. Just do it without the campaign that everyone else should do it.

[bobandsherry]

^^^^ 100% agree... Especially the carbon footprint reduction alternative, got a chuckle from me.

 

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[DukeASUGirl]

But how is having your room only serviced once per day "cleaning your own room"? That's all I'm saying. I'm certainly not arguing you shouldn't have service. But I guess I just don't understand people being upset by having their room only serviced ONCE per day.

[bobandsherry]

But how is having your room only serviced once per day "cleaning your own room"? That's all I'm saying. I'm certainly not arguing you shouldn't have service. But I guess I just don't understand people being upset by having their room only serviced ONCE per day.

For me, it's all about towels. Morning workout then a shower. So want room serviced. Then shower before dinner as we get back from excursions, day at beach, day at pool or just walking around in the heat. So service again. Now if Carnival would provide more than one towel per person in the room that may help. But still like service twice a day and with turn down, towel animal and ice bucket refilled.

 

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[cathyoo]

Maybe I'm just low-maintenance, but I honestly don't understand why it's such a horror to have your room serviced once per day? Heck, the last land-based resort we went to (a nice one in Sedona over 4th of July just a few days ago), you had to specially request daily service. Many hotels and nice resorts are going to this model to save water/lower the carbon footprint of daily cleaning/washing sheets/towels/etc.

 

Why do you need your room cleaned twice per day? I don't get it

Sure I only make my bed and straighten my bedroom once a day. However I don't hang in my bedroom and while we are not messy people it is nice to come back to a freshened room. It is not something I will request no will I stop cruising because of it It was just something nice for us Generally when we book hotel rooms we book one with a separate living area so the bedroom stays neater after the morning make up.

[Joebucks]

If you want to vacation and leave a smaller carbon footprint, may I suggest that you forgo cruising and do some eco backwoods camping.

I did the whole back pack camping and hiking when I was younger and 100 times more mobile. And I enjoyed it very much! So you can thank me for taking the low carbon footprint vacations for many years, but now I like to be a little pampered. And I'm not asking for anything extra that is not offered.

Just please don't try to guilt me into cleaning my own stateroom, making my own bed, and trying to dry off with damp towels. I've been taking care of my family and home for over 40 years in a frugal and conservative manner. I think a week or two a year of someone else taking over those duties is not to much to ask. Particularly when those services are offered.

If that's what you want to do, then fine, but nobody is asking you to do that. Just do it without the campaign that everyone else should do it.

 

The "carbon footprint" is just cost savings through marketing.

 

I've never once had to clean my own room, make my own bed, or had damp towels on a cruise. If you need that done twice per day, I would say you spend too much time in the room, and maybe cruising is not for you.

[declansdad]

If you want to vacation and leave a smaller carbon footprint, may I suggest that you forgo cruising and do some eco backwoods camping.

I did the whole back pack camping and hiking when I was younger and 100 times more mobile. And I enjoyed it very much! So you can thank me for taking the low carbon footprint vacations for many years, but now I like to be a little pampered. And I'm not asking for anything extra that is not offered.

Just please don't try to guilt me into cleaning my own stateroom, making my own bed, and trying to dry off with damp towels. I've been taking care of my family and home for over 40 years in a frugal and conservative manner. I think a week or two a year of someone else taking over those duties is not to much to ask. Particularly when those services are offered.

If that's what you want to do, then fine, but nobody is asking you to do that. Just do it without the campaign that everyone else should do it.

 

So you are saying that by reducing the amount of laundry being done on a daily basis and by reducing the amount of cleaning products being used they are not reducing the carbon foot print?

[E@syPe@zy]

So you are saying that by reducing the amount of laundry being done on a daily basis and by reducing the amount of cleaning products being used they are not reducing the carbon foot print?

 

What I said was that if you are concerned about "your" carbon foot print, then choosing a cruise for a vacation is a poor choice. There are other vacations that are much more eco friendly.

"You" have to make the choice that you think is most important to you.

Let's face it, the amount of food waste both in preparation, storage, and serving is probably the single largest factor in attributing to a larger carbon foot print.

Maybe we should bring our own eating utensils and plates and take them back to our stateroom and wash them ourselves. :rolleyes: And have a rule that you have to eat whatever is on your plate before you can get anything else to eat. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[declansdad]

What I said was that if you are concerned about "your" carbon foot print, then choosing a cruise for a vacation is a poor choice. There are other vacations that are much more eco friendly.

"You" have to make the choice that you think is most important to you.

Let's face it, the amount of food waste both in preparation, storage, and serving is probably the single largest factor in attributing to a larger carbon foot print.

Maybe we should bring our own eating utensils and plates and take them back to our stateroom and wash them ourselves. :rolleyes: And have a rule that you have to eat whatever is on your plate before you can get anything else to eat. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

I know what you said but you didn't answer my question.

[pacruise804]

For me, it's all about towels. Morning workout then a shower. So want room serviced. Then shower before dinner as we get back from excursions, day at beach, day at pool or just walking around in the heat. So service again. Now if Carnival would provide more than one towel per person in the room that may help. But still like service twice a day and with turn down, towel animal and ice bucket refilled.

 

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

 

We were provided extra towels and wash cloths when requested on our last cruise.

 

The "carbon footprint" is just cost savings through marketing.

 

I've never once had to clean my own room, make my own bed, or had damp towels on a cruise. If you need that done twice per day, I would say you spend too much time in the room, and maybe cruising is not for you.

 

I've never had to clean my room (and don't pack cleaners/vacuum to actually clean) but I always keep the room tidy and straighten the bedding in the morning - it's habit. We sail in a balcony cabin and cruise to be on and see the water, so we spend a fair amount of time in our room - how is cruising not for us:confused: We are also fairly active, and shower twice most days to feel comfortable after workouts and excursions. With the small bathroom space I don't find the towels to be dry enough for using twice. Towels are also used for removing excess water from hand washed laundry/swim suits, so extra towels are nice.

[Joebucks]

I've never had to clean my room (and don't pack cleaners/vacuum to actually clean) but I always keep the room tidy and straighten the bedding in the morning - it's habit. We sail in a balcony cabin and cruise to be on and see the water, so we spend a fair amount of time in our room - how is cruising not for us:confused: We are also fairly active, and shower twice most days to feel comfortable after workouts and excursions. With the small bathroom space I don't find the towels to be dry enough for using twice. Towels are also used for removing excess water from hand washed laundry/swim suits, so extra towels are nice.

 

You still haven't made the case for room service twice per day. Certainly not for an entire cruise line. If you really need it, you can ask, they will accommodate you. They will also accommodate you if you want extra towels.

[Towel Critter]

The stewards do not clean the room during turndown service (evening), unless perhaps the room is a total mess. They straighten the bedding and make it look nice, put out new towels, leave towel animals, and close the drapes (if they are open). That's about it as far as I can tell. The cleaning takes place during the morning service. Still, I want the evening service for the new, dry towels and towel animals. I could live without the other things, but it is nice to return to a room that is tidy. We keep our room tidy anyway, so it isn't like they have a lot to do, at least in our room. They are probably in and out in five minutes or less. Some rooms take longer I'm sure. I'm thinking of the ones I've seen while walking down the corridor that look like a drunken rock band is staying in them. The total slobs among us are a key reason the stewards are over worked. Come on, folks. You are adults. At the very least put your clothes away instead of throwing them on the floor. You don't have to actually clean your room, but just putting things away (like a real grown-up) makes the steward's job SO much easier. I guarantee you, given the choice, they would prefer to do morning and evening service for neat and clean passengers to just morning service for slobs.

[E@syPe@zy]

The stewards do not clean the room during turndown service (evening), unless perhaps the room is a total mess. They straighten the bedding and make it look nice, put out new towels, leave towel animals, and close the drapes (if they are open). That's about it as far as I can tell. The cleaning takes place during the morning service. Still, I want the evening service for the new, dry towels and towel animals. I could live without the other things, but it is nice to return to a room that is tidy. We keep our room tidy anyway, so it isn't like they have a lot to do, at least in our room. They are probably in and out in five minutes or less. Some rooms take longer I'm sure. I'm thinking of the ones I've seen while walking down the corridor that look like a drunken rock band is staying in them. The total slobs among us are a key reason the stewards are over worked. Come on, folks. You are adults. At the very least put your clothes away instead of throwing them on the floor. You don't have to actually clean your room, but just putting things away (like a real grown-up) makes the steward's job SO much easier. I guarantee you, given the choice, they would prefer to do morning and evening service for neat and clean passengers to just morning service for slobs.

 

Well said Towel Critter! You are spot on!

[CarolinaDoglover3]

Any cruise is what the individual makes of it. If you go looking for problems you will more than likely find them. I am just thankful that I can cruise and have seen many amazing ports in this world.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

But how is having your room only serviced once per day "cleaning your own room"? That's all I'm saying. I'm certainly not arguing you shouldn't have service. But I guess I just don't understand people being upset by having their room only serviced ONCE per day.

 

I ask for morning service and an evening turndown service. I explain what I want in that turndown service. I want the ice bucket refilled, the used towels and used beach towels replaced, the bed turned down, the toilet cleaned if necessary, and the garbage emptied if necessary. That is not too much to ask and it is always done exactly like that. Tell me I am wrong!

[grandmarnnurse]

I ask for morning service and an evening turndown service. I explain what I want in that turndown service. I want the ice bucket refilled, the used towels and used beach towels replaced, the bed turned down, the toilet cleaned if necessary, and the garbage emptied if necessary. That is not too much to ask and it is always done exactly like that. Tell me I am wrong!

No, not wrong at all. I expect the same. Just a little surprised to hear I have to ASK for twice a day service on Carnival. I did not on RCCL or NCL. My next two cruises are on Carnival, so I guess I will have to tell the room steward I want twice daily service. I agree—-I want clean towels, ice in bucket refilled, room freshened up.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

No, not wrong at all. I expect the same. Just a little surprised to hear I have to ASK for twice a day service on Carnival. I did not on RCCL or NCL. My next two cruises are on Carnival, so I guess I will have to tell the room steward I want twice daily service. I agree—-I want clean towels, ice in bucket refilled, room freshened up.

 

This start a while ago and became a rallying point for those who constantly think that Carnival is taking everything away from them. It is meant to give the guests a chance to make their choices on service. The Steward is supposed to meet you on embarkation day and fill out your service card with you. Do you want room care, morning, evening or both. Do you want bathrobes, etc. The Rally boys claimed it was an effort to "force" you to only have once a day service. Has proven to be wrong. Tell them what you want and when you want it. Look at the length of this "Diminishing Quality" post. This kind of post has made me almost reach the point where I will remove Cruise Critic from my computer. I am so tired of all the whining about stuff that is of little importance while ignoring all of the things that have been added, some for additional cost, others as part of the normal cruise fare. When it comes to cruising there is only one question that is important. Do you like the product that you are getting? If not, go find one that suits you. If Carnival tried to meet everyone's exact needs, they would spend themselves out of business , just like any other cruise line or business would. You are not going to get any business to meet all of your "needs". Ever! So just move on.

[Cushing985]

I guess my needs are simple...give me the ocean, give me a decent size cabin, give me good food and give me a friendly crew and I'm a happy camper. I don't need the little chocolates on my pillow (they ended up in the trash), I don't need bathrobes (I don't wear them at home) and I don't need the little, free items in the bathroom as I never used them (I bring my own). I don't care about cruise directors and I don't need to be entertained (I can do that myself).

 

We do a mix of cruises and land vacations (1-2 weeks in Maui every few years is my happy place). Are cruise companies evolving (cutting back)? They all are but so far they haven't bothered me. They came close when they brought out the "Once a day" cabin servicing thing a couple of years ago. That just meant you could customize your cabin servicing based on your desires. If you like to party until the early hours of morning you really didn't appreciate the cabin steward knocking on the door at 9:00AM to clean your cabin so Carnival let you choose to skip the morning cleaning and just have the cabin serviced in the evening while you were out for dinner. Unfortunately, Carnival didn't do a good job with the introduction of that idea and a few rogue cabin stewards tried to tell guests they could only have morning or evening service but not both.

 

Bottom line...if Carnival doesn't fit your needs then it's time to move on. Don't complain about it on CC...just try another line or try another method of vacationing.

[jmcathome]

I guess my needs are simple...give me the ocean, give me a decent size cabin, give me good food and give me a friendly crew and I'm a happy camper. I don't need the little chocolates on my pillow (they ended up in the trash), I don't need bathrobes (I don't wear them at home) and I don't need the little, free items in the bathroom as I never used them (I bring my own). I don't care about cruise directors and I don't need to be entertained (I can do that myself).

 

We do a mix of cruises and land vacations (1-2 weeks in Maui every few years is my happy place). Are cruise companies evolving (cutting back)? They all are but so far they haven't bothered me. They came close when they brought out the "Once a day" cabin servicing thing a couple of years ago. That just meant you could customize your cabin servicing based on your desires. If you like to party until the early hours of morning you really didn't appreciate the cabin steward knocking on the door at 9:00AM to clean your cabin so Carnival let you choose to skip the morning cleaning and just have the cabin serviced in the evening while you were out for dinner. Unfortunately, Carnival didn't do a good job with the introduction of that idea and a few rogue cabin stewards tried to tell guests they could only have morning or evening service but not both.

 

Bottom line...if Carnival doesn't fit your needs then it's time to move on. Don't complain about it on CC...just try another line or try another method of vacationing.

I would rather complain and let the Carnival employee doing CC responses when someone says something about their continuing to find betters ways to screw the customer

[hockeyguru32]

I'm so happy a lot of you are not liking Carnival that means I can get the cabin I want and don't have to read your negative reviews. You keep cruising those other lines Carnival haters and keep paying those high fares and keep reserving the shows you want to see and keep going to the specialty restaurants that you pay extra for. I'll stick to the plain old Carnival and cruise more for the fares you pay.