Maybe you should not cruise in this current environment

[Hoosierpop]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

If Carnival knows the experience is not going to be up to par with pre 2020 cruises in terms of supply and staffing, they shouldn't be charging full fare. 

Well, if people are willing to pay full fare, then Carnival or any cruise line should charge as high a price as they can. Having said that, I have cruises booked through next April and I haven’t paid anywhere close to full fare with the deals Carnival is offering.

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

If Carnival knows the experience is not going to be up to par with pre 2020 cruises in terms of supply and staffing, they shouldn't be charging full fare. 

 

Have you been paying full fare for cruises so far? I haven't paid full fare for any cruise since the restart. My most expensive cruise was still half what it would have been before COVID.

[Moonarino]

16 hours ago, JandPB said:

... Just got off the Magic Sunday ... Some aspects were minimally affected, some venues were very noticeably affected...

Wondering if you might elaborate as to which venues you recall were noticeably affected? We're on Magic in 2 weeks (May21) so of course I'm curious -- but only (or mostly) about dining venues, stateroom services, on-and-off ship at ports etc, the standard must-have activities. TIA...

[Purvis1231]

2 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

If Carnival knows the experience is not going to be up to par with pre 2020 cruises in terms of supply and staffing, they shouldn't be charging full fare. 

I have 4 cruises boked, all of them much cheaper than pre-pandemic. 

[happy cruzer]

3 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

If Carnival knows the experience is not going to be up to par with pre 2020 cruises in terms of supply and staffing, they shouldn't be charging full fare. 

Yes, looking at the CURRENT pricing they are trying to get to full fare.  So they should deliver on the marketing promises.  If they know the cruise is going to be impacted then a discount price is probably warranted.

[jetsfan58]

Many of us are Platinum or above Cruise level. We are going to remain loyal. There is no incentive for Carnival to send us those deals. A few of my close friends and family members did take advantage of the $0 cruise offers that they received.    

[SRQbeachgirl]

I live in a tourist area. I go out to restaurants every week and in this climate expect the wait for a table to be longer due to all the visitors, service to be slower than normal due to staff shortages, and menus to be slimmed-down due to supply-chain issues. However, rather than expecting and demanding the menu prices to go down to compensate for the inconveniences, prices have gone up. I happily pay the increased prices, just glad that the restaurants are open and doing their best to limp along in a bad environment. I also understand the servers are covering more tables than they would under normal circumstances and may not be able to be as attentive or quick as they were pre-pandemic. Instead of complaining about it, I let them know we are in no hurry and not to worry about it, then I tip them extra.

 

I will carry that same attitude with me when I board the Mardi Gras next month. I can choose to let minor inconveniences make me miserable, or I can just be thankful that I have the resources and time to spend a week on a cruise ship relaxing and traveling to beautiful places.  

 

 

[SRQbeachgirl]

Duplicate post.

Edited May 7, 2022 by SRQbeachgirl

[Rudyard]

I guess what surprises me is why people that don't want a "substandard" cruise are boarding ships knowing that that's what they might get. It's no secret if you glance at these boards leading up to your cruise that it might not be all you imagine it might be these days. Do these people board the ships in the hopes that the cruise will give them something to complain about so they can come here and vent afterwards? If I'm cruising next month and read that the ship I'm going on requires me to bring a pound of bacon, my own bed sheets, the bar consistently runs out of Wild Giraffe Banana Wine by day two, and that my steward will only be cleaning every third day, I have two choices. I can cancel and book another cruise when things are back to normal, or I can suck it up and not lose my mind over things that are out of my control. I'll likely choose the latter and have a great time because I'm not expecting what the cruise line can't deliver right now. 

[WKUTopperFan]

Having been on four sailings since the resumption, I have to agree with thevl OP. I have allowed Covid masking policies to frustrate me decreasing my enjoyment of some of my trips... that was on me. My entire family came down with Covid on our Back2Back Christmas sailing abroad the Sunshine (which was it's own  adventure, as it was a last minute replacement ship for Horizon, doing it's first sailing since the stoppage) and was forced to debark after the first cruise and quarantine in South Beach for a week( costing over $10k in hotel and flight change fees not covered by trip insurance). A smoking ban in the casino announced the day before my sailing and the primary reason I cruise Carnival over preferred lines is I can smoke while gambling. The list goes on... Guess what? I didn't complain once. I was thrilled to be back at sea. Things are not like the "Before Times." The Travel and Leisure industry has made cuts in the name of Covid "safety" that really are just about cost savings... those  will forever be permanent.  Airlines are a mess. I'm nervous now flying in just one day before, considering 2 days before on my next cruise in August. One thing I'm not gonna do... is put a mask back on. Not gonna happen. They bring them back again... I'm canceling and I'll fight for a refund.  No more FCC's. I've "supported" the industry enough. 

 

If you're flexible... take your cruise guys. If a roadblock flips you out however, stay at home.

[icft]

Personally I welcome the complaints. If everyone came back and reported here that everything is great would their lies be useful? But when they come back and say what problems exist I can be ready for them and make an informed decision about going.

 

On three of our five cruises since reopening and on our next five cruises Carnival is paying us to cruise once casino free play is taken into account. We'll put up with a lot of substandard stuff at that price and expect to on our next cruises because we have heard about the problems. But I'm not going to come back and say everything was wonderful and lead someone paying a substantial amount to be roped into something they would not want. My "understanding" would not allow others to make an informed decision about taking a cruise.

[Pellaz]

18 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

If Carnival knows the experience is not going to be up to par with pre 2020 cruises in terms of supply and staffing, they shouldn't be charging full fare. 

 

And for the most part, they aren't.  

[Indiansbaseball]

We are just back from the Magic. This was our third cruise since the restart and by far the worst cruise as far as food and beverages.  Many many items out of stock and there was a definite staff shortage. We had a really good time but things were different for sure. 
My only point here, the first two cruises (Freedom and Horizon) passenger capacity was down, so staffing wasn’t an issue really. I found no shortages on anything food or drink wise, again, probably due to capacity. 
People need to remember that some people book far out for many reasons and Carnival is very strict about cancellation now. Also, I make decisions on many things far ahead of time. I never would have bought the Cheers package if I had known I wouldn’t have had things available.
I will give you an example from Magic sailing May 1-7th… they were out of Amaretto, okay, I will try something new. So I order a fruity drink from Red Frog Pub…I’m sorry I can’t make that, we’re out of Midori. Alchemy bar, I will try this, sorry out of basil.  I order Cheers for other than alcohol, I like coffee with Caramel …out of it…I like sweet tea…out of it. I could go on….I just wouldn’t have purchased this package if I had prior information. So reading things like this on this forum help people make informed decisions. 

I agree with what many above have said, until everything shakes out… cut capacity, or adjust prices. Instead of me rethinking my 4 future booked cruises…

[Indiansbaseball]

22 hours ago, Moonarino said:

Wondering if you might elaborate as to which venues you recall were noticeably affected? We're on Magic in 2 weeks (May21) so of course I'm curious -- but only (or mostly) about dining venues, stateroom services, on-and-off ship at ports etc, the standard must-have activities. TIA...

Just off Magic (May 1-7) all the ports were unaffected (Half Moon, Grand Turk and Amber Cove) great times at all. Mostly, redundant repetitive food ( dinner menu in MDR served the same day for lunch) rice rice and more rice.  Missing drinks ( both alcohol and non). We only ate in the MDR one time, it was the same experience as usual. Guys Pig and Anchor only open on embarkation day and on last sea day for 2 hours ! So eat there early if interested.  
Our steward was a really lovely man, but when he asked us if we wanted morning or evening and we chose evening ( he took notes) he serviced our cabin in the morning. Not cruise ruining, but I hate wet beach towels on the floor all night. He forgot a towel animal one day, again our cruise was not ruined. These guys are just overworked !!! 

Shows still went on… food still plentiful…fun was still had… just be aware that it’s just a bit different. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Indiansbaseball

[Guest BasicSailor]

I would normally post an animated crying baby at this point. Posting in bold letters, (I Want My Money Back). But some posters may think it's related to something they said 😁.    There's always going to be complaints and complications in cruising and life itself.

Right now, nothing the op stated really matters .

It's yesterday when the problems really started.🤣

Edited May 8, 2022 by BasicSailor

[Rudyard]

11 hours ago, icft said:

Personally I welcome the complaints. If everyone came back and reported here that everything is great would their lies be useful? But when they come back and say what problems exist I can be ready for them and make an informed decision about going.

 

I think pretty much everyone agrees with this. I think what makes people look sideways at some of these posters is when they act like they were on the cruise from hell instead of just being inconvenienced. As it gets closer to sailing I welcome constructive criticism about any ship I'm sailing on. I want to know about closures and shortages. I do however roll my eyes when those stories turn into pity parties when the info about shortages has been posted many times in other threads. 

[SRQbeachgirl]

8 minutes ago, Rudyard said:

 

I think pretty much everyone agrees with this. I think what makes people look sideways at some of these posters is when they act like they were on the cruise from hell instead of just being inconvenienced. As it gets closer to sailing I welcome constructive criticism about any ship I'm sailing on. I want to know about closures and shortages. I do however roll my eyes when those stories turn into pity parties when the info about shortages has been posted many times in other threads. 

 

^^^THIS^^^ 

 

As for people who call for lower prices due to the inconveniences, I don't know what their prices look like but we're sailing on Mardi Gras next month in an extended aft-facing balcony for considerably less than we paid for a regular balcony pre-pandemic. Same with an aft Havana balcony next year on the Horizon, and with free Cheers. So prices are already down, it's just up to each cruiser to do the legwork to find the best rate.   

[jetsfan58]

My hope is that all commentary (good, not so good or indifferent) is being closely evaluated by the Carnival Beards. They need to know what real Carnival Cruise Nuts are saying and not those "pay for play" Marketing panels that give the Senior Leaders what they want to hear.   

 

This a great forum for transparency to thrive!!!

[cruizergal70]

16 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

My hope is that all commentary (good, not so good or indifferent) is being closely evaluated by the Carnival Beards. They need to know what real Carnival Cruise Nuts are saying and not those "pay for play" Marketing panels that give the Senior Leaders what they want to hear.   

 

This a great forum for transparency to thrive!!!

It would be silly to take credence of random complaints on an internet forum. There is a way to get feedback and CC only has limited utility. 

[jetsfan58]

Totally understand your point. Do we honestly think that they are not aware of Cruise Critic? This is especially good because there is no charge for the live and truthful commentary. If I was a Board member I would have one or two individuals appointed to monitor the site and report back. Even if the truth does hurt they all need to be open to hearing it once in a while.  

[mz-s]

I am sure Carnival has people that looks over this site frequently, and reports back with what the temperature of the guests are. By and large this website is the easiest way for the company to get near-instant feedback from some of their most loyal and devoted guests whenever things happen.

[mz-s]

Word on another post on this forum is the deli is now closing at 9:30, at least on the Panorama right now. Is this a fleetwide change? This was my point earlier - we have no idea what is going to be different about our cruises until we get onboard. I am sure nobody on the ship knew the Deli would be closed at 9:30 until they got onboard, because for years prior it was always open until 11. Now that the deli closes at 9:30 and the late night snacks buffet is gone, the only food option after the dinner buffet is pizza - and that line just got about 10 feet longer.

[1kaper]

On 5/7/2022 at 7:25 PM, Rudyard said:

I guess what surprises me is why people that don't want a "substandard" cruise are boarding ships knowing that that's what they might get. It's no secret if you glance at these boards leading up to your cruise that it might not be all you imagine it might be these days. Do these people board the ships in the hopes that the cruise will give them something to complain about so they can come here and vent afterwards? If I'm cruising next month and read that the ship I'm going on requires me to bring a pound of bacon, my own bed sheets, the bar consistently runs out of Wild Giraffe Banana Wine by day two, and that my steward will only be cleaning every third day, I have two choices. I can cancel and book another cruise when things are back to normal, or I can suck it up and not lose my mind over things that are out of my control. I'll likely choose the latter and have a great time because I'm not expecting what the cruise line can't deliver right now. 

 

I spent a lot of time on this forum before my end of March cruise and I think it helped. I noticed stuff but it wasn’t super disappointing. And, as other have said, the price was ridiculously low. 
 

I am currently on a cruise with another line and it’s pretty interesting to compare. This ship is not full at all. I did a short cruise getaway with a girlfriend and had some decent Carnival casino offers for myself after my last cruise.  When pricing it out with the drink package, this cruise ended up being the better financial choice (the HMC day that the drink package doesn’t apply to was the deal breaker). 

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

Word on another post on this forum is the deli is now closing at 9:30, at least on the Panorama right now. Is this a fleetwide change? This was my point earlier - we have no idea what is going to be different about our cruises until we get onboard. I am sure nobody on the ship knew the Deli would be closed at 9:30 until they got onboard, because for years prior it was always open until 11. Now that the deli closes at 9:30 and the late night snacks buffet is gone, the only food option after the dinner buffet is pizza - and that line just got about 10 feet longer.

It's not fleet wide, yet😉

[vamartha]

Halleluiah! Sing it from the rafters! That is the best recap of the past 10 months that I have ever read! I want to print it and slide under every single cabin door!