Permanent Cutbacks on Carnival

[KmomChicago]

23 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I am pretty sure that has been Carnival's Modus Operandi all along.  They don't exactly market themselves towards the much-older up-market crowd.

 

Adding Shaq's Big Chicken and taking away (some instances of) Tea Time...I think they know who they are marketing to.

 

For the record, we love Shaq's, and only went to one Tea Time ever - it is always when we'd rather be doing something else, but we made the effort that one time, and it was nice, but would not be the automatic "gotta do it again event".

 

Right there with you. Discussions like this continue to baffle me. I don't know why anyone ever thought Carnival was all that upscale in the first place, and if they were, back in the day, when I was not sailing them, I am none the wiser.  We've only been on them since 2017 and the walk ups seem to fit the cheapo, serve-yourself vibe of the line as a whole.  Tea Time is all nice and formal feeling and I was pretty surprised Carnival bothered with it.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

8 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I guess I am a low class fool as per usual here, but I really love the Carnival coffee self serve machines. On all 4 cruises this past year I enjoyed a large amount of the java juice and it's way better than anything I get around here. I even became willing to get out of bed in the morning and put on clothes and walk to the buffet in the early hours to do so.  

 

My wife is the same way.  She has became willing to have me get out of bed in the morning and put on clothes and walk to the buffet in the early hours to get her coffee ☕ 

[MsTabbyKats]

27 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Right there with you. Discussions like this continue to baffle me. I don't know why anyone ever thought Carnival was all that upscale in the first place, and if they were, back in the day, when I was not sailing them, I am none the wiser.  We've only been on them since 2017 and the walk ups seem to fit the cheapo, serve-yourself vibe of the line as a whole.  Tea Time is all nice and formal feeling and I was pretty surprised Carnival bothered with it.

When people refer to anything upscale or formal about Carnival....I hear the words "pretend pretentious" in my head. 

 

[CruizinSusan70]

9 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

 

IMO the RC suites are nice, and they really do treat you better than if you book a run of the mill cabin. The concierge herself came down and filled the jacuzzi on the balcony while we were having dinner, so DW could soak when we returned. 

Sounds fabulous, but we are primarily inside cabin cruisers so that we are able to cruise more often.  Over the next 20 months, we currently have 142 days at sea booked over 19 cruises.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I am pretty sure that has been Carnival's Modus Operandi all along.  They don't exactly market themselves towards the much-older up-market crowd.....I think they know who they are marketing to.

No question about it.  Their marketing strategy is to go after as many blue cards as possible, primarily targeting families.   They expanded the strategy a bit on the three Vista Class ships with the introduction of the Havana area, which I thought was the best thing that Carnival ever came out with.  It's basically a reduced version of the ship within a ship concept that is prevalent on NCL with their Haven, MSC with their Yacht Club and Celebrity with their Retreat.

They went and took it up a notch on the Excel Class with the Loft 19 area for those that stay in the suites onboard.  But their core marketing is still to the value family cruiser.

[mz-s]

There was a time when Carnival was much nicer than it is today. It's never been Cunard or anything like that but it used to be much nicer than it is now. It wasn't that long ago either, I've only been cruising with them since 2014 and it's really changed just since then.

 

Carnival is still a fun vacation but it's not the sample of luxury it used to be.

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

My wife is the same way.  She has became willing to have me get out of bed in the morning and put on clothes and walk to the buffet in the early hours to get her coffee ☕ 

Exactly the same here!  She gets room service every morning!  And I get my morning walkies in!

 

🙃

[CruizinSusan70]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

Carnival is still a fun vacation but it's not the sample of luxury it used to be.

Been cruising on Carnival since 1986 and the line has never been luxurious.  Having table clothes is not luxurious.  I've never cruised on either of them, but in the Carnival Corporation examples of luxurious cruising would be Cunard or Seabourn.  And even though many things have changed over the years, I would still prefer to have all the options that you have today versus how cruising was back in the late 80's and 90's.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 minute ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Exactly the same here!  She gets room service every morning!  And I get my morning walkies in!

 

🙃

But I bet that the tip that her private room service attendant gets is different that the one that the room steward would get. 😉

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Been cruising on Carnival since 1986 and the line has never been luxurious.  Having table clothes is not luxurious.  I've never cruised on either of them, but in the Carnival Corporation examples of luxurious cruising would be Cunard or Seabourn.  And even though many things have changed over the years, I would still prefer to have all the options that you have today versus how cruising was back in the late 80's and 90's.

 

I did not say it was luxurious. In fact I said the line has never been Cunard. Reading is fundamental.

Edited August 12, 2022 by mz-s

[ProgRockCruiser]

2 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

But I bet that the tip that her private room service attendant gets is different that the one that the room steward would get. 😉

We both would get a lovely smile!

 

And a reminder to not speak for at least 1 full mug of coffee....

[LMaxwell]

A few people here should receive Olympic Gold's for the mental gymnastics they are engaged in to get the rest of us to believe these are enhancements or upgrades. 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

A few people here should receive Olympic Gold's for the mental gymnastics they are engaged in to get the rest of us to believe these are enhancements or upgrades. 

 

It makes it easy to figure out which are possible $CCL plants and which own so much $CCL stock they'll never be able to retire now.

Edited August 12, 2022 by mz-s

[BlerkOne]

The novice cruiser has ALWAYS been Carnival's target market and product differentiation has always been a marketing fundamental. Those who have forgotten may be slipping themselves.

[RoperDK]

7 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I am pretty sure that has been Carnival's Modus Operandi all along.  They don't exactly market themselves towards the much-older up-market crowd.

 

Adding Shaq's Big Chicken and taking away (some instances of) Tea Time...I think they know who they are marketing to.

 

For the record, we love Shaq's, and only went to one Tea Time ever - it is always when we'd rather be doing something else, but we made the effort that one time, and it was nice, but would not be the automatic "gotta do it again event".

Yes, Carnival markets to younger families and singles.  They have Princess and Hal for the older up market crowd.  It is a progression.  We are an outlier though.  We enjoy Guys and Shag's more than tea time.  I enjoy watching people having fun and lots of activities even though I don't participate much anymore.  We tried Princess several times and found it more upscale but boring.  We have had many enjoyable cruises on Carnival, but for right now, Royal is our go to cruise line.  We will check back with Carnival now and then and hopefully will continue to cruise with them.  They really are the fun ships!         

[RoperDK]

19 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

Whether or not things return - or other things are added - once the staffing crisis stabilizes remains to be seen.  I imagine that response from the clientele will play a big role in that decision.

 

I have no idea if the wait times at the pizza place will be improved by more hands on deck, or if it is strictly determined by the capacity of the pizza oven.  I doubt that you know, either.  But I’ll bet Carnival does!

 

The point is, if they don’t have enough staff to maintain all of their offerings, they have no choice but to do something about it.  I don’t have enough information to say what other alternative solutions they could have implemented instead or whether these are better, worse, or the same.  I’m just not going to fault them for the choices they make unless I actually know that those choices are bad.

This!  When I was on Mardi Gras last fall, they had one guy at the deli during lunch.  The line was crazy long with grumpy, hungry cruisers.  A plus was that the sandwiches were pre-made.  All the worker had to do was heat or serve the sandwiches.  He was beyond overwhelmed.  Another worker would have made the difference.  There were multiple microwaves to heat sandwiches.  The result was that I ended up with a half heated soggy Rueben after waiting for 30 minutes.  I gave it a pass....covid, staffing, etc.  On other ships pre-covid, the deli worked like a machine.  It was amazing what they could crank out, and with hot fries to boot.  I also don't understand the pizza situation.  Several years ago, they had much more variety of pizza (remember the goat cheese and mushroom?!)  You didn't have to wait long and hot pies were always cranking out during prime time.  I doubt the oven quantity was reduced.  Was it staffing or just a plan to make people deal with less and just like it or move on?  Why would a company offer more than it needs too?  It is a fine line and a lot of people with calculators and degrees are striving to find the right mix.  I do miss Carnival of about 5 years or so ago.  I definitely miss the goat cheese and mushroom pizza!!!    

[cruisingguy007]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Been cruising on Carnival since 1986 and the line has never been luxurious.  Having table clothes is not luxurious.  I've never cruised on either of them, but in the Carnival Corporation examples of luxurious cruising would be Cunard or Seabourn.  And even though many things have changed over the years, I would still prefer to have all the options that you have today versus how cruising was back in the late 80's and 90's.

 

Plenty luxurious for me, not many other vacation options like cruising IMO. Sure, you can pay for glamorous versions of each aspect but I certainly can't afford that. Cruising still makes me feel rich and pampered, I think many are simply too focused on the glass being half empty. When you've had a completely empty glass before, even half glasses look pretty dang full. Food seems to be the biggest complain but my food was fine last cruise and I should have taken more pictures because it is was nothing like people complain about. I'll be taking plenty on upcoming cruises to see if it's as bad as many make it out to be.     

[UPNYGuy]

10 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Sounds fabulous, but we are primarily inside cabin cruisers so that we are able to cruise more often.  Over the next 20 months, we currently have 142 days at sea booked over 19 cruises.

 

we typically cruise 3-4x per year, and visit an all inclusive 1-2x per year.

[UPNYGuy]

10 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

When people refer to anything upscale or formal about Carnival....I hear the words "pretend pretentious" in my head. 

 

cruise in the Havana area on a Vista. definitely more upscale than a standard cabin. 

[MsTabbyKats]

Just now, UPNYGuy said:

cruise in the Havana area on a Vista. definitely more upscale than a standard cabin. 

Not to sound stupid....but how are they more upscale?  Different population?  Do they keep "non Havana" clientele out?

[UPNYGuy]

5 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Not to sound stupid....but how are they more upscale?  Different population?  Do they keep "non Havana" clientele out?

 

totally valid question! it is a ship-within-a-ship area. the pool in the center of the pic, as well as the 2 giant hot tubs are for use of the people in the havana area only. This is at the stern of the ship on the promenade deck, and there are card controlled gates to only allow those that have access back there. In the havana bar, there are signs saying "havana experience only" or something to the like. You have a havana sticker placed on your keycard, and are given a wristband to mark you as a havana guest. 

 

Also, behind the pool (or in this case, in front) is a private bar area and ample seating area. 

[Roscoe13]

10 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Not to sound stupid....but how are they more upscale?  Different population?  Do they keep "non Havana" clientele out?

They actually DO keep non Havana cruisers out.

[Illbcruzn4life]

11 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Not to sound stupid....but how are they more upscale?  Different population?  Do they keep "non Havana" clientele out?

Yes they do. Its a ship within a ship. Loved our cababa on the Horizon so much we booked the Celebration as soon as we got back.

[UPNYGuy]

11 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Not to sound stupid....but how are they more upscale?  Different population?  Do they keep "non Havana" clientele out?

 

missed the last part. yes, non havana guests are removed if they find themselves in this area. I have personally witnessed it several times on Horizon and Panorama. The pool attendants keep an eye out for those that have Havana access as well as serve you. You can walk out there and sit down without having to worry about chair hogs, and have someone take a drink order for you and bring it directly over (at least in my experience on Panorama and Horizon).

[UPNYGuy]

Just now, Illbcruzn4life said:

Yes they do. Its a ship within a ship. Loved our cababa on the Horizon so much we booked the Celebration as soon as we got back.

 

I have 2 Havana bookings pending on Celebration. right there with you 🙂