Permanent Cutbacks on Carnival

[Island Dog]

10 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

When was the last time there was a dining room lunch available on Carnival with the possible exception of a Journeys cruise?  The Sea Day Brunch can now be renamed Sea Day Breakfast since it ends at 1159 AM.

I guess I missed that. It's like boiling a frog starting with cold water. You don't notice until it's too late. Lol.

[pc_load_letter]

1 hour ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

The one bit of good news in this sea of bad news lol. 

 

As a sometime competitor, this is a bummer. I enjoyed it. I also liked belly flop and sexy legs as well.

 

I guess we'll have to make do with cornhole. 

[firefly333]

I read a recent review of horizon that said after 11 pm the wait for a pizza was over a hour. I can remember when they served  Caesars salad which I sometimes got, but didnt much lately as they kept drowning it in dressing. Too much of a good thing for me. 

 

I took a big loss on a sizeable chunk of ccl stock and bought some back, not as much. Could have sold it for a profit. I gotta quit believing in carnival. Seems to me they are trying to attract the lowest common denominator and not trying to stand out in any way except for cheapest fares for those who gamble. Prices for jubilee still high to me. ..and now food cut backs. As a diamond of course I'll still cruise carnival but feeling more and more like it's not the best fit as I like to eat. Lol. If they are goimg to cut back then fares need to drop. A march to the bottom. 

 

Still doing dream 14 day journey cruise for the ports. I'd like to see how they are goimg to stand out, not just how cheap fares for gamblers is their strategy. A gamblers cruiseline. I'm sorry when I read how they are struggling still financially and issuing more shares and further dilution. At least their pay restaurants are good and a bargain. 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

3 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

As a sometime competitor, this is a bummer. I enjoyed it. I also liked belly flop and sexy legs as well.

 

I guess we'll have to make do with cornhole. 

 

Wasn't he the winner of the belly flop competition?  I thought I heard some people yelling would ya look at that cornhole doing a belly flop, but then my hearing really isn't what it used to be.🥴

[pe4all]

On my Magic cruise I caught some teens going down our hallway taking breakfast and do not disturb hangers off cabin doors.  Maybe this will cut down on the people who don't get their breakfast and blame CCL for not delivering.....😜

[kdr69]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

From the crowds

Whats your definition of crowds? I mean the ships are basically back to sailing at normal capacity and we arent talking about a cruise on Silversea or Windstar here with a couple hundred people.  Even so  I have never experienced a crowd while sailing other than on 2 for 10 tshirt sale day or gold chain by the inch sale day lol. oh and at Bingo when the jackpot hasnt gone, then EVERYONE suddenly wants to play Bingo. lol

[marsh-angler]

We still have 24 hr. ice cream!

[lazydayz]

22 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

Whats your definition of crowds? I mean the ships are basically back to sailing at normal capacity and we arent talking about a cruise on Silversea or Windstar here with a couple hundred people.  Even so  I have never experienced a crowd while sailing other than on 2 for 10 tshirt sale day or gold chain by the inch sale day lol. oh and at Bingo when the jackpot hasnt gone, then EVERYONE suddenly wants to play Bingo. lol

Trying getting pizza after 10:00.  You will see a crowd.

[Concretemanstan]

Clearly a cost cutting exercise from Carnival.  What will be next?  Those that say these changes won't affect you, maybe the next one will.  We have a Carnival cruise booked for October but this may be the last one to be honest.  We're from the UK and my wife is desperate to go to Platinum (we're not far away) but I don't think that is ever going to happen now!

[Jamman54]

As a few others have mentioned,  we'll miss the Ocean Plaza breakfast the most when we have a Havana cabin. That was perfect, literally just steps from our door. Next time we have a Havana cabin is on the Vista in 2024, so fingers crossed that they reverse that decision before then.😎

[samiam0403]

The lack of paper door hangers for breakfast orders is the worst for me. Everyone keeps saying that the article says you can still call the night before to set up your order, but all I found was "While room service offerings will not change, guests must now call room service to place their orders." If I have to call when I wake up and then wait an hour plus (if they even answer the phone) for coffee and whatnot, I'm going to be super unhappy. Coffee in my PJs and robe on my balcony is how I start every day on cruises. If I missed something in the article, please point me to it!

Edited August 4, 2022 by samiam0403

[skrufy]

5 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Yes, that will affect everyone.  We are not huge brunch fans anyway.  We typically go eat breakfast on the Lido and then get lunch later.  But, with the brunch serving now closing at 12, the lines for everything else at the noon hour will get longer.

The closing of brunch will not affect us. We always go but it's more like a late breakfast for us. Usually go between 9:30 and 10:00.

[cxr133]

3 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Enjoy your all inclusives in the future.  Oh and by the way where did you get that good late night meal at your all inclusive?

mmmmm....... at Xcaret  i liked the Street Tacos way  better than i liked the fine dining.

and they were open later than the restaurants 

[Indytraveler83]

Hmm, a few interesting bits in this news.

 

1) The physical paper door hangers don't mean much (It's only the hangers that are changing, not the room service breakfast itself).  I'm just surprised that they are having you call to place an order, rather than doing it on the app, as most dining interaction has shifted that way.

 

We have noticed Carnival slowly shifting away from the free room service options, and wouldn't be surprised if that continues. However, they also quietly shifted dining room breakfast hours so that you can get a fairly early breakfast there every day. 

 

2) While I'm not too worried about pizza not being 24 hours, it does seem extra crazy to have only a single place open late.  Burdening the pizza folks with more menu items is going to make wait times worse unless they change the staffing there.  This seems like the ideal time to offer grab and go options somewhere else.  

 

3) I don't mind them narrowing the hours of some places in their least busy times.  But it does seem like they are now funneling all passengers to the buffet for lunch (especially on older ships with limited dining options).

 

Seems like these changes may not dramatically affect the extensive dining options on the newest ship classes, but it could create some crazy crowds on the older ships.

[Angua]

36 minutes ago, samiam0403 said:

The lack of paper door hangers for breakfast orders is the worst for me. Everyone keeps saying that the article says you can still call the night before to set up your order, but all I found was "While room service offerings will not change, guests must now call room service to place their orders." If I have to call when I wake up and then wait an hour plus (if they even answer the phone) for coffee and whatnot, I'm going to be super unhappy. Coffee in my PJs and robe on my balcony is how I start every day on cruises. If I missed something in the article, please point me to it!

When we were on the splendor last month we didn't have the hanging tags.  My parents ordered their morning coffee in the evenings and it always arrived promptly or even a little early.

[farjar]

I have a very good thermal cup that keeps beverages hot for 12+ hours.  I fill it up just before bed so I can have some coffee the next morning along with a few pastries I put in the refrigerator.  It tides me over until I get dressed and go eat.

[Cuckoo7]

6 minutes ago, Angua said:

When we were on the splendor last month we didn't have the hanging tags.  My parents ordered their morning coffee in the evenings and it always arrived promptly or even a little early.

 

Same here for a cruise in June on the Vista.  In fact, by day 3 or so, we asked them to please not come early...  🙂

[mz-s]

16 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Hmm, a few interesting bits in this news.

 

1) The physical paper door hangers don't mean much (It's only the hangers that are changing, not the room service breakfast itself).  I'm just surprised that they are having you call to place an order, rather than doing it on the app, as most dining interaction has shifted that way.

 

We have noticed Carnival slowly shifting away from the free room service options, and wouldn't be surprised if that continues. However, they also quietly shifted dining room breakfast hours so that you can get a fairly early breakfast there every day. 

 

2) While I'm not too worried about pizza not being 24 hours, it does seem extra crazy to have only a single place open late.  Burdening the pizza folks with more menu items is going to make wait times worse unless they change the staffing there.  This seems like the ideal time to offer grab and go options somewhere else.  

 

3) I don't mind them narrowing the hours of some places in their least busy times.  But it does seem like they are now funneling all passengers to the buffet for lunch (especially on older ships with limited dining options).

 

Seems like these changes may not dramatically affect the extensive dining options on the newest ship classes, but it could create some crazy crowds on the older ships.

 

My guess is they're not building it in to the app because within a few months all room service will have a charge, so they'd have to re-do it anyway.

 

Lido on many ships with limited other options is already crowded enough as it is. I'm sure Sea Day Brunch on Mardi Gras or Horizon isn't as popular with so many other options, but on Ecstasy or Glory it's very popular because there aren't as many other choices. So I do agree this will have a very negative effect on Carnival, because they're negatively affecting their drive-to ships the most.

[samiam0403]

19 minutes ago, Angua said:

When we were on the splendor last month we didn't have the hanging tags.  My parents ordered their morning coffee in the evenings and it always arrived promptly or even a little early.

Thank you for this! Hoping I can do this on Liberty in a few weeks. 

[LHARTWICK]

3 hours ago, silvercrikhix said:

We’ll see what happens next 2 cruises before making any decisions. The things cruises have been known for are disappearing. The product that drew us in 12 years ago has had so many changes. It’s losing its appeal, change by change. Change is NOT ALWAYS good. 

Well said.  None of the items listed in the article are deal breakers for us, but I will definitely miss being able to use the door hanger to order breakfast for the next morning.  It does leave me wondering what the next round of cutbacks will be.  I have no doubt there will be more.  Sad times for CCL - they are clearly struggling. 

[pe4all]

When we ordered room service - even on "off hours" we often had quite a wait until someone answered phone and took our order.  

[cruisingguy007]

40 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

I'm just surprised that they are having you call to place an order, rather than doing it on the app, as most dining interaction has shifted that way.

 

Indeed. Great observation. 

[ultrafighter]

43 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

1) The physical paper door hangers don't mean much (It's only the hangers that are changing, not the room service breakfast itself).  I'm just surprised that they are having you call to place an order, rather than doing it on the app, as most dining interaction has shifted that way.

I'm probably just being my usual cynical self, but they're probably banking on people just giving up on it by making it difficult.

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, ultrafighter said:

I'm probably just being my usual cynical self, but they're probably banking on people just giving up on it by making it difficult.

 

Same reason why pizza is now the only late night food option. People will walk down to the pizza pirate, see the line, say "I'm not really that hungry" and go to bed.

 

For a "party ship" they really don't have much going on after 11PM other than the disco...

[Indytraveler83]

1 minute ago, ultrafighter said:

I'm probably just being my usual cynical self, but they're probably banking on people just giving up on it by making it difficult.

 

I don't disagree.  Another reply above cites that they are hoping to do away with free room service, so they likely aren't building the free stuff into the app.  It seems like when Carnival ends something popular, they try to take baby steps, in the hopes that it won't create such an uproar.

 

We were initially very ticked off about the cut away from free room service several years ago.  John Heald probably hates me for quoting him as saying it wouldn't go away, only to tell us it was going away a few months later.  

 

However... All lines are making changes all the time.  Cruisers have to adapt to the changes as time goes on.  Anymore I try not to react much to changes until I've experienced them, then weigh the effect of those changes vs the experience on another line.  I feel like that's the best way to not be either a fanboy or too much of a cynic.