New room service menu starting October 1

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

That's not how the Kathie Lee song went...

Back when dinosaurs roamed. Her wine is still terrible.

[kelkel2]

I’m disappointed to see they’re charging for a carafe of coffee now 😞 

[bguppies]

2 hours ago, csj092809 said:

Was the brownie with toffee sauce always on the menu? And there is a chocolate cake on there now, too. I think they did away with it for a while because I used to always order it at night and then stopped.  I thought I stopped because it was taken off room service...I could be wrong on both of these things, though!

 

DW has always ordered chocolate cake on every cruise until this past weekend.

(We had no way to order as the QR codes left in our room did not work and the phone had no button for Room Service)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

5 minutes ago, bguppies said:

DW has always ordered chocolate cake on every cruise until this past weekend.

(We had no way to order as the QR codes left in our room did not work and the phone had no button for Room Service

 

 

It's similar to how, for Platinum and diamond guests, it's essentially a scavenger hunt for your earned perks. I have found that ordering room service is not as simple as it used to be. Either hunting for a menu that doesn't exist or trying to use codes that don't work. It can be frustrating. One would think that since they are turning this into more of a source of additional revenue, that they would make sure that ordering is a breeze.

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

 

It's similar to how, for Platinum and diamond guests, it's essentially a scavenger hunt for your earned perks. I have found that ordering room service is not as simple as it used to be. Either hunting for a menu that doesn't exist or trying to use codes that don't work. It can be frustrating. One would think that since they are turning this into more of a source of additional revenue, that they would make sure that ordering is a breeze.

they don’t want anyone to actually order this stuff. $5 for a PB&J? Insulting. 

[bguppies]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

It's true, the little things like that, bath robes in the wardrobe, twice daily room service, chocolate on the pillow - made you feel pampered. Carnival has lost a lot of that charm it used to have.

This past weekend's cruise was a wake up  call, to the new Carnival for us.

 

Yet another dilution of the product doesn't surprise me.

 

None of the things they have been reducing or taking away, affect everyone, but at some point Carnival will get everyone with something that will detract from what they enjoyed about a Carnival cruise.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'm surprised they don't have an Express Delivery option for an additional $5...

[d12j28]

43 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Funny... I was reading this and received an email from our shoreside concierge at Celebrity (upcoming sailing on the Reflection), and I thought "yep, it's definitely worth more upfront to get more - and not have to pay extra for a PB&J sandwich"! We managed to book a B2B on Celebrity in a RS for under $5k/wk. Yes, that's a chunk of change - but it's essentially all inclusive. We'll have tips covered, premium beverage package, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, suite restaurant, 2 liters of alcohol in our cabin (each week), etc... yes, a true vacation! 

 

We used to sail Carnival exclusively - and then decided to try another line perhaps 15 years ago. It was sooooooo nice to be able to have full/hot room service breakfast delivered to our cabin - white table cloth included. I've wasted my breath with Carnival for years, asking them to offer the same... or at a certain past guest level... or for those in suites. I was briefly hopeful that we'd at least see a coffee maker in the room when they promoted their Excel Suites on the Mardi Gras, only to have that perk pulled from the list only weeks prior to sailing. 

 

Yes - two different products, appealing to - and targeting - different groups of people. Having said all of this - we still enjoy Carnival and, when we sail with them, we just adjust our expectations. I'm REALLY looking forward to our ABC sailing on the Celebration next May - and the sizable OBC we'll both receive for our Milestone (75th) Rewards. 

 

Excerpt from today's Celebrity email: 

 

Additionally, as guests in one of our top suites, we are pleased to offer a complimentary minibar that is stocked daily. I was able to retrieve your previous mini bar selections from your previous sailing with us on the Celebrity Reflection that departed on February 26th, 2022, as follows:

•       (2) Grey Goose 
•       San Pellegrino 
•       Club Soda
•       Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 
•       Decaf Coffee and Decaf Tea
•       English breakfast tea
•       Heavy whipping cream
•       Lime slices
•       Coffee machine and tea kettle in suite
•       And a fan

As I would love the opportunity to have these Royal Suite Class Amenities available to you upon your arrival, please kindly confirm if these are still correct or choose from the attached liquor list.

I am delighted to let you know that you will receive unlimited complimentary Specialty Dining. Arranging for your dining plans before sailing will give you more time to relax and enjoy the Celebrity Reflection. Please find the attached sample menus for our Specialty Restaurants aboard the Celebrity Reflection to give you an idea of what each of them offer, ...

 

 

 

You should cancel the 2nd leg and take that 5K into the casino with you on the first leg! 😁

 

 

[bguppies]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

 

It's similar to how, for Platinum and diamond guests, it's essentially a scavenger hunt for your earned perks. I have found that ordering room service is not as simple as it used to be. Either hunting for a menu that doesn't exist or trying to use codes that don't work. It can be frustrating. One would think that since they are turning this into more of a source of additional revenue, that they would make sure that ordering is a breeze.

Yeah the QR codes in our room didn't work this past weekend.

If I didn't hang out in here prepping for the cruise I woiuldn't have had a clue of what to do.

 

We headed down to Guest Services and the gentleman behind the counter just handed us an outdated sheet of paper (pre-pandemic) about platinum benefits, when we told him our QR  codes in the cabin werren't working on either of our phones, what were the current platinum benefits.

He simply told us to go to Pixels to get our pin. Nothing else.

 

We did that and got our pins and koozie, but had to wait 5 minutes while the girl working Pixels  finished putting out some photos until her surpervisor asked what we were there for and then yelled at her for making us wait.

 

Luckily I knew to check the casino so we got our $25 each a couple days later.

 

Basically if you ask for any assistance, you seem to be putting people out.

 

I was stunned how bad the help has gotten around the ship.

 

Our room steward and waitstaff were great. 

But more than half the workers all around the ship were busy looking at their phone everytime you passed them or just not friendly towards their guests. (probably due to being overworked)

[bguppies]

13 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'm surprised they don't have an Express Delivery option for an additional $5...

Please don't give them anymore ways to squeeze more $$$ out of pockets. (no longer nickle and dimeing)

Edited September 28, 2022 by bguppies

[BlerkOne]

15 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'm surprised they don't have an Express Delivery option for an additional $5...

If you believe a few critics, the nominal a la carte fees will make everyone left a VIP.

[DallasGuy75219]

20 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'm surprised they don't have an Express Delivery option for an additional $5...

"Faster to the Food"

[DallasGuy75219]

23 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'm surprised they don't have an Express Delivery option for an additional $5...

I think you mean "nominal" $5. You know, how Carnival tries to minimize the perception of nickle and dining by calling the cost of everything that used to be included but that they now charge for by calling it a "nominal fee".

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Funny... I was reading this and received an email from our shoreside concierge at Celebrity (upcoming sailing on the Reflection), and I thought "yep, it's definitely worth more upfront to get more - and not have to pay extra for a PB&J sandwich"! We managed to book a B2B on Celebrity in a RS for under $5k/wk. Yes, that's a chunk of change - but it's essentially all inclusive. We'll have tips covered, premium beverage package, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, suite restaurant, 2 liters of alcohol in our cabin (each week), etc... yes, a true vacation! 

 

We used to sail Carnival exclusively - and then decided to try another line perhaps 15 years ago. It was sooooooo nice to be able to have full/hot room service breakfast delivered to our cabin - white table cloth included. I've wasted my breath with Carnival for years, asking them to offer the same... or at a certain past guest level... or for those in suites. I was briefly hopeful that we'd at least see a coffee maker in the room when they promoted their Excel Suites on the Mardi Gras, only to have that perk pulled from the list only weeks prior to sailing. 

 

Yes - two different products, appealing to - and targeting - different groups of people. Having said all of this - we still enjoy Carnival and, when we sail with them, we just adjust our expectations. I'm REALLY looking forward to our ABC sailing on the Celebration next May - and the sizable OBC we'll both receive for our Milestone (75th) Rewards. 

 

Excerpt from today's Celebrity email: 

 

Additionally, as guests in one of our top suites, we are pleased to offer a complimentary minibar that is stocked daily. I was able to retrieve your previous mini bar selections from your previous sailing with us on the Celebrity Reflection that departed on February 26th, 2022, as follows:

•       (2) Grey Goose 
•       San Pellegrino 
•       Club Soda
•       Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 
•       Decaf Coffee and Decaf Tea
•       English breakfast tea
•       Heavy whipping cream
•       Lime slices
•       Coffee machine and tea kettle in suite
•       And a fan

As I would love the opportunity to have these Royal Suite Class Amenities available to you upon your arrival, please kindly confirm if these are still correct or choose from the attached liquor list.

I am delighted to let you know that you will receive unlimited complimentary Specialty Dining. Arranging for your dining plans before sailing will give you more time to relax and enjoy the Celebrity Reflection. Please find the attached sample menus for our Specialty Restaurants aboard the Celebrity Reflection to give you an idea of what each of them offer, ...

 

 

 

 

That actually sounds like a great deal! When we add all the extras up (drinks, tips, dining ect) it really increases the price substantially so that's not too far off actually. If it were only the Mrs. and myself sailing, that would be no brainer deal, adding additional cabins and cruisers for families would obviously change that equation but that seems like a pretty sweet arrangement you got there with Celebrity and a premium type vacation.   

[BlerkOne]

I've said it before... No matter what Carnival does there will always be a handful of complainers. The numbers don't change much - just the complaints.

 

I like that Carnival is keeping cruising affordable. Now if only they would charge a nominal flat cost for each cabin category! That would be something!

[sparks1093]

Tom made me look. We are currently booked on Mardi Gras for April 2024, so I looked to see what kind of deal we could get with X. Our balcony on MG is $2086. Celebrity came in at $5343 with the drink package, wifi and tips included. Add in Cheers, Wifi and tips to the Carnival fare and it comes in at around $3350. Now, I'm sure that X has a much better product for that price, but I'm not willing to pay that much more for a cruise. 

[n6uqqq]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

As far as I'm concerned the service charge is the tip. The only tip I leave now is if we only get the complimentary items. Two sandwiches are $10, plus $1.80 plus whatever you would leave in addition to that. Nowhere near $20 unless you are leaving a lot as the customary tip. (And I will note that Royal and NCL both charge for room service as well, with the added benefit of paying more to sail with them as a rule, although good deals still pop up.)

Carnival has really muddied the water with calling a gratuity a service charge. It used to be that drink purchases had the line " gratuity" which is the 18 percent charge, followed by the "additional gratuity" line you could add to. Now the drinks receipt has "service charge" followed by a "gratuity" line. This play on words is duping people into thinking they haven't left a tip when in fact the service charge is supposed to be the tip.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Tom made me look. We are currently booked on Mardi Gras for April 2024, so I looked to see what kind of deal we could get with X. Our balcony on MG is $2086. Celebrity came in at $5343 with the drink package, wifi and tips included. Add in Cheers, Wifi and tips to the Carnival fare and it comes in at around $3350. Now, I'm sure that X has a much better product for that price, but I'm not willing to pay that much more for a cruise. 

 

 

It can vary significantly week-to-week/ship-to-ship. 

 

My advice? Keep checking! 🙂

 

 

 

[cruisingguy007]

7 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Tom made me look. We are currently booked on Mardi Gras for April 2024, so I looked to see what kind of deal we could get with X. Our balcony on MG is $2086. Celebrity came in at $5343 with the drink package, wifi and tips included. Add in Cheers, Wifi and tips to the Carnival fare and it comes in at around $3350. Now, I'm sure that X has a much better product for that price, but I'm not willing to pay that much more for a cruise. 

 

I did too, apples to apples, the Celebrity deal would be what I would go with were I booking my Jan cruise right now, and if it were just me and the Mrs. That's for a suite vs suite with all the extras. The suits are much nicer, the food menus are much upgraded and the extras would be worth it IMO. If we did everything the same on Carnival it would be close to the 5K they are asking. After the suit prices Carnival charges, 1200 for the drink package for two for week (the real all in cost), a few excursions, up charge dining daily etc, it would be a better value on Celebrity and very close to Carnival pricing for the same itinerary and comparable up charges. 

 

That said, it shoots to 12K for the two cabins I'd need for the same trip with the family. So yeah, I'll be rolling with Carnival as long as we cruise as a family lol. It's definitely nice to have options and if rolling with Carnival means going vs not going, I'm going. We also got a really good rate during the birthday sale. It was an interesting comparison to be sure and I actually thought it would be much more than it is to sail with Celebrity in a high tier suite; to be fair, they are having a sale right now but it's interesting that it's not as bad as I thought ;when sailing as a couple anyway. We sail as a family so Carnival makes much more economic sense for us and the kids like having other kids around.    

[silvercrikhix]

Yuck and Boo. Again. Cutback # ?  Been so many that I’ve lost count. 
Guess I’ll never try the donut sandwich or the pineapple/ham pizza - favorite pizza. No BLT. Ugh …
We’ll see in Nov how this shakes out but we are not impressed or happy with their decisions since re-start. Yes, yeah yeah…blah blah blah COVID. Pretty sure we’ll be moving on. It’s just gone downhill too far. 

[sparks1093]

18 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

 

It can vary significantly week-to-week/ship-to-ship. 

 

My advice? Keep checking! 🙂

 

 

 

I would if I could but the cruise on the Mardi Gras is a group cruise. I will definitely include X in all of my future price checks when choosing/booking a cruise.

[ray98]

Yikes.....worse than I thought.  I though if they were charging there would be at least some new enticing items added to the menu.  To find out all they did is start charging $5 for a PB&J and $3 for coffee is a good laugh.

[sparks1093]

9 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

I did too, apples to apples, the Celebrity deal would be what I would go with were I booking my Jan cruise right now, and if it were just me and the Mrs. That's for a suite vs suite with all the extras. The suits are much nicer, the food menus are much upgraded and the extras would be worth it IMO. If we did everything the same on Carnival it would be close to the 5K they are asking. After the suit prices Carnival charges, 1200 for the drink package for two for week (the real all in cost), a few excursions, up charge dining daily etc, it would be a better value on Celebrity and very close to Carnival pricing for the same itinerary and comparable up charges. 

 

That said, it shoots to 12K for the two cabins I'd need for the same trip with the family. So yeah, I'll be rolling with Carnival as long as we cruise as a family lol. It's definitely nice to have options and if rolling with Carnival means going vs not going, I'm going. We also got a really good rate during the birthday sale. It was an interesting comparison to be sure and I actually thought it would be much more than it is to sail with Celebrity in a high tier suite; to be fair, they are having a sale right now but it's interesting that it's not as bad as I thought ;when sailing as a couple anyway. We sail as a family so Carnival makes much more economic sense for us and the kids like having other kids around.    

The prices I gave were for a mid-ship balcony. We are in an Ocean Suite on Glory this upcoming April and that one was $2811 when we booked it about a year and a half ago (and yes, I am aware that the perks are very scanty but it still suites us😁).

[gkbiiii]

3 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Funny... I was reading this and received an email from our shoreside concierge at Celebrity (upcoming sailing on the Reflection), and I thought "yep, it's definitely worth more upfront to get more - and not have to pay extra for a PB&J sandwich"! We managed to book a B2B on Celebrity in a RS for under $5k/wk. Yes, that's a chunk of change - but it's essentially all inclusive. We'll have tips covered, premium beverage package, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, suite restaurant, 2 liters of alcohol in our cabin (each week), etc... yes, a true vacation! 

 

We used to sail Carnival exclusively - and then decided to try another line perhaps 15 years ago. It was sooooooo nice to be able to have full/hot room service breakfast delivered to our cabin - white table cloth included. I've wasted my breath with Carnival for years, asking them to offer the same... or at a certain past guest level... or for those in suites. I was briefly hopeful that we'd at least see a coffee maker in the room when they promoted their Excel Suites on the Mardi Gras, only to have that perk pulled from the list only weeks prior to sailing. 

 

Yes - two different products, appealing to - and targeting - different groups of people. Having said all of this - we still enjoy Carnival and, when we sail with them, we just adjust our expectations. I'm REALLY looking forward to our ABC sailing on the Celebration next May - and the sizable OBC we'll both receive for our Milestone (75th) Rewards. 

 

Excerpt from today's Celebrity email: 

 

Additionally, as guests in one of our top suites, we are pleased to offer a complimentary minibar that is stocked daily. I was able to retrieve your previous mini bar selections from your previous sailing with us on the Celebrity Reflection that departed on February 26th, 2022, as follows:

•       (2) Grey Goose 
•       San Pellegrino 
•       Club Soda
•       Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 
•       Decaf Coffee and Decaf Tea
•       English breakfast tea
•       Heavy whipping cream
•       Lime slices
•       Coffee machine and tea kettle in suite
•       And a fan

As I would love the opportunity to have these Royal Suite Class Amenities available to you upon your arrival, please kindly confirm if these are still correct or choose from the attached liquor list.

I am delighted to let you know that you will receive unlimited complimentary Specialty Dining. Arranging for your dining plans before sailing will give you more time to relax and enjoy the Celebrity Reflection. Please find the attached sample menus for our Specialty Restaurants aboard the Celebrity Reflection to give you an idea of what each of them offer, ...

 

 

 

I am soon to be a Diamond Plus with Royal and started to try new cruise lines a few years ago.  In fact my second Carnival voyage will be the new Celebration next year, thanks to a casino offer.  My experience Christmas last year, on Celebrity Edge, was much of the same as above, minus the suite perks.  Elites get three hours daily drinks, morning coffee house breakfasts, and other perks.

including laundry.

 

Last year I experienced my first Virgin cruise on Scarlet Lady.  This year I got amazing fares on Valiant Lady and will be spending 20 day on her, 3 back-to-back-to-back cruises.  For under $3,000 for 20 days in a Balcony cabin for 2 included the following: Status match upgrade to top tier in new Voyager Program, $300 bar tab credit per voyage, Comped gratuities, Comped Specialty Dining & Room Service ship-wide, Laundry/Dry-Cleaning/Pressing, Moet Champaign Bottle per voyage, Officer's Party per voyage, Comped Premium Wi-Fi, $200 Onboard Credit,  VIP Service Agent, VIP Boarding, etc.

 

So all in all, you all can out do Carnival, NCL, & Royal with their endless fees!

[gkbiiii]

I forgot to mention, all tips are comped, so bar prices (which are lower priced) are what you actually pay!