Carnival, why do you even make rules?

[crazy4themouse]

Just got off Vista on Saturday, and had an amazing time, as always. The staff are always wonderful on Carnival, but they all seemed extra-nice this time around for some reason! Every last one of them. And our stateroom host was so sweet! The whole ship was sparkling clean, the food was *much* improved since our most recent Breeze cruise in October, and our beloved Havana area was just as awesome as always.

 

The one issue we had this cruise was not one I expected. I know Carnival just recently made the big to-do about how they're done with everyone's shenanigans and were going to be cracking down. Chair hogs, fights, that sort of thing were not going to be tolerated...They made it sound like Shaquille O'Neal himself was going to pop out of a lifeboat and kick anyone's ass who defied the rules. And things like bluetooth speakers were now banned entirely. This kind of irked me because we always bring a small one to play white noise on while we sleep, but NBD we just used the phone itself. I don't know if it was in defiance over the new rules being enforced, or we just lucked out on every other cruise, but this cruise -- immediately after the proclamation had been made -- it was a big issue with the speakers. 

 

At least 4 or 5 times when we'd go up to the smoking area at 11 aft, there would be someone with music just *blasting* out of their personal speaker. A couple of times, the guy hung it right from under the big umbrella like we had all voted to hear it. A couple of times there were two people with competing speakers. One time, a woman was wandering through one of the shops holding a speaker, also at near full volume, like she was the only one aboard the ship. And the enforcement each time? Nowhere to be found, Shaq or otherwise. It was pretty ridiculous. 

 

So if anyone was wondering about whether or not Carnival was actually going to start enforcing their own rules that they make such a big deal about, the answer is definitely NO.

 

[mz-s]

I think what we really need is about three more letters and maybe two more youtube videos from Christine Duffy, that ought to do the trick!

[MujerIsla]

Sorry for your experience, but thank you for your humor! 😄

[ColeThornton]

If you don't have rules, how can you break 'em?     

 

That's why.  😉

[Elaine5715]

46 minutes ago, crazy4themouse said:

Just got off Vista on Saturday, and had an amazing time, as always. The staff are always wonderful on Carnival, but they all seemed extra-nice this time around for some reason! Every last one of them. And our stateroom host was so sweet! The whole ship was sparkling clean, the food was *much* improved since our most recent Breeze cruise in October, and our beloved Havana area was just as awesome as always.

 

The one issue we had this cruise was not one I expected. I know Carnival just recently made the big to-do about how they're done with everyone's shenanigans and were going to be cracking down. Chair hogs, fights, that sort of thing were not going to be tolerated...They made it sound like Shaquille O'Neal himself was going to pop out of a lifeboat and kick anyone's ass who defied the rules. And things like bluetooth speakers were now banned entirely. This kind of irked me because we always bring a small one to play white noise on while we sleep, but NBD we just used the phone itself. I don't know if it was in defiance over the new rules being enforced, or we just lucked out on every other cruise, but this cruise -- immediately after the proclamation had been made -- it was a big issue with the speakers. 

 

At least 4 or 5 times when we'd go up to the smoking area at 11 aft, there would be someone with music just *blasting* out of their personal speaker. A couple of times, the guy hung it right from under the big umbrella like we had all voted to hear it. A couple of times there were two people with competing speakers. One time, a woman was wandering through one of the shops holding a speaker, also at near full volume, like she was the only one aboard the ship. And the enforcement each time? Nowhere to be found, Shaq or otherwise. It was pretty ridiculous. 

 

So if anyone was wondering about whether or not Carnival was actually going to start enforcing their own rules that they make such a big deal about, the answer is definitely NO.

 

Did you mention anything to Guest Services?   They may have thought everyone was enjoying the music? I can say for the first time in a year, there was no weed smell on the Spirit last week.  The signs in front of the terminals and the dogs frolicking before work may have altered some behavior.  

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, crazy4themouse said:

At least 4 or 5 times when we'd go up to the smoking area at 11 aft, there would be someone with music just *blasting* out of their personal speaker. A couple of times, the guy hung it right from under the big umbrella like we had all voted to hear it. A couple of times there were two people with competing speakers. One time, a woman was wandering through one of the shops holding a speaker, also at near full volume, like she was the only one aboard the ship. And the enforcement each time? Nowhere to be found, Shaq or otherwise. It was pretty ridiculous. 

Did anyone call security?  Security can't be everywhere all at once.  

 

Now, if security went strolling by and were singing along...then I'd go to guest services and launch a major complaint!

[spleenstomper]

34 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Did you mention anything to Guest Services?   They may have thought everyone was enjoying the music? I can say for the first time in a year, there was no weed smell on the Spirit last week.  The signs in front of the terminals and the dogs frolicking before work may have altered some behavior.  

I’m going to miss the smell of weed on my cruises. Is it really a Carnival cruise without the smell of weed? 😜

[KaiBlue]

This is interesting because our cruise on the Conquest out of Miami last month, I got flagged by the at-port security and they searched my backpack because they said they saw what looked like a speaker.  Have no idea what they saw on the xray but it wasn't a speaker.  

[Purvis1231]

In my experience, they do enforce at least some rules. I wasn't allowed to get ice cream without a shirt on even though the ice cream was barely in the door past Guys. My child was not even allowed to walk through the serenity area to get to the shortcut to our spa cabin.

[Super27]

This is exactly why I'm doing Celebrity for my next cruise. Carnival wants to pretend to have rules, but they openly cater to the "it's my vacation and I'll do what I want" clientele that ignores them. 

[gtouch]

So if I understand correctly you can't eat ice cream in the Serenity area while smoking weed and listening to music.

 

[ldubs]

We encountered the portable speakers thing for the first time on an RCI Caribbean cruise last fall.  Is blasting tunes in a public place some kind of thing now?  I don't get it.   

[nessz79]

At least there weren't fights? 😅 No one was arrested for drugs?  I'm just hoping the basics are being enforced.

[sfaaa]

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

We encountered the portable speakers thing for the first time on an RCI Caribbean cruise last fall.  Is blasting tunes in a public place some kind of thing now?  I don't get it.   

Nothing new. It's been like this dating back to the ghetto blaster days except back then, the boom box was too big and heavy to drag around the ship.

[asalligo]

This was my worry also. All bark and no bite. On the Pride in December there was someone in an interior room on Deck 8 playing their music at 3am so loud that you could hear it many cabins away in the hallway. Thier interior neighbor asked them to turn it down which he just responded with an eff off, so he called security. They came out three times and the music would stop for two minutes until they left and then just restart. After the third time, he just played his music and they never came back. 

 

 

[mz-s]

22 minutes ago, asalligo said:

This was my worry also. All bark and no bite. On the Pride in December there was someone in an interior room on Deck 8 playing their music at 3am so loud that you could hear it many cabins away in the hallway. Thier interior neighbor asked them to turn it down which he just responded with an eff off, so he called security. They came out three times and the music would stop for two minutes until they left and then just restart. After the third time, he just played his music and they never came back. 

 

 

 

Put simply, Carnival does not really care about the state of their ships. They send all these emails and have the president sit on youtube every 2 weeks saying how serious they're taking things but they really don't care. When the rubber meets the road they're doing nothing. This is their new business model and their new target market - they're the Chrysler 300 or Cash For Gold of the cruise industry now. People who care about having a nice vacation would be wise to look elsewhere.

Edited March 8, 2023 by mz-s

[bvhboat]

18 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

I’m going to miss the smell of weed on my cruises. Is it really a Carnival cruise without the smell of weed? 😜

We haven't cruised with Carnival since before Covid, is this a thing now?

[ultrafighter]

19 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

If you don't have rules, how can you break 'em?     

 

That's why.  😉

Sage words to live by.  👍

[ABQrobin]

I guess it depends on the ship!  We just got off the DREAM on Sunday and security was everywhere.  And guess what?  No kids running the halls banging on doors all night, no kids running at all.  no speakers, no arguments, nada. No bad behavior that we saw though we did hear that a man punched another man in the casino one night, and was arrested and put in the ship jail for the remainder of cruise.  It was the most pleasant cruise we have been on in years.

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, bvhboat said:

We haven't cruised with Carnival since before Covid, is this a thing now?

 

It was on every Carnival cruise I sailed on since the restart, but I haven't been on Carnival since this past September.

 

3 minutes ago, ABQrobin said:

I guess it depends on the ship!  We just got off the DREAM on Sunday and security was everywhere.  And guess what?  No kids running the halls banging on doors all night, no kids running at all.  no speakers, no arguments, nada. No bad behavior that we saw though we did hear that a man punched another man in the casino one night, and was arrested and put in the ship jail for the remainder of cruise.  It was the most pleasant cruise we have been on in years.

 

Good! It's sad that Carnival gets praise for doing the bare minimum but that's where we are now I suppose! I hope this becomes the standard as it always should have been!

[asalligo]

1 hour ago, bvhboat said:

We haven't cruised with Carnival since before Covid, is this a thing now?

It really has been bad on our two cruises so far this year. Smelling it on our balcony and in the hallways often. It's worse on the shorter cruises I think. I am hoping very much that they are reducing this with the new policies though. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by asalligo

[Eli_6]

I think enforcement is entirely up to who is working. I have seen employees standing three feet away ignore people blatantly breaking rules and I have had an employee be very confrontational and rude before when we were just doing what we were told to do by another employee.  What really needs to happen is there needs to be training on how to appropriately and politely handle guests doing something they aren't supposed to do and de-escalate a situation.    

[spleenstomper]

2 hours ago, bvhboat said:

We haven't cruised with Carnival since before Covid, is this a thing now?

It always was on cruises out of New Orleans. 
 

it’s a bummer though for me because I am prescribed one edible a night for insomnia and I can’t bring my stuff on board. (Except that time I forgot I had a vape on me and it went on board — not carnival though).. so I have to load up on magnesium and melatonin etc. 

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Nothing new. It's been like this dating back to the ghetto blaster days except back then, the boom box was too big and heavy to drag around the ship.

 

I get that and even see how it would be good in places like a beach.   But on the lido deck where ship's music is already blasting just seems over the top.   A cacophony of sound.  Ear buds anyone?

[cacruisin]

I look at it like a win win for Carnival....the rules help ease the minds of those concerned with rowdy teenagers or bar fights, but the lack of enforcement eases the minds of those said rowdy teenagers or bar fighters LOL. 

 

Honestly, this is a case by case, boat by boat, employee by employee situation and will never have a consistent answer across the board.  No different then when you get pulled over for speeding a certain officers will let you off while another will give you a ticket although the "law" remains the same for both officers.