It’s been 10 years since I cruised on Carnival. This is the change which bothered me the most

[aborgman]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

You have to use your sail and sign card. 

 

I am now reminded of an old ad for an airline- it showed a couple eating a sumptuous meal on a plane, cutting into a beautiful steak, etc. etc. Husband is saying to the wife "can you imagine how much more elegant air travel will be in the future?". (I think this is the picture, sans caption.)

 

 

Flying was more elegant in the past.

...and for that nicer meal and fancier dress you were paying about $4,000 for a Boston-LA flight instead of about $600, and it was a 12-14 hour flight with 3-4 refueling stops instead of 5 hours.

Edited 8 hours ago by aborgman

[Diamond-56-Plus]

Double post.

Edited 8 hours ago by Diamond-56-Plus
I got a yodel here

[Diamond-56-Plus]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

 

 

What is that white thing placed under the food? Looks strangely familiar.

[sparks1093]

49 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Flying was more elegant in the past.

...and for that nicer meal and fancier dress you were paying about $4,000 for a Boston-LA flight instead of about $600, and it was a 12-14 hour flight with 3-4 refueling stops instead of 5 hours.

Everything was more elegant in the past (wearing a suit to a baseball game used to be the norm, etc.). 

Edited 7 hours ago by sparks1093

[ontheweb]

59 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

As long as they can keep sailing full - removing the cutbacks would be financial malfeasance.

 

Carnival doesn't exist to make customers happy - Carnival exists to make money.

True, but in the long run if you cannot keep your customers happy in a competitive hospitality industry, you are going to fail.

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

As long as they can keep sailing full - removing the cutbacks would be financial malfeasance.

 

Carnival doesn't exist to make customers happy - Carnival exists to make money.

I'm pretty sure we could come up with the names of dozens of companies whose executives thought they were sitting pretty, raking in the cash, but didn't adapt to a changing market and  these companies ultimately declined or failed. Of course, some have gone on and succeeded.

 

I'm not sure what the future holds, nor does anyone, but I clearly witnessed Carnival definitely not providing the level of service they used to (Offhand I can think of a dozen examples after my recent cruise).  If that means they will lose some repeat customers such as myself, but gain many new customers willing to settle for a lower quality product, that's ok with me but Im not convinced it's good for the bottom line in the future. Time will tell, right? 

 

We all have choices.  When I book a hotel, I can choose to pay less for a Comfort Inn, more for a Residence Inn, even more for a Hyatt or Marriott, or a lot more for a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton. My point is Carnival seems to be sliding from a 4 star experience to me, down to a 3 1/2 star experience.  If that means they're more profitable, good for them.  I'll find a 4 star cruise line for my next vacation. I can't afford a 5 star cruise line. 

Edited 7 hours ago by mfs2k

[aborgman]

8 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

My point is Carnival seems to be sliding from a 4 star experience to me, down to a 3 1/2 star experience.  If that means they're more profitable, good for them.  I'll find a 4 star cruise line for my next vacation. I can't afford a 5 star cruise line. 

 

I'm not disagreeing that they may be sliding - but the cost is HALF what it was in 1980's.

 

 

[mfs2k]

8 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I'm not disagreeing that they may be sliding - but the cost is HALF what it was in 1980's.

 

 

Broad generalization.

[aborgman]

1 minute ago, mfs2k said:

Broad generalization.

 

An interior room in the mid 1980's ran a couple hundred dollars less than an interior room today... almost the same cost in real dollars on average... but inflation is a thing.

 

 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I'm pretty sure we could come up with the names of dozens of companies whose executives thought they were sitting pretty, raking in the cash, but didn't adapt to a changing market and  these companies ultimately declined or failed. Of course, some have gone on and succeeded.

 

I'm not sure what the future holds, nor does anyone, but I clearly witnessed Carnival definitely not providing the level of service they used to (Offhand I can think of a dozen examples after my recent cruise).  If that means they will lose some repeat customers such as myself, but gain many new customers willing to settle for a lower quality product, that's ok with me but Im not convinced it's good for the bottom line in the future. Time will tell, right? 

 

We all have choices.  When I book a hotel, I can choose to pay less for a Comfort Inn, more for a Residence Inn, even more for a Hyatt or Marriott, or a lot more for a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton. My point is Carnival seems to be sliding from a 4 star experience to me, down to a 3 1/2 star experience.  If that means they're more profitable, good for them.  I'll find a 4 star cruise line for my next vacation. I can't afford a 5 star cruise line. 

Good luck in your future cruises.