Are Carnival Standards Slipping?

[stevenr597]

My wife and I are Plantinum Concierge Class members of Carnival and we, with a large party, recently completed the December 8th sailing of the Carnival Imagination. We have cruised on Carnival 4 times in the last 6 months and we have begun to feel that the product that Carnival is offering has begun to slip. Here is our evaluation of our latest cruise on the Imagination.

 

Pros:

 

1) The refurbishment of the ship was superb. Our suite was awesome. The cabin steward excellent

 

2) The night club and the two Las-Vegas style shows were among the best we have ever seen.

 

3) The staff in the dining room was excellent.

 

4) We took the botanical gardents and Falls tours in Jamaica. Excellent day

 

5) Shopping in Grand Cayman was fun. Tendering was orderly, with little wait.

 

6) The new terminal in Miami was great. Being VIP members, we were on the ship within 30 minutes of entering the Terminal

 

7) The adults-only 'Serenity' section of the ship was very enjoyable.

 

Unfortunately the cons:

 

1) The ship was way, way overloaded. It does appear that Carnival is "packing the guests in"

 

2) For the first time in all of our cruising, the life-boat drill left us alarmed. It appeared that the crew was not sure of which life-boat station our mustering group was to go to in case of emergency. I do question whether there were enought life-boats for everybody.There was a 15 to 20-minute silent pause in the drill before they announced our group's station.

 

3) The lines for breakfast and lunch on the Lido Deck were the longest we have ever encountered. It was not unusual to have to wait for over 30 minutes

 

4) It does appear that Carnival is trying to make money in any way possible. At the shops there were constant raffles, sales, and "extras" to entice crowds into the stores (although in most instances these individuals did not buy anything

 

5) While we like to have our photograph taken on formal night, the photographers were constanting setting up stations on every night of the trip. Because of this, in many instances we were unable to use the grand staircase during the evening because of the photographers. Everytime we got off the ship or tender there would be the photographer calling out to you. In the dining room we were approached several times every evening for photographs

 

6) I do feel that the quality of the food, especially on the Lido Deck is declining.

 

7) The ship was not completely ready after Dry Dock. They were having problems with the Pizza ovens, and the deli counter was not set up.

 

8) Some of the staff were at times surly.

 

9) The cruise director, Jorge, was funny at the Welcome Aboard Show but cool and impersonal when greeting us at the Captain's Cocktail party. My wife wanted to say something briefly to him, but he made no eye contact and her words went unheard. This was not the case on any other Carnival cruise.

 

Although Carnival is not of the class of Princess or Celebrity, they have a reputation for offering a good product for the money. My wife and I used to kid that Carnival was the "Target" of the cruise lines. However I do feel that they are becomming the Wal-Mart of the industry.

[funship freddy]

Steven.... Mr. Walton built a great company. Mr. Arison did the same.

I just returned from my first Carnival cruise in a couple years. My last few were on Princess and Celebrity. I agree with most of your comments. The Lido food was a great disappointment. Lacked any variety and several of my favorites have vanished. No salmon at breakfast. The lobster on formal night was tiny...although my waiter offered additional if I so chose. The entertainers were BAD ! For the first time in my cruise career I left a comedy show. Not that I was offended...he just wasn't funny. This was my first cruise since they started the platinum designation (even though I have more than ten Carnival cruses) and I didn't feel anything like a VIP.

 

:)

[funship freddy]

Maybe I was influenced by the fact that the hostess in the VIP (?) lounge at embarkation was plain Rude !

 

:confused:

 

 

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Things in life keep costimg more. People want 7 day cruises for $499. The cruise line obliges. With cost rising and the prices to cruise not rising there is nothng else that can happen but things declining as they cut corners.

 

I also can't agree about #2.

 

There has to be enough life boats. Unfortunately the staff seemed very unorganized causing confusion.

 

With adding the new enhancements maybe they reduced the public areas making the ships seem more crowded.

 

Bill

[Mad4Mickey]

Wish they would have sold me my 7 day for 499 LOL I went no where and LOST 6 lbs in 7 days on the COnquest last week ! I agree just betwen last April and now it has slipped and the staff was very rude with the exception of very little and I mean VERY LITTLE of the them were still great adn it was a tough week for everyoen on that boat ! . We for the 1st time took our tips off our S&S card and gave 150.00 to our rooom steward and gave little to the waiter because he was so rude we only ate there 2 times and we had to hask the Purser how much they got per seating so we didnt under tip him . Now his helper bee got a nice tip because he was nice and he came to us onboard when he saw us and said he was very sorry for the waiter . He said he was ashamed of his partner LOL but they had been treated bad the whole week by most everyone , he was nice enough to admit that we were very understanding and kind with them both even when they screwed up the dinners and stuff .

[DarthGrady]

Pretty bad when platinum members are disgusted!

Im glad I haven't had a bad experience yet (knock on wood).

I hope things arent as bad as they seem.

[oysterfiend]

not having cruised before we chose Carnival because it is so CHEAP

 

I think Bottom line is when it is the cheapest -then some strain will start to show - and that you must evaluate when making your choice to to cruise with or any product you purchase.

And I think if you know you have the cheapest product available -

you have to accept that champagne may not be the order of the day.

 

I have no problem shopping at Walmart or any store if I can get what I want,

Consistent service with a smile- may mean paying more for a cruise where the staff are paid more.

 

In NZ we don't tip- employers are expected to pay a minimum wage.

Walmart workers (as in case of some cruise staff) get paid lousy wages and depend on their tips - as the minimum wage they are paid is too low.

 

As for the drill - isn't that the purpose of a drill to practise and iron out potential problems.

[DqALEX]

Maybe I was influenced by the fact that the hostess in the VIP (?) lounge at embarkation was plain Rude !

 

:confused:

 

 

My last cruise on the Celebration was not a good one. It was bad enough for me to Book RCCL for next Aug. I have a cruise on the Carnival Miracle next week, and Im going to see how that goes. I have the Carnival Freedom booked for next New Years at a great price, and two great cabins, but if this cruise is not good the Carnival Freedom will be my last for a while on carnival If I like that RCCL ship this August.

[angelsfort]

We have cruised on Carnival 4 times in the last 6 months

 

could the "crowded" part simply be that it's that time of year?? Many people take their vacations around the holidays... I live fairly close to Walt Disney World and I know for a fact that the absolute busiest time in the theme parks is during the time between thanksgiving and new years... it is JAM-PACKED then. (I used to work there and this was my favorite time of year, because it was so busy and time just FLEW by... seemed like shortly after my shift started it would be over already... it was great!)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We're on Princess in February and then doing out first land vacation in years this summer. Even contemplating an all inclusive or some kind of land vacation after that.

 

2 years ago there was no thinking of land vacations. It was cruise, cruise, cruise.

 

Our last 2 or 3 cruises on CCL dining was not something I looked forward to as in the past. It seems they have cut the staff to the bone in the dining rooms making the waiters and their assistants run around like crazy. There were long pauses in between courses, food was lukewarm at best some nights.

 

These guys were working their butts off, sweating, which isn't good when they are leaning over the table serving your food.

 

If you want cheap that's what happens. :(

 

Bill

[kdr69]

4 times in 6 months?:eek: Wowser....maybe your just overdosing on cruising and the little things are starting to stand out. Im lucky to get one cruise per year. Wow 4 times. Id even start to notice the lines in the carpet by then. You musta been platinum in just over a year at that rate now that would be the way to do it.:)

[oysterfiend]

The saying goes Familiarity Breeds Discontent.

 

We try to do something different every holiday.

 

the excitement, planning and anticipation is almost as much fun as the holiday- almost but not as much fun

[RYPERO]

We just cruised the Elation which had us worried since we hadn't been on a Fantasy class ship in a while, but worry no more since we were very pleased with our cruise. The ship was the cleanest we have sailed and all of our needs were met (we were on our first cruise with our 5 month old daughter). Everyone was very helpful and we had a lot fun. Our dining room servers were less then entertaining but our food was always delivered promptly and he never messed up an order. We actually thought the dining room food had improved since our last Carnival cruise but then again our most recent cruise was on RCCL so maybe those were the meals we were compairing :) Needless to say we are excited about our upcoming cruise on the Spirit since the Spirit class ships are our favorite.

[oysterfiend]

We just cruised the Elation which had us worried since we hadn't been on a Fantasy class ship in a while, but worry no more since we were very pleased with our cruise. The ship was the cleanest we have sailed and all of our needs were met (we were on our first cruise with our 5 month old daughter). Everyone was very helpful and we had a lot fun.

 

 

I am pleased that you enjoyed your cruise.

I am going to enjoy mine (Pacific Dawn Aug 2008 and Splendor 2009)

no matter what!-

well not quite - don't want us to sink like the Explorer did recently in Antartica

[F5Loar]

Looks to me your Pros far outweighed the Cons and many of the cons you listed seem to be just one time occurances and not necessarily to every cruise on Carnival you take. I've found Carnival to still give you the best bang for your buck in all areas of cruising. From Food to Entertainment Carnival gives you all you need. Some of the best pizza going. Great soups, great deserts. You could nick pick any line and come up with some of the same cons you did but you would be hard pressed to find the pros on some of the other lines.

[deepnite10]

Maybe I was influenced by the fact that the hostess in the VIP (?) lounge at embarkation was plain Rude !

 

:confused:

 

 

i can understand the crew has no control over any cutbacks ..but, they do have control over how they treat their meal ticket s..maybe they had

a bad morning or day..just don t take it out on the passengers who may judge their entire cruise on action s you could very well control d..:p

[deepnite10]

oops..i was trying to direct that message to the rude

attentant in the 3rd person :o

[PINEVIEW01]

This post is a ditto of what is being posted on the RCCL boards;)

 

Just came off one of each. At least Carnival still has Lobster, RCCL doesn't.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

This post is a ditto of what is being posted on the RCCL boards;)

 

Just came off one of each. At least Carnival still has Lobster, RCCL doesn't.

 

I know of a group that just came back from RCI's Liberty and they said they had lobster.:confused:

 

Bill

[LHP]

I know of a group that just came back from RCI's Liberty and they said they had lobster.:confused:

 

Bill

 

I think I read RCCL was discontinuing Lobster after the first of the year...but I am running on an old memory here that sometimes fails me....;)

[LHP]

As you can see from my signature, we sail Carnival a lot.

 

And while we have never had a bad cruise, some have been better than others. I do believe there is a difference between being inexpensive and being cheap. I have found Carnival to always be inexpensive and I am afraid the new "bean counter" will make her CHEAP. I hope this is not the case.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I think I remember reading that too. Not a big fan of RCI, so i don't read those boards a lot.:)

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I think I remember reading that too. Not a big fan of RCI, so i don't read those boards a lot.:)

 

Bill

[marty30907]

I am sorry that you were dissatisfied with your cruise. In our 5 cruises with another in 3 months, we have never had a bad time. Don't know if we are just blessed, but we love Carnival.

[nrdsb4]

.

 

Unfortunately the cons:

 

1) The ship was way, way overloaded. It does appear that Carnival is "packing the guests in"

 

2) For the first time in all of our cruising, the life-boat drill left us alarmed. It appeared that the crew was not sure of which life-boat station our mustering group was to go to in case of emergency. I do question whether there were enought life-boats for everybody.There was a 15 to 20-minute silent pause in the drill before they announced our group's station.

 

3) The lines for breakfast and lunch on the Lido Deck were the longest we have ever encountered. It was not unusual to have to wait for over 30 minutes

 

4) It does appear that Carnival is trying to make money in any way possible. At the shops there were constant raffles, sales, and "extras" to entice crowds into the stores (although in most instances these individuals did not buy anything

 

5) While we like to have our photograph taken on formal night, the photographers were constanting setting up stations on every night of the trip. Because of this, in many instances we were unable to use the grand staircase during the evening because of the photographers. Everytime we got off the ship or tender there would be the photographer calling out to you. In the dining room we were approached several times every evening for photographs

 

6) I do feel that the quality of the food, especially on the Lido Deck is declining.

 

7) The ship was not completely ready after Dry Dock. They were having problems with the Pizza ovens, and the deli counter was not set up.

 

8) Some of the staff were at times surly.

 

9) The cruise director, Jorge, was funny at the Welcome Aboard Show but cool and impersonal when greeting us at the Captain's Cocktail party. My wife wanted to say something briefly to him, but he made no eye contact and her words went unheard. This was not the case on any other Carnival cruise.

 

Although Carnival is not of the class of Princess or Celebrity, they have a reputation for offering a good product for the money. My wife and I used to kid that Carnival was the "Target" of the cruise lines. However I do feel that they are becomming the Wal-Mart of the industry.

 

I would find that very difficult to believe. They are required to have enough life boats for every passenger/crew member. There would be no reason to cut back on lifeboats, and I just don't think they could get away with this even if they tried. I'm sure they are inspected from time to time and have to show proof of enough life boats to cover even a completely sold out cruise.

 

It would be disconcerting, however, to get the feeling that the crew is not properly prepared and/or trained to handle an emergency.