GMChambers

To all of you who shared your experiences both good and bad I say thanks for the worthwhile feedback. The point of my post was to ask other cruisers for their experiences based on their sailings on Carnival to see if our recent experiences were isolated or a general trend across the entire line. Some of you guys brought up some great points and it was really helpful. Maybe we will give it another shot.

For those of you who just wanted to bad mouth my post because I am new to CC, or "he hasn't posted in 2 years", or "you are just here to bash on Carnival" first I say grow up and quit acting like a schoolyard bully. I ask you what is the point of a message board if someone cannot ask a legitimate question based on observations made over a decade of cruising on Carnival. If you guys just want to sit around and talk about how great Carnival is and giving each other high 5's about your experiences be my guest. But for some of you to be so rude because I was simply asking a question is sad. My apologies if I offended your sensitivities in any way. Now go back to worshipping your "ship on a stick" door prize.

And they wonder why I haven't posted in 2 years...

I've found that anything someone starts with this isn't meant to be a bash it usually is. Not meaning to bash the op though. I'm happy with Carnival, if OP isn't then move on.

 

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bobandsherry if asking for others opinions is considered bashing on this board, what is the point of having the board. I was not calling names or bad mouthing Carnival without any basis in fact. My concerns were based on my experiences of sailings on Carnival over the past decade. I was merely asking if others had noticed any of the things that I had noticed. Thanks for your input.

I sailed Carnival in 2011. It was good, but not great. They seemed to do the bare minimum to be acceptable. I tried NCL the following year and sailed NCL ever since until two years ago. Cutbacks got worse and worse on NCL each year. The final straw was the banning of bottled water and soda cans as well as a no-frills version of Margaritaville replacing a free option for burgers and salads.

 

The reason I'm trying Carnival again is that it ought to be a better deal than NCL. The Havana Cabana on a Vista class ship should be equivalent to a trip on the NCL Breakaway class with Vibe passes included...in theory. I believe it when people say quality has diminished on Carnival, but I'm telling you the same happened on NCL. Don't know if other cruise lines are any different. If this cruise doesn't wow me, I'll move onto another.

Thanks for the input! I appreciate it...

If this wasn't a bash I'm not sure what is. There was no aspect you left untouched. I'm not a Carnival cheerleader and have sailed other lines but ..... Carnival IS a budget line - and fills a necessary niche. To compare it to Celebrity, which is Rccl's high end branch, is unfair. The cost of living has gone up yet Carnival fights to hold a line on fares so that those on a tight budget can still enjoy the magic of cruising. Even NCL and Royal are most times significantly more expensive than Carnival.

 

One thing from your essay that stood out was about the small older ships. Ports for NCL, X and RCCL are very limited often requiring airline fares to even board the ships while Carnival stations its smaller, older ships in cities accommodating a wide range of customers - like Baltimore, Charleston, Jacksonville and Mobile. Because a line puts out mega ships looking like a square hotel on a barge doesn't mean the atmosphere and staff service are better.

 

Yes, I understand that there are things CCL could do better but if you peruse the RCCL, Celebrity, HAL and NCL boards here on Cruise Critic the same concerns are being voiced on all of them. These issues are not restricted to CCL alone but are industry wide. We continue to sail Carnival because of excellent staff service we've received on all of our CCL cruises.

 

One last thing .... do you really think the Carnival Board of Directors sits around making "a real effort to take away the few last remaining reasons that we would choose to sail with them in the future" ?

Just wondered.....

summersigh thanks for your input but again there is no bashing in my post. I was asking other cruisers if they had noticed the same decreased level of service and quality that we had, or our experience was limited to a single bad experience. If I wanted to bash I would just make blanket statements based about the entire Carnival fleet on NO experience, but that is NOT the case! OUR observations were based on numerous sailings on Carnival yearly over the past decade. If others have had positive experiences that is great and maybe our experiences were possibly a crew having an "off cruise". We have sailed on these other lines and have never had any of the problems on them that we had repeatedly experienced with Carnival. That is why I was asking for general feedback from other cruisers.

We all have choices folks. No one is twisting your arm. Do what makes you happy instead of complaining about it.

Yes I agree... the point of the post was to get opinions to see if others have noticed the same problems we have or if our experiences were limited to a single situation.

“Not bash on Carnival in any way” ... and then that’s exactly what you do.

 

In my opinion, yes, it’s only you and your opinion.

 

My experiences are vastly different.

 

Happy sailing on other lines until the changes you want from Carnival happen but I suspect you’ll be saying the exact same things about those other lines as those forums are filled with people saying the same thing about them as you are curently saying about Carnival.

 

Its the cycle of life.

Excuse me StolidCruiser but there is no bashing in my post, I was merely bringing up valid concerns based on factual observations made by myself and other cruisers that have sailed Carnival. If raising valid concerns and questions is what you consider bashing then so be it. We have sailed other lines many times and NO we have not seen any of these types of problems happening to this frequency like it is with Carnival. I am glad you have had better experiences with Carnival, that is the point of my post as I wanted to see if others were witnessing the same problems that we have. Best of luck to you as well on future Carnival sailings.

First let me say that my wife and I are experienced cruisers and have cruised on Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal thus far. This post is not meant to bash on Carnival in any way... just looking for opinions. Does anyone else notice that it seems like Carnival is really going down hill quality wise? Food problems (quantity, variety, and temperatures), customer service issues, common area ship and stateroom cleanliness complaints, poor entertainment, etc. Is it just me or does it seem like Carnival is having problems? Our last Carnival cruise was very disappointing and we both agreed that our Carnival days were over until changes were made. Many small things like return guest perks, mints on the pillows, and complimentary toiletries in the stateroom bathrooms, to much larger issues like food, cleanliness problems, and a general feeling of a lack of concern for customer satisfaction. It also seems to me like the fleet is showing signs of age and they do not seem to be keeping pace with other lines in regard to introducing newer ships with more current features. I do understand that they try to be the "value" line and must keep costs low, but it just seems like their has been a real effort to take away the few last remaining reasons that we would choose to sail with them in the future.