Diminishing Quality on Carnival?

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.

I haven't cruised Carnival for four years. I recently booked with them for an upcoming October cruise. One of the reasons I left was the feeling of wanting more entertainment and activities. On my last carnival cruise I tried one show and couldn't return the rest of the cruise as the first was not good. I went to NCL and most recently Royal which are fantastic IMHO. I'm giving Carnival another try and I hope this will be a great cruise. I'm nervous after some of the posts I have seen regarding the same concerns you have.

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“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.

Yes indeed.

Because of the degradation of the cruise experience on Carnival my wife and I will NOT be doing any more Carnival cruises. Food is down. Entertainment is down. P/D perks are down. Service is down. Bigger ships are too crowded. Cruise director was nonexistent as were senior ship officers. Ship lay out and decor on last ship I was on (Dream) was a joke, really ugly, no class at all. Crew was friendly but sometimes overly so. I have 175 days on Carnival. All my business will go to HAL or maybe an upscale line. I have 215 days on HAL and about 475 total.

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

Not in the slightest. 12 cruise on Carnival and 3 upcoming and I've never had any issue with the quality of the food or service. Probably the most consistent line out there (IMO).

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.

We are Carnival cruisers and we don't see the decline. Yes the mints and bathrobes are gone but that is far from a deal breaker. We find the entertainment and meals to be in the main excellent and we are going again the end of April.

I have enjoyed every cruise I have taken with Carnival. Has everything been perfect? Well, of course not but nothing in life is. I make the best of my time on board and don't dwell on every thing that isn't perfect like so many here on Cruise Whiners do. Mints, toiletries etc should not make or break anyone's cruise experience. Make the best of of the time you have been given!

Changes normally lead to a "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. Since a cruise line is different than it was, it surely must be the only one that way. Similar complaints ALWAYS surface about RCI and NCL. If you want premium service, that almost always comes at a premium price. Still, I see nothing wrong with what I've gotten at Carnival.

Lots has evolved in the cruise industry and will continue to do so. I found no glaring issues on my last cruise. I wasn't expecting mints on a pillow though.

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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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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I saw what you did there! I laughed out loud!!!

I've only sailed on Carnival so have no other cruise line to compare it to. We just discovered cruising 4 years ago and find the food and service to be very good. I have noticed many cutbacks in the last 4 years but looking at other cruise lines, Carnival still seems to have the best value price wise.

Carnival is still a great line but after all the cutbacks the last decade it sure is a watered down product. The Vista was a disappointment. I can't recall many cutbacks with HAL but all lines have had them but I think Carnival leads the pack. Hopefully there won't be any more cutbacks soon but past history shows every few months they cut something. Royal has a great product which is more classier and often can be the same price or cheaper.

bathrobes are gone

Bathrobes

Two bathrobes are provided in all suites and Cloud 9 Spa staterooms and suites. Additional bathrobes will be provided, upon request.

For all other accommodations, upon request, bathrobes will be provided during turndown service on the first evening of the cruise.

If guests wish to purchase our deluxe bathrobes, the price is $49 USD for adult size (one size fits all). On ships that feature our Cloud 9 Spa, special Cloud 9 Spa logo deluxe bathrobes are also available for purchase - the price is $59 USD for adult size (one size fits all).

A few things have made me laugh about the posts here: the OP critiqued Carnival for not keeping up with new ships and the newest ship in the ocean is Carnival's Horizon sailing on its inaugural sailing this weekend... "LOL".

Secondly, another poster was complaining about Carnival not offering a great experience and literally a few words later complained that the Carnival staff is some times too friendly...

We have not sailed in a little more than 3 years and will be Horizon in a couple of weeks. I prefer to be a big fish in a small pond so I would rather have a suite on Carnival than a lower class of Cabin on more expensive lines... For what we pay, we have never been disappointed with the Fun Ships. I hope I can say the same in about 4 weeks.

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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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Well done! :')

Sorry OP, we are quite content with Carnival and as others have said, you will find complaints just like yours on the other cruise line boards. Our friends are platinum, or whatever NCL calls it, and they have switched to Carnival as they are unhappy with NCL.

Quick question, two years on CC (April 2016) and this is your first post?

We sailed Carnival 10 years ago. Since then, we have sailed maybe half a dozen cruises on RCCL, We like RCCL entertainment much more than Carnival. Giving Carnival Fascination a try ... great ports and I can tell you there was no Guys Hamburgers or Blue Iguana 10 years ago. I have heard good things about both of those and its no extra charge so it sounds like they managed to add some things of value to me and they are significantly less expensive than RCCL for a similar cruise. We still like RCCL, but they've had cutbacks as well.

I'm Platinum on Carnival and I completely agree with the OP's assessment. Carnival has slipped and they need to step it up a notch for the consumer, and down a notch for the share holders. The product is slipping and it is showing. Thus far, Carnival is third on our list of cruise providers for our next cruise.

8 cruises spanning 4 years, and we're still as happy as ever with Carnival. Got many more booked/planned. A vacation is what you make it. We don't cruise for mints or shows, we cruise to have fun, meet new friends, and see other parts of the world. Cheers.

it's a total bash, although he prefaces it as "this is not meant to bash" This is our 14th CCL cruise and still love the experience. The TV cutback was the one that bothered us the most. Taking away priority boarding, which I do not think they will do" might be the proverbial last straw.

After sailing the last few trips on NCL, I finally did a 7 day on the Carnival Dream last July. My big disappointment was no lobster night but that is the same deal on NCL. However, the addition of Guys Burgers and the Pig and Anchor was a nice perk. Carnival seems to have more free food choices then the other lines.

I miss the tablecloths although some people do not. The table cloths make me feel like I'm at a really nice restaurant and not a coffee shop. I don't miss the mints on the pillows and I didn't notice that our cabin was only cleaned once a day.

Overall, I think that the cruise lines (Carnival, NCL, RCCL) are more similar then different. They all know what the other ones are doing and eventually its monkey see monkey do.

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

 

No.

I have never had any issues! I have two Carnival cruises booked, and am only going on a Royal one because it is a themed cruise.

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