Carnival - the cruise line of those who love to wait in line???

I'm surprised by all the people saying they've never seen lines like this on Carnival. I love Carnival and have been on 10 cruises but there are always lines like this on embarkation day and frankly lots of other times too. I have never waited less than 20 minutes in line to get pizza. Deli and Guys almost always have lines, any time of day any day of the week. The buffet lines can also get long and have waited up to 20 minutes there as well.

Now embarkation day Is a different story. 4,000 people trying to eat at the same time and no mdr. No line at the pasta bar on deck 11 since nobody knows where it is yet.

Seriously you’ve never waited less than 20mins for a pizza?

Sadly some people took whole pizza's (4 slice worth)

What’s sad about that? Is it frowned upon to take an entire pizza? I grab two at once pretty regularly. Especially late at night.

That is the issue - the 2 employees. There are always long lines. Why are there only 2 people working in there??? Sometimes there is only one. They need at least 4 or 5 to handle the number of people ordering.

They only have two cooks at the pizza station on Princess and there isn’t any difficulty keeping up with the volume and there’s rarely a line.

On some ships, they even have a complimentary specialty pizza restaurant that offers sit down service. While there may be an occasional line during peak times, it generally doesn’t take a long time for a pizza to be brought over to your table and generally they are able to keep up with the volume.

They only have two cooks at the pizza station on Princess and there isn’t any difficulty keeping up with the volume and there’s rarely a line.

 

On some ships, they even have a complimentary specialty pizza restaurant that offers sit down service. While there may be an occasional line during peak times, it generally doesn’t take a long time for a pizza to be brought over to your table and generally they are able to keep up with the volume.

So what wI kid you attribute the reason for the difference then?

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That seems high for just a 4 dayer??? I realize its Canadien dollar....Whats that in US$?

Around 28-2900 I think.

Flights $850 CAD

Hotel $250 USD (although we are doing 2 nights before so $500 in our case)

Food for the day before the cruise in Miami $100 USD

Transportation to hotel, to port and to airport $100 USD

Cruise including prepaid gratuities $1100 USD

Cheers $480 USD

TIps for cabbies, porters, steward, bartenders etc $100 USD

Entertainment such as bingo etc $100

Excursions $300 USD

2530 USD x 1.29 = 3263 plus $850 CAD flights = $4113 (or 3176 USD) . Crap it's even more than I thought! LOL

Now embarkation day Is a different story. 4,000 people trying to eat at the same time and no mdr. No line at the pasta bar on deck 11 since nobody knows where it is yet.

 

Seriously you’ve never waited less than 20mins for a pizza?

Never, however, I have only gone at night when other stuff is closed. There are always tons of people in line.

Around 28-2900 I think.

Flights $850 CAD

Hotel $250 USD (although we are doing 2 nights before so $500 in our case)

Food for the day before the cruise in Miami $100 USD

Transportation to hotel, to port and to airport $100 USD

Cruise including prepaid gratuities $1100 USD

Cheers $480 USD

TIps for cabbies, porters, steward, bartenders etc $100 USD

Entertainment such as bingo etc $100

Excursions $300 USD

2530 USD x 1.29 = 3263 plus $850 CAD flights = $4113 (or 3176 USD) . Crap it's even more than I thought! LOL

This is for 2 people though

Find another cruise line,I can take the same pics with no one on line!

I can't speak specifically to the Oasis class, but it seems like RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, and even NCL have all done much better than Carnival in managing traffic flow, at least at the Lido buffet. RC's Windjammer has the round buffets where you can just jump in for that one thing you want. The other lines use a "station" concept or at least smaller serving lines so that every single person does not have to wait in the same line. Meanwhile, Carnival ships (at least through the Dream class) still have the same long cafeteria-style serving lines that force you to wait behind everybody else, just like their new-build ships 30+ years ago.

Very good point. We just tried MSC (just got off ship yesterday) and the had the segmented buffet sections. No more than 4 or 5 items to a section. WAY BETTER!! I wish Carnival would do the same.

I'm very sensitive to lines too but I think it's pretty ship dependent. On the Sunshine both times I was on her, I got pretty annoyed by the constant lines and crowds. Other ships haven't been that way.

 

I haven't been on the Vista or Horizon so I'm unsure if it's a new ship thing or what. My most recent ships were Conquest, Pride and Splendor and I don't remember difficult lines or crowds on embarkation day or otherwise. I can't remember noticing anything on the Liberty or whatever other ship I was on first but they were almost 10 years ago. The only place there seemed to always be an issue was the Comedy club. The company grossly underestimated what a hit those were going to be.

The funny thing is, is they have a solution right in house. Typically the theatre shows are over by the time late night comedy starts (at least by the time the last 2 comic sets start), and they could simply use the main theatre for it, but they choose not to.

The funny thing is, is they have a solution right in house. Typically the theatre shows are over by the time late night comedy starts (at least by the time the last 2 comic sets start), and they could simply use the main theatre for it, but they choose not to.

Not on the cruises I’ve been on. The last main show lets out before the last comedy show starts. But there’s an adult comedy show before that and sometimes one or two PG shows before that.

Not on the cruises I’ve been on. The last main show lets out before the last comedy show starts. But there’s an adult comedy show before that and sometimes one or two PG shows before that.

 

We are saying the same thing. Even the latest main theatre show is over by the time the comic's last show starts. So they could easily have the 11:30pm comedy show in the main theatre, and even some of the earlier comedy shows on nights where there is no late production show. This way, if you can't get into the comedy show at 9:30pm, because the comedy club is full, you'd at least have the option to know you could go to the 11:30pm show if it was in the main theatre, because there would be ample seating.

We are saying the same thing. Even the latest main theatre show is over by the time the comic's last show starts. So they could easily have the 11:30pm comedy show in the main theatre, and even some of the earlier comedy shows on nights where there is no late production show. This way, if you can't get into the comedy show at 9:30pm, because the comedy club is full, you'd at least have the option to know you could go to the 11:30pm show if it was in the main theatre, because there would be ample seating.

You said the last 2 sets which would be 9:30 and 11:30. 9:30 can’t be done. Could you move the entire comedy club for an 11:30 show? Sure but that’s not the most attended show. The 9:30 is. In fact the lowest attended adult comedy show of the whole cruise is the late show on the last night. It’s not that highly attended on the night before port days either.

I think certain ships and certain times of the year have more line issues. I thought the Sunshine was awful but never notice it on the Pride. Other ships fall somewhere in between but those are two of the three ships I've sailed multiple times and have been consistent.

One thing I have noticed is that it takes longer to get a drink at the bar and specialty coffee. Are there cutbacks in those areas?

Also, the entire fleet needs to figure out a way to deal with the pizza lines. I'm not sure the solution but if they are going to cutback free options at night more and more every year, it is a travesty to expect people to wait more than 15 minutes for a pizza late at night!

One pro tip to save on lines,

I think certain ships and certain times of the year have more line issues. I thought the Sunshine was awful but never notice it on the Pride. Other ships fall somewhere in between but those are two of the three ships I've sailed multiple times and have been consistent.

 

One thing I have noticed is that it takes longer to get a drink at the bar and specialty coffee. Are there cutbacks in those areas?

 

Also, the entire fleet needs to figure out a way to deal with the pizza lines. I'm not sure the solution but if they are going to cutback free options at night more and more every year, it is a travesty to expect people to wait more than 15 minutes for a pizza late at night!

 

One pro tip to save on lines,

I think it depends on the ship. I had some long lines for coffee on Elation, Triumph, and Freedom. On those ships there was sometimes only one person making coffee. The most I saw was two. On Breeze they had three every day and I never had a long wait for coffee. I'm hoping Dream is the same way.

I don't think I ever wait more than 15 minutes for pizza but I keep hearing that people do so I'm going to time it this next cruise.

I think it depends on the ship. I had some long lines for coffee on Elation, Triumph, and Freedom. On those ships there was sometimes only one person making coffee. The most I saw was two. On Breeze they had three every day and I never had a long wait for coffee. I'm hoping Dream is the same way.

 

I don't think I ever wait more than 15 minutes for pizza but I keep hearing that people do so I'm going to time it this next cruise.

If the dream is like the Magic (I assume similar) they will have 2-3 pretty much all day and 1-2 at night. For some reason though they just couldn't seem to crank out the drinks efficiently. I don't know if their station set up was wonky, they had newbies or fill-ins or what. I always complain about the Sunshine but one area that i can't complain about is the specialty coffee. The baristas were on point and the drinks always tasted the same (I love spiked coffees and find they aren't consistently made usually)

I think certain ships and certain times of the year have more line issues. I thought the Sunshine was awful but never notice it on the Pride. Other ships fall somewhere in between but those are two of the three ships I've sailed multiple times and have been consistent.

 

One thing I have noticed is that it takes longer to get a drink at the bar and specialty coffee. Are there cutbacks in those areas?

 

Also, the entire fleet needs to figure out a way to deal with the pizza lines. I'm not sure the solution but if they are going to cutback free options at night more and more every year, it is a travesty to expect people to wait more than 15 minutes for a pizza late at night!

 

One pro tip to save on lines,

I don't think there has been a cutback on the number of barista's. There has been a substantial increase in demand. Starbucks frapacapacino, extra whipped, half fat, triple sweet, caramel, extra hot.....it's gotten so that instead of a 2 minute prep time for a specialty drink, it's 4-5 minutes.

That's embarkation day for you. The other issue is finding a table. All those people with no where to go...

Our table is on our balcony :):) We show up around 1:30pm...walk on, go to our room. We then unpack a minute and grab some food to bring back to the room and sit on the balcony. I have never had more than a 3-5 minute wait for anything.

I don't think there has been a cutback on the number of barista's. There has been a substantial increase in demand. Starbucks frapacapacino, extra whipped, half fat, triple sweet, caramel, extra hot.....it's gotten so that instead of a 2 minute prep time for a specialty drink, it's 4-5 minutes.

Hey, I hadn't seen you post in a long time, glad you're still around. When I was just a lurker, I used to love your reviews, you do such a good job!

You may be on to something about the demand being incresed. Now that it is included in cheers, you'd think they sell more. Not sure if the menu changed all that much though since I've been using it so I'm not sure it is the drinks are necessarily more demanding to make but I could be wrong on that. Great to see a post from you!

I've been once on Carnival. These pictures confirmed that I made the right choice to never go back. I'm also amused how one of the first suggestions is to pay extra to get on the ship early. Maybe the lines are designed to maximize revenue?

I've been once on Carnival. These pictures confirmed that I made the right choice to never go back. I'm also amused how one of the first suggestions is to pay extra to get on the ship early. Maybe the lines are designed to maximize revenue?

Based on the anecdotage evidence, this wasn't prime lunch time - this was probably after the muster drill and before dinner - Blue Iguana's was closed (it's open noon until just before the muster drill) and it doesn't appear that the buffet is open at all. The pictures that were posted were of the 3 places on Lido that are open between lunch and dinner (Guy's is open until 6pm, Deli is open until 11pm and Pizza is 24 hours).

At 5pm on embarkation day, the only thing open on the last Royal ship I was on was the Promenade Café - and there was a long line there as well (and I'd rather have a fresh made burger, pizza or deli sandwich over the promenade café offerings any day).

In defense of Guy's Burgers, those guys are fast as all get out. I ate at Guy's every single day of our 7-day cruise earlier this month (let alone our last cruise) and in my experience, even the longest lines don't last too terribly long. Take the picture in post #1 of this thread, for example. I've been back there past the doors to the elevators multiple times and waited maybe 5 minutes from that point. That's perfectly acceptable for what I'm about to put in my belly. :D I often have waits longer than that at McDonald's. The thing that slows down Guy's the most aren't the cooks, it's the people who have never been and stand there trying to figure out what to order from a menu with a whopping five items on it. ;p

I've been once on Carnival. These pictures confirmed that I made the right choice to never go back. I'm also amused how one of the first suggestions is to pay extra to get on the ship early. Maybe the lines are designed to maximize revenue?

Carnival doesn't suggest to anyone to buy FTTF, so I'm not sure where you're coming from there. Oh, that's right, you don't sail Carnival, so you're just making false accusations because they've somehow wronged you. But yes, I'm sure you're right....they've engineered longer lines to sell more FTTF. Only problem with that is, getting on the ship earlier and having FTTF doesn't help with longer lines throughout the rest of the cruise, now does it?

The lines come and go. I remember we cruised once during the Christmas season and the lines were ridiculous. Now we try to only book cruises when school is in session. Cheaper, fewer kids, ship is still full but it's not like Christmas where rooms have 2 adults PLUS 3 kids in them, they'll just have 2 adults.

Since Blue Iguana was closed, this was after Muster drill - right between Muster and the MDR opening. "Off" times like these, the buffet always backs up. But still those lines are nuts.

Typically on embarkation day we head up to Lido for a Funship special and lunch, then to the room to drop off whatever we carried on, then back to Lido to people watch until Muster. After Muster we just walk around the ship until the MDR opens.

In defense of Guy's Burgers, those guys are fast as all get out. I ate at Guy's every single day of our 7-day cruise earlier this month (let alone our last cruise) and in my experience, even the longest lines don't last too terribly long. Take the picture in post #1 of this thread, for example. I've been back there past the doors to the elevators multiple times and waited maybe 5 minutes from that point. That's perfectly acceptable for what I'm about to put in my belly. :D I often have waits longer than that at McDonald's. The thing that slows down Guy's the most aren't the cooks, it's the people who have never been and stand there trying to figure out what to order from a menu with a whopping five items on it. ;p

Yes. this is what I have noticed as well.