from the Carnival Magic November 11, 2017 - November 18, 2017

We had a good time in Roatan on the pirates, monkeys and birds excursion. The pirates portion was simultaneously artificial and genuine, but the end result was interesting. I'm not a bird person but they were beautiful to look at. And I made at least one friend this trip.

 

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We still got soaked at the end of the excursion and the soaking was so severe that I worried whether the road back to the port would be passable. Weather is a big factor this trip.

 

One piece of advice: if someone says leave your umbrella behind but is carrying theirs, bring yours along anyway.

 

We missed lunch so tried to get an afternoon snack at the pub on Deck 5. The wait was remarkable. And I read that the food was worth the upcharge. I have to disagree.

 

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So the question has to come up... Are the VIP tours worth the extra money? It sure seems like they are to me. We had this one VIP tour this time around and compared to the regular tours we had earlier, even taking into consideration the difference in weather, it sure seems like we got a much better experience with the VIP tour, well in proportion with the additional cost. We visited Chacchoban, and learned both about the Mayan people then and about the Mayan people now. We saw some incredible ruins that have been restored and gained an understanding of what the place was used for and how it was used. All in all a great tour and a great day here in Costa Maya.

 

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Enjoying your posts.

Keith

We are still having trouble getting our cabin steward to understand that we would like our cabin cleaned every day and yes even twice a day. I'm debating what to do about the gratuities. I don't think Carnival let's you reduce them...I think you have to eliminate and then manually distribute cash which would be a hassle.

 

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We are still having trouble getting our cabin steward to understand that we would like our cabin cleaned every day and yes even twice a day. I'm debating what to do about the gratuities. I don't think Carnival let's you reduce them...I think you have to eliminate and then manually distribute cash which would be a hassle.

 

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Visit Guest Services. Unacceptable not to receive cabin service.

I believe you can adjust them how you see fit, but it won’t fix your problem. I would go to GS. They need to be made aware of it.

I actually went down there after my last post. I was asking about disembarkation but might have also complained about the steward if it were not for the interchange I overheard between guest services and the guest in from of me (a platinum, apparently). It seems that once a day cleaning is now the standard and asking for "both" morning and afternoon is interpreted, even by guest services, as equivalent to asking for "either". In retrospect, the steward may have cleaned our room once a day (albeit inadvertently, since this morning he even admitted that he was surprised that he skipped ours). Though expecting a second cleaning, especially after coming back from an excursion and needing another shower, it didn't seem like it at the time. Lack of access to essentials (extra towels, vacuum, and ice) make the switch to once a day cleaning irrevocably impracticable, forcing us to chase down the steward repeatedly when we need something that they provide us no convenient way to obtain for ourselves.

 

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Twice a day is still an option whether or not they want to admit it. In October on Glory was the first time I was shown the infamous “Card” which did in fact have “Both” as a selection. And no, it does not mean “whenever the RS feels like it.” You need to be firm yet nice with your room steward and let him know you expect twice a day service. Anything less needs to be addressed on a comment card both on the ship and in your post cruise survey.

Well I see now that your cruise is over tomorrow so it won’t do you any good now for your remaining vacation. I would definitely be calling him out on the post cruise survey. Be sure to put his name in it too. If they are going to only once a day service, then it needs to be issued in a formal statement from Carnival. Until it is, it’s nothing more than employees seeing how far they can push it to do less and they will continue to do so until it’s addressed.

 

I don’t normally recommend what I’m about to say, but if I were you, I might be so inclined to post to Carnival’s FB page. They seem to be pretty receptive to solving issues there.

And no, it does not mean “whenever the RS feels like it.”

For me the new info is that guest services is now speaking this language. "Did you ask for morning or afternoon service?"

 

 

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I cannot imagine a context in which both means either. The experience you describe is, simply put, unacceptable.

 

While I have not always agreed with your opinions expressed here, I have never had reason to doubt your veracity in factual matters.

 

I repeat what I have said since this issue was first raised. Half the service equals half the tips designated for cabin stewards, if unresolved by a visit to Guest Services.

 

You can remove designated tips to one service area without removing the tips to others.

 

What you report about cabin service is disturbing. Weather, well that just happens.

 

Happy and safe sailing.

So a few early take-aways.

 

Carnival passengers are, as a group, an order of magnitude more friendly than I recall Holland America or Royal Caribbean passengers being. This isn't a big shocker to me since the on-board experience just echos what I've noticed online. Note that I didn't include Disney in the comparison. I think that would be an unfair comparison since if you're mean on a Disney cruise then you're really off - the expectation of convival relations between passengers is so much higher, carried over from their theme parks. Having said that, Carnival still fares well.

 

Don't get me wrong. There are some bad eggs. I didn't notice any until the last day though, so maybe they were hiding out in the casino. Which reminds me: all the reports of smoking in the casino afflicting a good part of Deck 5... True. It makes a good part of the Ocean Plaza area unusable afaic.

 

Carnival's offering is, uh, basic. And it seems deliberately so. Even putting aside the service compromises indicated, above, there aren't the kind of pretensions I read about on other lines and recall from past Royal Caribbean and Holland America cruises. Maybe that's all they are on those other lines (pretensions) but they don't even have them aboard this ship.

 

And I really wish they did try harder in the dining room. There's going to be one dinner on this cruise that I'm going to remember - the best veggie burger I've ever had... from Guy's, eaten while sitting by the pool, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, watching Wonder Woman on the big screen. In the dining room, fish was consistently overcooked, mains and sides were consistently lukewarm, and desserts were consistently over-gelatinized.

 

I read the reviews of this ship with regard to the long waits for elevators. They are true. Be prepared, ESPECIALLY on embarkation day, when the entire midship elevator set are reserved for luggage delivery.

 

At some point there has to be an accounting of pluses and minuses, and I'll have to answer the question you'll invariably want to know the answer to: Would we cruise on Magic again?

 

More to come, I'm sure.

 

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For me the new info is that guest services is now speaking this language. "Did you ask for morning or afternoon service?"

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And my answer would be “Both - as in morning AND evening service.” If that doesn’t result in the correct response, then I would go straight to Carnival’s official FB page and ask if this is standard practice. If it doesn’t get addressed, then Corporate doesn’t know it’s an issue and that it is occurring on the ship. They need to be re-educated from the top down.

It seems that once a day cleaning is now the standard and asking for "both" morning and afternoon is interpreted, even by guest services, as equivalent to asking for "either".

 

So sorry that you are having this issue, Having been on the Magic for two weeks less than a month ago, our room steward understood the word "both", and there were no issues. The problem is your room steward, and it seems like GS is trying to make you think that once is the norm to dissuade you from potentially adjusting your tips. Enjoy your last night at sea. :cool:

I repeat what I have said since this issue was first raised. Half the service equals half the tips designated for cabin stewards, if unresolved by a visit to Guest Services.

I think he rode a fine line hoping we would not complain to guest services. Since we didn't, they didn't have a chance to remedy the problem - that's on us. But we did complain to him several times. He should have self-corrected. He didn't.

 

The whole "one service per day versus two services per day" thing is going to go on a while until the new reality settles in: if you search the website for the promise made, you'll find mention of a daily cleaning, availability for requests, and a daily turndown service. We never received the latter. Is that "half"? No.

 

So now I need to gauge whether it is worth the extra 5 minutes it would take to apply the change. It would make a point but not necessarily the one we all would like to make (that we expect two full services a day, because of how they structured things).

 

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If you don’t say something to someone besides him and GS (if they don’t want to do anything about it), then it won’t change. It is absolutely worth your time to do so. Who knows, maybe others have complained about him too. If he doesn’t want to do his job properly, then he needs to go. There are plenty of people that would eagerly take his place and give the guests the service they deserve which is twice a day.

Up to you. I would say something, and camp out until heard. And believe it or not, I am a nice person. This is a serious subject.

Eye opening experience. Thank you for the information you've passed along so far. Looking forward to the question... "would you go again?"

If you don’t say something to someone besides him and GS (if they don’t want to do anything about it), then it won’t change. It is absolutely worth your time to do so. Who knows, maybe others have complained about him too. If he doesn’t want to do his job properly, then he needs to go. There are plenty of people that would eagerly take his place and give the guests the service they deserve which is twice a day.

You've convinced me. I reduced his share by $20.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the report.

You've convinced me. I reduced his share by $20.

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More importantly (in my book), did you voice your concern to GS and if so, what did they say?

Eye opening experience. Thank you for the information you've passed along so far. Looking forward to the question... "would you go again?"

The most remarkable thing, for me, is that the answer is, "I don't know." Carnival is a known quantity. I don't mean because I have cruised on the line, but it is a known quantity regardless. Even my experience with the steward shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Even those who have had only positive experiences should have researched enough to know that such things happen a certain amount on Carnival.

 

The flip side of the known quantity is the price advantage. The question is whether the price advantage is worth it given the quality issues. Having just had a significant, long term financial setback, I can't say that compromise isn't an option. I do know that if it weren't for that setback, this week would have is relegating Carnival to a "only if it is the only choice" category. And that is despite Carnival's biggest advantage - even bigger than the price advantage - its friendlier passengers. The quality issues, both the service and the food quality, are that substantial.

 

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More importantly (in my book), did you voice your concern to GS and if so, what did they say?

I told him why. He didn't bat an eye and gave no specific response beyond, "Yes sir." We will of course make it clear on the post-cruise feedback.

 

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So now I need to gauge whether it is worth the extra 5 minutes it would take to apply the change.

Incidentally, if we didn't have FTTF, that would have taken a half hour or more. There were about twenty-five people in the regular line.

 

 

 

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