Why all the negativity lately???

[TheTravelista]

It seems as though everytime I come to the boards (which is everyday) there seems to be a new thread stating how much somebody hates Carnival, how Carnival is so horrible, how Royal Caribbean is better and how they will never sail on Carnival again. Its starting to become annoying. I love these boards for the positive attitudes of the posters and all the great information i recieve. Lately it hasnt been like that. Its been more of a warzone with Carnival bashers and Carnival loyalists going at it in every post. I understand that Carnival has had a few problems lately but so does every cruiseline. I've cruised Carnival 10 times and have no plans of switching. Every experiece was better than the last. Im tired of everybody treating Carnival like the bastard children of cruising. Anybody else feel the same way??

[CamelliaCity]

It seems as though everytime I come to the boards (which is everyday) there seems to be a new thread stating how much somebody hates Carnival, how Carnival is so horrible, how Royal Caribbean is better and how they will never sail on Carnival again. Its starting to become annoying. I love these boards for the positive attitudes of the posters and all the great information i recieve. Lately it hasnt been like that. Its been more of a warzone with Carnival bashers and Carnival loyalists going at it in every post. I understand that Carnival has had a few problems lately but so does every cruiseline. I've cruised Carnival 10 times and have no plans of switching. Every experiece was better than the last. Im tired of everybody treating Carnival like the bastard children of cruising. Anybody else feel the same way??

 

We have two Carnival cruises booked, one being a 16day Transatlantic. I can't believe that it could be 'bad'. I'd hate to be on a 'bad' ship for 16 days:( I'd probably jump overboard;) I think a cruise is what one makes/takes out of it.

We hope to enjoy both of our upcoming Carnival cruises. We have not sailed Carnival before.

[chris623]

I agree with Luv2 100%. While I do want to hear the good and the bad, particularly when someone is writing a review, these threads that are just all bad I consider to be not objective at all and I for one disregard most of it.

 

I would have to dig really deep to find anything negative to say about my cruising experience with Carnival, and trust me, it wouldn't be worth taking the time to write.

 

Now granted, I've only sailed Carnival so I can not compare. But if I ever do cruise another line, it would be only to try something new and that cruiseline, in my opinion, will have a tough time living up to Carnival.

[TheTravelista]

CamelliaCity you will have a WONDERFUL time on your cruise! I only wish I could lucky enough to sail Carnival for 16 days! Any questions you might have please feel free to ask.

[zonemasconi]

Carnival overall has and is a good cruise line to go on..however they do have a major flaw in their system, this being that they have poor communication between the departments which has of late especially leaded to quite a few problems that could have been avoided.

 

Will I stop sailing CCL because of this NO, but I have sent emails to them so they explaining what I feel has changed in my 10 cruises with them.

hopefully they will address these things and others.

[Are we there yet?]

Our first cruise is coming up fast, and it is with Carnival. I have read both negative and positive comments about Carnival, so I take everything with a grain of salt. Hopefully the negative are not as bad as they are made out to be, and the positive are true! I will judge for myself when I get there. We are going with optimistic attitudes and are not going to let the "little things" get us down. I know we will have a great time:D

[savandbarb]

I have to say honestly that this cruise( march 1-9 mexican riviera,Spirit) was the better of the 3 we have taken with Carnival.The CD was the same and the lasvegas style show were the same but the service was 150% better then the other trips we went on with Carnival. we all draw our own conclusions from experience and then share on the boards.take from them what you want and leave the rest behind.then when you go on your trip don't forget to let us know how yours was because then we can do the same and that in its self is what the boards are all about.Sharing and Caring not bashing and smearing.:D Can you feel the love?

[halos]

For people who have a positive outlook on life, reading the negativity does get annoying...but at least we can go off line and ignore it. My only hope is that I don't have many of these types of folks on my future cruises, where I won't be able to 'turn them off'!! ;)

[GoinCruisin]

Well, I will say the negativity has spawned from the fact that several ships lately have had problems... my issue is that most of the "negativity" has come from brand new posters... They come on, puke all over everything, and never come back. They rarely focus on ANYTHING positive (sorry folks, if you can't find a positive, you need to find another form of vacation), they generally don't answer any questions and many times are just rude and nasty. The posters that come on here and provide the positive and the negative, are helpful to others when asked questions, and keep their comments realistic (not the ones that say all the food was garbage and they couldnt find anything to eat all week :rolleyes: ), those are the posts I appreciate as a cruiser... I think people get upset and run around spewing hatred wherever they can, hoping they can rally everyone else and be a hero... not sure what purpose it serves other than to feed their ego and "victim" mentality... Most of them contribute ZILCH to this forum.

[corina27]

That was very well stated. Give it a couple of days and it will all quiet down.

[staceyvols]

I don't understand why people who have never sailed on Carnival get on here and put it down. If they have never been on Carnival, how can they insult it, plus if they have never been on it-why are they on these boards at all?

HMMM, life is too short.

[TheTravelista]

And it so kills me when Royal Caribbean passengers have the nerve to say that Carnival is a "cheap cruise" when in all actuality a 7- day on the Carnival Valor in a balcony stateroom is more expensive than a 7- day balcony stateroom on the Mariner of the Seas which is one of their newer ships. Everyone needs to realize that these are both mass-market lines and Royal Caribbean is no more luxurious then Carnival. Every line has their problems at some point.

[colette5479]

And it so kills me when Royal Caribbean passengers have the nerve to say that Carnival is a "cheap cruise" when in all actuality a 7- day on the Carnival Valor in a balcony stateroom is more expensive than a 7- day balcony stateroom on the Mariner of the Seas which is one of their newer ships. Everyone needs to realize that these are both mass-market lines and Royal Caribbean is no more luxurious then Carnival. Every line has their problems at some point.

 

Exactly. Especially if they have never experienced both lines. I have, and there are some minor differences in them but not enough to make be a die hard fan of just one line.

 

I do feel sorry for the Ecstasy cruisers....but I have lots of sympathy for the crew. Can you imagine what stress they were under? They were probably as uninformed as the pax and didn't have the answers the pax wanted to hear. And can you imagine how old it would be to have to answer the same questions OVER and OVER again? I know I would be sporting a tude:D

 

Some people, IRL and on these boards, absolutly cannot help themselves from griping about every minor thing that happened on their cruise. Would not receiving towel animals really make for a horrible cruise? Or expecing lobster every night on a 4 day cruise ruin the whole experience? Maybe I'm too easy to please, but only seeing my room steward a couple of times during my cruise or only having having hot dogs at every meal would STILL not ruin my cruise experience! I just hope I never encounter any of these complainers on my future cruises:D

[marktac]

Exactly. Especially if they have never experienced both lines. I have, and there are some minor differences in them but not enough to make be a die hard fan of just one line.

 

I do feel sorry for the Ecstasy cruisers....but I have lots of sympathy for the crew. Can you imagine what stress they were under? They were probably as uninformed as the pax and didn't have the answers the pax wanted to hear. And can you imagine how old it would be to have to answer the same questions OVER and OVER again? I know I would be sporting a tude:D

 

Some people, IRL and on these boards, absolutly cannot help themselves from griping about every minor thing that happened on their cruise. Would not receiving towel animals really make for a horrible cruise? Or expecing lobster every night on a 4 day cruise ruin the whole experience? Maybe I'm too easy to please, but only seeing my room steward a couple of times during my cruise or only having having hot dogs at every meal would STILL not ruin my cruise experience! I just hope I never encounter any of these complainers on my future cruises:D

 

I guess I fit into that description as well. Just as an aside, when CC changed their boards, I lost several hundred posts. Do I stop coming back? No. Same with cruising. Sure, Carnival has had a run of bad luck on engines lately. Is it the cruise line's fault? Doubtful. Things break....new things, old things, it makes no difference.

 

What gets me are the first posts claiming all sorts of contractual defects, and how they are going to sue for this or that because they didn't get a refund. Give me a break. These are the same folks who spill coffee in their lap while driving to work and blame McDonalds. You get out of a cruise what you make of it.

 

Personally, if I never see my steward, I'm glad. They hang around the cabin too much on Friday or Saturday, when the envelopes magically appear. (insert big grin here!).

 

As to hot dogs, that is what the child cruising with us is looking forward to. When he heard he could get a hot dog anytime he wanted, he was hooked!

 

Come on, folks. Give us fair reporting. Tell us if there are legitimate problems, but also include the good things. If you can't find any, then I agree with a previous poster....you need to find another way to take a vacation.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Mark T.

[gr81]

I am fairly new to the boards and have noticed a lot of negativity as well. I usually just take it as "complainers are going to complain more than the other way around". I get home from a great vacation, I tell all my friends and family about it but am not thinking about telling the world. Now have a bad experience and you may want see someone wanting an act of congress to let everyone know about it or "write a strongly worded letter"! While I want to know whats happening with the ship I am going on in 3 weeks, I have to remember that the person who wrote the comments I just read just ended a bad experience and it may or maynot be worse than what I read.

 

Plus you have to dismiss ANYone that has one single post online, just signed up, rips whatever (cruiseline, airline etc...) and is never seen online again.

[TheTravelista]

Anybody else have any comments?

[mesmall]

Yes! I"VE NEVER HAD A BAD TIME ON A CRUISE! Been on both Royal carribbean and Carnival and loved both.

[bevi]

I have been on Carnival 5 times, RCCL 2 times, and Disney once. I have loved all of them and the only issue I ever had is when we sailed RCCL Nordic Empress and they started taking it apart while we were on board. We still had an awesome cruise but we did not enjoy our last breakfast with ALL of the construction workers. Smelly and low on food. I sent an e-mail suggesting that the don't start refurbishing a ship while paying customers are still on board. They said sorry and that is all. Sooooo...we are back with Carnival cause we love them.

 

that is my story!! Happy Cruising~~bevi

[Cruising89143]

And it so kills me when Royal Caribbean passengers have the nerve to say that Carnival is a "cheap cruise" when in all actuality a 7- day on the Carnival Valor in a balcony stateroom is more expensive than a 7- day balcony stateroom on the Mariner of the Seas which is one of their newer ships. Everyone needs to realize that these are both mass-market lines and Royal Caribbean is no more luxurious then Carnival. Every line has their problems at some point.

 

Have you ever been on another cruise line besides Carnival? You say that RCI is not more luxurious than Carnival but have you tried RCI to be able to say that? I had been on RCI before but it was only for their four night cruise. In December I tried the Navigator OTS out for their seven day eastern cruise. I have cruised with Carnival sixteen times and this one cruise on RCI was better than any cruise I have ever taken on Carnival. The level of service blew anything I have experienced on Carnival away. I also have grown to dislike Carnival because of their shoreside operations attitude about their customers. I do not put Carnival down but when asked I will tell people that I now will take RCI over Carnival anyday.

[robbyxoxo]

and can you just imagine the negativity, if I was here posting more often???:)...........im still amazed that there isnt MORE negative feedback posted here.....there are sooo many things about cruising that a person can find to complain about........and it has nothing to do with having a negative attitude or being a sourpuss.....pick any topic and you can find pros and cons to talk about......so many here want to sweep the negatives under the rug and only talk about the positives.....or else their life back home must be so sucky that just getting out of the house feels good to them.....im not a believer in the ole saying that the worst day on a cruise is still better than any day at work/home......i guess if you have screaming kids at home, and bills piled up, and a boss screamin at ya, then dealing with the annoyances of cruising must seem pretty minor......some of us expect more out of a vacation....some of us are looking for that perfect vacation with the least amount of annoyances......for some of us, cruising is not that vacation.......though i still get a kick out of reading the rowdy threads here:)

[imosoreal]

I've been on the board a long time and to me it's always been that way, for some reason people just like bashing Carnival. I've tried both and I don't see much of a difference in service, food, or entertainment.

[mattmdv]

Guess I'm just not much of a complainer. On the 3 cruises under my belt, I really can't recall anything worth griping about, "She Who Must Be Obeyed" just says that I am to easy, guess she knows me pretty well (25 year of wedded bliss).

Eagerly looking forward to our May 9th cruise, not worrying about the "What If's" in life.

Like a TV commercial I saw the other day, "If life gives you a lemon, find a lobster".

I like that idea.

 

Matt

[colette5479]

Guess I'm just not much of a complainer. On the 3 cruises under my belt, I really can't recall anything worth griping about, "She Who Must Be Obeyed" just says that I am to easy, guess she knows me pretty well (25 year of wedded bliss).

Eagerly looking forward to our May 9th cruise, not worrying about the "What If's" in life.

Like a TV commercial I saw the other day, "If life gives you a lemon, find a lobster".

I like that idea.

 

Matt

I'm with you! It would really take a lot for me to come on the boards and trash a cruise! Even if my luggage was misplaced (I've learned on here to pack an extra outfit in your carryon:) ), my room steward didn't speak to me, I did not get any towel animals,they only had "slop" to eat, I never got a deck chair thanks to the hogs, the casino ate all my money, I got stuck in a elevator, and every single crew member would not look me in the eye and smile at me, I'm sure I could find SOMETHING positive to reflect on:D

[MszKitty]

I don't understand why people who have never sailed on Carnival get on here and put it down. If they have never been on Carnival, how can they insult it, plus if they have never been on it-why are they on these boards at all?

HMMM, life is too short.

 

Oh boy!...Do I agree with you. I will admit...I am both a Carnival lover and a Royal Caribbean lover. I have been on both cruiselines equal amount of times and I find them to be comparable in everything. I don't believe one is better than the other. Maybe its because I have a good time no matter what ship or cruiseline I am on. As many people have said...a day on a cruise is better than a day at work.

 

I am sharing an except of an article from a newsletter that I subscribe to. I have been trying to tell people for years that Carnival is a good line, but some people still believe that Carnival is the "party til you drop/booze cruise" cruiseline.

 

********************

 

It is a commonly held misconception from long ago that Carnival Cruise ships are some kind of decadent party boats with gaudy décor and intoxicated passengers stumbling over each other in the hallways. In fact we still have clients call us and say that their friends have advised them against Carnival because they had a “bad experience on a Carnival ship twenty years ago”.

 

I would like to clear up this misleading notion once and for all! While it is true that a long time ago Carnival had a reputation for being a “party boat” cruise line, at this point in time Carnival Cruise Lines is recognized as “The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World” and for good reason.

 

So what is it that Carnival has done to overcome this party boat reputation and become the most popular cruise line? Carnival recognized that their image had to change, so they were the first cruise line to institute a policy where any passenger under the age of 21 must have an adult 25 or over sharing the stateroom and this adult must take responsibility for the actions of the minor. This one rule by itself virtually eliminated the “Spring Break” mentality on-board. Over the past seven to eight years the total product that Carnival offers on-board has continuously evolved for the better. In particular, Carnival's earned kudos for enhancing cuisine (never a high point in the old days), investing in a top-notch children's program, and expanding its itinerary offerings beyond its traditional Caribbean and Bahamas trips to regions like Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and now Europe. The interior design of the ships has changed as well. What was once all chrome, neon and sparkle has evolved to more subtle elegance and sophistication.

 

Carnival ships are known as the “Fun Ships” and indeed they are. Carnival sails more passengers from age 3 to 83 than any other cruiseline in the world! In fact, Carnival has more seniors sailing every year than any other cruiseline! Carnival’s philosophy is that they earn their business one guest at a time. Carnival must be doing something right since they continuously achieve a 98% guest satisfaction rating!

 

Carnival’s clear goal is to make cruising fun for everyone. So whether you want to be involved in one of the many daytime activities or just soak up some tropical sun on deck Carnival promises to make your time on-board their ships as enjoyable as possible.

 

Hopefully I dispelled the myths of the Carnival Cruise experience and enticed those of you who have been skeptics to try a Carnival Cruise and see what you’ve been missing!

 

 

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[sgriff17]

It will all die down :) The people on this board that regularly post are generally nice people, not negative. As GOIN said, it's the new people that come on, stir everything up, then leave.

 

Eventhough I took a shot at some people on another thread, I did it kiddingly :D