Say goodbye to DODs and Hurricane cups

[Sargent_Schultz]

That's ok, you sound like a NCL brochure.

 

Carnival changes are driven by voice of the people, not by what the competition does. You won't see bowling alleys or climbing walls on Carnival ships.

 

The changes likewise, are not cutbacks, but rather listening to the voice of the customer (as a collective whole).

 

Some have said Carnival ships are ugly - well, you can thank Uncle Bob and Joe Farcus for that. That is another cutback you can blame Cahill for - getting rid of Joe Farcus. Carnival Breeze will be noticeable different and Carnival Sunshine even more so.

 

As for ugly ships, I can't think of anything more monkey butt ugly, at least from the outside, than NCL Epic.

[debster11]

Are you sure that their shipment of cups just didn't come in? Was this confirmed by anyone of some type of authority on board?

 

This seems strange. Its not even a cutback. Those cups probably average out to be less than 5 cents each with the amounts Carnival purchases. They make tons of money on them. I can't see them getting rid of the cups. Daily Drink Special vs Drink of the Day just sounds like the same thing under a different name.

 

I was reading a review of the Liberty that sailed the end of March and that was one of the things she put in her review. No more cups and DOD's. Very sad.

[BeachChik]

You're right - it doesn't matter. Some people will continue to sound like brochures for NCL and Royal.

 

Future Cruise Certificates is one. Additional eateries - Mongolian Wok, Burrito Bar, Pasta Bar, Expanded Room Service menu to include Ruebens and more, Expanded Comedy Club, Improved use of wasted space formerly known as Cigar Bars, additional improvements for the majority of cruisers - non-smokers, suggested dress more inline with today's society.

 

Oh, and I guess one cutback - a serious cutback in ship to shore telephone rates.

 

Adding a second ship to New Orleans, blowfish cups, disco balls, etc.

 

Improved itineraries, new ports of call and millions in improvements to existing ones.

 

NOT building any Behemoth Shopping Malls of the Seas and nothing as ugly as Epic.

 

Have you read Uncle Bob's book, yet?

 

I find your first line a bit of the pot calling the kettle black.

[Dave994]

Sergeant Schultz again my humble opinion. The changes you listed I see as being driven by the competition not some good idea by Mr. Cahill. The Mongolian wok is good, burrito bar cheap alternative to good MDR food, Indian food not a big fan, would have been good as a dining room selection, just not every day. Ruebens were before Mr. Cahill. I don't want to knock Carnival, I just want back what used to be a grand cruise experience for a reasonable sum of money, rather than lower standards, and lower food quality. It is because of people accepting less without complaing that we find ourselves in this fix or I at least I do. Carnival used to use USDA choice beef in the MDR, now they use Select beef, tougher, less flavorful, chewy, ect. They then add to the Menu, instead of New York strip, a steak conjured up by RCCL called the flat iron steak which only exists as a steak in the figment of someones cheapskate mind. In my humble opinion the water buffalo I ate in Viet Nam was better. Cheddard cheese instead of Brie on the room service menu is not a step in the right direction. Carnival has done everything in their power to get people to use the Steakhouse, I would rather just pay an extra 30 dollars and have good beef in the MDR, frankly I can't eat as much as they serve there nor do I want to spend four hours dining. Somewhere I have menus and tickets as well as other things from my first cruise on the Festival, a really great old ship, you will not believe all we have lost. I tried the other lines but still liked Carnival better, maybe richstowe is right I need to try them again,but I'm afraid they will be the same just at a greater price. Just wish I could turn the clock back, it was so good before Mr. Cahill. No I have not read Uncle Bobs book, didn't know he had one.

 

Gator. I agree with you 100%.

 

If your looking for an incredible experience on a cruise with amazing food may I suggest Celebrity. Give it a try. Great steak every night in the mdr and the welcome aboard champagne was always a welcome treat. Add that to the cool cloths they give you when you board the ship after a port visit and those little things you missed will soon be special again!

 

Happy cruising !

[richstowe]

Sergeant Schultz going into a port and building Carnival facilities in order to make more money, neither helps the local people nor enhances the cruise experience. Most people go on cruises to other countries to experience the local culture not more of the same experience they have on the ship. I'm glad you like Carnival but seriously without trying to sound rude, your comments sound just like a Carnival employee following the company line, if that offends you I am genuinly sorry.

Got to disagree with you business wise. Most people love love the private islands and enclaves the cruise lines are creating.

This is not about Carnival with these fake islands being most peoples favorites. On RCI they go nuts for Labadee

Personally, like you ,I'm not sure about this direction but we seem to be in the minority.

[Sargent_Schultz]

I find your first line a bit of the pot calling the kettle black.

 

Except this IS the Carnival board.

 

Business must be pretty bad for NCL and Royal if their cheerleaders are over here trying to poach passengers. :p

[Hendricks Clan]

Except this IS the Carnival board.

 

Business must be pretty bad for NCL and Royal if their cheerleaders are over here trying to poach passengers. :p

 

While NCL is by far my favorite, I currently have a cruised booked on CCL this summer for the simple fact that NCL has no ships in the Caribbean...so as someone who has a CCL cruise booked I think Im more than welcome to post here.

[Sargent_Schultz]

While NCL is by far my favorite, I currently have a cruised booked on CCL this summer for the simple fact that NCL has no ships in the Caribbean...so as someone who has a CCL cruise booked I think Im more than welcome to post here.

 

I think all are welcome and entitled to their opinion, I just find it odd.

[Lessum]

Silly I know, but I would like to have a picture taken of us with the plastic hurricane glasses with the fun sayings on them. I'm not interested in taking them home with me.

 

Oh I know...I got one...I was just saying it doesn't really matter in the long run...makes me laugh...

 

But they are fun if they have them!

[e150club]

I don't want a plastic cup someone used as a teething ring. It could be a source of germs. Maybe it's a health issue.

[2013CruiseBride]

Sergeant Schultz again my humble opinion. They then add to the Menu, instead of New York strip, a steak conjured up by RCCL called the flat iron steak which only exists as a steak in the figment of someones cheapskate mind.

 

I have seen more than one person state that Carnival made-up the flat iron steak. I know that it isn't filet mignon, but it is served at restaurants. TGIFriday's restaurants have had flat iron steak on their menu for quite a while now. Here is their link: http://www.tgifridays.com/greatfood#steaks

 

Amazing how a discussion about cups gets so far off topic.

[elcuchio24]

Doesn't affect us. We never kept those glasses anyway. Just more plastic crap.

[tjgmyg]

Princess does not announce it but well drinks are $4.99--4-6p.m

[Gator Man]

Sergeant Schultz, I assure you I'm not a Brochure for NCL, I am a 100 percent against freestyle cruising not my cup of tea, if other people like it that is okay by me. I didn't say Carnivals ships were ugly, I actually like them, they have their on character as does every ship. I don't have blinders on though RCCL has beautiful ships, stopped sailing with them a decade ago because they started making the cuts that Carnival is now making. Carnival is my favorite cruise line and always has been. Because I have been a loyal Carnival customer, it pains me to see what havoc Mr. Cahill has wreaked on a good cruise experience, you obviously work for him, are related to him, or he has cast some magical spell over you so you don't see the destruction he has wrought. Maybe you just haven't sailed with Carnival long enough to see the difference, I am done arguing with you because it is of no use. Also I don't want to be told anymore that it is off topic, jeez its a cruise forum, I expected to follow rigid rules during my 30 years in the Army, didn't know it was so upsetting to posters to stray from topic. I've been posting here for as long as cruise critic has been in existence with the exception of the first year or so, never was a problem until the last few years, not talking about Mods here, never had a problem with them. Some of the posters today just aren't as civil as they used to be. For everyone else thanks for the opportunity to rant. Richstowe wasn't talking about private Islands, was talking about places like Costa Maya, I know it makes good business sense, just doesn't do anything for the Cruise experience. I truly hope every one has a nice day, we are so lucky to live in this country and be able to cruise. "May the wind always be at your back and may the sun shine upon your face.

[Gator Man]

Dave994, thanks for the advice. 2013 CruiseBride Carnival didn't make up flat iron steak, they started using it after they found out that people accepted it on RCCL. There was no such thing as a flatiron steak for most of history until some enterprising Chef or Restaurant chain invented it to pawn a cheap piece of beef off on their customers for a premium price. Here are the real steaks, Porterhouse, T-bone, Filet Mignon and New york Strip or as some people call it Kansas City Strip In the old days there also was a steak called the Club steak, in reality it was what was left of the Short Loin after the Porterhouses and T-Bones were cut. Before Mr. Cahill took over, Carnival used to serve USDA choice steaks in the MDR, that is not the case now, thus the flatiron named cheap piece of beef replaced the real steak, the strip. Whether or not Mr. Cahill actually influenced it or it was one of his minions, I have no direct knowledge, but I'm pretty sure it occurred under his watch.

[leelee1966]

I got an idea....Since we all have these plastic cups in our cupboard at home...let's pack them and take them with us and have Carnival pour our drinks that we buy in those glasses so we still feel like the good ole' days of DOD's ;)

[Moz]

Sergeant Schultz, I assure you I'm not a Brochure for NCL, I am a 100 percent against freestyle cruising not my cup of tea, if other people like it that is okay by me. I didn't say Carnivals ships were ugly, I actually like them, they have their on character as does every ship. I don't have blinders on though RCCL has beautiful ships, stopped sailing with them a decade ago because they started making the cuts that Carnival is now making. Carnival is my favorite cruise line and always has been. Because I have been a loyal Carnival customer, it pains me to see what havoc Mr. Cahill has wreaked on a good cruise experience, you obviously work for him, are related to him, or he has cast some magical spell over you so you don't see the destruction he has wrought. Maybe you just haven't sailed with Carnival long enough to see the difference, I am done arguing with you because it is of no use. Also I don't want to be told anymore that it is off topic, jeez its a cruise forum, I expected to follow rigid rules during my 30 years in the Army, didn't know it was so upsetting to posters to stray from topic. I've been posting here for as long as cruise critic has been in existence with the exception of the first year or so, never was a problem until the last few years, not talking about Mods here, never had a problem with them. Some of the posters today just aren't as civil as they used to be. For everyone else thanks for the opportunity to rant. Richstowe wasn't talking about private Islands, was talking about places like Costa Maya, I know it makes good business sense, just doesn't do anything for the Cruise experience. I truly hope every one has a nice day, we are so lucky to live in this country and be able to cruise. "May the wind always be at your back and may the sun shine upon your face.

Thank you for your comments they were very meaninful and spoke to how we feel. I hate to see Carnival go down the drain as we have so enjoyed the cruises but times seem to be changing. We may change cruise lines due to the postings on the facebook of Jh can't think of cruising with some of his favorite people as they have ruined it for me. It's too bad but we are only a couple of persons. We do love Carnival and perhaps we should stay off the face book page with the riff raffs and the cuzzs very fowl mouth persons who use the f word on the facebook and the person is a favorite of Jh Again I love Carnival and hopefully it will survive and continue with cliiental who are just regular persons and not terribly fowl mouthed. You do have a great product so don;t let it fail.

[richstowe]

I got an idea....Since we all have these plastic cups in our cupboard at home...let's pack them and take them with us and have Carnival pour our drinks that we buy in those glasses so we still feel like the good ole' days of DOD's ;)

sure and then we can tell for sure if the new glasses are smaller.:p

[LIV 2 CRUISE]

Gee whiz, I just gave a whole shelf-full of drink glasses to Goodwill. Maybe I was sitting on a goldmine (ha ha)!!

[maldenmusic]

I don't drink many DOD's-prefer to bring my own :D

[Gator Man]

Moz, thanks for the comment, I am just so saddened at the direction Carnival is going. Think the menu changes are horrible. I don't get on facebook too many risks, don't need the whole world knowing my business. Love your screen name, Moz is one of my favorite TV actors.

[SmogMonster]

Tap...tap... tap on computer screen.

Good I have your attention lol.:p

I just want to ask a question about the cups. If I understand those in the know correctly they are cutting them out because they are upgrading the fleet (2.0). Some people consider this a cost saving manuver on Carnivals part.

As I understand it those plastic souvenir cups would be purchased en masse by the cruiseline for less than a penny per cup based upon the sheer volume of the purchase. Carnival sells them for $1 per cup with the drink extra of course. Many of these cups are discarded on board so they are in actuality re-sold at an even greater discount. How than could eliminating them be cost saving? They seem like real revenue makers to me.

 

I agree 100% mamaskittles. There is no way this could be to reduce costs. Actually, doing this will cut into their revenue. They make a mint on these cups. Probably a 95% markup. Which is why I dont believe this is true. No company in the world would eliminate a product that has that type of profit margin!

[H82seaUgo]

I agree 100% mamaskittles. There is no way this could be to reduce costs. Actually, doing this will cut into their revenue. They make a mint on these cups. Probably a 95% markup. Which is why I dont believe this is true. No company in the world would eliminate a product that has that type of profit margin!

 

and not to mention the "free" advertising when patrons use these at home.

[SmogMonster]

I agree 100% mamaskittles. There is no way this could be to reduce costs. Actually, doing this will cut into their revenue. They make a mint on these cups. Probably a 95% markup. Which is why I dont believe this is true. No company in the world would eliminate a product that has that type of profit margin!

 

and not to mention the "free" advertising when patrons use these at home.

 

or all the free advertizing in every goodwill and thrift store in the country!!

[Silverscreencruiser]

Got to disagree with you business wise. Most people love love the private islands and enclaves the cruise lines are creating.

This is not about Carnival with these fake islands being most peoples favorites. On RCI they go nuts for Labadee

Personally, like you ,I'm not sure about this direction but we seem to be in the minority.

 

Read some of the Itinerary Boards and you'll see one person after another reporting on bad experiences when they left the "safety" of whatever enclave the ship docks at and go out among the natives. I don't know how much of that is true or not, but I do know most people don't want to experience the reality of the countries they are cruising to in the Caribbean but rather the sanitized version of it that's being peddled on carefully controlled excursions or private islands or artificial enclaves like Mahogany Bay.