Open Letter to Carnival

[Pee-ah]

Of the 77000 views, probably the majority were from a few posters each reading the thread 20000 times each. :p

 

And no, Carnival does not have to compete on perks with other cruise lines and should not.

 

Carnival's stock is healthy and still paying over a 3% dividend, so Grandma has nothing to worry about.

 

 

TRUE!

And how many of the posts were done by the same posters multiple times :)

[waiting4acruise]

Then why did Carnival shut down John Heald?

 

Why were there over 77,000 views and 1400 replies to the initial thread before it was shut down?

 

No, you can better believe this was a PR disaster and Carnival immediately went to extreme damage control.

Carnival right now is trying to wipe the eggs on the face because of this fiasco.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Carnival right now is trying to wipe the eggs on the face because of this fiasco.

 

Which fiasco is that? People debating rumors, gossip, and figments?

 

Carnival hasn't released the program details. There is no egg on Carnival's face.

[KDilly]

Carnival right now is trying to wipe the eggs on the face because of this fiasco.

 

Shows how careful you have to be with consumers in this economy

 

-KD

[waiting4acruise]

Which fiasco is that? People debating rumors, gossip, and figments?

 

Carnival hasn't released the program details. There is no egg on Carnival's face.

Carnival has LEAKED the program details.

They may changed due to the public outcry.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Sure they did. :p

 

I wouldn't hold your breath.

[rellersi]

Of the 77000 views, probably the majority were from a few posters each reading the thread 20000 times each. :p

 

And no, Carnival does not have to compete on perks with other cruise lines and should not.

 

Carnival's stock is healthy and still paying over a 3% dividend, so Grandma has nothing to worry about.

 

Your right the 77000 views were probably multiple reads, and just because they viewed does not mean they complained or were unhappy.

I am curious to know how many of the people on this board who are voicing these complaints and saying they will not cruise Carnival any more actually will not cruise Carnival anymore

[luvsboozecruises]

Carnival took my money for cruise#8,9,10 which are in july and sept and they did not tell me about the change in loyalty program. I paid for # 10 that would make me platinum in sept so now i need to take another cruise under the new program because i will have only 71 cruise days not 75!!!!! I paid for this under the program that is in place now,,, and will cancel the other 2 cruises i have booked,,one is new years week and one in feb of 2013 .....(new program starts june 25th) carnival is not loyal to its customers if they were they would of warned me 1st (HaHa) so i will now book on another cruise line.( A cruise is a cruise is a cruise)

[rellersi]

Carnival right now is trying to wipe the eggs on the face because of this fiasco.

 

Right now I do not see Carnival making or leaking any statements that sound like an attempt to Wipe egg off there face. Yes Carnival Stock dropped yesterday, but did you notice that the Dow Jones is down just slightly also 2.2% yesterday and almost 400 points for the week

[Georgiagolfer]

Carnival took my money for cruise#8,9,10 which are in july and sept and they did not tell me about the change in loyalty program. I paid for # 10 that would make me platinum in sept so now i need to take another cruise under the new program because i will have only 71 cruise days not 75!!!!! I paid for this under the program that is in place now,,, and will cancel the other 2 cruises i have booked,,one is new years week and one in feb of 2013 .....(new program starts june 25th) carnival is not loyal to its customers if they were they would of warned me 1st (HaHa) so i will now book on another cruise line.( A cruise is a cruise is a cruise)

 

If what is being posted is true, then you will still be Platinum after #10 in September. If you have 8 cruises, you will have 18 months to take #9 and #10 to become Platinum. If you have 9 cruises, then you will have 12 months to take #10. So what is the problem that you have to cancel?

[dclark]

 

Carnival's stock is healthy and still paying over a 3% dividend, so Grandma has nothing to worry about.

 

Care to define how the stock is "healthy"? A year ago it was selling for $38.79 a share, now it is at 31.08 a share. Gee, a drop of over $7 a share- that doesn't sound "healthy" to me.Might want to tell grandma that her CCL stock has dropped over 20% in value.

Last earnings report said that revenue was flat. Next report is due next month. Seeing as Europe is going into a recession, I don't see how the report will be cheery.

[rellersi]

Care to define how the stock is "healthy"? A year ago it was selling for $38.79 a share, now it is at 31.08 a share. Gee, a drop of over $7 a share- that doesn't sound "healthy" to me.Might want to tell grandma that her CCL stock has dropped over 20% in value.

Last earnings report said that revenue was flat. Next report is due next month. Seeing as Europe is going into a recession, I don't see how the report will be cheery.

 

Does that mean Yahoo is not healthy either?

[misguidedangel]

I am Platinum and I got there the way the program should have been done--11 seven day cruises and one six day cruise. Does the new program bother me....NO!!! I think it is just fine and leave it at that. I still get VIP board, VIP tender, slot tournament entry, free gift, limited laundry (only ever use it once a 7 day cruise anyhow), chocolate covered strawberries, and so on....

 

The problem has always been passengers could do a two day cruise to nowhere, a three day/four day, or a 16 day transatlantic and it all counted the same as a one cruise. You could be platinum with as few as 30 cruise days.

 

C'mon people, why not just enjoy the cruise and be done with it.....Quit moaning and groaning, enjoy the amazing food, service, and entertainment..

[dclark]

 

C'mon people, why not just enjoy the cruise and be done with it.....Quit moaning and groaning, enjoy the amazing food, service, and entertainment..

 

Amazing food? What's so amazing about? I was always amazed that on every CCL cruise I went on, the pancakes and waffles were always super cold.Also amazed at the poor quality of the beef served, never seen that in a land restaurant!

Amazing entertainment? Like a guy putting on digital rap sound tracks? What so amazing about that? You could hear the same thing if your car broke down in the inner city!The audience participation junk in the theater? What's so amazing about that?

MDR service is amazing- takes 2 hours or longer to get through it, we have waited 30 minutes just to get water! Yup, amazing, amazingly slow!

[rellersi]

Amazing food? What's so amazing about? I was always amazed that on every CCL cruise I went on, the pancakes and waffles were always super cold.Also amazed at the poor quality of the beef served, never seen that in a land restaurant!

Amazing entertainment? Like a guy putting on digital rap sound tracks? What so amazing about that? You could hear the same thing if your car broke down in the inner city!The audience participation junk in the theater? What's so amazing about that?

MDR service is amazing- takes 2 hours or longer to get through it, we have waited 30 minutes just to get water! Yup, amazing, amazingly slow!

 

I always thought that dinner in the main dining room was supposed to be a relaxing experience when we are at a table for 2 we have always been done in under an hour, when we are with a group of people we expect to take 2 hours or so. So why is it all of a sudden amazingly slow

[Sargent_Schultz]

I always thought that dinner in the main dining room was supposed to be a relaxing experience when we are at a table for 2 we have always been done in under an hour, when we are with a group of people we expect to take 2 hours or so. So why is it all of a sudden amazingly slow

 

He is the Carnival Jeerleader.

[dclark]

I always thought that dinner in the main dining room was supposed to be a relaxing experience when we are at a table for 2 we have always been done in under an hour, when we are with a group of people we expect to take 2 hours or so. So why is it all of a sudden amazingly slow

 

My family of four enters mdr promptly, then we wait for water to be served, which can take 5-20 minutes.

We review menus promptly fold close and wait for server to take order. Yup, that can take 15-20 minutes, sometimes much longer (45 minutes was the likely our families record).

We get appetizer 20-25 minutes later, then wait another 30-40 minutes for main course. When it arrives, no need to worry about burning one's tongue as it is cold.If something is not good or we just simply want something different, man, if you get your server's attention, that's another 30 minutes at least.

Once the meal is done, challenge is to get dessert order in and delivered before lights flash (the warning for the 'dancing'. Once that is on, waiter is gone) .

You call it "relaxing"? It is slow. Most people would not tolerate service this slow in a land restaurant and would be livid if they complained to the manager and was told that it was not slow, it was 'relaxing'.

The common ccl cheer for the cold food is "It is a big ship and they have a lot of people to serve" which is a load of crap as CCL wasn't like this back before 2010 and I cruised on all of the Conquest class ships too. Was on Princess Ruby last Jan, a slightly bigger ship than the conquest class and food came up hot and we always done between 60 and 90 minutes and oh, no one complained about mdr not being relaxing. If anything, long drawn out dinners with cold food, interrupted with loud music and waiters dancing in front of your table is less than relaxing.

[Crusin Hogs]

We have done 7 or 8 day cruises ,once a year for the last 5 years , Normally we would all ready have 1 booked for Dec- Jan , Not this year Rethinking Carnival all together , Looking at other options , Key West for a week is nice , Fly to a All Inclusive , Carnival has really gone downhill since we first cruised:(

[rellersi]

My family of four enters mdr promptly, then we wait for water to be served, which can take 5-20 minutes.

We review menus promptly fold close and wait for server to take order. Yup, that can take 15-20 minutes, sometimes much longer (45 minutes was the likely our families record).

We get appetizer 20-25 minutes later, then wait another 30-40 minutes for main course. When it arrives, no need to worry about burning one's tongue as it is cold.If something is not good or we just simply want something different, man, if you get your server's attention, that's another 30 minutes at least.

Once the meal is done, challenge is to get dessert order in and delivered before lights flash (the warning for the 'dancing'. Once that is on, waiter is gone) .

You call it "relaxing"? It is slow. Most people would not tolerate service this slow in a land restaurant and would be livid if they complained to the manager and was told that it was not slow, it was 'relaxing'.

The common ccl cheer for the cold food is "It is a big ship and they have a lot of people to serve" which is a load of crap as CCL wasn't like this back before 2010 and I cruised on all of the Conquest class ships too. Was on Princess Ruby last Jan, a slightly bigger ship than the conquest class and food came up hot and we always done between 60 and 90 minutes and oh, no one complained about mdr not being relaxing. If anything, long drawn out dinners with cold food, interrupted with loud music and waiters dancing in front of your table is less than relaxing.

I go to a Ruth Chris and I am there 2 1/2 to 3 hours. One thing I do agree with you about, I can do without the singing and/or dancing, but there have been very few times where I have been unable to get the waiters or his assistants attention and if I order something else it is there in minutes

[rellersi]

My family of four enters mdr promptly, then we wait for water to be served, which can take 5-20 minutes.

We review menus promptly fold close and wait for server to take order. Yup, that can take 15-20 minutes, sometimes much longer (45 minutes was the likely our families record).

We get appetizer 20-25 minutes later, then wait another 30-40 minutes for main course. When it arrives, no need to worry about burning one's tongue as it is cold.If something is not good or we just simply want something different, man, if you get your server's attention, that's another 30 minutes at least.

Once the meal is done, challenge is to get dessert order in and delivered before lights flash (the warning for the 'dancing'. Once that is on, waiter is gone) .

You call it "relaxing"? It is slow. Most people would not tolerate service this slow in a land restaurant and would be livid if they complained to the manager and was told that it was not slow, it was 'relaxing'.

The common ccl cheer for the cold food is "It is a big ship and they have a lot of people to serve" which is a load of crap as CCL wasn't like this back before 2010 and I cruised on all of the Conquest class ships too. Was on Princess Ruby last Jan, a slightly bigger ship than the conquest class and food came up hot and we always done between 60 and 90 minutes and oh, no one complained about mdr not being relaxing. If anything, long drawn out dinners with cold food, interrupted with loud music and waiters dancing in front of your table is less than relaxing.

 

You must be awfully unlucky to always get the worse waiter on the ship

[CruisersNC]

You must be awfully unlucky to always get the worse waiter on the ship

 

 

I'm thinkin its karma! :D

[rellersi]

I'm thinkin its karma! :D

 

Off topic, but Raleigh. We were in Apex until 5 months ago, now Fayetteville

[waiting4acruise]

I am Platinum and I got there the way the program should have been done--11 seven day cruises and one six day cruise. Does the new program bother me....NO!!! I think it is just fine and leave it at that. I still get VIP board, VIP tender, slot tournament entry, free gift, limited laundry (only ever use it once a 7 day cruise anyhow), chocolate covered strawberries, and so on....

 

The problem has always been passengers could do a two day cruise to nowhere, a three day/four day, or a 16 day transatlantic and it all counted the same as a one cruise. You could be platinum with as few as 30 cruise days.

 

C'mon people, why not just enjoy the cruise and be done with it.....Quit moaning and groaning, enjoy the amazing food, service, and entertainment..

But the food, service, and entertainment quality has gone done.

[Not_Done_Living]

My family of four enters mdr promptly, then we wait for water to be served, which can take 5-20 minutes.

We review menus promptly fold close and wait for server to take order. Yup, that can take 15-20 minutes, sometimes much longer (45 minutes was the likely our families record).

We get appetizer 20-25 minutes later, then wait another 30-40 minutes for main course. When it arrives, no need to worry about burning one's tongue as it is cold.If something is not good or we just simply want something different, man, if you get your server's attention, that's another 30 minutes at least.

Once the meal is done, challenge is to get dessert order in and delivered before lights flash (the warning for the 'dancing'. Once that is on, waiter is gone) .

You call it "relaxing"? It is slow. Most people would not tolerate service this slow in a land restaurant and would be livid if they complained to the manager and was told that it was not slow, it was 'relaxing'.

The common ccl cheer for the cold food is "It is a big ship and they have a lot of people to serve" which is a load of crap as CCL wasn't like this back before 2010 and I cruised on all of the Conquest class ships too. Was on Princess Ruby last Jan, a slightly bigger ship than the conquest class and food came up hot and we always done between 60 and 90 minutes and oh, no one complained about mdr not being relaxing. If anything, long drawn out dinners with cold food, interrupted with loud music and waiters dancing in front of your table is less than relaxing.

 

Kind of a crazy off the wall question but -- 1)if you hate it do much, why do you keep booking Carnival Cruises and

 

2) how does the changes to the loyalty program affect your MDR experience ?

[Deckbreeze]

I am nowhere near Platinum. From my study of the "leaked" plan, it sounds like it was cooked up by the same thinking that gave us "New Coke" in the 1980's.

 

My big problem is that a loyal customer is expected to be happy to give up a small number of perks.