Felow Cruisers, join me in this message.

[EastTex]

But this is CC where people like to talk, talk talk and discuss things to death and past.

 

 

The premise of an open forum is that everyone can have their say so I'm good with "talk, talk, talk". And when the discussion reaches any member's "death and past" point, they are free to ignore the posting from that point forward, as apparantly the OP has, since he/she hasn't commented for a couple of days now.

[nbsjcruiser]

Please use your cruises listed in your signature and give examples (as I have cruised the EXACT same ships and found them up to standard to the price I paid to sail on them). I see much Carnival bashing without quoted examples of this 'food cutbacks and quality cutbacks'. [EDIT] Yes, I an referring to Valor, Destiny, and Liberty...

 

When I cruised on the Liberty, Destiny and Valor, I was sorely disappointed with the lack of a good steak in the MDR. Don't forget these ships don't have a steakhouse (or they didn't at the time I sailed them) and I tried the flat iron steak in the MDR on the Destiny. It was awfully tough. I chalked it up to an off night and never gave it another thought but I was entirely unable to get a steak for the entire cruise. Later that year I tried the Liberty and asked about the steak. The waiter said (and I quote) "If you like steak I would advise against ordering it. You won't be happy.". So I went on 3 cruises on Carnival and never a steak was found. I remember distinctly commenting about how good the food was when we cruised on our first cruise on the Fantasy in 2001 do this was a huge step backwards.

 

They also introduced Mac and Cheese and Meatloaf disguised as "comfort food". That was it for me. No chance I was going to pay good money to be served food I could whip up in my kitchen in 20 minutes. I would rather pay a little extra and get much better food. If you haven't seen the thread yet, you should hop on over to the RCI board and see what their new menus look like. In fairness I haven't tried them yet but soon will but I didn't see any mac and cheese or fried chicken on it, lets put it that way.

 

In many respects I tip my hat to Carnival. They've realized that their standards need not be as high as other lines. They keep their prices down for the most part and they do it by offering sub-standard cruise food in the MDR and people are ok with it. So they branch out to other areas such as the removal of the FCC program.

 

The surprising thing though is that there are many times when Carnival is more expensive as I have found out. For instance we paid $2217 for 3 people on an 8 Day Eastern on the IOS and a comparable cruise on the Dream is over $2700.

[Brenna's Mom1]

I am sure there are lots of teens and pre-teens who love the fried chicken and macaroni and cheese...undeveloped palates and all. Carnival, by there own admission, is a cruise for all ages and their activities tend to promote that. We love taking all the teens in our family...they love the activities and having their own club and gobble up all the food and have well satisfied tummies.

 

Just because someone doesn't like a certain food choice shouldn't put a damper on the rest of the food. Those who are daring love to try the exotic dishes but I am sure many others find even the print out of these disgusting...to each their own.

 

Personally, I don't cruise for the steaks or even the lobster...I can whip up a marvelous rib eye on my own bar-b at home and we have crustaceans at all our parties. We cruise because we like to get our families together, enjoy watching the teens enjoy themselves, love basking in the sun even though we search for the shade (go figure). We love the sound of the ocean, the magnificent sun-sets and sun-rises, meeting new peeps, eating what we don't have to cook, having someone else make our beds and cleaning our bathrooms. We love that our jobs are left behind, that we don't have to worry about getting from point A to point B and yet find ourselves somewhere new and different at each port. Carnival fills our needs nicely for our extended family vacations....if I want an adult week with exotic food and soft music and card games during the day I travel other lines to a whole different set of locals.

[dclark]

I went to Vegas last year and a Pina Colada for dinner was $13.00...for just one. I paid $7.25 on my cruise on the Magic last year for a Miami Vice. I just don't get where people say that the alcohol is so expensive on the cruise. Beer might be a little more then most places here but, the foo foo drinks are on par or cheaper than what I pay in a fairly small town.;)

 

I was in Vegas last week and got a 16oz microbrew at the mainstreet casino for $1.75. Still think CCL is a bargain?

Really, some people really love to skew numbers to make a shakey point. CCL better value than land based? Really? My family of three spent 9 days in HI, had ocean front condo, went to see the volcano, did an excursion to mauna kea to see the worlds most beautiful sunset, lots of beach time and the cost for car, hotel rooms and excursion for this 9 day jaunt was less than a CCL cruise (cost under $2300).

Before going to HI, we spent four days in Vegas, two of the days in a 38 floor suite with balcony. Saw the Phantom too, all of this cost under $700 (that includes food and alcohol too). I'd rather see the Phantom than a cheesy CCL show. The Lazy River at MGM was much nicer than the over crowded pools on CCL as well. Going to Fremont, we saw real musicians playing, not some guy with a bunch of mp3's that are too loud.

[richstowe]

I was in Vegas last week and got a 16oz microbrew at the mainstreet casino for $1.75. Still think CCL is a bargain?

 

The Lazy River at MGM was much nicer than the over crowded pools on CCL as well.

Here are the beer prices at the MGM pool snackbar.

 

beer $8

Budweiser Bud Light Bud Light Lime Michelob Ultra

Heineken Heineken Light Tecate Corona

Stella Artois Dos Equis Ambarshock Top

Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea

 

Yes I think CCL is a bargain. There is one part of your argument that is true . We all make

our own decisions as to how to spend our money whether it's a dive hotel for $1.75 beers

or the MGM pool for $8 beers.

[dclark]

Here are the beer prices at the MGM pool snackbar.

 

beer $8

Budweiser Bud Light Bud Light Lime Michelob Ultra

Heineken Heineken Light Tecate Corona

Stella Artois Dos Equis Ambarshock Top

Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea

 

Yes I think CCL is a bargain. There is one part of your argument that is true . We all make

our own decisions as to how to spend our money whether it's a dive hotel for $1.75 beers

or the MGM pool for $8 beers.

The Main Street is no "dive hotel", it is a three star hotel equal to a Holiday Inn. Just because you can often get a room there for under $40 doesn't mean it is a "dive".When we were at the MGM signature suite last June, our room was $105 a night and came with $65 food bar credit too. Also, you can bring your own alcohol into the pool area of the MGM, they'll even give you a plastic cup to pour your beer in. Try that on a CCL ship!

[Bashlin]

I'm fine with carnival raising prices.. I just wished the quality of food would be bumped up a notch..

 

Carnival is trying to hard to keep the prices down. Raising the prices will keep the tank tops and Jean shorts out of the dining room.

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

[richstowe]

The Main Street is no "dive hotel", it is a three star hotel equal to a Holiday Inn. Just because you can often get a room there for under $40 doesn't mean it is a "dive".When we were at the MGM signature suite last June, our room was $105 a night and came with $65 food bar credit too. Also, you can bring your own alcohol into the pool area of the MGM, they'll even give you a plastic cup to pour your beer in. Try that on a CCL ship!

You should certainly cruise with those cruise lines that allow this. Perhaps Disney?

[pontiac1977]

Since Carnival owns most lines, sometimes that's not always possible.

They own Cunard.Do you think they are half a$$ed too

[RRLLAL]

Sorry no thanks. I have cruised them 11 times over more than a decade. I have seen very little change in price. I have seen some things cut back or eliminated but at the same time seen some things made better or added. At worst a net even in a tough economy. I will write him ams instead thank him for still giving me a great cruise vacation. Thanks for inspiring me to do so.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[NoobCruise]

I've only taken one Carnival cruise back in 2003, so I can't address the "declining quality", but I can tell you I can book a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera for less today then what I paid 10 years ago. EVERYTHING else in my life has significantly increased in price in the last 10 years, food, gas, services, everything. But not cruising. If cruise prices haven't increased with inflation, then yes, they have had to cut what you get for the money. The thing is Carnival targets a specific consumer.... they are targeting people who want to cruise as cheaply as possible. If you want more frills, then cruise with another more expensive line. Carnival will continue to fill their ships with people who are just happy they can afford to sail on Carnival. They won't miss you if you sail with someone else.

[MrShake]

Not ttue. Its made by Anheuser Busch and same exact beer can be had elsewhere under different names. I am not saying it isnt good but it is absolutely not their own craft beer.

 

I don't want to head off track.. but this is not the same beer had elsewhere. Its a "Private Label" amber ale. This is what is termed a "Contract Brew", meaning Carnival contracted AB to brew this for them. It is not available anywhere but carnival ships, and I can think of no other AB products that fit the amber ale label since AB's American Ale died (a death worth dying). Contract Brews are a pretty common thing, and are not just re-branded stuff, they are contractually only served by the contracting company. Unless you have something that states otherwise...

 

I agree they do offer a great crusie value for the money, of course so does everyone else. It depends on what you like, each caters to a specific group pf people and in ALL of them, they offer a great vallue for the trip cost.

 

I have been on two Carnival crusies and felt they were a good value as well.

 

In the end, I think thats what matters. I still feel pampered and well taken care of on a Carnival cruise!!