JD Power Ranks Carnival Last!

[cruzfitter]

I won't sail on Carnival, but they are still paying better dividends than RCL.:D

 

Apparently, many people find their brand of cruising adequate, so what JD Power says is basically meaningless, right?:rolleyes:

 

Carnival cruise line doesn't pay any dividends. Carnival corporation does. Same with Rcl. You're including all cruise lines under the corporate umbrellas. Where as the article is comparing separate cruise lines.

[richstowe]

I'm not sure everyone who posted here bothered to look at the article.

Except for Disney, the others are clustered quite closely together.

 

 

Disney Cruise Line 871 5

Royal Caribbean International 838 4

Holland America Line 835 4

Celebrity Cruises 828 3

Princess Cruises 826 3

Report Average 824 3

Norwegian Cruise Line 817 3

Carnival Cruise Lines 810 2

 

To quote Sargent_Schultz (which makes me nervous), "They were honest enough to state that Price was the

number one factor in choosing a cruise line but wasn't a factor in the ratings"

[yogimax]

JD Power is a scam company, and their ratings are scam based on bad info and whoever pays to get their logo. Kinda like the BBB pay to play scam.

 

Bottom line... and indeed the bottom line...your comment is based solely on the fact that they rated Carnival on the bottom!

[CheapieD]

Carnival should look at Disney to see what they are doing right??? I'm glad some people mentioned that DCL is a more expensive cruise. My DH and I are cruising on the Carnival Dream in two weeks for less than $900 per person, and that is in a balcony room. For the week we are going, DCL (Fantasy) was asking $1900 per person, and that was for an oceanview room. I've been on both cruise lines, and have enjoyed both immensely. I would place DCL a notch, maybe half a rung (though not a full rung) above CCLl. The rotation dining, Disney characters, and Disney themed production shows were very nice. It's not that DCL is worlds apart from CCL; rather, the econometrics are totally different. DCL has no casino, and the people who cruise might tend to drink less (especially since you would have a higher proportion of underage people). Most importantly, there are only four DCL ships, and not unusual for only one of them to be doing seven day Caribbean cruises. It all comes down to supply and demand. Although I have sweet memories of that line, I am priced out at this time.

In any case, we are very happy to be booked on our Carnival Dream cruise. Having been on this line already, I don't understand, for example, why some people complain about the food. I enjoyed almost every meal, and I'm pretty tough on food. Why do some people say that the food is "not gourmet" when there are indeed gourmet items like "delice of the sea" and "shark and lagostino firecracker roll"?

The disney ships this month are nearly booked to capacity. If you look out 6 months or a year out the cost for the ports, region and date they are very comparable. (Dlc was coming in 890 pp and carnival 720 pp same deck, room with veranda/balcony). Disney also includes non alcoholic beverages for free, provides free childcare, and allows you to bring to your own alcohol on board.

 

With carnival all these are extras. I also felt the menu on disney was better, the service impeccable and they went out of their way each time to address a family members food allergies. In carnivals defense I haven't had any customer service issues other than having to make multiple calls pre-cruise to get an issue corrected. Do/would I cruise carnival yes. In fact my next cruise is with carnival. I love all the negative press because it means cheaper rates for my family. I don't have a brand loyalty and feel free to test the waters.

[DebJ14]

The disney ships this month are nearly booked to capacity. If you look out 6 months or a year out the cost for the ports, region and date they are very comparable. (Dlc was coming in 890 pp and carnival 720 pp same deck, room with veranda/balcony). Disney also includes non alcoholic beverages for free, provides free childcare, and allows you to bring to your own alcohol on board.

 

Carnival provides tea, coffee, lemonade for free, Camp Carnival is free and you can bring 2 bottles of wine on per cabin. So, they are not all extras with Carnival.

With carnival all these are extras.

[bingomamma19]

I just completed my 5th Carnival cruise--booking my 6th today. I have been on the Fascination, Dream, Freedom, Breeze, and Splendor--booking the Breeze again for our 6th. I have loved every one of my cruises--I go with my 7 year old daughter and my 23 and 21 year old sons. We always have so many things to do and have a blast.

 

Sure we have had minor annoyances, but any vacation will. Overall the price is great and the value is better. No survey will change my mind.

[Cruising Rules]

I would rank it last too, but its cheap, so I continue to cruise on Carnival.

 

I used to rank NCL last but they sure have been getting better reviews with their newer ships. They pulled themselves up by the boot straps, which Canrival needs to do too. Up their cruise experience.

 

People I know came back from Epic raving it was their best ever cruise .. and these were seasoned cruisers.

 

You hit the nail on the head. " they are cheap". The reality is that Carnival has entered a vicious circle. At this point they must "buy your business" in order to keep the public's support. If they do not find a way to raise prices they will continue to find ways to reduce overhead and thus value in order to keep many customer's business. Anyone who has cruised with Carnival over the last few years knows the value quotient has eroded fairly dramatically. There are many who are blinded by the prices Carnival offers who will defend them till they no longer perceive value in their product. That point could come soon. There are simply few places to cut pricing without further impacting the level of service. If I was running CCL I would take a different tact. I would enhance the service product and take small incremental price increases overtime, until service issues and reductions in the service product become exceptions to these postings as opposed to the rule. There is substantial room between CCL and it's competitors to increase service and prices and still be perceived as a value added option.

[chill6x6]

A key fact mentioned in report:

 

The average price paid for one person is $1,628 and $2,330 for a group of two to four

 

Can you imagine the average Carnival cruiser paying THAT?:rolleyes:

 

Hard to believe NCL is next to last though. But at least they AREN'T last.

 

Honestly...I saw nothing from Princess to separate it from NCL OR CCL.

 

As mentioned...outside of Disney, ALL the cruise lines are VERY close in score. In fact from Carnival to Royal Caribbean the score only varied 2.8%. Actually INCLUDING Disney the score only varies 6.1%. Can anyone here actually tell if a cruise is 6.1% BETTER? How about 2.8% That's not much!

 

IMO...this report actually reads pretty dang favorable for Carnival....offering cruises MUCH less and most cruise lines but still delivering a pretty high level of satisfaction. ALL the cruise lines mentioned actually seem to deliver high satisfaction...

[kathy884]

The disney ships this month are nearly booked to capacity. If you look out 6 months or a year out the cost for the ports, region and date they are very comparable. (Dlc was coming in 890 pp and carnival 720 pp same deck, room with veranda/balcony). Disney also includes non alcoholic beverages for free, provides free childcare, and allows you to bring to your own alcohol on board.

 

With carnival all these are extras. I also felt the menu on disney was better, the service impeccable and they went out of their way each time to address a family members food allergies. In carnivals defense I haven't had any customer service issues other than having to make multiple calls pre-cruise to get an issue corrected. Do/would I cruise carnival yes. In fact my next cruise is with carnival. I love all the negative press because it means cheaper rates for my family. I don't have a brand loyalty and feel free to test the waters.

 

The times I've checked it's when school is out (spring break and summer) Disney cruises go for a huge premium. Last summer we did a cruise up to Canada out of NYC and for cruises that were five days with the exact same ports for mid ship balcony which is what we go for, Disney was 80% higher per person (I saw that they moved out of this market this year). I would have loved to do Disney, but it wasn't in my budget and I wouldn't be willing to pay an 80% premium (especially since my youngest is 17(. People I know who cruise Disney often say there are great deals to be had when school is in session, but we just vacation on school breaks.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Besides no casino, Disney has about 10 billion kinds on most cruises. Sure, it is possible to cherry pick cruises where they might be competitive, but as the report states, price is the most important factor when choosing a cruise line. And then promptly ignores that fact.

[kathy884]

I will say that we had way too many small annoying things go on with customer service on our last Carnival cruise:

 

Minor -- but annoying

We wanted to open up balconies between our two rooms, but got bad advice and rooms where divider couldn't be taken out.

 

We rented a wheel chair from a third party, got a note upon boarding to see customer service right away (asked what it was about, but no one could tell us), tried to call customer service, but couldn't get through. Finally stood in the 30 minute line to see them only to be told that the wheelchair was in our room which we already knew.

 

Went to customer service desk again to change DS's sail and sign card so he could charge. They told me all was set. He was 16 at the time. He hung with a few new friends and ordered a soda, but his card did not work and they would not take cash. New friends had to buy him soda. Tried to call, but couldn't get through. Stood in line a second time for same issue and this time they got it fixed.

 

I can see them being last. We are cruising carnival again because of a coupon for two free passengers in a balcony room. If we were paying retail though we'd do a different line.

[Cuizer2]

We rented a wheel chair from a third party, got a note upon boarding to see customer service right away (asked what it was about, but no one could tell us), tried to call customer service, but couldn't get through. Finally stood in the 30 minute line to see them only to be told that the wheelchair was in our room which we already knew.

 

Don't you just love that. :rolleyes: And this is not unique to Carnival, nor even cruise lines. Spend 30 minutes and a lot of effort just to be told what you already knew. :(

[usd2bmd]

The article states: "The inaugural report measures cruise line customer satisfaction based on seven key factors (in order of importance): service; stateroom; food; embark/debark; entertainment; cost; and excursions".

 

Not saying the report is wrong, but it is concerned primarily with the opinion of affluent cruises who doesn't care as much about cost as others (cost is the second least important factor in the report), it is only natural then DCL wins the award. It is like saying that a Lexus has higher satisfaction rating than a Toyota, which isn't saying much.

 

I agree with this.

 

The important thing is how YOU like the cruise line!

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

This is by far what is most important to me....I read complaints of others on this board and think that some people just needs something to complain about. I go on vacation and am just enjoying being away from work and normal stresses. I am pretty easy going about most things, so these results won't impact my travel plans.

[misguidedangel]

I try not to look at ratings or lists like that. The way I see it is I want to go for a vacation. I have so much money I pick the cruise like that suits my needs, wants, desires, and wallet. Carnival has it's flaws, but I do not nitpick on this or that, I haven't really noticed a difference in services because I don't focus on it.

 

I feel fortunate enough to be able to cruise. I think back to 1992-2006 when I couldn't even afford to buy a Greyhound bus ticket to travel to the nearest big city 3 hours away. I didn't even leave the city I lived in during that time. There are millions of people out there who are in that same boat, and if you gave them an all expenses/transportations paid cruise vacation, to them it wouldn't matter what cruise line, what ship, or where it was going because to many it would be the best vacation they have ever had....

 

Now, Uncle Bob coming back is a good thing because he will be able to mentor and lead the management to a model that works. They are still filling the ship and they are still making decent profits. They are a huge company and growing pains happen. Now, if we can get the steel drum band back, that would be awesome...

[wranglerguy]

Not a shocker with the two mishaps. Did you expect higher

 

 

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[dclark]

Not a shocker with the two mishaps. Did you expect higher

 

 

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Dream on-Ccl scored low because of all the cutbacks.Cut food quality, cut entertainment and what do you expect? Applause?

[Sh1035]

Just curious but what type of people actually would take the survey either phone or the mail???

 

Every time I get one I toss it and don't answer random calls. So out of millions 2k actually answered.

 

Did I miss a free toaster or something?

 

Someone please explain?

 

Survey really has no effect on my cruising as well as price I don't care.

 

RCL ok if oasis hotel, smaller ships i live on roast beef and salad, but free drinks and a balcony discount work. Reason my parents sail it monthly.

 

Celebrity, yawn, unless its MDR, saving that for old age. But was spoiled and even dinner at the captains table. But lights out at 9!

 

CCL best for mixed age groups or lots of options for lunch with 2.0. Kind of nice to have choices and not a burger in the warmer.

 

Disney....no reason to try, for the same reason most of us in Florida won't be caught dead in Orlando or Miami. But when I am a grandpa some day I might do it?

 

Anyone take this survey and why?

[soccersharon]

Who cares what the survey said! As long at CCL provides what people are looking for, what's there to discuss? Clearly, people vote with their dollars at the end of the day. If people are happy with the Carnival product, that's all that matters.

 

Those not happy with Carnival, sail on another line. The End.

[happy flamingo]

Who cares what the survey said! As long at CCL provides what people are looking for, what's there to discuss? Clearly, people vote with their dollars at the end of the day. If people are happy with the Carnival product, that's all that matters.

 

Those not happy with Carnival, sail on another line. The End.

 

Like!

[grnyel05]

A lot of surveys are done online these days. No idea if that's how JD Power conducted this particular survey but there a lot of websites out there that give incentives to get people to take surveys. For example, a survey website may give those people taking surveys rewards based on length that can be redeemed for a gift card at a store, frequent flier miles, etc.

 

Just curious but what type of people actually would take the survey either phone or the mail???

 

Every time I get one I toss it and don't answer random calls. So out of millions 2k actually answered.

 

Did I miss a free toaster or something?

 

Someone please explain?

 

Survey really has no effect on my cruising as well as price I don't care.

 

RCL ok if oasis hotel, smaller ships i live on roast beef and salad, but free drinks and a balcony discount work. Reason my parents sail it monthly.

 

Celebrity, yawn, unless its MDR, saving that for old age. But was spoiled and even dinner at the captains table. But lights out at 9!

 

CCL best for mixed age groups or lots of options for lunch with 2.0. Kind of nice to have choices and not a burger in the warmer.

 

Disney....no reason to try, for the same reason most of us in Florida won't be caught dead in Orlando or Miami. But when I am a grandpa some day I might do it?

 

Anyone take this survey and why?

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

This seriously confirms my experience. I cruised CCL Dream and DCL Dream within 5 or so weeks of each other. There was no comparison. Disney seriously has it with the cruising experience. No question as to why they rate so high at the top if JD is going off of customers and evidently many of them are like me and my family that cannot wait to plan the next one. Sorry to be down on CCL at this point because I have taken a 7 day CCL every yr since 2011. Even my husband agrees that he would wait for another Disney Cruise instead. It was just that great an experience for us. Clearly we are not alone. And as cheap as he is, he never once thought it wasn't a value for what we paid. (One negative was that he didn't care for the square hashbrowns. That was pretty much it.) And with 4 ships, two of which are 3 yrs old or less with major cutting technology (and CCl is still using CDs for karaoke!) And a ship undergoing a major refurb, three of them now will be practically spankin new. So with 4 ships in the entire fleet, we never have to wonder about maintenance and have complete confidence. (Our CCL Dream got stuck 1.5 weeks after we got off it and they had to fly people back. Too close for comfort for me.)

 

So there ya have it from a person who has cruised Carnival waayy more than Disney.

 

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