New menus and ***** !!!!!

[jimbo5544]

I wonder why Carnival has pulled out of the Med next year?

 

Ummmm isit a requirement to use table cloths there?

 

 

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[pandarider123]

I wonder why Carnival has pulled out of the Med next year?

 

Might be a agreement since carnival is in court in

Italy over sinking of concordia. Chances italy doesn't want them back.

[Cruising Rules]

After seeing the new menu's do you still feel the same way?

 

Unfortnately I do. Greatly reduced appetizer and desert choices. All the local dishes served in ports are for the most part low cost food items. Don't see the option of pasta dishes served as an appetizer. Anything you take away in terms of choices reduces the cost of food service. These choice reductions combined with what I think is a definate hit to the ambiance (no table cloths, pour your own water, family style dining etc) are going to make the MDR a much less "special" experience while reducing the cost of this area for Carnival. I know many on here don't care. With that said I know the other three couples we often travel with who without exception are disappointed in these changes. While we are all Platinum I envision far less support from our group as Carnival continues to reduce the level of entertainment and food quality. yes I know there are people who will disagree with our assessment they obviously have that right.

[mzloolue]

I looked at those sample menus.

I did not see the vegetarian entrees.

And I did not see the Indian alternative.

 

I also did not see much in the way of veggies in general.

Somehow a pork chop on a plate is just not all that interesting.

 

I don't know.

Maybe those items are still available.

 

I try to eat healthy and it looked like it will be more difficult to do with the new menu than the old.

 

The food looked like a once a month calorie splurge meal.

Five or seven nights of that...not so good.

[jimbo5544]

Unfortnately I do. Greatly reduced appetizer and desert choices. All the local dishes served in ports are for the most part low cost food items. Don't see the option of pasta dishes served as an appetizer. Anything you take away in terms of choices reduces the cost of food service. These choice reductions combined with what I think is a definate hit to the ambiance (no table cloths, pour your own water, family style dining etc) are going to make the MDR a much less "special" experience while reducing the cost of this area for Carnival. I know many on here don't care. With that said I know the other three couples we often travel with who without exception are disappointed in these changes. While we are all Platinum I envision far less support from our group as Carnival continues to reduce the level of entertainment and food quality. yes I know there are people who will disagree with our assessment they obviously have that right.

It's your vote, and you vote with your wallet (as in cruising with another cruiseline). At the end of the day, they are making a change (assuming they continue to roll it out...and they most likely will), and I applaud the change for the sake of change. I have not had a problem with the food till now, and don't see that changing in the future, I really think that they think they are giving their customers what they want (table cloths aside). I guess we will all have to wait and see if it was the right decision or not (for the cruiseline).

[kteachcruiser52]

If you type zydecocruiser into your search engine you can find the current menus and the new menus so you can compare them.

[Cruise4Music]

Unfortnately I do. Greatly reduced appetizer and desert choices. All the local dishes served in ports are for the most part low cost food items. Don't see the option of pasta dishes served as an appetizer. Anything you take away in terms of choices reduces the cost of food service. These choice reductions combined with what I think is a definate hit to the ambiance (no table cloths, pour your own water, family style dining etc) are going to make the MDR a much less "special" experience while reducing the cost of this area for Carnival. I know many on here don't care. With that said I know the other three couples we often travel with who without exception are disappointed in these changes. While we are all Platinum I envision far less support from our group as Carnival continues to reduce the level of entertainment and food quality. yes I know there are people who will disagree with our assessment they obviously have that right.

 

 

Sorry to hear you will no longer be cruising with Carnival.

 

I guess you will be leaving the Carnival boards as well.

 

Sorry to see you go.:D

[sharecruises]

I got off the Liberty in Miami on Saturday; the table cloths were there at least for the Nov 30th sailing. As for the menu, I don't know if it was the new and improved version, or the old one. A cheese plate was available for desert, but the menu as a whole was unremarkable. I sent back two fish entrees that spent way too much time under a heat lamp. There seemed to be very few "healthy choices" - tons of fried stuff and starches. The dinner the first formal night was very good, but poor service - waited nearly 30min to get served - all evening had us leaving before desert.

 

Service overall in the dining room was hit or miss; we had Anytime Dining. Some stations were excellent, while others were slow, slow, slow. The choices up in the buffet as well as the burger joint and the Mexican place were excellent - almost wished we had eaten up there in stead of the dining room - a first for us!

 

This sort of thing is ship specific, so your experience on an other ship might be better.

 

Suzi

 

They have clearly said this was starting out on Glory , this sailing was the first

[joeyancho]

I may have missed it, but I don't see lobster on the new menus.

[cruiseclues]

I may have missed it, but I don't see lobster on the new menus.

 

Zydecocruiser has it on Day 2 MDR American Feast (Formal Nights) Menu

 

Note his New Carnival MDR Menus can be enlarged by clicking on them and they include both Eastern 7 Day and Western 7 Day Menus.. :):):):)

Edited December 12, 2013 by cruiseclues

[Blk_Amish]

I imagine that the elimination of table cloths will result in a huge savings in man power and expense.

 

I wonder how much time this took, an entire deck? Also why not ration bath towels or give a drink credit for the ones you don't use.

 

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Edited December 12, 2013 by Blk_Amish

[sparks1093]

I wonder how much time this took, an entire deck? Also why not ration bath towels or give a drink credit for the ones you don't use.

 

,

 

Just shows that there are other areas where CCL can save manpower and money:).

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Just got off the Glory this morning. Don't like the no tablecloths because the drink glasses sweat and it puddles on the table. The family style dining is crap. Maybe better if you are with family it would be fine.

 

We had a horrible head waiter so that didn't make the new dining experience any better.

 

Nobody monitored clothing ... "Formal" night there was a large family wearing jeans, t-shirts and shorts. Last night, someone in that family had on a wife-beater tank top!

 

They put the tablecloths on for "formal" night but the atmosphere wasn't there.

 

Will post a full review some time later this week. I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight.

[Sailfish]

It's your vote, and you vote with your wallet (as in cruising with another cruiseline). At the end of the day, they are making a change (assuming they continue to roll it out...and they most likely will), and I applaud the change for the sake of change. I have not had a problem with the food till now, and don't see that changing in the future, I really think that they think they are giving their customers what they want (table cloths aside). I guess we will all have to wait and see if it was the right decision or not (for the cruiseline).

 

Carnival has carved out a niche in the cruise line industry and is responding to what they believe their clientele (middle class families - many who are new to cruising) want. Change happens for the better or worse. I just cruised on the Reflection, then got off and got on the Liberty; here are my thoughts. Both cruises went off without a hitch, and we enjoyed both. We do plan to cruise with Carnival again, despite all the changes.

 

Suzi

[saphir]

Zydecocruiser has it on Day 2 MDR American Feast (Formal Nights) Menu

 

Note his New Carnival MDR Menus can be enlarged by clicking on them and they include both Eastern 7 Day and Western 7 Day Menus.. :):):):)

 

These are the menus for Eastern and Western caribean. and the Southern? I'll be on the Breeze in April next year. new or old menu?

[ccruisequeen]

If not table cloths, at least placemats.

 

[jimbo5544]

Carnival has carved out a niche in the cruise line industry and is responding to what they believe their clientele (middle class families - many who are new to cruising) want. Change happens for the better or worse. I just cruised on the Reflection, then got off and got on the Liberty; here are my thoughts. Both cruises went off without a hitch, and we enjoyed both. We do plan to cruise with Carnival again, despite all the changes.

 

Suzi

Nice post and a link to a very interesting review. Thanks for posting both!

[skyeman27]

Just off the NCL Pearl and the food was not good, had much better food on our Dream Nov 16 cruise, we are not food snobs but the wife and I both agree that the food on the Dream was much better...

[cathyoo]

I have limited cruise experience, but from what I have seen, the tablecloths will not be missed by most MDR patrons. On both of the cruises I have sailed with Carnival, the way people dress in the MDR looks like they should be going to a fast food joint anyway.

 

I will miss the tablecloths. My husband and I still change for dinner. We did not pay attention to what others wore to dinner. We knew we wanted to have a dining experience at our table.

 

I agree Carnival mgmt probably thought most cruisers dress to their expectations.

 

I have a cruise planned for July so I will go with an open mind but it may be time to look into other vacation options. I do understand that Carnival must cater to the majority of their clientele.

[tmtip]

I'm very sorry to hear about the dining room changes. My family has always enjoyed the formal dining as well as the daily dining room meals. The experience will not be the same without tablecloths, passing food around the table and having to pour my own water. When I cruise I expect to be pampered - I am paying for it. If I wanted to share my food with strangers, eat at an "undressed" table or pour my own water, I would just stay home and eat at the local "Golden Corral"! What a shame that Carnival is going down hill and catering to the jean/t-shirt wearing dining crowd.

[sunnydaygirl]

I cruised on the Glory Feb 2. In case you didn't know, there were tablecloths and cloth napkins. The menu difference is only one I noticed. The food was okay. Everything I expected. Would prefer the old I think, but I know they're only trying their best to effect some change in an effort to stay current. Or to cut costs. Service was slow, but more in getting the food from kitchen. My food on the Freedom in June 2013 was excellent. The best on any cruise line(4 so far). Headed back to Freedom this summer. Hope they haven't changed chefs.

 

 

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