Thinking we miss Carnival.....

[ScrappinCSI]

My hubby and I wandered away from Carnival thinking we wanted a quieter atmosphere. At first we fell in love with NCL but the last trip on the Epic left us wanting. Lackluster food, the complete absence of shrimp cocktail, no dessert close to chocolate melting cake, made us feeling flat. We even are thinking we miss old cruise style appointed seating where you get the chance to meet and get to know new people and enjoy the same wait staff the entire cruise. Sea days seem empty without tea time! Please help us make a decision. Is Carnival food still as good as it once was? Can one still find a shrimp cocktail in the main dining room? Tea time still occur? Last but not least do you find Carnival passengers friendlier than some other lines guests?

[Kobayashi]

Tea time as of last month on the Imagination (it's still served):

 

[Swampbabe]

My hubby and I wandered away from Carnival thinking we wanted a quieter atmosphere. At first we fell in love with NCL but the last trip on the Epic left us wanting. Lackluster food, the complete absence of shrimp cocktail, no dessert close to chocolate melting cake, made us feeling flat. We even are thinking we miss old cruise style appointed seating where you get the chance to meet and get to know new people and enjoy the same wait staff the entire cruise. Sea days seem empty without tea time! Please help us make a decision. Is Carnival food still as good as it once was? Can one still find a shrimp cocktail in the main dining room? Tea time still occur? Last but not least do you find Carnival passengers friendlier than some other lines guests?

 

I have to ask, is shrimp cocktail that big a deal? Not trying to be snarky but as a native Floridian I would never eat that tasteless farmed stuff. Tried it once, wasn't for me. Wild caught is the only way to go. Food is so subjective (melting cake is gross if you ask me) I would concentrate on the other aspects of the cruise.

[ScrappinCSI]

Kobayashi- What a great pic!

 

Swampbabe- yeah we are Fl. Crackers too but I guess not to particular about farm raised, especially since shrimp in Fl. nature have been gone from our coast several years, even before our wonderful gov.'s destruction of Florida. Its not so much what we require, the cocktail but what it represents, traditional fare and the things we experienced on the Epic, be it the ehhh food, rude passengers or zombie like crew. We are foodie's, not buffet goer's, not enamored with specialty venues, just enjoyers of the traditional main dining room experience.

[Dizzneefan]

We have never been to Tea Time but thought about giving it a go on our upcoming trip.

[Swampbabe]

Kobayashi- What a great pic!

 

Swampbabe- yeah we are Fl. Crackers too but I guess not to particular about farm raised, especially since shrimp in Fl. nature have been gone from our coast several years, even before our wonderful gov.'s destruction of Florida. Its not so much what we require, the cocktail but what it represents, traditional fare and the things we experienced on the Epic, be it the ehhh food, rude passengers or zombie like crew. We are foodie's, not buffet goer's, not enamored with specialty venues, just enjoyers of the traditional main dining room experience.

 

You can still get wild caught just have to have a reputable source :)

 

We enjoy Carnival because we get to enjoy each other's company and go to fun places for a reasonable price. Some Carnival cruisers are a little rough around the edges but have enjoyed the company of most cruisers and the rest make for good people watching. We do ATD because it fits our style a bit better but I understand the pull of traditional dining as well.

[Jay Sam]

My hubby and I wandered away from Carnival thinking we wanted a quieter atmosphere. At first we fell in love with NCL but the last trip on the Epic left us wanting. Lackluster food, the complete absence of shrimp cocktail, no dessert close to chocolate melting cake, made us feeling flat. We even are thinking we miss old cruise style appointed seating where you get the chance to meet and get to know new people and enjoy the same wait staff the entire cruise. Sea days seem empty without tea time! Please help us make a decision. Is Carnival food still as good as it once was? Can one still find a shrimp cocktail in the main dining room? Tea time still occur? Last but not least do you find Carnival passengers friendlier than some other lines guests?

 

I have found some things lackluster about NCL. To me the friendliest staff and passengers overall would be Carnival and too, Royal Caribbean.

 

For the most part I feel Carnival is still great. I traveled on a repositioning cruise on Splendor from San Juan to Miami in Nov, 8 nights. Loved it. Then took a 4 night on Paradise from Tampa to Cozumel in Dec. Loved it too. The food and staff as well as the fellow passengers were awesome on both. I didn't know what to expect on Paradise as I have heard some negative comments about Fantasy class, but it did not disappoint in the least.

 

Out of ten cruises in the last 5 years, 5 have been on Carnival and have never been disappointed. Four different classes of ships.

 

Legend - 7 nights - Apr 2010

Miracle - 8 nights - Dec 2011

Freedom - 6 nights - Apr 2013

Splendor - 8 nights - Nov 2014

Paradise - 4 nights - Dec 2015

[Martini Mom]

I convinced my husband to try tea time with me a few cruises ago (he grumbled) and he ended up really liking it. Now we go every cruise and he looks forward to it. :)

[Lerin]

Though food is subjective, NCL tends to get the worst reviews across the board there.

 

To answer your questions: yes, yes, yes and yes. :)

[Love2Cruz2015]

Sailed the Conquest last month, Tea Time is there (we enjoyed it) and Shrimp cocktail is now added to the "everyday menu"...so you can order as many as you fancy every night from the MDR. I ordered it one night and it was very good.

 

Guy's burger is as good as they say, Blue Cantina makes excellent tacos AND breakfast huevos rancheros..their burrito's are similar to Chipolte's and made to order.

 

Service was wonderful, as usual.

[cmptrwiz]

Welcome back to the FUN ship!

[ScrappinCSI]

I convinced my husband to try tea time with me a few cruises ago (he grumbled) and he ended up really liking it. Now we go every cruise and he looks forward to it. :)

 

Isn't that funny, that's exactly what happened with my hubby. He longs for tea time.

 

Shrimp cocktail is now added to the "everyday menu"...so you can order as many as you fancy every night from the MDR. I ordered it one night and it was very good.

 

Thats great to hear.

 

Thank you everyone for your help

[Lurkyloo]

My hubby and I wandered away from Carnival thinking we wanted a quieter atmosphere. At first we fell in love with NCL but the last trip on the Epic left us wanting. Lackluster food, the complete absence of shrimp cocktail, no dessert close to chocolate melting cake, made us feeling flat. We even are thinking we miss old cruise style appointed seating where you get the chance to meet and get to know new people and enjoy the same wait staff the entire cruise. Sea days seem empty without tea time! Please help us make a decision. Is Carnival food still as good as it once was? Can one still find a shrimp cocktail in the main dining room? Tea time still occur? Last but not least do you find Carnival passengers friendlier than some other lines guests?

 

I have mainly cruised Carnival, but went along with friends on some other cruise lines - Royal Caribbean was very nice, but still didn't like it as much as Carnival. Princess, while I loved the ships and the staff were great - I just don't like how they do things. We tendered in on one port each cruise and the wait to get off the ship was like an hour! The food was meh... and I don't really like how they do the dining... When I plan the cruise, it is always Carnival! So looking forward to getting back on a Carnival ship! ;)

[Sparky2]

I convinced my husband to try tea time with me a few cruises ago (he grumbled) and he ended up really liking it. Now we go every cruise and he looks forward to it. :)

 

My SO won't go with me to tea time, but I've met some really nice people when I've gone by myself.

 

We do B2B so I usually have 4 opportunities and go to at least 2 of them. Sometimes there is something else going on during tea so I have to miss 1 or 2 of the 4.

 

Since we have a 2-top for dinner, I enjoy meeting the new people.

[Kristi Williamson]

I have mainly cruised Carnival, but went along with friends on some other cruise lines - Royal Caribbean was very nice, but still didn't like it as much as Carnival. Princess, while I loved the ships and the staff were great - I just don't like how they do things. We tendered in on one port each cruise and the wait to get off the ship was like an hour! The food was meh... and I don't really like how they do the dining... When I plan the cruise, it is always Carnival! So looking forward to getting back on a Carnival ship! ;)

 

 

It's so funny how different people enjoy different things. I read all the time how people love the food on Princess and Celebrity, but my closest buddy went on Princess for her honeymoon last year and she, too, just really didn't enjoy their food. She actually lost weight. We're thinking of them for 2016, but I'll be bummed if the food isn't good.

 

We love Carnival, though, and will probably always return to it, even though we try new lines about every 3 years or so.

[gh1088]

My husband had shrimp cocktail every time we ate in the MDR and loved it!

[tattoos]

Tea time is great, the desserts are delicious and much better than what is served at the buffet. I drag everyone I travel with to Tea time and they end up loving it. It's a relaxing and delicious way to spend an hour out of a busy day.

 

I can always find something I like on the menu at dinner...if I don't like any of the entrees, I order a couple of appetizers (shrimp cocktail), soup, and the cheese plate. I think Carnival does a great job with their dining selections. The buffet can be hit or miss but, again, there are so many options.

 

I also tried Royal Caribbean and actually lost weight on those cruises because the food was always really salty or just plain unappetizing.

[portocaller]

Yesterday we went on the levee of the Mississippi River to watch the ships leave. The first one to pass was the Norwegian Dawn. That ship was dead. There were a few people wandering the deck and a strobe light but other than that it was silent worth no real excitement. I thought perhaps it was just because people went inside to get ready for dinner. We were about a mile down river of the port. Then the Carnival Dream passed. Lots of music and dancing and excitement felt, even on the shore.

 

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[Warm Breezes]

It's so funny how different people enjoy different things. I read all the time how people love the food on Princess and Celebrity, but my closest buddy went on Princess for her honeymoon last year and she, too, just really didn't enjoy their food. She actually lost weight. We're thinking of them for 2016, but I'll be bummed if the food isn't good.

 

We love Carnival, though, and will probably always return to it, even though we try new lines about every 3 years or so.

 

Food is subjective but both DH found we either loved something on Princess or hated it and there were about equal amounts of each. There was very little in between which is how we would categorize most of our food on CCL and NCL.

[boopsahoy]

Though food is subjective, NCL tends to get the worst reviews across the board there.

 

To answer your questions: yes, yes, yes and yes. :)

 

I found the food much better on NCL, especially the steakhouse and the buffet. Carnival cannot make a good egg benedict (How hard is that?) and other than the Mongolian Wok there wasn't much good choices at the regular buffet. That being said, I still found food to eat on Carnival :D

 

I also found after over 15 NCL cruises, that the crew is the best! My one cruise on Carnival my room steward wasn't very good-again not ruining my vacation.

[ScrappinCSI]

On the Dawn we found NCL's crew to be outgoing fun and many even sweet towards us. The Epic's crew was snobby and after many cruises with different lines, we actually experienced our first room steward who just could'nt get our room done before 4 or 5 pm.

 

How is the "Serenity Adult Area"? Is it possible to find quiet there?

 

And Hubby wants to know...... Do they still do the yummy cold soups?

[Jay Sam]

On the Dawn we found NCL's crew to be outgoing fun and many even sweet towards us. The Epic's crew was snobby and after many cruises with different lines, we actually experienced our first room steward who just could'nt get our room done before 4 or 5 pm.

 

How is the "Serenity Adult Area"? Is it possible to find quiet there?

 

And Hubby wants to know...... Do they still do the yummy cold soups?

 

Epic was kind of an off ship for me too, re: the service. Still had a great time with my friends and overall. The best part of that cruise customer service was our cabin steward, Julito. The best I have experienced in 11 cruises. My friends thought so too. Sorry your cabin steward was lacking.

 

Kind of glad Epic is going to Europe.

[boopsahoy]

On the Dawn we found NCL's crew to be outgoing fun and many even sweet towards us. The Epic's crew was snobby and after many cruises with different lines, we actually experienced our first room steward who just could'nt get our room done before 4 or 5 pm.

 

How is the "Serenity Adult Area"? Is it possible to find quiet there?

 

And Hubby wants to know...... Do they still do the yummy cold soups?

 

The cold soups are in the buffet!

 

I have never cruised one of the larger NCL ships-Jewel Class is my favorite (especially the Gem)

[golfb4cruzing]

I convinced my husband to try tea time with me a few cruises ago (he grumbled) and he ended up really liking it. Now we go every cruise and he looks forward to it. :)

 

If we ever sail together, you can go with my wife and I'll take your husband to the bar. Tea time was worse than a root canal without blockers. She doesn't even ask me now.

[Bob NC]

I have to ask, is shrimp cocktail that big a deal? Not trying to be snarky but as a native Floridian I would never eat that tasteless farmed stuff.

 

Wow, not even trying and it seemed so effortless.