Celebrity constantly mocking Carnival?

[crazycatlady82]

Thank you for confirming that you had noticed this too! To be fair, we may have heard it more all week because we really enjoy going to a lot of the trivia games and shows and what not, so we heard a lot from the AD. But thanks for mentioning your experience! Hoping that this was something that the line has decided to forgo in the last year or so. :)

 

 

Yea, I wasn't too thrilled with the AD saying those things-especially that we walked off the majesty saying no RCCL unless it's a gigantic ship!

 

I struggle with the decision too-carnival or celebrity. I love them both for such different reasons! The comedians on carnival are funnier, and there are more things to do on sea days. On celebrity, we love the touch of class with the champagne as you board and the food...for us, it comes down to price and itinerary. (And perks included with the price, lol).

 

 

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[Bruin Steve]

I've never heard anything negative about any other cruiseline from any Cruise Director or Assistant cruise director.

 

I have heard some jokes from a comedian or two...about Carnival...about HAL...but, most of those comedians have worked for several different cruise lines...and the stuff is usually funny...because it's usually so true.

 

But, the actual Celebrity employees have no real reason to bother...

 

As to "what's wrong with Carnival":

 

First, I have to throw out the caveat that everyone has different standards, different criteria, different expectations...

Carnival has many loyal customers who love them...Of course, they may have different things they look for than I do.

And, of course, NO cruise is really bad...It's all better than NOT cruising...

 

But, for me...I have been on well over 40 cruises now...on 8 different lines...including four with Carnival...

 

I'm not in any hurry to go back. In fact, my wife refuses to go back...

 

Here are my issues:

Carnival jams WAY TOO MANY people on each ship. The first thing I look at with ships is the space-per-passenger ratios. Take the volume of the ship in Gross Tons (it's a volume measure, not weight) and divide it by the number of passengers (and it gets tricky here. Because of the marketing of the respective cruise lines, a Celebrity, HAL or Oceania ship, for example, usually sail with somewhere around the Double Occupancy figure--as many "singles" as there are 3rd and 4th berths. Carnival ships always sail with close to "Full Occupancy"--all 3rd and 4th berths filled--lots of families with kids cramming into single cabins). Also check the Crew-per-passenger ratios.

 

This manifests itself in a number of ways--For example, the showrooms are way too small for the number of passengers and one must get to the show way too early just to get seats.

 

The Dining Rooms are crowded with tables too close together--and they rely on a lot of booths rather than tables--which affects service. Once I cruised a Carnival ship and an RCCL ship back-to-back and was astounded to find our dining room servers on Carnival were each handling twice the number of guests at one dinner seating as were our RCCL servers.

 

Service throughout the ship on Carnival was a little substandard to my tastes (ie lack of help in the buffet).

 

When we did the RCCL/Carnival back-to-back, I also compared the entertainment--looking for some objective items as entertainment on the whole can be quite subjective--everyone has different taste. I compared the number of actual singers among the production show troupe and the use of pre-taped music. Carnival failed the comparison each time.

 

Bottom line is, for my tastes, Carnival cuts too many corners and crowds far too many people on a ship.

 

Celebrity, OTOH, gives you much ore space, resulting in a more relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

 

Of course, some people think crowds and noise equals "fun"...and that may be what they are looking for.

 

There is a cruise line for everybody.

[boscobeans]

Hi Janetz,

 

Besides what I mentioned above, our cruise was pretty lovely! We went on it for our honeymoon, so the lack of children and more quiet, relaxed atmosphere was appreciated. In fact, we were probably some of the youngest people on the cruise save for a handful of other young professionals, but that's okay. In general, we're both introverts at heart and enjoyed the downtime.

 

I feel like there are pros and cons that I noticed for both lines. I actually feel that Carnival's staff are typically warmer towards you, their comedians have been funnier, and my husband and I enjoy playing the trivia that they have lined up (the turn out at the trivia contests were better on Carnival). But Celebrity's perks like having the iced towels as you come back on the ship, (typically) less obnoxiously drunk people, and a more zen-like (little less gaudy) design to their ships is something I enjoyed. We also absolutely Loved Qsine! What a fun dining experience!!! :)

 

Thank you for your honest listing of the positives that you enjoyed. They are the reasons many of us always come back to Celebrity.

 

bosco

[janetz]

So glad you enjoyed your cruise. 😎Try all the lines and ignore any negative comments. Let them go in one ear and right out the other.

[DrivesLikeMario]

VirginiaNP1985 - Go on the cruise you want to go on. I truly believe it was an unusual occurrence. ;)

[stleda124]

I can't remember the main director's name, but the guy who constantly seemed to do it was a younger guy probably in his mid twenties named Justin (pretty sure he was American).

 

I have no interest in getting anyone in trouble, especially since it's about a year later. I just wanted to make sure that wasn't a running theme with the cruise line!

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences :)

 

I don't understand why this happened a year ago and you are just coming now to create an account and complain about it.

 

It's funny to some not to others. If you let something that small make your reconsider a trip with them again, then go back to Carnival

[janetz]

So glad you enjoyed your cruise. Try all the lines and ignore any negative comments. Let them go in one ear and right out the other.

 

Wow, what happened to my smiley? :p

[bEwAbG]

I don't understand why this happened a year ago and you are just coming now to create an account and complain about it.

 

It's funny to some not to others. If you let something that small make your reconsider a trip with them again, then go back to Carnival

 

The OP clearly considers it a deciding factor in whether or not she will take another cruise on Celebrity. It's a perfectly legitimate question and she's expressed her rationale more than once. If something bothered you on your first cruise, you have no right to ask others if it was an anomaly?

[Cruizen Susan]

I can promise you that I do not work for nor have I ever worked for any cruise line. I'm just in school getting my graduate degree and have been REALLY looking forward to a relaxing vacation once I'm done in December. And I promise you, this was not a "misunderstanding" as the jokes went on all week.

 

The only reason I wanted to ask this question to the forum to begin with was because we are planning a cruise in Feb 2017 and we are stuck between Carnival and Celebrity. We are actually both leaning towards Celebrity because we just want to have a relaxing (but fun) experience, but I didn't want to hear the AD bash another line's caliber of passengers again, that's all. It just rubbed me the wrong way. If it was an anomaly, then we'd be happy to sail with Celebrity again.

 

I understand. And I assure you that it was an anomaly.

 

Whatever you decide, happy cruising!

 

Susan

[LabGuy64]

I am curious.....why ARE you bringing it up a year after the fact? Seems odd, I can see right after but to be offended a year after?....what is bringing this on now?

 

 

I can't remember the main director's name, but the guy who constantly seemed to do it was a younger guy probably in his mid twenties named Justin (pretty sure he was American).

 

I have no interest in getting anyone in trouble, especially since it's about a year later. I just wanted to make sure that wasn't a running theme with the cruise line!

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences :)

[stleda124]

I am curious.....why ARE you bringing it up a year after the fact? Seems odd, I can see right after but to be offended a year after?....what is bringing this on now?

 

 

My point exactly.

 

 

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[MarKay525]

See Post #19 - they are beginning to plan another cruise.

 

I am curious.....why ARE you bringing it up a year after the fact? Seems odd, I can see right after but to be offended a year after?....what is bringing this on now?

 

My point exactly.

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[Rosethorn40]

I was on a cruise once (Can't remember which line) and a comedienne was poking gentle fun at other cruise lines. I remember his line regarding Holland America; for the newly wed and nearly dead.

 

The cruise director on our 14-day Caribbean cruise on the Sea Princess was another story. He was British, as were 85% of the passengers, and the day before we got back to Ft Lauderdale he was making disparaging remarks regarding US Customs and their rules (About 25% of the ship passengers were doing R/T from Ft Lauderdale & the other 75% were doing R/T Barbados, but everyone had to get off in Ft. Lauderdale and go through customs).

[Host Jazzbeau]

IME the comedians are just as likely to trot out the same jokes and aim them at the cruise you are on.

[VirginiaNP1985]

My point exactly.

 

 

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@Labguy64 and @Stleda124, as MarKay 525 mentioned (and as I mentioned previously) we're planning another cruise and are trying to decide between cruise lines. That's why I'm asking now. No other reason- not to get the folks in trouble and certainly not to try to get any monetary credit in any form from the line due to some forum complaint. :eek:

Edited April 13, 2016 by VirginiaNP1985

[VirginiaNP1985]

I am curious.....why ARE you bringing it up a year after the fact? Seems odd, I can see right after but to be offended a year after?....what is bringing this on now?

 

To further clarify, I was asking this to make sure this wasn't a decision that the cruise line itself decided to go with when it came to the humorous remarks that the AD's make on any given day. If it was the poor judgement of one person poking fun at a group of customers on another line, that's one thing. If it's company-based training to poke fun at other lines to highlight how theirs is superior and more "elite," then I would prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

 

I work with indigent patient populations who can't afford generic medications or regular dental cleanings, and I work really hard to make sure they get the care that they need. It's caused me to be grateful for what we have and to try to be humble. So I've just never appreciated the "I'm better than you" pretentious, arrogant attitude. Not from people, and not from companies.

 

Obviously, as others have stated, now I know it's not a company thing. It was poor judgement from an individual.

 

To address the question from Stleda124, I've also never had an account and posted on here before now because I've been in school, getting engaged, getting married, moving, working on a career, etc. with very little free time. So long-time casual lurker to get information, but no time/need to post previously (because no time to vacation/travel). I couldn't find this question addressed in other forums, hence my decision to post.

Edited April 13, 2016 by VirginiaNP1985

[VirginiaNP1985]

Thank you to everyone for your feedback! I appreciate it!

 

Happy and safe cruisin' to you all! :)

 

 

(P.S- don't forget that DEET if you're going to the Caribbean anytime soon! :eek:)

[starri]

I was on the Connie in March, and one of the show nights, the CD Maarten went on a riff (that was way too long, in addition to not being particularly funny) about Carnival.

 

My husband and I cruised on Carnival twice and had perfectly nice experiences. I don't know, I rolled my eyes, but it was hardly a reason to write X off.

[WEGL81]

Like others, I've mostly heard comedians on Celebrity and RCCL ships poking fun at Carnival, HAL ("God's waiting room" was a classic comic line that you have to laugh at), NCL ("ships painted by kids"). I don't think I've ever heard a staff member or CD/AD make those types of pokes, though.

 

My personal experience with Carnival is one cruise and we won't go back. Mainly it had to do with them pushing special drinks to my wife and I and our under-aged kids throughout a 5 day cruise. This was almost 10 years ago and talking to people on our RCCL/Celebrity cruises who enjoy their Carnival cruises makes me think things are probably much better. But the impression was made and it would take something unusual for us to go back. I've read reviews from Carnival loyalist who try a 3 day small ship (Majesty/Enchantment) cruise and hate it, swearing they'll never come back to RCCL. It's all based on expectations, experience, and personal preference, I guess.

[crazycatlady82]

Like others, I've mostly heard comedians on Celebrity and RCCL ships poking fun at Carnival, HAL ("God's waiting room" was a classic comic line that you have to laugh at), NCL ("ships painted by kids"). I don't think I've ever heard a staff member or CD/AD make those types of pokes, though.

 

 

 

My personal experience with Carnival is one cruise and we won't go back. Mainly it had to do with them pushing special drinks to my wife and I and our under-aged kids throughout a 5 day cruise. This was almost 10 years ago and talking to people on our RCCL/Celebrity cruises who enjoy their Carnival cruises makes me think things are probably much better. But the impression was made and it would take something unusual for us to go back. I've read reviews from Carnival loyalist who try a 3 day small ship (Majesty/Enchantment) cruise and hate it, swearing they'll never come back to RCCL. It's all based on expectations, experience, and personal preference, I guess.

 

 

I'm kinda chuckling, because we sail between carnival and celebrity, and we recently tried a 3 day majesty of the seas cruise and hated it (well, as much as one can being on vacation). We said we won't go back to RCCL unless we try one of the mega ships. I didn't write a review so the one you read wasn't mine...but that's funny.

 

 

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[mattjs]

We heard disparaging jokes / comments about Carnival and Carnival Corp owned brands on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. This occurred on the Reflection (12/2015) and the RCCL Navigator (2/2016) during small bits by both staff and comedians. Unsurprisingly, I never heard a joke about either RCL sister brand.

 

Too me, while some comments were easy shots (and mostly true), I did not find them offensive.

 

I love talking to other cruisers about their past sailing experiences and their take on the different lines.

 

What I found off putting on the Navigator was the blind allegiance to RCCL and bashing of other lines by fellow passengers. Crown and Anchor status and a focus on the pursuit of higher levels dominated a lot of chit-chat. A few well-cruised people, when asked what lines they've sailed before, responded "I'm Loyal to Royal!" and then something about RCCL being superior or about how it's the best line. When asked who else they sailed, they had been exclusive with Royal. During the Cruise Critic meet and greet, my father mentioned he had sailed Carnival 13 times. One of these Royal Loyalists actually congratulated him for finally coming to his senses!

 

In contrast, on Celebrity, Captain's Club status was mentioned, but not with the same fervent focus. Most of the fellow cruises were well traveled, experienced with other brands, and more circumspect. They seemed far less... um, provincial, compared to the RCCL loyalists.

 

Although it is a small sample size, I bring these attitudes up as I think they may play into some of the jokes and pot-shots against other lines. Entertainment staff, especially comedians, are going to play to their audience. If they find the audience receptive, they will play it up further.

 

I have three more cruises booked with Celebrity and open to more. However, I must admit that the above mentioned attitudes have somewhat colored my attitude toward Royal.

[ralphd]

1. Never seen it, nor heard it.

 

2. Not sure why you bring it up a year after the event.

 

3. Basic marketing says it's a no no.

 

 

 

Agree!