Latest reviews are scaring me!

[AmberTeka]

Never been on Conquest but have been on Sister Ships Glory and Freedom a total of Eight Times. That size ship is MY Favorite. The Dream. Which is much like them but bigger.........Also on Four Times.

 

I think you will be fine.

[AmberTeka]

I read the most horrible reviews about the Sunshine. I expected the Worst. It is one of our favorite Ships Now.

But we have always been able to book one of the New Cabins. Inside or 4J. Never landed an OV on Fifth Deck. Hope to do so one day.

 

Go with an Open Mind. The Conquest Class is SO ROOMY to me. Space.

[JayFromVa]

I would say it is like most things in general that people are always more likely to complain and post reviews. Some kind of outlet and release for their frustration I guess. Seems like its the society we live in to harp on the bad and not always spend as much time on the good. Your cruise will be what you make it. Sure, there might be one or two things that aren't perfect but don't let the little things spoil your whole vacation.

[jetwet1]

Here's the thing - if you are a true foodie you are likely to do better with the American Table menu. It's a bit different than a basic meat-starch-veggie menu. DH and I are from NYC and live outside of DC now, and consider ourselves quasi-foodies. We had no issues with the American Table menu on the Vista. We also did the Chef's Table, and loved it. And we thought the pizza was pretty good for a cruise.

 

I don't actually agree with parts of that, as a "foodie" I found most of the items on the American Table Menu on our last cruise to be disappointing, however, let me say this, the concept was fine, it was the way the food was prepared, maybe overstepping the abilities of the chefs in such a mass quantity environment ? There were some dishes that were amazing, some that were awful, the waitstaff were quick to replace those that fell into the awful group.

 

The Chefs table was up to it's normal high standard and the pizza, yes the pizza, oh how I miss the pizza.

 

ME TOO!!! I am from Mid town Manhattan, my mom still lives there. I left in 2009 when I joined the military. Now I'm a federal employee for the Navy as is my husband, and we live in Southern MD. He is originally from the Fredrick, MD and Richmond VA area.

 

I have to admit I consider myself a pizza snob (being from NYC) and I thought the pizza on the Conquest was good!

 

Firstly, thank you and the DH for your service.

 

Did I mention I really liked the pizza ???

[Computer Nerd]

When I was planning my first (and only) cruise back in 2009 on the Conquest I lived on CC. I read all the reviews and the boards helped me out tremendously! So naturally when I was ready to book my 2nd cruise I came back to CC and the boards to help me decide the who, what, when and where. Having been on 1 Carnival cruise, which BTW I loved, I really wanted to try one of the RCCL mega ships. But since I am traveling with my husband who has never cruised and is not a huge fan of crowds, I didn't want to spend a small fortune and he ends up hating the cruise. So we opted for a Carnival cruise. We ended up choosing the Glory-Western Caribbean, next summer. Although after choosing our extended Aft balcony I didn't really save any $$ over RCCL (but that's a different issue). Anyway after I booked I went back to reading the boards and OMG I am scared of what to expect! I have read several reviews from people who say "I have been on xxx number of Carnival cruises and they are okay but let me tell you everything that went wrong"! One of the biggest complaints I keep reading about is the food! Back in 2009 I remember the food was great! And our service was also great, Then again I didn't have anything to compare it to! My husband and I love good food! Probably foodies but def not food snobs, but if the food is as bad as some of the reviews I've been reading I am wondering if I should have gone with RCCL? I did make a chef's table reservation so I know at least one night we'll have good food ;). One bad review kept going on and on about how bad the eggs were and then how bad the BBQ was. I am like but did you starve...LOL! I know everyone has different standards but I am starting to see a trend on food! I should mention that I really wanted to sail on the Breeze but the airfare to Galveston would have been so much more for us then going out on Miami! So that will have to wait! Someone please tell me that they had a great time on the Glory and some people just cant be pleased :eek:.

 

I scared that some people actually worry what someone that they don't know thinks about a cruise. :rolleyes:

[Florings]

Here are my 2 cents.....every day of every single year literally thousands of people are cruising. 99.9% of those are having the best time! Good food, lots of laughs, enjoying the good life during their vacation.

 

Then you come on here and the .1% of the remaining people are complaining about every little thing. Sometimes you can read reviews by 2 or 3 people on the very same cruise - and one of them is bashing everything and the other 2 loved it!

 

I miss the tablecloths, I don't like the American Table menu as much as I liked the old menu. But I still love the dining experience on Carnival. You are still treated with respect and friendliness. There are still wonderful servers at every meal, there is an abundance of food and dozens of choices, both in the MDR and at the Buffet to find food that you will enjoy.

 

The naysayers will always be there, and sometimes they will have a valid point (at least in their opinion), but remember the thousands of others who are eating at that same moment that say nothing about the food!

 

Go on your cruise, enjoy every moment! Some meals you will love, others will be just ok, others you may have to ask for something else - who knows? But give it a chance!

[gottaluvcruises12]

Here are my 2 cents.....every day of every single year literally thousands of people are cruising. 99.9% of those are having the best time! Good food, lots of laughs, enjoying the good life during their vacation.

 

Then you come on here and the .1% of the remaining people are complaining about every little thing. Sometimes you can read reviews by 2 or 3 people on the very same cruise - and one of them is bashing everything and the other 2 loved it!

 

I miss the tablecloths, I don't like the American Table menu as much as I liked the old menu. But I still love the dining experience on Carnival. You are still treated with respect and friendliness. There are still wonderful servers at every meal, there is an abundance of food and dozens of choices, both in the MDR and at the Buffet to find food that you will enjoy.

 

The naysayers will always be there, and sometimes they will have a valid point (at least in their opinion), but remember the thousands of others who are eating at that same moment that say nothing about the food!

 

Go on your cruise, enjoy every moment! Some meals you will love, others will be just ok, others you may have to ask for something else - who knows? But give it a chance!

 

 

Well stated! Enjoy your cruise!

[mrpayroll]

I don't know if you are into children's stories, but i look at reviews like reading the " three bears ". Food to hot, Food not hot enough, food " just right ". Chair to soft, chair to hard, chair " just right ". Three bears with three entirely different opinions of the same thing. :):)

[Drrandall]

Do not trust everything you read here. I work at a casino here in Colorado. I've talked to 100's of VIPs. Not one bad Carnival comment. They all said Carnival is great. We leave on the Breeze in 29 days. Since I work at a Steakhouse I'll be able to give a good honest review on the food and everything when I get back. I have worked at Red Lobster and other casual restaurants as well. I. Not picky but I know food quality. I'm excited.

[MDgal76]

I scared that some people actually worry what someone that they don't know thinks about a cruise. :rolleyes:

 

"I scared"?! If you're going to attempt to insult and roll your eyes at least be grammatically correct!

[FruitStandaficionado]

When I was planning my first (and only) cruise back in 2009 on the Conquest I lived on CC. I read all the reviews and the boards helped me out tremendously! So naturally when I was ready to book my 2nd cruise I came back to CC and the boards to help me decide the who, what, when and where. Having been on 1 Carnival cruise, which BTW I loved, I really wanted to try one of the RCCL mega ships. But since I am traveling with my husband who has never cruised and is not a huge fan of crowds, I didn't want to spend a small fortune and he ends up hating the cruise. So we opted for a Carnival cruise. We ended up choosing the Glory-Western Caribbean, next summer. Although after choosing our extended Aft balcony I didn't really save any $$ over RCCL (but that's a different issue). Anyway after I booked I went back to reading the boards and OMG I am scared of what to expect! I have read several reviews from people who say "I have been on xxx number of Carnival cruises and they are okay but let me tell you everything that went wrong"! One of the biggest complaints I keep reading about is the food! Back in 2009 I remember the food was great! And our service was also great, Then again I didn't have anything to compare it to! My husband and I love good food! Probably foodies but def not food snobs, but if the food is as bad as some of the reviews I've been reading I am wondering if I should have gone with RCCL? I did make a chef's table reservation so I know at least one night we'll have good food ;). One bad review kept going on and on about how bad the eggs were and then how bad the BBQ was. I am like but did you starve...LOL! I know everyone has different standards but I am starting to see a trend on food! I should mention that I really wanted to sail on the Breeze but the airfare to Galveston would have been so much more for us then going out on Miami! So that will have to wait! Someone please tell me that they had a great time on the Glory and some people just cant be pleased :eek:.

 

 

 

It is unfortunate that the vocal minority has the ability to negatively impact others. Please remember that malcontents seem to have time on their hands because they can't find happiness in anything they do except belittling everything and everyone because it empowers them. Complaining about food served on a cruise IS the epitome of first world problems! ;) As in all things in life, your experience is what you make of it. Go with determination that it is all going to be great and enjoy sharing your joy with your husband.

 

 

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

[AdGuyMG]

.....you ever wonder why you see so much waste of food on a Carnival cruise its because of the lack of quality, and honestly, on the Harmony this past May I noticed pretty much everybody finishing what they had on their plates...

 

Kudos for taking the time out of your cruise to monitor the dining habits of 6000 people X 3 meals a day X 8 different dining venues and sharing this valuable comparison.

[AmberTeka]

One thing I notice in many bad reviews, it that one thing triggered the Review. Often it is something like lost Luggage . Which is an issue, but it spoils the entire Cruise. Sometimes it is silly Stuff. Some did not think they were respectfully treated well enough.

There was a disagreement over OBC

Or some slight

Or some argument with Carnival.

And then while the rest of the cruise was fine.........They give a bad review. So READ IT ALL. Lots of time, if they go on and on about an issues, which I acknowledge was important to them, and THEN say..but the Food was good and we managed to have fun. OK. That is not a bad indictment of the Ship. It was a personal thing.

Hope I made some sense. If more reviews are good...................than bad...............Not an issue. I love reading reviews. The Menus some post. the places to go to eat. The Daily Activities. Seeing the Photos. I really enjoy them. even if they are a bit snippy sometimes over an issue. Still appreciate them taking the time to post the Reviews.

 

I hope you have the best time of your life. I bet you love the Conquest.

[bUU]

One of the things that we can take heart in is the fact that there have been negative reviews of cruises for as long as there's been a forum for reviews of cruises. So by that metric things today are just like they were 15 years ago.

 

Of course that's not actually true. The industry and therefore of the cruises that it offers have radically changed. But they radically changed in a predictable and understandable way.

 

It leaves us with the question about how we can really and truly make use of reviews of cruises. These are very explicitly uncalibrated input to our decisions. There's no way to know whether someone's very large negative is actually a triviality just like there is no way to know whether someone's subtly nuanced positive is actually a fantastically large bonus.

 

It's one reason I have latched on to the objective aspects of reviews. Over the last 15 years we've gone from reading a lot of words to watching a lot of videos on YouTube. And this is a fantastic Improvement. With the sound and video the words have context. Heck you don't really need to listen to what the reviewer is saying in the review you can actually watch and get an appreciation for what is offered, judge how much you would like it the way you see it being offered, and then also perhaps getting some insight into whether people are pleased or not with the experience that they're having. A lot of the reviews I'm relying on now have no words whatsoever. They're just video backed with music and I'm getting more information out of them then I got out of the words upon words upon words 15 years ago.

 

The words remain a very useful source of objective information, how does that work how does this work when does that happen... But for subjective reviews I think videos are the way to go.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Pellaz]

I've had one "lousy food" cruise on Carnival and five good food cruises on Carnival...but the best food and service I've had was on my last Carnival cruise, on Conquest last October. Sure, they've made cutbacks and the food (aside from Chef's Table and -- arguably -- the steakhouse) won't be 5-star, but their fee-included (i.e., "free") options are among the best at sea and there are plenty of them on most ships...and that number is growing all the time.

As for my "lousy" food cruise, it was on Liberty many years ago, and it followed a really good food cruise on Imagination. What others have said about the chef de cuisine and the dining staff is SOOO true; on Liberty that time, it just seemed like no-one really cared, presentation was lackluster, and our service in the MDR was terribly slow. But that was only one cruise out of seven on Carnival, and I'm happy with the choices they offer on most ships.

Unless you go in with an already jaundiced attitude toward Carnival or their food, I think you'll have a great time.

[MDgal76]

So, I don't consider myself a "foodie" because that is way too much trouble. I am more of a food lover, I don't discriminate, good food is good food. Family members were chefs in very high end places, and we love street food so we are flexible. I do consider myself a cruiser with experience on NCL, Princess and more than 20 cruises on Carnival.

 

Do a search on CC for a thread on favorite Carnival food and you will find lots of people have good experiences with the food and will give you some ideas of what to try. Number one thing I don't eat on a cruise is the scrambled eggs. Not really sure what they are but they are horrible. Instead, I go to the omelet station and get eggs over easy. Go to the Sea Day Brunch. It's great. Try new things. DH does not eat, he grazes and if he doesn't like something he moves on, in the MDR he just orders something else. Lot's of options, find what YOU like.

 

Ignore people who rehash on EVERY post their complaints, the obvious "cut and paste-rs" who want to beat the dead horse with their pity story. Give more credence to those who share a more balanced view. If Carnival were that bad they would be out of business. If they were that good, they would charge more.

 

Seems like CCL and the Army may use the same powdered egg distributor ;)

 

We spent quite a few years in southern AZ and in our mind nothing beats Mexican street Tacos, so I can relate!

[MDgal76]

Thanks everyone for your honest opinions! I am sure you are alright and some people just can't be pleased!

 

On a different subject, what do you all think of your time dining? This wasn't available on my last cruise and I had late dining. I loved having the personal service of the same servers every night. Do you feel that is lost with the your time? I've read you can request the same wait staff every night but if they aren't available you either wait or get someone else.

[dan4182]

Don't let the reviews scare you!! The members that post here a very small number of carnival cruisers.

You can take 4 people from the same cruise who are at the same dinning room table had rooms next to each other and you will get for different reviews from great to terrible. So enjoy your cruise your not at work !!!!!!!!

 

 

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Human nature being as it is, people are more likely to post a critical revue than they are to post a positive one.

 

 

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[riclop]

Food has taken a big step back.

[cruisemom67]

Thanks everyone for your honest opinions! I am sure you are alright and some people just can't be pleased!

 

On a different subject, what do you all think of your time dining? This wasn't available on my last cruise and I had late dining. I loved having the personal service of the same servers every night. Do you feel that is lost with the your time? I've read you can request the same wait staff every night but if they aren't available you either wait or get someone else.

 

We used My time dining on our last cruise. Never waited, and were able to get the same waitstaff every night except the night we came later. I felt they got to know us. One daughter has allergies and the waitstaff was great addressing her needs.

Edited June 10, 2017 by cruisemom67
spelling

[NavyEmt]

The food on Carnival is still better than the food I had in the navy, and if you don't like something after you ordered it they will bring you something else. I would say to stay way from the sushi, worst I have ever had.

[Doctorsbaby]

Thanks everyone for your honest opinions! I am sure you are alright and some people just can't be pleased!

 

 

 

On a different subject, what do you all think of your time dining? This wasn't available on my last cruise and I had late dining. I loved having the personal service of the same servers every night. Do you feel that is lost with the your time? I've read you can request the same wait staff every night but if they aren't available you either wait or get someone else.

 

 

 

I know a lot of people on here love anytime dining but we've tried it 2 out of our last 6 cruises and haven't liked it. I feel that we do lose the personal service that you get during set time dining. I understand that you can request the same team but we haven't found a team that we really liked, except for once on the last night. Everything feels just a little off time wise, like they want all their tables in the same schedule but it doesn't quite work.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

When I was planning my first (and only) cruise back in 2009 on the Conquest I lived on CC. I read all the reviews and the boards helped me out tremendously! So naturally when I was ready to book my 2nd cruise I came back to CC and the boards to help me decide the who, what, when and where. Having been on 1 Carnival cruise, which BTW I loved, I really wanted to try one of the RCCL mega ships. But since I am traveling with my husband who has never cruised and is not a huge fan of crowds, I didn't want to spend a small fortune and he ends up hating the cruise. So we opted for a Carnival cruise. We ended up choosing the Glory-Western Caribbean, next summer. Although after choosing our extended Aft balcony I didn't really save any $$ over RCCL (but that's a different issue). Anyway after I booked I went back to reading the boards and OMG I am scared of what to expect! I have read several reviews from people who say "I have been on xxx number of Carnival cruises and they are okay but let me tell you everything that went wrong"! One of the biggest complaints I keep reading about is the food! Back in 2009 I remember the food was great! And our service was also great, Then again I didn't have anything to compare it to! My husband and I love good food! Probably foodies but def not food snobs, but if the food is as bad as some of the reviews I've been reading I am wondering if I should have gone with RCCL? I did make a chef's table reservation so I know at least one night we'll have good food ;). One bad review kept going on and on about how bad the eggs were and then how bad the BBQ was. I am like but did you starve...LOL! I know everyone has different standards but I am starting to see a trend on food! I should mention that I really wanted to sail on the Breeze but the airfare to Galveston would have been so much more for us then going out on Miami! So that will have to wait! Someone please tell me that they had a great time on the Glory and some people just cant be pleased :eek:.

 

While Oasis class ships on RCI carry more pax than the CCL ships you will find more crowding on the CCL ships than you will the Oasis class ships.

 

Bill

[rolloman]

Thanks! I will be standing by! I keep telling myself that if all i hear is bad we are still far out enough that if we decide change to another ship or cruise line we wont be loosing too much ;)

 

Have a great cruise!

 

The food is subjective and if you enjoyed it on your last cruise you no doubt will enjoy it on the next one. However, your decision to pay the same price for Glory versus an RCCL Allure/Oasis/Harmony/Freedom/Liberty/Independence is bewildering to "me". There is just absolutely no way the Glory comes remotely close to having the entertainment/food/amenities the RCCL mega ships have. The thought these ships will be comparably crowded is also a myth. RCCL purposely built those ships to have more space per passenger. Space Ratio for Glory is a 31...space ratio for Allure is a 36.

[MDgal76]

The food is subjective and if you enjoyed it on your last cruise you no doubt will enjoy it on the next one. However, your decision to pay the same price for Glory versus an RCCL Allure/Oasis/Harmony/Freedom/Liberty/Independence is bewildering to "me". There is just absolutely no way the Glory comes remotely close to having the entertainment/food/amenities the RCCL mega ships have. The thought these ships will be comparably crowded is also a myth. RCCL purposely built those ships to have more space per passenger. Space Ratio for Glory is a 31...space ratio for Allure is a 36.

 

 

 

I didn't pay the same! If i would have done that then I agree that would have been dumb! I surely would have gone on RCCL since I want to try one of their mega ships. But what I said or meant was that I didn't save much going with the Glory after choosing the AFT extended balcony. The same/similar on RCCL was a lot more.

 

 

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