Carnival - the cruise line of those who love to wait in line???

[ParrotRob]

There's just something about embarkation day that makes otherwise normal, well-fed people eat like they have been starving for weeks. How else can you explain waiting in like 20 minutes for an average burger?

[Blackjack22]

There's just something about embarkation day that makes otherwise normal, well-fed people eat like they have been starving for weeks. How else can you explain waiting in like 20 minutes for an average burger?

 

 

Have you been to McDonald's for lunch, dinner or late night lately? Guaranteed 15 minute wait for a below average burger, don't think it's out of the ordinary at all for people to wait 20 minutes, the question is should they expect that or should they expect better?

[jimbo5544]

There's just something about embarkation day that makes otherwise normal, well-fed people eat like they have been starving for weeks. How else can you explain waiting in like 20 minutes for an average burger?

 

 

 

I can agree that Lido is craziest on embarkation day. When they send 3,000 to one part of the ship, something has to give. Agreement ends there tho, best burger at sea, and depending on when you go, we have seen it be tops 10.

 

 

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[ParrotRob]

I can agree that Lido is craziest on embarkation day. When they send 3,000 to one part of the ship, something has to give. Agreement ends there tho, best burger at sea, and depending on when you go, we have seen it be tops 10.

 

 

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Food is subjective, so there's no right or wrong answer. Guy's is certainly a decent burger, but to me it nowhere near lives up to the hype, and certainly isn't worth waiting more than a few minutes for.

 

Now the bacon and the mushrooms and the peppers on the fixins bar, I could eat an entire plate of those.

[jimbo5544]

Food is subjective, so there's no right or wrong answer. Guy's is certainly a decent burger, but to me it nowhere near lives up to the hype, and certainly isn't worth waiting more than a few minutes for.

 

 

 

Now the bacon and the mushrooms and the peppers on the fixins bar, I could eat an entire plate of those.

 

 

 

It is (subjective). I put way to much stuff from the fixings bar on mine.... what I will remember is the hot peppers from Blue Iguana....for days

 

 

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[mzloolue]

Somehow I think Carnival’s problem is with the Italian builds. The Finnish builds (Fantasy and Spirit classes) all have separate buffet stations and a much better passenger flow. I know Farcus designed the interiors but who was the naval architect? I’ve heard that Carnival is going back to Finland in a few years Hopefully that’ll help with these issues.

Biggest issue is with the cooked to order foods- Guys, Pizza etc. but we are those issues in other lines as well.

 

I cannot imagine why they thought it would be a good idea to put the salad bar into the hot food buffet.

[sseknichols]

That is exactly what happened and I brought it up before. The OP even confirmed as far as I can remember without going back through as this was a while ago. These pictures aren’t an accurate representation of food options at embarkation.

 

 

I would totally disagree. I just got off of the Glory yesterday and those lines were indicative of not just embarkation, but every meal we went to that was not in the MDR. Once in a while we caught a good time at the buffet, Guys, etc... but it got so silly that we started timing the lines just to see how long it would take. The lone exception was the BBQ which usually had no line but i's kinda hidden so I'm not sure how many people really knew it was there.

 

The worst was after 9 when everything shuts down but pizza and ice cream. We had one wait that was shorter than 14 minutes for pizza out of a group of seven on a seven night cruise (the latest anyone went was 12:30ish so I'm sure at 3am they are shorter). The other cruises I had been on all had burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc... from something like 10p-1a but the Glory did not. I'm not sure if that is a company-wide change or just a Glory policy. Food service was really the only sore point in an otherwise fabulous cruise.

[firemanbobswife]

I would totally disagree. I just got off of the Glory yesterday and those lines were indicative of not just embarkation, but every meal we went to that was not in the MDR. Once in a while we caught a good time at the buffet, Guys, etc... but it got so silly that we started timing the lines just to see how long it would take. The lone exception was the BBQ which usually had no line but i's kinda hidden so I'm not sure how many people really knew it was there.

 

The worst was after 9 when everything shuts down but pizza and ice cream. We had one wait that was shorter than 14 minutes for pizza out of a group of seven on a seven night cruise (the latest anyone went was 12:30ish so I'm sure at 3am they are shorter). The other cruises I had been on all had burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc... from something like 10p-1a but the Glory did not. I'm not sure if that is a company-wide change or just a Glory policy. Food service was really the only sore point in an otherwise fabulous cruise.

I've been on Glory 10 times with the last being in April and with the exception of pizza late at night and breakfast in the morning at the buffet, I haven't had the same experience. The pictures that OP posted were after muster and before dinner. Notice the Blue Iguana was closed at the time.

 

Guy's Burgers also has 2 lines. I just sat there and laughed that so many people would stand on one side and not even notice the other one. They really crank those things out. Even if there were say 10 people in front of you, the line goes really fast. I can't say the same about the condiments section. Seems like there are 2 speeds there - slow and stop.

[Saint Greg]

I would totally disagree. I just got off of the Glory yesterday and those lines were indicative of not just embarkation, but every meal we went to that was not in the MDR. Once in a while we caught a good time at the buffet, Guys, etc... but it got so silly that we started timing the lines just to see how long it would take. The lone exception was the BBQ which usually had no line but i's kinda hidden so I'm not sure how many people really knew it was there.

 

The worst was after 9 when everything shuts down but pizza and ice cream. We had one wait that was shorter than 14 minutes for pizza out of a group of seven on a seven night cruise (the latest anyone went was 12:30ish so I'm sure at 3am they are shorter). The other cruises I had been on all had burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc... from something like 10p-1a but the Glory did not. I'm not sure if that is a company-wide change or just a Glory policy. Food service was really the only sore point in an otherwise fabulous cruise.

 

The ships I’ve been on lately the buffet has been open till 9:30pm and the deli has been open till 11pm. Then just pizza and ice cream after that... the pizza place does have lasagna or meatball sandwiches late nights.

[Organized Chaos]

I would totally disagree. I just got off of the Glory yesterday and those lines were indicative of not just embarkation, but every meal we went to that was not in the MDR. Once in a while we caught a good time at the buffet, Guys, etc... but it got so silly that we started timing the lines just to see how long it would take. The lone exception was the BBQ which usually had no line but i's kinda hidden so I'm not sure how many people really knew it was there.

We were on Glory a few weeks ago. Just like at any land restaurant, especially fast food places, they have the usual meal rush and they get slammed. Same thing on the ship, so I don't fault them for it. The breakfast buffet would get slammed on port days when everyone wanted to eat, then get off the ship right away. Lunches at places like Guy's were slammed on sea days for an hour or two, then it'd die down. I didn't mind the Guy's line because, like I said earlier in this thread, I was back by the doors to the elevators multiple times and only had to wait about 5 minutes from back there. The Guy's cooks are freakin' machines.

[sseknichols]

I've been on Glory 10 times with the last being in April and with the exception of pizza late at night and breakfast in the morning at the buffet, I haven't had the same experience. The pictures that OP posted were after muster and before dinner. Notice the Blue Iguana was closed at the time.

 

Guy's Burgers also has 2 lines. I just sat there and laughed that so many people would stand on one side and not even notice the other one. They really crank those things out. Even if there were say 10 people in front of you, the line goes really fast. I can't say the same about the condiments section. Seems like there are 2 speeds there - slow and stop.

 

 

That's funny - because we had the total opposite experience. We would wait in line at Guy's and then there was never a back-up at the condiments. Probably because people were getting through the lines so slowly. And I would totally agree about the two lines. For whatever reason, the line that was on the pool side was always faster (and therefore shorter) than the other side by the ice cream machines.

 

For our cruise, I think the biggest hang-up was they kept running out of things, no matter the time of day. We ate there as early as 11 and as late as 3:30. They would be out of patties, or fries, or have to go get more buns. It always seemed like there was something slowing them down. It was really more of an organizational thing I think. But of course, we kept going back because they are AMAZING!!

[firemanbobswife]

That's funny - because we had the total opposite experience. We would wait in line at Guy's and then there was never a back-up at the condiments. Probably because people were getting through the lines so slowly. And I would totally agree about the two lines. For whatever reason, the line that was on the pool side was always faster (and therefore shorter) than the other side by the ice cream machines.

 

For our cruise, I think the biggest hang-up was they kept running out of things, no matter the time of day. We ate there as early as 11 and as late as 3:30. They would be out of patties, or fries, or have to go get more buns. It always seemed like there was something slowing them down. It was really more of an organizational thing I think. But of course, we kept going back because they are AMAZING!!

They are good! But I'm pretty sure you weren't eating there at 11:00 since they don't open until 12:00PM. On embarkation day they open at 11:30AM. Have they recently changed the hours?

[sseknichols]

They are good! But I'm pretty sure you weren't eating there at 11:00 since they don't open until 12:00PM. On embarkation day they open at 11:30AM. Have they recently changed the hours?

 

I thought it was 11 but I'll admit to being on vacation time so everything's got some wiggle room to it! :D

[firemanbobswife]

I thought it was 11 but I'll admit to being on vacation time so everything's got some wiggle room to it! :D

Hahahahahahaha! Yeah time is different when you're on the ship. I was really wanting one this last time and was sitting at an empty table just waiting for them to open. It didn't have as much flavor to me then. I think it might have been because the grill hadn't been "seasoned" yet from cooking all the hamburgers.

[Organized Chaos]

Hahahahahahaha! Yeah time is different when you're on the ship. I was really wanting one this last time and was sitting at an empty table just waiting for them to open. It didn't have as much flavor to me then. I think it might have been because the grill hadn't been "seasoned" yet from cooking all the hamburgers.

That's exactly what I thought on embarkation day. That very first one definitely wasn't as good as I had remembered. But we had FTTF so the grill hadn't been fired up for long. No worries though, because they only got better from there.

 

Speaking of opening times, they do still open at noon (I just double-checked our Fun Times) but they must've opened at 11:00 on our embarkation day because I had one in my belly by 11:25. I purposely checked the time when I was done because I knew the subject of early boarding would come up on here. LOL

[firemanbobswife]

That's exactly what I thought on embarkation day. That very first one definitely wasn't as good as I had remembered. But we had FTTF so the grill hadn't been fired up for long. No worries though, because they only got better from there.

 

Speaking of opening times, they do still open at noon (I just double-checked our Fun Times) but they must've opened at 11:00 on our embarkation day because I had one in my belly by 11:25. I purposely checked the time when I was done because I knew the subject of early boarding would come up on here. LOL

They were always open as soon as we got on too and it was around 11AM so I think they may actually open at 11:00 but for some reason the Fun Times say 11:30. I know for sure it's noon other days though. It was some of the longest 15 minutes of my life waiting :)

[ParrotRob]

I believe she was talking about something like Guy's, which you can only get while on Carnival.

 

Carnival is not the only place you can get Guy's burgers.

[simplelife]

I see from your other post that you did buy FTTF. Arriving earlier would have been to your benefit. We normally arrive fairly early, drop off our carry-ons, grab a bit to eat, and are back to our cabin to unpack before the crowds get that bad on the Lido.

 

Or, alternately, wait a little later. No lines then either. Our first few cruises we hurried to get in line and eat. Now we know how much food will be available throughout the cruise, so we take a more leisurely approach.

[simplelife]

Yeah I’ve never seen lines like that on any carnival cruise I’ve been. But I usually don’t get on the boat til 2pm. I eat lunch before I get on and so I’m just ready to start drinking when I board at 2

 

 

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My thoughts exactly:cool::ship::D

[jimbo5544]

Carnival is not the only place you can get Guy's burgers.

 

 

 

But the only one at sea

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

I was really, really hoping they would have remodeled the victory's buffet, it is always a line and that is in part due to the poor layout (two single file lines, not enough space for two way traffic next to the lines). This was not to be. I'll actually board later my next cruise to try to mitigate the line.

[DukeASUGirl]

Carnival is not the only place you can get Guy's burgers.

 

You can get a burger from a Guy Fieri restaurant elsewhere, but it's my understanding (from Guy's website) that the actual concept "Guy's Burger Joint" per se is a Carnival thing.

 

But mostly what I meant is that we don't have a Guy Fieri restaurant anywhere near us, whereas Johnny Rockets are a dime a dozen. They have them in every other mall. So Guy's is something I can't easily get.

 

But also, when I cruise, I try to sample things that are new to me. I'll order the escargot (I actually did that when I was 9, LOL), I'll order multiple appetizers. I try new foods (well, this time I won't -- I've developed food allergies so I am likely going to be less adventurous).

 

Paying a surcharge for a Johnny Rockets doesn't make much sense. If I desperately want Johnny Rockets food, I can easily go at home. Sure, I'll have to pay there, but it's not at a time when I expect most things to be included, like on a cruise.

 

It's like Build a Bear -- I can easily go at my local mall. Why waste time on the cruise ship doing that when I could do something else during that time?

[ParrotRob]

You can get a burger from a Guy Fieri restaurant elsewhere, but it's my understanding (from Guy's website) that the actual concept "Guy's Burger Joint" per se is a Carnival thing.

 

Well they definitely have "Guys Burger Joint" at Live Nation venues too, so it's not limited to Carnival. Same burgers. Same fries. Same fixins. Same brand name. $13.50 - $16.50 price tag.

[DukeASUGirl]

Well they definitely have "Guys Burger Joint" at Live Nation venues too, so it's not limited to Carnival. Same burgers. Same fries. Same fixins. Same brand name. $13.50 - $16.50 price tag.

 

Okay, fine. But it is not as ubiquitous as Johnny Rockets. I can't find a single Guy's Burgers (or any other Guy Fieri brand, for that matter) within 200 miles of where I live, whereas I can find 10 Johnny Rockets within 30 miles. (Two of which are within 10 miles...one is less than 5 miles away.) It's not quite as saturated as McDonald's, true. But it's hardly unique, either.

[buddylover]

I agree. The stations concept is much better. It takes the cafeteria feel away from the buffet, and scatters people instead of forcing everybody to stand in one long line.

 

 

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Yes, I agree with all you say on Oasis class ships (have been on both the Alllure OTS and Harmony OTS)....with the exception of embarkation day, which is what OP was highlighting. On Allure OTS the lines were so long OUTSIDE the Windjammer, with staff holding crowds back in lines at the entry, waiting to even get in as there were not tables and it was beyond capacity....same for Harmony OTS. But with other choices for embarkation day dining, we just left...but they were the longest and worst lines ever. Other than 1st day, I totally agree with you that those mega ships at RCI were the LEAST crowded ships we have ever been on and that is because there were so many "neighborhoods" (venues) for pax to be in. Remarkable engineering....but bring good walking shoes!! LOL