If Carnival stinks like day old fish, why do you continue to cruise w/them?

[IPlayWithString]

That's what I keep hearing, although  I've never seen/experienced it myself.

 

For us, it's several things, really. One is a matter of convenience...we prefer not to fly if we can possibly avoid it because of the expense so really Galveston and (if we absolutely HAVE to) New Orleans are really the only ports anywhere near where we are (about 5-6 hrs and around 8 hrs or so, respectively).

Secondly, we have never been treated anything but kindly and with the best possible customer service on Carnival. Because we are both from a customer service-based industry background, that's important to us. If we were treated badly or had bad experiences, we wouldn't return. We'd find another kind of vacation.

 

Third, our PVP is pretty danged good. He probably has a file two inches thick on our son's needs as well as our personal preferences for type of room (interior cabin please! Balcony or OV is nice, but not required), dining time (ATD, thank you very much!) and what kind of excursions we like to go on (we've ziplined in 5 different countries!). He knows when to call us and when NOT to call us since due to our son still being in school and our jobs, we can only cruise at certain times of year.

 

Fourth...Carnival has always, always ALWAYS done their absolute best to make sure our vacation goes as smooth as butter off a bald monkey's butt. Sometimes things outside of their direct control DO happen (like the jungle hike from  H E double hockey sticks) but they have always tried to make it up to us and make sure that we're satisfied with the replacement/outcome.

 

Fifth..I can't speak for other cruise lines (never sailed on one) but Carnival has some of the best CDs. Most of them (all but one, actually) have gone out of their way to talk to us, be friendly and make sure that we're having a great time.

 

Sixth--Four words: Carnival Freedom Playlist Cast. They made my son feel like a frigging rock star on our last cruise. 😄 They were awesome and so sweet to him.

 

Seven--Three words: Guy's Burger Joint. 'Nuff said.

 

Eight--two words: Texas tuxedo--tuxedo jacket, long sleeve shirt, church jeans and your dress boots. Felt dress cowboy hat optional. 😄

 

Nine--The waitstaff...we've always had amazing waitstaff and they were never pushy about asking us to give them stellar reviews. We gave them stellar reviews on the survey because they EARNED it.

 

Ten--We're not uptight. We like to be laid back (well.DH and DS do. I don't relax unless I'm really REALLY drunk. It's a special needs mom thing. LOL) and Carnival has some of the most laid back funloving pax on the planet. 😄 

[hurricane0226]

I agree with you, really laid back, no major problems, and go with the flow, besides we are on vacation

[Joebucks]

Because we have created a culture of complainers. It is especially cool to hate large and mainstream companies.

[joeyancho]

Like Little Caesar's Pizza.......it's cheap.

[Moviela]

Carnival does not have the aroma of fine aged fish. It is one success after another for the line and the company. Are the amenities lacking in any respect? No, they provide a great experience without the expense of over decorated rooms or wasted space. The vacation is to relax and have fun.

 

No one can tell me they are bored on a Carnival ship. There is always something to do or see.

 

The people are the nicest and most helpful. You can get the same service on other lines, but they will cost a lot more. 

[sparks1093]

Simply because they give me a good return for my vacation dollar.

[PhillyFan33579]

Not sure I understand the title of this thread. Carnival currently has 26 ships that sail close to capacity week after week, month after month, etc. To imply that people don’t sail Carnival is far from the truth. The people who complain about Carnival are a very small percentage of the  people who sail on Catnival. 

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

I did see one comment on a recent thread where the reason the person seemed forced to sail with Carnival because their other half preferred it. I do feel that continually voicing the complaints on this form (the Carnival threads) are somewhat unfair since voicing the complaints at home would be more productive. 

 

For others who seem to be willing to complain about the same things over and over again, over the course of many years, I have no idea what drives them. I have seem nothing that suggests anyone is being coerced to sail with Carnival. The closest  might be those that get the free bounce back cruises from the casino, but even a complaint about that would be suspect. 😃

[Havingfun2010]

2 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Not sure I understand the title of this thread. Carnival currently has 26 ships that sail close to capacity week after week, month after month, etc. To imply that people don’t sail Carnival is far from the truth. The people who complain about Carnival are a very small percentage of the  people who sail on Catnival. 

 

Thanks, I think you are talking about me.  Other cruise lines also sail to capacity also.  However, many cruise lines are also aggressively building additional capacity because of the demand.  I have met many ex-Carnival passengers that will never go back.  Some of which I work with, and others on the ships I sail.  So without saying anything negative about Carnival.....there are other companies that will act the same way as the poster said, but will do it better and for similar prices.

[Melissalcsw]

I have often wondered this myself....

I enjoy their product, the cost, the variety and multiple ports close to me.

I will continue to cruise with them until they don't meet my needs anymore.

But until then #Choosefun #Bookmorecruises

 

[jimbo5544]

12 minutes ago, Havingfun2010 said:

 

Thanks, I think you are talking about me.  Other cruise lines also sail to capacity also.  However, many cruise lines are also aggressively building additional capacity because of the demand.  I have met many ex-Carnival passengers that will never go back.  Some of which I work with, and others on the ships I sail.  So without saying anything negative about Carnival.....there are other companies that will act the same way as the poster said, but will do it better and for similar prices.

How was that Carnival bashing convention you went to?  Were the other 8 haters of Carnival in attendance?  I am always amazed, and maybe this is what the OP was talking about that the members of the CBS (Carnival Bashing Society) still want come here....  This post is as close to not bashing Carnival I have seen from you.... the inventention must be working at least a little bit.....

[FSHLOT]

Kind of like drinking heiniken or coors light. Heiniken will give you more bang for your buck, just like Carnival does.

[Joebucks]

1 hour ago, Havingfun2010 said:

 

I have met many ex-Carnival passengers that will never go back.  Some of which I work with, and others on the ships I sail.  

 

You can find people saying this for any company at any given time. Heck, go to the other cruise line's boards here, it's everywhere. Also, not all of those people are even being truthful with their claims. Many times something irks them, or they just want a different experience. Then eventually, as the grass not always being greener on the other side, they go back. The cool thing to do these days is to let everyone know you're onto "bigger and better things."

Edited October 26, 2018 by Joebucks

[Djptcp]

We have sailed on Carnival (the most), Holland America (second most), NCL and RCCL. I don't see much difference among them except HAL is a bit classier and you receive lots of perks with their Neptune Suites (have had 4 of them) and not any perks with the Carnival suites. We sail mostly Carnival because I receive free or deeply discounted casino rates/casino cash cruises and we live within 45 minutes of the Port of Tampa. We have found the Carnival crew to be courteous and helpful and some remember us from one cruise to the next. Food is pretty good and the casinos are usually pretty good to me. Complaining and hateful remarks are prevalent now are from the top down and hopefully that will change, the sooner the better. I personally think some of those who make the worst remarks have never even sailed on Carnival and are nothing more than trolling.

[nwo4life]

I think many complainers on their Facebook page are just fishing for discounts on their next Carnival cruise.

[jsglow]

Carnival is great.  They provide a consistent product that's particularly well suited for the niche in the market they fit in.  Which is not to say they fit ALL cruising niches.  I best understood this when I sailed Alaska on Princess, their sister line.  CCL Corp does a very good job of properly segmenting their product offerings.  Choose the one (or several) that best fits your needs for a particular experience.

 

We had a discussion about where the crossover point might be close.  We decided that was Hawaii for two weeks.  We then decided that everything equal we'd prefer the Carnival version for that product.

 

We also like Carnival for the price point.  For us it's WAY better to see the Caribbean aboard a small ship.  But that comes with a much heftier pricetag so isn't always a plausible fit for a normal week's vacation.   

[MzOhioLady]

Hello!

 

I agree with you, OP, you are so right in your comments. I Love Carnival, although I have gone on Celebrity and Princess Cruise Line and I had a good time but Carnival so far has been my favorite. I have a cruise booked with Carnival for next year and I cannot wait to set sail.

[evandbob]

I've sailed Carnival about 38 times, and I'm not as good a cheerleader for them as the OP.  There are some Carnival  ships I refuse to even consider anymore.  While I've sailed the Conquest class ships the most, my preference has changed to mainly the Dream and Vista class ships.  I will still sail Conquest class ships if I can get a good casino fare.

 

Otherwise, I'll continue to be open to cruising other lines, especially for longer itineraries.  There are many ports that Carnival rarely or never visits.  We have an 11 day southern Caribbean itinerary on Celebrity that beats the pants off whatever decades old ship Carnival has in San Juan.  We have a 15 day TA to the Azores and Spain and an 11 day partial transit in the Panama Canal both on NCL, that Carnival can't match in itinerary or price.  We just sailed MSC Seaside, which is by far the best ship I've ever sailed on, and my list includes the Disney Dream.

 

Carnival satisfies many of my cruising needs, and when they don't, I'll sail another line without any hesitation at all.  

[Jenjer]

People are more likely to complain than to compliment.

 

Sometimes it becomes a collection of small issues that cause negative feeling. Lets use a small one Trays left in the hallways. Yes is happens, yes it can make walking down the long hallways a bit of a mine field. So lets say you tripped on someones tray left outside their room. Grrrrr your mad, then you have to go stand in a line to get a burger or pizza the line might only be 10 min but your already frustrated. You get your food and its not perfect the, your more frustrated. You can not find a seat to sit down and don't want to walk around looking for it. Now your even madder. You have flipped from positive searching to negative searching.

 

If you expect perfection your not going to find it. Some people struggle to get passed the negative 10 minutes or 2 minutes or even afternoon. One small experience can ruin a whole day a whole cruise a whole cruise line.

 

[evandbob]

3 minutes ago, Jenjer said:

People are more likely to complain than to compliment.

 

Sometimes it becomes a collection of small issues that cause negative feeling. Lets use a small one Trays left in the hallways. Yes is happens, yes it can make walking down the long hallways a bit of a mine field. So lets say you tripped on someones tray left outside their room. Grrrrr your mad, then you have to go stand in a line to get a burger or pizza the line might only be 10 min but your already frustrated. You get your food and its not perfect the, your more frustrated. You can not find a seat to sit down and don't want to walk around looking for it. Now your even madder. You have flipped from positive searching to negative searching.

 

If you expect perfection your not going to find it. Some people struggle to get passed the negative 10 minutes or 2 minutes or even afternoon. One small experience can ruin a whole day a whole cruise a whole cruise line.

 

Some people realize that they can also start their day over again with a blank slate and put those annoyances behind them.  Some can't.  Some will escalate their negative responses. 

 

I like to be both balanced and realistic.  Wish I could be that more often.  What irritates me are folks saying Carnival is perfect if you lower your expectations.  Oh well.

[pyropoodle]

usually, any problem I ever had on a ship is with other people.   other people leaving their trays outside of my door, other people cutting lines, other people complaining about something they don't like, etc....   I try to go with the flow.  no day is perfect in real life, so I try to turn every vacation day into a perfect day as much as I can and look over a lot of things.  The staff is ALWAYS going what I feel is above and beyond for me.  they remember my name, so much so that I took a cruise and then a year later, I took another cruise on a different ship and the waiter still remembered my name from a year previously and remembered a discussion we'd had a year previously...even where I sat in the other ship's dining room.   that is INSANE service.  

 

That being said, Carnival gives me the most bang for my buck, so I will sail with them as long as that is true...or until my kids realize there is an entire ship devoted to Mickey Mouse, lord help me when that happens.  I guess once they start making their own money, they can cruise with whomever they like!

 

 

[AFuncruiser]

 On one of my first cruises I remember asking an old couple who had sailed many times what their favorite cruise ship was and they answered "what ever ship we are on". I have tried to adopt that attitude on what ever ship I find myself on. Just get me away from the dock at a good price and I am a happy camper.

I sail Carnival most frequently because they sail The Elation out of my hometown Jacksonville, Fl. There are many first time cruisers aboard who are having a ball. It is a pleasure to be around so many happy people.

 

Dennis

Jacksonville, fl

707 days at sea

82 cruises

14 cruise lines

T/P, T/A, Hawaii, Central & South America, New Zealand & South Pacific, Rio/ Amazon, Alaska

 

 

 

[NavarreCruiser]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

You can find people saying this for any company at any given time. Heck, go to the other cruise line's boards here, it's everywhere. Also, not all of those people are even being truthful with their claims. Many times something irks them, or they just want a different experience. Then eventually, as the grass not always being greener on the other side, they go back. The cool thing to do these days is to let everyone know you're onto "bigger and better things."

 

 

I am sure there are many people who are chronic complainers and rarely satisfied.  But the Carnival cutbacks are real and do affect many people's cruise choices.  Here is the effect it has had on my cruise choices.  Carnival cruises I have taken:  2012-10, 2013-12, 2014-14, 2015-11, 2016-7, 2017-5, 2018-3, 2019 and beyond-none currently booked.  

[Essiesmom]

We have sailed Carnival almost exclusively in the past two years (got my sister to Platinum...more free laundry) with one cruise on MSC and our last one on Celebrity.  Starting with our Carnival Pride cruise in Jan. 2016, we fell in love with the piano bars.  On every Carnival cruise, we hung out there every evening.  We like some of the piano guys better than others, but they were worth the time.  We like the food, the cabins, the entertainment.  Our last cruise was on Celebrity, 9 day southern Caribbean (ABCs).  We are elite on Celebrity, but hadn't sailed them in 5 years.  WE had forgot how laid back it can be, missed some of the venues on Equinox that we had on Silhouette.  We loved that three of their shows had live band backing up the singers/dancers.  BUT...THERE WAS NO PIANO BAR!  Bummer.  Our next cruise is on MSC, because you have to sail them every three years to maintain your loyalty status.  We liked Divina, we plan to like Seaside, although it may take us all week to find every venue.  EM

[Joebucks]

23 minutes ago, NavarreCruiser said:

 

 

I am sure there are many people who are chronic complainers and rarely satisfied.  But the Carnival cutbacks are real and do affect many people's cruise choices.  Here is the effect it has had on my cruise choices.  Carnival cruises I have taken:  2012-10, 2013-12, 2014-14, 2015-11, 2016-7, 2017-5, 2018-3, 2019 and beyond-none currently booked.  

 

So what are these cutbacks? Is Carnival the only one doing this?

 

Every line has posts about the product no longer being "like it used to be". Everyone makes changes. Not all of them are bad you know.