Carnival Cutbacks - Experience - Freedom

[cruisingguy007]

11 hours ago, nycruise1 said:

We were just on a 6 day for the first time ever, so not sure if this is new, but there was no free lobster on the first elegant night.  Though they did instead have an amazing shrimp dish with the larger shrimps.  They also cut out the pizza from 3 - 8am though we have never had it at that hour anyway.  No tea time, we usually would have gone to it once per cruise.

 

Was it the grilled shrimp dish in a circle with the brown sauce underneath? If so, we had that on the second elegant night and it was fantastic. The extra effort to grill the shrimp really brought out a unique flavor and it really worked well with the rest of the dish. I'm a bit of a seafood freak and eat tons of shrimp in several varieties from gulf, Argentina and Mexico (Mexican blue is my favorite) and these looked just like regular old standard large/jumbo tail on shrimp you could buy at any supermarket but they tasted soooo good. That was my third favorite dish, behind the lobster and perfectly cooked prime rib on recent cruise.    

 

This actually reminds me that next cruise, I'll be taking photos of all the food, every dish. I didn't get many food photos this last time and I should have. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[dannywads]

Going on the Dream in a few weeks, are there really no more taco bowls at Blue Iguana Cantina??  That is literally one of the reasons we booked with carnival again. 

[MisterOJ2]

1 hour ago, dannywads said:

Going on the Dream in a few weeks, are there really no more taco bowls at Blue Iguana Cantina??  That is literally one of the reasons we booked with carnival again. 

 

There were taco bowls on my Magic cruise last month. Sometimes they run out of things on a sailing. I suspect that was the case with the OP, because I've not heard about it otherwise.

[DTL321]

52 minutes ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

There were taco bowls on my Magic cruise last month. Sometimes they run out of things on a sailing. I suspect that was the case with the OP, because I've not heard about it otherwise.

Let's hope so! However, it was boarding day when I was told they stopped doing bowls for at least a month now... Hopefully it was just an excuse.

 

At the end of the day get all the usual "fillings" for a bowl on top of a tortilla. I found it just as good but I did miss the "crisp" of the bowl haha. Same as what I usually do at Chipotle.

[fresnel468]

3 hours ago, dannywads said:

Going on the Dream in a few weeks, are there really no more taco bowls at Blue Iguana Cantina??  That is literally one of the reasons we booked with carnival again. 

 

No taco bowls on the Vista last week.  

[Megan_Strick]

I just don't understand when people say "cut backs" or "price increase" Of course those things are going to happen. These people run a business to make money. Everything in the world increases. Nothing will stay the same price forever. Don't like it? Stay home.

[NightOne]

21 hours ago, DTL321 said:

Hello Everyone:

 

We just got off a 5 night Carnival Freedom Cruise, albeit we are not big Carnival cruisers we noticed a few cutbacks on food from our Carnival Magic Cruise back in September 2021. Some of these may have already happened on our Magic cruise and I did not notice. Are any of these a big issue in the grand scheme of things? Probably not, but thought I'd share my experiences. 

 

 

 

Just got of the Magic this past Sunday and noticed several of the things you mentioned. In addition to service being mediocre to poor overall. I got a bunch of different answers when I asked various staff on the ship but we were definitely short crew members to the point it impacted service.

 

I actually wrote Heald about the Sea Day brunch hours being cut back and his assistant replied that it was a temporary cutback because of the crew shortages.

 

Carnival is not currently delivering its normal product offering. 😞

[quattrohead]

Have you eaten out on land or been to the store recently ????

All food and service has gone to crap.

[Out of Iowa]

I've been on several Carnival cruises.  I have yet to find any Chocolate Extravaganza over 10+ years --- and it wasn't for lack of effort on my part.

 

and, yes, when we dine out lately there are abbreviated menus, unavailable foods, substitutions - and the bill at the end is noticeably higher.  Carnival doesn't even give us a bill after dinner 😉

 

[icft]

59 minutes ago, NightOne said:

                *                     *                          *

Carnival is not currently delivering its normal product offering. 😞

True. But what will be its normal product offering in the future? I suspect Carnival will never again offer it precovid normal product. They were reducing the value of their product even before covid. Pillow mints, automatic bath robes in the room, etc...

 

Before I get blasted as an entitled so-and-so who just wants to abuse the crew, I am simply pointing out that Carnival has for some time been cutting back on what it routinely provides its customers. I don't expect everything done in the name of covid to be reversed.

[MisterOJ2]

1 hour ago, Out of Iowa said:

I've been on several Carnival cruises.  I have yet to find any Chocolate Extravaganza over 10+ years --- and it wasn't for lack of effort on my part.

 

 

It was never a big deal and very easy to miss. It was basically just all the desserts on the lunch buffet the last sea day were chocolate themed. That was the extent of it. It was, by and large, the same amount/kind of desserts - they were just chocolate.

Edited May 4, 2022 by MisterOJ2

[BabyJacks17]

On 5/3/2022 at 3:20 PM, DTL321 said:

Buffet

• Mongolian Wok - only available for lunch

Blue Iguana

• Limited hours - used to be similar hours to Guy's Burgers - ends at 2:30pm or 3:30pm

 

Just to add my .02, from my recollection,  the above has been standard practice for quite some time.    

 

I've never been on a ship where Mongolian Wok was open for dinner & Blue Iguana has always closed during following the lunch rush.

Edited May 4, 2022 by BabyJacks17

[sanmarcosman]

24 minutes ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

It was never a big deal and very easy to miss. It was basically just all the desserts on the lunch buffet the last sea day were chocolate themed. That was the extent of it. It was, by and large, the same amount/kind of desserts - they were just chocolate.

Did you notice if they used the fountain that flows both milk and white chocolate at the dessert buffet the last sea day? They do use the flowing chocolate fountain on the Panorama for guests to use with the fresh fruit and have been using the fountain on all sailings since at least October of last year.

Edited May 4, 2022 by sanmarcosman

[nycruise1]

7 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Was it the grilled shrimp dish in a circle with the brown sauce underneath? If so, we had that on the second elegant night and it was fantastic. The extra effort to grill the shrimp really brought out a unique flavor and it really worked well with the rest of the dish. I'm a bit of a seafood freak and eat tons of shrimp in several varieties from gulf, Argentina and Mexico (Mexican blue is my favorite) and these looked just like regular old standard large/jumbo tail on shrimp you could buy at any supermarket but they tasted soooo good. That was my third favorite dish, behind the lobster and perfectly cooked prime rib on recent cruise.    

 

YES and it was so good we asked for a second serving which was promptly served to us with a smile.  While we noticed the change, we preferred this better.

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, nycruise1 said:

YES and it was so good we asked for a second serving which was promptly served to us with a smile.  While we noticed the change, we preferred this better.

 

I got second serving too, had one less shrimp on it for some reason but was just as good. That is a great dish, hope it's around next time I'm back on, so good. 

[audcc77]

58 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

I got second serving too, had one less shrimp on it for some reason but was just as good. That is a great dish, hope it's around next time I'm back on, so good. 

And what is the name of this magical shrimp circle dish?

[cruisingguy007]

20 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

And what is the name of this magical shrimp circle dish?

 

I don't recall but it was served on the second elegant night on Panorama 7 day. 

[cruisingguy007]

26 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

And what is the name of this magical shrimp circle dish?

 

Actually found a menu, it's just called grilled jumbo shrimp, marinara sauce and mustard potatoes. I don't remember tasting marinara but do remember the  yummy potatoes. That menu still shows flat iron available so it's probably old but I'm pretty sure the dish is still called grilled jumbo shrimp.   

Edited May 5, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[Don Kehote]

8 hours ago, sthrnbll said:

I just don't understand when people say "cut backs" or "price increase" Of course those things are going to happen. These people run a business to make money. Everything in the world increases. Nothing will stay the same price forever. Don't like it? Stay home.

How pleasant.

 

Anyway, I'm just here to say that if I gave one of CCL's new Strip Loin steaks to my dog, I'd apologize to him for it.  And he's been dead for two years.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Don Kehote

[KmomChicago]

5 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

It was never a big deal and very easy to miss. It was basically just all the desserts on the lunch buffet the last sea day were chocolate themed. That was the extent of it. It was, by and large, the same amount/kind of desserts - they were just chocolate.

I really never cared for the chocolate extravaganza. So, everyone, you’re welcome.

[BlerkOne]

7 hours ago, Out of Iowa said:

I've been on several Carnival cruises.  I have yet to find any Chocolate Extravaganza over 10+ years --- and it wasn't for lack of effort on my part.

 

Last sea day lunch at one of the Lido stations.

[BlerkOne]

Since the restart, the only shrimp dish I recall on the second elegant night has been Grille Garlic Shrimp with a lemon parmesan sauce and skillet vegetables.

 

[rayj130]

16 hours ago, dannywads said:

Going on the Dream in a few weeks, are there really no more taco bowls at Blue Iguana Cantina??  That is literally one of the reasons we booked with carnival again. 

No taco bowls on the 8 April Mardi Gras

[jsglow]

So here's the reality of today's hyperinflation times.  Carnival (and every other company for that matter) simply has to balance their product offering with their pricing model.  Like every single company, they do that to the best of their ability using the best analytics they can come up with. They need to be able to sell cruise cabins (easier and certainly more expensive during the peaks of Spring Break and summer vacation but much harder at other times) AND they need to make a profit while doing it.  It's entirely possible that the blend they come up with no longer meets the expectation of some of its clientele.  So be it.  They'll migrate to another product.  And do understand that Carnival will continue to tweak their offering always trying to find the 'sweet spot'.  That's much tougher these days in these uncertain times.  I'm going to bet they are already modeling what to do when the inevitable deep recession hits sometime in the next 12-24 months. Decisions like that aren't about filet at Seaday Brunch, they're about ship building cancellation costs. Time will tell.

[EngIceDave]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

So here's the reality of today's hyperinflation times.  Carnival (and every other company for that matter) simply has to balance their product offering with their pricing model.  Like every single company, they do that to the best of their ability using the best analytics they can come up with. They need to be able to sell cruise cabins (easier and certainly more expensive during the peaks of Spring Break and summer vacation but much harder at other times) AND they need to make a profit while doing it.  It's entirely possible that the blend they come up with no longer meets the expectation of some of its clientele.  So be it.  They'll migrate to another product.  And do understand that Carnival will continue to tweak their offering always trying to find the 'sweet spot'.  That's much tougher these days in these uncertain times.  I'm going to bet they are already modeling what to do when the inevitable deep recession hits sometime in the next 12-24 months. Decisions like that aren't about filet at Seaday Brunch, they're about ship building cancellation costs. Time will tell.

There ya go...it's a business.

Between supply issues, from booze to certain sodas to cuts of beef due to costs, things are different now.

 

There is a worldwide supply chain issue, it's not just the US, it's worldwide.