Cut backs i noticed on breeze.

[seaman11]

21 hours ago, d12j28 said:

I can agree that Carnival has had a few "cutbacks" since Covid, but the lines at the buffet have always (way before Covid) been long between 9 - 10 a.m. Same with Pizza at about 11 p.m. 

I was on this ship 8 months ago and had no issues as far as lines go.

 

Also blocked elevators have been an issue this time , disembarking and at 10am still backed up badly.    

 

Certainly there have been some changes since last time i was on the breeze

[seaman11]

Many are posting about times. Im trying to convey ,no matter your timings ,very long lines seems the theme of changes, and i have seen plenty of staff and staff hanging around. The stations are fewer.

Edited September 17, 2022 by seaman11

[seaman11]

53 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

There may be a slight difference, but Royal is not the "all that" that the Royal Loyal's think it is. Royal is a little better than Carnival but it's not worth the fare difference that I've seen between the two (and yes, there can be deals to be had at specific times but I'm talking about those times that I've actually been looking to book a cruise. I generally price several cruise lines and the lowest fare typically wins.

You are right about that, it isnt all that or worth some price differences. But it does attract a slightly diff client. 

[mz-s]

18 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

Many are posting about times. Im trying to convey ,no matter your timings ,very long lines seems the theme of changes, and i have seen plenty of staff and staff hanging around. The stations are fewer.

 

Yes the fact that they have fewer stations open on Lido while closing other venues (sea day brunch closes earlier and room service is no longer included or won't be in about a week) is really a horrible situation.

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Yes the fact that they have fewer stations open on Lido while closing other venues (sea day brunch closes earlier and room service is no longer included or won't be in about a week) is really a horrible situation.

I cannot remember seeing empty stations on an of my cruses since the return to the sea. But frankly was not looking.

[mz-s]

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

I cannot remember seeing empty stations on an of my cruses since the return to the sea. But frankly was not looking.

 

On my Freedom cruise, the entire forward half of the buffet (except the mongolian wok station) was never open for the entire 8 days. I've been on the Sunshine twice since the restart and it's rare they have all sides of the buffets open. Typically half are closed. Service seems to be much slower at Pizza and Deli stations as well, likely because they have fewer workers there but that is just a guess. Guy's and Blue Iguana I have not noticed a huge difference vs before (except the well publicized guy's fries being nowhere near as good)

[jimbo5544]

3 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

On my Freedom cruise, the entire forward half of the buffet (except the mongolian wok station) was never open for the entire 8 days. I've been on the Sunshine twice since the restart and it's rare they have all sides of the buffets open. Typically half are closed. Service seems to be much slower at Pizza and Deli stations as well, likely because they have fewer workers there but that is just a guess. Guy's and Blue Iguana I have not noticed a huge difference vs before (except the well publicized guy's fries being nowhere near as good)

Thanks for the reply, now that I think about t I do remember one side of the buffet closed, but it was during the slow down, might be personnel shortage related.  

Edited September 17, 2022 by jimbo5544

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

Thanks for the reply, now that I think about t I do remember one side of the buffet closed, but it was during the slow down, might be personnel shortage related.  

 

I didn't complain about the Freedom because that was during the initial restart when the ships were like 60% full. The population of that cruise simply did not need the entire buffet area open so that made sense. But that was a year ago. The ships are full and the buffets need to be able to accommodate a full complement of guests, especially as Carnival has cut hours and removed included options elsewhere.

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I didn't complain about the Freedom because that was during the initial restart when the ships were like 60% full. The population of that cruise simply did not need the entire buffet area open so that made sense. But that was a year ago. The ships are full and the buffets need to be able to accommodate a full complement of guests, especially as Carnival has cut hours and removed included options elsewhere.

Understand, I will look at it during our next couple of cruises

[hard_eight]

Mongolian wok was lined up like that 4 years ago

[ray98]

15 hours ago, seaman11 said:

Many are posting about times. Im trying to convey ,no matter your timings ,very long lines seems the theme of changes, and i have seen plenty of staff and staff hanging around. The stations are fewer.

 

This summer I've been on the Elation and Valor and both had empty stations on the Lido with uncommonly long lines at what was open.  It is nothing new.  There were both 100% capacity cruises.

[seaman11]

Lol at those saying its fine. Smh. 

[seaman11]

21 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I didn't complain about the Freedom because that was during the initial restart when the ships were like 60% full. The population of that cruise simply did not need the entire buffet area open so that made sense. But that was a year ago. The ships are full and the buffets need to be able to accommodate a full complement of guests, especially as Carnival has cut hours and removed included options elsewhere.

Ppl are cheerleaders and they want to poo poo it.  These lines are not like before covid. Some wont get it . 

[ShakyBeef]

22 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

Lol at those saying its fine. Smh. 

 

OY VEY!!😲😦

[mz-s]

I would eat in the MDR every meal I could and never go on a Carnival cruise again if that was what I had to put up with. Horrible!

[seaman11]

Oh and entertainment seems to have been part of the cuts , the piano guy is horrid. Im sorry the band is poor also.  I guess some will find out. In time. 

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by seaman11

[Guest BasicSailor]

8 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

OY VEY!!😲😦

Damn, I think I recognize some of those people 😳

[BoozinCroozin]

The issue is one thing and one thing only. The Debt Man is calling. They are carrying $30B in debt. Even if it is only 4% interest, that is $1.2B per year. In 2019, it was almost $8B in profit. They are far from that now, costs have gone up, revenue has declined. Without accumulating any additional debt nor paying insane Executive compensation, you are looking at 7-10 years to pay this off. Since none of that is going to happen (Execs are going to get theirs, more debt is coming, and they are not making anywhere close to $8B in profit, maybe $1-$2B), this will be interest only payments. 

 

It is like I said before, if it was included prior and they can charge for it now, they are going to charge for it. If the job took 10 people to do before, there are now only 6-8 doing it. If the expense was $100, it is now $80 budget with inflated pricing. This is nothing to do with Carnival directly. It is almost entirely with voting.

[sparks1093]

11 hours ago, seaman11 said:

Oh and entertainment seems to have been part of the cuts , the piano guy is horrid. Im sorry the band is poor also.  I guess some will find out. In time. 

 

That, again, seems to be a staffing issue. They are limited by who applies for the job and the better performers may be signing on with other ships or maybe they've decided to wait to return until COVID is truly in hand (similar to what a lot of cruisers are doing). I do understand the frustration with the long lines and I hate lines as much as anyone but until things return to normal (whatever that is going to look like going forward) and as long as I'm seeing the same issue on other cruise line forums I'm going to think that this is all pandemic related and not specifically Carnival. (I do know that we had very good performers on Legend both in November and February and no noticeable lines so this is also something that could vary ship to ship.)

[seaman11]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

That, again, seems to be a staffing issue. They are limited by who applies for the job and the better performers may be signing on with other ships or maybe they've decided to wait to return until COVID is truly in hand (similar to what a lot of cruisers are doing). I do understand the frustration with the long lines and I hate lines as much as anyone but until things return to normal (whatever that is going to look like going forward) and as long as I'm seeing the same issue on other cruise line forums I'm going to think that this is all pandemic related and not specifically Carnival. (I do know that we had very good performers on Legend both in November and February and no noticeable lines so this is also something that could 

 

[DallasGuy75219]

31 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

 

Exactly. Even if it was/is pandemic related at some point, Carnival is never going to go back to the way it was if they can make the short-staffing work by overworking the crew even more and attracting new guests with lower expectations and/or who don't know what they're missing.

[sparks1093]

43 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

 

ROFL.

[seaman11]

9 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

ROFL.

Bored staff.....

Edited September 19, 2022 by seaman11

[Super27]

10 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Exactly. Even if it was/is pandemic related at some point, Carnival is never going to go back to the way it was if they can make the short-staffing work by overworking the crew even more and attracting new guests with lower expectations and/or who don't know what they're missing.

This. And it's not just Carnival, it's a lot of travel brands. Look at Disney - their parks are a joke compared to what they used to be, service is awful, new attractions are garbage, but they still manage to fill the parks to capacity even with sky high prices so why would they try to offer the same quality product they used to? Same with hotels...most Hilton properties are still using COVID as an excuse to not offer concierge lounges, breakfast, or housekeeping.

 

I'm about as brand loyal as it gets, but Carnival is really starting to make me look elsewhere as I've done with my other travel choices - I'm a former Disney annual pass holder that has no interest in stepping on their property again, and a Hilton Diamond member who now exclusively stays in Marriotts. Might be time for a change with cruises too...

[seaman11]

19 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Exactly. Even if it was/is pandemic related at some point, Carnival is never going to go back to the way it was if they can make the short-staffing work by overworking the crew even more and attracting new guests with lower expectations and/or who don't know what they're missing.

Short Staff.....