Dining changes

[TeresaJ]

17 minutes ago, shof515 said:

same thing for me for all of my 3 cruises in 2023. In the email it say they are suppose to honor the old rate unless you have to book it before today which is confusing

• For sailings January 1, 2023 and onward – Specialty dining reservations already paid as of today’s date will be honored at the current rate.  

The wording is weird. I'm guessing they meant already paid prior to today. 

[Joebucks]

6 hours ago, Theicom1 said:

 

While each individual change has been small, and some may say insignificant, the totality of them all together is a MAJOR change.

 

Can't eat every complementary option at 4am or have 3 entrees. MAJOR!

 

24 minutes ago, natefish95 said:

Do y'all not get out ever? $48 for a full steakhouse dinner (appetizers, steak, dessert) is such a great value. I've been to steakhouses were a single steak is more than that. The quality in the steakhouse is actually good, especially when compared to the MDR. If you're a family of 4, you're only paying $24 more dollars total for a full steakhouse meal. Not that much really.

 

You lost me at the $24 piece. A family of 4 could eat in the MDR for $0 or in the steakhouse for $196. That's the difference. The difference at home is going out to eat with a big, varied meal, that you don't have to cook, vs eating at home. On the ship, it's for food that's a little higher quality. I guess for some that $200 might be worth it though.

 

Personally, I think steakhouses (on land or sea) are largely overrated. I can't even count how many times I went to one, looking for some sort of treat. Only to be disappointed or mildly satisfied with a $50+ cut of meat. 

 

The funniest part of all of this is if Carnival doubled their fares, no one would bat an eye. Since they get rid of the "free stuff" (that few people ever use), then everyone loses their mind. Free is king.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Joebucks

[Drew B 58]

I completely understand and support the charge for a third entree.  I don’t understand the soft-serve ice cream cut back.  Don’t people “waste” ice cream every bit as much from 11:00-12:00 as from 12:00-11:00?  If anything, I think this will lead to MORE waste as people choose to get an ice cream they neither want nor need during the hours it’s open, just so they don’t miss out.

[Itried4498]

8 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

I am actually happy to see this (Carnival trying to minimize food waste).  With inflation at a 40-year high businesses can't keep going on with business as usual.  They either have to try to contain costs or raise prices.  I guess Carnival is doing a little of both, but it's understandable.  Add me to the list of people who really hate to see all the food wasted on ships (it's bothered me for years).  I know... I know ... it's not "wasted", it's fed to the fish.  Well, if Carnival has to keep paying top dollar to feed the fish, they are going to pass that price on to their customers (they have no choice).

 

Funny how I never read: "I am actually happy to see this (Carnival trying to conserve fuel by going to the Bahamas instead of San Juan)."

[JoeMo]

All these changes have yet to upset me. I'll eat Spam & eggs if that's what it takes to cruise. I have gone to bed many times without an ice cream snack. I've tried the tap water in the cabin, yummy. Need me to wash my own dishes? No Problem. Need me to take my turn rowing in the basement? Post the schedule. Put my toes in the sand, rum punch in my hand, under a palm tree would be grand. I get to watch the full moon rise, from my balcony, on Monday and Tuesday next week, for no extra charge. 

Let's all just cruise. Make the best of great situation. (No Shorts in the MDR after embarkation day, Please.)

[cruizinisthebest]

11 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Yep. We didn't go to the steakhouse back when it was an extra $30 or so per person.  Certainly wouldn't do it now.  How many would really do that?

Alot of people enjoy the steakhouse. Some more than once on a cruise. It's usually crowded.

[Drew B 58]

7 hours ago, NanoGirl21 said:

- Ice cream… who needs ice cream at 3 AM? Drink some water, sober up, and take your behind to bed! Just imagine these off hours the time that they are using the clean the machines. 90% of the time they were turned off and not working anyway. I don’t understand the big deal about 11 AM – Midnight ice cream. That is all day and well into the night! Are people really eating a gallon+ ice cream per day when not cruising? I highly doubt it. I also doubt that they are rolling out of bed in the middle of the night and waking up at 6 AM running to the freezer for ice cream.

 

 

On my dozen or so Carnival cruises, I would say that the majority of my soft-serve consumption has fallen between the hours of midnight and 11:00 AM.  You know.  The hours when they’re AREN’T a ton of other options?  It’s not a matter of gluttony.  I’m not having soft serve all day AND all night.  I’m eating other food during the day and then OCCASIONALLY having a small cup of ice cream at a time when I just might want a little bite and there’s not much to choose from.  
 

And as I said before, the food waste argument is BS with the ice cream, as people are no more likely (and arguably LESS likely) to waste ice cream they get in the off hours than they are to waste stuff they get from 11:00-midnight.

 

if I were a jerk, my response to this would be to get, like, a hundred ice creams a day during the hours they are open and just waste them all.  Luckily, I’m not a jerk…

[IntrepidFromDC]

9 hours ago, shof515 said:

when i was on the magic in june i had negative experience with the steakhouse. even with reservations they was no tables for me and the only option was the bar area setup they had that was empty. i thought with reservations they are suppose to hold you a spot

 

8 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

That would have really upset me.  I agree with you, that's what reservations mean: there is a table waiting for your party.

 

 

[RenoNanaOz]

7 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

On one of the recent cutback threads I predicted a surcharge for a second entree in the MDR. I wasn't too far off, and Carnival will probably get there eventually. 

 

On another note, "If we see a menu item that is not popular or think of a better way to serve a food item that can reduce waste, we owe it to our planet to make the right change, while still assuring you plenty of food and tasty treats."  They misspelled we owe it to our continued solvency.  Not sure who they're fooling into thinking these changes are about anything than the dollars.  If Carnival Corp. cared about the planet their ships wouldn't continue to rack up environmental violations and fines.

When you eat out, you order one entree. If you don’t like it send it back. Same should apply on a cruise, it’s not a free for all. 

[CruisingWalter]

18 hours ago, illinoisfive said:

Did I miss something?  Where does it say third entree is $5 in MDR?  I don't mind but I am confused.

 

https://www.thestreet.com/travel/carnival-makes-major-dining-changes-passengers-may-not-like

[CruisingWalter]

I have to wonder instead of making so many 'nickel and dime' changes recently, why Carnival didn't just make a quiet $5 or $10 raise in cabin prices instead. It's very easy to bury extra costs for food and fuel in the cabin fares. Even a $20 raise across the board for a week would not have been very noticeable. 

 

Seems Carnival has been on a continuous roll of making changes with ports to save fuel and raising individual fees. Sometimes it's better to the rip the band aid off all at once, make one set of major changes and move on. A small $5-$20 total raise in the price of the cabins over a week would have more quietly covered the extra costs they are looking for. 

[mz-s]

I really don’t want to hear about waste from Carnival as long as they’re still printing 10,000 photos during every cruise - the vast majority of which are simply thrown away.

[shof515]

36 minutes ago, mz-s said:

I really don’t want to hear about waste from Carnival as long as they’re still printing 10,000 photos during every cruise - the vast majority of which are simply thrown away.

i love the digital photo system that some ships have and that other cruise lines use. it is soo much better then finding my picture in the photo gallery that can be anywhere

[Island Dog]

I do my part to control photo paper and chemical waste by politely declining the photographers "photo ops" in the terminal, by the pool, in the dining room, in the hallways, on the gangway, etc,etc,etc.....

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

After receiving the email from Carnival yesterday, I opted to go ahead and reserve/pay for our 12/22 Liberty sailing, as well as two I just booked (fall of '23) on the Celebration and Pride. Everything was at $42. By the time evening rolled around, and I got to our 5/23 Celebration sailing, I saw that Rudi's was still at $42, but the Steakhouse had already increased to $48. Not the end of the world though!

 

With all those prepaid dinners, I managed to save $252 🙂 --- actually, more than that owing to the  AARP Carnival gift cards I just "discovered" thanks to you guys ($500 gift card for $450), that translated to at least another $150 in savings... so... over $400 "off".  WOO HOO

 

Tom

[Schoifmom]

15 hours ago, Island Dog said:

I highly doubt this since I am booked on three other lines and have received no emails and as I frequent the other message boards nobody is complaining of cutbacks when they come back from their cruises.

 

I think that is because they were already higher priced and had restriction in place.  For example, Chops Grille on RC is already $65 and they only offer ice cream from 11:00 - 7:00.  I think that Carnival's generously low prices and attempts to appeal to those who want 24 hour items make this seem like extreme measures; however, they are still lower priced than their competitors.

[Island Dog]

20 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

 

I think that is because they were already higher priced and had restriction in place.  For example, Chops Grille on RC is already $65 and they only offer ice cream from 11:00 - 7:00.  I think that Carnival's generously low prices and attempts to appeal to those who want 24 hour items make this seem like extreme measures; however, they are still lower priced than their competitors.

You get what you pay for.

[pirate4me2]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

I really don’t want to hear about waste from Carnival as long as they’re still printing 10,000 photos during every cruise - the vast majority of which are simply thrown away.

I 100% agree on this! Sooooo many wasted photos!

 

52 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

After receiving the email from Carnival yesterday, I opted to go ahead and reserve/pay for our 12/22 Liberty sailing, as well as two I just booked (fall of '23) on the Celebration and Pride. Everything was at $42. By the time evening rolled around, and I got to our 5/23 Celebration sailing, I saw that Rudi's was still at $42, but the Steakhouse had already increased to $48. Not the end of the world though!

 

With all those prepaid dinners, I managed to save $252 🙂 --- actually, more than that owing to the  AARP Carnival gift cards I just "discovered" thanks to you guys ($500 gift card for $450), that translated to at least another $150 in savings... so... over $400 "off".  WOO HOO

 

Tom

I did the same thing on my lunch hour at work, glad I didn't wait until I got home in the evening to do it! 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

Agreed, it is wasteful. Which is one reason why it’s on its way out and the newer ships use all digital. 

they seem to be in no hurry to convert the remainder of their fleet. But they can institute cutbacks like this overnight.

[mom2tcdx2]

We have done the steakhouse like 3 times out of 16 Carnival cruises.  I have never found the experience to really be worth the cost.  Worst service I ever received from Carnival was in the steakhouse.  Even so much as several cruises we let Ken (Maitre'd) know that he had better servers in the dining room than the steakhouse had.  At $48 I won't even consider it at all anymore, pretty much the same with the Teppanyaki - we get better prices and a better show at locations at home.  

 

As for the 3rd entree, I can truly say I don't think any of us have done that.  Except for maybe a pasta dish as my husband would ask for smaller portions of those sometimes.  But usually 2 might be his norm.  Rarely do I order more than 1.  We also don't order the extras that are paid for in the dining room.  

 

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I'm assuming that the appetizer size order of pasta doesn't count towards the two. If so, I'm guessing this will be become a lot more popular (though not with me, I actually don't like pasta that much).

 

The only time I ever ordered 3 entrees was lobster night.  Two lobsters and something else (sometimes steak, though not always, depended on my mood... and how good the dessert menu looked).  I think they might have gotten $5 more from me.

[ctlyf]

16 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Can't eat every complementary option at 4am or have 3 entrees. MAJOR!

 

 

You lost me at the $24 piece. A family of 4 could eat in the MDR for $0 or in the steakhouse for $196. That's the difference. The difference at home is going out to eat with a big, varied meal, that you don't have to cook, vs eating at home. On the ship, it's for food that's a little higher quality. I guess for some that $200 might be worth it though.

 

Personally, I think steakhouses (on land or sea) are largely overrated. I can't even count how many times I went to one, looking for some sort of treat. Only to be disappointed or mildly satisfied with a $50+ cut of meat. 

 

The funniest part of all of this is if Carnival doubled their fares, no one would bat an eye. Since they get rid of the "free stuff" (that few people ever use), then everyone loses their mind. Free is king.

I agree that going out for steak where we are is setting yourself up for disappointment... my husband has BBQ or smoking down to a science, and even if we go to a high end steakhouse, we always feel that it wasn't worth the higher cost. Had the Wagu Rib-eye at Hell's Kitchen in Vegas (US$89) and honestly felt like we could have bought a "regular" rib-eye at our local Costco for CAD$25-30, and had just as good of a meal at home. 

 

That being said, we have started treating ourselves to the steakhouse for one meal each cruise, but it is also only 2 of us. I couldn't imagine doing it for us and our kids (who are now adults and fully appreciative of a great cut of steak).

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

20 minutes ago, ctlyf said:

... Had the Wagu Rib-eye at Hell's Kitchen in Vegas (US$89) and honestly felt like we could have bought a "regular" rib-eye at our local Costco for CAD$25-30, and had just as good of a meal at home. ...

 

I opted for an actual Kobe ribeye (6 oz, I think) when we dined at Prime (Bellagio) several years ago. The casino was covering my F&B, so I went all out. I think the steak alone was something crazy like $200. It was just "OK", certainly nothing to write home about - I'm glad I wasn't paying. Then again, I really WAS paying, it's just that the casino was sending them my money, after keeping some for themselves too!

 

Tom

[Lee Cruiser]

Apparently a lot of people have no problem paying $48 per person for a meal on a ship where your meals are included.  For us, there are still several steakhouses around us where we can get an excellent steak meal for $25.  We've paid more for steaks before, but those places certainly were no better than the ones where we paid $20-25.  In fact, they weren't really as good.  So we will just let others pay that if they choose to do so.

[seaman11]

nothings a deal breaker for me in this latest email. i do have 2 entrees at dinner at times . never 3 .  seems odd iv been on so many cruises not once have i seen anyone order 3 entrees. im not sure why they felt they need to put a charge on it.  the steakhouse is over priced, keep in mind you wont be eating in the mdr that night so an extra 50 is a bit much imo.