Should we give Carnival another try?

[Jeafl]

2 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

That’s kinda my point. It was a general statement that they had a horrible cruise. Nothing specific that would be considered a one off thing. And it’s not like they have never cruised, so they have something to compare it to. Again, they could have a great time. I just wouldn’t risk it. If I didn’t like a restaurant 7 times in a row, I’m not paying for an 8th.

 

Carnival isn’t for everyone. I’ve been on HA and wouldn’t go again because it seemed like a ship full of people just sitting around. Place was dead at night. Those same people might hate Carnival. 

I totally agree! We went to Alaska on Holland and it was the most boring ship I have ever been on.  There was no entertainment at night except for a piano player.  It was eerie walking around at night looking for something to do and finding everything closed up tight,  Even during the day on sea days it was a struggle to find anything to do. It was so disappointing.

[Eli_6]

My favorite cruise was on the Splendor even though she was an older ship.  I would expect that the people cruising to New Zealand (which I think is a longer sailing) would be a different group than those sailing out of Los Angeles. 

[Wennfred]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

Anyone want to share what happened?

 

Basically this family fully paid for their cruise, there was a glitch with ordering bus transfers. The bus transfer sat in the cart to get paid but they didn’t continue with the order. Upon arrival they were told that they owe 109.00 or so.  Bus transport/transfers are for a second party and not for the cruiseline. They could have handle the transaction there at the terminal or cancelled the order. They were simply told to go home.

 

NCL would not budge in refunding their cruise, this went on social media and even Don made a video about it and this caused a lot of heat, about a week later NCL decided to refund their cruise. 
 

So it’s best to just wait and buy your bus transfers when you get on the ship.  On my upcoming HAL cruise the bus transfers kept giving me an error so I deleted the transaction from the cart.

 

I called HAL yesterday to ensure that I didn’t have any outstanding balance for my cruise.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Wennfred

[Eli_6]

That story about NCL is not surprising to me. It sounds like they refused to refund until a full-blown stink was made about it on social media. If it takes that to get a refund, I am not giving them any "credit" for finally providing the refund.  How many people have not been refunded for similarly terrible situations because their situation didn't go viral?   

I have found that when dealing with Carnival or Celebrity/RCCL, I have found that both cruise lines generally will "make it right" when there is a problem.  You may have to go up the chain of command or wait until after the cruise and talk with guest services department at corporate, but someone will make it right.  That has not been my experience with NCL.  Frankly, I will never understand why Carnival has a worse reputation than NCL.  

[bguppies]

18 hours ago, dianeh said:

We and another couple sailed a couple of years ago from lax to Mexico. We had balcony cabins. We usually cruise with Hal and have also sailed with Norweigan. We found our 7 day adventure horrible. Almost every meal in the dining room was cold, over or undercooked. We were told they would make it right. Never did. Our last night we ate at the buffet. The ship ran out of clamato juice, worstershire and avocados. There's more to add but you get the gist of it. We are flying to Sydney next December 2024 to see family. I have found a cruise for New Zealand on the Splendor. This is the only cruise in the time we wish to visit. I swore I'd never set foot on another Carnival ship but maybe I should give them another try? 

We were Carnival fans but the product has gone downhill since the restart.

So if you didn't enjoy your cruise before the pandemic, I'd seriously doubt you'll find the state of the fleet any better these days. (Probably find it worse) 

 

If you are just looking for "transportation" between Australia and New Zealand and aren't looking for the service and product of an older cruise, then a cruise on an older Carnival ship might work for you.

 

Hope you enjoy your time whatever decision you make.

[CruizinSusan70]

9 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Yes, only because of the heat they Recd, that should have never happened in the first place.

 

Put yourself in their shoes, to make it to the terminal and to tell you that you can’t sail and you are out 4600.00 what a crock  of BS.

 

 

 

 

Fully agree.  It was a 100% BS move by NCL.  But it wasn't the first time they stuck it to a passenger and won't be the last.

[BlerkOne]

5 hours ago, ray98 said:

If you didn't like Carnival pre-Covid you certainly won't like them now.  Certainly nothing has improved since then.

The safety drill and flamin tomato soup are back to name just two.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, 1kaper said:

 

Not me.  We sail on the "free" rooms and that's the only reason I would sail Carnival.  I get what I pay for so I'm not too bothered by not great food. I can always find something to eat.  
I wouldn't pay full price to go on Carnival after my last two sailings with them.  But I'll pay the sale price and not complain.  

THIS and the many others who sail Carnival for the same reason are why Carnival needs to eliminate free rooms.

[1kaper]

51 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

THIS and the many others who sail Carnival for the same reason are why Carnival needs to eliminate free rooms.

Why? That’s a bizarre take. It’s getting people on board. People they know will spend in the casino. Which is good for them. 

Selling rooms doesn’t make them money. Onboard spending does. 
We buy drink packages. We spend some in the casino. We budget $50/night for each of us. If we win some we may play that but when the $50 is gone we are gone. other people getting casino deals are spending a lot more. 

I have bought at least one excursion on every cruise I’ve done. Always a clamshell at HMC. We’ve purchased FTTF in the past. Done build a bear. Done the spa in the past. Purchased something from the gift shops. I’ve done sushi. 
They make money off of us getting on the ship. The food was a huge disappointment on my last two cruises. But I can always manage to eat. And I didn’t pay a ton to be there so I don’t complain. But if I’m paying full price that is comparable to other lines with better food, I’m going to go to them instead. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by 1kaper

[paulco]

Loved the Spirit last spring in Alaska. A great flow to the decks.  Lots of space.  Still has table cloths in the mdr.  Nice promenade deck. Constant maintenance going on.  Food was fine.  All in all a fine older ship!

[icft]

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

THIS and the many others who sail Carnival for the same reason are why Carnival needs to eliminate free rooms.

I agree Carnivals free room/lousy cruise experience route is a loser. The better route would have been maintain price and cruise experience.

 

The only reason we cruised Carnival since covid is the free rooms (actually, taking casino cash, port fees, taxes and gratuities into account they pay us to cruise). We would not pay for the experience Carnival offers these days (other than the way we do pay - by engaging in an activity we enjoy such as gambling). Paying for bad food, waiting in lines for everything, being woken up at 9am for commercials and subjected to the unsavory customers Carnival attracts these days would not make sense to us.

 

As it is, we have started booking NCL and are deciding which of the few Carnival cruises we have booked we will cancel (probably all but the Journeys cruise). My wife was assaulted on the cruise we just completed so even with Carnival paying us they are charging more than we are willing to pay.

 

I figure some will say NCL is no better and they might be right. We will see. I accept it is a real possibility that covid and inflation have made the traditional cruise experience a thing of the past, never to return. In that event I think all the cruise lines are headed for reorganization and/or bankruptcy.

[BlerkOne]

18 minutes ago, icft said:

I figure some will say NCL is no better and they might be right. We will see. I accept it is a real possibility that covid and inflation have made the traditional cruise experience a thing of the past, never to return. In that event I think all the cruise lines are headed for reorganization and/or bankruptcy.

I have said for years now that cruising will never be as it was is 2019. There is a new normal for all cruise lines.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, 1kaper said:

Why? That’s a bizarre take. It’s getting people on board. People they know will spend in the casino. Which is good for them. 
 

When cruising was restarted it was the path Carnival chose to get people to cruise, vaccinations, fear of covid and all. None of that is needed these days and especially not for chronic complainers that seem to be attracted by the offers.

[darinb1345]

OP only you know what you need out of a vacation to be happy.  You know what your non-negotiables to have an enjoyable time are. Some people with a poor experience such as you had would have a hard time not finding faults again. Not saying you would, but some would.  If you're willing to give Carnival another go and the itinerary works for you, go for it!

 

We've only cruised with Carnival once but scheduled again for Jan '23.  We enjoyed ourselves and I think there are a few reasons.   1) We had low expectations going in mostly due to this forum.  We were nervous boarding that we'd made a terrible mistake hearing all the stories.  2) We aren't "joiners" on any cruise line.  We like the quiet spots and our balcony the most. Watching the waves, reading, and talking are relaxing to us.  We do play in the casino and attended Bingo and a show or two but really try to avoid crowds.  We didn't witness any fighting or misbehavior though! 3) We're probably easy-going to a fault. There isn't much that would really impact our vacation.  We don't let a bad few minutes ruin a day.  We've traveled with friends who get upset about big things and little things, it's just not us.  4) Based on the negative feedback regarding MDR we only ate there one day for sea day brunch (food was fine but I hated sitting on top of the people at the next table).  We did Specialty dining every night and ate at other venues open during the day and found the food great.  Buffet we used for snacks and found it to be good and plentiful.   

 

  

[Cruising_Addict]

I can’t tell you what to do, but I can say that I have sailed on a dozen Carnival cruises and have never once had a bad one. I am a firm believer that a cruise is what you make of it. And I personally choose to be grateful that I even get the privilege to cruise since so many people, including some of my own family and friends, can’t afford to do so. Carnival has always been fun, and the food has always been good. If you want to give them another chance, then by all means do so. So many repeat customers can’t be wrong. 

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Cruising_Addict said:

I can’t tell you what to do, but I can say that I have sailed on a dozen Carnival cruises and have never once had a bad one. I am a firm believer that a cruise is what you make of it. And I personally choose to be grateful that I even get the privilege to cruise since so many people, including some of my own family and friends, can’t afford to do so. Carnival has always been fun, and the food has always been good. If you want to give them another chance, then by all means do so. So many repeat customers can’t be wrong. 

Attitude is everything. Fun seems to elude those with poor attitudes.

[Pika8347]

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I have said for years now that cruising will never be as it was is 2019. There is a new normal for all cruise lines.

Truth!

[gtouch]

On 3/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, dianeh said:

We and another couple sailed a couple of years ago from lax to Mexico. We had balcony cabins. We usually cruise with Hal and have also sailed with Norweigan. We found our 7 day adventure horrible. Almost every meal in the dining room was cold, over or undercooked. We were told they would make it right. Never did. Our last night we ate at the buffet. The ship ran out of clamato juice, worstershire and avocados. There's more to add but you get the gist of it. We are flying to Sydney next December 2024 to see family. I have found a cruise for New Zealand on the Splendor. This is the only cruise in the time we wish to visit. I swore I'd never set foot on another Carnival ship but maybe I should give them another try? 

After doing a scientific survey on whether you should give Carnival another try. The results are half of 1/3 of 75% of most respondents think maybe. 

[asalligo]

No, if Carnival a couple of years ago was not to your liking, they have gotten worse not better. I love Carnival, but service has degraded since then. Room service was probably still twice a day back then and is once now, menu items have gotten cheaper, not better and service in places like the MDR are just overworked and spread too thin. 

 

Now, why I prefer Carnival over Holland. I took a picture of the pool on Holland on a sea day a few years ago on our 11 day cruise and many old people were just sitting around it reading books. I need a little more life in my cruises. 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by asalligo

[MississippiMom]

On 3/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, dianeh said:

We and another couple sailed a couple of years ago from lax to Mexico. We had balcony cabins. We usually cruise with Hal and have also sailed with Norweigan. We found our 7 day adventure horrible. Almost every meal in the dining room was cold, over or undercooked. We were told they would make it right. Never did. Our last night we ate at the buffet. The ship ran out of clamato juice, worstershire and avocados. There's more to add but you get the gist of it. We are flying to Sydney next December 2024 to see family. I have found a cruise for New Zealand on the Splendor. This is the only cruise in the time we wish to visit. I swore I'd never set foot on another Carnival ship but maybe I should give them another try? 

If you had such a miserable time on a Carnival cruise, just skip cruising and fly over to New Zealand.  Rent a jeep and drive around.  I know you will miss the cruising experience, but why ruin your New Zealand trip with a cruiseline you already have negative feelings about?

[odyssyus]

Our favorite cruise ever was a Carnival ABC  It was the itinerary and the onboard entertainment (older adults fighting over pool chairs) that made it fun.   

 

However, Carnival has moved down my list (not lower than Princess, however), because their food is so shamefully bad.  

 

Perhaps one day we'll return....

[StephPS79]

5 hours ago, odyssyus said:

However, Carnival has moved down my list (not lower than Princess, however), because their food is so shamefully bad.  

 

 

I'm just going to say it.  I don't know what the fuss is with the food.  I find it to be very adequate.  It's not world-class cuisine by any means, but it's decent.  I think Carnival has better food than Royal Caribbean.  

[mz-s]

16 minutes ago, StephPS79 said:

I'm just going to say it.  I don't know what the fuss is with the food.  I find it to be very adequate.  It's not world-class cuisine by any means, but it's decent.  I think Carnival has better food than Royal Caribbean.  

 

It may depend on the ship to an extent (although menus are substantially the same fleetwide) but I find that Carnival's food has gone way downhill since the restart. On my last cruise, I found absolutely nothing worth eating on the breakfast buffet. It was all disgusting. Raw gummy english muffins served with overcooked poached eggs and dry ham for a benedict. The hollandaise tasted and smelled like it came out of a pouch. Carton eggs that tasted like they had gone off. No bacon except every other day, and when you asked for it you felt like you were asking to borrow Mom's Tupperware. On days bacon was on bacation, the warden was still there asking for collateral to give you a half-moon of pressed ham swimming in some sort of watery broth that defies explanation. The lunch and supper buffets are filled with starches, cheap carbs, and chicken thighs cut into three pieces. The ship is constantly preaching at you to not waste food (don't ask for bread on the jumbotron slideshow) while a few decks down they're printing thousands of photos just to be thrown away in a few days.

 

The MDR food is faring better - I like the lasagna, beef tenderloin, and many of the other dishes. Portions have been cut (you now get I think 3 salad-sized shrimp with your cocktail, and half a dry baked potato with your prime rib). Though the striploin is horrible - although I have had some good ones in my post-restart cruises, Golden Corral serves a consistently better steak and that is not exaggeration.

Edited March 29, 2023 by mz-s

[BlerkOne]

Aren't pictures grand? A baked potato from my Carnival Dream cruise in January with a side of beef

 

 

 

[BlerkOne]

A baked potato on Carnival Celebration last November