Just off Freedom, 2 out of 10.

[kpwhalen830]

We sailed the 4 night, disembarked yesterday. It was by far the worst cruise ever. We last sailed carnival in 2009 and that was not very good either. We gave the line one more shot and will not cruise again on carnival.

1.The embarkation process makes no sense and takes forever. In the last 24 months we have sailed royal Caribbean, celebrity and Virgin. Their process is fast and streamlined. 

2. The water on the ship smelled and tasted like sewage. It wasn’t bad but noticeable. Very annoying since I could not get more than 1 bottle of water or a drink at the same time. 
3. Lines, lines, lines and more lines. What is the deal with lines for all food? We waited 45 minutes for pizza during dining hours. My daughter waited in line 3 times over a half hour for pizza. I wanted pizza more than once but I refused to wait in the line. Guys Burger joint? Forget about it. 
4. Do they put the newbies in the my time dining room? It took 30 minutes before we placed an order for drinks on the first night. They fumbled our orders for food around. It was just a mess. The 2nd night our service was great then it was garbage again on the 3rd night. 
5. why can’t I order a alcohol drink and a bottle of water at the same time? Some servers/bartenders were cool and let us do that but a majority did not. They received handsome tips and continued visits from us. 
6. the elevators suck, why the long waits all the time? I used the stairs more than ever. It’s not always cool doing a ton of stairs with a 5 year old. 

7. the wine list for the drink package is lousy, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon are available.

8. The food was not good, maybe ok. This seems to be a trend over all the lines. 
THE Short list of good stuff:

1. Our room steward Julius was probably the best we have had in years.
2. When the line for tacos wasn’t long they were good. 
Flame away or ask away. 

[mz-s]

1. Typically embarkation is smooth if you arrive during your arrival appointment.

2. Happened to me once on Ecstasy. It only lasted a day though.

3. Carnival has cut hours and food quality so that funnels more and more guests to the fewer venues that are open. On Freedom - the Old Fashioned BBQ is a deck above Lido buffet, and is not as busy as fewer people know about it.

4. Sounds a bit long but fairly typical for MDR. The MDR is not a Wendy's, even if the food quality is similar. If you want to eat and run, go to the buffet.

5. You can, not sure why someone denied you.

6. There are what, 4 elevator banks for 4000+ people? You're going to have long waits a lot of time.

7. No experience here.

8. Carnival's food has seriously declined in quality over the past 24 months.

[kpwhalen830]

1. We had the fast pass or whatever it’s called and did arrive at our time. Other lines get you onboard a lot quicker. I also thought it was bizarre that I had to carry my boarding pass around to make purchases until my pass was ready at my room. It’s 2024 that should be handed to me while I walk onboard. 
2.yeah the water sucked the entire cruise, kind of weird.

3. All the other venues had crazy lines. I’m a seasoned cruiser and know where to go for short lines, they just didn’t exist here.Went to the BBQ place right when we walked on. They need to make stations at the Lido Buffett to break up the lines. 
4. I don’t mind a 2 hour dinner. Just take my drink order when I’m seated, 30 minutes is ridiculous. Especially when there are 3 children wanting more than an ice water. 
5. Other lines seem to manage their elevators better better. Typically long waits on day one and then it’s good. 

 

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, kpwhalen830 said:

1. We had the fast pass or whatever it’s called and did arrive at our time. Other lines get you onboard a lot quicker. I also thought it was bizarre that I had to carry my boarding pass around to make purchases until my pass was ready at my room. It’s 2024 that should be handed to me while I walk onboard. 
2.yeah the water sucked the entire cruise, kind of weird.

3. All the other venues had crazy lines. I’m a seasoned cruiser and know where to go for short lines, they just didn’t exist here.Went to the BBQ place right when we walked on. They need to make stations at the Lido Buffett to break up the lines. 
4. I don’t mind a 2 hour dinner. Just take my drink order when I’m seated, 30 minutes is ridiculous. Especially when there are 3 children wanting more than an ice water. 
5. Other lines seem to manage their elevators better better. Typically long waits on day one and then it’s good. 

 

 

1. Using your boarding pass for purchases is one way Carnival has sped up the check-in process. Before, the crew at the pier would go and search through the box to find your room keys and give them to you. Now they're in the mailbox for your cabin. Saves a few minutes for each guest which adds up to a lot of saved time at check-in every week.

3. Was it your experience that they would shut down half of the buffet during busy times so the lines at the buffet were bad? And there was only one or maybe two crew members working at the deli and pizza? Yeah, Carnival has cut the cruising experience to the bone and is running their ships on a skeleton crew. The days of Carnival being a special experience are pretty much over, it's basically a casino riverboat that you need a birth certificate or passport to get on nowadays.

4. Atypical but not surprising as I said, Carnival has cut their crew to the bone. I doubt they get any crew to stay with them 5 years anymore. On my last cruise so many crew didn't even speak English (previously a point of pride for Carnival's crew was they all spoke good English).

5. I do agree some lines are better than others here - they either have more elevators or faster elevators or something. What gets really confusing with Carnival is on ships where they've bolted on more decks, some elevators will only go to certain floors. So you could be sitting there for 15 minutes waiting for your ONE elevator on the entire ship to take you to the spa cabin deck for example.

[ninjacat123]

Hey @kpwhalen830 sorry to hear your time on Freedom wasn't what you hoped for.  I checked our Embarkation on Freedom this past January and we started at the terminal at 10:50 (we had 10-10:30 check in, we were late) and in our rooms by 11:32. Did you happen to see the magician Yarmin in MDR?  He was wonderful!! Drinks at Alchemy were always busy. Our dinner at Steakhouse was the best we have ever had! We had excellent MDR waitstaff at our late dining seating. I like having a set time and so far have been fortunate with great service. The elevators were hit and miss with being busy but we usually took the stairs. If my 85 year old mom was along we would have needed to use the elevators so I understand your frustration with a 5 year old in tow.

Good luck on your future cruises!!

[Essiesmom]

The keys available at the cabin also prevents people from heading right to their cabins when they are not ready.  Sometimes you can go to your cabin and drop off carryons, but the key card won’t be there until the cabin is ready.  EM

[kpwhalen830]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

The keys available at the cabin also prevents people from heading right to their cabins when they are not ready.  Sometimes you can go to your cabin and drop off carryons, but the key card won’t be there until the cabin is ready.  EM

Yes that is ridiculous. We went on Virgin in February, they gave us our bracelets for room access and purchases in the terminal. Entire embarkation took 20 minutes. Cabins were also ready at embarkation. 

[mz-s]

19 minutes ago, kpwhalen830 said:

Yes that is ridiculous. We went on Virgin in February, they gave us our bracelets for room access and purchases in the terminal. Entire embarkation took 20 minutes. Cabins were also ready at embarkation. 

 

Carnival has cut their crew to the bone - cabin stewards, despite only cleaning cabins once a day - have more cabins to do than ever before and have less help than ever before, so they're working more than ever before.

[n6uqqq]

7 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival has cut their crew to the bone - cabin stewards, despite only cleaning cabins once a day - have more cabins to do than ever before and have less help than ever before, so they're working more than ever before.

But in theory they are also making much more money under the guidelines of how gratuities are distributed, right?? Once a day is fine for me and some days I would just be happy with fresh towels. 

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, n6uqqq said:

But in theory they are also making much more money under the guidelines of how gratuities are distributed, right?? Once a day is fine for me and some days I would just be happy with fresh towels. 

Not if they also cut the base pay commensurate with the increase in cabins, which they certainly could have done.

[n6uqqq]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Not if they also cut the base pay commensurate with the increase in cabins, which they certainly could have done.

That is exactly why I posted the question with two questions marks! I got off the Pride a week ago and the MDR food was among the most bland I have ever had on Carnival, and I am not a foodie nor picky. It is like all the pasta meals were devoid of flavoring. The Cajun pasta you would think would have some flavoring, but nope. I am bringing some spices and hot sauce for my upcoming 14 day Alaska cruise in a couple weeks. The servers were great, the food wasn't.

[mz-s]

Just now, n6uqqq said:

That is exactly why I posted the question with two questions marks! I got off the Pride a week ago and the MDR food was among the most bland I have ever had on Carnival, and I am not a foodie nor picky. It is like all the pasta meals were devoid of flavoring. The Cajun pasta you would think would have some flavoring, but nope. I am bringing some spices and hot sauce for my upcoming 14 day Alaska cruise in a couple weeks. The servers were great, the food wasn't.

 

My personal experience is that the food on Carnival is severely below the pre-COVID standard. I get attacked on here when I opine further so I shan't.

[n6uqqq]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

My personal experience is that the food on Carnival is severely below the pre-COVID standard. I get attacked on here when I opine further so I shan't.

Gotten beaten over the head with some pom poms have you? 😉 

[Robpuffdaddy]

3 hours ago, kpwhalen830 said:

1. We had the fast pass or whatever it’s called and did arrive at our time. Other lines get you onboard a lot quicker. I also thought it was bizarre that I had to carry my boarding pass around to make purchases until my pass was ready at my room. It’s 2024 that should be handed to me while I walk onboard. 
2.yeah the water sucked the entire cruise, kind of weird.

3. All the other venues had crazy lines. I’m a seasoned cruiser and know where to go for short lines, they just didn’t exist here.Went to the BBQ place right when we walked on. They need to make stations at the Lido Buffett to break up the lines. 
4. I don’t mind a 2 hour dinner. Just take my drink order when I’m seated, 30 minutes is ridiculous. Especially when there are 3 children wanting more than an ice water. 
5. Other lines seem to manage their elevators better better. Typically long waits on day one and then it’s good. 

 

1.  The reason they do not give you your sail and sign card is now it is your cabin door key. This way you can not access your rooms till they are ready.  At least you can use that sheet of paper to start drinking.

[stobe1]

You can have 2 different people on the exact same cruise and have 2 completely different experiences and overall views of the cruise.

 

Perfect example -- we were on the Jubilee 2 weeks ago for spring break. My wife and 15 year old daughter loved it and thought it was one of the better cruises we have ever had. I, on the other hand, just thought it was meh...ok. To me it wasn't great but also wasn't terrible. And I am a Carnival "cheerleader" ( or so I have been accused of being here on CC).

 

I have noticed a huge decline in food quality and service over the years. 

 

We will be on the 2nd sailing of Firenze on May 2 in a few weeks and I am not expecting spectacular service and am expecting plenty of hic-cups since it will be a "new" ship and crew only on the 2nd sailing. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised but I am going into with my expectations moderated.

Edited April 9 by stobe1

[Saint Greg]

How do you know what sewage tastes like?

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

How do you know what sewage tastes like?

 

Our senses of smell and taste are closely linked.

[jimbo5544]

12 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

How do you know what sewage tastes like?

 Beat me to it.  

[hard_eight]

10 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Our senses of smell and taste are closely linked.

Would explain some folks tastes in foods

[Old Fart Cruisers]

1 hour ago, Robpuffdaddy said:

1.  The reason they do not give you your sail and sign card is now it is your cabin door key. This way you can not access your rooms till they are ready.  At least you can use that sheet of paper to start drinking.

It's been my experience that the the cabin door is wide open until they are ready for you (not that you should enter before it's ready), and the door is then locked.  That's when the sail and sign cards will be in the mailbox.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

17 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

How do you know what sewage tastes like?

I've been in an elevator with people who's breath smelled like they would know first hand what sewage tastes like.

[mz-s]

I'm surprised nobody has blamed OP for not pouring water down the dried out drains yet.

[hurricane0226]

31 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

How do you know what sewage tastes like?

does it taste like chicken?

[Saint Greg]

3 minutes ago, hurricane0226 said:

does it taste like chicken?

 

Asking the wrong person. I'm not the one who said I know what sewage tastes like.

[jerseyjjs]

I'll never understand people's praises of the "pizza" onboard Carnival.   I was just on the Legend (the sailing before the bridge collapse) and gave it another shot even though I swore off it about 8 years ago.  Waited 20 minutes for it, because the server would always walk to the back oven room for EVERY order,  took one bite and left the rest of the slice on the buffet table. BTW, the Deli went way downhill too.  So, I have to concur with the posters who feel the food has suffered a big decline.