Just off Freedom, 2 out of 10.

[RCLcruiser2012]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

It was so much better a few years ago, just before COVID and during the initial restart. After that things went south very quickly.

That is so disappointing to hear.  I've cruised other cruise lines but this is our first cruise since Covid.  Hopefully they make changes.  These cost cutting measures....

[pc_load_letter]

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Life is full of choices and selecting cruise lines and ships to sail on is one of them.  That said, the way you feel about Carnival is an overstated version of how I feel about NCL.  No right or wrong, just choice.  Good luck with getting an NCL ship (on any) in San Diego.  The itin options are just so limited…speaking of meh.

 

Cruising continues to change and evolve, more mega ships doing shorter cruises, going to fewer places.  Just the cruise lines following the dollar.  Does that make me happy?  Nope, but have not been asked.  Bigger monstrosity of the Seas bigger and uglier every 10 months reaches a saturation point (at 2 billion per), has to bust….sooner rather later.  Icon is possibly the weirdest, ugliest of the bunch, but the lemmings are paying stupid rates…so 

 

Agreed. I have no desire for any of the Icon or large RC ships.

 

Yeah, the Port of San Diego couldn't manage a hot dog stand so I doubt they believe there is a need (or desire) for a cruise ship. We get about four of them in the Alaska off-season and that's about it.

 

My biggest issue with Carnival as of late is really just the clientele. On Panorama earlier this year, I told the pool steward about a group of people with a bluetooth speaker playing hardcore rap at the aft pool deck. Now, I am child of the 80's and I have nooooo problem with rap, but I don't want to hear it when I am relaxing with my wife and even more so when there are kids around. But the pool attendant called sec and they told them to turn off the item.

 

My wife was later called a "white bit--" when a person from the group asked what happened to the music lol.

 

Meh, wife said we can start cruising on Holland when we turn 50 so I guess I have that too look forward too. And in the winter, Holland has a ship in San Diego.

[pc_load_letter]

8 minutes ago, RCLcruiser2012 said:

That is so disappointing to hear.  I've cruised other cruise lines but this is our first cruise since Covid.  Hopefully they make changes.  These cost cutting measures....

 

I think Carnival's problem with their food is that a great number of their ships have been configured for the old school, Hometown Buffet style of buffet and lots of people now want "food court" style options.

 

You ask, do people who rave about Carnival food, eat real food, is a pretty classless statement. PLENTY of people enjoy Guys burgers, the mexican food and for me, I love Shaqs chicken.

 

But yeah, the buffet is lacking. I even think the deli is lacking. I find the carvery options to be generally good. They've always had good salad bar options and desserts have always been do-able to me.

 

Do the main entree sections fail sometimes....YES. But sometimes I have good options. Some asian noodles were good. The jerk chicken is good.

 

Sorry to see you go but I am sure the other lines will suit your needs in the future.

[RCLcruiser2012]

1 hour ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I think Carnival's problem with their food is that a great number of their ships have been configured for the old school, Hometown Buffet style of buffet and lots of people now want "food court" style options.

 

You ask, do people who rave about Carnival food, eat real food, is a pretty classless statement. PLENTY of people enjoy Guys burgers, the mexican food and for me, I love Shaqs chicken.

 

But yeah, the buffet is lacking. I even think the deli is lacking. I find the carvery options to be generally good. They've always had good salad bar options and desserts have always been do-able to me.

 

Do the main entree sections fail sometimes....YES. But sometimes I have good options. Some asian noodles were good. The jerk chicken is good.

 

Sorry to see you go but I am sure the other lines will suit your needs in the future.

Sorry but even my husband who isn't picky like me wondered what happened to the food!  We were on Panorama.  Guys, Italian, and Mexican was good/fine.  It really was the MDR & buffet that was a major disappointment.  He ordered some seafood entree and there was 2 shrimp!  That was the main dish.  Our entire table complained about the famous lava cake. It was not cooked properly and funny how the 1st night it was in a big dish and then the other nights it was a small dish. Just a few examples.  I did have a few great dishes but more often than not everthing was eh. 😞 These small cutbacks and less quality food people have definitely noticed. We had the best cruise though- excellent staff, awesome ship, fun activities!!!  

[StephPS79]

2 hours ago, RCLcruiser2012 said:

YES!  We were SO disappointed with the quality. Do the people that rave about Carnival food eat real food. The buffet was the most pathetic I have ever soon.  

 

Having sailed both RCI and Carnival several times recently, since the pandemic, I 100% think Carnival's food is several steps above Royal Caribbean.

 

Food is subjective.

[stobe1]

That didnt take long. A lot quicker than I thought.

[n6uqqq]

2 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

That didnt take long. A lot quicker than I thought.

Nineteen Eighty-four! 

[RCLcruiser2012]

1 hour ago, StephPS79 said:

 

Having sailed both RCI and Carnival several times recently, since the pandemic, I 100% think Carnival's food is several steps above Royal Caribbean.

 

Food is subjective.

It IS so subjective! 🙂 I cruised in the fall (forgot about that bc it was a short cruise) on Royal and the food was amazing. No complaints. So this Panorama cruise it felt like night and day.  I am curious how say Princess, Celebrity, or Holland's food is post pandemic. 

[jimbo5544]

12 hours ago, RCLcruiser2012 said:

It IS so subjective! 🙂 I cruised in the fall (forgot about that bc it was a short cruise) on Royal and the food was amazing. No complaints. So this Panorama cruise it felt like night and day.  I am curious how say Princess, Celebrity, or Holland's food is post pandemic. 

We recently completed a 14 day cruise on Celebrity.  The lido equivalent on Celebrity, while more extensive in choice, we significantly below in quality, I could give details as to why we thought that.  As to the MDR experience , service at atmosphere were clearly a win for Celebrity again, we thought quality was below what we regularly experience on Carnival.

[Theosprey247]

The food on RC and NCL isn’t any better. 

[mz-s]

So if the food is disgusting (or even worse) on the other major lines, then that really is a bad portent for the industry. 

[buckeyefrank]

19 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I think Carnival's problem with their food is that a great number of their ships have been configured for the old school, Hometown Buffet style of buffet and lots of people now want "food court" style options.

 

You ask, do people who rave about Carnival food, eat real food, is a pretty classless statement. PLENTY of people enjoy Guys burgers, the mexican food and for me, I love Shaqs chicken.

 

But yeah, the buffet is lacking. I even think the deli is lacking. I find the carvery options to be generally good. They've always had good salad bar options and desserts have always been do-able to me.

 

Do the main entree sections fail sometimes....YES. But sometimes I have good options. Some asian noodles were good. The jerk chicken is good.

 

Sorry to see you go but I am sure the other lines will suit your needs in the future.

The buffet may be lacking on Carnival... it actually is on almost every line due to inflation over the last 2 years.... but MSC's buffet is horrific.

[Theosprey247]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

So if the food is disgusting (or even worse) on the other major lines, then that really is a bad portent for the industry. 

Or it could a ploy to funnel customers to additional cost restaurants….

[Scpiratemonkey]

On 4/9/2024 at 8:55 AM, kpwhalen830 said:

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. 

I wasn't on the ship but we sailed Carnival twice in the last 6 months. The cheerleaders can have it to themselves. One who I won't name said he wished the complainers would just leave . We will certainly oblige. . I can't deal with garbage food, a garbage demographic and a mostly garbage experience. I had a drunk white boy cut in front of me in the guest services line and we hadn't even left the dock yet.. 

[Etta1213]

On 4/9/2024 at 1:57 PM, Old Fart Cruisers said:

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

My dog has this issue occasionally....😃

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

The food on RC and NCL isn’t any better. 

Careful, you do not want to disrupt the agenda….

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Scpiratemonkey said:

I wasn't on the ship but we sailed Carnival twice in the last 6 months. The cheerleaders can have it to themselves. One who I won't name said he wished the complainers would just leave . We will certainly oblige. . I can't deal with garbage food, a garbage demographic and a mostly garbage experience. I had a drunk white boy cut in front of me in the guest services line and we hadn't even left the dock yet.. 

hmmmmm sounds like someone is not happy.  I got lost on the oblige comment….  Garbage food, garbage cruise line, garbage clientele, garbage experience. Did I miss something? 

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

Or it could a ploy to funnel customers to additional cost restaurants….

Or it could be a few unhappy customers.  Check out the thread on the “The Points guy” and their rating of Carnival food.  All that said, people vote with their wallets, not super critical posts.  

[pc_load_letter]

4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Or it could be a few unhappy customers.  Check out the thread on the “The Points guy” and their rating of Carnival food.  All that said, people vote with their wallets, not super critical posts.  

 

Wife and I were very happy with the new MDR items on Carnival. The crayfish fettuccini  was so good, I could have had two plates of it.

[MEUB1112]

Me too, delicious. 

[Crusin Karen]

When they first introduced the deli DH raved. Most specifically about the tuna, Rueben and grilled ham and cheese. I enjoyed the Turkey. Have been on a dozen cruises since and avoided the deli due to long lines. 2nd to last day of my recent 11 day Venezia cruise I decided to give it a try. Waited about 25 minutes on line for chicken salad sandwich, extra Mayo! First bite bit into a bone. Took the plate to a guy bussing tables and showed him and walked away. Tried to show the server first but was met by angry looks by passengers on a line that was longer than the one I just stood on 👿👹 

[StephPS79]

I got a cuban from the deli ON MAGIC in May.  We can critique if it is really a cuban all we want, but all I can say is, man, that thing slapped at 10:45pm!  I wasn't even drunk!  I kept wanting to go back for another one, but was always full from all the other options.

[tidecruiser]

Those thinking food is bad on Carnival, I have three letters for you…. MSC. 😎. You try that and Carnival seems like it has several Michelin stars.  
 

MSC has great ships, excellent Production shows, love their private island (with many cruises overnighting for 2 days on the island).  But the food..,.

 

I am hopeful with some of the Carnival debt being paid down from the shut down, higher cruise prices and if inflation will level off, we may see some improvement in quality soon.  Saying that, I have never starved on any cruise, even MSC. 

[BlerkOne]

On 4/13/2024 at 12:26 PM, Scpiratemonkey said:

 I can't deal with garbage food, a garbage demographic and a mostly garbage experience.

I can't either, which is one reason why I sail mostly on Carnival.

[BlerkOne]

On 4/9/2024 at 7:55 AM, kpwhalen830 said:

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. 

1. I'm on a Carnival ship and enjoying myself before Virgin even starts boarding.

2. Not buying that.

3. Easy to avoid - just choose a less a popular time. What did your daughter think of the lines on Virgin?

4. No, novice cruisers are Carnival's bread and butter and always have been. Carnival pus people in the dining slot they chose, if available.

5. Carnival's cruise line, Carnival's rules. How do the alcohol packages on Virgin work? Oops - they don't have for most cruisers.

6. A lot of elevator issues are caused by kids pressing all the buttons.

7. Are Virgin alcohol packages any better?

8  I think the new menus and food on Carnival are Great!