fdjeney97

This is my 5th cruise with Carnival and I am noticing that quality is slipping away. The personnel were incredible...but the food was just ordinary.  I miss the days of the culinary displays and the Midnight Buffet- To see the craftsmanship of the culinary display was amazing.  I was shocked to see that soda was no longer free option for the kids...not even during meal time...The food in the buffet surpassed the sit down dinner service in flavor.  The shrimp cocktail was the size of shrimp salad shrimp and VERY disappointed that the culinary cuisine option was not indicative of the country or area....seriously NO Conch-it is the number one food in the Bahamas- yet we could not get it on the ship!!  Very disappointed in the fact that Spin classes were extra $$ and that the "Behind the Scenes" tour was so expensive....would have liked that as an option-The Arcade became an issue and I needed to close my daughters account-games are way to expensive at 1-2$ ....its entertainment with no reward...My Blue Pool towels were used the first day and not returned until the end of the second day-after we returned to the boat after an excursion-even thou I requested new ones-so we opted to buy towels in town.   I am glad that the gaming tables had $5 options and the Dealers took the time to teach the game and answer questions-However the Roulette number indicators were not operating and that caused a few arguments with some players and dealers-remove the defective number indicators to save your staff the aggravation of having to constantly explain the issue....Entertainment wise-Comedians were great-However when there is a Dance Party and games on deck---you need to get people more engaged...watching the gender war games was fun...but they only selected 10 people and there were so many others that wanted a chance to play...more interactive games for day at sea would be fun-not everyone likes to sit by the sidelines and watch....Suggestion- mini golf tournament....waterslide races...even a Limbo contest poolside...simply put...a day at sea became boring because there was no interactive activities....Fantasy has a great little stage area on deck that is totally underutilized..... NO WAY should gratuities be charges per person  on boat...per room I understand--- mandatory gratuities should just be factored into the cost of the ships sale price.....I rather pay extra 35 per night upfront than get charged on my credit card on last day.  I have another Carnival cruise in August-5 day...hoping the issues I had on this cruise are not systematic on all ships....already plan on cutting my excursions because of the gratuities charges...and packing my own crystal light  flavor packets since only drink options are ice tea and lemonade..Not every one enjoys getting liquored up and blasted-with empty calories on vacation