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Cost Cutting Is Hurting Carnival

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 50

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Freedom

5 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 04, 2023

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8430

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Carnival used to be our cruise line of choice. They're making changes that no longer honor their faithful customers (an example of which is the fact that the loyalty items available to platinum and diamond are now not even delivered to the cabin - it's a scavenger hunt to find them), and the cost cutting is highly evident everywhere. While I understand that its been a rough couple of years, if Carnival doesn't reverse course on this they'll lose a lot of loyal customers - including me.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Very good only because it was Platinum VIP

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Almost every aspect of this cruise evidenced Carnival cost cutting. It was most apparent in the food served and in the cost of beverages.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Really only used the Serenity deck

Entertainment

3 out of 5
The live musicians were very good. There were no production shows offered. The DJ music on the Lido deck was far, far, too loud and was heavily biased to hip-hop.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
The staff we encountered were great, however, they've reduced staffing to a point that dirty dishes don't get removed very quickly.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5
This was an older ship and age has not been kind to it,

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

I'm not sure I'll sail with Carnival again, although I'm a platinum guest. The cost cutting is everywhere.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

3 out of 5
Embarkation only
Thumbs Up

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

2 out of 5
It's okay, but we did not do an excursion, and without one there's very little to do but shopping.
Thumbs Up

Grand Turk Island

4 out of 5
Grand Turk is a great port for beaches, all of which are free and open.
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
No problems
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6 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     6 months ago

Thanks for sharing
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Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing
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cindyhoog    1 year ago

I agree with the scavenger hunt for the benefits. Not trying to be ungrateful but how many drink cozies or lanyards can you use? Now with everything online, it is hard to find all that platinum vip guests should receive without a lot of homework pre-sailing. The papers in the cabin listing the benefits for each level made it so much nicer.
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lsbs    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing
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RetiredRay    1 year ago

Sounds familiar.
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javawoody    1 year ago

Appreciate your view
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