Carnival needs to step up their game. Bad food & entertainment. Only good thing was the staff.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
We had an embarkation appointment set for Carnival cruise line at 11am on 8/28/22 (gave us plenty of time to arrive at airport and arrive at port terminal). When we arrived, there was a long line out the door - luckily we had already gotten our pointless covid tests (all of us vaccinated too). We then proceeded inside to find the entire terminal FULL! No one had boarded yet.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
There was only 1 restaurant option for main dining on the Carnival cruise. The food was not that good and barely any seafood options. Staff was the only great part. The buffets were as expected, disappointing also. Pizza Pirate was okay but always crowded. Surprisingly enough, the Carnival Deli had the only good food aboard. Did not try the extra steakhouses (because why would we when food was included). Guy Fieri's burgers were overcooked!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
The one adult only pool in the back of the boat was nice but crowded a lot. Salt water instead of chlorine. The hot tubs were emptied every night which was reassuring, however I wish you could adjust the temperatures. The back area of the pool had a retractable roof which was nice in case of rain. Small putt putt golf, basketball courts, and arcade on Carnival Glory.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
The comedy shows were the only good entertainment aboard. However, they repeated acts so you could only see each comedian once. The shows in Amber palace were very disappointing. They tried to do a "motown" one but with an all white cast... very disappointing.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff was amazing!
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
easy to navigate. which there were more adults only. lots of old people on walkers on carnival.
We did the mayan ruin excursion through shoreexcurioneer (instead of carnival) - amazing tour guide and we have a private tour. Bring cash for tips.
Carnival was a sXXX show to get off the boat at this port however. You had to wake up at 7am (day of excursion) to get a "shuttle pass". They did not make anyone wait in line it was just a free for all when they finally came out and put out the passes - around 7:30am. Poor planning in Carnival's part.
We did a basic city tour excursion through shoreexcurioneer (instead of carnival) - amazing tour guide and we have a private tour. Bring cash for tips. The locals are very aggressive for tips and purchases - they will interrupt your meals and harass you.
We were on the Glory 8/21 and had zero problem with the crew members.. I was very disappointed in the way the passengers treated them.. I have never in 16 cruises been around so many rude people. Love Carnival and the crew… keep up the good work!
Well, the folks running the Long Beach terminal seem to not care if you are a top class or a cheap seat cruiser or if you are 10 hours early or on time, they form you all into one loooong line to do pre-processing. As far as rude, reading through other reviewers, I have to wonder if those few talk to the passenger side or the ship side folks? The ship side folks have no clue of what we need and I guess you could consider them rude since since their English skills are not required to be as good and they just don’t know most of the answers to our questions.
Thanks for the review. Cruising is not the same as it was prior to Covid, but it’s hard to believe most things were one star. That usually says more about the reviewer than it does about the ship.
Appreciate your feedback. Fortunately, there are other cruise lines that may offer what you are looking for. The industry is big enough that you have many options.
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