Stop taking away things that cruisers have come to expect from sailing. Gone are the days of 5 star dining , quality shows, dress up nights, late night buffets staff dedicated to knowing your names and providing the best service available.
Carnival corp... you are making money , make cruising special again !!!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
The cruise lines have made huge improvements to boarding the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
This ship gives you more options for dining, which has its pros and cons. Pros there is more of a selection for dining and different styles of food... i.e. asian, mexican, dining room, italian all included with fare. Cons this large of a ship and so many venues staff cut down and overwhelmed , service and quality of food takes a huge hit. Has an entree served before appetizers because that service line was behind. Asked for wine glasses four times. when plate taken away without asking so went silverware and getting replacements was a wait . Main dining room sea brunch was great. Buffett was terrible, asked for fruit , was told they didn't have , received fruit in main dining room sea brunch.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
the ship was packed. largest amount of people i have ever seen on sailaway deck dancing. Bars were overwhelmed and 6 people deep to get served. did trivia many days . pool deck and only main pool swamped and no where to lay out on two decks surrounding it. Only hot tube there always packed. Serinity deck also was packed, pools on back of ship also packed. comedians were good, lines too long to get into smaller venue for punchliner.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
went to show in main theater and left after a few minutes. magician was terrible. Comedy good. Main shows in center of ship were always packed and could not get a seat unless you showed up 20 plus minutes in advance. because it was in center of ship, eating at sushi place was overwhelmed by the show and was not a quite dining experience. Fun crew always seemed to have the need to scream at every venue i.e. MAKE SOME NOISE... not needed for 10 am or 11 am trivia in a small limelight venue.
Children's Programs
no children with us
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
6000 passengers !! the staff was overwhelmed. period. Saw them constantly training new people from other venues daily while venues were at their busiest times. dinner for example. dinner options increased... food and service decreased. Never addressed by name at any dining venue. only time anyone took to remember you was a really good bar server in casino. Everything on the app on the phone. I for one do NOT like carrying my phone while on vacation just to read the menu or reserve a time to eat. sometimes advancements in technology takes away from what made cruising so special in the past.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cleanliness(Except for public bathrooms) good. Design and layout horrible. Bathrooms outside corridor for casino and main theater was only a 2 urinal bathroom... for that many people. too small. .. this carried throuygh out the ship . Venues were too small. comedy... main theater. CASINO was huge. first time ever. But once again no bathrooms in casino but a long walk out either side of casino. Elevators were many but that many people and no one wanted to share. I noticed it took forever for some handicapped patrons to get in an elevator. Started to ensure they got a ride after 2nd day watching them wait through 6 or 7 attempts. Come on people.
Pools always overcrowded, bars same way, Positive note Pig and anchor on sunday had every football game on.. but you could not get espn in your room. 1500 hundred peopple in that venue on sunday... no place to sit, no service, too loud... goes with it. No quite get away spots always felt crowded.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Carnival has taken width away from cabins to add more cabins per floor. Cabin was small. it was difficult to squeeze past bed and tv on wall to get into main area of cabin. I always said that they couldn't make the bathrooms smaller on the ship and carnival went TADA and made this one so small it was almost unuseable. Toilet was jambed right up against sink base and wall. You could not reach back and use toilet paper dispenser as it was so cramped. You could wash your hands with out getting off toilet set. Shower door made it almost impossible to dry off in bathroom, had to step out of bathroom to dry off. No extra amenities in spa room... i e lotion, q tips, hairnet. etc... stuff you normally get in this category stateroom.. Our friend was in a havana forward facing stateroom that was exactly like our room except he had a large havana balcony. STOP taking away from everything to add more passengers to a ship. First time ever after 40 plus cruises had a hair dryer that was not connected to the drawer and actually worked well. Channel selection on tv reduced to almost nothing. Balcony was of good size but you could stand on our balcony and see without effort quite a few other balconies ... and the people on them. To the people who book the spa cloud suites, Yes we can see you on your balconies., clothing should be discretionary. Mattress was not comfortable. One of my t shirts disappeared from our room???
Ship tip
My wife always says " I've learned to lower my expectations when we sail Carnival"
While i agree about the shows being crowded, the staff still called by name in most places. Still amazes me. First night in chibang they called all 9 of our names correctly. First time i had an interior room was a bit smaller than usual, this time had a cove balcony felt about average. Never saw where pools were over crowded, first time actually that i saw empty loungers by the pool. Absolutely has taken over my favorite ship spot.
Lots of mixed reviews about the new ship designs on several cruise lines. Many say they felt crowded and cramped in the public spaces. Banquet / cafeteria quality food is about the best you can expect in the dining room / buffet when they are feeding 4,000-5,000 people three meals a day.
I said the same yesterday. Don't subtract amenities and increase the price. The staffing excuse has become void. At least reduce the cruisers instead of false promoting. Carnival is going to take a Big hit very soon.
According to the last annual report, Carnival Corp had a net loss of $1.6 billion. The cruise line was supposedly slight positive but still not what many would consider healthy.
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