Carnival Offering "Cheap" Fares

I remember reading somewhere on NCL forum about why many are abandoning Carnival recently. I think something to do with reducing inclusive benefits: maybe drinks.

Does anybody know what changed?

I tried a bunch of searches and can't find.

We are avid carnival cruisers next cruise on ncl because of the ports and pricing can't beat third and fourth free

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Their reputation remains tainted in the wake of their ship fires, ships adrift at sea and then there is that Concordia thing too.

I remember reading somewhere on NCL forum about why many are abandoning Carnival recently. I think something to do with reducing inclusive benefits: maybe drinks.

 

Does anybody know what changed?

 

I tried a bunch of searches and can't find.

What I remember is folks were unhappy about the level of entertainment and felt that the menu changes were downgrades in food quality. Some felt the drinks were watered down and others thought the crew had been decreased, but no hard facts. One thing did hit a sore spot with many and that was the announcement that table clothes would no longer be used in the MDRs.

The majority seemed to be loyal and willing to accept changes as long as fares remained low.

I moved away from Carnival because of the passengers. Their low prices attracted some real hood rats, just check out the "Carnival Fight" videos on YouTube.

We are platinum on both NCL and CCl. nCL is by far our preferred line, but we are driving distance from two CCL ports, so they are handy for cruise withdrawal syndrome. This is my personal view

1. Some time back CCL changed the waiter ratio to customers in the MDR and service has suffered because the poor guys are worked to death.

2. Menus were changed and many have not cared for the lower quality offerings

3. Live music has been replaced by DJs at poolside and several other venues.

4. There is not a show every night. Many nights are DIY types of entertainment. Game shows, etc.

5. Others have told me that drinks were weaker, but as a wine drinker, I can't speak to that directly

6. There seem to be more and more hallway and atrium vendors. At times it has been hard to find seating in some ofthe atrium areas.

7. Some ships have cut back on toiletries, such as bar soap and decent quality shampoo.

8. The repeaters party now only serves a sickly sweet rum punch called the Tropicale Punch, supposedly to celebrate it's heritage.

9. They have removed tablecloths in the MDR except for formal night. Many don't mind, but to me it makes the MDR less special. Additionally, it takes away the noise abatement offered by the soft surfaces.

We will continue to cruise CCL when the situation merits, but if NCL sailed year round from NO or Houston, I doubt we would see Funship Freddie very often.

We still cruise CCL

After 16 cruises on CCL I am going to try NCL next month. We have found that entertainment has really gone downhill and everything was so predictable that it's time to change things up. What once seemed fun is now "same old, same old" Hoping that NCL will be my new drug of choice.

Want to thank all of you for your posts. They have really helped.

Cheers,

Randy aka mrbookend

We are platinum on both NCL and CCl. . .

 

4. There is not a show every night. Many nights are DIY types of entertainment. Game shows, etc.

 

. . .

 

8. The repeaters party now only serves a sickly sweet rum punch called the Tropicale Punch, supposedly to celebrate it's heritage.

 

Have to agree. The shows on the past couple Carnival cruises were not good. Drastic reduction in the # of dancers/singers too. They used to have very good shows often during a cruise.

The punch at the past guest party was gross!

However, I have to say, all the lines we cruise have had cutbacks over the past few years.

My first cruise was with Carnival. I hated it and swore I would never cruise again. Years later went on the NCL Spirit to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. Had a great time. Have sailed with NCL many times since and have always had a great time. Gave Carnival another try and I can safely say you will never find me on another Carnival ship.

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Actually Carnivals bookings are high pre triumph. There at a record numbers.

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My first cruise was with Carnival. I hated it and swore I would never cruise again. Years later went on the NCL Spirit to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. Had a great time. Have sailed with NCL many times since and have always had a great time. Gave Carnival another try and I can safely say you will never find me on another Carnival ship.

 

 

 

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Similar experience for me. Won't save never, but not likely. It's the only time I've ever counted the days until the end of the cruise.

Would have loved Carnival in my college days, but not now it's just too much and so loud.

Carnival offers prices that everyone can afford, to see the world. They offer great food , great service. Not everyone can afford cruise lines like Disney.

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We've sailed on the conquest, breeze and sailing on the Valor in November. Sometimes it's not the cruise line, that people have a bad time, but people. You can't sweat the small stuff, your on vacation your there to relax.

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I did enjoy the comedy shows on the Carnival Glory and Boston is a convenient port for me but I will cruise NCL. I would like to experience other cruise lines but my vacations are far too important to take a chance. Maybe when I have experienced all that NCL has to offer. I regret not doing the Panama canal cruise out of Boston and the maiden voyage of the Breakaway. I do plan on being on the Escape when she sails to Miami.

We are platinum on both NCL and CCl. nCL is by far our preferred line, but we are driving distance from two CCL ports, so they are handy for cruise withdrawal syndrome. This is my personal view

1. Some time back CCL changed the waiter ratio to customers in the MDR and service has suffered because the poor guys are worked to death.

 

2. Menus were changed and many have not cared for the lower quality offerings

 

3. Live music has been replaced by DJs at poolside and several other venues.

 

4. There is not a show every night. Many nights are DIY types of entertainment. Game shows, etc.

 

5. Others have told me that drinks were weaker, but as a wine drinker, I can't speak to that directly

 

6. There seem to be more and more hallway and atrium vendors. At times it has been hard to find seating in some ofthe atrium areas.

 

7. Some ships have cut back on toiletries, such as bar soap and decent quality shampoo.

 

8. The repeaters party now only serves a sickly sweet rum punch called the Tropicale Punch, supposedly to celebrate it's heritage.

 

9. They have removed tablecloths in the MDR except for formal night. Many don't mind, but to me it makes the MDR less special. Additionally, it takes away the noise abatement offered by the soft surfaces.

 

We will continue to cruise CCL when the situation merits, but if NCL sailed year round from NO or Houston, I doubt we would see Funship Freddie very often.

 

 

We still cruise CCL

You pretty much summed up why we stopped cruising on Carnival. I wouldn't say we would never cruise on them but they're not typically in the picture when I start planning cruises.

We are platinum on both NCL and CCl. nCL is by far our preferred line, but we are driving distance from two CCL ports, so they are handy for cruise withdrawal syndrome. This is my personal view

1. Some time back CCL changed the waiter ratio to customers in the MDR and service has suffered because the poor guys are worked to death.many complaints on Breakaway that there are not enough staff shipwide)[/color

2. Menus were changed and many have not cared for the lower quality offerings (already testing new menus less than a year from Breakaway launch after so many negative comments, and lets not even get into the lobster at the buffet conversations

 

3. Live music has been replaced by DJs at poolside and several other venues (same complaint Breakaway)

 

4. There is not a show every night. Many nights are DIY types of entertainment. Game shows, etc. (same on Breakaway, not a big show every night)

 

5. Others have told me that drinks were weaker, but as a wine drinker, I can't speak to that directly (yea, seen this in NCL reviews too)

 

6. There seem to be more and more hallway and atrium vendors. At times it has been hard to find seating in some ofthe atrium areas.(all public areas too small on Breakaway according to reviews, including atrium area)

 

7. Some ships have cut back on toiletries, such as bar soap and decent quality shampoo. (Including NCL)

 

8. The repeaters party now only serves a sickly sweet rum punch called the Tropicale Punch, supposedly to celebrate it's heritage.(seen repeated posts that NCL no longer does whatever they used to do)We still cruise CCL

Interesting, as some of these are the same complaints I've seen on Breakaway reviews! LOL! I think there are pros and cons on all lines, some people may just get tired of one line after a while and try another. They all have something different to offer and they all are practicing as many money saving options as they can, with the exception maybe of the luxury lines. :)

I moved away from Carnival because of the passengers. Their low prices attracted some real hood rats, just check out the "Carnival Fight" videos on YouTube.

I SO agree! On our last cruise, the staff was awesome, but the other guests needed some serious manners. That's why we decided to try another line.

We tried a Carnival a few years ago. Overall, we had a great time! We actually found the food and staterooms to be better than what Royal Caribbean was offering. We also enjoyed the outdoor movie screen - nothing like watching a movie under the Caribbean night. But we cruise for the ships, and even on the Carnival Valor, which was one of their latest and greatest ships at the time, there was no "wow factor." Combine that with the reports of serious cutbacks in the past couple years, and I don't think we'll be doing Carnival again. The difference in price between Carnival and a more expensive line is not significant enough to us to try them again.

The concerns about the fellow passenger makeup are very valid. While we didn't experience anything, that is definitely something to keep in mind as well.

For me the final straw has been the lack of entertainment. It has become utterly terrible. The shows are terrible and the. They'll just repeat them on different nights on top of that. When they're not showing one of their incredibly cheap karaoke-esque shows everything else is audience participation.

There have been other cutbacks but nothing that really affects us significantly. I still found the drinks suitably strong in January.

The 'problem' for us that that other lines don't often coincide with where we want to cruise when we can cruise. Carnivals sheer size and availability/convenience have kept us coming back more than their actual product. Which is pretty sad.

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Like others i swore off carnival after one cruise. It seemed that the majority of the parents let their kids explore when they got on thr ship and then saw them again for the first time seven days later.....totally unbearable.

That said, they are offering cruises and waiving the single supplement right now, which is huge for us solo cruisers.

After 16 cruises on CCL I am going to try NCL next month. We have found that entertainment has really gone downhill and everything was so predictable that it's time to change things up. What once seemed fun is now "same old, same old" Hoping that NCL will be my new drug of choice.

Kkate,

We sailed CCL, NCL, and RCCL last year. NCL had the best entertainment of the three IMO. RCL was not far behind. Carnival has gone downhill badly. My only gripe with NCL is dining. Sorry, but Anytime is not for me.

Every ship, every person & every cruiseline will be different experiences.

We have enjoyed all 3 Carnivals cruises and 1 RCCL cruise.

We don't care much for "shows", found drinks fine, last Breeze cruise was great, ship is fantastic, but did think food was down some.

Do not like no tablecloth idea, but haven't experienced it either.

Always had good service, etc.....

We have not seen any fights, brawls, etc.... on either line.

Saw some jerks on all cruises so far, meh, such is their lives....LOL.

Allthough we know POA is not the ship to judge NCL on, we are looking forward to trying NCL & it's suite life.

RCCL suite life was really great, Carnival it's just the room, but the aft wrap 2 room suites are THE best for the price.

We would sail pretty much any line, any time, just happy to be able to cruise!

I like Carnival. I've done 5 Carnival cruises and 1 Norwegian (with another booked next month). I went NCL for our vacation this year simply for the kids sail free promotion. It saved me $500 from Carnival's prices. I also admit that i was getting a bit bored of Carnival. Not that its bad but it seems to be the same thing for the last few years and we were ready to experience something different. Also, i'm not sure because i've never been on the Breakaway but it seems after reading the daily papers of both lines that my kids will have more to do on the breakaway than on the Splendor. More family activities as well. I feel a bit apprehensive maybe? Not sure if its the right word to use but I feel that i know so much about Carnival and know exactly what to expect that i'm not sure what we will get on our NCL cruise next month. That could be a good or bad thing? I guess i'm kind of a creature of habit.

Also, for us, entertainment is kind of lacking on Carnival. I do love their food though and the staff has always been awesome. A lot of loyal Carnival sailers also seemed to be upset by the company giving out free cruises to many people and they didnt receive one. Kind of like "Hey, i'm paying 3k for this vacation while my neighbors next door got it for free". I guess they felt a bit slighted.

Overall, i'm really excited to try NCL again. Im not a huge fan of freestyle dining and would prefer the traditional times but it's not a deal breaker for me. We're ready to try something new.

I enjoyed my Carnival cruises for a long time. For me, the decline happened when Carnival started making solo cruisers into second class citizens. Service and especially entertainment started to decline at about the same time. It was time for a change when karaoke became the best entertainment onboard.