Cruise4Music

So very true............we returned home 2 days ago from a 7-day cruise on the NCL Jewel to the Mexican Riviera, we paid just under $360 each for an inside cabin, and that includes port charges/taxes/fees.

Carnival was more than twice that price (for the same exact itinerary) when all was said and done!!!

Can I ask why your on the Carnival board?

Of course you posted this on the NCL board?

I guess I don't get it, when I come the Carnival board I want to read about Carnival, not NCL.

I guess people still only come to CC to complain.

Yes.Cutbacks and higher prices are deterring me from booking.Especially when better cruise lines are the same price.

So sorry the hear you will be leaving the Carnival boards.

Happy cruising.

If enough of you CC folks really leave maybe the price will drop a little for the folks who are not leaving.

Heald believes that is Brilliant. Another cutback?

Thanks for not addressing the OP's question/comment.

Things never change on good old Cruise Critic.

To answer your "comment". No a new web design is NOT a cutback.

One thing I'm confused about in the ongoing "cutback" threads.

People add their cruise history at the end of their post.

And I see some that have no Carnival cruises listed for 4, 5 years or longer.

I don't understand.

Truly, don't give the negative comments a whole lot of thought. When I sailed on Princess and Holland America for the first time, both times I got spooked by all the "old timers" commenting on the decline of their respective cruise line.

 

I remember starting a thread on the Holland board titled "The first thing that I'll notice when I board a Holland America ship for the first time is..." And some people had some legitimate responses, like the fresh flowers throughout the ship, and the white gloved service, and the classical music ensemble, etc, etc. But others answered with things like the horrible service, or the cheap food, or the awful entertainment, none of which turned out to be true from our perspective. Same thing happened when we sailed on Princess last September (lots of gloom and doom from frequent cruisers which didn't pan out. In fact, that cruise was good enough for us to rate Princess as our current favorite cruise line).

 

So go with an open mind. Take the negative comments for what they are, comments. The things that have disappointed me about Carnival in the past are things that a newcomer will probably never notice.

I think you can gain some good information about a cruise line from most post good or bad.

For example I read "classical music ensemble" and I think this is probably not a line I want to cruise with. Your perspective might not be the same as mine.

I wish there were more post that would just tell me what it's like onboard without any opinion. One persons cutback is another persons improvement.

Some people like classical music and some like loud rock and roll and there is a cruise line for both of us.

Not sure whether you were agreeing or disagreeing with me. But rereading my post I realize it may have been a bit confusing. I was totally bored on Celebrity. There was nothing to do. Like you, I was wandering the ship in the evening wondering where everyone was.

 

I chose Celebrity over Carnival because I'm not a party person, but I found it completely devoid of any sort of fun atmosphere. I haven't been on Carnival in 15 years but I think we will have a lot more fun. Most fun I ever had on a cruise was on the Caribbean Princess.

Agreeing. Carnival is pretty high energy, lots going on even late night.

Not everyones cup of tea to be sure.

We haven't sailed RCCL, but we have sailed on Celebrity as well as Carnival and here is just my own opinion...we sailed Celebrity because it was way cheaper for an Alaskan cruise last May/June and got a bunch of great perks to boot, Carnival couldn't come close no matter how hard our PVP tried. So that being said...the MDR food on Celebrity is so much better than Carnival that it doesn't even come close to comparing. The entertainment in the theater on Celebrity has Carnival beat hands down. Carnival is much more "fun". The staterooms on Carnival are much better. The bathrooms in the staterooms on Carnival are WAY bigger. The buffet on Carnival beats Celebrity by leaps and bounds (outside of the MDR Celebrity food is seriously lacking in appeal), the entertainment outside of the theater is non existent on Celebrity, so another win for Carnival. As far as prices, as I said Celebrity beat Carnival on our Alaskan Cruise. I really wish Carnival had more variety of itineraries here on the west coast, so we could drive. We would definitely take more than our 2 cruises a year if we didn't have to fly to cruise. So all of this being said, I would give the comparison win to Carnival and I am not loyal to any single line, I'm loyal to my wallet and greedy about my vacations!

The "variety of itineraries here on the west coast" is the big problem for us west coast only cruises.

I will say that Carnival Corp. (Carnival, HAL, Princess) kept ships on the west coast while RCI left years ago and never came back to any degree.

Companies that lower fees to attract customers will often not only cut back on quality of service, but will cut back on all aspects of the operation. Might be painting less, cleaning less, putting off on minor/major repairs etc. The biggest expense is behind the closed doors. Making negative statements is very common on Carnival and in Carnival reviews. I'm just one of many that have opened my eyes and noticed.

And you have proof of all this besides CC post?

If you really think all that is true why on earth would you cruise with Carnival?

Well I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment by going into it with a negative outlook.

 

I went on Celebrity a few years ago... talk about nothing to do. Carnival may or may not be right for you, but the price point of other cruise lines wont necessarily fix you overall worry of having practically nothing to do.

 

I do hope you enjoy your cruise and happy birthday!

Wow, our one cruise on Celebrity was the only time I was ever bored on a cruise ship. Plus by 11PM the ship was a ghost town.

I agree with everything - except Smoke-Free. Did I miss something? Carnival is not smoke-free.

One can only wish.

Why anyone would consider cancelling a cruise because of something they read on Cruise Critic is beyond me. You do realize the number of people who post on CC is small compared to the number of people who cruise, right?

You are so right.

You don't even know if the poster has ever stepped foot on a Carnival ship.

A few years ago one the most vocal critics and heavy posters admitted thay had not cruised with Carnival for over 5 years. But they had an negative opinion about everything

24 hour pizza with the drunks! Came out of the casino one night about 3am, had a few drinks and wanted something to eat. Went to the back of the ship to grab a piece of pizza and bar was still open! There were about 20 diehards drinking and eating, wow was that a strange crowd.

Yes, we would seem strange to the CC crowd.:D

What on earth are you talking about? You said one can't change anythng when working with a TA. Your comment: you can ask your TA to change things or contact Carnival yourself. But lose control of the ability to negioate yourself.

 

Yea, so? How else would you change your dinning time, go to Carnivals IT center to go into your booking to change dining time? Go to your TA's office and ask to use their computer to change something?

 

Sorry, you're not making any sense.

You know you can use a travel agent and still change dining times and things like that online.

You're kidding, right? Do they have a crystal ball that says FTTF became available or spend time checking for you?

A good one does just that.

Plus their information is a lot more accurate and up to date then then a Cruise Critic message board.

This whole Ebola thing seems to be running on fear, panic, ignorance and political posturing with very little medical science involved. :rolleyes:

You are so right.:)

Which is why there will be many more threads all about "fear, panic, ignorance and political posturing.:mad:

I think you should all just hide under your beds in a Hazmat suit and be done with it. Hysteria is a scary thing.

I think you should all just hide under your beds in a Hazmat suit and be done with it. Hysteria is a scary thing.

Don't know if this will help.

We load our content (movies, TV shows) onto a 17in Laptop and just use that.

This sounds very frustrating for you. I wonder how much you'll enjoy the cruise if it turns out you can't hook up your blu ray player. :(

A heaping helping of old fashion CC judgement...some things never change.:(:(:(

People keep quoting percentages. How does Carnival know it's 10%!!! Did we hit an "I smoke/I don't smoke" button when we board a ship?:confused:

Makes no difference.

Carnival is not going to increase the smoking areas.

And all the Cruise Critic polls and post will not change that.

Face it, non-smoking is good business.

Money talks.

Shares of NCLH (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings) up eighteen cents. Remember when the smokers were insisting Carnival's stock was dropping for a less draconian smoking policy?

 

Wonder if you can get through to NCL right now, I'm sure all the smokers are cancelling all those cruises they booked a week ago after cancelling with Carnival.

How right you are.

They better get over to HAL really fast.

Well this sucks! sorry for such language. :confused: As of October 2014, Not being able to smoke on our own balcony that we have paid heftily for?? My Husband is a smoker. Carnival has finally gone and done it, they have lost us as cruisers with their line. I guess time to try new and different vacations. What other lines still allow smoking on balconys?? Can someone chime in here for me??

NCL and HAL but you better be quick.

Yep...That is totally going to come back and bite them in the ass in the form of premium dollars paid to fill cabins. however if you wait til last minute or book an inside on RCL ... You have a good chance of ending up in a much cheaper balcony or free upgrade.

No it won't bite Carnival. Carnival can and would make the ship all smoking if it was good for business.

Where are all the smokers going to come from?

Understand most people who cruise don't smoke in 2014. Non-smokers drink, gamble and spend just like smokers. It's just there are many times the number of non-smokers to smokers.

What you really need to change things is more smokers.:D

Sadly for you, the movement is in progress in foreign countries as well. Did you know that it is illegal to smoke in public in Barbados? :eek: Just one example.

 

I find your final phrase ironic.:( Thanks to the medical community, and many regulations, my life is virtually smoke free and my health greatly enhanced since quitting 22 years ago. Good luck in the land of denial.

Well said.

We had a saying in the Navy that there was always 10% that just don't get the word.

I think this thread proves that point.:D

I do believe she has already done that. And she is voting with her wallet.......something to the tune of $20,000+ gone from Carnival's coffers. I'm sure that's not much to Carnival but that is only one cruiser. And yes, they may make the revenue from someone else but they may not as well. More importantly, how many of her friends will she now turn off from cruising Carnival. It's not bad enough that Carnival already has a bad reputation as being Walmart of the Seas, every ship is an accident waiting to happen, and every cruise is a frat party, now this on top of it all. How many different types of people will Carnival alienate before they stop pissing people off? Can't piss off everyone and expect to stay in business.

The only problem is about 9 out of 10 Carnival cruisies don't smoke.

Without more smokers this only has one way to go.

Sorry to see you go.