Times They Are A Changing

[Cardinala]

<<<Ok. If you are crazy enough to pay $25 for 4 beer (like I was several times), what do you do if your drinks do not arrive after 30 minutes?>>>

 

 

$25.00????? I was just on board in July at it was only 13.50 .

 

 

July of what year?

[phyzz]

July of what year?

 

I was on the Sensation July 2009 and it was LESS than 15.00 with grat .

i still have the reciept in my scrapbook.

[Cardinala]

I was on the Sensation July 2009 and it was LESS than 15.00 with grat .

i still have the reciept in my scrapbook.

 

I thought I remembered it being around $17 last year, but I could be wrong. Either way, you're in for a surprise on your next cruise.

 

I cannot see Carnival's revenue going up from these price increases, as those consuming will surely consume less. I had 3 nights where I did not drink, and that's never happened in the past.

[mlzangel78]

We should all rememeber too that on some PORT days they do run bucket of beer specials, the poster who paid less than 25.00 is probably correct, they arent advitised in the Capers but there are menu advirtisements on the bars offering the lower price for that day only..

[A&Jfamily]

We are not big drinkers, so the alcohol really isn't an issue for us. In the past, I have bought some drink tickets for DH and given them as a gift for father's day, birthday etc., so that helps offset the cost. We bring on our allotment of wine, and since my mom goes, that is atleast 3 bottles for a 7 day cruise.

 

We cruise as a family, so for us, the big sell is the camps for the kids, relaxing on our balcony, and seeing new places. We don't care for the Bahamas, but many of the cheap and easy access cruises for us go there. Will it stop us from booking? Heck no. We'll just have a cheap shore excursion day with a cab to the beach.

 

But I will give the OP this - the shows can get old. We found that after the first couple of cruises, we were lucky if there were 1 or 2 shows that were new to us. That is why we LOVE the addition of the Comedy Club. We were on the Glory in August - in the 2nd week and thought it was fabulous. We had 4 comedians, - 2 for 2 nights, who took turns doing the early show. Then one night, one did the R (really should be unrated) adult show at midnight, and the next the other. The routines between the PG and R were different - so you had 8 different comedy routines over the week. I can't ask for more than that. I think this is a great addition and hopes CCL keeps it up.

 

No 2 cruises are the same and maybe we have gotten lucky. But looking back, our "worst" cruise so far was the first! We will be hitting the Glory again in June to head to Canada, so hopefully will have another great experience - but I know up front it will be a different kind of cruise - and I am excited for it.

 

I don't know if all OP has done for the past several years is cruise...if that is the case, then it is time for a change. We try to cruise once a year at least, and then take some kind of land based vacation....like now.... 8 days til Disneyworld!:D

[kelz66]

Thanks for the factual and honest review.

 

You pointed out many things I have also noticed.

 

We tried a short cruise on NCL last year and were pleasently surprised, not only at the beer selection but the bucket of beer was 6 bottles for the price of 5...and yes...I said bottles...real glass bottles like they give adults. :rolleyes:

 

OH...and the buckets each had a bottle opener attached, so if you didn't drink all of them there would not be open and go flat on you....oh...and then there was the 2 for 1 martini's every night.:D

 

Carnival needs to have more adult oriented entertainment available right after dinner...having the dance club closed to adults until 11:00 is just plain stupid.

 

They should do as other lines do and have a seperate club for the teens and not take space away from the adults.

[In2why]

It used to be rare to hear complaints about the food or service. Now it is hit or miss and it seems like doing more with less is really beginning to show.

Every company is trying to eek out a profit in these crazy times and I guess we are just going to have to adjust our expectations.

 

I think the 2 things that really bother me are the ships being more run down, and the price of beer.

I can deal with less service, and I don't mind cleaning up after myself, and I can even hunt down towels if I need them. (of course I will adjust my tips down and tell the steward that I did, and why, if need be) But if the ship is dirty, we can get sick. If the ship stinks, that is not pleasant and it isn't like a hotel where you can decide to leave.

We don't drink much, but we drank more on vacation. Based on Beer prices we won't be drinking on the ship but instead will enjoy the local brews in port.

[ladycaveat]

I think the OP has a point... but here's one approach I think would have helped:

 

Yes, drink prices (and photo prices) are not reasonable in my opinion, for a cruise ship. Reasonable elsewhere for a night out, but not reasonable in a place you are going to be for a week.

 

It's obvious why things are as they are - Carnival needs to make a profit and they have decided to keep fares low and make money elsewhere.

 

You can vote with your wallet and let Carnival know that dog won't hunt. Don't buy alcohol or photos from them unless they bring prices more in line with realistic costs.

 

Sure, we may all end up paying more in the future for fares, but IMHO that is a good trade for a more enjoyable onboard experience.

 

You know what drives me nuts Dingo? Casual photos that are 8x10 and cost twenty plus dollars. Darn . . . why can't all casual photos be 4x6 or 5x7 at the largest and maybe $5.00 each. I keep thinking that the cruise lines (Carnival in particular) would sell so many more pictures if casual photos were smaller and less expensive. And even the formal photos a little less expensive. I can't but help think they'd sell so many more and make even more profit than they now do.

[tbjl24]

I am not out to flame the OP, and I definitely feel everyone is entitled to their opinions as long as they are willing to also listen to mine.

 

I only have one question for the OP...you were complaining about the drink prices, but played bingo over and over again? Isn't that a bit expensive? Then again, I guess it is where you choose to spend your money. Maybe your bingo money is like my casino money. I set aside a set amount, then go and have a good time. I just know that while I like to play bingo, I usualy don't because the price of the cards is just more than I want to pay. But again, that is just my opinion - not anyone elses.

 

I think you misunderstood the OP's post. She was saying that Carnival threw Bingo in her face non stop as an activity.

 

Which they do.

[deborahjo]

Before you start getting flamed by the others, let me say I can see your point. Ever since Jerry Cahill took over the company, the corner cutting and profit increasing has been steadily getting worse.

I am still booking cruises, but if this trend continues, then, like you, I will start to reconsider going back to AI's.

 

You are so right. It seems Gary Cahill wants to charge for everything. Now they are raising cruise prices due to the great year they had in 2009. Now who is getting scr**** here.

 

We are looking at non-Carnival lines because of this.

[tbjl24]

I have to admit Carnival has become too predictable to me, as well. We switched up to Royal last October and almost felt refreshed with the differences!!!

 

I grew to the point with Carnival that I was eating the same entrees , seeing the same shows/comedians, etc.

 

I wish they would mix it up more frequently but they go with the model that works and makes the most profit.

 

My biggest issue is that, when cruising Carnival now, I know exactly what to expect before I even set foot on the ship.

 

The only wow factor anymore is being on different ship that I have never sailed. Even then, if it's a ship in the same class I have sailed, it really isn't even that much of a wow. :cool:

 

Oh well, my recommendation is try other lines to mix it up. Even small differences can seem quite refreshing!

[lla887]

OP: Your perceptions are just that, yours, so no flaming here about any thing that you wrote. However I was just wondering was there anything about the cruise that you actually liked? 100% negative reviews are actually pretty worthless. I can not believe that there was not one single thing about your cruise that you were not unhappy with.

 

They were not posting a review. Just discussing the disappointing aspects of their cruise. There is nothing wrong with that.

[mxmom]

I have to agree with you. We are just off the Valor 2/14/2010-2/21/2010 we have done three different cruise lines and have always had a great time. This time we did still have a great time but did notice alot of differences in the service and the constantly pushing you to buy stuff...

The beer buckets on the valor were also $25.00 but keep in mind that they are the 16 ounce aluminum cans and not the normal 12 ounce cans. Our s & s bill is usally around $800 - $1000. on each of our cruises. This bill was only $345. because I refuse to pay 7.25 for a strawberry daquiri. I also noticed that when we were in port (miami) they also charged a miami tax to whatever we bought so for one strawberry daquiri it was $9.00. That is just ridiculous in my opinion. On our first cruise for two strawberry daquiri's was $12.88.

Also in the MDR the service has changed quite a bit. On the first day they tried to sell us bottled water instead of regular tap water. My husband asked if we could just get tap water and our asst. waiter raised his eyes at us. In the past when the main waiter was getting the food from the dining room the asst. waiter was left behind to make sure that everyone was still attended to. This cruise we noticed that both the main and asst. waiter both left to get the food and left all of us unattended for quite a period of time.

We kind of went along with it, we are really not that hard to go with the flow people but we really were disapointed in how it was. I must say that we were not disapointed in the food itself. All of our party never had any issues with the food and quite enjoyed it.

 

I am not saying that we did not enjoy ourselves or that we would never cruise again because we have another planned on Carnival in November, but just saying that we agree with the op on the changes that have taken place.

[Cardinala]

You know what drives me nuts Dingo? Casual photos that are 8x10 and cost twenty plus dollars. Darn . . . why can't all casual photos be 4x6 or 5x7 at the largest and maybe $5.00 each. I keep thinking that the cruise lines (Carnival in particular) would sell so many more pictures if casual photos were smaller and less expensive. And even the formal photos a little less expensive. I can't but help think they'd sell so many more and make even more profit than they now do.

 

 

I had forgotten about the photos during dining. Every night when we'd get our food, we'd be interrupted by a photographer that needed to take our picture. We would have to stand up, move around, pose, yada yada. By the end of the week I had to tell him to basically "buzz off" in a nice but impolite way, and let us eat our meal.

[Cardinala]

I think you misunderstood the OP's post. She was saying that Carnival threw Bingo in her face non stop as an activity.

 

Which they do.

 

He....he.

[k2]

I have to agree with you. We are just off the Valor 2/14/2010-2/21/2010 we have done three different cruise lines and have always had a great time. This time we did still have a great time but did notice alot of differences in the service and the constantly pushing you to buy stuff...

The beer buckets on the valor were also $25.00 but keep in mind that they are the 16 ounce aluminum cans and not the normal 12 ounce cans. Our s & s bill is usally around $800 - $1000. on each of our cruises. This bill was only $345. because I refuse to pay 7.25 for a strawberry daquiri. I also noticed that when we were in port (miami) they also charged a miami tax to whatever we bought so for one strawberry daquiri it was $9.00. That is just ridiculous in my opinion. On our first cruise for two strawberry daquiri's was $12.88.

Also in the MDR the service has changed quite a bit. On the first day they tried to sell us bottled water instead of regular tap water. My husband asked if we could just get tap water and our asst. waiter raised his eyes at us. In the past when the main waiter was getting the food from the dining room the asst. waiter was left behind to make sure that everyone was still attended to. This cruise we noticed that both the main and asst. waiter both left to get the food and left all of us unattended for quite a period of time.

We kind of went along with it, we are really not that hard to go with the flow people but we really were disapointed in how it was. I must say that we were not disapointed in the food itself. All of our party never had any issues with the food and quite enjoyed it.

 

I am not saying that we did not enjoy ourselves or that we would never cruise again because we have another planned on Carnival in November, but just saying that we agree with the op on the changes that have taken place.

 

So are there any free drinks in the dining room, or is the only free drink tap water?

[adjburch]

No flames from me. Good for you! Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

 

We have tried different cruise lines and I have to say we have enjoyed them all. You may want to try a different cruiseline. My DH's family and their spouses went with us on the X cruise a few years back and I can say it's been my favorite. I don't know if it's because it was so many of us or if X was just that nice.

 

We don't usually cruise alone, we usually have other couples that go too so again I don't know why we enjoyed X so much.

 

We have cruised Carnival the most and are booked for a cruise in 6 weeks.

 

You may want to try Princess?

[thomasina24]

Cardinala Wrote:

 

In no way am I trying to discourage anyone from enjoying their Carnival cruise. I consider myself quite knowledgeable in the cruising holiday lifestyle. I have read on these boards for a few years now regularly. I myself would use Carnival again if I decided to cruise again as I think the issues are industry wide. Profits up, corners cut to reduce costs. I am wondering if other cruisers are feeling the same way?

For the first time ever, I am happy to be home from a cruise. I think that says a lot. Next year will be our groups’ first winter vacation at an all-inclusive resort.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Went on the Glory over Halloween for the 3rd time. First two times were great. Third time was nothing like it used to be. This was our 8th Carnival cruise since 1999. Everything has gone so far downhill. I was also so glad to get home and had never felt like that before. You can read my review in the review section or on the board here. Will go to an all-inclusive from now on if things don't improve. Have been to Cancun many times and it is great. Pools are big with separate pools for kids and adults only areas that are enforced. You can splash around in the ocean any time you want. Less crowded food courts and more fun activities during the day. If you feel drinks are watered down, just ask for extra liquor, no problem. You can get red or white wine out of dispensers at the buffet. All the rooms have balconies. New Orleans is also great and not very expensive if you know how to do it.

[tbjl24]

He....he.

 

Sorry about that. It's a fifty/fifty shot and I am always wrong! Doh!

[dab555]

"I personally felt like I had a hand in my pocket for the entire week," ...

 

This is terrible for me to hear. My first cruise was with Carnival (Miracle) I LOVED it. LOVED everything, food, service, entertainment, rooms, etc..... So I thought for our next cruise we'll book on another cruiseline, with a better reputation. Although, I couldn't imangine it being better than my Carnival experience.

 

We booked with Norweign, same type room w/balcony. I was very disappointed. For me, everything was substandard in comparision. Poor service, uninteresting food, too many specialty restaurants, tiny rooms, tiny bathrooms (at least 1/3 smaller). I also felt like I had a hand in my pocket for the entire 2 weeks. I felt NCL was nickel and diming us the whole trip. Alot of complaints about their excursions, especially when people heard about ours. We booked with another company.

 

So we decided we would go back to Carnival and now it sounds like they are doing the same thing as Norweign. Say it ain't so!!! PLEEEEASE!!!

Thanks for the info, Debbie

[zqvol]

I've been pondering over the past few days whether or not to post my review here and explain my concerns. I've decided I should (even though I may --check that-- will get flamed for it).

 

This was our 6th consecutive year choosing Carnival as our yearly vacation destination. We've (group of 10-20 cabins--depending on the year) been on the Imagination/Liberty/Elation/Destiny/Valor and this past week the Carnival Glory.

 

We've loved our past cruises, and obviously continued to spend our hard earned money and limited vacation days out on the open seas. But those days are over.

 

I don't think I will bother with the little details (ie rude service/crowded lines/chair hogs) as these can happen to anyone at anytime and should not affect future holidays plans. Let's get on to the big stuff......

 

1. PRICES

 

I had always said to myself that the amount of dollars saved in the price of the cruise compared to an all inclusive resort pays for my drinks and then some. Well...not this time. At $25 for a 4 beer bucket I am going to have to get a second job if I plan on drinking anytime in the future on a Carnival ship. Even the soft drinks are nearly $3 w/tip. These are not reasonable to me.

 

IMO the drink prices are very similar to what I pay in a land based bar, both for alcohol and non alcohol. Does that make it right? Heavens no. I agree with you that the drink prices are out of line. Unfortunately this situation is not limited to Carnival, but applies to all of the mass market lines.

 

2. ENTERTAINMENT

 

I can't say the entertainment was non-existent because they did have the regular shows in the main lounge every night. But for a past Carnival cruiser tired of the same song and dance shows every night, we need more.

 

OUT:

- Karaoke.

- Live Music (unless you consider the toe tapping elevator music in front of the casino bar as live music).

-Midnight Buffets (I know this also falls under the "food" category which is up next, but it is also something to do when you're bored).

 

IN:

-Bingo

-Comedy Club....this is where they use the same two comedians all week long using the same material every night. Not much of a club to me. It is being tried on a few ships and eventually will be fleet wide.

-Bingo

-More Bingo

-Poker Tourneys

-Keep Playing Bingo!

 

I remember the good old days when you'd get your caper in your room for the day’s events, and all the different entertainment would be listed. On my last day at sea I went through the caper and realized every single event was for sale. Either it was the spa, the gold chain sale, golf, bingo, jewelry, supper club, casino events, art auctions, drink specials, shopping sales, photo opts, etc. etc. etc. The cruise director was also constantly on the PA system selling selling selling.

 

Where do you end up when you have nothing to do? For most of us, it's the casino. For some it's the bingo. For others it's in their room watching TV (although these did not work properly...and neither did the in-room movies). Less free entertainment = more revenue generated?

 

You mean that they have entertainment on a ship? I have never found any thing in the entertainment area on any cruise ship. I don't consider BINGO, trivia, sales, movies, or TV to be entertainment. Karaoke is not entertainment it is simply embarrassment. The shows I do think are entertainment but there are usually only two or three for the whole week.

3. FOOD

 

Not up to par with past cruises. The supper club is now a big sale on the ship. They have announcements daily, caper highlights, and food carts on what seem to be every corner of the ship. Carnival is really pushing the Steakhouse. This is another expense that I am not willing to pay on a nightly basis for dinner that used to be included in the price of the cruise.

 

Lunch buffets now open much later, and are closed much earlier than in the past. If you do not want to fight with the line-ups at noon, then go have a cheeseburger later because that's all the choice you have. I'm not much for desserts, but for those who are you'd better get there early because those close immediately after the lunch rush.

 

I have never found mass market cruise food to be any better a cafeteria, which is really all that it is. I have not noticed the reduced hours for the buffet, but I suspect that you are correct.

 

4. SERVICE

 

Ok. If you are crazy enough to pay $25 for 4 beer (like I was several times), what do you do if your drinks do not arrive after 30 minutes? And what do you do if no other drink servers will help you to resolve the issue?

 

Was I charged? Should I go to my room and check my folio?

 

Now tell me what you do when this happens 4 times in the same week?

 

Don't even try to order single drinks, as they will try and talk to into a bucket each time (larger tip). It got to the point that I just stopped ordering drinks, and would go to the bar and get one myself.

 

No excuse can be offered for this other than to say poor service. I hope you noted it on the comment card and did not give any exceeds expectations.

 

The second last night of the cruise, I was in the casino (hey, I had nothing better to do) when my card in the sign & sail was declined. I went down to the purser’s desk to stand in a line wrapping around the elevators at this point. When I got up to the front I was told abruptly my credit card needed to be re-swiped before I could use the sign & sail again. You mean I have to go to my stateroom now and get my card and line up again? Yes. Most of our group was affected by this.

 

No excuse can be offered for this other than to say poor service. I hope you noted it on the comment card and did not give any exceeds expectations.

 

Sure these things happen. It's not the end of the world. No system is perfect. But a "sorry for the inconvenience" wouldn't hurt. Just another example of service I've never experienced on a Carnival ship before. Politeness was always a given. I would've sworn by it before this past cruise to anyone who was considering a Carnival cruise.

 

Tables in the lunch areas were not clean. I found myself several times bringing my food to my room or lounge chair simply because tables were not cleaned off.

 

There seem to be alot of training and crew drills taking part last week. Not too sure if that was because the ship was fresh out of dry dock and it was all new staff. This may be a reason for some of the service issues, but c'mon. As a customer, I do not want to be used as a training partner in every aspect.

 

I doubt that this has anything to do with it. There is no more crew turnover when the ship is in dry dock than when it is sailing.

 

There were other minor details that were out of our control, such as:

 

-10 people being seated at an 8 person table (nobody likes having their elbow in your neighbors’ plate)

 

No excuse can be offered for this other than to say poor service. I hope you noted it on the comment card and did not give any exceeds expectations.

 

-Many people on board had a virus. Many people were sick in the public washrooms and saw several in the hallways being sick. Obviously there was a virus on board, but not one single announcement was made(he did mention the bingo a couple of times though). Five folks in our group got hit hard and were out of commission for 3 days. It would have been nice to hear an announcement of some kind reminding people to wash up as we all have to push the same buttons and open the same door handles.

 

-Most nights room service was not finished your room by the end of dinner, which made for awkward moments when you wanted to change out of dinner clothes (so you could head up to the casino!).

 

I have always been loyal to Carnival. I am a daily reader of John Heald’s Blog. I am not normally much of a reader in general, but I like his style. After this past week’s experience, I have to wonder though if we are not being sold a product by reading this blog now. I catch myself thinking about all the times I read about the Steak Houses on board, or the competition between different cruise lines (ie bad talk), blogger cruises, service excellence as compared to resort hotels, etc. I personally felt like I had a hand in my pocket for the entire week, and it has opened my eyes to questioning I guess.

In no way am I trying to discourage anyone from enjoying their Carnival cruise. I consider myself quite knowledgeable in the cruising holiday lifestyle. I have read on these boards for a few years now regularly. I myself would use Carnival again if I decided to cruise again as I think the issues are industry wide. Profits up, corners cut to reduce costs. I am wondering if other cruisers are feeling the same way?

For the first time ever, I am happy to be home from a cruise. I think that says a lot. Next year will be our groups’ first winter vacation at an all-inclusive resort.

 

I think that your review is probably one of the more honest forthright ones that has been posted in a long time. Carnival provides a good vacation, but it is not that good or that special. The food is only mediocre, as is the "entertainment".

 

I cruise for the ports and will continue to select my cruises based on itineraries, and costs. I sure don't expect more than I get from a lower level resort hotel on the mass market cruise ships.

 

Thanks for posting honest comments.

[zqvol]

Sorry to hear you didn’t have a good cruise, but I think what you’ve posted is interesting and thought provoking. We just did our very first cruise in Jan. so we can’t compare to the way cruises used to be. However, my parents cruised many, many times back in 70’s and from all they hear about how much cruising has changed (less is included, bigger ships = more people = more lines/crowds, all the viruses going around on them, etc), they wonder if they’d still enjoy it. (they don’t travel any more due to Mom’s poor health). It seems that when they cruised all the ships then are perhaps like the expensive luxury lines are now (in terms of size, quality, service, etc)

 

Anyway, we did enjoy our cruise, as we found the service and food to be good. Mind you, I did find myself trying to get us to the grill or pizza joint on the Lido ASAP on the Lido in the late afternoon before the lineups got to be too long. I’m not big on lines or crowds, so if I had to pick one thing I don’t particularly like about cruises, that would be it… but we got around it with timing and the oasis of our balcony. The food was good to very good, but it seems that ship food is very North American and you certainly don’t get that chance to try something new and exciting like some land based destinations. As for prices, I can’t agree with you more about high prices for drinks. I also think there’s a lot of nickel and diming, like for things like pop and juice.

 

So cruises aren’t perfect, but we’ll do them again. AI’s aren’t always perfect either, but we will absolutely do them again too. The best part (for us) about a cruise is getting to see all those different ports. The best part of an AI is getting to relax a lot, yet have the option to go diving, or explore the area over more than one rushed day… and the tropical, jungle night sounds. I missed that on the ship.

 

There are a lot of similarities between the two, I think. Both vacation types have that repetitive, often cheesy entertainment. Both have clubs and bars, and many AI’s now have casinos or one nearby. Both can offer you a choice between buffet food or a la carte dining. It seems the food is a bit more consistent on ships though, whereas AI’s can vary greatly (particularly in places like Cuba!)

 

I do love about AI’s, particularly high end ones, that everything is included. At Couples in Jamaica never mind all the water toys or going out on the snorkel boat, we could even dive for free, take a cat cruise multiple times, or take a tour to a local bar. As for AI’s being boring, I don’t understand people saying that, particularly if they take cruises with lots of boring sea days. What’s the difference sitting on a ship deck around a teenie, tiny pool, vs. sitting on a beach by the ocean. I’d choose the beach any day (and nice not having to pay to get to it) If you aren’t a beach person, what can you do on a ship you can’t do on land? Couples Resorts, (like most AIs) had multiple restaurants, a beach dinner/entertainment, bars, a casino, night club, entertainment, beach drink service, full fitness center with all racquet sports, and various sports and other activities going all day long. In fact, we couldn’t even manage to get to a fraction of everything offered.

Sure, port days need never be boring because you can go on an excursion (although this is another huge cruising expense that quickly adds up), but if you pick the right destination area there’s often lots of tours you can do anyway to not be sitting on the beach every day. Of course if you choose a low end, small resort, and/or a destination where there is nothing to see in the area (like Provo, Turks & Caicos for example), it could be boring if you aren’t a beach/water sports person, but you just need to do your research just like with ships and cruise lines to find the right one.

 

I am not knocking cruises, just saying that blanket statements like “all-inclusives are boring” is about as true as saying “all ships have bad service” There are pluses and minuses to all vacation types and we have to do our research.

 

Wow, that got really long… sorry. To the op, it sounds like you need to go back to an AI. With the money you save on an AI package over air + cruise, plus all the extras like pre/post hotels, drinks, excursions, etc, be sure to do your research and pick a good high end AI !! :)

 

I like your analysis. I agree with you completely.

[albean99]

I'll be interested to see what I think about NCL Epic and Carnival Liberty on our fall vacation when we do b2b cruises. Our last cruise was just over a year ago on RCL VOTS. We never drink all that much onboard but did find the drinks expensive. We also don't buy many if any of the photos for the same reason. I find all vacations seem to be about encouraging you to open your wallet these days. It's the same when you go to Disneyworld.

 

I don't mind the entertainment but hope the karaoke (Legends show) is still there. We were very entertained by watching the tryouts through the week and seeing who was picked. We saw a lot of bad ones but that's part of the fun, lol.

[330_cruiser]

Cardinala, sorry to hear your experience on the Glory.. I think our group were on the same cruise as you? (Feb 14th) We all had a great time. Nobody in our group was sick and I don't recall noticing anything to indicate an outbreak onboard. I do agree with you that there was endless queueing for meals etc but we simply learnt to adjust our times.

 

Also, the $25.00 bucket of beer deal, I'm pretty sure we got five bottles for $25.00.. ?? Not entirely sure on that.

 

Hope your next vacation is better!

[trailercruiser]

I agree about the illness. Yes, it can happen anywhere, but it seems to happen more on cruises. On our last cruise my Dad and daughter both got sick, and the thing is I think they actually had two different viruses! But I don't think there's much Carnival, or any line, can do about this. People bring their sickness on (after all, who's really going to stay home from the vacation they already paid for just for a little virus?), and they don't wash their hands often enough, or well enough. Have you read Cruise Confidential? I didn't love the entire book, but I thought what he had to say about ship illness was interesting (he was on a ship that had a Norovirus outbreak).

 

For our cruise next month my sister and I are bringing lots of hand santizer, which I know doesn't prevent against everything, but we are also going to practice LOTS of hand washing! We are going to take the stairs when possible instead of the close-quarter elevators (better to work off those big meals anyway!), and we are going to try to touch a minimal number of door handles with our bare hands. We could still be one of the unlucky ones, but we're going to do what we can to up our odds of staying healthy. Being sick on vacation sucks!

 

Actually most of the illness comes from crew members NOT PASSENGERS.They did this study on CNN. So I guess in a way it is the cruise lines fault.