What Has Happened to Carnival???

[GlendaleCruiser]

Did someone tell you that is all that is available? One of those, not all, are available each night in ADDITION to the regular menu fare they have with many choices.

 

 

Exactly! It is in ADDITION to the daily menu choices. There was a lady at our table who ate steak almost every night. She was happy and we were happy but we only had steak the night of the New York Strip/Delmonico.

 

We had escargot fixed two different ways in May. I LOVE THEM BOTH.

[sjcruiser]

Cruise in the off season, when school in in session/has just started this way there are kids onboard, but less of them.

[peas&carrots1]

We sailed in July a couple of years ago and vowed to take future trips when the kids were in school. We had always sailed in late fall or winter.

Lesson learned.

[Lady Patriot]

My best cruises, hands down, are when the kids are back in school.

 

Early September and October so far are my favorites.

 

There are still children, but less of them and they tend to be much better behaved.

 

I don't understand why more adults don't think of this. In 2007 we sailed the Sun the week BEFORE Thanksgiving. The ship was only about half full. Only about 12 kids aboard the ship that week. Nice and quiet, plenty of room to stretch out. :D The cruise director told us that the following week they were booked for 600 kids. :eek: Thanks but no thanks. We can only afford to cruise every other year, so it's special for us.

 

We've loved Norwegian, but maybe on our next cruise we will look into more adult-friendly lines.

[bplazo]

We have also found that the first week in december is a good week

[CanWeGoYet?]

I took my 3 day bahamas cruise in early December, no little kids but some very rough teens. I would guess mid teen age to late. Not lots but the ones there stood out in a bad way, with the fighting & yelling & acting out I would guess they were there because they were school drop outs. Grown family with them not acting any better.

 

I'll take normal school age kids any day.

[Cruise Organizer]

Carnival has a target market and they are sailing full.

I am platimum on CCL and have sailed many other lines - HAL is my favorite.

I also wished that there were no cutbacks - I was on the Inspiration in August.

The quality and selection of the meals have gone down. Entertainment has been about the same the last few years. Service has taken a hit.

 

BUT... the cruise fares are low, lower than years ago. When I sail CCL, my expectations are less than if I sail HAL. Each line has a niche - CCL is the low cost provider. Carnival Corp has their other lines to pick up customers who want more and are willing to pay for it.

CCL gives an excellent value, but at the current fare range, there will be value at a low range. If you want more from a cruise, then compare other lines to see if they offer what you want and willing to pay - that is your best value.

[GO_WOLFPACK]

Everyone knows when kids are out of school and when they are in school, so it is possible to schedule a cruise when they are in school if this is a big deal. Also, in order to be 40, 50 or 60 you had to be 10 first, and I'm sure you enjoy talking about how you did this or that without getting caught but also what the results were when you did get caught...kids will be kids. Granted I will jerk a knot in mine if he doesn't act like he has some sense. Cheers mates!

[GO_WOLFPACK]

Carnival has a target market and they are sailing full.

I am platimum on CCL and have sailed many other lines - HAL is my favorite.

I also wished that there were no cutbacks - I was on the Inspiration in August.

The quality and selection of the meals have gone down. Entertainment has been about the same the last few years. Service has taken a hit.

 

BUT... the cruise fares are low, lower than years ago. When I sail CCL, my expectations are less than if I sail HAL. Each line has a niche - CCL is the low cost provider. Carnival Corp has their other lines to pick up customers who want more and are willing to pay for it.

CCL gives an excellent value, but at the current fare range, there will be value at a low range. If you want more from a cruise, then compare other lines to see if they offer what you want and willing to pay - that is your best value.

 

 

I agree 100% with this post!

[Thoth]

Next week I'm scheduled to be on the Fantasy and will compare service past and present. I'll have return here and share my thoughts.

OK I'm back ! I found the service to up to par with past Fun Ship trips. There were issues here and there, but I do not think Carnival has slipped much...if at all. The Fantasy is still a "Fun Ship" for sure.

As for the food...there may have been a few changes here and there but I feel that was in response to customer taste.

[iluvdoxies]

Good point! :D And fwiw, I'm nowhere near disgusted, mearly disappionted. In two out of my last 3 CCL cruises.

 

I agree with you, Halos. that's why we are trying something different.

[iluvdoxies]

I did a quick look at some other boards and it seems the same complaints are made about kids on ALL the cruise lines. I thought about copying and pasting several of them here but don't want to be bothered. Does make those here look pretty stupid trying to make kids running around a Carnival problem.

 

We are trying NCL Oct 8, so I've been on their board as well---havent read word one about rowdy children.

[iluvdoxies]

Wow, we were on the same cruise and didn't experience this. Not saying it didn't happen, just, didn't experience it. Yes, there were a lot of kids, but for the most part they were not noticeable to us. As for your cabin, don't blame that on Carnival. Do you expect it to be quiet under the galley? Do you know what they do there? You don't have to use that FCC. Call Carnival and they will refund you $100.

 

Not the OP's fault that kids were runing up and down halls and that security did nothing.

[theneals4]

DH and I just got off the Carnival Dream on 9-3-2011. What a horrible cruise! I have written a review but it has not published yet.

 

While we understand the ship can't help who books a cruise and we also understand that some people are just pigs, what we witnessed on this cruise was appalling. We were told there were over 1000 kids on the ship under age 15 and 1500 kids under 18. Most of them were just turned loose. You had to dodge ice cream cone wielding kids running everywhere. I saw one boy approximately age 9 put his mouth on the ice cream machine and just turn it on directly into his mouth. GROSS!

 

We saw small children ages 6 and under roaming the ship without an adult after 11 pm. Gangs of teenagers were every where. One teenage boy felt he didn't need silverware. We was walking through the Gathering dining room licking pudding out of the bowl!

 

We witnessed cereal boxes hitting the floor and being replaced for people to eat by both passengers and dining room staff. We saw dining room staff replacing cereal and milk boxes that had been on tables for other people to eat. Most people will carry cereal boxes and milk cartons to the table inside their cereal bowls. I wonder how many people got sick? We told the dining room supervisor what we saw and he said there were too many people to watch and he would talk to the staff. Staff was still picking the boxes up off the floor and returning them to the food line even at the end of the cruise. Beware!

 

We saw kids grabbing buffet food with their hands and then putting it back even after they took a bite!

 

Carnival did not enforce any of their own rules! The entire cruise was chaos. I will never sail again when kids are out of school! Many adults were as bad as the kids. I have never seen such "stable" manners on any previous cruise.

 

We wanted to try a Cove Balcony and got the last cabin available. Big mistake, it was under the Galley and the noise was incredible. Between the screaming kid across the hall, gangs of kids roaming the halls at night, and the galley, we got little sleep. We have never been so anxious to get off a ship. We found ourselves hiding in our cabin to escape the chaos outside our door. Needless to say it was a miserable experience.

 

I didn't think the food could get any worse. Think Hospital Food!

 

We have had good experiences on Fantasy class ships and will stick to them in the future. We still have one more Future Cruise Certificate to spend.:eek:

 

 

Well im sorry your cruise, was SUCH a nightmare!

 

I was on that same sailing and didnt experience any of what your talking about. Yeah the kids were loud and dumb sometimes but thats how they are everywhere! And you were saying there were 1500 kids on that sailing? I beg to differ with you, there were only 800 kids on board that cruise. There were 1500 on the one of the June sailings. So where you got that number i have no idea.

 

I never saw cereal boxes on the floor when we were in the gathering. I saw stuff sitting on top of the tables, waiting to be cleaned up. And i saw the guy cleaning up the tables, throw two UNopen boxes of cereal away! So i dont know why, the person you saw put them back on the buffet line did that. Never saw kids eating food and putting it back on the buffet. Believe if i did me or my husband would have said something. Cause thats just nasty!!

 

Somebody commented that you couldnt even walk anywhere, cause you were bumping into people all the time. Never had this happen!

 

Never had a problem getting in hot tubs or in the pool. The only day i saw the main pool crowded was the last sea day.

 

And i like how you compare the food to hospital food! We ate the MDR every night and everything was good! The gathering was decent as well.

 

And there was a kids under 6 walking around and you couldnt get security or somebody to find this childs parents?? Im sorry i have two small children and i couldnt imagine them walking around by themselves on a big ship like that! I know the parent should be with them. But sometimes families get split up and kids get lost.

 

As far as the teenagers running around in gangs, thats not a new thing. They do it back where they live. Thats what teenagers do, does it make it right? NO! I saw one group of teenagers, that got a little loud. And an officer walked by and told them to settle down. And they did. But at the end of the day Carnival can not babysit all these kids! A lot of people think that Carnival can just tell these kids off, you think maybe they dont because people have threaten to sue them?? You gotta realize that, the parents are gonna believe the kids before they believe strangers.

 

Hopefully, where ever you cruise next. Well be a more pleasant experience!

[mommyto3girls:)]

I sailed on the Dream last September. There were alot of kinds, but most weren't too bad. Some were loud, but don't recall seeing anything too disgusting in the buffet area. We were late diners, so not too many kids there.:) It was a big ship, but it really only seemed crowded on the first day to us. I do prefer smaller ships though.

[Blurgh]

I've seen pretty much all of these things before on ships (ignoring the cereal thing, which is just germaphobia)... just not at once, so it's kinda believeable.

 

One time at the pizza stand late at night, a pack of kids decided to start with some guy who... well, I'm an adult and I wouldn't start with him if I had a baseball bat with me. The "you can't hit me" BS. lol. If the pizza guy walked to the back for a second and the guy they started with physically removed one of them from the ship at sea, I wouldn't have said a word.

 

And another time they had a small latenight spread with sausage sandwiches. I was going to get one, until some kid picked his ass and then started rummaging through them.

[sprint180]

First, I'm sorry for you that this trip was not what you expected. I just got off a summer cruise and can honestly say the kids were not a problem. Not once did I see a child running in the halls. Not to say it didn't happen. I did however, when we were doing the scavanger hunt :o) Anyway, as a past waitress, do you think that boxes,cans, etc. never get dropped in the kitchen while they are making your food? It is a box, get over it, the food is fine. I think you had better travel on a nother line next time, I'm sure the higher end lines would take the offending box back into the kitchen before bringing it out and putting back on the shelf. (thats what we used to do) It is all perception.

[mavis2222]

I thought hurricane season STARTS in June.:rolleyes:

 

It "starts" in June, but it dosent get active till end of Aug- Oct. That is the prime time for storms to form. Plus its after the summer break when prices drop again.