reality please!!!!!

[2girlsnlovefl]

hello everyone!! i am only looking for balanced reality based opinions. i have been reading multiple complaints about the MDR. new menus and people dressed slovenly. we have been 6 cruises our last being on the dream in oct of 2010. we have always come across a couple of entrees and peoples dress not quite up to standard but nothing like what i have read recently. nothing that bothered me. i always felt those instances were exceptions not rules. we are sailing on the legend april 22 we always dress for dinner. my partner and i wear nice business casual dresses or sun dresses to dinner and on formal nights we wear cocktail like dresses. are we the ones who are going to stand out this time?? is the food really changed that much in the year in half since we last sailed?? i feel like all the views i have read have been really extreme.

[CJinFLA00]

I think the way you described your dress will be the majority, not the minority. I still wear a suit on "Elegant" nights and dockers on casual night. Wife dresses just like you described. The food is still very good in our opinion but there will always be some so-so food. I say don't sweat it and have a great cruise!

[runner15km]

Just off the Conquest Feb 19th cruise. People were nicely dress on both elegant nights. On the casual nights the ladies were all nicely dressed but half of the men would dress down to shorts and tees and the rest in nice collar shirts and slacks. Never saw ball caps or men in sleeveless tees.

[tracyanns]

I have been cruising on CCL since 1991 and I really don't see that many difference even since then. It all depends on the fellow cruisers. Sometimes you get a ship full of people that love to dress and other times, not. The food has changed around, and maybe has gone down in quality since 1991 but hasn't changed in the last 2 years that I have seen. Some things are better than others. And as we all know, food is very subjective. A true foodie thinks CCL food is horrible where someones idea of a decent meal is Applebees thinks it is fine. If you are good with McDonalds than it is gourmet.

 

Someone is always going to complain. My husband wears tuxedos and I wear floor length gowns on formal night...I could care less if everyone else wore their underwear (as long as they were clean)...I have seen plenty of people turned away in the MDR for not being dresses appropriately. I guess it depends on the staff in the dining room...

[2girlsnlovefl]

thanks for the realistic view points. i was starting to get worried. i guess those who are negative are a bit louder than the rest of us. i found it hard to believe it had gone that far downhill in just a year and a half.

[crewsweeper]

Re the food: just remember there are all leels of tastes on board. I've seen reviews that say the food was bad the service poor and then turn around and read another review, same ship, same cruise that raved about the food and said service was excellent. Personally, I think Anytime Dining can have slower service if not staffed properly, especially on Elegant nights when everyone trys to get to dinner at the same time. Again, depending on staffing, the traditional seated dining service can be slower, especially the late seating, if the staffing of the tables isn't effectively done. There are times when 2-3 waitstaff have to cover 6-8 tables and half of those are full while others may not be. This usually sorts itself out as the cruise goes along. But many cruisers who complain are thinking they need to rush to make entertainment options.

 

We've always found choices in food to satisfy our hunger. The new MDR menus, being fleet wide, do help in selecting. We can pick our night at the Steakhouse and make reservations before boarding knowing we're not missing a fav dish. Outside Lido buffet offerings are growing which helps. We also try to time our breakfast and mid day dining to avoid the initial rush.

 

Just go on the cruise with preparation and the attitude to be flexible and patient. You're on vacay and its a time to relax and get away from the instant-on 24/7 world.

[golfadj]

They change the menu periodically what else would you expect? Food is still good.

 

Over the years less and less people get dressed for formal night. Part of it is Carnival's fault.

 

If we meet the capt and he is dressed up more reason for the passengers to do so.

 

Now that they have basically done away with capt's party less reason to get dressed up.

[marshhawk]

What I have seen over all, is the longer the cruise, the dressier the diners. Have I seen people turned away when not dressed appropriately-Yes. That was on a 5 days cruise. I like to dress up for dinner when I am on a cruise. They are setting a table for me, I'm not sitting out on the beach to eat, and I can most definitely show enough respect to the corporation and wait staff, that if my table looks good, so should I.:)

Have a nice cruise.

[RuthlessBoss]

They change the menu periodically what else would you expect? Food is still good.

 

Over the years less and less people get dressed for formal night. Part of it is Carnival's fault.

 

If we meet the capt and he is dressed up more reason for the passengers to do so.

 

Now that they have basically done away with capt's party less reason to get dressed up.

Some standards are down, not sure why. Some don't bring formals because of airline restrictions, but there are alternative ways to dress nicely with lightweight pants and tops. Once I saw a rather frumpy looking female, but she was so proud to be in that dress. She thought she looked great in her "dressy" clothes. So, we can't always judge.

Now, I detest shorts, ballcaps etc. in the D.R., that's rude to me.

[Sir Cruise-a-Lot]

We just came off the Pride and we found some food items to be just OK and others to be great in the MDR. The meatloaf and southern fried chicken was OK but not great. The prime rib, lobster, ribs and other dishes were excellent. I got frog legs for a first on a cruise ship and they were excellent. As for the dress we did see people in “T” shirts and ball caps but on elegant nights most everyone looks real nice. We had a great cruise and that is what counted for us.

[halos]

hello everyone!! i am only looking for balanced reality based opinions. i have been reading multiple complaints about the MDR. new menus and people dressed slovenly. we have been 6 cruises our last being on the dream in oct of 2010. we have always come across a couple of entrees and peoples dress not quite up to standard but nothing like what i have read recently. nothing that bothered me. i always felt those instances were exceptions not rules. we are sailing on the legend april 22 we always dress for dinner. my partner and i wear nice business casual dresses or sun dresses to dinner and on formal nights we wear cocktail like dresses. are we the ones who are going to stand out this time?? is the food really changed that much in the year in half since we last sailed?? i feel like all the views i have read have been really extreme.

 

I am one of those people who have seen a difference in CCL over the past 4 years or so, however, in my experience the food is not horrible and people dress fine.

While I feel the entire cruise experience in total does not measure up to what I have previously experienced on the line, Carnival does not offer a bad cruise.

[Yvonne]

My husband and I were on the 1/28 sailing of the Carnival 8-night Freedom. We used to dress up more for our cruises, my husband in a suit and tie and I would wear a long dress or cocktail dress. We no longer do that because we don't care to drag the garment bag along and take extra shoes, etc. He now wears black dress slacks, a long sleeved dress shirt and tie. I wear black slacks and a dressy/glittery top. We blend in just fine, as most others are similarly dressed. I saw very few full suits on men and cocktail dresses on women. I only saw two tuxes, and just a handful of long, fancy, beaded dresses on women. I saw a few dressed more casually than we were, and yes a few in jeans and a couple of ball caps. But I've never seen anything really bad (tank tops, ratty clothes, etc.).

 

As far as the food goes, we thought most of it was great to excellent. There were a couple things I didn't care for, but it's more personal taste I think.

 

Now the service in the MDR at dinner is another story. We've always been used to a server and one assistant. On this cruise we had our main server plus he had two assistants, and they still seemed rushed and overwhelmed the entire week. They never had time to chat, and I did not feel that I could even ask them to stop a moment to pose for a photograph. Service was extremely slow a couple of the nights, taking about two hours, and the server/assistants would disappear for long periods of time.

 

The first night I asked for lemons for my water and received them right away. The second night I asked, and never got them. I stopped asking. Just a little thing, I know, but I do like lemons for my water so it was disappointing. On other cruises anything of that nature that you ask for the first night, is automatically found on your table the nights following. Not so this cruise. Very disappointed in the service this time. But I think maybe they had too many tables to take care of. :(

[firefly333]

You seem to imply that the others folks are wrong and you are right.

 

Everyone should be entitled to their own opinion without being put down. Its a opinion.. not facts when you are talking about food especially.

 

Nothing like having a bad experience and being flamed if you dare to complain on the Carnival threads.. happened to me once .. so now I know ..people are telling you THEIR REALITY.

 

Should be room for whatever people want to say happened to them, or they saw or experienced.

[ccodcruzer]

We typically dress up in Suit/cocktail length dress etc, but our formal night was rescheduled due to Superbowl, so we chose not to participate the 1st elegant night because we had a full day excursion and were tired. We stayed in our shorts and ate at the Lido buffet. We dressed the second elegant night, took all the pictures, etc the whole 9 yards. A cruise is what you make of it, what you enjoy or find fun.

 

We found a good number of people dressed up, and I thought the food was amazing- especially the indian food- YUMMM!

[fliprcruzr]

Now the service in the MDR at dinner is another story. We've always been used to a server and one assistant. On this cruise we had our main server plus he had two assistants, and they still seemed rushed and overwhelmed the entire week. They never had time to chat, and I did not feel that I could even ask them to stop a moment to pose for a photograph. Service was extremely slow a couple of the nights, taking about two hours, and the server/assistants would disappear for long periods of time.

 

:(

 

We just got off the Valor and found the same thing, I think the servers and asst have too many tables.

 

When we first came in, rolls were offered by the asst, then we never saw him again until he carried in the trays of meals. Never an offer of another roll, never around to ask for a drink, wine refill. Server tried to keep up, but had several tables, all at different stages of the meal. while we all came in at the same time, our table of 6 was almost done with entree when the table of 12 next to us were being served. They came in at same time as us, but perhaps were slower to order and get organized. Service was slow.

 

The bar-waiter had 18 tables to handle at the late MDR seating, I asked him to come back one night at dessert time for a Baileys, never did, he was too busy on other side of room.

 

What service we got was very good, but overall it was lacking, almost as though some of the staff may have been reduced or used elsewhere. Just not the same.

 

Breakfast service was the worst, spotty, almost rude server one day, great the next. One day when they ran out of cinnamon rolls, they came back with more, the next, nope don't have any, never offered again.

[YubaSutter]

Shorts and polo shirt for casual nights. Dockers and short sleeve button up shirt for elegant night.

[elcuchio24]

hello everyone!! i am only looking for balanced reality based opinions. i have been reading multiple complaints about the MDR. new menus and people dressed slovenly. we have been 6 cruises our last being on the dream in oct of 2010. we have always come across a couple of entrees and peoples dress not quite up to standard but nothing like what i have read recently. nothing that bothered me. i always felt those instances were exceptions not rules. we are sailing on the legend april 22 we always dress for dinner. my partner and i wear nice business casual dresses or sun dresses to dinner and on formal nights we wear cocktail like dresses. are we the ones who are going to stand out this time?? is the food really changed that much in the year in half since we last sailed?? i feel like all the views i have read have been really extreme.

 

Little has changed over the past 5 years. If you didn't feel out of place in 2010, you won't in 2012.

[okgirl]

I have to say I've gotten more casual in my attire. On non-formal nights I usually wear a capri set. On elegant evening I look to see how dressy others are being, if lots of people are in after 5 garb I head to the buffet. If it's more Sunday church cloths I wear a pair of black slacks and a silky top.

 

As for the food, I am always pleased with what I'm served. I try to order things that I know have a better holding capability and I can eat my steak from rare to well done, but I rarely order steak.

[PictureChris]

Just like in Figure Skating Judging, throw out the high and low score and the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[Bulldog3777]

hello everyone!! i am only looking for balanced reality based opinions. i have been reading multiple complaints about the MDR. new menus and people dressed slovenly. we have been 6 cruises our last being on the dream in oct of 2010. we have always come across a couple of entrees and peoples dress not quite up to standard but nothing like what i have read recently. nothing that bothered me. i always felt those instances were exceptions not rules. we are sailing on the legend april 22 we always dress for dinner. my partner and i wear nice business casual dresses or sun dresses to dinner and on formal nights we wear cocktail like dresses. are we the ones who are going to stand out this time?? is the food really changed that much in the year in half since we last sailed?? i feel like all the views i have read have been really extreme.

They are to the extreme. I am simply amazed at some of the stuff I read on this board. Some people can NEVER be pleased with anything.

[mousey]

I think the trend on ships are just following the trends on land as far as dressing for dinner goes. It used to be that people would never go out to dinner at a nice restaurant unless they were dressed up but that has changed and people are now dressing much more casually wherever they go. Even to church people are way more casual in how they dress. I personally go with the flow. I look at the suggestions on whatever cruise line I'm sailing on and whatever they suggest is what I do. Whether other people do the same or not does not affect me or have anything to do with whether I enjoy my cruise or not. I find that for the most part this is what most people do. There are always going to be people that want to do their own thing and could care less about the rules. More power to them. I've seen some pretty strange outfits over the years and just smile and think...Whatever! It takes all kinds!

 

As for food, I'm not a foodie so as long as I can get a steak, chicken, or fish every night, and some potatoes and a salad, I'm good to go. I've never had a bad meal on a cruise (I've tried some things I didn't like but that's different) and I've never had really bad service, ever. A couple of times service has been a little slow, but I don't consider that bad as the DH and I always book late seating so that we can spend time leisurely enjoying our meal and time together as the DS prefers to eat with the new friends he makes on his own.

 

I do love cruising!

[jonbgd]

Our last CCL cruise on the Triumph Feb9th. The waiter was great, the food was good and the people I noticed ,were mostly dressed apppropriately.

Alot of suits and cocktail dresses on elegant night. And the women dressed up more than the men on other nights

[tassycatt]

Last month on the Glory, I stopped in the ladies room after dinner, the one that was right out side the MDR. While in there I overheard a lady saying that every bit of food on this cruise was "a disgrace". Made me wonder where she usually eats because most everything I had was delicious.

 

The only 2 things I didnt like was the pizza and the fish and chips. But no big deal, we just found something else.

 

Everything I had in the MDR was wonderful. One night nothing on the menu appealed to me so I got the half spring chicken. It was amazingly good! I never came away from the MDR disappointed.:p

[BenjiRodney]

Never had a problem with food or service, can always find something I like so I can go up to lido for a burger or pizza. How someone dresses does not bother me, we skipped the last elegant night as we had a long day in port and did not get back on board until a few minutes after 5 and did not want to rush to make early dinner.

[G&TQ]

Last month on the Glory, I stopped in the ladies room after dinner, the one that was right out side the MDR. While in there I overheard a lady saying that every bit of food on this cruise was "a disgrace". Made me wonder where she usually eats because most everything I had was delicious.

.:p

 

 

This happens on land also. Over this past weekend I had dinner our with my best friend her family and parents. The rest of the night I heard nothing but how awful dinner was and I nearly crawled under the table when they complained to the manager. Mine, DH and DS dinner was good. Not sure what was going on there. I guess it is all in your perspective.