Bare Bones Cruising

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, coevan said:

I don't ever remember the the lunch buffet open past 3. I also don't remember a midnight buffet in the MDR, always on the Lido deck.

 

the midnight buffets of yesteryear (in the 90's) were certainly held in the dining room. At least on cruises we were on.

[Elaine5715]

34 minutes ago, scpirate said:

If you had it 20 years ago why not now?.carnival isn't a bargain any more.f or my cruise next summer carnival was not a good deal.i booked elsewhere.its not a problem they all need to fill ships.

20 years ago they had better guests who didn't expect freebies and cruise rates were higher.  Any time you are cruising for $100 pp a night is a great deal.  Land travel would eat that up in a decent hotel but not including meals. gas, car, etc.

[CA_Cruzing]

Without sounding ageist, are this who are now dissatisfied in the 55+ age bracket?

 

We personally haven’t sailed Princess in some fear of being on the younger side of the demo. 

 

We we are experimenting with Celebrity as our non-Carnival brand. Carnival has always been good to us as a couple and family. Even when sailing with 3 generations on a cruise. 

 

As for midnight buffets, the only one I attended was on the Oceaninic back in the early 80’s sure the spread was incredible but we couldn’t fathom eating that much that late anymore. 

 

And weve tried to avoid the gluttony of modern cruising. After a while, all food is gross, even when staying at high end resorts. 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Perspective is always appreciated. 

 

 

[Taters]

1 hour ago, xDisconnections said:

After outgrowing Carnival due to a combination of service failures and cost cutting measures, we have found Princess to accommodate the cruise experience we are looking for. They have many options for 10+ days that you mentioned along with extended buffet hours while providing a very service-oriented culture with a great product.

 

Best of luck on your journey of finding a new cruise line that you will enjoy.

We've never been loyal to one brand.  We've sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America and Norwegian. Our next two cruises are booked on HAL.  We've looked at many Princess itineraries, too, and may revisit them in the near future.

[Cafedumonde]

Agree with OP 

[FSHLOT]

I love when the loyal CCL members reply " They are doing it across all lines".... I guess that makes its OK then...lol

 

 

[JinxyB]

I’m dissatisfied with Carnival and am in a younger age bracket with school-age kids.  I feel I have outgrown Carnival for all the reasons the OP has stated and more...

 

I’m willing to pay more money for a better cruise experience.  I want all the bells and whistles for my vacation dollars.  I don’t want to spend my vacation inhaling my neighbor’s pot and cigarette smoke, or watch people twerk drunkenly by the pool blasting their vulgar music on speakers, or have to usher my kids quickly out of the pizza line because a fist fight breaks out.  You get the point.  Our next two cruises are on Symphony of the Seas and Disney Fantasy.  There is much more out there besides Carnival. 

[hotsauce126]

8 hours ago, CA_Cruzing said:

Without sounding ageist, are this who are now dissatisfied in the 55+ age bracket?

 

We personally haven’t sailed Princess in some fear of being on the younger side of the demo. 

 

We we are experimenting with Celebrity as our non-Carnival brand. Carnival has always been good to us as a couple and family. Even when sailing with 3 generations on a cruise. 

 

As for midnight buffets, the only one I attended was on the Oceaninic back in the early 80’s sure the spread was incredible but we couldn’t fathom eating that much that late anymore. 

 

And weve tried to avoid the gluttony of modern cruising. After a while, all food is gross, even when staying at high end resorts. 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Perspective is always appreciated. 

 

 

 

I really think if you sail on anything besides Carnival/RCCL/NCL you're going to be on the younger side of the age bracket. There's a reason Holland America is referred to as the floating nursing home. I'm really looking forward to Virgin Cruises because they're aimed at a younger bracket while simultaneously being more upscale.

[jimbo5544]

10 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Cruise ships are just floating hotels

Oh, so so much more.  With that attitude you are missing the best part.

[riffatsea]

I found it interesting to read your thoughts on Carnival.

We are seniors who have been sailing Carnival for a while , mostly because it conveniently leaves from southern California. We started out on Royal Caribbean but switched to Carnival when Royal left California. We think the service on Carnival has been great with smiling helpful staff on all the ships!

We started out in balconies and now book only suites so it is not because of price that we have stuck with Carnival up to now.

 

In December we took our first Princess cruise and the suite benefits just blew me away!! We will definitely book more Princess cruises but as I wrote on my Coral Princess review , there were are few things that Carnival did better!! We missed the comedy club as we prefer stand up to musical revues.

We also thought that Carnival did the Lido buffet better with more daily station choices like BBQ, deli, Indian food , Mongolian wok etc. Strangely enough the trivia on Carnival was also more fun !

 

Sadly we are not a fan of the new mega ships coming to California so not sure what we will book for the future.

We are trying Oceania in November for Cuba but the vibe I am getting from that line doesn't feel like it will be our new "home" .

Right now Princess seems our best fit going forward. We shall see!!!

 

 

[Elaine5715]

45 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Oh, so so much more.  With that attitude you are missing the best part.

I am not missing a thing.  I am one of "those" guests who get exceptional service every cruise.  

[sanmarcosman]

1 hour ago, riffatsea said:

Sadly we are not a fan of the new mega ships coming to California so not sure what we will book for the future.

 

 

We prefer the Spirit class but have taken the plunge and are booked next February on the Panorama. We're going in eyes wide open and hoping for the best.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

I am not missing a thing.  I am one of "those" guests who get exceptional service every cruise.  

I was commenting on your comment comparing it to a hotel. 

 

18 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

We prefer the Spirit class but have taken the plunge and are booked next February on the Panorama. We're going in eyes wide open and hoping for the best.

Be interested to hear your comments after your cruise.   

[sanmarcosman]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

I was commenting on your comment comparing it to a hotel. 

 

Be interested to hear your comments after your cruise.   

Absloutely. We're taking baby steps and going on our first Dream class in two weeks aboard the Dream. We're excited to be moving above our usual Carnival comfort zone. 

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, sanmarcosman said:

Absloutely. We're taking baby steps and going on our first Dream class in two weeks aboard the Dream. We're excited to be moving above our usual Carnival comfort zone. 

Life is about taking steps outside the comfort zone.  Enjoy!

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, FSHLOT said:

I love when the loyal CCL members reply " They are doing it across all lines".... I guess that makes its OK then...lol

 

 

You speak of cruisers who enjoy the  Carnival product with such disdain.  Is it really hard to imagine someone with a different view?

Edited February 3, 2019 by jimbo5544

[riffatsea]

I grew up in NYC. As I get older I prefer smaller cities to the larger ones.

This carries over to ships. Everyone travels differently but I'd prefer not to be on board with 4,000 people!!(or more!!) I don't really care about all the new bells and whistles or new decor.

To me smaller is better but I understand that others feel differently.

[sanmarcosman]

1 minute ago, riffatsea said:

I grew up in NYC. As I get older I prefer smaller cities to the larger ones.

This carries over to ships. Everyone travels differently but I'd prefer not to be on board with 4,000 people!!(or more!!) I don't really care about all the new bells and whistles or new decor.

To me smaller is better but I understand that others feel differently.

You think San Diego is small, try North County 😉

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

I grew up in NYC. As I get older I prefer smaller cities to the larger ones.

This carries over to ships. Everyone travels differently but I'd prefer not to be on board with 4,000 people!!(or more!!) I don't really care about all the new bells and whistles or new decor.

To me smaller is better but I understand that others feel differently.

There certainly is a lot of product out therefoe you to enjoy (ship wise).  Carnival is commited to the Spirit and Fantasy class for the foreseeable future.  

[Elaine5715]

37 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I was commenting on your comment comparing it to a hotel. 

 

Be interested to hear your comments after your cruise.   

It is a hotel in a ship.  My comment was comparing the price and quality of amenities in a value hotel vs the price and amenities in a deluxe hotel.  Both have a cliente and you get what you pay for. 

[momof4girls]

I appreciate reading your thoughts and opinions. While I have not been cruising even close to as long as you have, I definitely would agree with noticing the cutbacks. I also would agree with the part about Carnival more interested in the “first time cruiser” vs the loyalty of long time cruisers. 

 

For me, personally, Carnival will be my first choice only because it is the vacation I can afford and still enjoy. I don’t see any time in the near future where I would be able to cruise on the Mardi Gras (or even the Vista class) since my available times for a cruise mean an expensive vacation on those ships! Some day when the kids are gone and we can cruise during any time of the year, we will be able to branch out and try other ships or even other cruise lines. 

[FSHLOT]

59 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

You speak of cruisers who enjoy the  Carnival product with such disdain.  Is it really hard to imagine someone with a different view?

Don't you think you should ask yourself this question?  I see more posts from you defending CCL like no one I ever seen before. I'm very open minded and not dedicated to one Cruise line. I like variety, but CCL is getting worse and worse. Imo

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, FSHLOT said:

Don't you think you should ask yourself this question?  I see more posts from you defending CCL like no one I ever seen before. I'm very open minded and not dedicated to one Cruise line. I like variety, but CCL is getting worse and worse. Imo

I sail Carnival because I enjoy the product. I have cruised other lines including 5 star cruise lines and frankly enjoy the Carnival product the most.  I would be happy to diacuss the merrits or your views of the Carnival product.  Start a thread, we can do that.  What I do not do is go on those

cruise line threads and show disdain for the product or posters.   I also do not laugh at them for liking the product or making it their exclusive choice.  

[jimbo5544]

14 minutes ago, FSHLOT said:

Don't you think you should ask yourself this question?  I see more posts from you defending CCL like no one I ever seen before. I'm very open minded and not dedicated to one Cruise line. I like variety, but CCL is getting worse and worse. Imo

How many posts is the right number?

[FSHLOT]

19 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I sail Carnival because I enjoy the product. I have cruised other lines including 5 star cruise lines and frankly enjoy the Carnival product the most.  I would be happy to diacuss the merrits or your views of the Carnival product.  Start a thread, we can do that.  What I do not do is go on those

cruise line threads and show disdain for the product or posters.   I also do not laugh at them for liking the product or making it their exclusive choice.  

It's all good Jimbo, And your right, people like what they like. Sometimes though, the things you used to like just isnt the same anymore, and CCL is an example of that. This is all my opinion though.