Carnival Temporarily Closes Popular Restaurant, Dining Experience

[superrupe]

Cucina Del Capitano Shut Down

Chef’s Table Reservations Cancelled

 

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-temporarily-closes-cucina-chefs-table/

 

[shof515]

 

 

[superrupe]

I’m slower than the norm. Since you can share other posts, can you help me delete mine? Thanks and happy cruising! 

[BubbaD123]

NNNOOOOOOO! I was looking forward to trying the Cucina! Hopefully it's still open for the free pasta lunch. The email explicitly stated 'closed for dinner service'.

[Joe817]

10 minutes ago, superrupe said:

I’m slower than the norm. Since you can share other posts, can you help me delete mine? Thanks and happy cruising! 

SOK. This happens frequently when important breaking news reach the cruise industry's blogs. Thanks for posting! 

[KyloRen]

I don’t normally complain and I’ve had the steak house many times but the last time i went there (3 weeks ago) service was not good. Our waitress was completely uncaring and inattentive. We Even told them it was my 10 yr olds birthday and they literally didn’t give a flying *****. Kids club when I picked him up to go to dinner did 10x more.
 

So after my 300 buck dinner I left with a really sour taste in my mouth and will not be back. At least This explains a bit.

 

The cuchina is amazing and the lunch that’s free is delicious. I can’t rave more about the sushi restaurant as well so I hope that one remains as well. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by KyloRen

[groundloop]

23 minutes ago, KyloRen said:

.....So after my 300 buck dinner I left with a really sour taste in my mouth and will not be back. At least This explains a bit......

 

 

Hey, at least Carnival has the entire fleet back in operation making money for the corporation.  We can all be happy for that.  😬

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Just saw a post on another site that said Diamond and Platinum events are being suspended as well (but drinks or OBC are being offered).  

[vwrestler171]

Carnival was in such a rush to bring their ships back, that they forgot to make sure they had the staff to run them.  Now the cruise experience is being tarnished.  Watch Carnival is seeing where the most complaints are and will focus there while not worrying about other areas.  I truly don't think we will ever see pre-Covid Carnival again.

[ScottsSweetie]

38 minutes ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Just saw a post on another site that said Diamond and Platinum events are being suspended as well (but drinks or OBC are being offered).  

I've cruised 3 times since the restart - they haven't had a single platinum event yet. Can't suspend it if they already aren't doing it.

[icft]

43 minutes ago, ScottsSweetie said:

I've cruised 3 times since the restart - they haven't had a single platinum event yet. Can't suspend it if they already aren't doing it.

What ships? We cruised September and December of 2021 and January, February and April of 2022 and the regular Diamond and Platinum events were held. Granted the Diamond and Platinum reunions didn't have food and one of the Diamond events was just drinks and finger food rather than a full lunch. But this is the first I have heard of missing events.

[cruisingguy007]

2 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Just saw a post on another site that said Diamond and Platinum events are being suspended as well (but drinks or OBC are being offered).  

 

Seems like a great compromise as that (free drinks) is what most folks attend for anyway. Seems like a better use of staff/resources to offer some drink vouchers/credits during these lean times. Much better than nothing, that's for sure. 

[icft]

20 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Seems like a great compromise as that (free drinks) is what most folks attend for anyway. Seems like a better use of staff/resources to offer some drink vouchers/credits during these lean times. Much better than nothing, that's for sure. 

I agree. We stopped going to the Diamond and Platinum reunions even pre-covid because they got to where all they had in the way of food was sushi, which we don't eat, and drinks. We have free drinks and had seen the video they play enough times. Back when they had a nice assortment of food we would go to sample the different food items, but when it became just drinks for us we skipped the crowd.

 

We still go to the Diamond event, but the last one we went to (beginning of April) it was reduced to what the Diamond and Platinum reunion used to be - a nice assortment of finger food and drinks.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Just saw a post on another site that said Diamond and Platinum events are being suspended as well (but drinks or OBC are being offered).  

 

Loving the $50 pp OBC ("cashing" in on that Friday!). With regard to the two drink vouchers in lieu of the Diamond/Platinum party, I wonder if those can be used at a later date, as we have CHEERS (as many people do).

 

Tom

[ray98]

I really am surprised Carnival has taken this route.  It seems 3/4 of the fleet fully staffed and delivering the promised level of service is better than the full fleet offering a degraded customer experience. 

 

I expect many of these things will never been seen again.  You will continue to pay full gratuity for 1/2 the stateroom service, if you want to food late you will need to pay for it from room service, ect.

[Joebucks]

Cruise critic response: no Cucina or Diamond Event. Absolutely horrible product!

 

Reality: I didn't use those things anyway. Cucina entrees now part of MDR. OBC offered for free drinks. Aka, things that have always been asked for.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Cruise critic response: no Cucina or Diamond Event. Absolutely horrible product!

 

Reality: I didn't use those things anyway. Cucina entrees now part of MDR. OBC offered for free drinks. Aka, things that have always been asked for.

 

Now, if they could just give us the $50 OBC ahead of time, to put towards CHEERS !!

 

Tom

[evandbob]

As a Bronx born 2nd generation Italian, I never liked the Cucina entrees anyway.  It takes some work to diminish peasant food, but somehow Cucina delivered sweet sugary sauce and overcooked cutlets whenever I ate there.  Too Olive Garden for me.  Only thing I would miss would be the antipasto.

 

I have over 40+ Carnival cruises, so I got overly familiar with them and stopped going to the Plat/Diamond past guest parties. I still like to attend the Diamond get together, and my preference is for small group so I can chat with the Captain and we can tell stories about our G'Mas and their cooking.

Edited May 17, 2022 by evandbob

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

3 minutes ago, evandbob said:

As a Bronx born 2nd generation Italian, I never liked the Cucina entrees anyway.  It takes some work to diminish peasant food, but somehow Cucina delivered sweet sugary sauce and overcooked cutlets whenever I ate there.  Too Olive Garden for me.  Only thing I would miss would be the antipasto.

 

I have over 40+ Carnival cruises, so I got overly familiar with them and stopped going to the Plat/Diamond past guest parties. I still like to attend the Diamond get together, and my preference is for small group so I can chat with the Captain and we can tell stories about our G'Mas and their cooking.

 

Why is it that grandmothers are generally better cooks than mothers?  🙂

 

Oh - Swanson and Betty Crocker might have messed things up!

 

Tom

[Homosassa]

10 minutes ago, evandbob said:

As a Bronx born 2nd generation Italian, I never liked the Cucina entrees anyway.  It takes some work to diminish peasant food, but somehow Cucina delivered sweet sugary sauce and overcooked cutlets whenever I ate there.  Too Olive Garden for me.  Only thing I would miss would be the antipasto.

 

 

LOL - I just looked at the Cucina's menu and cringed.  Really meatballs? Not in Italy. Fried Calamari? Not in Italy. I don't know where these "family" recipes came from, but they aren't Italy (or from my straight off the boat grandmother and the recipes passed down).

 

I was also going to suggest Olive Garden for quasi "Italian" fare.

 

This also explains the complaints that are posted about MSC's offering.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Homosassa

[silversneakers]

10 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

 

Hey, at least Carnival has the entire fleet back in operation making money for the corporation.  We can all be happy for that.  😬

I read Cucina will still be open on the Mardi Gras.  I also read (and I will have to locate) that CCL will be reducing the number of passengers on ships due to "staffing" issues??  Anyone remember where that was printed?

[ray98]

Oh great....here come the Italian food experts to tell us how closing the restaurant is a benefit.

[ProgRockCruiser]

10 hours ago, vwrestler171 said:

Carnival was in such a rush to bring their ships back, that they forgot to make sure they had the staff to run them. 

They didn't forget about staffing, they rolled the dice and calculated that getting all ships back to operation was a better PR move than absolutely ensuring all ships were fully staffed.  

 

This also gives Carnival Corp an opportunity to poke at the US Gov't for being so slow at approving the required visas (which is apparently the root cause).  "Hey, we played by your CDC rules to get up and running, what the heck dude?!  Let me hire my staff!"

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

24 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

I read Cucina will still be open on the Mardi Gras.  I also read (and I will have to locate) that CCL will be reducing the number of passengers on ships due to "staffing" issues??  Anyone remember where that was printed?

 

I can attest to the fact that the last few weeks of Liberty sailings have been much more "capacity controlled" than previously. Our 4/22 sailing was noticeably less crowded than our 3/25 sailing. One of the officers responded to my question on this topic during the Diamond Gathering, and said it was intentional. While trying to secure a couple more cabins for friends for our sailing this Friday (over the last month+) they will post a couple of dates for (May) 3 night sailings, then they disappear - assuming you can actually book without getting an error. 

 

I didn't find out the actual count/differences between those last two sailings, but: at 6 am on debarkation morning for the 3/25 sailing there were copies of final folio charges in virtually every "mailbox" at cabin doors. On the 4/22 sailing there were dozens and dozens of cabins without them - and I don't think it was a matter of people getting up before 6 am!

 

We'll see on Friday, just how crowded she is!

 

Tom

[nlktx49]

2 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Loving the $50 pp OBC ("cashing" in on that Friday!). With regard to the two drink vouchers in lieu of the Diamond/Platinum party, I wonder if those can be used at a later date, as we have CHEERS (as many people do).

 

Tom

What $50 OBC?