Carnival Temporarily Closes Popular Restaurant, Dining Experience

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

It's people who have sailed Carnival for years, who are seeing the changes, and are displeased with the way things are going\being handled.

 

 

Change happens. Always has. I don't believe a significant number of cruisers have ever tried Chef's Table, and most of Carnival's fleet doesn't have Cucina.

 

Carnival is making business decisions based on data and not emotions.

 

I don't recall seeing a question I thought needed answering.

[BlerkOne]

8 hours ago, ChattTenn said:

 Carnival is making MONEY now but the service level is DOWN. 

Carnival cruises are cash flow positive but the corporation is still not profitable. Huge difference.

 

 

8 hours ago, ChattTenn said:

Our cabin steward has 35 cabins to take care of (with 1 hour extra help each morning and afternoon).  

Servicing cabins only once/day should allow them to service more with less, No?

[pc_load_letter]

19 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I don't recall seeing a question I thought needed answering.

 

You made the blanket statement...

 

"Anyone who deals with the government on anything from the IRS to passport renewal to anything else knows the delays staffing issues are causing. It is ludicrous to try to somehow shift blame to Carnival."

 

It would therefore be safe to say Vigin, NCL and RCL etc, have and are still dealing with the government"

 

But surprisingly I have never read or watched or heard of any of these lines making any cutbacks to service in way form or another.

 

Based on my "blaming Carnival" for their woes, why aren't the other lines making cutbacks? Seems Carnival is the only one.

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:38 AM, Retiredmedic said:

Not saying it's a benefit, but it is not a great loss either. 

You obviously never ate the Tomahawk Pork Chop at Cucina on the Horizon.  Best value in the fleet.

[Hoosierpop]

To me, I don’t feel the chefs table or Cucina are cutbacks. Cutback to me is something built into the base price. If people like those things, I can see why they would be disappointed. If people like them enough to rethink going on Carnival, they probably should go on another cruise line. And pay that extra price. 
 

Seeing people complain about little things makes me happy in a way. Means we are getting back to normal after a couple of long years. 
 

 

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:45 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

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

 

Tom

Just apply it to your gratuities.

[CarnivalShips480]

1 hour ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I don't think anyone, on any thread, has stated they are leaving Carnival. Quite the opposite really. Probably three or four new posts of people going on Carnival for the first time.

 

It's people who have sailed Carnival for years, who are seeing the changes, and are displeased with the way things are going\being handled.

 

BTW, you failed to answer my question above, or is no answer in fact your answer.

you really haven't seen anyone say they will never cruise Carnival again?

[icft]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Is it more or less dumb than the people who threaten to leave Carnival yet keep cruising on the line they hate?

I have rarely seen anyone threaten to leave Carnival. The fact a couple of people have done so does not mean everyone who says anything negative is threatening to leave.

 

But you sure skewered that straw man 😆

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

29 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Just apply it to your gratuities.

True - I suppose, in reality, it all come out of the same pot (pocket) eventually !

 

Tom

[Retiredmedic]

49 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

You obviously never ate the Tomahawk Pork Chop at Cucina on the Horizon.  Best value in the fleet.

Never been on the Horizon as I live 20 minutes from the port of Galveston. Adding more money to cost of travel and extra days of time off for girlfriend just to cruise the Horizon?

[Retiredmedic]

18 minutes ago, icft said:

I have rarely seen anyone threaten to leave Carnival. The fact a couple of people have done so does not mean everyone who says anything negative is threatening to leave.

 

But you sure skewered that straw man 😆

I've been on the internet since the early days of dial up modems. Seen a plethora of strawmen set and burned. My opinion is Carnival is product, to me a mediocre  product at that. Not the best, not the worst. Some just can not stand when not everyone shares their view.

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:19 AM, Retiredmedic said:

Expecations for Carnival are fairly low anyway, how much lower should we lower them?

How about Dollar Tree of the Seas replacing Walmart of the Seas?

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:36 AM, WKUTopperFan said:

This is a joke. My November cruise on Celebrity Apex is looking better by the minute. 

That goes without saying because the Apex is like a Lexus.  The closest in the Carnival fleet would be the Mardi Gras, similar to a Toyota Avalon. 

The buffet on the Apex contains made to order three types of eggs Benedicts, made to order five types of creme brulee on French day and at least two types of grilled to order proteins at lunch.

[itching2cruiseagain]

I'm disappointed about Cucina. We usually eat at Cucina at least 2 x per cruise. It's out of my control. I will still go on my cruise and I will still have a great time.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

That goes without saying because the Apex is like a Lexus.  The closest in the Carnival fleet would be the Mardi Gras, similar to a Toyota Avalon. 

The buffet on the Apex contains made to order three types of eggs Benedicts, made to order five types of creme brulee on French day and at least two types of grilled to order proteins at lunch.

 

Speaking or Celebrity buffets, I was quite pleased to see a Gravlax station on the Reflection a couple of months ago !!

 

 

 

Tom

[SNJCruisers]

17 hours ago, Badfinger said:

 

It has been our tradition to select 1200-1230 check-in and immediately head to Cucina for a somewhat peaceful and definitely relaxed and uncrowded lunch, bypassing the gastric mob scene on display in the Lido.  

Just to educate you, it's not that way on the Mardi Gras since Cucina and Chibang are closed on embarkation day for lunch.

[SNJCruisers]

17 hours ago, vwrestler171 said:

Very impressive to bring back a full fleet without making sure they had adequate staff to operate them?  Poor management if you ask me.

I'm sure the bean counters and beards decided that having the entire fleet up and running and generating cash flow with a reduced capacity crew is better than having 80% of the fleet up and running with a full crew.  The dollars lost because experienced cruisers are upset about temporary cutbacks will effect the bottom line less than only having 80% of the ships sailing with everybody happy.  Since their marketing strategy is mainly for the blues and reds anyway, this strategy would fall in line with that thinking.

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

These comments are do dumb. Can't believe in 2022 people still post "if you don't like it, don't purchase it" crap. Someone can enjoy Carnival and still be annoyed, not like, or even hate some features and still enjoy a cruise.

 

These replies are simply dumb. It was the same response I got when I posted on John Healds FB about poor late night dining options. People just need to grow up.

As they like to say south of the Mason/Dixon.......Bless Your Heart.

[Moviela]

17 hours ago, vwrestler171 said:

Very impressive to bring back a full fleet without making sure they had adequate staff to operate them?  Poor management if you ask me.

Your opinion like that of several others assumes facts not in evidence. The restart plans were extensive and gave adequate thought to staffing levels, provisions, environmental compliance, port availability, and facilities to manage any Covid related issues. 

 

Obviously no line could mobilize thousands of workers at the drop of a hat. The start was ramped up slowly, with reduced capacity to accommodate the resources available. The plan included time for government agencies to do their work.

 

What has happened is the contracts are ending for people who have been at sea for 9 months, and are entitled to the leave they have earned. Their replacements were hired and paperwork submitted in a timely manner for US Department of State to issue visas to those individuals. The lifting of Covid restrictions worldwide has released a torrent of pent up demand for visas. Americans are spoiled, as there are few countries we need a visa for travel there, and those that do have reasonable visa fees. If you are a citizen in most Asian countries the burden to get a US visa is very high. It is now nigh on to impossible to receive any visa in a normal processing time. 

 

Carnival is not operating all ships at full capacity, and has moved certain crew to assist ships with higher load factors. It is expected that the visas will be issued over the next few weeks allows the Cucina and Chef's Table to resume. 

 

Some have suggested that some ships might be mothballed until staffing issues resolve. Imagine you had a cruise planned for a ship that was taken out of service. I sense several thousand people will be disappointed.  By keeping all ships working only 14 per voyage will miss The Chef's Table, and several dozen diners will miss Cucina. All ships will continue to generate revenue. 

 

If you ask me that is pretty good management. As I read the financials of several cruise corporations Carnival management shines very brightly.  

[SNJCruisers]

56 minutes ago, Retiredmedic said:

Never been on the Horizon as I live 20 minutes from the port of Galveston. Adding more money to cost of travel and extra days of time off for girlfriend just to cruise the Horizon?

Next year you'll have the Jubilee as well as the Prima to cruise on.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

You made the blanket statement...

 

"Anyone who deals with the government on anything from the IRS to passport renewal to anything else knows the delays staffing issues are causing. It is ludicrous to try to somehow shift blame to Carnival."

 

It would therefore be safe to say Vigin, NCL and RCL etc, have and are still dealing with the government"

 

But surprisingly I have never read or watched or heard of any of these lines making any cutbacks to service in way form or another.

 

Based on my "blaming Carnival" for their woes, why aren't the other lines making cutbacks? Seems Carnival is the only one.

Of course they have made cutbacks, as you call it. Royal has made cutbacks in their Diamond lounges and it will be a while before they have the whole fleet sailing.

 

To try to compare business models of individual cruise lines is false equivalence and no further comment is necessary.

[ledges1]

If cruising on Carnival depended on finding a hot baked potato that would melt butter, the ship would be empty.

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 minute ago, ledges1 said:

If cruising on Carnival depended on finding a hot baked potato that would melt butter, the ship would be empty.

I found Hot Taters on the buffet about every other day. Just wait for them to bring that little pan out ten seconds later there all gone 😉.

[ledges1]

6 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

I found Hot Taters on the buffet about every other day. Just wait for them to bring that little pan out ten seconds later there all gone 😉.

Lido Buffet, not MDR.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Just now, ledges1 said:

Lido Buffet, not MDR.

Just a little humor on my part 🙃 try to flow with it 😉