Open letter to Christine Duffy!

[dmet0225]

3 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

Rather than continually complain here about all that is wrong with Carnival, I offer up the following:

You, yourself, just said, “rather than complain here…”.  Then you continued to complain here.  
 

What, exactly, do you hope to accomplish by complaining on a message board than trying to send a letter directly to the CEO of Carnival?

 

Honestly, do you think you’ll change the way an entire company does business by posting on a message board ANONYMOUSLY?  
 

Does your experience match that of all those customers on your cruise or other cruises?

 

I think I saw another post where someone posted a link where you switched to another cruise line.  
 

Did you contact Carnival directly about your concerns?  Do you expect an entire overhaul of their delivery process for you not to switch to another cruise line?

[staceyglow]

I will certainly agree that Carnival has gone down in some areas, including what they charge me for a cruise.

 

I am paying significantly less for most of my sailings than when I started with them over 15 years ago.  Now, if their prices go up significantly, especially if other cruise lines' don't, I might rethink my decision to continue to sail with them.  As it stands, Carnival is the best vacation bargain around.  On a per-night basis, I can't even rent a crappy motel room for what I am paying Carnival for a nice cabin, not to mention good food, decent entertainment, and transportation to beautiful ports and beaches.

[coops]

3 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

She will never answer or take me up on this, for several reasons. 1) she really doesn’t care. 2) this way she can keep denying the issues. 3) they can keep doing business as is (screwing the customer and hiding offshore)

I took approximately 30 small videos documenting everything that I’ve posted about, including take aways from multiple crew members (yes, even they are disgusted). I’m working with a friend to see the best way to post them so that as many people as possible can see them, then let’s see their response. Posting them here will only allow Carnival to complain and have them removed.

Post on here , post on FB, until you post nothing will get done.

[mz-s]

27 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

I will certainly agree that Carnival has gone down in some areas, including what they charge me for a cruise.

 

I am paying significantly less for most of my sailings than when I started with them over 15 years ago.  Now, if their prices go up significantly, especially if other cruise lines' don't, I might rethink my decision to continue to sail with them.  As it stands, Carnival is the best vacation bargain around.  On a per-night basis, I can't even rent a crappy motel room for what I am paying Carnival for a nice cabin, not to mention good food, decent entertainment, and transportation to beautiful ports and beaches.

 

The problem is they've cut rates too much, they're not profitable. By and large their strategy of sell rooms at a huge loss and hope to make it up with onboard spend isn't working.

They've cut the experience so much that nobody wants to pay more either.

Edited January 2, 2023 by mz-s

[Theosprey247]

What experiences have they cut? I really curious. Is it the once a day room cleaning? Charging for room service?  Only 2 entrees included?  
on my last cruise they were so understaffed that they had a crew member at each drink station serving coffee at breakfast lunch and dinner. 

[BlerkOne]

28 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

The problem is they've cut rates too much, they're not profitable.

 

For gamblers, I agree. They need to eliminate casino freebies.

[mz-s]

8 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

What experiences have they cut? I really curious. Is it the once a day room cleaning? Charging for room service?  Only 2 entrees included?  
on my last cruise they were so understaffed that they had a crew member at each drink station serving coffee at breakfast lunch and dinner. 

 

They cut chicken thighs into three pieces and fill the chafing tray up with rice at the buffet. Bacon crisis. Once a day cabin service. Overall crew reduction - every room steward I've had since the restart has commented on how many rooms he's assigned for example. Reduced hours for deli and pizza. No more late night snacks buffet. No included room service except dry danishes and coffee. The once nice seaday brunch menu has been cut back to a half sheet of paper and hours cut dramatically. It's just not a special vacation anymore.

[notscb]

4 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

She will never answer or take me up on this, for several reasons.

 

The primary one being you haven't been very specific as to what you'd like her to take note of.

 

These boards are just a very, very small sample of folks who are more likely to discuss challenges or problems they have cruising because that's the literal point of being here.

 

I'm still looking through this thread looking for what your exact feedback to the CEO would be.

[nwo4life]

13 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

They cut chicken thighs into three pieces and fill the chafing tray up with rice at the buffet. Bacon crisis. Once a day cabin service. Overall crew reduction - every room steward I've had since the restart has commented on how many rooms he's assigned for example. Reduced hours for deli and pizza. No more late night snacks buffet. No included room service except dry danishes and coffee. The once nice seaday brunch menu has been cut back to a half sheet of paper and hours cut dramatically. It's just not a special vacation anymore.

Reduced hours for deli? Is it non longer 11 am to 11 pm?

[SRQbeachgirl]

I often wonder if some people spend any time actually attempting to enjoy their vacation, or whether they board the ship with the intention (consciously or not) to let every inconvenience, grievance, and less-than-perfect circumstance get under their skin.

 

I will categorically state that I am not a "cheerleader" for Carnival. I have commented on several posts that there were things about previous sailings, including our MG cruise in July, that I was disappointed with. In fact, our next cruise will be on Celebrity - our first venture away from Carnival in many years.

 

BUT...I have never, ever been on any vacation that has been "perfect." I don't expect our upcoming Celebrity cruise to be perfect. I expect there will be something, at some point, that is inconvenient, annoying, unappetizing, in disrepair, etc. Experience tells me this will happen, since every single vacation we have ever taken has included assorted issues--from hotel maintenance, transportation problems, inferior customer service, inedible food, uncomfortable beds, closed venues...the list could go on and on. 

 

The old saying "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. Carnival is not a luxury line. It's not a premium line. It's not even considered the top tier of the mass-market lines. It is and always has been a best-bang-for-your-buck line, catering to those who are looking to pack as much food, entertainment and assorted fun into their vacation for as little moo-lah as possible. And Carnival has pretty consistently delivered that promised product, to the point the vast, vast majority of their customers are happy.

 

For those few people who are so upset over things that they will stop cruising with Carnival if the company doesn't change, I daresay Carnival will choose to say "adios" rather than change their business model or practices. They are going to cater to the masses, just as they have always done. For those who have come to the point that this isn't good enough, there are all those other luxury and premium lines vying for your vacation dollars. After all, why would you continue paying for something you no longer enjoy?

Edited January 2, 2023 by SRQbeachgirl

[BlerkOne]

5 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

For those few people who are so upset over things that they will stop cruising with Carnival if the company doesn't change, I daresay Carnival will choose to say "adios" rather than change their business model or practices.

Oh the drama. I'm pretty sure Carnival won't even notice and the rest of us will go on with our fun lives.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

22 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

For gamblers, I agree. They need to eliminate casino freebies.

 

At least for those gamblers that they're giving away more than they're getting. If someone is putting $100-500 "at risk", I don't think that a free cruise makes much sense. For someone putting a few thousand on the line - that's a different matter. It's not one size fits all.

 

Tom

[Theosprey247]

If some people ever cruise with RCL or NCL they’ll be sorely disappointed. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Theosprey247
To make sense

[Theosprey247]

4 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

At least for those gamblers that they're giving away more than they're getting. If someone is putting $100-500 "at risk", I don't think that a free cruise makes much sense. For someone putting a few thousand on the line - that's a different matter. It's not one size fits all.

 

Tom

I don’t think people who only gamble $100 dollars are getting free cruises. If they claim they do they’re lying about how much they gamble. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 minute ago, Theosprey247 said:

I don’t think people who only gamble $100 dollars are getting free cruises. If they claim they do they’re lying about how much they gamble. 

 

Lot's of gamblers do just that - lol

 

Tom

[RoperDK]

4 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

If some people ever cruise with RCL or NCL they’ll be sorely disappointed. 

I love RCL!  Different strokes.

[DallasGuy75219]

34 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

For gamblers, I agree. They need to eliminate casino freebies.

That horse is dead.  PLEASE stop beating it, because it's doing just as much good as inviting Christine Duffy to sail as a passenger. 

[staceyglow]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Lot's of gamblers do just that - lol

 

Tom

Yep - and gamblers love to tell you how much they've won - but never tell you about the times that they lost.

[Theosprey247]

5 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

I love RCL!  Different strokes.

There is nothing wrong with them. I enjoyed my cruises with them. It is just people seem to think they haven’t cheapened the experience like everyone else. 

[DallasGuy75219]

1 minute ago, Theosprey247 said:

There is nothing wrong with them. I enjoyed my cruises with them. It is just people seem to think they haven’t cheapened the experience like everyone else. 

All the lines have had cuts due to inflation and to try to recover from the billions of dollars lost during the shutdown.  But in my experience Carnival has cut much deeper than my other two now primary lines (Royal and Princess), such that Carnival is now a distant third choice.

[ngrund]

9 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

I don’t think people who only gamble $100 dollars are getting free cruises. If they claim they do they’re lying about how much they gamble. 

They may be-many people only mention how much is spent "out of pocket", but will end wagering more by never taking any winnings out and playing those amounts through as well (especially on slots)

[dolphinsfan246]

16 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

I don’t think people who only gamble $100 dollars are getting free cruises. If they claim they do they’re lying about how much they gamble. 

In all honesty I only spent $60 in the casino on Mardi Gras in November. I received the casino “free room” offer in December, but couldn’t take advantage because all of the options were within 2 weeks and I couldn’t swing that with work. So it actually does happen, I didn’t believe it myself before that. 

[Joebucks]

53 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

They cut chicken thighs into three pieces and fill the chafing tray up with rice at the buffet. Bacon crisis. Once a day cabin service. Overall crew reduction - every room steward I've had since the restart has commented on how many rooms he's assigned for example. Reduced hours for deli and pizza. No more late night snacks buffet. No included room service except dry danishes and coffee. The once nice seaday brunch menu has been cut back to a half sheet of paper and hours cut dramatically. It's just not a special vacation anymore.

 

This is a miserable take. My upcoming Celebration cruise has more lunch and dinner options included than ever. I honestly don't know how I'm going to eat everything I want. Yet, the focus is on what is missing. 

 

Apparently, a special vacation to you is 5-star dining available 24/7 for pennies on the dollar. Believe-it-or-not, a lot of people would laugh at your painted picture at the lack of food options. $50 out of pocket could cover ordering almost everything you listed there. Instead, you'll advocate for a cruise line that costs twice as much, because it needs to be FREE.

[BlerkOne]

22 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

That horse is dead.  PLEASE stop beating it, because it's doing just as much good as inviting Christine Duffy to sail as a passenger. 

It's more valid than many of the other complaints and I have cruised more than once with Christine. I have no need to invite her.

[Theosprey247]

1 minute ago, Joebucks said:

 

This is a miserable take. My upcoming Celebration cruise has more lunch and dinner options included than ever. I honestly don't know how I'm going to eat everything I want. Yet, the focus is on what is missing. 

 

Apparently, a special vacation to you is 5-star dining available 24/7 for pennies on the dollar. Believe-it-or-not, a lot of people would laugh at your painted picture at the lack of food options. $50 out of pocket could cover ordering almost everything you listed there. Instead, you'll advocate for a cruise line that costs twice as much, because it needs to be FREE.

Exactly