Carnival 'Special touches' gone?

[PA Dutchman]

if you started cruising in the 1996 the Carnival world has change with cruising, from entertainment, you could not get a seat,  when Carnival came with Diamond it was wonderful , you were treated special, at that time there would be 2 to 8 diamonds and you had lunch with the Capt and CD , or Drinks at 5 , taken to the front of the line to disembark, all kinds of items and food in your cabin and as the time went on 20 Diamonds next year 40 Diamonds then add Platinum and the special treatment was gone. Diamond is now just a white card

[Sundsgn]

If looking back to when I first started cruising, late 90’s, things no longer that I remember, but were fun and just a nice touch: 

-mints or chocolates on pillows every night at evening turndown

-first night would also leave a brand new deck of Carnival playing cards, notepad, pen

-bar snacks at all the bars and half price happy hours of a specific drink of the day

-late night snacks/mini buffet on the plaza at midnight, grand gala buffet

-sample baskets in the bathrooms of toiletry items

-actual steel drum band on the lido

-live house orchestra/band pit for the main theater stage shows

-the ports were much different, way less built up and contained by the cruiselines themselves, more rustic if that makes sense

-super cheap morning bloody mary’s

-and call me crazy - I miss gazpacho! LOL

 

I know I’m forgetting something. It seems like every time we cruise, I tell my husband I miss something or they used to do this, etc…

[SeaScout]

I'll toss out a couple.

-  I miss that red fruit punch they used to have at the drink dispensers on Lido deck. The ice tea and lemonade they have now are dreadful in my opinion.

- I miss the baskets of complimentary toiletries that they would leave in your bathroom.

- In my opinion the old Deli they had on lido deck was far superior. The sandwiches were made fresh and a real panini press was used for hot sandwiches. It was far better than the premade, toasted offerings now.  

- The entertainment was far better in the past.

- I miss the free room service.

- I miss the better television line up of the past. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by SeaScout
missed a word.

[cacruisin]

12 minutes ago, Sundsgn said:

 

-actual steel drum band on the lido

 

YES this made such a difference in the feel of that lido deck...I miss that too!

[Drew B 58]

1 hour ago, scoobysnacks70 said:

I miss the printed Fun Times and menus.  I hate having to carry my phone around on the ship!.  I used to lock it in the safe and check it occasionally in case an emergency arose...I miss the table cloths in the dining room for sure. Once a day cleaning of the cabin is fine with me.

You can still get the printed fun times if you want it.  They are available at guest services and Java Blue.  They just don’t deliver it to every stateroom the night before anymore.  And that may be a result of the loss of 2X/day cabin service...  While I miss getting back from dinner to a Fun Times waiting, I certainly do NOT miss all of the “junk mail” flyers advertising spa services and sales in the stores.  It was just needless clutter, IMO!

 

I have never been told “no” when I’ve asked for a physical menu in the MDR.

[scoobysnacks70]

I had forgotten about the DOD!  Yes definitely miss that and the toiletries.  It's just little things but they do start to add up...

 

[jiggs]

no more baked Alaska lit ablaze and danced around the dining rooms on the wait staff's heads

no more total claustrophobic inducing muster drills that required everyone outside at once

no more captains cocktail hour on promenade with free drinks for an hour or so before each dinner seating

no more singles parties that included rum swizzlers...they claimed they were boozy, you'd need to drink 100 of them 

no more finger food at the Gold and Plat Party - now no gold party at all

no more formality to formal night, I was in the minority who like black tie one night out of 7

limited glassware in standard cabins

no more inch of gold - oh wait, nevermind

 

many things you only notice are gone because you knew at one time they were there...in a few years we'll be talking about how they once had a Cheer's program that allowed 15 drinks a day 😉

 

 

 

[mz-s]

32 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

You can still get the printed fun times if you want it.  They are available at guest services and Java Blue.  They just don’t deliver it to every stateroom the night before anymore.  And that may be a result of the loss of 2X/day cabin service...  While I miss getting back from dinner to a Fun Times waiting, I certainly do NOT miss all of the “junk mail” flyers advertising spa services and sales in the stores.  It was just needless clutter, IMO!

 

I have never been told “no” when I’ve asked for a physical menu in the MDR.

 

It's just open times and a list of activities. Not the fun times of times past.

[Sundsgn]

Let’s be honest…don’t we all miss coming back to the cabin after evening turndown to take a moment and enjoy our newly delivered Carnival Capers (before it was the Fun Times) bathroom reading material?

[RenoNanaOz]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

Just since COVID:

The dinner buffet is full of dried out rice and potatoes, and they cut the chicken thighs into three pieces.

They give you half a baked potato and 3 salad-size shrimp in your shrimp cocktail in the dining room.

The breakfast buffet is absolutely disgusting.

Sea day brunch menu dramatically cut, hours cut.

24/7 pizza is no more. If you order pepperoni pizza you might get 3 pepperonis on your entire serving. Thats if your legs don't give out from standing in the 45 minute line.

No more late night snacks buffet. Instead, the pizza place that already has a tremendous line sits out a tray of Stouffer's lasagna on some nights maybe.

Ocean plaza buffet/drinks gone.

Deli menu cut, hours cut.

No more included room service, except coffee and dry danishes/cereal/milk during breakfast hours. You have to call that morning and order it. No more leaving a hanger out.

No more twice-daily cabin service. Before COVID it was unofficially gone, you could ask for it if you knew you could and they'd do it - but now it's not an option anymore.

They now serve Ore Ida fries at Guy's instead of fresh cut.

The ongoing severe bacon crisis.

No more port of call themed nights in the dining room.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

 

Now does one "need" any of these things? No. But then again, nobody "needs" to go on a cruise. We aren't talking about a pharmacy or oxygen here, we're talking about a cruise.

 

And before someone pipes up to champion it - yes, I know they brought back ketchup soup during sea day brunch.

 

I don't particularly care if you say none of these things matter to you or not - I didn't take advantage of all of these things either - but they're still cutbacks in the experience. "Special touches" gone, if you will.

 

Carnival can still be a good value and I still like their product for what it is - but people should know what they're getting. It's no longer the special vacation it once was in my opinion.

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by RenoNanaOz

[frito58]

I don’t know if u call this a special touch but basically all platinum perks are gone . Unless u go track them down . I mean there are things they used to do for now you basically have to go beg for them which I find ridiculous. 

[nydney1]

3 hours ago, Sundsgn said:

If looking back to when I first started cruising, late 90’s, things no longer that I remember, but were fun and just a nice touch: 

-mints or chocolates on pillows every night at evening turndown

-first night would also leave a brand new deck of Carnival playing cards, notepad, pen

-bar snacks at all the bars and half price happy hours of a specific drink of the day

-late night snacks/mini buffet on the plaza at midnight, grand gala buffet

-sample baskets in the bathrooms of toiletry items

-actual steel drum band on the lido

-live house orchestra/band pit for the main theater stage shows

-the ports were much different, way less built up and contained by the cruiselines themselves, more rustic if that makes sense

-super cheap morning bloody mary’s

-and call me crazy - I miss gazpacho! LOL

 

I know I’m forgetting something. It seems like every time we cruise, I tell my husband I miss something or they used to do this, etc…

Excellent post. You hit my thoughts exactly 

[RD64]

7 hours ago, nwcruiselover said:

Twice a day service in the cabins.  Morning regular cleaning, making bed, changing out towels, etc.  Evening turndown service with mints on the pillows.  Ice bucket in every cabin with ice refreshed twice a day, without asking.

All gone sadly.

[RD64]

4 hours ago, Sundsgn said:

If looking back to when I first started cruising, late 90’s, things no longer that I remember, but were fun and just a nice touch: 

-mints or chocolates on pillows every night at evening turndown

-first night would also leave a brand new deck of Carnival playing cards, notepad, pen

-bar snacks at all the bars and half price happy hours of a specific drink of the day

-late night snacks/mini buffet on the plaza at midnight, grand gala buffet

-sample baskets in the bathrooms of toiletry items

-actual steel drum band on the lido

-live house orchestra/band pit for the main theater stage shows

-the ports were much different, way less built up and contained by the cruiselines themselves, more rustic if that makes sense

-super cheap morning bloody mary’s

-and call me crazy - I miss gazpacho! LOL

 

I know I’m forgetting something. It seems like every time we cruise, I tell my husband I miss something or they used to do this, etc…

What a wonderful post - I agree - especially about the gazpacho. But sure enough you will get the Carnival hordes who say - I do not want any of these things - let alone 5he gazpacho, so why should I have to subsidize everyone else - just give me a below rock bottom price with nothing  additional and I will be happy.

Edited February 17, 2023 by RD64

[staceyglow]

5 hours ago, mom2tcdx2 said:

 Enjoyed staff doing little magic tricks to help keep kids entertained and us adults too (they may still do this?).

 

I miss paper menus, and the daily in paper form.  Really not a fan of the looking up on my phone.  

They have had magicians on several of the cruises I have taken post-pandemic. They roam the MDR, the specialty restaurants and the Chef's Table performing card tricks and such. 

 

And you can always get a paper menu on request. On occasion I have even been offered one unprompted, but I had already pulled up the menu on my phone. 

[RD64]

And the waiters with the small “thingie” to clean off the crumbs from the table before serving coffee and dessert.

[staceyglow]

2 minutes ago, RD64 said:

And the waiters with the small “thingie” to clean off the crumbs from the table before serving coffee and dessert.

I have never seen a server use one of those on a table without a tablecloth, so... 

[RD64]

1 minute ago, staceyglow said:

I have never seen a server use one of those on a table without a tablecloth, so... 

I just wet myself - exactly - back in the tablecloth days. Mind you, this was also in the days before people complained that they had to spend more than thirty minutes at dinner.

Edited February 17, 2023 by RD64

[SRQbeachgirl]

Our first Carnival cruise was in 1992 on the Holiday. Much has changed since then, some good and some not so good.

 

I miss the Midnight buffets with unlimited lobster and the chocolate extravaganzas. I miss the relaxed atmosphere and live steel drum music on the Lido deck (rather than the ear-splitting music they have now). I miss the more unusual ports they used to visit (St. Kitts, Barbados, Granada, Guadeloupe...).

 

I don't miss the limited dining options. I don't miss the old muster drills. I don't miss the ships without balconies.  

 

But most of all, I don't really think about the changes. Times change. Consumer wants change. And if I want some of the smaller touches that Carnival used to have (crumb service at dinner, turndown cabin service, chocolates on the pillows) I can always sail on Celebrity and still get those things.

 

 

[kona_wahine]

There are things I miss but the 3 carnival cruises I have booked cost less altogether then the one week NCL I cruised last May….

[hurricane0226]

6 hours ago, cacruisin said:

YES this made such a difference in the feel of that lido deck...I miss that too!

They usually have one guy playing the steel drum on the lido deck.

[hillbillycruisers]

Not sure if these qualify as " special touches "....but since I started cruising in 2005, these are some of the things that once was common but Carnival has since cut out: no more midnight Mexican ( or any other ) buffets..no more free hot items on room service ( meat...potatoes...eggs, sandwiches, etc. )...no more goodie baskets in the bathroom...no more 24 hour pizza....no more bacon every day at the Lido buffet....no more Fun Times...no more twice a day room cleaning. Tips have gone up...and up....food quality has gone down. Will I still cruise Carnival...yes. It's still a cruise...it's still fun and relaxing. We have cruised Carnival as recently as last month and last November...and look forward to our next cruise....which is so far not yet booked. So...yes...a Carnival cruise is still worth the money....but not as good a deal as it once was. And it's not all bad news...I love the new muster drill compared to the old way. 

[mondello]

9 hours ago, sallyb said:

I sure hope we still get towel animals!

What happens if you use your beach towels, and you need clean ones for the next day? 

You can swap wet towels at the towel hut on Lido deck after using the pool or hot tubs. Also, when returning to the ship with wet/dirty towels after a beach day, they sometimes have a hamper of clean, dry towels by the gangway, for swapping.

Edited February 17, 2023 by mondello
Add

[bettysuetraveler]

6 hours ago, RD64 said:

And the waiters with the small “thingie” to clean off the crumbs from the table before serving coffee and dessert.

its called a butler. it was nice to have a cleaned table.

[gkbiiii]

4 minutes ago, bettysuetraveler said:

its called a butler. it was nice to have a cleaned table.

No, it is an assistant waiter.