sailing off in a few days any cut backs anyone noticed in the last six months or so?

[seaman11]

Just wondering if any cut backs or extra charges ppl have notice this year , thanks 

[Haljo1935]

The room service charges mentioned numerous times. Ugh

[seaman11]

On 10/11/2023 at 12:35 AM, Haljo1935 said:

The room service charges mentioned numerous times. Ugh

yeah i knew about that last cruise in dec last year. i dont really order it and i noticed less clutter in the halls and waste . i was hoping no more cuts  

[sparks1093]

We typically cruise once a year so any changes that occur usually go unnoticed by us. The only time that I notice is if it makes these boards and I haven't seen notice of anything in a while. We had a great time on Glory this past April and none of the changes that had been implemented tarnished our enjoyment in any way.

[simplelife]

8 hours ago, seaman11 said:

yeah i knew about that last cruise in dec last year. i dont really order it and i noticed less clutter in the halls and waste . i was hoping no more cuts  

Yes, on Sunshine last month only saw one tray in the hall.

[kdr69]

Yes severe cutbacks to the amount of days ive been at sea.

[simplelife]

I did notice that they do not have tablecloths at all in the MDR (last time i cruised they still had them on elegant nights). This did not affect my cruise experience in any way, so i really wouldn't even consider it a cutback

Edited October 14, 2023 by simplelife

[mz-s]

In my opinion the food quality and service quality has severely declined on Carnival, but that isn't a 6 month thing it's been a steady slide since the COVID restart.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, simplelife said:

I did notice that they do not have tablecloths at all in the MDR (last time i cruised they still had them on elegant nights). This did not affect my cruise experience in any way, so i really wouldn't even consider it a cutback

I thought that change was years ago.

 

I have seen posts about new menus, not sure how improved, but supposedly they are trying to improve dinner menus. Was it magic they were trying out new menus? I'm not on dream until jan so havent been on caenival lately but that was my big issue was dinner was not good. Liked everything else but dinner. I see john keeps posting menus saying what would you have. I dont look closely, it is what it is. Worse comes to worse I'll eat a lot of pizza. Or BLT sandwiches. 

[havanadaydreaming]

what ive noticed: 

 

packages of bottled water in room is 2x more expensive than in years past

room stewards have to do a lot more cabins and ask if once a day service is acceptable

Cheers package is gonna be more expensive on shorter cruises 

 

i cant substantiate this one very well but the buffet seems to have dropped one rung.  i still go and dont have many issues but my wife has struggled to find something she really wants to eat about half of the time for dinner.   breakfast is as good as it ever was, except for BACON SHORTAGE! 

 

 

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, havanadaydreaming said:

room stewards have to do a lot more cabins and ask if once a day service is acceptable

 

They no longer ask, twice daily service is flat out not an option.

[BlerkOne]

One cutback is the rollout of new menus with new, even better, tasty food. New ships. New itineraries. A new port in the Bahamas. A return to profitability even though still many billions in debt. The usual stuff.

[mz-s]

21 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

One cutback is the rollout of new menus with new, even better, tasty food. New ships. New itineraries. A new port in the Bahamas. A return to profitability even though still many billions in debt. The usual stuff.

 

Have you been on a cruise with the new menus yet Blerk?

[BlerkOne]

5 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Have you been on a cruise with the new menus yet Blerk?

Not yet, but to listen to some, the food couldn't get any worse. I just missed the transition to the new menus on Carnival Miracle. I do know that on my last cruise, bacon was available everyday from two or more venues. The deli and MDR were two of them. Room service charges are now the rule on cruise lines. Cost management is key to cruise line survival.

 

 

[MsTabbyKats]

2 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

what ive noticed: 

 

packages of bottled water in room is 2x more expensive than in years past

room stewards have to do a lot more cabins and ask if once a day service is acceptable

Cheers package is gonna be more expensive on shorter cruises 

 

i cant substantiate this one very well but the buffet seems to have dropped one rung.  i still go and dont have many issues but my wife has struggled to find something she really wants to eat about half of the time for dinner.   breakfast is as good as it ever was, except for BACON SHORTAGE! 

 

 

Yes....I noticed I paid double for the water I ordered for the room.

As far as the buffet....I was never a fan.  Maybe a panini from the deli...or a slice of cake....otherwise...not good.

 

Speaking about cake...do they still have those nice cakes at the lunch buffet?

 

 

[mz-s]

7 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Not yet, but to listen to some, the food couldn't get any worse. I just missed the transition to the new menus on Carnival Miracle. I do know that on my last cruise, bacon was available everyday from two or more venues. The deli and MDR were two of them. Room service charges are now the rule on cruise lines. Cost management is key to cruise line survival.

 

 

 

I want to try the new menus - like you I missed them on the Magic. Not sure when I'll cruise again with the prices now.

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

what ive noticed: 

 

packages of bottled water in room is 2x more expensive than in years past

room stewards have to do a lot more cabins and ask if once a day service is acceptable

Cheers package is gonna be more expensive on shorter cruises 

 

i cant substantiate this one very well but the buffet seems to have dropped one rung.  i still go and dont have many issues but my wife has struggled to find something she really wants to eat about half of the time for dinner.   breakfast is as good as it ever was, except for BACON SHORTAGE! 

 

 

The price of a case of water has gradually creeped up from the when they banned bringing your own bottles and made a big deal about how much they reduced the price for a case of water so people wouldn't say they banned bringing your own so they could sell more water onboard.

 

You're lucky you were asked if once-a-day service was okay.  It's now the default, and most stewards don't ask if it's okay or whether you prefer AM or PM service; they just get to your cabin when they can and when you're not in, regardless of the time of day.  Which is actually fine with me because I don't keep a consistent schedule day to day on a cruise.

 

For lunch onboard I find myself avoiding the main buffet and eating at the other free venues (and maybe just picking a couple things I like off the buffet) because the buffet seems to be more and more cheap carbs for you to fill up on (especially pasta and potatoes) and fried foods that are easy to prepare.

 

Cruise on any other line and you'll see there's not a bacon shortage.  There's a shortage of bacon at the prices Carnival is willing to pay for the quantity that gets consumed at the buffet.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

 

Speaking about cake...do they still have those nice cakes at the lunch buffet?

 

 

Yes.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

There's a shortage of bacon at the prices Carnival is willing to pay for the quantity that gets consumed at the buffet.

Are you sure? How much is Carnival willing to pay? You can get all the bacon you want every other day at the buffet or everyday at the Deli or MDR.Or double up every other day at the buffet.

[staceyglow]

Specifically in the last six months? None that I can think of, and I have been on several cruises in that time period. 

 

But of course, if you are like some people who spend their entire cruise looking for things to complain about, you will probably find something. 

[icft]

We cruised about three weeks ago. What we noticed:

 

- There is one cutback reversal. The late night snacks are back; something we really missed.

- The Diamond lunch was a true lunch with some of the best food we have ever had on Carnival (why can't they do that for the MDR).

- The soups in the MDR were back to pre-covid quality. That is, the chicken soup had a nice amount of chicken in it (on our prior cruise my soup had not a speck of chicken meat), the meatball soup had lots of very good meatballs. All the soups were very good. Service in the MDR still sucks (they try but too few staff).

 

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

7 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

They no longer ask, twice daily service is flat out not an option.

...and our last cabin steward basically told me, after I asked for evening service, that it was not fixed - and that he'd get to us sometime during the day (morning/evening). After a little more discussion, he then understood that he'd not be able to access our cabin (SNOOZIN) except during the evening.

 

Tom

[ldubs]

Personally I wouldn't solicit a bunch of negative feedback just prior to a cruise.  It is going to be what it is going to be.  Enjoy!  

[icft]

29 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Personally I wouldn't solicit a bunch of negative feedback just prior to a cruise.  It is going to be what it is going to be.  Enjoy!  

I guess it is one of those "you can't win for losing" situations.

 

I have seen threads in which an OP expressed surprise about some "changes" they encountered on their cruise only to be pretty much told they didn't have the intelligence of a brick because they had not been following CC. Everything they mentioned had been discussed on CC ad nauseam and they were an idiot for not having done research before their cruise. Now the OP of this thread is doing his research. Since covid, on each cruise (12 cruises for us) something has been "changed" as the OP has probably noticed (can't say cut, that is negative thinking and change is normal and constant) so OP is asking. Strangely on our recent cruise, for the first time since covid, the only change was for the better.

Edited October 14, 2023 by icft

[mz-s]

41 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

...and our last cabin steward basically told me, after I asked for evening service, that it was not fixed - and that he'd get to us sometime during the day (morning/evening). After a little more discussion, he then understood that he'd not be able to access our cabin (SNOOZIN) except during the evening.

 

Tom

 

Yes that's happened to me a few times since the COVID restart as well - the steward told us when he was available to service our room.