It’s been 10 years since I cruised on Carnival. This is the change which bothered me the most

[mfs2k]

My wife and I just came back from sailing 10 nights on Carnival Legend in the Mediterranean. We’re Platinum but our last Carnival cruise hasn’t been since 2013. In the last 11 years we’ve been to All-inclusive resorts and sailed on other cruise lines. Some things about this Carnival cruise were great and other things not so great but one change irked me more than others. 
I know this had been discussed on multiple occasions but I’m bringing it up again.
 I did not like the expectation of using one”s phone as a menu and as a tool for trying to get a seat for breakfast in the main dining room (We had late assigned dining time so I didn’t need to use the phone for anytime dining seating)

I’m 65 and am quite comfortable using a phone for doing everything. I’ve exceeded screen time guidelines since I was 5 watching tv more than I was supposed to. I know how to use my phone but I don’t like being expected to use my phone to review a menu. 
I remember the thrill of looking at the menus my parents brought home from their cruises in the 60’s. I appreciate the elegant service of being handed a fancy menu in a leather (or vinyl) menu holder and perusing my options before ordering. That feeling is gone now when I’m asked to look at my phone for the evening selections. Ugh. Just thinking about it now irritates me. I know this became necessary when Covid was raging but it’s been 4 1/2 years and this continued practice needs to become a memory in my opinion. 
I get it that 1. I can probably get a menu if I ask for it and 2. many people prefer this method. 
My objection is this is now the rule and not the exception. I want my dinners on a cruise to be above Olive Garden standards. I’d like to be offered a menu when I’m seated like I used to. I don’t object to having the option to say “no, thank you. I have it on my phone.”  
One day we went to MDR for breakfast and I left my phone charging in the cabin. I had no idea I was supposed to request a table on the app. The Maitre D seemed annoyed we showed up without a reservation. He was able to add me to the list and said it would be 10 minutes but I sensed the disdain in his voice that I was unaware. When I asked the server for a breakfast menu I was greeted with the same disdain. Ugh. 
Lastly, I couldn’t help notice as I walked through the dining room after dinner how virtually every guest (and an older demographic on this cruise) had their phones on the table next to their place settings. I expect this nowadays from young people but I don’t like it. It’s inelegant and feels like just bad table manners to this boomer. Sorry not sorry. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 10:40 PM by mfs2k

[BlerkOne]

Paper menus are available on request. 

 

One can still walk up and be checked in and wait. Many prefer the convenience of being able to choose where they wait 

Edited Tuesday at 11:18 PM by BlerkOne

[ColeThornton]

With my eyes if I had to read the menu on my flip phone I might starve for seven days.  😉

[mfs2k]

42 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Paper menus are available on request. 

 

One can still walk up and be checked in and wait. Many prefer the convenience of being able to choose where they wait 

One is expectation. They other is exception. 
the point of my post is its now reversed and that’s not my preference. 

[Mike45LC]

@mfs, I have asked for (and been given) printed menus for every meal in the MDR on my last two Carnival cruises.  Not a problem, although a couple of the waiters did sometimes act aggravated by my request.  

 

I was more annoyed by the lack of table clothes and the lack of changing the flatware between courses.  And ordering dessert before the meal.  

 

[mfs2k]

16 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I was more annoyed by the lack of table clothes and the lack of changing the flatware between courses.  And ordering dessert before the meal

I agree. I didn’t like those things either. 

[leafsnation]

Get what you pay for. Carnival is cheap vs other lines.

bob

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We had fixed dining and asked our dining team for menus the first night.  

 

For the rest of the cruise they were on the table waiting for us when we arrived. 

[Mike45LC]

39 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

We had fixed dining and asked our dining team for menus the first night.  

 

For the rest of the cruise they were on the table waiting for us when we arrived. 

That's how it should be!  Kudos to your Dining Room staff!

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, leafsnation said:

Get what you pay for. Carnival is cheap vs other lines.

bob

Not just that Carnival is budget friendly....but this is the 21st Century.

People who need pampering should cruise on an upscale line....with an upscale price.

[2wheelin]

22 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Not just that Carnival is budget friendly....but this is the 21st Century.

People who need pampering should cruise on an upscale line....with an upscale price.

Excuse me but expecting to be handed a menu when being seated is not pampering. It is the norm in upscale restaurants as well as truck stops.

[BallFour4]

We might be related. I am 65, cruised as a high school grad in 1976 on the Mardi Gras and my wife and I went on our first cruise together on the Celebration from here in Galveston in 2002. Since then we sailed on everything with a funnel from Galveston along with three other ports and agree with your observation with a different angle.

 We have aged out of Carnival. Our weekends are often spent riding our e-bikes and watching the ships sail from here, and the Carnival ships sail with music blaring and the cruise director not knowing when to shut up on the microphone. After nineteen years as a weekend wedding DJ I learned early.

 Carnival does not care if I am Diamond or aluminum. They want people completely disconnected from how much they spend on drinks and in non-stop party mode from the moment they step off the gangway. Good for them, and more reasons for my "aged out" comment. I don't care for a hairy chest contest, seeing people grind on the shower pool poolside on the lido deck or 100 decibel music during sea days.

 After thirty-eight cruises since the Celebration and a sixteen year run exclusive on Carnival we booked the Quantum of the Seas to Alaska last summer and the Icon this past March. Both were under 4K for a balcony cabin after taxes. We have a great travel agent that calls us when deals pop up.

 We now have the Independence booked for Europe next summer and the Allure in January. I don't need a chess set, cheap binoculars, hat, shave kit or anything else for my status. I want what Carnival was as recent as when the Conquest came here after Hurricane Katrina drove her away from NOLA.
 

 The Jubilee is beautiful, friends have reported they had an amazing time, but far to many Instagram videos exist of free-for-all fights on the funnel folks.

 Some, or many might disagree, but Funship Freddy has left the building. 

.
 

Edited Wednesday at 02:42 AM by BallFour4

[MsTabbyKats]

5 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Excuse me but expecting to be handed a menu when being seated is not pampering. It is the norm in upscale restaurants as well as truck stops.

Like every company....Carnival cost cuts. 

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, mfs2k said:

One is expectation. They other is exception. 
the point of my post is its now reversed and that’s not my preference. 

Perhaps not, but I would suggest you are part of a shrinking minority.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

@mfs, I have asked for (and been given) printed menus for every meal in the MDR on my last two Carnival cruises.  Not a problem, although a couple of the waiters did sometimes act aggravated by my request.  

 

I was more annoyed by the lack of table clothes and the lack of changing the flatware between courses.  And ordering dessert before the meal.  

 

Carnival Spirit has tablecloths and if you throw your used flatware on the floor you can teach the staff your preferences. I don't fault Carnival for trying to manage costs and keep prices low. It takes some of the sting out of all the free cabins they give away.

[kdr69]

4 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I don’t object to having the option to say “no, thank you. I have it on my phone.”

But you object to the option of saying "no, thank you. Id like a menu please"??

[kdr69]

26 minutes ago, BallFour4 said:

I don't care for a hairy chest contest

Good thing they arent a thing anymore then

[kdr69]

27 minutes ago, BallFour4 said:

but far to many Instagram videos exist of free-for-all fights on the funnel folks.

dont watch instagram then. I've seen just as many videos of fighting on Royal ships too.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Like every company....Carnival cost cuts. 

IMO, Carnival is trying to manage costs that are only going up. I doubt they have actually reduced costs.

[mfs2k]

3 hours ago, kdr69 said:

But you object to the option of saying "no, thank you. Id like a menu please"??

The menus on Legend apparently weren’t readily available. I never saw one at dinner. It wasn’t a known option.
At breakfast when I asked for a menu it took awhile to locate one menu  for the two of us to share. 

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

We might be related. I am 65, cruised as a high school grad in 1976 on the Mardi Gras and my wife and I went on our first cruise together on the Celebration from here in Galveston in 2002. Since then we sailed on everything with a funnel from Galveston along with three other ports and agree with your observation with a different angle.

 We have aged out of Carnival. Our weekends are often spent riding our e-bikes and watching the ships sail from here, and the Carnival ships sail with music blaring and the cruise director not knowing when to shut up on the microphone. After nineteen years as a weekend wedding DJ I learned early.

 Carnival does not care if I am Diamond or aluminum. They want people completely disconnected from how much they spend on drinks and in non-stop party mode from the moment they step off the gangway. Good for them, and more reasons for my "aged out" comment. I don't care for a hairy chest contest, seeing people grind on the shower pool poolside on the lido deck or 100 decibel music during sea days.

 After thirty-eight cruises since the Celebration and a sixteen year run exclusive on Carnival we booked the Quantum of the Seas to Alaska last summer and the Icon this past March. Both were under 4K for a balcony cabin after taxes. We have a great travel agent that calls us when deals pop up.

 We now have the Independence booked for Europe next summer and the Allure in January. I don't need a chess set, cheap binoculars, hat, shave kit or anything else for my status. I want what Carnival was as recent as when the Conquest came here after Hurricane Katrina drove her away from NOLA.
 

 The Jubilee is beautiful, friends have reported they had an amazing time, but far to many Instagram videos exist of free-for-all fights on the funnel folks.

 Some, or many might disagree, but Funship Freddy has left the building. 

.
 

I didn’t experience the party intensity you describe on our 10 night Mediterranean cruise. The average age was about 55-60 and we were off exploring European ports on 7 days. Our total cost including flights, 2 nights in Rome, drinks, WiFi, and port expenses exceeded 10k. It wasn’t a cheap booze cruise. 
 

I used to sail during Spring break on Carnival in the Caribbean and I remember quite well poolside partying. It never bothered me to be around it even if I wasn’t partying with the same intensity. 

 

I don’t remember the fighting you describe. Maybe low cost cruising attracts low class cruisers. 

[MsTabbyKats]

@mfs2k"Cheap" is a relative term.  Your total cost...including flights, 2 nites in Rome etc may have exceeded 10K, but what was the cost of the cruise itself?

 

My November 9 day CCL Venizia (ocean view deluxe cabin) cruise cost approximately one quarter of my April 7 day MSC YC (interior cabin) cruise.   I hope to enjoy both, but my expectations from CCL are limited.  In the YC I'll  have table clothes and fancy menus...basically be treated like royalty...but look at the difference of the price!!!!

 

[pohlerbear]

13 hours ago, mfs2k said:

One is expectation. They other is exception. 
the point of my post is its now reversed and that’s not my preference. 

Its many (including mine) preference to have it the way it is now. I look at menus with leather or vinyl covers and see nothing but germs. No thank you. Saves the cruise line money having to reprint the menus as well. 

 

As the boomers who don't like to use their phone fade away, this will be the norm. Most gen x and below wouldn't even bat an eye at this.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Excuse me but expecting to be handed a menu when being seated is not pampering. It is the norm in upscale restaurants as well as truck stops.

👍, it is not pampering, but you know what, you actually should be pampered on a cruise, That once was the norm.

[MistyRo76]

I get it! One of my favorite things when I first started cruising was being able to put my cell phone in the cabin safe and not get it out for the whole week. But now, my phone serves as my camera so it's with me all the time as I love to take photos and document my vacations. So for me, that shift to relying on technology for menus, checking in for dining and accessing the Fun Times isn't terrible - though I do still love to get the paper Fun Times for a memento! And I also love being able to chat with other people in our group while not together on the ship. 

 

But as I get older reading a menu on a small phone screen is getting harder. I finally broke down and got readers, but I really don't want to have to carry them with me all over the ship as I only need them very sporadically. And my husband refuses to carry his phone on our cruises. He doesn't care to use the Hub Chat - he'll find us eventually if we go our separate ways or we set a pre arranged time/place to meet. And he's not worried about the goings on on the ship. And he HATES reading menus on a device. But our wait staff as always been great about bringing him a paper menu and usually after the first night they had it waiting or brought it to him right away without being asked. 

 

My self-admitted curmudgeon hubby would happily go back to the 80's or 90's before this tech boom happened! 🙂