Service has gone WAY DOWNHILL...

[agrip76]

does anyone else agree with me? We were on Valor last week, my 10th Carnival Cruise and the service was awful. Nothing like it used to be.

[Socref124]

does anyone else agree with me? We were on Valor last week, my 10th Carnival Cruise and the service was awful. Nothing like it used to be.

 

Might have been the Valor. We were on the Destiny last week and the service was very good. Friends had problem in the dinning room the first night but it was taken care of and they didn't have any other problems.

[travelntreats]

Seems like every ship has a bad week now and then... not saying service was not what you expected or have had in the past, but things do happen. Did you contact the pursers desk with your issues when they occured ? What was so bad on your cruise that caused you to post this message ? Curious minds want to know !

[agrip76]

When we asked for a drink it was like we were bothering the bartenders. The drink guy at dinner NEVER asked us if we wanted drinks. IT took 20 minutes to get coffee after dinner. I asked for popcorn on the LIDO deck at 10:45 they stop at 11 and he said he would not make more because it would be wasted. The dealers were jerks and I got food poisoning from the Lobster. I went to the nurse to get tums cuz they don't sell anything in the store and she blocked my pass from leaving the ship....from something that is THEIR FAULT!

 

Other than that it is hard to explain. On Princess and RC they bend over backwards for you..on here they just do what they have to.

[travelntreats]

mY MY... sounds like you had a bad cruise for sure. How many cruises have you been on....?

[EAZYLIVING]

does anyone else agree with me? We were on Valor last week, my 10th Carnival Cruise and the service was awful. Nothing like it used to be.

 

I hate when complainers make such a bold statement like this. As if on every Carnival ship the service has gone way down. Dear complainer if service went way down on every Carnival or any other cruiseline's service do you really think that cruiseline would still be in business? :confused:

[firefly333]

When we asked for a drink it was like we were bothering the bartenders. The drink guy at dinner NEVER asked us if we wanted drinks. IT took 20 minutes to get coffee after dinner. I asked for popcorn on the LIDO deck at 10:45 they stop at 11 and he said he would not make more because it would be wasted. The dealers were jerks and I got food poisoning from the Lobster. I went to the nurse to get tums cuz they don't sell anything in the store and she blocked my pass from leaving the ship....from something that is THEIR FAULT!

 

Other than that it is hard to explain. On Princess and RC they bend over backwards for you..on here they just do what they have to.

 

Iv noticed a increasing number of complaints that are service related since my cruise. Either there are just more complaints lately, or I didnt pay them notice, hard to say. Sorry, you didnt feel you were treated well. I hear if you write a letter to Carnival they usually respond, though I have not yet heard back from them from my cruise over a month ago.

[agrip76]

I did write and I spoke to the pursers desk. no letter back and the purser said "sorry"

 

I have been on over 15 cruises. I think that some people don't care if service has gone down or don't know any better. that is how they stay in business.

[trock]

We have been hearing more and more of this recently... I hope it isnt just 'how things are from now on.."...

 

Too often we are reading that the service is lacking... I hope my cruise in May is just as good as it was last May!

[Vanessa L]

When we asked for a drink it was like we were bothering the bartenders. The drink guy at dinner NEVER asked us if we wanted drinks. IT took 20 minutes to get coffee after dinner. I asked for popcorn on the LIDO deck at 10:45 they stop at 11 and he said he would not make more because it would be wasted. The dealers were jerks and I got food poisoning from the Lobster. I went to the nurse to get tums cuz they don't sell anything in the store and she blocked my pass from leaving the ship....from something that is THEIR FAULT!

 

Other than that it is hard to explain. On Princess and RC they bend over backwards for you..on here they just do what they have to.

 

While I appreciate that you feel you had a bad cruise, I have to disagree with a few of your complaints. I agree that making a whole new batch of popcorn at 10:45 when they quit serving at 11 is fair. The employee was very likely correct in saying much (if not all but your one serving) would go to waste. To me, that is a no brainer. Not sure why you felt the dealers were jerks as you did not exand on that opinion. If you'd gotten genuine food poisoning from the lobster, believe me, Tums would not have touched it!! So, I think maybe just a case of upset stomach? True food poisoning causes MUCH worse symptoms. Why would the nurse have blocked your pass? That part doesn't make sense to me. If she thought you were contagious then again, the Tums doesn't make sense??

 

I'm not doubting that you perceived that things had gone way downhill, but I concur with others that this doesn't mean that it is always like that, nor that it is system-wide. My best friend has sailed the Valor 5 times and has always experienced wonderful service. So I agree that any cruise can have a bad week at any time.

 

Hope your next one is better.

[kandegirl]

We just returned Sunday from the Conquest. This was our 16th cruise, 13 of them on Carnival. I've never had a bad cruise, but I have to agree that the level of service is not what it was 15 years ago. Maybe because there are more cruisers and fewer crew, I'm not sure. Most of the change seems to be in the Dining Room. In the past, after the first night, the waiter never had to ask what you wanted to drink or if you wanted coffee with dessert. They just remembered. They even picked up the empty sugar packets the instant you put them down and brushed the crumbs from the cloth between courses. Now they seem to be so rushed. I'm not saying that because they don't do this so much any more that it is a "bad cruise", it is just an observation. The cabins are still taken care of in the most thorough way. Our cabin had apparently been occupied by heavy smokers, so much that it burned our eyes and noses and we are not ultra sensitive to smoke. Our steward came back and wiped down the walls and mirrors with more disinfectant to eliminate the odor. The ship was clean and the crew was always friendly.

I can't wait to book our next one!!

[agrip76]

Do you know how much food is wasted on the cruise. On Princess they would have made popcorn if I wanted one piece. That is how it should be. I am a customer and they serve it until 11pm. I was there at 10:45.

 

I was up sick for 24 hours throwing up and other things. I think I know if food made me sick. I went there after a day and wanted anything to make me feel better and she blocked my pass because she said it was the law and that anyone who comes down to get medicine for that is blocked. But they don't sell it in the store. and they don't tell you that you are blocked until after you fill out an information sheet about what you ate. They trick you.

[agrip76]

I can't wait to cruise again also. It is the best way to travel. It just won't be Carnival. The lampshades in our room were so filthy that it made me feel sick. The previous poster is right. In the dining room before they would just remember what you liked and do those things, now they ask and it takes 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee.

[Socref124]

I got food poisoning from the Lobster. I went to the nurse to get tums cuz they don't sell anything in the store and she blocked my pass from leaving the ship....from something that is THEIR FAULT!

Are you sure you had food poison? Food poison usually takes five to eight hours after your meal for the symptoms to show up and Tums wouldn't do you any good.

On Princess and RC they bend over backwards for you..on here they just do what they have to.

 

Statements like the above statement will only get you flammed. Makes you sound like an RC cheerleader. The statement makes it seem as all Carnival ships give bad service, not just the two or three people you came in contact with. Sorry you had a rough time but that is not what we have encountered on the six Carnival cruises we have taken. Did you mention anything to the people at the Pursers Desk or to the Maitre D? Personally, I have seen Carnival crew members jump through hoops to make sure you have good service. Our room steward last week made sure we had wine glasses in our room every night and brought us Destiny pins. He told me that he noticed we were past guests and had pins of our previous cruises on a hat so he brought them for us. Since there wasn't a past guest reception, I thought this was pretty nice of him to think of us and briong us something he knew we saved without us having to ask.

[*Mach*]

I sailed on the Conquest a few weeks ago and the service was outstanding, from my cabin steward to the bartenders to my waiter and the Maitre d', all were great.

[agrip76]

I am stating what I experienced. I also heard many other people comment that service is not the same. IT is not awful, it is just not the same outstanding service it used to be.

[Embre]

I have only been on one cruise thus far, and all I can say is if the service I experienced is that which has "gone downhill" the service on Carnival in years past must have been "outrageously over the top spectacular", because we had great service on the Triumph last December.

[agrip76]

My husband has been on two crusies, Princess and Carnival. He said to me that he can't believe how much better service on Princess was. He said on Carnival he felt like he was bothering people to get service.

[farler05]

While I appreciate that you feel you had a bad cruise, I have to disagree with a few of your complaints. I agree that making a whole new batch of popcorn at 10:45 when they quit serving at 11 is fair. The employee was very likely correct in saying much (if not all but your one serving) would go to waste. To me, that is a no brainer.

If they serve until 11, they serve until 11, not 10:45. You don't turn a customer away early, you serve until the closing time. It doesn't say 11ish, it says 11. Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry knows this. He should have made more popcorn.

[agrip76]

If they serve until 11, they serve until 11, not 10:45. You don't turn a customer away early, you serve until the closing time. It doesn't say 11ish, it says 11. Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry knows this. He should have made more popcorn.

 

:D This is coming from a server of 10 years.

[trock]

If they serve until 11, they serve until 11, not 10:45. You don't turn a customer away early, you serve until the closing time. It doesn't say 11ish, it says 11. Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry knows this. He should have made more popcorn.

 

 

and we are talking about freaking popcorn!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

They should have made it! I agree

Ever see how much ice cream goes to waste because all the little kiddies are playing with the machines!

[henepup]

I think that service has gone down hill, and not just on cruise ships. I remember my first cruise 15 yrs ago, the waiter had fresh fruit waiting for me every night. That doesn't happen anymore. Our last cruise was on RCCL, our cabin steward was not that of years past. She wasn't bad, but not great either. We still had a great time, but service standards have changed.

JMHO

Henepup

[CruiznWithHubby]

My husband has been on two crusies, Princess and Carnival. He said to me that he can't believe how much better service on Princess was. He said on Carnival he felt like he was bothering people to get service.

 

And you also pay a much higher price for Princess than you do Carnival,,,,Princess, btw, is OWNED by Carnival, I believe,,,

 

I'm not saying your complaints were not valid,,,,they are perfectly valid,,,but if I own a Ford, I can't really complain that it doesn't perform like a BMW,,,,about all you can do is buy a BMW, if you want the performance of a BMW,,,

 

The other issue is this,,,when did he go on a Princess cruise? I think service has gone down on ALL lines in the past 15 years,,,,but so have the prices,,,,not much you can do about it, except book more expensive cruises,,,

 

For some, this is so important that they are willing to pay more to get a certain standard of service,,,

 

For others, it's not,,,,they'd rather go on two cruises in a year, rather than one more expensive cruise,,,

 

It's all your POV,,,,and neither POV is wrong IMHO,,,Holly

[linda_22003]

I am stating what I experienced. I also heard many other people comment that service is not the same. IT is not awful, it is just not the same outstanding service it used to be.

 

Your experience was valid, as your own experience. Others have different results. If you don't like what Carnival is offering any more, you have many other choices. This is one industry in which cost may be directly proportional to quality of product, so you may need to be willing to pay more for a better experience.

 

I would not be a repeat customer on a line that had disappointed me.

[valancy1]

Wow. I've never been on RCI or Princess and probably won't. I had GREAT service last month on Liberty.

 

If this was about Carnival giving your room away and discovering it upon embarkation, or something horrific like that, I could see the frustration and anger.

 

But POPCORN? Isn't life too short to sweat such small things? Your saying that another line would make a whole batch of popcorn so you could have one piece if you wanted it is, I'm sure, exaggerated.

 

Please go on another line. Wait until 15 minutes before closing the popcorn station and ask them if they would make you a brand new batch for one piece.

 

I loved the service I got on Carnival. I work in a client-customer line of work and I know what good customer service is. My barman knew exactly what I liked to drink and it was waiting for me at my spot at the dining room. My head waiter knew we preferred butter pecan ice cream and would bring us that when our dessert included a scoop of ice cream.

 

I really don't know what the fuss is about. I'm sure you'll be happier on another cruise line. Or maybe you won't. Some people just cannot be pleased no matter what.