Service has gone WAY DOWNHILL...

[code_d]

Brought enough for everyone :D

[valancy1]

Brought enough for everyone :D

 

LOVE IT! LOL!!!! (Where do you find these... so funny.)

[scrappinannie]

This reminds me of one of the reviews I read here on CC about a first time Carnival cruiser and his family experiencing a less than stellar cruise because the crew had not bent over backwards for him. They were staying in a suite and one of the things this poster kept saying was how disappointed he was that his bed was not turned down each night nor were their night clothes set out for them when they returned to their cabin for the evening. Yes, there were a few service related problems, but as a whole, I felt this review was unfairly bashing Carnival because the poster was expecting the Ritz Carleton for a Holiday Inn price. He wanted to be wooed and they weren't wooing him or his family.

 

Bottom line is that some people just believe the world revolves around them. Newsflash: IT DOESN'T!

 

Most of us wouldn't let a little popcorn or tums come between us and our vacation. I know I wouldn't.

[isabellmybell]

It's good to know that you count every minute until you got your precious coffee. I guess your mouth would have gone dry if you waited another minute.

I'm not a big popcorn eater and have never noticed that there is popcorn on the ship. I've worked in the fast food industry and if a customer like you came in 15 minutes to closing we would not restart the ice cream machine for one idiot, I mean customer, so why should Carnival make one bag of popcorn for you. I guess you went starving for the rest of the night. Get a grip and a life. Please.:cool:

 

Eazyliving that was just a rude response. Must you be so hateful? They had a bad time..........and you just made it worse! :(

[juankzas]

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.

 

So, what was worse, your cruise or Progreso??? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=862267

[nolaAlive]

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.

 

No, I don't agree with you. I had outstanding service on my 4 Carnival cruises this year (and far more than 10 Carnival cruises in total). I still have 1 on Carnival left this year and anticipate wonderful service on it.

 

The worst service I ever had was on RCI and the food on Carnival is superior to that on Princess.

 

What did you think of Progreso? :rolleyes:

[Vanessa L]

I love getting attacked for expecting outstanding service for my money.

 

Your expectations are too high agrip, IMHO. "Outstanding service" may be found on lines like Crystal, Cunard, Silversea and Regent (Radisson). But their prices reflect "outstanding". As others have noted, for $600-$900pp vs. what the above lines charge, I've learned to lower my expectations to "OK". In doing so, I've been pleasantly surprized. I always get "OK", but more often than not on Carnival I get "much better than OK". Has it ever gone to "outstanding"? Nope. But I don't expect outstanding for the price Carnival charges. I've found that changing MY expectations instead of expecting an entire cruiseline to cater just to me has gone a long way in keeping peace in my life. Just me, your mileage may vary.

[JeffHatfield]

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.

 

RC service is very good, but Princess that's another story (it was awful on our one and only Princess) But it was the Crown Princess and it apparently has problems.

[travel girl23]

We just got off the Conquest Sunday and I have to say we had some of the best service we have ever had. Not only was our food served promptly but our waiter and asst. waiter were so personable. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to them and they took time to talk to us even though they were busy. Our room steward was one of the best. We have had stewards that we have never seen on a cruise - which is fine as long as everything gets done - but our steward last week called us by name and was always friendly.

I'm sorry to hear that you had bad service and I'm sure others have had the same at times but I feel we have been lucky.

[juankzas]

Agrip, do you remember this post

 

"I think you are totally wrong. I have been on princess 5 times (not by choice) and carnival 10. There is no way that Princess is better. Unless of course you like to complain. Or have no fun."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13885011#post13885011

[onceagain]

We loved the Valor - our best cruise out of 13!

[earlethepearl]

Agrip, do you remember this post

 

"I think you are totally wrong. I have been on princess 5 times (not by choice) and carnival 10. There is no way that Princess is better. Unless of course you like to complain. Or have no fun."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13885011#post13885011

 

 

Isn't Search a wonderful thing? :D

[earlethepearl]

Now I will have to agree on one area. On the Liberty last month we ate dinner every night except for one in the dining room. The other was in the Supper Club. We only received bar service at our table one night and it was extremely slow. Not sure what the hiccup was.

[Vanessa L]

Agrip, do you remember this post

 

"I think you are totally wrong. I have been on princess 5 times (not by choice) and carnival 10. There is no way that Princess is better. Unless of course you like to complain. Or have no fun."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13885011#post13885011

 

Maybe the OP was just having a bad day, you know, kind of like ONE cruise can be bad? Nope. That wouldn't be it. There is no such thing, I'm sure her bad day was system wide. :eek:

[fpslim]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I've never had any issues, but these things can be cyclical, so maybe I'm due. I hope you will give Carnival another chance.

[kyrisong1]

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.

I totally agree, they say popcorn till 11, you should get popcorn at 1045, how expensive is popcorn for crying out loud? sheesh:rolleyes:

Carole

[G'ma]

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.

 

Well, the word "service" covers a lot of territory on a ship. Can you be more specific?

 

I was on Fascination in August and service was terrific - as usual.

[The_Answer_Is_42]

They blocked you because of noro. You would want others with those symptoms to be "blocked" too. Without blood tests it is impossible to know if it is food poisioning or noro. When you are quaranteed Carnival will let you rent movies for free, soda is free and they have you special bag your room service trays.

Yep.

 

I'm sorry, but if you have a stomach ailment that resembles Noro, for your own good and especially everyone else on the ship: I'd rather see you kept aboard for a day or so than get me sick thanks.

 

BTW, if you had genuine food poisoning, you'd be sick for 5-6 days, and Tums would not help for a minute. Once it got into your intestines (after about 20-30 minutes) you're in it for the long haul.

 

 

As far as popcorn: okay, that sucks... but did you go the next day or the day before and get refused at 10:45? If that's the case, okay, talk to the Purser's desk, if not, I really wouldn't get uptight enough about it to make a post or bag on a whole crew while doing it.

 

I'm really sorry to hear you had a bad vacation, but you're making it sound like Carnival has hired on a staff of Ed Bundy's on every ship that just don't care... and honestly, that's not my experience ship-wide: the lion's share of the staff I've dealt with at Carnival were awesome, and really happy to help all that they can.

 

Please, don't drag everyone in on a bad rap, especially when they're just doing their job (speaking specifically about the Nurse), and even on a cruise ship, everyone can have a bad day occasionally.

 

Hope the next cruise is better, and if it's on Carnival, great!

[Vanessa L]

I totally agree, they say popcorn till 11, you should get popcorn at 1045, how expensive is popcorn for crying out loud? sheesh:rolleyes:

Carole

 

I talked to my daughter who has been a server for about 3 years. While she agrees that one should be served right up until closing she said that if they could see how inconsiderate it is to come in 15 minutes before closing and order a big meal (she works at a famous steak restaurant) they would likely not do it, unless they were selfish as heck and up to their eyeballs in entitlement issues. She also noted that such "considerate" people should note that "extras" could be in their food. She said that she has witnessed this more than once. Just food for thought. No pun intended. And yes, I know we're talking about popcorn which is very inexpensive, but more so the principle of ordering 15 minutes before "closing". Again, I have no idea how this works, I've never been a server in my life, but I have also never shown up in an establishment 15 minutes before closing and ordered anything--not even a McDonalds. To me, it just seems like it would muck up the people who were trying to close down and go home.

[The_Answer_Is_42]

Now I will have to agree on one area. On the Liberty last month we ate dinner every night except for one in the dining room. The other was in the Supper Club. We only received bar service at our table one night and it was extremely slow. Not sure what the hiccup was.

I can't say for sure, but on all of our cruises when we were in the dining rooms for dinner, our drink server was kinda sluggish, but I chalk that up to there being 3 servers for the entire dining room... It's an exaggerating I'm sure, but I only saw 3 people on any of the areas at a quick glance that were in the blue vests.

 

If I want anything to drink during dinner that is alcoholic, I'll bring it in.

 

But then again I think a lot of bad experiences on vacations (ie. a relaxed setting) have to deal with high expectations, or low willingness to bend... I don't know... I just refuse to get uptight about anything non-life-threatening when I'm on vacation.

[houstoncruisers2001]

Isn't Search a wonderful thing? :D

 

This is way too funny.

 

Did the pot(agrip) just call the kettle, black?

[gvlgolflady]

I have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Princess. I have had great service on all the cruises. After the first night in the dining room; I have never had to ask for lemon for my water also, never had to ask for coffee. I can only say good things about Carnival; after my 3rd cruise with NCL my travel agent talked me into trying Carnival. I am really glad he did so; I am booked on my 10th Carnival cruise in Feb. '09. Can't wait to be treated like a queen again. I know that there are times when service is not what one expects; but, in general I think Carnival is as good as any of the other lines. We were on the Caribbean Princess February of this year and did not find their dining staff as friendly as on Carnival; but, we still had very good service.:D

[katiel53]

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.

 

 

I think that because you got sick on the cruise, everything else was bad. It could have been something you had in your system before boarding, who knows? In all the cruises you have been on, haven't you ever heard of Noro? The ship was protecting other people from you, not tricking you.

 

You can get people to agree with you on a ship about everything. If you ask people if the service is good, you will get one answer. If you say don't you think the service is bad/awful/stinks etc, you will get a different answer. I think you are right in not going on Carnival again as you will hate every minute of it.

 

Princess will be happy to have you and somehow I think there will be something that goes wrong that wouldn't bother others but will you. Times have changed, you aren't paying the equivalent amount of dollars in today's economy had inflation kept up with cruising. You can't expect to get today what you got years ago for the same money. I think that's what you are doing.

 

I know you aren't the only one as many people feel the same way about how everything is declining. It's not just on a cruiseship, but I do feel based on what you posted, Princess should be your ship--until something goes wrong.

[TexasRain]

Is it just me or does anybody question A GRIP's log in name? Could be nothing, but makes me wonder................hmmmm????;)

[MAKINGWAVES]

We just got off the carnival Triumph this past weekend and I can't bragg enough about how great the service was. The service could not have been better. This is all areas, stateroom, dining room, the bar areas, and just everything. Sad that some people don't get this.