Hello Canucks! I’m in the archives here. Niles and I are prepping for our first Europe cruise, April 2025, so I wanted to check out this series. I just had to say to Jill, this is absolutely the funniest version of Sweet Caroline ever! You must have been dying!!! 🤣
Unfortunately, Carnival has gotten very cheap. I am also platinum and it seems like they’re always giving less than less every ship even the new ones they don’t have tablecloth. The things are not the way they used to be. They don’t do their beautiful midnight, buffets, ice, sculptures, and everything else like they did in the past, I have tried other lines as well and the same thing has happened though a lot has changed. I will still pick Carnival over the other cruise lines, but I know how you feel.
Our daughter went on the Carnival Legend in June 2022. She's sailed them about 10 times and this was the first since COVID. She noticed a big difference and said we'd notice some unfortunate changes - we were skeptical and thought "how bad can it be." We certainly DID notice the changes and they changed the experience. It's still a cruise and still a ton of fun, but when customers starting seeing a reduction in quality for the same money or more - then it might be a slippery slope.
Thanks for the vid! Catching up here. Just returned from a cruise from Ravenna Italy on the Brilliance of the Seas.....so watching all your vlofs right now :-)
My husband and I eat only at the buffet on Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Our recent 2 week Mediterranean cruise on the Regal we enjoyed the buffet and people we met starting leaving the dining room for the buffet….it just does not take so long and there is more variety and the buffet staff was so friendly.
Thanks for sharing!! We debate between buffet and MDR for those exact reasons. The MDR often wins out because we make dinner an 'event' in our evening. Time for a glass of wine, conversation and a slow pace. However, we have family that also do the buffet each night. The variety and chance to try a little of everything is a huge perk!
I hear your words that it's okay, but your faces don't look that happy as when you are on other lines. We took a Carnival cruise once and swore never again. With your wonderful videos of the Rotterdam, we decided on HAL. They owe you big time. 💚💚
We are counting the days until HAL in March. But……. We have two carnival cruises booked in December. We tried to cancel them but the fare deposit is non-refundable. So we have two more times before we can put carnival behind us.
I watched their videos on HAL Rotterdam as well as others. Sailed July 17th from Amsterdam to the Norwegian fjords- this ship is gorgeous. The food was amazing- it was fully booked but never waited in line. Accommodations were top notch- as with service. Honestly, the buffet and MDR were on par with specialty restaurants. We did all specialty but Tamarind was my favorite. Enjoy
@@CruisingCanucks I feel like the missing tablecloths downgrade the experience somewhat. It gives it more of a "diner" feel rather than a fine dining one. I would also dislike having to look at the menu on my phone, that's another negative to me. On the positive side, the food you had for dinner looked really good.
@@Rose-bv6wp For sure - it's funny, we were just saying to someone else.....the atmosphere is a big piece of a great dining experience and that's what was missing. We liked the food (and always have) on Carnival, the portion sizes seemed smaller and the details you mentioned downgraded the experience. Phones at dining room tables.....grrrrr.....we spent years teaching our kids that isn't appropriate, and Carnival goes and makes it a near necessity. We say 'near' based on what we tried for the second leg of our Carnival cruises - you'll see what we mean on Day 13!
@@CruisingCanucks You're absolutely right. The old saying "you eat with your eyes first" applies to much more than the food itself IMO. Crisp, clean table linens, the table settings/crystal, etc. all enhance the experience. I'm with you 100% on "no phones at the table". Our kids were never allowed electronics at the table, to me it's rude and a sign of disrespect to everyone else at the table. I guess I'm dating myself, lol. Ooh, a cliffhanger! I'll look forward to the day 13 vlog to find out what happens!
Thanks so much for this video! I've always been curious about cruise vacations, and it's been great binging your vlogs here. I've been following along with all the controversies surrounding the airlines and many of their budget and service cuts, so it's interesting to see what you experienced on Carnival. I get that COVID and the recession were incredibly hard on the travel industry. I just wish these companies stop nickel-and-diming guests when they're in a position to do better. Anyhoo, I can hardly wait to watch more footage from this trip! It's so much fun to see so much of Europe!
There sure seems to be a disconnect with what we’re told about COVID measures and staff shortages and what we saw. We were at full capacity and the staff capacity was even larger than the specs for the ship online. So no apparent staff shortages. Meanwhile there was certainly evidence of cutbacks. When other lines aren’t taking the same approach - this might make for an alienation of long-time Carnival supporters. Maybe the new demand will fill the gap and Carnival is banking on that?
Love your videos and fresh approach. Down to earth and relatable. I know this was Carnival, but what is with the t-shirts and baseball hats in the showroom on formal night, in Europe of all places?
Argh - hats inside and especially dining rooms are not needed and no classy. We found the majority of guests were actually American- so the expected impact of European fashion wasn’t there. Our cruise a couple of weeks later out of Rome (in NCL) had a dressier feel for sure.
I just came back from my first Celebrity cruise (Edge/Mediterranean) and while food in the dining rooms was very good (but limited), the buffet was amazing both in choices and quality. Won't blame or put fault on the whole cruise line. Sometimes everything changes from ship to ship within the same cruise line.
Yes that’s the debate we always have. We are curious to see if we notice the same challenges on two different Carnival ships this winter - or if it was just the Pride.
They are trying to be more environmentally aware so you can only get the daily schedule at the service desk. I suspect the menu is the same thing with a tinge of covid precautions to gild it. It’s the same menu on every carnival ship anywhere in the ocean with the same thing every day, too.
It just feels odd if it’s environmental. Carnival (and all other cruise lines) have rigorous recycling programs and paper is one of the easiest and most lucrative to recycle. We like the Princess approach where you can request a paper copy in your cabin if you like, or holland America and NCL where one is provided automatically.
@@CruisingCanucks my lady Holland cruise did not have paper dailies delivered to the room but they did have menu cards in the dining room because I think not having them was a stretch too far for the usual Holland clientele. I also think, in addition to their nod to environmental correctness, they are saving money by not having people running around delivering dailies to the rooms. I do not love not having a menu, I concur. I bet it also cuts down on what people order because they struggle to see the entire menu and thus are unaware of all the options.
HAL Alaska in August had daily schedules, nice menus, table cloths in the MDR and nicer table decor on the Lido than Carnival seems to have on the dining room. We tell our stewards to skip the towel animals. I think it’s tedious extra work for them plus the towels never really get used.
We have found recently, that Thorpe cruise lines MDR cuisine was subpar. Royal was the worst! Holland al little better. All are promoting specialty dining with the up charges. Just another attempt to increase revenue. We were huge fans of Carnival. Moving on to HAL, Celebrity and possibly Princess. disappointing revelations
Have I missed a video? You were in Dover, did you walk to the Port? Was there an embarkation video I missed? I’m soooooo confused, is this still the Europe Holiday? I think I need to watch the London vid again, see what was said.
Sorry - for some reason when I sent the video file to youtube you were able to see it. It's not public today for everyone to see. We had Day 1 video come out this past Wednesday. We lucked out and found a taxi!
