Just some observations on a Carnival Spirit Cruise to Mexican Riviera 10/23/05:

No organization on embarkation- no signs or assistance. "drop luggage here" would have worked fine- just a giant room with 2 exits- people wandering in and out with luggage everywhere. Information on getting on tenders in port was confusing.

On board: the buffet dining and room service served weak foul smelling coffee. (I am not a Starbucks fan..Folgers would have been fine).

Cocktails... I had been looking forward to a couple festive cocktails on board. The mixes were bad..the cocktails you can buy in cans taste better. Very disappointing.

Empire Room dining...everything was edible.. a bit uneven and nothing to knock your socks off including desserts. At breakfast I ordered Eggs Bendict that looked like a rubber child's toy and tasted the same.

Buffet food bland, less than Denny's quality..omelettes greasy, food temperatures tepid, pizza like Dominos. We ended up drinking tea and having cold cereal and milk every morning. Thank heaven there was food in port.

Food, food everywhere and not a bite to eat.

As per Carnival reputation there was a contingent of hard-drinking non-discerning party people on board. Bless there hearts they didn't seem to care.

4 full days at sea was too long under the circumstances. On the plus side..clean rooms, good service. great helpful staff. Immaculately clean ship.

The overall rating of this ship on cruise critic is 4.3, an exceptionally high mark.

I'm sure the ship deserves a pretty high mark...now if they could just do something about the passengers.

Nina: That is an example of painting all with the one stroke from the same brush.

WE got off the GLORY Nov.12th. Food just doesn't seem as good as it had been. Meat always seemed tough but you get vegatables now.My husband said all the coffee was terrible, might bring Flogers next Carnival. The Eggs Benedicts are prepared ahead then kept warm on the warming oven. I now ask for more hollandaise and a fried egg. I take what I consider the hardboiled egg off and put the fried egg in its place. Then put more sauce on it. But the deli had fantastic Reubens and roast beef sandwiches. You watch them make them. We did this for lunch and to take ashore for lunch.
We could not believe it when our color tags were anounced to get off ship at 8AM!!! We were on our way to breakfast. They had a carosel to locate you bags so you didn't have to hunt. (This was in Port Canaveral). The newer Carnval shiops are BIG improvements over older ones!

Many cruise lines skimp on the coffee. We always travel with packets of instant coffee and add it to the coffee served on the ship or hotel for that matter. Suprisingly they served really strong coffee on the NCL Star last week going to the Mexican Riviera.

Just curious why you selected Carnival over the NCL Star or Sapphire Princess for the Mex. Riviera?

Agree about the coffee but I am picky about it as well. I even dislike coffee served in fine restaurants usually. At home I brew Gevalia. On cruises I'll pay extra for coffee from the expresso bar.

As I recall, the coffee on Carnival was pretty decent. However, Princess is widely known for its lousy coffee--watery and tasteless.

Does anyone know if bad coffee is a British thing (not trying to offend--just wondering if they might be more focused on tea?)

The best coffee I ever tasted on a cruise ship was on Grand Princess. This is a first time I hear that Princess is "widely known" for bad coffee. This subject was discussed on cruise-adicts board a while ago and most agreed that Princess coffee is among the best. I also doubt it has anything to do with British. They know not only their tea, but coffee as well.

Agree with spur. Carnival coffee, to me, was pretty bad but I thought they had a better expresso bar than the Sapphire Princess. Oh well to each their own I suppose.

We ended up on Carnival to join friends and relatives who had already booked the trip. It just seemed sad to have to scheme to get good food or to pay extra for decent coffee. The terrible cocktail quality on the ship really came into focus at Las Hadas resort in Manzanillo when we all had Pina Coladas to-die-for, creamy with real coconut...mmmmmm.

Author: nina
Date: 11/07/2005, 08:39 pm
I'm sure the ship deserves a pretty high mark...now if they could just do something about the passengers.

It appears to me that a comment like the above says a lot more about the poster than Carnival cruisers.

I agree with the OPs comments about food, food everywhere and nothing to eat. I had that same experience on the Glory in May.

Buffet food was heavy on salt, sauce and grease, in dining room it was served tepid at times and I really had a difficult time as they could not serve me fish prepared without the sauces. I was told it was already cooked that way and they could not make it plain just for me.

The specialty restaurant was excellent and a highlight of the trip.

I have found Celebrity to be the only line in my recent experience where a decent cup of coffee could be had without paying extra. I had a few cups a day at the ala carte coffee bar on Glory. I enjoy a decent cup and it was worth the price. I drink more tea than coffee these days when on a cruise ship.

I found Port Canaveral to be really disorganized for embarkation and debarkation. Carnival made us go through three lines just to check in and I do not understand why a separate line was necessary just to pick up room key. Then, there was no way to bypass photo line so that was another 20 minutes. Leaving was also time consuming.

I know there are those that really enjoy the Carnival experience and I do agree that they have come a long away since my first cruise in the early 90s on Fantasy, but it is still not for me.

I enjoy good service and freshly prepared foods that can be served without sauces all over them as well as more elegant onboard atmosphere. For me, there are much better choices out there.

Its a big world. What is good for some is bad for others. I like CCL but also understand how some may not. OTOH I would probably not like a cruise with too much formality. Not my style. To each their own. As for coffee I think I'll buy a 4 cup coffee maker and take that and my Gevalia with me for our next cruise which seems to be the Tahatian Princess going to FP and the Cook islands. Bon voyage everyone.

NCL has a 4 cup coffee pot in each cabin along with decent coffee you make yourself!

The Sapphire Princess did not have that. I'll call Princess to see if the TP does. Thanks for the tip.

I liked the coffee on Princess, in the dining room, but the coffee at the buffet was terrible!