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“Very Disappointed”

written by boltfamokc on 28/12/2017

Our previous 8 cruises have been with Princess and have been mostly pleased with each one. This time we decided to try Carnival due our short drive from Houston to Galveston to catch the cruise as well as the 4-day cruise option offered by Carnival Valor. (Dec 22-26, 2017)
Overall, we were very disappointed with the cruise. It started out on the wrong foot. We had purchased the Faster To Fun package which expedites the onboarding process. This includes having your cabin ready as soon as you board. Our room was not ready and the stewards were unaware that our room was on the Faster To Fun list. Needless to say, we had to wait for our room to be finished before we could unpack.
There were rusted areas on our balcony and the glass balcony rail was very dirty. Windows throughout the ship were equally dirty.
The buffet area needed some maintenance. There were missing toppers on the poles supporting the sneeze shields.
Our room steward left our trash unemptied and a used pool towel lying in the couch for two days.
I have to use a CPAR and due to the lack of plug-ins, the steward had to bring a long extension cord to run across the entirety of the room floor to my side of the bed.
The musical entertainment lacked a lot to be desired. One couple that played very old country only, another couple that played salsa, one single man playing some contemporary music.
My wife and I both got sick after one breakfast in the buffet. Probably had something to do with the really greasy bacon that we tried to wipe dry.
We ate most of our meals in the Washington or Lincoln dining rooms. The evening meals have a dress code which does not include shorts, flip-flops or t-shirts. However, this was always overlooked by the staff and let anybody in regardless of how poorly they were dressed for the occasion. I’m not being snobby about this but if we take the time to pack and dress according to the requirements, I think others should as well. And the staff should enforce the rules.
Also, the staff at the Lincoln dining room needs to learn the difference between an appetizer and main course. These do not get served at the same time.
There were multiple instances of rude staff at various locations on the ship. However, bar staff at the casino were excellent.
We’ll go back to Princess cruises and will also consider Royal Caribbean. I had always heard that that food and entertainment were better on those two cruise lines than Carnival and now we believe it.