Cruise passengers -- at the least the ones who sailed before the covid pandemic -- seem to resist any changes to the cruising experience. That puts Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) in a tough position as both cruise lines are on the front lines of bringing new people to cruising.
That forces Royal Caribbean and Carnival to balance the needs and expectations of returning passengers with what might appeal to customers who are new to cruising. Those two groups don't always want the same things which makes any change either cruise line makes a major issue.
DON'T MISS: Carnival Cruise Line Makes Major Dining Change
Returning cruise passengers have also struggled to deal with changes forced by the covid pandemic. Some of those are positives -- like the virtual muster drills both Royal Caribbean and Carnival are using. Others, like not offering printed daily schedules (you can generally request one, but it varies by ship) have not been met with positive reactions.
Now, a change Carnival has made -- which Royal Caribbean has mostly not -- has led to some controversy at a time when both companies have made major changes in their main dining rooms (MDR).
Image source: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty
Carnival Makes a Menu Change
Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival have changed some key MDR policies. Royal Caribbean made the boldest move as it literally changed its nightly menus getting rid of its "Classics" choices that were available every night. That's a major change as it removes popular appetizers including escargot, French onion soup, and shrimp cocktail from the nightly choices while also getting rid of main course choices including a basic steak and spaghetti bolognese.
Carnival also made a major MDR change in adding a $5 charge for any entree a passenger orders after the first two. Royal Caribbean did not quite follow that but has added a fee for extra lobster tails on cruises six nights or longer which have a lobster night. Passengers who want a second lobster tail (and any after that) will pay $16.99 plus an 18% gratuity for each one they ask for.
The actual changes are a lot for customers to handle, but people are also getting angry at Carnival over a change that has not actually become a new policy.
Carnival Answers a Major Menu Question
When Carnival and Royal Caribbean returned to sailing after the 16-month covid shutdown, both cruise lines enacted a lot of new policies based on social distancing and eliminating touch points. One of those practices was using QR codes and their respective apps to deliver menus.
Both cruise lines still use QR codes for menus, which is something Carnival loyalty ambassador John Heald commented on on his Facebook page (no spellings or 'jokes' have been changed from his post).
"These days of course we have QR codes and the menu on the App and we are not the only ones. Last week I stayed in the Mariotthyattcontinental and ate dinner as always in their restaurant. While the food is very good (the huevos de burro is excellent) there is no printed menú at all. This means that with the very dim lighting people like me had to increase the font size of at least 18 points. Please, if no printed menus please have fonts. And no sodding italics. And maybe have flashlights on each table FFS," he wrote.
Where Heald pushed back is on the notion -- which has been widely shared on social media -- that Carnival has gotten rid of its printed menus.
"Anyway, we do, of course, have printed menus so please ask, really, just ask and please ignore the tube users who are saying we don’t. They are talking out of their jacksie………..you can ask Uncle Google about that word," he added.
Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have varied on their menu policies and whether they hand you a printed menu. It can vary by sailing or by onboard dining venue, but in all cases, both cruise lines do have a printed menu available.
