Food, Cabins And Staff: Are The Carnival Complaints Justified?

Dr Tiana Templeman is onboard the Carnival Encounter, and she gives us her honest review.
She reviews the food, activities, entertainment, and cabins.
What do you think of her review? Tell us in the comment section.

The absorption of the P&O fleet into Carnival has received a mixed response, with some one and two-star reviews for Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure and others in favour. Cruising with Honey wrote a blistering piece, but a Cruise Passenger reader poll of nearly 400 gave the new ships an approval rating of 70%.

Even as a specialist cruise journalist who has been covering the industry for years and has previously travelled on both ships, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would my sailing on Carnival Encounter be enjoyable or a frustrating cruise experience spoiled by the three most common complaints: disappointing food, poor service and no changes to the cabins? Here’s my take on what you can expect onboard, based on my recent sailing.

Food: Remains mainly the same, with a few exceptions

P&O Cruises never set out to be a line known for its fine cuisine, and neither does Carnival. The food aims to be tasty with broad appeal, and most of the time it succeeds.

On our three-night sailing, the complimentary venues were consistent, with The Pantry having some of the best Chinese takeaway dishes I’ve had for years. There was enough spice to make them interesting but not enough to turn other diners off. The Indian curries at lunchtime were also good, as was our complimentary multicourse dinner at Dragon Lady, where the food was hot, ideal for sharing and arrived right on time.

The waterfront carnival encounter — The Waterfront Restaurant

In fact, we found the food on our Carnival Encounter sailing to be pretty much identical to when we sailed on the ship in its P&O Cruises days. Right down to the rather ordinary burger from Luke’s Burger Bar, which had a beef patty that lacked flavour, and French fries that looked a lot like the free ones you could get elsewhere on the ship. Why did we pay for another burger when the one we’d had on Pacific Encounter was disappointing? Good question, lesson learned. Save your money and put it towards an a la carte dinner at Luke’s Bar and Grill or Trattoria, both of which were excellent.

Carnival Encounter Luke's Bar and Grill — Luke’s Bar and Grill

Speaking of paying for food, there was one change we noticed: an increase in the number of chargeable options in the complimentary dining venues. There’s no need to pay more, but if you have your heart set on a particular dish and are unwilling to consider the other complimentary options, you may have to. You’ll also still have to pay for ice cream. This is the same as when Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure were sailing for P&O Cruises, so it is nothing new – which has drawn criticism.

Carnival Encounter Trattoria restaurant — Trattoria Restaurant

In a previous story, Cruise Passenger reported that one of the complaints is that some things haven’t changed enough and the new ships don’t have all the perks and amenities that typically come with a Carnival sailing. This is true, but we didn’t miss the complimentary late-night pizza or soft serve. We were happy with the free pizza that is available until 4pm and we could enjoy it in the upmarket surrounds of Trattoria, a specialty restaurant that usually costs extra. This beat the pool deck, hands down.

Carnival encounter dessert at Trattoria — The dessert at Trattoria restaurant

Cabins are showing their age

Of all the complaints being levelled at the new Carnival ships, the one about the lack of changes in the cabins rang true. When you’re surrounded by upmarket décor in the public areas, it’s easy to forget the ship you’re sailing on is 23 years old. Except perhaps when you’re inside your cabin, as we discovered on Carnival Encounter.

Aside from new carpet and bed linens, our accommodation hadn’t been renovated since the ship finished sailing as Star Princess for Princess Cruises in 2018. Seven years later, the decor and artwork seemed old-fashioned and didn’t match the ship’s otherwise contemporary look.

cabin on carnival encounter — A cabin on board Carnival Encounter

Our cabin also had none of the modern conveniences like an interactive television which are standard on newer ships, although the bedside lamps with a USB charging port were handy. While our balcony stateroom was in good repair, there was no denying it was looking rather tired.

If you’re like us and know what the cabins will be like before you get onboard, you will probably have a similar reaction to ours. We noticed our accommodation was showing its age, but this didn’t impact our overall cruise experience as we were out and about most of the time. Passengers who weren’t aware the cabins hadn’t been recently renovated, however, will likely have a different reaction.

Staff: Hard working, friendly and engaged

And the criticisms that made the least sense based on our cruise? The ones about poor service, a lack of smiles and confused crew. We braced ourselves for an unhappy ship ‑‑ and believe me, we’ve sailed on a few — but the service was good, and the staff we encountered and observed were working hard to please passengers.

happy crew aboard the Carnival Encounter — The happy crew aboard Carnival Encounter

That said, it was easy to understand how difficult it must have been for the crew on some of the earlier cruises as they struggled to learn the new back-of-house systems while dealing with a full ship. On our sailing, the staff’s good humour and enthusiasm added significantly to what was already an enjoyable cruise.

guest services desk carnival encounter — The guest services desk

The verdict

If you’re expecting a fancy experience on Carnival Encounter or Carnival Adventure, or one with the razzle dazzle of a ‘new ship’, you could be disappointed. In fact, this is perhaps the ships’ biggest downfall.

Not because the new Carnival ships don’t deliver on their promise of a fun, affordable and enjoyable cruising experience — our sailing certainly did — but because their transition isn’t fully complete. Sometimes the upmarket surroundings also make it easy to forget you’re not on a more upmarket line.

Provided you keep your expectations reasonable, there is a lot to love on Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter, including P&O Cruises’ favourites like Blanc de Blanc Uncorked and Luke’s Bar and Grill that you get to enjoy for a little while longer.