Cruise Passenger readers always have plenty to say about what’s going on in Australian cruise, and in the broader cruise community. In Your Say, Cruise Passenger looks at the issues our readers are writing to us about on our blogs, posts and newsletters.
Carnival Encounter has just undergone a $65 million dry dock over three weeks in Singapore, but based on first impressions, guests have yet to be impressed.
While new spa suites, revamped pools and faster waterslides are among the updates, cruisers say work is still underway on board.
Deb and Matt Chat, popular cruise bloggers from Australia, gave a succinct summary of what they’ve been told so far by people on board.
“Passengers returning from the ship’s dry dock are reporting incomplete renovations, leaks in cabins and areas of the ship still resembling a construction site.”
Deb said: “There are a lot of disappointed people. There are some saying ‘yay’ for the upgrades that they’ve done, but people were expecting more.”
They received a message from a couple sailing onboard that rea: “Basically, the Byron Bay pool area is still a construction zone or building site. The lifts are one by one being taken offline and being upgraded to Carnival Safety Systems but that’s not noticeable, it’s more behind the scenes stuff.
“Lots of rooms with leaking ceilings, toilets not fully functioning and rooms covered in mold.
“The marquee theatre seats at the front of the theatre have been recovered but not the little tables.
“The problem with the carpets in the public areas has not changed. Still very sticky. What happened was Carnival scotchguarded the carpets before the plastic covering to protect the floors was put down.
“All pools on deck 14 have been painted and there’s a new astroturf, but the drainage was not repaired and the area floods with the smallest amount of water.
“There are still lines for guest services with people making their concerns known daily.”
Carnival Encounter is currently sailing back to Australia from Singapore, meaning it has only just left its dry deck and these are only first impressions.
A commenter on Deb and Matt’s stream appeared to sum up the general sentiment in saying: “I wonder where the $65 million went.”
Another cruiser onboard Leanda Robbins said: “On ship now. No upgrades to seating etc in Marquee show lounge. Carnival did state that Encounter and Adventure would be kept different to their other ships with the 3 included restaurants. Luke’s contract expires early May so changeover happens then with steakhouse and burger bar.
“I guess that NZ icecream contract still has substantial time to run and not economical for Carnival to pay it out early. I myself like Encounter still having some ties back to P&O as in the scheme of things P&O were only 7 years off a century of operation in Australia and NZ which was quite a big deal.
“I think they may change things on Adventure now that it will be going to America for 6 months of the year as I feel Americans will not tolerate missing out on standard Carnival offerings but I guess only time will tell. Enjoy your cruise on the beautiful Carnival Encounter.”
In a few weeks, Cruise Passenger will be onboard to share imagery and footage of the ships new look and review the new features and changes.
Please keep those comments coming!
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Yes, onboard it really was difficult to see where the quoted 65M was spent. The entire upper decks are rusted and why they weren’t sandblasted and retreated during the drydocking is beyond me. So large parts of upper deck space were closed off while crew chipped away and dabbed paint. My stateroom had broken wash dispensers which just fell off the wall brackets when used, hairdryer wouldn’t release from its holder because it was broken, if you left the bathroom light on the night light would constantly switch on and off.
Just got off Carnival Encounter, sailing from Singapore to Brisbane after the refurbishment, and the first impression wasn’t great.
The ship was in a poor state when we boarded. It really needed at least another week just for cleaning. There were around 1,900 workers and staff sleeping in cabins, and cabin crew were still preparing rooms when we boarded at about 4:30pm. We genuinely felt for them.
I expected to see more visible improvements after the refurb. Some passengers had no hot water for the first three days, others had no working toilets, and there were issues like leaks and mildew in cabins. On sailaway night, Dragon Lady even had a waterfall inside the restaurant.
That said, the itinerary was great, the staff were doing their best, and the food was pretty good.
Would we sail on her again? Probably not. She was once a beauty as Star Princess, but whether it’s age or the transition from P&O to Carnival, she doesn’t feel like that ship anymore. Carnival really should be more transparent about where the $63 million refurbishment budget went.
My family & I as a grandparent just had a wonderful cruise on Carnival Splendour. We found our cabin staff terrific & every day our room’s were left clean & inviting to return too. We were booked for tea in the Blackpearl Restraunt @ 17.15 for the children to have tea as this is their normal meal time @ home. The 3 staff that were @ our table were considerate. thoughtful & so helpful. The rest of our meals we just went to deck 9. The service was always I have a dietary requirement which is vital to my well being & I was concerned but saying that every 1 I spoke too was always so helpful & I didn’t get sick on our cruise of the Southern Pacific. I had such a great time & I personally can’t thank all the staff & organisers enough. It is my first cruise but hey I found it just lovely from Sydney. The island’s were incredible the people just so lovely. Thank you. J
Carnival Australia is a poor relation to other Carnival Corp Ships. No soft serve , no free burgers, limited times for free pizzas. Now this disappointing report. We just sailed on Encounter to Singapore in Feb. our waiters were fantastic. Jenita and Christian.
My wife and I have cruised with princess more than a dozen times. Over these cruise periods we have noticed a decline in standards. Less for your money and the price has risen dramatically. We now look at alternative holidays as princess no longer offer value for money. Our favourite cruise has been the Brisbane to New Zealand return, we have enjoyed this cruise 5 times amongst other cruise with princess, but this year we have booked with another cruise line as the cost of princess cruises no longer represents value for our dollar.
The P&I Pensioners Only were much better than Carnival. Yes they rust buckets that come to Australia to charge arm and a leg for a poor cruise. The food went down once it changed from P&O TO carnival
After going on celebrity X out of Singapore it would be hard to cruise on any ship in Australia like comparing 5 star to 1 star and price was better than Aussie rust buckets