After spending New year On the Carnival , I would no longer recommend Carnival to anyone, As well as paying double the price to what Carnival,RCI Or Princess have charged in previous years the list of penny saving cutbacks they have implemented is ridiculous and had everybody complaining.
In the specialty steak restaurant they have a restaurant Manager and staff who have never opened Champagne and are scared to do so and we had to wait 15 minutes for them to get someone qualified(????) to open it this was not once but twice, The First time we ate their my Medium Steak came up cold and dry inside, they claimed it was problem with griddle so they had to cook a Medium steak at same temp as a well done. The steak was replaced and the replacement was excellent but this kind of situation should not arise, and service overall on both occasions was slow and amateurish.
We had VIP Check in but as we were escorted past normal check in and the queues were horrific.
Other cut backs include Buffet choices at breakfast just awful and both sides were serving near on cold food. In contrast service was still good in the main dining room.
Yes I have been told that the Oasis is a bit OTT both in price and features but 2 months earlier we had a fantastic cruise on RCI's Liberty of the Sea, Service, Quality of food and choice was so many times better then what Carnival now has become, that in answer to this question I would say take a 2 year old RCI ship as opposed to a new Carnival.
The Liberty even at the age of 2 is far better than Carnivals flag ship and the Overall difference in service and standards makes Me an Ex Carnival VIP. In times of recession Carnivals answer to double fares and half service and menu is winning nobody.
