Future Carnival passengers who are accustomed to the cruise line’s older ships may be surprised to find that their suite is missing a once standard amenity: a bathtub.
Indeed, this happened to one recent guest who stayed in a Havana Suite onboard Carnival Vista.
The frustrated passenger wrote to brand ambassador John Heald about the missing amenity and expressed that the suites aren’t worth the money without a tub. Carnival’s standard cabins are less expensive and only have room for a shower.
“Can you explain why the suites on the newer Carnival ships do not have bathtubs? We are on the Vista now and in a Havana suite and there is not a bathtub,” the guest wrote to Heald on his public Facebook page.
“I know all older ships have bathtubs in the suites. One of the biggest reasons anyone would book a suite is for the bathtub. Why [has] Carnival stopped this luxury?,” continued the guest.
Likely to this guest’s dissatisfaction, Heald confirmed that the cruise line has stopped putting bathtubs in the suites in Carnival’s newest ships in order to make way for other desirable amenities, such as more luxurious walk-in showers.
“We have stopped putting bathtubs in the suites on the newer ships. This is mostly because we utilized the space with a large walk in shower,” Heald wrote in response.
Another reason for this change may be that showers are simply easier to clean quickly and efficiently, making things easier on the housekeepers.
Even the smallest Carnival ship, Carnival Elation, has just over 1,000 staterooms and suites, while the biggest addition to the fleet, Carnival Jubilee, boasts over 2,600 staterooms. All of these cabins have to be serviced daily by the housekeeping staff and room stewards.
Research Cruise Cabins Prior to Booking
While the guest who wrote to Heald obviously missed the bathtub, most people in the comments section felt it was an amenity they could live without.
Many actually said they would prefer to use their own tubs at home over sharing with everyone who had stayed in their suite before them – no matter how well the tubs are sanitized.
“I love a long, hot bubble bath… in my own bathtub. I don’t want to 1. Make it harder on stewards than it already is by having to clean the tub and 2. I just don’t trust the cleanliness of any bathtub besides my own to soak in it,” one Facebook user commented on Heald’s post.
“When we booked a suite once, we did not use the bathtub & wished we had only a shower,” someone else added.
That said, there are plenty of other opportunities for guests to be submerged in water – albeit in the proper swimwear – between the pools, jacuzzis, and some spa services.
Read Also: 15 Mistakes to Avoid on a Carnival Cruise
If an amenity like a bathtub is super important to you, it’s always a good idea to do some extra research before booking your stateroom on your next cruise.
As this guest figured out, even across the same brand there can be big differences between the accommodations based on the class of vessel and simply from ship to ship.
That said, the mainstream cruise lines post deck plans and cabin layouts online for guests to peruse prior to booking so they know exactly what to expect when they arrive at their home away from home on embarkation day.
As another pro tip, guests with specific desires will also want to stay away from guaranteed cabins, or unassigned cabins.
These can often be booked at a discount and guarantees guests will be put in a specific category of stateroom (or better), but does not allow the passenger to choose their own room. Instead, the cruise line assigns guests rooms based on availability closer to embarkation.
