Is cruise quality on the decline?

Cruise Travel, Sept-Oct, 2005 by Fred Cloe

I would love to go beyond the tipping issue and find out others' opinions of cruise quality.

We just returned from cruise number 11. While it was enjoyable, we felt the overall experience was lacking compared to earlier experiences. No more gala buffet; food good but not special as in the past; entertainers okay but not great. Two entertainers, a comedian and a ventriloquist, we had already seen doing the same routine on another ship (same line). We like to dance, but on this ship we had the choice of a brass band or a brass band--the only difference was the number of musicians.

Overall it was enjoyable, but not exciting as past cruises have been. Are we just getting picky or do others share our feeling?

Fred Cloe, North Bonneville, WA