Carnival - Pride (bad experience)

[zhangf]

Just came back from Bahamas cruise with Carnival – Pride, (21 Aug – 29 Aug 2009)

In last couple of years, I had used many times on this board for searching as much information as helpful before my cruises. I am very appreciated for all the help and assistance that I received/used from other people (the selection of cruise lines/ships, shore excursions etc..), and this time I would like to pay a little back (share my experience), in order to help others, hopefully, for a right selection before the cruise, and avoid the mistakes as I toke at this time.
Background – we are family 4 (with two kids) and had cruised in every summer for last five years, and our first cruise was in 1996 (with Carnival). Beside that, all of our other cruises are with Princess and Royal Caribbean. We had cruised with Crown Princess and Freedom of Sea (Royal Caribbean) and the others. Everyone in my family loves cruise and we had good time always, except this time with Carnival Pride, very, very DISAPPOINTED.
We choose the Pride this year, since we could not define the summer schedule until late in May, and we are tied of flight to the ports in other cities (Seattle, Miami, Fl etc.) every year. So we decided to pick up the cruise ship from the local port (Baltimore, MD) and most importantly, the itinerary looks good (we have never been to Half Moon Cay).
First, I’d like to fairly list some (few) positive things: the cabins are larger and comfortable, the islands (especially Half Moon Cay) are beautiful.

But overall, it turns out a BAD, very BAD experience:
The ship quality - real old fashion, bad design (low ceiling, dark even with sunshine outside), old decoration.
Dining/food – terrible, terrible and terrible, both on buffet and in dinning room. Even with pizza, smell as left over for several days. The food selection is very limited and taste is awful. The food does not change daily at all in the buffet, same food in breakfast every day (only change is from Pancakes to French toast, which they switched over every day). Every item is in separately locations and you have to wait on the different lines in order for the multiple choices (related to bad ship design). After 3:00PM (very accurate on time), everything is cleaned/closed except cheese Hamburg, that taste is also awful. I had salad only for lunch for several days.
Ship Staff – Bad service, from most staffs (no smiling, no greeting in the morning/not friendly), except few are good. The ratio of Good vs. Bad is about 2/10, even the dealers in casino, worth than any dealers in any other high quality casinos in AC and Vegas (Borgata, Paris, MGM, Venetian, etc.)
Entertainment & Activities – I have to fairly say the dancers/singers are average, but with a small, old design stage, the show becomes less enjoyable.
I had done a lot of researches before my final decision. I remembered that the first review I read (from this board) on the negative things about his trip with Carnival Pride and his comments - if you ever had cruised with Princess and Royal Caribbean, don’t go with Carnival, it is a totally different (lower) class ship". Now my personnel experience approves his point. I regret that I did not take his comments but more stay on the side with other positive reviews.

In fact:

• When we first got on the ship, while sitting in Buffet, by looking around and first thing I said to my kids:" I am so sorry for my selection, but please understand that this time we were in the rush".
• My daughter (13 yrs old) could not wait to check out her room before first lunch on the ship and run back said:" the whole ship is so crappy ".
• During the cruise, I was asking my kids:"would you spend the money to go a good quality cruise (expensive) or equally go to two cheaper cruises?" They responded:" we’d rather stay home than the cruise with this kind of ship.

This review definitely is not helpful for the first time cruiser, or the lifetime cruisers with Carnival only.
My purpose of this post is to share my opinion/experience with others, and hopefully could help them for the right cruise selection. I understand that many people have different opinions and may completely disagree with me. Please don’t argue/fight with me. We could have a different standard, and I may have done in comparison with many points on the cruise ships we had previously.
My bottom line: We will never sail with CARNIVAL, anymore!!!

　
　

　
　
　
　
　
　

[Jsme]

I am sorry you were disappointed. I hope you were able to have a positive attitude while on the ship. I have learned having a positive attitude really helps children to have a better time.

I have been on the Freedom of the Seas and I have been on the Pride. I loved both ships. I love the Old World Charm of the Pride. We had an amazing time on the Pride. Both cruises were with a group of freinds. We did not have the best diningroom staff on either of these ships but we made the most of that.

I hate you feel that Carnival is a cheap cruise. We actually like the food much better on Carnival then on RCI. I think both lines have different things to offer and each has their on attractions.

[mom2tcdx2]

Odd your remarks compared to other reviews. I truly have a hard time believing all food was awful. I could see perhaps not your personal preference but not awful. I too could think you could have provided some reason other an awful - was food rotten, under/over cooked, too spicy, etc. I have also sailed on Princess I can also say with the exception of maybe 2 dishes breakfasts were always the same. Guess there truly is only so much that you can get for breakfast options.

As for ship design I prefer the laid out stations, which is what we had on Princess. Nothing I hate more than standing in a buffet line behind people making their salads when I can't stand a salad and having to wait behind people for items I do not want.

As for rude staff, I don't know if I would expect every staff member I pass to greet me, however the best service I ever had overall was on the Carnival Holiday, (never met my cabin steward but he was fantastic at doing his job) I however don't consider it rude that I never met him.

Never have I gotten the impression of cheap from Carnival. It would appear you went into the entire cruise with negativity - no way could you have determined the ship and cruise would be crappy in such a short time of boarding.

I must say though reading the review was pretty hard.

[Cobra1365]

Originally Posted by Jsme

I am sorry you were disappointed. I hope you were able to have a positive attitude while on the ship. I have learned having a positive attitude really helps children to have a better time.

I have been on the Freedom of the Seas and I have been on the Pride. I loved both ships. I love the Old World Charm of the Pride. We had an amazing time on the Pride. Both cruises were with a group of freinds. We did not have the best diningroom staff on either of these ships but we made the most of that.

I hate you feel that Carnival is a cheap cruise. We actually like the food much better on Carnival then on RCI. I think both lines have different things to offer and each has their on attractions.

Now THAT is a perfect response. Thank You for putting it this way rather than flaming the OP (unfortunately, I think that will come shortly).

To the OP...sorry this cruise wasn't to your liking. We too have sailed RCCL and found that it wasn't to our liking so came back to Carnival. I think it is an individual taste...neither one better than the other, just different.

That being said, when we sailed Pride out of Long Beach, we did not enjoy it as much as other ships. Just couldn't put our fingers on why. one of the first things I noticed then was everything on the ship seemed really LOUD...PA system, Slot Machines, Music and even the guests! Didn't find that on other Carnival ships.

Hope your future cruises are smooth regardless of what line you choose.

[cruisetobeaches]

Originally Posted by zhangf

Just came back from Bahamas cruise with Carnival – Pride, (21 Aug – 29 Aug 2009)



In fact:

• When we first got on the ship, while sitting in Buffet, by looking around and first thing I said to my kids:" I am so sorry for my selection, but please understand that this time we were in the rush".
• My daughter (13 yrs old) could not wait to check out her room before first lunch on the ship and run back said:" the whole ship is so crappy ".
• During the cruise, I was asking my kids:"would you spend the money to go a good quality cruise (expensive) or equally go to two cheaper cruises?" They responded:" we’d rather stay home than the cruise with this kind of ship.

I do not make it a habit of commenting on "reviews", BUT, sending your negative thoughts, so early in the cruise to children, will MAKE them have a bad time. IMO, that is very poor parenting skills. Why ruin it for your kids just because YOU are not happy

flame away...........................................

[mtchg]

....and I have been on RCI. All I can say is while the OP (first post I noticed) may be sincere; it would represent a minority opinion.



Mitch

[crookedhalo]

What's really funny is that I know someone who just came back from the same cruise.....he went with no preconceptions or prejudices. He came back totally psyched about the great time they had I've been on CCL and RCCL - they are different lines with different tastes. I haven't been disappointed with any of them, because I'm there to have fun, not count the number of stains on the carpet or cracks in the furniture I hope you have better luck on your next trip

[Traveler353]

I think that this is going to be two bagger.

[mandyc3383]

I sailed on the Pride the week prior to you and I did have some of the same opinions as you. I did not have any issues with the food. I thought that the food was decent to excellent. But of course taste in food is very subjective. I agree that I did not care for the layout of the ship, especially the buffet area. I also agree that some of the staff were rude and unfriendly, but they were by far in the minority. The people who were friendly and kind stand out way more in my mind.

I hate when I go on to CC and read people bashing others for their opinion, so I would never do that. And please excuse me if you think I am out of line, but here is where I have a problem... for a 13 year old child to say that a ship is crappy within a few hours of being on it and for both children to say that they would rather stay home than go on a cruise such as that is a bit over the top. As children they should be happy to be on vacation and as parents, you should make the best of a situation to teach your children to be appreciative for what they do have.

While I did not enjoy my cruise on the Pride as much as my previous cruise I would still give Carnival a chance. I however am also looking at other lines as well... Variety is the spice of life.

[Indiansbaseball]

I am sorry that you had a bad time and that you disliked the Pride. I have only sailed the Glory and thought she was magnificent. The waiters, the bartenders, the camp carnival staff truely everyone we encountered were all excellent. So much that I have two more cruises booked. Of course...I will say that there were many times that I initiated the smile or hello...only to have it gladly returned.

I do have to agree that not even giving the ship a chance and biasing your children against Carnival was probably not your best tactic...it might have colored the rest of their trip for them. Of course .... they might have come to that on their own, but apologizing before setting sail was unfair to Carnival based on the looks of the ship.

I would hope that you would maybe find a good deal on another Carnival ship and give them another try. If not...best of luck to you on your future sailings.

Jen

[mtchg]

.....now I smell a...well....seems unlikely.


Mitch

[pe4all]

Wow! Sorry you had such a bad experience. To each their own. While we don't exactly like the Spirit-class ship set-up, in 7 Carnival cruises we have had less total complaints than you had on one CCL cruise! Only 2 good things? We have never had a bad experience with crew members being unfriendly - they have always gone out of their way to make our vacation a great one. Good luck with your future vacations.

[Maraprince]

The biggest problem here seems to be for settling for things that were not your first choice, i.e. sailing from a nearby port & not flying to a different port, an older ship.

Having sailed on the same other lines you mentioned in your post, there is a difference not only from line to line, ship to ship but most importantly from CD and staff on different sailings. The CD and staff can make or break a cruise. We sailed 2 times last year on the Explorer of the Seas. Loved it the first time so much, we booked a 2nd cruise. 2nd cruise was nothing like the first one -- different CD and staff who didn't do as much with activities. 2nd Capt. wasn't as outgoing as the first one, etc. You get the idea.

As far as traditional buffet lines vs. stations, you either love them or hate them! There is no in between.

There are just so many items you can offer for breakfast in a buffet! We usually found the choices to be greater at the buffet than in the dining room in the AM.

Hard to believe that the pizza was lacking! The menus on most of the Carnival line ships have been improved and include more healthy choices. If you received a meal in the dining room that was unsatisfactory, you should have brought it to the waiter's attention who would have brought you something different. If all else fails, there is always Room Service! I sail with a friend who is a diabetic and there has never been a problem on any ship, any line with them getting her something sugar free. I always ask for no sauces on my entrees. We always share a main course as an appetizer. As long as your request is reasonable and done politely you shouldn't have any problem getting something delicious to eat.

I have had worse experiences than you described and have not hesitated to go back to the same lines for a second chance. 2 strikes and I will not return!

Cannot compare a mega modern new ship with an older ship.

MARAPRINCE

[bplazo]

Well, I do not know if I would say that I would rather stay home than go on a cruise (crappy or otherwise). Did you enjoy any of the ports? That is my favorite part of the cruise is visiting different ports. The ship not so important.

[Nunu]

Originally Posted by Traveler353

I think that this is going to be two bagger.

[jbroons]

If my kids ever told me that the vacation was "crappy" before it really began I would tell them to be thankful for the things that they have and, when u get to most ports, observe the things that most don't. After that, for their next vacation, they can stay home and play their video games in their dark rooms.

[redskin80]

Thanks for your opinion. Maybe you are more suited to another line. I hope that the negative feelings you have do not carry over to a future cruies on another cruise line. I have sailed on he pride but it was years ago, I do not recall the lay out of the ship.

Good luck on your next vacation and hope that it better suites you and yuor family.

[Kurbanfan]

I agree with the op that RCCL and Princess offers a bigger and better variety at their buffet stations then on Carnival's buffet lines for breakfast......as far as the Pride.....can't comment I have never sailed on her.....

[Ave43]

I love the two bagger line!

[Nunu]

Originally Posted by Kurbanfan

I agree with the op that RCCL and Princess offers a bigger and better variety at their buffet stations then on Carnival's buffet lines for breakfast......as far as the Pride.....can't comment I have never sailed on her.....