Splendor vs Pride

Never sailed Carnival but have gone on Norwegian & Royal, I live in NJ and am

considering trying Carnival because we can either leave from NY or Baltimore.

Can anyone offer any advice? I will be traveling with my sister, we're both middle age but think & act like we're in our 30's.

Thanks in advance:)

Only been on Pride...

That said, we have not been on her since she has had the 2.0 upgrades. However, we've been on the Legend as well with the 2.0 upgrades. These upgrades compliment the spirit class ships well.

We live in Maryland so the port is only an hour drive for us. With that said, I believe, that Port of Baltimore is a vary convenient port for anyone. We also have never had issues flying out of BWI.

We like leaving from Baltimore as you travel down the Chesapeake Bay and get to go under not one but two bridges makes the first two to three hours very unique aboard the pride.

Carnival Pride was our first Carnival "FunShip" and it set the tone to keep us coming back, hope this helps! Any other questions I can help (post 2.0).

We sail on the pride in 74 days and can't wait :D

I was on Pride in July 2010 & Splendor in May 2013. I would definitely choose Splendor over Pride. Besides the fabulous departing from Manhattan I preferred the layout of the ship as well as the entertainment venues.

However, that being said., I am sailing on Pride out of Baltimore may 3rd. While we are looking forward to the 2.0, if we found an 8 day itinerary that fit our schedule in May we would have sailed on Splendour.

Pride will give you more public space per guest, but this style of ship has the reputation of being more subdued. For whatever reason, sailings on this ship & ships like it tend to be more laid back & quiet, and people may not get as involved in activities. Not every sailing on those ships would be like that, but it is a common thread.

Splendor would be a little more crowded, but not bad. It tends to have a crowd that's more active & involved in things. Perhaps it's just the design of the ships that brings out a more social & active side.

In regards to anything 2.0, don't even give that number a thought at all. That's a marketing tool aimed at getting frequent Carnival cruisers back to try something new. Since you are someone who has never sailed Carnival, whether or not a feature has that magical number of 2.0 slapped it is irrelevant. Disregard any & all numbers, and just look at the features for what they are.

As someone who has always gone with Carnival, I still prefer the non-2.0 ship, Splendor, to ships like Pride. Splendor has been my 2nd favorite ship. I'm in my 30s & enjoy an active & involved atmosphere.

I haven't been on Pride, but we sailed the Spirit (sister ship) a couple of times. You really can't go wrong with either of these two. If I had a choice go with Splendor, because of the spa. It is great.

I would sail a Spirit-class ship over Splendor any day of the week. I'm a huge fan of that class. Sadly, Carnival has already shipped two of them off to Oz and seems intent on getting rid of the other two, if possible.

They prefer big, floating shoe-box designs with terrible passenger flow but that have many more people packed into the space.

Pride is a panamax ship (longer and narrower). My experience (2 on Miracle, 1 on Pride) is that I felt more side-to-side movement. Didn't bother me, but I did notice it.

Pride carries fewer passengers. Space ratio is 34 compared to 31 on Splendor.

Pride has one main dining room (decks 2 & 3 aft) where Splendor has two with the galley between (which blocks two decks and really confuses people).

I haven't been on Pride since the 2.0 upgrades but personally consider the addition of a big TV as a downgrade. Splendor does not have Guys Burgers or Blue Iguana.

Much prefer the Serenity Deck on Pride than on Splendor. It's aft on Pride and huge. Splendor's is forward (very windy) and is split on two sides of the ship because Splendor has the "enhanced" spa which eats up a chunk of the space that is Serenity on Conquest-class ships.

I sailed Pride last May and Splendor in November. I'm booked on Splendor to Bermuda in October but will probably cancel and take a considerably longer cruise for the same money.

Some people love Splendor. I was underwhelmed. There was nothing "wrong" with her but I certainly didn't love her.

But I don't sail for the ship. I sail for the itineraries, for the most part. I would sail on any ship that goes where I want to go at the price I want to pay.

Pride will give you more public space per guest

The single reason I chose the Pride over the Splendor. We loved the Pride.

I don't know if they'll ship the Pride of to OZ. They installed the "scrubbers" during the drydock which resulted in paying a ton of money just so it could sail from Baltimore again. Carnival is restricted on the height of vessels out of Baltimore because of the bridges. I hope they don't get rid of her :(

My only two cruises have been on Pride and Splendor and I definitely prefer the Pride. Both ships are great and each have their own positives and negatives but to me it really came down to the layout. The Pride is a smaller ship and the layout is pretty straight forward, you can walk from one end of the ship to the other on any main deck.

The Splendor isn't as easy, if you are in the lobby or main lounge on deck 3 and need to get to the MDR on 3 for your assigned time be prepared to take a detour because the galley is between you and the deck 3 MDR. No problem, got up to 4 and walk down? Yes but you have to go through a side passage through the Robusto Cigar bar that at first glance looks like it leads you to some restricted section of the ship where you will never been seen again. So instead be prepared to go up to 5, walk towards aft and then back down to 3. I also recall taking shortcuts that weren't really shortcuts through the photo gallery but I can't recall why. I thought the Splendor had annoying design quirks.

The Splendor is also a much bigger ship and can carry more passengers, to me it felt more crowded even with the additional room.

I'm glad I came across this question. I have cruised for 26 years, and have done several Carnival ships. I know everyone has their pros/cons of ships.

We are to do Splendor within a few weeks. I understand it is a larger ship (maybe a little more crowded) with maybe??? more activities than Pride, and that is what I like. I prefer to have a lot of things to "choose" from if I want to do them or not. Years ago (yes I know cruising is for resting and relaxing) we were on the NCL Star ship, and they had very little to do on this ship.

For those of you who DID respond on here and liked the Splendor, please tell me what you liked (activities, food, entertainment) about the Splendor?

I'm glad I came across this question. I have cruised for 26 years, and have done several Carnival ships. I know everyone has their pros/cons of ships.

 

We are to do Splendor within a few weeks. I understand it is a larger ship (maybe a little more crowded) with maybe??? more activities than Pride, and that is what I like. I prefer to have a lot of things to "choose" from if I want to do them or not. Years ago (yes I know cruising is for resting and relaxing) we were on the NCL Star ship, and they had very little to do on this ship.

 

For those of you who DID respond on here and liked the Splendor, please tell me what you liked (activities, food, entertainment) about the Splendor?

Nah...Cruising is for whatever you and your family want to get out of it. If it is just DH and myself cruising then it is usually more about the resting and and relaxing....believe me I need that after the last 6 months. If it is our family going with us or family and friends then it is more about the activities and entertainment for us.

I think you are on the same Splendor cruise we are taking next month. For us this trip is about resting and relaxing....but I'm still interested in the responses you may get on the activities and entertainment. I don't pay too much attention to what people say about the food. DH and I don't even agree on what we like in food so depending on a strangers opinion is even more worthless to me:o.

My sister and I were on the Splendor last week. We loved it. I particularly loved the aft pool and the view from it and the lido pool which could be covered in an instant if the weather were inclement. I thought the food was better than my last 2.0 cruise too. Malcolm the cruise director was also probably my favorite ever. Enjoy your cruise!

Tandoor on Lido aft for lunch.

Malcolm Burns is the CD? He's very good.

I have sailed both the Pride (& her sister ship the Miracle) and the Splendor. Both ships have their pros and cons IMHO.

Pride:

First off getting from the central Jersey Shore was problematic on the same day of the cruise. Hit some sort of early morning Sunday snarl-up near the Philly extension of the Turnpike and an hour back-up at the Del/MD state-line then hit the tourist lunch hour traffic for the Baltimore area, so the 106 mile trip was 5 hours instead of the 3 to 3.5 it should of taken. There was a complete lack of mass transit options coming out of Ocean County without first going in to Philly then transferring to another mode of public transport to gt to Baltimore, but the at port parking was much less than in NYC (nearly half).

The ship itself was easy to navigate, but certain areas seemed smaller in hindsight than the Splendor most notably the narrow lounging areas of the Lido & Sun decks and the slot areas of the casino. While others seems roomier or less crowded like the comedy club and the MDR. The dance club also felt unusually for a Carnival ship being split between 2 levels, the entrance that accessed the bar & smoking area upstairs and the dance floor downstairs.

The lack of the big screen movie and outdoor theater seating also made an impact on us. (Not sure if this was incorporated to the 2.0 upgrades, but if it was I'm sure it left even less sun accessed lounging area.) The other problem we had was with the aft Serenity area because of it's proximity to the ice cream machines and pizza counter there always seemed to be a problem with children straying into the area. Plus you could not get away from the sound of kids since the water slide area was just above it until it shut down at dusk. But it was nice that it had it's own pool and hot tub with the entire Lido buffet was a wind screen.

One feature we loved was the interior almost secret promenade around the middle seating section of the main theater. For us this was a great place to go after grabbing some caffeine or cold drinks to just relax without being around any other passengers but still affording a great view of the ocean.

Splendor:

As always we run into traffic going to NYC but do have the option of hiring a car service (at less than 1 week's of parking fees) to take the 79 mile trip to there. Then of course there are multiple mass transit options without having to transfer to a different vehicle till at the PA or Penn Station in NYC.

The ship it self felt like it had more venues than the Pride with some feeling more crowded like the Piano bar (which seemed on the small side compared to the Pride) and others feeling like they were underutilized like the Robusto lounge with different live singers & bands for it's nightly entertainment but few patrons. But whom ever though putting the galley between the 2 MDRs should be shot. It made for confusion in finding the aft MDR with it's morning brunch and traditional set time dinner dining. While also leading to confusion for those trying to get off the mid ship elevators looking for the Your Time Dining area.

3 things we loved about this ship were the Cloud 9 spa passes, the enclosed mid ship pool area, and the ample loungers on the Spa and Sun decks. The spa passes though an extra expense if not in a Spa cabin made up for the lousy layout of the Serenity deck. Being able to use the therapy pool (which was hotter & had better jets than the outside deck hot tubs) and the thermal suite heated seating w/ their fantastic views anywhere from 8 am till 10 pm felt nicer than even the enclosed Solarium on Royal's Ex of S. The enclosed pool on the Lido deck made it seem more like vacation since we could swim from day 1 even though we left NYC in mid-April. Then once down in warmer climes there seems to be plenty of loungers for those that wanted to sun themselves without infringing on those that needed loungers near the pools to watch the kids. It was also nice to have 2 exterior walking decks lower on the ship with more loungers and traditional cruise games like shuffle board on the Lobby and Atlantic decks. It was also nice to have the option of watching movies and events on the big screen TV over the Lido deck.

All in all either ship's deficits would not deflect us from sailing it again given it was doing an itinerary that we want.

I'm glad I came across this question. I have cruised for 26 years, and have done several Carnival ships. I know everyone has their pros/cons of ships.

 

We are to do Splendor within a few weeks. I understand it is a larger ship (maybe a little more crowded) with maybe??? more activities than Pride, and that is what I like. I prefer to have a lot of things to "choose" from if I want to do them or not. Years ago (yes I know cruising is for resting and relaxing) we were on the NCL Star ship, and they had very little to do on this ship.

 

For those of you who DID respond on here and liked the Splendor, please tell me what you liked (activities, food, entertainment) about the Splendor?

My Splendor cruise was very port intensive. 2 sea days on that 8-day cruise. So they did have to cram in most of the games & activities into those 2 days. Those were a fun 2 days. They did the lido deck games plus plenty of trivia, and the Dr Seuss parade. Malcolm Burns was very active, & he was great! I have heard some negative things about him from some people whose opinions I do respect, but I actually really liked Malcolm. The deck parties were a lot of fun too.

The nighttime shows are great on this ship! 3 full song and dance productions, with a big show band. There are not many ships left in the Carnival fleet that have live music for their shows. There were 14 on-stage performers, and shows are an hour long (again, not much of this left on Carnival). Real sets/props. And great themes, & very entertaining. I would go to both showings of each show.

Beyond the stage shows, there was plenty of live music going on in many other venues throughout the ship every night. It was impossible to take it all in. The bands or musicians would rotate to different venues on different nights. There was always some great music to listen to. Of all the ships I've been on, a couple have had better, but none had as much entertainment as the Splendor. I'm not really into stand-up comedy, so I can't comment on that.

Never sailed Carnival but have gone on Norwegian & Royal, I live in NJ and am

considering trying Carnival because we can either leave from NY or Baltimore.

 

Can anyone offer any advice? I will be traveling with my sister, we're both middle age but think & act like we're in our 30's.

 

Thanks in advance:)

We have sailed on the Pride from Baltimore twice, and will sail the Pride again in Oct. 2015. We love departures from the port of Baltimore, so easy. We have also sailed from Manhattan, many, many times. Mostly with Celebrity, Carnival (legend, Miracle, Victory), and Norwegian. We like the Pride because of the price and convenience. We don't mind leaving from NY either, but once you leave from Baltimore, you're a little spoiled. Also, the Pride is one of Carnival's "Spirit-Class" ships, and they are really a nice size, and easy to get around. Anyway, whichever you choose, enjoy!!!

One more thing, we did a "stay and cruise" package in Baltimore last time. Many of the hotels there have a deal where you stay over the night before the cruise, leave your car in the hotel lot instead of at the pier for the length of the cruise, shuttle from hotel to pier, and shuttle back to hotel after cruise. I think DH paid $149 or something like that. It was great, plus it was February 2014, and we didn't want to get stuck in any snow getting to the Baltimore pier that time.

I've sailed on both ships multiple times and I enjoy them both. That said, I do prefer the Spirit Class ships better. Better passenger flow, much less crowding, and an awesome Serenity area compared to the Splendor. I don't agree about the cruises on the Spirit Class being more subdued. My 3 cruises on the Legend, & 3 cruises on the Miracle from NYC were FAR from being subdued.

How ironic that our next two cruises are on the Pride and Splendor!! :)

We will be sailing on the Pride for the first time in June, but I've sailed on other Spirit Class ships - the Miracle and the Legend - and they were my favorites until I sailed on the Splendor - I just love that ship. I expect to like the Pride as much as I did the Miracle and the Legend.

I like the layout. I love the adults only pool at the back - which is now the Serenity area. Looks like they did a great job. I love the big hot tub in the gym area. It's a great place to relax in bad weather. I'm curious about the 2.0 upgrades. I like the idea of the Red Frog Pub and I want to try the Bonsai sushi and the drinks at the Alchemy Bar.

I have no problem with the layout or the pink on the Splendor :p Wasn't wild about all the dots, but they didn't bother me. As long as you remember decks 3 and 4 don't go all the way through, you're good. If you are down in the atrium and have dinner in the Gold Pearl (aft. Go up one deck to 5 and you are gold!

We loved the cozy El Mojito bar (aft) for our before dinner drinks. We loved the mid-ship lido pool area. It's 2 decks high, so it doesn't feel shut in with the roof closed. There are hot tubs on the deck 10 balcony that are under cover also and they have a nice sea view.

I love that the Rotisserie Area (deck 10 above the lido buffet) always has tables and the food is good too! (roast chicken, salads, mac 'n' cheese)

I love, love, love the Mongolian Wok - only a few ships have it. If you time it right, the lines aren't too bad, and it's worth the wait. There is also a Tandoori (Indian) and a great Burrito Bar with good fixin's. No Guys, but I didn't miss what I haven't had. Ask me after June :)

I found the crew on the Splendor to be the most friendly and they all seemed to really enjoy working on that ship. Steakhouse was wonderful, MDR was typical Carnival fare - some good, some not so good - few things great. It was also one of the cleanest ships, I've ever been on.

And they have great live music all over the ship.

IMO - you can't go wrong with either the Pride or the Splendor.

We were on splendor last week. Had a great time. We r used to that layout with no passage through on decks 3&4. Liked the view of the aft pool, kinda like breeze.

We didn't care for Malcomb. He did the 1st sea day info talk, and it was broadcast on lido. Sort of annoying to lay out and hear him drone on. Likes to talk a lot. Although he was funny during the evening show.

I have been on both and agree 100% with NCTRIBE [emoji106].....