Carnival Pride - Jan 30th - Feb 6th - not what I expected

Okay, yes I am new here but I have been lurking for a while but I feel I must share my experiences.

We had a good time on the cruise. Enjoyed our time with our travelling companions. Lots of laughs. The food was good and our dining room staff was great. Very professional.

The ports were very interesting. Finally got into the bartering by the last port. Got some good deals. Water wasn't warm enough for us to swim but we did some nice walks on the beach. Would probably not go back to Puerta Vallarta as I found it quite dirty. Would go back to Mazatlan and Cabo, very clean and enjoyable. All in all it was nice.

Although there were some down falls that we weren't to happy about.

Our friends signed up for a whale watching excursion in Puerta Vallarta. They waited on the pier 15 minutes earlier till the ticket time (as they were told) only to be told that the tour was already gone. Went back on the ship , talked to the lady at the excursion desk who basically said was there fault they missed it but did give them back there money. Apparently what happened this same lady had printed up there tickets and made a mistake only to change it after( for the rest of the tickets) and not tell them. When they got down to what happened the Pursers desk manager apologized and we got bottle of wine at dinner and they got 15% off there next cruise. Nothing was heard from the girl who made the mistake. We thought the whole thing was handled very poorly. We did end up whale watching in Cabo with one of the locals. We thought at least they should have offered some compensation on this cruise. From what I hear this is the norm. 15% off your next cruise (and I should add to be used within 18 months)

We also has a towel with holes in it in our room. A wine glass and saucer with chips in them (big enough to see). At dinner we were approached by our waiter with a Carnival cookbook package for $24.95 and would we like to buy it. Was not impressed by that. I found there was way to much selling on this cruise. You were also bombarded when getting off at the ports to have your picture taken. At Mazatlan there were 4 different photographers. Way to much. I checked the Cruise Critic book in the Internet cafe and alot of the comments were about the seeling. I found that interesting. The ATM was down after the 2nd day. When we asked we were told ( twice) the the satilite was down. Although we did see someone update there balance so it wasn't down it was out of money. Why couldn't someone just tell us that. Very unproffesional.

I also found that clean staff on the upper decks (Lido) would stand around and talk (we timed 15 min) and leave tables with dirty dishes on them. We watched an officer come out side to have a smoke and take the ashtray from a table that had a dish on it and proceed to go to another table, have his smoke and them leave. Could he not have picked up the dish and take it to the clean up station. On a ship that is named the Pride, I didn't find that is some places.

Will most likely not cruise on Carnival again. It's to bad.

That is to bad that you are basing your whole opinion not to cruise again with Carnival on such problems.

Unless you have not given all the details it states your friends got a full refund and Carnival also gave them wine, a future discount and acknowledgement that they screwed up. I'm impressed.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just don't think chipped glassware and holes in a towel are reasons not to sail with Carnival. I do hope you asked for fresh items and they were replaced without delay or fuss. I just remember those employees worked so hard that if they took a 15 minute coffee break they deserved it.

Traveling is not for those weak at heart you have to be strong and be able to say NO. I didn't meet one photographer or vendor that became rude when I said no.

I'm sorry you did not enjoy being on this cruise ship. Your review would have been much better if you gave detailed info on the good also. Mostly you have just told us what you did not like about the ship. How were the activities? Did you enjoy the shows? Were most of the employees courteous? How was your room steward? Was your room cleaned up every day and on time? If you needed anything did they respond in a timely fashion?

Obviously that "non excursion" was something that should never have happened. All the other things you mentioned are really very minor in the scheme of things. They are things that can easily be fixed if the proper people are advised. I don't know if you have sailed before but with all the people on a cruise ship there is bound to be some who found some things that were not to their liking. It does not matter what line it is. I hope you will cruise again. If not with Carnival then with a different line.

We just returned from a week on the Conquest, our 30th cruise. We found the Lido staff to be completely inadequate. The restaurant tables and booths and the tables around both pools were cluttered with dirty dishes and not kept clean to any kind of reasonable standard at all.

There were other things not done well, but the Lido maintenance by staff was the worst shortcoming.

I guess I find the initial review not very helpful when it comes to making a decision on whether or not to sail on this ship. I would suggest that the compensation given for the mess up was more than adequate, and I do understand the disappointment in not getting the excursion. Not really sure what you expected there.

Sorry your vacation was crap, but more information would have been nice.

No offense, but, it sounds like alot of nit-picking. It is a shame your friends missed their excursion and mistakes happen but I think the Purser handled it well. Sounds like a nice jesture with a refund, bottle of wine and future discount. They're not going to give you a free cruise. I have never been on a cruise where everything was perfect including RCI, NCL, Disney and Celebrity. No one took my picture more than RCI. I felt like Brad Pitt. A polite no to the Carnival photographer was all it took. I am not a Carnival diehard since I've only been on one cruise with them, but I felt that they had a very good product so I've booked them again.

When something starts off on the wrong foot we can become hypercritical which is only human nature. I would never let it ruin an expensive vacation. Good luck with your future plans.