Review of Carnival Pride - 5/6 - 13, 2012

My wife and I sailed on the Pride from Baltimore to Grand Turk, Freeport and Half Moon Cay with an old high school buddy and his wife. This is the same itinerary we did last year (April, 2011) with my daughter, her husband and two young kids. My review of that cruise is called "Carnival Pride Review - 4/24/11", and is dated May 4, 2011.

I won't repeat the review, but want to say we again thoroughly enjoyed the cruise...although the experience and pace were different, given the absence of our grand-kids! Much of what I wrote last year still applies.

A few things that changed:

- no free postcards from the guest services desk...you now must buy them in a shop. They still do provide decks of playing cards

- no daily newspaper that they used to give out at the bar near the guest services desk. It is no longer printed.

- no farewell party that had been on Saturday evening.

- fewer free toiletries in the cabin

- no chocolate buffet in the evening...now this is available at lunch one day at one place in the Lido buffet

- shrimp cocktail is no longer available every night in the dining room...we asked the maitre d' for it, and they served it to us as a special case (I think)

- the surf-and-turf dinner was not available. You could order lobster as an entree on night, and the filet mignon was served in combination with short ribs.

A few other comments:

- several of the shows were a repeat from last year...but we thoroughly enjoyed the music and the skill and incredible energy of the dancers

- except for the down-graded menu changes above, we thought the food was as good as last year. I had prime rib twice, and thought it was outstanding. The filet mignon, and the chateaubriand (another choice on a different evening, were both very good! We had no dinners in the Lido or the steak house, so cannot comment on them. Last year we did early dining, and this year we did "any-time" dining. Even so, we arrived at the dining room between 5:50 and 6:15 each night, and got othe same table for four (4) and service team, which we enjoyed.

I hope this is helpful. I will be happy to answer any questions I can.

Car-Stan

Hi- was wondering if there is a movie theater on this ship? I know they don't have the outdoor one, but is there one inside somewhere? Thanks!

glad you had a great time!

no movie theater specifically but I think they do show a movie somewhere maybe on a port day?

Do they still have Free cappuccino during dinner? Do they still have escargot in menu?

Sushi at 6pm?

I too sailed on this cruise as well. With a group of 20. Although we had a great time - this was the least favorite. Totally felt the cut backs. The shrimp cocktail not being available at dinner - isn't a deal breaker - but really?? Cut back on the photographers hounding you and leave the shrimp alone!

Didn't feel connected to our wait staff in the dining room as we have on all our other cruises! They seemed rushed and not really interested. Bread came around once and that was it. Rushed to order our meals. Had to practically beg for grated cheese and pepper!! These things never happened before. And most of our meals were luke warm - never hot!

I thought the entertainment staff was horrible! They seemed to always be talking amongst themselves and just going through the motions not really enjoying themselves or caring about the people onboard. We got involved in many of the games, etc. on board and just felt they didn't really care much about any of it!

Of course, this is just my opinion. But it's how I felt!

Yindella - cappuccino was still free in the dining room (got it a few nights) and sushi was available from 5 to 8 on select nights as well. No escargot.

We will be sailing out on the Pride July 29 with another couple and are very excited. I am just wondering, since it is tough to navigate and find out exactly what the restaurants are on the ship, can you list them here when you get a chance. I am thinking that Guy Feiri's burger restaurant isnt on this ship but hoping it is.

Thanks for your information on this and glad you all had a good trip on the Pride:)

Thanks for your review, especially on what changed since your last cruise on the Carnival Pride. :)

We will be sailing out on the Pride July 29 with another couple and are very excited. I am just wondering, since it is tough to navigate and find out exactly what the restaurants are on the ship, can you list them here when you get a chance. I am thinking that Guy Feiri's burger restaurant isnt on this ship but hoping it is.

Thanks for your information on this and glad you all had a good trip on the Pride:)

No Guys Burgers on the Pride.:(

We were on the pride on may 13-20

I am loyal to celebrity and was anxious about this cruise.

It was much better than i had thought.

Food was mostly good. Their desserts and breads were wonderful. Cabin was decent.

Smoking was out of control....like a tobacco convention

Staff were friendly

The engines were so noisy in the dining room i thought there was something wrong with the ship....i have sailed many times and never heard anything like it

Lots of things to do at night.

Drink prices higher than celebrity

Our group all had a good time

No Guys Burgers on the Pride.:(

Not until November of next year when she get's her 2.0 upgrades. I'm really going to miss them next week after having them on the Liberty

Thanks for the update! Glad you had a good time. As for the cutbacks, clearly the winds of change are upon us:)!

Good info...thx

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

 

The engines were so noisy in the dining room i thought there was something wrong with the ship....i have sailed many times and never heard anything like it

We too were on the May 6th cruise and were constantly bothered by the vibrating ship, most noticeable aft in the serenity and main dining rooms, we had to change tables after they sat us all the way in the back. As it is also there when docked it is not influenced by wind or weather.

The ship's architect aught to be flogged.

We had a good time despite all that but in the serenity are a lot of the conversation went around not sailing Pride or Carnival again...they aught to fix that ship.

This was our 13th cruise, the second with Carnival.

Great information thanks for sharing.

Hubby & I were on this cruise also. We have sailed on the Pride previously, and have enjoyed it.

Yes, they have had cutbacks in the MDR food. So have other cruise lines.

We did not feel the vibration this time, but have felt it on a previous cruise.

We found the staff to be friendly and attentive. Maybe we were just fortunate.

Those that want to watch a movie, only have to check the Funtimes to see what is available and where it is playing. I think we watched one in the Butterflies lounge.

I am not pro Carnival or any other cruise line. We just like the convenience of sailing out of Baltimore. Yes, I am sailing on the Pride in October and looking forward to our annual all girls crusie.

To me, a cruise is what you make of it. If I look for something negative, I am sure I will find it, but I will be looking for my first DOD and waiting to enjoy every minute of my cruise along with all my fellow cruisers.:D

This is just my opinion and I respect the opinions of others.

Carnival Pride won't be going to Funship 2.0 until 2013, even though Carnival puts Funship 2.0 on their Carnival Pride webpage... I just found one of the Funship 2.0 items which will be going fleetwide in 2013, DJ IRIE, so when that happens in 2013, Carnival can claim that all cruise ships have Funship 2.0.

I am glad people found my review helpful. And, I am glad others have stepped in to answer questions. We have had houseguests, and I have not been back to this board since I wrote the review.

A few comments:

Although we did "anytime dining", we got the same table and serving staff each night, and they were friendly and good. We came to the dining room at about 6:00 every night.

Our table was just to the left of the dining room entrance, and I don't recall any engine noise or vibrations there...or, in our cabin on the Upper Deck (Deck 5), aft. I am very rarely bothered by ship movement, so could just not have noticed.

I hope everyone who sails the Pride has at last as much fun and enjoyment as we did!

Stan

Hi- was wondering if there is a movie theater on this ship? I know they don't have the outdoor one, but is there one inside somewhere? Thanks!

I think they show movies in the Butterflies lounge a few times during the cruise.