Quick Pride 2.0 Review

The worst part was the Port of Tampa!! We boarded on-time, departed on-time but arrived a little late due to the fog. Carnival has a very poor debarkation process and I wonder if the other cruise lines have the same issues in Tampa or if it's just Carnival.

 

Can you be more specific?

Can you be more specific?

I was on this sailing. I think a lot of people were upset with the debarkation process because we were so late. I dont think we docked until 9:30, and if I'm not mistaken its usually around 6 am. So obviously we didn't start getting off until way later. It was a little frustrating, but what can do you do?

I was on this sailing. I think a lot of people were upset with the debarkation process because we were so late. I dont think we docked until 9:30, and if I'm not mistaken its usually around 6 am. So obviously we didn't start getting off until way later. It was a little frustrating, but what can do you do?

Be patient and keep eating and drinking! :D

Can you be more specific?

Apparently the tags they give you have nothing to do with the order you are called off, it's just where you find your luggage in the warehouse. They call you off by deck number. There is only ONE line to get off which I know slows things down since so many people do the self disembark and carry all their luggage with them. On another cruise line there was one line for self carry and another where your number was called (by your luggage tag). There were so many in the self assist that the other line was going faster! Plus the port area is so congested, the dropping off and picking up is horrendous. I have never felt this way getting off a Carnival cruise so I was surprised I felt so confused over the way they did it in Tampa. My ride parked in the adjacent parking garage and he stood on the second floor watching the confusion while he waited for me. He said he had some good laughs.

We arrived at the port about 11:00 and were on board at 12:00. Luggage was in the room about 3:00. The ship appeared to be clean on the inside. Outside needs a lot of work. You can eat most of the food but it is nothing you would go home and rave about. If you are looking for entertainment this is not the cruise for you. The crew seemed to work hard, but the upper management is not up to par. The cruise director should be replaced. Carnival can do nothing about the fog, however the disembarkment was a total mess. The ports of call are not very good. Why would carnival go to ports that are too dangerous for it's guests to walk around if they leave the little compound where they dock. If this is the pride of carnival something is wrong.

We arrived at the port about 11:00 and were on board at 12:00. Luggage was in the room about 3:00. The ship appeared to be clean on the inside. Outside needs a lot of work. You can eat most of the food but it is nothing you would go home and rave about. If you are looking for entertainment this is not the cruise for you. The crew seemed to work hard, but the upper management is not up to par. The cruise director should be replaced. Carnival can do nothing about the fog, however the disembarkment was a total mess. The ports of call are not very good. Why would carnival go to ports that are too dangerous for it's guests to walk around if they leave the little compound where they dock. If this is the pride of carnival something is wrong.

They want you to stay in the compound since they get a kickback on sales. Or you can spend money on a carnival excursion. It's all about the money. The only reason we chose this cruise was for Belize and zip lining, which we didn't get to do because there wasn't enough time.

They want you to stay in the compound since they get a kickback on sales. Or you can spend money on a carnival excursion. It's all about the money. The only reason we chose this cruise was for Belize and zip lining, which we didn't get to do because there wasn't enough time.

How come there wasn't enough time? We are planning on cave tubing with cavetubing.bz which isn't a Carnival excursion.

How come there wasn't enough time? We are planning on cave tubing with cavetubing.bz which isn't a Carnival excursion.

Our excursion included both cave tubing and zip lining but only had time for tubing.

Did the ship have trouble tendering passengers to Belize? Is that why there wasn't enough time to do both? We have the exact excursion planned and it seemed like there would be time for both IF you were able to get off the ship as early as possible--one if the reasons I did FTTF! Was it bad weather or rough seas? Very curious about this!!!!!

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Did the ship have trouble tendering passengers to Belize? Is that why there wasn't enough time to do both? We have the exact excursion planned and it seemed like there would be time for both IF you were able to get off the ship as early as possible--one if the reasons I did FTTF! Was it bad weather or rough seas? Very curious about this!!!!!

 

 

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I know 8 people who went with us did cave tubing and the zip lining. We were booked through .bz

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Did the ship have trouble tendering passengers to Belize? Is that why there wasn't enough time to do both? We have the exact excursion planned and it seemed like there would be time for both IF you were able to get off the ship as early as possible--one if the reasons I did FTTF! Was it bad weather or rough seas? Very curious about this!!!!!

 

 

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Weather was fine but for some reason we got there late so it cut the time short. I know both can be done as Carnival offers an excursion for both (more than double the price). The tendering was done in a timely fashion as they hand out tender tickets very early so we made sure we were on the first tender. You do tender about five miles out so the ride is a good 30-40 minutes. We used butts up and I think it was their fault. They seemed a little disorganized...

Glad you had a great time. Some other posters seem to believe your experience was horrible.

Too little, too late for all of us that cruised her <Pride> in the past few weeks. Lost us as customers. Period

well i guess a dirty ship, no place to sit on lido unless you clean your own table,t,v, that do not work,food cold,6 hours late getting out of port,getting off ship at ports. crew not knowing what they are doing because they are new,shows no good. is just part of coming out of dry dock. well that is not o.k. with me. i guess you think we have to train the crew in tampa so it will be ready for the next port . i will have a good cruise thank you however carnival is wrong doing this to its guests.greed is a funny thing from what i read they have all ready lost about 20 guest i will see after the cruise if my name is added to the list. not looking good so far. hope i am wrong.

So Walt, did they lose you? They did me!

hi well i guess carnival needs to do something for the guest that were on the 1st and 2nd cruise on the pride after dry dock. i guess i am getting to old for carnival the upgrades did nothing for me i would say the upgrades are really downgrades for the older guest. so yes i will look for other cruise line that should make some people happy. sorry carnival

hi well i guess carnival needs to do something for the guest that were on the 1st and 2nd cruise on the pride after dry dock. i guess i am getting to old for carnival the upgrades did nothing for me i would say the upgrades are really downgrades for the older guest. so yes i will look for other cruise line that should make some people happy. sorry carnival

Walt based on your statements and sentiments I would suggest you give Holland America Line (HAL) a try as they cater to a generally much older crowd and you might just enjoy yourself a bit more than on the younger crowd found aboard Carnival Funships.

hi 1st hal is part of carnival. what you call a fun ship others might have other word for it ,will if carnival only has young people will they be better off ?maybe every body a little older should find other cruise line. i know you work for carnival . do you think carnival agrees with you ? no older guests. i have a gold card with carnival and they sure take the money even at my age ( 71 )thanks to people like you working for carnival i will find other cruise line.and i hope anyone older will do the same. carnival was wrong to put the pride back to sail when it was not ready and you know it as well as many of us do. right is right and wrong is wrong any way you say it.

hi 1st hal is part of carnival. what you call a fun ship others might have other word for it ,will if carnival only has young people will they be better off ?maybe every body a little older should find other cruise line. i know you work for carnival . do you think carnival agrees with you ? no older guests. i have a gold card with carnival and they sure take the money even at my age ( 71 )thanks to people like you working for carnival i will find other cruise line.and i hope anyone older will do the same. carnival was wrong to put the pride back to sail when it was not ready and you know it as well as many of us do. right is right and wrong is wrong any way you say it.

Hi Walt,

Let me just refine my reply regarding HAL. My suggestion is/was based solely on my perception of what many older guests are looking for and feel more comfortable with. Age is a state of mind not just a chronological state. That being said, my suggestion to give HAL a try is not based on the cruise line per se but your comments that might lead one to believe that you might have a better time amongst your age peer group with many seniors sailing aboard HAL vessels. Nevertheless have an incredible "next" cruise no matter what line you choose...even if it's aboard a Carnival Funship.

IT WILL NOT BE A CARNIVAL FUN SHIP. the next time they call and they do about 4 times per year i will let them know you said to find other cruise line someone once said be carefull of what you wish for. wonder what carnival will be like without the older guests. thanks for your help.

hi 1st hal is part of carnival. what you call a fun ship others might have other word for it ,will if carnival only has young people will they be better off ?maybe every body a little older should find other cruise line. i know you work for carnival . do you think carnival agrees with you ? no older guests. i have a gold card with carnival and they sure take the money even at my age ( 71 )thanks to people like you working for carnival i will find other cruise line.and i hope anyone older will do the same. carnival was wrong to put the pride back to sail when it was not ready and you know it as well as many of us do. right is right and wrong is wrong any way you say it.

I agree that the ship wasnt up to proper standards . Also the entertainment was pretty lacking . Some of the people I went with on the Pride had some time off and I found a deal on the Splendor out of Miami . It was the same ports as the Pride . The Weather wasnt as nice but you win some you lose some with the weather but the overall operation of the ship was much much better . The one drawback we had on the ship was a slight misunderstanding with the dinner assignment . My father is diabetic and we prefer the your time dining as opposed to assigned , my parents dining assignment was switched to Late Dining , I was still your time dining the best we could do when we go on the ship was to get both rooms dining assignments changed to early seating . We skipped the MDR the first night because we werent sure till 330 what they were going to do and were not hungry at 6 . Later in the week someone said you could get an adjustment for not dining in the MDR at night but when we found out that just deleted the tip we decided not to because they work hard and we did eat our other dinners there .

We booked that cruise as a cruise for Carnival to redeem itself for the poor performance on the Pride . Although the 2.0 dining and drinking features were nice on the Pride they were things we didnt really miss on the Splendor . The Burito Bar wasnt as good as the Blue Iguana Cantina but the Tandoor was something unique to try . The ship was much more organized for the ports especially the tender ports . they had guests collect thier tender tickets when they were ready and wait in the theater till the tender number was . No waiting in the hallway for long periods of time and no free for alls trying to beat people off the ship who were patiently waiting .

A real big difference was the entertainment . All of the comedians showed up LOL . There were 3 production shows with a showband and music all over the ship . There was a latin band that played in one of the bars several nights , the showband played a few times around the ship they had a duo play in the lobby area , an asian band played in the casino , they had a piano player and guitar player .

My parents were glad I talked them into another cruise because they enjoyed the Splendor . My father said to me he was glad he didnt let the bad experience on the Pride keep him from taking another cruise on Carnival . He said if the Pride sailing out of Tampa was his only experience with Carnival it would have been his last . Other then the weather and the dining situation we had a pretty good experience with just one other exception . On the tender boat to Belize my mother had her towel and my fathers towel on her walker as the they borded the tender the workers put her walker with the towels out of the way as she disembarked the tender it was returned to her with one towel missing . Guest Services understood the situation and didnt charge for the missing towel but they were short a towel for a snorkelling excursion .

hi glad your dad had i good cruise . maybe carnival will read the reviews about the pride and try and fix the things that are going on with it.sure sounds like they are going to lose a lot of guests over what is going on. the crew seems like they are working hard however some of the higher ups need to be replaced or need a lot more training.sounds like you are better to find a ship without the 2 up-grades. say hello to your mom, dad for me.

My reason for getting out of Tampa late would be that 4-5 hours late would mean speeding up to make up for lost time or getting to the first port late and losing port time. Tampa seems to be known for embarking and disembarking late. 2013 over Thanksgiving on the NCL Dawn, we experienced both ends of the problem. They blamed it on picking up extra passengers in Belize and everyone had to go thru customs. Only had 3 custom officers on duty for some dumb reason. I think Tampa Port needs a makeover, port people don't seem to care.

My reason for getting out of Tampa late would be that 4-5 hours late would mean speeding up to make up for lost time or getting to the first port late and losing port time. Tampa seems to be known for embarking and disembarking late. 2013 over Thanksgiving on the NCL Dawn, we experienced both ends of the problem. They blamed it on picking up extra passengers in Belize and everyone had to go thru customs. Only had 3 custom officers on duty for some dumb reason. I think Tampa Port needs a makeover, port people don't seem to care.

I definitely won't go back to Tampa! Why should the port people care, Carnival should be on top of things!! If Undercover Boss went there I'm sure there would be major changes!! LOL :D

i wonder if anyone notice how many people were on a free cruise on the nov. 30th trip on the pride about every other person i talked to was on a free cruise. never seen that before. i guess if you lose enought you get a free cruise. but is it really a free cruise.

Can you be more specific?

Please tone down the graphics. I am gonna have to wear sunglasses to just red your posts!

We are going on our first Carnival cruise in March 2016. Our first cruise was in March 2014 on Royal Caribbean. We are in the older group (69 & 73). DW will be using a scooter going forward. I have found that there is a lot of negative postings on CC about both lines. I could let these postings scare me off cruising completely or just go with the intention of enjoying myself regardless of what other people say. We did that this year & I have now become addicted to cruising. I sailed again in October & I have 3 more booked including the 14 day on Pride in March 2016. I'm kind of excited trying another ship but also nervous about something new to me. Do many people post positive remarks about this ship?