Carnival Pride Review 9/9/2018

My first attempt at a cruise review after 4 cruises. We were to leave Baltimore on September 9, 2018 for Bermuda. Because of Hurricane Florence we were rerouted to the Bahamas. Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. We cruised to those islands in 2011. I will give you some updates on changes I noticed on this cruise since our last cruise in 2016..

MY OBSERVATIONS:

• PARKING LOT: There used to be 2 lanes, one for cash and one for credit. The cash line was always the shortest. Now both lanes are open for either cash or credit.
  
• EMBARKATION: Seeming long lines at the 1:00 - 1:30 check in but they moved really fast. Carry on bags went through the xray conveyor belt but this time they were not opened and inspected like they did in 2016. We were aboard in about 15-20 minutes. Rooms were ready at 2:00.
  
• SHOWER: Water pressure in the shower was excellent. Shower curtain was extra long and didn’t wrap around you while you were taking a shower. I do wish they would add a small grab bar in the shower while the Pride is in drydock.
  
• ROOM SERVICE: Room steward brings a card and you check off AM, PM or BOTH. We were not pressured one way or another. We chose AM and wrote in ice. Our room steward was I Ketut and he was great!
  
• ROOMS: Our 4K room had a flat screen TV. Previous years you could find the day’s menu and check your sign-and-sail balance on the TV. Now you have to download the Carnival Hub to see those things. We didn’t take a device to use and locked our phones in the safe so this was no help to us. We would check our balance and add money if needed at one of the Kiosk’s at either end of the Casino. Never had to stand in line at Guest Services. I listed the TV Channels you get on the room TVs at the end of this review.
  
• BRUNCH: OJ was the only juice offered but you could ask for others. The bread basket came around and you could pick one piece. Menu was great!
  
• DINNER: We had YTD on the 3rd floor dining room. Bread basket was placed on the table. Water was really good on this cruise. Some choices came in little bit larger portions (caesar salad especially). Our waiters were awesome! Arta, Arya and Libin. At around 5:30 the line would start forming for the YTD. Crew members from the Dining Room were nice enough to bring those disabled guests right in to a table so they didn’t have to stand in line. I thought that was very nice. In past years they had a menu board outside the Dining Room with that night’s dinner menu. This cruise there was none.
  
• LIDO: Lots of good choices for lunch. Breakfast was always the same. I am not a fan. Best drink we found from Lido was to put about ½ inch of lemonade in the cup, add ice and then fill with water. Excellent lemon-water! Lido now has platters alongside the plates. Perfect to use as a tray if you need one, especially for bringing coffee and pastries back to the room.
  
• GUY’S BURGERS: Guys is a matter of opinion. Some love it and some do not. My husband loved it but I don’t usually eat burgers. The fries looked greasy and not crispy. However, I love fried onion sandwiches! I got a burger roll from Guys and filled it with the (yes, very greasy) fried onions from their fixins bar. Delish!
  
• PIZZA: We both preferred the pizza of 2 years ago made on a flat bread/foca bread type crust. This time it was made on traditional round pizza crust and it was served as ½ pizza when you ordered. (Unless you wanted a whole one. Approximate size was a medium).
  
• SHOWS: We didn’t go to any of the musical shows except KARAOKE which was fun. Hosted by Assistant Cruise Director Bendy Blake who was awesome! We did attend the CARIBBEAN SHOPPING SHOW. As reported by others, it was a waste of time, just telling you where to shop on the islands. (Stores associated with Carnival). Love and Marriage Show was hosted by Dr. E and of course it was very funny. He asked around 10 questions.
  
• COMEDIANS: Didn’t attend but heard they were very funny but only about 20 minutes sessions. Last couple of nights they had no comedians because they were to be picked up in Freeport on Friday but we skipped that port and came straight home Thursday after Half Moon Cay.
  
• CASINO: We spent a little time in the Casino on the first night. The smoke was unbearable. When we got back to our room, our clothes smelled like cigarette smoke! I wish they would make the table game side of the Casino the smoking section and the Slot Machines on the right as non smoking. That might help a little. DH was able to pick up a stack of $100 from the claw machine. We saw a couple other people grab one as well.
  
• CREW: As always, you won’t find a nicer, friendlier crew anywhere. When ship is docked in a port, the crew members are busy cleaning.
  
• CRUISE DIRECTOR: Reverend Dr. E (Eversen) was so funny and personable! Best cruise director we have ever sailed with!
  
• PORTS: GRAND TURK: We were last in Grand Turk in 2011 so it has been awhile. Back then Carnival advised to stay in the Carnival port area and not wander off beyond there. This time, locals were everywhere in the port. They offered golf cart rentals, jeep rentals, tours, chairs and umbrellas closest to the beach. It was really a big difference and to me it just seemed overcrowded with so much going on. Port shops were great. Half Moon Cay: Awesome as always. Captain announced on Thursday evening when we left Half Moon Cay that we would not be docking at Freeport on Friday due to Hurricane Florence. We would leave right then and go farther out to sea and around the Hurricane on our way back to Baltimore. Friday was a rough sea day as we did hit some rough seas. This also cancelled the Comedians for Friday and Saturday as we were unable to pick them up in Freeport.
  
• DEBARKATION: We did self-assist for the first time and loved it!
  

Carnival Officers held a Q&A session. One of the questions about Bermuda was answered that parts of Bermuda had no power and no water. When I got home I emailed our tour guide in Bermuda and she said they didn't get anything at all from the Hurricane. They were hoping for some rain as they were in a drought but got none. Hmmmmmm Carnival Officers being deceitful to justify the rerouting? No need. I understand their choice to be safe.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer.

TV CHANNELSHOWING

11FUN FINDS

13CRUISE LIFE

14CHANNEL GUIDE

15SAFETY INFORMATION

16FUN ABOARD

17CARNIVAL ADVENTURES

18MAP CHANNEL

19FORWARD CAMERA VIEW

20LIDO CAMERA VIEW

21AUDIBLE FUNTIMES

22CNN

23CNN INTERNATIONAL

24CNN SPANISH

25HLN

26BOOMERANG

27CARTOON NETWORK

28TNT

29TBS / WATCHED IN ENGLISH/COMMERCIALS IN SPANISH

30TCM

31TRUTV / SPANISH IN PM & ENGLISH IN AM

32FREE MOVIE CHANNEL / MOVIE GUIDE BETWEEN MOVIES

33FUN FOR ALL

34OCEAN VIEW

35GOOD TO KNOW

36MUSIC CHANNEL

Thanks for taking the time to post such a thorough review. I am glad your itinerary change didn't spoil your cruise.

Happy sailing.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the Norwegian Escape also was supposed to go to Bermuda. Ended up in Pt. Canaveral and private Bahamas island, canceled Nassua. At least you received future cruise 25% credit, Norwegian gave us nothing.

Great review! Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the Norwegian Escape also was supposed to go to Bermuda. Ended up in Pt. Canaveral and private Bahamas island, canceled Nassua. At least you received future cruise 25% credit, Norwegian gave us nothing.

I forget to include that. Yes we received 25% off a future cruise to use within 18 months. I will again book a cruise to Bermuda. They also had a special Bingo game where everyone was given 3 bingo cards. The winner received a free 5 day cruise in an OV room.

The MDR menus were always there at the deck 2 entrance on the left. Sometimes you had to go past the white bulkhead type doors to see them.

I agree with the smoking. Next to last night, both of us were sitting at a roulette table making a killing. She ended up winning >$400 and I won over $200. We might have won more but her asthma started giving her breathing problems due to the smoke. I wonder how many more players who were losing money to Carnival had to leave because the smoke got to them.

I wish they would have at least one ship, like the Paradise was for a short time, with no smoking. I understand it made it difficult to book groups, but times have changed and a lot less people are smoking now than did back then. Even if they would just provide an area on an aft deck for those who had to have an occasional puff, it would be so much better. Do it on a ship out of Miami where there are so many ships, one with no smoking, or at least restricted smoking, would not be any trouble. Give us options!

Glad you had a good time. Any word on the improvements for the scheduled dry dock?

The only thing I know for sure is they will replace the French doors on 4K cabins with large windows.

Thanks for your review! We're going on the Pride in November and have been waiting to read a current review. Any other tips??

Nice review! I was on the same sailing and enjoyed the cruise. My husband and I did see the comedians at the beginning of the cruise. We watched all 10 shows! Two the first night, four the next night, and four the next night. They were very good. The comedy shows are one of the main reasons we cruise Carnival. We like to relax and have a good time.

We also attended the Karaoke. I am glad you mentioned Bendy Blake's name since I could not recall it. He was absolutely hilarious. If he is ever a cruise director some day, he will make a very good one. I thought Dr. E was average. We had Matt on our last cruise on the Vista, so the bar was set high. I never paid much attention to cruise directors until Matt, but now I doubt anyone will ever live up to him.

We had fun at the 80's party. It was great to let loose and sing. Fun times. We also had a blast at the Quest game. The entire audience is involved and it's a great way to meet other people. We had a lot of laughs. The Love and Marriage show and theater shows were good.

For our embarkment, we had the 12:30 to 1:00 time slot, but arrived early. They opened the doors at 11:30 and everyone in line filed in. After checking in, we were directed to sit in seats in order and boarded the ship in the same order. That is much better then people in each boarding group heading for the same door at once.

At the end of the cruise, we went down to a lower deck to line up to get out luggage tags. We picked the earliest tags, which were group 6. On the last day, it seemed to take a long time for our group to be called, but maybe that's how it always is with this ship since it docks so late. We used the ship's transportation and we were escorted to a small shuttle upon exiting the port area.

All in all, it was a good cruise.

Thanks for the review.

I have mixed emotions on the smoking comments. On one hand it would be nice to spend some time in the casino if it was smoke free. On the other hand, the smoke keeps me out of the casino. so I never lose money gambling on a Carnival cruise ship.

Another thing I forgot to mention. The cabin refrigerators kept soda and water ice cold! Much better than in previous years and we did not leave the cabinet door open.

What time did you get to the airport with the shuttle?