Carnival Pride or Grandeur?

[cocacola86]

The Grandeur is 2500 CDN and the Pride is 2100 US or 2600 CDN, the Pride for 2016 goes to Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and Royal goes to Key West, PC, Nassau and Coco Coy. Both are 8 days. I've heard more good things about Grandeur. What're your thoughts on the two ships, are main factors when we book is price, food options, entertainment and activitys.

[SKeighley]

We have been on both and enjoyed both ships. Each has pro's and con's. The food is better on the Pride especially the deli, pizza and guys burger. The entertainment e

Is better on the Grandeur, the shows and they still have live bands. A steel band greets you when you board.

Both have great friendly crews. The cabins interior,ov and balcony are larger on the Pride.

I would go for the ports. I liked both half moon cay and Labadee their private islands.n

We have a b2b on Pride in Oct 2015 and a 10 day Grandeur western Carbbean in Feb 2016 booked.

If you have not been to Grand Truk that is a nice port with great beaches.

[vlynn]

Been on both. We also enjoyed both ships. We gave the edge to Carnival for food and we missed the comedy club. Otherwise they really are more alike than different.

 

HMC and Labadee are both great ports.

 

If I had to choose I would choose the Pride because we love the comedy club. However, we would cruise the Grandeur again in a heartbeat.

 

You really can't go wrong either way!! Have a great cruise! Love cruising from Baltimore!

[marsh-angler]

Been on both, go on the Pride.

[WahooFan]

The Grandeur is 2500 CDN and the Pride is 2100 US or 2600 CDN, the Pride for 2016 goes to Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and Royal goes to Key West, PC, Nassau and Coco Coy. Both are 8 days. I've heard more good things about Grandeur. What're your thoughts on the two ships, are main factors when we book is price, food options, entertainment and activitys.

 

I have been on both (Pride in Sept of 12 and Grandeur last October) and they both have plusses and minus'. I think destination should be a factor. We loved Grand Turks with Pride and loved going to Disney for the day with Port Caneveral also the Key West stop was great. Not a fan of Nassau so I could care less about that stop (sorry). Half Moon Cay was nicer, in my opinion than Coco Cay. COco Cay felt like a mini Nassau with all the stalls and the people trying to get you to come over and buy. Pride had 24hr pizza and ice cream, wherer Granduer did not. I liked the live entertainment on Grandeur better, but Bingo was more frequent and scheduled better on the Pride. We enjoyed the food on both. Grandeur seemed cleaner but I am really excited to see the 2.0 upgrades on the Pride.

[runner15km]

I have been on the Grandeur and the sister ship of the Pride (Miracle). I would go with the Pride.

 

Recent refurbishment, larger cabins, comfortable bedding, better food.

 

Granduer had better entertainment.

 

I prefer the ports of the Pride.

[Cruzaholic41]

The Grandeur is 2500 CDN and the Pride is 2100 US or 2600 CDN, the Pride for 2016 goes to Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and Royal goes to Key West, PC, Nassau and Coco Coy. Both are 8 days. I've heard more good things about Grandeur. What're your thoughts on the two ships, are main factors when we book is price, food options, entertainment and activitys.

 

Like many on this thread, I've also been on both. Pride stands out in my mind as being one of the ugliest cruise ships I have ever sailed. Between the ships, I would pick Grandeur.

 

As for itinerary, I think Grandeur has a slight advantage. I prefer Key West to Grand Turk and I like the expansiveness of Coco Cay.

[DKane]

The Grandeur is 2500 CDN and the Pride is 2100 US or 2600 CDN, the Pride for 2016 goes to Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and Royal goes to Key West, PC, Nassau and Coco Coy. Both are 8 days. I've heard more good things about Grandeur. What're your thoughts on the two ships, are main factors when we book is price, food options, entertainment and activitys.

 

I have been on both in the past year. I always said that Carnival had better food but there were eight of us who concurred that Royal's food has improved and was very good - on a par with Carnival, maybe a bit better - bacon wasn't greasy at all, eggs were just how we liked them - more choices.

 

I felt that our balcony cabin on Grandeur seemed a bit larger. This was our perception - may be it had to do with the colors in there.

 

During Thanksgiving week we were on the Grandeur and we couldn't dock at Key West due to the winds. We have been on the Pride where we couldn't dock at Freeport. So go with the itinerary you like.

[jetta8300]

We haven't been on either ship but have that itinerary booked with the pride. We were also debating between the two.

 

The pride won out for us due to our past experiences with Carnival and RCI, and also the price. The Pride just went through an expansive refurbishment adding Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, outdoor big screen, and many other things.

 

I can tell you that some things that made us choose this ship over the Grandeur is the wonderful outdoor serenity deck on the Pride, (I believe the Grandeurs is indoors like many of the RCI ships. We HATE that), we enjoyed the food much more with Carnival, and of course Half Moon Cay. HMC is supposed to be most people's idea of the best beach in the world.

[coasterjan]

I was on the Grandeur in May last year, and the Pride in November. I would absolutely choose the Pride.

 

I *hated* our teeny, tiny little inside room on the Grandeur. It was absurdly small. So small that we couldn't pass each other in the room - somebody had to go into the bathroom. And with only 1 small closet with no place to put our suitcases, and they wouldn't fit under the (very uncomfortable) bed, I had to put our empty suitcases between the bed and the wall, requiring me to climb onto the foot of the bed and sit on my pillow to be able to crawl under the sheets to go to bed. The bathroom was a joke. The sink was so small that I (a smallish female) couldn't fit my hands under the faucet. The shower was just stupidly small, and the toilet *touched* the far wall.

 

The only way I'd ever consider the Grandeur again would be if someone else was paying the bill and they booked me in a *much* bigger room.

 

On the other hand, I loved the Pride. The Spirit class is my favorite among Carnival ships, and the Pride just came out of dry dock the beginning of November (immediately before our cruise). It has all the 2.0 upgrades, and the new water park was a huge hit with the kiddo we had with us.

 

Janis

[TheCriuseDirector]

The Grandeur is 2500 CDN and the Pride is 2100 US or 2600 CDN, the Pride for 2016 goes to Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and Royal goes to Key West, PC, Nassau and Coco Coy. Both are 8 days. I've heard more good things about Grandeur. What're your thoughts on the two ships, are main factors when we book is price, food options, entertainment and activitys.

 

I would go with the Pride because, even if it is a little more expensive, you are getting a bigger ship with more amenities (Green Thunder Water slide, Indoor Pool on bad weather days, Guys Burger, etc.) Also, it depends on what stateroom class you are getting, if you are getting an interior, go with Graneur because they are bigger, unless you get a 4K(interior with french doors), which has a pseudo-balcony on it. And if you're getting a balcony, go with Pride because there are a lot more options to choose from. In the end, it's all about what cruising style you personally enjoy, if you prefer a more relaxed (throwing this term around loosely) style of cruising, go with Grandeur, but if you want your cruise to be action packed, go with the Pride.

[WetToes]

We've done both, and would do either again. We do prefer the Pride.

We use the buffet a lot. I would say that the Pride's food was better.

I also think there is a bit more night time entertainment on the Pride. My DH likes the comedy shows. We feel the Pride is a little livelier.

There is also always something to eat on the Pride, there is on the Grandeur too, but you have to order from RS after a certain time.

We also felt there was a bit more sell, sell, sell on the Grandeur. It seemed nearly every other thing listed in the Compass was a pay/fee item.

Like I said, we'd do either again, because of itineraries. Grandeur does offer longer cruises more frequently.

Whatever you decide, hope you have a great time.

Edited March 24, 2015 by WetToes

[retiredgram]

Been on both. Sailing the Pride this Sept. again. Going on the Grandeur next year again. Love them both. Some people do not like the decor of the Pride. Lots of nudes. Whatever, it's art.

 

I like the Prides itinerary. Go with the Pride. Nothing against the Grandeur. Do it another time. ;)

[guxu]

The only thing I do not like Grandeur is the food options. They closed the buffet after the dinner. The only place on Lido that has food was Park Café. And by 10:00pm, the Park Café ran out of most food too (How could a cruise ship eating place run out of food?). The passengers were in line and all we could get were flour chips.

Edited March 24, 2015 by guxu

[ShakyBeef]

I've been on both ships (been on Pride many times) and have been to all of those ports. I would choose Grandeur.

 

The entertainment on Grandeur blew that offered by Carnival out of the water (no pun intended). Although I missed the sing-along style Piano Bar of Pride and the Comedy Club, the live musicians of different genres all over the ship, aerial acrobatic shows in the Atrium, and fabulous live shows in the theatre of great variety (for example: comedy, singing and dancing, hypnotist, and an amazing acrobatic/physical performance couple that has been seen on many big TV shows all around the world) beat anything Carnival has offered in years. And this was before Carnival downgraded their entertainment even further with "Playlist".

 

The food choices on Grandeur were better. They have three "upcharge" restaurants, all very good: Izumi (Asian), Chops (steakhouse), and Giovanni's (Italian). The wine selection on Royal is much better, too. Even the wine glasses (Riedel is used in the restaurants) are far superior. The regular MDR food on both ships seems to be about equal. A couple years ago, Carnival's was better, but not anymore. The Tutti Salad bar (where your salad is prepared to your specifications from a huge selection of ingredients) at lunchtime in the MDR is excellent!

 

The last couple times I cruised on Pride, when I ordered the "Mixed Field Greens Salad", I was served iceberg lettuce and red cabbage and told that they no longer have field greens.:rolleyes: The food, entertainment, and service have been going steadily downhill on Carnival over the past few years. That may be true of Royal as well - I wouldn't know from my one cruise with them. But from my experience, the product that Royal is offering is of considerably higher quality than that of Carnival.

 

Pride has the miniature golf course, and now the upgraded water slides. Grandeur has the rock-climbing wall. It depends on what you like as to which of these is better.

 

Grandeur's décor was much nicer than that of Carnival ships. And there are all kinds of little extra touches like Royal serves their DODs in attractive souvenir glasses actually made of glass, not cheap plastic.

 

I think Cocoa Cay was just as nice as HMC, in some ways nicer. They are both lovely, private islands with beautiful white sand where one can have peace or lots of activity. And one can spend no extra money or lots of it.

 

Full disclosure: on our only Grandeur cruise, we stayed in a Grande Suite, so we had no cabin space issues and enjoyed many "suite perks" not offered on Carnival that further enhanced our cruise with Royal. On Pride, we have stayed in: regular Balcony, Extended Balcony, Ocean Suite, and Vista Suite and enjoyed all of the cabins (but some more than others;)).

 

Obligatory disclaimer to keep the Carnival cheerleaders from flipping out: Everyone's tastes are different and what are nice touches to some are not even noticed by others and what is important to some is not to others, yada yada blah blah blah. These are simply my experiences and opinions.:cool:

Edited March 24, 2015 by ShakyBeef
typo

[coasterjan]

I would go with the Pride because, even if it is a little more expensive, you are getting a bigger ship with more amenities (Green Thunder Water slide, Indoor Pool on bad weather days, Guys Burger, etc.) Also, it depends on what stateroom class you are getting, if you are getting an interior, go with Graneur because they are bigger, unless you get a 4K(interior with french doors), which has a pseudo-balcony on it. And if you're getting a balcony, go with Pride because there are a lot more options to choose from. In the end, it's all about what cruising style you personally enjoy, if you prefer a more relaxed (throwing this term around loosely) style of cruising, go with Grandeur, but if you want your cruise to be action packed, go with the Pride.

 

Just wanted to say that I'm not hallucinating when I say that Grandeur had a much smaller inside cabin than the Pride.

I got this information from Cruise Critic reviews of each ship:

 

Carnival Pride Cabins

 

About 80 percent of Carnival Pride's cabins are outside, and of those, 80 percent offer balconies and a sitting area. The 213 inside cabins measure 185 square feet, pretty generous for standard cabins. Outside cabins measure 220 square feet, while balcony cabins are also 185 square feet with balconies measuring another 35, 60 or 75 square feet, depending on category.

 

Grandeur of the Seas Cabins

Two categories of inside cabins range in size from 137 to 145 square feet, while standard outside cabins measure 152 square feet. Standard balcony cabins (called "superior oceanviews") are 192 square feet with 39-square-foot balconies.

 

Janis

[WetToes]

We've booked out first inside cabin (I said I'd never do it) on the Grandeur for Oct. The cruise to New England.

I'm thinking we won't get much use out of the balcony that time of year heading north.

I am really concerned that we are going to hate it. Sounds so tight. It's 9 days.

[guxu]

We've booked out first inside cabin (I said I'd never do it) on the Grandeur for Oct. The cruise to New England.

I'm thinking we won't get much use out of the balcony that time of year heading north.

I am really concerned that we are going to hate it. Sounds so tight. It's 9 days.

I stayed in inside cabin on Grandeur before. Honestly I do not remember the cabin was that small, maybe because we did not spend much time in the cabin anyway.

[cruizinisthebest]

Does the Pride just have the Green Thunder or is there a waterpark and/or another slide?

 

Someone mentioned the Grandeur has an updated slide. What kind?

 

I've been thinking about these two ships as well. Really I want to go to Bermuda in the Summer. Carnival just won't offer any summer itineraries to Bermuda!

[ShakyBeef]

Does the Pride just have the Green Thunder or is there a waterpark and/or another slide?

 

Someone mentioned the Grandeur has an updated slide. What kind?

 

I've been thinking about these two ships as well. Really I want to go to Bermuda in the Summer. Carnival just won't offer any summer itineraries to Bermuda!

 

I mentioned that Pride has the updated slides, not Grandeur. AFAIK, Grandeur has no waterslides.

 

Here's a thread about Pride's Waterworks, that includes photos from Falkcor:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2175864

Edited March 24, 2015 by ShakyBeef
spelling

[coasterjan]

We've booked out first inside cabin (I said I'd never do it) on the Grandeur for Oct. The cruise to New England.

I'm thinking we won't get much use out of the balcony that time of year heading north.

I am really concerned that we are going to hate it. Sounds so tight. It's 9 days.

 

I'd recommend being a little bit more reserved with how much luggage you take aboard than I was (between the 2 of us, we had 3 large suitcases, 2 smaller ones, and 4 backpacks/ carry on bags!) . Since we drove to port, I wasn't "limited" by the airlines where luggage was concerned. I think that was our biggest problem - we took way more stuff than normal, and way way way too much to fit in our closet....

 

Perhaps, if Hubby and I were a little smaller, we might not have noticed how small the room was, too. :)

 

Janis

[WetToes]

I stayed in inside cabin on Grandeur before. Honestly I do not remember the cabin was that small, maybe because we did not spend much time in the cabin anyway.

 

Thank you! I hope we feel the same. We normally do spend a bit of time in our cabin, using the balcony. We shall see.

 

I'd recommend being a little bit more reserved with how much luggage you take aboard than I was (between the 2 of us, we had 3 large suitcases, 2 smaller ones, and 4 backpacks/ carry on bags!) . Since we drove to port, I wasn't "limited" by the airlines where luggage was concerned. I think that was our biggest problem - we took way more stuff than normal, and way way way too much to fit in our closet....

 

Perhaps, if Hubby and I were a little smaller, we might not have noticed how small the room was, too. :)

 

Janis

 

We drive to the port , and I'm also an over packer , although I did manage to take one less bag last time (baby steps). We usually have 2 large, 1 small, a back pack and a small duffle. I left the duffle home this last time.

I won't be taking nearly as many shoes on this one.

[DKane]

We haven't been on either ship but have that itinerary booked with the pride. We were also debating between the two.

 

The pride won out for us due to our past experiences with Carnival and RCI, and also the price. The Pride just went through an expansive refurbishment adding Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, outdoor big screen, and many other things.

 

I can tell you that some things that made us choose this ship over the Grandeur is the wonderful outdoor serenity deck on the Pride, (I believe the Grandeurs is indoors like many of the RCI ships. We HATE that), we enjoyed the food much more with Carnival, and of course Half Moon Cay. HMC is supposed to be most people's idea of the best beach in the world.

 

We don't like an indoor Serenity area either but when sailing in November, you can swim in the pool because it is enclosed. If we were on a ship with an outdoor serenity area, we would have missed a day and a half without a pool because of the chilly weather.

 

Surely in warmer months, I'd prefer it to be outdoors.

[DKane]

Just wanted to say that I'm not hallucinating when I say that Grandeur had a much smaller inside cabin than the Pride.

I got this information from Cruise Critic reviews of each ship:

 

Carnival Pride Cabins

 

About 80 percent of Carnival Pride's cabins are outside, and of those, 80 percent offer balconies and a sitting area. The 213 inside cabins measure 185 square feet, pretty generous for standard cabins. Outside cabins measure 220 square feet, while balcony cabins are also 185 square feet with balconies measuring another 35, 60 or 75 square feet, depending on category.

 

Grandeur of the Seas Cabins

Two categories of inside cabins range in size from 137 to 145 square feet, while standard outside cabins measure 152 square feet. Standard balcony cabins (called "superior oceanviews") are 192 square feet with 39-square-foot balconies.

 

Janis

 

Thanks for the info. So that's why my Grandeur balcony cabin seemed bigger than the Pride - it was!

[retiredgram]

We've booked out first inside cabin (I said I'd never do it) on the Grandeur for Oct. The cruise to New England.

I'm thinking we won't get much use out of the balcony that time of year heading north.

I am really concerned that we are going to hate it. Sounds so tight. It's 9 days.

You might consider having the beds seperated. We book an OV and one year the beds were seperated when were boarded and I was surprised as how much room it gave us.