(Pride) Very Rough Shape!

[mec0920]

Just back from the Pride and wanted to share some thoughts. I’ve cruised lots with Carnival over the years and am used to the ships being older etc. they usually do a great job keeping thing up. Unfortunately this was not the case with the Pride. It seemed like basic maintenance was lacking in all areas. Made me concerned for what I wasn’t seeing behind the scenes. 
 

I took a first time cruiser with me and was quite honestly embarrassed with the state of the room and some public areas around the ship. Our first impression was walking out on the balcony, the railing looked like it would give a nasty splinter and there was rusty water dripping down from all angles. The chairs were filthy and the glass looked like it hadn’t been washed in years. See photos. 
 

Hallways were very dimly lit in some places with lights burned out and had a very spooky vibe. 
 

Food and service were about on par for Carnival. Nothing great, nothing bad. They were definitely understaffed.

The ship completely lost power in the middle of the night. Didn’t surprise me at all given the current state of the ship. This ship will be sailing in some of the most rough/technical places this summer in Europe, North Atlantic, Iceland, Norway.  I’m surprised they chose this ship and the current state it’s in, to do these itinerary’s. 
 

I get Carnival is a more affordable brand, but this seemed to hit a new low. Hope they can get things back to how they were. If you have a sailing coming up on a older ship, be aware things might not look like they used to.  
 

Edited July 5, 2022 by mec0920
Add image.

[mz-s]

Yes, Carnival is tarnishing their brand with things like this and countless other things as we are talking about in the "long lines" thread.

[Eli_6]

Oh no!  I have been so excited to go on my Pride sailing in less than 2 weeks for so long.  Some of these things I can understand, but (for example) the cracked glass is unacceptable and a safety hazard.  It could shatter and hurt someone!

 

FWIW, you are not the first poster who has complained about the state of Pride. 

[M&A]

1 hour ago, mec0920 said:

Just back from the Pride and wanted to share some thoughts. I’ve cruised lots with Carnival over the years and am used to the ships being older etc. they usually do a great job keeping thing up. Unfortunately this was not the case with the Pride. It seemed like basic maintenance was lacking in all areas. Made me concerned for what I wasn’t seeing behind the scenes. 
 

I took a first time cruiser with me and was quite honestly embarrassed with the state of the room and some public areas around the ship. Our first impression was walking out on the balcony, the railing looked like it would give a nasty splinter and there was rusty water dripping down from all angles. The chairs were filthy and the glass looked like it hadn’t been washed in years. See photos. 
 

Hallways were very dimly lit in some places with lights burned out and had a very spooky vibe. 
 

Food and service were about on par for Carnival. Nothing great, nothing bad. They were definitely understaffed.

The ship completely lost power in the middle of the night. Didn’t surprise me at all given the current state of the ship. This ship will be sailing in some of the most rough/technical places this summer in Europe, North Atlantic, Iceland, Norway.  I’m surprised they chose this ship and the current state it’s in, to do these itinerary’s. 
 

I get Carnival is a more affordable brand, but this seemed to hit a new low. Hope they can get things back to how they were. If you have a sailing coming up on a older ship, be aware things might not look like they used to.  
 

But did you enjoy the cruise?

 

[arizdback]

18 minutes ago, M&A said:

But did you enjoy the cruise?

 

I believe this was a review of the Pride. Not a review of their cruise. My analogy would be if they posted a review of the Disneyland hotel and then you replied, "did you enjoy your time in the park?" Every review has its purpose.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Oh no!  I have been so excited to go on my Pride sailing in less than 2 weeks for so long.  Some of these things I can understand, but (for example) the cracked glass is unacceptable and a safety hazard.  It could shatter and hurt someone!

 

FWIW, you are not the first poster who has complained about the state of Pride. 

 

I was most recently on the Pride during her transatlantic cruise. The crew is A+, food was average for Carnival and we overall had a great time. With that said the condition of the ship is jokingly bad. Even the comedians were calling it the "Tetanus of the Seas" due to the exposed rust. My friends and I were even joking that some of the outer decks and metal fixtures on the Titanic looked better after 100 years under the water. One person in our group had instant buyers remorse when they boarded the ship after coming off some other cruise lines recently but the service and itin is what won him over. So have a good time, enjoy the crew but yes the ship is in awful shape. It was embarrassing being docked next to other cruise line's ships.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, arizdback said:

I believe this was a review of the Pride. Not a review of their cruise. My analogy would be if they posted a review of the Disneyland hotel and then you replied, "did you enjoy your time in the park?" Every review has its purpose.

100% agree and I always try to separate reviewing the ship itself vs whether I had a good time on the cruise. I was on the Pride for 31 days starting May 19th. Now that it's been two weeks since I left the ship, I can have a clearer mind reviewing her.

 

The ship is indeed overall in rough shape. Having said that they try to keep the ship as clean as it's possible with the limited staff that's on the ship.There are nicer areas and not as nice areas. The nicer areas are the MDR, the casino (the casino has all new slot machines, gaming tables, chairs) and where the Alchemy Bar is (that should be of no surprise since that section of the ship was renovated/facelifted when they added the Alchemy Bar). The areas that are not so nice are the outdoor areas (if you followed some of my posts you'll see I was very critical of the cabin balconies and how dirty they were) and the buffet (those blue 'water' lamps are hideously tacky). The cabins are in ok shape but the bathrooms need updating. 

 

I had a great time visiting al the different European cities, but the current CD, Felipe, is TERRIBLE. There's no communication (when did CD's stop making daily videos that loop on CCTV?) There's four different ways to communicate with passengers, print, PA, CCTV, phone app. But apparently the Pride doesn't want to use any of these to communicate with passengers. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by kwokpot

[cellfree]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Oh no!  I have been so excited to go on my Pride sailing in less than 2 weeks for so long.  Some of these things I can understand, but (for example) the cracked glass is unacceptable and a safety hazard.  It could shatter and hurt someone!

We have been on the Pride two times recently and thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. We like the layout of the ship and even the decor! Yes she is showing her age but we didn’t think she was awful. I do remember doing a little of my own cleaning on the Balcony which of course one should not have to do but not the end of the world. We have her booked for TA October 2023 and maybe the “rust” will be covered by then. I usually see things like that but have got to say I didn’t notice it. I remember coming back  from a cruise on the Legend a few years ago and suggesting to our PVP she shouldn’t put a new Carnival cruiser on it due to rust! Anyway, enjoy, wish it was us. 

[Ilovesailaway]

Good thing you included the pics or you would have been accused of making this up.... ah well you still might be. It's crazy how some will defend Carnival and attack the credibility and even the mental state of those who point out these issues. 

I honestly hope that the professionals who are needed to safely operate the ship are not as short staffed as every other department appears to be.

[mz-s]

Ripped a gash in my foot from a hole in the deck and need a tetanus booster, but I AM ON A CRUISE SO I AM MAKING THE MOST OF IT!

[StolidCruiser]

1 hour ago, Ilovesailaway said:

Good thing you included the pics or you would have been accused of making this up.... ah well you still might be. It's crazy how some will defend Carnival and attack the credibility and even the mental state of those who point out these issues. 

I honestly hope that the professionals who are needed to safely operate the ship are not as short staffed as every other department appears to be.

 

I’m quite fond of the Pride (and her sister ships).  However, the old gal is unfortunately not aging well of late.  Disappointing and should be addressed (despite the struggles of staying afloat given the ravages the pandemic have caused).

[RobertandEileen]

    We were just on The Liberty, and it appears, that that sort of rust can not simply  be painted over with a Rustoleum type paint, they had crew needle gunning it off the pipes and ceilings by the smoking area on Deck Ten, it was horrendously loud.

[BlerkOne]

There was a thread not long ago - I believe on Carnival Magic - where crew were painting and so many people were complaining that I guess they stopped painting and even offered compensation. Carnival just can't please everyone.

[CarnivalShips480]

To me, it seemed like somethings were being looked for to complain......

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, RobertandEileen said:

    We were just on The Liberty, and it appears, that that sort of rust can not simply  be painted over with a Rustoleum type paint, they had crew needle gunning it off the pipes and ceilings by the smoking area on Deck Ten, it was horrendously loud.

"Rustoleum" is virtually worthless in a marine environment.  No rust short of extremely light "flash" rust (where bare steel has rusted in the day or two before it is coated) can be successfully covered with a "converter" (far better than Rustoleum), and not on edges.

[jsglow]

I spent 14 days on Pride last October.  Honestly, I thought she was fine for a 20 year old ship.  And in fact in better condition than Miracle.  Sailed on her in March.

[Ilovesailaway]

55 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

There was a thread not long ago - I believe on Carnival Magic - where crew were painting and so many people were complaining that I guess they stopped painting and even offered compensation. Carnival just can't please everyone.

Now that's a world class spin. The incident where chem fumes caused several to get sick and the generous offer that was given to sign legal documents? The one where the offer was rescinded if not excepted that day before anyone could be examined by their own physician or consult with anyone back home? That little misunderstanding?

Omg this is amazing

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Ilovesailaway said:

Now that's a world class spin. The incident where chem fumes caused several to get sick and the generous offer that was given to sign legal documents? The one where the offer was rescinded if not excepted that day before anyone could be examined by their own physician or consult with anyone back home? That little misunderstanding?

Omg this is amazing

What was the outcome? Or was it just typically puffery and gaslighting by a few sue happy individuals? I know the ship headed off on the next cruise and don't remember hearing anything after that. Surely not everyone signed the offer.

[bguppies]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

There was a thread not long ago - I believe on Carnival Magic - where crew were painting and so many people were complaining that I guess they stopped painting and even offered compensation. Carnival just can't please everyone.

Couldn't alot of this have been done during the shutdown,when the ships were empty and people still wanted to work?

They had months and months of unrushed time to do a major cleanup on the ships.

[Badfinger]

10 minutes ago, bguppies said:

Couldn't alot of this have been done during the shutdown,when the ships were empty and people still wanted to work?

They had months and months of unrushed time to do a major cleanup on the ships.

 

With zero revenue and an unknown future?  I get the decision.

[bguppies]

35 minutes ago, Badfinger said:

 

With zero revenue and an unknown future?  I get the decision.

Unfortunately, they're probably gonna pay with lost customers on the backside now.

 

As you can see in my signature, many Carnival cruises under our belts, but after a couple of cruises since the shutdown, on the Sunshine in bad shape and an upcoming cruise again on the Sunshine and Pride, if they are still looking this bad, we may have to begrudgingly look at other cruiselines who have managed to keep their ships in better condition.

[MJSailors]

You get what you pay for.

😉

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, bguppies said:

Couldn't alot of this have been done during the shutdown,when the ships were empty and people still wanted to work?

They had months and months of unrushed time to do a major cleanup on the ships.

Shipyards quickly filled with ships from all cruise lines. The shipyards were not immune to COVID and had enough problems of their own trying to stay open.

 

It is impossible to defeat rust on a ship. Continual maintenance is required to just keep up with it. All cruise lines are suffering from a lack of staff.

[Joe817]

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Shipyards quickly filled with ships from all cruise lines. The shipyards were not immune to COVID and had enough problems of their own trying to stay open.

 

It is impossible to defeat rust on a ship. Continual maintenance is required to just keep up with it. All cruise lines are suffering from a lack of staff.

Quite right. Quite right. As witness to the non-stop, continual painting when ever a ship docks readying for the next group of customers during debark/embark. It's on every webcam from all ports that I've seen. Combating rust is a never ending battle. A battle that can never be won. The best they can do is try to contain it.  I'm sure @chengkp75 will agree with me. 

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, bguppies said:

Couldn't alot of this have been done during the shutdown,when the ships were empty and people still wanted to work?

They had months and months of unrushed time to do a major cleanup on the ships.

A lot of it probably was, but this is not something that just happens once.  It is a continual process, where rust is dealt with in one area, and the next day some pops up in another area.  Same with varnish failure.  Even when the ships were running full time before covid, the crew were dealing with this daily.

6 hours ago, Badfinger said:

 

With zero revenue and an unknown future?  I get the decision.

And a minimum crew.

5 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Shipyards quickly filled with ships from all cruise lines. The shipyards were not immune to COVID and had enough problems of their own trying to stay open.

 

It is impossible to defeat rust on a ship. Continual maintenance is required to just keep up with it. All cruise lines are suffering from a lack of staff.

None of this would require a visit to the shipyard, though "fabric maintenance" (the preferred term for chipping and painting) is done better when addressed by shipyard practices over what can be done by crew.

5 hours ago, Joe817 said:

Quite right. Quite right. As witness to the non-stop, continual painting when ever a ship docks readying for the next group of customers during debark/embark. It's on every webcam from all ports that I've seen. Combating rust is a never ending battle. A battle that can never be won. The best they can do is try to contain it.  I'm sure @chengkp75 will agree with me. 

Most of that painting you see of the hull, and even most of what is done during cruises with the crew chipping and grinding away rust and repainting, is mostly cosmetic.  Unless you sandblast the steel down to gray metal and recoat, the rust will come back sooner or later.