Just got on the Pride and not impressed so far

[rrraydon]

On 7/22/2022 at 1:46 PM, Eli_6 said:

Day 1 of our UK cruise on the Pride.  We have been having an amazing trip in Europe leading up to this.  We have been here for a week and just boarded.  So far, the cruise part of our trip has been a pretty big let down.  I know Carnival isn't responsible for the problems in Dover, but there us plenty of other things they are responsible for. As we were walking the mile to the port, we were passing departing passengers.  Almost without exception, they were talking about how awful their experience was.  Some of them saying it took 5 hours to get off the boat at one port. One lady said she sat on a bus on a CCL excursion for 6 hours. 

 

When we finally got there, we were directed to some sort of barn/garage like building that was not a terminal.   They kept us in that hot holding tank (seemed a bit like a garage)  with no chairs for about two hours at the port past when boarding was supposed to have boarded. 

 

Once boarding started, hours late, it was a mad house. There was basically no priority and just a free for all.  They never even looked at or asked for our negative tests, etc.  One platinum guy almost got in a fight with a suite guest trying to board before him. 

 

Once on board, things weren't much better. The doors between our connecting rooms were locked and they could not find the key.  So, spending $$$ for a vista suite adjoining to an aft balcony to get the adjoining rooms was pointless.  Can't get sangria because they have no fruit.  Can't get fruit because they have no fruit.  Several other things we always look forward to on Carnival they don't have (like red frog happy hour) because "this is Europe not America."  For the first time EVER I have encountered not only one but several rude staff.  I was screamed at by one of the spa personnel.  The lines at guest services are soooo long so if you have anything to take care if, plan on half your day.  The suites/plat/dia line was longer than the regular one. My kids can't swim because the swimming pools are freezing and the one and only spa open to kids had about 40 adults in it...meanwhile the one at the gym was empty but it is 18 and up.  My Guy's Burger was cold.  My dinner thus far has been cold. And the previous posters discussing the ships condition were not wrong.  

 

Our cruise in May on the Splendor was fantastic.   So far, this has not been. And it stinks even more when you have flown halfway around the world for this and looked forward to it for 3 years. 

 

 

Yeah, I’d be ticked too.

[kwokpot]

9 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

As a European that has done European cruises with Carnival and also with other lines all have been comparable.

I'm sorry but I can't agree with that statement. Royal,Celebrity,NCL, Princess and MSC does a much better job in Europe than Carnival. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by kwokpot

[MsTabbyKats]

@Eli_6I had an incident with a bus driver when my son was in 1st grade.  He pulled my son by the collar...and although there were no tears....he was very upset.

 

Off went a letter to his superior, and he was disciplined.

 

Make an issue about it...and follow up.  That worker should not be allowed to interact with passengers.  They have cameras all over the ship...it may be recorded.

[quickrate]

On 7/22/2022 at 3:54 PM, lazydayz said:

 

There is a long thread on the Pride in Europe, which raised doubts about the ship and the crew.  I have had my doubts for a while.  

 

We have done two Mardi Gras cruises this year and they have been fantastic.  Could be the newness of the ship and that Carnival picks its best crew members for its new ships.  So that has made us leery of the older ships. However, we went on the Liberty recently and liked the vibe.  I am trying to hang in there with the Pride as the Port of Tampa is 15 minutes away from my house and I love being at sea on NYE.  Decisions, decisions. 

We were on Pride in January for a B2B, 13 days, and enjoyed every day on her. Sorry to hear there are struggles right now. We will be back on her for a B2B2B in October taking her back to Tampa.

Pat

[quickrate]

On 7/23/2022 at 8:08 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Nice post, we cannot wait to get on her on October for a Greek Isles cruise (think it will be the 8th time on her).

When will you be on the ship, Jim?

Pat

[quickrate]

17 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

The MSC Grandiosa is cheaper and embarks from a real port (Southampton) instead of Dover, where the Pride embarks from.

If you like cruising MSC. Not a good choice for us.

Pat

[quickrate]

On 7/23/2022 at 9:06 PM, MoCruiseFan said:

We sailed the Pride on our only Carnival cruise ever.  She was very dirty, had a LOT of rust in many places, the only late night food was pizza that was served half raw and dripping with grease, AND the casino poker table did not have a live dealer (it was one of those horrid automated things).  We have not been back and probably never will, especially on that ship.

We were obviously on 2 different ships. we were on her for 13 days in Janaury and had none of these issues.

Pat

[CruizinSusan70]

22 minutes ago, quickrate said:

If you like cruising MSC. Not a good choice for us.

Pat

Since they are European based and skewed I would not choose to sail on her across the pond.  However, we did sail on the Seaside out of Miami a few years ago and even though it was more European than we are used to, we did not have a terrible time.  Will try them again next summer on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn, primarily since it's drivable and a great rate with included drink package.

[CruizinSusan70]

7 minutes ago, quickrate said:

We were obviously on 2 different ships. we were on her for 13 days in Janaury and had none of these issues.

Pat

Two different cruisers can have two totally different takes on the same sailing, let alone different sailings possibly in different hemispheres.

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Two different cruisers can have two totally different takes on the same sailing, let alone different sailings possibly in different hemispheres.

Obviously. Especially if one rarely leaves the ship.

[Elzacruiser]

13 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Tenders this morning were a mess.  I typed out all the details and then decided to delete because frankly i don't want to have someone call me names again because I talk about my experience.   Suffice it to say, a carnival worker laid his hands on my 8 year old child and both of us are nothing short of traumatized.  I don't know if I will be cruising carnival again after this experience.  I may just eat the $ paid on future bookings.  No amount of savings is worth this.  

Dear Eli_6, believe me, I know what you are talking about!  We got off Pride on the 22nd which is the day you guys boarded that ship.  The whole trip was a disaster and if not for you bring this up, I don’t even want to think back.  We miss some paid shore excursions due to late arrival and long tender waiting. My husband and I skip breakfast just in order to be on the queue for tender tickets and people line up since 5:30 in the morning.  We were the 4th people on the line and we got Zone 8 which we can finally on the tender boat almost two hours after the first zone was called.  About that big rude guy you’re talking about, I certainly can point out who he is.  
We choose this ship for it’s itinerary but never realized it can ended this way.   This is the most stressful vacation we have ever had.  It’s a lesson learned but I am glad we catch the flight back to the States from Heathrow the same day we got off ship without delay! 

[Astramom]

Oh, I hate to hear this, we are boarding in a couple weeks after our original European cruise on Norwegian was rescheduled then cancelled. Like most, we have been rescheduling for 2 years and already nervous about flight cancellations and train strikes. So sorry about your experiences and also about the rude posters on here that are too good for Carnival, they  aren't adding anything to help those that are already booked! Please let future cruisers know if you have any advice. I am nervous now about the shore excursions we planned that are not through Carnival. Husband and I are Platinum, but our 20 something kids are gold. Any idea if we can get off together? I appreciate your updates, those that do not must have boring lives to post on here.

[lazydayz]

OP, sorry about the latest incident.  I can’t even imagine how scared your son was.  I hope that person gets punished and at a minimum reassigned to a non-public facing job.  Hang in there.  

[Astramom]

On 7/24/2022 at 3:50 AM, Eli_6 said:

Another suggestion for future cruisers in tender ports: If you do not have priority debark, you need to take a carnival excursion or schedule any excursions late in the day at tender ports.  They have very limited tenders and a lot of platinum and diamonds.  This is the priority lounge 20 minutes before debark starts and there are people lined up in the hallway still.  They are even doing zones for priority. I have seen people with zone numbers as high as 30 for priority guests.  My guess is not priority and non ccl excursions will be hours getting off the boat. 

Thx, we would really appreciate advice and info. about this! We are on the cruise next month and have several thousand dollars on the line if we don't make our non carnival shore excursions. We are Platinum and gold cruisers. Do they make gold wait until platinum is off! Interested especially in Holyhead and Glasgow.

[coldinerie]

If your son is on your booking (Gold) he can come with you. 

 

[Bernardo62]

Try and get your money back and never come back!

Exaggeration cause a lot of negative thoughts from others. I've heard from others on this trip explain it different.

But you can't please everyone!!! 

[jimbo5544]

15 hours ago, quickrate said:

When will you be on the ship, Jim?

Pat

10/01 sailing

[M&A]

1 hour ago, Bernardo62 said:

Try and get your money back and never come back!

Exaggeration cause a lot of negative thoughts from others. I've heard from others on this trip explain it different.

But you can't please everyone!!! 

Yes you are right.  We are sailing on the Pride in 3 weeks time and looking for ideas and reviews from people that actually cruised on it.

Frustrating when you get people giving their opinions on the Pride that never actually sailed on it!! - one pers stated -  "why would you sail on a rust bucket out of Dover" ?    they  never sailed on the Pride.  Quite the exageration to call it a "rust bucket"  - that must have come from a review in June where the poster had gone around the ship doing a rust hunt, they had taken a picture of rusty screws at the top of the ship and a bracket sticking out near their balcony, that hardly makes a ship a "rust bucket"

The comment about Dover,  well it's got better train service than Southampton and it's used by a few other lines like the upscale Seabourne, Disney, Hurtingen.   The poster had never actually sailed out of Dover but was using someone else's comment to exagerate.

 

As for the current review, I don't think any of the comments would affect us.  We have no tender ports at all our our Euro cruise,  it's all docking.  We are not boarding  in the morning like everyone else seems to do,  we will board in the afternoon to avoid the line ups.

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by M&A
spelling

[letsgo39]

On 7/24/2022 at 4:55 PM, fuddrules said:

 

Just to specify for others - this was for this specific cruise only.

 

I  boarded the June 19th cruise - we left London via train at 9:40 am (Charing Cross Station).  Arrived at Dover Priory at approximately 11:30 am. 

 

Found a cab just outside for the fixed 8 euro price to the port.   Dropped off at the port at approximately 11:45 am.   

 

Walked in the terminal and saw many CSR's waiving their paddles at us to get us checked in.   

 

Had a snafu with Verifly but the check-in was still roughly 10 minutes.  Walked as fast as we could to the ship check-in "ding" handheld. 

 

Piece of cake experience for us.

Did you pay the cab in Euros? Are you sure it was Euros?

 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, M&A said:

We are sailing on the Pride in 3 weeks time and looking for ideas and reviews from people that actually cruised on it.

What other information are you looking for that you haven't yet read? I was on three different itineraries for a total of 31consecutive days. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Eli, we'll be boarding Pride out of Rome on 9/11.  Do you remember the name of the man who traumatized your son and you?

[cruisingguy007]

On 7/29/2022 at 5:16 AM, Eli_6 said:

Tenders this morning were a mess.  I typed out all the details and then decided to delete because frankly i don't want to have someone call me names again because I talk about my experience.   Suffice it to say, a carnival worker laid his hands on my 8 year old child and both of us are nothing short of traumatized.  I don't know if I will be cruising carnival again after this experience.  I may just eat the $ paid on future bookings.  No amount of savings is worth this.  

 

Oh, hell no! You should escalate this, I probably would have escalated it immediately in my own way because that is BS 😡. That should never happen. You should contact Carnival corporate in FL and document times/people/events. Sounds like it's been a challenging cruise all the way around for you. 

[Astramom]

17 hours ago, coldinerie said:

If your son is on your booking (Gold) he can come with you. 

 

Thank you, That is helpful. OP hope your experience gets better!

[Homosassa]

On 7/30/2022 at 12:46 AM, lazydayz said:

OP, sorry about the latest incident.  I can’t even imagine how scared your son was.  I hope that person gets punished and at a minimum reassigned to a non-public facing job.  Hang in there.  

I am sure there is a lot more to the story.

 

If the incident was reported on board ship, then the security tape from the area was reviewed and the validity of the claimed verified and any action taken that was necessary.

 

Let's face it, folks, a crew member whose duty it is to ensure that only passengers with the correct tender number makes it on board the tender is not going to grab a passenger  without some type of reason.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Homosassa

[Cruising Jedi]

13 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

I am sure there is a lot more to the story.

 

If the incident was reported on board ship, then the security tape from the area was reviewed and the validity of the claimed verified and any action taken that was necessary.

 

Let's face it, folks, a crew member whose duty it is to ensure that only passengers with the correct tender number makes it on board the tender is not going to grab a passenger  without some type of reason.

 

Agreed.  Any passenger that is "screamed at" by 2 employees (spa employee and tender employee) within a couple of days is....either extremely exaggerating or, doing something extremely wrong lol