Pride 6 day review with pictures - 5/17-5/23

[spaceystacie2006]

Oooh, not for me, yet. I always get it for 4 or 5 days after each cruise. I think it's worse this time from the rough seas. My DH thinks I'm crazy - he doesn't get it at all.

 

I agreee DH & I both had it several of our friends had it as well. I actually took some motion sickness stuff that helped!

[StephanieS]

Great review!! Thank you so much for sharing!

Stephanie

[trivia nut]

Loved your positive attitude about everything! Sounded like a wonderful, relaxing vacation.

 

I also love trivia, so I can't wait for my Pride cruise in July.

 

Thanks for the great pictures.

 

Trivia nut

[michelle1836]

 

 

After dinner we found this cute guy in our room. We at least had Capers tonight - our steward had forgotten them the night before and we had to go down to the purser's desk to get them. quote]

 

This was too funny reading this. I cant see your pictures at work so at first I thought someone was in the wrong room then I thought maybe Carnival was just leaving cute guys in the cabins!! I'll have to check the pictures out when i get home. Thanks for your review. sailing on the pride with a few other posters here

[june2006]

I just posted Cspers before I saw this I also posted a bar menu!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=993057

 

I can't print them :( :( :(

[Windy56]

One thing I always enjoy on a cruise is High Tea. What is it like on Carnival? Thanks!

[K&P Luv2Cruise]

I think his name was Ireneo? We saw so little of him that I'm not sure. I, too, don't like to dwell on the negative but while we've noted that dining service has been rushed and not as attentive our last few cruises, it was nothing like this where we were just ignored. The asst. we saw even less - it does almost sound like the same team. Our head waiter was spending lots of time joking and laughing and bringing the other 3 tables multiple entrees, doing napkin tricks for them, taking pictures, etc. but he would actually look away as he walked by our table. He would almost fling our food on the table and turn and walk away very quickly before we could ask for anything else (like water!) :eek: Things kind of came to a head on our last night - more on that later when I get to Friday's section of the review.

 

I think the singing and dancing is fun but it was always well prior to that that we were sitting there with empty plates and glasses and feeling a bit left out seeing him interact so much with the other tables. I can't for the life of me think of anything we or our table mates would have done to offend him - no special requests or anything, I always make it a point to smile and say hello and say thank you for everything so not sure what was up? Maybe we were an additional table added to him that he didn't want to deal with? :confused:

 

Hi there...we sailed May 10-17, and had wonderful service in the main dining room - we ate their every night, late seating. Our table was for set for 12, but only 10 of us were there most nights. We were at table 106, and Al, his assistant, and the young lady that handled the bar & soda drinks were very attentive, even though they had 2 other large tables to deal with. Never met the Maitre'd, just his muffled voice over the intercom.

 

All in all we had a fantastic vacation...our weather was not as wet as yours, but arriving back in Baltimore to mid-40's gloom was depressing !

[vacruizer]

One thing I always enjoy on a cruise is High Tea. What is it like on Carnival? Thanks!

 

I have never actually made it to tea time on Carnival. I always say I'm going to do it and then end up doing something else.

[vacruizer]

Hi there...we sailed May 10-17, and had wonderful service in the main dining room - we ate their every night, late seating. Our table was for set for 12, but only 10 of us were there most nights. We were at table 106, and Al, his assistant, and the young lady that handled the bar & soda drinks were very attentive, even though they had 2 other large tables to deal with. Never met the Maitre'd, just his muffled voice over the intercom.

 

All in all we had a fantastic vacation...our weather was not as wet as yours, but arriving back in Baltimore to mid-40's gloom was depressing !

 

That's great! I'm sure there are still some great waiters out there - I just missed them this time! Our last few were good but very rushed and struggling to keep up which I at least understand - even though I may not agree with Carnival's staffing levels. We were just so floored by the whole being ignored thing - it's something we've never experienced onboard before!

[Jeffy294]

That's great! I'm sure there are still some great waiters out there - I just missed them this time! Our last few were good but very rushed and struggling to keep up which I at least understand - even though I may not agree with Carnival's staffing levels. We were just so floored by the whole being ignored thing - it's something we've never experienced onboard before!

One question, did you have toilet paper in the bathroom?;) hehe

[vacruizer]

One question, did you have toilet paper in the bathroom?;) hehe

 

LOLOL - I think I am jinxed! Yes, we had toilet paper this time. :p The steward was very friendly and knew our names the few times we ran into him. Just forgot lots of little stuff.

 

No huge deal - I think it's Carnival's issue and not the fault of the steward. We would see him halfway down the ship working so he must have had a HUGE number of rooms.

 

Sorry, guys - there's a backstory on that one from last summer's Liberty sailing where we kept running out of TP all week! :p

[Jeffy294]

LOLOL - I think I am jinxed! Yes, we had toilet paper this time. :p The steward was very friendly and knew our names the few times we ran into him. Just forgot lots of little stuff.

 

No huge deal - I think it's Carnival's issue and not the fault of the steward. We would see him halfway down the ship working so he must have had a HUGE number of rooms.

 

Sorry, guys - there's a backstory on that one from last summer's Liberty sailing where we kept running out of TP all week! :p

I had to say it.

[Texas Teen]

Thanks for the picture review! :D

[Jakeplays]

Thanks for the review..it was great........the only thing, me on my first cruise next week with our 4 kids were those waves and description of the rough seas...now I am a bit nervous...reassurance please?

[jerseygirl2609]

Thanks for the review..it was great........the only thing, me on my first cruise next week with our 4 kids were those waves and description of the rough seas...now I am a bit nervous...reassurance please?

 

Take Bonine (it comes in children's version also) It works great with no nasty side effects. I give it to my kids (6,11) and My DH and myself take it everytime we cruise down the Atlantic. You should be fine once you get in the Caribbean. Enjoy your trip!

[5by5]

Thanks for the review..it was great........the only thing, me on my first cruise next week with our 4 kids were those waves and description of the rough seas...now I am a bit nervous...reassurance please?

 

I'd bring SeaBands as well. Better to have several options for everyone to see what works.

 

I've cruised out of Baltimore twice before. Never noticed a difference. The weather is a much bigger factor in determining rough seas.

[vacruizer]

Thanks for the review..it was great........the only thing, me on my first cruise next week with our 4 kids were those waves and description of the rough seas...now I am a bit nervous...reassurance please?

 

Those waves were completely not normal. That was the worst I've been in on 7 cruises. We were caught in a HUGE cold front coming off the US coast plus crossing the jet stream which made things rough.

 

If any of you guys are prone to motion sickness, take along some meds (you can also get them free from the purser or your room steward) and some type of ginger candy, gum, or pills. I love the taste of Ginger Altoids and have a friend who swears they work.

 

Also keep in mind you may be just fine. See how your body reacts - don't convince yourself you will be sick. Even in those seas, both DH and I felt fine the whole time.

[WichitaDave]

Very nice review and pictures. Thanks for posting it! I understand the concept of going with the flow and not letting minor mishaps get to you on a cruise, but isn't there some point when service is bad that we need to take action? What if their supervisors were unaware of a problem that could be easily corrected or perhaps some different staffing pattern would have been more appropriate once the final circumstances were in place. Did you happen to mention anything at the Pursers desk when you were there? They had some nerve holding their hands out for this kind of service. Just wondering if I understand the whole picture.

[vacruizer]

Very nice review and pictures. Thanks for posting it! I understand the concept of going with the flow and not letting minor mishaps get to you on a cruise, but isn't there some point when service is bad that we need to take action? What if their supervisors were unaware of a problem that could be easily corrected or perhaps some different staffing pattern would have been more appropriate once the final circumstances were in place. Did you happen to mention anything at the Pursers desk when you were there? They had some nerve holding their hands out for this kind of service. Just wondering if I understand the whole picture.

 

Yes - I agree and admit that I am a big wuss when it comes to complaining! Probably from my years working the hospitality business. I know this sounds bad - but I am very leery of complaining about anyone who handles my food. I've seen what happens when you complain and the server gets reprimanded. :eek: Trust me - you don't want to think about it! :eek:

 

By the time I felt like the dining service was bad enough to justify an in person complaint, it was the last night and I didn't feel there was much point then - I didn't want to join those complaining just so they could have an excuse to remove tips. In retrospect, I wish we had said something before then but I guess I kept thinking it would get better. :o

 

In the case of our room steward, we truly felt like it wasn't his fault and did not want him personally reprimanded as he was personable and kind and we felt he was simply overloaded with too many rooms. So I felt that issue was better noted to Carnival in a letter post cruise and on my comment card.

 

I have noted the decline in service on our comment cards on the last three cruises - that the staff cuts are showing and that service is not what it should be. I've been pretty vocal on the boards here that Carnival is walking a fine line - that eventually they will start to drive away customers if the service isn't there. I am not to that point yet, but there are those who are much more demanding about service than I am (if you are friendly and trying I'm can overlook a lot!) Carnival worked really hard to overcome the crappy food/bad service/party boat reputation - I don't really want to see them slip back to any of that and hope corporate will get the message as I truly believe it's a staffing issue in most cases.

 

It's funny reading a lot of the reviews here in the last year or so - you always have a few that say everything is perfect in every way, but I've noted a lot more that read like mine where people are saying that the staff is rushed and stretched too thin. Three years ago I wasn't seeing those comments nearly as often.

 

The only person I felt like was holding out their hand was the waiter, and I also felt like he had some nerve! But I also realize that every restaurant has it's bad apples and we were unlucky enough to get stuck with him. Hopefully Carnival takes my comment card and letter to heart and wises up.

[rebeljohn]

Nice review and pics................!!!

[eyeluv]

Thanks for the insightful rerview.

I will on the Pride out of Baltimore on July 17, 2009 & your insights are very helpful.

 

This will be my first cruising opportunity...I am looking forward to it and appreciate that fact that your review provided fair opportunity to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of your vacation.

 

Hope all of your future cruises are...sunny, warm, & beautiful.

[sunnylasvegas]

I really enjoyed your review and your photos! We were on the Pride for 14 days this spring--Mar 22-Apr 5--its repositioning cruise from Long Beach thru the Panama Canal and on to Miami. It was such a wonderful experience. We had quite a packed ship and yet I thought the service was wonderful. OUr waiters, Ahmad and Ikutut, were amazing!

Also, I found the ship to be very elegant and the artwork incredible! This is our 3rd cruise on CCL, and I think the Pride is the most beautiful ship we've been on so far! Too bad we're not anywhere near Baltimore!

[kids1stcruise]

see you on the 17th

[irishsailor]

ditto on the 17th, see everybody in Balt. on Fri. the 17th.

[Senoj84]

Nice review! :D