Review of Pride Halloween Cruise

Sailed Oct 31 out of Baltimore to Nassau-Half Moon Cay-Grand Turk.

Late seating Dining

Balcony Cabin 5281

16th cruise (13th on Carnival/ 3rd on Pride)

Sailed with my wife and 2 other couples

First, we always have a good time on a cruise and you have to really work to upset us.

That being said, this was the worst Carnival cruise we've been on.

Day 1 the, the elevators, A/C and water quit working. Not a big deal for us but I felt for people with mobility issues.

The overall condition of the ship was lackluster. We liked the renovations...but, maintence is lacking. From mildewy cushions on Serenity deck to trim missing on Lido Deck cabinets to a urinal pulled ways from the wall.

It was also very evident Carnival has cut back on staff. We saw very few drink waiters compared to other cruises and while excellent, the entertainment staff/dancers were far fewer.

Our wait staff was the best we've ever had...Piotr was amazing!!

Shows were so so. Evident that the smaller dance troupes have an impact on the wow factor. And while we aren't prudes, we recognize that the main shows are supposed to be family friendly...way too much grab arse and the full on snogging was just not necessary..in fact it made the scene awkward.

Nooky and Lee made the trivia games a lot of fun.

Security staff...I saw them once. Unfortunately not when needed in the Butterflies lounge during Legends Karaoke. There was a female passenger that was obviously too far into the bottle that should have been escorted out. Unfortunately, they gave her the mic. Carnival's response was "we do not agree with her statements" (which were mainly profanity...again with a lot of minors present).

The Ooh La La band was excellent! And we spent most evenings in the Red Frog listening to them.

David's steak house...this was the first time we partook even though we're frequent cruisers. I am still savoring that steak!!! By far, the best I have ever had, anywhere!

Again, we always have fun and will sail Carnival again...but this one missed the mark. One of the couples with us are loyal RCCL cruisers that we had talked into trying Carnival. They too had a good time. But, not enough to sway the away from RCCL....I let Carnival know this too when I sent in my post cruise survey.

Could you remark on your ports?

I hope that some things you've mentioned improve before my cruise!

I was on this sailing as well and had a completely opposite perspective.

The A/C and elevator outage was negligible in terms of duration and in my opinion they repaired whatever problem quickly.

An older ship will always show signs of its age and nothing I saw was in such disrepair as to concern me. I wasnt in every restroom so cant speak to a broken urinal but if you say so, OK.

My experiences with entertainment, activities and service was more than expected. I thoroughly enjoy the Pride and encourage others to experience it as well.

We did a beach day in Nassau, bike and hike at Half Moon Cay and kayaked in Grand Turk. Each was exceptional and if you are looking for a little physical activity (not overly strenuous) I highly recommend the HMC hike and bike. It was fun, informative and a nice change of pace (for us) to just sitting on the beach or swimming for the entire day. A nice couple of hours experiencingthe wonders of a Caribbean island.

If you take the Pride's limitations of being an older, smaller ship without a plethora of bells and whistles you will enjoy and appreciate it just fine!

Sailed Oct 31 out of Baltimore to Nassau-Half Moon Cay-Grand Turk.

 

Late seating Dining

Balcony Cabin 5281

 

16th cruise (13th on Carnival/ 3rd on Pride)

 

Sailed with my wife and 2 other couples

 

 

First, we always have a good time on a cruise and you have to really work to upset us.

 

That being said, this was the worst Carnival cruise we've been on.

Day 1 the, the elevators, A/C and water quit working. Not a big deal for us but I felt for people with mobility issues.

 

The overall condition of the ship was lackluster. We liked the renovations...but, maintence is lacking. From mildewy cushions on Serenity deck to trim missing on Lido Deck cabinets to a urinal pulled ways from the wall.

 

It was also very evident Carnival has cut back on staff. We saw very few drink waiters compared to other cruises and while excellent, the entertainment staff/dancers were far fewer.

 

Our wait staff was the best we've ever had...Piotr was amazing!!

 

Shows were so so. Evident that the smaller dance troupes have an impact on the wow factor. And while we aren't prudes, we recognize that the main shows are supposed to be family friendly...way too much grab arse and the full on snogging was just not necessary..in fact it made the scene awkward.

 

Nooky and Lee made the trivia games a lot of fun.

 

Security staff...I saw them once. Unfortunately not when needed in the Butterflies lounge during Legends Karaoke. There was a female passenger that was obviously too far into the bottle that should have been escorted out. Unfortunately, they gave her the mic. Carnival's response was "we do not agree with her statements" (which were mainly profanity...again with a lot of minors present).

 

The Ooh La La band was excellent! And we spent most evenings in the Red Frog listening to them.

 

David's steak house...this was the first time we partook even though we're frequent cruisers. I am still savoring that steak!!! By far, the best I have ever had, anywhere!

 

Again, we always have fun and will sail Carnival again...but this one missed the mark. One of the couples with us are loyal RCCL cruisers that we had talked into trying Carnival. They too had a good time. But, not enough to sway the away from RCCL....I let Carnival know this too when I sent in my post cruise survey.

I could not agree more that Piotr was the best server we've had in years! He was so very nice to the 3 year old in our group.

Also agree about Lee. He made a lifelong impression on our little guy. He made a great cruise even more memorable.

Our cabin steward, Alit, was also the best we have had in many cruises. We never saw so many towel animals.

The Captain remembered us BY Name! Even remembered we had a special birthday in our group. He made me look really good.

My first time cruising with a child. Loved the Splash Zone. Perfect size. Enough fun things to keep us big kids amused.

We love The Pride. Love the 2.0 upgrades, her size, and especially her crew. Always the best. Can't wait to be on her again.

And PS about the power outage. It really was no big deal. It was short, and they kept us informed. Stuff happens.

This was our first cruise (DH and me), and we thought it was great. We, of course, don't have anything to compare it to, but we would definitely cruise again based on this experience. It wasn't perfect in every way, but our delights far out weigh any small complaints we have. We just got our book from one of the photo sites and have looked at it numerous times smiling at all the wonderful memories. We enjoyed the ports. We did the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau which was a relaxing day for us and Half Moon Cay was my husband's dream beach day. We would definitely cruise again, so thank you Carnival Pride for getting us addicted to a great way to vacation.

As I mentioned, we had a good time and will continue to sail Carnival. But, compared to past cruises, we saw a decrease in service and maintenance that left us thinking Carnival has cut too far.

I agree that the power issues with the AC and elevators were negligible impact to us....but I had to think of mobility challenged individuals. Additionally, when you're trying to sell a product to friends, it's not a great start on day one!

As for ports....we like this itinerary because it is so relaxed. Nassau: well it's Nassau. We took a water taxi over to Atlantis only to find out they now charge for a tour of the facility. Last time we were there, this was not the case. So we wandered a few shops and got back on board.

Grand Turk is a great pool day. We headed off early and found some strategic chairs with umbrellas at Margeritaville. Make sure you walk down the beach and say "Hi" to Topher. The Labradoodle while he digs holes kin the surf.

Half Moon Cay...a little slice of Heaven on Earth. Total relaxation!

Did you participate in any Halloween activities (considering you titled it the Halloween cruise)?

My Cruise Countdown | I'm sailing to Mexico on 01/11/2016 aboard the Carnival Inspiration! Visit Carnival.com to see all Mexico cruises

I cruise for Creme brulee, chocolate melting cake and lobster!

We're interested in the Halloween activities too. Taking our first Halloween cruise next year on Magic. How elaborate are the costumes? What special activities? Is ship decorated for it?

Any Halloween information would be most appreciated here too!

The only activity my husband and I did was go to the costume contest, but I know the adults and kids had parties. The ship was decorated and was cute--not too over the top. Our cruise embarked on Halloween day. By the next day, the decorations were all gone. The costume contest was amazing. The costumes were creative and some quite elaborate. I have a hard enough time packing shorts and t-shirts. I so appreciate the effort people put into their costumes. You can participate in Halloween as much or as little as you want. I feel there was plenty for people who like Halloween but not too in your face for people like us who don't get in to it as much. The special Halloween dessert in the MDR was one of the most creative desserts I have seen in a while. It was a piece of cake with a tombstone white chocolate candy and three little puffy whipped cream ghosts. I enjoyed the fun and taste of it. If you like Halloween, you will have a fun time if you go on a Halloween cruise on Carnival.

Ditto what yellow sub said.

We saw one family that was all dressed alike in a Tim Burton Nightmare Before Xmas sort of theme. They looked great. At debarkation, we ended up talking to them only to find they lived just down from my son and his family in Virginia! Small world!