Carnival Pride August 21-28 – second Pride cruise this summer

Carnival Pride August 21-28 – second Pride cruise this summer

From our first Pride cruise, I posted the menus, Fun Times and Kids Club Scans (here - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380510). This time I’m just going to post some thoughts.

This was our big family trip. I treated my parents, my brother, his wife and their 3 kids (boys aged 8 and 9 and my niece aged 13) for my parents 45th wedding anniversary. It also coincided with my niece’s 14th birthday which is tomorrow so we did lots of celebrating on the cruise.

1. I had emailed the Maitre’d before the cruise to ask for a specific server and our request was granted. We were seated at a table for 8 at the very back of the ship by the windows. This was lovely as we aren’t normally seated so far back due to my mother using a wheelchair full time. Service was good if not a little uneven. Some of that is the fault of my brother and his family who ordered all willy-nilly often asking for more entrees and appetizers after the first round had been served; some of the fault is the wait staff just didn’t seem to mesh with each other. Instead of working as a team (which is what we’ve experienced in the past) they each seemed to take a different table or 2 each night and serve that table by themselves. The server I had requested (Galena) confided that as of this week she was moving to a different team because she wasn’t happy in the team she was currently working with.

Our “head waiter” Achmed was competent but I was put off the last night when he told my mother that with being in the wheelchair, she should always request a table up front because it was too much trouble to have her come all the way to the back of the ship. I know he was trying to be helpful but it came off to me as condescending – it’s not like we picked our table and in my request to the Maitre’D, I even stated that my mother was in a wheelchair. It felt like he was saying to her, “It’s too much trouble to have you back here.”

We had my niece's birthday cake served on the second night and it was a hit - a really great chocolate cake and the wait staff were fantastic about singing. They also encouraged everyone to get up to dance and each night there was dancing, all 3 kids got up (and a couple of nights my sister in law did and the final night - even my brother did!). I know some people say that it's annoying or that the staff don't like it, that's not what I saw. The wait staff were upbeat and engaged (at least in our area) and fully participated in the goings on.

2. We had 3 cabins – 1 accessible 4K (a room we’ve had before – 4205) plus two adjoining (not connecting) balcony staterooms on 5 – 5235 and 5237. My brother and his family have never cruised before and though they found the cabins small, they remarked how well laid out everything was and how much storage there was. They were fairly impressed. I have just reconfirmed that I’m not a balcony person though – I used mine for about an hour the entire cruise and even then, it was forcing me to do so because it was there and I’d paid for it. My sister in law used the balcony a number of times and they found it useful to have the extra space for people to wait while others were getting ready. My brother used the gym basically every day and I recommended that he shower there which he did. The boys missed having a tub because the younger one still prefers baths over showers but since it was only a week, he survived.

The one thing I should have warned them to bring was a multi charger plug – all 3 kids play their Nintendo DS games, my sister in law and niece both have iPhones and my brother had his iPad for work emails and internet (he runs his own company so he wanted to stay in touch).After Freeport, they actively went looking around the ship for open plugs because so many of their devices needed to be charged.

Our room steward for the balcony cabins was very good. He was like a ninja – in and out and I didn’t actually see him until day 4. My parents room steward was okay – he was the same one we had in July where he was very good, this time, he basically did the minimum. He did tell my parents that he and his helper had 27 cabins to clean. Still, my parents are pretty low key people and don’t ask for much so it was disappointing to find their beds not made or their room not serviced when we returned after dinner. Since I didn’t see my room steward, I never received the comfort matters form – I automatically received twice a day service as did my brother’s cabin. My parents requested twice a day service but the evening turn down service was hit and miss.

3. Food was consistently good to great. The kids loved the lido area – the pizza was a huge hit (I was a little concerned because it’s not like the pizza they are used to). They loved being about to have it made just for them. Chopsticks was also utilized frequently as was Guy’s burger. Come to think of it, so was the Blue Iguana and the deli. I found the buffet food this time (Italian, Caribbean, American, French) to be very good – better than usual. It might be because it was always so busy that the food was consistently hot and fresh. On the French day, the chicken in a wine sauce, the eggplant cassoulet and the potato gratin were all exceptional (and I have found these items in the past to be hit or miss – sometimes good and sometimes dried out or cold).

Breakfast was also very good. We had brunch in the dining room all 3 sea days and the buffet on the port days. I have to say, the little round hash browns became a huge favourite for all of us (especially dipped in ketchup). My sister in law loved the egg white omelets and the kids loved being able to have such a huge variety. I think my brother and his kids though are among the few people on the ship who really do like the scrambled eggs. They scarfed them up every day (of course, doused with a liberal dose of ketchup).

In the MDR, the kids menu was the old version (with the colouring and puzzle pages). The youngest ordered pretty much exclusively from the kids menu (hamburger, hot dog, chicken nuggets, pizza, plain pasta), the 9 (almost 10) year old, ordered some stuff from the kids menu and some stuff from the adult menu (he started ordering the kids spaghetti with tomato sauce for his appetizer because most of the adult ones were a little too adventurous for him). The food all around impressed our first time cruisers and lived up to the standards for us long time cruisers.

4. You can really see the strengthening of ties to Hasbro – they added the Clue Mystery game to our cruise, and there was Trivial Pursuit each sea day at noon, plus Connect 4 tournaments, Scattegories, and a few other games based on popular Hasbro games. My brother’s family loved Hasbro the Game show and went to both shows (one evening at 8:15pm and the sea day in the afternoon). The trivia questions for all games were on the new iPads with the questions randomly selected. I think this makes things fair since the questions won’t be the same week after week. I’ve played Big Bang Trivia several times and it was nice to have new questions and not the same repeats.

5. We didn’t do any of the production shows nor did we make it to any of the late night deck parties. This cruise was an early rising cruise (probably because of the kids) which meant few late nights. Most nights we were in our cabins by 10pm. My mom and I spent one late night in the casino but mostly played through the day or right after early dining. The casino felt pretty empty this cruise compared to previous ones. No hand pays for us, and my mother seemed to have really bad luck – and she didn’t even hit 1000 points – she played low and still lost. I had a bit more luck and was up and down and of course came home penniless.

I finished with about 5000 points so I think I have maintained my rating with Carnival. That being said, unless something really fabulous comes up, I can’t see being able to take advantage of any casino offers. I received cookies and a bottle of wine from casino but that was it. I had my drinks on us card from the time I boarded the ship though no one told me until day 2 – and that was only because I ordered a drink (expecting to pay for it) and when I was presented with the slip to sign, the server noticed that it was zeroed out. I later went over and caught the casino host who asked if I hadn’t receive d a card in my cabin (nope, I did not) and then that she had “been looking all over for me” (which sorry, was a lie – I had played for several hours on day 1 and had been in the casino for at least 40 minutes on day 2 at that point – neither of the hosts had approached me but my favourite server from last time had, as had one of the casino employees who recognized me from last month). I am not, and have never been, impressed with the casino hosts on the Pride. I know other people make them their best friend but I won’t beg for comps so I guess I just won’t get them. :cool:

They have rearranged the casino – “the babies” as they are lovingly called by many slot junkies have been moved to the area behind the tables and so we found them less busy and usually available this trip. Last month they were in the main walkway and I think that people watching players must have caused too much congestion. They do seem to be updating the slots and I found a couple of new ones that weren’t there last time and a few that have just been moved around. They have new Wheel of Fortune 3D machines that are pretty cool. If you’re doing a slot pull, I recommend them at $5 a pull, there are several different potential bonuses (wheel spin, coin choice, 2x pay) that keep things moving and interesting.

6. Pictures are expensive! Sorry, I just had to say that. We got a family picture done (well several). 1 portrait - $21.99. For their anniversary, my parents received a free picture from pixels (one of the candid shots) so we got a picture at dinner done and got that one. My brother had family portraits done of him and wife and then the kids and then their whole family and spent a couple hundred dollars on those, plus he bought a couple of all of us and another night we got a picture done at the table as well (he had bought it before my parents could use their coupon to get it which was their intention).

7. In their anniversary card, my parents also got a $50 spa certificate and a $25 certificate for a bottle of wine (plus the photo coupon referenced above). “Just for Fun” I received from my room steward a $25 certificate for a bottle of wine as well. We used one coupon for a bottle of Moscato early on (paying a whole $9 extra for the bottle over the $25) and then the second one I used for a bottle of $25 wine and gave that to our server Galena.

Based on something I read here, knowing that my parents wouldn’t go for any spa service, I sent my dad to get a bottle of lotion or something. He came back after paying an extra $24 for it. Sorry, but I wouldn’t pay $24 for lotion full price let alone in addition to a $50 certificate. The spa had no problem handling the return of the unopened, untouched lotion (we didn’t even take it out of the bag). That was the least expensive lotion they had.

8. The cruise critic meeting was held at 4:15pm one day and I completely forgot to go. And yes, I realize that this is one of the big reasons these things will fail. People like me who sign up the whole family and then none of them show up. :o

9. This was my platinum cruise. I am apparently a terrible platinum member because I didn’t use hardly any of the perks. I forgot about the laundry until the end of the cruise, I didn’t use priority boarding (because no one else is platinum), I didn’t attend the platinum party on the last day, I used my brunch drink coupon on the last day for a bottle of Vitamin Water (instead of a drink valued at $9), tossed half of my strawberries, and exchanged my platinum gift.

Ooh, the platinum gift they were giving out was a bright red sun visor made of the same material as Crocs shoes. It had a big “Carnival” across the front and a “VIFP” symbol to the side. I tried to adjust it but couldn’t get the little thingy’s to click in. I wasn’t really happy with it (sorry but it was ugly – and I actually like crocs - and if I couldn’t get it to fit, what use is it). Guest services exchanged it for a VIFP Tervis tumbler, no questions asked.

We waited near the Alchemy bar at debarkation since there’s an accessible washroom there; once they finished calling most of the self-assist departures, my parents and I headed to the Red Frog Pub where the platinum guests were to meet only to find they had already been escorted off the ship (ours was the last bunch of luggage in the tag 1 area). Next time, I’ll do better and try to actually use some of these oh so valuable perks I’ve worked so hard to earn. :rolleyes:

Overall it was a great week with smooth seas, good food, good service and good family times.

I do love the Pride.

That being said, we decided (my parents and I) to cancel our November cruise on the Pride. We’ve now sailed that ship 35 days this year (plus 14 days last year) and it’s become a little too familiar for us. We’re keeping our Royal cruise and Celebrity cruise in February and I’m hoping to sail on Carnival again next fall (but probably not the Pride – either the Sunshine or the Magic are the ones I’m looking at).I also think that unless we’re sailing with friends or family that have to sail in the summer due to kids/school schedules, we (my parents and I) won’t be doing any more summer sailings. Both the July cruise and the August cruise were crowded and filled with lots of kids and families and big groups. We prefer the more sedate fall or winter cruises.

If you have any questions, I’ll be more than happy to answer them. I still have the fun times from this cruise if anyone is interested.

Thank you for this review, and thank you for posting the Fun Times and menus in the previous post. Knowing what times things are open has really been a great help to me in planning our upcoming cruise on the Pride, and I'll probably continue to reference them as I continue to plan. Thanks again!

Thank you for the review.

Very detailed report, thanks!

Thanks for the review.

Sounds like the family had a great time!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you. I can't wait to get back on this ship and can't wait for my gf to experience her first cruise.

Thanks, I'll be on the Pride in a few weeks and this review has been a help.

Sue

Thank you for your review, I found it very helpful! Dh and I are going on our first cruise at the end of April on the pride and are very excited

The crocs visor lives! You should have taken a picture. I'm platinum next cruise and if I get the crocs visor...:eek:

Yeah I've had it with the Pride, too. Excellent review and it sounds like you had a great time but I get it. We are doing a B2B on Magic. The drive isn't the end of the world and the ship looks beautiful. So you might want to try Magic. Check out some YouTube videos- she's beautiful.

The lido buffet food was really great when we were on Pride, too.

Glad you had a good time and managed to please such a disparate age group-

Nice start.