Carnival Pride vs Royal Caribbean (A REVIEW!)

Good, fair review. I was on the Pride in May and September and two times before that. I spent a few hours a night on the slots and was never offered a free drink until I got to 1500 points and got the drinks on us card. You were lucky!

Not to hijack your review but I'd like to share a few comparisons of my own. I'm diamond on RCCL but have to say I like most the food better on Carnival. At least with the old menus which are about to change. I thought all the pastas and beef dishes were good. The pizza I thought was better on Pride and loved the 24hr soft ice cream. The lasagna and beef stroganoff were horrible on RC but great on the Pride. Not a fan of the frozen yogurt on RC. And of course the Guys Burgers! RC does have it with their CC cookies and the Tuttie salad bar at lunch in the MDR. It doesn't sound like you tried the sea day brunch on the Pride.Yum!

I give it to RC for the shows. I like the comedy shows on Carnival but they need a larger venue. You were lucky to have a magician. I've never seen a specialty act on the Pride. I enjoy the magicians, ventriloquist, etc on RC and Princess.

My only complaints were how much smoke there was in the casino and how many people didn't follow the even very liberal dress code. The very few nonsmoking slots were right next to the smoking allowed slots. Smokers smoke at the nonsmoking slots and no one said anything to them. I would think they could take a 1/4 of the room and make it nonsmoking and keep everyone happy. They need better ventilation in there. My eyes and throat were irritated the whole time. Even some of the smokers were complaining about how smokey it was in there. I saw a lot of what was not allowed on the dress code every night, tanks on men, short short cut offs, flip flops, ball caps, tee shirts with profanity. Shorts on elegant night, etc. It's not that I care what others are wearing but there is a very liberal dress code compared to RC, Princess and Celebrity and should be easy to follow.

A Lot of RC cruisers put down Carnival without ever cruising it. There are different but great things about both lines.

We love the bigger rooms but don't love sitting on the balcony so my dh and I always get the port hole room. It is considered an interior room so we usually only pay a few dollars more for a porthole than an interior room but we have the same layout and size of the balcony room plus we have the porthole window. I would rather spend the extra 150 or $200 on an excursion.

That's good to know, especially with the layout and size being the same. However, the funny thing, the balcony prices for this cruise, was cheaper than the port hole rooms. And it wasn't only by a little, it was by a decent amount. I've only experienced something like that one other time when I cruised one of my Royal Cruises. Only that time the Port Hole room was cheaper than the interior. Needless to say, that was the only other time we didn't sail an interior room. I'm guessing that maybe the port hole rooms sold faster and they needed the balcony rooms to go? I don't know.

But still good to know for next time because I did like the whole room set up. And to me it was noticeably bigger then our friend's interior room.

Good, fair review. I was on the Pride in May and September and two times before that. I spent a few hours a night on the slots and was never offered a free drink until I got to 1500 points and got the drinks on us card. You were lucky!

 

Not to hijack your review but I'd like to share a few comparisons of my own. I'm diamond on RCCL but have to say I like most the food better on Carnival. At least with the old menus which are about to change. I thought all the pastas and beef dishes were good. The pizza I thought was better on Pride and loved the 24hr soft ice cream. The lasagna and beef stroganoff were horrible on RC but great on the Pride. Not a fan of the frozen yogurt on RC. And of course the Guys Burgers! RC does have it with their CC cookies and the Tuttie salad bar at lunch in the MDR. It doesn't sound like you tried the sea day brunch on the Pride.Yum!

 

I give it to RC for the shows. I like the comedy shows on Carnival but they need a larger venue. You were lucky to have a magician. I've never seen a specialty act on the Pride. I enjoy the magicians, ventriloquist, etc on RC and Princess.

 

My only complaints were how much smoke there was in the casino and how many people didn't follow the even very liberal dress code. The very few nonsmoking slots were right next to the smoking allowed slots. Smokers smoke at the nonsmoking slots and no one said anything to them. I would think they could take a 1/4 of the room and make it nonsmoking and keep everyone happy. They need better ventilation in there. My eyes and throat were irritated the whole time. Even some of the smokers were complaining about how smokey it was in there. I saw a lot of what was not allowed on the dress code every night, tanks on men, short short cut offs, flip flops, ball caps, tee shirts with profanity. Shorts on elegant night, etc. It's not that I care what others are wearing but there is a very liberal dress code compared to RC, Princess and Celebrity and should be easy to follow.

 

A Lot of RC cruisers put down Carnival without ever cruising it. There are different but great things about both lines.

I can't believe you hijacked my thread!!!

JUST KIDDING

I like the compare and contrast between the two lines and I feel fairly similar to you. However, I am about to do the Debarkation day and then I will do my posting that really compares/contrasts between this cruise experience and my Royal Caribbean experiences. And all of the good and bad of this cruise..... Well, mostly good, on all of the different Pride categories.

But I agree with what you said. A lot of Royal cruisers automatically put down Carnival without trying it. And not that I was one of those that outwardly put them down, but I admittedly looked down on Carnival prior to going on it, based on what I've heard. I now realize the error of my ways and am definitely open to trying another one of their ships. Especially a newer bigger ship to see how it compares to some of Royals newer ones.

It is upon us. The last morning. The sad times when one must get off the ship. Well, this is the only day I did not write notes on and now that we are going on two weeks since, I will do my best to recall the experience by memory. Of course, it only encompasses a few hours of the day so it should not be too difficult!

Our original plan after booking the ship and not having to worry about any flights, was to wait out on the ship until they forcibly removed us. Or, at least right before that point. But, when we got our debarkation information we saw that if we put our bags out the night before, our number to leave wouldn't be until after (if my memory serves correctly) 10:50-11:20 am. Or it was 11:20-1150am. One of those two as we were one of the last ones that would be called. But then, I figured if we were the last, we would most likely be effected by any sort of back up at customs and we may be really late actually getting through. And, although Ravens M & T Stadium is close to the port, as I mentioned before my wife had a work thing there at noon and we wanted to make sure we were there on time. So, all that long explanation just to say, we decided to self - assist and get off earlier than later. And, not to mention, we were informed we had to be out of our stateroom by 9:30am, so what's the point of having to sit in some louge/lobby/theatre for over an hour and not being able to relax in your room?

Well, we got up and went to breakfast. Don't ask me why, but I was under the impression that the Blue Iguana was closed that morning so I went and got the buffet breakfast food. Again, to me it wasn't comparable to Royal's breakfast buffet, but tasted much better to me than the last time I had tried it. But of course as we left I saw that Blue Iguana was, in fact, opened. So I missed my last chance at the breakfast sandwich!

We went back to our room to get our things and put away any last minute items, and went down to the 2nd floor to go wait to be called. As we were on the 3rd floor about to go to the 2nd, our favorite English crew member woman warned everyone that the 2nd floor Taj Mahal waiting area was full and to find seating from the 3rd floor. We figured since we had time and didn't feel like sitting in there, we went out to the outside on deck 3 and watch us dock.

The ship was late coming in. The ship was suppose to dock at 9 am but did not dock until around 9:40. Please, if someone was on this sailing and I am a little off with my times, please correct me as again, this is from memory two weeks later.

As soon as we docked, here came a slew of crew members walking off with their belongings. Looks like it's their vacation time. The Cruise Director was in the lead. He said all of the Cruise Directors had a meeting for the week in Miami. So, for the following week, the one entertainment member Dustin would be the acting Cruise Director. Dustin was pretty good. He hosted the Bingo sessions. He grew on me through the week.

Finally, they called self debarkation people, by deck. Well, we were in a position to get towards the front, but it wasn't our deck. After standing there and seeing a slew of people that kept getting into the line, we figured it was impossible that even if every room on the floor that was called was using self debarkation, it did not amount to this many people. Therefore, since we were going to be the next floor called anyways, we decided to jump in line. The line seemed a little chaotic and it went from the gangway all the way back to past the casino. Once you got to the gangway, it picked up and we went straight to customs. The customs line was fairly short and took two seconds with the Customs Agent, and that was it. We were outside. I believe total, from the time we decided to stand in line to the point we were past Customs, may have been 25 minutes give or take. Again, my times are a little off but I think we got into line maybe around 10:15 and was out around 10:40. It really wasn't bad once it got moving.

We were picked up by my in-laws who were going to my wife's work event with us, and leaving the port was just as simple as getting into the port.

Our friends who put their luggage out the night before and left when their number was called, told me they got called and off the ship at 12:30. I read a review from someone who boarded that day that we got off, and they were told there was going to be a several hour delay in getting on. I think they were told no boarding until 2pm. But he said at about 12:30 they started boarding. So, they must have had a quick turnaround that they started boarding just around as my friends got kicked off.

But, a fairly easy process and pretty quick.

Next post, may not be for another day or so, will be the final overall review. The part that most people look forward to reading! This is the actual comparison about multiple experiences/subjects about the ship and the activities. It will also be the comparisons between this ship and my experiences with Royal Caribbean.

I'll be waiting.

Thanks again. :)

Hi all!

xadidas20x ~ I've really enjoyed your review & don't even plan on going on Pride.:D

I was one who looked down on Carnival before trying them (22 cruises in!) & now long to go on another cruise on one of their newer ships (been on Dream & Breeze x2).

I'll be interested in your RCl vs CCL wind up. I've been on Freedom of the Seas x 2, Oasis & Allure so know something about their product but still think Carnival has such a fun vibe. To be sure RCL has better shows but the food ??

~ Jo ~ :)

Thanks for the great review xadidas20x, we are trying CCL for the first time next June on the Vista, we've been in 4 DCL cruises and understand what you said about people putting CCL down without ever trying it. I've really enjoyed this review and look forward to your final verdict. Thanks again.

Here we are, the final posting about the cruise and to finally relate it all to Royal Caribbean (Need it to finally match the title of the thread). I'm going to touch on some topics that I wrote down and give my opinion. I will also briefly mention some areas of the ship that I have not mentioned in any of my review but we at least briefly visited and checked out, in case people were curious. If you have any questions after this, feel free to ask and I will answer to the best of my ability and memory!

Vibration!

This was the biggest thing that was a constant on this cruise. And it was a constant annoyance. I read some reviews prior that mentioned it. I thought it would be a thing that was more felt in just the dining room area from what I read. Well, it was in the dining room. It was in the stateroom. It was in the casino. It was at the Taj Mahal. Basically, it was during the entire ship. It was weird because some times you wouldn't feel it, and then it would start. Then it would die down some. It was more of an annoying feel but after eating, particularly a big meal, and then I would be sitting, it would start to make me feel a little nauseous. It was just, annoying.

One guest that I met stated it was something with the propeller. I believe he explained that the propeller was slightly damaged, either dented or slightly dis-formed, allowing this vibration to occur. I don't know if that is correct or if I believe it. From my understanding this vibration has been going on for a LONG time and feel like if that was the problem it would have been fixed by now. I've also talked to other friends that have been on other Carnival Cruises and they mentioned they dealt with vibrations on their other ships. So I don't know what it is, but if there was anything bad about this ship, this would top my list.

Kids

This was probably the least amount of kids I've seen on a cruise. We usually cruise in November/December. I've also been in January and other times of the year which is when school is in session and there are still usually a fair amount of kids. I don't know if it's just because the school year just started so less parents would be willing to take their kids out of school this early, but it was nice and quiet. For the most part, the kids that we did encounter, seemed fairly well behaved and caused no problems.

Room Steward

Outstanding job, but never met the guy. As I believe I mentioned in the review, it was very odd. I feel like on any other cruise I have been on, with Royal Caribbean, the Room Attendant basically tracks you down the first day to introduce himself and find out if there is anything he can do for us or if there is anything special that we would like. This did not happen. Apparently there is also a sheet that our friends and other people got asking if we want (robes, ice, etc) and if you want morning service, evening service, or both. Well, I saw a copy of that from friends and online here, but never for our room. With that being said, he really was fantastic. Our room was always done morning and evening, when we were out doing whatever we were doing. Towel animals were there every single night, which does not occur for us on Royal Caribbean anymore. So, great job, just miss the personal touch.

No WOW cards equivalent

On Royal Caribbean, they have WOW cards. You fill them out to recognize crew members that went above and beyond. Well I wanted to recognize the crew member that helped me with the tie for going above and beyond in her duties. So, I went to the Guest Service desk and apparently there is no equivalent to WOW cards. I was told I would be getting a survey where I can mention the crew member. I was then given a piece of paper and an envelope and was told I can write down what I want and bring it back to Guest Services. I just felt without a proper system set up that one of those other methods would be lost in the shuffle. But, luckily, when I received the survey, there was a dedicated spot for recognition. So I filled it out and I really hope it makes some sort of difference.

Areas Around The Ship

Card Room- At the back of the ship outside of the Taj Mahal, in between that and the Red Frog Pub was a card room. I usually play some cards during a week of cruising but did not on this cruise so I did not use this room. It seemed well used, particularly in the evening, every time I passed it. There were plenty of tables. They may have had some stuff in there (games maybe?) Again, not sure because I didn't actually go in. Hopefully someone else can comment on it.

Weddings- On the first day we walked into the top floor of the Taj Mahal when we were exploring the ship. Well there was a wedding going on. IT did look beautiful. Afterwards, their reception was down in the butterfly lounge. The reason I know that is because I started walking down the stairs into the lounge when a woman (Guest or part of the wedding) came running over to stop us, as there was a private reception going on. No problem, we turned right around and went up. I was surprised there was nothing, a sign, person, anything, there to stop just anyone from walking in and interrupting.

Chapel- Looked nice inside. Small and cozy. But looked real nice. Only time in here was during ship exploration. It's located right next to the Piana Bar on the 3rd floor. Close to the internet cafe. Tucked right in there.

Arcade- Nothing huge. Couple games. Seemed a little expensive to me. I've played a few games on prior Royal Caribbean ships just for the fun of it. But this seemed a little more cost-wise. It's funny because they have the games where you can win prizes just like in the casino. Like the cash cube game. So it just strikes me funny that it's called gambling when it comes to the cash cube, I guess because you can win money. But the exact same game in the arcade is legal for kids to play because instead of winning cash, you can win an Ipad.

Cruise Director

Steve. If you watch MasterChef, he looks and sounds... Well, is basically a dead ringer for Steven on MasterChef. I think he ended up being 3rd or 4th place this season. So, with the same name, same look, same voice, I would almost think they are the same person. But, he was pretty good. I don't think I will find a cruise director better and funnier than Graham Seymour from Royal Caribbean. But, I'd say Steve was towards the top of my favorites. I didn't see him or know his name for the first three days. But as the week went on we ran into him and saw him more and more. He seemed to be actively involved in everything and I had absolutely no problems with him

The FINAL review

This cruise was fantastic. The only negatives would be that vibration and the smoke. I may be wrong and it just may be perception, but I feel like we did not ever run into smoke as much as we did on this cruise. I don't think Royal Caribbean allows smoking on either side of their pool deck. But on the Starboard side of the Pride, on decks 10 and 11, was smoking. Smoking in the casino is allowed. It is suppose to be near the bar and in designated gaming machines when you are playing. It looked like it was everywhere in the casino. But what made it worse, was the casino was not that big. And there was no ventilation to move that smoke anywhere, so it just stayed and permeated the entire casino. I also heard of issues of the smoke making its way into the EA Sports bar.

BUT, beyond those two issues, just absolutely fantastic cruise. The stops were great (Freeport wasn't as bad as I had anticipated) and the ship was fun. There was a lot of stuff to do every day. If you weren't into activities and trivia, there were a lot of places you could go on this ship. From, multiple bars/lounges/areas to rest, to being outside and relaxing. There is something for every one. The ship never felt crowded. We always took stairs everywhere, never using the elevator, so I don't know how that was. But we never felt like there were a couple thousand people on the ship. Even when we went to the buffet during busy times. It looked like a lot of people, but we always got right through with food and easily found seating.

The layout of the ship just worked. It worked keeping people spread out and it worked keeping most of the main things fairly close so you didn't walk all over to go from activity to activity.

The alcohol drink prices weren't too bad. If you think they're bad, please go look up the current drink prices at Royal Caribbean. When you spend almost $30 on two Pina Coladas on Royal compared to about $18 on Carnival, you'll start to like the drink prices. Between that and the eleven free drinks we luckily received through the week, we didn't really need the Cheers Program. I will admit, as a guy, I like getting all of the different mixed and frozen drinks. Daquiries, Coladas, and every other concoction. My wife likes those as well. But, I couldn't drink a whole lot of them, especially at once. They were very sweet. I don't know what mix they use, but the frozen drink were all very sweet. When my wife makes those kind of drinks at home or when we drink them with Royal Caribbean, it's easy to drink a lot of them. But these Carnival ones, they were good, but could only have the frozen drinks sparingly. A lot of their mixed drinks were delicious. The casino bar tender definitely hooked me up with my Long Island Ice Tea. So, overall, drinks were good, just had a slight issue with the frozen drinks.

The Crew Members. This was THE FRIENDLIEST ships with crew members then we encountered on all of our cruises. Now, Royal Caribbean crew members are always friendly, but this ship seemed to push that to the next level. Even the workers painting, cleaning the decks, etc that normally keep to themselves, would smile and say hi when passing by. Everyone was just so nice and polite. I know how hard these people work, for so many hours every single days, for months on end without seeing their family. That has to wear on you. But we didn't come across even one person that showed that. Other then the English crew member that just irked me some, everyone was fantastic.

Now, the stuff that people really care about. FOOD. Food was... Okay. I would be interested in seeing this new menu they are rolling out. But I think, as a whole, the food does not compare to Royal Caribbean. Of course, this is merely subjective. But, when it comes to the dining room on Royal Caribbean, I've never had a meal or plate that I did not like. Almost every time you take that first bite and just take a minute and savor it. I don't go out and eat fancy much, so when at Royal Caribbean dining, the food is just fantastic. We order so many different items and love them all. For Carnival, it was so so. And believe me when I say I am far from picky and just love food. But when it came to the dining room dinner, very few items made me go, wow. It was good food. Most of the stuff was delicious. But I have to admit it just did not compare to Royal Caribbean for me. Although I do have to give that double thumbs up to the Chocolate Melting Cake!

Staying with food. Guys Burgers, the Deli, and Blue Iguana Cantina was amazing. They are the reason I actually looked forward to lunch more than any other meal. They have such simple food, but it was executed so well. Breakfast in the buffet, as I've alluded to in the review, just did not do it for me. Again, I'd give that win to Royal. We did not do any of the room service. Although I saw the chocolate cake from another review, and I now regret not trying it. Finally, the pizza. I liked that it was made to order but I'm glad I only tried it when there were no lines. At high times, there would be some really long lines. There were four main kinds of pizza. They just need to make a whole bunch on top of the made to order, to keep people moving. Royal Caribbean has that down to a science it seems when it comes to their pizza. But when everyone is having theirs made to order, and almost everyone we saw, wanted the whole pizza, it creates a long and unnecessary wait. With that being said, I'd say the pizza was better than any Royal Caribbean Pizza I have had.

So, food overall, to me, goes to Royal Caribbean without much of a fight.

Shows and Entertainment. Again, I have to go towards Royal Caribbean. That's not completely fair because I'm used to their bigger ships. And they have Broadway caliber shows... To include actual Broadway shows. Now, it's not fair because we didn't really see the shows they offered on this ship. So I guess I can't really give my opinion on that. I'm basing this off of the million reviews I've read prior to going on this cruise, and based on what I've heard from around the ship. But, who knows. As discussed in this thread, people make judgment against Carnival without sailing on them, as did I, and I ended up being dead wrong. However, I do think I may be right about this. I also realize this is a smaller Carnival ship and I don't know what the entertainment offering is on their bigger ship.

Other entertainment was good though. The Love and Marriage show, although done slightly different from how I've experienced it with Royal Caribbean, ended up being pretty good. Steve did a great job hosting it and keeping it entertaining. The same goes for the Quest. I am curious to see who had that first, Royal Caribbean or Carnival. But I've gone to and participated in some wild and entertaining Quest games before. This one definitely would be one of the top for me. It was a lot of fun and was hilarious. Hasbro show was something different and ended up being fun to watch. Bingo is Bingo. And I have to mention it one more time. The Towel Animal Invasion at the pool deck the one morning was simply awesome. It was set up so perfect. Everyone walking in just immediately had a huge smile on their face. That really was a nice touch.

So, I think I've rambled on enough. When it comes to Carnival vs Royal Caribbean. I have to say, over all, I'm not persuaded to ditch Royal Caribbean and they will be the first cruise line to look at for our next cruise. However, Carnival has taught me not to judge a book by a cover. I would not hesitate to look at going on another one, especially to try one of their bigger ships.

Thank you for reading my review. I know this last posting was a little all over the place. But I wanted to get this in before another week passed. I do have to say, I had a smile on my face almost the entire cruise. This experience was just, fun. My wife and I were looking for a week of relaxation and we got it. Carnival Pride was simply, FUN

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed your time on the Pride.

I did enjoy your review. :)

Thank You for your enjoyable, interesting, extensive review. :):):):)

Thank or a great review. We were always hesitant to try Carnival. I'm glad we have in and took the Sept 6 sailin. We agreed with a lot of your review especially about the food. The main dining room was okay but Guys, Bue Iguana, Chef's Table and David's were absolutely amazin. We are looking forward to our Pride cruise next summer and hope to try RC in the futur. Again, nice job with your review!

Thanking you for taking the time to right this review. It was enjoyable to read. I believe that we keep returning to Carnival Cruise line because it is the FUN ship cruise line.