DaisyandMoe010

I had that as a "nightcap" every night last week! Anna Maria--who just got married , BTW--or Gabriel would start making them for me the minute I came up. They were using Buffalo Trace versus Makers .

 

But to the OP's ?, it's the mixologists, IMO, that make the Alchemy special. More top shelf liquors used. More essence of zests and herbs to accent the drink. Might not be your thing, but worth a try once.

LOVE Gabriel! I spent a good amount of time at the Alchemy on the Pride. For me, it was all about the experience. I am a picky drinker and he made me the best strawberry something drink that I have ever had! I am back on the Pride in 45 days armed with Cheers and ready for my next Alchemy adventure!

This doesn't make any sense. Why would they charge a cancellation fee if they have already been paid in full for the fare? And you could just be a "no show" and they wouldn't get that $. Something is not right. We cruised a few years ago and my son in laws dad was to join us but pass away a month before the cruise. Carnival was very helpful and for a $50 change fee, we replaced another family member in his place. You need to keep calling until you find someone that knows what they are talking about. Good luck and sorry for your loss.

I had my kids coming with me on my next cruise and one cannot go now....I called and was also charged only a $50.00 change fee and was able to add a different person.

I agree with the above and heartily second it for the same reasons. Sometimes we've noticed the service suffers too and chalked it up to some crew being antsy to begin their vacations. Just a hunch but we wouldn't do one of these again.

DH and I were on the last sailing before the Pride went into the last dry dock for the 2.0 upgrades. That was our 5th cruise with carnival and we didn't see any changes from previous cruises and had a wonderful time! Most of the crew had just come back from vacation and were staying on the Pride during the upgrades. I say go for it!!! The Pride is a great ship!

I hit it on the 3rd day of my cruise in January and was told the card would be gold. Happy cruising!

A good lesson -- Look what's above and below rooms before you book them.

Yes! Location Location Location!!

DH and I were on the Pride in October when Hurricane Matthew made an appearance. We were notified at 10 pm the night before that the itinerary changed to Canada and NYC. They gave us the option to cancel for a full refund. Those who chose to go, would receive an OBC and 25% off a future sailing. We left as scheduled, got to NYC and about 10 minutes before we were due to set sail, we were notified that the path of the storm changed again and that we would have to stay docked in NYC. The fate of the rest of the cruise was still to be determined at that point. For those who wanted to get off and end their vacation, they were given a refund for the remaining days of the cruise. People were UPSET and took it out on Guest Services, it was terrible!

Once the Pride left NYC, it didn't dock again until we returned to Baltimore the following Sunday. we cruised laps in the ocean for the rest of the trip. We chose to stay and I am glad we did as it turned out to be our favorite cruise so far.

By the time it was all over, we have a total of $500 OBC and 50% off a future cruise. We have rebooked a Vista Suite on the Pride for Sept 2018 with our discount. For the record, I think Carnival made the right call on this one, and I appreciate them keeping us safe. The staff did an AMAZING job with the cards they were dealt.

John Heald posted last evening that the following cruises have been cancelled:

Carnival Liberty September 7th

Carnival Victory September 8th

I haven't looked at any new updates for today yet.

I know I will be flamed for suggesting this, but if you can't work something out with the Rep who booked your cruise, and you paid by credit card, you could complain to the credit card company.

 

 

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I work in the credit card industry in the billing dispute exceptions department. I would imagine the company will tell the OP that this is non disputable as the cancellation policy is clearly listed out in many forms. It is a shame for the OP to have to go through this, but I agree with others...one should have a TA or a PVP to assist them. I have a wonderful PVP and I use him to book all of my cruises and I never have an issue.

Thank you so much for the thorough response. I am so appreciative of experienced people like you sharing with us newbies. I feel a lot more prepared

Congrats on your accomplishment!! You will love the Pride!! I have been on her several times and will be on her again 2 more times next year. The first place I ALWAYS stop when I get on board is the main dining room to check on our table assignment. They have always been extremely helpful in making sure we have what we want.

Have a great cruise!

Sailed many times but on the Pride the most since we live in Balto. County. I enjoy reading all Pride reviews as well as yours. We all have different opinions. I do know that the Pride has ALWAYS had that bad vibrations, especially in the aft dining room. We just always try to stay out of that area,,,and would never book a cabin on any deck back there. Overall, we really enjoy all our trips on the Pride. Hopefully your next trip will be better for you.

We have also been on the Pride several times, she is our favorite ship. Have 2 cruises coming up next year on her. We always book an Aft Ext Balcony, we love it. We spend a lot of time on our balcony on sea days. The only time we have ever had any issues is when there is rough weather (we always cruise in September/October). Nothing really noticeable in the dining room. I love that we all experience different things, makes these reviews so much fun to read. Happy sailing!

If you are going to cruise anyway and choose Carnival to do it on, then why complain about it??? It is what it is and maybe you should look around to other cruise lines to see if they have a "deal".

 

When we are ready to book, we book....it is simple really....if there is an offer out there then great, if not I still book cuz that is the plan at that time....

I second that!!! :)

4 and counting

I would ask the Diamond/Plats of the world, what is your expectation? What exactly do you want? I believe it was another thread, one poster claimed that out of 2100 passengers, 1900 were Dias/Plats. I would have never guessed it was close to a majority that are Dias/Plats on a cruise. So if Carnival is sailing full most if not all cruises, so there isn't a need to get people on board, I would like to know from the Dias/Plats out there what should Carnival be giving?

Without looking it up Dias/Plats get:

Priority Boarding

Priority Desembark

Priority Tendering

Priority MDR timeslots

Private Party

Laundry Service

Guest Services Line

 

I am sure there are other perks that I didn't list.

What else do you want/think you deserve that Carnival isn't offering?

That's a great question. I am interested in the responses!

We've been on the Pride 6 times, and they have had the towel animal display every time. The entire pool area is covered with them. They're in the pool, on the stage, next to the Blue Iguana, they're everywhere! I took loads of pictures, but don't know how to post them here.

Look it up on youtube and you'll see.

 

When boarding, ask your steward if he/she can let you know which morning they will be done. When we came back from dinner one night, he was out in the hall making the animals for the next morning, and he told us.

 

Your son will love it!

 

We'll be on the Pride again this Oct. too, for the Halloween cruise!

I have a TON of pictures from the Pride when they did this. They seem to go really over the top with it, more so than other ships IMHO. OMG they were everywhere. I am a big kid and love the animals so much. I ask our steward to leave them all in the cabin for the entire cruise so I have a zoo. Then I take a picture of them all on the last night.

199 days and I will be on the Pride for a girls trip with my cousin. Then 416 days until I am back on the Pride again for the 4th time for a family trip with my dh, our oldest, his wife and our youngest (all adults)

"For any who might be wondering, the arcade is a bit hidden! It is at the VERY front of the ship, past the Taj Mahal theatre, down a secret hallway."

Great review! This is my favorite part of the ship. I have been on the Pride twice already. This is my favorite ship. I am going on her again in Jan 2018 and Sept 2018.

Although my DW is Platinum (grandmothered in?), I'm still Gold. I do think it's a wise business decision for all cruise lines to offer some recognition in the form of perks to repeat cruisers. It helps to establish their brand and possibly encourage others to continue cruising on that particular line. But I am a bit appalled by the sense of "entitlement" being exhibited on this thread and others by platinum and diamond cruisers. It's a perk folks. Granted by the cruise line. Cruise lines giveth and cruise lines taketh away. Look at the changes airlines go through annually, if not more frequently on the perks they offer for frequent flyer miles. Very difficult to get an upgrade to first class anymore. Takes more to earn "free" flights. Less mileage per flight. And yes frequent flyers piss and groan about it, yet they still fly. People who try to "game" the mileage often get gobsmacked when changes occur. So book a cruise for the cruise. Book a ship for the ship. Book as frequently as you can afford. And accept the perks offered as offered, but quit barking for more. and let the rest of us hoi-polloi have some peace and quiet to enjoy our cruises.

:'):') Great post!!! I couldn't agree with you more!!

I hate when I click on a thread that has only a ships name title only to find out its just another tired old tablecloth thread. lol :p:cool:

I totally agree. The Pride is my favorite ship, so I tend to read all of the threads about it. I couldn't care less if the tablecloths are on there or not. If not having them keeps the cost of cruises affordable so I can cruise more, I am all for it! No tablecloths or tablecloths will NOT make or break a cruise for me. I have no complaints about the American Table and have always had a pleasant dining experience.

I think I would have left him a note instead of complaining about him to GS, but that's just me...

I would leave a note as well if it was that important to me. I always keep my cabin tidy, so if he or she overlooked me, I most likely wouldn't have an issue with that. This has never been an issue for me, always stellar service.

I Dissagree when delayed by fog we received a lot of updates by text and email.

I disagree as well. We were well informed of all the changes that were made when ALL of our ports were cancelled due to the weather. I think they handled it very very well.

My DH and I were booked on the Pride this past October during Hurricane Matthew. I am certain we were provided with updates as soon as they made their decisions. They avoid making a rash change in the event the weather takes a turn for the best. Our cruise went to NYC, stayed overnight and then we cruised back and forth in the Ocean for 6 days. We never got off the ship again during that cruise until it was time to go home. We were safe, the captain made the right calls and we still had the best time ever. I sure hope that this doesn't damper your vacation. Try and make the best of it.

The staff did a great job informing those of us on board about the delays. We even got a letter from the captain about it to use (if needed) to help in getting airlines to waive any change fees. Spoke to an eyewitness to the treatment of the guest -- they said the crew formed a bit of a "wall" around what was happening to help protect the privacy of the patient. We also didn't have to be out of our cabins until 11am, and they opened lunch facilities at 11 am for us.

 

It was well handled on board. So sorry to those caught waiting to board for any snafu's there.

That is great to hear. IMHO, Carnival does a great job in handling unfortunate situations. I am part of a FB group for the Pride and there were a lot of upset people yesterday. Some waited in lines for hours just to park. I really hope they didn't give Guest Services a hard time, it wasn't their fault.

One word. Alchemy.

My favorite place on the ship!

Go to the Alchemy Bar! They will make you something based on what you like.

We were on the Vista a couple of weeks ago with the Cheers package. My wife ordered Silver Patron margaritas all over the ship. At Alchemy, it's more of a "make me something not too sweet with tequila" kind of thing. We discovered that cucumber is very light and refreshing in both tequila and rum drinks.

Was Gabriel your Alchemist? He is fantastic!!!