Bostonjetset

How was the dining service on the K’dam 35 nighter? Hopefully it improved from my Alaska trip. The anytime dining service was just bad for several dinners and breakfast in the MDR was not good from a service standpoint either. And they bungled a Canaletto reservation I had made and paid for over 3 months in advance. It was a noticeable drop from their pre-Covid standards.

Hey Everyone! I just got off a Carnival cruise for the first time in ten years and wanted to share my thoughts with all the lovely people on this board that I've come to know over the years. Whilst I am not "married" to any cruise line, HAL has become my preference over the years. I sail based on itinerary, schedule, & price and HAL generally has the best combo of the three to fit my needs. That said, I have and do sail other lines...I just usually check HAL first. The one line I have tried to avoid in the last decade has been Carnival; not because I had any bad experiences on them in the past but because I felt I have outgrown that type of cruising. They were great as a first or second cruise but they do have sort of a "reputation" among seasoned cruisers. Well I am here to say that we just sailed with them for a partial transit of the Panama Canal and it was a wonderful experience. I don't know that I would pick them for every sailing but for the right itinerary I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them again. The food was mostly as good as our last HAL cruise and I hate to say it but the MDR service was actually better than we experienced on the K'dam last August. I attached the link to my review on the Carnival boards below but I wanted to share some general thoughts with you all here as well. In the last year [since April 2023] I've sailed on HAL twice [Rotterdam to Scotland, K'dam to Alaska], NCL once [Bliss to Mexican Riviera], and this one Carnival cruise [Pride to PC]. All had their plusses and minuses but I was genuinely shocked how much we enjoyed CCL. Food: The MDR food on CCL was terrific and so was the extra-charge steakhouse. Honestly I think it was better than we had on K'dam, Rotterdam, or Bliss. The service we had on K'dam was just poor on multiple occasions in the MDR that it felt like a different HAL from the past; Carnival doesn't seem to be suffering from the same level of understaffing that HAL was just a few months ago so I hope HAL has gotten their act together by the time I'm on Volendam this June. The buffet on Pride was lackluster, ESP the desserts, so HAL wins there but Carnival has Guys Burgers [very good] to compete with Dive-In and a burrito cantina on the Lido that is also terrific so we never ate in the buffet except for breakfast on disembarkation day. We had breakfast in the MDR every other morning. Decor: Both K'dam and Rotterdam are beautiful ships and the 20+ y/o Pride cannot compete there. It still looks like the inside of a pinball machine. I hear CCL's new ships look better but this was an oldie so not so pretty. HAL for the win here. The NCL Bliss is pretty too but it's just too huge and I really like the more midsize ships. Entertainment: This is a bit of a mixed bag. NCL's newer ships like the Bliss have Broadway style shows [we saw Six: the Musical which was amazing] so it's hard to compete. That said, NCL was boring during the day IMO unless one loves drinking and bar hopping. Carnival had okay traditional cruise ship singing/dancing shows about half the nights in the main theatre which were decent. HAL has the StepOne dancers some nights who I think are very good but they repeat a lot. HAL axed Lincoln Center which was a stupid mistake I think. Carnival had classical musicians in the lobby every day though they DID play electric violins. I would say it was a tie here...just depends on what people like. Carnival DOES have a great adults-only Serenity area though that is completely free AND have an enforced [as far as I could tell at least] age limit. I never saw kids in there and it had a pool and a hot tub. NCL charges extra for those kind of areas. HAL has the aft pool but my last trip on Rotterdam in Europe it was overrun with children during Dutch holiday week. Service: Both CCL and NCL only service the staterooms once per day which I don't love but between the two CCL was leaps and bounds above NCL. Our steward was efficient, friendly, and always came to clean in the morning whilst we were at breakfast. On NCL it was a struggle to get him to clean at the same time with him sometimes coming at 3.30pm whilst we were relaxing in the room AFTER having been in port most of the day; it was truly bad. Also NCL charged the most for daily grass at $20pppd. HAL still does twice daily servicing which I prefer [or they did as of last August] so they get the win here. Also, they have free room service which is nice on a port day. NCL and CCL both charge. HAL also wins with the on-demand TV content...NCL charges and CCL had limited TV content. Anyway, if you want to read the full review it's below. Just wanted to share my thoughts. Hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Easter.

I’m glad you enjoyed the review! Thanks for reading. You must take a canal cruise. It’s so fascinating. I actually want to do another one at some point now. And I’m not an engineering buff by any means.

Thanks for reading. I can’t comment on it as I didn’t attend any of the comedy shows. Sorry about that.

We didn’t have a water carafe on the table at all throughout the trip so clearly consistency is lacking. That would have been nice to have. I don’t know why the silverware thing bothered me so much but it did. Not a deal breaker or anything but it stood out. At least they could set the table with two forks from the beginning if they don’t want to change them mid service. It just seems tacky to expect people to use one fork for salad, appetizer, and entree.

Thanks for reading! I would do another canal trip as well. Hopefully a full transit next time. Maybe through the new locks since I’ve been through the historic locks now and there are many more options through the new ones. Thanks for reading. Glad you enjoyed the review. Yes this ship size is great. I sailed on the Legend years ago and remember liking the Spirit class size. Have a wonderful cruise!

Day 10: Sea Day [3/23/2024, 10.26pm] Today was the last day of the cruise as we disembark tomorrow morning back in Tampa. The end of any cruise is always bittersweet for me as I always wish for more time away. However, I'm starting to miss DH and the cat. We will stay one more night in Tampa and fly home at 6am on Monday morning. Dinner tonight featured a coffee glazed roast duck that wasn't great. It was chewy and tough; one of only two disappointing entrees of this trip. I got the braised brisket instead and it was much better. Overall this was a wonderful cruise. I had many reservations about Carnival as we hadn't sailed with them in about 10 years. In the past I enjoyed my cruises with them but found lines like Holland America and Princess to be more my style. Carnival was always louder and more of a party ship. However, this trip shattered those ideas! Maybe it was because it was over a week so attracted a different clientele but there were very few young kids or even teens/college aged people. The service was great; I prefer twice daily cabin service but our steward was wonderful and always cleaned whilst we were out unlike my last NCL cruise where scheduling was a nightmare. The food in the MDR has been mostly great...above my last HAL cruise. This ship is also a perfect size with loads of elevator banks. I guess I can overlook the pinball machine decor. LOL.

Day 9: Grand Cayman [3/22/2024, 11.02pm] Before leaving on this trip I read online that 7-mile beach in Grand Cayman was damaged and eroded during the last hurricane and thus most of the beach clubs had closed. As such, we just planned a downtown shopping day in port. We browsed around the shops and had some beers and nachos at Sharkeez. It was a pretty relaxing day and I got a nice silver & Larimar ring at one of the local jewelry stores. The show tonight was quite good. Titled "88 Keys: The Rock & Roll Piano Show", the same group of singers/dancers did hits from Billy Joel, Elton John, Little Richard, etc. It was a lot of fun. My mother's cousin won $500 on the Piggy slot machine with only a $1 bet!! I think I've donated about $140 to the casino this trip and that's quite enough.

Day 8: Sea Day [3/21/2024, 9.40pm] Just finished another evening swim. It's the best time for swimming as the Serenity pool is always basically empty after dinner. It was the second "formal" night tonight but very few dressed formally; mostly just business casual as seems the norm on most cruise lines these days. We just go with the flow now. I like to dress nice but rarely lug a suit anymore. It was the first night of the cruise where my entree disappointed. The "everyday" strip steak was gristly and had too much fat; and I disliked everything not he daily specials menu for mains. My starters were good though. Excellent corn chowder and mushroom soup! As it was a sea day we didn't do much other than hang around. We played Crazy 8s for a couple hours on deck before lunch and then I continued reading my book that I brought along.

Maybe it’s because we had anytime dining and they want to get people in and out more quickly? It was really strange. A minor annoyance but something I definitely noticed.

Day 6: Panama Canal [3/20/2024, 11.43am] We just got through the third set of locks at the Gatun Locks and are now floating around Gatun Lake in the middle of Panama. Going through the canal this morning was really quite interesting. It's amazing how tight of a fit it is; mere inches it looks like. I'm glad we went through the old, original locks from 1914 as well. It was cool to see the "mules" guide the ship and watch the huge lock gates swing inward to close. It's drizzly out which is keeping the temps down at least, [11.11pm] Finally got some time in the hot tub this evening. I went around 8pm and must have gotten there before the twenty-something couple who love it as an evening makeout spot. After my soak and some swimming, I did a few laps around the promenade deck before donating a few bucks to the casino. I really enjoyed sailing through the Panama Canal. I loathe the heat so the tropics are not usually my first choice but this is a really interesting destination. I would actually consider doing a full transit in the future if I can find an itinerary with interesting ports. Also, thus far Carnival has been a pleasant surprise. We picked this ship for the itinerary and the smaller ship size but things have been great from the food to the service.

Jamaica is much more anti-gay than the Cayman Islands if that is a concern. Same-sex activity is illegal in Jamaica whereas it's not in the Caymans. Civil Unions [though not gay "marriage"] are actually legal in the Caymans as well. From a solely LGBT perspective, Grand Cayman would be a much better choice. That said, even if one disregards the LGBT thing, Jamaica is not really a friendly place; people are aggressive with sales tactics and will try to push marijuana on you. The beaches are quite beautiful but it's not an island I have much interest in going back to. Grand Cayman is a bit bland as stated above but it's more civilized and has a higher end vibe. The only negative is that it's a tender port but I'd still pick it over any port in Jamaica.

I've never seen anything like it on other cruise lines, or on Carnival in the past for that matter but that was ten years ago when they still had tablecloths so much has changed since then. It was really weird. They would obviously bring new flatware if asked but the point is that one shouldn't have to ask; proper dinner service should have new utensils for each course. Another oddity is that they brought all the starters together instead of pacing the courses. For example, the salad, soup, and appetizer were all brought at once instead of as separate courses which is not only incorrect from a service standpoint but it clutters the table and makes it difficult to eat. This happened every night with different servers so is clearly the way they do things on Carnival [or at least on the Pride]. It's not a deal breaker or anything but it was pretty strange.

Day 5: Limon, Costa Rica [3/19/2024, 10.53pm] Limon, Costa Rica was disgustingly hot! It was about 90F with super high humidity. I just can't imagine living in this sort of climate. That said, it was nice to visit Costa Rica again. My paternal grandfather was born in CR and the last time I was in the country was to visit him in 1991 when I was just 9 years old. He moved back there after my grandparents divorced and stayed there for the rest of his life. We took a train and banana plantation tour through Carnival which was quite pleasant and worth the $70pp. At the plantation we saw a sloth in the wild which made the day; he was just hanging out in a tree snacking on leaves. The train trip through the jungle was cool but it was a tad long and it was not air conditioned. Also, howler monkeys make the most dreadful sounds! Dinner tonight was delicious. There was an Emeril special of blackened sea bass with andouille sausage and grits. FABULOUS! One thing that has been bugging me about the service however is that they only set the tables with one fork and don't replace silverware between courses as is proper. I don't want to use my salad fork for my dinner! Each course should have its own flatware. Oh, and the dancing waitstaff is still a thing on Carnival. Not my vibe.

Day 5: Sea Day [3/18/2024, 9.45pm] Just back from an evening swim in the adult's only "Serenity" pool. I'll admit that Carnival does these adult areas right. They are free, 21+, and have so far been enforced that I've seen. Some cruise lines charge extra for these types of areas or they don't really enforce the age limit. Lunch today was at Blue Iguana Cantina. The burritos are quite good. The food int he buffet has look fairly mediocre, at least judging by the selection, but I tried a slice of pizza which was delicious. The buffet cakes were fairly bland and not worth the calories though they looked pretty. However, the food in the MDR has been consistently good; tonight they had a nice beef Wellington with roasted carrots and Brussels sprouts.

Day 4: Sea Day [3/17/2024, 10.43pm] Today was the first of several full sea days and we started with brunch in the main dining room. The food was very good but the chicken that came with the chicken and waffles had bones in it even though the waiter said it didn't when I asked. In fact, the food on this ship has been very good so far, including tonight at dinner. We haven't eaten in the Lido buffet yet though so I can't speak to that. The show tonight was "80s Pop to the Max" which was loads of fun for me since I was born in the 80s and so many of the songs of my childhood were part of the show. The male singers were better than the females of this cast though all were decent dancers. I donated $40 to the casino today but both mom and G have won so far this trip.

Day 3: Carnival Pride Embarkation Day [3/16/2024, 10.40pm] We concluded the Disney World portion of our trip this morning with a fabulous breakfast at Topolino's Terrace atop Disney's Riviera Resort. Not only was it a fun character breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy in their artist outfits but the food was phenomenal! The steak & eggs with polenta was outstanding. And that sour cream waffle! And the cinnamon muffins!! Well worth the $49pp. Once arriving to Tampa we dropped off the rental car and took an Uber to the port. Check-in was a breeze here; perhaps because the Carnival Pride is a smaller ship? About the ship now: she has a lot of that loud, tacky, colorful decor that is typical of older Carnival ships. That is not my taste. However, our stateroom [#4132] was a good size, had a huge floor-to-ceiling window, and is sold at an inside stateroom price due to the view being blocked by a lifeboat. But our particular room is between the two lifeboats so we do have a little view and plenty of natural light. A great deal! Also, dinner in the uncharge steakhouse was wonderful! The smoked oyster starter and the pork belly were both terrific. The ribeye steak was tasty with the fried mushrooms and red wine sauce, and the apple tarte tartin...FABULOUS! Service was REALLY slow though; 2.5 hours to finish. I think the waitress may have been new.

Day 2: Walt Disney World [3/15/2024, 11.50pm] A magical day at the Magic Kingdom!! Having the boat transportation from Wilderness Lodge to MK is wonderful; so relaxing and much better than taking a bus. Since we go to the park for rope-drop at 7.30am I was able to ride Space Mountain with only like a 10 min wait. Mom still won't ride it though! The new Tron: Lightcycle Run ride was LOTS of fun but it's quite short. I ended up just paying the $20 for the individual lightning lane so I could get right on at 8.05am with no wait and no hassle of a "virtual queue". We headed to Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary Resort for lunch. It was a nice break from the park and the food was good. The "bacon and eggs" starter [pork belly with an egg and grits] was simply amazing!! The burger was terrific too though not quite as amazing as the bison burger at Geyser Point yesterday. For dinner we tried Liberty Tree Tavern back inside the park and it was really enjoyable. It's a lot of decent food [the pot roast and turkey were especially good] at a reasonable [for Disney] price. And I FINALLY got to see a full fireworks shoes from inside the park!! "Happily Ever After" was a really well done show with great music to go along with it. I'm so glad nothing went wrong this time. Oh, I also got my silhouette done as there wasn't a crazy wait like there was at Disneyland last time.

Day 1: Walt Disney World [3/14/2024, 9.45pm] We've just returned from a fabulous dinner at Artist Point here at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Not only was the food delicious, especially the braised pork stand and the mushroom bisque, but the whole character interactions was so much fun. Snow White, Grumpy & Dopey all come around to the table to chat and take photos and then we went up to meet the Evil Queen for "portraits". It was really a lot of fun. This resort is gorgeous. Our room on the 4th floor [4020] is just a standard view with 2 queen beds but we have a perfect view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony. The decor of the room is tasteful and elegant in an upscale national park lodge theme with small but cute Disney touches like a Bambi picture about the coffee maker and Chip & Dale hidden in the wallpaper. The lobby of the resort is stunning with soaring ceilings and totems along with a multi-story stone fireplace. We got to spend a couple hours in the pool today as well which also had lovely theming with waterfalls and stonework. We capped off the night with the electrical water pageant; so kitschy and fun! The only negative today was the drive from Tampa airport. It took two hours due to some crazy traffic.

Hi fellow cruisers. I just returned from the Pride's 8-night cruise through a partial transit of the Panama Canal and wanted to share my thoughts. The trip left from Tampa and visited Limon, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman in addition to transiting the historic [or "old"] locks of the canal. We also spent two nights in Orlando, pre-cruise, at Walt Disney World so I will include that in the review for those who are interested in perhaps doing something similar when sailing from Tampa. I usually post reviews in a diary style format so you can read my thoughts as I wrote them during the trip. BACKGROUND: I sailed on this trip with my mother. I am 41 and she is 70. My mom loves to travel and my father does not so that coupled with the fact that I get a lot more PTO than my husband means I can escort mom on a couple trips each year. My mother's cousin and her husband [both late 60s] also joined us on the cruise but not at Disney. Neither mom nor I had been to the Panama Canal before. We went to Costa Rica back in 1991 when I was a kid to visit family [my paternal grandfather was from Costa Rica] but did not go to Limon so it was a new port for us as well. We'd been to Grand Cayman once about ten years ago. We had not sailed Carnival since 2014 and I was apprehensive about it. The times we've sailed with them we've had nice trips but they are usually not the aesthetic I prefer; I find their ship decor to be a bit on the tacky side TBH [at least on the older ships I've sailed] and they typically seem to attract a rowdier clientele. Also, I cringe at "sexy legs" and "hairy chest" contests and dancing waiters at dinner. That said, the Pride had the best schedule for a partial Panama Canal transit that went through the old locks as most partial transits are at least 10-11 nights and go through the new locks. Eight nights was the perfect length for us as I've several other trips already planned this year. We tend to sail with Holland America Line the most as we like the mid-size ships, their aesthetic, and their service, but we are not married to any line and usually pick based on itinerary, cost, and dates. I will admit up front that I was pleasantly surprised by what I found on Carnival this time and I may start looking at them again for future trips if the itinerary is right.

Beauport is wonderful. I live in Mass and have been there just for an afternoon out and it’s really very enjoyable. The history is interesting and the setting is quite beautiful. Henry Sleeper was a pioneer of interior decorating in the US and when he died the house was bought by one of the Woolworth daughters.

That’s disgusting. Earlier this year on Holland America my eggs benedict had what appeared to be bologna instead of ham/Canadian bacon on it and it grossed me out but we were in Scotland at the time and it was at the end of the trip so figured they ran out of the proper stuff and I excused it. It was normal again when I sailed with them in August.

Bacon is a staple breakfast item that almost all breakfast buffets include daily. I think that’s why people are annoyed by this? Even Holiday Inn Express gives you either bacon or sausage (alternating) with breakfast whilst some have reported cut up hotdogs for breakfast on Carnival?!?! I have not experienced that so don’t know but a few posts back I think someone mentioned it and wasn’t sure if they were joking. I hope they were because that truly is gross.

Last year we stayed at The Oberoi in New Delhi and they had nightly turndown. I believe Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons still do it as well. Not the fairest of comparisons I agree but other cruise lines DO still offer it. Holland America Line does it. Cunard does it. Disney does it. It’s not unheard of. My last cruise was on NCL and the once daily service was truly abysmal so maybe my view is tainted by that but the steward always came at odd hours and twice we had to leave the room for him to clean for fear that if we missed the service we’d have no fresh towels until the next day since there was no turn down. One day we were off the ship all day in Ensenada on an NCL excursion and he waited until fifteen minutes AFTER we got back to knock on our door to clean.

This is disappointing to hear. It’s bloody bacon, not unlimited caviar. Jeez.