Short Pride Review by NCL sailer

[CruisnGram]

We Did...and it was very pleasant being with the other self-asorbed and rude people...it would have ruined it to have someone join us that was not invited, especially if they were not rude and self asorbed like ourselves. A good time was had by all of us

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

Oh and thanks for proving my point by your postings. Unprovoked attacks on a thread that was not in any way negative nor addressing the issues you have.

 

LOL Knew I made the right decision.

[CruisnGram]

My family and I (DH, DD8 and myself) are looking to either cruise on the Pride or Norwegian Star. We can't decide which ship will have more fun for us. My DD loves the pool and slides, I love to relax on the deck but still be able to see her in the pool. We love things to do in the evenings, like dancing and music, we want to include DD in this. She wasn't crazy about Camp Carnival, does NCL have a kids program like that? Any reviews on it?

 

Guess I am just looking for lots of general info and maybe some pictures of the ships.

Thank you

Andrea

 

Honestly Andrea, I find most cruises to be more alike then different. Of course there are differences, but in general, they are not extensive. Yes, NCL does have a kids camp...I think all cruise ships do. I've never personally been on the Star but I've heard great things about her. Why don't you go over to the NCL boards and ask some questions? I'm sure you'll get the info you need, including pictures of the Star. It's a great group on the NCL board, just like it is here on the Carnival board...cruise lovers one and all. :)

[ShedQueen77]

Good honest review! I was thinking of trying NCL but have heard horror stories of getting nickle and dimed to death. Also you should have booked 8pm dining then no need to rush.

 

We tried NCL after two Carnival cruises and weren't "nickle and dimed" any more than we were on Carnival. :)

[hfweather]

Thank you for posting your review. I love Carnival, however I quite frankly don't enjoy eating lunch at the Lido buffet either. Whenever, the MDR is open for lunch that's where I always go.

 

My 3 year old granddaughter is going on NCL on Sunday, she loves Carnival, do you know anything about NCL's kids program?

[Waterloomarc]

Did you try the deli for lunch? If you go Carnival again you need to try that. The sandwiches are quite good and enough are offered for a fair amount of variety throughout the trip. Or you could be like me and eat reubens and turkey sandwiches all week :) I agree with you though, I've been on 3 Carnival cruises now and haven't seen anything at the buffet worth eating. But the deli keeps me happy.

 

I'm looking at NCL for a cruise next spring to try something different. But I'm tired of the Western Carribean and want to try eastern and the only NCL ship going when I'm looking is the Sun which I hear is one of their older ships so I'm afraid of basing my opinion of NCL on that.

 

Question, does NCL change up their breakfast menu in the MDR throughout the week? We only eat breakfast in the dining room (see above buffet comment) and while i always enjoy it it's the same thing offered everyday which gets a little old.

[CruisnGram]

Thank you for posting your review. I love Carnival, however I quite frankly don't enjoy eating lunch at the Lido buffet either. Whenever, the MDR is open for lunch that's where I always go.

 

I'm not that familiar with Carnival to know whether a dining room not being open during embarkation is normal or not for them. I can only go by my Pride experience. On NCL however, there is always a dining room open. I don't normally visit the dining room for lunch during the cruise as I'm usually doing things or hanging by the pool, but I sure do love it when first boarding. Just gets the trip off to a great start. On the Pride we needed a table for 7 and it took us almost 1/2 hour to find anything open on Lido. It was just a crazy, push and jam with all of those people there. Especially when you are dragging your carry on. Which reminds me of something else. Didn't like the fact that there was no where to check your carry on. On NCL when you board, they will let you put it in one of the lounges and give you a claim ticket so you don't have to drag it all over the ship.

 

My 3 year old granddaughter is going on NCL on Sunday, she loves Carnival, do you know anything about NCL's kids program?

 

I'm sorry I don't know too much. Our last NCL cruise my grandson was old enough but wanted no part of it (typical 2 year old) lol. If you go to the NCL boards, I'm sure there are people on there who have lots of experience with their kids club and would be more then happy to share their experiences.

[CruisnGram]

Did you try the deli for lunch? If you go Carnival again you need to try that. The sandwiches are quite good and enough are offered for a fair amount of variety throughout the trip. Or you could be like me and eat reubens and turkey sandwiches all week :) I agree with you though, I've been on 3 Carnival cruises now and haven't seen anything at the buffet worth eating. But the deli keeps me happy.

 

Yes some of our group did try the deli and you are right, the sandwiches are good (according to others with me) if you like deli style food. I suppose I'm picky tho cause I'm not a deli person. If I didn't like what the international buffet was serving, I just got a salad or a burger.

 

I'm looking at NCL for a cruise next spring to try something different. But I'm tired of the Western Carribean and want to try eastern and the only NCL ship going when I'm looking is the Sun which I hear is one of their older ships so I'm afraid of basing my opinion of NCL on that.

 

The Sun was my very first NCL cruise and I enjoyed her a lot. Yes, she's older and doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships, but she's in beautiful condition and is a pretty ship. One word of warning tho, NCL ships are "different" (for lack of a better word) They can be difficult to navigate sometimes. There is no real promenade and on the Sun for example, one of the main dining rooms is on deck 5 aft. But you can't get to it on deck 5 by just walking towards the back of the ship as the galley is in front of it. So you have to go up to deck 6 and then back down to 5. It's little things like that that take some getting used to. :)

 

Question, does NCL change up their breakfast menu in the MDR throughout the week? We only eat breakfast in the dining room (see above buffet comment) and while i always enjoy it it's the same thing offered everyday which gets a little old.

 

I honestly can't remember as much as I've sailed them. I do think that breakfast is breakfast tho. Eggs, pancakes, french toast, cereal, bacon, sausage, eggs benadict etc. I'd guess to say the menu is pretty much the same every day for breakfast.

[sjn911]

I'm sorry that some interpreted my review as negative. As I said, overall I thought it was excellent. And I would def sail them again without question.

 

I have sailed out of Baltimore twice and the 1st time the staff was great. Maybe they just had a bad day. lol

 

As far as the chocolate melting cake, I was so excited to try it. And I did...twice. It truly wasn't sweet enough. And I'm not a big sweet person. Most things are too sweet for me. Maybe it was just whoever was making them last week.

 

As far as NCL I'd be happy to honestly answer any questions anyone has. I've sailed on the majority of their ships and am pretty familiar with everything about them. So just ask away. :)

It is so cool to hear the comparisons in nice honest personal opinions of the different mainstream lines..thanks so much for coming and I really, really enjoyed getting your honest view, I look forward to trying NCL sometime...Sarah

[CruisnGram]

It is so cool to hear the comparisons in nice honest personal opinions of the different mainstream lines..thanks so much for coming and I really, really enjoyed getting your honest view, I look forward to trying NCL sometime...Sarah

 

Thank you Sarah. I've never quite understood people who are so loyal to one cruise line that they attack others without really knowing anything about them or go on an unfamiliar line expecting it to be bad and being unfair when judging them. As I said, I am a loyal NCL fan but I loved this Carnival cruise and I would recommend it to anyone. And if you try NCL, I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as you do Carnival. :)

[sjn911]

Thank you Sarah. I've never quite understood people who are so loyal to one cruise line that they attack others without really knowing anything about them or go on an unfamiliar line expecting it to be bad and being unfair when judging them. As I said, I am a loyal NCL fan but I loved this Carnival cruise and I would recommend it to anyone. And if you try NCL, I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as you do Carnival. :)

There are many here who would agree and I do too:). Half the fun to me is always trying a different hotel, ship, beach, etc. and I look forward to the time when i can do it more and more...and until then..this feeds my soul..when folks are nice and have fun here it is so much fun..sarah

[quickrate]

Desserts: C: pretty but tasteless. The warm chocolate melting cake everyone raves about wasn't sweet enough. Average at best

I had to laugh at this cause one of the things I love about warm chocolate melting cake is it is not over the top sweet. I love chocolate but not chocolate that is hersey bar sweet-like that dark chocolate semi-sweet. Never been on the Pride but love the Spirit Class ship!

pat

[CruisnGram]

Desserts: C: pretty but tasteless. The warm chocolate melting cake everyone raves about wasn't sweet enough. Average at best

I had to laugh at this cause one of the things I love about warm chocolate melting cake is it is not over the top sweet. I love chocolate but not chocolate that is hersey bar sweet-like that dark chocolate semi-sweet. Never been on the Pride but love the Spirit Class ship!

pat

 

I think it's pretty unanimous that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to the chocolate melting cake. lol I guess it's cause I grew up near Hershey that I love that sweet, sweet chocolate. :)

[bumorgan]

Thanks cruisingram for an honest impartial review. Very good friends of mine cruise NCL 3 to 4 times a year through NCL's Casino program and constantly tell me the benefits of it. LOL I'll probably try it next year as Carnival's Casino program is pretty lame.:mad:

[DispCycle]

I think it's pretty unanimous that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to the chocolate melting cake. lol I guess it's cause I grew up near Hershey that I love that sweet, sweet chocolate. :)

 

 

AH HERSHEY!!!! I live near Hershey and LOVE going to Hershey Chocolate World for the Chocolate Chip Cookies or the Chocolate Cookies with Peanut butter chips.. MMM!!!

[happy cruzin]

I think it's pretty unanimous that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to the chocolate melting cake. lol I guess it's cause I grew up near Hershey that I love that sweet, sweet chocolate. :)

 

 

LOL....Us too!! ;) We say all the time that the desserts - especially the chocolate ones - are not that sweet :eek:.

We've always chalked it up to the "european" approach to chocolate - using semi-sweet and dark chocolate in the recipes instead of fudge or milk chocolates. But what do we know....:rolleyes:

[golfb4cruzing]

thanks for the objectivity. makes me want to try NCL. I tried the choc cake thing but it's like licking Willie Wonka. how many coffees do you to with your sugar?:D

[happy cruzin]

Did you try the deli for lunch? If you go Carnival again you need to try that. The sandwiches are quite good and enough are offered for a fair amount of variety throughout the trip. Or you could be like me and eat reubens and turkey sandwiches all week :) I agree with you though, I've been on 3 Carnival cruises now and haven't seen anything at the buffet worth eating. But the deli keeps me happy.

 

I'm looking at NCL for a cruise next spring to try something different. But I'm tired of the Western Carribean and want to try eastern and the only NCL ship going when I'm looking is the Sun which I hear is one of their older ships so I'm afraid of basing my opinion of NCL on that.

 

Question, does NCL change up their breakfast menu in the MDR throughout the week? We only eat breakfast in the dining room (see above buffet comment) and while i always enjoy it it's the same thing offered everyday which gets a little old.

 

That is exactly why we have the NCL Epic booked for February ;).

We wanted something special and different to celebrate our anniversary - and had a bad case of "been there and done that" :o with the current Carnival itineraries - so we decided to try NCL.

[happy cruzin]

thanks for the objectivity. makes me want to try NCL. I tried the choc cake thing but it's like licking Willie Wonka. how many coffees do you to with your sugar?:D

 

Ok...have to tell you that visual - made me laugh! ;) :D

[sparks1093]

thanks for the objectivity. makes me want to try NCL. I tried the choc cake thing but it's like licking Willie Wonka. how many coffees do you to with your sugar?:D

 

Wilder or Depp?

[CruisnGram]

Wilder or Depp?

 

LOL I vote for Depp. :)

[CruisnGram]

That is exactly why we have the NCL Epic booked for February ;).

We wanted something special and different to celebrate our anniversary - and had a bad case of "been there and done that" :o with the current Carnival itineraries - so we decided to try NCL.

 

Well I think that most of the cruise lines keep repeating itineraries and we all get a little tired of them. That's not exclusive to Carnival.

 

Regarding the Epic we sailed her in January of this year. I have to say I had reservations cause 1) she's so ugly in the pictures and 2) I didn't think that I'd enjoy a ship with so many people on board. To my surprise, she isn't that ugly at all in person and she's so big that she handles the amount of passengers well. We never felt crowded at all.

 

She's beautiful inside and I can honestly say there wasn't one thing about her we didn't enjoy. It is different...the shows (Cirque, Blue Man and Legends) are different then anything you've ever seen at sea and there are so many restaurants to choose from you can never quite make up your mind where to eat. It's almost a little overwhelming.

 

The biggest drawbacks I felt were the cabins. We were traveling with my dad who uses a mobility scooter, so our room was a HC room and like all HC rooms was huge. But the regular balcony cabins are S-M-A-L-L. They're beautiful with the curved walls and the decorations but roomy they aren't. And that bathroom thing...well, you'd best be very close with whoever is in your cabin. If you aren't at the beginning of the trip, you will be by the end. lol

 

All in all I'd recommend her. I think everyone should sail one of the monstrosities of seas at least one. :)

[CruisnGram]

thanks for the objectivity. makes me want to try NCL. I tried the choc cake thing but it's like licking Willie Wonka. how many coffees do you to with your sugar?:D

 

LOL Love your sense of humor. And sugar in coffee? Well, lets say I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar. :)

[CruisnGram]

Thanks cruisingram for an honest impartial review. Very good friends of mine cruise NCL 3 to 4 times a year through NCL's Casino program and constantly tell me the benefits of it. LOL I'll probably try it next year as Carnival's Casino program is pretty lame.:mad:

 

Well I was surprised that Carnival has any perks at all in their casino. I expected nothing other then to lose my money. But they do offer the free drinks after 1500 points (which I got by the 3rd day) and the $10 back for every 1000 points. So at least they give you something for your money. :)

[Danacat222]

I think it's pretty unanimous that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to the chocolate melting cake. lol I guess it's cause I grew up near Hershey that I love that sweet, sweet chocolate. :)

 

I don't get the hype of the chocolate melting cake either, I was only able to get my sweet fix on Pride by eating ice cream. I found all the desserts that I tried to be more savory than sweet, and I like a sweet dessert.

[lillian marie]

Excellent review. I cruise CCL because I think it beats NCL and RCCL as an overall cruise product. As a nonsmoker I love the new casino rules and smoking limitations on CCL.