Carnival Pride February 24-March 3

[rafinmd]

Roy, great daily report! I'll be on the Pride the end of April, same itinerary. Could you post the shore tours for the 3 stops? A while ago I was looking at a tour in Freeport on a sailing schooner type ship, I believe it was the Alex something from Germany. Now I can't find it on line. Do they not offer that shore tour anymore?

 

Thanks

Cheryl

 

I just posted the shore excursions:Port Canaveral

 

Nassau

 

Freeport

 

I'm also attaching a snapshot of the ship I saw.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I have now sailed 3 times on the Enchantment of the Seas and once on the Carnival Pride out of Baltimore. These cruises are not really my ideal of cruising but the opportunity for a cruise from close to home with minimal hassle getting to the port is very attractive. The comparison is primarily based on the Enchantment of the Seas 1/26/13 and Carnival Pride 2/24/13. Probably few of you will agree with my opinions but here they are anyway:

 

Pre-cruise: Signing up for both cruises was pretty easy and straight forward. I had one pre-cruise contact with each cruise line. For the Enchantment I attained Select status on Celebrity in December and emailed Crown and Anchor to take advantage of their reciprocity. Carnival called me about 10 days before the cruise and offered me an upsell from my inside cabin to a balcony. Both contacts were handled well. The one difference I noticed was likely pretty much a personal matter. I have a passport but because I take a lot of distant cruises I have had situations where it has to be sent away for visa processing. For my local cruises I prefer to use a NEXUS card. I’m pretty sure Royal’s checkin pretty well differentiates the documentation requirements for a specific cruise and allows pre-registration with all the appropriate forms of identification. Carnival has a link to getyouhome.gov which lists all the appropriate forms accepted but the advance checkin only has a few options. I had to pre-register using my birth certificate. Advantage: Royal

 

Embarkation: Both were very easy with about a 20 minute line for security and on the ship 10 minutes after clearing security. Advantage: Port of Baltimore.

 

Cabin: On Royal I had an oceanview cabin on deck 4. On the Pride I originally booked a deck 1 inside and later took an upsell to a verandah. Both the cabins I occupied were essentially the same size, but the Pride cabin seemed to better designed with more storage space and lots of shelf space in the bathroom. The Pride cabin (and also my original inside cabin) came with a mini-bar/fridge while the Enchantment cabin did not. One annoying feature was shared by both cabins. There were several bars in the closet for hangers but the hangers all attached via a ball on top of the hanger sliding into a slot on a bar-mounted adapter. The adapters were only on 2 of the bars making the rest of the bars pretty much useless. The Pride had a tube TV while the Enchantment had a flat screen. I do sometimes stay in inside cabins and I noted that the Pride had a bridge view (and aft view) channel which allow someone in an inside cabin to have a look at what conditions are outside while the Enchantment did not. Advantage: Pride

 

Ship:The Carnival Pride was built in 2002, Enchantment 1997, and Grandeur 1996, but the Pride seems to have a MUCH more modern look. There are many similarities in the feel of the ships along with a few differences. I liked the Retreat on the Pride although it was a little too cool there to be very attractive the first and last days. The Enchantment’s Solarium was a very nice adult area on the Enchantment; the removable cover on the Pride’s forward pool was drafty but still generally pleasant and a viable place for activities in all weather. Enchantment’s Orpheum Theater and Pride’s Taj Mahal Theater are relatively equivalent. Probably the second most used room is the Spotlight Lounge on the Enchantment and Butterflies on the Pride. Butterflies is more intimate while the Spotlight is more versatile, has nice views, and is larger. On each ship there are several smaller loungers also used for certain venues. The biggest difference for me is probably the Viking Crown Lounge on the Enchantment (and Grandeur). The Pride seems to have no similar forward looking public room. I also found the Centrum on Enchantment more conducive to activities than the Pride’s Atrium. Advantage: Royal

 

Main Dining Room: I also found the Enchantment’s My Fair Lady Dining Room and the Pride’s Normandie Dining Room very comparable. Both are on 2 levels with fixed dining on the lower level and flexible on the upper level. I’ve seen remarks about Carnival serving “comfort food” like meatloaf, it’s true but there are many other options and I never went there. Service was good in both but the staff gets spread a bit too thin. I thought the waiters dancing on Carnival was a bit overdone but not enough to really detract from the experience. A tie

 

Lido dining: The Windjammer on the Enchantment and Grandeur is a bit different being in the front of the ship. I have really enjoyed lunches on our sail in to San Juan. Prides is to the aft but sits in front of the Retreat, so it’s not really designed to enjoy a meal on the aft deck. Both have a number of stations and create some lines but not long ones. I thought the variety and quality of both restaurants was adequate although a few things like pancakes and french toast have been past their prime and been dried out. This was fairly prevalent on past Enchantment cruises but significantly better this year. I had only one instance of pancakes past their prime on the Pride.

Advantage: Carnival by a very slight margin.

 

Specialty Dining: Both the Enchantment and the Pride have steak houses. I thought the food in Chops (Enchantment) was a bit better than at David’s, but David’s 2-level location just below the funnel was stunning. In addition to Chops, Grandeur will have an Italian restaurant and an Asian Restaurant. My ranking is (3) Enchantment, (2) Pride, and (1) Grandeur.

 

Loyalty programs: Carnival has a loyalty program but it was pretty minimal. As VIFP Red, the basic level, the only thing I got was a drink at a main dining room lunch. There was a welcome back party, but that was only for the next level up. Seems a bit strange to me as I’ve always found these to be marketing tools as much as a real benefit. At the first level (Gold) of Royal’s C&A program I got a discount book where I saved on internet access, a welcome back party, and a lounge for disembarkation. On my latest cruise I was considered Platinum and had better coupons, a top-tier party, and a better departure lounge. My sailing records were similar, I was at the basic level based on my RCI sailings but they recognized my Celebrity status. I am at the basic level with Carnival and my 2-star HAL and Platinum Cunard status meant nothing. Advantage: Royal

 

Cruise Critic support: Royal Caribbean sponsors a Meet and Greet for 7-day plus sailings with 25 or more members. They have officers in attendance and door prizes. We had a Meet and Greet organized on our roll call. The organizer asked Carnival to have some staff present or some trinkets and was totally rebuffed. Advantage: Royal

 

Disembarkation: Both were pretty easy. I think things are a bit easier for Enchantment due to it’s 7AM arrival as opposed to 9AM for the Pride. One thing annoying for the Pride is that we are due to be out of our rooms at 8:30, a half hour before we even dock. Self disembarkation on the Pride was called deck by deck. There was confusion early in the process as everybody seemed to be rushing to get off. It got a bit more organized when staff came on the PA to remind people to wait for their decks. I think the rush is partly due to the Pride’s later arrival and people being more anxious to get started towards the airport of home. One nice new touch on the Enchantment is new electronic boards which usually have information like menus become status boards for the disembarkation showing which numbers have already been called and how many numbers are still ahead of yours. Overall, I was off the Enchantment just before 10 and off the Pride just before 11. No real problems but by a slight margin advantage Royal.

 

Itinerary: This is the biggest difference to me. Carnival Pride sails 2 7-day itineraries to Caribbean or Bahamas calling on a total of 5 ports. Grandeur in 2013 will have 6 distinct itineraries from 6 to 10 days to Bermuda, Bahamas, Caribbean, and Canada calling on 15 ports. For the winter sailings there are a couple of cold weather days, and Royal’s longer itineraries give substantially longer time in the warm weather. Of the two, Royal is my preferences but having both is still better. 6 itineraries with 15 ports beats 2 with 5, but 8 itineraries with 18 ports is better still.

 

I reviewed my last Enchantment cruise last May and didn’t do a new review this time. These are my reviews:

 

Enchantment: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103298

 

Pride:http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=216426

 

Roy