Pride HUGE Review - Kids, FTTF, Cabanas, & More

[cocacola86]

Been on a lot of cruises

 

 

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[cocacola86]

Sorry have you? What do you do and what's your name

 

 

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[CruiseBride926]

First off hi from a fellow nj family! Great review. My husband and I got married on the pride last year so we are familiar with the ship however this will be the first time sailing on her for my daughter, stepson, parents, and grandparents. Definitely got some great tips from your review. How did your in laws like it overall? This will be my parents first cruise and my mother is a little skeptical.

 

 

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[cocacola86]

Hey Cruisebride from Canada!

 

 

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[kako14]

Hi CruiseBride! My MIL was over prepared - every medicine you could imagine, tons of luggage, and so nervous. I think that looking back on it she has a much better view of it than when we were there. Since we've been off ages mentioned several times that she would like to do it again with the rest of our family. While on it though she has typical cruiser complaints - bad buffet food, long lines for certain things, and some of the other same complaints I had.

 

 

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[msmayor]

I use the spa on every cruise I take...its a treat. I have also been in spas 'on land' and I can tell you that just about every cruise spa is VERY different from land spas...

 

Spa: This is my biggest complaint of the cruise and its probably more my fault than it is Carnival’s. As a gift, my mom said she wanted to give my husband and I a massage b/c we (aka I) planned the entire trip and did all the legwork. In all the cruises I’ve been on, I’ve never been to the spa on a cruise. I don’t know why – it just never appealed to me. I decided I’d try it here. The plan was for us to pay for it on our S&S cards and my mom would just give us the $ when we got home. I don’t remember which day it was but one day before breakfast the spa had someone by the elevators talking about their services – I stopped to listen and heard that the bamboo massage was on “value pricing” for $129. I thought – oh that’s cool, I’ll have to come back. Another day they advertised a few specials that you had to have before a certain time – I called to book, and they had no availability before that time, but wouldn’t honor the special for another time. Strike 1. Finally the last day, I call and take whatever time they can give me. My husband went at 10:30 and I went at 11:30. I asked on the phone how much it cost and the lady told me $149. When I got there, I saw a sign that said, “value price - $129”. The best appointment times are always going to be available on embarkation day...that is when I always head to the spa and book my appointments. Many times they offer a special if you book more than one service (I usually do) and it can end up a kind of 'buy two, get one free' deal. Since I usually know the basics of our itinerary its much easier to make sure spa times I want are booked right at the start.The price wasn’t going to sway whether I got the massage so I didn’t ask about it - my fault. I also had that gift card from the anniversary gift to use. For the prices they charge, I was expecting a luxury spa experience. That means, changing into a robe, sitting in a lounge with water and relaxing, going into a nicely appointed spa treatment room, an awesome service. I didn’t get any of that. I walked into a waiting area, sat for a few minutes, was lead into the massage room, which wasn’t anything special (not a big deal). The masseuse spent 10 mins asking me dumb questions, which I knew was to get me to buy stuff at the end. What you experienced is standard on cruise ships. There is not enough room for a 'luxurious waiting area' or locker rooms for you to change in to a robe. The treatment rooms are all tiny and the questions at the beginning, while designed in part for the 'sell' at the end, are also designed to customize your massage. I always write on the form "Do Not Sell Products Please" and its always been honored. The massage itself was terrible – she never turned the lights off (until I asked), there was no music playing (until I asked), the bed wasn’t heated, there was just nothing good about it. Whatever – it’s a massage, how bad could it be. But that was Strike 2. Never had a heated bed on a cruise, just a standard massage table. Lights were usually low or off, but always some sunshine through the slight opening in the curtains. She ends the massage and walks out. So I get dressed and go to the front to pay. This is where it goes really downhill. No one knows why I’m there – they don’t know what I owe, they don’t know who my technician was, etc. Finally my technician comes out with a tray of products and tells me that I was supposed to sit in the room and wait for her to come back to sell me this stuff, which was literally like $50 or more a bottle. The technician definitely should have told you upon completion she was leaving so you could dress, and she would return with water and your receipt. Again, that is standard for every massage I have had. I never go to the desk to finalize the transaction. She also brings the receipt for my massage, which had automatic 20% gratuity added and a line to add more gratuity. Ok whatever. Its then that I remember I have my gift card, and what about that value pricing? So I ask for a manager. The manager tells me the value pricing is only for port days (I’ll admit, I never researched the spa and didn’t pay any attention to it, so that very well may be true – but it wasn’t clear, and I don’t like feeling like I was taken advantage of). Then they tell me I can’t use the gift card b/c its expired. I look at them like – how could that be? The cruise isn’t over yet! I pull out the other 2 gift cards that were part of my anniversary gift (b/c the manager had the spa one) and they are still valid. Of course the spa one shows that it expired the day before. I was dumbfounded – again my fault for not researching, knowing, or looking more carefully. But at this point I’m fuming – terrible massage, expensive, auto gratuity for poor service, and now expired coupon. The manager continues to tell me that he can’t apply the coupon to the service, but oh, if I want to buy products he can apply it there. Bull – I walked out. I was livid. Honestly, I was actually impressed by how reasonably priced everything on Carnival was. I never felt like they were trying to take advantage of me or price gauge. The spa is the only place I felt that the service sucked, experience sucked, and then it wasn’t very transparent. Never again - and I was forced to tip.

I can't respond to why the gift card wasn't valid...I've never used anything other than my sea pass/sign and sail to pay for spa service; could Guest Services have assisted and applied the card to your account to cover the spa service? Anyway, the 20% auto gratuity is also standard on just about every ship. I have always been quite pleased with my services so never worried about it; not sure if its possible to reduce it.

 

One thing to also remember is that ship spas are not run by the cruise lines; they are run by third parties (Steiner is a big outfit).

Edited June 5, 2016 by msmayor