Carnival Pride 4/9 review + Pics of Pride and Spirit together - no more waterslide

[exarolf]

Just of the Pride – had a great trip – here’s our take…

 

Embarkation:

Fast and efficient – did the early check-in thing, and we were on the boat around 1PM… We took two cars due to all the luggage, and found out afterward that was a mistake due to parking costs (it’s like $12/day each car – anyone know of cheaper parking? Can you park at the Queen Mary hotel and walk?).

 

We have 3 kids (girls 12,11 and a boy 6), and we were traveling with the grandparents – ended up with 3 staterooms with balconies. Grandparents have cruised all over the world (30+ times – never on Carnival)

 

Staterooms were pleasant – we all had refrigerators which were emptied to make room for libations. The kids stocked theirs with milk and soda. We brought 2 beach chairs which came in very handy as the balconies did not have enough chairs (ours had one chair, and one recliner, so we ended up with 2 reclining chairs – this also allowed the kids to have 3 recliners on the balcony).

 

Meals:

Breakfast - All the adults were somewhat disappointed with the buffet breakfast. As a rule, I’d prefer Denny’s than the breakfast buffet… The pastries were very good, as were the croissants,, and you can get an omelet custom made. There are like 6 stations serving – so if you have a line, try a different one. I don’t get why they don’t do one station with an international flavor (??? – like Mexican one day, Asian the next etc). Breakfast does not change at all day-to-day.

 

Lunch – Pizza was a big hit all around.

The buffet was OK – some international meals, and enough variety to satisfy most. Quality was pretty average.

The Deli (opens at 12) was nice. Good tuna melts. The roast beef was below average in flavor . Corned beef and pastrami were fatty, oily and just not worth even discussing. They can make grilled cheese – though the cheese doesn’t really melt.

Grill – again, OK food – the burgers were not the best – the bread was somewhat stale and dry. French Frys were very good.

 

Dinner:

We never tried the buffet

Normandie dinning room – first day we requested Béarnaise and shrimp cocktails – they could ot do it that night, but had it for us every other night. Our server was not the best – his backup had more character, and worked harder. He did not show the last two nights (???) – so the backup was running the show – and he was *clearly* overwhelmed,. Contrary to what others have reported, soda is not free in the dining room. The food was hit and miss – some better than others. Wife and me typically ordered different things so we could sample. Kids did the kids mmenu – the pizza comes out a little soft and mushy – but the frys kept their crunch. Deserts we pretty good, I avoided the average coffee, and just got triple espresso (a coffee cup filled with espresso) – this was very nice. GPs found it funny how few ‘formally dressed’ people there were (formal = Tux for GPs)

David’s: This is a tail of two stories – ours and the grandparents (ate different nights). The grandparents had a horrible experience, we had an excellent experience. The GPs ordered Cesar salad which came soft and mushy. Ours was prepared tableside and was fabulous. The GPs had a server that did not seem to grasp English well – we had an ESL server – but she took care of everything perfectly. The GPs had their order butchered (steak overcooked – they ordered med rare – got closer to well done, they ordered veggie sides for each of them – which didn’t come – after requesting them again, they came out much later – and only brought them for one – they gave up ordering more). Our order was perfect! I got the filet (medium rare – perfectly cooked – a steak that you could mistake for one from Ruth Crist), she got the lobster (again perfectly cooked). The veggies and béarnaise were amazing (the sauce was better than the dining room’s????). Desert was nice – wife liked it better – but I thought it was OK – espresso ‘coffee’. Of course the GPs could not get off that easy – grandma had desert spilled on her dress!!! So while we had an *amazing* meal far exceeding our expectations – they had the opposite experience.

 

Boat:

Everyone had fun – the waterslide has been *removed* - all that is left is the tower and some rigging. Kids loved the pool – we stayed on the side with no band so as not to torture the GPs. Liked the casino, and did well there J - there seemed to be a lot of people doing well at the blackjack tables. The shows were enjoyed by the kids, we found them very mediocre at best. We did camp carnival the 6th night – they had some ‘sleep over’ kind of thing – they basically played from 10AM till being escorted home at 4AM! They loved it.

Piano bar was a real highlight - the guy had an amazing voice!!!

Found a new sport – we all have Heely’s (shoes with wheels) – when on top deck, going 20MPH into a 40MPH headwind, there is 60MPH apparent wind. We’d start at one end, just stretch out our arms, and the wind pushes you nicely from one end of the ship to the other J

 

Excursions:

Puerto Vallarta – other GPs have house, so we just rented a car ($40 including insurance etc etc), and drove to the house (near downtown on hill) – then went to Chico’s Paradise (about a 40 minute drive south of downtown). Chicos has great food – but the real highlight is the river with nature made water slides, diving pools etc etc. This is also where the canopy tours go (people going across the river on zip lines etc etc). There was what looked like a Carnival tour there when we arrived. I’ve been to PV maybe 100 times over the years, and this is always very fun. We did dinner at the Westin (Nikies Beach) – Nikkies is great food and drinks – can be a fun place to just hang for the day (as long as you buy, they give you towels and you have pool/beach access at the Westin). You can sit on mattresses and eat and drink. Getting back on the boat they Xrayed our bag, and saw two bottles – sent us to ‘secondary’ to check it L I only gave them the non-alcoholic mix J

 

Mazatlan – Did Randy’s happy horses – she had a nice sign for us when we got off the boat and through immigration. The horses were in amazing shape – they were happy to run on the beach. The food at the restaurant was great – try the coconut shrimp!!!

 

Cabo – we did the Carnival ‘excursion’ beach club/boat tour. The boat tour basically just went to the ‘arches’ which you see when entering and leaving the harbor anyways, and around to the Pacific side to view houses from a distance. The ‘beach club’ was just a nice spot on the beach with bar nice chairs and a little swimming area. The ‘free drink’ was a 6 oz pony Corona – get the Pacifico – it’s 12oz.

If I was to do it again, I’d taxi to the beach, and then you can go to any of the restaurants/beach clubs – including the one Carnival takes you to. Or go to one of the nice hotels and interlope…

 

Disembarkation: Simply put - a MESS. We had early disembark due to Easter services - No one knew what was going on in Taj lounge - no one was there to explain - and when you found someone - they didn't know where to go. Story ended up happy as we found the VIP line to get off boat. I'd scope this out clearly a day before - including clear times...

 

 

Overall, we had a nice family vacation. It isn’t Disney, but we knew that going into it – the food is average – but again – I think that’s common knowledge from reading this board… The staff was friendly and courteous. I doubt we'll do Carnival again any time soon - and that *does not* mean we had a bad time - we had a great time.

 

Please no flames - these are just our observations - I'm sure yours are different.

 

Pictures were in Mazatlan – Spirit and Pride came in at the same time - someone was asking for Pride picks earlier - here's double the fun...

 

Of note: Spirit has waterslide not yet dismatled (blue) - Pride has just the white towers remaining.

 

 

[LHP]

Sorry some things were not to your expectations, but glad you still had a good time. Your example of how one day David's was great and another time not good is one of the reasons it is so hard to predict a cruise. If one meal at the same place can be so different, imagine an entire ship and entire cruise. Sounds like your crew handled the good, the bad and the average like troopers.

 

Looking those pictures, it does make you wonder how they parallel park those huge things!!

[Astronomer]

Thanks for posting that.

 

We are so looking forward to our first Cruise on the Pride.

 

:D

 

down to 62 days

[wwakla]

Thank you for your great opinions. The pictures are fabulous, thanks for sharing.

[Wennfred]

Great review, I would like to know the name of your head waiter and what country was he from. Also its my understanding that SODA is free for Kids only ages 12 and under. Not free for Adults while at the dinner table.

 

Fred

[Lurkyloo]

We are just off the Pride too (we got off as you got on! ;) ) I love your shots of the Pride and Spirit together - we had such a great time on the Pride, we are taking the Spirit next spring!

[Wennfred]

We are just off the Pride too (we got off as you got on! ;) ) I love your shots of the Pride and Spirit together - we had such a great time on the Pride, we are taking the Spirit next spring!

 

We will be on the spirit on April 08, 2007, if thats your cruise, join our roll call below.

 

Fred

[exarolf]

Kids were indeed charged for soft drinks (we had 2 eleven year olds, and one 6) - I questioned this repeatedly with our server and bar maid - all verified that sodas are a charge in the Normandie Dining room (I know I have read they aren't elsewhere)

 

Waiter was Jenni (male from Asia?)

 

Here are a few more pics - one closeup of the waterslide (note - not plural), and one of Chico's naural waterslide.

 

My next cruise is the Newport-Ensenada Sailboat race this weekend :-)

 

 

[toad455]

Are the slides on the Miracle & Legend different since they don't have to be removed??

[Wennfred]

Thanks, we had an Indian Waiter and the same thing happen to us, by the 4th night he was gone and his assistant had to pick up the slack, but he did a fine job at it. I guess the Late seating had this waiter fired.

 

Fred

[exarolf]

I haven't seen anything from Carnival - but since these are all esentially the same boats, I've gotta think they are the same slides. THey were closed months back due to lawsuits and injuriies.

 

These pics just confirm that not only has Carnival closed the slides, they are even removing them!

 

So yes - the Legend and Miracle will either remove the slides, or keep them permanently closed.

[gtalum]

So yes - the Legend and Miracle will either remove the slides, or keep them permanently closed.

 

Another thread seems to indicate that Carnival used a different slide manufacturer for Legend and Miracle's slides. This manufacturer is the one building the replacement slides which will be installed on Pride and Spirit this summer.

[exarolf]

That's good news - I know our kids would've liked to play on them - but in reality, they didn't miss them a bit due to the other fun stuff around (including reading on the balcony :) )

[LandlockedDad]

Looking at the pic of both ships together...can anyone tell me if the aft cabins below the red line have balconies? It looks like there would be plenty of privacy there and a great view of the ship's wake!

[cathyz]

Looking at the pic of both ships together...can anyone tell me if the aft cabins below the red line have balconies? It looks like there would be plenty of privacy there and a great view of the ship's wake!

The deck right below the red line is deck 2, the promenade deck, which doesn't have any cabins and the one below that is deck 1, the riviera deck, which has only ocean view and interior cabins.

[exarolf]

Looking at the pic of both ships together...can anyone tell me if the aft cabins below the red line have balconies? It looks like there would be plenty of privacy there and a great view of the ship's wake!

 

IMHO I would stay away from the aft. This cruise goes 22+ knotts almost every minute at sea. The aft is very noisy and full of vibration... On hte side balcony you get a sound very sinilar to ocean waves on a beach...

[LandlockedDad]

Thanks for the advice on the cabins / balconies!! Good to know about this cruise moving at such a good clip!

[Au48]

I was on the Legend the week of 4/2 to 4/10. The slide was fully functional, and it was in use every at sea day. I went down it once on that last day at sea. It showed no signs of being shut down in the future.

 

Sean