quick Pride review from 11/16 sailing

[caliseas]

I will write a detailed review later, but here is my opinion on a few things mentioned in previous Pride threads:

 

Overall, we loved the cruise. There were a few quirks, but no one is perfect and we didn't expect perfection. We loved the service we did recieve and for the service we didn't recieve, Oh well!!! We love to cruise thru the good and the not so good!

 

We sailed the Pride Nov. 16-23, 2008

Cabin 5236 (we got a GREAT balcony at a bargain $$!!!)

We are 38 & 45 years old and have cruised Carnival, RCCL, Disney and Cruise West (Small ship).

 

 

- new cruise director - Mark Price.

Very nice guy and was entertaining at times. Not annoying at all, just

doing his job. You will hear him "GRRR" several times throughout the

cruise. (you'll see what I mean when you get on board)

 

- water - (and tea/coffee/juice)

We drink a ton of water at home and we did take a case with us. We put it in a suitcase and checked it on thru. No problems!

Now, the water on board..yes there was a distinctive odor if you

put your nose to the glass. Taste? Most of the time it was ok. I do

use lemon in my water and that helped. Hard to describe the odor &

taste. I guess it was a "chlorine" odor/taste? I have a feeling that

I wouldn't of noticed it as much if I hadn't read so many comments on

this board. However, the ice tea was some of the best ever, so I drank

it everyday!! Loved it! Coffee, tea and juices were fine. Did not taste

bad (we just missed our flavored creamer!!!)

 

- Sail away - life boat drill

We did life boat drill PRIOR to sail away. It was the quickest drill ever.

It maybe lasted 10 minutes tops. Approx. 10-15 minutes after drill was

sailaway.

 

- Food....our opinion only...

Not the best, but not the worst.

Menu in dining room did change each night. However, on the menu

they also have the "carnival classics" that were the same each night.

(ie. chicken, steak)

We had a nice variety and really only disliked one of the dishes.

Buffet area. Nice variety and we actually chose to eat there a

couple nights instead of the dining room.

Room service - You've seen the menu's listed. BLT was my favorite and

Hot Rueben was my husband's favorite. We actually thought the

cheese cake and the chocolate cake from room service were the

best deserts we had the entire cruise!

We did not get a chance to enjoy David's supper club because we were too busy enjoying the rest of the ship. We did see the menu and the restaurant is beautiful and there was no problem for those who waited to sign up once on board.

 

- Ship & Cabin

We loved the theme of the ship. Lots of art everywhere. We liked

the relaxed feel of it vs. neon vegas theme!

Lots of places to sit and relax no matter where you were on the ship.

Adults only pool area nice and only once did we notice a couple of

teen girls out sunbathing. No other kids were there that we noticed

even though there were (2) ice cream machines there.

Cabin was very comfortable. LOTS of storage space. (2) closets

to hang clothes, (1) closet w/ shelves and then drawers everywhere.

Luggage fits under the bed for storage.

Balcony. Very nice.

Cabin location: We loved our PORT side cabin. I feel we saw more being on the PORTside. Southbound we were able to see Cabo while cruising. PV we got to dock on the Port side. Mazatlan, saw more on the port side and Cabo the port side faced the arch the entire time. Northbound - we saw the open water and loved it!

 

- Photos

We read alot of people complaining about being bombarded about

the ship's picture taking. We felt that was not the case.They

asked you if you wanted your picture taken and if you said yes, they did several poses and many of ours turned out great. If you said No, they did not force you. They just said ok and you kept walking. Large photo's were approx. $20 and smaller ones were approx. $8. We did purchase several since we did not have any recent photo's of us. There were several that turned out very professional and looked like you had them taken in a studio.

 

- Drink of the Day / and coupons

Lots of choices. We are not big drinkers, so my husband ordered

me a Carnival Cocktails book from the Carnival Bon Voyage Dept. and

so we had it when we got to the room. We got to look thru it and

choose drinks that we knew we'd like. One drink that I loved that is

not in the book is a "Kiss on the Lips". It is my favorite!

Coupons - we also ordered alcoholic drink coupons and non alcoholic drink coupons thru Carnival BV dept. They were given to us at the

1st nights dinner in the dining room. We used them whenever we wanted

a drink. No problem. We had to give a coupon and usually had to pay $1.15 extra on our S&S card when the drink went over the coupon's value.

 

 

 

That's all for now. Hope this helps anyone going on the Pride soon before she leaves Long Beach!!

 

Happy sailing to all!

__________________

[victory2020]

Thanks! Am going this Sunday & will be in 5211. Glad to hear you liked the location (though we're starboard - would have like to be port since we were on starboard side of Princess ship last month for same itinerary). Don't usually like being midship - did you get any hall noise? Is the maitre'd still Prassad? What night to they serve beef wellington? How much is David's?

[caliseas]

Yes, Prassad is still there. Very nice man. Just a note on the negative side....the back of the dining room is not the best place to sit. The ship vibrates alot and you notice it thru the entire dinner. So, if you can, sit towards the main entrance or the center of the dining room.

 

Beef Wellington....I looked at the menu each day, but don't recall it being listed...I may be wrong, but sure don't remember it....

 

David's - $30 per person

 

Hall noise. None. We were even in a cabin right next to and also across from storage / crew only areas and rarely heard anything. The only noise that bothered us is when people were dragging their balcony chairs across the balcony instead of lifting them up and setting them down.

[Payd]

I will write a detailed review later, but here is my opinion on a few things mentioned in previous Pride threads:

 

Overall, we loved the cruise. There were a few quirks, but no one is perfect and we didn't expect perfection. We loved the service we did recieve and for the service we didn't recieve, Oh well!!! We love to cruise thru the good and the not so good!

 

We sailed the Pride Nov. 16-23, 2008

Cabin 5236 (we got a GREAT balcony at a bargain $$!!!)

We are 38 & 45 years old and have cruised Carnival, RCCL, Disney and Cruise West (Small ship).

 

 

- new cruise director - Mark Price.

Very nice guy and was entertaining at times. Not annoying at all, just

doing his job. You will hear him "GRRR" several times throughout the

cruise. (you'll see what I mean when you get on board)

 

- water - (and tea/coffee/juice)

We drink a ton of water at home and we did take a case with us. We put it in a suitcase and checked it on thru. No problems!

Now, the water on board..yes there was a distinctive odor if you

put your nose to the glass. Taste? Most of the time it was ok. I do

use lemon in my water and that helped. Hard to describe the odor &

taste. I guess it was a "chlorine" odor/taste? I have a feeling that

I wouldn't of noticed it as much if I hadn't read so many comments on

this board. However, the ice tea was some of the best ever, so I drank

it everyday!! Loved it! Coffee, tea and juices were fine. Did not taste

bad (we just missed our flavored creamer!!!)

 

- Sail away - life boat drill

We did life boat drill PRIOR to sail away. It was the quickest drill ever.

It maybe lasted 10 minutes tops. Approx. 10-15 minutes after drill was

sailaway.

 

- Food....our opinion only...

Not the best, but not the worst.

Menu in dining room did change each night. However, on the menu

they also have the "carnival classics" that were the same each night.

(ie. chicken, steak)

We had a nice variety and really only disliked one of the dishes.

Buffet area. Nice variety and we actually chose to eat there a

couple nights instead of the dining room.

Room service - You've seen the menu's listed. BLT was my favorite and

Hot Rueben was my husband's favorite. We actually thought the

cheese cake and the chocolate cake from room service were the

best deserts we had the entire cruise!

We did not get a chance to enjoy David's supper club because we were too busy enjoying the rest of the ship. We did see the menu and the restaurant is beautiful and there was no problem for those who waited to sign up once on board.

 

- Ship & Cabin

We loved the theme of the ship. Lots of art everywhere. We liked

the relaxed feel of it vs. neon vegas theme!

Lots of places to sit and relax no matter where you were on the ship.

Adults only pool area nice and only once did we notice a couple of

teen girls out sunbathing. No other kids were there that we noticed

even though there were (2) ice cream machines there.

Cabin was very comfortable. LOTS of storage space. (2) closets

to hang clothes, (1) closet w/ shelves and then drawers everywhere.

Luggage fits under the bed for storage.

Balcony. Very nice.

Cabin location: We loved our PORT side cabin. I feel we saw more being on the PORTside. Southbound we were able to see Cabo while cruising. PV we got to dock on the Port side. Mazatlan, saw more on the port side and Cabo the port side faced the arch the entire time. Northbound - we saw the open water and loved it!

 

- Photos

We read alot of people complaining about being bombarded about

the ship's picture taking. We felt that was not the case.They

asked you if you wanted your picture taken and if you said yes, they did several poses and many of ours turned out great. If you said No, they did not force you. They just said ok and you kept walking. Large photo's were approx. $20 and smaller ones were approx. $8. We did purchase several since we did not have any recent photo's of us. There were several that turned out very professional and looked like you had them taken in a studio.

 

- Drink of the Day / and coupons

Lots of choices. We are not big drinkers, so my husband ordered

me a Carnival Cocktails book from the Carnival Bon Voyage Dept. and

so we had it when we got to the room. We got to look thru it and

choose drinks that we knew we'd like. One drink that I loved that is

not in the book is a "Kiss on the Lips". It is my favorite!

Coupons - we also ordered alcoholic drink coupons and non alcoholic drink coupons thru Carnival BV dept. They were given to us at the

1st nights dinner in the dining room. We used them whenever we wanted

a drink. No problem. We had to give a coupon and usually had to pay $1.15 extra on our S&S card when the drink went over the coupon's value.

 

 

 

That's all for now. Hope this helps anyone going on the Pride soon before she leaves Long Beach!!

 

Happy sailing to all!

__________________

 

 

can't wait to hear about the ports. PV and Cabo were my favorites!

[maracalone1]

I will write a detailed review later, but here is my opinion on a few things mentioned in previous Pride threads:

 

Overall, we loved the cruise. There were a few quirks, but no one is perfect and we didn't expect perfection. We loved the service we did recieve and for the service we didn't recieve, Oh well!!! We love to cruise thru the good and the not so good!

 

We sailed the Pride Nov. 16-23, 2008

Cabin 5236 (we got a GREAT balcony at a bargain $$!!!)

We are 38 & 45 years old and have cruised Carnival, RCCL, Disney and Cruise West (Small ship).

 

 

- new cruise director - Mark Price.

Very nice guy and was entertaining at times. Not annoying at all, just

doing his job. You will hear him "GRRR" several times throughout the

cruise. (you'll see what I mean when you get on board)

 

- water - (and tea/coffee/juice)

We drink a ton of water at home and we did take a case with us. We put it in a suitcase and checked it on thru. No problems!

Now, the water on board..yes there was a distinctive odor if you

put your nose to the glass. Taste? Most of the time it was ok. I do

use lemon in my water and that helped. Hard to describe the odor &

taste. I guess it was a "chlorine" odor/taste? I have a feeling that

I wouldn't of noticed it as much if I hadn't read so many comments on

this board. However, the ice tea was some of the best ever, so I drank

it everyday!! Loved it! Coffee, tea and juices were fine. Did not taste

bad (we just missed our flavored creamer!!!)

 

- Sail away - life boat drill

We did life boat drill PRIOR to sail away. It was the quickest drill ever.

It maybe lasted 10 minutes tops. Approx. 10-15 minutes after drill was

sailaway.

 

- Food....our opinion only...

Not the best, but not the worst.

Menu in dining room did change each night. However, on the menu

they also have the "carnival classics" that were the same each night.

(ie. chicken, steak)

We had a nice variety and really only disliked one of the dishes.

Buffet area. Nice variety and we actually chose to eat there a

couple nights instead of the dining room.

Room service - You've seen the menu's listed. BLT was my favorite and

Hot Rueben was my husband's favorite. We actually thought the

cheese cake and the chocolate cake from room service were the

best deserts we had the entire cruise!

We did not get a chance to enjoy David's supper club because we were too busy enjoying the rest of the ship. We did see the menu and the restaurant is beautiful and there was no problem for those who waited to sign up once on board.

 

- Ship & Cabin

We loved the theme of the ship. Lots of art everywhere. We liked

the relaxed feel of it vs. neon vegas theme!

Lots of places to sit and relax no matter where you were on the ship.

Adults only pool area nice and only once did we notice a couple of

teen girls out sunbathing. No other kids were there that we noticed

even though there were (2) ice cream machines there.

Cabin was very comfortable. LOTS of storage space. (2) closets

to hang clothes, (1) closet w/ shelves and then drawers everywhere.

Luggage fits under the bed for storage.

Balcony. Very nice.

Cabin location: We loved our PORT side cabin. I feel we saw more being on the PORTside. Southbound we were able to see Cabo while cruising. PV we got to dock on the Port side. Mazatlan, saw more on the port side and Cabo the port side faced the arch the entire time. Northbound - we saw the open water and loved it!

 

- Photos

We read alot of people complaining about being bombarded about

the ship's picture taking. We felt that was not the case.They

asked you if you wanted your picture taken and if you said yes, they did several poses and many of ours turned out great. If you said No, they did not force you. They just said ok and you kept walking. Large photo's were approx. $20 and smaller ones were approx. $8. We did purchase several since we did not have any recent photo's of us. There were several that turned out very professional and looked like you had them taken in a studio.

 

- Drink of the Day / and coupons

Lots of choices. We are not big drinkers, so my husband ordered

me a Carnival Cocktails book from the Carnival Bon Voyage Dept. and

so we had it when we got to the room. We got to look thru it and

choose drinks that we knew we'd like. One drink that I loved that is

not in the book is a "Kiss on the Lips". It is my favorite!

Coupons - we also ordered alcoholic drink coupons and non alcoholic drink coupons thru Carnival BV dept. They were given to us at the

1st nights dinner in the dining room. We used them whenever we wanted

a drink. No problem. We had to give a coupon and usually had to pay $1.15 extra on our S&S card when the drink went over the coupon's value.

 

 

 

That's all for now. Hope this helps anyone going on the Pride soon before she leaves Long Beach!!

 

Happy sailing to all!

__________________

 

We are going on the Pride December 21st. What were the decorations like? What was your favorite dish in the dining room and on the Lido?

[caliseas]

Maracalone1:

 

I haven't downloaded my pic's yet, however, there are two sites I highly recommend you go to for GREAT pics of the ship and of food. The cruise critic members that made these sights did an incredible job!!!!

 

here they are:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/pride_08/carnival%20pride.htm

and

http://www.shipcafe.net/

 

You will love the hard work these people put into making these sites!!!

 

 

Now, for my opinion of food.....

I really tried to order / taste food that I do not have at home, but I always went back to the normal everyday food....sorry!

 

I did enjoy steak on our first night. It was cooked perfectly.

I loved the cheese plate (it is offered for dessert, but our server knew I enjoyed it as an appetizer and had it waiting for me when we arrived for dinner!

My favorite was the spaghetti carbonara. I had it as an appetizer and wished I had it as my main dish!

 

Lido deck buffet:

 

Of couse the deli sandwiches were great and so was the pizza.

Every day they had one section that changed - Taste of Nations - one day was French, Indian, Greek etc. It was nice trying different items.

 

However, going back to everyday food, my favorite was a salad and chicken strips.

 

Have a great time on your cruise!!!

[patosea]

I loved reading your review. We are going on the Pride Jan 18th, and we all first time cruisers, and frankly, I am scared to death. I just don't know what to expect, what to do, and am afraid we are going to miss things that we will regret later. I'm looking forward to your ports review!

[victory2020]

Thanks so much for you quick response. Do any of you recent Pride cruisers remember beef wellington on the menu?

[afcj1]

Thanks so much for you quick response. Do any of you recent Pride cruisers remember beef wellington on the menu?

 

I was on the Pride in October and sorry to say, no Beef Wellington was offered.

[calicruzr]

There is a lot to do on the ship and just depends on your level of activities for what you would like to do. Even people watching is fun! :) What not to miss? Don't miss the formal nights and take advantage of all the photographers... you don't pay for any of the pics unless you want them. Don't skip out early from dinner to avoid the dancing at dessert. It is all part of the fun ship experience and really is lot of fun... Don't be afraid to participate in the Lido dance parties or the red and blue team contests.. you may never see these people again and you may regret not participating in the fun on board activities...dont forget to eat until you are stuffed and then take the stairs and not the elevators so you won't feel guilty! Don't avoid trying all the rich dinners and desserts.. you can diet later. Most important is to not forget to take a few moments and just hang on the railing and watch the water go by.... oh and in the evening you can see flying fish!

[victory2020]

I was on the Pride in October and sorry to say, no Beef Wellington was offered.

Oh no, say it isn't so..............

[caliseas]

If I loaded my picture correctly, I'll start a full review w/ pic's!! Wish me the best!