Review: Carnival Cruise Lines - Pride - [May 23, 2004]

[Net Reviews]

Review By:

Reviewer Comments:

We left on 5-23 and returned on 5-30 out of the Long Beach Terminal, my
first time in that particular facility. My group was wife and I, ages 45,
four children and a friend they brought ages 23, 21, 18, 18 and 11. This was
our 5th cruise, with prior cruises being The Holiday out of LA, The Elation
out of LA, The NCL Sun out of Miami and The Voyager out of Miami. I think I
now have enough variety and experience of ships and ports to start to figure
out what works for me and my family and I'll share that along with my
observations. Another point to consider is that I travel extensively in my
business, have a back ground in the hospitality industry and my wife is chef
and food critic, so our observations might be a little more critical given
our own knowledge of how the particular areas can work if done right, and we
have what I would term reasonable expectations for service given the level
of money you pay for something.

Ok, enough of the back ground lets get to the trip! We flew into LAX and had
a van waiting that I had arranged through a call with the Long Beach Chamber
of Commerce. $85 one way for 7 people and luggage including tip was pretty
good. We got to the ship around 2pm, long line snaking way out the door. The
weather was perfect so who cares about lines, and we were inside the
terminal in about 20 minutes or so. Once inside, security screen, up to the
counter in about 25 minutes. The online Fun Pass is a joke and gives you no
line cutting or speeded up boarding privileges, and the employees at the
counter really wish agents and Carnival would make it clear all that it does
is speed up the time when you get to the agent as you are already in the
system. Easy and quick, family picture taken, up on board and to the cabin.
There, for the first time ever on a cruise was my luggage, waiting for me,
in front of the right cabins! Very impressive compared to prior experiences.
We had three balcony rooms all next to each other. The kids had the
obstructed views on deck 5, looking over the life boats. Unless you want to
look straight down into the water it's no big deal and worth the money saved
unless you really want to spend a lot of time in the cabin, looking down at
the water. The view straight out was perfect.

Rooms were biggest yet, not inspirationally decorated, but functional in a
tan and peach tone. Bathroom was a very good size, bigger then typical
shower and very clean. Ok, about the ODOR. I've seen this mentioned on other
posts and yes boys and girls, this ship in some cabins has a urine type odor
that drifts up from the shower floor drain. We noticed it right away, told
our steward and he would pour a deodorizer down the drain every day to kill
it but it is an obvious design flaw on an otherwise nice lay out. Don't
suffer with the smell, and don't let them pretend it's not there. Say you
want it cleaned and they do it. The rooms were plenty big for two or three,
not ideal storage but more then enough for a 7 day cruise. Also, I heard
zero cabin noise and these were definitely the quietest rooms ever. Maybe
design, maybe sound proofing, maybe quiet neighbors, but I heard zero sounds
above, below, or next to me. My kids said the same thing.

Ship design and decor. Ok, this is definitely a love it or hate it decor.
Rubenesque and classical nudes and art everywhere. I found it cheesy but not
offensive and if they had carried the classical theme through out the ship
and dining areas I could see where it made some sense, but they don't. It's
like, ok, here are the nudes and dark panel classical rooms, and then, wham,
dining room is a New York, 1930ish art deco look and color. Then Wham, the
Taj Mah Hall lounge is white with jewels and even more bizarre colors. Very
jarring to some people. My wife hated it, I didn't mind it, I find no one I
spoke with who loved it. It is just odd! Nothing that ruins the trip but
it's like watching an otherwise refined and lovely woman dressed for dinner
wearing one white shoe and one black. Nothing awful but just odd.

The lay out of the ship is great in my opinion. No traffic jams, lots of
quiet areas, different clubs and the casinos and dining and clubs all down
on decks 2 and 3, instead of up top on other ships. I think this works well
in that the bikini and pool crowd are up top near the mermaid grill and
sports, and the other areas are way down below. You didn't see as many
inappropriately dressed people in areas they shouldn't normally be in and I
think that was a very pleasant change from other cruises. Elevators were
also very quick and efficient giving again the impression that it was not a
full ship even though I know it was fully booked.

Another welcome change was the photographers have toned down their act
considerably and thank god for that. A few nice pictures at dinner,
character pictures if you want on the way out, and lots of formal
opportunities if you choose to go to the photographers and take them, but
the relentless camera hounds are gone. Prices weren't bad for what you
bought and the quality was good.

Dinner and food. We are big eaters. With a capital B. My wife, who is the
critic on that area gave them generally very good marks given the qualifier
that they are serving a huge number of people, with a variety of tastes, in a
very compressed period of time. She always takes the kitchen/galley tour and
she said the design and efficiency of that ship blew every other ship, even
the Voyager, away. She said it was "Marriott/Westin quality" with the
occasional surprise that was really good. Very nice, well presented and no
really bad entree's. If you want gourmet and stellar personalized service try
the David's supper club or another cruise line. On this ship we received
good to better then good food in the Normandie dining room, with the
occasional over cooked meat, or bad entrée. If you don't like it, tell your
waiter and they are more then happy to get you something you might like.
They are there to please you. The head waiter and maitre de did not stop at
the table or introduce themselves once, a big no in my book, but again,
it's just one dining room, two levels, and it's a high volume affair. The
servers were good, not excellent, but very decent and kind. The head waiters
needed to be more visible and proactive in my opinion but it was certainly
nothing to complain about.

Ok, speaking of volume and design flaws lets talk about the vibration,
noise and movement.

IT'S A HUGE ISSUE. Ok, I said it. This ship has a huge, glaring, design flaw
with the location of the one and only dining room over the engines and
propellers. My father was a naval captain, I grew up on and around ships,
and this is always the noisiest part of any ship, i.e. aft, lower decks. The
first few nights in calm seas it was a moderate rocking and steady hum and
vibration. Once we hit what I would term "typical Pacific Ocean water", 4 to
7 foot moderate swells, the noise, movement and vibration reached a level
where you had to raise your voice to be heard, water in glasses was
constantly vibrating and the ship thrusters and props pretty much roared in
a rhythm to keep the ship stable and moving at 20 knots. It reminded me of
the mess hall on a naval ship as far as the noise and vibration went. It was
pretty shocking as on all of my other cruises and ships I never experienced
anything like it, but then those dining rooms to my recollection were always
on the upper decks. In high seas it would be **** near impossible to eat a
normal dinner in that room with out shouting and lots of movement. Did it
ruin the cruise? Of course not. Could it be an issue for other people? I
think it could if they are expecting a serene, quiet, dinner setting. We are
a big, loud, boisterous group so it didn't faze us, but I do see where it is
an issue for some. Too bad they designed it in this fashion but what is done
is done.

The place this ship really surprised us was the Mermaid Grille, the casual
eating location on deck 9. My wife thought the food and selection was
outstanding, given the setting and what they are working with, with a
different regional menu each day, a nice grill in back with chicken, steak,
burgers, etc. A nice pizza selection of about 7 varieties. Better then
average breakfast choices. A good sushi bar, a sandwich deli with made to
order sandwiches, very good variety of deserts, along with good fruit and
salad selections. My experience on other ships was that this was an area of
weakness, but on the Pride that particular food selection delivered really
good food, clean tables, nice views and spacing. This was a strong point for
this particular ship.

Entertainment and Kids camp. The Vegas style shows are exactly that, Vegas
style shows. Well done, well performed but it's not really my thing. The
comedians were really bad and unless you don't get out much you would
generally pass on the entertainment. I'd give them low marks in general but
that’s me. The lounge acts were ok, but again, lounge singers. Low
expectations help keep you from being disappointed in this area I think. The
kids camp has really gone down hill in my opinion, and my 11 year olds
opinion. Not a lot of variety or anything beyond dressed up baby sitting. He
thought Carnival and NCL were far better and who am I to argue with an 11
year old. Nothing awful, but again it does seen they are coasting on their
reputation as a line that excels in entertainment and family services,,
while other lines are working hard to improve their offerings in those
areas. RCL and NCL both were just as good if not better in those areas.

Casino. I like to gamble and found the lay out here was excellent. Wide
open, not smokey, for a casino, and a pretty good bar and singer right in
the middle. Probably my favorite casino at sea. The dealers were generally
all pretty green and they admitted to me they are understaffed but they did
a good job and worked hard to make it fun, so I enjoyed myself as did the
rest of my family. High marks here.

Spa and gym. I didn't use them but my kids did and they gave them good
grades. Decent gym, not a lot of free weights, Voyagers was better but
certainly sufficient. The spa was good, not pushing a lot of extras, and
actually had a buy one, get 50% special toward the end of the cruise. Not my
thing but I heard several people in the casino say they really enjoyed the
services for the price there.

Pursuer and other staff were excellent in their service and ability to
handle questions. A well managed ship from top to bottom I think. I heard
very few complaints from anyone about anything, and while you always can
find something wrong, this particular captain and hotel manager are doing a
very nice job at keeping things clean, well maintained, properly managed and
customer friendly.

Ports. We don't do excursions due to the cost but prefer to take cabs to
beaches or shop on our own. Puerto Vallarta was very hot, humid and we just
shopped a bit that day. It's a nice little city, $4 cab into town, and you
can go eat seafood or hang out with out fear of beggars or mugging. I live
in the southwest so Mexican culture is an every day part of life for me but
the people on the tours seemed to enjoy them from what I could tell.
Mazatlan was excellent even being docked in the ship yard. You take the
white, open air taxis for $10 to the beach or in town. If at all possible,
get a driver who speaks good English. Our guy took us to a nice local beach,
safe for kids, right by Joe's Oyster bar. No cost to get in, food and drinks
at a very low cost, showers and great waves on a broad, safe, flat sand bar.
Body surfing, lunch, drinks and shade. 3 hours of fun cost about $50
including the cab ride back. Our driver came back to get us at the requested
time and drove us through old town Mazatlan showing us things as he was very
proud of his home city. A really great day. My other boys got a driver to
take them to the markets, walk around with them, buy things they wanted and
drove back. Again, a proud local who spoke good English who wanted to show
off his city. Maybe we were lucky but we all had a great time for under $100
and you can't beat that.

Cabo is vastly improved now that the ship is there from 7 am to 3:30. The
stay before was too short. We tendered in, took a water taxi from the pier
for $15 to "the office" which is the beach with all the water sports and
spring break/party crowd. My son and I parasailed for $30 each, my wife and
the other kids hung out and swam, watching the party crowd make fools of
themselves, but what the heck, it's a vacation and it's fun to watch people
have fun. Back on the ship in 3 hours, again, less then $100 for the whole
family. Generally very nice stops you can do for very small money unless you
really want to do the tours.

Ok, to sum it all up. It was a very nice ship, well maintained, well planned
out and well run, with the two very notable exceptions of the Normandie and
the shower smell. Yes the decor is odd, but you aren't paying Crystal prices
here. We got balcony rooms, a great vacation and very good service and food
for around $900 each. In my book that’s a very good value considering what my
kids eat, our lifestyle and expectations for a vacation. This was one of my
favorite over all cruises, with very minor complaints and lots of good
memories and experiences. What more can you ask for? That said, I will
probably give Princess a try next year to see how they stack up and to
further broaden my list of cruise lines so I can keep seeing what everyone
has to offer.

Thanks again to all who post. Hope this is helpful to those thinking of
trying the Carnival Pride.