dickinson

After reading how much the entertainment has gone downhill…. I would like to know what is there to do on the ship after dinner?

Thanks again all. I do like the idea of changing things up a bit as sailing the same cruise line can get stale. Same ole same ole. However… it is a lot different if you are not totally thrilled with a 7 day cruise than a 21 day cruise!! If the food is bad on a 7 day well.. it is only 7 days. If there is not much in the way of entertainment well… it is only 7 days. 21 days though is a long time!!

When will you be cruising Carnival again? I see you are a Princess cruiser:confused:

We are considering a b2b cruise (21 days total) out of Baltimore on the Pride in Jan 2016. Because we used to cruise Carnival and loved it I have now been reading the Carnival boards to see all the changes. Apparently many people don't like them (according to the So disappointed thread). However these two b2b cruises are about $2500 less than Princess. We are close to the port. For Princess we would have to fly. It is nice to change things up a bit but with 21 days don't want to make a mistake.

Great!! My dh loves them and the last time on Carnival in 2004 they were not so it was not pleasant at all.

Is the piano bar on the Pride smoke free?

Thanks.

My RT cruise from Seattle to Alaska was the smoothest cruise I was ever on! I could barely feel the ship moving. I read that the first day out from Seattle might be rough so I took Dramamine however I could tell it wasn't needed because the ship didn't rock. After that you are close in to Alaska and it was VERY smooth. I wouldn't bother with a test cruise. Just make sure he has whatever meds he thinks he might need.

I checked Priceline. There are 2 ways to do things. One is to bid.. which you have done with no luck. The other is where they show you hotels and a price. In this case the Crowne Plaza is $180. I think that they probably don't have a lot of rooms left and that is why you are being rejected. When I got the $75 bid the Crowne Plaza was showing about $150 (can't really remember though) if I just wanted to to book it on the part of Priceline with the hotel names and prices.

Hotwire works a little different. You don't bid. They tell you an area (such as LAX or San Pedro). After you pick it they show you hotels without the names. They list the price. You choose which one you want (they do tell you some of the amenities). After you have paid for it they then tell you your hotel's name. Looks like San Pedro only has a one star and a 2 star so not the Crowne Plaza. (You have to scroll down the long list til you see the star amount you want and also the area. Quickly looking I could not figure out how they order it).

If you want better than what is currently available in San Pedro you can try Long Beach. Just put in San Pedro and your nights and the list comes up with tons of areas including Long Beach. You can take a taxi over to the port . It might be closer than LAX.

Oh, almost forgot. After you click on an area and star level not only will it give you details about the hotel's amenities but it will also list about 6 different hotel chains that you might get.

I hope this helps you. Let us know what you did and got.

I didn't read all the responses you've gotten so far but I wanted to put my two cents in because we were recently on the Pride and on the Emerald Princess. We started cruising with Princess, reluctantly tried Carnival with some friends, stayed with Carnival for a few and then were pretty excited to try Princess again, but were extremely disappointed with Princess. We are in our 30's and not "partiers" by any means but we found Princess to be a much older crowd (most people from (60-80s) which would have been fine if it wasn't for the constant "elite" attitudes and rude treatment we got from the fellow passengers. I never felt so out of place. They cut us in line constantly, waived their fancy elite cards around in our faces etc. We thought the food on Carnival was much better and offered more creative, diverse options each day. On princess after the 5th night in the MDR we both realized every meal we ordered came with the same sides- steamed carrots and potatoes. It became a joke with us after that. Also there's very little do to after dinner, the few shows or activities they do have are filled quickly and the people would park themselves in the explorers lounge and play cards etc from 5pm-the last show, so no one new can sit down between shows. So many things were disappointing on Princess and like you said, we paid TWICE as much for that cruise than to do a Carnival one. Never again.

 

We enjoyed the Pride, you can read my review below on that to get more details, while it wasn't our best Carnival cruise it was still better than Princess. (We had the "bowling alley" balcony that others mentioned) Also, the Pride will be getting its 2.0 makeover soon so you'll have an upgraded ship to sail on and won't have to deal with airfare. Huge in my book. Good luck in your decision making, and maybe I'll see you on the Pride because I have the same sailing in my sights for 2016 ;)

Thank you so much for your insights. I just finished reading your Pride review. It was great and so were the pictures. We used to cruise Carnival all the time til family matters made us stop in 2004. I understand what you mean though about same ole same ole. We used to feel that too. I couldn't understand cc people who sailed several times a year. Most things seemed the same. Anyways… our first cruise on Princess we enjoyed although I thought the food was better on Carnival from what I remembered about Carnival from 2004. Now that it has been 10 years since we cruised Carnival things will probably feel different (not just the cutting back but just everything). As for the age of cruisers… well we are 60's so I guess we will fit in. Time of year is everything too. If kids are in school then mostly older people on the ship.

As for the elite attitudes of people on Princess… well all I can say is sorry that happened. We are very polite people and considerate of others. I never witnessed elite attitudes on our two cruises. Every cruise is different depending on who is onboard.

Again, thank you for your insights and your Pride review. Hope we'll be able to sail this cruise and if you go too it will be nice to meet you.

Angela12345 - Thanks but not yet ready to book. I'll take a look at where the room is that you suggested.

For an extra $200 I would book Princess just because we are building up our loyalty points with them. However, for a 20 day cruise on the Royal it is a lot more than $200. For a balcony cabin that is sandwiched between other cabin decks it is about $2500 more. Even more though because I would have to fly to get there (with the Carnival cruise I am 20 minutes away by car) and would also have to pay for hotel so I could get there a day or two early. If I purchased a deluxe or preferred (can't remember at the moment what they call it) balcony (has a couch in the room so more comparable to Carnival's cabins) it is even more $$.

Also, this cruise on Carnival is in January and is one way so by doing a b2b and making it 21 days I doubt it will have many children. Princess is a RT cruise for 10 days. They alternate ports of call on every other cruise. so doing a b2b is 20 days.

Dickinson, Carnival Pride is a ship with some interesting rooms.

 

They have some rooms with French doors that are called obstructed view, but are priced as insides. Most of these French doors open up facing the side of a lifeboat. But, if you pick carefully, you can get a room where the doors open up between the lifeboats. You just don't have a balcony that you can actually walk out on, I look at it like your whole room is the balcony. To price it out online, choose Interior, then choose interior with obstructed view. Look at rooms 4141, 4148, 4149 (4140 is already taken for this B2B itinerary). Also look at 4115, 4123, 4132, 4133 (4114 & 4122 are over the piano bar). Here are some examples ...

http://s796.photobucket.com/user/diegojoy/media/BetweenLifeBoatsSpirit.jpg.html

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nqfx4ADqtJE/TJEghdR48dI/AAAAAAAAGqw/t8N-B-8IlFg/s640/Carnival%2520Legend%2520-%2520269.JPG

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp6324%3B%3Enu%3D3363%3E%3B58%3E%3A49%3EWSNRCG%3D33638579%3C4337nu0mrj

 

Another thing they have is what is referred to on these boards as 'bowling alley' balconies. These are extra long balconies priced the same as a regular balcony in that category. On the Upper deck are obstructed view balconies 5236, 5238, and 5245. They are 'obstructed' by a lifeboat just below the balcony. On the Empress, Verandah, and Panorama decks are extended balcony cabins that are extra deep in addition to being extra long 6232, 6234, 6281, 7258, 7260, 7303, 8232, 8234, and 8239.

 

Here is an example of the extended depth balcony that is extra long ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/79626726@N05/

Thanks! The extended deck balcony cabins that are extra deep and long… are they also obstructed view? We have never actually had a balcony before but if we do this cruise we will definitely want one.

As a Platinum cruiser I've seen plenty of changes since our first cruise on the Mardi Gras.

 

That cruise we had an inside cabin that was so wonderful the beds were bolted to the walls and could not be made into one, the bathroom WAS the shower - you had to remove the TP prior to showering plus anything else you did not want wet. The lights were florescent and flickered a sickly color, very "nice" for getting dressed.

The ship had to stay longer in Nassau as one of the engines needed a new HUGE part, they finally got it installed around 4am and we departed. This wonderful cruise cost only $350 for 3 nights!

The main dining room had people literally stuffed into seats. We were in one of the old-style half moon booths with 4 couples shoved into what should have been 3 couples. The waiter would come over every night to take our orders and regardless of what you wanted, beef, tuna, pasta, etc. - it was "So Sorry, we out of that, How about Chicken?" and that's what you got. Then he would take a spoon, rub the back of on his clothes, show you the back and say "wanna see A$$h@le?" ---- to EVERY person EVERY night. The final night we all took our spoons, show HIM the back and said "Wanna see BIG A$$h@le?" in unison. He went away un-happy and we thought we were not going to get chicken that night.

The only entertainment was a Men's beauty pageant, old farts dressed up as "ladies", a passenger talent contest (now that was funny, sad but funny), beer drinking contest (hey Free Beer!) and several others of the same vein.

Drinks were cheap (compared to today) and strong, but that may have been to mask the odor of the ship.... Smoking was allowed even in the dining room. Food was not available after main dining times except from room service WHICH was cold cheese sandwiches, BLT (sometimes without tomato, lettuce and bacon, with a piece of cheese added), some stale chips and cookies that were made during the 1800's. The only "free" stuff was tap water (Ugh), coffee (would make your hair stand straight up!) and some sort of watered down Kool-aid (maybe).

 

We will never forget that cruise and about 2 years later actually went on another Carnival cruise. The children loved it and we were hooked.

 

The cruises in late 1990's and early 2000's were cheaper, cleaner, nicer and the food was available 24/7 that you could eat AND you got more than chicken at dinner. Real bands playing, all kinds of stuff for our kids to do, really a great value for the money.

 

Towards 2010 the value was still great but small things did seem to go by the wayside... I always loved the steel bands at sail-away (sadly I get the reason for their demise, still miss them though), food was hit and miss... one ship it was great, the next was barely OK.

 

Our children are now grown and our main reasons for Carnival has left home.

 

We now drive 10+ hours to cruise on another line that does provide an excellent cruise, really good food, a drink package that truly is AI, no limit and includes coffee's, water, teas, fresh juice, etc. I can get a Bailey's with my latte, grab a glass of bubbly with OJ and it DOES NOT count against some number! The price is really not that much and comparing inside/ocean view it seems that sometimes they are under Carnival. We choose a higher cabin type and perks come with that, ones that Carnival will never offer.

 

So for us, Carnival is a great quick getaway (the Fantasy) 15 minutes from home but not our go to cruise line anymore. If I had small children up to 15ish I would still be cruising Carnival but now I doubt I will ever make Diamond! Thinking back to the first Carnival cruise it's amazing I ever took another cruise on any line but with all the negatives we still had a great time!

Wow!! Our first cruise back in the 80's was also on the Mardi Gras. It was a 4 day cruise and we loved it!! Didn't have the problems you did. As a matter of fact we were talking at dinner with our table mates . We were talking about our cabins etc and when we mentioned something about our bathtub they all went "YOU HAVE A BATHTUB?!!!!. Anyways… we loved the cruise so much that we decided to take our kids on a 7 day cruise. This time we went on NCL Norway which at the time was the largest ship afloat. I was bored. The food was not as good. I actually thought a 7 day cruise was too long :eek: (The Mardi Gras was a 4 day). It took a few more years before we wanted to cruise again but this time picked Carnival again and this time 7 days was not too much!!

For a significant cruise, I would pick Princess over Carnival in a heartbeat. In fact, for a Med cruise 2 years ago and an Alaskan cruise last month, I chose the Crown Princess.

 

The décor of the Crown is polished brass and muted wood tones; the dining rooms feature art work by Botticelli, DaVinci and Michaelangelo; and the food on Princess is overwhelmingly better than the budget line. Perhaps the main drawback on Princess is the older demographic; being early 60ish, I was one of the younger pax aboard.

 

Carnival is great when I get a budget price and no single supplement. Otherwise, I'm checking out Celebrity, Disney, or Princess for value and service.

Wow, I am surprised that you were one of the youngest on board. We are about your age. When we tried Princess 2 years ago it was a cruise to Alaska although not a cruise tour. Maybe the cruise tour part was older because older people have more time to vacation and also more $$$. Ours was a RT from Seattle for 7 days. We enjoyed it and found the passenger ages were about our age. Many younger and many older. A year ago we went on the Caribbean Princess to NE/Canada. It was September so not too many families. Ages were about our age. We enjoyed it immensely.

Oh and to those who mention the decor of the ship… that does not make or break our cruise. All of our cruises we have enjoyed although some more than others. For us it is the friendliness of the staff and passengers, the entertainment and the food. None of our cruises had any of these things "bad" but some were better than others.

Thanks all for your replies!!! Most appreciated! It was really depressing reading that thread "So Disappointed" and mostly everyone complaining about how Carnival has gone downhill and the food inedible. I mentioned that to my dh and he said that if we paid extra to eat sometimes in the Steakhouse (or whatever the paid dining is called) we would still be spending less than Princess.

At the moment the difference between the two lines is just over $2000 plus for Princess we would need airfare to Florida plus hotel for a night. Between now and 2016 the price on Princess could go down while Carnival's goes up and be equal but one never knows. I checked out the price of Princess for 2015 and it still is quite a bit more than Carnival. Also in 2016 (maybe next year too but not sure) the ship is the newer ship the Royal. I have heard some negative things about it (cabins small and balcony's even smaller). The one thing we like on Carnival is that the rooms are bigger and include a small couch. Dh gets up early so it gives him a place to sit. (Our 2 Princess cruises we were in Window Suites which don't have balconies but is quite spacious. Only 3 Princess ships have these).

I do have a concern if the food is bad. 21 days is a long time to be on a ship with bad food. For the poster who mentioned sausage… I don't like it but dh does.

These two cruises on the Pride are one time cruises. One is an 11 day one way from Baltimore to San Juan and the other is the next 10 days going from San Juan back to Baltimore. They are in January. I doubt these cruises will attract families with kids.

Glad though to hear from some people who have cruised both lines recently and although may have enjoyed one over the other for various reasons would sale on either if the price were right.

We used to sail Carnival and loved it but after 2004 we were unable to cruise until 2012. We were going to Alaska so went on Princess. We enjoyed it although at the time I felt that the food was better on Carnival. At least how I remembered it to be. We took another Princess cruise last September and have two more coming up in February. Because we live in Maryland we are considering taking the Carnival Pride out of Baltimore for a 21 day b2b southern Caribbean in 2016. Because of that I started to read the Carnival board again. Wow! After reading the thread of how Carnival is going downhill I wonder if we should commit to 21 days on Carnival!!! Princess, for one day less but similar itinerary, is almost 2x as expensive plus we would have to fly. I'm talking several thousands of dollars and that is for a balcony. I'll have to think long and hard about this.

Any recent Princess and Carnival cruisers out there? What are your thoughts on the differences.

ShakyBeef - I like your tuna analogy however you must be much younger than me. Tuna for years and years was 7 oz and then slowly was brought down to 6 oz before the big jump down to 5 oz. You can still get 7 oz cans at Costco and possibly BJ's.

We will be in Lahaina in February on a Princess cruise. It is a tender port. We would like to do a whale watching trip and then take a drive to Iao Valley. Is this doable with a rental car? times are 7 am til 6 pm although tendering will take time. What whale watching companies are recommended? The few I see you have to pay upfront and there is a 48 hour cancellation notice. Is there parking?

Thanks for any help.

We are not candide333, but we were in F311 and friends were in F309 for a cruise on the Grand in March. A little hard to adjust the set point in our cabin but the AC worked and it certainly didn't sound like a jet engine. Our only noise issue was a creaking noise in the wall behind our bed in rough seas but that was only for two nights. Our friends had no issues.

 

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Thanks. We're in 307 in February.

Good for you, Pam. We went on a Transatlantic on the Grand last year in a Window Suite and the aircondition did not work the entire cruise. It sounded like a jet engine and the engineers dealt with the problem by turning it off. The widows do not open.

 

We were compensated with a bottle of wine, not any credit. The most frustrating aspect was that I would call at least four times daily, but rarely would someone respond. I finally just used ear plugs to sleep at night.

 

At your suggestion, I will document and try to resolve with the Captain's Circle host if we have any prolonged issues on our upcoming cruises.

Which window suite on the Grand?

Check out the popular rental car company whose name is in "Remember the A____' and specify their Waikiki location instead of their airport location and see what they say about a shuttle to the port.

(808) 947-6112

It is the airport locations that apparently are not offering shuttles to the port. The Waikiki locations do (or at least some do). The airport is cheaper though. Alamo closes at 7 pm in Waikiki whereas Dollar closes at 8 pm with the last shuttle back to the port at 7 pm.

Thanks for the info. I too had a reservation with Thrifty at the airport because of previous threads here saying there was a shuttle. I called and confirmed that there is no shuttle. I called Discount Hawaii Car rental and they reserved Dollar for me. I called Dollar and they said that the last shuttle leaves at 7 pm. My cruise ship leaves at 11 pm so I was hoping for later but I guess I have no choice unless I want to pay a cab to take me back and forth from the airport.

Enterprise closes early so if it works for some people great. It won't work for me.

Bookings for fall/winter 2016 will not open until March or April of 2015 so I don't understand your TA... He or she could not know the pricing for those... If i were you, I would investigate...

Cruises are listed on the Princess website til I think April 2016. This particular cruise is two 10 day cruises put together to make a 20 day cruise. Pricing for 20 day is not online (although the cruise is listed online as a 20 day). However… pricing is listed under each 10 day cruise.

Thanks both of you. I have insurance already for my trips this February that are listed in my signature. I am thinking about either Princess or Carnival for 2016 for 20/21 day Caribbean. Hadn't thought about 2016 yet until this week end as my dh was reading the Travel section of our newspaper and it mentioned that Carnival Pride was coming back to Baltimore with some longer itineraries. They have a b2b 21 day… one way down to San Juan and then back to Baltimore. It is close by us. Itineraries between the two lines are very similar. However, I have sailed Princess my last few cruises and upcoming ones and enjoy them. But Princess is 2x as expensive as Carnival is at the moment for this cruise. Ahhh decisions! However nice to know about what you do about insurance. I am surprised though that Princess does not cover pre-existing conditions.

Thanks all. Tomorrow I will call my TA and see what price they can give. I wasn't planning on booking a cruise this far out. Because we purchase travel insurance we have to purchase w/in a certain period so pre-existing conditions are covered. I hate having to pay for this insurance so far in advance because I can't just book one of these cruises and watch the prices on the other. Actually even without insurance Carnival has nonrefundable deposits (you can transfer to another booking for a fee). In Feb on our Princess cruises we were planning on purchasing some FCCs. What do you folks do who purchase travel insurance but want to book some cruises but aren't yet sure if a particular cruise will be a definite? I am always reading on here how some people cancel a cruise and instead go on a different one because they got a much better deal. Maybe they don't purchase insurance?

Yes I did last week and he responded

 

John Heald No, absolutely not. The Carnival Comfort beds are not being changed. I was sent a link from cruise critic yesterday to my blog and I saw someone had said this and it is simply not true. Now there may be the odd mattress that needs replacing and please remember you can always ask your cabin steward to do so. Last Sunday I conducted a poll here and we had over 5000 comments which the vast majority said they had a wonderful nights sleep. I am sorry that yours was uncomfortable, thats not good and I am sure your next cruise you will sleep so well. If there is anything I can do please let me know and have a brilliant time

Interesting.. I wonder what he meant by "there may be the odd mattress that needs replacing".. replacing with what? Shouldn't it be replaced with the same kind of mattress?

EZ4- thanks for that link. Unfortunately the OP never responded back after they slept on it. I will assume it was ok but one never knows. They said they would post after they slept on it but never did.

Over all John Heald's response does not seem to jive with what some people on this thread are saying. Too many people complaining of aching bones from firm mattresses.

We are thinking about this cruise for winter 2016. Right now pricing is not on Princess although they list the cruise. I found pricing on an online TA site. It is 2x as expensive as Carnivals 21 day out of Baltimore (no airfare for us!). I was wondering does pricing come down a lot on these longer cruises? I looked at the cruise for this winter… it is less but still expensive.

Funny thing… when we started cruising again in 2012 (booked in 2011) I started here on the Princess board because we were taking a Princess cruise. All I kept reading about were the firm mattresses and ultimately read that they were switching them out with better ones. Now on Carnival there is a thread about their new mattresses coming in and how firm they are instead of the comfy ones they used to have!! Oy