Princess lover trying Carnival....Pride vs Splendor

[PeteBull64]

Hello, my DW and I will try Carnival next march for a 7 days western carib cruise.

 

I am 49 and wife is 35...no kids.

 

We love Princess a lot but we want to try carnival.

 

Our priorities are in order

 

Food ( I know this is not where Carnival has the best reputation )

Evening entertainment

Day activities

 

We can deal with the rest.

 

We have 2 options : Pride from Tampa bay or Splendor from Miami

 

Would love suggestions and comment about it

 

Thanks

 

Pete

[reesegirl]

I have been on both the Splendor and the Pride. I much preferred the Pride. I like the layout better. The Splendor seemed a little more chopped up in getting around. I think you will like the food on Carnival. I sailed on princess a few years back and found the food on Carnival better. But that is just my opinion. Since Carnival owns Princess I can not imagine that the recipies and the Chefs that they hire would be all that different.

 

If the itineraries are the same and you go into the cruise with an open mind that you are going to have a good time then you probably will. If you are going in with the mindset that carnival is bad then you are going to look for all the negative things. I personally love to cruise and I really do not have a favorite line but I am still shopping! LOL

 

Whatever you decide I hope you have a great cruise.

[tootsiescurly]

Hello, my DW and I will try Carnival next march for a 7 days western carib cruise.

 

I am 49 and wife is 35...no kids.

 

We love Princess a lot but we want to try carnival.

 

Our priorities are in order

 

Food ( I know this is not where Carnival has the best reputation )

Evening entertainment

Day activities

 

We can deal with the rest.

 

We have 2 options : Pride from Tampa bay or Splendor from Miami

 

Would love suggestions and comment about it

 

Thanks

 

Pete

 

Pride, the Spirit class ships are awesome!!!

[cjknox]

Pride would be a good option, the Spirit class is a favorite of mine.

[geesherry]

Another Pride here.

 

I was on both withing the last 9 months, and while I wouldn't rule Splendor out, I'm itching to get back on Pride.

 

Now, if Princess had more sailings out of NY, I'd be back there in a heartbeat. But when looking for something close to home, Pride wins.

 

Baltimore is a great port too!

[Jamman54]

Love the Splendor, but REALLY love the Pride!! I think the Spirit Class will always be my Favorite. If I were given a choice, it would be the Pride!!

[cruisinbabs]

i enjoyed my time on the Splendor.... never been on pride.. but i am pretty much just happy on a cruise.. :D

[old sole]

Another vote for Pride here. We really like the Spirit class ships.

 

I think you will be OK with the food, although the buffets on Princess are in my opinion nicer than those on Carnival. MDR food is comparable - again, my opinion.

 

I can't say the same for entertainment though. Evening entertainment on Carnival has become nearly embarrassingly bad over the last 3-4 years, and they never had daytime activities comparable to Princess.

 

We have enjoyed our Carnival cruises, but entertainment is not a strong point.

[Brighton Line]

Do you like the color Pink?

Splendor has it in spades.

Just off the Splendor and will be on the Pride in two months.

Splendor (really a ship class by itself since was supposed to go to Costa but as it was being built changed to Carnival) has the Galley in the Middle Carnival Syndrome. The two MDR (Gold (Aft) and Black (Midship) Pearl) had the galley between them on Deck 3 and 4 so you have to transverse the ship on Deck 5 which Carnival calls Promenade Deck even though there is no access to outside the ship.

(The Promenade is on deck 3, Deck 4 is the "Boat Deck" where you do the life boat drill outside level with the lifeboats. Deck 3 they hang above).

This confuses a lot of people when they finish Dinner in the Gold MDR and want to run to the bow of the ship to catch the show or in the Black Peral and want to run aft to catch the Punch Liner Club.

I can't wait to sail the Pride and try her out, outside of the Glory (had the same Syndrome) this will be the first time without a Galley in the middle for me. Oh yea I was on the Imagination before her refit, so I guess that does not count.

Sorry couldn't help with the compare until after September.

FWIW