Just booked Pride for Aug 2015, couple questions

[Weeziblu]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm so excited to have just booked what will be my 3rd cruise! We sailed on the Pride years ago and then tried NCL's Breakaway and decided to come back to the Pride for this next trip.

 

Anyway, its been a few years so I'm wondering what texting capabilities are on board these days? I've read the info on Carnival's site, but its still just not clear to me. When we sailed the NCL they have an app that can be used to text with the rest of your party while on board. I'll be traveling with my 12 & 13 year olds and want to figure out how best to keep in touch with them in between Circle C activities when they're not with me.

 

Also... any idea where I can find cruise director listings for 2015 sailings?

 

So happy to be back among the cruise planning population!! Thanks for your help!

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

I was on the Pride last year and they had nothing like Norwegian's iConcierge. If you are on the ship's wifi and you have Apple devices, you could send iMessages to one another. If you don't have iPhones you could download a texting app like Whatsapp to send texts via wifi. Last year though, the wifi on the ship was pretty bad. I just ended up buying an international data package from Verizon.

 

I'm curious as to why you decided to come back to the Pride. After sailing on the Breakaway twice this fall, Carnival would have to offer a pretty great deal to get me to go back to the Pride, and I live 10 minutes from the Port of Baltimore.

[Weeziblu]

I was on the Pride last year and they had nothing like Norwegian's iConcierge. If you are on the ship's wifi and you have Apple devices, you could send iMessages to one another. If you don't have iPhones you could download a texting app like Whatsapp to send texts via wifi. Last year though, the wifi on the ship was pretty bad. I just ended up buying an international data package from Verizon.

 

I'm curious as to why you decided to come back to the Pride. After sailing on the Breakaway twice this fall, Carnival would have to offer a pretty great deal to get me to go back to the Pride, and I live 10 minutes from the Port of Baltimore.

 

This is actually a tough question to answer. Keeping in mind that our very first cruise was on the Pride in 2009 (me, DH and our 2 kids, then 17 and 7) and we had such a wonderful time. We took a few other vacations after and really wanted to cruise again and when we started planning, Breakaway was still being built and we decided to wait for her. I think I had so many expectations for that sailing and I left it feeling let down in so many ways. That's not to say that we didn't have a nice time, we were on vacation and we enjoyed ourselves, but in the end, after looking at all of the circumstances, I think there were some standout factors for us.. let me preface by saying the Breakaway is a beautiful ship and we had a wonderful aft cabin and a fantastic room steward. The service overall was very good. That being said... Breakaway is massive. Almost too massive, I think.

 

1. We preferred a smaller ship (like Pride); smaller ship = fewer people.

 

2. The pool situation on Breakaway is horrible for children - the kids pool is VERY small and there are far too many children on board to reasonably and safely cram into it and they are VERY strict about not allowing children (even teens) in the adult pool.

 

3. NCL feels like anything but "freestyle" to us... sure, you are free to eat whenever, wherever but having to book shows in advance was really annoying and disappointing. The venues are small and fill up quickly. If you didn't know days in advance what you wanted to do on any particular evening, you were out of luck when you eventually tried to get into a show. Choosing Carnivals 'any time dining' feels more freestyle to me than NCL's whole 'freestyle' concept.

 

4. The main dining room on Breakaway was less than impressive and had the worst food on the ship (imo). We did REALLY like the smaller Taste and Savor, and the specialty restaurants were exception - but all cost more $$.

 

5. We never had any trouble finding seats at the pool or the buffet on Pride but finding lounge chairs on Breakaway always seemed to be an issue.

 

6. The kids didn't care for NCL's kids club activities and complained that there were sooooo many kids in each age group that it took a very long time to wait your turn for games, etc. They were bored very easily and wanted to come out of the clubs within an hour of being dropped off. That made it difficult to have ANY fun in the evenings because unless you had pre-booked a 'family friendly' show, there was really nothing for kids to do after dinner if they weren't with the kids club. This made for board adults and kids in the evenings/at night.

 

7. Breakaway's casino is soooooooooo smokey. You could argue that all cruise ship casinos are smokey but I found this overwhelming.

 

Perhaps my expectations were too high - we waited a long time for that trip. I followed that ship every step of the way and became obsessed with her every sailing until it was our turn. She was practically brand new and it was evident. But we came away from that trip feeling underwhelmed and slightly dissatisfied.

 

But again, we still had a really nice vacation, but our first experience on the Pride stands out as more memorable and more relaxing and fun vacation overall. My kids still talk about that trip. So we figured we would give it another go now that the 2.0 updates are complete.

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

Those are all very valid reasons. Especially the small ship part. I always book late, and could never get in on the anytime dining, and I hate set dining times and eating with strangers. I just buy the dining package on the Breakaway. My son did like NCL's kid's club, but he is a bit younger than yours. I'm a former smoker, and I still occasionally enjoy a cigarette. The smell of smoke doesn't bother me much, but I always thought it was worse in the Pride casino. NCL requires you to be playing to smoke and you can't smoke at the casino bar. Half of the Pride's casino bar is smoking, and there are a lot of non-gamblers taking advantage of it.

 

The two big reasons I prefer the Breakaway is that the entertainment is fantastic in my opinion. The other reason is a bit sappy. Every time I sailed the Pride was with my ex-girlfriend. It was kind of "our ship", and I do kinda miss her.

[turning40withMickey]

I am also sailing x2 on the Pride, and was just as excited for the Breakaway as you, OP.

 

We had a fantastic time on the Pride and can't wait to see the 2.0 upgrades.

 

We had a wonderful vacation on Breakaway, but I was also disappointed. Maybe my expectations were also too high...

 

The Broadway shows were amazing, but I had the same "not so freestyle" thoughts about having to schedule them in advance. This isn't the way it was on the other NCL ships. I know it is because there are so many people on Breakaway. Maybe it is the sheer size that works against freestyling.

 

We liked O'Sheehans (but liked the Blue Lagoon more on the smaller ships).

 

I hated that the shows were in the atrium area, with almost NO seating. Dancing with the Stars, the family type game shows, so disappointing in the atrium, and they are great shows. The atrium is really lackluster, too, for a brand new ship.

 

The pool area was insanely busy. I think the pool is just way too small for a ship that size.

 

My family seems to prefer the smaller ships. That's not to say we didn't have a good time on Breakaway, but I won't be actively looking for a large ship for awhile. I was thrilled to sail on a new ship, and it was a good experience. The shows are amazing, and the waterpark and ropes course are really impressive.

[turning40withMickey]

I got sidetracked with that similar experience and forgot to comment on the texting question.

 

Nothing like the iconcierge (loved that!) We went old school with post it notes of where we would be. Our teens were often in the teen club, so we would walk there if we wanted to give them a message, or leave a message on their cabin phone.

 

We didn't purchase any wifi and kept our cell phones on airplane mode.

[Weeziblu]

I am also sailing x2 on the Pride, and was just as excited for the Breakaway as you, OP.

 

We had a fantastic time on the Pride and can't wait to see the 2.0 upgrades.

 

We had a wonderful vacation on Breakaway, but I was also disappointed. Maybe my expectations were also too high...

 

The Broadway shows were amazing, but I had the same "not so freestyle" thoughts about having to schedule them in advance. This isn't the way it was on the other NCL ships. I know it is because there are so many people on Breakaway. Maybe it is the sheer size that works against freestyling.

 

We liked O'Sheehans (but liked the Blue Lagoon more on the smaller ships).

 

I hated that the shows were in the atrium area, with almost NO seating. Dancing with the Stars, the family type game shows, so disappointing in the atrium, and they are great shows. The atrium is really lackluster, too, for a brand new ship.

 

The pool area was insanely busy. I think the pool is just way too small for a ship that size.

 

My family seems to prefer the smaller ships. That's not to say we didn't have a good time on Breakaway, but I won't be actively looking for a large ship for awhile. I was thrilled to sail on a new ship, and it was a good experience. The shows are amazing, and the waterpark and ropes course are really impressive.

 

I agree with you completely.. the shows that we did see were fantastic on Breakaway. And we also liked O'Sheehans. Like you, we found the atrium to be disappointing for such a large, and brand new, ship. There should never have been shows held in that area with such little seating. We also had a nice time, but I don't think I'll be actively seeking a mega ship anytime soon.

 

Oh.. and iConcierge.. what a great idea. Carnival needs an app like that, too!

[christinalvt]

This is actually a tough question to answer. Keeping in mind that our very first cruise was on the Pride in 2009 (me, DH and our 2 kids, then 17 and 7) and we had such a wonderful time. We took a few other vacations after and really wanted to cruise again and when we started planning, Breakaway was still being built and we decided to wait for her. I think I had so many expectations for that sailing and I left it feeling let down in so many ways. That's not to say that we didn't have a nice time, we were on vacation and we enjoyed ourselves, but in the end, after looking at all of the circumstances, I think there were some standout factors for us.. let me preface by saying the Breakaway is a beautiful ship and we had a wonderful aft cabin and a fantastic room steward. The service overall was very good. That being said... Breakaway is massive. Almost too massive, I think.

 

 

 

1. We preferred a smaller ship (like Pride); smaller ship = fewer people.

 

 

 

2. The pool situation on Breakaway is horrible for children - the kids pool is VERY small and there are far too many children on board to reasonably and safely cram into it and they are VERY strict about not allowing children (even teens) in the adult pool.

 

 

 

3. NCL feels like anything but "freestyle" to us... sure, you are free to eat whenever, wherever but having to book shows in advance was really annoying and disappointing. The venues are small and fill up quickly. If you didn't know days in advance what you wanted to do on any particular evening, you were out of luck when you eventually tried to get into a show. Choosing Carnivals 'any time dining' feels more freestyle to me than NCL's whole 'freestyle' concept.

 

 

 

4. The main dining room on Breakaway was less than impressive and had the worst food on the ship (imo). We did REALLY like the smaller Taste and Savor, and the specialty restaurants were exception - but all cost more $$.

 

 

 

5. We never had any trouble finding seats at the pool or the buffet on Pride but finding lounge chairs on Breakaway always seemed to be an issue.

 

 

 

6. The kids didn't care for NCL's kids club activities and complained that there were sooooo many kids in each age group that it took a very long time to wait your turn for games, etc. They were bored very easily and wanted to come out of the clubs within an hour of being dropped off. That made it difficult to have ANY fun in the evenings because unless you had pre-booked a 'family friendly' show, there was really nothing for kids to do after dinner if they weren't with the kids club. This made for board adults and kids in the evenings/at night.

 

 

 

7. Breakaway's casino is soooooooooo smokey. You could argue that all cruise ship casinos are smokey but I found this overwhelming.

 

 

 

Perhaps my expectations were too high - we waited a long time for that trip. I followed that ship every step of the way and became obsessed with her every sailing until it was our turn. She was practically brand new and it was evident. But we came away from that trip feeling underwhelmed and slightly dissatisfied.

 

 

 

But again, we still had a really nice vacation, but our first experience on the Pride stands out as more memorable and more relaxing and fun vacation overall. My kids still talk about that trip. So we figured we would give it another go now that the 2.0 updates are complete.

 

 

Wow, I had the exact same issues on the Breakaway! I didn't like that I had to spend my entire first day almost on trying to get reservations and fit them in to everything else in the schedule. I could have done some reservations online at home, but I had a package that gave me 3 specialty restaurants free, so I couldn't book these at home, because they would have charged me. I also agree with you about the size of the ship correlating with service, pool and lounge chair access, etc. after being on both massive ships like Breakaway and Oasis, I prefer smaller ships. In the end, the best part of Breakaway were the shows and the 3-day Bermuda itinerary.

I'm going on the Pride this May, can't wait! After hearing so many great reviews about her, I'm excited. Enjoy your trip!

 

Christina

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[christinalvt]

I agree with you completely.. the shows that we did see were fantastic on Breakaway. And we also liked O'Sheehans. Like you, we found the atrium to be disappointing for such a large, and brand new, ship. There should never have been shows held in that area with such little seating. We also had a nice time, but I don't think I'll be actively seeking a mega ship anytime soon.

 

 

 

Oh.. and iConcierge.. what a great idea. Carnival needs an app like that, too!

 

 

They do now! So far it's only on the Breeze (being tested I guess), but hopefully soon on other ships.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[crazycruzer68]

You keep referring to the Pride as a small ship, that's not really true is it?

[turning40withMickey]

You keep referring to the Pride as a small ship, that's not really true is it?

 

small in comparison to the megaships like NCL's Breakaway

 

I think it is the perfect size!

[mweiss1998]

What date in August?

[sirfuller]

small in comparison to the megaships like NCL's Breakaway

 

I think it is the perfect size!

 

The Pride is 88,500 gross tons while the Breakaway is 144,017. So, in comparison it is a small ship. However, in reality it's pretty big. I guess it is all relative.

[Weeziblu]

The Pride is 88,500 gross tons while the Breakaway is 144,017. So, in comparison it is a small ship. However, in reality it's pretty big. I guess it is all relative.

 

yes, exactly. of course its pretty big.. it is a cruise ship, afterall. but compared to the Breakaway, it's most certainly 'smaller'. :D