Dodging Joaquin on the Pride Review

[dcruisers]

We have been on many cruises on various cruise lines.(NCL, Princess, RCCL, Celebrity) Last sailed Carnival in 2007 on the Pride. Our recent cruises the last 8 years have been on Celebrity and Princess. ( and 1 river cruise)

We were very pleased with our cruise in spite of not being able to get to ports and having some rough sea days. Our cruise was 9/27 to 10/4-the week we dodged the hurricane!

We (DH and me) along with another couple that we cruise with regularly had extended balconies on deck 5. Because of the weather we didn't use our balcony much.

 

Things we LOVED:

*FOOD was great- never had to eat in David's - we had a meal there in 2007- but didn't have a need to go again as our meals were delicious in the dining room.

We loved the pizza- some of the best ever and Guy's Burgers- delicious.

*SERVICE-wonderful! We had the best wait staff team ever! The team of Danuel, Annamaria and Jedland was amazing. We were happy to give them extra $$ the last night .They worked so well together. The bar service in the dining room was prompt and after the first night- remembered our preferences. And the entire team remembered our names.

Our cabin steward was Belle and she was excellent. We also felt she deserved extra $$.

*CABIN- I wasn't expecting our cabin (5118) to be in such great condition. Other than the older type TV, the carpet, walls and bedding were in excellent condition as well as the bathroom.

*ENTERTAINMENT - Comedians were terrific. We went to all the comedy shows both PG and Adult and throughly enjoyed them all. Diane Ford is one of the best comedians we have ever seen. Production shows were entertaining but not as professional or involved as Celebrity.

Things we DISLIKED:

CASINO- hated that they allow smoking. It really bothered all 4 of us. And although they have a very small non smoking section our clothes smelled like smoke and we could still smell the smoke. We prefer Celebrity's nonsmoking policy in the casino which is more in line with today's standards. Hate second hand smoke!

DRESSCODE- shocked at the lack of enforcement allowing passengers to go to the dining room dressed like they were going to the beach or to bed! We saw undershirts, flannel pajama bottoms, cut off short shorts, baseball caps, holes in jeans all without a word from Carnival. And this was elegant night! I actually mentioned this to the front desk in the dining room and was told they try to enforce the dress code but people scream at them!! WHAT?? I said Carnival had a printed dress code and you can refuse entrance to the dining room and have them get changed.

This happened to one of our traveling companions on an NCL cruise who had on very nice jeans. He was told that was against policy and that he would have to change . No problem- he came back wearing slacks.

MUSICIANS- the male guitar player/singer in the lobby bar ( don't know his name) was horrible. He sounded off key and screamed in stead of sing- the 4 of us said he sounded like a at in heat. Also, the girl singer who alternated with him was terrible too. We couldn't believe that Carnival hired them.

 

Overall, we loved our time on the Pride even though we sailed with some rough seas.

The captain did a very professional job keeping us safe and away from the hurricane. We were so surprised and pleased that were were getting back 50% of the cruise as well as all port charges.... Plus, 50% off a future cruise...,, what great customer service.

We will definitely book that future cruise.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Edited October 7, 2015 by dcruisers

[cosaraquis1]

Loved your review, thanks for taking the time to post!

[pirate4me2]

Thank you for posting your thoughts on the cruise and for being so positive despite the weather not cooperating. We sail on the Pride in March and can't wait.

[sanmarcosman]

How rough were the seas? Less people in the dining room due to the weather?

[dcruisers]

How rough were the seas? Less people in the dining room due to the weather?

 

On 2 nights there were less people in the dining room. The first day of the cruise I woke up rocking in the bed. Thankfully, I don't get sea sick but my sinuses reacted to the change in barametric pressure making me feel a little dizzy. And the wife of the other couple actually got sick- first time ever. She bought Bonine on the ship and was fine the rest of the trip. Our husbands were fine the entire time.

That was the only bad DAY. Mostly the rough seas and howeling winds were at night. First time in 23 cruises we were concerned with the wind and rocking. But never did we feel in danger.

[va804]

We have been on many cruises on various cruise lines.(NCL, Princess, RCCL, Celebrity) Last sailed Carnival in 2007 on the Pride. Our recent cruises the last 8 years have been on Celebrity and Princess. ( and 1 river cruise)

We were very pleased with our cruise in spite of not being able to get to ports and having some rough sea days. Our cruise was 9/27 to 10/4-the week we dodged the hurricane!

We (DH and me) along with another couple that we cruise with regularly had extended balconies on deck 5. Because of the weather we didn't use our balcony much.

 

Things we LOVED:

*FOOD was great- never had to eat in David's - we had a meal there in 2007- but didn't have a need to go again as our meals were delicious in the dining room.

We loved the pizza- some of the best ever and Guy's Burgers- delicious.

*SERVICE-wonderful! We had the best wait staff team ever! The team of Danuel, Annamaria and Jedland was amazing. We were happy to give them extra $$ the last night .They worked so well together. The bar service in the dining room was prompt and after the first night- remembered our preferences. And the entire team remembered our names.

Our cabin steward was Belle and she was excellent. We also felt she deserved extra $$.

*CABIN- I wasn't expecting our cabin (5118) to be in such great condition. Other than the older type TV, the carpet, walls and bedding were in excellent condition as well as the bathroom.

*ENTERTAINMENT - Comedians were terrific. We went to all the comedy shows both PG and Adult and throughly enjoyed them all. Diane Ford is one of the best comedians we have ever seen. Production shows were entertaining but not as professional or involved as Celebrity.

Things we DISLIKED:

CASINO- hated that they allow smoking. It really bothered all 4 of us. And although they have a very small non smoking section our clothes smelled like smoke and we could still smell the smoke. We prefer Celebrity's nonsmoking policy in the casino which is more in line with today's standards. Hate second hand smoke!

DRESSCODE- shocked at the lack of enforcement allowing passengers to go to the dining room dressed like they were going to the beach or to bed! We saw undershirts, flannel pajama bottoms, cut off short shorts, baseball caps, holes in jeans all without a word from Carnival. And this was elegant night! I actually mentioned this to the front desk in the dining room and was told they try to enforce the dress code but people scream at them!! WHAT?? I said Carnival had a printed dress code and you can refuse entrance to the dining room and have them get changed.

This happened to one of our traveling companions on an NCL cruise who had on very nice jeans. He was told that was against policy and that he would have to change . No problem- he came back wearing slacks.

MUSICIANS- the male guitar player/singer in the lobby bar ( don't know his name) was horrible. He sounded off key and screamed in stead of sing- the 4 of us said he sounded like a at in heat. Also, the girl singer who alternated with him was terrible too. We couldn't believe that Carnival hired them.

 

Overall, we loved our time on the Pride even though we sailed with some rough seas.

The captain did a very professional job keeping us safe and away from the hurricane. We were so surprised and pleased that were were getting back 50% of the cruise as well as all port charges.... Plus, 50% off a future cruise...,, what great customer service.

We will definitely book that future cruise.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

 

 

 

 

 

We were on that cruise also and you gave a accurate description of what I saw also. Still a good cruise. We have cruised the Pride 5 times in Sept. and Oct. out on Baltimore and this cruise was a first for us with the weather

[Njcruiser60]

Thanks for the review. Really looking forward to our Pride cruise in February

[Big_G]

Maybe I missed it but were there any missed ports?

[sanmarcosman]

On 2 nights there were less people in the dining room. The first day of the cruise I woke up rocking in the bed. Thankfully, I don't get sea sick but my sinuses reacted to the change in barametric pressure making me feel a little dizzy. And the wife of the other couple actually got sick- first time ever. She bought Bonine on the ship and was fine the rest of the trip. Our husbands were fine the entire time.

That was the only bad DAY. Mostly the rough seas and howeling winds were at night. First time in 23 cruises we were concerned with the wind and rocking. But never did we feel in danger.

Thanks for sharing your first-hand account with us.

[grandma101]

I was also on the Pride the ship to nowhere! I also agree! The 2nd day was the worst in my opinion with my Son's GF and Grandson getting sick. But after that they were fine. We stopped for a brief stop in Turks but pulled away by 1PM to try to get ahead of the storm. We ended up passing by Half Moon Cay and Freeport without stopping. The captain kept us completely informed and put our safety first. At any time did I feel in danger but I agree the howling of the wind was a bit scary! The skies looked dark and grey but I did look out alot on my balcony. My Grandson loved the cruise.....especially the arcade! The food was great and so was the comedy shows. Sad to hear they had to medivac someone off the ship one night during the high winds. I hope he was okay. I think Carnival was very generous to compensate us for 50% of our cruise and also 50% off our next cruise plus the port cost immediately came up on our bill as a credit! I did notice a few things that Carnival is not doing that they usually do. 1. As I met the room Steward he asked if we wanted morning or evening turn down of the bed. Oddly I thought they came in both times but I went along with morning. Our room Steward was Issac and he was the best ever. We also felt he deserved extra and did so. 2. No more chocolates on the pillow at night! HA! like we really need it! 3. My hubby missed the newsletter that they usually had available. All and all we had a nice time. I was sorry my Grandson and Son's gf got sick but happy the rest of the cruise they were find. I was sorry to hear so many people worried about us back home. It was suppose to hit OC so I was grateful it turned and did not hit there since I live in Dover De. Sad SC is having so much flooding. So hopefully we will plan another cruise with the $$ they are refunding us and hopefully not have a problem. I like the Pride and love that we do not have to get on a plane! So I'll be cruising on the Pride again.

[berrieh]

CASINO- hated that they allow smoking. It really bothered all 4 of us. And although they have a very small non smoking section our clothes smelled like smoke and we could still smell the smoke. We prefer Celebrity's nonsmoking policy in the casino which is more in line with today's standards. Hate second hand smoke!

 

While I hate smoke (bad lungs, too, so it makes me a wee bit sick), when I was in Vegas recently, every casino pretty much still allowed smoking. I didn't realize standards were changing there. I think Celebrity may be well ahead of today's standards if they don't allow it. However, the ventilation on most Carnival ships is plain awful (not sure about newest ones and if they've tackled this problem better) so that makes the Casino a much bigger issue. This is true of old and new casinos in Vegas too. The newer casinos have some non-smoking casino areas but also just way better ventilation.

 

I do feel for smokers, a little, as it's clear their areas everywhere are being restricted more and more. BUT as someone who gets allergic bronchitis sometimes when around too much smoke, I personally like restrictions.

 

DRESSCODE- I actually mentioned this to the front desk in the dining room and was told they try to enforce the dress code but people scream at them!! WHAT?? I said Carnival had a printed dress code and you can refuse entrance to the dining room and have them get changed.

This happened to one of our traveling companions on an NCL cruise who had on very nice jeans. He was told that was against policy and that he would have to change . No problem- he came back wearing slacks.

 

Since they asked your friend to change, I'm inclined to believe them when they say people scream and berate them and they just kind of have to let it go at that point. I would imagine this would be MORE true on your cruise, where the passengers were already inconvenienced and potentially crabby (though Carnival did give y'all appropriate compensation in my eyes - it was a good deal for a bad situation). But it's a shame that being a jerk about it allows you to break the rules. I'm not one who cares about the dress code (Edit: by this I mean I follow the code but don't dress up much beyond it, and I don't really care what people wear and would be fine if the code itself was removed, not that I don't follow it - I follow rules as that's the appropriate thing to do), personally, but I do think that's a major societal problem in general - people feeling like it's okay to do things like berate people trying to enforce rules you agreed to, people feeling above the rules, people acting rude to others. The idea that the berate staff is awful but it makes sense. I've seen so many people acting like jerks at Guest Services and towards other customer service people in all kinds of settings.

Edited October 8, 2015 by berrieh

[TIMNANNA]

*CABIN- I wasn't expecting our cabin (5118) to be in such great condition. Other than the older type TV, the carpet, walls and bedding were in excellent condition as well as the bathroom.

 

We will be in the same area on the New Year's Cruise, so I was wondering if you heard anything from the Taj Mahal below you during your cruise? Also, did you go out on the balcony at all? If so, how was the view?

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

How did the lack of dresscode enforcement actually affect your dinner and the food you ate? Not your perception but the actual experience. Was the food worse because passengers dressed slovenly, was the service more erratic because people didn't follow the dresscode, did you miss out on certain food items because someone wore shorts. Was your chair missing because someone in flip flops used it as a foot stool?

 

I can fully understand being unhappy that the Casino allows smoking and that it does affect you, just like chair hogs or line butters or balcony smokers but I just don't understand how what someone wears affects you personally. Your sensibilities, maybe, the actually experience....?

[75snow]

dcruisers...

We were also on the same cruise and generally agree with your comments.

Good food, GREAT service and a generous compensation offer by Carnival. I thought some of the entertainment was so-so but the crew tried real hard to keep us entertained. (Many, many trivia games!)

 

A wholeheartedly agree about the dress code. We went to David's for our anniversary dinner. I wore a suit and tie. We were seated next to a large table who mostly wore tee shifts and a few also wore baseball caps. It sort of ruins the dining atmosphere/experience. When I mentioned it to our server, she said "well, it is casual night" :( .

 

I observed they always did not post the latest advisory on Joaquin which was probably good as it would've lead to some unnecessary worrying. The Capt did a good job of announcing itinerary changes. Leaving Grand Turk Wednesday, I noted the ship experienced winds over 80 MPH in some of the squalls. I was surprised how winds of this strength were not that noticeable. At least we got to see Cuba, even if was from just passing close by.

 

In the Q&A with the cruise director Steve, he was asked when the last time something like this - our experience with the bad weather and cancelled port calls - happened. He said, in his 18 years this was a first!

[Paratina]

Steve wasn't on for Sandy - Kirk Benning was. That was a crazy 7 days!

[bigdog1958]

dcruisers...

We were also on the same cruise and generally agree with your comments.

Good food, GREAT service and a generous compensation offer by Carnival. I thought some of the entertainment was so-so but the crew tried real hard to keep us entertained. (Many, many trivia games!)

 

A wholeheartedly agree about the dress code. We went to David's for our anniversary dinner. I wore a suit and tie. We were seated next to a large table who mostly wore tee shifts and a few also wore baseball caps. It sort of ruins the dining atmosphere/experience. When I mentioned it to our server, she said "well, it is casual night" :( .

 

I observed they always did not post the latest advisory on Joaquin which was probably good as it would've lead to some unnecessary worrying. The Capt did a good job of announcing itinerary changes. Leaving Grand Turk Wednesday, I noted the ship experienced winds over 80 MPH in some of the squalls. I was surprised how winds of this strength were not that noticeable. At least we got to see Cuba, even if was from just passing close by.

 

In the Q&A with the cruise director Steve, he was asked when the last time something like this - our experience with the bad weather and cancelled port calls - happened. He said, in his 18 years this was a first!

 

Maybe you wearing a suit and tie on a casual night ruined the other tables dining atmosphere. Why is it that if people don't dress like you want them to, it ruins your dining experience.

[ejincali]

We have been on many cruises on various cruise lines.(NCL, Princess, RCCL, Celebrity) Last sailed Carnival in 2007 on the Pride. Our recent cruises the last 8 years have been on Celebrity and Princess. ( and 1 river cruise)

We were very pleased with our cruise in spite of not being able to get to ports and having some rough sea days. Our cruise was 9/27 to 10/4-the week we dodged the hurricane!

We (DH and me) along with another couple that we cruise with regularly had extended balconies on deck 5. Because of the weather we didn't use our balcony much.

 

Things we LOVED:

*FOOD was great- never had to eat in David's - we had a meal there in 2007- but didn't have a need to go again as our meals were delicious in the dining room.

We loved the pizza- some of the best ever and Guy's Burgers- delicious.

*SERVICE-wonderful! We had the best wait staff team ever! The team of Danuel, Annamaria and Jedland was amazing. We were happy to give them extra $$ the last night .They worked so well together. The bar service in the dining room was prompt and after the first night- remembered our preferences. And the entire team remembered our names.

Our cabin steward was Belle and she was excellent. We also felt she deserved extra $$.

*CABIN- I wasn't expecting our cabin (5118) to be in such great condition. Other than the older type TV, the carpet, walls and bedding were in excellent condition as well as the bathroom.

*ENTERTAINMENT - Comedians were terrific. We went to all the comedy shows both PG and Adult and throughly enjoyed them all. Diane Ford is one of the best comedians we have ever seen. Production shows were entertaining but not as professional or involved as Celebrity.

Things we DISLIKED:

CASINO- hated that they allow smoking. It really bothered all 4 of us. And although they have a very small non smoking section our clothes smelled like smoke and we could still smell the smoke. We prefer Celebrity's nonsmoking policy in the casino which is more in line with today's standards. Hate second hand smoke!

DRESSCODE- shocked at the lack of enforcement allowing passengers to go to the dining room dressed like they were going to the beach or to bed! We saw undershirts, flannel pajama bottoms, cut off short shorts, baseball caps, holes in jeans all without a word from Carnival. And this was elegant night! I actually mentioned this to the front desk in the dining room and was told they try to enforce the dress code but people scream at them!! WHAT?? I said Carnival had a printed dress code and you can refuse entrance to the dining room and have them get changed.

This happened to one of our traveling companions on an NCL cruise who had on very nice jeans. He was told that was against policy and that he would have to change . No problem- he came back wearing slacks.

MUSICIANS- the male guitar player/singer in the lobby bar ( don't know his name) was horrible. He sounded off key and screamed in stead of sing- the 4 of us said he sounded like a at in heat. Also, the girl singer who alternated with him was terrible too. We couldn't believe that Carnival hired them.

 

Overall, we loved our time on the Pride even though we sailed with some rough seas.

The captain did a very professional job keeping us safe and away from the hurricane. We were so surprised and pleased that were were getting back 50% of the cruise as well as all port charges.... Plus, 50% off a future cruise...,, what great customer service.

We will definitely book that future cruise.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

 

Strange on the dress code issue because NCL has FreeStyle cruising and there are no dining venues that do not allow jeans. Just no shorts in some of the venues.

[Big_G]

Maybe you wearing a suit and tie on a casual night ruined the other tables dining atmosphere. Why is it that if people don't dress like you want them to, it ruins your dining experience.

 

I can see where some fashion crimes might ruin your appetite. My lone fashion crime experience was butt crack fat boy sitting across the aisle from us on Destiny. My wife wouldn't let me shout 'BUTT CRACK' during the meal so we had to move to avoid the view. We were fortunate it was a four top and the other couple never showed up so we could switch seats.

[dcruisers]

How did the lack of dresscode enforcement actually affect your dinner and the food you ate? Not your perception but the actual experience. Was the food worse because passengers dressed slovenly, was the service more erratic because people didn't follow the dresscode, did you miss out on certain food items because someone wore shorts. Was your chair missing because someone in flip flops used it as a foot stool?

 

I can fully understand being unhappy that the Casino allows smoking and that it does affect you, just like chair hogs or line butters or balcony smokers but I just don't understand how what someone wears affects you personally. Your sensibilities, maybe, the actually experience....?

 

this was OUR observation and didn't affect eating etc. However, we were amazed at the ignorance of people wearing underwear etc to dinner and subjecting people to parts we would rather not see.

 

We didn't dress up .... But we did follow the code. That's part of the problem today- people don't want to follow rules and there are no consequences. My point was Carnival wasn't enforcing their own dress code so do away with it . Maybe you don't mind the lack of respect for following a code and would rather not have one so it could be a total free for all- but we were disappointed that so many people have no self respect. Your sarcasm isn't appreciated.

[dcruisers]

dcruisers...

We were also on the same cruise and generally agree with your comments.

Good food, GREAT service and a generous compensation offer by Carnival. I thought some of the entertainment was so-so but the crew tried real hard to keep us entertained. (Many, many trivia games!)

 

A wholeheartedly agree about the dress code. We went to David's for our anniversary dinner. I wore a suit and tie. We were seated next to a large table who mostly wore tee shifts and a few also wore baseball caps. It sort of ruins the dining atmosphere/experience. When I mentioned it to our server, she said "well, it is casual night" :( .

 

I observed they always did not post the latest advisory on Joaquin which was probably good as it would've lead to some unnecessary worrying. The Capt did a good job of announcing itinerary changes. Leaving Grand Turk Wednesday, I noted the ship experienced winds over 80 MPH in some of the squalls. I was surprised how winds of this strength were not that noticeable. At least we got to see Cuba, even if was from just passing close by.

 

In the Q&A with the cruise director Steve, he was asked when the last time something like this - our experience with the bad weather and cancelled port calls - happened. He said, in his 18 years this was a first!

 

It is disappointing to see people dress like fools in such a nice restaurant!..., it does ruin the atmosphere. On our Celebrity cruise in Jan. One of the men in our group didn't have a jacket on for formal night. They simply and discreetly gave him a jacket to wear. The were enforcing their dress code which is what one would expect!

[dcruisers]

Maybe you wearing a suit and tie on a casual night ruined the other tables dining atmosphere. Why is it that if people don't dress like you want them to, it ruins your dining experience.

Another sarcastic comment!

 

We didn't dress up but AGAIN- followed the dress code. God forbid people dress appropriately!! The fact that people have no respect for following rules on land or sea And that you agree with that- is another area that show decay in our society.

Why not just throw the food in a trough and let it be a free for all..,, if it looks like pig and acts like a pig...,,, hmmm

[dcruisers]

Maybe I missed it but were there any missed ports?

 

We were at sea 6 days missing 2 of the 3 ports and only being in one port for about 2 hours since we were called back to get a head start from the hurricane.

[dcruisers]

Strange on the dress code issue because NCL has FreeStyle cruising and there are no dining venues that do not allow jeans. Just no shorts in some of the venues.

 

This was on our Mediterranean cruise in 08 on the Gem ..., in the dining room. We were all surprised to learn they had a dress code! But once we found out - our friend was happy to follow their rule.

[dcruisers]

I can see where some fashion crimes might ruin your appetite. My lone fashion crime experience was butt crack fat boy sitting across the aisle from us on Destiny. My wife wouldn't let me shout 'BUTT CRACK' during the meal so we had to move to avoid the view. We were fortunate it was a four top and the other couple never showed up so we could switch seats.

 

Although we still appreciated our food and service- we often didn't appreciate the "view".

We saw our share of body parts that should be kept hidden!!

[dcruisers]

We will be in the same area on the New Year's Cruise, so I was wondering if you heard anything from the Taj Mahal below you during your cruise? Also, did you go out on the balcony at all? If so, how was the view?

 

We never heard anything from the Taj Mahal. That was our concern too when we booked. We actually like our location.

We rarely went out on the balcony this cruise because of the weather. The view was clear- no obstruction at all.