Current Condition of the Pride?

[TheMettins]

Seeing a lot of complaints about the Pride from seasoned cruisers... is she in that bad a shape?  

Our stateroom preference (9B Premium Balcony) wasn't available when we booked for December last week so we went w/ an 8J Extended Balcony on deck 5 forward- any issues we should be aware of (besides the Taj Mahal below us)?

[kctwinmommy]

I can let you know in a month. Sailing on her next month. As far as I'm concerned at this point, I'll take anything that takes me away for a week in the sun! LOL!

[May1cruiser]

Just on her last week. Been on a lot of carnival ships. 

She was okay. I don't look hard for wear. Yes, some wear on couch in room, some spots of rust on balcony. 

 

Overall, she was fine. 

 

We are some of those cruisers that like the older decor and she has that old school Farkas funk. We liked it. Crew was good overall. 

 

We would sail her again with no hesitation. 

[groundloop]

I was on Pride last November and again in December.  The ship herself was perfectly fine. 

 

I was somewhat underwhelmed with our wait staff on the second cruise (every meal took f-o-r-e-v-e-r), the food was so-so, and I felt that our meal at the steakhouse wasn't up to snuff..... and I'm generally very easy to please.  (On the other hand I was on Valor last month and found our wait staff as well as the food to be fantastic).

 

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by groundloop

[TheMettins]

2 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

I can let you know in a month. Sailing on her next month. As far as I'm concerned at this point, I'll take anything that takes me away for a week in the sun! LOL!

I so get that... and know you will enjoy every minute!!  She is actually our favorite Carnival ship- great layout (never felt crowded) w/ our favorite specialty restaurants- Bonsai & Steakhouse... and a fab Alchemy area!  Please do report back if you think about it.  

 

[TheMettins]

2 hours ago, May1cruiser said:

Just on her last week. Been on a lot of carnival ships. 

She was okay. I don't look hard for wear. Yes, some wear on couch in room, some spots of rust on balcony. 

 

Overall, she was fine. 

 

We are some of those cruisers that like the older decor and she has that old school Farkas funk. We liked it. Crew was good overall. 

 

We would sail her again with no hesitation. 

Thank you!!  We too enjoy the classic traditional decor... I often laugh when people post a picture of rust on a balcony and complain- but we are Floridians and understand what the salt air does to our homes.  My question comes from several Diamond friends, not in the same circle, that have been very unhappy recently on the Pride... so much so that one may never sail Carnival again.  Crew has always been fantastic on Carnival... MDR not so much- but we love the Steakhouse, Bonsai, JiJi (sadly not on the Pride)!  And the Pride has a fab Alchemy area!  Thank you for responding, I'm sure we will be fine!

[TheMettins]

1 hour ago, groundloop said:

I was on Pride last November and again in December.  The ship herself was perfectly fine. 

 

I was somewhat underwhelmed with our wait staff on the second cruise (every meal took f-o-r-e-v-e-r), the food was so-so, and I felt that our meal at the steakhouse wasn't up to snuff..... and I'm generally very easy to please.  (On the other hand I was on Valor last month and found our wait staff as well as the food to be fantastic).

 

 

Good to hear about the ship!  We never eat at the buffet and rarely eat in the MDR on Carnival (We are basic people but I guess we may be food snobs as our preference on Carnival is Specialty restaurants 🤨)... so your experience in the Steakhouse is worrisome.  

As to the Valor, she was my last solo cruise before marriage (from San Juan) in 2015 and the ship I turned Plat on in 2016- so she holds a special place in my heart for several reasons!  Thank you for chiming in, I appreciate it.

[Vidimom]

Was on the Pride in November and found it to be fine.  This ship has the art that everyone complains about with "nudes".  It's art ok.  Food was decent and staff were very friendly and helpful!  We sail again in two weeks on her and you may want to consider the cabin we selected if it's available.  We have an extended balcony on deck 7 aft but our balcony is 3 times as long.  We are in 7258 and the one below us and above are the same.  This cabin is a hidden gem not many know about!

[pjhootch]

I was on Pride last week and she is fine.  There was not too much obvious needed maintenance. Ship was very clean and staff was great.  Cruise director for our cruise was, I believe, a fill in person.  I normally ignore the CD but he seemed overwhelmed when debarkation fell apart.  That got under my skin even though  I am not a picky, fussy complaining cruiser.  I like the smaller ships and older gaudy decor.  So take my opinion from that perspective. Pride has a great layout.  Food in MDR was mostly good. The MDR was slammed on elegant night which slowed down service.  Didn’t phase me but other people were unhappy.  Overall cruise was very good.

[TheMettins]

12 minutes ago, Vidimom said:

Was on the Pride in November and found it to be fine.  This ship has the art that everyone complains about with "nudes".  It's art ok.  Food was decent and staff were very friendly and helpful!  We sail again in two weeks on her and you may want to consider the cabin we selected if it's available.  We have an extended balcony on deck 7 aft but our balcony is 3 times as long.  We are in 7258 and the one below us and above are the same.  This cabin is a hidden gem not many know about!

I'm familiar w/ the 'bowling alley' balconies on Spirit Class- thank you!

[kctwinmommy]

6 hours ago, TheMettins said:

I so get that... and know you will enjoy every minute!!  She is actually our favorite Carnival ship- great layout (never felt crowded) w/ our favorite specialty restaurants- Bonsai & Steakhouse... and a fab Alchemy area!  Please do report back if you think about it.  

 

For sure! And yeah, I'm not into the particulars all the much. For us, living in the sucky cold winters, I enjoy the trip away. Even if we are coming out of winter here. We also never cruise over spring break, so this is a new one for us. We often got in early November, right around Veteran's Day, because we could take our son out of school and he'd only miss like 3 days. But once he got to HS, we just couldn't take him out for vacations at that point. Well, and for 2 years, we were locked down. LOL!

 

We don't actually do the specialty restaurants. We have so many amazing steakhouses here, just came home from one tonight actually. I'm a pretty basic eater too, boring as my husband (and son) would say.

 

I'll do a trip report for sure, I always do. So I'll see what I do notice about the ship. 😃

[CruisingAgain]

I was on the Pride in early February and everything was great.  I did not see a spec of rust or dirt anywhere.  But then, I wasn't looking to find anything like that. I just wouldn't have noticed even if it was there because I was too busy having a good time.  All of my wait staff at breakfast, brunch and dinner were great. And service was very quick.  I do YTD so that might make a difference at dinner. 

I am not a "cheerleader" .... just very easy to please when I am cruising!!

[jetsfan58]

We can find defects in anything (clothes, books, food, ourselves etc.) if we look hard enough. Have sailed this ship many times and never had one single issue. Learn to Love the Adventure and Relax; This still beats working any day!      

[kctwinmommy]

1 hour ago, CruisingAgain said:

 

I am not a "cheerleader" .... just very easy to please when I am cruising!!

Yes! That's how I feel! We've been on Carnival, MSC, and RC so far. We do Carnival the most since they tend to be a little cheaper for us, we're familiar with them, we have the status points with them, and we travel with another couple often, and they're top tier with them. But it's by no means because we feel they're the best there's ever been and the only line we should cruise. LOL! All I know is they take me to someplace warm, we have fun, and it's a nice time. I won't lie, we're waiting for our son to graduate and my husband to retire so we can go on a Viking cruise. It's just a different kind of cruise, it doesn't mean we don't like Carnival.

[Indytraveler83]

There's been a lot of comments regarding visible rust on Carnival's fleet as of late.  Here's my thoughts:

 

1) This has always sorta been the case, and it's what happens when an all white ship is exposed to saltwater for decades.  I think after not cruising for a couple years, we see the ships with new eyes.  

 

2) Carnival has flat out admitted that the old paint they used was poor, and it's part of the reason they've been putting ships in drydock rapid fire and hitting them with that new blue hulled paint scheme, as they try and get better paint on the fleet.

 

3) Visible surface rust (different from corrosion), while not particularly kind to the eye, is of little importance.  While it's true that other fleets paint a little more aggressively to prevent this, it doesn't affect the ship or your vacation in any way.  

[groundloop]

23 hours ago, pjhootch said:

I was on Pride last week and she is fine.  There was not too much obvious needed maintenance. Ship was very clean and staff was great.  Cruise director for our cruise was, I believe, a fill in person.  I normally ignore the CD but he seemed overwhelmed when debarkation fell apart......

 

That may have been the new cruise director.  When we were on Pride late last year the CD (Frankie) mentioned that his contract was up toward the end of February, so you likely had a brand new CD and it sounds like he was doing some on the fly learning.

[HappySails4U]

We sailed on the Pride in early January and were just glad to be there !!   Our  cruise prior to the Pride was the Mardi Gras so we just go with the flow   . . . .    The service in the MDR was a bit slow but we have noticed that  seems to be an issue across the board on Carnival .   We like the retro feel  on this class of ship.

All in all would do it again !!

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by HappySails4U
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