Pride European cruisers, tell us all about it

[MommytoAsquared]

I thought the WiFi was so so - I could load banking sites without a problem.  The speed was probably comparable to dial-up internet.

 

We could not send photos via I-message.

 

But as PP mentioned, you can't expect fiber speed via satellite in the middle of the ocean.

[nwcruiselover]

Maybe it will be different in Europe, but when I was recently on the Pride TA the internet was unreliable and was down for two days solid.

[ScratchTheRat]

Embarkation was incredibly easy! We arrived to Dover Port at 10am and were onboard at Guy's Burgers at 10:45!!!! Never had such a quick embarkation in my life. VeriFly helped massively as no documents needed to be checked except passports then BOOM, straight onto the ship!

 

Disembarkation just as quick. We chose late debarkation and left the ship at 8am after a lovely main dining room breakfast. We got to our car at 09:00 and were home later that day 🙂

[debsjc]

Thanks for all the great information. Are masks mandatory anywhere on board now? 

 

I am still in shock at being out of cabins by 6.30am, that's really strange. 

[ScratchTheRat]

9 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for all the great information. Are masks mandatory anywhere on board now? 

 

I am still in shock at being out of cabins by 6.30am, that's really strange. 

Yes, it's a Dover requirement for transportation reasons. As Dover is mainly used for ferries and not cruise ships, they require the taxis etc to be serving their ferry customers too so ask cruises to disembark before 9am.

[Amyracecar]

Does anyone know what the usual time is to be out of the cabin for Pride sailings other than Dover? We're going to/from Civitaveccia. 

[ScratchTheRat]

6 hours ago, Amyracecar said:

Does anyone know what the usual time is to be out of the cabin for Pride sailings other than Dover? We're going to/from Civitaveccia. 

It will be port specific but I've sailed Civitavecchia a few times and if I recall, it was vacate by 8am, latest off ship 9:30ish

[nwcruiselover]

6 hours ago, Amyracecar said:

Does anyone know what the usual time is to be out of the cabin for Pride sailings other than Dover? We're going to/from Civitaveccia. 

On the Pride TA we had to be out of our cabins by 7:15, and most everyone was off the ship by 9:00.

[jameslee]

Plan to stay in I’m for a few days afterwards does Dover have other transportation options like to Victoria station or is it better to pay for the $99 per person bus

[Aladdin22]

What’s the mask wearing situation on board please? 

[kwokpot]

21 minutes ago, Aladdin22 said:

What’s the mask wearing situation on board please? 

Less than 10% of passengers wear masks on the Pride. I was on the ship from May 19 to June 19.

Luckily I didn't catch Covid. I did wear a mask everywhere there were crowds of people; buffet, theater, Casino. 

[M&A]

1 hour ago, jameslee said:

Plan to stay in I’m for a few days afterwards does Dover have other transportation options like to Victoria station or is it better to pay for the $99 per person bus

Regular train service from Dover to London stations - St Pancras, Waterloo east, London Bridge, Victoria.  We booked tickets on-line through trainline.  You can get off-peak trains for as low as $20 if you buy in advance and download to your phone

https://www.thetrainline.com/ 

[jameslee]

11 minutes ago, M&A said:

Regular train service from Dover to London stations - St Pancras, Waterloo east, London Bridge, Victoria.  We booked tickets on-line through trainline.  You can get off-peak trains for as low as $20 if you buy in advance and download to your phone

https://www.thetrainline.com/ 

Thanks for info I heard there is strike now do you know if these train will still operate and how far is the terminal walk from the Dover port where carnival drops you off

[Ulsteinvik]

How many passengers are currently on board during the Baltic cruise?

[stephenSJ]

1 hour ago, Aladdin22 said:

What’s the mask wearing situation on board please? 

June 19th cruise almost no mask wearing,minimal use of hand sanitizer, no social distance,like COVID never happened. . 

[fuddrules]

1 hour ago, stephenSJ said:

June 19th cruise almost no mask wearing,minimal use of hand sanitizer, no social distance,like COVID never happened. . 

Yep.  Pretty much just an American issue now.    

 

Value wifi has been good.   Let me stream a little YouTube music today.  

 

Light crowds for the most part except the always popular comedy club. Steakhouse was dead as a doornail last night. 

 

Food is good, essentially same as normal. 

 

DIY laundry is rough.   Only 4 working washers for the entire ship.  

 

VeriJunk didn't work for me despite a clean clearance.   Still quick boarding.  

 

Midnight pic

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by fuddrules
Add pic

[bluebelle]

4 hours ago, jameslee said:

Thanks for info I heard there is strike now do you know if these train will still operate and how far is the terminal walk from the Dover port where carnival drops you off

Rail strike tomorrow ( Saturday) but no further strikes confirmed as yet.  

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, fuddrules said:

Food is good, essentially same as normal. 

I found the food quality in the MDR varied wildly from good to very mediocre (The Lasagna is this huge hunk of ground beef with dried out pasta. It looked more like a meatloaf than Lasagna). Having done a b2b on the Mardi Gras in April I know Carnival's kitchen can produce MUCH better and consistent food.  Whatsmore the menu rotation was only 7 days so after seven days it's the same menu. 

[M&A]

9 hours ago, jameslee said:

Thanks for info I heard there is strike now do you know if these train will still operate and how far is the terminal walk from the Dover port where carnival drops you off

It was a one day strike, so I would say that the chances of trains running would be 99.9%?

Train station to the port is a mile

Edited June 24, 2022 by M&A

[fuddrules]

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I found the food quality in the MDR varied wildly from good to very mediocre (The Lasagna is this huge hunk of ground beef with dried out pasta. It looked more like a meatloaf than Lasagna). Having done a b2b on the Mardi Gras in April I know Carnival's kitchen can produce MUCH better and consistent food.  Whatsmore the menu rotation was only 7 days so after seven days it's the same menu. 

I'm sure.  Lasagna is not something I'd order on a ship.  If I got something that bad, I'd just reorder.

 

What I've had has been consistent Carnival food, for better or worse.

 

Ironically we did order Lasagna in Stockholm along with a meatball dish.   Both were good. 

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by fuddrules

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, fuddrules said:

I'm sure.  Lasagna is not something I'd order on a ship.  If I got something that bad, I'd just reorder.

 

What I've had has been consistent Carnival food, for better or worse.

 

Ironically we did order Lasagna in Stockholm along with a meatball dish.   Both were good. 

 

Both of those dishes look yummy!

As an aside, on the 2nd of our 3 b2b2b cruises I turned Diamond and the 3rd cruise was my 25th on Carnival, so I'm a loyal Carnival cruiser. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of things I feel weren't optimal, which in turn doesn't mean I didn't have a great time on my 31 days on the Pride. 

Honest assessments give people a realistic view of what to expect. 

[stephenSJ]

46 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Both of those dishes look yummy!

As an aside, on the 2nd of our 3 b2b2b cruises I turned Diamond and the 3rd cruise was my 25th on Carnival, so I'm a loyal Carnival cruiser. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of things I feel weren't optimal, which in turn doesn't mean I didn't have a great time on my 31 days on the Pride. 

Honest assessments give people a realistic view of what to expect. 

We are from UK doing our first Carnival cruise although we have cruised around 40 times with most of the other similar standard lines.

We have enjoyed the food, Guys burger and fries are a delight and the choice in the MDR is more extensive than most lines,ie 10 starters 9 mains and 6 desserts most nights. 

The disappointment for us are the desserts in lido that are mainly slices of larger cakes full of cream and while looking different manage to taste similar,even the key lime is bland.

We went anytime and have never had to wait for a table.

[MommytoAsquared]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:34 AM, jameslee said:

Plan to stay in I’m for a few days afterwards does Dover have other transportation options like to Victoria station or is it better to pay for the $99 per person bus

 

We took a private car (Mazda MPV) for for about $185 each way.  If you google, London airport pick ups, you will get a few services.  We ran quotes on a few and found one for around $185.  We had four people so it will be less if you can use a smaller car.

 

We did consider trains and buses, but there were four of us and it was going to take several hours to make all the transfers.  The private car made more sense.

Edited June 25, 2022 by MommytoAsquared
Forgot a word

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, stephenSJ said:

We are from UK doing our first Carnival cruise although we have cruised around 40 times with most of the other similar standard lines.

We have enjoyed the food, Guys burger and fries are a delight and the choice in the MDR is more extensive than most lines,ie 10 starters 9 mains and 6 desserts most nights. 

The disappointment for us are the desserts in lido that are mainly slices of larger cakes full of cream and while looking different manage to taste similar,even the key lime is bland.

We went anytime and have never had to wait for a table.

As regular Cruise Critic participants already know food can be such a subjective thing, partially based on expectations. While I agree that the buffet had a limited amount of dessert offerings I disagree on the quality of the offerings. I found all the cakes to be tasty and the dessert offerings in general on the Pride to be consistent in it's quality. The Tiramisu was outstanding and is better than many land-based Italian restaurant offerings. 

 

What I found most disappointing in terms of food quality was surprisingly the breakfast offerings. For example both the Egg White Frittata and the standard Frittata was dry, dense and tasteless. I was on the Mardi Gras in April for two weeks and had these two breakfast items regularly so I know what it's supposed to taste like when prepared well.

 

[rps2004]

I am interested in knowing how many and what type of electrical outlets there are in the Pride’s cabins. Also, are there any USB ports?

 

Thanks

 

Richard