Carnival Pride fixed and ready to go 👍

[Essiesmom]

When ships load provisions, they order fruit at different stages of ripeness, so they don’t all go bad at the same time.  EM

[jimbo5544]

On 7/21/2023 at 6:59 PM, evandbob said:

Another ancient Carnival ship awaiting the scrapyard.  Too bad for the people who booked it and had their vacation turned upside down.

More gibberish

[Eli_6]

On 7/21/2023 at 5:59 PM, evandbob said:

Another ancient Carnival ship awaiting the scrapyard.  Too bad for the people who booked it and had their vacation turned upside down.

I just got off of her in June and actually felt like the dry dock did her some good--although, the regular balcony rooms still needed some updating. 

[pjhootch]

Pride is not a junk heap.  I like her.  I was on last fall in the Mediterranean and enjoyed the ship and the size.  I was very much looking forward to the July 21 sailing.  Yep- I am one of the persons who had their vacation blown up when the Pride broke down last week.  If I was back to back I would have stayed on.  However, we were not B2B.  We were supposed to board on the 21st.  Got the cancelation notice on the 19th while we were in Dublin about to fly into London.  We froze in place in Dublin waiting for more information, and when it didn't arrive by fairly late on Thursday night, I got on the phone with the airlines and started trying to arrange to move our flights home from the 31st to the 21st or 22nd.  Unlike many people who went ahead to London, we sat tight.  London is very expensive and was very full.  I didn't want to get stuck there.  Flew home yesterday.  I really am bummed to miss the portion of the cruise to the Orkney Islands and Hebrides (and Edinburgh too).  

 

As a frequent traveler to Ireland and the U.K., I wasn't really wanting to cruise to Holyhead and Cork and Belfast.  I would have enjoyed it as part of the the cruise including Scotland, but on its own- I didn't want to undue all the arrangements I made to come home before the sent out the letter about the shorter itinerary.

 

I sure hope everyone on the cruise right now enjoys themselves and has a good time.  But there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Pride as a cruise ship overall. It is not a ship that needs to be scrapped

 

On the other hand- I was on Freedom just post covid when she sailed at 30% capacity for a 6 day cruise and it was a blast. The crew was still getting sick and quarantining, including the entertainers.  There was no piano bar guy at first, so the solo guitar player was instructed to play piano in the piano bar for us until we picked someone up in one of the ports.  🙂    Anytime there was an activity, the cruise director  (T.J.) would announce it and walk around trying to gather people to come participate because there were so few of us on board.  A great time was had by all.

[Honolulu Blue]

25 minutes ago, pjhootch said:

On the other hand- I was on Freedom just post covid when she sailed at 30% capacity for a 6 day cruise and it was a blast. The crew was still getting sick and quarantining, including the entertainers.  There was no piano bar guy at first, so the solo guitar player was instructed to play piano in the piano bar for us until we picked someone up in one of the ports.  🙂    Anytime there was an activity, the cruise director  (T.J.) would announce it and walk around trying to gather people to come participate because there were so few of us on board.  A great time was had by all.

I was on the Freedom in November 2019 - just before the pandemic. It was pretty full, though there were fewer than 20 kids onboard. T.J. was our cruise director also.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, pjhootch said:

Pride is not a junk heap.  I like her.  I was on last fall in the Mediterranean and enjoyed the ship and the size.

bingo, accurate description.

[lazydayz]

Would love to hear from a cruiser onboard now.  I bet they are enjoying a relaxed cruise, with shorter lines for everything.  I thought Carnival handled the break down and repair extremely well. Classy to have a cocktail party yesterday for the few that remain on the ship during the repair. 

[Joanne G.]

Report from onboard - We were told there are about 1700 onboard, of which about 300 of us were on the prior cruise. (An aside - the comedian during his act on one of the empty days joked about owing German income taxes due to our residency in Kiel.)  The cruise director commented about the super-easy debarkation yesterday with only about 100 getting off.  
 

It’s a very different crowd.  Many more families with kids, many more younger couples.  The previous cruise had a lot of seniors like myself.  I’m thinking the planned 9-day cruise all in the UK and Ireland was more appealing to families and younger people than the previous 12-day Baltic.  Whatever the reason, a lot of kids makes for a different vibe. 
 

It’s too early to tell what this cruise will be like.  There was a huge line last night at Guest Services, for whatever problems people had.  The Lido was fairly empty at dinner, but maybe some people hadn’t yet realized it’s an option.   It was not crowded at lunch time, as people were boarding over several hours so the crowds were spread out.  But on a full cruise, the Lido is always jammed for embarkation day lunch, so that’s one place having fewer passengers was noticeable. 
 

Sail away was festive, and the Fun Times for yesterday and today show the usual activities. 
 

We were told in a letter that the pro-rated refund of our cruise fare and pre-purchased WiFi would be credited back to our original form of payment.  Refunds for port charges, pre-purchased excursions on missed ports and port charges for missed ports would be credited to our onboard account, along with the $500 goodwill credit.  Mine are already showing, and to my surprise, the $500 is called refundable.   I currently have over $700 in credits.  I pre-purchased 2 bottles of wine for my cabin, and I won’t drink much more than that over 6 days.  I don’t do spa services. I am solo and don’t need fancy photos of myself.  My luggage was stuffed as I packed for 3 weeks, and I can’t fit more stuff in it.  Well, maybe something from the jewelry store, but I’ve always been skeptical about buying good jewelry on a cruise ship.  A fellow B2B passenger suggested buying Carnival gift cards. I’ve never used them, but that seems like a good idea.  
 

It’s Tuesday morning now, a week since our ill-fated initial departure from Kiel. I got off for a couple hours to explore Kiel on foot, but otherwise, I haven’t been off the ship.  I considered getting off in Dover yesterday, but the town didn’t look within walking distance, and I didn’t feel like depending on taxis.   Anyway, I love cruising, but I will confess to some boredom over the last week, maybe made more so by being solo.  The weather hasn’t been cooperative for much walking on outside decks, one of my favorite shipboard activities.  That’s very disappointing as this ship has plenty of space to do so.  It’s mostly been too chilly and/or rainy to sit on my balcony.  That’s not a surprise for Northern Europe, but I miss it more than usual with all this time between port visits. 
 

I attended some of the activities during the sail between Kiel and Dover, but still sometimes the days dragged. I’ve been reading a lot, moving around the ship to sit in different places to read for variety.    I think I have been eating too much, as mealtime becomes a highlight of the day LOL.    I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, but this experience has made me re-think someday doing a trans-Atlantic crossing with all its sea time.  It may not be for me. 
 

Finally a port tomorrow (Belfast) and an excursion. The ports we are visiting are on the days originally scheduled, so with everything else Carnival had to juggle, at least the excursions in the 3 ports we’ll get do can go on as planned.  I’m looking forward to all of them. 

[Joanne G.]

@pjhootch Thank you for sharing your experience.  Throughout the uncertainties those of us B2B passengers onboard have experienced, I felt those waiting to board for the June 21 cruise had a much tougher time deciding what to do.  I particularly noticed your comment that London is full and expensive now, in the height of summer travel time.   Several people (not directly involved) have said to me, “I would have just stayed in London”, but that might not have been easy to arrange last minute.  
 

It’s good Carnival offered generous compensation to those who canceled their July 21 cruise.  I hope you and I and everyone else affected gets to visit those Scotland ports on another cruise.  Or on a land vacation!  

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Report from onboard - We were told there are about 1700 onboard, of which about 300 of us were on the prior cruise. (An aside - the comedian during his act on one of the empty days joked about owing German income taxes due to our residency in Kiel.)  The cruise director commented about the super-easy debarkation yesterday with only about 100 getting off.  
 

It’s a very different crowd.  Many more families with kids, many more younger couples.  The previous cruise had a lot of seniors like myself.  I’m thinking the planned 9-day cruise all in the UK and Ireland was more appealing to families and younger people than the previous 12-day Baltic.  Whatever the reason, a lot of kids makes for a different vibe. 
 

It’s too early to tell what this cruise will be like.  There was a huge line last night at Guest Services, for whatever problems people had.  The Lido was fairly empty at dinner, but maybe some people hadn’t yet realized it’s an option.   It was not crowded at lunch time, as people were boarding over several hours so the crowds were spread out.  But on a full cruise, the Lido is always jammed for embarkation day lunch, so that’s one place having fewer passengers was noticeable. 
 

Sail away was festive, and the Fun Times for yesterday and today show the usual activities. 
 

We were told in a letter that the pro-rated refund of our cruise fare and pre-purchased WiFi would be credited back to our original form of payment.  Refunds for port charges, pre-purchased excursions on missed ports and port charges for missed ports would be credited to our onboard account, along with the $500 goodwill credit.  Mine are already showing, and to my surprise, the $500 is called refundable.   I currently have over $700 in credits.  I pre-purchased 2 bottles of wine for my cabin, and I won’t drink much more than that over 6 days.  I don’t do spa services. I am solo and don’t need fancy photos of myself.  My luggage was stuffed as I packed for 3 weeks, and I can’t fit more stuff in it.  Well, maybe something from the jewelry store, but I’ve always been skeptical about buying good jewelry on a cruise ship.  A fellow B2B passenger suggested buying Carnival gift cards. I’ve never used them, but that seems like a good idea.  
 

It’s Tuesday morning now, a week since our ill-fated initial departure from Kiel. I got off for a couple hours to explore Kiel on foot, but otherwise, I haven’t been off the ship.  I considered getting off in Dover yesterday, but the town didn’t look within walking distance, and I didn’t feel like depending on taxis.   Anyway, I love cruising, but I will confess to some boredom over the last week, maybe made more so by being solo.  The weather hasn’t been cooperative for much walking on outside decks, one of my favorite shipboard activities.  That’s very disappointing as this ship has plenty of space to do so.  It’s mostly been too chilly and/or rainy to sit on my balcony.  That’s not a surprise for Northern Europe, but I miss it more than usual with all this time between port visits. 
 

I attended some of the activities during the sail between Kiel and Dover, but still sometimes the days dragged. I’ve been reading a lot, moving around the ship to sit in different places to read for variety.    I think I have been eating too much, as mealtime becomes a highlight of the day LOL.    I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, but this experience has made me re-think someday doing a trans-Atlantic crossing with all its sea time.  It may not be for me. 
 

Finally a port tomorrow (Belfast) and an excursion. The ports we are visiting are on the days originally scheduled, so with everything else Carnival had to juggle, at least the excursions in the 3 ports we’ll get do can go on as planned.  I’m looking forward to all of them. 

Enjoy the cruise

[maryann2]

8 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Report from onboard - We were told there are about 1700 onboard, of which about 300 of us were on the prior cruise. (An aside - the comedian during his act on one of the empty days joked about owing German income taxes due to our residency in Kiel.)  The cruise director commented about the super-easy debarkation yesterday with only about 100 getting off.  
 

It’s a very different crowd.  Many more families with kids, many more younger couples.  The previous cruise had a lot of seniors like myself.  I’m thinking the planned 9-day cruise all in the UK and Ireland was more appealing to families and younger people than the previous 12-day Baltic.  Whatever the reason, a lot of kids makes for a different vibe. 
 

It’s too early to tell what this cruise will be like.  There was a huge line last night at Guest Services, for whatever problems people had.  The Lido was fairly empty at dinner, but maybe some people hadn’t yet realized it’s an option.   It was not crowded at lunch time, as people were boarding over several hours so the crowds were spread out.  But on a full cruise, the Lido is always jammed for embarkation day lunch, so that’s one place having fewer passengers was noticeable. 
 

Sail away was festive, and the Fun Times for yesterday and today show the usual activities. 
 

We were told in a letter that the pro-rated refund of our cruise fare and pre-purchased WiFi would be credited back to our original form of payment.  Refunds for port charges, pre-purchased excursions on missed ports and port charges for missed ports would be credited to our onboard account, along with the $500 goodwill credit.  Mine are already showing, and to my surprise, the $500 is called refundable.   I currently have over $700 in credits.  I pre-purchased 2 bottles of wine for my cabin, and I won’t drink much more than that over 6 days.  I don’t do spa services. I am solo and don’t need fancy photos of myself.  My luggage was stuffed as I packed for 3 weeks, and I can’t fit more stuff in it.  Well, maybe something from the jewelry store, but I’ve always been skeptical about buying good jewelry on a cruise ship.  A fellow B2B passenger suggested buying Carnival gift cards. I’ve never used them, but that seems like a good idea.  
 

It’s Tuesday morning now, a week since our ill-fated initial departure from Kiel. I got off for a couple hours to explore Kiel on foot, but otherwise, I haven’t been off the ship.  I considered getting off in Dover yesterday, but the town didn’t look within walking distance, and I didn’t feel like depending on taxis.   Anyway, I love cruising, but I will confess to some boredom over the last week, maybe made more so by being solo.  The weather hasn’t been cooperative for much walking on outside decks, one of my favorite shipboard activities.  That’s very disappointing as this ship has plenty of space to do so.  It’s mostly been too chilly and/or rainy to sit on my balcony.  That’s not a surprise for Northern Europe, but I miss it more than usual with all this time between port visits. 
 

I attended some of the activities during the sail between Kiel and Dover, but still sometimes the days dragged. I’ve been reading a lot, moving around the ship to sit in different places to read for variety.    I think I have been eating too much, as mealtime becomes a highlight of the day LOL.    I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, but this experience has made me re-think someday doing a trans-Atlantic crossing with all its sea time.  It may not be for me. 
 

Finally a port tomorrow (Belfast) and an excursion. The ports we are visiting are on the days originally scheduled, so with everything else Carnival had to juggle, at least the excursions in the 3 ports we’ll get do can go on as planned.  I’m looking forward to all of them. 

Thank you for sharing your experience staying on board throughout this.   I also travel solo most of the time and can understand how lonely it can be.

Hopefully you have a good day in Belfast.  The Giant's Causeway is beautiful. Enjoy an Irish coffee at the hotel / restaurant there..

Yes you can purchase gift cards at the Cherry on the Top which can be used for future cruises.

[lazydayz]

8 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Finally a port tomorrow (Belfast) and an excursion. The ports we are visiting are on the days originally scheduled, so with everything else Carnival had to juggle, at least the excursions in the 3 ports we’ll get do can go on as planned.  I’m looking forward to all of them. 

Hope your day in Belfast is great and breaks up the boredom.  Let us know how it goes! 

[princess76021]

Enjoy!!!  I

Hugs from Texas!

[Pentlands]

On 7/24/2023 at 12:07 PM, jimbo5544 said:

More gibberish

Just true at over 20 years old. Good luck to anone willing to risk sailing on her after this and yes I was onboard for the main event to show that it was ancient.

 

[jimbo5544]

13 hours ago, Pentlands said:

Just true at over 20 years old. Good luck to anone willing to risk sailing on her after this and yes I was onboard for the main event to show that it was ancient.

 

The main event? Lol Was it traumatic for you?  She will be full again at next sailing.  We are on sister ship. In a month for trip to greenland, do I seem worried?  While she is no spring chicken in terms of age, there is nothing wrong wrong with the ship.  You must be a mechanical engineer though, please expand and impart your knowledge on us.  Maybe start with the propulsion systems.  I’m all ears.  Or maybe the depth of your cruising history, we can start with Carnival and move to other brands.

[pjhootch]

On 7/25/2023 at 3:40 AM, Joanne G. said:

@pjhootch Thank you for sharing your experience.  Throughout the uncertainties those of us B2B passengers onboard have experienced, I felt those waiting to board for the June 21 cruise had a much tougher time deciding what to do.  I particularly noticed your comment that London is full and expensive now, in the height of summer travel time.   Several people (not directly involved) have said to me, “I would have just stayed in London”, but that might not have been easy to arrange last minute.  
 

It’s good Carnival offered generous compensation to those who canceled their July 21 cruise.  I hope you and I and everyone else affected gets to visit those Scotland ports on another cruise.  Or on a land vacation!  

Joanne I'm not going to lie- I was pretty stressed for a few days!  But I was never angry at Carnival.  I was frustrated because the first cancelation email said they would update us about a possible new itinerary "tomorrow".  That email didn't actually reach us until after midnight our time the following day.  In calm and rational retrospect - that is perfectly reasonable.  🙂   As someone in Dublin checking email every 5 minutes to see if I need to change my flight and hotel that is non-refundable and scheduled in a matter of hours... I was definitely stressed about $$ flying out of my pocket.

 

My refunds were processed (and showing on my cards) by Carnival within hours of phoning them to cancel on Friday the 21st.  We made the best of it and enjoyed extending our stay in Dublin before flying home.  I am bummed to be missing some things and very bummed not to sail with my friends who were on a BtB and are still on the ship this week.  They seem to be having a great time.  

 

I know there were people on my cruise that were in London, or decided to go ahead and fly into London to do the shortened cruise.  Some had to bounce from and to hotels.  Some people headed to dover but had to switch hotels down there.  I did read a few people were lucky and extended their hotel stay for what Carnival was willing to cover.  If I had young children with me- my stress level would have been higher, no doubt.  I had travel insurance and my husband and I are old hands at traveling on a shoe string or without a firm plan in place.  

 

I sure understood some of the angst that people were feeling and expressing on FB and tried to remind the people having a wonderful experience that they needed to stop shaming and chiding  people freaking out online.  LOL.  I think Carnival handled this all as well as is possible and despite being caught in the cancelation cross fire, I have no problem sailing with them again.  AND AGAIN- I love the Pride.  I would take the Pride over Mardi Gras or Celebration any time (cruised both and am going on Jubilee this winter).

[jimbo5544]

17 hours ago, pjhootch said:

Joanne I'm not going to lie- I was pretty stressed for a few days!  But I was never angry at Carnival.  I was frustrated because the first cancelation email said they would update us about a possible new itinerary "tomorrow".  That email didn't actually reach us until after midnight our time the following day.  In calm and rational retrospect - that is perfectly reasonable.  🙂   As someone in Dublin checking email every 5 minutes to see if I need to change my flight and hotel that is non-refundable and scheduled in a matter of hours... I was definitely stressed about $$ flying out of my pocket.

 

My refunds were processed (and showing on my cards) by Carnival within hours of phoning them to cancel on Friday the 21st.  We made the best of it and enjoyed extending our stay in Dublin before flying home.  I am bummed to be missing some things and very bummed not to sail with my friends who were on a BtB and are still on the ship this week.  They seem to be having a great time.  

 

I know there were people on my cruise that were in London, or decided to go ahead and fly into London to do the shortened cruise.  Some had to bounce from and to hotels.  Some people headed to dover but had to switch hotels down there.  I did read a few people were lucky and extended their hotel stay for what Carnival was willing to cover.  If I had young children with me- my stress level would have been higher, no doubt.  I had travel insurance and my husband and I are old hands at traveling on a shoe string or without a firm plan in place.  

 

I sure understood some of the angst that people were feeling and expressing on FB and tried to remind the people having a wonderful experience that they needed to stop shaming and chiding  people freaking out online.  LOL.  I think Carnival handled this all as well as is possible and despite being caught in the cancelation cross fire, I have no problem sailing with them again.  AND AGAIN- I love the Pride.  I would take the Pride over Mardi Gras or Celebration any time (cruised both and am going on Jubilee this winter).

Nice post.  the facts are sometimes stuff happens, it is not a matter of fault, but it comes down to how someone deals with it.  Strained financial situations add to the stress,  Having insurance or booking on a credit card you KNOW will back you up relieves some of that stress (if you might need it),  Carnival reacted as quickly as they could to a very tight schedule in the attempt of getting people back to make their flights home with extremely tight time constraints.  When that happens, at that scale, something has be break.  

 

It is all about how that is dealt with.

[momofthre3]

Our family was on the cruise when the ship went down.  We were one of the many that chose to leave.  A crew can practice for many things, however this situation rarely happens.  I will say that the logistics had to be overwhelming.  The responsibility Carnival took in getting its passengers by bus and plane back to Dover was impressive.  Did it go smoothly.  No.  Were many involved with delay of planes they were booked on by Carnival? Yes, part of our family included.   However Carnival DID take on the huge job and for what it is worth the did a great job.  I have not been a Carnival fan, however with Frankie as the Cruise Director and the way Carnival handled this situation I am very much a fan of the Carnival European cruises.

[jimbo5544]

7 minutes ago, momofthre3 said:

Our family was on the cruise when the ship went down.  We were one of the many that chose to leave.  A crew can practice for many things, however this situation rarely happens.  I will say that the logistics had to be overwhelming.  The responsibility Carnival took in getting its passengers by bus and plane back to Dover was impressive.  Did it go smoothly.  No.  Were many involved with delay of planes they were booked on by Carnival? Yes, part of our family included.   However Carnival DID take on the huge job and for what it is worth the did a great job.  I have not been a Carnival fan, however with Frankie as the Cruise Director and the way Carnival handled this situation I am very much a fan of the Carnival European cruises.

Nice post.  The only thing (being on the ship as well) is your phrase “when the ship went down”😱  I do get your drift.  Just caught my attention…..

[Joanne G.]

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

Nice post.  The only thing (being on the ship as well) is your phrase “when the ship went down”😱  I do get your drift.  Just caught my attention…..

That caught my attention, too, as a fellow passenger.  Yikes!  But I agree that Carnival had a huge undertaking dealing with the specific needs people on that cruise, people on the next cruise, and people like myself on both.   Despite not everything going perfectly for everyone, I commend Carnival  - corporate and onboard - for the efforts made under difficult circumstances and without much time. I hold nothing against them, and I’ll be back on the Pride in Sept. 

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

That caught my attention, too, as a fellow passenger.  Yikes!  But I agree that Carnival had a huge undertaking dealing with the specific needs people on that cruise, people on the next cruise, and people like myself on both.   Despite not everything going perfectly for everyone, I commend Carnival  - corporate and onboard - for the efforts made under difficult circumstances and without much time. I hold nothing against them, and I’ll be back on the Pride in Sept. 

which sailing?

[Joanne G.]

7 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

which sailing?

Sept 10, Dover to Rome. 

[Joanne G.]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:31 PM, lazydayz said:

Hope your day in Belfast is great and breaks up the boredom.  Let us know how it goes! 

It poured most of the day in Belfast, but that didn’t matter for the main event of my excursion, a tour of Hillsborough Castle, not actually a castle but the official royal residence in Northern Ireland.  The rain wasn’t great for the city tour from the bus, but I have been to Belfast before and taken a tour in good weather.
 

It was overcast and chilly in Wales, but mostly the rain held off. I took an excursion to Caernarfon Castle, and we had time to explore the village on our own.  
 

Lastly, yesterday was Cobh, my favorite port of my entire 21-day adventure because we docked within walking distance of town.  I explored on my own in the morning, visited the little Titanic Exhibit, and walked up a considerable hill to visit a cathedral, did some shopping.  In the afternoon, I had an excursion through the lovely Irish countryside to the picturesque village of Kinsale, where we had about an hour on our own. 
 

Ship-sponsored excursions aren’t for everyone, but I like them for convenience.  To each his own!  I will say that every single guide I’ve had on this trip was good to excellent; I learned from all of them.  I plan on writing reviews on Carnival’s site of the excursions when I get home, as there weren’t any when I was making my choices.   They aren’t cheap, and if I can help someone else make a decision, I’d like to do that.  
 

We were rocking and rolling last night leaving after Ireland.  It is calmer this morning, and I see bits of blue sky after days of overcast and rainy weather.  

[Joanne G.]

Sailing away from Cobh yesterday 

[Joanne G.]

The long pier in Holyhead, Wales.   Walkers not allowed; shuttle bus provided for those not on excursions