Review of the Carnival Pride's June 10 Sailing

[Uncle Fester]

Presented below is my admittedly subjective review of our week spent on the Carnival Pride. Being a former school teacher, I decided to use a standard grading scale, i.e., A,B,C,D, or F to grade our experiences, with a few “pluses” and “minuses” thrown in for good measure.

 

As indicated above, this review is completely subjective, and some of my fellow shipmates would, I am sure, give different grades than mine based on their own experiences and perspectives. This is fine. I have no quarrel if someone has a different opinion than mine based on his or her own experiences. I share this review only to return some of the information I was able to gather from this board that helped us enjoy our cruise even more.

 

There is one caveat to my review. It was not my intended purpose to review Carnival Cruise Lines or this particular ship when I booked the trip, so I did not try to experience everything the ship had to offer. Therefore, I did not use some amenities on the ship, like the Spa or David’s Supper Club, nor did I book any on-shore excursions through Carnival, so I can not offer an opinion in these areas. Whether having experienced these facilities or activities would have changed my opinions is pure speculation, and is something I will have to figure out on our next cruise.

 

Cruise Details

 

Cruise Dates: June 10 to June 17, 2007

 

Itinerary: Two days at sea, call the ports of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas, one final day at sea.

 

Participants: Myself, a 42 year old management consultant; my wife, a 30-something Registered Nurse; our 10 year old daughter; and our 7 year old son.

 

Home: Tucson, Arizona.

 

Embarkation

 

We did early check-in at Long Beach, arriving around 10:30 am. We knew something was amiss when we arrived at the Terminal, and there was only one ship there - The Queen Mary. It turns out that the Pride has some engine problems and was running late, and would not reach Long Beach until after 12 noon with boarding expect to begin at 3:30 pm. Fortunately, my brother-in-law, who lives in Redondo Beach, was dropping us off at the terminal, so after checking-in, we just went back to his place to wait. Others weren’t so lucky due to an unfortunate set of circumstances. The Queen Mary was hosting an “Ink and Iron” tattoo and car show that Sunday, so access to the Queen Mary tour and the adjacent sea port village was limited. You could enter the areas to do early check-in, but after 11:00 am, you needed a car show ticket if you wanted to enter. This shouldn’t have been a problem with the tattoo and car show not scheduled to start until 2:00 pm, but with the ship being late, it turned into a bit of a mess. When we arrived back at the terminal at 3:00 pm, there were people sitting every where looking pretty bored. To Carnival’s credit, they had plenty of staff on-hand to answer questions and did provide every one with a $50 on-board credit for the inconvenience. Once in the Terminal, things went fairly smoothly. The only hitch was they only used one X-ray/screening point, so after waiting in line outside to enter the building, we again waited in line for security. I would think it would behoove Carnival to have more than one screening station

 

Grade: Incomplete (I don’t think it would be fair to grade them on issues beyond their control).

 

State Room and State Room Steward

 

State Room

 

We booked Cabin No. 8140, , a balcony stateroom, on the Panorama Deck. This was supposedly an up-grade through our travel agency, Arizona Automobile Association, from an 8A to an 8I, but not real sure what the upgrade represents except being on a different level of the ship. The room had 2 twins, which converted to a king, a convertible sofa and an upper. The room was large enough for the 4 of us without felling cramped, and had plenty of storage for the things we brought aboard. The furniture was in good to excellent condition, and everything worked like it should have. The suggestion to bring a power strip worked very well, as the one power outlet would have gotten crowded with plugs for curling irons, video camera, digital camera and mobile phones. Also having the in-room safe was nice versus a safety deposit box at the purser’s desk seen on some older ships.

 

We were concerned being right below the Lido deck with possible noise from the pool, but we were far enough forward that we only heard the crew a few times moving around chairs in the morning. A room a few cabins forward would have been perfect since this would place us right below the spa. The room was perfect though for access to the gym. Given 4 people in our cabin, it was easier to use the showers in the Gym, which were just out our door and up one flight of stairs.

 

Grade: A

 

Bath Room

 

Small, but functional. The shower had an adjustable showerhead which was tall enough even for me (a little over 6' 5"), and had no problems with the water pressure or temperature. My wife felt having one shelf in the shower to place shampoo, conditioner etc. would have been helpful. There was enough storage around the sink for everyone’s things.

 

Grade: A -

 

Balcony

 

I must admit up-front, we did not use our balcony often. Neither my wife nor I are sit and stare at the ocean type of people, and we used it mainly to dry towels and bathing suites (be sure to bring bungee cords to hold them on). On our next cruise, I will strongly consider just getting an ocean view room and using the money else where. The furniture was white plastic, and, in a word, functional. But the day of debarkation, we received a note that the crew would be removing the existing furniture and replacing it with new equipment. We could see them loading the new furniture on the ship, and appeared to be much nicer – blue cloth with wood trim. The story was going around that they were replacing it because on a cruise out of Miami, someone had thrown a cigarette overboard and it flew back and set a balcony chair on fire. They were therefore installing furniture with fire retardant material. True? I don’t know, but the new furniture looked nicer.

 

Grade: B (for the plastic furniture)

 

State Room Steward

 

Our steward, Alberto, was exceptional. Asked for extra pillows and robes the first thing, and had them within an hour. This even with the late start he got with the ship being late. Always had ice in our ice bucket and he restocked the refrigerator with the soda we brought with us. He even knew all of our names by the second day. He was as good or better than room stewards we have had on other, supposedly more upscale, cruise lines.

 

Grade: A+

 

Overall State Room/State Room Steward Grade: A

 

 

Food/Beverage

 

Normandie Dining Room Food Service

 

We were assigned early dinner, but changed it the first day to the later, so we would have a little more time to get ready before dinner. This was a mistake on our part. We thought the kids would be okay with the later time, but started to fall asleep during the main course. The next day, we changed back to the earlier time. The Maitre’d never blinked at our requests, and was extremely accommodating.

 

Our lead waiter Imade, and our assistant waiter Pasha were very nice and took extremely good care of our children. The first night with Imade’s team, we ordered chocolate milk with dinner for our kids. After that, they brought the milk every night without asking. They both were very attentive, but seemed to have a few too many tables to cover. This led to relatively long waits for food and requests for things like additional condiments. The Normandie Dinning Room was the only place that Carnival’s higher guests to staff ratio was readily apparent.

 

Grade: B+ (Imade and Pasha tried hard, but had a bit too much to handle)

Normandie Dining Room Drink Service

 

This is the one area that the Pride really failed. On the first night of assigned seating (the first night of the cruise was open seating), it took 45 minutes to get our drinks, and then they were not even the right drinks. Needless to say, they did not charge us for them. The next night, after switching back to our earlier dinner time, it still took 15 minutes to receive the drinks. We spoke with the Maitre’d who apologized and said part of the problem was that when Carnival built the Pride, they did not include a service bar in the dinning room. This forced the wait staff had to go forward to a bar outside the dinning room to get the drinks. I’m not sure if I completely buy his explanation. Nevertheless, if the drinks were free, I would give them a little of a break. But charging resort level prices for the drinks, and including an automatic gratuity, seems a bit much for a 15 minute wait for a drink. Once again, more staff could help with this problem.

 

Grade: D (just for the fact that our server remembered our name and what we drank)

 

Normandie Dinning Room Food

 

The quality and quantity of the dinner and lunch fare were excellent. When I asked for two entrees, Imade never blinked an eye. The food was well prepared and presented in an attractive manner. I would have preferred more choices in salad dressings and that the dressings not be served in small cups on the side of the salads like at Applebee’s or TGI Fridays, but not a big deal. The only major issue was the breakfast foods. My daughter’s scrambled eggs were watery. I ordered corn beef hash, and received about a tablespoon full quantity which was on the cold side. After the one morning, we never had breakfast in the dinning room again.

 

Grade: B+ (would have been an A- if I excluded breakfast)

 

Mermaid’s Grille and Buffet

 

The breakfast in the buffet was better for the simple fact you could order an omelette, and have it made on the spot. Even still, the omelette options were limited to ham, American cheese, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. Not bad, but not great. The rest of the breakfast fare was about what you’d find at an average chain restaurant. The one thing that did help with breakfast was that Carnival had wait staff coming around with carts serving additional juice, coffee and pastry. I found this to be a nice touch, especially for service within a buffet.

 

Lunch in Mermaids was always very good to excellent. While extremely busy around noon hour as you would expect, the wait was never really bad at any food station. I found the deli sandwiches to be excellent, and the food stations in general to be very good. The kids had the pizza several times, and enjoyed it. And, as you would expect, they really liked the self-serve ice cream.

 

Grade: B+ (once again, breakfast brought it down).

 

Bar/Lounge Service and Drink Selection

The service at the bars and within the lounges was good. Never had to wait too long for a drink even in the big showroom, and the bartenders tended towards the heavy side on the alcohol rather than the lighter side.

 

The drinks themselves were good to very good. I tried all of the “Drinks of the Day,” and all were what you expected – fruity, tropical, lots of booze, and fun to drink. The one area in which Carnival could improve is their beer selection. They carried pretty much all of the large commercial beers, as well as major imports like Corona, Heineken, Bass, Foster’s, Guinness, etc., but they didn’t offer any of the larger craft beers like Sierra Nevada or Fat Tire. In my opinion, they’d be better off having a few craft beers available instead of Red Strip, especially on a cruise to Mexico. At the same time, they only offered Bud and Heineken on draft. It would have been nice to have a draft Guinness, especially in the sports bar.

 

Grade: B (for their limited beer selection)

 

Overall Food/Beverage Grade: B+

 

Entertainment

 

Piano Bar

 

We went to the Piano Bar several times, but every time we went, early in the evening or later, there was nothing really happening. We spoke with the piano player, Wally B, who said it can be hit or miss. He said some cruises the place will really rock, and on others, it will be dead. I guess we got the dead. Wally B was an excellent entertainer, and did everything to get people involved, but it just wasn’t happening through no fault of his own.

 

Grade: Incomplete (Can’t grade for participation when no one participates)

 

Show Room

 

We went to see the second the Carnival’s production shows, “Vrooom” staring Penny Gold, Jon Williams and the Pride Dancers. It was your typical musical retrospective show with lots of dancing and singing of main stream songs from over the years. The two singers were good, and the dancers were very good (I kept thinking how can they dance when the ship was rocking). It was an entertaining hour.

 

We also saw several of the other shows. Kyle Wayne was a comedian/ventriloquist/entertainer from Las Vegas. He put on a better than average act, with his best bit involved pulling 6 people from the audience performing a group song with him providing the voices for everyone, then picking one of the people’s pockets (kind of had to be there) . “Cameron” was a comedian/illusionist, once again from Las Vegas. I think his show was a bit funnier than Kyle Wayne’s, even though Cameron was only an opening act. The “headliner” playing with Cameron was JeROME, another comedian from Las Vegas. We caught his early, PG-Rated show. You could tell he was toning it down for the early crowd. Some if his material was dated (jokes about Michael Jackson being on trial, Michael Jackson having plastic surgery, Bill Clinton and interns, etc.) or ordinary (jokes about all of the food on the ship, the sizes of the cabins), but I think he had to cobble material together for a child-tolerant early show. Several people we spoke with who saw his late show said it was much funnier, so I’ll give him a pass.

 

Grade: B (all in all, what you’d expect for an afternoon show in a Vegas casino)

 

Lounge Entertainment

 

These were mainly guys with guitars/synthesizers playing cover tunes, and pianists playing classical, semi-classical and show tunes.

 

Grade: B

 

Overall Entertainment Grade: B

 

Casino

 

Casino Staff

 

The dealers and casino staff were much friendlier than what you usually find in Las Vegas casinos. Everyone was personable and was more than happy to talk to you about their home countries and where you were from. Dealing skills wise, they all seem to deal all the games (I think I saw every dealer working almost every game at least once), but their skills levels are a little below Vegas standards. For example, when dealing Black Jack, they tended to be a bit sloppy in placing the cards. Another time while at the Craps table, a shooter rolled a 7 after making her point, but the dealer did not take my Come bets and return my odds. When I asked why, she said they were “off” on the come out roll. Good for me, but something that would never fly in a Nevada casino.

 

Grade: A- (just watch them on their pay offs)

 

Casino Games

 

The games were better than I’ve seen on previous cruises, but not as good as most Nevada casinos. Black Jack used 6-deck continuous shuffle machines, dealers standing on soft-17's, double any two cards, split cards as many times as you want (except aces), and double after splits. Minimum bets were $3 the first night, and $5 thereafter. The first couple of nights, they had one table with a $100 minimum and $500 maximum bet, which someone was actually playing. After that, the took this table back to a $5 minimum. The Craps table was double odds and roulette used a standard American wheel (zero and double zero). About half of the tables were made up of “Carnival” games (no pun intended) like Let It Ride, Three-Card Poker, Super Fun 21, etc. I’m not an expert, but the pay schedules on the video poker looked really bad. All in all, passable games especially given that there’s no competition, but one’s I wouldn’t play in Vegas where there are better options available.

 

Grades: B-

 

Overall Casino Grade: B

 

 

Ship Activities/Amenities

 

Gym

 

The gym was well equipped and every machine seemed to be in working order. It had three TV’s spread around so those on the treadmills/bikes/stair climbers would have something to do besides looking out the window. As with my previous cruises, the gym was packed the first couple of days, but by the last couple of days, the place was pretty much deserted, and I was able to get a bike pretty much any time of day without waiting. The men’s locker room, which was shared with the Spa, was nice, but was beginning to show its 4 year old age a little. The shower doors were a bit difficult to close, and the water control valve fell-off in my hand one morning. I told the Spa attendant, but it never got fixed while I was on board.

 

Grade: B

 

Pools/Water Slide

 

I try to avoid the sun as much as possible now due to medical reasons so my use of the pools involved jumping in to get wet and running back to the shade. But my kids, on the other hand, used the pools a great deal and liked them. It took them a little while to get over the fact that they were salt water pools, but other than that, they enjoyed them. They also liked the water slide, which tended to have some strange hours. The only drawback was the water slide was not really near any pool the kids could use (the aft pool while labeled the “Children’s Pool” has been turned into the adults only pool). It would have been nice to have the slide flow into a pool, but I guess there are limitations when building ships.

 

Grade: A-

 

Games/Activities

 

There was always something going on game wise. The outdoor activities on embarkation day and the first sea day were lightly attended I think due to the relatively cool weather (70 degrees and overcast), but by the second sea day when things started to warm up, the outdoor games had more participants. I participated in the golf chipping contest (lost) and the basketball free throw contest (lost again) which were fun. They had several pool side activities like horse racing, hairy chest contest, etc. which were fun to watch.

 

We also took in several of the “game shows,” which were entertaining and a good way to kill 30-45 minutes, but nothing too memorable. Carnival really pushed Bingo, but at $10 per game, it just didn’t seem worthwhile to us to play.

 

Grade: B

 

Parties

 

The Captain’s cocktail party was the best one that I have ever attended. On other cruise lines, there was usually a receiving line which you shake hands with the Captain, and then stand-around having a few drinks before heading to dinner. On this cruise, the Captain was standing at the door greeting all the guest. Inside, the wait staff was passing drinks and hors d'oeuvre while the ship’s show band played music and you could dance on the show room stage. The Captain then introduced the senior ship’s officers and thanked everyone for joining the cruise. Very enjoyable.

 

We didn’t make it to the Past Guest Party, but did attend the beginning of the late night deck party. Once again, it was a great time. There was a bunch of dancing, singing and gorging oneself on cheap, but plentiful Mexican food. I couldn’t quite figure out the theme though. They served a Mexican food buffet and margaritas, but the entertainment staff came dressed in sort of a 70's disco motif. Didn’t really matter I guess, since everyone had a great time as long as I don’t have to do the Electric Slide again for a few years.

 

Grade: A+

 

Ship Activities/Amenities Grade: A-

 

 

Camp Carnival

 

Camp Carnival Staff

 

Overall, the staff did a very good to excellent job with the children. I was especially impressed with the safety measures they took. We always had to show our Sign and Sail cards when dropping off or picking up the kids, even after a week of being there and the staff knowing us by name. When the kids and staff ventured out from the confines of the “Fun Zone,” the Pride’s name for the children’s area, there was always at least two staff members on-hand. Our kids had dinner with the Camp one night in the Mermaid’s Grill, during which the staff cornered off a section of the restaurant and guarded it to make sure no one got in our out without their knowledge. I’ve seen less security in Federal Building than what I saw with Camp Carnival. Overall, very impressed with the staff.

 

Grade: A+

 

Camp Carnival Activities

 

I can’t really say too much about their activities from direct observation since no one is allowed into the children’s area, but can say that my kids kept wanting to go back again and again. Twice our 10 year old daughter left early because the activities were “boring,” but the camp staff was astute and flexible enough to make modifications on the fly if the planned activity was losing the kids’ attention. Our 7 year old had a great time with the games and activities. He especially liked the fact that over the week they built a volcano, which they erupted on the last day. All in all, the activities were spot-on for the age groups.

 

Grade: A+

 

Overall Camp Carnival Grade: A+

 

 

The Carnival Pride, Ship’s Staff and Overall Atmosphere

Ship

 

For being a large ship, it was easy to get around and find things. There were plenty of elevators, and never really had to wait for one at any time. The ship itself was maintained to a very good standard, but starting to see a little wear and tear around the edges. As I mentioned earlier, the showers in the men’s locker room had some small maintenance issues. In another case, our booth in the Normandie Dining Room had a tear in the fabric. Nothing major, but just little things here and there. The decor was a bit more colorful than on other ships we’ve been on, and the full scale replica of the Statue of David elicited a few giggles from my daughter and wife, but the decor overall was nothing like the “K-Mart on acid” comments I’ve seen posted by some on these boards.

 

The one thing I would change on board is the flooring around the pool areas. It became extremely slippery when wet (which was most of the time), and saw a great number of people slip and fall, especially those wearing flip-flops. Be careful when you walk, or go barefoot as I did.

 

Grade: B+

 

Ship Staff

 

The ship staff was in almost all cases very friendly and pleasant. I was always meet by a “good morning” and “hello” when walking about, and even those in none customer facing positions like the maintenance staff who would great you with a smile and a nod. The only problem we had was with one sales attendant in the gift shop who was very short an curt with my wife. But one out of 900 staff members did not spoil our vacation.

 

Our Cruise Director was Tina Noble who was taking her very first cruise as the Cruise Director on the Pride. I’ve never really understood what a Cruise Director does besides make announcements, and introduce shows and activities, but she seemed very nice and friendly the limited amount of one-on-on contact we had with her. I got the felling she was bit intimidated by the Captain, who introduced her as “Julie McCoy” at the Captain’s Cocktail Party, but this could just be “new job” jitters.

 

Grade: A

 

Photographers

 

The one group of people we did become somewhat annoyed with were the photographers. It seemed like you couldn’t turn around without them wanting to take your picture. Moreover, most of the photos they did take were not very good, and they wanted top dollar for them. Word of advice to Carnival - cut back on the photographers, and offer more options on the size of the prints sold. There were several photos we might have purchased if they were smaller prints, and not the $21 large 8.5" x 11" prints.

 

Grade: C-

 

Guests

 

I hesitated to even discuss this issue since generalizing about others can be a very dangerous area in which to tread. However, given what I’ve read on these Boards about the type of people that cruise Carnival, I felt obligated to say something about my fellow vacationers.

 

Overall, the vast majority of the people I meet on the Pride were just like myself and my family. The couple we sat with the first night in the dining room were both professionals who were instructors at a community college in California. The gentlemen siting next to us at dinner the rest of the nights was a management consultant like myself. When horse riding in Mazatlan, we meet a mother and daughter traveling together who, together, own several businesses, including a travel agency and insurance agency. None were the booze-swilling, body groping party animals that many believe inhabit Carnival ships.

 

The ages of the people onboard tended to skew younger than on other cruises I’ve been on, but I saw families cruising with members as young as 6-months and as old as 80+. I only saw one instance of someone being really intoxicated, which is about on par with what I’ve seen on other, allegedly more up-scale cruise lines. While there was some minor boorish behavior on board (chair hogging, saving large groups of seats in the show room, pushing all the buttons in the elevator, etc.), the only incident I saw that really crossed the line was one person urinating off his balcony. Fortunately, our room steward told us that he was identified and evicted from the ship at the first stop (I think they should have evicted him right then and made him swim back). And well gross and disgusting, it was no more so than the passed-out drunks covered in you know what that I saw on a different cruise line several years ago. I guess there are malcontents and rubes every where (insert Paris Hilton joke here if you like).

 

All in all, while it seemed everyone had a good time, and I didn’t see any behavior from my fellow guests that would cause me to not to book another Carnival cruise in the future.

 

Grade: Pass by a large margin (only graded pass/fail)

 

Overall The Carnival Pride, Ship’s Staff and Overall Atmosphere Grade: B+

 

Overall Trip

 

I would rate the trip overall as above average, or a solid “B.” We had a good time, and will always remember the trip, but it wasn’t the “best” vacation we have ever taken.

 

At the end of the day, this was the right ship, at the right location at the right time for us. Sailing from Long Beach let us drive to the ship, and avoid flying, which can still be a hassle with a 7 year old and 10 year old. Carnival has a good reputation for Children’s programs, which was important to us, and the ship was large enough so that everyone could find something to do. This sailing also fit into our schedule between work and school.

 

In writing this, I’ve asked myself several questions. Would I sail Carnival again? The answer is “Yes.” Would I recommend Carnival Cruises to others if asked? Yes. Will I sail Carnival exclusively in the future? Probably not. Would I sail this itinerary again? Maybe, but probably not with Carnival.

 

There was nothing on this cruise that would preclude me from sailing with Carnival in the future. At the same time, there was nothing so special about Carnival that I would limit my future cruises to just them. I think the decision criteria for me will be, in order, itinerary, timing and price. If Princess was cruising the same itinerary at the same time for a similar price (say +/- $500), would I chose Carnival. Probably not. But if the price difference was $5,000, you can bet I’d go with Carnival. As far as the itinerary goes, I really love the people in Mexico, and there are parts of the country that are very beautiful, but the ports we called didn’t set my heart on fire. If we were to visit them again on a cruise, it would most likely be with a different cruise line since we’ve already experienced this one. Overall, a very solid effort by Carnival, but just lacking that special something to set it over the top.

[morriscats]

We had as our waiter in 2004 Imade. He was so attentive to our grandkids and even though you could tell he was overworked he was great. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Cruise Beauty]

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough, detailed review. Lovely ;) ! Kudos on the format and the grading system (nice)!

[alberta41]

Thanks for your review. I too was on the Pride that week and thoroughly enjoyed your review...I am in the process of writing mine now. Reading your brought me back. Wish I was still sailing...but am thinking of our next one already.

[neverpar]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.....I can't wait until October!!

[Uncle Fester]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.....I can't wait until October!!

 

Thanks for your review. I too was on the Pride that week and thoroughly enjoyed your review...I am in the process of writing mine now. Reading your brought me back. Wish I was still sailing...but am thinking of our next one already.

 

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough, detailed review. Lovely ;) ! Kudos on the format and the grading system (nice)!

 

You're welcome

[Suzee4]

Great review, thanks so much! Can't wait for ours!

[Uncle Fester]

Great review, thanks so much! Can't wait for ours!

 

You're welcome.

[JGB]

thank you for your considered opinion. it was a joy to read, as i am on the 26 aug sailing.

JGB

[luvtrips]

Your review was great fun to read...thanks--from one Arizonan to another, we'll be driving out from Gilbert, AZ for the July 29th sailing.Now the excitement is killing me!

[Uncle Fester]

thank you for your considered opinion. it was a joy to read, as i am on the 26 aug sailing.

JGB

 

You're welcome.

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for your review. It was a fun read.

[Uncle Fester]

Your review was great fun to read...thanks--from one Arizonan to another, we'll be driving out from Gilbert, AZ for the July 29th sailing.Now the excitement is killing me!

 

Thanks for your review. It was a fun read.

 

You're welcome

[piggs]

Fester,

First of all GREAT review, positives/negatives without nit-picking things.

 

You mentioned the Cruise Director but how about the assistant directors? They are usually the ones in charge of the games and they make or break how much fun they are. Also where were the trivia games held?

 

What table were you at with Imade? We are wondering if the name is very common or if he was our waiter before?

 

We sail on July 1st and while none of these answers will change the rockin good time my family will have, I am a little curious.

 

Thanks,

[wakko98]

Thanks for the great outline. It was very organized. I am going on the Pride in October for my Honeymoon and this answered lots of questions.

[Fancy_Goods]

Thanks Fester! I so enjoyed reading your review. My son and I are sailing Sept 9. He live in Tucson too...can you tell me how long was the drive for you? He's been debating over driving, taking the doggy bus or hoping Amtrak.

 

Also, I would love to hear about your shore experiences.... please share!

[Uncle Fester]

First of all GREAT review, positives/negatives without nit-picking things.

 

Thank you for the compliment.

 

You mentioned the Cruise Director but how about the assistant directors? They are usually the ones in charge of the games and they make or break how much fun they are. Also where were the trivia games held?

 

The only Assistant's name I recall is Beca. She was the one usually running the Bingo games before the shows and seemed very into it. There were also two young men, one British and one Canadian I believe, that were very popular with the young ladies on the cruise. As for the trivia contests, they always seemed to be held in the Taj Mahal Show Room. My wife collected all of the daily ship newspapers, so we will propably post them on-line in the near future so you can see the exact locations.

 

What table were you at with Imade? We are wondering if the name is very common or if he was our waiter before?

 

We were at table 172, just left of the entrance on the main (second floor) level. He was from Indonesia, about 5'10", mid to late 40's with glasses. We actually ran into several Imades on the ship, so it's either a pretty common name in the East Indies or they got a special on the name tags.

 

We sail on July 1st and while none of these answers will change the rockin good time my family will have, I am a little curious.

 

Thanks

[Uncle Fester]

Thanks Fester! I so enjoyed reading your review. My son and I are sailing Sept 9. He live in Tucson too...can you tell me how long was the drive for you? He's been debating over driving, taking the doggy bus or hoping Amtrak.

 

Also, I would love to hear about your shore experiences.... please share!

 

Thank you for the compliment.

 

Our family lives in LA, so we make the drive fairly often. It usually takes between 7.5 and 8.5 hours depending upon traffic in Phoenix and the LA area, and how often the kids have to stop. Never have taken the bus, and the one time I took the train, it took 14 hours. My preferred method is to fly. With Southwest offering direct flights between Tucson and LAX for around $120 round trip, it's the shortest time wise (assuming everything is on time).

 

I'm working on a review of our shore experiences, which I'll post on the Ports of Call board, since none of them were through Carnvial. But in short:

 

Puerto Vallarta: Don't go to the reptile park at the University, and where ever you go, use a yellow cab not a white one. The yellow are much cheaper and have better air conditioning.

 

Mazatlan: Do do an outing with Rand's Happy Horses. Great ride on the beach, great food, and much cheaper than the Carnival excursion.

 

Cabo: The water's much colder than the other two ports, and there are more people trying sell you things.

[OceanDreamin]

A very detailed review - like someone else said, without all the nit-picky stuff. I enjoyed reading it.

 

It was interesting to read about the changes that have taken place since I cruised in late April - a new cruise director and a different piano bar entertainer. I'm sorry you didn't get to experience one of the "on" cruises in the Piano bar. On my cruise the Piano bar was SO much fun.

 

A couple of things that you brought up in your review kind of jumped out at me, and I thought I would address them:

 

One night during dinner, my DD needed to go to the bathroom, and as I was walking back towards the dining room I noticed our drink server from the dining room at the side of the bar in the ATRIUM filling her drink orders. Yeah, that wasn't well thought out! That is quite a bit of a walk - especially for tables towards the BACK of the dining room. No wonder it took you so long to get your drinks.

 

Also, as to the "children's pool" - yeah, the sign coming out of the Mermaid Grill that says Children's Pool" is misleading. The Children's pool is out that way (towards the adults-only pool) and then UP ONE FLIGHT OF STAIRS. The Children's Pool is actually a little wading pool which is near the entrance to the water slide. Why the have the sign for it one deck down, I have NO idea.

 

Sounds like you and your family had a good time, and thanks again for your review.

[Uncle Fester]

 

Also, as to the "children's pool" - yeah, the sign coming out of the Mermaid Grill that says Children's Pool" is misleading. The Children's pool is out that way (towards the adults-only pool) and then UP ONE FLIGHT OF STAIRS. The Children's Pool is actually a little wading pool which is near the entrance to the water slide. Why the have the sign for it one deck down, I have NO idea.

 

Thanks, that explains the sign and the reason why the crew had tapped signs to the doors going outside that the large pool on deck 9 was the adult only pool.

[deelovescruising]

Thank you for the detailed review. My family and I will be cruising the Pride in 18 days.

[Uncle Fester]

Thank you for the detailed review. My family and I will be cruising the Pride in 18 days.

 

You're welcome.

[jennbill]

We loved Randi's Happy Horses. She's quite a character. The ferry ride over to the horses was an experience. Did you have lunch at that little beach restaurant? The shrimp were great there! I loved how Randi would shoo away disreputable vendors.

[rebeljohn]

Very well done review..............I like your format.......Thanks for posting it......

[Uncle Fester]

We loved Randi's Happy Horses. She's quite a character. The ferry ride over to the horses was an experience. Did you have lunch at that little beach restaurant? The shrimp were great there! I loved how Randi would shoo away disreputable vendors.

 

Our kids had lunch at Victor's (I was still too full from breakfast), but the food looked very good. The simple fact that he was only charging $1.20 per beer while sitting on the beach was fine with me. I would highly recommend Randi's tour to anyone going to Mazatlan.