good but didn't meet expectations.

Item: Carnival Pride
Rating: 3
Author: biggshizawn

Carnival Pride Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

biggshizawn

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 22

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Baltimore Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 19, 2016

Ship: Carnival Pride

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 5110

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

the cruise was ok. half moon cay and grand turk was amazing. avoid freeport at all costs. service on the ship is hit and miss. ship was clean. the food is good. the burgers are great. the cruise try to extort about 84 bucks for "tips" for the crew which i did not like. will cruise again maybe try another ship/ cruiseline

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

great dive in movies

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

extort money for hours u need the most

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

marlon was awesome

Ports of call

Baltimore, Maryland

3 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

very nice

Thumbs Up 0

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

best beach ever

Thumbs Up 1

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

1 out of 5

avoid at all cost. waste of a day. rather stay at half moon cay 4 another day

Thumbs Up 0

25 Comments

DWB 8 years ago

Talk about being a tightwad. My wife and I will tip $8-$10 for one meal at like Red Lobster. Cruising is the cheapest quality vacation. Carnival is one of the cheapest for tipping. Just stay home, we don't need people like you cruising.

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Deniseg 8 years ago

We always tip extra.

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nursmel 8 years ago

Great at least I won't be the only first timer.lol

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Joylove89 8 years ago

Nursmel. Yes we are

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dkysor 8 years ago

Freeport isn't bad, 2 excursions liked them both just make sure you are on an early departure for one

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nursmel 8 years ago

Alishia1256 are you gonna be on the pride May7-14 2017?? My fiance and I will be and it will be my first cruise also!!so excited

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rltmjt403 8 years ago

The ship docks in an industrial area. There are shops at the pier though. Once you get away from the pier it is a beautiful island. They aren't in port long enough to do most of the excursions.

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thechamplins 8 years ago

Prepaying gratuities is a VERY good idea!

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bob1950 8 years ago

My wife and I always tip the room steward and the waiters in the dining room extra

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JusMe 8 years ago

Ann48.................... do you tip when you eat a meal out ? Do you tip a hotel bell hop ? $12 is very low for tipping when you think that cover tips for breakfast, lunch, dinner and your cabin steward that cleans up YOUR trash and dirty towels twice a day.

I tip extra to the room steward to keep my ice bucket full and fresh towels. The MDR staff also if I get great service. I have had the MDR staff give a tip to the chef that made me a special dinner because I did not care for the evenings offerings.

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Joylove89 8 years ago

Do people not read information on the cruise before they board? I never been on a cruise but i will soon (310 days, but who's counting) and I know about the tips per day. Which is why i think its better to pay ahead. Its not much really and i have to pay for me n both my daughters and already planning extra to give while on the crusie.

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Izzybee 8 years ago

Lol, these cheap sakes that think $12 a day per person in tips, kill me!!! You obliviously didn't take the time to acknowledge those that served you. We take the time to get to those that served us. And shockingly we extra give our bartenders tips every time they made us a drink and an extra cash tip at the end of the cruise. We also tipped our room steward in cash at the end of the trip.

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jmatty 8 years ago

I tip extra, they go above and beyond to make your cruise fun and exciting.

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thechamplins 8 years ago

$12/day if I recall correctly

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dondada3760 8 years ago

As of the matter-of-fact Carnival charges the lease in tipping

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perrywalden3 8 years ago

ann48...yes, they could pay them more and not have guests pay tips but then the cruise cost would have to rise as well and then you'd complain about that. Find a land vacation where you have to get a hotel room, eat three meals a day, and pay for entertainment and compare the cost of that to your cruise fare and tips. You are still getting a deal.

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thechamplins 8 years ago

ann48 - you don't believe in paying gratuities? Like anywhere else, Carnival pays their employees, but patrons are responsible for gratuities. And the staff on The Pride EARN EVERY PENNY! In fact, most people give extra!!

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gageane 8 years ago

Every cruise line has some sort of tip policy. Look at if you went out to a restaurant, would you tip your waiter or the bar tender ?? These people behind the scenes work extremely hard to please you

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tootall341 8 years ago

If service is poor then I could understand reducing tips but just being a cheapskate after people serve you all week is poor form. Guess you don't tip at bars and restaurants either ann

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teresapreedy 8 years ago

We were on the pride in December. Not one complaint! Staff was amazing and we tipped extra on top of what we pre paid in gratuities.. They work hard to keep everyone happy..

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sunshine220 8 years ago

cody25 if in Freeport you'll want to plan something not much right off ship we did pat and Diane's snorkeling includes transportation about $50 a person or you can book a beach day I heard grand lucayan is good don't know if I spelled it right there is a jeep excursion some people liked as well

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ann48 8 years ago

it's the cruise lines responsibility to pay their staff, not the passengers who have paid plenty for their cruise!

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tootall341 8 years ago

It's not extortion when they advertise how much the automatically pull out per person per day. All you had to do was goto the desk if you wanted to lower it. The tips are how all those people waiting on you day and night make a living. As for Freeport it's always advised to book an excursion but maybe I'll just have a word with the captain and have him take us somewhere else instead ;)

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rltmjt403 8 years ago

All cruise lines does that. If they wouldn't the staff wouldn't get paid for there hard work.

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cody90 8 years ago

I'll be in freeport next week...

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