Just okay unfortunately
Carnival Pride Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 9
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Baltimore Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 12, 2024
Ship: Carnival Pride
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 4215
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 26 days ago
Review summary
A lot of improvements could be made but my group made the best of itEmbarkation
While it was no one's fault the key bridge collapsed... It was disappointing that Carnival did not give cruisers the option to postpone their Cruise. Had we wanted to deal with a 4-Hour drive we would have chosen a bigger ship out of a different port! We chose Carnival pride because we live 15 minutes from the Port of Baltimore. We had to miss important activities due to this extra unplanned commute. Carnival did a nice job organizing the bus ride and it was a smooth ride for the most part... but it was awful that the bus did not put anything on the TV's for that 4-Hour ride and you couldn't open a window for fresh air.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Buffets were the same every day which was annoying. Also, I noticed little things running out which was extra annoying. The taco place was fabulous! The pizza was pretty good. A lot of the desserts were dry or very light in flavor.... The main dining room was nice; however also very frustrating with The new check in to dine. Why are we waiting out in a hallway when we can clearly see 50 open tables? I'm not sure why it is this way now, but it sucks. I miss the times when we could just walk in, pick our own table and sit down and wait there. This was my third Cruise but my first cruise as a mother with my 8-year-old daughter. No one ever told me that there was a children's menu in the main dining room! On day 4 I saw a child eating something that wasn't on the main menu so I asked about it.... That was really frustrating to finally find that out on day 4.... And also, the first night in the dining room the server asked my daughter if she wanted a strawberry daiquiri and we said yes! No one told me that would be a $10 charge. I don't mind paying for it but the point is no one told me it was going to be charged. I thought it was just a special drink for eating in the main dining room!!! I understand if I order one myself at a bar I'm going to be charged but again the fact that no one told me was very disappointing.
Onboard Activities
The pools were usually over crowded. The hot tubs were full of children splashing and swimming around with Goggles on! A hot tub should have a sign "not for children under 8". The children's splash pad and the slides were great! The mini golf had the potential to be a lot of fun BUT it was impossible to play a fun competitive game of mini golf. The golf balls were way to light... The wind took them all over the place and they wouldn't stay out. Also, there were no borders walls/barriers to keep the balls on the actual course. They were just all over the place. Super disappointing and one less thing for us to do on the ship
Entertainment
PG comedy show was actually funny but it was not for children. Being PG I assumed that it might be geared towards children BUT My daughter hated sitting through that show because she didn't understand a single joke. The description should say "not intended for children." During the day, there weren't really any options for family shows. The family feud live was great!! The final stage performance was also a nice special touch. I would LOVE to see a magic show and a show or 2 geared towards children. The build a bear for kids was fun but they ran out of the animal my daughter wanted so that was disappointing.
Children's Programs
My daughter initially did not want to go to the camp until she finally met a friend on day 4. I took her and she ended up loving it. Except for the video games. She said the only other choice for her was to make bracelets. Video games are awful so for those children you don't want to sit there and stare at a screen they should be given plenty of other options... Board games, painting, playdough, etc. Etc. ... We loved the fact that the children got to go on stage for a performance at the end of the cruise! My daughter loved that.
Service and Staff
Everyone was always kind and friendly and helpful
Ship Quality
Layout and design is fine. The elevator buttons inside and out should be wiped dally! Seeing all the dirty fingerprints was kind of gross... I absolutely loved that there were napkins in the public bathrooms for using to open the door with your clean hands! That was amazing to see!!
Cabin / Stateroom
Cabin was nice and mostly what we expected but it was a little dusty... Also I had the king bed setup and the crack in the middle was obnoxious. It should be standard that if a guest wants a king bed there should be a wedge put in that crack so they don't feel it. I did request a pillow topper and I did receive that but it was so light and thin that it barely did anything
Ship tip
Make the most of it
Thumbs up
1
Ports of call
Gorgeous island, Crystal clear water.... But not enough time at all. My group didn't excursion immediately upon getting off of the ship. And it was excellent! But 2 hours later when we were finished we had to go get back on the ship to eat lunch.... By the time we were finished we didn't have any time to go back out and enjoy the beautiful beach.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island) Did not visit port
The skies were clear but the waters were rough and because we had to take a shuttle to the Private Island we did not get to go! This was extremely disappointing especially because we did not get to go and enjoy the beach at Grand turk. We assumed it was okay because we were going to this island and we would get to enjoy this beach. But that didn't happen.... We understand it's no one's fault that the water was rough. But we were compensated a whole $20 for missing an entire day..... The pools were overly crowded and there was nowhere to sit because everyone had planned to go out that day... To avoid this happening in the future I think Carnival has enough money to build a pier so a shuttle is not necessary. It was so disappointing to miss this island. This was the only island my mom had not yet been too and the one she was most excited for!
The shopping part is great but the fact that you have to drive 20 minutes to a beach and then pay to get on that beach is absurd and ridiculous. We would not have felt the need to do that had we been able to stop at the island we were supposed to go to the day before. We did not have enough time at Grand Turk to enjoy that beach and my daughter had not been to a beach with crystal clear water so we felt the need to unfortunately pay that outrageous amount of money to go sit on a beach. Carnival should have reimbursed the cost for that because again, that was not our plan and we would not have went to A Freeport Beach had we stopped at Half Moon Cay like we were supposed to.
Disembarkation
Smooth... Liked the option of carrying our own luggage for a quicker disembarkation. Again having to drive 4 hours home was not fun. The bus we we're on for the way home was super loud and sounded like something was wrong with it!! Same complaint as on the way to Virginia Port ... Nothing on the TV and no fresh air. It was sooo hot on the bus ride home.
Traveler Photos
