We had hoped this Carnival cruise would be good value for money, and it was. But Carnival Pride was a much better ship than we expected, in many ways. Our balcony room was nicer than some "premium" lines' balcony rooms we have used, and the cabin staff was better. Beds and bathroom were quite comfortable, and the room was large.

We were quite surprised at how nice the Pride's common areas were. They are not gaudy or over-decorated, and the refined art deco look seemed well done. Everything worked well. And the non-glass elevators are amazingly quick to whisk you from top to bottom, or back. The glassed atrium elevators were a bit slower, but that allowed you to enjoy the view.

The Lido buffet was much better than we expected too. It and the nearby Cantina served more tasty entrees with more variety day to day than the Normandie main dining room. In fact the Normandie dining room was the only down part of our experience on Pride. The servers were poorly trained, and the entrees were never served hot. Excellent appetizers and desserts, though. The Normandie will take a lot of your time (we averaged over two hours per, and that without drinks!!), so we would suggest either you order lots of appetizers and no entrees there, or eat your meals at the excellent Lido, Deli, and Cantina buffets. Read more