Carnival Cruise Lines has every right to be proud of the Carnival Pride. She was the second of three "Spirit Class" ships in the line's current fleet and, though the Carnival Pride is very similar in general layout to her sister ships, she is quite different in style once onboard. The Panamax (largest size ships that can transit the Panama Canal) Spirit Class offerings are destined to become workhorses for the fleet and, thanks to her unique theme, the Carnival Pride is destined to provide the line with a sense of pride for many years to come.
The Carnival Spirit came first in the class, and the Carnival Legend was third. The former features architectural styles from throughout history, while the latter offers legendary people and places as her theme. The fourth Spirit Class ship, the Carnival Miracle, is scheduled to enter service in March 2004 and will feature famous icons from fiction (like Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein and Poe's Raven).
Carnival's renowned interior architect Joe Farcus chose "Icons of Beauty" as the central design idea for the Carnival Pride, in direct response to the requests of repeat passengers (Carnival Cruise Lines now has more than 30 years worth of them). Finding inspiration in everything from classic architecture and artistic masterpieces to athletic achievement and the human body, Farcus created a classic and quite classy) environment that provides passengers with myriad representations of beauty. Of he unique design, Farcus says, "From the physical to the spiritual to the experiential, beauty can be represented in many ways."
The beauty theme is definitely represented in the soaring lobby and nine-story atrium, including the ornate elevators and stairwells Throughout this typically bustling area, the design and craftsmanship of the Italia Renaissance are represented with rich manifestations in wood and bronze, with warm color tones of gold, sienna, and red throughout the space. This popular venue would eventually become one of our favorites for people-watching and pre-dinner cocktails and entertainment.
Architectural beauty is celebrated in the nearby Taj Mahal showlounge. Here, high lights include intricate Indian motifs, elephant friezes, and stonework with small jewels pressed into decorative designs that are beautifully illuminated from behind. More architectural beauty is represented in the two-story/two-seating Normandie Restaurant. Here Farcus emphasized dark wood and lots of "Art Deco" design elements base on the famed trans-Atlantic liner Normandie It makes for an elegant dining option for all three meals.
The beauty of experience is the theme it both the Perfect Game sports bar and the Winner's Club casino. The first has a fanciful motif of every imaginable ball used in sports they serve as wall sculptures and table bases--even the carpet depicts sports balls and the bar's curtains resemble basketball nets. The Winner's Club theme represents the experience of winning, with the feel of the Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, thanks to colorful bas-relief statues of jockeys and paintings of horses on the walls and ceiling.
The beauty of art is featured in the Ivory Piano Bar, as well as the Starry Night jazz club. The former features the Japanese art of netsuki (ivory carvings), with numerous resin-cast reproductions of netsuki interspersed with cast bonsai trees and pagoda-like lanterns in an Eastern-inspired room already highlighted by warm wood tones. The popular jazz club's interior provokes a reaction of having walked into a courtyard surrounded by lots of walls, windows, and shutters. The ceiling and wall are painted with a mural based on Van Gogh's famous "Starry Night" and illuminated by tiny lights.
Intellectual achievement and ideas are enshrined in the Nobel Library, which also serves as the ship's internet cafe (a combination we don't love). Named for the prize created by Sweden's Alfred Nobel, the blue and light-green room has a sparse and simple Scandinavian design and offers portraits of Nobel, the King of Sweden, and past award ceremonies.
The human body and form beyond the mind is celebrated in spaces like David's Supper Club, Mermaids' Grille, and Beauties Dance Club. David's, the ship's reservations-only specialty dining room, is uniquely located at the top of the soaring nine-story atrium. Actually, it's situated in a red-tinted glass dome that forms the forward portion of the massive winged funnel. The room is replete with lots of wood accents in a modern Renaissance style, including a full-size replica of Michelangelo's famed statue.
Mermaids' Grille is the ship's sprawling casual dining option. In keeping with the beauty theme, this space features three-dimensional cast sculptures of a school of haft-woman/half-fish beings. The figures are finished in weathered copper and successfully appear to float on sprays of cascading water (upon further inspection, it's actually acrylic that's illuminated from within). Between the banquettes of this generally busy restaurant, more metallic sculptures floating on "water" offer boys playfully riding dolphins. The watery theme continues with multi colored shells in blue and green hues on the ceiling and windowed walls covered in a mirror material that's been antiqued to somewhat successfully resemble seawater. Despite the bustle, this room is a pleasant visual respite anytime of day.
The Sunset Garden and Butterflies Lounge both celebrate beauty in its natural state. Mother Nature takes center stage in the Sunset Garden, which forms an enclosed portion of the ship's Atlantic Deck promenade. This generally quiet area features sun-drenched murals in gold, umber, and burnt red. The Butterflies Lounge showcases faux windows offering transparent fabrics with butterfly wings that disappear during certain lighting to be replaced by flocks of floating butterflies. Neon and black lights illuminate metallic-glitter butterflies on the walls and four different butterfly patterns in the upholstery of this under-utilized and unusual lounge.
The outside spaces present more artwork in the form of several sculptures and a huge mural depicting Botticelli's "Birth of Venus." The pools are named after Poseidon, Apollo and Venus, with stunning bronze sculptures adorning the space between the pools and hot tubs in each area. The six-foot statues, created by Italian sculptor Katia Tasselli, each took several months to complete.
Along with providing the artistic themes of beauty throughout the ship, Carnival amassed an eclectic international collection of classic and contemporary art to enhance the ship's interiors. While not the most valuable in cruising history, it's among the most interesting collections afloat--even after seven days on the ship, we were still finding new artwork to admire.
Stair landings feature 70 decorative vases and candleholders by Czech glass artist Borek Slipek, who created similar pieces for the Carnival Spirit. For this ship, Slipek designed Renaissance-inspired items with ornate modern details. They're all beautifully displayed in glass cases.
The stair landings and bulkhead areas also include 27 original (and large) murals by British artist Andrea Tana, who has works on several other Carnival ships and in many private and public collections worldwide. Tana's panels were inspired by the works of Gauguin, Matisse, and similar artists, with their almost luminous look achieved by mixing several different hues in sweeping patterns of green, blue, amber, yellow, and more.
Even the passenger corridors feature art. For them, Italian Augusto Vignalli prepared large and colorfully stunning murals depicting the female figure. These "revealing" pieces and a few others have definitely provoked a few comments from parents and more conservative passengers, but they're apparently in a small minority.
Finally, each of the staterooms features several of the ship's 15 motifs in addition to oil paintings by American Janine Alter, whose works are inspired by her world travels. For the Carnival Pride, Alter drew upon a visit to Provence, resulting in a soothing series of 14 different pastel-hued paintings of the countryside.
We found our standard oceanview stateroom with balcony (this category makes up a majority of the cabins) to be more than adequate on all fronts. Its space, layout, storage, bathroom facilities, amenities, and balcony were all well designed. Our room steward was attentive and friendly, without being the least overbearing.
The ship's three-deck high Taj Mahal Lounge plays host to two high-energy Las Vegas-style production shows, as well as other events. At presstime, the two shows were "Wonderful World" and "Vroom!" Both were well received on our sailing, with the former taking passengers on a journey to the 1964 New York World's Fair, on a balloon ride over France, a race through Monaco, and to the Orient. The latter features "Gabe Pure." who provides a rollicking trip through the history of rock & roll.
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Both shows and other entertainment showcase the abilities of the ship's 18 young singers and dancers. They're ably backed by a 10-piece orchestra and supported by a 43-person technical team that's been provided with a multi-million-dollar computerized sound and lighting system, a turntable stage, retractable orchestra pit, and more.
Entertainment options were plentiful most times of day elsewhere on the ship. Along with the aforementioned atrium/lobby area. we sought out classical music (a nice trio), a jazz quartet, and a pianist in several unique venues. The Raphael Lounge outside the Normandie became a bit loud just prior to early and late seatings, but we easily found fewer crowds and some sort of entertainment in other venues (like the Florentine Lobby and Ivory Piano Bar). Dancing, in many forms, is available in several venues, depending on the entertainment being offered.
The fine art theme continues with the Carnival Pride's fare, where we found the menus surprisingly inviting in the Normandie Restaurant and, especially, David's Supper Club. At other times, the Mermaids' Grille did provide good self-serve stations when we were in more of a hurry (including a great deli sandwich station and several 24-hour stations, like gourmet pizza). The room-service menu also offered several interesting sandwich options, which we enjoyed during an in-room movie one afternoon (followed, for a small cost, by a cappuccino and pastry from the little Piazza Cafe).
The nightly Normandie menus feature a nice array of eight soups, salads, and appetizers, seven entrees, and six desserts. The presentation of everything was always interesting, and the youngish international staff was obviously well-schooled with knowledge of the menu choices. We also actually enjoyed lingering over lunches in this dining room--often. The waiter also serves as a wine steward, so passengers generally need to know what vintages they like or dislike. Thanks to wine aficionado (and Carnival president and CEO) Bob Dickinson, the Normandie's wine list is quite impressive and not overpriced.
We were enthralled with the experience at David's Supper Club, where we enjoyed one of the best meals we've ever had afloat. Patterned alter New York City's famed steakhouses, David's offers a selection of hand-cut and dry-aged prime steaks, chops, and seafood, as well as Florida stone-crab claws (in season). The specially trained wait staff presents the options tableside and explains why some cuts may not be offered because the quality wasn't up to snuff. We found the meats to be the obvious choice, accompanied by red wines from the special list recommended by the wine steward. During the meal, the chef may send out one or two little taste treats for diners to enjoy on the house. Nightly entertainment enhances the mood. There's a $25 per-person reservations fee that we consider a bargain, and we're now anxious to try other specialty dining rooms in the fleet.
Of course, Carnival is family-friendly, and our summer cruise to Bermuda included lots of happy kids and parents. The line's complimentary "Camp Carnival" was in full swing, but we were sans kids and honestly only noticed children's activities in passing a few times. Some of the program's offerings include: geography classes; lots of arts & crafts options; a computer lab; tons of toys; candy-making; "teens-only" shore excursions (when appropriate); and more. The focal point of many Camp Carnival activities is the Fun Club, which is conveniently located on deck 5. A visit to this bustling area revealed children who had spent most of their waking hours here. The kids also told us about the outdoor play area on deck 11 and the high-tech game room on deck 4 just below the Fun Club.
The food front is also friendly to kids, with special children's menus in the Normandie Restaurant; family favorites like hot dogs, burgers, and fries at Mermaids' Grille; and 24-hour availability of pizza and ice cream or frozen yogurt. Carnival also recently introduced a new children's dining program that offers supervised children's dinners on most nights of a cruise (all but the first night on three- and four-day cruises and all but the first and last nights on voyages of five days or longer). There's even turndown service with freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies on the first and last nights of a voyage.
Carnival also features several other services for a small charge. Parents apparently love the nightly babysitting service offered from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. (current hourly rates of $6 for the first child, plus $4 for each additional child from the same family). Now there's even stroller rental onboard and ashore. Furthermore, Carnival's fleetwide "Fountain Fun Card" provides unlimited sodas throughout the duration of the cruise ($22.95 for a seven-night sailing).
Carnival's relatively spacious stateroom options are also family-friendly, with several levels of cabin categories that can accommodate up to four guests and 52 interconnecting rooms that are popular with large families and multi-generational gatherings.
Because of Carnival's demographics and the Carnival Pride's itineraries, many passengers are active and take full advantage of the ship's very busy health and fitness center. Located at the front of the ship with a great view, the two-level spa and gym features just enough of all the modern exercise machines and free weights, plus a nice little hot tub for soothing tired muscles (or socializing with other fitness-minded passengers).
The European-style spa offers lots of exotic treatments (the "aroma stone therapy" is highly recommended), a large, full-service beauty salon, and an airy aerobics studio where an array of scheduled fitness classes are offered dally. Young and buff personal trainers are available for one-on-one sessions for a fee. The spa concept is carried outside the health and fitness center, thanks to the line's "Carnival Spa Fare" program. Offered in the Normandie Restaurant, the Mermaids' Grille, and even on the room-service menu, this surprisingly delicious fare is generally low in fat, calories, sodium, and cholesterol content. Meats, fish, and poultry are typically roasted or broiled, salads are prepared with diet dressings, and desserts are created with sugar substitutes. Vegetarians will find daily choices in the Normandie Restaurant and a huge and creative salad bar up at Mermaids' Grille.
We really liked the ship's layout that placed most passenger cabins on five decks and most public areas below and above them. This included the shopping, which was grouped in an area on deck 3 called "The Fun Shops" (including anything you might--or might not--need).
Other noteworthy areas of this intriguing ship include: the busy twisting pool slide that makes for a fun spectator sport; outdoor Bar Venus on deck 9, which is fun when the ship's at sea during nice weather; Winner's Club Casino, which was frequently filled with money-hungry action; and the Crystal Card Room, which saw little action during our cruise.
All in all, the Carnival Pride is a keeper, and we'd definitely sail on her again now that she has repositioned to the West Coast (Bermuda itineraries are scheduled on other ships in the Carnival fleet). It's very easy to see why Carnival officials were bursting with pride when she entered service.
MS CARNIVAL PRIDE FACTS & FIGURES
Company: Carnival Cruise Lines.
Built: 2001, Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Helsinki, Finland.
Country Of Registry: Panama.
Gross Registered Tonnage: 88,500.
Length: 960 ft. Beam: 105.7 ft.
Draft: 25.7 ft. Speed: 22 knots (maximum).
Propulsion: Six Wartsila 9L46D diesel engines; three 1910 kW bow thrusters; fin-type roll stabilizers; two 17.6 MW Azipods; 3 EMRI-type joysticks.
Passenger Capacity: 2,124 (double occupancy), 2,667 (all berths).
Passenger Space Ratio: 41.7.
Normal Crew Size: 930.
Nationality Of Craw: Italian officers; international crew, cruise, and hotel staff.
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Cabins: 1,062 staterooms on six decks, of which 849 are oceanview (80 percent of outside staterooms have private balconies) including 6 penthouse suites with private balconies (465 square feet including balcony), 52 suites with private balconies (315 sq. ft including balcony), 624 standard outside cabins with private balconies (225 sq. ft. including balcony), 68 standard outside cabins with French doors (185 sq. ft.), 99 standard outside cabins (185 sq. ft.), and 213 standard inside cabins (185 sq. ft.). There are 16 wheelchair accessible cabins equipped with modified doorways and bathroom facilities--4 of which are inside cabins (two each in categories 4C and 4D), 4 which are obstructed-view outside cabins without balconies (category 5A), 2 which are obstructed view with balconies (category 7A), and 6 outside cabins with balconies (two each in categories 8E, 8G, and 81)--with square footages ranging from 250 to 360, including balcony, where appropriate. All staterooms feature individually controlled thermostats, relatively spacious private facilities with showers (with a full line of amenities, hair-dryers, robes, makeup mirror, and a varying basket of promotional items from companies--razors, aspirin, etc.). Each cabin has a safe and an interactive TV system for booking shore excursions, ordering room service, pay-per-view movies, and more. Suites and penthouse suites have all the standard features, plus a stocked mini-bar, TV/VCR combo, and whirlpool bathtub.
Public Rooms: Normandie Restaurant (formal dining room, seats 1,250) Taj Majal (main showlounge, 1,167), Mermaids' Grille (poolside restaurant, 458), Butterflies Lounge cabaret lounge, 348), The Winners' Club (casino bar, 278), David's Supper Club (specialty dining, 156), Starry Night (jazz club, 135), Beauties (dance club, 118), The Piazza Cafe (patisserie, 112), Ivory Piano Bar (106), Captain's Club (restaurant annex, 66), Florentine Lounge (atrium bar, 85), Perfect lame Bar (aborts bar, 67), Raphael Lounge 66), Sunset Garden (winter garden, 52), Nobel Library (library/internet center, 23), Crystal (card room, 20), Information Desk.
Facilities/Features: Fully air-conditioned, stabilized, 12 passenger decks, 15 passenger elevators, 9-deck-high atrium, fully-quipped spa & health club (14,500 sq. ft., including saunas, steam rooms, 10 massage and therapy rooms providing facials, massage using varied techniques, ionithermie detox, aromatherapy, and various exotic therapies and treatments), pizzeria, jogging track, tuxedo rental, floral shop, children's playroom, casino (12 card-game tables, 2 roulette tables, 1 craps table, 2 $5 slots, 43 $1 slots, 124 25 cents slots, 35 5 cents slots), beauty salon, wedding chapel, duty-free shops, library, conference center, 4 swimming pools, 5 whirlpools, infirmary, video game room, spiral water slide. Wide-ranging wheelchair access in public areas (decks 1 through 4 and decks 9 through 11), with ramps and handicap restrooms (on decks 2, 3, and 9). Showrooms and all dining venues are nonsmoking, although smoking is allowed in designated areas of most public rooms and staterooms.
Money Matters: The Carnival Pride offers "Cashless Cruising" where the room-key/ID-card is used to purchase all onboard services (casino charges for chips and tokens up to $1,000 per day with a three percent processing fee, bar charges plus a 15 percent gratuity, shore excursions, spa, sundries, etc.). Passenger credit-card information is provide in advance for express checkout and an itemized statement is delivered to the stateroom on the final night. Those not wishing to use a credit card will need to leave a cash deposit with the purser's office at the beginning of the cruise. A $9.75 per-person/per-day gratuity is added to the bill ($3.50 for the cabin steward, $5.50 for dining-room waiters and assistant waiters, and 75 cents for alternative dining service), although adjustments can be easily made with the purser's desk onboard. Other shipboard staff gratuities (casino, spa, maitre d', room service, etc.) are at passenger discretion.
Itineraries/Fares: The Carnival Pride is currently sailing year-round from Long Beach, California, with a seven-day roundtrip itinerary that includes the Mexican Riviera destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. Per-person/per-diem rates run between $85 and $207 with Super Saver advanced purchase discounts, but there are any number of other special discounts available through the Carnival web site and travel agents that provide substantial savings. Single rates of 150 to 200 percent generally apply.
For More Information: Contact your travel agent or Carnival Cruise Lines (Cruise Travel Magazine), 3655 NW 87th Ave., Miami, FL 33178; call 1-800-CARNIVAL, or log on to www.carnival.com.
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