Cruise Travel....

Ship of the Month:  Carnival Cruise Lines Carvial Pride
A Unique Source of Pride for the "Fun Ship" Fleet

Carnival Cruise Lines has every right to be very proud of the Carnival Pride. She was the second of three “Spirit Class” ships in Carnival’s fleet and, though the Carnival Pride is very similar in general layout with her sister ships, she is quite different in style once onboard. Carnival’s Spirit Class offerings (the largest that can transit the Panama Canal) are destined to become workhorses for the fleet and, thanks to her unique theme, the Carnival Pride is definitely destined to provide the line with a sense of pride for many years to come.

The Carnival Spirit came first and the Carnival Legend was third in the Spirit Class line. The former features architectural styles from throughout history, while the latter offers legendary people and places as its theme. The fourth Spirit ship, the Carnival Miracle, is scheduled to come into service in November, 2004, 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 and it was definitely a response to the requests of repeat passengers (Carnival now has 30 years worth of them). Finding inspiration in everything from classic architecture and artistic masterpieces to athletic achievement and human body, Farcus created a classic (and quite classy) environment that provides passengers with representations of beauty in all of its manifestations. Of the 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 arts and craftsmanship of the Italian Renaissance are represented with rich manifestations in wood and bronze, with warm color tones of gold, sienna, and red throughout the space. This popular space 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 show lounge. Here, highlights include intricate Indian motifs, elephant friezes, and stonework with small jewels pressed into decorative designs and beautifully illuminated from behind. More architectural beauty is represented in the two-story Normandie Restaurant. Here Farcus emphasized dark woods and lots of "Art Deco" design elements based on the famed transatlantic liner Normandie. It makes for an elegant dining option for all three meals.

The beauty of experience is the theme in the both the Perfect Game sports bar and the Winner’s Club casino. The Perfect Game sports a fanciful motif of every imaginable ball used in sports--they serve as wall sculptures and table bases--plus, 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 Bar piano lounge, as well as the Starry Night jazz club. The piano bar 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 famed Van Gogh painting, “Starry Night,” is utilized as a ceiling and wall mural that’s 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 Supper Club is the ship’s reservations-only specialty dining room and is uniquely located at the top of the Pride’s soaring nine-story atrium. It’s actually 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 half-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 window walls covered in a mirror material that’s been antiqued to somewhat successfully resemble seawater. Despite the bustle, this room is a quite 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. The generally quiet area features sun-drenched murals in gold, umber, and burnt red. Butterflies Lounge features 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 certainly not the most valuable in cruising history, it’s definitely among the most interesting collections afloat--even after seven days on the ship, we were still finding new artwork to admire.

The Pride’s 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 very small majority.

Finally, each of the staterooms features several of the 15 motifs and 14 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’ outside stateroom with balcony (the category makes up a majority of the cabins) to be more than adequate on all fronts. It’s 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 press time, 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 ‘n roll.

Both shows and other entertainment showcase the abilities of the ship’s 18 young singers and dancer. 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 state, retractable orchestra pit, and more.

Entertainment options were plentiful most times of the 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 less crowds and some sort of entertainment in other venues (like the Florentine Lobby and Ivory Piano bar).

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. When we weren’t dining in one of these two spots, the Mermaids’ Grille did provide great self-serve stations when we were in more of a hurry. 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).

As mentioned, the two-story Normandie restaurant has dark woods and art deco features that are reminiscent of the luxury ocean liner. The nightly 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 obviously trained and knowledgeable as to the menu choices. We actually enjoyed lingering lunches in this dining room often as well.

The waiter also serves as a wine steward, so passengers generally need to know what they tend to like or dislike. Thanks to wine aficionado (and Carnival president) Bob Dickinson, the Normandie’s wine list is actually quite impressive and not overpriced.

We were enthralled with the experience at David’s Supper Club and had one of the best meals we’ve ever enjoyed while afloat. Patterned after 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’s 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 that were 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 enhandes 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 without children and honestly only noticed children’s activities in passing a few times.  Some of the program's offerings include: geography classes; lots of arts and crafts options; a computer lab; lots 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 kids who had spent most of their waking hours there. The kids there 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 and family favorites like hot dogs, burgers, and fries at Mermaid’s Grille, and 24-hour availability of pizza and ice cream or frozen yogurt. There’s even turn-down service with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the first and last nights of a voyage and one “dine under the stars” meal with Carnival youth staff members.

Carnival also features several other services for a small charge. Parents apparently love the nightly babysitting service offered from 10pm to 3am (currently $6 for the first child and $4 for each additional child from the same family). There’s also now stroller rental onboard and ashore. Finally, 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 accommodations 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 loose weights, plus a nice little hot tub for soothing tired muscles (or apparently 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 daily. 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 "Carnival Spa Fare” program. Offered in the Normandie restaurant, the Mermaids’ Grille, and even on the room service menu, this surprisingly delicious and definitely low-guilt 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 Mermaid’s Grille.

We really liked the layout that left 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 area of this intriguing ship include: the busy 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; Winners Casino, which was frequently filled with money-hungry action; and the Crystal Card Room, which saw very little action during our cruise.

All in all, the Carnival Pride is a keeper and we’d definitely sail on her again when she moves to the West Coast (Bermuda itineraries are scheduled on other ships in the Carnival fleet). It’s now easy to see why Carnival officials were proud when she came into service.