Carnival Pride has completed its extensive upgrade and renovation in Cadiz, Spain, and returned to service for the European summer season sporting new venues, dining, and the signature red-white-and-blue hull livery.
The ship embarked its first post-refit guests on May 28, 2023 from Barcelona, beginning a 12-night one-way cruise from Spain to Dover, England, where the ship will remain homeported for most of the summer season.
Carnival Pride is truly a ship to be proud of, having now returned to service following a month-long refit that included bow-to-stern upgrades for the 21-year-old vessel. The ship has been in dry dock since April 28.
“I’m so proud of our team. They have done amazing work refreshing and enhancing Carnival Pride just in time for her Europe sailings,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
Among the upgrades are the addition of a new Heroes Tribute Bar, the Dreams Studio for amazing portrait packages, the Carnival Adventures Shop with cruise line merchandise, and the Chef’s Table exclusive dining experience.
The Heroes Tribute Bar is of special meaning for Carnival Cruise Line, as the line sails more veterans than other cruise lines and makes special efforts to welcome and celebrate all service members.
“I’m also delighted to see the addition of the Heroes Tribute bar since it has been popular with our guests and has resonated well with military service members and their families,” said Duffy.
The ship’s steakhouse, formerly David’s, has also been refreshed and rebranded to the more familiar Fahrenheit 555, which is found aboard many of the cruise line’s ships and is a popular favorite with loyal Carnival guests.
The onboard casino has also been expanded, and the ship’s spa rebranded to the Cloud 9 Spa and Fitness Center with the latest equipment and wellness programs.
Other housekeeping work has been done aboard, including general refreshing of public areas and staterooms, and part of the ship’s disco was removed and replaced with more accessible staterooms.
“We welcome everyone on Carnival ships, so we are happy we’ve completed the work to make the ship accessible to those with disabilities,” said Duffy.
Carnival Pride first debuted in 2002, and the Spirit-class vessel’s last major refurbishment was its Fun Ship 2.0 upgrade in 2019. Now, the 88,500-gross-ton vessel is once again welcoming more than 2,100 guests onboard for each sailing, or up to nearly 2,700 when fully booked with all berths filled.
The refreshed ship will sail in Europe through the end of October. First, itineraries from Dover will include 9- and 12-night roundtrip sailings to ports of call in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, and more, with departure dates through September 1.
On September 10, 2023, the ship will embark on a one-way voyage from Dover to Rome (Civitavecchia), calling on ports in Spain and Portugal.
From Rome, Carnival Pride will offer three round-trip sailings before embarking on her transatlantic repositioning to Tampa on October 28, 2023. On that one-way cruise, the ship will visit destinations in spain, Portugal, and the Turks and Caicos before arriving in Tampa on November 12.
Carnival Pride will remain homeported from Tampa offering Western Caribbean and select Panama Canal cruises through mid-April 2024, before repositioning to Baltimore to offer Eastern Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, and Greenland/Canada sailings, depending on the departure date and itinerary length.
