14 night Carnival Pride An Ode to the "Old" Menus

We sailed on the 14 night Carnival Pride repositioning cruise March 15-29, 2015 (yes, this is a little over do). It was a wonderful cruise and reminded me just how much I enjoy Carnival. We've sailed more recently on Celebrity, Royal and Disney - mostly because it is much easier to secure an accessible cabin on those lines than it is on Carnival. We normally get a cabin for 3 so that I can help my mom but there is only 1 accessible cabin on the Pride that sleeps 3 and it's a suite. It was less expensive to book 2 4K cabins and pay the single supplement rate than to book the 1 suite.

Anyways - this isn't going to be a "review" in the traditional sense. It's basically going to be 14 days of food porn presented for your drooling pleasure.

This will be our last Carnival cruise with the "old" menus and by the time we set sail on our 21 night Pride journey next January / February, we'll be enjoying the new menus (and I do believe we'll enjoy them).

There were a lot of hits this cruise, some just okay and a couple of misses. Overall, it was the most enjoyable dining of any cruise for us (when you look at the big picture - yes, they may have been individual dishes on other cruises than we enjoyed more. In this case, it was 2 weeks of enjoyable dining with only the occasional dish we weren't enthused about).

There are 3 of us:

Myself - Trisha

For some reason, my mother does these extreme close ups of people so most of the pictures of me are uncomfortably close.

My mother (who requires the accessible cabin)

and last but not least, my dad

You will not find him smiling in any picture - not because he wasn't happy but because he dropped and broke his dentures on the trip to the cruise. He is self-conscious about smiling without "his teeth". Thankfully it didn't stop him from enjoying the food (even steak), it just took some effort on his part to only chew where he has 2-3 teeth on the top.

Boarding at the Port of Tampa was easy. It was a short ramp, not steep, and an easy roll. My dad returned the rental car to the Hertz in the Marriott and they brought him to the cruise port (no charge). I was with my mother and got the 2 of us checked in and pushed her onboard. Often we require wheelchair assistance (have you seen that ramp at Baltimore!!!!) but not this time.

We were onboard by about 12noon and my dad was able to meet up with us on deck by 12:30.

First up was to taste out some of the 2.0 upgrades. We were sitting on the Port side so Blue Iguana it was!

My mom had 2 fresh made tacos - 1 chicken and 1 fish. The fish was a deep fried piece of fish (I think I was originally expecting unbreaded fish); the chicken was cooked in some kind of sauce or seasoning. My mother enjoyed both of these especially with the variety of non-spicy salsa and toppings. My mom doesn't do spicy (not even pepper on most things). She especially enjoyed that there is watermelon readily available on the toppings bar to serve as a side with the tacos/burritos. It's one of her favourite fruits and she appreciated having more than fries as an option.

I was very surprised that my dad choose a burrito:

It came stuffed to the gills. He didn't added anything to it. He's also not a spicy guy.

I was too nervous to have anything. The first day is always stressful for me because I'm the one who chooses the cruises, the ships and the cabins, so if something is not right - it's on me.

After the muster drill, I knew that I wasn't going to make it until dinner. My dad headed up top to see if he could get a picture of us going under the bridge while my mom and I hit up Guy's Burger for the first time.

My mom got a plain jane with SMC - pickles and tomato on the side.

I got the Chili Maximus - tomatoes and onions on the side

These were some good burgers. The stand out though is the fries! I mean, wow! Hot, fresh, great seasoning. So much better than what we've had on any other cruise. I don't eat fries often but these were a great indulgence!

When he boarded, my dad checked out our table assignment and we were at a table for ourselves. He asked if we could have a shared table and we were moved to a table for 6.

I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at dinner the first night to find our tablemates were people from our roll call! Surprisingly still, they live in Brampton and we live is Scarborough (basically both cities on the outskirts of Toronto - us to the East, them to the West).

Appetizers:

My mom started with the Beef and Barley Soup which she enjoyed. The soup temperatures ranged from piping hot to just warm. The good news was that the soups weren't salty (which does seem to happen on many cruises).

My Dad started with the shrimp cocktail. He's not really into "trying" a lot of new things - he tends to stick to his favourites. Throughout the week, he went back and forth between ordering 1 shrimp cocktail or 2 shrimp cocktails.

I started with the Candied Salmon. I love trying new things though I have had this before. Just as nice as always. Light, cool, and zippy.

Boarding at the Port of Tampa was easy. It was a short ramp, not steep, and an easy roll. My dad returned the rental car to the Hertz in the Marriott and they brought him to the cruise port (no charge). I was with my mother and got the 2 of us checked in and pushed her onboard. Often we require wheelchair assistance (have you seen that ramp at Baltimore!!!!) but not this time.

 

We were onboard by about 12noon and my dad was able to meet up with us on deck by 12:30.

 

First up was to taste out some of the 2.0 upgrades. We were sitting on the Port side so Blue Iguana it was!

 

My mom had 2 fresh made tacos - 1 chicken and 1 fish. The fish was a deep fried piece of fish (I think I was originally expecting unbreaded fish); the chicken was cooked in some kind of sauce or seasoning. My mother enjoyed both of these especially with the variety of non-spicy salsa and toppings. My mom doesn't do spicy (not even pepper on most things). She especially enjoyed that there is watermelon readily available on the toppings bar to serve as a side with the tacos/burritos. It's one of her favourite fruits and she appreciated having more than fries as an option.

 

 

I was very surprised that my dad choose a burrito:

 

 

It came stuffed to the gills. He didn't added anything to it. He's also not a spicy guy.

 

I was too nervous to have anything. The first day is always stressful for me because I'm the one who chooses the cruises, the ships and the cabins, so if something is not right - it's on me.

 

After the muster drill, I knew that I wasn't going to make it until dinner. My dad headed up top to see if he could get a picture of us going under the bridge while my mom and I hit up Guy's Burger for the first time.

 

My mom got a plain jane with SMC - pickles and tomato on the side.

 

 

I got the Chili Maximus - tomatoes and onions on the side

 

 

These were some good burgers. The stand out though is the fries! I mean, wow! Hot, fresh, great seasoning. So much better than what we've had on any other cruise. I don't eat fries often but these were a great indulgence!

Funny how we are all different. Love the burger with the toppings but not thrilled with the fries. Wish they were crisper and not so soggy. Also strange that they stick a nice crispy onion ring inside the bun to get soggy. I immediately rescue it by putting on the side of my plate.

Agreed it was an awesome cruise

Making me hungry. Thanks for the review.

Entrees were a mixed bag of old favourites and new dishes.

My dad, the consummate beef eater, went for the Flat Iron Steak served a perfect medium:

While I tried the new version of the Sweet and Sour Shrimp:

As much as my dad loves his steak, after tasting one of my shrimps, he wished he'd had an order of his own! These were perfectly fried and tender. The cooked veggies underneath the shrimp were perfect and made a nice side. The rice was good when mixed with the sauce but otherwise, it was a very plain fried rice. If you get this dish, I recommend mixing the rice, veggies and sauce together.

My mom ordered the beef brisket (shhhh, my dad ordered one as well in case his steak was tough).

They both enjoyed it. My mother appreciated the cooked veggies served with it as she doesn't usually eat potatoes.

For dessert I ordered the first of many warm chocolate melting cakes. Tonight I stuck with the vanilla ice cream but as the cruise progressed, I tried it with many different flavours. Tonight's version was a little on the soupy side.

My mom had butter pecan ice cream. It must have been the very top of the container because it had hardly any pecans in it and you couldn't really tell what flavour it was. I had it later in the cruise and you could really tell the difference.

My dad went with 2 desserts.

First was the diet orange cake. He's a big "cake" eater - not cheesecake, not whipped whatever, and certainly not gelatin based stuff but basic cake. Many nights he ordered whatever the "diet" cake was because it was actual cake.

And from the kids menu, a banana split. He ordered one of these many nights. Sometimes they were perfect and sometimes they were not. Tonight's was a good version.

Thanks for the review. I am looking forward to the rest of your trip. I was on the Pride in September 2012 as a girls trip. In October I am taking my husband on his first trip with Carnival, I can't wait to see the 2.0 upgrades.

Yum! Thanks for the food porn. I'll be on the Pride next month and look forward to the old menus one last time. I would not want to be on the first week of the new menus. Always a difficult transition for the dining staff.

Being the noisy RN that I am, I was looking at your moms hands. Does she have rheumatoid arthritis?

Loving the review! Looking forward to more. Thanks for sharing. Great pictures!

Hi Trisha,

You are making me drool! It was nice meeting you on the ship and I look forward to the rest of your food review - that was one awesome cruise so seeing you post from it is bringing back those great memories. Thank you!

Yum! Thanks for the food porn. I'll be on the Pride next month and look forward to the old menus one last time. I would not want to be on the first week of the new menus. Always a difficult transition for the dining staff.

 

Being the noisy RN that I am, I was looking at your moms hands. Does she have rheumatoid arthritis?

She was diagnosed with arthritis when she was in her 20s but on top of that, what you're probably noticing is her right hand. She had a right sided stroke in 2008 and lost the use of her right arm (and most of the control of her right leg). She is double jointed (articulated I think is what they call it officially) so her fingers seem to bend backwards when resting.

So next up is our first of two sea day brunches. On the 14 night cruise with multiple sea days (I think there was 7), they held the sea day brunch a couple of days and had separate breakfast and lunch menus on the other days.

We started with the popover rolls. I'm the only one of us who enjoys these (my parents were both bakers with their own bakery for 22 years and then my dad worked in other bakeries and finally became a salesman for wholesale bakery supplies; I had a bakery for a year and a half when I was young and stupid and before I started my cushy Canadian Government job - I mention all of this to let you know that bread isn't really exciting for us - even fresh baked. We're used to it and my dad still often visits his former customers to pick up fresh baked loaves or buns).

The tops were good but they had been baked too long and the bottoms were overdone and hard.

My mom started with a fresh fruit plate - minus the kiwi which she's allergic to.

I had ordered a Caesar salad for my appetizer but it didn't come until our regular evening server stopped by and checked on us. Our brunch server was pretty bad and made many mistakes and forgot a lot of stuff.

For entrees my mom had the "Hey Porkchop" at my recommendation. She thought this was excellent.

It was cooked perfectly and very moist.

I had the Hen Alla Divoli which I'd been looking forward to since my last Carnival cruise in 2012 on the Carnival Dream. It was okay but due to our server issues, it was barely warm. The taste was good, it would have benefited from not sitting on the podium for 20 minutes though while the server did other stuff.

My dad also had the "Hey PorkChop" and also had a macaroni and cheese with bacon. He loooooovvvvvveeeessss mac n cheese and tries it everywhere he can. He declared the one at this brunch to be among the top 5 he's ever had. He won't say the same for the one he had later in the cruise at a subsequent brunch.

We skipped dessert because we were on our way to trivia or something. We did make it to tea at 3pm so I was happy that we hadn't piled on the sweets at brunch.

Thanks for all of the food photos. :)

I don't have a lot of pictures from the tea. We were sat a bit away from the "main" tea tables so our stuff came in dribs and drabs. I guess we were too busy enjoying to remember to snap a picture.

First up, they had the napkins done up in cute candles

They came around with a box of tea selections and then hot water. My dad is not a tea drinker so he had coffee which they brought when requested.

First up was 2 kinds of tea sandwiches - cucumber and open faced smoked salmon.

Only my mother enjoys smoked salmon on its own so my dad and I both stuck to the cucumber sandwiches.

My mother and I both had a slice of cheesecake while my dad held out for some chocolate cake (which took a while but he thoroughly enjoyed the rich, fudge-yness of the cake - sorry, its the thing I don't have a picture of). The cheesecake was rich and actually had cream cheese in it! Shocking I know. It seems to me that most cruise cheesecakes forget the cream cheese and rely on gelatin for their texture.

Overall a nice, pleasant, enjoyable, calm experience.

I am the only one in my family who likes lobster (even my brother who eats just about anything doesn't like it) so I always enjoy elegant nights on cruises so I can indulge.

My dad surprised the ladies at the table with rose corsages from Cherry on Top. Our tablemates Cathy and Beth were very surprised as was I. He had mentioned it to my mother but not to me. FYI for any gentlemen looking to surprise their lady - the roses with the pins are $12 each. We wore ours each a couple of times and they held up in our fridge for the entire 14 nights looking beautiful.

My mom with her rose pinned on.

Dinner started with some lovely appetizers. Roasted Pumpkin soup for my mother. This one was served very hot and it was very creamy with a good flavour.

I had the spaghetti carbonara (appetizer portion) and the greek farmer salad. The pasta was very good, lots of bacon and again, lots of cream and cheese. The salad was good but the red onion was very strong. It was to the point of picking it out because it was all you could taste and gave us heartburn later that evening.

My dad had his double portion of shrimp cocktail (no picture) which he enjoyed.

I wish I could say that this was one of the best lobster tails I've had on a ship but I'd be lying. My tail wasn't attached to the shell and had curled up. It wasn't the worst one I've had (that honour goes to Disney where the tail was so overdone that once I took it out of the shell, it literally when "whoosh" and became a watery pile of gloop on my plate). The shrimp though were some of the best. Lovely grilled or maybe broiled? And of course, super smooth and creamy mashed potatoes.

Both of my parents had prime rib - my dad medium and my mother well done. Interesting fact, when you order it well done, it comes already with the au jus on it to keep it moist, when you order it medium or medium rare, they come around with the au jus on the side (at least according to our server).

My mom's well done prime rib

My dad also ordered the ribs. He enjoys all versions of beef and pork ribs and these did not disappoint.

the corn on the cob was dried out but I think its more because of how it was cooked than because it sat around. The fries were served hot (unusual in our experience) and my dad ate some of them to counter balance the sweet and spicy of the BBQ sauce. They also had the ribs at lunch one day (only my dad and I went to lunch that day and I don't think we brought the camera) and I got to try them myself. They were very good - meaty and fall off the bone.

Desserts.

My mom wanted something simple so she went for some lime sherbet. What can I say - it was lime sherbet.

I had a warm chocolate melting cake with chocolate ice cream. This is one of my favourite pairings. The ice cream still cuts the richness of the cake but doesn't offer as big of a contrast of flavours. Tonight's consistency was perfect for me - mostly cooked with just a touch of gooey in the very centre.

My dad had the diet banana cake

and another banana split (not pictured).

Your pictures are great. And thanks for the very informative descriptions.

Love the food pictures. Thank you!

I can tell this is going to be a fun review to read. It should come with a warning, though. Do NOT open this review if you are hungry. You will be sorry!

Thanks, can't wait for more.

I was on this cruise too and the food was delicious. I had the flatiron steak 3x, yum.

Time for supper.

Patiently waiting for more pictures and your review.

I'm glad your mom can still enjoy cruising.we go next month and the food looks good!

I thought we had taken more pictures of the breakfast buffet foods but I guess not.

I had a breakfast burrito from blue iguana along with a couple of hashbrowns and a bit of sausage with onions.

I'm not a big breakfast person but I did enjoy this. The breakfast burritos are great - made with what you want, nothing you don't and I have to say the Monterrey cheese is awesome. My mom also had a breakfast burrito along with some oatmeal and yogurt. My dad got an omelet and an assortment of breakfast meats.

A bit later my mom and I wanted a snack so I grabbed a Rueben from the deli, and few pickles, some fruit and a slice of banana cream pie. Everything but the pickles were great. I haven't used the deli much in the past but this trip I had a few sandwiches from there. The Rueben was my favourite. The fruit mix was a good variety and nicely ripe. The banana cream pie was a standout dessert on the cruise. Full of ripe slices of banana, thick banana custard and topped with a sweet cream (not traditional whipped cream) it was very rich and I'm glad that my mom and I shared a piece (though I do wish I'd thought to grab a piece to hide away in my fridge for a midnight snack).