November: carnival pride or splendor

We are scheduled for thanksgiving cruise on splendor out of Miami. Just looked at prices for flights and they are very expensive, particularly for coming home the Sunday after thanksgiving. We are now wondering if the local ship, carnival pride out of Baltimore, is a better bet to avoid the expensive flight and travel time, etc. if we go out of Miami we likely will have to tag on 1 or 2 extra days on the trip for travel. My main concerns about the pride are the ports, cooler temperatures and potentially rough water. Kids are 3 and 6. The older one loves slides but I am not sure if the slides on the pride will be usable at that time of year. Any advice?

itinerary is below:

Pride itinerary (Baltimore) Freeport, princess keys, nasseau

Splendor (Miami): st. Thomas, San Juan, grand Turk and amber cove

We are scheduled for thanksgiving cruise on splendor out of Miami. Just looked at prices for flights and they are very expensive, particularly for coming home the Sunday after thanksgiving. We are now wondering if the local ship, carnival pride out of Baltimore, is a better bet to avoid the expensive flight and travel time, etc. if we go out of Miami we likely will have to tag on 1 or 2 extra days on the trip for travel. My main concerns about the pride are the ports, cooler temperatures and potentially rough water. Kids are 3 and 6. The older one loves slides but I am not sure if the slides on the pride will be usable at that time of year. Any advice?

 

 

itinerary is below:

 

Pride itinerary (Baltimore) Freeport, princess keys, nasseau

Splendor (Miami): st. Thomas, San Juan, grand Turk and amber cove

We've sailed both ships and I love both ships.

Splendor does have a Waterworks area for your young kids. She is also being turned over the P&O for the Asian market in 2019 (?) so now is the time to sail here before she's gone.

I agree with your concerns regarding the weather out of Baltimore at the end of November.

Splendor's ports are preferable, in my opinion.

Have a great family cruise, whatever you decide.

I would go with the Splendor for a number of reasons. Obviously the weather being a big factor in where you want to go but honestly (and this is just me) I would not waste money on a cruise going to just Nassau & Freeport. That trip the only thing worth going to would be Princess Cays. Going to Nassau & Freeport isn't a vacation to me unless you plan on staying on the ship. Just my 2¢ though. Either way and whichever one you decide, enjoy your trip!

We loved the Splendor, but as you can see we have also cruised on the Pride multiple times, including out of Baltimore in November and January. I would not do January again but November is fine. By midday on the first sea day it should be in the 70s. Basically, enjoy sailaway and dinner, see a show, go to bed and wake up to warmth. Pride also has a large indoor hot tub in the gym, and while the kids cannot use it, you will be able to. They also have a retractable roof. I watched Divein movies at night under the stars under the roof. Used a blanket but it was fine.

Suggestion, check flights to FLL as the can be less expensive then MIA. Also use Kayak dot com for their fare price indicator.

MIA cruises are warmer that time of year than more northern cruises. You'll enjoy better cruising weather and hopefully a nicer vacation too.

And fly home a day later, also possibly from FLL. We are doing this as well instead of flying home via MIA this coming November.

MIA flights home were $326 PP/OW. FLL was $190 PP/OW. We booked FLL and saved the money and we get a few hours to enjoy the FLL area after our cruise.

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We don't have kids, have never cruised in November, but we have sailed on the Pride three times in February, once in September and just recently in March, and we will be on Pride again in Feb. 2018. In all of the cruises, we had rough seas for about 5 hours on one February cruise. The weather on our Feb. cruises is usually warm by midday on Tues.; the coolest was 68-70 in Port Canaveral, but Nassau & Freeport were in the 80's.

We just came off the Pride on April 2, and the weather was fantastic high 70's and 80's in all ports, with smooth sailing all the way.

The ports are just "so,so." We really don't get off the ship. If you haven't been to Disney World, my sister and BIL did an excursion to Universal on one of the Pride cruises, and they did the beach and Atlantis Aquarium in Nassau with kids 9-12. I think November is a great time to go no matter which ship you choose.

If it comes down to a matter of the ship definitely the Pride. I was on the Splendor 4 years, ago. while any cruise is a great cruise, just wasn't one of my favorite ships for some reason. Pride has a lot more to offer.

I currently live in Baltimore- most years we are just cold and rainy for Thanksgiving, but there have been many years I can remember having snow for turkey day. Average temp for November here is around 40. If it were my family- I would try to find affordable flights and sail from Miami. If sailing from Baltimore, you may run the risk of having cold/rain or snow, rough seas, etc. until you get closer to South Carolina and beyond.

Nassau is a fun port. Freeport is meh IMO. We've been twice. First time we got off the ship-looked around, bought some touristy souvenirs and then got right back on the ship. Second time we didn't even bother debarking and just stayed on the ship (we did have a kayaking excursion planned, but it was cancelled due to bad weather). :(

Are you sure it is Princess Cays and not Half Moon Cay? Either way- that is probably the best port on the Pride itinerary you mentioned. Private islands are wonderful!!

The itinerary for Splendor sounds a lot more fun IMO, but Pride is a great ship. As long as you go into the cruise knowing that you may not be able to use Waterworks for first 2 days.

Enjoy your cruise!!

I've been on both and I prefer the Carnival Pride over the Splendor. I felt the Splendor to be a little...compact? Despite being bigger that the Pride, I felt cramped on the ship, not necessarily crowded, but enclosed.

The water slides on Pride is far superior, but for your kids, it is a null issue. They maybe too young for the Green Thunder. If you take that out, then the water slides are equal.

Thanksgiving in Baltimore is usually not very cold (for me at least) and in my December cruises, the outdoor pool was available in December on our 1st day at sea surprisingly (December 27), though coming back, we ended up with 2 inches of snow. It was a surprisingly warm day (55 degrees) when we boarded.

The ports on the Splendor are better though, but out of all the private islands I've been on, Princess Cay is my favorite. I think you should ask yourself this. Are the better ports worth the airfare prices on the sunday after thanksgiving?

We are scheduled for thanksgiving cruise on splendor out of Miami. Just looked at prices for flights and they are very expensive, particularly for coming home the Sunday after thanksgiving. We are now wondering if the local ship, carnival pride out of Baltimore, is a better bet to avoid the expensive flight and travel time, etc. if we go out of Miami we likely will have to tag on 1 or 2 extra days on the trip for travel. My main concerns about the pride are the ports, cooler temperatures and potentially rough water. Kids are 3 and 6. The older one loves slides but I am not sure if the slides on the pride will be usable at that time of year. Any advice?

 

 

itinerary is below:

 

Pride itinerary (Baltimore) Freeport, princess keys, nasseau

Splendor (Miami): st. Thomas, San Juan, grand Turk and amber cove

Apologies, I just noticed you're doing the other Pride itinerary.

Pride for easy port access and great deck plan.

Splendor for the Tandoor and she will be repo-ing thru the Canal in January. Sailing out of LA for a bit, then continuing onto Asia. So if you haven't sailed her, now is the time.

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Here is a quote from a fellow cruiser "We will be back on Pride in July. Just got off the Splendor, my friend and me, were so let down. Our standards have been set high, based on service on the Pride. The Captain on Splendor made a appearance at the Diamond Party, I saw him walk in a back door, did he stop and say Hi to us or any others that I noticed NOPE. Next function the past guest Diamond/Platinum party, he did not even make a appearance, only a few officers were present at either function. The appetizers could not even compare to the choices on the Pride. We are so spoiled with the service and cheerfulness of crew on Pride." I have only been on the Pride so I can't give advice about the Splender. I can tell you I have sailed out of Baltimore in March and the weather wasn't bad, the ocean was a little choppy the 2nd night other than that it was great. I will be back on the Pride in 2 weeks and scheduled another cruise in February 2018 to sail out of Baltimore. I love the Baltimore port the ease of getting on and off through customs is amazing hassle free.