Pride - 9/25 - Grand Turk, HMC, Freeport- Photo heavy

Embarkation day!

I live in Richmond and my Boyfriend Martin, lives in Baltimore just 7 miles from port, so we took a taxi to port, left his house at noon and we were through security etc...and boarding the ship at 12:30pm. This was my first Carnival Cruise, I've only been on one other ship, a RCCL ship but same ship a few times, and this was Martin's first cruise ever.

Some pics here are cell phone, some are Kodak Easy Share, and some are a Canon. I took about 300 pics and Martin took about 85 on his camera. I took a ton from Baltimore from my cell just for convenience.

Since we were on board "early" Martin and I took the opportunity to have our first DOD...we had a wonderful bar tender at the lobby bar, he gave us a map of the ship and answered many of our questions, he also made great drinks!

Then we had another DOD, and then it was off to explore a little bit and then we had some lunch in the Mermaid's Grill Restaurant. We did not really do a full scanning for what was available foodwise, we just happened upon the section serving Asian selections and we ate that. We both thought it was very good.

We saw some lovely sun sets from the ship...Welcome Aboard day included...

Going under the Bay Bridge...

Night time pool action starting...

After getting back to the cabin and settling in a bit, we decided to go to the Normandie for dinner...initially we had chosen late seating but we don't really like to be confined to a certain time so we switched to Your Time Dining...

Sorry for the lack of food porn, everyone loves that, but we did not take any food pics, just one of an empty plate...and I suppose the reasoning behind that was because we were waiting a very long time before our waitor came to take our order, and then we waited a very long time for the food to be delivered...sadly the dining experience was not one of the high notes of this cruise. While I ordered the flat iron steak the first night and it was cooked to perfection and very good, Martin was not impressed and was even less so on the second night when he ordered the shrimp cocktail for a starter, the fried gator was not available so he had conch fritters about the size of his thumb, and the lobster and shrimp entree was very small.

We found the service in Normandie be extremely impersonal, and after two nights in the Normandie with no introductions by our wait staff, tiny portions (Martin laughed at everything he was served) and what I considered to be a somewhat boring menu (by that I mean the selections were mostly things I can get at home anytime), we decided two nights was enough.

We packed Coke Zero's in our carry on luggage, Martin laughed that "Coke Zero, it's what's for dinner"

After dinner we found a vacant hammock on Serinity and we enjoyed the quiet time and beautiful night.

Random pics from embarkation day...

First Fun Day at Sea...

I watched the starting of the Ice Carving...which many of us were joking about, as the announcer was asking everyone to guess what it was going to be, some said a dolphin, some said a mermaid, some said the ship's logo or the anchor, half way through it still looked like just a brick of ice, my brother is a chef and has done so many of these so I guess I'm just used to seeing these done, turned out to be an Indian Head.

I could never figure out when to or how to enter the Mixologist Contest...it was held after ice carving but I missed it.

Most of this day was spent out by the pool just relaxing and trying to stay in the shade.

Tonight was elegant night, so many people on CC said not to expect much, but everyone dresed up so nicely, I was really burned out from work the week before the trip and had really wanted to dress up but I was pretty beat by the time it came round to the cruise but I did try, lol...

After dinner we caught some Karaoke in the Starry Nights lounge, it was great, all participants did great! Later on we went to the Adults Only Comedy in Butterflies and it was great, very funny but too short, I'm used to going to a comedy club and there are three comedians in the lineup, as soon as this started it was over.

Towel animal of the night...

Just a few More random shots...

Starry Nights...

Towel animal leading us into Tuesday's Fun Day at Sea...

Pleanty of lounge chairs to be found all around, just with a little searching

Someone asked me what the highlight of the cruise was, and I have to say that there were a few but the weather itself was great, never too hot, two mentionable rains, overall could not have anticipated anything better.

We watched the Hairy Chest Contest on the Lido deck and stage, that was so funny, I needed a good laugh as the night before I had gotten sick. The ship was rocking quite a bit once we were out of the Bay and into the ocean but I I have sailed on small vessels (24 ft sail boat) and never became sea sick, I think my issue was one food-related, without being too graphic the only thing I can figure is that the stuffed mushroom starter in the Normandie did not sit well, I was perfectly fine after that.

Later in the afternoon I had a waitor out on deck spill the remnants of a drink on me, he had a tray full of empty cups and cocktails and while he was very apologetic, I really felt an offer of laundering should have been in order, it was a red drink and was all over my shorts and swimsuit and towel, and legs. I did not complain to him or anyone else about it, and I hand washed my shorts in the bathroom sink, I don't wear shorts at home and I only had 1 pair with me, I know to many that might sound odd but it is what it is. All I know is that a waitor spilled soda on my Mom on RCCL and they insisted on cleaning even though the soda was clear and you could not even tell once it has dried.

Tuesday still.....

Oh yes and this was, I believe, the day the captian made an announcement that many passengers had probably noticed the ship was not moving, they had spotted a vessel and were checking it out. There was no one on board. My suspicion is that during Irene somone had moored their boat away from a dock and its anchor broke away and all this times its been floating around in the ocean. Who knows.

Then we had the first mentionable rain...can honestly saw we saw this coming...

We did not do much else this day, we played slots in the casino and spent time at Sereinity but that was about it. We wanted to get some rest for Grand Turk!

Wednesday, Grand Turk! Woo hoo!

Grand Turk gets its name from fruit resembling a Turkish Fez...

This was the other mentionable rain...when we debarked it was extremely humid, I took some pics but like many around us the lens was fogged and moisture had seeped into my display, so we went and got a few chairs on the beach to the right of the dock and we went for a swim and then it started raining, did not bother us though, we enjoyed the water and rain and just hoped it was in fact a passing shower (it was) and that it would have no impact on our snorkeling excursion (it did not).

Grand Turk...Heading out for the snorkeling...

The other pics from Grand Turk were taken with underwater print, I have not had time to get those in so will make a post, if requested, when I get those.

The snorkeling was very good, but I think Grand Turk is really for scuba diving, the best fish we saw of 2 locations on the excursion were seen as a result of the guide using bait to lure fish. We also saw a shark, but again only because the guide knew where to find the shark and how to get its attention. Part of me liked this a lot, the other part of me became a bit concerned when the very young boy on the excursion began to cry because she was acred of the shark. There wre a lot of people in the water and while I am sure these operators are experienced, this is nature and people do panic. All was fine but you know...

After snorkeling we spent a little more time on the beach and looked through the main gift shop, it was too short of a day! Soon enough we were asiling away...

Random ship/water pics from Wednesday evening...

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Similar humidity and fogging of the lens while heading out to Half Moon Cay...

All was well once we had a little breeze from the tendering...

The much talked about cabanas ...

We started the morning on the beach and enjoying the clean and clear water, the weather and water temps were perfect! After a bit of time just enjoying the scenery via the water, we went to join up with the horseback riding excursion...I did not take many pics of this but did take a few with the underwater camera, so hopefully more of this to come also, but I can say this was up there on the highlights of the trip, the men running the excursion are well skilled at selecting the right horse for the guests and for teaching first-time riders what to do and what not to do. They were concerned for the safety and well being of the horses and guests.

Some lucky person parasailing out in the distance!

Rain out in the distance...

I wish...

I don't know why but did not take a lot of pics at HMC...probably just too busy soaking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying the water!

We had lunch after horseback riding, we both had cheeseburgers and filled up on fruit.

We did not make it out for sailing away, boo hoo...

Friday was Freeport. We did not plan a thing for the day, we just decided to take the day minute by minute, so we ended up sleeping late, had a late breakfast and stayed on board.

And so I give you a sunset and water shots...

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Towel Lobster prepping us for out Saturday Fun Day at Sea...

Fun Day at Sea...

There was not much going on that interested us, and it was quite windy, we spent some time on deck, but we mostly relaxed in the cabin and packed and reminisced about the trip and how much fun we had.

Ya think?

Martin says, "Look ma, no hair"

I love this little one...made me a bit sad because it was the last night...

However, it was a great trip, a great vacation. Two full days at sea were a bit rough, the return from Freeport was hurried due to late departure from port, but there is something for everyone on this ship. We played pool one night, slots, saw great comedy, ment with hairy chests, ate some great food, ate some not so great food too. The ship is CLEAN! I NEVER once saw an unkept restroom and all of the public areas were clean and well attended to. There were no funky smells and while I think there is room for imporovement in the customer service section, your vacation is what you make it. Did the drink spill or two impersonal waitors spoil our cruise? Hell no! There were many great crew on board, many who clearly enjoy what they do and are there to help and assist guests. We'd love to go on Pride again and we are considering Bermuda in the not too distant future.

If any questions...just ask.

Dana

Enjoyed your review and the gorgeous pictures. Thank you for taking time to share.

Nice, succinct review. Thank you!

I don't think your issues on Monday were due to the food - I know Joey and I were sick, too. So were quite a few other people who'd been on the Pride before. I think Ophelia may have had something to do with the more-rough-than usual seas.

Speaking of food, I'm surprised you guys thought the portion sizes were small. Joey and I felt so full after eating in the Normandie - and we only had our single apps, entrees, and desserts! Seriously, the lasagna the one night felt like a never-ending plate of lasagna. I had actually commented to Joey that they should consider cutting down the portion sizes, seeing as how people can order more than one of anything they want.

Joey and I will likely be taking Angie with us on the Pride next December :D

I don't think your issues on Monday were due to the food - I know Joey and I were sick, too. So were quite a few other people who'd been on the Pride before. I think Ophelia may have had something to do with the more-rough-than usual seas.

 

Speaking of food, I'm surprised you guys thought the portion sizes were small. Joey and I felt so full after eating in the Normandie - and we only had our single apps, entrees, and desserts! Seriously, the lasagna the one night felt like a never-ending plate of lasagna. I had actually commented to Joey that they should consider cutting down the portion sizes, seeing as how people can order more than one of anything they want.

 

Joey and I will likely be taking Angie with us on the Pride next December :D

The night I became sick, the only think to come up was the mushroom appetizer...I ate other things before and after that, and after I got that out I was fine. I was not sea sick or queezy any other time on the trip.

People can and do order as much as they want, I agree, I don't order more than one of anything, that is just who I am. I really do wish I had taken food pics now, I saw Cassandra's pic of the lobster and shrimp from Monday night and it was double the size of what Martin had on his plate. I had the prime rib and if there was 3 ounces on the plate I'd be surprised. 3 ounces from a nutritional standpoint is fine, usually a restaurant portion is double or more that. We both felt the portions were small both nights. We stopped eating in the dining room for other reasons, not due to portion size.

We did have lasagna from the buffet one night, it was the best thing I had on the entire cruise.

Nice!

I enjoyed the review. My pics of the abandoned boat show sponsor names all over it. There were rowing paddles in the boat. I would like to know if it was a competition boat or if someone was trying to make a voyage on their own and got stranded.

Per what I can see in my photos, I believe the boat is named Tijani IV. There was an email address on it: sc.marine@wanadoo.fr

Sponsors: ProLogis, Onet, e-Sat, AviTech & Intermarche. The most prominent name on the boat was Karukera.

I searched and cannot find nothing about this boat. Maybe I'll send an email to sc.marine@wanadoo.fr.

I'm considering either the Pride or Miracle in May for this itinerary. The pics of GT and HMC are always so gorgeous. The Pride would be mighty convenient as I'm less than an hour from port but the Miracle is one extra day and $400 less (per couple) so it's a decision yet to be made. We sailed the Miracle in '07 and loved it.

If you gave up on the dining room, did you eat only at the buffet then or did you try the steakhouse?

Aww, reminiscing about HMC!! I truly enjoyed my time there!:)

Very nice review, would love to do this itinerary on the Pride.