Back from the Pride 10/3/04

AWESOME!!! Is the word. Oue every whim was fulfilled.

Kathy, Greg Kneale said Hi!! What a cruise director. :D

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful advice. It all helped.

The biggest complaint we heard about was the decor.

To the parents who want to bring their children along: If you have ever been to Las Vegas the decor is very close to Ceasars Palace's decor. Lots of nakedness. :eek:

And to the parents who did bring their children along: What did you expect the Pursers desk to do about the decor?? :rolleyes:

If you have any questions I will try to help. First day back at work and I have lots to do. Will try to answer asap.

Greg Kneale if you are reading this. Thanks for a wonderful time and now I know why you have a following. :D

Hope your bruises have healed. Still can't get the picture out of my head about the 70 year olds having nooky on the Lido!!

Gotta get to work.

Kris

Kris,

Glad to hear you had a wonderful time on the Pride. I only wish I was sailing her again soon.

I was wondering if Greg made it back from his vacation and it's nice to hear that he still remembers me. ;)

Kris-

There were really parents at the Purser's Desk over the decor? LOL! I guess they wanted the sculptures and paintings put away in a closet for the week, eh?

Good to hear you had a great time and that Greg was there. I'm assuming he will then be our CD in a couple weeks. Heard nothing but great things about him.

Thanks again for the update!

Brian

Hi

Does anyone know if Greg will be our cruise director for the Pride. We leave this Sunday. About the decor...we are bringing our children ages 11 and 4 and I just explained it to them in advance. I told them that it is art and beautiful art at that. Of course, our 4 year old daughter could care less, but our 11 year old son seemed pretty interested. That's teen boys for ya. He is a well behaved pre-teen so I think he will check it out, but will not make any comments. I say that if you do not like the decor choose another ship.

Thanks...

Tracie

Yes Greg will be there for your cruises.

Have a wonderful time. I will try to write a review in a few.

Kris

Kris-

Out of curiosity, do you happen to know for sure what time first seating was? The catalog says 5:45pm on the Pride, but I thought I remember from the time I booked our first cabins (17 months ago)((when I was still 39)), that the time was later, like 6 or 6:30?

Thanks for the info!

Brian

Glad you enjoyed the Pride. We had a great time in July sailing on the Pride.

Even tho I had heard about the decor prior to sailing, it still was a bit surprising at first. My 13 DS of course noticed every painting and statue but after about2 days, we all got used to the decor and pretty much ignored it.

Brian, in July first seating was at 5:45 but as long as you were there by 6:15 they would serve you. We were at a table of 4 just by ourselves so most nights we didn't show up till 6:00.

Elise

Thanks very much for the info. Just wanted to make sure we had some time to hang out with our Meet & Mingle group the first day prior to dinner. That should work out just fine.

Brian

sdscreenwriter

Yes it is 5:45 and doors do not open any earlier. The first night there was a line almost all the way thru the piano bar. Feel free to go at 6 the first night. They are very leanient the first night due to the chance of not having received your luggage yet and getting used to the ship and where everything is located.

Have a great time. This was my first cruise and now I know why people get soooooooo hooked on cruising. I will be doing it again.

To the parents who want to bring their children along: If you have ever been to Las Vegas the decor is very close to Ceasars Palace's decor. Lots of nakedness. :eek:

I guess some people would want all those portraits moved to the topless deck.

Actually, I found them all to be tasteful, never even gave it a second thought till I read this. Some people wouldn't be able to tour Rome or Greece.

We can't wait and have been reading all we can. Getting the scoop from someone just returning would be great.

Any advice dining, entertainment, etc.....How was the weather, seas....details please :confused:

Embarkation day, Sept. 26

We checked into the QM at about 9:30 am and then proceeded over to the terminal to wait in a line for 3 ½ hours. But we were 15th to get on board in our line. My hats off to the Carnival workers who kept people from coming forward to cut in line. These women must have children because they have eyes in the back of their heads. They could see them coming before they knew they were coming. Carnival allows the weddings on first then those needing assistance. By the way, just because one person is in a wheelchair it does NOT allow the party of 12 with them to get on. Then the pre-registered guests are allowed on. From this point on SMILE!!! Every time you turn around you are posing for a photo-op!! The lines moved quite quickly once we started. You first go through x-ray then off to your first photo-op. Next station your sign & sail card is placed in a kiosk and your photo is once again taken. Make sure you take the time to look at this lovely picture when you return to the ship at one of the ports. My DH had his tongue sticking out!! LOL.

Then it is off across the gangway to the ship. Oh yeah Smile!!! Another Photo-op. Once we got on the ship we immediately went to our rooms to check them out. We were in an inside cabin on the Panorama deck, room 8256. You will hear many jokes about the bathrooms. Being an avid camper I thought the bathrooms were quite spacious. After dropping our carry-on it was off to the Lido deck to get our first drink of the day. What a view. I have never been on a cruise before. This was fabulous. I couldn?t believe we had finally made it.

We returned to our rooms and our luggage was there. We had checked our collapsible cooler filled with three twelve packs of soda as a piece of luggage. At this time we introduced ourselves to our cabin steward and told him there was a cooler in the shower, passed him a ten and he smiled and said I?ll take care of it. It was filled every day and night with ice.

Muster drill was sounded and off to our life rafts. This took all of 20 minutes.

We went to early seating for dinner. Do not fret. If your luggage has not arrived wear what you have on. We did and didn?t feel out of place. In the Normandy room we met our waiter Nicholas and assistant Anatoli. This team was fabulous. We would later see Anatoli at the midnight buffets (moonlighting). Our DH?s had an in and would only yell Anatoli and a plate appeared. My sincere apologies to those that were waiting in the long lines.

Monday

I won Bingo!! $1,000 I have to tell you I NEVER win anything. So we went to the art auction and purchased a Thomas Kinkade.

Formal Night - We really enjoyed getting all decked out.

Tuesday

At Sea. Had supper at David's Supper Club. Everyone should do this at least once. Food was great and the wait staff was wonderful.

Wednesday

Puerta Vallarta ? We went to Krystal Resort. This was a ten minute walk from the ship. We purchased a few drinks and sat in their pool for over four hours. This place offers jet ski?s, banana boats, and parasailing. There is also pool games that go on. The pool is so large that you can stay well enough away. There is a swim up bar and a buffet area. The restrooms were clean. The staff did not bother us and it was clear from the towels and sign & sail card (hanging around my neck) that we were from Carnival.

We left from here and went into town to shop. We stopped off at Carlos O?Briens, had a drink by the yard, some nacho?s and received balloon hats. Had lots of fun here. We took a taxi back to the ship and took showers, ate supper and returned to port to go to Senor Frogs. This place was a lot of fun. LOUD, but fun.

Thursday

Mazatlan ? We had the wonderful opportunity to go to Randi?s Happy Horses. Randi picked us up at the ship and transported us to the horses via open air taxi and water taxi. We had a two hour horse ride on the beach and then lunch at Victor?s. Everyone must try the garlic shrimp and onion rings. The food here is fabulous and cheap. Randi can answer any question regarding the way of life about the people of Mazatlan. This excursion is a MUST do. It cost us $45 a person and approximately $15 per person for food and drinks. You are gone about 5 hours. Randi makes sure you return to the ship in plenty of time.

Voom at the Taj Mahal ? Very well done show.

Friday

Cabo San Lucas ? We went into town and shopped and then stopped off at Cabo Wabo?s. Watch out for the Waborita. It goes down like punch. YUMMY!!! I had three and needless to say my feet were no longer hurting. Before you sit down at the bar area there is no food other than pizza available. However you may opt to go upstairs to the restaurant.

Adult comedy in the Taj Mahal. What a funny guy. Sorry I can?t think of his name off the top of my head.

Saturday

Day at Sea ? Bummer. It?s almost over. Time to pack. Remember to leave out a change of clothes for the morning. Luggage needs to be in the hall by 11.

Sunday

Disembarkation ? Yes we were the last color to be called. The time did fly as we stayed in the Taj Mahal with the comedian. We got off the boat around noon time. Customs went very smoothly. Earlier in the day I had visited the custom officers and went over everything that was purchased. We did go over the allowable amount for cigarettes by 5 packs. This was no big deal and the officer said the amount of paperwork was not worth it to him or the $1.20 it would cost me.

I can?t remember when everything took place but some of the must sees are Greg Kneale?s bedtime story, Not so newlywed show, awe he** just see everything he does. He is a fabulous cruise director. We had more laughs at him and with him.

There is so much to do on the ship. We couldn?t possibly have done everything. Guess I will have to go again. One thing I did forget to bring was a highlighter for the Carnival Caper?s. This is the newspaper and it lists everything that goes on for the day.

For those of you with an inside cabin, make sure you bring an alarm clock. You know the ones that are red numbered. You can not see a thing in these cabins when the lights are out. But you can take a nap at any time of the day without a problem. :D

Well if you have any questions just post.

Embarkation day, Sept. 26

We checked into the QM at about 9:30 am and then proceeded over to the terminal to wait in a line for 3 ½ hours. But we were 15th to get on board in our line. ............................

Well if you have any questions just post.

This is just awesome info! It really sounds like getting to the QM early pays off and we'll bite the bullet and stand in line.

It sound like the alarm clock is a must have no matter if your room is inside or outside? We have a balcony room and at home when the sun shines through we usually wake up unless we've been drinking the night before :p but I don't want to rely on that to get me up and going.

Again, thank you for the review and I might have a question or two later.

Cheers,

Gary & Adrienne

www.garyhart.com

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. The PRIDE is without a doubt my favorite ship. Planning another cruise with my son this Fall. Would like to take him on it, just to see Greg Kneale (I made the mistake of posting he was "predictable" back in May while onboard). Found out he reads these posts. :D

Also glad to hear that that 70-year old Baptist minister still cruises the west coast and loves to "make whoopee" with his wife on the Lido deck in the wee hours of the morning. ;)

Greg is indeed a classic. Hope all is well with him. :)

"We checked into the QM at about 9:30 am and then proceeded over to the terminal to wait in a line for 3 ½ hours"

I have 7 going on the Pride in February. Dad, Mom, 5 kids ages 17,17,16,13,11.

My question is" Do all of us have to wait in line. Or can Dad and Mom hold the spots for the kids while they do a little exploring. I just don't see them standing in line for 3 hours without driving me crazy. And if they can leave the line, any suggestions what they could do. jill

As long as one person from your party stays in line the rest can walk around. There are vendors, vending machines and bathrooms in the area. People are allowed to sit on the grass and there are a limited number of trees. They can walk around but I can tell you it gets very crowded between the people getting off and those waiting to get on. Some of those getting off do hang around waiting for the rest of their party to get off. This is usually due to different tag colors.

We were the last color to be called off the ship and this did not take place until 12:15. So I am assuming that this is very normal times. As we were leaving they were setting up the terminal right behind us for those who would be getting on.

I wouldn't worry to much about it. They can walk around. The kids that were there didn't appear to complain or even whine. Then again maybe I was just to excited that I didn't care I was getting on the Pride :D :D