Still Proud of the Pride - 5/23 Review with pics!

[bcs819]

As with my other reviews, this will be long and as detailed as I can recall. This review is my opinion, and should be read as such. Feel free to ask questions, I will do my best to answer.

This was our 10th cruise, our 6th on Carnival. This cruise was great overall, and we have no plans to try any other lines at this point as we have tried 4 and are sticking with Carnival now to get to permanent VIP status. We travelled with my sister and her boyfriend, it was the first cruise for both. Buckle up and enjoy the ride....

Embarkation:

One of our main reasons for booking this cruise was to sail from Baltimore. We have sailed this ship before (during her inaugural year) and been to all these ports, so sailing from a close-to-home port and being on the Chesapeake was what we had been looking forward to all along. We live about 10 minutes south of the Philadelphia International Airport, and got started much later than we wanted to, getting on I-95 around 10am. Being the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we expected to hit shore traffic, but sailed along till we got into Maryland where there were several gaper delays for no apparent reason. My sister and her BF arrived at the port about a half-hour ahead of us, and checked in around 11:45. I spoke with her via cell and she said the ship was still unloading passengers. We arrived in the parking lot around 12:15 and though it wasn't crowded, there were a lot of twists and turns to follow to get to the right place. Don't panic, it was all very organized. There was plenty of parking available even after we sailed away:

We were VIP and were disappointed that there was no VIP line outside. We stood in line for about 20 minutes to get through the scanners, and then were directed to the VIP "lounge" at the right end of the terminal. It's not really a lounge, but it was better than sitting in chairs. We filled out our health paperwork, and were 3rd in line for the VIP check in. This is one of my few complaints about sailing from Baltimore, but why would they put a new person to work VIP? There were 2 reps, and one had to keep going to help the other one. Grrrr. We got checked in and I asked if my sister and her BF could board with us since they had already checked in, and I was told they could. Yay! By now it was about 1pm and the VIPs were lined up next to a wedding party. I waved my sister over and they got in the VIP line with us, and at 1:15 we started to shuffle on board. Obligatory welcome aboard photo, and we entered the atrium lobby.

[bcs819]

Normally, the first thing we do on board is head to the dining room to make sure we were sitting alone, but since we were traveling with others we just checked our sign and sail to make sure the "linking" had worked, ad headed to Lido for food and our traditional Dirty Banana. They didn't give us the usual letter about not going to our cabins, so we headed down to drop of our stuff in our cabin and then my sister's around 3pm as we heard people saying that was the time. We were booked in an aft wrap, which is a Cat 11 on this ship, #7347. This is the third time we've had an aft wrap, and we love them!



Headed back up on deck for our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at the Poseidon Bar. It was nice meeting everyone that came, and chatted until time for Muster. Did the obligatory drill which seemed less painful than others, then headed back up to Lido for sailway:



We left about 30 minutes late, and watched as we headed toward the first bridge. We passed under it about 35 minutes after pulling away from the dock:



The Capers listed tonight as "Come As You Are", so we headed back to our cabin to see if our luggage had arrived. It all made it, so we spent some time unpacking before heading up to dinner.

We had a great table in the Normandie lower level, late seating table 152. It was on a window and we had a great wake-view:



I can't for the life of me remember the correct spelling of our waiters' names but Neengh and Miriella (sorry) were great!

[texascat]

Yes....yes....than what???? Oh my, you are doing great! I can't wait!!!

[David148]

This is looking to be a great review! Cant wait to read more along with the pictures

-David

[sallyb]

More, Please!

[Glassrobinson]

Great review so far...I can not believe the parking lot is not full? Was the ship full? Can't wait to sail Pride in October...

[Jeffy294]

Don't stop, you can not leave us hanging like that.

[bcs819]

Tonight was the Welcome Aboard Show with Comedian Marvin Todd at 10:30. One show only so we opted to skip it and re-acquaint ourselves with my favorite ship. Called it a night early so we would be well-rested for our first Sea Day.

Sunday, May 24

We woke up and headed up to Lido around 9 for breakfast. On our way, we gave our cabin steward our evening wear and all of Ed's shirts to be pressed for the week. Our cabin location is very convenient and we were able to find a table in Mermaid's Grille without too much trouble. Headed up for deck chairs around 10 and was able to find 4 on the port side. I would have preferred to be starboard for non-smoking, but they were all taken. We spent most of the day in our chairs, never all leaving at the same time. We introduced my sister and her BF to foo-foo drinks, with the Kiss on the Lips and the Miami Vice:



This was the view of the pool area from where we sat, and there were chairs near the pool if you wanted them:



Three of us headed to the Wine Tasting at David's at 2pm, and it was a great deal for $10 (plus 15%) per person. You got a plate of food to try with the wine, including sirloin and salmon:



and 5 glasses of wine:



It was quite well attended, so don't be late!



While we enjoyed it, it was MUCH longer than we expected - a little over an hour. There was a lot of education, and we would do it again, we just wished we had known how long it would be.

Spent a little more time soaking up the rays, then headed back. It was a beautiful day, but the kind where you can get really burned because there is always a strong breeze and you don't realize how much sun there is. We paid for this all week

[bcs819]

sorry, folks, I am typing it as I go It's all coming, I promise!

[Jeffy294]

Originally Posted by bcs819

sorry, folks, I am typing it as I go It's all coming, I promise!

Its all good, take your time. I was just picking.

[bcs819]

After all that sun, and five glasses of wine, it was nap time to be up for Elegant Evening. All of Ed's clothes came back from being pressed right on time at 5pm, and then we got ready for dinner. Being on my tenth cruise, I had not done the cruise portraits in quite some time, however, my sister talked me into getting some. I remembered why we stopped doing them - they are too much fun and too good to pass up. It's a good thing we weren't doing a lot of excursions, because I spent more on photos on this cruise than all my other combined! We knew our mom would be tickled to see them, and they came out great:



and of course, they convince you to take the silly solo shots which actually came out pretty good. What I will do with this, I don't know, but I couldn't resist!



this was the sad picture we took ourselves, which is why we had to buy the ship photos:



I will take the opportunity here to say that I think Carnival stepped up their game a bit in the dining room. The menus were the same as previous cruises, but the beef dishes were good all week, and the lobster was actually good as well.

We dawdled over dinner, and went to the Piano bar for a bit while we were waiting for Adult comedy with Marvin Todd. We really look forward to the Adult shows, and am sad to say that he never hit his groove. There was a pretty obnoxious heckler that was finally removed from the theater, but it was pretty distracting. Sad to say, him heckling the heckler was the funniest part of the show. Oh, well, we called it a night around 12:30 and headed to bed.

[bcs819]

Originally Posted by Glassrobinson

Great review so far...I can not believe the parking lot is not full? Was the ship full? Can't wait to sail Pride in October...

Yes, the ship was full. We were very impressed and surprised at how much parking there was. I took the photo on purpose as I know we had worried that there would be a problem, and there wasn't.

[bcs819]

Monday, May 25

Today was Memorial Day and we were all paying for too much sun yesterday. We had whole day of nothing planned today, it was our 18th anniversary. We did got to the Love and Marriage show which was hysterical, as usual. Kirk was good, and he plays off the passengers well. He also seemed to be able to improvise on the fly, which not every CD can do.

My sister and her BF had made reservations for David's and we were looking forward to it. For some reason on this night, the shows were earlier. This never works out for us, if we have to go to a show before dinner, so we missed the "hilarious ventriliquism of Phil Hughes". However, David's was worth every penny and every morsel. If you have small children, please ask them to leave the room, I'm bringing out the food porn!

The Pumpkin and Feta Parfait appetizer:


My Beef Carpaccio with Starfruit Chutney:


The Sushi Platter:


and of course, Beef - it's what's for dinner:

[pickypeg]

You aqre doing a great job here. But how much did it cost you to park for the whole week? We are going to be on the Pride in Oct. Can't wait.

[bcs819]

The service was great in David's and we knew they would push the wine, but it wasn't a hard sell. I did recognize a wine on the list that I had enjoyed prior, so we ordered a bottle. We chatted with the Sommelier a bit about the wine tasting and she seemed happy to hear from us. She said she always wonders who pays attention and who just wants the 5 glasses for 10 bucks.

The whole meal was impressive, and dessert was no exception. I can't remember the official name of the chocolate dessert, but I have and will always refer to it as "the chocolate orgy":



It was just obscene to have that much decadence on one plate!

I had the Apple Tartin:



and my sister had the cheesecake, can you believe it???



you really do need a solid 2 hours for the experience, but I highly recommend it. Roy and Yvonne from our meet and greet were seated near us, and offered to take our picture. Please be kind, this was AFTER we had just gorged and gorged and gorged:



Too late for a show and we were all stuffed, so we headed back to our cabin to look at the stars and great ready for Grand Turk tomorrow.

[bcs819]

Originally Posted by pickypeg

You aqre doing a great job here. But how much did it cost you to park for the whole week? We are going to be on the Pride in Oct. Can't wait.

Parking was $105, paid when you parked. Cash or credit card.

[megr1125]

great...............MORE food porn!!!!

Nice review....(im)patiently awaiting the next installment.....

we have an aft wrap too but i want to move up from deck 5.......i keep checking.......(but i suppose ANY aft wrap would be swell!)

[Jeffy294]

The Porterhouse makes my mouth water.

[ducklovemama]

Thanks for your review !!!!!!!!! I am really excited now. My first cruise out of Baltimore !!! My hometown. I have always cruised out of florida because of the blue water. But now NO AIRPLANE FLIGHTS !!!!!!

[bcs819]

Tuesday, May 26

We pulled in to Grad Turk early, too early. We had been here before, and had a lazy day planned. Ed was still tasting his 24oz porterouse from David's, so we were in no hurry to get moving. For those of you who love John Candy, we were referring to it as "the ole 96er" for most of the week....who knows what I'm talking about?

Sorry, I digressed.

The ship docks in GRand Turk so you can walk right on and off, no tendering needed:



We decided to play the stereotypical tourist and vegged out at Margaritaville. The sun was hot, and the crowd was fun. Who can resist the fist pumping of the Bom-Bom-Bom during Sweet Caroline?



I did not do enough drinking yesterday, so I was double fisting in preparation for my Cheeseburger in Paradise:



Sad to say our early arrival meant an early departure and everyone had to be back on board at 2:30. We had some company on our balcony for sailaway,


and watched Grand Turk disappear in the distance: