dms1908

Have fun ShakyBeef!!!

I'm not sure we would ever do ATD again but if we did...we would put our name on the list and then go and get ready for dinner!! ;)

I will be on the pride with my SO on October 2nd to the Eastern Caribbean. We are planning buying the Cheers package and you have mentioned milkshakes a couple times....is this something that is covered under the alcohol program?

Thanks!

Amanda

Hey Amanda - sorry for the delay in responding but the app hasn't been working well on my phone. To answer your question, yes the milkshakes are covered under Cheers along with the specialty coffees at the coffee shop.

I paid $800 for Cheers so I'm okay with $80 for FTTF....But of course I would prefer 59.99!

Thank you for sharing your review!!! I have a port question, wondering about the 'long line' of cars waiting to get into the lot, are we parking on the road while waiting to get in, just get in line, turn the car off and wait type of thing? We have only driven to and parked in one other port which was New Orleans, just drove right into the garage, no long line so this is sure different :) Thank you!!

Hey Kelly11

You are on port property. Depending on when you arrive there may not be a long line 3 of cars. There was delay in deboarding for those returning which caused us a delay.

What is the hub?

Carnival has an app called the Hub. You can download it for free and it's $5 per user for the week. You can basically message each other without using data from your cellphone carrier. It also has the daily schedule for the ship. I was afraid the kids would accidentally use data but with the Hub they put the phone in airplane mode and we could still communicate.

Looking at pride. What are the ages of the teens you traveled with?Mine will be 14 and 16 at cruise date. Did your teens like the ship???

We had an 11y/0, 16 y/o, and two 17 y/o....and they all loved it. We were celebrating graduation for the oldest two. They had so much fun that the 16 y/o has requested the same trip for his graduation in 2018! I will tell you that we did let them roam and have fun. We only had 2 mandatory dinners, and they at least had to leave the ship with us at ports. Beyond that they were free to make friends (which they made plenty) and have a great time. We didn't set curfews. We regularly checked in through the Hub, and we had a key to their room. They spent a lot of time at the basketball court with the other teens they met, in the card room playing board games, going to the events held for the young adults, and in the game room. They all had a great time.

dms1908,

 

Oh my gosh, your whole group is just too freakin' cute!:) I really enjoyed your review, thanks for taking the time to share it. In just about 40 days, DH and I will be back on the Pride for the 7th time, doing this itinerary for the 3nd time, taking our kids on this itinerary for the 1st time... and your review just helped make me a little more excited about it.:D

Thanks ShakyBeef! Our group had a great time and we won't likely return again until 2018 because of other trips set up for 2017. However, DH has been asking me to check prices "just in case" something changes!

Dms1908, thank you for responding! Glad to hear that it's faster, we are driving from Michigan instead of flying being that we have never been to that area before and flying can be such a hassle. We are going to leave the Friday prior after dh gets out of work and stay at a hotel and see the area. Now I just have to decide if we want to do one of the hotels we can stay and park at or just park at the port itself... Oh so many decisions to make lol

It will be great! We don't live far and parking at the port was a breeze once they opened the lot. If you are heading back on the road straight after the ship docks, consider parking at the port. That way you can stay and relax onboard until the last possible minute. Just a thought!

Hi Pinkflipflopshortie! You definitely made a good choice with the Pride. Security is a breeze. The still check your photo against your documents and then you and your carryon go through a scanner but it's so much faster than the airport.

Oh No, sharing a Cheers Card. Where's the morality police? Maybe this is why both have to buy the package at Carnival as it is know, acknowledged , and a accepted practice to "get" items for others not covered by a card. Now I'm not a member of the police, but do think the rules under the Cheers program are that the beverages entitled under the program are for the sole use by the holder of the card.

My Moms water supply on Princess, always seems to flow down to our cabin somehow? Funny that. I am coming back and trying Carnival again, my wife doesn't drink and I really like my beer. Keeping the sharing of a card under ones hat might allow the program to lighten up a bit and allow for only 1 in a cabin to purchase, or allowing a split card. Bubbles/Cheers?. Putting out there that you blatantly violated the rules might put your "Love" affair under jeopardy. Just saying.

Aloha, Tim

Aloha! Thanks for pointing this out! Lol. I will admit that I took 2 sips of every milkshake before handing off to the kids. 😊 so technically it was mine and I couldn't finish it. Now the love affair continues!!

Loved your review of the Pride. We were on the Pride for the fourth time in February. We're spoiled by being able to leave from Baltimore. We live in the Philly suburbs, and it's so much easier than driving to the port of NY.

Thanks! We are becoming pretty addicted to leaving out of Baltimore too! I'm hoping to book another one soon and then another for 2018 when the youngest graduates.

I love the layout of the Spirit-class ships. I sailed Miracle twice and sailed Pride about 2 years ago.

 

I'm one of those who complained about the shaking. I had an aft on Miracle and it wasn't an issue. But on Pride, it was so bad the last night (when we were moving slowly) that it repeatedly woke me up. Seriously. It was like someone coming up and grabbing me by the shoulder and shaking me awake. Never again!

 

I'm booked on the 1/2/17 repo to Tampa. Thirteen glorious nights. This time, I have an inside Empress. Normally, I like lower (like bottom passenger deck). I think there's more side-to-side movement on this class because of the design (they're narrower), but it doesn't bother me too much since I started taking Ginger Root.

 

Looking forward to having the 2.0 updates. Had dinner at Bonsai one night on Vista and it was great. Totally stuffed myself for about $10!

 

Also not a fan of ATD. Have had it my past 2 cruises but am reverting back to late dining.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :D

Yeah, I had at least one night where it was pretty bad but I got used to it after awhile. Still, thinking we would choose the higher deck on the next cruise.

Can you tell me around what time you showed up for your time dining? We leave in 3 weeks for a cruise on the Pride and the only available dining was that. I've been worried about the long waits.

We tried 6:30, 7 and 7:15...the shortest wait was about 30 minutes when we went at 7:15.

Grand Turk

Half Moon Cay & Cabana Life

Cheers and More Cheers

The Towel Parade!!!

Enjoy the Sunrises, Sunsets and Moonlight

The End

Well, the only negative I can report is related to the shaking. Last time we were on deck 8 toward the rear and hardly felt anything. This time we were deck 6 in the middle and there was quite a bit of shaking especially the first 2 days when the Ship was moving very fast to make up for the late departure. We also had to take Dramamine the first two days because the speed was causing a bit of motion sickness.

One thing I love about vacation on the Pride is being able to connect with so many people through CC and FB before we set sail. It makes it nice to know some new faces and spend time talking with new people. If you are new to this cruising thing, I encourage you to get connected and make a few new friends which will make your cruise experience even better.

This morning the Ship docked a little before 9am. We did self-assist and were loaded up in our car by 9:40am. Getting through customs was quite easy compared to flying in from a foreign country. We are already thinking about and looking at the calendar for our next trip on the Pride. Feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer any questions.

(side note: I spent more time enjoying the moments rather than taking photos of every moment. However, I'm trying to find a few that reflect some of my comments so please take my photos in stride!)

Ports – Grand Turk was beautiful. The teens had a great time on the Flow Rider. It was an hour and they got plenty of time on the boards. We paid the $25 each for the CD of pictures because in my mind memories are priceless. Half Moon Cay really is a slice of paradise. I wanted a Cabana but it said sold out online before the cruise. I went to the Excursions desk after we got onboard day 1 and they had a few available. Apparently they sell 12 of 15 online and hold the remaining 3. We were second on the wait list so there was no problem. We had Cabana number 1 and probably would request 2 or 3 in the future because there was a path leading from #1 and folks kept wanting to cut through. The cabana came with 4 floating mats, 4 snorkel sets (fins and mask), chips and salsa, a veggie tray and dip, fresh fruit tray, 8 cans of soda and 2 large bottles of bottled water. There is also 2 loungers with cushions, a table with 4 chairs, and a misting fan. We did not pay for extra people (4 included in the price) because we knew the kids would stay in the water. We split the $280 between the 2 families so it was well worth the cost. The teens also really enjoyed the activities at the sports center. Freeport is Freeport – Not much to see right at the port. We did a little shopping and then headed back on the boat.

Just Stuff

Here are a few tips that we learned from CC: take an extension cord if you need to charge more than one item. It is a lifesaver (and prevents arguments). Take your own pillow if you need a specific type of pillow. I always take my own pillowcase and even took (and left) my own pillow this time which was perfect. Take some Aloe Gel and Dramamine with you. The Caribbean sun is strong you will be happy to have the aloe even if it’s to stop you from peeling. Take a lanyard for your Sail and Sign card. Preorder Bottled Water for your room to stay hydrated (especially if you get Cheers:) ).

A small bottle of baby powder works wonders for getting sand off. Take a jacket and maybe one pair of sweatpants/jeans. :cool: It is cool in the theaters in the evening with the AC on full blast. We had the $105 in cash for parking instead of a credit card. Check the fun times if you sign up for the CC Meet and Greet. We missed it because it was at 4:15 which was the middle of our daily nap! Lol (don’t judge I don’t get to nap at work).

Food – David’s Steakhouse is top of the list again - and yes we went twice. We took the teens as a graduation celebration on the first night and just the 4 adults on the second Elegant night. We had Your Time Dining – I’m not a fan. The concept is good but having to wait 35 to 55 minutes for a table does not make it my time dining. We tried to time it so we could make various activities and always missed them because of the wait. Some of the wait staff (Rex and Francisco) was much better and more attentive than others. Last time we had the 8pm seating and the service just seemed better.

We had sushi at Bonsai this time as well. I’m allergic to shellfish and when asked there was no problem making a cucumber/avocado roll for me. My husband really enjoyed the Tempura and California Rolls. Price was much better than what we would pay on land for the size.

Also, I had a veggie burger at Guy’s one day. It’s not listed so you just have to ask. It’s made to order and takes about 5 minutes. It was very flavorful! I’m glad this is an options since I rarely eat beef and one regular burger for the week is enough for me.

Cheers & Bottomless Bubbles - WORTH. EVERY. DIME. We would definitely get this again for the adults and the kids. I just looked at our printout and we apparently had 24 beverages in the first two days between the two adults! Yikes, our poor livers!!!! Oh well lots more water this week.  We also used our cards to get milkshakes for the kids on a couple of occasions as well as extra bottled water. The break even point for Cheers was about 5 or 6 drinks. We were free to try various drinks and move on if we didn’t like it because it was covered.

The Middle:

Carnival Hub App – we are glad we got this. It made communicating with our teens and the other couple very easy – well at least when the teens made time to actually respond to us. The teens and husband also got the social media package. Husband liked that he could post to FB and Instagram. The teens did not like it as much because they could not use SnapChat. However, they could use the iMessage feature on their iPhones to connect with their friends back home.

The Crew – It appeared that there was a complete overhaul of the crew since our cruise in September. Overall a great group of folks. We weren’t immediately thrilled with Schwartz the new cruise director but I will say that he was everywhere and very engaged the entire cruise. We loved Cookie (black guy from Alabama named Cookie!) from day one. Another favorite was Gary from Scotland (you have to hear him say it). Eladio was phenomenal and we felt bad that he had to clean the cabin with the 3 teen boys! There were lot of others from the restaurants to the bars that I will be sure to recognize in my carnival review.

Entertainment – My only downside is that it still was feast or famine with the entertainment, meaning everything at the same time or nothing at all. However, I will say they tried to spread out some things. I did feel like Schwartz was a salesman for the spa on many of his announcements at the beginning, and became the cruise director by day 2 or 3. Comedy was great (Diane Ford, Tommy Drake, and the awesome Fryman).

We attended several of the game shows (Hasbro, Quest, Love and Marriage, Adult Game Night, and Trivia) that we really enjoyed. We went to two Playlist Productions but did not stay. Not our idea of great entertainment. Husband won and I lost in the Casino so I think that makes us even! Lol – pretty sure he’s still annoyed that I didn’t walk away when I was up by $200.

Well we are back from another great week aboard the Carnival Pride and our love affair with this class of ship continues. I am an avid reader of CC before we sail and have picked up tons of tips and tricks. Hopefully, this review will help someone else!

The beginning:

I’m not sure if the ship was late or there was a customs issue but the June 12 cruisers didn’t start unloading until around 11am on 6/19. So this meant that we had a delay in boarding. Not a big deal. We had FTTF (and will buy it every single time!) so we quickly got through security, got our Sail and Sign cards and were hanging out in the seating area. We arrive around 11am to the port, stayed in the parking line for about 40 minutes and were able to get through to our seats by noonish.

Around 1pm they stopped checking in folks because there was no space in the boarding area. I felt bad for those standing in line. Finally we could see platinum folks boarding, then the wedding groups, and next up was the FTTF folks. We did board from the Deck A since the gangway is still not operational. Not a big deal. Walk across a path, through what looks like a shipping container, and on to the ship. We walked up one flight and then down the hall to catch a different set of elevators – no waiting to get to deck 6!

We immediately dropped off our carry-on luggage and took our teens up to Lido for their very first taste (but not their last) of Guy’s burgers! They never disappoint. After lunch, we went back to the cabins (balcony for us, inside for the kids) and found that all luggage except mine (really!?!) had been delivered. Apparently the tag came off my luggage and I eventually was able to pick it up at guest services about an hour before dinner. Thanks to Eladio (housekeeping) for suggesting I go look for it instead of waiting for Guest Services to find and bring it to me.

Phew...so glad you aren't going to let them keep treating you like that! Good for you, standing up against good customer service!!!

Thanks for the great review. We had our first Pride cruise last year (just me and hubby) and in June we are taking the teenage boys. I would love a Cabana for HMC. However, the site seems to imply you can't request to be on a wait list. How did you get on the wait list? Did you email a specific address? My boys just want to go to the beach at each port and I my husband and I love HMC from a previous HAL cruise so we think the cabana would make this even more awesome. (sorry for the run on sentence)

Nice job with your review!!

We ordered a case of water on our last cruise which was great to have in the room. I'm also planning to order it for our June cruise.

This time I'm also thinking of ordering a bottle of alcohol to have in the room, along with the wine that we can bring on board. The alcohol prices are definitely inflated but I was thinking it's better than what I would spend ordering at the bars. Thoughts? How many others pre-order alcohol for their room?

We were on the Sept 6 cruise in 2015 and there was just a smattering of kids on the cruise. I don't think you will be overrun or overwhelmed with kids in September. Enjoy your cruise!

This was awesome and extremely funny. I didn't think CC had a rule against satire and anyone who is annoyed or bothers by this review, might want to consider what made them read the entire post.

Thanks for a great read that made me smile during my morning commute!

Thank or a great review. We were always hesitant to try Carnival. I'm glad we have in and took the Sept 6 sailin. We agreed with a lot of your review especially about the food. The main dining room was okay but Guys, Bue Iguana, Chef's Table and David's were absolutely amazin. We are looking forward to our Pride cruise next summer and hope to try RC in the futur. Again, nice job with your review!