Welsh Lass

Looking forward to hearing all about it as we’re on the same cruise in August. Any tips would be very welcome 😊  Have a great time!

Arrive at 11 - too much of a mess from disembarking passengers if too early.

Thanks!

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We have an arrival time at Cape Liberty terminal of 11-11.30. I have received an email saying 'please arrive no less than 2 hours before your scheduled boarding' Does that mean arrive at 9am or is 11am 2 hrs before we will be boarding the ship? Keen to get on the ship but don't want to arrive too early!

Thanks for your replies everyone!

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Hi. Are you able to take towels off the ship (Anthem of the seas) to use on the beach? Thanks

Looks like I'll have to take a chance with the weather and book the excursion through RC.

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Thanks all.

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Thanks for the great advice.

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Thanks all! Very reassuring as my children are very keen to have a go on them all.

Hi. When I have tried to book the above activities online it says 'unable to book online. Please check on board'. I spoke to a RC representative and she informed me that that means they are fully booked. Could anyone tell me if I am likely to be able to book when I am on board? I find it surprising that they would allocate all available spaces prior to sailing. Many thanks.

Hi all. As we are travelling in March, we would prefer to wait and see what the weather is like before purchasing full passes to visit Atlantis. Is there anywhere in the port where we can buy them? Many thanks

We got off the Pride on 08/07. We had FTTF & arrived at the port at 10.15. We weren't allowed into the car park until just after 11am as they were waiting for more passengers from the previous week's cruise to leave first. We parked quickly (this seemed to be pure luck as to which line you were told to wait in) and after a short wait in the security queue, we were checked straight in and directed to the priority boarding area. They started biarding just after 12 and had taken our carry on luggage to our cabin and were sitting down for lunch by 12.40. Have a great cruise!

It was my uncle, it was a shark bite. A small shark, but a shark none the less. He is doing well, he was airlifted to Ft. Lauderdale from Freeport. He has had one surgery thus far and there are plans for at least another on this coming Saturday.

Wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

Welcome back! Can you tell me if Gabriel, Katie and Eleana are the bartenders at Alchemy now? We had Gabriel and Eleana on our last cruise....awsome! Thanks for the help!

I only tried the alchemy bar once. Sadly, I did not take note of the gentleman's name who served me but can assure you that every time I passed, the 2 men & 1 woman who worked there were putting on a great show & were always chatting to their customers. Whilst I thought the concept of the Alchemy bar was great, it's position on the ship made it more of a thoroughfare and waiting area for the MDR. My cocktail was delicious though!

Thank you so much for sharing! My son and I are on the Pride 27NOV for our first Carnival cruise, so I am reading everything I can about it! I desperately want FTTF but it is sold out, I am hoping there will be more spots closer to sailing. I had intended to wing it in Freeport as well, but I am now leaning towards an excursion. I am a little concerned about the vibrations, but we are on deck 8 midship, so I am hopeful it will not be that noticeable.

FTTF was sold out on our cruise too. I kept checking a few times a day and they went on sale again about 3 weeks before we sailed so keep checking! Either way, im sure you'll have a great time.

We returned today from a caribbean cruise on Pride. I was surprised to see how many people dressed up on the elegant nights. The majority of men wore 2 piece suits and a tie and the women were in long gowns or cocktail dresses. In the dining room with set dining times I woukd say tbe majority were 'dressed up' with your time diners choosing open collared shirts ir collared t shirts & pants. The cruise director made a point in saying dress up if you want but don't worry if you don't. Noone stood out to me as being overly or under dressed. Enjoy your cruise!

My husband and I are in our mid 40's and have just done our 1st cruise with carnival with our 2 sons of 9 & 11. We have cruised previously with P&O, Royal Caribbean and Princess. I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Embarkation

We arrived at Baltimore at 10.30 after selecting the 11-11.30 check in time. There were already 3 lines of cars and we were directed to join the newest line. No one checked boarding cards to see which check in time we had. I asked about getting priority tags for our luggage as we had purchased FTTF and was directed to a hut to the side of the car park where I was given new labels with orange FTTF stickers. We were told they were waiting for more people to disembark before opening the car park. When they started letting cars into the car park justvafyer 11am, we were directed to an area where our luggage was taken from us and then we quickly parked and joined the priority check in queue. This seemed to be as long as the normal queue and both were served by the same person checking boarding cards. He alternated between each queue, and would not allow families through together which was frustrating. Once through security, we went straight to the FTTF check in desk. We are UK citizens living in the US on work visas and this seemed to confuse the check in staff. As a result, we were last in to the priority boarding area. They started boarding just after 12 and despite being last, boarding was very quick and we were onboard by 12.25 and went straight to our cabin to drop off our hand luggage.

Our cabin

We had cabin 6232 (bowling alley balcony!) . As there were 4 of us, the sofa was made up as a bed and remained made up. The 4th bed was in the ceiling and whilst the steward left it down, it was simple to push up to give us the feeling of more room. The room was very clean and the beds were comfortable but was definately in need of a refurb. The furniture and furnishings looked old and marked and the toilet was stained and had a permanent odour. There was plenty of storage for all our clothes and the huge balcony was great. I was concerned about noise as the cabin was located next to the stewards pantry and the elevators, but I needn't have worried. We were not asked to choose between am or pm servicing, and our room steward was very prompt in responding to the few requests we made.

The ship

This was by far my favourite ship out of the different ships and cruise lines we have tried. The huge ships are very impressive, but I find them too big and impersonal. The Pride was big enough to offer a variety of venues, but small enough to navigate easily and receive personal service. Yes she's looking a bit old in places, but it was evident they are constantly maintaining and redecorating areas.

Vibration

I had read lots of threads about the Prides vibrations. I did not notice anything until we sat down to dinner in the MDR. We had your time dining so were on deck 3. The vibtration was extremely evident on the starboard side. This was true for all other decks, noticibly the Serenity area. After our 1st meal, I had to rethink my wardrobe choices as my husband said he found my quivering cleavage very distracting! You could feel the vibration in the cabin, but it was not enough to stop us sleeping. In fact, my husband said what with my cleavage at dinner and the vibrating bed, it was shaping up to be a great vacation!

Food

I really want to say it was amazing, but sadly it was very average. We were especially disappointed with the menu on the elegant nights which appeared very limited. The buffet didn't appear to offer much of an alternative either if there was nothing in the MDR that you fancied. My children told me the pizzas were very good but I think they need a better system for ordering & collecting as my children were often overlooked or their order taken by someone else. You would never go hungry, but the food will not be the most memorable part of your cruise. Seaday brunch in the MDR was nice. A good choice and far nicer than the buffet offerings (with exception of the omlette station)

Kids Club

After visiting Camp Carnival to register, both my children said they would not be going as it appeared babyish. I agreed, but kept my opinions to myself and encouraged them to try it the next day. My children's age group did use other venues used by the older age groups (both my boys were in the 9-11 year olds) and they much prefered it when the activities were held there. They soon made friends though and went most days.

Destinations

Grand Turk - being able to use the pool at the Margaritaville was great. We found loungers by the pool and spent the majority of our time there. We booked the Flowrider and had great fun. The instructors were very good and made the whole experience even better. We did it for 1 hour and had 4 goes each. Whilst that might not sound long, it was very tiring so was plenty long enough. Whilst the Margaritaville and beach are right where the ship docks, I recommend walking both ways as the beach & photo opportunities were both amazing.

Half Moon Cay - every bit as beautiful as I had read. The 1st part of the beach was a bit crammed with sun loungers, but a short stroll takes you to quieter, less crowded parts. No one was allowed in the sea for the 1st part of the morning as it was rumoured someone was hurt by a barracuda, but we left at 11 for the Stingray encounter so luckily weren't affected by this. This excursion was very good. We were given water shoes and snorkels (you could use your own if you preferred) and had free time swimming amongst the fish and stingrays. They were obviously very used to being with people and brushed past you and allowed you to touch them. We were then given the opportunity to feed them a squid which was a surreal experience. The only thing I would say is that this excursion had a miminum age of 6 but I think it should be higher. My youngest is 9 and found that the deep tidal water made it too hard for him to swim unaided. I noticed several other children leave the water too. My eldest son, husband and myself thoroughly enjoyed the experience though. By the time we returned, the buffet was in full swing and they had let people back into the sea.

Freeport - we chose not to do an excursion but wish we had. The shops they have built solely for the cruise ships were nice but it only took 45 mins to have a good look round. I was aware Freeport was an industrial port, but was not quite prepared for just how industrial and inaccessible the surrounding area would be.

Disembarkation

We chose to do self assist. This was by far the smoothest and quickest we have ever left a ship. We wheeled our cases to the butterfly room at 9am and 20 minutes after the ship was cleared, we were in our car & on our way home.

FTTF - for me, it was worth every penny. We were on board 25 mins after boarding started, we were able to take our carry on luggage straight to our room, our luggage arrived an hour later, the few times we visited guest services we were able to bypass the queue and disembarkation was a breeze.

All in all our 1st experience with Carnival was a really good one and we will definately be cruising with them again. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Happy cruising!

We have just got off the Pride. About 10am on Thurs in Half Moon Cay, everyone was told to get out of the water and the lifeguards went out in a speed boat to search the water. I heard a lifeguards walkie talkie say there was an emergency and to get medics and the buggy. We saw a woman get carried out of the water and loaded onto a golf buggy. People were not allowed back into the sea for a good hour or so after. Whilst I do not know for definate what happened, later that evening we heard several people saying she had been bitten on the leg by a barracuda and would be air lifted to Miami when we docked in Freeport the next day. There was a lady taken off the ship on a stretcher and put in an ambulance the following day, but I do not know if this was the same lady. If the rumours were indeed true, I wish her a speedy recovery.

I ordered 2 of the exact same bags for our cruise this coming Sunday. I wanted to check was was in them as I ordered them a while ago and also noticed they are no longer listed. I have rung customer service several times and neither times were they able to confirm if I will receive them or not. Looks like I'm more likely to not receive them judging by the comments 😞

Thanks!

We've booked an extended balcony cabin (8J) and there will be 4 of us in it. Which bed configuration would give us the most floor space - twin or king? I have heard of people moving beds to achieve more floor space but I'm assuming we won't be able to do that without obstructing the balcony doors? Also, I know the sofa bed remains made up, but does the upper pullman bed get put away every day? Thanks!

Thanks for posting the kids club schedules. Sailing in a week so my kids are already planning what to do.

We're doing the exact same itinery in 2 weeks time so getting a sneak preview on what's ahead has been great thanks. Looking forward to seeing the kids club activities as both my children will be interested to see what the 9-11 year olds get up to. Thanks for taking the time to post everything.

Thanks for your replies. Can't wait now!

Thanks everyone. Most helpful.