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Just back from Pride 12/24 sailing


mskaufman
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Ken is the head Maitre D for Carnival---he trains all the new Maitre Ds and sets up the ships. We've been lucky enough to be on 4 of his cruises (I gave him this "light up" bow tie on the last one). Twice he performed a night of Sinatra music when performers did not show, his concerts were packed! Hoping he'll sail with us on the new Horizon for the transatlantic.

 

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I totally agree! Ken is fabulous! I was on the Pride from 12/10 - 12/17. He sang every night....everything Sinatra! As for him being on the Horizon, I asked him how long he would be on the Pride, and he said that he would be going to Italy and come back on the Horizon, and then back on the Pride. I'm not sure if this was set in stone, but i heard it straight from him. :)

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Hi, Sailing soon on the Pride, couple of question?

 

Earliest check in time?

Recent pride fun times?

How was the pizza?

Anything special to do on the Pride?

Last time on the pride the kids were babies so did not get to do much so any advice is appreciated.

 

Check in times based on a reservation you make on line. Our check in time was 2pm. We arrived closer to 1:00 and were able to get on line. Could be that the Pride got in early that day. This past Sunday I doubt that anyone checked in before 1pm. Security was not even letting cars into the port to drop off people. That is because the Pride did not dock until 11:15.

 

Do not have copies of Fun Times

 

Pizza is good and always available

 

There is a lot to do on the ship at different times during the day. Pretty much standard cruise ship stuff, depending on what you like.

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Check in times based on a reservation you make on line. Our check in time was 2pm. We arrived closer to 1:00 and were able to get on line. Could be that the Pride got in early that day. This past Sunday I doubt that anyone checked in before 1pm. Security was not even letting cars into the port to drop off people. That is because the Pride did not dock until 11:15.

 

Do not have copies of Fun Times

 

Pizza is good and always available

 

There is a lot to do on the ship at different times during the day. Pretty much standard cruise ship stuff, depending on what you like.

 

How is the check in at the terminal handled in Baltimore? In Miami our passport was scanned at the door and since we had completed our online check in that was all we had to do, just took a seat and waited for our boarding zone to be called. I'm hoping that it's that easy in Baltimore.

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We thought it was pretty easy in Baltimore. They checked our boarding pass at the door. We waited on line for about five minutes for an agent who gave us our key and we walked on board. Timing was

 

Left house - 12:15 pm

Arrive port/check luggage - 12:40 pm

On board - 1:00 pm

Lunch at Lido - 1:15 pm

 

Worked great for us. As I said in an earlier post not so for the people on the Pride now as she was 75 minutes late getting to Baltimore and was still unloading at 1:15 pm. Security was not letting cars into the port and traffic was backed up.

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We were also on the 12/24 cruise. Did anybody else come down with norovirus? Was bedridden for 3 days. Fortunately got better by the last day. Unfortunately, my daughter just got hit with it yesterday. My wife spoke with the guitarist in the band and he said that he had it the week before and was out for a few days. I also noticed the last night that the same guy who was working pizza was running across the room to also work desserts in the buffet. It made me think that they were short manned and perhaps there was something going on with the crew. And IMPORTANT FYI-- for those coming aboard soon, regular alcohol based hand sanitizers do NOT work on norovirus. You need something that contains benzethonium chloride. I forgot to bring it (and man did it cost us) this time. We've used Gold Bond Ultimate Hand Sanitizer (no longer made, but available online at different places) on past cruises and have never caught a bug. Unfortunately, these things happen and it wouldn't stop us from cruising in the winter next year! Enjoy!! :

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We thought it was pretty easy in Baltimore. They checked our boarding pass at the door. We waited on line for about five minutes for an agent who gave us our key and we walked on board. Timing was

 

Left house - 12:15 pm

Arrive port/check luggage - 12:40 pm

On board - 1:00 pm

Lunch at Lido - 1:15 pm

 

Worked great for us. As I said in an earlier post not so for the people on the Pride now as she was 75 minutes late getting to Baltimore and was still unloading at 1:15 pm. Security was not letting cars into the port and traffic was backed up.

 

Thanks!

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We were also on the 12/24 cruise. Did anybody else come down with norovirus? Was bedridden for 3 days. Fortunately got better by the last day. Unfortunately, my daughter just got hit with it yesterday. My wife spoke with the guitarist in the band and he said that he had it the week before and was out for a few days. I also noticed the last night that the same guy who was working pizza was running across the room to also work desserts in the buffet. It made me think that they were short manned and perhaps there was something going on with the crew. And IMPORTANT FYI-- for those coming aboard soon, regular alcohol based hand sanitizers do NOT work on norovirus. You need something that contains benzethonium chloride. I forgot to bring it (and man did it cost us) this time. We've used Gold Bond Ultimate Hand Sanitizer (no longer made, but available online at different places) on past cruises and have never caught a bug. Unfortunately, these things happen and it wouldn't stop us from cruising in the winter next year! Enjoy!! :

 

Sorry you had this. I did not hear it from someone else. We did notice that Carnival was not as strict with the use of hand sanitizers as other lines. On HAL (a Carnival brand?) they did not let passengers touch buffet utensils until day 3. On NCL there was someone at the entrance to each eating venue almost forcing guests to use the sanitizer saying "washy washy". Glad you have recovered.

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My DD14 is a big Sinatra fan and just adored Ken.

 

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We were onboard last week too until we had to disembark in Nassau.

 

Our embarkation was quick and painless. The wait was to hand over the luggage. after that, we had just a few minutes wait to pay for parking. we then walked right into the terminal, through security, checked in and were on the ship with no wait at all.

 

When we returned to the port on Sunday afternoon to pick up the car, it was a different story. We had to go through the Harbor Tunnel twice because they closed the exit because cars were backing up unto I95. It took rat minutes to get me close enough that I could safely walk to the car.

 

It was about 10 degrees outside and the lines to get into the terminal, nonexistent last week, were long, with many people very unprepared. We had originally thought to leave our heavy winter coats in the car instead of lugging them with us. I am so glad we didn’t!

 

One other thing of note that I didn’t know beforehand was that even with the Cheers! package, sales tax is charge on all drinks until midnight of the first night. Each slip was for like $.83. Had I known it ended at midnight, I would have waited a few minutes before ordering my Christmas toast.

 

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We enjoyed the cruise, but I don’t think we will do a Christmas cruise, or a winter departure from Baltimore again.

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Thanks. We are possibly looking at a hard road. We don’t know yet. It will take time.

 

On a brighter note, Carnival really helped and made it an easy process. We had left Carnival for a few years because of customer service issues, but came back this summer to try Vista. I am glad we did.

 

And I will be shouting from the rooftops if they manage to pull off my single request of them — a copy of one of our formal night family photos. We didn’t get the chance to buy it before we left and it sure would mean a lot to me to have it. Though I am hopeful, we may not get another chance for all of us to cruise together again.

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Ken is the head Maitre D for Carnival---he trains all the new Maitre Ds and sets up the ships. We've been lucky enough to be on 4 of his cruises (I gave him this "light up" bow tie on the last one). Twice he performed a night of Sinatra music when performers did not show, his concerts were packed! Hoping he'll sail with us on the new Horizon for the transatlantic.

 

 

 

Ken is great, had the pleasure of listening to his opening acts on the Pride in September. He is very good and also was great with our kids. I hope he is on our next cruise in September!

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  • 2 weeks later...
My DD14 is a big Sinatra fan and just adored Ken.

 

924de357f43cf80f1cb205bfde1a3742.jpg

 

We were onboard last week too until we had to disembark in Nassau.

 

Our embarkation was quick and painless. The wait was to hand over the luggage. after that, we had just a few minutes wait to pay for parking. we then walked right into the terminal, through security, checked in and were on the ship with no wait at all.

 

When we returned to the port on Sunday afternoon to pick up the car, it was a different story. We had to go through the Harbor Tunnel twice because they closed the exit because cars were backing up unto I95. It took rat minutes to get me close enough that I could safely walk to the car.

 

It was about 10 degrees outside and the lines to get into the terminal, nonexistent last week, were long, with many people very unprepared. We had originally thought to leave our heavy winter coats in the car instead of lugging them with us. I am so glad we didn’t!

 

One other thing of note that I didn’t know beforehand was that even with the Cheers! package, sales tax is charge on all drinks until midnight of the first night. Each slip was for like $.83. Had I known it ended at midnight, I would have waited a few minutes before ordering my Christmas toast.

 

c9a8db476c985c4a2daecd4606940fe1.jpg

 

We enjoyed the cruise, but I don’t think we will do a Christmas cruise, or a winter departure from Baltimore again.

 

 

 

Ken is simply the best.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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I've read about a vibration problem the Pride had in the past. Is it still an issue? We sail in May and have an aft balcony.

 

 

We were in Vista Suite 4237 in October. Wonderful stateroom with a gigantic wrap around balcony. Unfortunately, the constant shaking and rumbling made for a rough night's sleep whenever the ship was moving. It was THE only reason we'd never book that category cabin again.

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A couple of other things.

 

Dave in the piano bar is very good although was not well attended.

 

Breakfast was good but there were only minimal differences from day to day. French toast was freshly grilled and excellent. Pancakes also made fresh. Waffles looked like they were out of the bag.

 

Usually we sleep well on a cruise (between very active days and the rocking of the boat). On this cruise the bed was most uncomfortable. I woke up with a stiff neck on day one. Thank goodness for some pain killers. When we were walking off the ship it looked like the Pride was getting some new mattresses. DW immediately commented that they were a week too late.

 

We were on the cruise right after you! And yes, embarkation for some folks was a traffic nightmare. We, thankfully, didn't have that!

 

Dave was TERRIBLE in my opinion. His accent was way too thick for my tastes. And I am sorry, but you don't improvise "American Pie". I had to walk out. Sad thing was, our cabin (4120) was right above the piano bar, so we had the muffled sound of him until after midnight. Thank goodness for white noise!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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