Our Carnival Pride Spring Break cruise - 4/5/15 (with pics)

Ahoy again everyone!! My name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I’m a Cruise Addict!! The holidays being over, it was time to review our cruising plans for the upcoming year. As of then, the only cruise we had booked was the Carnival Breeze, and that wasn’t until August. What to do, what to do? Hey!! How about booking something for Spring Break? The Pride will be back in Baltimore just before then. Perfect!! Book it Dano!!

The Spirit Class is our favorite class of Carnival ship. This will be our 9th cruise on one. We love the flow of these ships, No up and downs, in and outs, or go a rounds on these ships. They never seem crowded, and they have the best, most quiet Serenity areas in the fleet. On top of that, the Pride just received the 2.0 upgrades during her dry dock in November. We’re in Heaven!!

I was able to get a fairly good casino rate for Patti and I, and by utilizing one of my one time Diamond perks, Ryan was able to cruise with us for free. This was a really good deal for us, because cruises during Spring Break tend to be pricey.

So without further ado, let’s get this party started!!.....

New York and Baltimore are drive to the port, on the day of the cruise, ports for us. It is great not having to book any flights or hotels. From central New Jersey where we live, it is a little over two and a half hours drive to the port in Baltimore. Wanting to arrive around 10am, knowing that we need to stop at Dunkin Doughnuts first, and figure a pit stop at the Maryland House on I-95, we leave the house at 7am. The van is all packed and ready to go…..

Patti & Ryan are ready to cruise again…..

We are leaving New Jersey by crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge…..

A short time later, we are in Maryland…..

To be continued…..

The sign says that we are getting close…..

We are preparing to enter the Harbor Tunnel. For those who are driving to the port from the north on I-95, be sure to use the far right tunnel and lane (Bore 1), as the exit for the port is right after you exit the tunnel…..

Welcome to Baltimore……

Our first glimpses of the Carnival Pride as we exit the Harbor Tunnel…..

The Carnival Pride docked in Baltimore…..

To be continued…..

The Cruise Terminal building…..

We pulled in at exactly at 10am, and were directed to join a line of cars directly ahead. We were the 9th vehicle in line. The nice lady explained that once cars parked from the previous cruise began leaving, thus opening spaces, we would be directed in to drop off our luggage, pay for parking, and then park. Sounds like a plan to me. In the meantime, I got out of the van to stretch my legs, and take some pictures. Patti and Ryan were happy to just sit in the van and read…..

A couple of views of our home for the next 7 days…..

I spy, a Whale Tail……

The new Water Works and slides on the Carnival Pride…..

To be continued…..

Can't wait! :D

Excellent pictures & thanks for your review that you are doing :) !!!

Right here with you Jamman. We're practically neighbors, and this is our exact route to Baltimore. Looking forward to the rest as I consider Pride for next year!

Looking forward to this review too. Doing the same trip in August.

Looking forward to soaking up as much of your review before we head south from Massachusetts later this week for our cruise on the Pride this Sunday.

Hurry up can't wait

I'm so happy for another great review from you! We'll be on the Pride in August. Looking forward to your impressions of this cruise!

What time did the port start letting people leave and you guys in to park?

So happy to have a Jamman54 report :)

And even better - it is the exact same ship and itinerary that I am sailing in September.

Glad you had a great trip - looking forward to reading all about it.`

I'm so excited for this review, have been waiting all week for you to get back! Just booked the May 17 sailing on the pride, same itinerary as yours!

New York and Baltimore are drive to the port, on the day of the cruise, ports for us. It is great not having to book any flights or hotels. From central New Jersey where we live, it is a little over two and a half hours drive to the port in Baltimore. Wanting to arrive around 10am, knowing that we need to stop at Dunkin Doughnuts first, and figure a pit stop at the Maryland House on I-95, we leave the house at 7am. The van is all packed and ready to go…..

Jeff, I had to laugh at your Maryland House reference. I'm originally from South Jersey (now up near Albany) and DH and I still drive this route regularly - we've sailed on Pride twice and DH's brother lives outside DC. The Maryland House is a running gag with DH and me - back in high school (think mid-70s) we did a band trip to Virginia and the Maryland House was our pit stop. Back then it had a really bad cafeteria instead of the current fast food franchises. I got an iced tea and DH's best friend (who ended up being our best man) took delight in dumping a ton of sugar in my tea - and then he watched me actually drink it. (It really wasn't hard - since all of the sugar sank to the bottom I just had to position my straw above all the sugar.):p

I suspect another Pride cruise will be in our future, and I'm looking forward to your Funship 2.0 take! Thanks for sharing.

Nice seeing another review of yours I always enjoy them. Too bad you had to start over for the title fix.

excited!

subscribing!!!

looking forward to your report - I always love reading your reports and since we'll be cruising Pride in August, I'm particularly interested in this one!

Thanks everybody!! I love doing these reviews, as it's like doing the cruise all over again. I need everyone to be patient with me, as this is going to be a very hectic week with work, and a project I'm working on. I will try to post a little something each day, and after this week is over, ramp it up. Thanks for coming along for the ride!! :D

Jeff, I had to laugh at your Maryland House reference. I'm originally from South Jersey (now up near Albany) and DH and I still drive this route regularly - we've sailed on Pride twice and DH's brother lives outside DC. The Maryland House is a running gag with DH and me - back in high school (think mid-70s) we did a band trip to Virginia and the Maryland House was our pit stop. Back then it had a really bad cafeteria instead of the current fast food franchises. I got an iced tea and DH's best friend (who ended up being our best man) took delight in dumping a ton of sugar in my tea - and then he watched me actually drink it. (It really wasn't hard - since all of the sugar sank to the bottom I just had to position my straw above all the sugar.):p

 

I suspect another Pride cruise will be in our future, and I'm looking forward to your Funship 2.0 take! Thanks for sharing.

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That's funny!! Can't drive by the Maryland House without stopping! :D

I love your reviews!! Thanks for taking the time to write another.

What time did the port start letting people leave and you guys in to park?

They started to let us in right at 11. Self assist debark began at 9:15, zone debark at 10:15.

Hey Jeff, another great review started. Love the Pride, can't wait to see her in your review since Fun 2.0.

Nice photos, sailing the Pride again in Oct 2015. I hope you post additional photos and comments regarding the 2.0 upgrades. Thanks

I see you came in from NJ, we're from Ocean County part of NJ, booked for Sept 6. So excited to be following your adventure. Thank you so much.

Jeff, was on this cruise...saw your son on an elevator...recognized him from your reviews...I said you must be jeff's son, I recognize you from cruise critic. He was very sweet and gave me a pleasant smile. He got off the elevator...my DD who is 11 said OMG mom that is so Internet creeeeeeppppy to tell someone you recognize them from cruise critic! I can't really disagree. LOL

What a great trip. Look forward to re living!