Just back from July 11 Pride

Just wanted to write a short note as we just returned from our fantastic cruise on the Pride. We got off the ship quickly this morning and were able to catch an earlier flight home to Denver.

We had a great time. The crew was friendly and helpful. The other passengers were great-very family friendly. Greg, the cruise director, said there were over 600 kids on board. Food was ok. I actually liked the food in Mermaids Grille better than in the Normandie Dining Room.

We had fun at the Dolphin Swim and loved horseback riding with Randi, even if I did have the slowest horse in Mexico :)

My kids loved the cruise, especially my 13 year old son who made lots of new friends and enjoyed his freedom on the ship. He was really great about checking in with me and coming back to the cabin at night at his curfew time.

I will write more in the next few days but I just wanted to give a huge THANK-YOU to everyone that answered all of my questions and gave me so much info before our cruise. I felt so informed. Please let me repay the favor and answer any questions folks may have about the Pride.

On to the piles of laundry...

Elise

I'm glad to hear that you had a wonderful time on your cruise. Good luck with the PCD.

Welcome back!

Glad you had a great time!!

Welcome back! Can't wait for your review! :)

Elise.........

Glad you had a good cruise :cool: I so looking forward to my cruise in January. I have one question for you. How dressed were folks on the formal nights? I'd like to go horseback riding but I had a bad experience as a child.

What was the name of that slow horse you rode :D :D :D

Looking forward to your review. Ramona

On Formal Night some folks were really dressed up (Tux for the men, beaded dress for the women, Prom type dresses for the teenage girls) and some folks were not too dressed up. I did notice that more folks got dressed up for the first formal night (Monday) than on the last formal night (Friday). In fact I was surprised at how many men wore jeans on Friday night.

I think my horse's name was Chiquito but I'm not positive. I got the feeling they don't normally use that horse but we had a lot of people the day we went horseback riding. To be honest, it was ok with me that the horse was not too fast. Maria, one of the girls Randi works with, stayed with me most of the ride since my horse was falling behind.

I'll try to get some of my review started today but the piles of laundry are overwhelming.

Elise

So... what kind of a room did you have? What was your favorite part of the cruise, least favorite? What sort of on board activities did you do, did you feel like you were board during the days at sea? What was the weather like at the ports? What did you wear on Randi's tour? Did you wear your bathingsuit under your clothes each day at ports?

Tiny Dancer, you will love the Pride. Since there were four of us, we had two rooms on the Empress Deck towards the back (Aft). One room was an extended balcony room and the other room was an inside cabin just across the hall. I loved the balcony room and being able to step out onto the balcony to watch the ocean. It was nice having two rooms and having two bathrooms.

Favorite part of the cruise was probably swimming with the dolphins in PV and riding with Randi in Mazatlan. My 13 and 14 year old kids had a good time so when their happy, I'm happy :) Not too much fighting at all between them so that is a good thing.

Least favorite was probably the food in the Normandie Dining Room. I just thought overall it wasn't that great. Good desserts and good service.

I love the days at sea although our second day at sea we ran into gloomy rainy weather so no one could lay out by the pool. It was also very choppy so many folks were sick. My son was in bed most of the day. The other two days at sea I layed out by the pool. We also did bingo most days (and never won), went to some of the shows during the day, and of course ate. My husband and kids bought one of the race horses the first day so we (I should say "they" ) carried it around with us most of the time.

Weather on port days was great. It was pretty humid in PV but I'm not used to the humidity. Cabo was hot but we were at the beach so it didn't bother us. Our worst weather day was that second day at sea but that is just luck of the draw.

For Randi's I wore shorts. Some folks wore jeans and some wore shorts. She has blankets on the horses so my legs were not rubbing against the horse. I changed into my bathing suit at Victors. My family wore their suits under their clothes.

I wore my suit under my clothes in PV for dolphin swim and in Cabo since we went to the beach.

I think that answers your questions. Feel free to ask as many as you want. I am so grateful to all who answered my many questions that I would like to return to favor.

Elise

Hi Elise. Welcome Back! Hope you can see the bottom of the laundry pile by now. How warm was it the first and last sea day. I have heard they can be quite chilly, even in the summer.

Stefanie

For Randi's I wore shorts. Some folks wore jeans and some wore shorts. She has blankets on the horses so my legs were not rubbing against the horse. I changed into my bathing suit at Victors. My family wore their suits under their clothes.

 

I wore my suit under my clothes in PV for dolphin swim and in Cabo since we went to the beach.

Was it easy to change at Victors? I'm asking all these dorky swimsuit questions because my favorite suit is a skirted tankini and it doesn’t fit to good under clothes, I have my other suits that I use to teach in but they are not very flattering, more functional! haha Thanks again for taking time to answer! I'm counting the minutes! haha

Stefanie, the first and last days at sea were quite nice and the pool areas were packed. The second day at sea was really windy and rainy. The Captain said we had hit the tail end of a tropical storm which was why the seas were so choppy and the sky so overcast.

Tiny Dancer, the changing area at Victors is not the best. It is a small but clean. It is back by the kitchen. The worst part is that there really isn't a door closing it off from the outside world. I changed very quickly and kept hoping no one walked by or had to use the bathroom or else they would have seen me up close and personal. Fortunately no one came by.

Elise

Hi SoccerMom, we returned home late last night, or was it this morning (3 AM). Wish we could have met up onboard. Wasn't it a fantastic cruise!! What did you think of the tropical storm on Tuesday? Wow. People were sick everywhere. My son ended up sleeping all afternoon because he didn't feel well. As I sit here typing I have a dizzy feeling like I am off balance :). Well off to finish the last load of laundry. I hope to write a review soon.

Hi Salty Breeze,

Too bad we didn't meet on the ship (or maybe we did and didn't know it :) )

I loved the cruise and am ready to go again. My son was also sick most of Tuesday. Our waiter at dinner was kind enough to bring me Mac and Cheese so I could take it to the cabin for my son.

I think most of my laundry is done but now I need to put it away.

I hope to get started on a review tomorrow.

Now if I could just have towel animal in my room tonight, all would be fine.

Elise

Welcome home Salty Breeze and Soccer Mom #3, glad you guys had a wonderful time. I'll be sailing on the Pride on 16 Jan 05.Would you tell me what nights were formal nights?Did they have a Gala Midnight Buffet?What night is the best night to pass on the dining room? Did you guys keep the carnival capers?

I'm glad that you had a wonderful trip. My family is leaving this sunday,7-25, on the Pride and we want to know if they served lobster on the second formal night. You mentioned the humidity, how horrible was it. We come from the desert north of Los Angeles and we are not use to the humidity just the heat

Formal Nights were Monday and Friday (2nd and 6th nights). Lobster was served on Monday night. The Gala Buffet was on Friday night. It was beautiful but personally I didn't think the food was all that great.

I didn't save the Capers but if you search for MarkLodi's review, he has scanned all of the Capers.

I live in Colorado and grew up in Arizona so I am used to very low humidity. The only day I really noticed the humidity was in Puerta Vallerta.

Elise

On Formal Night some folks were really dressed up (Tux for the men, beaded dress for the women, Prom type dresses for the teenage girls) and some folks were not too dressed up. I did notice that more folks got dressed up for the first formal night (Monday) than on the last formal night (Friday). In fact I was surprised at how many men wore jeans on Friday night.

I'm bringing two dresses for formal night and planning on dressing for both, but since the second formal night is after Cabo I can understand why folks might be to tired to dress up.