Carnival Pride Trip Report Aug 5-12

Hello! I wrote this in parts while we were on the ship and will post it when I get home. Please feel free to ask questions. We decided not to get an internet package while on the ship so we could disconnect from our phones. I like the Hub App from Carnival but I’m disliking how it makes me carry my phone around. None of my clothes have pockets! This is why I am very glad I brought a lanyard to hold my card.

We booked this cruise in late February. We chose it because we wanted an easy vacation after having done a trip to Europe and also a 2 week southern US road trip this year. (We travel a lot!) Driving 1 hour to Baltimore and then being on ship seemed like it would be more of a relaxing trip after that. We have a list of activities we want to do with the kids before oldest one goes to college, and snorkeling in tropical waters was one of them. We chose this particular cruise simply because it was the one week all summer we weren’t committed to other things. So this cruise fit our schedule and the ship had good reviews and we booked it. We have been on 2 cruises before - a Princess cruise 14 years ago (before kids), and a Disney Cruise 5 years ago when kids were smaller. Now they are 11 and 14. We booked an extended balcony cabin - our first time having a balcony. On Princess we had a window, and on Disney we had an inside. It’s only been one day, but I always want a balcony from now on! The extended balcony is a great size. It had 3 chairs when we arrived but we asked for and got an extra so we can all four comfortably sit out there together. We all read a lot and this is the perfect place to do it.

Backtracking, we arrived at the cruise port at 11:35. It was an hour drive from our home in the DC area. We had FTTF. We bought it before the price went up and I think it was 69.95. We sat in car line quite a while but eventually got to luggage drop off which was easy. We parked in the lot (which is a surface lot right next to the boat) and then took our carry ons into the terminal. We brought cash for parking because we heard it was faster and it was but I’m not sure by how much. The FTTF lines inside were very quick. Security did want to check our 2 wine bottles to be sure they were sealed. No one ever collected or even asked for the medical forms. We were handed our Sail and Sign cards right there. They had them already printed in an envelope. They had FTTF stickers on them. They took us in a separate waiting area, where we sat for maybe 15 minutes. At about 12:45 they started releasing people to get on the boat. When we walked into the lobby of the boat it was crowded so we jumped right in an elevator and took our carry ons to the room. Yay for FTTF! (This was an exception to our “no elevator on the ship” rule! Walking the stairs everywhere makes us feel better about eating dessert which is something we don’t normally have at home!) We wiped everything down with Clorox wipes we had brought- every closet shelf, surface, knob, light switch, bathroom etc. it only took a few minutes with all of us working but gave us peace of mind. Note that the room was very clean and in good condition when we arrived other than the edges of the counters and table were a bit worn. The room initially seemed small and I panicked a bit that the contents of our 3 enormous rolling duffles plus a bag with our elegant night clothes plus our carry ons would not all fit into this small room but miraculously it did with no problem! (After having been in the room for a week it felt like a totally workable size.)We went to get a Guys burger and explore for a bit and when we came back around 3pm our bags were here (yay FTTF!). Good burger, gross super oily fries. (Note: the fries I got later in the week were better than that first day.) Line moves fast.

They key to making it all work in the room is packing cubes. Each family member has 5 packing cubes in their own color. The closet with 4 shelves was perfect so each person had a shelf for their cubes. Clothes are rolled up inside each cube. It’s easy to pull out the cubes you need to get dressed. The formal wear we hung in the closet closest to the door because it has long hanging space ( although my long dresses we still too long for it). We put the formal shoes on the floor of that one. The center closet we hung backpacks and raincoats on the hangers. We also brought a narrow (2 pocket wide) hanging shoe holder which we put in the center closet to hold flip flops and water shoes. Sneakers and sandals went on floor of center closet. We put our laundry bags on top of the shoes - we brought two large drawstring ones. They are from Container Store- the kids also take them to sleep away camp. The drawers we used for reading glasses and sunglasses (top drawer), then one for food related stuff- Crystal light packets, protein bars etc. Then one for medicine (I brought a little bit of every OTC medicine I could think of - Advil, cortisone, neosporin, pepto, etc, etc.) and vitamins. Also tons of sea sickness meds just in case. (Side note - we tried taking Bonine the night before sailing- worked for seasickness but we found it made us tired and VERY grouchy/agitated. We gave up on it but no one really needed it except youngest who took some prescription anti nausea instead. Seas were calm.) Bottom drawer is for sunscreen. Center drawer over stool is for all the Carnival papers/Fun times etc. Sodas went in fridge. We had brought 3 twelve packs - diet Dr Pepper, Coke Zero and Minute Maid light lemonade. Extras went next to safe in that cabinet or under bed. Tervis coffee cups and wine bottles went in the cubby/tray under safe. Narrow cabinet at the end holds our books on bottom shelf and things needed for shore excursions (like waterproof pouches) on top shelf. We gave each kid one of the nightstand cabinets on either side of our king bed to keep their stuff in. Toiletry bags went easily on shelves in bathroom. Husband has a hanging one that went on back of bathroom door which has 2 hooks. I had bought a mesh organizer on Amazon to hang in shower for our shampoo etc. (Those wall mounted ones Carnival refills gross me out so I brought all our own stuff.) I also brought pump hand soap for the bathroom sink and a pump container of hand sanitizer to keep on the counter in the room. We also brought some hooks to hang over the tops of the closet doors. Very glad we did because there is nowhere to put used towels! We also brought some magnet clips for the walls but they don’t hold much because they are pretty weak magnets. We had bought cute lanyards in London (kids loved having them because they were different from everyone else’s!) and we hung them on the hooks used for the breakfast ordering card.

Voila! Everything was put away and organized. All luggage and couch cushions (not used because it was a kid bed not a couch) fit easily under the king bed. King bed was very comfy and bedding was nice. Lower couch bed works great for our 11 year old but I think it would be too small for an adult. 14 year old slept on top bunk and said mattress was just ok. Top bunk is longer than the lower bed. Overall I am impressed with room and bathroom design. A lot of function and storage in a small space. I had read that the showers were ridiculously small but I found it fine and not hard to shave legs in.

We also brought about 8 white wire dry cleaner hangers and 12 large towel clips (like large clothespins) from the dollar store.They were soooo useful. We used the clips to secure wet things to our balcony chairs to dry after port days at the beach and then hung them on hangers in the room overnight to dry better in the AC. Speaking of, the AC in our room was great. We were never hot. I had read people bring fans but thankfully we had no need for anything like that.

We stopped by the dining room the first day and found that our table was in a terrible location ( right next to where all the severs come in and out and looking right into that area) so we requested a booth and were told they would try but could not guarantee a switch. When we got to dinner we found we had been moved to a booth which was much better! Our waiter team for the week was Constantin, Ronaldo and En Lovely. They were all amazing. After dinner we got our cards reprinted at guest services with our new table number. Dinner was good- husband and I got a bunch of appetizers because the main dishes looked too heavy/hot. The Vietnamese summer rolls were our favorite. We also tried the fried soft shell crab and the calamari. The calamari was the better of the two. The Cesar salad was heavy on anchovy flavor. (I got several other salads during the week with the balsamic dressing and they were great.) Daughter got the Indian vegetarian meal - I tried a few bites and they were all delicious. Tried the famous Melting Cake. We shared one for the table. It’s basically underbaked cake, very delicious but very rich. A few bites was enough. The ice cream that comes with it is just ok- not worth the added calories. The tiramisu was good too. They brought our coffee quickly but it was cold by the time the cream came. Every night after that they remembered our coffee and cream and it was hot and good! Ok I admit by the end of the week I could eat a whole melting cake by myself. (I did skip the ice cream though!)

Ate Monday breakfast in dining room - so much nicer and more relaxing than buffet, which always seems crowded and dark. They really need to get rid of the dark ceiling in the buffet area. It makes a room with floor to ceiling windows feel like a cave. Doing that would change the feel of the place pretty quickly.

Got bagel and lox and some fruit in dining room. Ok bagel, not the best but still a good meal. Will eat there again tomorrow!

Went to cooking demonstration at David’s steakhouse. Basically the key to their food is butter. We got to try 4 courses, so that was our lunch! They bring you little plates of each course they are demonstrating. They were all very good but rich, so the small size was actually perfect. My daughter who thought she did not like mushrooms loved the mushroom soup! That was a fun activity. There was also a guy there who was carving a watermelon the whole time. It looked amazing at the end. Tried to go walking outside but out of the sun on deck 3 but they were doing some sort of maintenance so it was mostly blocked off. This was an issue throughout the week- at least part of that outdoor area was always blocked. The daytime activities on Lido are too loud and crowded and sunny for us. The Lido after dinner is great - much less crowded and no sunscreen required! We borrowed Uno from the library and played that in a lounge area. Kids went to Clue activity. Later we went to the gym which is a nice one but I had to hold on to the treadmill to feel stable. The seas weren’t bad but the general motion of the sea just made me feel less stable than I’m used to on a treadmill. After that we got ready for elegant night.

It was fun to dress up but we didn’t get super fancy so that’s what made it enjoyable I think. I have read complaints about people not following the dining room dress code on elegant and also regular nights. We did see just one family wearing regular clothes (shorts etc) in the dining room but it was no big deal. Funnily enough, I saw the mom and kids of that family wearing dresses other random nights so maybe they just got mixed up?

In fact, all the complaints I’ve read online about this ship or Carnival in general are exaggerated or unfounded I think. The ship is in amazing shape considering how heavily it is used. Yes the decor is not all in the current more modern decor style but the ship is very very clean and very well maintained. I was really impressed. It does not look tired at all. Yes there is some worn woodwork etc but you would never ever notice unless you were really looking for it. The staff is working hard ALL the time to keep it clean and in good working order. They are amazing. Especially our room steward Habibie. It looks fantastic I think. And while the crowd was different than the crowd on our Disney Cruise, I had no issues with people being rude that was any kind of problem for us. Yes once we saw people smoking on their balcony and once others were playing loud music on theirs, but when you’re on vacation with 2,000 other people you have to accept that not everyone is going to have the same standards for politeness that you do. It was all easy to forgive and forget. Every guest I interacted with was nice.

As for the food, we have been very happy so far. The quality is very good and the service is fantastic. I loved the salmon cakes and the filet. Many good desserts too! Considering how much cheaper Carnival is than Disney, I think they do an amazing job at everything. (We are paying the same price for a 7 day cruise with an extended balcony stateroom with Carnival that we paid for a 5 day cruise with an inside room on Disney 5 years ago!) Honestly my only complaint so far is that the shopping on the ship is awful. The merchandise overall is pretty tacky and/or overpriced and the marketing “events” they do are annoying. So the shops won’t get my money. I love to shop so that’s a bummer.

Ok my second complaint is that some things that are clearly just sales pitches are listed as activities. There are also some tacky activities like the Hairy Chest contest but we avoid those. Feeling a little bored on our second sea day and looking forward to port tomorrow! (Note written on day 4- the Sorry! game in the lobby was fun and the trivia is fun too. Bendy Blake who runs the trivia is awesome. We also borrowed a Sorry! game from the card room to play in the Piazza lounge after learning to play from the lobby game and it was brand new! We had to unwrap the cards etc. The Hasbro game show was fun but the Playlist Beach music show- I forget the actual name - was not the best quality show but my 11 year old enjoyed it. Husband and I were very happy to leave so we could all get to the family friendly comedy, which we all really enjoyed. So far, the comedy was the only thing we have had to get to 15 min early to get a seat. It was full by showtime but if you did have to stand the show is not long.

The 80’s music Playlist show was better than the beach themed one and while it is impressive that the cast can remember lyrics and dances for so many shows throughout the week that type of show is not my style. 11 year old daughter was happy so I guess that counts for something!

We enjoyed all the ports. In Grand Turk we left the cruise terminal as fast as we could. The sea of beach chairs packed together and the chain shops and the loud music at Margaritaville looked not fun at all. There were two ships in Port that day – the Pride and the Sunshine. A family I talked to later said they got hassled by locals trying to sell them chairs etc. Outside that area we had the opposite experience and the locals we met were friendly and helpful. We also saw very few cruise guests outside the terminal area. This was amazing considering there were two ships in port that day. We rented a golf cart for $100 for the day. (In hindsight we probably could have negotiated the price a bit but for some reason it didn’t occur to me at the time.) We got it from a kiosk near the taxi area. The company was called WetMoney tours. The guy gave us a few driving instructions and a map and sent us on our way. We had such a great day and feel like we really saw the island in a way that you would never get to if you stayed in the cruise terminal area. The map he gave us turned out not to be very detailed and we got a bit lost. But we stopped at the hospital to ask directions and a guy who was walking out the door as we pulled in to the entrance area was very kind and helpful and spent a lot of time explaining where things were and landmarks to help us get around. After returning the cart in the afternoon we saw a tourism kiosk in the terminal area that had a much better map. Wish we had had that! Note- we asked for a map of the island on the ship the day before and were told they would be available on the gangway. This is not true. The only map they hand out is a shopping map of the cruise terminal, not an actual map of the island. I think this is because Grand Turk is a third world country and the cruise terminal is an area they’ve created to make it look first world. Once you leave the terminal, the rest of the island is VERY different. That being said, we are extremely glad we got to experience it the way we did. We drove all over and while we saw a lot of poverty, we never felt unsafe and also saw lots of gorgeous wild donkeys and wild horses all over. We saw the lighthouse and the downtown and the town clock and the space capsule monument - all of which are small and/or not well maintained. (No need to pay to get into lighthouse area as you can’t go inside, just take a photo from the parking area.) We are grateful that we got the chance to show our kids a community that was unlike anything they had ever seen and we think that was important and valuable. And they loved riding around in the golf cart on the opposite side of the road! We found a beach no one else was on and snorkeled with inexpensive masks we had bought on Amazon and swam and explored tide pools. We felt like we saw the real Grand Turk. It was a fun adventure and a great day.

The next day was Half Moon Cay. Using FTTF we tendered out as soon as we could. I think we were on the second boat - right after the excursion folks. Tip- if you get one of the tenders that is enclosed, try to sit in one of the outside areas - a lot less hot and stuffy. But the tender ride is quick. The island is beautiful. We walked far down the beach past the lifeguard area and found chairs that were in the shade of the trees. (We found them past the sign that said “No beach chairs past this point” but we hadn’t put them there so we figured it was ok.) Far fewer people there. We had a great beach day. The lunch provided was good and more expansive than I expected. The roosters strutting around and crowing in the lunch pavilions were funny to watch. We were the last family to leave the beach that day! We are not really beach people but it was amazing- the water is sooo clear. My youngest did get a little dehydrated and didn’t feel well at dinner. I recommend making sure everyone drinks a lot of water. Also, they sell Powerade at the coffee shop on Deck 2 if you need it. We only figured that out later unfortunately.

The next day was Freeport. Definitely make plans to get away from the port area here. It’s just tacky shopping and a bar. We had signed up for the kayak excursion online through Carnival and it was awesome. We were in a group of eight people in one van and there was a separate group of eight people with their own guide in another van. The groups were kept somewhat separate so you really felt like you were in a small group with a lot of the guide’s attention. Our group was our family of 4 plus a group of four twentysomethings that were all cousins/siblings. They were nice people. Our guide Dwaine was great and gave us a lot of info about the island and its history on the way to Lucaya National Park. He was very proud of his country and had a lot of knowledge. The landscape we saw through the windows of the van had a ton of trees. We then kayaked through the gorgeous mangroves in the park. Our group didn’t need any kayaking instruction but I believe they would’ve provided it if necessary. They did give us a few tips for negotiating the mangroves which none of us had dealt with before. After we had reached the end of the kayaking route, they took us on a Tom Sawyer raft over to a picnic pavilion where they set up a cold sandwich making buffet. It was at an amazing and empty beach. Apparently the Second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed there. I will have to watch them now. We saw a ton of hermit crabs of all sizes - it was so amazing - I have never seen them in the wild! They then gave us quite a lot of time to enjoy the beach – we spent almost all that in the water, which was very clear and shallow so you could walk quite far out and still not be in very deep water. I think we got such a long time at the beach because the kayaking didn’t take our group as long as it could have. They told us the kayaking could take up to 90 minutes but I don’t think it took us nearly that long because everyone had prior kayaking experience. I believe he said it was 2 1/2 miles. At the appointed time, Dwaine took us on a short nature walk back to the van. Along the way he pointed out native plants and told us about them and their medicinal uses. We also saw a lizard with a curly tail. Then he drove us in the van back to the port. We had been gone just over 5 hours I think. We tipped Dwaine and then we had about 10 minutes to look through some of the shops in the straw market area before we had to be back on the boat. Most people were using aggressive sales pitches and the merchandise wasn’t anything we were interested in. We got each of our daughters a small woven bracelet that said Bahamas. They were two for five dollars. The woman we bought them from was one of the only ones who didn’t hassle us. We asked her if she could exchange two American dollars for two Bahamian dollars since they are worth the same and the kids wanted to have them as a souvenir. She didn’t have any Bahamian dollars but she helped us get some from the next stand. After that we hustled back to the ship! It had been a great day and we really enjoyed our excursion and our time on this island.

On our last sea day, we alternated reading books and attending different trivia and game activities with the kids. We also went to the 8:30 AM Dr. Seuss breakfast. That was a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend it. The decor looked great. We also got a lot of good pictures of the kids the Seuss characters. For lunch I ate my last Guys burger. We also all bought Carnival Groove for Saint Jude T-shirts that they were selling on the Lido. They were $10 each and 100% of the money goes to Saint Jude. We also got my youngest daughter a Carnival/St. Jude Build A Bear. It came in a cute little string backpack with arm holes so the bear could ride in it. It was $25 and all the money also went to Saint Jude. I was happy to buy these because all the money went to a great charity. There was also a dance event related to the shirts, but we didn’t go because we got distracted eating lunch. We had all really wanted to do the behind-the-scenes ship tour that was offered today,but at $95 a person it just seemed like such an enormous cost for our family of four. If it would have been closer to $50 a person we would have done it in a heartbeat.

Debarkation was easy but we were sad to leave. A great trip! I know this report is a bit all over the place because I wrote it sporadically over the week but I hope you enjoyed reading it. I’m happy to answer any questions people have.

Wonderful review! We were just on the Pride (extended balcony, also) in June. Love the ship and cruising from the Port of Baltimore! Thanks for taking the time to report on your trip.

Following...making a note so I can finish reading the post another time. Thanks for the detail

It sounds like you had a good time. leaving on the Pride in October, has Ken returned as the maitre d'? Thanks

Thanks for the report.

It sounds like you had a good time. leaving on the Pride in October, has Ken returned as the maitre d'? Thanks

Yes Ken was the maitre’d. Our waiter said he will go on any ship Ken is on because he’s the best. Dr. E was the cruise director.

Great to hear about Ken, but Dr. E is going on vacation shortly before our cruise.

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Great to hear about Ken, but Dr. E is going on vacation shortly before our cruise.

 

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Yes we heard Naughty Neil from the Fun Squad was taking over for Dr. E during vacation. I’m sure he’ll be great. I liked Dr E’s singing when he did announcements but other than that I didn’t really interact with him. We had far more interaction with people from the Fun Squad who ran the games and trivia - like Bendy Blake who was totally awesome.

It sounds like you and your family had a lot of fun, and a lot of it was because you got away from the crowds and did your own thing. More power to you!

Great review! Thanks! Can you tell me how much was parking at the port?

Great review! We sail in 40 days!

Great review! Thanks! Can you tell me how much was parking at the port?

It’s $15 a day so $105 for the week that you pre-pay when you park.

Really nice review. What was your cabin number? And did you get to the Serenity Area? We love the Serenity area on this class ship.

What movies did they show? If you went, was it hard to get good seats? Popcorn and blankets?

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What movies did they show? If you went' date=' was it hard to get good seats? Popcorn and blankets?

 

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We only went up there one evening when they were showing Peter Rabbit and Coco. We actually sat in the pool and watched for a bit but chairs were very easy to get. They were handing out popcorn but I’m not sure about blankets. It was pretty warm.

Movies other nights:

Pitch Perfect 3, Book Club

Wrinkle In Time, Greatest Showman

Jumanji

Pacific Rim Uprising, Ready Player One

Deadpool

Rampage

Really nice review. What was your cabin number? And did you get to the Serenity Area? We love the Serenity area on this class ship.

7185. Toured Serenity but didn’t hang out there. Hung out with the kids. It is more calm than Lido area though!

7185. Toured Serenity but didn’t hang out there. Hung out with the kids. It is more calm than Lido area though!

Thanks. Understand about Serenity and the kids. What we like is that there are shady areas to sit. (Our kid is now 47.) :D

It’s $15 a day so $105 for the week that you pre-pay when you park.

thanks!:):):):):):)

Nice review. Just and FYI for the future - the cruise line requests that nothing be left on the balcony to dry. It is considered a fire hazard. Please just hang stuff on the line in the bathroom.

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