Carnival Pride - Feb 4, 2018 Review

We are recently home from the Pride and I'm excited to share a review! Please note I did not take photos of the ship, menus, etc. I really only took family photos; I was traveling with my husband and our 8yo son.

I'll break this into categories and probably won't get through all of it in one sitting. (Alas, busy season is beginning for us tax folks!)

Pre-Cruise

We flew into Baltimore on Feb 3; to Southwest for having an affordable non-stop afternoon flight. We checked into the Brookshire Suites near the Inner Harbor, where I'd gotten a king suite for (I think) $69 for the night. They were trying hard to make the hotel look and feel upscale, and overall it was nice, but it had a tired feel under the facelift. Still, the king suite was wonderful! There was a bedroom and a separate living room with pull-out couch, plus a kitchenette. It was nice having two separate rooms and the beds were quite comfy.

We walked to the Little Italy area, about a 15 minute walk, for dinner at Ciao Bella. Overall dinner was delicious; the caprese salad was phenomenal and my husband and son loved their entrees, but the sauce on my carbonara tasted canned (big disappointment).

Embarkation Day

I had purchased FTTF, mostly just because I have a problem with patience. :rolleyes: We got a ride to the port via Lyft, which was a bit of a hassle. I had typed "Port of Baltimore" into the app, and it directed the driver to a random spot along the Inner Harbor. I had to Google the specific address for the cruise terminal and enter that in. We finally made it to the port, and the driver seemed a bit aggravated between the wrong address and having to navigate through the port parking lot to the terminal.

Still, no biggie, and we made it at just a few minutes past 12:30. Port security seemed quite concerned about making sure we weren't abducting the kiddo, or something. When we handed over our documents to the first staff, she asked Son who he was travelling with, and he said mom and dad. She asked him, "Where are mom and dad? Are they back there somewhere?" She used a lighthearted tone, so Son thought she was just teasing him, but the lady at check-in did the same thing, asking who he was traveling us and having him specifically identify Mom and Dad. He didn't care, he just enjoyed the attention!

We were on the ship within about half an hour, and headed for the room to drop off our bags, but all the hallway doors were closed and had a sign saying that staterooms would not be ready until after 2PM. It didn't say anything about FTTF guests being allowed to go in early, so that was odd. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do, but we went in and dropped our bags off anyway, and headed for the inaugural Guy's Burgers and drinks. Lines were very short that early, and I befriended a bartender who we saw several times throughout the cruise and always had a big smile for us.

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the review.

Interesting experience with the port security people and your child.

The "light hearted" questions directed to your son are a Child Protection thing.

Since Children traveling with adults are often not required to show identification, the check-in and security process may include a "fishing" type question to make sure your are not abducting the child.

Don't take offense, think of it as a good thing, it's for the childs protection. :p

The "light hearted" questions directed to your son are a Child Protection thing.

 

Since Children traveling with adults are often not required to show identification, the check-in and security process may include a "fishing" type question to make sure your are not abducting the child.

 

Don't take offense, think of it as a good thing, it's for the childs protection. :p

Offense was certainly not taken! I'm glad they have such measures in place.

On to more of the good stuff!

Stateroom

We had an obstructed balcony on Deck 5. This was my first time having a balcony and I enjoyed it, though I'll only get one again if the price is right. When I booked this cruise the balcony was only about $40pp more than an oceanview or about $50pp more than an interior. A good deal! We did get an upgrade offer to go to an extended balcony for $80 but decided against taking it.

The balcony was a bit more obstructed than I'd expected; when I was sitting in the chair, I could only see the lifeboat and not the water. Still, the view was nice while standing, and I enjoyed having a quiet place to read.

The room itself was comfortable and had more than enough storage space for our family. We were all able to unpack completely and have room to spare in the closets. I brought along a collapsible laundry hamper and a couple collapsible bins to help keep the chaos at a minimum.

The shower, though, really needed a dang shelf. There was no place to put toiletries except on the soap dish, which of course was not flat so it was difficult to keep my travel bottles from falling off.

We like to sleep in a cool room and the first couple nights were quite comfortable, but once we left Florida it got a little too warm for our preference at night. Next time I'd like to pack a portable deck fan.

The Food

My favorite subject! I have foodie tendencies but I'm not difficult to please, and I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything we ate.

Chef's Table

I just had to try the Chef's Table, and it was an amazing experience. Not something I would do on every cruise, but worth it nonetheless.

I have a terrible ear for accents, so I only caught part of Chef's talk at the beginning. It was interesting to hear how much food the ship carries and how the kitchen is run.

The food was overall fantastic. There was only one course I didn't care for, which was a trio of vegetable purees wrapped in a beet blanket. My favorite dish was probably either the mango sphere on rosemary biscuit, or the sea bass. I adore sea bass and this was delightful.

I was a little let down by the Wagyu beef. It was a short rib cut and while extremely tender, it really needed to have been cooked with a bit more salt to bring out the flavor.

Steakhouse

I was going to skip the steakhouse, but husband looked up their menu and had to try it. I had the beef carpaccio appetizer, which was amazing, and husband had the tuna tartarte (I believe). I'm not a fan of tartare but he enjoyed it.

The caesar salad was prepared in the dining room, and I thought the dressing was really bland and lacking acidity. For steaks, I got the ribeye and husband got the strip. They were generous sizes and cooked to perfection. We barely touched our side dishes because we needed to concentrate on the beef!

We also discovered that the steakhouse bar had Hennessy James cognac, which my husband fell in love with. The bartender there was super sweet and we really enjoyed chatting with her.

MDR Dinner

We chose the 6pm early seating. I enjoyed having the same waitstaff every night, and our team was fantastic despite being clearly very rushed. Next time however, I'd probably choose the anytime dining, as there were nights that our dinner time conflicted with the movie showings.

The food overall was quite good. Some dishes I liked more than others, but there were always options on the menu that sounded good.

I particularly enjoyed the duo of filet and short rib. I ordered my filet rare and it came out well-done the first time, but our waiter was quick to get me a replacement. Husband tried the flatiron steak one night and it was surprisingly tender. The kiddo loved the strawberry bisque and, of course, the chocolate melting cake.

Our waiter was always happy to get us an extra plate to go; husband enjoyed getting a cheese plate and/or fruit plate for later snacking. On nights the kiddo didn't come to dinner with us, they always asked if we'd like to take a chocolate melting cake back for him.

Seaday Brunch

LOVE. I'm a big fan of brunch, probably because I hardly ever get to go out for a nice brunch at home. I usually ordered the steak and eggs, which was delightful. I tried the mac n cheese one day and wasn't impressed. Rather than pasta in a cheesy sauce, it was pasta in a bland milk sauce with cheese on top. Husband loved the eggs benedict and corned beef hash.

Room Service

The kiddo is an insatiable eater, and we ordered him a pre-breakfast each morning so we could take our time getting up and around. Despite the limited options, he enjoyed it. We never got around to ordering anything other than breakfast.

Guy's Burgers

The burgers were on the dry side in my opinion, but pretty tasty nonetheless. Husband is obsessed with sauteed mushrooms and always got a huge pile of them from the toppings station. The fries were amazing and sometimes we would go there just to get a plate of fries.

Blue Iguana

We got breakfast burritos a couple times and they were pretty good. I hate the watery mess that passes for scrambled eggs, but it wasn't bad mixed with meat and potatoes and cheese. I really wanted to get tacos there, but every time we were hungry in the afternoon they were closed, and we never felt like skipping the MDR to eat there for dinner.

That's it for now but I'll be back with more soon. Let me know if y'all have any questions and I'll try to answer them!

Enjoying the review! We leave next Saturday for the drive to Baltimore for our second trip on the Pride.

Enjoying reading this since I was on the same trip!

Going back March 4...will try some different things this time...

Enjoying your review.

Keith

I really enjoyed reading your review. It's one of the things I look forward to on this site . I'll be on the Pride March 18th. Thanks for your review.

Thanks for the doing the review! The Pride is my favorite ship, and I can't wait to get back on her in October! :cool:

Great start! Making me hungry for my cruise coming up :). I might have to ask my waiter for a cheese plate to go, that’s a good idea!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are going on our 4th Pride cruise in March. The main dining food was so good we never ate dinner upstairs. On other cruises we have eaten at the buffet or specialty restaurant every night. Having a decent cruise close to home allows us to do 3+ a year. Priced well also allows us a 3-4 week one every year, too. This year’s is to Hawaii and South Pacific for a month.

On to more of the good stuff!

 

Stateroom

 

We had an obstructed balcony on Deck 5. This was my first time having a balcony and I enjoyed it, though I'll only get one again if the price is right. When I booked this cruise the balcony was only about $40pp more than an oceanview or about $50pp more than an interior. A good deal! We did get an upgrade offer to go to an extended balcony for $80 but decided against taking it.

 

The balcony was a bit more obstructed than I'd expected; when I was sitting in the chair, I could only see the lifeboat and not the water. Still, the view was nice while standing, and I enjoyed having a quiet place to read.

 

The room itself was comfortable and had more than enough storage space for our family. We were all able to unpack completely and have room to spare in the closets. I brought along a collapsible laundry hamper and a couple collapsible bins to help keep the chaos at a minimum.

 

The shower, though, really needed a dang shelf. There was no place to put toiletries except on the soap dish, which of course was not flat so it was difficult to keep my travel bottles from falling off.

 

We like to sleep in a cool room and the first couple nights were quite comfortable, but once we left Florida it got a little too warm for our preference at night. Next time I'd like to pack a portable deck fan.

 

The Food

 

My favorite subject! I have foodie tendencies but I'm not difficult to please, and I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything we ate.

 

Chef's Table

I just had to try the Chef's Table, and it was an amazing experience. Not something I would do on every cruise, but worth it nonetheless.

 

I have a terrible ear for accents, so I only caught part of Chef's talk at the beginning. It was interesting to hear how much food the ship carries and how the kitchen is run.

 

The food was overall fantastic. There was only one course I didn't care for, which was a trio of vegetable purees wrapped in a beet blanket. My favorite dish was probably either the mango sphere on rosemary biscuit, or the sea bass. I adore sea bass and this was delightful.

 

I was a little let down by the Wagyu beef. It was a short rib cut and while extremely tender, it really needed to have been cooked with a bit more salt to bring out the flavor.

 

Steakhouse

I was going to skip the steakhouse, but husband looked up their menu and had to try it. I had the beef carpaccio appetizer, which was amazing, and husband had the tuna tartarte (I believe). I'm not a fan of tartare but he enjoyed it.

 

The caesar salad was prepared in the dining room, and I thought the dressing was really bland and lacking acidity. For steaks, I got the ribeye and husband got the strip. They were generous sizes and cooked to perfection. We barely touched our side dishes because we needed to concentrate on the beef!

 

We also discovered that the steakhouse bar had Hennessy James cognac, which my husband fell in love with. The bartender there was super sweet and we really enjoyed chatting with her.

 

MDR Dinner

We chose the 6pm early seating. I enjoyed having the same waitstaff every night, and our team was fantastic despite being clearly very rushed. Next time however, I'd probably choose the anytime dining, as there were nights that our dinner time conflicted with the movie showings.

 

The food overall was quite good. Some dishes I liked more than others, but there were always options on the menu that sounded good.

 

I particularly enjoyed the duo of filet and short rib. I ordered my filet rare and it came out well-done the first time, but our waiter was quick to get me a replacement. Husband tried the flatiron steak one night and it was surprisingly tender. The kiddo loved the strawberry bisque and, of course, the chocolate melting cake.

 

Our waiter was always happy to get us an extra plate to go; husband enjoyed getting a cheese plate and/or fruit plate for later snacking. On nights the kiddo didn't come to dinner with us, they always asked if we'd like to take a chocolate melting cake back for him.

 

Seaday Brunch

LOVE. I'm a big fan of brunch, probably because I hardly ever get to go out for a nice brunch at home. I usually ordered the steak and eggs, which was delightful. I tried the mac n cheese one day and wasn't impressed. Rather than pasta in a cheesy sauce, it was pasta in a bland milk sauce with cheese on top. Husband loved the eggs benedict and corned beef hash.

 

Room Service

The kiddo is an insatiable eater, and we ordered him a pre-breakfast each morning so we could take our time getting up and around. Despite the limited options, he enjoyed it. We never got around to ordering anything other than breakfast.

 

Guy's Burgers

The burgers were on the dry side in my opinion, but pretty tasty nonetheless. Husband is obsessed with sauteed mushrooms and always got a huge pile of them from the toppings station. The fries were amazing and sometimes we would go there just to get a plate of fries.

 

Blue Iguana

We got breakfast burritos a couple times and they were pretty good. I hate the watery mess that passes for scrambled eggs, but it wasn't bad mixed with meat and potatoes and cheese. I really wanted to get tacos there, but every time we were hungry in the afternoon they were closed, and we never felt like skipping the MDR to eat there for dinner.

 

 

That's it for now but I'll be back with more soon. Let me know if y'all have any questions and I'll try to answer them!

Loving your review so far!

I think Blue Iguana closes early afternoon (only open breakfast & lunch), so you wouldn't have gotten dinner there anyway.

I'm glad to hear you can take a plate back from MDR. When we were on Princess last year they gave us a cake for our anniversary, but we couldn't take it out of the MDR according to their health rules. I can definitely see us taking a fruit/cheese plate back to the room:)

It's just beginning, Come back soon for more.

Thanks for the review so far. We'll be on the Pride in less than 3 weeks now. Did you buy any of the 3 WiFi packages? If so, how did the texting on an iPhone work for you (if you tried).

Really enjoying your well written review.

anxious to sail this summer. keep the review coming.

Loved our Pride cruise last week.

For the bathroom, you might want to pack a small shower organizer with suction cups. Most sizes should fit into luggage especially if you pack small items inside it.