Carnival Pride Photo Review March 27-April 3, 2011

I love reading photo reviews on Cruise Critic and I've finally figured out how to do one myself! I'm super excited to get to show everyone my Carnival Pride photos. I took this cruise almost a year ago and it was my first ever cruise. It won't be as detailed, as I didn't do it right after cruising, but it will definitely have lots of photos for your viewing pleasure!

Embarkation: We spent the night before in the Sleep Inn in Baltimore (6055 Belle Grove Road). It did just fine for a night and had a free shuttle service from the airport. When researching, they also said they had free shuttles to the cruise port, but this didn't end up being the case. I don't remember how much my fiance (then boyfriend) paid, but I was irked that they charged us when they said it was free. But I got over it quickly, as we had a cruise to catch! We chatted with a few veteran cruises in the shuttle and before we knew it, we saw the Pride in the distance. All I can say is WOW! Having never seen a cruise ship in person, it was quite the experience! I think I teared up! LOL. I believe we got to the port around 10:30 a.m. and we had to wait at least two hours (it might have been closer to 1 p.m.) to board. That was the longest wait of my life! But, it was painless. Once aboard, we took the advice from the veteran cruisers and headed straight to the Lido deck for lunch. After that, I remember looking around the ship. I think our first stop was the Serenity area. I will post the photos I have of that area now.

When we headed to our room to check it out, our luggage was waiting for us outside the door. Here are a few pictures of our room. We had stateroom 1209 on the Riviera Deck. It was an oceanview room.

Yea! We live only an hour away from the port and I am thinking about booking the Pride in the next year or two. Looking forward to your review:).

An hour away! Wow, you're lucky! I would definitely recommend the Pride! She is a great ship. I'll have much more later tonight when I get home from work! :)

Great start! Keep it coming. :)

I am looking forward to more pictures. We are driving from Ohio next month :D!

Great start! Keep it coming. :)

Thanks!

I am looking forward to more pictures. We are driving from Ohio next month :D!

Oh, that's awesome! You'll love the Pride!

I didn't think I'd get followers so quickly! Here's another photo to keep you held over until I get home from work! LOL!

Yay! We're going on the Pride in April. LOVE picture reviews so I can imagine I'm already there!

I am going on the Pride in April too...the 15th. Glad to see this review and can't wait for more. Need to know what seating you did for MDR...YTD, early or late? And how did it go? Also, when did it warm up? Thank you!

Great start! More pics please...I need my Pride fix! LOL!!

I'll be on Pride 4/1...can't wait (it will be my 2nd time on since we loved it so much the first time! :D)

I am looking forward to more pictures. We are driving from Ohio next month :D!

We'll be getting on when you are getting off...take care of her for us! ;)

I took the Pride out of Long Beach and loved it. Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures and read your review. Brings back so many good memories.

I am going on the Pride in April too...the 15th. Glad to see this review and can't wait for more. Need to know what seating you did for MDR...YTD, early or late? And how did it go? Also, when did it warm up? Thank you!

We did early seating for the MDR and it worked out well for us. We stood in line for just a few minutes before the doors opened and we all flowed right in. We had a table in the middle on the lower level. As far as the weather, I'll talk about that as I go...LOL. As you can see, I was wearing jeans and a light jacket in Baltimore up on the Serenity deck.

Hello, all! I'm home now! Now I can refer to a little journal I kept while onboard. So, the first day we met our room steward, Ihar. We never had any problems with him and he'd always say hello to us if we happened to pass him in the hallway. After early seating dining in the MDR, we attended the Welcome Aboard show. Here is a pic of the main show lounge:

Unfortunately, I didn't get many food shots. :( I always forgot to bring my camera in the MDR. After the show, according to my journal, we ordered room service. My boyfriend got a BLT and I got chocolate chip cookies (which became my favorite midnight snack).

At one point, we walked around taking pictures of the different lounges and inside areas of the ship. I will post a bunch of inside pics now.

Atrium Lobby

Internet Library

Fun Shops

Sports Bar

Staircase

Glass elevators

More inside pics:

Sunset Garden

Beauties Dance Club

Beauties Dance Club

Entrance to David's Steakhouse

Ivory Piano Bar

Gym (the only time I went in there was to take this picture. LOL!)

Entrance to Spa

Starry Night Lounge

Casino

Chess Board on Lido Deck

Lido Deck

Me on the Lido Deck

We ate breakfast on the Lido Deck on the first day at sea. Every morning I pretty much had the same thing, cereal and a cinnamon bun (not really the greatest-kinda flaky and not very cinnamony), juice and hot chocolate. It was pretty windy during our cruise and a lot of the time the very top decks were closed due to the winds. (This wind issue will come into play later).

In the afternoon we saw an ice carving demo on the Lido Deck.

For lunch I had a yummy grilled turkey and cheese sandwich from the deli station. After lunch, we looked in the shops and I got a Carnival Pride magnet. After that I went to the spa for my hair appointment. It was a little pricey, but turned out beautiful! I wanted to treat myself as it was formal night.

Beautiful hair!

I dragged my boyfriend to do the formal shots. I took a picture of the picture we decided to buy:

It turned out great and I was very pleased!

Here is a shot of us in the MDR:

In the MDR on formal night I had the strawberry bisque which was delicious (tasted like a strawberry shake!) and spaghetti carbonara. I then had the warm chocolate melting cake for dessert. This was my first warm chocolate melting cake of my life and I fell in love! I ordered it whenever we were in the MDR for the rest of the cruise.

That night we went to the comedian in the Butterflies Lounge. Here are a few shots of that lounge:

The Second Day at Sea I got a pedicure in the spa:

Here are some pics of the Mermaid Grille (lido buffet) which was my boyfriend's favorite spot! :)

My boyfriend is the one in the hat, scoping out the food! :)

We went to the Love and Marriage Show at 2 p.m. and it was hilarious! My favorite answer was from Bill, the man who had been married for 50 years. The question was would you rather be stranded on an island with a hooker or a missionary? Bill answered a hooker in the missionary position. The cruise director, Kirk, was laughing so hard he could barely get the answer out! LOL. :D Here is a pic of Kirk, followed by Jaime, our assistant cruise director:

Kirk

Jaime