Another Pride Review from a Different Perspective

[ChampionCruiser]

WARNING: I took the pictures, which means the ship might sneak up in almost all of them ;)

 

 

The obligatory HMC shot that is so true!

 

 

There’s the pesky cloud that brought the rain.

 

 

But it didn’t stop me from having an amazing day!

 

 

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Here's a happy shot:

 

 

And here's an even happier one!! (It took FOREVER to finally get this :))

 

 

 

One last ship picture on my way to the tender area :(

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Well that ends the bulk of day 5. Hopefully you can tell that I really loved HMC, even if I basically just posted a bunch of pictures!

 

I'll finish this day up tomorrow and maybe finish my review this weekend??

 

We'll see, I guess!!!

[MustardStation]

great review! it's nice to see one posted by someone else my age..though i've been 20 for a couple of weeks now :P

[jbhcw]

Terrific job in describing HMC and your pictures are great!! It's my favorite place ever...next time try a cabana..or perhaps the Grand Oasis:)

 

You really got some great shots of the ship and water...my computer's wallpaper still has a shot of the Fantasy taken from HMC...from 2006:D

[I Luv Crusin]

Me too. :)

I know we can't comment about poster's spelling and grammar mistakes, but I hope it's OK to say that it's so refreshing to see that our education system isn't a total failure. :D

This review is a wonderful read and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

 

OH and you have a beautiful family :)

 

Yes, I agree!!! What a wonderful review! Alas, I'm not sailing the Pride until Oct. 2011 to Bermuda.

[ChampionCruiser]

Well, so much for finishing by today!

 

Moving on...

 

I remembered the long line for a tender at Labadee two years ago, so I wasn't surprised to find a long (very long) line here. We got to the line around 3:30 and it stretched through the shopping area and FAR beyond. Still, if that's the price to pay for staying at HMC I wasn't going to complain. The line does move quickly when a tender comes, it's just the waiting in between that's hard. I think next time i'll wait later to leave. Kirk told everyone to leave by 3:00 to 3:30 so the lines wouldn't be toooo long, so for that reason I think the lines WERE too long. But it could have been worse at 4:30...who knows?

 

Here's one more ship picture taken on the way back (it really is the last, I promise :p).

 

 

Once we got back onboard we went up to one of the Lido's AMAZING ice cream bars for a quick snack (the barbeque didn't fill me up) before heading back to the cabin to change/ start prepping for dinner. At 5:00 my sister and I went to our favorite spot to take pictures of sailaway.

 

 

I love watching the wake of the ship and I must say I did miss not having an aft balcony on this cruise. It's a shame the Spirit class doesn't have any that accommodate four...I loved the larger balcony and especially the views on the Mariner.

 

 

It was sad to say goodbye (for now) to my favorite port of all time :(

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Yes, I agree!!! What a wonderful review! Alas, I'm not sailing the Pride until Oct. 2011 to Bermuda.

 

The Pride + Bermuda must = AMAZING!

 

I'm already thinking about our next cruise, and since we've never been to Bermuda....

[ChampionCruiser]

 

After we finished, we split up again. My sister and I wanted to dip in the enormous Margaritaville pool while they went to lounge. We swam for around ten minutes and then realized how ridiculous it was to be swimming in a pool when the Caribbean Sea is a few steps away. Off to the beach :D

 

 

Oops, correction: I just learned that Grand Turk actually isn't part of the Caribbean. It's surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on all sides. But it's not part of the Bahamas either.

 

Now I REALLY wondeder why they market this as an Eastern Caribbean cruise :rolleyes:

[ChampionCruiser]

It wasn't long after we finished taking pictures before our 6:00 dinner time arrived, and I was ready! This was probably one of my favorite menus of the week. I had the fried shrimp to start (beyond amazing), the duo of filet mignon and something else (I can't remember what, but both were very good), and the apple pie with vanilla ice cream (classic). I've decided that I definitely WILL take food pictures on my next cruise, because talking about the dishes simply don't do them justice!

 

This is the only night where I don't remember what we did after dinner, besides watch the sun set:

 

 

 

I'm guessing that we did pretty much nothing after a long beach day. I know there wasn't any show that night (there was an adult game show but we passed) but I also know that we didn't go back to the room so early. Whatever we did, it must not have been anything outstanding!

[ChampionCruiser]

My problem is that, while I kept all of the Fun Times, I didn't keep the detachable sheet with the events and times. Oh well, that's another thing i'll need to remember next time!

 

What I do know is that this was the end of the best day of the cruise at the most amazing place ever (well, for now at least). I was a little sad that there were only two days left, but I tried not to think about it (I'm not sure it's possible).

 

Anyway, back to the happy thoughts. When we got back, whenever that was, we found this little fellow waiting for us:

 

 

Another end to another day!

 

NEXT UP: FREEPORT

[marygal]

I must jump on and say what a wonderful review! I will be on the Pride in Sept and doing the same run as you...looking forward to it a little more after a great review!!

Thank you for taking the time to write all of it....amazing pictures too!

[cruisin07family]

Your pics of HMC are really good. It looks like you were all alone out there!

[sciencegal]

We sail on the Pride Aug. 1. We were on her last August and had a wonderful time. HMC is MY favorite port too!!! As I am reading your review I can almost feel that soft white sand between my toes. Almost time to start packing!!! Looking forward to your review of Freeport.

[MIRIAM]

THANK YOU thank you thank you

[pcrum]

I am loving your review. The photos are wonderful and seeing the photos of you and your sister reminds me of my boy/girl twins, who at 15 are a tad bit younger than you and your sister, but your review still brings back wonderful memories of our cruises together! HMC looks lovely and we are hoping to get there one day!! It was originally scheduled as a stop on our 3/11 cruise, but unfortunately has been replaced with Nassau!

[Biffer1997]

HMC looks heavenly! I am totally scheduling a cruise to go there soon!

[JAXCRUISER]

You're doing a great job with your review, I'm really enjoying it!

[sjn911]

This is a fabulous review and fabulous pictures. That water!!! That ship!!! Those beaches...what a great family....thank you for a 19 year old perspective..may have some folks in your age group for a big family Alaska cruise in a year or two. sjn911

[ChampionCruiser]

FRIDAY, JUNE 25: FREEPORT

 

Well, Friday had to eventually come, meaning it was my last port day and second to last day of the cruise L. To be honest, my expectations weren’t too high for Freeport simply because some people on these boards make it sound like the plague. Our only plans for the day were to shop shop shop until we had ALL of the souvenirs we needed, so thanks to CC and the shopping talk, we decided to head over to Port Lucaya (I also knew that there was a free access beach).

 

Again I had the pleasure of waking up bright and early at 6:00 and I had to keep telling myself that tomorrow would be a sea day which meant a sleep-in day! I stepped out onto the balcony and watched as we docked at the Freeport Harbour:

 

 

I also knew that Freeport was a commercial port and therefore wasn’t the most beautiful place on earth (some say ugly) so I was pleasantly surprised with the view from *this* side of the ship! You can see the small shopping area off the ship above. It’s nowhere near as nice as Grand Turk, but again I was impressed (more on that later).

 

The shopping area (with a cloud that I liked a lot):

 

 

Here’s the view to the right:

 

 

And to the left:

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Wait! Was that another cruise ship? Yep, I was extremely excited to see these ships in port (even if they are laid up). I’ve never been on a cruise where we were the only ship in every port, so I took a lot of pictures of these two.

 

 

For any ship nerds out there, the ship in the background is the recently bankrupt Palm Beach Princess while the ship in front is the 1974-built Castalia (most recently the Casino Royale). This ship interested me because she had a short stint as the Enchanted Sun for Commodore Cruise Line, which was my first Cruise Line :) I still can’t believe that was the kind of ship I sailed on ten years ago!

 

Here she is as the Enchanted Sun (2000):

 

 

And now that I’ve bored you all with a mini history lesson, I’ll continue with Freeport :)

[ChampionCruiser]

When I got to the buffet area for another breakfast, I saw why some people don’t like docking in Freeport. Here’s the view from the starboard side:

 

 

Personally, I think it’s silly to hate a port based on the views from the ship and it didn’t bother me at all (the water was still gorgeous). We simply ate our breakfast on the port side of the restaurant!

 

After eating, we went back to the cabin to gather our things (including our towels, since we weren’t planning on buying a resort pass and needed them to lounge on). In hindsight, we shouldn’t have rushed off the ship so fast, since most of the shops at Lucaya aren't open by 8:00. But that’s what happens when you have to be back by 1:30!

 

Here are a few more pictures of the port area before I move on:

 

 

[nybumpkin]

Wait! Was that another cruise ship? Yep, I was extremely excited to see these ships in port (even if they are laid up). I’ve never been on a cruise where we were the only ship in every port, so I took a lot of pictures of these two.

 

 

For any ship nerds out there, the ship in the background is the recently bankrupt Palm Beach Princess while the ship in front is the 1974-built Castalia (most recently the Casino Royale). This ship interested me because she had a short stint as the Enchanted Sun for Commodore Cruise Line, which was my first Cruise Line :) I still can’t believe that was the kind of ship I sailed on ten years ago!

 

Here she is as the Enchanted Sun (2000):

 

 

And now that I’ve bored you all with a mini history lesson, I’ll continue with Freeport :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for identifying these ships! We saw them in Freeport on Friday, and I tried to Google them with no luck. I was curious because I know some ships go to Freeport only to make their next voyage to the scrapyard.:(

[ChampionCruiser]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for identifying these ships! We saw them in Freeport on Friday, and I tried to Google them with no luck. I was curious because I know some ships go to Freeport only to make their next voyage to the scrapyard.:(

 

You're welcome!! It is sad that that's probably where they both will go!

[ChampionCruiser]

After getting off the ship, you head straight to the left if you want to take a taxi. It’s hard to miss as it seemed like a lot of people opted to go out on their own. Like many, many people have said before, it’s $5.00 per person per way to get to Port Lucaya Marketplace/ Our Lucaya. The ride took about 20 minutes that morning and about 35 that afternoon (hopefully your van won’t make weird noises and refuse to accelerate!). But it really isn’t that bad of a ride, and we got to see more of the island than the port (I always enjoy seeing the same fast food restaurants in other countries). The taxis will drop you off right in front of the casino, which is directly across from the marketplace and a short walk from the beach.

 

 

We had to walk around for a little while before all the shops opened and it was already REALLY hot (this HAD to be the hottest day of the cruise). The marketplace was much bigger than we imagined, so by the time we were finished we were roasting. As for the selection, there definitely are a lot of stores as well as a ton of local vendors. Thankfully, they weren’t nearly as pushy as I’ve seen in the past so it was all pretty enjoyable. What I didn’t like was that it was impossible to find any souvenir that didn’t look like it was made in China, so we left without a gift for my grandparents. I also always get a seashell ornament for my tree and I didn’t see anything like that at the marketplace either. It wasn’t totally pointless though. My sister got a “floppy hat” that she had been looking for all week and we also bought t-shirts, etc.

 

When we were tired of looking around (at this point we were also melting), we decided to go check out the beach. You have to walk through the casino and past the two resorts to get there. It definitely isn’t a Half Moon Cay, but it is a pretty beach with white sand and blue water. What more could you want?

 

 

 

 

I know you can't tell in these pictures, but there were a lot of people on the beach (and a lot of Carnival towels). So you won't be alone if you decide to come here.

 

Here's a view looking the other way:

 

 

The water was a little choppy, though, so we didn’t swim for long. We did walk on the beach some and got some drinks. Since we were done swimming, though, we decided to head back to the ship an hour earlier than we planned (12:00) because it was too hot to lounge on the beach. It’s a shame that we spent so little time here because it really is a nice place.

 

 

 

I know it seems like we didn’t really do anything in Freeport, but I think we spent our four short hours there as well as we could. Unlike some people, I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back. No, it wouldn’t be my first choice and it wasn’t as amazing as Grand Turk or Half Moon, but I definitely liked Freeport a lot!