Review: Pride to Bermuda 9/18/2011

[micdee]

We'll we've been home over a week now and I'm back to normal life, cleaning, cooking, shopping and working:(. We had a great time on this cruise and loved Bermuda. I thought I'd post some photos and tell you what we did there. Sorry, but there aren't a lot of pics of the Pride itself. We had previosly sailed on it's sister ship the Legend and the layout is the same only much darker.

 

We arrived in Baltimore the day before to some cold dreary weather. It took about 2 hours to get from our home in Philly, to the Marriot Springhill Suites Inner Harbor. The location to the Inner Harbor was only 3 blocks away. The hotel was nice and had a free continental breakfast. It was here that we met up with our cruise buddies Jim and Michele, and Bob. We had all met on a previous cruise years ago and became fast friends. Here we all are at the hotel watching Notre Dame football on TV that afternoon.

 

After the game we did some sightseeing of the inner harbor, ate and called it a night. Tomorrow we set sail.

 

 

The next day we arrived at the port around 11:30. Parking was $15 a day. Check in had little wait and we were on the ship by 12:30. They were'nt letting you in the cabins until 2:00, so we had lunch up on the Lido. Food was typical but good. When the time came we couldn't wait to see our balcony. Now mind you we always sail with a balcony cabin, but this time I was able to snag the much talked about cabin 7258. Cabin size was the same except for the balcony, and here's why:D

This balcony was 3x the size of a normal one. Pretty great. Hung out there a little too long and were late arriving at our meet and greet, but it was great to finally meet those that we did.

Ship was late pulling out of port by about 2 hours that day. This last pic is of the ship passing under what we think, is the Francis Scott Key bridge.

[Smithkids5521]

Great review so far! Glad you had a great time.

BTW- I think you may have been going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge...kind of hard to tell from that angle but I think it may have been Bay Bridge.

 

Anyway, looking forward to reading more.

take care,

Diana

[dolfinmusic]

Keep it coming, Mickey!!! Where did you eat in Baltimore the night before?

[WOWJr1]

BTW- I think you may have been going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge...kind of hard to tell from that angle but I think it may have been Bay Bridge.

 

Nope - definitely the steel truss arch of the Key Bridge, looking south. (I'm a Baltimore native.)

[micdee]

Sorry but I can't give you a detailed report on everything we ate and did on the ship ( I think senility is starting to set in:p). I will say that the food was good, although I enjoyed the breakfast and lunch buffets on Princess more. Also, the pizza on Princess is the best , but Carnival's is way better than Royal's.

We did go to David's for dinner on the second elegant night. I wanted to go that Tuesday night but it was booked. Food was excellent but I thought the portions were a lot smaller then when we dined on the Legend and Liberty's Steakhouse. It also took a lot longer too, 3.5 hours:eek:. Here's some food porn pics for you.

Shrimp Cocktail

 

Filet Mignon

 

Porterhouse Steak

 

Lobster Tails

 

 

Desserts coming in next thread.

[Crusin Karen]

Great start. Pride is the only spirit class ship we haven't sailed on....and love those extended balcony cabins. We were in 8232 on the Miracle twice. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!

[JaniceB]

Everything looks yummy, can't wait for the rest of your review.

[Donh44]

We'll we've been home over a week now and I'm back to normal life, cleaning, cooking, shopping and working:(. We had a great time on this cruise and loved Bermuda. I thought I'd post some photos and tell you what we did there. Sorry, but there aren't a lot of pics of the Pride itself. We had previosly sailed on it's sister ship the Legend and the layout is the same only much darker.

 

We arrived in Baltimore the day before to some cold dreary weather. It took about 2 hours to get from our home in Philly, to the Marriot Springhill Suites Inner Harbor. The location to the Inner Harbor was only 3 blocks away. The hotel was nice and had a free continental breakfast. It was here that we met up with our cruise buddies Jim and Michele, and Bob. We had all met on a previous cruise years ago and became fast friends. Here we all are at the hotel watching Notre Dame football on TV that afternoon.

 

After the game we did some sightseeing of the inner harbor, ate and called it a night. Tomorrow we set sail.

 

 

The next day we arrived at the port around 11:30. Parking was $15 a day. Check in had little wait and we were on the ship by 12:30. They were'nt letting you in the cabins until 2:00, so we had lunch up on the Lido. Food was typical but good. When the time came we couldn't wait to see our balcony. Now mind you we always sail with a balcony cabin, but this time I was able to snag the much talked about cabin 7258. Cabin size was the same except for the balcony, and here's why:D

This balcony was 3x the size of a normal one. Pretty great. Hung out there a little too long and were late arriving at our meet and greet, but it was great to finally meet those that we did.

Ship was late pulling out of port by about 2 hours that day. This last pic is of the ship passing under what we think, is the Francis Scott Key bridge.

I am originally from Baltimore (Florida now) and, yes, that pic is of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. I was in Baltimore a few months ago visiting family and was at a parl along the Chesapeake Bay and saw the Pride go by in the late afternoon just before it went under the Chesapeake bay Bridge. It was a nice sight and made me jealous. I am booked on the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral on Nov 5. Can't wait.

[Crusin Karen]

I am originally from Baltimore (Florida now) and, yes, that pic is of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. I was in Baltimore a few months ago visiting family and was at a parl along the Chesapeake Bay and saw the Pride go by in the late afternoon just before it went under the Chesapeake bay Bridge. It was a nice sight and made me jealous. I am booked on the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral on Nov 5. Can't wait.

I have seen reviews where they go under the CBB, and now this is a different bridge. Do you sail under TWO bridges out of Baltimore?? :eek: Or do they go different routes...this totally confuses me! :confused::confused::o

[Room Service!]

Two bridges. Key and Chesapeake.

[micdee]

Now for dessert

 

Strawberry Cheesecake

 

Carmelized Apple

 

And last but not least, David in full glory!

 

As far as entertainment on the ship, we did the following:

Comedy shows were great, but make sure you get there at least 30 minutes before the starting time if you want to get a seat.

We attended the Quest show which was a lot of fun( Billy you were robbed).

Entered some trivia contests on sea days, came close but never won.

I spent too much time in the casino and didn't win. Slots are old, nothing new like in Atlantic City.

Dropped in on Kareoke one night, saw one girl who was better than any of the singers on the ship.

Attended the past guest party, and you can order whatever you want to drink. Same goes for the farewell party which was held on the last sea day(Sat). There is no discription of this except for a small blurb in fun times.

Water slide and mini golf were open, and put to use by us.

[micdee]

Back again. I have a new found respect for those of you who include photos with your review. I never knew it would be this time consuming, unless I'm doing something wrong.

 

Anyway, we did take our friend Bob hostage this cruise, and entered him into the hairy chest contest. It was a riot and although he came in second, we felt he was robbed.

I'm posting some random shots of the ship next. Need to start dinner and watch some baseball,

Go Phillies!!!

 

I'll be back later with Bermuda info and photos.

 

Serenity Deck

 

Slide

 

Bob (2) He was robbed!

 

 

A toast to the true winner

 

[KroozFoolz]

I'll be back later with Bermuda info and photos.

 

Looking forward to this!

We leave for Bermuda in 12 days.

[micdee]

OMG, where did the photos go? I'll try posting just the pics again. Hope they show.

 

Balcony

 

 

 

Key Bridge

 

[micdee]

Now they're too big. I really am computer illiterate. I'll try the food porn from David's again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[micdee]

I'm really sorry for the mess I'm making. The rest of the pics are from the serenity area, slide, and the hairy chest contest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I promise I'll try and do better tomorrow with Bermuda.

[micdee]

Keep it coming, Mickey!!! Where did you eat in Baltimore the night before?

 

Sorry Terri, but I don't remember the name. It was in the mall, but had an outside area to eat, I think it was next to Phillips. It was okay, nothing to write home about.

Have a great cruise on the Pride, I'm sure you'll enjoy her, I know we did. We need to have another Philly cruisers lunch once you get home, it's been too long.:)

[micdee]

Now pictures are re-appearing.....HELP:confused::confused::confused:

[micdee]

Okay it's a new day and hopefully some of you are still interested in reading this.

 

As I said in the beginning, the weather was not that great when we arrived in Baltimore. It was cold and dreary and the seas were rough that first sea day. By Tuesday the weather at sea was beautiful and the seas were calm. We were scheduled to dock in Bermuda at 7am. I know we were circling the island at 2am that morning, yet we didn't dock until almost 8:30. By the time the ship was cleared to go ashore it was after 9:00. We made a mad dash off the ship because we needed to catch the 10 o'clock ferry to St.George. I knew from reading CC that there would be two places that sold transportation passes once we got off the ship. The first was right when you exited the ship, but the lines were long. We bypassed that one and went to the building in between the two piers. Walked right up and puchased our 2 day transportation passes. The cost of these were $20 and well worth the money. By the time the ferry arrived, the line had grown quite long, so make sure you are there at least a half an hour before departure. Here's a pic of the ferry.

 

The ferry ride to St,George took about 45 minutes and was smooth and enjoyable. Make sure you sit on the top deck as the views of the island are beautiful. Here's a pic of Fort St. Catherine as we passed by headed for St.George.

[micdee]

St.George's is a small quaint village. Our reason for coming here was to snorkel at Tobacco Bay, so we really didn't spend much time exploring.

Here's the town crier greeting my husband.

 

 

We then walked through the town square where they had replicas of stockades and I heard do a dunking during tourist season. Here's the Town Hall.

 

 

Here is the Unfinished Church that we passed while walking to Tobacco Bay.

 

[micdee]

The weather that day was hot and humid, perfect for swimming but not walking. It only took about 15 minutes to get there but when your not in shape it's an olympic event.

 

 

We finally arrived.

 

 

When we got there it wasn't very crowded but by the time we left, the crowds had grown. The snorkeling from the beach was very easy, shallow, crystal clear water in the bay area. Once you went around the small cliffs the water was much deeper. Sorkeling was good and we saw some of the biggest rainbow parrott fish we've ever seen. Their colors were brilliant, unfortunately my husband forgot to bring his camera in the water with him. That's okay, I love him anyway.

[micdee]

We stayed here for about 2 hours and then decided to head to Hamilton.

After all that snorkeling and sun, I knew there was no way I could make that walk back uphill to St.George. We grabbed a couple beers at the restaurant, then took a cab that was waiting right there back to town. Best 6 bucks we ever spent. He dropped us right at the bus stop, where we luckily found a #11 bus waiting to take us to Hamilton. The ride there was quite comfortable (AC worked well), and scenic. We arrived at the Hamilton bus station about 45 minutes later. The station is located right in the center of the city on Chuch St. We walked along it and came upon the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity. It's a stunning and historical church. Here are some pictures of the altar and gigantic pipe organ.

 

 

 

[dolfinmusic]

I agree - we do have to get together!!!!! Loving the pictures!!

[micdee]

We continued walking down Church St. which looked like any other major city, except for all the mopeds parked.

 

 

Finally we arrived at our destination, the Hamilton Fire Department. Our reason for this stop was to buy a tshirt for our son who is a Philly Firefighter. We do this at every island we visit and he now has quite a collection. The woman there was very friendly and told us she had sold many that day.

 

 

From here we proceeded to Front St. which was more touristy with shops and restaurants along the waterfront. We stopped to buy some souveniers and also passed the The Cabinet Building along the way.

 

[micdee]

Our next planned stop was the Perot Post Office. My husband works for the Post Office and was interested in seeing this historic site. This building houses some of it's original furniture, while still being used as a working Post Office.

 

 

 

 

By now it was around 3o'clock and we decided to hit the beaches. We walked about 3 blocks back to the bus terminal. We needed to catch the #7 bus back and luckily there was one right there unloading school children. Got on an empty bus except for 4 kids, and off we went. Next up the beaches.