Review of our Spring Break '14 Cruise on Carnival Pride

[PaulMedik]

I have to say that other than not particularly liking that genre of art (I just find reclining nudes dull), I disagree with everything else you said about it. I'll leave it at that.

 

Can't wait to see the ship and re-familiarize myself with the ship's layout (and check out that Serenity Deck)!

 

 

NCTribeFan,

 

I really should do a better job of indicating my lack of expertise in art. I mainly don't think that's the place for that particular piece and I don't agree with it being that large. It takes up the entire wall and wraps around the corner. There are places on the ship where it would fit better and not be so outstanding. You will see it whether you go looking for it or not.

 

Maybe it stands out because each day when we waited to be seated we waited either at the bar or in the seating area adjacent to the painting. Maybe I was just exposed to it too much? I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it again and having an opportunity to reevaluate it.

 

I watched a few parents redirect their children's attention as they came by the painting, but it never appeared to me that the kids had even noticed it. I know my kids never seem to be fazed by that type of art and they've been around it quite a few times over the years.

 

*****************************************************

 

 

Our sailing was one of three Pride sailings that was affected by a propulsion issue. The issue resulted in Pride not being able to reach full speed and thus our itinerary was changed to two ports from three. The skipped port was Freeport.

 

One of our two azipods was supposed to be non functioning. You can see from our wake that the port azipod is doing most of the propulsion;

 

 

Portside would be the stream on the right and Starboard would be the left hand side;

 

 

Other than some extra vibration and a slightly uneven wake, the cruise was uneventful in regards to the propulsion;

 

 

We had lunch at the deli since we were in between times for the buffet;

 

 

I love Carnival's grilled Ruben;

 

 

Karen had a chicken wrap;

 

[PaulMedik]

Britt and Spencer had pizza;

 

 

 

A bar server passed by and insisted I would love whatever concoction was in the fish. It was tasty, but I have no clue what it was;

 

 

 

After lunch we got more mail in the form of OBC notices from Carnival SeaMiles;

 

 

 

You can tell we had a wicked cold winter when teenage boys want to lay in the sun;

 

 

 

In this wake picture you can better tell that one azipod is working harder than the other;

 

[422Melissa]

"The only actual value of the video above is as a lesson to myself and others to ALWAYS use fresh batteries and don't assume the camera is still on."

 

Here's more value: I watched the full video since my reclining daughter and I were parked right behind your family on that bench on the funnel deck! I had to show her the video right away ("that's SO awesome").

 

Looking forward to playing "where's Waldo" with the rest of your photos. So far we have popped up in the Muster Station C pic :)

[rdler]

Paul, I apologize for the question, but I am curious. How did you get the Captain to try to illuminate your brother-in-law's house?

 

Oh, yeah. And I'm truly enjoying your review (as I do annually). Thank you.

[PaulMedik]

"The only actual value of the video above is as a lesson to myself and others to ALWAYS use fresh batteries and don't assume the camera is still on."

 

Here's more value: I watched the full video since my reclining daughter and I were parked right behind your family on that bench on the funnel deck! I had to show her the video right away ("that's SO awesome").

 

Looking forward to playing "where's Waldo" with the rest of your photos. So far we have popped up in the Muster Station C pic :)

 

 

Melissa,

 

I remember you two; the sun was right behind you two and I tried to get a picture of the silhouette and it kept overexposing in my camera! As I recall I also sent either Britt or Spencer over there to try and get a picture of them with the effect. I think the flare from the funnel must have been part of the way it looked.

 

I just went back and looked thru the originals because I know I had at least a dozen or more shots of you two, but I deleted them all. I use Lightroom to edit files and I'm sometimes able to save pictures with bad light, but that flare was just too dramatic. It was like an oval fire all around the two of you.

 

 

 

Paul, I apologize for the question, but I am curious. How did you get the Captain to try to illuminate your brother-in-law's house?

 

Oh, yeah. And I'm truly enjoying your review (as I do annually). Thank you.

 

rdler,

 

 

Thank you.

 

I had nothing to do with it. Larry was flashing a light toward the ship and turning it on and off to see if I could see it. We were so far out that he wasn't sure it was us. I was able to see his light flashing was the only way to know. He then did turned it off and on five times and asked me how many to further verify and that's when the Captain lit him up. If Larry hadn't said the ships lights came on I wouldn't have noticed; our cabin was on the aft corner and looking forward I could just tell the lights were on.

[Eng23]

Small cruise ship and the burnt out shell of an industrial building behind it?

 

 

Here's a little FYI Trivia piece for you. This burned out industrial building was used in the movie Ladder 49 (hence it is a burned out shell now) and was what you see in the first scenes of the movie.

 

I now return all reader's to the review in progress! :D

[Eng23]

Also, thank you for taking the time writing this review!

[PaulMedik]

Small cruise ship and the burnt out shell of an industrial building behind it?

 

 

Here's a little FYI Trivia piece for you. This burned out industrial building was used in the movie Ladder 49 (hence it is a burned out shell now) and was what you see in the first scenes of the movie.

 

I now return all reader's to the review in progress!

 

 

Eng23,

 

Thank you very much! Having never been to Baltimore before I couldn't figure out why the building looked familiar. I assumed I'd seen it in a review, but couldn't place it.

 

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We spent the Majority of our day doing absolutely nothing. I took dozens of pictures of our wake;

 

 

 

I'm planning to blow up at least one of our wake pictures from this cruise into a large picture, but so far haven't decided which one;

 

 

Or maybe one of the aft corner shots;

 

 

 

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

Perhaps I should get a big pic of this;

 

 

 

'The hallways are dark on Pride.' I read those words so many times I was expecting a dungeon. Maybe they are on other floors, but they were bright and colorful on deck eight;

 

 

 

Karen and I made a trip to The Shops to see if we could find a white shirt for Spencer. Somehow his white shirt didn't make the trip, but alas The Shops have no white shirts.

 

Our first full day at sea was also to be the first formal or cruise elegant night. As we went by the dining room it was still closed up tight at five thirty;

 

 

Passengers were already out and about in their formal wear;

 

 

 

I'm going to have to dig up a picture of Liberty's atrium. I haven't seen it for a while, but Pride's atrium sure reminds me of Liberty each and every time I went by;

 

[PaulMedik]

Atrium on Carnival Liberty;

 

 

OK so they aren't identical, but the similarity is there I think.

 

 

Sunset was a bit too cloudy for many pics;

 

 

 

Spencer and Karen ready for dinner;

 

 

Way too much red tint;

 

 

The boys and I;

 

[KPfromCT]

Don't get me wrong. We had a GREAT cruise on the Pride. HMC was AMAZING.

 

But I will tell you, I wouldn't cruise on this ship again, just because of the décor. This ship was DARK. Just BLAH. Yuck.

 

Then our next one was on the Breeze. Bright and Airy.

Heading out on the Breeze again in July for 8 nights in the Southern Caribbean.

 

Paul, your reviews are AWESOME. Keep up the good work!!!!:D

[Tacosha]

Small cruise ship and the burnt out shell of an industrial building behind it?

 

 

Here's a little FYI Trivia piece for you. This burned out industrial building was used in the movie Ladder 49 (hence it is a burned out shell now) and was what you see in the first scenes of the movie.

 

I now return all reader's to the review in progress! :D

 

Cool piece of Trivia! Really enjoyed that movie...although a sad ending.

[PaulMedik]

Don't get me wrong. We had a GREAT cruise on the Pride. HMC was AMAZING.

 

But I will tell you, I wouldn't cruise on this ship again, just because of the décor. This ship was DARK. Just BLAH. Yuck.

 

Then our next one was on the Breeze. Bright and Airy.

Heading out on the Breeze again in July for 8 nights in the Southern Caribbean.

 

Paul, your reviews are AWESOME. Keep up the good work!!!!

 

 

KPfromCT,

 

I have read that in so many reviews about how dark and blah she was and our last sailing was on Breeze so I really expected dark and that may be why I noticed the lighter areas? Prophecy Fulfillment normally results in having the experience you expect, but in this case it didn't happen. Or maybe it did....I did expect to have a good time and we had the best and most relaxing cruise ever.

 

July 2015 we'll be (assuming Breeze schedules come out) boarding Breeze for an eight day either Southern or Eastern. Really looking forward to sailing her again!

 

 

 

*******************************************************

 

 

We had a bit of a wait prior to dinner so we got some pics;

 

 

Pic of us reflected off a wall;

 

 

 

Pro pic by Carnival photog;

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got two of these each evening in different colors;

 

[Tacosha]

@ PaulMedik...really enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing with us! :)

[PaulMedik]

I had three lobster tails for dinner;

 

 

 

They were tasty, but not the largest I've ever had;

 

The shrimp were nearly as big;

 

 

 

Britt had a dance at Camp Carnival after dinner;

 

 

 

He insisted that we watch his driving skills prior to the dance;

 

 

 

The steep stairs again;

 

 

After dinner we received Past Guest Party invites;

 

[PaulMedik]

 

They also delivered our chocolate covered strawberries;

 

 

 

 

 

Another $100 investment in Blackjack resulted in;

 

 

We won at Blackjack all week, but there was one guy in particular that robbed the place every day. We saw them cash out his chips multiple times and give him vouchers for $8k and he'd start over with a few blacks and soon he'd have stacks and stacks of $100 chips. I've rarely seen them do multiple cash outs at the table, but his guy was impressive. We watched him use our same strategy and rake in the money. Granted he was betting over $600 on each hand.

 

Karen tried the red wine from the cabin wet bar. She finished it, but doesn't recommend it;

 

 

 

I don't know why I kept this pic, but I'll share it as a lesson to myself and others. The sun was displaying a dramatic scene out our cabin door and I wanted to capture it with my 5DIII. I grabbed my camera straight from my bag in the cabin and stepped outside onto the balcony and...

 

 

 

Yep; fogged up camera. It won't hurt it, but it certainly caused me to miss a great view. I know to take my gear outside in the bag and let it warm up slowly. I really do know! I just wasn't used to the weather change from Baltimore to off the shore of the Carolinas. I've had my 5DIII on the sidelines at football games in the pouring rain and freezing snow. I've had it solid white with snow, but in all that time I've never allowed it to fog up.

 

Our wake the next morning;

 

[PaulMedik]

Breakfast for a family of four? No, just mine;

 

 

 

Our wake indicated the starboard azipod was starting to spin up a little more;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great cruising seas;

 

 

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and White?

 

 

 

 

 

Such a lazy day that the clouds all left us;

 

[jamscckmc]

You all looked sharp in your tuxes. Did most of the men wear suits? My only time on Carnival was on the Pride in2009. My DH was one of very few in a suit. On that cruise it seemed putting on long pants instead of shorts was most men's idea of dress for elegant night. We are back on Pride on the 18 and told DH he didn't need to wear a suit based on our last Carnival cruise. I might change that if most were dressed up for your cruise. Were there many just in dress pants and shirt? Thanks!

[PaulMedik]

Aft Serenity above our cabin looking forward;

 

 

I brought the GoPro with me to get some video

 

[YOUTUBE]DfdHr8IVxV8[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The forward areas were roped off and closed due to high winds, but I got video of them later in the week;

 

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[PaulMedik]

You all looked sharp in your tuxes. Did most of the men wear suits? My only time on Carnival was on the Pride in2009. My DH was one of very few in a suit. On that cruise it seemed putting on long pants instead of shorts was most men's idea of dress for elegant night. We are back on Pride on the 18 and told DH he didn't need to wear a suit based on our last Carnival cruise. I might change that if most were dressed up for your cruise. Were there many just in dress pants and shirt? Thanks!

 

jamscckmc,

 

I'm one of those people that doesn't notice too much what other people are wearing unless it's extreme. As I recall it seemed like most had on suits, but honestly it may have been just the opposite. We dressed less for this cruise than normal. We each had two tuxedos, but other than the two cruise elegant nights we dressed very casual.

 

On this cruise I only recall one particular instance where I noticed what someone was wearing. A middle aged woman and younger woman came to the dining room and sat near us. They immediately complained about something on the menu to the waiter and demanded to speak to someone. The younger woman then took her shoes off and kept swinging her feet wide and basically sitting very much not like a lady if you know what I mean. They were dressed appropriately, but apparently weren't quite as uptight as they wished to appear they were. They discussed what they should ask for in compensation, but I never could figure out exactly what had offended them. They ended up storming off after the hostess advised them they could file a complaint at Guest Services.

 

Dress pants and shirt would likely be fine and not out of place on the formal nights and much more relaxed for the others.

 

 

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Teenager in the sun. Like I said, we had a very cold winter;

 

 

 

Lunch on our balcony;

 

 

 

I don't think I've ever seen my boys sunbathing other than after playing on a beach;

 

[PaulMedik]

Practically no clouds;

 

 

 

Our wake was getting more even;

 

 

 

Karen tried out the GoPro head mount under her hat;

 

[YOUTUBE]o2S7yC6NM2c[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Ice cream on the balcony;

 

 

 

Past Guest Party;

 

 

GoPro of Past Guest Party;

 

[YOUTUBE]fFwLM49-OOs[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Tasty;

 

 

 

Our Cruise Director Kirk Benning did an excellent job;

 

[kybluecruiser]

So happy two of my favorite member reviews at the same time (you and wrigley80) thanks so much for,sharing.

[firstoftwelve]

Following... We leave on the pride a week from Sunday and it's my first cruise ever. This review is great. Thank you!

[sjn911]

I'm on post 103..note to self. Love your reviews over the years..feeling nostalgia as youngest grows up...love that you share your pre and post things and you were able to enjoy your cousin and your sons have these memories, so cool in the Capitol this year. There is a homey constant with Carnival for you and that is cool too and you get the good digs as you can. Love the respect for our country and history and that you got to see those cherry blossoms..had a few of those trees in Oregon.

 

How cool your cousin could send and receive a light across the bay..my dad went to correspondence banking school when i was a kid at Rutgers over 3 years. He got a weekend on Chesapeake bay with a friend he made there on a sail boat..I am always so glad he got that good time under family/work pressures..pretty severe at that time. Epic stories of the Bay compared to the Kool styrofoam ciggy boat( he had friends save their packs) that he got fyber glassed the bottom of for small lake camping sailing LOL in those days...no champagne cracking on the boat!!!...

 

It was a long time ago that I was in DC..i got to go s a student week once with a great educational group my senior high school year and that set the stage for college excitememt..See the same in your kids..it is all so good to share..thank you thank you thank you..good family time is so precious and all it brings it to us..ripples out ecourages..makes it worth it to try to go for self or family..thanks for sharing everything and I love you guys and your cameras...and now this go pro thing..thank you it is fun..don't get it but fun the walking on the ship time was cool.

 

So happy about all you have offered your kids with the family trips...i am happy but sad the baby is growing up...thanks for always sharing with us...invested cruise fans...Sarah

 

PS..and super to appreciate the sun and balcony love it..we even had snow Sunday night..melted by next eve but still..tops for even Montana this winter..real cabin fever..serious cabin fever..any outside is a wonder after it...cute sun bathers LOL.

Edited May 2, 2014 by sjn911