Pride 1/25/15..Annie rolls a rhino and Annie in the sky with diamonds!

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Greetings fellow cruisers! It is my humble pleasure to share my review of the Carnival Pride on 01/25/15. This was a 7 day western caribbean trip with stops in: Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman which originated in Tampa.

 

About the reviewer: I am 42 and traveled with my GF who is in her dawning 30's. I have been on several cruises on several lines. We do not smoke and I do not drink ( although I do UNDERSTAND it). I will also place a disclaimer out there that there will be no food porn. The only reason I can provide is that I have a palate so boring, it would make Gordon Ramsay cry.

 

I will also apologize for spelling and gramat...grammeracal.... other writing stuff that gets messed up. I only know 2 languages... English and Bad English and sometimes my brain is typing faster than my fingers so I apologize for any incontinence it may cause.

 

Pics will abound once the start of the story gets moving :)

 

About the camera(s): I was using a Canon Rebel T5 with a cold shoe mount to house my GoPro 3+ black edition HD cam. This allowed me to shoot still and video at the same time with normal and wide angle ability.

 

I saved all the Fun Times from the trip, but I would rather not scan and post it all. that said, I will be happy to answer any and all questions relating to the specifics in them.

 

It is very difficult to deal with PCDD (Post Cruise Depression Disorder) and be inspired to review so I wanted to give an extra thanks to all that have posted reviews before. It takes quite a bit to put them together but I and many more love them so keep em coming ! It is such a welcome and fun part of cruising being able to share on this board with others. So without further ado.....what is "ado" anyway?

 

from google dictionary "1250-1300; Middle English (north) at do, a phrase equivalent to at to (< Old Norse, which used at with the infinitive) + do do1. Can be confused.

 

gee you think?......lets do this.

 

It has been asked and answered many times here and I will re-iterate it once more that if you can afford a cruise, you can probably afford an additional night at a hotel for the day before. There are simply too many variables that could conspire against you should one attempt to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

Even though we left 2 days before our cruise, our foresight to do everything early paid off.

 

Delays started with our flight from Montreal Canada. The airport advises to be there at least 3 hours before your flight...they are not kidding. The various security and customs lines reminded me of those devious ride queue lines at Disney that just when you think you are about to get to the end, you pass another wall to see a whole new snake of humanity ahead of you.

 

We had an early flight at 7:00am and we suspected travel may be light for that time...nope. There were several hundred people massed for 6 customs lines when they had booths for 27. Lets just say there were quite a few runners that morning.

 

We arrived at the gate and boarded, pushed back from the gate only to be brought back and deplaned because the pilot could not get the right engine started and no one had jumper cables.

 

To Delta's credit, they worked feverishly to get people rerouted and after a 16 hour day of traveling, we made it to Tampa

 

to be continued.....

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Pre-Cruise Hotel: Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk from Hotwire for $105 per night. It was a large room with a comfortable king bed facing the spacious balcony overlooking the waterway. The only activity being some construction (extension?) of the Tampa Riverwalk and frequent dragon boat crews from the nearby Univeristy of Tampa.

 

 

 

The large floor to ceiling windows are reflective tinted so you can "get ready" or "get busy" with the curtains open. The nights are colorful thanks to changing lighting on the bridges to the left and right of the hotel. It was a good restart to the vacation enjoying Starbucks coffee (provided free) with the breeze on the balcony playing in the palms.

 

 

 

The room included a sofa bed and had plenty of space for 4+. there were connecting doors on both sides of the room and due to this, be aware there is quite a bit of sound bleedthrough from the rooms next door, but this passes as white noise for the most part.

 

The bathroom was basic with fantastic water pressure in the shower. We did have a small issue with the bathtub filling up while using the shower, but a simple request to have it snaked cleared it up with no problem.

 

 

..more to come

 

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If you arrive the day before the trip, take a stroll on the riverwalk that is accessible just outside of the hotel. It wanders in gentle picturesque curves all the way to the port. The walk is about a mile and there are some stairs along the way but not more than 5-10.

 

 

 

The end of the riverwalk opens up to the Channelside Mall (if it can really be called that anymore). Currently it is a shadow of its former glory. A ghosttown of closed movie theaters, abandoned shops and vacant resturants. It seems ironic given the placement close to the port, the aquarium and the nearby arena. There are a couple shops left such as a chocolate shop, a Cold Stone Creamery, Hooters and a couple other dining options that appear to only be open certain days or times.

 

The port is also home to Starship Cruises which does specialty cruises in Tampa Bay. My GF and I did one for New Years eve and was a blast. The Paradise was also in port.

 

 

 

 

 

next: the aquarium

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The aquarium was just the perfect thing to do before the cruise and is actually one of the nicer ones I've seen.

 

 

 

In the next pic you can almost see how this alligator can be related to the T-rex

 

 

the next 2 pics are the ONLY ones clear enough out of 60 I took of the otters... I've seen ADHD before but these 2 were HD-ADHD. Would not sit still for a second.

 

 

 

and of course everyone loves turtles..

 

 

more to come..

 

 

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uh...right....moving on

 

 

 

 

and no....I haven't seen your dad !

 

more....

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and what aquarium would be complete without lemurs ?!?!

 

 

 

 

a dragon seahorse

 

 

a not so dragon seahorse

 

 

they had a nice coral area as well

 

 

next: the cruise begins

 

 

 

 

 

[KPfromCT]

Yay!!! I can tell this is going to be a GOOD one!!!!

LOVE your style of writing.

Can't wait for more.:D:D

[Texasgalsa]

Following!

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thanks! I'll post as soon as I can. Resizing and uploading and linking takes a lot of time so bear with me. I appreciate the encouragement :)

[melsmom303]

subscribing great so far :D

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Port Tampa Bay

 

 

 

this had to be one of the smoothest check ins ever. We arrived via free shuttle from the hotel at about 11:20am. No crowds. No lines.... well yes there were lines but they were done by Carnival inside to better filter the different "levels" of check-ins. For example, they had a line for Diamond, one for FTTF (faster to the fun= us) and even one for wedding parties. We were checked in with a genuine smile ( you know the difference when you see it) and we felt very welcome there. They commenced boarding at 11:45am and we were onboard 15 minutes after that. Nice Job Carnival !

 

There has been a lot of anger about the last couple months processes. I will not make excuses, but there were certain hurdles that needed to be overcome which take time to iron out.

1. Ship out of drydock with upgrades

2. new port

3. weather issues ( fog mostly ) causing delays

4. figuring out if you put pesto and anti-pesto together... does it explode?

 

In any case, with anything as complicated and filled with logistics as a cruise, it is important to keep expectations and reality fluid. Ok I'm stepping off my deck chair now.

 

 

Parking could not be more ready... litteraly across the street.

 

 

lots and lots of taxi access as well

 

 

here is a ships eye view of that Channelside Mall...so much potential..sad.

 

 

of course the ship is next...

 

[griz400]

Subscribed ... we go on march 1st ......:)

 

Can you tell us what nights are formal nights ???

and did the have lobster and shrimp ???

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Cruise Elegant nights are:

 

1. your first sea day night on that monday

2. your Grand Cayman night on that friday

 

I believe there is lobster and shrimp.. they pushed the lobster quite a bit

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Hard to beat this as a first impression... the atrium

 

 

well....someone knew where they wanted to go first.

 

 

The serenity area was a very welcome addition to this class of ship. This made it very occupied every day ( perfect weather all 7 days and it was packed port day or no)

 

 

 

 

 

more... by all means ask any questions you may have. The only dumb one is one not asked.

 

 

 

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The chair hog policy was in effect here and never seemed to be an issue. It's one of the things I love about the spirit class. There are SO MANY places for loungers and 3 pools so things are spread out nicely.

 

sorry for this next pic.... seems half my camera got drunk taking the picture.

 

 

the aquarium could not be more perfectly placed.

 

 

we shared the port that day with the Norwegian Sun

 

 

and the Holland America Ryndam

 

 

we were also flanked by the American Victory, an old WW2 transport which part of a tour through the aquarium.

 

 

other various ships are docked or being repaired here

 

 

more...

 

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you can see the Tampa arena just to the right of this forward looking shot. by the way it appears until Pride returns to Baltimore, it will dock starboard side (right) toward the pier.

 

 

some nice places around the port

 

 

 

The Pride was built in 2001 and as such she has a few scars, but nothing outwardly distracting. They say that scars are just tattoos with better stories.... indeed... from what I experienced, she is in her prime!

 

 

 

 

....and up next....

 

 

 

 

[griz400]

We only booked our march 1st cruise like 2 weeks ago or so, and we cant book fttf ... did you get fttf ??? did it come available closer to the cruise ?

We try and its sold out, we try like 5 - 10 times a day ..lol

We had it before and its nice to have ...

By the way, we sailed on the Paradise before, it had a clock right where you get of ship on excursions and it had "ship time" , and that was nice -- synchronize watches and go .. does the pride have a clock there as well ??

[scrinchy]

Loving your review and all the great pictures, thank you.

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Muster Drill: it was painless, spread out and 12 minutes....and before we knew it....

 

 

we were shoving off... EXACTLY on time. the Sun started out and we were followed by Ryndam.

 

 

 

Tampa sail away is certainly one of the most relaxing and scenic. People love the ships and were lining streets to wish us a bon voyage.

 

 

 

 

more to come

 

 

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Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It takes us about 2 hours to get to the bridge. Tidal height is important for clearing the bridge. If the Pride does not make the 4pm window, it has to wait until 9 for another attempt.

 

So, should I have pics of Pride going under the bridge? yes.

 

Do I have pictures? no.... I got a great video of the funnel JUST passing under the bridge by what appeared to be inches....I go to my GF to show her and instead of pressing play...I pressed delete.

 

So lets move on to the room.... one of the coveted 9B balconies.... 7301

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We only booked our march 1st cruise like 2 weeks ago or so, and we cant book fttf ... did you get fttf ??? did it come available closer to the cruise ?

We try and its sold out, we try like 5 - 10 times a day ..lol

We had it before and its nice to have ...

By the way, we sailed on the Paradise before, it had a clock right where you get of ship on excursions and it had "ship time" , and that was nice -- synchronize watches and go .. does the pride have a clock there as well ??

 

Yes, we had FTTF. For $50 per cabin, I found it worth it...Especially on an itinerary with 2 tender ports. As far as the ability to drop off carry-ons right away by having your cabin ready when you boarded was good enough. As far as the priority tendering goes, most have to go to the main theater and obtain a number. With FTTF, you can show up whenever you feel ready once the ship is cleared for tender operations and they will put you right aboard.

 

If that is an advantage to you will depend on excursion times. FTTF will also give you priority disembarkation. Everyone is given a debark number tag.. I dont know how high they go up to, but lets just say having a #1 on it is nice. We loved it.

 

as far as availability goes...thats tricky. I found out they are available starting when the first excursions are opened up ( about 120 days out and sometimes more )

 

I'm sorry but I don't know about openings after they are apparently sold out. I guess it's possible to call Carnival to check that or maybe place yourself on a call list but thats the extent of my FTTF knowledge.

 

Regarding clocks... they were everywhere, ( didn't notice one by the exit ramp) but it was stressed on more than one occasion that you keep your time with ships time regardless of what tour operators tell you.. this was a point of confusion for some in Costa Maya.

[LizBear12]

Your pictures are great! Loving this review. The ship does look like its in good shape, can't wait to keep reading!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited February 3, 2015 by LizBear12

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Your pictures are great! Loving this review. The ship does look like its in good shape, can't wait to keep reading!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I appreciate the vote of confidence! Thank You! Yes the Pride is certainly one of my favorite ships. The ship has great lines and the layout is fantastic. it NEVER EVER seemed crowded. There are so many places you can go on your own.

 

 

[pcvtmom]

Great job! This makes for some good reading...keep it coming! We'll be on the Pride in early August.

[belles]

Question about the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk....I know on Priceline you put in what star hotel you want. Is that the same on Hotwire? If so, how what star rating was this Sheraton?