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

[JAYVIATION]

more sights around the ship..

 

 

 

 

below is a designated smoking area

 

 

 

 

cont..

[JAYVIATION]

we returned to the room briefly to find a fruit and wine basket (from a mystery sender) wrapped up in Carnival ribbons...Annie put them to good use..

 

 

and back out for more exploring..

 

 

they still have the very cheesy but effective color change fiber optic signage.

 

 

next is the main shop area. I enjoyed the detail that is isn't a straight hall but it winds through the area. the shops on the right were for alcohol, smokes, and Carnival branded stuff. the first shop on the right is "Cherry on Top" where you can buy boxed and bulk candy and order things like specialty cakes. continuing down the right you reach the shops for perfume, jewelry and watches.

 

 

 

 

cont.

 

 

[JAYVIATION]

and so, with the setting sun, it was time to grab a bite, take a walk, turn in and wake up in Belize...next

 

 

 

 

good night all !

[Jeepers385]

Loving your review too. We were on the Pride before she went in for the upgrades and will be back on in March to bring her back to Baltimore. Nice to see the changes they've made.

 

Thanks so much.

 

 

[melsmom303]

love your review did you happen to get any photos of the casino .:D:D:D

[Bluemoon319]

you are quite welcome, just wanted to give back to the cruise critic community that has provided so much enjoyment for me for years !

 

to those following, are the photos at a good size. I've been trying to tweak and I think it's ok...bigger, smaller or just right?

 

thanks for the feedback !! much more to come!

 

Just right :)

[CatgirlNC]

there is one thing to keep in mind. departure times for the port are LOCAL and you MUST be on SHIPS time. Simply remember this and you will be fine but it does cause confusion.

 

 

Wow, not just local time, but military time, as well! That's a pretty dangerous combination for all the drunk people trying to figure out what time they need to get back to the ship. :p

 

Great review! I'll be on the Pride in less than 3 weeks.

 

And when I first saw the title of your review, I had no idea what a Rhino is. I was thinking it was some sort of dice term (like snake eyes, or something), and it was referring to a story that would take place at the Craps table. Now I know!

[Bluemoon319]

and so, with the setting sun, it was time to grab a bite, take a walk, turn in and wake up in Belize...next

 

 

 

 

good night all !

 

Love the halo!

[petesweet]

I heard no music on my multiple passes through there and you are correct, there are large circular porthole windows at intervals along both sides.

 

Absolutely PERFECT! Thanks.

 

And the setup for Guy's Burgers is, as you say, a logical and wonderful improvement.

 

Kathy

[jimbo5544]

Very nice review so far. Great Pics! Keep it coming, love the Pride!

[JAYVIATION]

Wow, not just local time, but military time, as well! That's a pretty dangerous combination for all the drunk people trying to figure out what time they need to get back to the ship. :p

 

Great review! I'll be on the Pride in less than 3 weeks.

 

And when I first saw the title of your review, I had no idea what a Rhino is. I was thinking it was some sort of dice term (like snake eyes, or something), and it was referring to a story that would take place at the Craps table. Now I know!

 

yes indeed, you know what they say about assumptions. I was at the deli that evening and a gentleman joined me and asked me if I had a good day in Costa Maya and what I did. I told him about my GF rolling a rhino...assuming I thought he knew what that was. Before asking his question, he took a second and then asked me if "it" was ok. I assumed he meant the jeep and I replied there was no damage and it just took a couple guys to right it back up.... and he said..

 

" It only took two guys to lift up a RHINOCEROS ? "

 

I could not help but laugh and I explained the truth but we agreed that we probably would not go on "that" excursion.

Edited February 5, 2015 by JAYVIATION

[JAYVIATION]

Very nice review so far. Great Pics! Keep it coming, love the Pride!

 

 

yes sir :) more on the way ! thanks for the feedback.

[Bluemoon319]

yes indeed, you know what they say about assumptions. I was at the deli that evening and a gentleman joined me and asked me if I had a good day in Costa Maya and what I did. I told him about my GF rolling a rhino...assuming I thought he knew what that was. Before asking his question, he took a second and then asked me if "it" was ok. I assumed he meant the jeep and I replied there was no damage and it just took a couple guys to right it back up.... and he said..

 

" It only took two guys to lift up a RHINOCEROS ? "

 

I could not help but laugh and I explained the truth but we agreed that we probably would not go on "that" excursion.

 

 

LOL, that is just too funny!

 

 

A friend of mine once rolled an ATV. It landed on top of him & cut his leg, not good since he's on blood thinners. I was so concerned for his wellbeing & all he could think about was righting the ATV before the tour people saw in case the ATV got damaged.

[JAYVIATION]

Loving your review too. We were on the Pride before she went in for the upgrades and will be back on in March to bring her back to Baltimore. Nice to see the changes they've made.

 

Thanks so much.

 

 

 

thanks for the kind words. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and comment :)

[JAYVIATION]

love your review did you happen to get any photos of the casino .:D:D:D

 

Sadly, no. I passed through a couple times and we avoided it the rest of the cruise. The smoke smell was quite bad. It was nothing special though if that means anything. There have been numerous complaints of having to go through there to get to the main theater or the Butterflies lounge, but I found you can just go one deck up or down, go to the front and take the stairs/elevator from there and avoid the smoke.

 

In hindsight, to have done a full review, I should have snapped a few pics, but I also read it was frowned upon to take pics in the casino.

 

I also missed pics of the theater....ugh.. every time I went there, the doors were closed and when we did see the one show we went to, I didn't bring the camera.

 

very sorry.

[JAYVIATION]

Love the halo!

 

thank you, but if you liked that....you should love the last day at sea...stay tuned :)

[JAYVIATION]

while resizing my Belize excursion pics, it reminded me of another excursion I have done twice In San Juan that I must promote..

 

hijacking my own thread for a sec, but trust me on this.. I will also post this in the appropriate ports and excursion threads.

 

If anyone is going to San Juan and they offer "Juan Carlos and Latin Traditions" .. GO ! This guy is amazing. He was gracious enough to let me record him and I linked a sample below...watch the whole thing...ending always makes the hairs on my neck stand up. Such passion for his music and a great storyteller. His Flamenco dancers are also something to see..... although the guy did pick me twice out of the audience and I had to put this maraca belt on me and shake it to the music on stage... enjoy... then I'm back to the review.

 

** note the speaker was really close to me so start the video with the volume down then bring up to comfort **

 

Edited February 5, 2015 by JAYVIATION

[jmcghee2024]

Not to hi-jack....but you made reference to the smoke smell in the casino. I thought there was no more smoking indoors. The Pride allows smoking in the casino???? If so, we will definitely be skipping that and taking the route you suggested to avoid it on our way to other places. Thanks for doing this review!

[Jamman54]

Really enjoying your review and pictures!! We will be sailing on the Pride for the third time this April, but first time since the upgrades. Looking forward to it!

[JAYVIATION]

Belize....

 

we awoke anchored with a few neighbors this morning..

 

the Splendor,

 

 

the Norwegian Dawn,

 

 

and the Norwegian Sun..

 

 

Here is what Belize looked like from where we were anchored... you can see what I meant in regards to the contrasting initial impressions of Costa Maya.

 

 

Belize took the longest for me to pick an excursion. I have read that Belize port and surrounding area is very poor and run down and crime is a problem. In addition, we did not look forward to 3 hour bus rides to go to the ruins that were available..and some you had to pay to take any pictures when you got there...what?! (this was in reviews for several of the ruins excursions)

 

I have done skydiving and would like ziplining, Annie is not so much ready for that.... and cave tubing just didn't sound enticing enough. I have read that a lot of people just stay on the ship due to the long tender time it takes to get to the port. Again to each their own.

 

An excursion popped up relatively late as being a small island beach break called "Starfish Island" where there was lunch provided and they picked you up at the ship. At the time, there were only 5 reviews and none really had a lot of detail or pictures. From what was available, this seemed the best "risk".

 

We were advised to go to the theater at 7:30am to get our tender ticket for the excursion. When you arrived there, each excursion had a designated number sticker that you slap on yourself and await to be called. It was a smooth process from what we saw and was well executed.

 

Before we knew it, we were off to Starfish Island ( note: it has been mentioned in prior reviews I researched that Starfish Island was once Barrister? might have the name wrong Island in the past)

 

 

 

cont..

 

 

[JAYVIATION]

Not to hi-jack....but you made reference to the smoke smell in the casino. I thought there was no more smoking indoors. The Pride allows smoking in the casino???? If so, we will definitely be skipping that and taking the route you suggested to avoid it on our way to other places. Thanks for doing this review!

 

my pleasure, yes smoking was allowed in the casino, by all means take the detour... it's quieter and you make it to the theaters without having to Febreeze yourself :)

[JAYVIATION]

Really enjoying your review and pictures!! We will be sailing on the Pride for the third time this April, but first time since the upgrades. Looking forward to it!

 

thanks for the support! yes you will find the upgrades to be more of an enhancement then a distinct change.

[JAYVIATION]

well on our way, our boat was quite "peppy"

 

 

 

and here we were "Starfish Island".. I actually took this pic as we were leaving. There were no other cruisers when we arrived.

 

 

The island was a bit surreal. It was a somewhat brisk morning and we were the FIRST on the island. We were greeted by a nice young lady who explained where things were and simply made us feel at home there. It was just not expected to be like what it was. We were VERY pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, it's no Half Moon Cay, but I will say I made the right choice. I will just let some of the pics speak for themselves..

 

 

 

 

cont...

 

[JAYVIATION]

 

 

 

 

 

 

cont..

[JAYVIATION]

just to the right as you come off the dock, there is a little boxed off area with some starfish you can touch, just don't hold them out of the water for more then a few seconds.

 

 

a little past this and you will see the kids play area..

 

 

there are fresh water showers in addition to bathroom facilities, a first aid station and a tiny gift shop. The water was clear enough to do snorkeling but they do not have or rent the gear to do this so bring your own.

 

 

you can also rent kayaks here. If memory serves, it was $10 per half hour..there might have been a different rate for longer at a discount but I'm not sure. They encourage you to check out the mangroves and people that did came back saying they saw all kinds of wildlife.

 

 

 

there is a volleyball net and plenty of shady spots to be found. Each tour stay was limited to 4 hours and the times visited by the other ships were staggered to prevent crowding. It made sense and worked well.

 

 

cont..