Mitsugirly takes great PRIDE in bringing her Spring Break extreme review

[mitsugirly]

Sorry we didn't get meet Kim. Maybe one day. I did talk to ssteacher a couple of times during the week. They had a fun group.

 

Just want to say that we have loved every minute of your review, and sorry that it is winding down. I think we both agree that the Pride is an awesome ship!!

 

 

Thanks for following me on my review. I know it's hard to get your own review done when you are trying to keep up with someone else doing a review. ;) :D Yours is coming along nicely and I'm enjoying it a lot along with the pictures.

 

I definitely agree, the Pride is awesome!

 

 

Great review Kim! I have enjoyed seeing the Pride through your eyes.

 

The Dr Seuss breakfast sounds like Carnival has been taking lessons from Disney. Disney does things like that so very well.

 

I agree with the poster about getting Sakari into swim lessons/swim team. I swam competitively from age 5 through college, and was lifeguarding,teaching and coaching as soon as I was able to be certified to do so. When I look at Sakari in the water, I see so much of me when I was her age. I'm sure she would love it.

 

We are headed out on a cruise of our own in a few hours, our first on Royal Caribbean. Hopefully, we will love it as much as our previous oneson Disney and Princess. I'm sure we will have a great time. I'll be back at some point after we get home to finish your review. Right now I think I'd better go try and get some sleep if I can. I'm too excited to sleep!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise and thanks for joining me on my review. :)

[mitsugirly]

Allow me to add my thanks to the others for your wonderful review.

 

I really appreciate it and thanks to you too for joining me. :)

 

Great review!

 

Is that Dr. Suess breakfast something you can sign up for before your cruise, or do you have to sign up when you board? We don't have kids and I have never even given it a thought, but seeing your pictures it is so cute. Might just go for the heck of it.:D

 

 

You sign up for the breakfast as soon as you get on the ship. They will have a table set up in the atrium with a rep there to sign you up. The cost is $5 pp. So worth it. :) There's lots of people that go without any kids.

[mitsugirly]

I was wondering about the Dr Seuss breakfast as well... Is that something you have to pay extra to go to or was it included in the cruise price?

 

Also, I know that you have to make reservations to go to the steakhouse, but do you have to make reservations for the Sushi restaurant as well? I would think you wouldn't since the menu looks like a pay per item instead of pay for the meal but I haven't been able to find all that much information about it. (Someone on one of the boards asked about being able to take it out of the restaurant to eat but I never did find the answer out for that either)

 

Yes, it's $5 extra for the Dr Seuss breakfast and you can eat as much as you want.

 

Sorry I can't answer your question about the Sushi restaurant. I didn't eat there. :(

[mitsugirly]

Day 8-Time to be kicked off the ship!

 

It seemed so weird sailing away on a Sun instead of the Saturday and even weirder getting off the ship on a Sunday. It almost felt like we had an extra day on the ship I don't know why.

 

I got up and headed out to the balcony to check on the weather. The water was so calm.

 

 

(Of course it was...)

 

 

 

The sun was up and it was chilly outside, but not as cold as I thought it would be.

 

I headed down do deck 3 when I seen this...

 

 

I knew that meant the bridge was coming up and I wanted to get a good shot of it.

 

 

 

 

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ thanks for doing another wonderful review!:D I SOOOOO want to go on another Carnival cruise, eat Guy's burgers, do a Dr Seuss breakfast (even tho' I'm old enough to be your mother!) & eat at the MDR.

I've found lately that I'd rather be served in the MDR than help myself in the buffet.

 

How's Sakari's drawing coming along? I didn't notice as much of that as usual.

 

Looking forward to your Bermuda cruise, now you can get planning.

I found there was quite a bit to do just in the area we docked at. We watched people swim with the Dolphins at the Fort.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[mitsugirly]

Once again, we made it under the bridge with no problems wink wink

 

 

 

I really liked the view after we passed under it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

...And on we headed to the port.

 

 

I headed back to the room to get the family up and we headed up to the buffet area for our last Pride meal. I had the normal eggs and bacon and then we were off to our rooms to gather our belongings and head down to the Alchemy Bar where they told us to wait to disembark.

 

I was in contact with Kendra, who informed me that she had decided NOT to put her luggage out the night before and she would be getting off with the first batch of people that could walk off...while rubbing it in my face that she would be off the ship before me without FTTF. I'm honestly not sure what her hurry was. She was not flying home with us that day, so she didn't have a flight to catch. She had booked another stay at the Best Western and was flying home the next day. But, it was a race with her.

 

We sat around for quite some time waiting for them to call us. It seemed to take forever for all of the people that were walk-offs to get off the ship. I'm honestly not use to getting off so late. But then again, I'm not use to not pulling into port until 9am either.

 

So we waited, and we waited and then Kendra text me a picture of her walking outside the port with her luggage at 10:03am (according to my phone text). That little rascal. She ask if I wanted her to call for the shuttle and I told her to hold off and they were now letting us off the ship. We were off the ship and made it to customs and grabbed our luggage at 10:18am. It was probably one of the easiest walk off's ever.

 

Now if my memory serves me right, every time at the other ports, you got off and had to search for your luggage and then get in the customs line...carrying, dragging and pulling all your stuff with you. This time, you went through customs and THEN headed out to get your luggage and then out of the building. PERFECT! I loved it.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Kendra called the hotel and they said they would be there in 15 minutes...and they were.

 

We told the (crazy) driver that WE were heading to the airport and Kendra was heading back to the hotel. So he dropped us off at the airport first.

 

Now I had been worried this entire time about catching our flight. People on here had said that any flight before 3pm would be "pushing it close". The information we received from the ship also said the same thing. Our flight was at 2pm exactly.

 

We arrived at the airport and checked in our luggage and it was EARLY. We were going to have one heck of a wait now. Looking at my text to Kendra after we had checked our luggage in, made a potty break, stop and got a pop and headed back outside to sit and wait, it said 11:15am. We would sit and wait outside for the next 2 hours doing nada! But taking pictures of course.

 

 

The nice sea gulls that don't poop on your car. I like these kind.

 

 

 

 

 

Our view for the next few hours

 

 

 

Around 1pm we decided to head inside and to the plane.

 

While we waited for our plane to arrive, the little photographer in Sakari came out and she took over my camera and started taking pictures of the planes coming in, the plane beside us and some selfies of herself. I did not look at any of the pictures until we got home and I had downloaded them onto the computer and found this...

 

 

 

Maybe she has watched me take too many of the "holding a ship in the palm of your hand" pictures in port in the past? I thought it was funny and cute.

 

Her selfie with the fish braid she refused to let me take out of her hair last night or this morning. She is a "hot mess" is what I told her.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now the reason that Kendra and Brayden would not be flying home with us today is because they flight was sold out weeks before our cruise. So, she was forced to take another flight the following day. She tried and tried to talk me into rebooking mine and stay another day with her, but I wanted to get back because Sakari had school the next day and after taking 2 weeks off in November for our (Sun & Sky) cruise, I didn't want her missing any more school days.

 

So we are sitting and waiting for our plane to come in and they came over the loud speaker asking anyone that would be willing to catch the 10pm flight home, they would reward you by giving you a $300 gift card. The hubby looked at me and said...we should so do that! But, I was ready to get home and no way did I want to arrive at the airport at home at 11pm, get a ride home, unload the vehicle and get settled in. That would defeat the purpose of trying to get Sakari off to school the next day.

 

Does anyone know how these things work? I mean they really didn't say "how many" people they needed to do this. Had they needed 3 people (seats) and we all did this, would they have really given us $900? Is this gift card (visa/mastercard I believe???) good for anything? Or just on airflight tickets? (Still would be very useful to someone like us who fly a lot).

 

I wonder if they ran into the same problem that night with not enough seats...since, if you remember, I said ALL the flights were sold out for that day...as in the ENTIRE day, which is why Kendra stayed.

 

So our flight pulled up right on time and we all headed to get on the plane. Yes, it was full without a seat available. For some reason, the hubby received coupons from Southwest for 4 free drinks on the plane. I have no idea why they sent them to HIM and I have never received any before.

 

But, he decided it was time for a beer...

 

 

We landed back home at exactly 1 hour after we had taken off and .....we were glad to be home again.

 

THE END! (lol)

 

 

Just a follow up with Kendra going back to the hotel. Easy check in just like before. She put her things in the room and when she was ready, she went down to the front desk and ask for the shuttle to take her to the mall. They arrived promptly and took her there and dropped her off and told her to call when she was ready to head back. She spent the day shopping and wondering around. I guess there's a movie theater there and she took Brayden to see a show. Then they got dinner somewhere there and said it was great. When she was ready to head back, she said it was at night and she called them and they arrived within 20 minutes (they were taking people to the airport to be dropped off and then came and got her). So all went well on her overnight stay post-cruise. :)

 

 

I will post my final thoughts of the ship coming right up and hopefully I haven't forgotten anything along the way during the review.

 

You are welcome to ask any questions, and if I can answer, I would be happy to. It might spark my memory on things I have probably forgotten as well.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ thanks for doing another wonderful review!:D I SOOOOO want to go on another Carnival cruise, eat Guy's burgers, do a Dr Seuss breakfast (even tho' I'm old enough to be your mother!) & eat at the MDR.

I've found lately that I'd rather be served in the MDR than help myself in the buffet.

 

How's Sakari's drawing coming along? I didn't notice as much of that as usual.

 

Looking forward to your Bermuda cruise, now you can get planning.

I found there was quite a bit to do just in the area we docked at. We watched people swim with the Dolphins at the Fort.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

Dr Seuss is for all ages and all ages loved it. (And my mom would have been 93 this year had she not passed away on my 18th birthday :()

 

I am feeling the same about the MDR on my last 3 cruises. The buffet is just not doing it for me lately. I don't know what it is. I will definitely be eating more at the MDR from now on. It's a refreshing change for us.

 

Her drawing is fantastic as always. She did take a book with her and worked on her drawings every night and on the plane. However, she picked a book that she already had tons of drawings in it, so I had no idea what she actually worked on while we were cruising and decided not to include it in my review this time. Next cruise, I'll make sure to take a blank book with us. :D

 

 

I'm definitely going to start my research on Bermuda again...starting this weekend :p I have forgotten everything from before so I'll have tons of questions over on the Bermuda boards I'm sure. LOL :D

[1959kar]

Kim, love this review, your pictures, oh my, gorgeous

 

to help with your excitement for your upcoming Bermuda Cruise :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Aquarium is a must stop, great place, easy to get to

Edited April 25, 2015 by 1959kar
needed an "s"

[mitsugirly]

Kim, love this review, your pictures, oh my, gorgeous

 

to help with your excitement for your upcoming Bermuda Cruise :)

 

The Aquarium is a must stop, great place, easy to get to

 

Thanks for both the compliment and the Bermuda pictures. :eek: :D

 

Can you tell me why they aquarium is a "must stop"? Just wondering and it definitely wasn't on my "to-do" list. We have been to so many aquariums and well, after awhile, once you've been to them, they just all seem the same. Also once you have been in the ocean with them, it DEFINITELY does not give you that exciting feeling when you see them behind a glass enclosure. Just my thoughts. So, I thought I would ask what is so special about this one?

[Jamman54]

Thanks again for a GREAT review Kim!! The fact that you were able to finish in one week is amazing. I look forward to reading your review on Bermuda. We've been there a few times, and it is an amazing place. I know you love beaches, so you need to check out a couple of my favorites, Elbow Beach and Horseshoe Bay. Of course, a stop at the original Swizzle Inn is a must! Enjoy your planning, and your cruise!!

[Pandot]

Fantastic review Kim! My next cruise after the Pride will be Bermuda as well. Unfortunately there will be 1 and a half years between them.

 

Really enjoyed all your hard work. Thanks so much for sharing it again!

 

Andrea

[Rsebdb]

I rarely comment, but I'm coming out of "lurking" status to say a big Thank You! I've really enjoyed reading your Carnival reviews. I'm sailing on the Dream in December and thoroughly enjoyed your review of that ship. I've been reading this one just for pure entertainment. You are so thorough, honest and your pics are beautiful. I especially like your POV of traveling with a young child (I'll have my 17, 8 and 7 year old with me) and I've gathered some great ideas and insight from you. Many, many thanks for taking the time to write!![emoji4]

[islandatsea]

Thanks for an awesome review !!! Your excellent pictures and detailed descriptions/information was very helpful & enjoyable to read :) :) .

[422Melissa]

Thanks for the fantastic review! If you find yourself in Freeport in the future, I highly recommend the kayak excursion. I checked with the desk before we left to confirm that there was no possibility the ship would leave us if we were delayed.

[heatherpl]

great review I enjoyed reading it. Can you tell me how to get to the conch graveyard when your in grand turk?

 

oh and if anyone is visiting Baltimore- I live in Baltimore, the mall that you guys visited is nice. It is Arundel Mills mall, they just put a casino outside the mall with new restaurants. the movie theater has been renovated with floor to ceiling movie screens.

 

if anyone is visiting near this area soon they also have medieval times, cheesecake factory and chipotle along with other great food places.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks again for a GREAT review Kim!! The fact that you were able to finish in one week is amazing. I look forward to reading your review on Bermuda. We've been there a few times, and it is an amazing place. I know you love beaches, so you need to check out a couple of my favorites, Elbow Beach and Horseshoe Bay. Of course, a stop at the original Swizzle Inn is a must! Enjoy your planning, and your cruise!!

 

Thanks for joining me on this adventure and I'm still enjoying your review as well.

 

Yep, this was record time for me with this review this time around. I have done nothing but eat and sleep the Pride review and all waking hours of the day since I returned that I'm not working. Whew. I hope to never have to rush like this again. LOL

 

I definitely have those beaches (plus others) on my "to-see" list in Bermuda. :D

 

Fantastic review Kim! My next cruise after the Pride will be Bermuda as well. Unfortunately there will be 1 and a half years between them.

 

Really enjoyed all your hard work. Thanks so much for sharing it again!

 

Andrea

 

Thanks so much for the compliment Andrea. I appreciate it.

[mitsugirly]

I rarely comment, but I'm coming out of "lurking" status to say a big Thank You! I've really enjoyed reading your Carnival reviews. I'm sailing on the Dream in December and thoroughly enjoyed your review of that ship. I've been reading this one just for pure entertainment. You are so thorough, honest and your pics are beautiful. I especially like your POV of traveling with a young child (I'll have my 17, 8 and 7 year old with me) and I've gathered some great ideas and insight from you. Many, many thanks for taking the time to write!![emoji4]

 

Aww, that means a lot to me when someone comes out of lurking to thank me. Thank you for reading along. I really appreciate it. :)

 

Thanks for an awesome review !!! Your excellent pictures and detailed descriptions/information was very helpful & enjoyable to read :) :) .

 

You are very welcome. Thanks so much for joining me. :)

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for the fantastic review! If you find yourself in Freeport in the future, I highly recommend the kayak excursion. I checked with the desk before we left to confirm that there was no possibility the ship would leave us if we were delayed.

 

That was definitely something I wanted to do this time around but having my oldest daughter and grandson with us made it kinda "iffy" and also since we spent so much on this cruise as well, we just decided it wasn't in the cards for us. Trust me, I was really kicking myself for not doing anything this time around. :( I hear it's the best excursion ever.

 

great review I enjoyed reading it. Can you tell me how to get to the conch graveyard when your in grand turk?

 

oh and if anyone is visiting Baltimore- I live in Baltimore, the mall that you guys visited is nice. It is Arundel Mills mall, they just put a casino outside the mall with new restaurants. the movie theater has been renovated with floor to ceiling movie screens.

 

if anyone is visiting near this area soon they also have medieval times, cheesecake factory and chipotle along with other great food places.

 

To get to the conch graveyard you just come down the pier and head right and follow the beach. Super easy. :)

[gapearl]

AWESOME review!!!! :D I've only made it through day 1 but I'm really enjoying all your pictures. I've never sailed on the Pride but she looks like a great ship. I'm looking forward to seeing what you did in all the ports. Sakari is quite the little diva, isn't she? :)

[PurdueChefAmber]

AWESOME review!!!! :D I've only made it through day 1 but I'm really enjoying all your pictures. I've never sailed on the Pride but she looks like a great ship. I'm looking forward to seeing what you did in all the ports. Sakari is quite the little diva, isn't she? :)

 

 

Gapearl!! Your two writing styles are my favorite! We should all go on the Vista together!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mitsugirly]

AWESOME review!!!! :D I've only made it through day 1 but I'm really enjoying all your pictures. I've never sailed on the Pride but she looks like a great ship. I'm looking forward to seeing what you did in all the ports. Sakari is quite the little diva, isn't she? :)

 

 

Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm glad to have you here pearl. I have ran across your name in the past with people mentioning your awesome reviews and I looked them up. I'm honored that you are here viewing mine. :) I hope you enjoy it.

 

Yep, Sakari is definitely a diva! ;) :p :D

[mitsugirly]

MY FINAL THOUGHTS OF THE PRIDE AND THE CRUISE:

I will try to remember everything that I can, but know that I will miss a lot of things along the way and after 2 weeks of being off the ship and trying to think about how stressed I am trying to plan my next cruise in 40 days, 18 hours, 57 minutes and 35 seconds…well, I did this review in record time trust me.

Let me apologize in advance for the review. I probably didn’t have half as much information or pictures as I normally do. Although I took a lot of pictures, I pretty much had to pick and choose a fraction of them to share, which isn’t an easy task itself. I also didn’t fill the review with too many of our antics and silliness as I usually do…because well, that’s just us. We lead of fun and fulfilling life full of laugher and constants jokes. I decided not to bore you all too much with that this time…after all, I was on a time frame with this review.

Ok, thoughts…

The ship was beautiful. Right from the beginning on the first day and exploring, not only I but my husband kept saying how much thought and planning and detail went into this ship. He would even notice little things here and there that just showed the details that went into making this ship a great ship.

I MUST mention this…yes, it was not only Easter but SPRING BREAK on this cruise. So, what does that mean? A completely sold out ship, full of kids on break, and people celebrating a holiday vacation=crowded. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! We never felt crowded on the ship. We hardly ever ran into a bunch of people where you couldn’t make it through a place. The lines weren’t long (with the exception of the MDR). I was shocked that there wasn’t long lines for the buffet, none for the shows, plenty of seating available no matter where you were at (a show or buffet) and everything just flowed nicely on the ship.

The ONLY time I felt a crowd was 1) at the main pool during the day when the roof was closed. Well…of course it was, everyone was trying to keep warm! 2) The lines at the MDR for the anytime dining at the very beginning when they opened. If you were one of the lucky ones in line that got seating when it first opened, then great. But once every seat was filled, you would be waiting until that entire course was complete.

The bad: (and I really hate to use that word, but you get the idea and there's really no such thing as bad on a cruise...well, except this bed!!)

THE BEDS!! They were the hardest and most uncomfortable bed that I have ever slept on while on a cruise. Even my hubby complained about it and I don’t recall him ever complaining about the cruise ship beds. I actually woke up with a stiff neck 2 days out of the cruise. It was horrible.

Well not Carnival’s fault, but I have never seen so many people on a cruise that didn’t flush toilets! Seriously. Almost every time I went into one of the public restrooms, I would see “stuff” (both) sitting in the toilet. Eww

The hand blow dryers. I just hate them. I know they are good for saving the “trees”, keeping a mess out of the restroom and so on…but I hate them. Give us the option please. As I stated in my review, I hate the thought of washing my hands (touch the sink with your “dirty” hands), then not having a paper towel to turn that dirty sink off.

While we are talking about hand sanitizing…yes, Carnival has these sanitizers around the ship and no I did not witness people using them=germs galore and this is how you contaminate things and start an outbreak. Wash your hands people! NCL has the washy washy people reminding you to wash and squirting your hands upon entry to places like the buffet. Yes, it may annoy some, but at least you know they walk in with clean hands. The other thing is coming on board from a foreign port. Same thing. No telling what people could bring back with them. Eww

The buffet-I just really didn’t care for the food for some reason. I didn’t feel the variety was the greatest and I certainly didn’t like the layout having to run from station to station in various places to get things. I know that this is possibly a “good” thing by keeping the areas from getting congested, but I just really didn’t care for it (or the times they were open).

I didn’t care for the only choice for free drinks were either tea or lemonade, but at least the lemonade was good.

The phone by Camp Carnival is the devil !!!! Enough said.

The main pool-there really didn’t feel like there was enough seating in this area. I think because along the sides there were tables that were for those eating at Guys and Blue Iguana.

Now as I said, the ship didn’t feel crowded but it was still Spring Break. I did not feel like there were that many kids on the ship, but I believe I was told there were maybe 1000? Or maybe it was 1500? I can’t remember. BUT, it wasn’t little kids running around and the ship did not feel like it was overcome with children everywhere….until night…and it wasn’t “kid” but teens and preteens running rampant…especially in the buffet area. It’s like the hibernated during the day and at night there were cut loose running (and I literally mean running) back and forth in the buffet area. The would congregate in that area and hang out for hours..sometimes being a tad bit loud. Not a biggie, but just saying.

Not really “bad” but the one thing that you will hear most people talk about Carnival not being up to par with NCL or other ships is the entertainment. I still feel this is true. It was ok and it gave us something to do, but still not the best. It was kind of a take it or leave it type of thing. The same goes with the other shows such as the magician and the comedians we did see. It was definitely nothing to write home about and it didn’t leave you on the edge of your seat. But, this is not going to drive me away for sure.

We purchased the soda package and Carnival does not give you a container/cup with this package where NCL does…for free. Not a “biggie”, but it just meant I don’t have a Carnival cup to add to my collection of cruise cups and no, I’m not about to buy one.

The price of the pictures, I’m sorry, it’s outrageous! From pictures being $14.99 for just candid shots to $21.99 for those with backdrops. Ouch. There wasn’t any package specials like NCL does were you buy a certain amount for a reduced cost during the cruise.

Slimey water-once again, not sure if it’s the water softener or what, but I hate slimy water. I feel like I’m not clean. While I’m sure that all ships have a softener, NCL’s water does not feel like this. I would have to go back and read my Dream review to see if this was an issue on that-so maybe it’s a Carnival thing.

Cold air freezing us when we had the heat all the way up. I’m 100% sure they did not correct this even though I was left a note saying that they had been there and it was fixed. The only reason the room warmed up was because we were getting further south and it was warming up. On the way home, it would be cold once again with no heat. (We were not the only ones complaining of this issue according to the room steward)

Girl singing-the lady in the atrium with the 10 year old voice and screaming=simply horrid. I wanted to scratch my eyes out and my ears were bleeding listening to this. Simply terrible.

Casino-I did not win this time! Enough said. ;)

Kids club everywhere-the constant searching for the kids at Camp Carnival was a little nerving…even if their schedule said they would be at 1 place, we would find that they weren’t there. I have never had to go searching for my child the way I did on this ship. While it’s great to get out, it’s just weird for drop off and pick up some place other than their assigned camp. Even the hubby complained about this since the places were miles apart (well, you know what I mean).

Mdr issues-we seem to have an issue every time we went there. (All is in my review). Although we had great service and it was friendly, there was always just some issue.

Putt putt-we love to putt putt but they seriously need to invest in more balls. The place wouldn’t even be crowded and there weren’t enough balls to go around. I understand that these get lost and I even witnessed one going overboard, but you need a bigger stock so people aren’t waiting around forever to play.

Room location-loved the room, just the location wasn’t the best since we almost always incurred the housekeeping staff with stuff pulled out in front of the room and also maintenance. Our room was located right across from this place.

Store not selling things for this cruise-I did notice the Fun shops sold a lot of tees and trinkets for ports that we weren’t even visiting. Maybe it’s because they just came from Tampa and cruised to these ports, but people aren’t going to purchase a Cozumel tee shirt when this cruise isn’t even going there. Come on!

 

 

The good:

HALF MOON CAY-Simply one of the best! It was beautiful, soft powdery sand and beautiful water. Fun snorkeling and also a cute kids park for the little ones to entertain them and change things up a bit. The grounds and the area was nice and I loved the set-up of the lunch area and different shelters. The food was good other than the hamburgers, but then again, I might have been use to Guys Burgers by then. The pirate ship there made for some great pictures and was an added plus. I will definitely return again!

Dr seuss-from the Seuss parade to the storybook time to the pictures with the characters and then leading up to the Dr Seuss breakfast= perfect!!! Like seriously the best! I enjoyed it even more than NCL’s Nickelodeon. I hope the next Carnival ship we sail has it and I will probably factor this into which ship we pick.

Mdr-Normandies Food-everything we had was excellent. I’m not a big “fancy restaurant” kinda girl and I loved everything we had. I will definitely be eating at the MDR more.

Fiesta Mexican party-definitely a great idea and the chips and salsa was good and a great change up from going to the pizza or deli for the night. Awesome.

 

 

 

The pizza and the deli-I found the pizza to be ok (of course food is subjective) and the sandwiches from the deli were pretty good and made however you wanted them. But found myself wishing there were more options at night. I’m use to NCL’s 24 hour restaurants that you order off a menu and there’s plenty to choose from. I missed it.

Ice cream stations-love that you could go get icecream (soft serve) at any time. NCL started limiting not only the time you could get yours, but they are now monitoring people getting the ice cream. They have staff posted at the station to get your ice cream for you. Eh

Kiosk-I thought this on the Dream, I think this now. Best idea ever. You can check your balance, see your charges, print off pages, add money to your on board account and settle everything up. Simply an awesome invention and every cruise should have this. I’m sure it eliminates a lot of people at the customer service desk.

Check in online before cruise-great idea and loved that it was all done prior to the cruise including registering the kids for Camp Carnival.

Efficient port-checking in and also checking out-fast and great experience.

Customer service-when we did encounter the people at the desk, they were friendly and helpful.

GUYS BURGERS-absolutely the best thing installed on that ship. Hehe It was so yummy but I just wish it was open more hours and not closing so early. I could have easily had that for dinner a few times during the cruise. Blue Iguana, nice addition for those that like it for another option. Although I didn’t care for the burritos, the breakfast was decent and food is subjective of course.

Ahh, the bathrooms smelled so nice and they were always so clean. I would see the staff in there cleaning constantly.

The size of the public restrooms was amazing. Plenty of room and stalls. I’m use to the small public restrooms on most NCL ships with only 2-3 stalls. I never ran into a line in any of these public places on the Pride.

There seem to be plenty of drink stations around the buffet and pool area. There was always easy access to something to drink.

I really liked that they had a total of 3 pools on the ship to pick from and also the kids water park. It never felt too crowded at the pool (unless it was cold then the middle pool was crowded). I also liked that you could go to the pool next to the main pool and you wouldn’t have to hear all the loud music being played and have to talk over one another. It was a little more relaxing with more places to sit.

The new movie screen in the main pool area-WHAT A GREAT THING!!! Now I have only been on the Dream and they had the huge big screen out on the pool deck way up high. I had wondered how this screen would work since it would be level with the pool deck so that the roof could be closed. There’s only so much space right in front of it for people to sit and I could just see not being able to get a seat or see the screen. I’m happy to report that even if you didn’t get a seat in the front, you could see that screen from anywhere in there just about. No worries about getting a chair in front. It was awesome. AND…even if you went out the doors and to the other pool area along the side, you could still see the screen AND they played the speakers out there with the movie on it. HA! That design worked out great! I loved that they had some pretty good up to date movies playing.

There seem to be so many places on the ship that really didn’t get much use (like the Sunset area). While it kind seems like a waste of ship space, I could see that place being a good place for those that like a little peace and quiet to sit and read a book (that’s not me of course, so I don’t know for sure). However, just remember this space is the entrance hall leading to 1) the game room and 2) Circle C kids club. ;)

Camp Carnival-The one thing I hated about our last Carnival cruise. The staff was horrid and rude and it seemed like all they ever did was sit the kids in front of the tv all the time. No activities as far as crafts and such. I just hated it and for my daughter (who I think was 4 at the time) to tell me she doesn’t want to go back (which is NOT like her on NCL..she begs to go, she cries when she has to leave) says a lot about her experience there. This time, she had a blast and they did a lot of stuff including crafts, games, dancing, sports on the deck and the staff. Everything went well according to her and she was always happy to go, but then again she was in a different age group this time and they probably do more than the younger ones. This really pleases me.

Retractable roof-such a great thing. Keep the bad weather out when needed and you can still enjoy the area. Perfect thing! It’s just too bad they can’t move the roof while the ship is moving.

Room steward-We had one of the best we’ve had. So nice and helpful and always talking to us. Even though we had a few things here and there (missing beach towels) everything would be instantly corrected. Even my daughter mentioned how “happy and smiley” he was all the time. For a 6 year old to notice this, you know it was apparent. He had our ice buckets filled with each visit, left some awesome towel animals (including ones we had never had before) and even went the extra mile and got our baggies filled with ice for our pop while in port. It’s too bad his contract was up and he was headed home. None of you will get to experience him. Hopefully Carnival gets him back again.

Sea day brunch-absolutely the BEST thing ever. The menu was excellent and so was the food. It’s definitely a do not miss thing!

Water slides water works-definitely an added plus for the ship with even more fun for the kiddies and even adults. I just wish I could have experienced the green thunder before it broke. The only complaint is not enough chairs or places to sit around this area to be able to watch your kids playing.

Camp Carnival dinner-although Sakari only used it once, it’s a great option and free to use. The kids can have dinner at the buffet with their friends. Awesome idea Carnival. NCL only has 1 night that they take the kids out to dinner and they have to dress up and it’s at the MDR.

Medical staff on the 1st floor-JUST SO YOU KNOW…if you get a burn and your sunburn ointment, aloe vera or noxema doesn’t seem to be doing the job…the medical staff has this mixture in an aloe vera bottle that has lidocaine in it!!!! Numb that burn away!! Works like a miracle. The bottle is only $8 and it’s a big bottle too.

I would rank this cruise up there with one of my favorite smaller ships. It was awesome and we had a good time.

HOWEVER, over the last 4-5 months I have made a couple of decisions about cruising.

I WILL NOT CRUISE to the Bahamas during the winter. It’s just too much of a chance that you are going to end up with bad weather, cold and rain. I need to go all the way down to the Caribbean.

I WILL NOT CRUISE again from a northern port in the spring, fall or winter. Again, not the weather I’m wanting on a cruise. While I love sea days and the Pride cruise would have been perfect had we cruised during the summer from there, I will never go that early again in the spring. The weather during the first 2 days at sea heading down to the Caribbean/Bahamas was just too cold for me. The same would hold true for us coming back. It’s just not my thing.

So..Caribbean cruises only during winter months. No Bahama only cruises. No cruising from northern ports in anything other than the summer when it’s hot.

Now I’m starting to wonder if it will be hot enough for our Bermuda cruise when we booked it. LOL

Would I cruise the Pride again? Probably not if I can help it…ONLY for the fact that I try not to ever sail the same ship twice. It’s just a rule I’ve had for every cruise. I know there are people who will like a ship and sail it over and over again. But, that’s just not me. I want something new each time. New experiences=new ships.

Would I recommend the Pride? ABSO-FRICKEN-LUTELY!!!! In a heartbeat.

I wonder what my next Carnival cruise ship will be….

[ferfoodle]

As always Kim, an excellent review - don't sell yourself short because it wasn't as detailed as some of your others. Thank you for taking the time and love the photos you posted. Happy Sailing on whichever Carnival (Breeze) ship you choose;).

Edited April 25, 2015 by ferfoodle
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