Mitsugirly takes great PRIDE in bringing her Spring Break extreme review

[mabones]

Aww, you are my new best friend now after those comments. :D

 

Actually....

 

I JUST BECAME GRANDMA AGAIN YESTERDAY. :eek: :)

 

My youngest son just became a daddy (which is why him and his fiance were not able to sail with us this time around). 36 hours of labor, 18 hours without an epidural and then in the end had to have a c-section. :( This grandma got 1 1/2 hours of sleep the entire weekend and I'm exhausted still after sleeping last night. So I'm a grandma of 5 now. :o The baby had some complications, but all is good now. :)

 

CONGRATULATIONS KIM!!!! Grandchildren are the Best! I only have 2. I thought you only had 2 before. Where are the others? They must belong to you oldest?

 

I hope you like leaving from Boston. Will you be staying overnight? The port is only about 35 minutes from my house. I live south of Boston next to Plymouth. Sometimes the Cruiseships can be seen from our Beach.

[mitsugirly]

I really enjoyed your review!!!! I sail on the Pride on a B2B cruise May 24 - June 7, 2015!!!! I also sail am sailing the NCL Dawn to Bermuda in July so I can't wait for your review!!! Thanks for taking the time to write such a great review!

 

You will have a blast on the Pride. She was gorgeous and now one of my favorite smaller ships I have sailed on. :)

 

Hopefully I'll have my Bermuda cruise review done before you sail on the Dawn.

 

Thanks for the compliments and glad you enjoyed the review. Have an AWESOME 2 weeks cruise!!!

 

CONGRATULATIONS KIM!!!! Grandchildren are the Best! I only have 2. I thought you only had 2 before. Where are the others? They must belong to you oldest?

 

I hope you like leaving from Boston. Will you be staying overnight? The port is only about 35 minutes from my house. I live south of Boston next to Plymouth. Sometimes the Cruiseships can be seen from our Beach.

 

Yep, I'm up to 5 grandbabies now. I always laugh when I see the reactions of others when I tell the "story".

 

I was pregnant with Sakari at the same time my oldest daughter (Kendra, who cruises with us regularly) and my oldest son (Kenny, who I have yet to get back on a cruise since he was a teen) and my daughter in law was pregnant...yes, we planned it that way. I won the bet and got pregnant first. Kendra had my grandson, Brayden, 3 months after I had Sakari. Kenny's daughter came along 7 months later. So 3 kids the same age has been...interesting and fun.

 

Then last year Kendra gave me another granddaughter and 1 month later Kenny had a son. (I told them that time around to count me out...I'm getting too old for this shiznit so they were on their own ;)).

 

So Kenny has a daughter and a son now. Kendra has a son and a daughter now.

 

This week my youngest son (Kolin, who took 2 cruises with us last year with his finance and they are now hooked and hope to join us again at the end of the year) gave me another granddaughter. :D

 

5 grandbabies :eek: I'm starting to feel old now. :o

 

 

Yes, we will be staying overnight precruise out of Boston. It will be our first time cruising from there. I hope we like it. I wish I lived close to a cruise port...any cruise port would do. :p Lucky you.

[mabones]

Living close to a cruisport is only good if they are going somewhere really warm. Usually the ships out of Boston either go to Bermuda during the Summer & Canada for late Summer & early Fall. The inside cabins usually start at $600 or more pp. To me, that is not a savings. I prefer to have a Balcony.

 

I have a question for you. Today I received an E-mail from our Big Box Store "BJ's" & they are having a 1-day special on Olympus Stylus Tough TG-850 16-mp for $149.99 w/shipping included. But they also have the TG-860 16MP for $249.99 w/shipping included. I compared them & of course the TG-860 has a few more extra's. Which would you recommend? I have a small Canon point & shoot but it is not waterproof & my Hubby likes to Snorkel and, of course, take pic's of all the pretty fish.

[ilovetotravel1977]

What type of camera do you use for your underwater shots?

[all_aboard]

Aww, you are my new best friend now after those comments. :D

 

Actually....

 

I JUST BECAME GRANDMA AGAIN YESTERDAY. :eek: :)

 

My youngest son just became a daddy (which is why him and his fiance were not able to sail with us this time around). 36 hours of labor, 18 hours without an epidural and then in the end had to have a c-section. :( This grandma got 1 1/2 hours of sleep the entire weekend and I'm exhausted still after sleeping last night. So I'm a grandma of 5 now. :o The baby had some complications, but all is good now. :)

 

Congratulations on being a Grandmom again!

[The Mister]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't care for the burritos. I know everyone raves about them. They just didn't do it for me. :(

I'm incredibly late for the party, I know. But I wanted to mention that one of my favorite places on the Carnival Liberty was the Blue Iguana, but not for the burritos. I didn't have a single burrito the entire time because we have Freebirds and Q'Doba and Chipotle at home, and I just was never in the mood for something that we have a couple of times a month already.

 

Rather, Blue Iguana was my favorite place ... for BREAKFAST! The breakfast tacos (technically closer to tostadas rancheras) was what I had every morning, and they were always delish. Just the thought of adding a fried egg on top of Mexican beans and cheese makes me salivate. :)

Edited May 7, 2015 by The Mister

[The Mister]

Sakari said she had a lot of fun and told us all about being up on the deck and playing putt putt and the other activities. I'm so happy she's enjoying the kids club this time.

I'm glad she did! You may have noticed that the Dream does seem to get panned more often for having a bad kids' club (mostly staff to blame) compared to the rest of the Carnival fleet. So I'm glad she was able to have a more positive experience on the Pride.

[The Mister]

It honestly takes up too much time and energy to get upset about everything or even the small things. Pout for a moment and then move on. As you said nothing is never perfect, however I like to make it perfect in my own little world and will try to turn most negative things into just another experience. Nothing will bring me down when cruising and I have had some "doozys". All I can say is thank goodness I didn't manage to break any bones on THIS cruise. woo hoo Life is good! :D

Well, apparently Sakari got the (thankfully mild) injury this time around. :( But, like her mother, she dealt with it and had a good time anyway. :)

[The Mister]

I get an email notification when someone post and I seen your original post before editing...mitsubishi....hehe. At least you got it right. Most people always ask me what my name on here means and I have to explain short for mitsubishi. :D :p (It's just a name I have used for many years and my husband and I met because of our mitsubishi's back then...it's what brought us together. We are now an Audi family...I wish I could change my name on here now :o) :cool:

Audigirly just wouldn't be right!! :D

Yeah, then everyone would think you're an audiologist instead of an RN. ;)

[The Mister]

Your camp carnival experience [all the different venues] may have been because of the number of kids on your trip. My daughter is the same age as yours and only once did we have to go to a different location to get her and that was our fault.

Yes, I can confirm that this occurs (on most ships, I think). They get enough kids signed up, and they start reserving conference rooms and the like to spread the kids out (along with hiring extra staff for the heavy weeks, of course).

 

On our Jewel sailing last fall, it was the week prior to Thanksgiving. Although there were few kids there (which was why we chose that week), the extra camp staff were already on board and were treating that week as a "drill" in preparation for Thanksgiving mayhem. So they would sometimes be in a location other than the club, even though the space was available at the time.

[mitsugirly]

 

I have a question for you. Today I received an E-mail from our Big Box Store "BJ's" & they are having a 1-day special on Olympus Stylus Tough TG-850 16-mp for $149.99 w/shipping included. But they also have the TG-860 16MP for $249.99 w/shipping included. I compared them & of course the TG-860 has a few more extra's. Which would you recommend? I have a small Canon point & shoot but it is not waterproof & my Hubby likes to Snorkel and, of course, take pic's of all the pretty fish.

 

Honestly, I don't know anything about either of those cameras so I can't really tell you. They are both models that are newer than both of mine.

 

What type of camera do you use for your underwater shots?

 

 

I have 2 cameras. Both Olympus Tough models 620 & 830

[mitsugirly]

Congratulations on being a Grandmom again!

 

Thank you!

 

I'm incredibly late for the party, I know. But I wanted to mention that one of my favorite places on the Carnival Liberty was the Blue Iguana, but not for the burritos. I didn't have a single burrito the entire time because we have Freebirds and Q'Doba and Chipotle at home, and I just was never in the mood for something that we have a couple of times a month already.

 

Rather, Blue Iguana was my favorite place ... for BREAKFAST! The breakfast tacos (technically closer to tostadas rancheras) was what I had every morning, and they were always delish. Just the thought of adding a fried egg on top of Mexican beans and cheese makes me salivate. :)

 

Yep, I enjoyed it the day we were there for breakfast too. :)

[mitsugirly]

I'm glad she did! You may have noticed that the Dream does seem to get panned more often for having a bad kids' club (mostly staff to blame) compared to the rest of the Carnival fleet. So I'm glad she was able to have a more positive experience on the Pride.

 

I'm so happy things were different this time around. However, it's really hard to compare from the last time she was in there to now since she was in an entirely different age group before. One of my complaints were they really didn't seem to do much in there. They always had the kids just sitting in front of a tv. Not very many activities as far as crafts and such. But now that she's in a older age group, they did a lot of things. It's hard to say if the younger group still did next to nothing. I'm just glad that's over with. (Of course the staff there were horrid-Dream-but I didn't care for the program itself).

 

I thought the staff rotates ships every so often? If that's the case, I'm pretty sure the Dream staff at the kids club probably isn't on that same ship as they were back then right? That was my fear...having them rotate and end up on the ship I was on. :eek:

 

Well, apparently Sakari got the (thankfully mild) injury this time around. :( But, like her mother, she dealt with it and had a good time anyway. :)

 

 

Yea, I felt so bad for her. She's trying to keep up with me with injuries while on a cruise. Last November is was the fire coral sting. :eek:

[mitsugirly]

Yeah, then everyone would think you're an audiologist instead of an RN. ;)

 

LOL, I hadn't thought of that...but hey, still health care related.

 

 

 

Yes, I can confirm that this occurs (on most ships, I think). They get enough kids signed up, and they start reserving conference rooms and the like to spread the kids out (along with hiring extra staff for the heavy weeks, of course).

 

On our Jewel sailing last fall, it was the week prior to Thanksgiving. Although there were few kids there (which was why we chose that week), the extra camp staff were already on board and were treating that week as a "drill" in preparation for Thanksgiving mayhem. So they would sometimes be in a location other than the club, even though the space was available at the time.

 

I know at one point I counted over 100 kids...nope, I wasn't counting actual heads as they ran around the room playing...but counting the display of name tags on their board they pick up and put on when going into the club (so that didn't include any kids already in the club with their name tags on).

 

So yea, there were a lot of kids on this sailing, just for Sakari's age group, however, when they went up to one of the other clubs, the entire group went and the regular club was completely closed without anyone in it. So it wasn't to spread them out. Wait, or are you saying spread them out as in a bigger room and not spread them out as in split them up type of spread them out? Yea, I guess I can see that as being a good reason. I just wish they would have stuck to whatever plan they decided on and would be there instead of all this running back and forth wondering where they were at on any given day.

[The Mister]

I thought the staff rotates ships every so often? If that's the case, I'm pretty sure the Dream staff at the kids club probably isn't on that same ship as they were back then right? That was my fear...having them rotate and end up on the ship I was on. :eek:

Many do, probably. But I think the directors don't rotate as often, and frequently the director's attitude influences that of her staff. (Of course, I've found that's true of any job.) If we ever consider a Dream cruise (New Orleans isn't too much further than Galveston), I'll have to check recent reviews to see if anything has changed.

[Reneeaz1982]

We will be in HMC in October and looking forward to snorkeling. We are fairly new cruisers. Can you explain where you snorkeled in relation to getting off the tender?

 

Thanks a bunch!

[mabones]

I knew you had Olympus Camera's but wasn't sure which ones.

[mitsugirly]

Many do, probably. But I think the directors don't rotate as often, and frequently the director's attitude influences that of her staff. (Of course, I've found that's true of any job.) If we ever consider a Dream cruise (New Orleans isn't too much further than Galveston), I'll have to check recent reviews to see if anything has changed.

 

That's true. I can see that. But a lot of the times people have a "bad day" and it rubs off on others...but this particular lady (and kind of another) was not having a bad day, she was having a bad life and it was sad. It really wasn't someone they should have working with the kids...any kids...of with the public for that matter. :(

 

We will be in HMC in October and looking forward to snorkeling. We are fairly new cruisers. Can you explain where you snorkeled in relation to getting off the tender?

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

 

When you first get there and you wind your way around to the beach, when you are facing the beach, you will walk to your far left. You will see the kiddie waterpark area and there's a wall over there and that's where we went. Just go up and down that wall and around the private cabana house with the slide that goes into the wall and then down the other side of the wall. Also out in that area are the reef balls, but away from the wall some. :)

[mitsugirly]

I knew you had Olympus Camera's but wasn't sure which ones.

 

 

:D I love both of mine.

[BriCin]

Great review. The wife and I take our first carnival cruise in October. The 8 day cruise. We live 50 minutes north of Baltimore.

[mitsugirly]

Great review. The wife and I take our first carnival cruise in October. The 8 day cruise. We live 50 minutes north of Baltimore.

 

 

That's awesome to live so close to the cruise port. I hope you have a wonderful first carnival cruise on the Pride. :)

[Reneeaz1982]

When you first get there and you wind your way around to the beach, when you are facing the beach, you will walk to your far left. You will see the kiddie waterpark area and there's a wall over there and that's where we went. Just go up and down that wall and around the private cabana house with the slide that goes into the wall and then down the other side of the wall. Also out in that area are the reef balls, but away from the wall some. :)

 

Thanks a bunch! Appreciate it!

[Canadian Tyler]

As we pull out of Grand Turk, I reflect on my thoughts of this place I had waited years to visit.

 

I can say that I LOVED the area to the right (when getting off the ship). Had I actually stayed in that area the entire time, I might have felt different about the place as well. It just seemed prettier over there with more landscaping and such. If I return (which I do hope to do some day) I will probably either 1) get off the compound beach or 2) stay over on the other side and experience it some more.

 

 

Doing this cruise in August, and your review is extremely helpful. We showed pictures from your review to my daughter when we told her about the trip.

Have a few questions if you don't mind...

 

To the right in Grand Turk, is that area swimmable? Or would you stay to the left if swimming? We have the same plans as you, conch graveyard and beach with a six-year-old.

 

Also the raft you used, where did you get it? Does it fold up or take up much room?

 

Do the cabins on Pride have a fridge in the room? This is our first time sailing Carnival, so not sure.

 

Thanks!

[jamscckmc]

Thank you for a very thorough and enjoyable review! I asked this question on the ports post but did not get any response. Is there free wifi at the beach at GT or just at the pool? Thanks!

[ch27088]

You got some great pictures of HMC. Love the color of the water and how clear the pictures turned out. Now I have a question...was the water warm at HMC? I like swimming in warm water and I was wondering if the water was tolerable during April.