How is the Pride for kids?

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

I feel ridiculous asking this question since I have been on the Pride twice, but both times were without my son and before the upgrades. I'm looking to take my son on an affordable vacation in the next 7 weeks. It would just be the 5 year old and myself, his 42 year old father. I honestly do prefer NCL and have a $250 voucher with them, but their fares are quite a bit more than the Pride, and I could take a cab to the Pride. I would have to fly to an NCL location, or drive to NYC and pay $300 for parking. I really am not crazy about the Port Canaveral/Nassau itinerary, I've done it 4 times before. I've been to Kennedy Space Center more times than Buzz Aldrin. The ship will be the destination, I suppose.

 

How is Carnival's kid's camp? How is the new water works? The old slides weren't the best. I will basically be a solo cruiser while the boy is in camp, so how is that with Carnival?

[TravelE]

My kids loved the Pride. There are two pools plus two waterslides. One is very fast - Big Green Thunder. They also liked the miniature golf and basketball court. The kids clubs were great. However they are located at the very front of the ship, so during rough seas they need to take breaks from hanging out there.

 

I think your son will have a great time!

[cjp25428]

Your children will love it! We cruised last year with 5yr old she loved it and cried when we came to pick her up from kids camp. She loved the cruise and can't wait until next time.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Forums mobile app

[Xmansmom]

My son was 4 last time went on the Pride- right after the upgrades. He loved it

[Maleeni]

The layout is great. You can scope the kids clearly at the pool areas, and there's the slide that will entertain for hours if they are the right height.

[ProfCruise]

I'll be sailing the Pride with my 2 year-old on July 5th. I plan on writing a detailed review upon our return. Let me know if there is anything specific you'd like me to report back on. Stay tuned...

 

P.S. My son LOVED our two prior cruises on the Freedom and the Sensation.

[Bevlawyer]

I'll be sailing the Pride with my 2 year-old on July 5th. I plan on writing a detailed review upon our return. Let me know if there is anything specific you'd like me to report back on. Stay tuned...

 

P.S. My son LOVED our two prior cruises on the Freedom and the Sensation.

 

 

I will be awaiting your review:-). Taking my 3 and 7 year olds on the Pride at end of October!

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

Thanks for all of the input. I am leaning towards going on the Pride. The prices are very reasonable, especially for a balcony room, and you can't beat the fact that it is 15 minutes from me. I'm actually thinking of going on that July 5 sailing. That's a good week for me to skip out on work and the itinerary is slightly different than the Port Canaveral/Nassau one. I think I would like Half Moon Cay. I really enjoyed NCL's private island. It makes for an easy beach day.

[Barbluvstocruz]

I'll be on the Pride next week with my 8 & 9 year old boys...there will also be a 7 yo boy and 11 yo boy in our group. I'll be happy to report back when we return.

:D

[splintz]

the new water works is nice. its a splash area where the water is probably 6 inches deep and they have activities in the splash area. it is 2 levels. top level about 5 feet higher then the bottom level. on top level it has a water cannon to shoot water at people. it also has 2 small slides from top level to the bottom level. there is also a large bucket above the splash park that fills with water then dumps it out on the kids every few minutes. the kids loved the area.

 

the two bigger slides are next to the splash park. one is a normal type of slide. and the other is more extreme. you stand straight up and the floor drops out below you and you drop down fast then go around a couple times. kind of intimidating. but my 6yr old daughter and 9 yr old son both did it and loved it.

[deircouz]

I was on the Pride 5/24/15 with my 5 year old. He loved the activities that he chose for Camp Carnival, mini golf, the water works area, towel animals, Pizza Pirate and MDR dinners.

 

He's already asking about going on another cruise. Specifically another cruise that stops at Half Moon Cay.

Edited June 7, 2015 by deircouz

[bambilin]

I'll be on the Pride next week with my 8 & 9 year old boys...there will also be a 7 yo boy and 11 yo boy in our group. I'll be happy to report back when we return.

 

:D

 

 

Looking forward to hearing from you! We are sailing with our 8 and 10 year old boys in August and we will also have other kids in the group between 8 and 13.

[festivalfrau]

We were on the Pride in March. The Waterworks area is GREAT for kids and is at the back, so is sheltered from the wind. The Green Thunder waterslide is really fast if they are more adventurous. My 6 yo DD was not ready for it, but she enjoyed the Twister slide.

 

They have the Seuss at Sea brunch and activities as well.

 

The camp staff is really great on that ship too. They even took them up to the basketball courts to run around once in a while (scheduled)

 

One thing I will mention is that the camp itself is right at the front of the ship, so when it was wavy, there was some puking.... just beware! If they puke at camp, they are barred from attending for 24 hours just in case it is gastro...

[CruizinMama1026]

I'll be sailing the Pride with my 2 year-old on July 5th. I plan on writing a detailed review upon our return. Let me know if there is anything specific you'd like me to report back on. Stay tuned...

 

P.S. My son LOVED our two prior cruises on the Freedom and the Sensation.

 

 

I'm so excited to see this! I love your reviews. We'll be taking our 3 and 5 year old on their first cruise next May on the Pride.

[ProfCruise]

I'm so excited to see this! I love your reviews. We'll be taking our 3 and 5 year old on their first cruise next May on the Pride.

 

Thanks, CruizinMama! I hope you have a blast on your first family cruise! Those will be such fun ages! :D

[katiedidthat]

I'll be sailing the Pride with my 2 year-old on July 5th. I plan on writing a detailed review upon our return. Let me know if there is anything specific you'd like me to report back on. Stay tuned...

 

P.S. My son LOVED our two prior cruises on the Freedom and the Sensation.

 

Looking forward to your review. We'll be on the Pride for the third time in December with our (then) 37 and 21 month olds. We sailed her once before when our oldest was just over a year, and once on our honeymoon, but not since the upgrades. Can you keep an eye open for booster seats in the MDR and buffet? Our oldest is okay in a high chair now at restaurants despite being in a booster at home, but I'm worried that at 3 he'll start the "But I'm BIG" away from home too.

[ProfCruise]

Looking forward to your review. We'll be on the Pride for the third time in December with our (then) 37 and 21 month olds. We sailed her once before when our oldest was just over a year, and once on our honeymoon, but not since the upgrades. Can you keep an eye open for booster seats in the MDR and buffet? Our oldest is okay in a high chair now at restaurants despite being in a booster at home, but I'm worried that at 3 he'll start the "But I'm BIG" away from home too.

 

Yes, absolutely! I'm actually curious about that too. I've never had a need for one before so I haven't really looked, but if don't recall seeing them anywhere on our prior sailings. I'll letcha know :)

Edited June 13, 2015 by ProfCruise

[mitsugirly]

We were just on the Pride 2 months ago with two 6 year olds and they loved it from the Camp to the waterworks and the slides (even the green one that drops) and one of the greatest things was that the Pride has the Dr Seuss on it now. The breakfast is a do not miss (even just for adults). Then they had parades with Dr Seuss, story time and opportunities for pictures. They loved it. I have a complete review in my signature line if you are interested in it and it has TONS of pictures. :)

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

We were just on the Pride 2 months ago with two 6 year olds and they loved it from the Camp to the waterworks and the slides (even the green one that drops) and one of the greatest things was that the Pride has the Dr Seuss on it now. The breakfast is a do not miss (even just for adults). Then they had parades with Dr Seuss, story time and opportunities for pictures. They loved it. I have a complete review in my signature line if you are interested in it and it has TONS of pictures. :)

 

It was actually your great review that made the decision for me. The updates to the Pride look great, and the cost savings and port convenience make it a great value. I think he'll enjoy the new kid's features, and since I'm not the type to frequent the MDR, the new optional dining choices look great. Since it is just him and I, I'm not really worried that the entertainment on Carnival is pretty abysmal compared to NCL. I don't plan on taking him to any shows outside of the movies. I'll save my NCL voucher for a cruise with another adult in tow.

[Barbluvstocruz]

We returned today from the June 14th Pride sailing! We had a fabulous time! We had 4 boys in our group (Ages 7,8,9,11). The 8 & 9 are mine. :) We know all children are different so you may have the wait until you are there to see what they enjoy. Mine have been different every cruise.

 

My 8 yo wanted to go to Camp Carnival a couple nights. One night he went right after dinner by himself. Stayed from about 8-10. Had a great time. The 9yo didn't want to go, but went one night to give us a little adult time. They had dinner with camp and stayed until 10. They had a great time! :) Even though the 9yo said he didn't want to go he had a blast once he got there. The 7 & 11 year olds did not participate.

 

The water slides were a huge hit with the group. The 7 & 8 yo did not like the big green slide, but the yellow was fun. My 8 yo loved splashing around in waterworks. The two older boys loved the green slide. We were up there after the day in Freeport and there was no line. My son probably went 15 times in a row.

 

The Dive in Movies were the other favorite with our group! We were out there several evenings watching movies and swimming.

 

The arcade was difficult to find. Felt like a maze. Once we got there it was hot and not much there. The kids liked it because they wanted to keep trying to win prizes, but we didn't spend long there.

 

We went to the Dr. Seuss breakfast on the last sea day. So cute and fun! We all really enjoyed it!

 

We went to a couple of the family comedy shows which we enjoyed. Trivia was also a fun one for our group. My 9yo wanted so badly to win a ship on a stick. The staff was fabulous! Told him if he tried hard to win one and didn't that he could find them on the last day and would get one. He was thrilled.

 

Rebecca, the comedy director, was great! She hosted many of the trivia sessions. The boys loved her. One night my son left the comedy show to go to the bathroom (which has never been an issue), but he couldn't find one so he went all the way back to the cabin. We didn't know this and panicked when he was no where to be found. Rebecca saw me looking and immediately jumped in an helped up search. Of course he wandered back a couple minutes later like nothing happened. ;)

 

That's most of the kid related stuff I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

We all had a great time! I would definitely sail the Pride again!!!

:D

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

We returned today from the June 14th Pride sailing! We had a fabulous time! We had 4 boys in our group (Ages 7,8,9,11). The 8 & 9 are mine. :) We know all children are different so you may have the wait until you are there to see what they enjoy. Mine have been different every cruise.

 

 

 

My 8 yo wanted to go to Camp Carnival a couple nights. One night he went right after dinner by himself. Stayed from about 8-10. Had a great time. The 9yo didn't want to go, but went one night to give us a little adult time. They had dinner with camp and stayed until 10. They had a great time! :) Even though the 9yo said he didn't want to go he had a blast once he got there. The 7 & 11 year olds did not participate.

 

 

 

The water slides were a huge hit with the group. The 7 & 8 yo did not like the big green slide, but the yellow was fun. My 8 yo loved splashing around in waterworks. The two older boys loved the green slide. We were up there after the day in Freeport and there was no line. My son probably went 15 times in a row.

 

 

 

The Dive in Movies were the other favorite with our group! We were out there several evenings watching movies and swimming.

 

 

 

The arcade was difficult to find. Felt like a maze. Once we got there it was hot and not much there. The kids liked it because they wanted to keep trying to win prizes, but we didn't spend long there.

 

 

 

We went to the Dr. Seuss breakfast on the last sea day. So cute and fun! We all really enjoyed it!

 

 

 

We went to a couple of the family comedy shows which we enjoyed. Trivia was also a fun one for our group. My 9yo wanted so badly to win a ship on a stick. The staff was fabulous! Told him if he tried hard to win one and didn't that he could find them on the last day and would get one. He was thrilled.

 

 

 

Rebecca, the comedy director, was great! She hosted many of the trivia sessions. The boys loved her. One night my son left the comedy show to go to the bathroom (which has never been an issue), but he couldn't find one so he went all the way back to the cabin. We didn't know this and panicked when he was no where to be found. Rebecca saw me looking and immediately jumped in an helped up search. Of course he wandered back a couple minutes later like nothing happened. ;)

 

 

 

That's most of the kid related stuff I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

 

 

We all had a great time! I would definitely sail the Pride again!!!

 

:D

 

 

Thank you for all of that information. My son is looking forward to the cruise. I live near the port, so I took him by today to see the Pride before it left.

[Barbluvstocruz]

Thank you for all of that information. My son is looking forward to the cruise. I live near the port, so I took him by today to see the Pride before it left.

 

You are going to both have a blast!! :D

[bambilin]

We drove past the Pride yesterday on our way to my brother-in-law in Maryland. The kids were so excited!