First Timer's Review of the Pride, Dec 6-13 Bahamas

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for the advice on the warm chocolate melting cake. Heading out on the Pride in January for the Journey cruise so I will definitely be trying that.

YUMMO! We are doing the Journey cruise on Pride in March. Let me/us know how yours was when you get back and have a GREAT CRUISE!

[RNmom51907]

Great review.... Just curious what they did about muster being so late. Did they make everyone go or offer a make up in the morning? I'm curious as we travel with our young (under two years) children who would have been sleeping

The muster drill was scheduled for 9:30pm but it ended up not being until 10:15 or so. I felt bad for the people with small children because I know my 2 year old would not have been very cooperative at that time. I think it only lasted maybe 30 minutes or so. As far as I know, they did not offer it again.

Edited December 15, 2015 by RNmom51907

[Barbluvstocruz]

I thought we can get our room made up morning and evening. To me, that is one of the things I enjoy most about cruising. I think they ask like that so we only choose one.

 

I wonder if I can say both.

 

Yes. You can say "both". Our room steward gave us a card to fill out. We requested morning and evening service. No problems at all.

:D

[Barbluvstocruz]

Great review.... Just curious what they did about muster being so late. Did they make everyone go or offer a make up in the morning? I'm curious as we travel with our young (under two years) children who would have been sleeping

 

Everyone had to go. I know it was tough on the little ones, but had to be done. I was having a hard time staying awake for it myself. Thankfully it went fairly quickly and wasn't too cold out.

:)

[princessa]

Yes. You can say "both". Our room steward gave us a card to fill out. We requested morning and evening service. No problems at all.

:D

 

 

Oh terrific!!!! Thank you:)

[BattyL]

What a fantastic review! Your pictures are really nice too. Glad you enjoyed the Pride, it's my favorite ship. ;)

[cruisexlife]

Great review, Pride was my first cruise, and she will always be special in my cruising-heart :D So sorry about Nassau! I for one do not mind this port, but I will say that one bad experience can ruin an entire port. I get it. If you do go back, Cable Beach has a nice long strip of hotels, and maybe you could go back and try that later for a beach day. Nassau also has some good excursions and whatnot. But Freeport is a good place for snorkeling and dolphin tours, don't get ripped off in Nassau.

 

It seems like you had a good time, hopefully I'll catch you onboard another Carnival ship sometime soon! Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out with all of the details :D

[Freckle53]

The Pride was our first cruise last year and I caught the bug bad. I miss the pizza and the sandwiches from the deli. We went before the 2.0 upgrades so we never got to experience Guy's or the burrito place.

 

In Nassau we went to Melia and had a great time. It was an adventure to get there with finding the correct jitney with 5 kids in tow (two of them toddlers), but we managed it. The water was so blue. I wonder if the sun/weather had something to do with the water not being as nice for you. Maybe it got churned up from a storm and with the sun not reflecting, it was just blah. We went in late September and the temperature was perfect as well.

[meatloafsfan]

Thank you for the review.

 

It's nice to see the perspective of first time cruisers.

 

My parents and I love to cruise and are treating my brother, his wife, and their 3 kids to a cruise on the Pride in August.

 

Admittedly, I am a little nervous about them liking/not liking it. Your review from a first time Carnival cruiser makes me feel a bit better, especially your opinion of the entertainment and food.

[iheartmarshall]

Thanks for the review! i loved reading it all. DH and I are looking to cruise on the Pride in June 2017 (we have some time, lol) and I always enjoy reading reviews. It's a bit pricier to cruise on her than our previous ships, but it's only 6 hours away from our house so it'd be nice to drive and not have to fly. That right there outweighs the higher price for me!

[Cr2zCr8zy]

Thanks for your excellent review, I really enjoyed it. :)

[kelli550]

Great review! Will be taking this same cruise on mar 6 (my 3rd, my BF's 1st.)

I've been to Nassau before and already decided we're not getting off the ship at this port. I've also loked into the airboat excursion in port Canaveral and I'm thinking it looks fun! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[cruisenoobie14]

Thank you for the great review! My husband and myself are going on the bride the end of February for our first Carnival trip with my mother and sister (their 2nd on a Carnival trip) and your review helped me a bit. In all the research I've done most people have said to do an excursion in Freeport but we didn't really want to do that so knowing that the port is actually built up a little bit now with some shops and local food places makes that bit of apprehension better. We're talking about trying the day pass at the British Colonial Hilton as well in Nassau since we've been to Nassau before and done the shopping bit (will probably still do a little of it in the evening but being on the beach during the warmer parts of the day holds more appeal to us).

 

That sucks about how they did muster for you guys. All I can do is hope she's not running late for us because it'll probably be cold enough standing outside for 30 minutes in the mid-afternoon, I don't even want to think about that late at night (especially if we have any snow!:eek:)

[SokoNC]

Thank you so much for your detailed review!! Do you (or anyone) have any advice on dining time? I'm cruising with my fiance my 4th cruise, his 1st! We are thinking the 8:30 dining option but wondering will food be cold/not fresh this late? Will we miss any shows at this time? Any thoughts on this will be appreciated!

 

cruisenoobie14 we are heading out on the same cruise!!!!! :) :)

 

Thanks all and happy sailing!!!! :) :)

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Thank you so much for your detailed review!! Do you (or anyone) have any advice on dining time? I'm cruising with my fiance my 4th cruise, his 1st! We are thinking the 8:30 dining option but wondering will food be cold/not fresh this late? Will we miss any shows at this time? Any thoughts on this will be appreciated!

 

cruisenoobie14 we are heading out on the same cruise!!!!! :) :)

 

Thanks all and happy sailing!!!! :) :)

 

There is no right answer to this; different people have different preferences.

 

First thing you should do, though, is look at your port schedule. Will you be back on board in time for early dining each day? And, just because your ship doesn't depart until 8:00 (hypothetically), will you be back on board before 6:00 anyway? (depends on what you are doing). Would missing eating in the MDR one night make you want to change MDR time the rest of the cruise? Or, would you have your preferred MDR time the rest of the cruise, and that one night make a reservation at a specialty restaurant or eat at the buffet? Or, in a local restaurant near the port?

 

Other considerations:

 

- Anytime dining gives you flexibility, but you MIGHT have to wait for a table (people do wait for over 40 min at prime time), more so if you want the same wait staff, or want a private table.

 

- Late dining allows you to have a late lunch, and not have to rush to get to dinner.

 

- Early dining allows you to get finished in time for the 8:00 shows. The playlist productions shows are repeated at 10:00 for late diners. However, there will also be comedy shows and other things going on at that time. if you have late dining, you will have to pick and choose more. There seems to be less going on between 6:00 and 8:00 than between 8:00 and 10:00. And, there are things that only happen at around 8:00, like Hasbro the Game Show, the Love and Marriage show, and maybe some others, like Beat the Clock (depends upon the cruise).

 

- Given the above, anytime dining allows you to pick what time you want to eat around the entertainment schedule.

 

- Early dining allows you to enjoy the nighttime entertainment and then be hungry enough for a late night pizza before bedtime (not sure if this is a pro or con! :p )

 

We were just on the Pride Jan 10-17. The playlist productions were GREAT. Our favorite was 88 Keys, which was the first show they did (they had 4 different productions, each one night only).

 

We prefer early dining. We like having the evening free for entertainment, and not worrying about waiting for a table. We really like that, after the first night, you don't even need to check in at the podium. When the dining room opens, you just walk right to your table, where your wait staff will be there to greet you. We also enjoy dining with the same group of people each night. While we are strangers the first night, by the end of the cruise, we've made new friends, and enjoy sharing our adventures with each other. Carnival does seem to try to set you up with groups in similar positions (kids/no kids, young/middle age/old folks), though, obviously, no guarantees here.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited January 28, 2016 by PrincessArlena'sDad

[RNmom51907]

Thank you so much for your detailed review!! Do you (or anyone) have any advice on dining time? I'm cruising with my fiance my 4th cruise, his 1st! We are thinking the 8:30 dining option but wondering will food be cold/not fresh this late? Will we miss any shows at this time? Any thoughts on this will be appreciated!

 

cruisenoobie14 we are heading out on the same cruise!!!!! :) :)

 

Thanks all and happy sailing!!!! :) :)

 

We did the anytime dining but most nights we went to dinner around 6pm, which is same time as the early seating. We were always done in time to see all the shows that we wanted to. If I remember correctly, most of the shows started around 8:30p but they usually had a repeat performance at 10p too. We preferred to see the late night comedy show at that time though. Hope you guys have wonderful trip!

[SokoNC]

Good to know! I think we may want to do the early dinner time. We chose the late originally because we didn't want to be rushed with activities/pool lounging but it seems we will need to be back on the boat well before 6pm at ports and all day lounging in the sun will likely be enough and then we can catch the shows!

 

Thank you!! :)

[SokoNC]

There is no right answer to this; different people have different preferences.

 

- Late dining allows you to have a late lunch' date=' and not have to rush to get to dinner.

 

- Early dining allows you to get finished in time for the 8:00 shows. The playlist productions shows are repeated at 10:00 for late diners. However, there will also be comedy shows and other things going on at that time. if you have late dining, you will have to pick and choose more. There seems to be less going on between 6:00 and 8:00 than between 8:00 and 10:00. And, there are things that only happen at around 8:00, like Hasbro the Game Show, the Love and Marriage show, and maybe some others, like Beat the Clock (depends upon the cruise).

 

 

- Early dining allows you to enjoy the nighttime entertainment and then be hungry enough for a late night pizza before bedtime (not sure if this is a pro or con! :p )

[/quote']

 

Great advice PrincessArlena'sDad :) Thank you!!

I was really rethinking the late dinner choice we have made when you mentioned the show schedules. Then you SOLD me with the PIZZA bit!!! Early dining it is!!!!!! :D :D :D