21 Nights of Food and Fun (well, mostly Food) Pride Journey Cruises

[iheartmarshall]

Excited to read the rest of your review! I'm going to the Pride next year and can't wait.

[It's a Ship!!!]

Looking forward to this. I loved your review with all of the pictures from the old menus, and it will be great to see your pictures from the new menu.

[WetToes]

meatloafsfan - Enjoying your review. It's almost as good as a Calgon bath to take my mind off this cold nasty weather we've been having. ;0

[meatloafsfan]

So tonight was our first of 5 Elegant nights. Interesting first note - after not having a tablecloth last night and now having one with the elegant night, I actually didn't like having the tablecloth. It felt like it was in the way and an unnecessary add on. The tables are a lovely dark wood colour with a glossy finish. We were seated in a half booth /half table (with my dad and I in the booth and my mother at the table side) and my dad scotching across the booth seat pull the tablecloth a bit and we had to straighten it back out.

 

Service tonight was terrible and this whole dinner service was one of the big reasons we switched from anytime dining to late dining.

 

Although we normally do late dining, my dad was always pushing for us to be at the dining room when it first opened (why, I don't know) and tonight this was met with disastrous results. I won't stand in line for 45 minutes for a table so when we arrived on deck 3 and saw the line almost to Shutters, we took a seat. Eventually we saw they were handing out pagers so my dad went up, registered us and got a pager. At this point it was about 6:30pm. We weren't seated until almost 7:30pm. And we ended up with some of the worst servers we've ever experienced (more on that as I go along).

 

So to start, my dad had his traditional shrimp cocktail:

 

 

And I ordered the Pork Tenderloin Tarts and the Italian wedding soup.

 

The pork tarts were very good; the pork seasoning was a little spicy (good for me, maybe not for everyone) and the tart portion was basically a little quiche that was in a sweet tart shell (not a plain one - the pastry was sweet not savoury). Overall an interesting dish and one I choose to have again on the second half of the cruise because I did enjoy it (even though I don't normally order pork outside of breakfast meat and bbq ribs).

 

 

 

The Italian wedding soup was not as expected. It was basically chicken noodle soup with meatballs. I didn't enjoy it and didn't eat it and instead decided to just wait on my main course.

 

 

 

My mother didn't have an appetizer.

[meatloafsfan]

And wait we did.

 

An hour.

 

We waited an hour for the main course.

 

Our servers were rushing around us but not to us.

 

When we flagged them down, it was "Just a minute, just a minute."

 

Finally entrées arrived - here, I'll start with the good.

 

My mother ordered the Vegetable Root pie. This was piping hot and delicious! It was a great blend of vegetables and cheese, cooked but not mushy and had a lovely little sauce on the side. And a whipped goat cheese on the top - marvelous!

 

 

Okay - so now for the not good portion - both my dad and my meals came cold. Not cool, not lukewarm, COLD. We sent both of them back and got new. Here are pictures of the originals:

 

Prime Rib for my Dad:

 

 

Lobster Tail and Shrimp for me:

 

 

 

Anyways, we sent them back and about 10 minutes later, new dishes arrived.

 

My dad's second prime rib was warm (not hot) but edible.

My second lobster tail was so over cooked that it was complete mush.

My third one - I took the lobster out of the shell to show how small it was.

 

 

It was fine and by this time I just wanted to eat and be done.

[meatloafsfan]

Dessert was again a bit of a mixed bag.

 

My dad tried the new chocolate malted cake.

 

 

It was good but extremely rich and I don't know how anyone could finish it with copious amounts of milk or coffee to wash it down with.

 

My mom had the coffee cream cake and this was very good. Excellent ratio of cake to filling/cream and a medium-strong coffee flavour.

 

 

I had the crème brulee. The crème part was fine (not cold like I prefer and maybe a little on the soft side) but the brulee was far too thick and hard. I peeled off the sugar top and just ate the crème part. I know others like that thick hard sugar-candy on top but I prefer a thin, crispy layer of bruleed sugar.

 

 

Dinner was far too long tonight and by the time we left we were all in not so great moods. This meant there was only 1 place to head - The Casino!!!!!!

[pirate4me2]

Loving this review and your pictures! We are also going on the 14 day Journey cruise on Pride in March. We usually do 8 day cruises, but last year did 2 7 day B2B's. First was on Liberty in Jan, the other was on Pride in May. LOVE being on a ship for 2 weeks, but they are bascially "the same cruise" so I am anxious to see the difference in ONE long cruise. I LOVE BLT's but don't have the patience to wait around for room service, so I would get 2 pieces of toast from the breakfast buffet and wrap in a napkin, then when they opened Guy's Burgers, I would go to the Fixin's Bar and slather my toast with mayo and piled on the B , L and T! :D;) :pThanks for sharing your cruise with us and looking forward to reading more! :)

 

I love this idea! I discovered Carnivals BLTs on our last cruise and became addicted. I will try this on the Pride next month!

OP, your review is coming along great. I'm eating up every bit of it, thank you!!

[tinkerbell_82]

Following! Totally loving your review! Thanks for describing the food in such great detail. I definitely won't be ordering the wedding soup!

[tigresslea]

Loving your review, the pictures and all the details!

[meatloafsfan]

So Day 3 and we all rose bright and early once again. This time my parents called me at 7:00am to tell me they were up. In the dining room today, they were serving separate breakfast and lunch menus so we headed down for breakfast before going to crafts at 9am.

 

I ordered waffles with syrup, bacon and corned beef hash. The bacon and hash were once again very good. The waffles though were stiff and pasty. I think that they must get them premade and then just warm them up - and these ones weren't warmed thoroughly. I'm sure that by the time most people pour the warm syrup on them, it's probably not noticeable but I don't pour the syrup on mine, I prefer to dip so it was very apparent.

 

 

My mother had eggs benedict (which she loves) and I remembered to order the hollandaise sauce on the side so they were fresh. She also had bacon (lovely, and super crispy - like my dad says - it's the first ship that didn't cook the bacon, out of the bacon.).

 

 

And my dad went with an omelet with hashbrowns and sausage. Again, perfectly cooked omelet, hot crispy hashbrowns and he loves his sausage.

 

 

My parents also had orange juice (dad) and tomato juice (mom) and we all had coffee.

[meatloafsfan]

After breakfast we went to crafts and today was Lei making. These kits were much simpler than the door hangers and I could see that almost anyone could handle making one of these.

 

Front of the package:

 

 

Back of the package:

 

 

After crafts, the 3 of us split up - my mom and dad went around the ship and found the chapel, and the Sunset garden area.

 

 

 

(sorry random lady)

 

 

I don't really remember what I did so I'm guessing it involved my mp3 player and a book (well, an e-book on my kobo e-reader).

[meatloafsfan]

At some point today I went up and got a burrito for lunch.

 

 

It was a shrimp burrito with rice and beans, tomato and I ended up adding one of the 2 pepper salsas from the salsa bar.

 

 

My dad went to lunch by himself in the dining room (no pictures) and my mom had a nap.

 

We followed this up with an early dinner. My parents got in line at 5:15 (and they weren't even in the first 10 people in line!) and we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the dining room coupled with good service and good food (that will be in my next post).

[meatloafsfan]

We were seated at a table for 4 and presented with a very full bread box

 

 

For appetizers, both of my parents ordered the cannelloni - this came out piping hot (they both had to wait to have it cool down). It was very cheesy and the tomato sauce was very light. A definite winning dish.

 

 

 

I tried the braised ox tongue. I ordered it just to say I'd tried it but was very pleasantly surprised. I made both of my parents try it as well. The sauce is a little sweet, a little tangy and the tongue is the most tender meat I've ever tasted. It quite literally melted on your tongue. The crisp bread underneath was a great accompaniment that made the dish like a meat bruschetta.

I highly recommend trying this.

 

[meatloafsfan]

For entrée my mother ordered the fried chicken with a side of creamed spinach and ratatouille. After this when the spinach and ratatouille was offered she ordered it every time. That is the one thing about cruise ship dining - rarely is there sufficient vegetables. With the American table menus, it's nice to be able to add on additional sides.

 

The chicken was very crispy and came with a large piece of white meat and then a small piece of dark meat. The chicken was still moist inside (not dried out) and my mother really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

I ordered the Ribs with a side of French fries. The ribs were absolutely, fall off the bone delicious. And the little jalapeno corn muffin thingy was very good - not cornbread-like per say, but more like a spicy, corny, cheesy soufflé. The fries came out hot and I wouldn't ask for anything more from them then that. I didn't eat the beans as I was already experiencing some after effects from the spicy salsa at lunch and some drinking in the casino.

 

 

My dad ordered both the fried chicken and the pork chop.

 

The fried chicken was like my mothers - 2 good pieces. The pork chop was a little dry and a little tough. The porkchop my dad had at the brunch later in the cruise was much better. He also tried the bacon mac n cheese and fell in love with it. It was very creamy and very cheesy (less white sauce and more cheese sauce - different from the brunch version).

 

[meatloafsfan]

Dessert tonight was peach pie for my dad. He really enjoyed the different fruit pies each night on the American Table menus. He's not into mousse or crème anything so pie is a good staple dessert for him.

 

The peach pie was one of the best.

 

 

For me I went with both the sticky toffee brioche and the smore's parfait.

 

The brioche was served chilled with warm sauces and I think it would have been better if the brioche itself was warm. On it's own it's nothing special but add that warm vanilla sauce and it's very good.

 

 

The smore's parfait was very good but super rich. It's important when eating this to try to get a bit of each layer. Once you hit that chocolate layer, its tooth numbingly sweet.

 

 

Decided to add one bonus pic of my parents towel animal tonight.

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by meatloafsfan

[bumbles]

Great review so far! Your dad sounds so much like mine!!!

 

We'll be on the Pride for 13 days next January...318 days (but who's counting!)

[5sonz]

I'm also enjoying your detailed review.

My hubby and I are going to be on the Pride in Nov to celebrate our 30th anniversary.

We have never cruised before, so you're creating a nice virtual brochure for us!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[poppadevan]

I joined you on the second leg of this cruise in San Juan. From your pictures it looks like I missed some great meals on the first leg.

 

Enjoying your review. Keep up the good work.

[dogbert's mom]

Loving your review. We cruise frequently but haven't experience the new menus and you review has made me more comfortable with the changes.

 

We are booked on the Pride for a journey cruise next year and I'm really looking forward to seeing the 2.0 upgrades.

 

Thanks for your time and effort of posting this review.

[Delta Dear]

Ditto for enjoying your review. We sailed the Pride for the first time in Nov. 15 and enjoyed it so much, I booked it for 11-16. We were also in a handicapped room to accommodate my husband's scooter. I also had the celebration decorations. Your photos of the decorations are much better than mine were. LOL

 

Loving all of the food ****. I was not impressed by the American Table offerings but seeing your photos of some things I did not order, maybe I'll like it better this year.

 

Can't wait to read the rest. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[almendrada]

I'm enjoying this review! We leave March 6 on the Pride for our first cruise ever, so your great pictures and descriptions are getting me really excited!

[LMaxwell]

Oh is my stomach rumbling!

 

Did you go to any of the midnight buffets?

[Luke Saint Joe]

Midnight buffets? Do they still have them?

[poppadevan]

Only on the Journeys Cruises. It is a part of the Throwback Thursday festivities.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[USNUZULOOSE]

After breakfast we went to crafts and today was Lei making. These kits were much simpler than the door hangers and I could see that almost anyone could handle making one of these.

 

Front of the package:

 

 

Back of the package:

 

 

After crafts, the 3 of us split up - my mom and dad went around the ship and found the chapel, and the Sunset garden area.

 

 

 

(sorry random lady)

 

 

I don't really remember what I did so I'm guessing it involved my mp3 player and a book (well, an e-book on my kobo e-reader).

 

Wow! That is some wild carpet in the chapel.