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

[meatloafsfan]

For dessert my dad tried the warm chocolate melting cake.

 

His verdict -

 

 

 

 

He doesn't like it.

 

I'm not surprised really. Its dark chocolate, it's kind of like a heavy soufflé, and it doesn't have icing.

 

 

I had the pie of the day which was Mississippi Mud Pie. Wow! Dense chocolate cake in pie shell. This was awesome. Not traditional mud pie - but very good.

 

[meatloafsfan]

The next day was Curacao. We got off, walked around, looked and shopped at the local market by the pier (the white, round tents in the last picture), sat down and shared a couple of cold, non-alcoholic beverages, took some pictures and returned to the ship. It was very hot, but extremely windy today and the water was churning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[meatloafsfan]

Lunch today was Guy's burgers for all.

 

I stopped at the Blue Iguana salsa bar and added some black bean and corn salsa to mine.

 

My mother asked for no bun and somehow the guy heard, "two patties".

 

And my dad went with a load of fried onions on the side and waited for fresh fries so he could have no seasoning salt on them.

 

 

 

[mykindaparty]

Saving my place, great review.

[meatloafsfan]

Tonight's dinner was a mixed bag for me but my parents were pretty happy with their meals.

 

To start my dad had something other than shrimp cocktail! He had the Kansas City Beef soup. This was served very hot, and it had lots of chunks of both vegetables and beef and no "weird stuff" which usually prevents him from straying too far from his normal items.

 

 

My mother had the Butternut Squash soup. It's one of her favourites and it is the same as was served before.

 

 

I went with the fried green tomatoes (and have never had them before anywhere). Not my cup of tea. I had forgotten what they were when they arrived (didn't remember what I'd ordered) and after eating a couple, I couldn't tell you what they were because they certainly don't taste like tomato. I thought they had the consistency and taste of a very mild pickle (not one that you'd buy in a jar from a store but a fresh made one with no dill).

 

 

And I ordered the Rare Find - Chicken Liver Napoleon. I used to love chicken livers when I was a kid; this didn't seem the same. It was dry. It may be a good example of a chicken liver napoleon, I just didn't like it.

 

[meatloafsfan]

For entrees both of my parents ordered the Roast Turkey. The white meat turkey and sweet potatoes were good but neither liked the stuffing and for very different reasons. For my dad, he didn't like it because it had cranberries mixed in, my mother didn't because there were nuts. And neither enjoyed the round, formed patty of dark meat turkey. The gravy was very tasty.

 

 

My mother also ordered the port of call dish which was a slow cooked beef over polenta served with okra. This was very tender, had a great flavour, and even the polenta was smooth and creamy.

 

 

I had the mac n cheese carbonara. I didn't like this because the sauce had separated, there was way too much chunky white stuff and absolutely no vegetation. There was however, loads of bacon.

 

[meatloafsfan]

Dessert tonight was my favourite - Key Lime Pie. And it was wonderful! Just the right mix of sweet and tart, served cold with a generous whipped topping. The side of ice cream is completely unnecessary. My mother also ordered the same.

 

 

I also ordered the Smore's cake (cause how often do you see that?). This was another big winner - it was extremely rich, heavy cake with white and chocolate filling. The top layer was marshmallow (which I basically flipped off the top because it was too fluffy of a texture to compete with the cake). I had told my dad he should order it but did he listen? No.

 

 

My father ordered the Baked Alaska. He liked the ice cream but found that the cake and meringue were too little to make an impact.

 

[megbowlstrike]

Great review so far!!

[swalton85]

these pictures are making me hungry! i'd probably gain 10lbs if i was on this cruise! lol

[mykindaparty]

Saving

[sailfirst]

Nice review, Next Sunday we leave for 14day's on the Pride. I am SO ready had chronic bronchitis for six week's still some lingering cough but feeling ok. The one thing I don't like about the American table with no table cloths glasses get the table wet and if the seas are rough plates shift. It is too casual not the dressy feeling of something special. I like on NCL they have a dressy dinning room and a casual one besides the buffet. Some nights I want to dress up some nights just casual.:)

[Lolabelle07]

Love your review! Thanks for sharing!

[Barbluvstocruz]

Love your review! I think I have to book a Journeys cruise! I love the Pride. Just booked her for the 4th time! :D

[sailfirst]

Love your review! I think I have to book a Journeys cruise! I love the Pride. Just booked her for the 4th time! :D

 

We are going on the Pride a journeys cruise leaving next Sunday there is room

We are also booked on the Pride for a journeys cruise January 2nd 2017' they are great. Jo:)

[meatloafsfan]

Nice review, Next Sunday we leave for 14day's on the Pride. I am SO ready had chronic bronchitis for six week's still some lingering cough but feeling ok. The one thing I don't like about the American table with no table cloths glasses get the table wet and if the seas are rough plates shift. It is too casual not the dressy feeling of something special. I like on NCL they have a dressy dinning room and a casual one besides the buffet. Some nights I want to dress up some nights just casual.:)

 

I prefer the no table cloth. We were always able to see where the table legs were so we could position my mother's wheelchair correctly and no banging her feet.

 

The day we had the half booth was one of the formal nights and the table cloth just seemed in the way.

 

I think that the dark wood style tables and the glassware used, give it a steakhouse kind of feel (most of the better steakhouses we have been to don't use tablecloths, have the dark tables and just the overall atmosphere that we experienced on the cruise).

 

For Canadians, I would say that going to the MDR, the atmosphere felt like going to dinner at the Keg. While not Morton's or the like, it's certainly a step above your everyday eatery.

[Barbluvstocruz]

We are going on the Pride a journeys cruise leaving next Sunday there is room

We are also booked on the Pride for a journeys cruise January 2nd 2017' they are great. Jo:)

 

Sadly vacation time and budget are spent for 2016. Two cruise and two land vacations. ;) Now...2017...time to start planning! I'm trying to talk hubby into Alaska.

[sailfirst]

I loved the Alaska cruise we were lucky we had great weather. That and Europe they spoiled me for other cruises.

[happy cruzin]

Thanks. Look forward to seeing at least some of these things when we sail the Pride in June!

[meatloafsfan]

So the next day was Bonaire. My dad got off early (8am) as I had booked him a snorkeling tour here through Carnival. He prefers to snorkel from land (not a catamaran or boat) and this was one of the few places that offered such a trip (not connected to an all inclusive beach day which he didn't want).

 

My mother and I went to the buffet for breakfast (no pictures of this) and then met my dad down in the Piazza lounge. We played trivia, had a specialty coffee and then went off to the craft and market that's across from the ship.

 

We spent a couple of hours looking around the market and then sat down on a bench and ended up talking to a lovely Welsh couple who was on the P&O ship docked next to us (they were on a 30 day cruise).

 

Anyways, after a while we decided to head back to the ship. It was quite hot out though not as windy as in Curacao.

 

I have no lunch pictures from today so I'll just move forward to dinner.

 

My mother had tomato soup for one of her appetizers. This was very good - smooth, creamy and a rich tomato flavour.

 

 

I went with cream of asparagus soup. Again, very creamy, very smooth and it has a strong flavour - I only wished for some chunks of asparagus.

 

 

Both my parents also ordered the port of call appetizer - the beef skewers. This beef was well marinated, and so, very tender. It was flavourful but not spicy. My mom also liked the little salad mixture that was served underneath.

 

 

 

The other appetizer both my parents ordered were chicken pasties. They both enjoyed them.

 

 

I also had the salad with beans (green and yellow) mostly because I was craving vegetables.

 

 

And my mom ordered the flatbread with tomatoes, zucchini and feta. This was disappointing. Basically my mom ate the little bit of toppings and left the flatbread cracker.

 

[meatloafsfan]

For entrees, my mother had the vegetable pasta. She also ordered the ratatouille and creamed spinach. She ended up mixing the ratatouille into the pasta because it was a similar vegetable mix and sauce flavour. You can also see my dad's macaroni and cheese with bacon in the background.

 

 

 

For entrees, both my dad and I went with the flat iron steak. Mine cooked medium rare and my dad's medium. My dad's came out fine but my original one was overdone. Not a problem for our servers, they took it back and returned with a perfect medium rare steak. Tender and juicy and very flavourful. Loved the sauce on the side. When I asked for sour cream for the potato, the server brought me a little ramekin of it (instead of the platter with sour cream, chives, and bacon bits).

 

 

I am guessing by the amount of food ordered that we probably had skipped lunch today. Especially for my mom - this was a rare occasion where she ordered large and ate it all.

[traveling1969]

We also did this back-to-back and here's a tip. We stayed at the Best Western Plus pre-cruise for under $150. It included parking for the entire 21 days, free breakfast and free shuttle to and from the port. We drove down from upstate NY. It was a great cruise.

 

We had never seen such huge jackpots in the casino. One was for $67,500 and there were several other big ones ($37,500, $24,000 etc.). One lady won over $100,000 on the cruise (she of the $67,500 jackpot). We heard she spent over $40,000 but still made a tidy profit. I won about $500 playing Texas Hold'em and DW won a little on the slots.

 

Harry

[meatloafsfan]

only 2 desserts tonight were ordered - one was the chocolate melting cake:

 

 

And the other was Bitter and Blanc - one of my favourites!

 

[meatloafsfan]

The next day was our last sea day on the 11 night cruise - do you know what that means?

 

 

Seuss At Sea! including the Dr Suess Breakfast!

 

 

 

My dad and I both started off with cold cereal while my mother had a bowl of hot oatmeal (sorry no pictures).

 

My mother and I both ordered the Omelet with basically everything in it and a side of bacon. Perfectly cooked and stuffed to the gills!

 

 

My dad went with the steak and eggs (eggs over hard) and again, a great meal.

 

 

We finished off with trying each of the two yogurt parfaits. The one with the strawberries and granola had kiwi in it so only I tried that one and my parents each had the other one.

 

 

Love the characters and the overall vibe of the breakfast. It's worth the $5. We did the breakfast on our last cruise but had a not so great table and very rushed service. We enjoyed it so much more again and are glad we had a "do over".

 

We probably won't do it again in July when we're back on the Pride but in August when we go with my brother and his 3 kids, we certainly will.

[meatloafsfan]

My mother and I didn't have lunch today but did have a bit of a treat with a couple of desserts from the chocolate buffet.

 

First I had a swan made with chocolate and strawberry ice cream. The ice cream was good but the Chou paste that the swan was made from was terrible - dry and tasteless.

 

 

We also tried the rice pudding (which my mom liked but I don't like raisins) and then a chocolate and pear cake (the chocolate/chocolate one) and a lemon and chocolate cake (the vanilla/chocolate one).

 

 

My dad got a mix of stuff - mostly from chopsticks with a piece of chicken and some beef ragout from the regular buffet.

 

[meatloafsfan]

Dinner tonight was another American Feast night (now our 3rd formal night of the cruise).

 

My mom started with the clam chowder which she enjoyed. Most of the hot soups are very tasty.

 

 

I went with the four seasons salad. It was a little disappointing but I think that was more my expectations than the salad itself. I had blue cheese dressing and that was fabulous.

 

 

My dad had his traditional shrimp cocktail (though I don't know why the picture was taken after he'd eaten it).

 

 

For entrees my dad had the filet mignon and short ribs. He loves this - he did on the old menus and again on the new ones. Very tender beef, served with jus overtop.

 

 

My mother had the jumbo shrimp. Again, a very solid tasting dish - lovely grilled shrimp, interesting potatoes, and a light sauce.

 

 

I had the vegetarian stuffed pepper with spanakopita. The spanakopita was very good - flakey with lots of spinach. The stuffed pepper wasn't as nice as before due to the Israeli couscous instead of regular couscous. It's more like small balls of pasta than grain (this is what they should have used in the Italian wedding soup!). I don't remember what the fried thing was but I do know I liked it.