Carnival Pride 7/9 sailing review, our 5th time sailing on the Pride

[jimbo5544]

We had gotten a heads up that boarding would commence at 12 (actually it began around 11:40. So at 11:15, we rounded up the group and did the short drive over to the ship.... here she is.

[jimbo5544]

Getting into the parking lot was extremely slow, one reason I know why and one I do not. The first was that at the light before the entrance a car on our side had broken down which kept us really slow to get around while the cars from the other side were moving right in....but as they say all roads lead to Rome. After getting in, the drop off area for bags was really moving slowly as well. After a bit we parked and headed into the terminal where we left the majority of the group and checked in and immediately boarded.

[Crusin Karen]

Those aft wraps.....we had 8268 on Spirit, Miracle and Legend....LOVED those cabins....sadly, CCL wised up and realized they could charge more for them than a "regular balcony" cabin and it went over budget for us. :loudcry::( That is prime real estate! Glad you could snag one. (y)

[Crusin Karen]

Karry, Patti and I are still waiting for you and Jim to join us on the Pride's Bermuda cruise in October 2018!! :D

I have been keeping my eye on this! 10/21/18 and have cabin already picked out. Just have to "wait and see!" (yn)

[Sneezykevina]

Do they make you park in certain areas or can you find your own spot? I'm paranoid about parking my car for the week but refuse to drive my wife's 125K mile car. I just want to find a "large spot" so the door don't get dinged.

[Jamman54]

I have been keeping my eye on this! 10/21/18 and have cabin already picked out. Just have to "wait and see!" (yn)

 

It would be great if you and your DH Jim could sail with us! However, don't wait to long to book. Our balcony cabin (7280) has already gone up $220. since we booked 6 weeks ago. :eek: Sorry for the hijack Jimbo! :cool:

[Jamman54]

Do they make you park in certain areas or can you find your own spot? I'm paranoid about parking my car for the week but refuse to drive my wife's 125K mile car. I just want to find a "large spot" so the door don't get dinged.

 

You get to pick your own spot. :cool:

[jimbo5544]

It would be great if you and your DH Jim could sail with us! However, don't wait to long to book. Our balcony cabin (7280) has already gone up $220. since we booked 6 weeks ago. :eek: Sorry for the hijack Jimbo! :cool:

 

 

 

No problem Jeff, work keeps getting in the way. All posts welcome here

 

 

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[cruise_everywhere]

Can't wait to see and read more - We've been on the Pride 4-5 times I think now, great ship! We're headed back over Thanksgiving this year and it'll be nice to escape. Also just upgraded to a Vista Suite on deck 8 as well - first time and I hear exactly what you mentioned about it!

[jimbo5544]

Do they make you park in certain areas or can you find your own spot? I'm paranoid about parking my car for the week but refuse to drive my wife's 125K mile car. I just want to find a "large spot" so the door don't get dinged.

 

 

 

To echo on Jeff's comments, all three times we have sailed out of Baltimore the parking lot was almost totally filled. The first time I parked in the far corner for the same reason you mentioned and when on the ship and I looked out a mini somehow squeezed in between me and the building. Go figure.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Those aft wraps.....we had 8268 on Spirit, Miracle and Legend....LOVED those cabins....sadly, CCL wised up and realized they could charge more for them than a "regular balcony" cabin and it went over budget for us. :loudcry::( That is prime real estate! Glad you could snag one. (y)

 

 

 

We were actually on the fence on whether we were going to accompany the group. When I saw the VS available it made up my mind.

 

 

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[crusinpsychRN]

OT--

jimbo, since you've been on here since '96, do you remember when the site broke down for about a day? I lost all my thread counts.

[meatloafsfan]

Do they make you park in certain areas or can you find your own spot? I'm paranoid about parking my car for the week but refuse to drive my wife's 125K mile car. I just want to find a "large spot" so the door don't get dinged.

 

You get to pick your own spot - however - if you are an early arriver (like 11am), you may find the lot still seems pretty full. Baltimore is the one port where it feels like there is a lot of overlap between people embarking and people still debarking. I think it's because the ship comes in later than many of the Florida ports (where it's not unusual for the ship to dock at 6am versus 9-10am for the Pride in Baltimore).

 

We always park at the port in Baltimore (even on the 21 night cruise) and have found it to be one of the easier to navigate parking/getting into the port building cruise ports. Of course, that embarkation ramp is a whole other story.

 

Oh, forgot to say - great start to the review. Love the Pride and can't wait for January!

[jimbo5544]

OT--

 

jimbo, since you've been on here since '96, do you remember when the site broke down for about a day? I lost all my thread counts.

 

 

 

I had a brain malfunction, while my cruising life started at 96, on cruisecritic I have been here since 06. My bad and thanks for the correction

 

 

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[Wolfhunt]

Following along, looking forward to the rest of your report. Going on the Pride in a week and a half. It will be our first time on this ship. Looking forward to it.

 

Also, staying at the Lord Baltimore the night before the cruise. Will have to check out that bar on the roof.

[jimbo5544]

Following along, looking forward to the rest of your report. Going on the Pride in a week and a half. It will be our first time on this ship. Looking forward to it.

 

Also, staying at the Lord Baltimore the night before the cruise. Will have to check out that bar on the roof.

Thanks for following along! More coming and more pics (from try ship now.....). We were pleasantly surprised with the Lord Baltimore. The roof top bar at sunset is not to be missed.

[nybumpkin]

While the wife and I had been here several times, some others had not. We showed some of the group around some and then went for a late lunch at Dick's Last Resort over on the harbor. Dick's is one interesting place where the staff berates and acts rude...... go figure. Some liked it and some did not. While it certainly was not our choice, in was not boring and the food was OK.

Jimbo, had to laugh about this. DH visited Dick's in San Antonio a number of years ago . He was amused by the - er- "prophylactics" that decorated the tables.;)

 

You probably had an easy boarding because people like us were off the ship by 9:15!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[jimbo5544]

Jimbo, had to laugh about this. DH visited Dick's in San Antonio a number of years ago . He was amused by the - er- "prophylactics" that decorated the tables.;)

 

 

 

You probably had an easy boarding because people like us were off the ship by 9:15!

 

 

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

 

 

One of our group said "we have to go" so we all went. It was like a nightmare of bar food restaurant. I actually got yelled and told to shut up in the first five minutes. They made us hats, my wife had one that said I'm peaches and mine said I love to eat peaches. Pretty much down hill from there but maybe I am getting old....... lol

 

 

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[Sneezykevina]

To echo on Jeff's comments, all three times we have sailed out of Baltimore the parking lot was almost totally filled. The first time I parked in the far corner for the same reason you mentioned and when on the ship and I looked out a mini somehow squeezed in between me and the building. Go figure.

 

 

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Thanks, NY has always been the same way for us. I'll just grin and bear it I guess.

[spartn91]

Great review so far. Looking forward to reading more.

[jimbo5544]

Great review so far. Looking forward to reading more.

 

 

 

Thanks a lot for the kind words more coming tonight

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

After a quick check in, we were directed to board at our leisure, We headed for the ship. As we boarded we noted the new gangway (which was not there in December on our last cruise on the Pride. After boarding we headed over to the Excursion Desk to confirm one of the the three double cabanas our group had on Half Moon Cay. We chose B, which left A and C for our groups other two. So we texted some of the gang and headed down to our room to drop off our bags, After prying open the hallway door, we made our way down to our door (which was closed) and opened it and oops, we found our room steward and the House Keeping Manager doing a walk thru of the Vista Suite, We talked for a minute, she handed us her card saying to contact her with anything we needed and did a quick walk thru.

[jimbo5544]

Here are some pics of the rooms I took of the room later that night but I will post now.

[jimbo5544]

.....and some more

[jimbo5544]

I love how the bed in these rooms face the aft of the ship. We pulled back all drapes so we had a view for the cruise from the bed. Here is a shot from the bed...