Swodog's E. Caribbean Adventure: Carnival Pride 23-30 July 17

[Party.of.4.NY>>>FL]

Leaving in 4 weeks on this same cruise....thanks for taking the time to review it.

 

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Us too!

 

Now that I think about it, I just remembered you from the roll call thread.

 

Swodog94, great review so far. I never would have known about the first person to Red Frog thing had you not mentioned it. Thank you.

 

JerseyshoreBruce, you trying to get to Red Frog first? Game on brother! Haha. Just kidding.

 

 

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[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

 

With my pint of Thirsty Frog Red in hand, we headed up to our stateroom. We had booked cabin 6174, and Ocean Suite located port side, midships.

We arrived to find our stateroom ready for us. The day before had been our 22nd wedding anniversary, so I had ordered flowers for my wife from the Fun Shops. They were waiting for her when we came through the door.

 

We dropped off our carry-on's and headed to the Lido for some lunch. One of the best things about the 2.0 upgrade was the addition of two fantastic food options: Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana Burrito Bar. First on the agenda was a Guy's burger!

 

Hmmm...decisions, decisions. They all sound great, but I decided to go with the Straight Up.

[swodog94]

Us too!

 

Now that I think about it' date=' I just remembered you from the roll call thread.

 

Swodog94, great review so far. I never would have known about the first person to Red Frog thing had you not mentioned it. Thank you.

 

JerseyshoreBruce, you trying to get to Red Frog first? Game on brother! Haha. Just kidding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for following! Good luck winning that beer!

[stellarose]

thanks for sharing

[CruisinSinceIwasBorn]

Thanks for sharing your trip. 18 of us board the Pride in a couple of weeks for a family reunion. Three generations of cruisers.

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

Regardless of which burger you choose (and they are all delicious!) you can customize it with toppings and sauces at the toppings bar.

The surfboard theme is used throughout since I guess the restaurant originated in southern Cali.

 

Also located right next to Guy's Burgers is one of the two soft serve ice cream machines (old school Navy folks will think "auto dog"). These two machines run 24 hrs a day and serve either vanilla or chocolate ice cream, and you can choose either a small cone, or a small plastic bowl. Needless to say, these are very popular, especially among the younger set!

I'll also take this opportunity to show you a hand wash station. There are several of these on the Lido Deck and they supply soap, water and a blow dry, all-in-one. Those, along with Purell dispensers at every buffet line, are there to try and reduce the chance of spreading any communicable diseases. Use them! That's my PSA for today.

[swodog94]

thanks for sharing

You're welcome!

[swodog94]

Thanks for sharing your trip. 18 of us board the Pride in a couple of weeks for a family reunion. Three generations of cruisers.

Thanks for following. Wow, that's going to be a big group...enjoy!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

Properly fed now, we headed back to our stateroom to see if our luggage had arrived. It had not so I took the opportunity to record a video tour of the stateroom. [Note: I've hung that video on a video site that rhymes with goo toob; search for "Carnival Pride Ocean Suite 6174 July 2017"] As I mentioned, we were in Ocean Suite 6174. These rooms are very comfortable and have a very nice sized balcony.

 

The bed is actually two twin beds, that we asked be pushed together to make what Carnival calls a "King" but is actually more of a "Queen+". Either way, it's very comfortable. There is also a sofa that opens into a a bed (if you need it), a coffee table, and a chair.

There's also a desk of sorts, which we used as a catch-all for many things. It held our ice bucket (which our room steward filled daily) and some bottled water which was provided daily for the suite. We took bottles of water ashore with us in Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, and we still didn't drink all the water they gave us!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

 

Under that desk is a cabinet that holds a small fridge. Ours was already empty, but if you find it full of overpriced drinks, ask your room steward to empty it out for you.

 

The fridge will not feel very cold, but if you leave the door of the cabinet open just a bit (as in the picture above), it will allow the air to circulate around the fridge a bit better, and this will allow for a more efficient heat exchange, and the fridge will get cooler. Above the desk is a shelf with some water glasses and wine glasses.

 

This desk also holds the house phone and is where one of two electrical outlets is located. Unfortunately, the outlet is a European-style outlet, so If you want to use, you have to bring an adapter. We did, as well as a three-outlet power strip so we could plug in multiple items. If you do bring a power strip, make sure it does not have surge protection, otherwise it may get confiscated. Here's an example:

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

Just inside the front door are some very important items. One is the room service breakfast order form.

 

One of the worst-kept secrets out there is that room service is free. There are few items on the room service menu that will incur an extra cost (certain hot sandwiches, chicken wings) but most items are free. You just need to tip the server when he/she brings you your food. Every night before we went to bed we filled out the form and this ensured we had coffee, hot tea and a couple of pastries while we got ourselves up and around. Then we could go out in search of more substantial breakfasts foods afterwards.

Right next to the room service forms is the "Snoozin" / "Cruisin" sign.

 

If you don't want to be disturbed, you hang the Snoozin' sign. If you're going to be out of your room for a bit and you're ready for the room stewards to clean your room, flip it over to the Cruisin' sign. We asked our room steward, Jomel, for twice daily service and he did an impeccable job. The room stewards work very hard and we have found them to be invariable friendly, always calling us by name. We pre-paid gratuities when we booked the cruise, but that's the bare minimum, if you ask me. I like to tip the room steward $20 upon arrival, which is also when I make any special requests such as ice and extra pillows. Also, if we feel the cabin crew does an above average job throughout the week we will tip more at the end of the cruise...and we have never been given a reason to not tip generously. Just about every crew member I have ever talked to has family back in their home country that is relying on their paycheck...and since they don't get paid all that well, many of them are reliant on tips to make a decent living. I just don't get the folks who go to Guest Services on the last day and remove tips from their accounts. :mad:

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

 

Immediately after walking in, you'll find a door that leads into a changing room.

 

The desk is excellent as a makeup table for the ladies, and the drawers just to the left hold the hair dryer. This is also where the second of the two electrical outlets is located. This has both a Euro and a US style outlet, so you don't need an adapter, but you will still need a power strip if you plan to plug in more than one item. I tend to set up my laptop in this room and plug in my camera and GoPro to charge here.

 

There are also some closets in the changing area, one of which holds two robes, and your life jackets. The other has some hangers and shelving. Once through the changing area you come to the bathroom. The suites have rather large bathrooms, with double sinks.

 

 

There are plenty of small shelves to hold your toiletries, as well as a shaving mirror. BTW, there is an outlet above the sinks for electric shavers. And of course, there's a commode.

[swodog94]

Thanks for the review.

You're welcome. Thanks for following!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

 

The suite bathrooms are unique in that they have a tub and not just a shower. The tub has jets, but over four cruises in suites we have yet to use the jets. There's a hand-held shower head and shower gel and shampoo dispensers mounted on the bulkhead (wall).

Over by the bed there's a flat panel TV and a safe. There's also another closet with lots of hangers. Overall, the room has tons of storage, including several large drawers.

[Crusingdiva62]

I got off the Pride the same day you boarded. love your review so far

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

 

And finally, my favorite part of the stateroom: the balcony! I spent my entire career going sea and sleeping in small windowless boxes, so when I cruise nowadays, I insist on a balcony. We tend to spend lots of time out there, weather permitting.

 

Yes, the lifeboats are right below (along deck 5) but you can't see them unless you stand at the rail and look down. When you sit on the balcony, all you see is ocean. Of course, we're still in port Baltimore right now, so all you see is the harbor security boat and Kevin Plank's new Sagamore distillery.

[swodog94]

I got off the Pride the same day you boarded. love your review so far

Thank you!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

With our luggage unpacked and put away, I decided to go walking around the ship. I'm not going to post pictures of every single space on the ship, I'll just concentrate on a few specific areas. And I think that as the review continues on through the week, I'll actually show you most of the ship.

My first stop is my second-favorite part of the ship (ranked only behind my balcony): Serenity Adults Only area. This is a great place to hang out and relax. There's a pool, a hot tub, loungers, hammocks, couches, chairs, and tables. It even has it's own bar! The only downside to Serenity is the non-stop chair hogging! There never seems to be an open lounger, regardless of the time of day. But I could always find a spot to sit around or in the pool, I spent a lot of time back there this cruise, making new friends.

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

Next I headed down to the Atrium. There are always people there, and this place tends to get very busy and crowded around dinner time. Right now, it's not too bad.

 

This last picture is Carnival's Seuss at Sea program. I have yet to participate but there are two events. The first is a Cat in the Hat parade for the kids from the Atrium to the Taj Mahal, where Dr. Seuss characters show up and the CD reads The Cat in the Hat. The second is a Dr. Seuss breakfast, complete with green eggs and ham!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

Next I walked forward through the casino. While I did spend a good amount of time there the first few days, the machines were not kind to me, and I left the ship a few bucks lighter than when I arrived! :mad:

 

 

Just forward of the casino is the Sports bar. Actually, the two are connected through a door on the port side. The sports bar has a ton of screens and shows sports...sometimes. It seemed to me this time that there was rarely a game being shown. Sometimes I would pop in to see what was on TV and it might be ESPN, but it was more likely to be something not necessarily sports related.

 

Just across from the sports bar and the Red Frog Pub is a card room. This has several tables and cabinets full of board games. I almost always saw folks in there either playing cards or hanging out and playing board games.

[swodog94]

I'm going to power through a couple of obscure rooms now, but I really like that fact that the ship still has these. First if the Chapel, on Deck 3.

[swodog94]

Right next door to the Chapel is the Library. I have yet to borrow a book on board, because I always bring a few books of my own. I usually finish one or two books during the cruise, and I leave any books I finish in the library.

 

Aft of the Library and Chapel is the Ivory Bar. This is also called the Piano Bar, since there's usually somebody there most nights playing the piano and singing songs that most people know and want to sing along to (ex. Billy Joel's "Piano Man").

 

If you keep going aft on Deck 3 you come to the shops. Cherry on Top is a candy shop. There's also a duty free shop for liquor and cigarettes, as well as souvenirs and sundries. Across from that is the jewelry and perfumes. We don't buy anything (except necessities) because the prices are really not that good.

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

We have come to the last thing before the ship can get underway: the safety brief. We all headed for our muster stations. We were at muster station B.

 

In the past the room stewards had to go room by room and make sure everyone was out. Now they scan your S&S card when you get to the muster stations, so they know exactly who's not there. The safety brief went fairly quickly, and within 20 minutes we were free to go. Shortly afterwards, Pride took in all lines and got underway.

 

Up on the Lido, our Cruise Director Saffie was leading the Sailaway Party!

[swodog94]

Embarkation (Cont.)

A few hours later, it was time for dinner. We headed to the MDR to find table 239. This is our fourth cruise on Pride, and I'm still being surprised by some of the details of the Normandie dining room, like this ceiling.

 

We find our table, and despite it being a table for six, we are the only diners eating there tonight.

 

Tonight's America Table dinner menu: