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Carnival Pride review

stellarose

By stellarose,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cathyoo

cathyoo

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Anxious to hear your review and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. Last time on the Pride was 2016 and a little disappointed in the shows and lack of games Hoping for a better experience in Oct.

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stellarose

stellarose

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sorry for being so lax. i typed up grand turk and it got deleted.

 

Grand Turk - port #1

now we knew we were going to do an excursion on this day. Sonwanted to do a ATV tour of the island. however, his sister , at time of sailing, would not be 16. so that was a no go.

We opted for High Adrenaline Zip Line ropes/ beach day excursion.

Now Carnival does something different. They give you your ticketsfor the excursion at the beginning of your trip. We are used to RCCL who givesyou the tickets the night before with your fun times/ carnival capers.

Grand Turk is a docked port.

Shops are found once past the duty free shop. Also this is whereyou get your transportation for the excursion. You look for the booth thecorresponds to your number on the ticket. We were #9

We were about 1 shy of being sold out.

The tour guide gave us a nice tour of the island with somehistorical facts while we traveled in an open air bus to the ropes/zip linecourse. He would stop so we could takepictures.

We arrived and were told where to use the bathroom and get lockers(5 dollars cash)

The zip line was fun. Some of the ropes course was challenging butnot hard. Perfect for ages 10 and up (my educational guess)

After the zip line ropes we were transported to the beach.Expensive drinks- fyi.

We would wait for a shuttle back to the boat or walk 15 minutes tothe dock.

Now remember the lines get long as the time nears the departingcall. We got there by 1:30. We were leaving at 2:30.

We did walk and not take the shuttle. Gotta burn off that food.LOL.

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stellarose

stellarose

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I am so sorry for being so lax on my review. I typed up grand turkfor it it be deleted by accident.

Grand Turk - port #1

now we knew we were going to do an excursion on this day. Sonwanted to do a ATV tour of the island. however, his sister , at time of sailing, would not be 16. so that was a no go.

We opted for High Adrenaline Zip Line ropes/ beach day excursion.

Now Carnival does something different. They give you your ticketsfor the excursion at the beginning of your trip. We are used to RCCL who givesyou the tickets the night before with your fun times/ carnival capers.

Grand Turk is a docked port.

Shops are found once past the duty free shop. Also this is whereyou get your transportation for the excursion. You look for the booth thecorresponds to your number on the ticket. We were #9

We were about 1 shy of being sold out.

The tour guide gave us a nice tour of the island with somehistorical facts while we traveled in an open air bus to the ropes/zip linecourse. He would stop so we could takepictures.

We arrived and were told where to use the bathroom and get lockers(5 dollars cash)

The zip line was fun. Some of the ropes course was challenging butnot hard. Perfect for ages 10 and up (my educational guess)

After the zip line ropes we were transported to the beach.Expensive drinks- fyi.

We would wait for a shuttle back to the boat or walk 15 minutes tothe dock.

Now remember the lines get long as the time nears the departingcall. We got there by 1:30. We were leaving at 2:30.

We did walk and not take the shuttle. Gotta burn off that food.LOL.

We did not do much that night. I think we just wanted to chillthat night.

Half Moon Cay the next day and we hear this was the ONE PORT notto miss….

Quick note about HMC- this is a tender port and where I really wantedto see if FTTF worked…..

More later….

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pacruise804

pacruise804

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thanks again, keep it coming. Last cruise on Pride in 2016 we were VERY disappointed in the shows. Getaway Island did not meet our expectations

 

I must be one of the few people to actually enjoy the shows:o Maybe it's because I have low expectations/different expectations. On our cruise it was one of the later shows in the week, so we had already seen the talent level and found the voices and dancing acceptable enough for a 30-45 minute diversion. We don't use the casino or participate in the game entertainment (hasbro, newlywed, etc), so the theatre is ok for us. I fully expected campy/cheesy/corny along the lines of Gilligan's Island, Frankie & Annette, or Disney Channel/Camp Rock level entertainment - and it didn't disappoint:')

 

Carnival brands itself as the Fun Ships, so I tend to expect light hearted entertainment that matches the vibe of the other activities onboard. I probably wouldn't pay to see the shows on land, but for something to do that's included in my fare it's worth checking out with an open mind - especially if you don't have much else to do but still want to be out.

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cathyoo

cathyoo

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I must be one of the few people to actually enjoy the shows:o Maybe it's because I have low expectations/different expectations. On our cruise it was one of the later shows in the week, so we had already seen the talent level and found the voices and dancing acceptable enough for a 30-45 minute diversion. We don't use the casino or participate in the game entertainment (hasbro, newlywed, etc), so the theatre is ok for us. I fully expected campy/cheesy/corny along the lines of Gilligan's Island, Frankie & Annette, or Disney Channel/Camp Rock level entertainment - and it didn't disappoint:')

 

Carnival brands itself as the Fun Ships, so I tend to expect light hearted entertainment that matches the vibe of the other activities onboard. I probably wouldn't pay to see the shows on land, but for something to do that's included in my fare it's worth checking out with an open mind - especially if you don't have much else to do but still want to be out.

 

We would have enjoyed a Frankie and Annette or Gilligan's Island campy kind of show if it had been done well. We have some good experiences in the past with theater shows on Carnival so we were disappointed. We stayed to the end although half the people left after 15 minutes.

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stellarose

stellarose

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Half moon Cay!!!! Now this is where I wanted to see if FTTF paidoff- YES. Now you will need to know that instructions for getting your tenderticket will be given to you on the day before (the night you are in grand turk).If you are FTTF you had to go to the butterfly lounge at 8 am . FIL did nothave FTTF.

Ok. Image a sea of people in the butterfly lounge. Now no onechecked to see if we have FTTF but they did scan us once they led us downstairsto get the tender boat.

We were the first boat off- NOW. This is important. Once off- godirectly to the yellow hut and get pay the 20 bucks (worth it…) for a clamshell. Walk down and pick one out.Everyone will be doing the same. Someonewith a yellow shirt will take you receipt and set up the clam shell. Basicallythe clam shell is a half covered enclosure that you can fit 2 loungers under.The sand and the beach gets HOT. This was so worth the 20 bucks via SS card!!!

As the morning went on youwill see droves and droves of passengers getting to the beach and searching forthe clam shells. We liked ours bc it wasnot too far down the beach, someone near the buffet (more later on that) andbathrooms.

To tell you it was heaven on earth is an understatement. The sand.Soft soft pale white. The water clear blue. You could walk out and it was flat.Little fishies come around you.

Breathtaking!!!!

Food- oh man!!!! What a buffet!! Chicken, burgers, VEGGIE burgers.And the salads… bean, quinoa, grilled veggies, potato

Desserts good too. Water,ice tea and lemonade for drinks. Cheers doesnot work on HMC ( we did not have cheers- we did the mouthwash method…)

We took the tender back close to the end of the day but not toolate. MIL stayed on ship.

FIL did meet us on HMC. Now he got down to the tender stationearly and we still boat #8. (told us he wouldhave gotten down earlier if he knew)

Events for the night that were not to miss

1. divein movie. (get there early to get a spot and secure a blanket)- we saw blackpanther

2. guessthat 80’s song

next Freeport.

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Linder52

Linder52

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we are a group of 11 traveling in Aug. Will we have a big issue with dinners? would you suggest trying to go earlier. Have not been on a Carnival cruise in 15 yrs. These things are all new to me. Have been use to drink stations and not bar--thanks for the great info

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stellarose

stellarose

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we are a group of 11 traveling in Aug. Will we have a big issue with dinners? would you suggest trying to go earlier. Have not been on a Carnival cruise in 15 yrs. These things are all new to me. Have been use to drink stations and not bar--thanks for the great info

 

 

anytime dining with 11 people will be an issue. i suggest a set time (early or late seating) or be willing to separate your party. dinner starts at 5:45. we had issues with 6 in our party

 

we liked you could bring on wine and soda for Carnival. we did sneak on hard liquor as well

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swodog94

swodog94

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If you don't have FTTF and have a later tender do the clamshells sell out?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

No, but you'll be getting one further down the beach. Last time at HMC we had cabana #10 and the clamshells near us were never used until almost the end of the day when some crewmembers were enjoying a couple of hours off.

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Silent Penguin Excellent Advice! Rare

Silent Penguin

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Half moon Cay!!!! .... Once off- go directly to the yellow hut and get pay the 20 bucks (worth it…) for a clam shell. Walk down and pick one out.Everyone will be doing the same. Someone with a yellow shirt will take you receipt and set up the clam shell. Basically the clam shell is a half covered enclosure that you can fit 2 loungers under.The sand and the beach gets HOT. This was so worth the 20 bucks via SS card!!!

 

.

 

Having done several Disney cruises before trying Carnival, we didn't have very high expectations for Half Moon Cay. I'm happy to say, while it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Castaway Cay, we still enjoyed everything it had to offer, especially the cook-out buffet, which I think is just as good if not better. Since Dh doesn't like the sand, but I wanted him to enjoy himself, I booked a cabana for us instead of a renting a clam shell. I don't know if it would have the same value to you and your spouse, but it was worth every cent to us. I highly recommend renting one at least once.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

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stellarose

stellarose

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port #3- Freeport.

 

well, this was the day i knew was not going to be a great port. we opted for no excursion for this port. you are docked in an industrial park. there are shops/ restaurants once off ship , but not really exciting.

 

i wanted to take advantage of serenity. always busy. so i go down and what are they doing?????? pulling up wood planks. the sound was like a drill. so after 10 minutes and finding out they were going to be doing it all day- i moved.

 

(or forgot- if there is a movie you want to see on the deck- GET there EARLY. had to fight for seats for Black Panther)

 

ok, freeport.

 

the highlight of the evening!! the 80's rock and glow party!!!!! YES!!! not to miss. as a huge Def Leppard fan- i was ready. danced for hours. the deck was packed!! glow sticks everywhere.

 

next last sea day...

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louanne93

louanne93

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first time on carnival this September 23rd, what is FTTP? and how much is it?

 

FTTF is $89 per cabin (not per person). You might want to check to see if it is even available being so close to sail date! We love it. Worth every penny in my opinion!

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