Just off the 5/3 Pride sailing, any questions?

[vkramer]

That is one of the main reasons I wanted to ask about embarkation. The first Baltimore cruise on April 27th did not have passengers on it to debark. I want to know about the first few sailing when the ship comes in with passengers, so that I know what time to get to the port. Looks like I can work for about 4 to 5 hours before heading home to make it to the port. One less day of leave.

 

Vicki

[Sunny4JM]

I was on the May 3rd cruise out of Baltimore. We arrived at 1:00 and was eating on the Lido deck by 2:00. This was our first cruise so I didn't know what to expect. We were told that our rooms would be ready by 2:30 so after we ate we went to our rooms around 2:45. They were ready. Met our room stewart. Can't say enough about him and his helpers. They were absolutely great. During the whole cruise, I felt "crowded". People were everywhere. Maybe this is normal but I hate standing in lines and it seemed you always had to. Then of course you had the "jump in line" folks which sent my hubby into a not so nice mood. The ship was beautiful. I did notice how slippery the floor was and yes, a man fell in front of us. He was okay but you found yourself taking baby steps. Our dinner waiters were wonderful. The food, absolutely delicious. Two elegant nights....Monday and Friday. Lobster and steak on Monday. Order all you can eat, they don't care. I ordered two appetizers everynight. Saturday night they had crab cakes. They were good. Excursions....Port Canaveral, Nassau, Freeport. Guess I didn't really know what to pick out so I messed up. Cocoa Beach - nothing around but beach is nice. Rest of family went to the Space Center. They really liked that. Nassau, took the Historical Tour....should have done Atlantis. Freeport - Garden of the Groves tour ---- Beautiful but again should have taken in one of the all inclusive resorts. Now for the NIGHTMARE!!! We got up early Sunday morning (put our luggage out Saturday night) for breakfast at around 7:00 AM. Was told that everyone needed to be out of their rooms by 9:30 AM for debarking. Went up to the Lido deck with #18 to be called. Ship arrived back in port around 9:30. Waited and waited and waited for self assist to get off. That was unbelievable. Of course they removed all of the food..... You had to search of drinks that worked. It was 2:00 PM when they called our number. I witnessed a woman with a child in a stroller walking around the deck trying to comfort the child. Of course the Carnival people were getting ready for the next cruisers so they were not paying anyone on the ship and attention. She walked over to one of the counter people and asked if she could get something for her child to eat. He was crying. The counter person told her "no more food for you". I am an adult and I was hungry since I ate at 7:00 but to turn down a child, that is ridiculous. I was told by another person that all of the cones were removed from the ice cream area also. I felt like we know longer counted....throw us over board (which at about 2:00 I was wishing someone would have.) Anyway, over all the cruise was relaxing but I have decided that I am not a cruiser. When I got home, I kissed my motor home..... Guess I will go back to camping and cooking my own food. I GUESS I AM CRAZY????:confused:

[anamanxs]

I was on the 27th sailing, I have to agree with the disembarkation (sp); worst I have ever had. We were not off until 1:30 and pretty well starving by then and it was pouring rain the entire ride home. The decks are extremely slippery- fell twice, lost one evening in bed from the fall. That is the one negative thing I put on the comment card! Other than that loved the cruise - and I will cruise again and again!

[FIRELT5]

I'll mention just a few other Baltimore/Pride specific details. Believe me, we are sailing again in August, so the positives far outweigh the negatives, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so here goes.

 

Take medication for motion sickness. This was my 10th cruise. I've never needed it before. The first day at sea, I was sick. So was my husband. That extra day of rough Atlantic waters sailing at 24 knots is a killer. Be prepared. We'll do the patch in August, no question about it.

 

The Mermaid Grille had the most slippery floors that I've ever encountered on a cruise ship. Be careful. People were falling all over the place. We were sliding about in our running shoes.

 

Don't bother arriving before 12:30. The prior cruisers won't be off until at least then. The terminal was filled to capacity with people waiting to board when we arrived at 12:30, and we saw lines of people waiting to get on for 2 hours after we boarded (we had priority embarkation). I wouldn't wait much longer than 12:30-1 to arrive however, because the parking lot line (if you drive) is crazy long. That is the only part of the Baltimore process that needs serious work, imo. Entering and paying for parking is a disorganized mess. I would say that if you arrive at 12:30, the longest wait that you would have from that point would be 2 hours, and that's probably a stretch.

 

Are their seperate lines or a room for VIP Passengers (Plat,Suites) ?????

[madre2]

Can you tell me if you know what age you have to be to get into the exercise area to use the treadmill? Also, were there laundry rooms on every floor?

Thanks!

[andychris]

Wow you got off of the ship so late. I was planning on getting off around 11:30. I guess I will have to change my plans around. Do you remember what time they let the people of for self disembarkation?

Any capers?

thanks

[Sunny4JM]

I believe the self debarking started around 10:45. Don't know if there was a problem or not. They announced that customs had halted debarking but they never explained why. It took about 2 hours for all of the self debarking to get through before they started calling numbers. Since this was my first cruise I don't know if it is normal for customs police to walk through but I counted at least 4 times that police walked past me on the Lido deck. When they did finally call our number and we arrived to the luggage holding area....Let me tell you, it was wild. People grabbing suit cases that they thought was theirs then putting them down in the wrong numbered areas. Lets just say it wasn't a pretty site debarking. I hope Baltimore can fix the problem. It is such a beautiful city to sail out of. Sorry, I didn't keep any of the capers.

[mmichele]

I was also on the May 3rd sailing. We had a great time.

We arrived at around 12:30, no line for parking or luggage. We were on board by 2pm.

Didn't feel crowded ever! Went to pool around 9ish every day and never had a problem getting 5 chairs together.

No lines getting off the ship at ports other than small line in Nassau.

We went to cocoa Beach (ok), Sheraton, Atlantis and Senor Frogs in Nassau(all great), snorkeling trip with capt. tony and jet skiiing in Freeport(great)

Weather was great except for first day,

Shows were the standard cruise shows, not to impressed.

Food and service were all good.

Disembarkment was later than we planned. We were number 25 of 26. We layed at the lido deck and played bean bag toss for a few hours. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the extra time before returning to reality. However, it is true that they took away the ice creams cones. We could smell lunch but we couldn't eat it. My son tried to use his soda card and wasnt allowed.

Would defiantly cruise the Pride again and preferable out of Baltimore again.

Hope this helps.

Michele

[mmichele]

one more thing i forget

when they did call our number we were off in less than 10 minutes and that includes getting our luggage and going through customs.

very quick, maybe because not many people were left.

michele

[krys10andmatt]

We drove to Baltimore on Sat and stayed at the Fairfield inn and suites in White Marsh. They offered a park and sail for $149. Nice new hotel, breakfast included. Felt safe parking our truck for the week as it was a nice area close to the mall and dining. The hotel provided shuttle service to and from the port. They used KD Elite Transportation 1 888 808 1212. They were friendly and prompt. Would recommend for future travel. The shuttle picked us up at noon and we were a short 20 minute drive to the port. We dropped our luggage off to the porters and were inside the terminal by 1pm. Through security and to the counter...the lady that checked us in was a newbie but had assistance and got us through rather quickly. We were then given a zone tag to board, zone 5. We were called around 2ish to board. The rooms were not ready until 3:30 so we headed to the lido deck for lunch.

Our rooms were on deck 8 aft. Very good location near the elevator and the steps to the lido buffet and the coffee bar. Also the adults only pool area. Never had to fight for a chair there or on the upper decks. Spent most time in the sun on deck 10 near the slide. Very peaceful area.

I purchased the coffee card for $13 and change. ended up saving 20% off of the 5 coffees. Would do again as I am a coffee junkie.

The food was good, but I seem to remember some better choices on the dinner menu on past cruises. The chocolate melting cake was a staple every night! We ate in the dining room every night but one as were out on an excurison. We were assigned to early seating. We had Raunante and Edwardo as our wait staff and loved seeing them every night. Can not comment on the open dining as was not aware it was an option....

The shows were usual, not that exciting but worth seeing.

We did an excursion to Magic Kingdom in Port Canaveral. The problem was they did not start debarking until almost 9am, we were to port at 7am and be at our bus by 7:40am. So we did not get into the park until 10:30. Then we had to be back at the bus no later than 5pm as the ship last call was 6:30pm. So we only had about 6 hours in the park. For $150pp it seemed like a waste when the excursion stated 10hrs.

Did not do any excursions in Nassau or Freeport, just got off the ship for some shopping at both stops.

The ship was clean and well maintained. We thought it was the smoothest ride we had ever had on a ship. It only got a bit shaky on the way back from freeport, but we were going 24 nauts most of the day on Friday! I did take ginger root tablets to be safe and DH took dramamine. At the ports we didn't even know were were docking! Kudos to the captain as we have had some rough rides in the past where some days we didn't leave the cabin.

The elegant nights were Monday and Friday. Took pictures and loved one so much we got it on a canvas!

Debarkation...we didn't have our number called (6) until 11:30. The self assist seems to slow the process down. They even stopped it once as they were backed up in the terminal with customs. Guess we were lucky that we didn't have a number higher than 6! With a 6 hour drive we were anxious to get on the road. Called the shuttle and he was already waiting. Back to the hotel to get the truck and on our way by 2 and then home by 9.

I would say overall the Pride is now one of our favorite ships! Did not mind the port and appreciated the fact that we didn't have to fly. Would do it again in a second. A cruise vacation is what you make it, if you find things to complain about....well where is the fun in that?

[andychris]

We drove to Baltimore on Sat and stayed at the Fairfield inn and suites in White Marsh. They offered a park and sail for $149. Nice new hotel, breakfast included. Felt safe parking our truck for the week as it was a nice area close to the mall and dining. The hotel provided shuttle service to and from the port. They used KD Elite Transportation 1 888 808 1212. They were friendly and prompt. Would recommend for future travel. The shuttle picked us up at noon and we were a short 20 minute drive to the port. We dropped our luggage off to the porters and were inside the terminal by 1pm. Through security and to the counter...the lady that checked us in was a newbie but had assistance and got us through rather quickly. We were then given a zone tag to board, zone 5. We were called around 2ish to board. The rooms were not ready until 3:30 so we headed to the lido deck for lunch.

Our rooms were on deck 8 aft. Very good location near the elevator and the steps to the lido buffet and the coffee bar. Also the adults only pool area. Never had to fight for a chair there or on the upper decks. Spent most time in the sun on deck 10 near the slide. Very peaceful area.

I purchased the coffee card for $13 and change. ended up saving 20% off of the 5 coffees. Would do again as I am a coffee junkie.

The food was good, but I seem to remember some better choices on the dinner menu on past cruises. The chocolate melting cake was a staple every night! We ate in the dining room every night but one as were out on an excurison. We were assigned to early seating. We had Raunante and Edwardo as our wait staff and loved seeing them every night. Can not comment on the open dining as was not aware it was an option....

The shows were usual, not that exciting but worth seeing.

We did an excursion to Magic Kingdom in Port Canaveral. The problem was they did not start debarking until almost 9am, we were to port at 7am and be at our bus by 7:40am. So we did not get into the park until 10:30. Then we had to be back at the bus no later than 5pm as the ship last call was 6:30pm. So we only had about 6 hours in the park. For $150pp it seemed like a waste when the excursion stated 10hrs.

Did not do any excursions in Nassau or Freeport, just got off the ship for some shopping at both stops.

The ship was clean and well maintained. We thought it was the smoothest ride we had ever had on a ship. It only got a bit shaky on the way back from freeport, but we were going 24 nauts most of the day on Friday! I did take ginger root tablets to be safe and DH took dramamine. At the ports we didn't even know were were docking! Kudos to the captain as we have had some rough rides in the past where some days we didn't leave the cabin.

The elegant nights were Monday and Friday. Took pictures and loved one so much we got it on a canvas!

Debarkation...we didn't have our number called (6) until 11:30. The self assist seems to slow the process down. They even stopped it once as they were backed up in the terminal with customs. Guess we were lucky that we didn't have a number higher than 6! With a 6 hour drive we were anxious to get on the road. Called the shuttle and he was already waiting. Back to the hotel to get the truck and on our way by 2 and then home by 9.

I would say overall the Pride is now one of our favorite ships! Did not mind the port and appreciated the fact that we didn't have to fly. Would do it again in a second. A cruise vacation is what you make it, if you find things to complain about....well where is the fun in that?

 

Thank you so much for your review. We are staying at the same hotel as you prior to the cruise. When did you make the reservation for the shuttle? When you checked in or called a day before?Would you of tried to get to the pier a little earlier or is it better the time you got there?

Thanks

[krys10andmatt]

The hotel called us a few days before we left to confirm our reservation and explained that the shuttle was scheduled for 1pm pickup. My DH requested at that time for a 12pm pickup instead. When we arrived at the hotel, I spoke with the desk at check in and confirmed the reservation was made for 12pm. They took my cell number to give to the shuttle company, but they did not call. When we went to the lobby around 11:45 Sunday morning the shuttle was waiting for us and another couple that was going to the port. I would not go to the port any earlier as debarkation was still going on past 2 and you have to wait in the crowded terminal.

[sailingbuddy]

Michelle, could you tell me when you booked your snorkel trip through capt. tony? We want to do his excursion too but was wondering if we would be in time for the 9-12 trip. Did you have any problems connecting up with him and was he located at Lucaya? I think that is right??? Thanks for the info. Enjoying all the reviews. Can't wait to sail June 6th.

[mmichele]

sailingbuddy:

we email him about a month or so ago then confirmed the day before we left.

if you go to his website you can print a map with directions, unfortunately i forget them on the ship. When you get off and walk a small distance you will see several buses and taxis. Dudley took us (5) to port lucaya for $5 per person. He told us he would pick us up at 1pm. we walked around and found our way to the marina where someone tried to get us to go out with them. I told her we had a reservation with capt. tony and she was honest enough to call him for us and he met us about 3 minutes later. When we got to the boat he said we were the only ones going out. He left us with his 2 crew members who were basically non existant for the next 2.5 hours. The boat was beautiful and we had a great time.

we got back around 11:40. We walked directly ascross the street to Our Lucoya Sheraton and went jet skiing for 40 minutes ($60)

We then walked back and dudley was waiting there for us.

we made it back it plenty of time, we even stopped at a few stands at the pier.

If you need any other ans, go ahead and ask

Michele

[michelle1836]

thanks for the review. guess we will get a lot to eat for breakfast and save some while we hunker down and wait for our number to be called to disembark.

[Nacwolin]

thanks for the review. guess we will get a lot to eat for breakfast and save some while we hunker down and wait for our number to be called to disembark.

 

That's what I'm thinkin'!!

[andychris]

The hotel called us a few days before we left to confirm our reservation and explained that the shuttle was scheduled for 1pm pickup. My DH requested at that time for a 12pm pickup instead. When we arrived at the hotel, I spoke with the desk at check in and confirmed the reservation was made for 12pm. They took my cell number to give to the shuttle company, but they did not call. When we went to the lobby around 11:45 Sunday morning the shuttle was waiting for us and another couple that was going to the port. I would not go to the port any earlier as debarkation was still going on past 2 and you have to wait in the crowded terminal.

 

How many people fit in the shuttle? We are a party of 13 and was wondering if we might need 2 cars.

Thanks again!

[careywv]

Apparently now the Fairfield Inn won't schedule a shuttle for any earlier than 1 pm, per instructions from the cruise line.

[jamscckmc]

Was it just slippery on the pool deck or also by the buffet? Please tell me where it is slippery so I(the person who always falls) can avoid that area.:eek:

[ryanpatricksmom]

It was any area in the Mermaid's Grille that wasn't carpeted. It seemed like it got much better as the cruise went on, but the first few days were pretty bad, particularly near the exits to the pool decks.

[andychris]

I remember it being very slippery on the miracle as well. I just bought some good flip flops with a little traction to avoid a spill,lol. I hope it works!

[rinkyd]

Are there refrigerators in the balcony rooms on the Pride? I wanted to bring some water and ginger ale (just in case:o) and didn't know if I would need a cooler of some type.

[krys10andmatt]

Yes there is a frig with a mini bar. There was enough room for a couple of bottles in there at a time.

[krys10andmatt]

I think that the shuttle would hold hold 10 people but considering the luggage room 2 shuttles would probably be a better option. There were 5 of us plus a driver and a helper so 7 total and we were comfortable.