Still Proud of the Pride - 5/23 Review with pics!

[bcs819]

The cover for the pool did it go over both pools. We will be going in Feb. so it will mbe chilly and was wondering how far cover would go

 

It went over one pool. It was raining the night of the deck party, and it was closed then.

[Jeffy294]

And Dan Akroyd says "If I can cram a dessert down him, can you throw in some tshirts and hats for the kids?"

That part of the movie makes me gag, even though I love steak/

[bcs819]

Thanks to your review I think I am gonna do the wine tasting, I have never done one before.

 

We did a whole wine tour in Napa, and learned more at this wine tasting than we did then. Well worth it.

[calicruise74]

We did a whole wine tour in Napa, and learned more at this wine tasting than we did then. Well worth it.

 

Being from the area, I can believe that. Napa has become very commercialized and more of the "herd 'em in, herd 'em out" mentality.

 

I too think I will try the wine tasting. We sailed the Pride in 2004 but didnt do it.

[calicruise74]

That part of the movie makes me gag, even though I love steak/

 

 

No doubt! What took me over was when Dan leans over to John Candys stomach, listens for a moment and says "Ok, yes..processing nicely".

[Jeffy294]

No doubt! What took me over was when Dan leans over to John Candys stomach, listens for a moment and says "Ok, yes..processing nicely".

Ya gotta admit though, the movie is a classic.:D

[bcs819]

Wednesday, May 27

 

For some reason, this is the only Capers I don't have. I guess it disappeared with my Phillies World Series hat in the Taj Mahal waiting for our tender. Sigh.

 

I neglected to mention that immediately upon embarking we went to the excursion desk and booked a private cabana. I knew from these boards that we wanted #8 or #9, both were available, so we went with #8 pink. Ron and Tom from our Meet ad Greet went with #9. We were about 25 feet from the rest rooms, and a 5 minute walk from the BBQ. The cabana was $225 for all 4 of us and included:

 

-priority tendering

-a ride to our cabana

-our choice of 8 cans of soda, plus 2 large water bottles

-snorkels and fins in the correct sizes

-the cabana with a fridge, 2 padded couches, a mister, a shower, a fan, A/C, a table with 4 chairs as well as nachos, chips, salsa, guacomole, sour cream, and a veggie tray. All that was great, but this was what we wanted it for:

 

this was our view from the Cabana:

 

 

we were further down and a bit removed from the hustle and bustle and had most of the place to ourselves:

 

 

Our Cruise Critic friends Bill and Jennifer were a few yards away so they stored some things in our fridge and visited us throughout the day:

 

 

It was a little harder to get bar service down here, which we were surprised about, but once the waiters knew you would be ordering they came right into the cabana to check on us.

 

We stayed as long as we could, and finally headed back to the ship to sail away from paradise:

 

[calicruise74]

Ya gotta admit though, the movie is a classic.:D

 

 

Definite classic!

[bcs819]

Ya gotta admit though, the movie is a classic.:D

 

yep, and Annette Bening must be so proud.

[bcs819]

Thursday, May 28

 

Freeport. Ugh. We don't even bother to get off the ship anymore. We booked this cruise in spite of stopping here and I tried valiantly to come up with something to do here, to no avail. None of the excursions tickled us, and since every booze cruise in the Caribbean has seemingly disappeared, we slept in, looked for photos, read, took advantage of our balcony and got ready for the second formal night. My sister and her BF went to Lucaya, and heard people complaining about the shopping excursions and the Junkanoo Beach Party on their way back onboard. Yeah, do your research people, that's what Cruise Critic is here for.

 

Since we were well rested, we headed down before dinner early and did a lot of cruise photos. Since I bought them, you must ooh-and-aah over them.

 

 

 

we felt ridiculous, but yet, I bought it. sigh.

 

 

and for those of you who have been patiently waiting for more food porn:

 

Delice of the Sea appetizer:

 

 

Escargots

 

 

Penne with Eggplant

 

[Jeffy294]

I thought the same thing about the booze cruise, you don't see them during day anymore. Not much else to do in Freeport.

[bcs819]

Crab Cake

 

 

Prime Rib. No, it was NOT still Moo'ing...I asked for it like this:

 

 

and my sister driving home the food porn theory:

 

 

Adult comedy tonight with Tommy Drake. Go. Go early. The place was packed and he was HYSTERICAL. This was not from our sailing, but so you can take a peek at him on YouTUbe, I found a clip for you:

 

 

Headed to bed after the show, only one day left :(

[bcs819]

Friday, May 29

 

Final Day. We slept in, relaxed, played cards. Carnival Legends show tonight, so no real entertainment if you're not of the "American Idol is the best TV ever" mindset. At a lot of ice cream. Went down to the Purser's Desk to get #1 tags for my sister and her BF for their luggage. Spent some time in the casino. Made the mistake of looking for my sister during the $10 watch sale. It was like Black Friday - holy crap.

 

Went to dinner, with tip envelopes with my traditional something extra and a thank you note for their work all week. Wandered the ship one last time before heading back to pack and get the luggage out. Never saw the halls so light on luggage, turns out a lot of people were doing self-assist. Ed stayed up to watch us enter the Chesapeake. At about 12:30-1am he woke me up to come watch the ship sail over the Chesapeake Tunnel bridge. I rolled over and went back to sleep, but he was very excited about it.

 

Debarkation

Woke up around 7 as we went under the double bridge on our way back in. We arrived back in port around 9:30. Self assist began around 10:15, calling by deck #, 8 then 1 then 6 then 2 then 5 then everyone else. Called #1 at 11:15, we were in customs by 11:20, in the car at 11:25 and on our way home. If you need 95 NORTH, you must turn left before you exit the lot. The signs were a little confusing. This was the easiest, best, most organized debarkation in all 10 cruises. It almost made debarkation painless, for us at least. If you're thinking about doing self-assist, remember this:

 

 

We did it once and will NEVER do it again. Ugh.

 

Well, I am sure I forgot a ton, so ask as many questions as you like.

[Jeffy294]

You did a great job with the review. It seems like the service has stepped up since past reviews.

[Jeffy294]

Friday, May 29

 

Final Day. We slept in, relaxed, played cards. Carnival Legends show tonight, so no real entertainment if you're not of the "American Idol is the best TV ever" mindset. At a lot of ice cream. Went down to the Purser's Desk to get #1 tags for my sister and her BF for their luggage. Spent some time in the casino. Made the mistake of looking for my sister during the $10 watch sale. It was like Black Friday - holy crap.

 

Went to dinner, with tip envelopes with my traditional something extra and a thank you note for their work all week. Wandered the ship one last time before heading back to pack and get the luggage out. Never saw the halls so light on luggage, turns out a lot of people were doing self-assist. Ed stayed up to watch us enter the Chesapeake. At about 12:30-1am he woke me up to come watch the ship sail over the Chesapeake Tunnel bridge. I rolled over and went back to sleep, but he was very excited about it.

 

Debarkation

Woke up around 7 as we went under the double bridge on our way back in. We arrived back in port around 9:30. Self assist began around 10:15, calling by deck #, 8 then 1 then 6 then 2 then 5 then everyone else. Called #1 at 11:15, we were in customs by 11:20, in the car at 11:25 and on our way home. If you need 95 NORTH, you must turn left before you exit the lot. The signs were a little confusing. This was the easiest, best, most organized debarkation in all 10 cruises. It almost made debarkation painless, for us at least. If you're thinking about doing self-assist, remember this:

 

 

We did it once and will NEVER do it again. Ugh.

 

Well, I am sure I forgot a ton, so ask as many questions as you like.

I guess we should avoid self assit in July from the sounds of it.

[awinter]

Crab Cake

 

 

 

 

MMMMM...That crab cake looks yummy!

[calicruise74]

Ahh yes, the good 'ol Self Assist Shuffle! Great to do at 8am when most people havent slept all night...including me :o

 

This is an excellent review and love the pics! I loved the Pride in 04 and glad to hear you had a great time!

[bcs819]

If you don't need to be off early, I wouldn't do it. But that being said, my sister and her boyfriend had #24 on their luggage tags. We got them #1 since we were VIP. They were calling three zones at a time, about 10 minutes apart. It all depends on how impatient you are, and how badly you want to go, I guess.

[bcs819]

Crab Cake

 

 

 

 

MMMMM...That crab cake looks yummy!

 

we all agreed it was EXCELLENT. Lots of crab, little filler. And the red pepper remoulade was good as well.

[texascat]

What a WONDERFUL review!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this!

 

Question - going down the cost from Baltimore, did you find the seas really ruff? or were they pretty normal? (yes I wear my patch!)

[bcs819]

What a WONDERFUL review!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this!

 

Question - going down the cost from Baltimore, did you find the seas really ruff? or were they pretty normal? (yes I wear my patch!)

 

this ship actually had more motion than any other we've been on, but I would not call it "rough". You will feel the ship move, but this was our first cruise with no meds and we were fine.

[WhansaMi]

great...............MORE food porn!!!!:rolleyes::D:p

 

Nice review....(im)patiently awaiting the next installment.....

 

we have an aft wrap too but i want to move up from deck 5.......i keep checking.......(but i suppose ANY aft wrap would be swell!)

 

We are in 5295 in 4 weeks. Is that the one you have?

[WhansaMi]

I'm confuzzled.

 

If you don't care about getting off the ship early, what kind of debarkation should you choose?

 

I'd like to stay on as long as we can... either eating breakfast in our rooms, or in the MDR. We have a short drive back, and feel no need to rush.

 

What do you recommend?

[cathyoo]

thank you sooooo much for the wonderful review. It looks like you had a grand time.

[read52]

Thanks for all the pictures. We are going on Carnival for the first time and having a balcony for the first time. We are local (Silver Spring, MD) so no flights to catch. We are about 45 minutes from the port but leaving on July 3 which is a Friday and a holiday weekend.