Jump to content

Pride review August 14-21, 2009


cruiser82

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone! We just got back from our cruise on the Pride so I thought I'd write a short review in hopes that others might benefit from it as I benefitted from other Pride reviews. I've found that I like the reviews that go day to day so I'm going to try to do my review that way. Just a bit of background, I'm 26 and my mother is 56, and we joined a group of about 15 others that we often cruise with. We had a balcony cabin on deck 6, 6235. This was about my 10th cruise overall and my second with Carnival.

 

Day 1- Baltimore, MD: It was sooo nice to be able to drive to the port instead of flying. This was the first time we did it and I definitely think we'll do more of it in the future. I put the port address into Google maps and it sent us on 95 then 295 then back to 95 I think, which was fine except for a little bit of traffic on 295. It took about an hour to get there and we ended up arriving around 1:30pm. We had to wait about 20 minutes in line (in our car) to unload our bags because apparently they were behind schedule from the previous cruise or something. It was really hot and we were all getting impatient and it really wasn't the smooth and easy start to the vacation we were hoping for. In the end it all worked out ok though, and we dropped off our bags and got in line at the terminal to check in. The lines were a bit long, but not unreasonable and they moved pretty fast. All of the check in agents and security people were very friendly. The only thing I didn't like about leaving from Baltimore was having two sea days before our first port but I guess that's unavoidable due to geography. I loved sea days on our Med cruise last summer because it gave us time to recover from long days in port but since the two sea days came after embarkation day there wasn't anything to recover from so at times we were a little bit bored. That's not to say that there weren't things going on around the ship but just nothing that really interested us. We spent some time exploring the ship and I found that it was pretty easy to get around, and from someone who's very directionally challenged that's saying a lot! I really liked the artwork and sculptures, it added a nice ambiance to the ship I thought. My mom and I had fun pointing and giggling at some of the nude bits (we revert back to kids with things like that) but I really wouldn't go so far as to say that parents should avoid taking their kids on the Pride because of it, which is something I remember reading here on CC. And anyway, I'm sure most kids have seen much worse. The muster drill was quick and painless, and I found it very well organized. My mom and I were out on our balcony during sail away and all of a sudden a woman came out on deck a few floors below us and was crying her eyes out. A couple on their balcony below us noticed too and I think we were all a bit concerned. She was crying for a few minutes and then pulled out what seemed to be the liquor menu so I really hope she didn't have too much to drink that night (or any night). We had Your Time Dining, which we really enjoyed. For dinner I had the Fried Chicken Tenders, Flat Iron steak and vanilla ice cream and they were all delicious!

 

cimg1186.th.jpg

 

Not sure which bridge that is but the ship goes under it lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2- At sea: The day started off a bit slow. Spent a lot of time in the casino either playing the slots or watching my mom play the slots. The 'Hot Shot' 2 cent machines seemed to be hitting (for everyone else!) as we saw people win $150, $675 and $800 but they were playing the maximum (100 credits). My mom had some luck on the 'Golden Monkey' 1 cent machine (she was on the one at the end, closest to the cashier) and it was a fun little machine. I thought the casino was a bit smaller than some other ships I've been on but it was big enough. It did get pretty smoky at times, so much so that we had to cash out early a few times because it was just getting to be too much. Speaking of cashing out, the slot machines used a cashless system and I'm not sure if this is new for Carnival but it was definitely new to me. One of the casino hostesses explained how to use it and it was pretty straightforward but my mom had some trouble because she's not good with technology! I'm not sure if I like having my casino money linked to my Sail and Sign but it was nice not having to keep track of the slot machine tickets when you cash out. We had breakfast in the main dining room and it was so nice not having to go to the Lido deck, which I avoid whenever possible. I had the pancakes and hash browns, and they were both yummy. Tonight was Cruise Elegant night and I was really looking forward to it. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how many people would dress up but I was really surprised (and happy) to see that of all the people I saw in the dining room and walking around the ship that evening that there were only a few people that were dressed casually. It doesn't ruin my formal night when people don't dress up but I enjoy dressing up and I like seeing what everyone else is wearing and watching them take pictures so I was happy that so many people participated. For dinner I had the Carpaccio of fresh fruit and the prime rib, which was pretty good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 3- At sea: We had breakfast again in the dining room, I ordered the same as yesterday and it was once again very good. The dining room seemed underutilized at breakfast and lunch and I'm not sure if people don't realize it's open or if people automatically equate food with the Lido deck. Either way, it was nice having a calm, quiet meal in the dining room. Today was the Past Guest party, and it was held in the Taj Mahal which is the main show lounge. I've only been to a couple past guest parties on NCL and I remember them being held in one of the larger lounge areas. Since there were a lot of past guests on this cruise I guess the Taj Mahal was the only place that could accommodate us all, but I didn't feel it was the ideal place to hold such an event because you couldn't mingle and socialize with other guests, which was something I always felt was a big part of the past guest parties. They did keep the drinks and appetizers flowing and they were pretty good. One thing I liked about the party was when they showed a video about the history of Carnival and we were asked to clap when the picture of a ship we've sailed on came up on the screen. It was interesting to see which ship(s) were the most popular amongst the group. Spent more time donating money to the casino. I think I went to the show tonight, which was a ventriloquist. I usually don't enjoy those acts but I thought this one was pretty good. There wasn't anything on the dinner menu that I particularly cared for, so I had my old stand by of Caesar salad and grilled chicken breast with vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet for dessert!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting. What time did you actually get on the ship?

Sally

 

I'd say we got on around 2:30-2:45. Oh, that reminds me. Once we dropped off the luggage and parked the car, we had to head over to the terminal and wait in line to get checked in. We only saw one line and it was really long but since we thought it was the only one we got in it. Then a few people ahead of us said that there was a shorter line inside and sure enough, there was. If there's more than one person in your party I'd suggest that one person get in whatever line you see forming outside and have someone else in the group check to see if there's another line because there's not much shade in the outside line and it was pretty hot out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd say we got on around 2:30-2:45. Oh, that reminds me. Once we dropped off the luggage and parked the car, we had to head over to the terminal and wait in line to get checked in. We only saw one line and it was really long but since we thought it was the only one we got in it. Then a few people ahead of us said that there was a shorter line inside and sure enough, there was. If there's more than one person in your party I'd suggest that one person get in whatever line you see forming outside and have someone else in the group check to see if there's another line because there's not much shade in the outside line and it was pretty hot out there.

 

 

Thanks for posting a review. We leave on the Pride on the 29th, and I'm trying to read as much as I can beforehand! Once you got inside at check in, was it air conditioned? I'm hoping once we get inside the terminal, it will be a comfortable wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting a review. We leave on the Pride on the 29th, and I'm trying to read as much as I can beforehand! Once you got inside at check in, was it air conditioned? I'm hoping once we get inside the terminal, it will be a comfortable wait.

 

Yes, it's air conditioned and comfortable once you get inside. Since we arrived after the rush we were able to get right in line but there seemed to be plenty of chairs for a comfortable wait if you have to board in zones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 4- Grand Turk: Today was the first stop and I think we were all ready to get off the ship for a while. The ship arrived on time, if not a little early. We didn't have any excursions planned and since this was our first time in Grand Turk we figured we'd just walk around the shopping area and figure out what to do from there. It was pretty windy that day and it wasn't too hot which was good. The shopping area was nice and looked relatively new (I'm not sure if it was re-built after hurricane damage or if it was a brand new shopping area) and we had fun looking around the shops. I probably would have gone back to the ship after that but some people in our group wanted to go to Margaritaville so we headed over there. We were lucky enough to find some chairs just off the pool area near the shop so about 5 of us were able to sit there and relax while the others went in the pool or sat at the bar. They played a nice mix of music (Caribbean, pop, club, country, etc) and had some pool games for the guests to play which we found entertaining.

 

I think tonight's show was a comedian and even though I don't usually enjoy comedians I decided to go to the show. I'm glad I did because I enjoyed it. If I had been able to stay up I would have gone to the adults only performance but I wasn't able to make it. I can't remember what I had for dinner, but I think it was the chicken breast with french fries, and ice cream/sherbet for dessert.

 

cimg1223d.th.jpg

cimg12192.th.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you go to the guest talent karioke show? If so how was it?

Something I;'ve wanted to do but don't know if I have the nerve.

I sound great when everyones drunk :-)

 

I DID go and I loved it! But what I didn't love were the two girls sitting next to me who laughed and made fun of the singers who weren't as good as some of the others. They seemed to forget that they were not professional singers and were probably nervous and trying to do their best. I also went to the karaoke sessions during the day and night that were essentially the tryouts for the Carnival Legends show and they were a lot of fun. The crew member who was running the event was really funny, I think her name was Donna. You should do it, I bet you sound great even when everyone is sober! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

cruiser,

I was looking at your pics of the Enchantment, and was wondering in pics #7 & 8, is that blue surface non-skid or rubber around the pool? I was on the Pride with you and still can't figure out what Carnival was thinking putting that ice skating rink around the Lido pools. Even before the Fun Ship Specials, I was having a hard time standing up. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your answer.

You'll always get those that laugh, just ignorant people. There everywhere. What a shame right.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, can't wait for mine now.

 

Thanks again

I DID go and I loved it! But what I didn't love were the two girls sitting next to me who laughed and made fun of the singers who weren't as good as some of the others. They seemed to forget that they were not professional singers and were probably nervous and trying to do their best. I also went to the karaoke sessions during the day and night that were essentially the tryouts for the Carnival Legends show and they were a lot of fun. The crew member who was running the event was really funny, I think her name was Donna. You should do it, I bet you sound great even when everyone is sober! :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

cruiser,

I was looking at your pics of the Enchantment, and was wondering in pics #7 & 8, is that blue surface non-skid or rubber around the pool? I was on the Pride with you and still can't figure out what Carnival was thinking putting that ice skating rink around the Lido pools. Even before the Fun Ship Specials, I was having a hard time standing up. Thanks

 

I'm not sure exactly what the blue stuff was (if it was rubber or not) but it was some kind of non-skid surface. I think that was the only cruise where I actually went onto the pool deck because I've slipped and almost fell so many times walking through to get to the buffet. I didn't even go out on the pool decks on the Pride and even the buffet area was slippery at times. I always held on to my mom's arm when walking through the buffet because I was scared and I know I'm not the only one because I saw a few other people do it too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 5- Half Moon Cay: When we were planning for this cruise the plan was for several of us to rent cabanas at HMC. Then interest waned a bit and only four of us seemed interested in renting one. Then, when we were arranging transportation to the pier our friends asked to ride with us and although they were interested in the cabana we knew they wouldn't want to arrive as early as I knew we needed to in order to secure one. So we ended up deciding not to try to get one, which is ok because that just means I'll have to book another cruise now lol. I'm not a beach person at all and one of the reasons I wanted the cabana was so I'd have a cool, shady place to lounge at on the beach.

 

Since we didn't have the cabana I ended up staying there all of 20 minutes, if that. It was lovely though, I did get in the water (which I haven't done in years) and it was very nice. The day started off rainy and I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to get off the ship at all but luckily the weather cleared and it turned out to be an ok day. I think the cloud cover was pretty good actually so I loved it because I didn't have to worry about the sun too much but people hoping to have lots of sun may have been disappointed. I wasn't feeling very well that day so I didn't explore the island that much, which I regret. I would have loved to rent a kayak or try some snorkeling (I know it's not that great there but since it would have been my first time that would have been ok) so hopefully I'll be on a cruise that stops there again. As I've mentioned, I was part of a group and about 10 of us were on the same tender to the island and while the beach was crowded by the time we got there we were able to find beach chairs for all of us after a short amount of time.

 

I have the shows all mixed up but I think tonight was Vroom, and I really enjoyed it. I thought the singers and dancers were good, not the best I've seen on other cruises, but they certainly provided a good show and everyone I talked to enjoyed it. At this point I stopped taking notes on my ipod so I don't remember what I had for dinner, but it was probably the chicken breast and ice cream/sherbet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 6- Freeport: The day started off again rainy. I went on the balcony went I woke up and saw that it was drizzling but figured it would have stopped by the time I was showered and ready to go. That appeared to be the case but when we got down to deck A (I think) to leave the ship we were told that they weren't letting people off because of the rain. So we waited a while, took some pictures and signed up for On Deck for the Cure (more about that later) and by then the weather had cleared so we went into Freeport. We had been there before and didn't book any excursions so the plan was just to get off of the ship for a while and look around the shops. There was a band playing music and singing which added to the atmosphere and some people were even dancing.

 

cimg1254f.th.jpg

cimg12523.th.jpg

cimg1250j.th.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 7- Sea day: Today was the last sea day and for the first time there were a lot of activities going on at once that I wanted to do. The most important activity though was On Deck for the Cure (ODFTC). I read about there here before the cruise and somehow got the idea that it was a 5K (3.2 mile) walk on the decks but it turned out to be a 1 mile walk. That was ok though because it was really hot in some parts of the walk and I don't think I would have wanted to be out there longer than I ended up being out there. I had my Nike+ with me and I didn't think the actual distance would be 1 mile but it was spot on. When we went to Formalities to sign up I asked the cashier how many people they usually get for ODFTC and she said they usually sell out of the t-shirts. Since there were loads of t-shirts still there I was expecting to see a lot of people on the day but we were told that only 40-50 people had signed up. Since everyone that signed up made a donation I think it's great that we had even that many, but when you think about how many people were on the ship it's sad because so much more money could have been raised. For $10 you get a t-shirt and a pink wristband plus entry onto the walk. I think it took about 20 minutes to do the actual walk, plus a few minutes before and after where the Carnival staff members talked to us about the walk, so it was definitely not a huge time commitment. I think it's great that Carnival organized this and I'm definitely going to do it whenever it's offered on one of my cruises.

 

Also at or around the same time as ODFTC was the Behind the Scenes talk with Carnival crew members and the Galley Tour. I went to a similar Behind the Scenes talk on NCL and really enjoyed it so I was sad that I would miss this one, but again ODFTC took priority. I was hoping the talk would be shown on the TV but I don't think it was, or I just never caught it. I read here about the Behind the Fun tour that was ~$90 and I'm not sure if this Galley tour was the same thing. The description in the Caper was a bit confusing because it didn't explicitly mention if there was a cost for the tour, but it did mention something about a cookbook and a price of $18 I think and I couldn't tell if that was for the tour, the cookbook or the tour and cookbook. It was a moot point anyway because I wasn't going to be able to attend but I would like to look into it next time.

 

The rest of the day was spent primarily in the casino and taking pictures with our group. I believe they had prime rib again in the dining room (it was either tonight or the previous night) and I had that, but I didn't like it as much this time as I did the first time. We were seated in a different section for dinner tonight than the other nights and consequently had a different wait team. We previously had Vladimir and Eko and we were really pleased with the speed at which our orders were taken and the food delivered, plus they were nice to talk to. Tonight we had new people and we were in the dining room at least twice as long as we had been on any other night because the service was so slow. Whether it was because our new servers were just slower than our previous ones or if the dining room was extra busy because it was last night I'm not sure, but I'm really happy we only had that particular wait team one time during the cruise. We got comment cards about Your Time Dining and I made sure to mention Vladimir and Eko on both that card and the general comment card because they really did a good job.

 

Tonight's show was Carnival Legends, which I briefly touched upon in a previous post. I really like this show and it's so cool to see how talented some of our fellow passengers are. The dancers perform alongside the singers and my absolute favorite was the dance for Madonna's 'Like a Virgin.' It was so camp that I found myself paying more attention to the dancers than the singer. It was great! We were coming back from the show and we had note in our "mailbox" that my mom had some credit in her casino account and that she needed to cash out before the casino closed. We got really excited thinking that she had forgot about the money she had there since she wasn't used to using the new system. We get to the casino and wait in the really long line to find out she had a credit of.....$0.86. If we had known it would be less than a dollar we wouldn't have bothered! We took her small fortune back to the room and just made the midnight deadline to put our luggage out for collection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also at or around the same time as ODFTC was the Behind the Scenes talk with Carnival crew members and the Galley Tour. I went to a similar Behind the Scenes talk on NCL and really enjoyed it so I was sad that I would miss this one, but again ODFTC took priority. I was hoping the talk would be shown on the TV but I don't think it was, or I just never caught it. I read here about the Behind the Fun tour that was ~$90 and I'm not sure if this Galley tour was the same thing. The description in the Caper was a bit confusing because it didn't explicitly mention if there was a cost for the tour, but it did mention something about a cookbook and a price of $18 I think and I couldn't tell if that was for the tour, the cookbook or the tour and cookbook. It was a moot point anyway because I wasn't going to be able to attend but I would like to look into it next time.

 

 

Behind the Fun is a separate tour than the galley tour. I did the BTF in the morning and it was 4 hours. My wife and her parents went on the galley tour in the afternoon and it lasted minutes. I remember from previous galley tours they try to sell various books (cookbooks and towel animals one time), either as you are in line to go into the galley are after you come out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...