penguinhunter

We were on the same cruise, and simply loved it. We've only sailed on Carnival three times, but this was our best cruise yet. This was our first time with this itinerary. My wife loved swimming at Half moon Cay, and we both had a good time at Grand Turk. We've been to Freeport before, so nothing really new there. This time, we did the tour of the City, Downtown and the Bahamian Brewery. "Brice," our tour guide, did an awesome job! He was knowledgeable, funny, pleasant and outgoing, and even worked the taps a little at the Bahamian Brewery. The products offered here (Sands, High Rock, etc.) are excellent and there was plenty on draft. After sampling each product, you are allowed to drink your fill (within time constraints, of course) of your favorite. Needless to say, the bus was rocking on the way back to the ship!!!

We too, had FTTF, our first time. We arrived in port shortly after 11:00 am, and were directed to drop our luggage. After parking, we entered the terminal which was wall to wall with folks waiting to get on board. Processing was smooth, and we were allowed to bypass the lines and were directed to a private seating area. It was a little after 12:15 or so (I think) when we were allowed to board. I was able to drop our hand-carried items in our room (which was ready) and proceed to the Lido for lunch. Our luggage made it to the room by 1:30 pm. We also enjoyed tender priority at Half moon Cay (second tender), and a priority disembark when back in Baltimore. FTTF worked for us!

We've sailed out of Baltimore three times now, and have never experienced an issue. To us, the Carnival folks do an awesome job! OK, sure I could complain a little about food on the Lido (just for the sake of complaining), but really -- it was not that bad. In fact, I thought most offerings were very good. Food in the Main Dining Room was delicious and well prepared, and the wait staff did their usual phenomenal job.

We stayed in Cabin 6219, the first balcony cabin in the mid-ship bump-out on the starboard side. Nice, clean cabin. No real issues whatsoever! It was always quiet, and the only minor issue I had was on Saturday night was with the "vibration." Don't know if the Captain was pushing it or if there were rough seas that night, but there was a definite vibration. Again, the only time during the week that I noticed it. Our Cabin Steward, Rodger, was phenomenal. We only saw him three times during the week, but our cabin was always kept clean and supplied with clean towels and such.

Again, another wonderful cruise. The "Pride" is getting a little long in the tooth, but she is still a beauty to me. She will be simply awesome after her upgrade to Carnival 2.0! Highly recommend!!!

I have an additional clarification that was received from another Carnival spokesman, John Raabe. According to Mr. Rabbe, "John Heald was speaking about the Carnival Miracle here. The Carnival Pride has been fully repaired and can cruise at her usual speeds."

That's even better news for those of us who will be cruising soon! OK, I'm getting excited now!!!

I posed the question regarding the "Pride's" issue to Jon Heald on FB, and here is his response -- "We have no changes to the current schedule but have made a few to our Alaskan season and I have posted those here and of course we have contacted the guests. The ship is running normal with just a small drop in speed available on one of the Azipods. Cheers and let me know if you have any other questions"

From the last posted update on the Carnival FB page, the "Pride's" issue was to have been repaired at sea by the 19th. I've seen nothing since. I can only assume things are back to normal unless we hear otherwise. It has been pretty quiet on the social networks for today's sailing.