Ykgorbie

Been reading a lot of conflicting reports re: the Pride lately...what was your take on things? Good service ?

Thank you very much !

Would anyone happen to have the email address for the Maitre d on the Pride? Thanks in advance !

Thanks for all of the sympathy, lol. It's warmed right up today to -22C which converts to -7.8F.....although the wind chill is -22F. MUCH better.

Ok. Everyone hates the winter, but when I drove to work this morning, the wind chill temperature was -51C, which, for you American folk, converts to -59.8F. We are booked on the Pride Repo cruise on March 15th and this is one girl who cannot wait to don the flip flops and bask in the sun. Getting SO excited !

Good question.....but I think that if you declare booze on your customs form, you are supposed to be able to produce that booze if need be so.... if you plan on drinking that booze on the 2nd part of your B2B cruise I wouldn't bother declaring it at all. You could always ask the rep when you purchase it onboard.

We are cruising on the Magic the 23rd and I have been watching the ship fill up but the aft wrap 6501 is still available... Is this not a good location? tempting to upgrade but don't want to be disappointed... Anyone stayed in this room?

We LOVE aft wraps...if you want to see a picture of the balcony, there is a picture on cruiselinerooms dot com of cabin #6470 on the Magic - the aft on the other side from #6501. If the price was right, that alone would sell me....

One Carnival cruise we were on, we left some money (not much, maybe $30) in one of the machines - but we didn't realize it - at all...until a cheque from Carnival came in the mail and it had to be some six months after our cruise !

On our very first cruise (on the Pride) we were in a 4K, cabin #4200. While we could open the french doors for some air and to stick your head out, you couldn't actually go outside. And the lifeboats were obstructing most any view we had. We had been upgraded from an Oceanview, so it was ok, but I wouldn't intentionally book a 4K I don't think.

GoPro cameras at ~$500 may be good for what they are. They certainly sell a lot of them so they must be doing something right. However, I seriously doubt that it is the best underwater camera on the market.

 

Look at this one at B&H for $6500 which has to be a bit better.

 

DON

Yes, I should have clarified my post - I meant best "affordable" underwater camera....would LOVE to have the B & H....in my dreams:o

This used to be my home airport and we return to the area every now and then.

 

There are hotels you can stay where you COULD walk to the casino, but I know if you should.

 

Maryland Live is more or less connected to a huge mall. It's not actually connected, but there is only a short walkway between it and the mall and they share a parking garage. Unfortunately, there is really no sidewalk around this mall, so if you were to walk through the parking lot, you would truly be walking through the parking lot. We've run into this issue when we've just been to the mall and had to park far from an entrance.

 

Hotels within the circle of the mall/casino (but on the far side of the casino) are the Hampton Inn, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites. This sit below the mall/casino and I believe you either have to walk up a hill or up a set of stairs in order to reach the mall parking lot. Then you would have to either walk around the mall parking lot or go through the mall. It would probably be about a 10-15 minute walk from this area.

 

These are the only hotels that I would suggest walking from, but I would be hesitant to do it if the weather is bad or if it is dark. There are other hotels in the area that you COULD make the walk from, but the crossings would be even trickier.

 

I would assume that most hotels in the area offer shuttles to the mall/casino. You might want to check before you book.

 

We usually stay at the Holiday Inn Express Hanover/BWI when we are in the area. I like it because it is close to Arundel Mills, but not right there. It is convenient when we drive/rent a car because we don't have to deal with Arundel Mills traffic unless we are going there. We will be staying there again at the end of the month. It is a basic hotel, but offers free breakfast/wifi and has what we need for a night or two.

 

If you are going out of the Baltimore port, there is also a casino in downtown Baltimore now. I'm sure prices for hotels are more expensive there, but it is an option. You can actually take the T from BWI to downtown Baltimore. We have done that as well.

Thanks for your response - very helpful ! Since you are familiar with the hotels in the area, are there any which have balconies? I haven't been too successful in finding any near the airport...

I see there is a casino quite close to the BWI airport. Does anyone know which hotels (if any) are within walking distance to the casino?

I cannot personally say, but my son has one and loves it.

Has he used it underwater ?

We are booked on the Pride's 2 week repositioning cruise on March 15th. We have recently got into snorkeling, in fact, I purchased a prescription mask so I can see the fishies - used it on last cruise nad LOVED it. So...we are wondering whether to invest in a GoPro camera that I hear is the best underwater camera on the market. Can anybody chime in about the GoPro? Worth it ?

I have been on both, in fact, cruising on the Pride again in a couple of months. The Liberty is a larger class of ship, although the Pride now has the 2.0 upgrades. Maybe choose by itinerary - any ports you haven't visited yet ?

We were told that the tender distance is 5 miles, so yes, the seas can be awfully choppy that far out....

I would think it would be a hassle bringing your own clubs, plus, depending upon which airline you fly, you could incur extra baggage fees. For only a round or two of golf, I would just rent at the clubhouse. They normally have Callaway or Nike or Taylor Made clubs for rent....

I know this is going to come across as extremely negative...but, seriously, do you think anyone who has just come back from an Ebola stricken area of Africa is going to go to the port with the intention of getting on the ship for a holiday....and then when they're actually asked if they've recently been to an Ebola stricken area of Africa, they're going to tell the truth so their holiday is cancelled ? I mean, it's good that Carnival are doing something, but I fear it's more of a legal thing, to clear Carnival of any future problems. And, as far as the temperature-taking thing, again, good that the airports and companies such as Carnival are doing something, but Ebola has an incubation period of up to 21 days. So, quite possibly, somebody could be exhibiting zero symptoms for days or weeks after being infected themselves. What the scariest thing about Ebola is and what the CDC are so afraid of is it mutating (don't forget, Ebola has already evolved into 5 strains, 4 of which infect humans) and becoming airborne. Then, we're in trouble. Big trouble.

Try searching "Carnival FUNTIMES" which is what they changed the name to since "Capers"

I pad $19.95 (or so) on the Breeze a year ago for the 16oz Red Frog Tervis tumbler (incl lid), but it had a drink in it ! ;) It survived the trip home just fine and I use it all the time. Looks like brand new.

We did one of our B2B's like this. Fortunately, we were only moving about 4 cabins down, so we let our steward know and he instructed us to leave our packed luggage inside our room with and he would move it to our new cabin. Just in case, I also put our new luggage tags on and also put a note on top of the luggage saying we were on a B2B....

As for the liquor from the Fun Shops, if you purchase it early in the evening of the last night of the first cruise, they will let you carry it to your cabin.

Re: Pre cruise hotel in Fort Lauderdale - try to stay somewhere near the water taxi route. It's a nice way to see a few places (I believe there are about 13 stops) and a nice way to kill some time.

The balcony with the Jr Suite, since it's at the front of the ship, may be windy. The aft balcony may be hotter, as you tend to get less wind there.

Just wondering....do you get the perks if you reach Platinum status halfway through your cruise ?

Carnival made a deal with me when I booked the balcony saying my party was allowed to smoke on the balcony. I made all my plans based on the deal they made with me. It's there right to change the deal but I should be compensated for all travel cost the I have ( airline and hotel). If I choose to cancel. Or anyone who had a cruise booked before this week should be grandfathered in to be allowed to smoke. and in about a year or so eventually carnival would be smoke free."

I could not agree more. We have already paid out $2000.00 in airfare for my husband and myself.....(we have to take 3 planes for a total of 9 hours FLYING time to get from where we live to Tampa) and also booked a room pre-cruise for a couple of nights. How lovely that I can get my cruise fare back with no penalty and ONLY be out $2500.00 if we decide to cancel. I booked a balcony specifically because I knew smoking was allowed on it. I can get used to the inconvenience of having to get dressed early in the morning to go down to the casino to have my coffee and cigarette; I can get used to the fact that should I want to enjoy a beverage and a cigarette before I go to bed, I can't do it on my balcony....it doesn't ruin my cruise, but it's not what I signed up and paid for. I know a majority of the non smokers have tunnel vision when it comes to this, but would you feel your vacation was a little compromised if you booked an all inclusive and got there to find out the pools were closed for renovations? Not going to ruin your vacation, but it certainly changes it.

I think the least Carnival could have done was to phase this new policy in and perhaps grandfather the smoking thing for the people who have already booked a cruise. Three months is not nearly enough notice for us. I even looked into switching rooms because I know we're not going to make nearly as much use out of our balcony now and guess what? The price for an Oceanview room is now WAY more than what we paid for our aft extended balcony.