swodog94

The steakhouse is the only bar that will have anything resembling a high end scotch. Lower end blended stuff like Dewars is at every bar, and stuff like Macallan 8, Glenmorangie, etc. is probably available at other bars, but if your're looking for something like an Oban 14, Lagavulin 16 or any like that, the steakhouse is the bar that might have that. I like Laphroig 10 as my everyday scotch and they definitely don't carry that, so I bring my own (rum runner).

I brought a box of 20 Cuban Cohibas back from Europe last September, and in December I brought 29 Cuban cigars back fro Mexico (mix of Cohibas and Romeo & Julieta). I declared them and had no issues clearing US customs. The only prohibition is that the cigars be for personal use only, and they enforce that by limiting the number of cigars you can bring in at 100 (Note: the old limit of $100 has gone away]. Enjoy your sticks!

So I think the lot opens at 1100. We sailed on Pride in July 2017. Here was my experience:

- We had a 1230 check-in time so we arrived at the parking lot at 1155

- By 1215 we had dropped off our luggage with the porters, paid for parking, parked, and were waiting in front of the terminal.

- We were Suite guests, and when I noticed at 1220 that folks were walking onto the ship, we got in line for Security.

- By 1240 we had been thru security, checked in, received our S&S cards and were in the Atrium getting our first DoD.

Conversely, upon our return:

- The ship was supposed to moor at 0900, but we were alongside and moored by 0850.

- We had put our luggage out the night before so had to wait for the self-assist folks to get off the ship. By 1000, we were called to debark.

- We were driving off the lot at 1048; there was a line of cars waiting to enter the parking lot.

Hope this info is helpful!

I've cruised on Pride four times, the most recent being last year (July 2017). If you wear a coat and tie you will be much better dressed than many of your fellow shipmates. However, you will not be a "fool". On Pride I have seen many families dressed up in their "Sunday Best" for Elegant Night. They take advantage of the opportunity to take family pictures or formal portraits with spouses. My wife and I always dress up - I'm active duty military and wear my Dinner Dress uniform, and my wife matches me with a gorgeous cocktail dress or even a long gown. Don't let the "I'm wearing shorts and flip flops and watch the world burn" crowd dissuade you from dressing to the level you want! Enjoy your cruise...I'm jealous, wish I was sailing someplace warm soon, too!

I agree with almost everybody who responded above (except for the guy who recommended a $10 umbrella). The cabanas at Margaritaville are awesome! Air conditioning, ceiling fan, comfy couches, wait service on demand for food and drinks, and more! Go to Youtube and search for Grand Turk Cabana Tour, my video tour will provide all the highlights.

May I ask since you’ve been on the Pride a few times, what has been the general arrival times? Have they been on time mostly? I need to make my air reservations soon and I am hunting down recommendations on return flight times. Thanks for all of the info!

Well, we have never personally been late coming back, but the ship has had incidents in the past where they arrived late. Even if you plan self-service debark, the port area can get quite congested, traffic-wise, and you're a good 45 minutes from the airport even with moderate traffic. Also, TSA security at BWI can get backed up pretty bad, so unless you have pre-check, that's going to add to your headache as well. With a 10:00 am planned arrival, I wouldn't book any flight earlier that 3:00pm.

30 minute free internet codes have been distributed to all staterooms while we have been at dinner. (Serenade).

That's good to hear!

RCCL added me as a contact when I called them. They said it may be up to another 24 hours before they release any official statement or provide any news to families.

 

 

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Sam,

I don't want to give you false hope, but that may be good news. I'll continue to keep an eye on things.

Equinox hasn't sailed yet, you can see here.

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-87.2/centery:19.1/zoom:10

Yep, I saw that. Thanks for posting. This is exactly the kind of info we need to get out there! RCCL boards are not censoring, so they're a good source of info too.

Folks, keep posting what you know, bust just that. Not what you think or what you assume. The mods over on the Celebrity boards have started censoring posts and removing threads. Anything you KNOW should be posted here. If it is not an indisputable fact (i.e. supposition, assumptions or guesses) do not post it. Thoughts and prayers are of course appreciated.

This is a horrible situation. I've been lots of places just like Mexico (3rd world countries) and I've been lucky to avoid these kind of horrible accidents. I send my best wishes to the families of the victims.

Further info:

- Passengers on the RCCL ship (Serenade of the Seas) posted that their Captain announced that of the accident victims, four were RCCL pax. None of them were fatalities. Four were wounded.

- Serenade of the Seas sailed form Costa Maya on time.

- Celebrity Equinox had the majority of the pax on that tour bus.

- Celebrity Equinox has not sailed yet (the port webcam has been disabled, so there's no way of knowing for sure)

The pictures of the dead and wounded is very typical of Mexican newspapers and magazines. In the case of some of the drug wars, the pictures can be quite graphic. FYSA, the spanish language reporting says that 10 died on the scene (including the Mexican guide) and two succumbed to their injuries later at hospitals. Among the wounded were US, Italian and Swiss nationals.

I agree with what has been posted above. Email the Carnival Excursions Desk ASAP and get yourself put on the wait list ahead of time. I did that for my cruise back in July and when I got on the ship I went directly to the Excursions Desk. I was third on the list...other folks had emailed ahead of me! Luckily, it worked out because we got word a couple hours later that we had a cabana. I rushed down to the Desk and there were still several open so I was able to pick cabana #10, very close to the restrooms and far enough away from the crowded part of the beach that we had no issues and it felt rather private.

Over two cruises with HMC on the itinerary, I'm batting 1.000 on getting a cabana after embarkation, but only .500 on actually getting to HMC (went this July, canceled because of weather in OCT 2016). Good luck!

Jamman, great to see a new review from you! Can't wait to see everything you did...and all the beer you consumed! Following.

Great review...thanks for posting!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Wow.. what a great review! Y'all sound like such a fun couple! Good food, Good drink, Good beach... ahhh, good times! I love how appreciative you are of the staff. Thanks for taking the time to take us all on your vacation with you!

Thank you, it's very kind of you to say that. Regardless of how much money you spent or what mega-ship or itinerary you booked, the crew can make or break your cruise...and we have been fortunate to always have great crews, from the Captain on down to the pool towel attendant!

Following. on the Pride next spring!!

Thanks for reading. Have a great cruise!

Thanks very much for the excellent review, swodog94. We're departing on Pride this coming Sunday and I got a lot of useful info. We've sailed on Pride once before but it was 7 years ago.

Glad you enjoyed the review. The interior décor has not changed, but the 2.0 upgrades have made her like a new ship. Have a great time!

Last year we were on Pride during the WS. They did show the games in the Sports Bar. They did not show them on the "big screen", i.e. Dive In Movies screen.

Looks like you got the right answer on which Port is the correct one! As for Marriott properties, there are several, but none are next to the cruise terminal. Nor do any of them offer a "Stay and Park" option, or a shuttle to the terminal. However, there are several that are well located for touristy stuff.

- Renaissance: Cat 7. Located right in the center of the Inner Harbor. Everything is walking distance, including the Aquarium and great restaurants. The terminal is 5-10 minutes by Uber/taxi.

- Marriott Inner Harbor: Cat 6. Not as close to the Inner Harbor as the name would suggest. But easily withing a 10 minute walk. Ten-15 minutes to terminal by taxi.

- Marriott Waterfront: Cat 7. Located in the trendy Harbor East area. Lots of fun boutiques and some great dining. You can walk to the Inner Harbor or Little Italy from there too. The farthest from the cruise terminal -15-20 minutes.

- There are several other Marriott properties in the immediate area of the Inner Harbor, but none lower than a Cat 5.

Cruised on Pride in July. Here's a link to my review, which answers most, if not all, of your questions.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2527779

Or there's this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2527272

Hummm, the military must have change this rule, because back in the 70's when I was in the USMC, I was able to drink at age 18 in all of the bars on base.

It was still 18 in On-base Clubs when I joined in '89. But the law changed in the 90's as the military pushed to "deglamorize" alcohol consumption. On deployment in 2008 and 2010 the CO decided that we would hold underage sailors to the "no drinking under 21" rule even though we were going to be overseas in countries that allowed 18 year olds to drink. I knew the sailors were drinking anyway (they're sailors on liberty...duh), but if they got in trouble and had imbibed underage, they got the hammer!

Because the drinking age is 21 when you board the ship silly:confused:

Silly is your condescendingly insulting answer. Most of the rest of the world allows adults (18) to drink beer and wine. Our young men and women can join the military at 17 with parent's permission (and it has been my honor to lead them over the last 25 years) so why not allow them to have a drink with their parent's permission? Because you don't approve? I'm going to be politically incorrect here...grow up and realize that we (USA) are on the wrong end of this argument. Let the young adults have a drink. Heck, buy them one and use it as a teaching moment to discuss "responsible" drinking. Don't get them "knee walking, commode hugging drunk", just buy them a drink and be an adult with your offspring. Too much to ask? Then yeah, they'll learn to drink at parties in college (i.e. out of control).

Yeah you are right. I’m just worried though cause we have an excursion booked. Do they let people with excursions off before everyone else?

If it's a tendered port you'll get a notice in your mailbox that will tell you where to muster on the ship for your excursion. On Pride back in July we had a cabana at HMC and recvd a notice to muster in the Taj Mahal. We also had FTTF, and that notice told us to muster in the Butterflies Lounge - both groups were on the first tender. Otherwise, if you're moored to a pier, you'll be told where to meet your group (ex. Grand Turk excursions meet in a large courtyard that you'll find yourself in after you go through the duty free shop. There will be folks holding signs for the different groups).

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...and if it's like last week, he won't...and you'll be finding trusted crew members who know and like you to actually fill you in when you press them for the truth...

 

Ships shouldn't work that way...and I stand by that this Captain should be fired for the way he runs the ship with the passengers. Passengers have the right to know about mechanical issues when those issues are happening!

No, they don't. No such "right" exists. The CO will inform the passengers if a mechanical casualty will impact their safety. He may also choose to inform the pax if a mechanical issue will impact the cruise (i.e. slow the ship down causing a missed or delayed port). Otherwise, these things will be transparent to non-crew. That fact that crewmembers are talking out of school is unfortunate, but also human nature.