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9.20.09 Pride Review

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

By GOTTA CRUISE NOW,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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SUNDAY 9.20.09 - EMBARKATION

THE TRIP TO THE PORT

Let me start by saying there were 4 women in our group. Friends from work. We have been counting down the days for this cruise for months!!!

We planned on leaving at 8 AM, but one of the girls misunderstood where we were leaving from... not a problem. I knew we would probably not leave until 8:30-9. We ARE women, you know! ; )On a similar note... was AMAZED we fit all of our luggage into my car. (Chrysler Concorde)ANYWAY...left Lancaster at 8:30 AM. : )Stopped for breakfast on the way. It was nice to just take our time. Even as it was, the 1 1/2 hour trip seemed to really FLY! (when women talk, time flies...unless your a man nearby)Went through the Key tunnel, which is a $2 toll. If you are driving down on I-95, stay in the far right lane when you go through the tunnel. As soon as you come out, you will see the Pride on your left! Didn't expect it so soon, and we all said "Oh! There it is!" (Funny!)

PROCESSING AND EMBARKATION

We arrived at the port at about 11 AM. Dropped our luggage off at one of the carts, tipped them, and were on our way to park in a couple of minutes. I accidently gave them my carry-on, but I was glad later on. Our cabin wasn't ready until late... but that's another story. : )We paid for parking, walked a short distance to the terminal, and were processed right away. We were early, so the VIP area wasn't ready. Not that there is much there... At Baltimore, you are just processed there, it's not a REAL lounge area. Bummer. This was my 1st Platinum cruise, so was hoping... but no, we got the plastic blue molded seats like everyone else. BUT we were in zone 1! Everyone else faced us in the lined up seats... The processing time did not take long at all. We were in those LOVELY blue seats by 11:30 AM. We were actually the 1st ones in line, just after a wedding party. LOTS for us to watch while we waited. They also broke out some beach balls and started throwing them about. Most people were either really annoyed by this... It was amazing how many people that were trying to doze were hit on the head with the balls! Or they had fun with it. We enjoyed watching a few kids running around playing. We were called to board and were up eating lunch at 1 PM.

 

To be continued...:cool:

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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Sunday 9.20.09 Continued...

 

GETTING ACCLIMATED...

NOBODY around... Empty Lido deck. Very nice! (for a few minutes, anyway...); )We were going to drop off our luggage, but it was still closed off... This made it hard for us to explore the ship. We went to the lounge on deck 3, just outside the dining room and relaxed while we waited.

Finally got in our cabin, 6273, which was an 8G extended balcony. Very nice. Had 2 reg beds, a couch that opened to a bed, and 1 bunk. We are all very organized, so there was plenty of room for all of our stuff. Our luggage was all there except 1 piece. (MINE, of course!)It all fit under the bed when we placed it inside each other like Russian dolls. : )Our room steward's name was Jose'. He opened our fridge for us, and made sure I had bags for my laundry... As I mentioned before, this was my 1st Platinum cruise, so I took advantage of the free wash & fold every day. My absolute FAVORITE perk!

Muster Drill & Sail Away

By this time it was time for the "mustard drill" as we like to call it in my family. Went well. Quick & painless as can be.

Dropped off the life jackets in the cabin & headed to the Lido deck aft. Got our Funships & headed to the very back of the ship for embarkation. It was amazing how slow we went through the bay. What a glorious day for embarkation! Cloudless & 72 degrees! It was really cool going under the 3 bridges. 1st, the key bridge about an hour after we pushed off, then the Bay bridges were about an hour or so after that. The Bay bridges were especially pretty because the sun was setting behind them and the night lights were already coming on around them. Magical. We watched that one from our balcony.

Dinner & the rest of the Evening

Time for dinner. We stayed in our travel clothes because we could. : )It was open seating the 1st night, which I don't understand why they have to do. It was not up to the usual standards. They didn't offer bread. Saw them offering it to other tables. The creme' brulee' was COLD & has a slime on top. Don't get me wrong. I still ate it. ; )But it was not as good as usual. The Creamed Roasted Tomato Soup was quite yummy! I could have had more of that... if I had bread.

We were exhausted by this time. Went back to the room and read for a while, then went to bed.

Still only about halfway through the bay...

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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MONDAY 9.21.09 - "Fun Day at Sea" #1

I have trouble sleeping in on cruises. I sleep well, just get up early. I think it's because I am nosy, or am afraid I'll miss something. Anyway, I usually get up very early, then take a nap later on. Works for me. So no surprise that I woke up at 5 AM. Went out on the balcony. Still in the bay. Quiet, but warmer, muggier. According to the map on the TV we are close to the Outer Banks of NC. Came back in & did some Suduko for a while, and next thing I know, it is almost 8 AM!

We all got dressed & were eating breakfast on the Lido by 9-9:30 AM.

We had a VERY lazy day. Perfect for vacation! We slept, read, ate, slept, read, played 1 cent slots for a short time... I went to the Sunset Gardens on the outer edges of the theater on deck 3. Most people don't know it's there, so it is a very quiet place to read or do puzzles.

Met the girls for lunch at noon on the Lido.

Katherine & I did a wine tasting at 2 PM. Very nice. They had it in the Supper Club, David's. Very informative. We learned a lot. It rained while we were in there, which was cool. It looked neat on the pink glass of the funnel.

Went back to the cabin & napped till 6-ish. Got ready for the "Cruise Elegant" dinner.

Had our pics taken, then went to dinner. Our waiter was Winston, and the assistant was Sueta. Great service, great food. We each had a different main course. Prime Rib, Lobster, Perch, Duck.

Anna & La went to bed early because they had to be at their excursion at 8 AM... or so they thought. More on that later...

I do not do the Welcome Aboard show. Tired of all of the same tired jokes.

Katherine & I went to Karaoke for a while. I did not care for the girl who ran it. I think her name was Donna. She rolled her eyes at me when I chose "I will Survive". Really? With all the other dumb songs people choose? Whatever. I didn't go back. Plus, it closed down at midnight. Everyone was just getting started. It wasn't as if no one was there...

We went to the Piano Bar. The "Piano Man's" name is Richie. Enjoyed him. He banged the piano quite a bit, but he was fun, and I liked his "gravelly" voice. Very down to earth & friendly. Closed this one down too.

Went to the cabin. Were getting ready for bed when we noticed the Capers... Tuesday was a "Fun Day at Sea", not a PORT day... We were laughing so hard because the 2 other girls went to bed so early. It felt like we were the parents! Left a post-it for them, so they wouldn't get up & go down expecting to go on their excursion... Hit the hay. LOVE those beds!!!

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mom2tcdx2

mom2tcdx2

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We sailed the 6-13th, I must say I was soooo totally disappointed with the Creme Brulee, mine was oily looking, very watery and only had a small section crusted with the normal sugar topping and only two berries on the top of it. It is my most favorite desert and I was totally looking forward to it and horribly disappointed.

 

Our waiter Santos who we had after that first night even commented to me that he was disappointed in serving the Creme Brulee and that it also normally has lots of berries on top. He said he didn't understand why it looked different in the way it was cooked, etc. He said he had been embarassed to serve it that night. It was at least nice to know the wait staff even noticed the difference, however it doesn't seem to have corrected itself on later sailings either. Guess whoever is cooking it doesn't know what they are doing.

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cathyoo

cathyoo

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Yes- please continue- My BFF and I are cruising on the Pride 10/25-11/1 - can't wait and please go in detail on your excursions- thanks, Angelique

 

Oh, you will be leaving the Pride as I am going on.. one favor please... make sure everyone exits PROMPTLY.. thank you

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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TUESDAY 9.22.09 - Fun Day at Sea #2

So... another sea day! I was up early as usual. It looked like a nice morning, so I got the bathing suit on and went up to the aft pool with my coffee, some honeydew & a book. The sun was already warm, which was nice after the 1st 2 days of cooler, damp weather. Sat on the edge of the pool with my feet in the wonderful WARM water! Perfect vacation activity!

After a while, went down to check on the girls... we all went to breakfast on the Lido, then we went in search of lounge chairs on Lido aft. I saw little to NO chair hogging on this cruise. I was AMAZED! We found 4 chairs directly aft, so we could see the trail of foam behind us... Beautiful. Read, watched people, slept/ relaxed until it was time to go to...

CRUISE CRITIC MEET & GREET:D

We all met at 1:30 in the Starry Night Lounge. Was fun putting faced to names. One of the couples actually used to live in my hometown & we even went to the same church! Ironic, huh?

 

After this I got some lunch from the Lido and went back to the room. Had a nap. Woke up & went out on the balcony to read & just enjoy the view.

 

Went to dinner. Two words: Pumpkin Soup!!! Yum. The cruise could have ended right there & I would be okay. THEN I had warm chocolate melting cake. (a moment of silence, please)

 

We decided to go to the theater & see the show. Not impressed with the male singer AT ALL! Off key. NO stage presence. The female singer holds her own, but tries too hard... sometimes adding stuff that is not really needed. Sorry, I am a singer & am particular about that. The dancers were good, but not excellent. If they would have a decent show, they would have been excellent. They never stopped dancing. It was insane. There were mistakes, and we were unsure whether it was because they were new... they were tired... or they were just not very good. Overall, it wasn't bad, but I would rather have spent the time elsewhere... IMO, of course!

The girls had to get up early the next morning... for real this time. So they went to bed. Katherine & I were tired as well. So we read, then went to bed as well.:rolleyes:

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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WEDNESDAY 9.23.09 - Port Canaveral

We were excited because they announced that there would be a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center sometime between 8-9 AM. So Anna & La were already going there on their excursion. They were thrilled. Katherine & I were going to watch it from the ship. We were "parked" directly across the bay from the Center with a clear view of where it would go up. I was at the very front of the ship with a couple hundred others. I was standing next to some very nice smelling handsome officers... MMmmm... :rolleyes:Anyway... It was getting closer to 9 AM, so I thought I'd try to call Anna. She told me they had cancelled the launch because of the weather. Bummer. :(So I was the 1st to know on the ship. I told the nice smelling officers...

So... we decided to go shopping. There is a bus that is supposed to run all day for $10 RT. We got there just as the bus was pulling away. No problem. We could wait. They said there was another one coming in just a couple of minutes. 45 minutes later... we got a refund. So did others. All we were going to do was go to Walmart anyway... La's deodorant had exploded. So we went back on board & found a quiet spot to read/ nap. I REALLY fell asleep. (woke myself up snoring... NICE!):p

We decided to get lunch and go to the Butterflies Lounge directly beneath the Taj Majal Theater. They were showing a movie. X-Men; the beginning. We got there just after the lights had gone down. Couldn't see a THING in front of us. If I was watching us, I would have been laughing hysterically... Carrying food laden trays, tapping our feet in front of us to get our footing... too much.

After the movie we were just walking along when I happened to glance out the window and saw a dolphin cavorting around right next to the ship. (yeah, I said CAVORTING) He/ she was there for a LONG time... swimming around in a little cul-de-sac, then coming out & swimming in the bay. We went back to the cabin where the girls had just got back from their excursion. We could see the dolphin from our balcony. I got video of it. I was thrilled, as were the others. I had also seen some sea turtles earlier while waiting for the non-rocket to go off.

 

We relaxed until dinner time, then shopped and visited Anna's shoes. (she fell in love with some Kenneth Cole shoes, and she was trying hard not to buy them ALL week)So we had regularly scheduled "visiting hours"...

The girls went back to the room, and I played some slots. (Don't get too excited here, I only did the 1 cent & 2 cent machines! [too cheap for much else])

 

Went to bed. A big day scheduled tomorrow!

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GOTTA CRUISE NOW

GOTTA CRUISE NOW

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And for the "foodies out there...

 

these are the canape's that were delivered to our cabin for my Platinum status... mmm...

CarnivalPride92209Missi11.jpg

CHEESECAKE!!!!! with a strawberry sauce on the side

CarnivalPride92209Anna39.jpg

 

forget what it was called, but it was Mexican & it was good...

CarnivalPride92209Anna37.jpg

 

for the sushi lovers...

 

CarnivalPride92209Anna36.jpg

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