Carnival Pride 11/15-11/21 Awesome!!

[cruisefanatic01]

I do have pictures but I don't really remember what I did from day to day. So I plan on giving you a brief review of the ship and ports first and then I'll provide you guys with the pics afterwards. If you're looking for a more detailed review, you'll want to read Mark's (falkcor) review. He covers everything you can think of.;)

 

Background info: It was only my husband and I on this cruise. We're both in our late 20s. This was my 5th cruise and my husband's 1st. I was a little nervous on whether he'd enjoy himself or not because we were doing a 7 day cruise on his very first cruise. He likes to be pretty laid back on vacation though so I figured the cruise was the perfect vacation to do that because you can do as much or as little as you want.

 

Ship design & décor: Some people complain about the nudity in the design of the ship; however, I found it very beautiful. I loved all of the art and I felt it was more upscale than the other Carnival ship I’d been on (Inspiration). One of my favorite designs on the ship was the Sunset Garden. It’s a quiet little spot that’s near the Taj Mahal.

 

Food: All of the food was great. In the 2 to 3 times a day that I ate for 7 days, there were probably only about 2 times that I didn’t like what I had. It wasn’t a big deal though because I’d just get something else. I was really impressed with the food being served in the Mermaid’s Grill everyday for lunch. We never ate in the MDR for lunch. The buffet has about 6 different stations that you can choose from with different types of food. There are signs at the front of each station to show you what’s being served at that station. This was the best buffet food that I’ve had on any cruise I’ve ever been on. The soups at the Asian station were great everyday. We ate in the MDR for dinner every night. We had anytime dining and it worked out perfect for us because we could go eat whenever we wanted to. We had a short wait on the first night and the first formal night, but walked right in on the other nights. We liked our food every night, although one night I ordered the salmon which is a classic dish that’s offered every night. It was not good at all. There was no flavor to it. I just ordered a pasta dish instead. Some of our favorites were the stuffed mushrooms, lobster & tiger shrimp, and the BBQ ribs. I do wish that they would have offered the crème brulee more than one night. It was delicious!! Oh, one little treat that I forgot about, there is a 24 hour ice cream machine on the pool deck right outside of the Mermaid’s Grill.

 

Entertainment: We didn’t go to any of the Broadway-like shows. I’ve been on enough cruises and those are not one of my favorite things to do on the ship. We did go to all of the comedy acts though. The first comedian that they had was Al Ernst. He was absolutely HILARIOUS!!! My husband and I were seriously crying laughing. He did 2 shows on his own and then he did an open mic night one night for people that wanted to try out their skills as a comedian. There were a few Carnival staff that were in the show and about 4 guests that were cruising with us. The staff were pretty bad and I liked all but one of the guests. The other comedian on the ship was Tommy Drake. He wasn’t that good in our opinion. We went to karaoke in the Starry Nights Lounge a few nights. It was okay. The people that were singing were having a great time, but the audience just wasn’t into it for some reason. The rest of the activities on the ship were pretty much what I expected. There was one new activity that I’d never seen on any of my previous cruises –the Mixologist contest. And guess who was asked to be a judge? Yep, yours truly. I loved every minute of it. The person that wins gets to have their drink sold at all of the bars for the remainder of the cruise. Jose’s “Camacho” was great. The night club was pretty live every night that we went except one. There was a Michael Jackson dance contest one night. That was pretty funny. Also, there are two break dancers in there every night. I think they were considered the “fun crew.”

 

Pool deck: I didn’t really like the layout of the pools, but we didn’t use the pool the entire time we were there though so it wasn’t a big deal. If you want to get in the hot tub, I would recommend going to the one in the gym/spa area. There are usually not any kids in there. The only thing that I did want to do was the waterslide and it was closed every day except the last sea day. I still didn’t get to use it that day because it was kind of chilly that day and the line was pretty long since that was the only day that they opened it. One thing that I wanted to do but didn’t get to was the mini-golf on deck 10 (I think). There is also a running track and a sports court on that deck. We saw some people playing volleyball one day.

 

Room Service: The BLTs are AWESOME!!!!! I had one at least 6 out of the 7 days that I was on the ship. The guacamole that they have on the ship is also pretty good but the only thing is they don’t serve tortilla chips. So I just ate mine with potato chips. I know you’re probably thinking that sounds gross, but actually it wasn’t so bad.

 

Cabin: We were in a category 8 cabin on deck 4 with a aft balcony. This was my first time ever having a balcony and I do think it’s going to be hard to go without one from here on out. The room was great and the balcony was great. However, if you’re a person that usually gets seasick I wouldn’t suggest getting an aft cabin. There was a lot of vibration. It was so bad on the last sea day that everyone’s glasses were chattering on the tables in the MDR. My husband got sick this day. I felt myself starting to fell a little queasy that day too but I was fine after I ate. Our cabin steward Nomer was GREAT!!!

 

 

Ports: I really didn’t like the itinerary on this ship, but a cruise is usually not really about the itinerary for me. It’s more about the ship.

Orlando - I really wanted to go to Universal Studios but there just wasn’t enough time and we weren’t really interested in Kennedy Space Center. So we decided to go get a couples massage instead in Cocoa Beach at Cocoa Beach Day Spa. The service was excellent. It was well into the 80s in Cocoa Beach that day. For anyone that may be interested, Ron Jon’s has opened up a new resort there. Someone tried to get us to do the timeshare thing, but we just didn’t feel like it and we didn’t have a lot of time there. But based on the pictures that he showed us of the resort, the resort is going to be really nice, especially for a family traveling with kids.

 

Nassau – We booked a segway excursion here through bestonbahamas.com. It was about $20 cheaper per person than booking with Carnival. It was 2 hours long and we really enjoyed it. We were the only 2 people for our appointed time so the tour guide said he got to do more with us because we didn’t have to wait for people. We went back to the ship to eat and take a nap. Then later that night, we ventured over to Atlantis. I read on here that if you go to the dig after 6pm, you can see it for free. We took advantage of this. The resort was spectacular. I’d love to stay there one day but I have the feeling that it’s probably more on the expensive side based on the shops that I saw there. LOL

Freeport – You only have about 5 hours in Freeport so there is not a lot of time do much. We went downtown (Port Lucaya) to go shopping and we were not impressed at all. We went across the street to get to the beach. The water is absolutely beautiful. I’m always amazed when I see the water in other places. All of the US beaches that I’ve been to are dirty water.

 

 

That’s all that I can think of right now. I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can. I'll post pictures soon, gotta make dinner.

[Cambrensis]

Nice review, THANKS. We are going on the Pride out of Baltimore in March -- will have an aft suite and cabin on deck 4 also. When you say "vibration" -- is it from the ships propulsion while at sea? Or thrusters while in port? Or both? I was a little concerned about this since the suite was not cheap -- but the aft wrap balcony should be terrific!

 

Did you talk to anyone who did Deadmans Reef (private beach/snorkeling outfit) at Freeport?

 

Were shuttles readily available at the pier in Port Everglades -- or did you taxi to CB or take a ship excursion?

 

Was it chilly going down the coast -- we do want to be able to sit on that balcony without getting cold!

[vacation barbie]

Thank you CruiseFanatic01 for your review!! I can't wait for our January 17th cruise to come. I enjoy reading everyone's review in the meantime. I have a couple of questions for you:

 

We have a aft wrap suite booked and would like to know if you experienced the black "soot" some people have said they've seen on the balconies in the mornings.

 

It sounds like you had a nice time in the beauties night club. Did they play a variety of music? Was it mostly up-to-date music?

 

Thanks for your time!!

[scarletfan]

How can they offer guacamole and no chips? That's just bizarre.

 

Anyhow, when did it start to warm up? We're leaving next weekend and I'm wondering if I'm going to need a lot of warm clothing until we hit Florida.

 

Thanks!

[cruisefanatic01]

Nice review, THANKS. We are going on the Pride out of Baltimore in March -- will have an aft suite and cabin on deck 4 also. When you say "vibration" -- is it from the ships propulsion while at sea? Or thrusters while in port? Or both? I was a little concerned about this since the suite was not cheap -- but the aft wrap balcony should be terrific!

 

Did you talk to anyone who did Deadmans Reef (private beach/snorkeling outfit) at Freeport?

 

Were shuttles readily available at the pier in Port Everglades -- or did you taxi to CB or take a ship excursion?

 

Was it chilly going down the coast -- we do want to be able to sit on that balcony without getting cold!

 

The vibration was coming from the propulsion while at sea because we didn't feel any vibration when we were docked in the ports. The balcony is great though. We were right beside an aft wrap balcony suite. The room was just a little bigger than ours. If you don't usually get seasick, I wouldn't worry about it. We kind of got used to it and it didn't bother us until the last sea day.

 

This is kind of hard to answer because we didn't get off of the ship until around noon. So I'm not sure if there were any shuttles ready and waiting when most people got off in the morning but there definitely weren't any waiting when we got off. No one even came up to offer us a taxi. We finally got one after asking someone but it was a total rip-off. They charged us $30 to get to Cocoa Beach; whereas the cab company that the spa called to take us back to the ship was only about $18 because he used the meter instead of using a flat rate. So if you're going to catch a cab, I recommend you getting some numbers for private cab companies so that your trip amount will be based on the meter.

 

We were lucky the day that we left on Nov. 15th. The weather was really nice (in the mid 70s). Even if it's cold the first day, by the second day it should be warming up enough for you to go on the balcony.

[cruisefanatic01]

Thank you CruiseFanatic01 for your review!! I can't wait for our January 17th cruise to come. I enjoy reading everyone's review in the meantime. I have a couple of questions for you:

 

We have a aft wrap suite booked and would like to know if you experienced the black "soot" some people have said they've seen on the balconies in the mornings.

 

It sounds like you had a nice time in the beauties night club. Did they play a variety of music? Was it mostly up-to-date music?

 

Thanks for your time!!

 

Wow. You only have a little over a month until your cruise. The excitement must be killing you.

 

I didn't notice any black "soot" when we were out on the balcony. Then again I wasn't really looking for it. Well it couldn't have been too bad if I didn't notice it.

 

Yes, we had a ball in the Beauties night club. There was a group of line dancers on our cruise so that was kind of cool to learn new line dances that they were doing. There was some other types of music played but it was mostly hip-hop & R&B.

[cruisefanatic01]

How can they offer guacamole and no chips? That's just bizarre.

 

Anyhow, when did it start to warm up? We're leaving next weekend and I'm wondering if I'm going to need a lot of warm clothing until we hit Florida.

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah scarletfan, I thought that was bizarre too.:confused: Anyway, I made it work with the potato chips.

 

Well even the first day was kind of warm for us (mid-70s), but it got warmer and warmer as the days went on. It was well in the 80s by Wednesday when we got to Port Canaveral. I would say still pack semi-warm clothing though. The warmer that the weather got, the cooler it got on the ship. I always needed a jacket in the Taj Mahal and MDR.

[cruisefanatic01]

Here are some pictures that I promised you guys.

 

[cruisefanatic01]

View from our balcony, mid-pool area, and sports deck

[cruisefanatic01]

Ice carving show and mixologist contest

[cruisefanatic01]

The Dream at night - she was sailing beside us, us pulling into Nassau

[cruisefanatic01]

Vaction home in Nassau (a girl can only dream, right:o), Freeport

[Cambrensis]

Thanks Cruisefanatic! I know we will have a blast!

[BBigfoot613]

Vaction home in Nassau (a girl can only dream, right:o), Freeport

 

In the summer of 2008 that house was a funny pink color. So imagine that one if you will! I'll see if I san find a pic of it since I took a dreamy pic also. Someone said that house or the one next to it is nicolas cage's house. I don't know how true it is but it gives ya something to shoot for! :D:D

 

I only have one question. I've been so busy with canaveral and nassau I haven't looked too much into freeport. Is that beach a free beach? Can you rent chairs or those shell shaped thingies and if so do you know how much? DW DD AND DS all got the fair skin curse and burn easily but all LOVE the water so I want to be prepared.

 

Also thanks for taking the time to post a review and pics. I have awhile before I go but the anticipation is starting to get to me already. This is the furthest out I have booked (11 months) and we're just over half way. I go in May so I'm guessing the temps might be similar.

[vacation barbie]

Thanks again CruiseFanatic01!!

[going2cruz]

I do have pictures but I don't really remember what I did from day to day. So I plan on giving you a brief review of the ship and ports first and then I'll provide you guys with the pics afterwards. If you're looking for a more detailed review, you'll want to read Mark's (falkcor) review. He covers everything you can think of.;)

 

Background info: It was only my husband and I on this cruise. We're both in our late 20s. This was my 5th cruise and my husband's 1st. I was a little nervous on whether he'd enjoy himself or not because we were doing a 7 day cruise on his very first cruise. He likes to be pretty laid back on vacation though so I figured the cruise was the perfect vacation to do that because you can do as much or as little as you want.

 

Ship design & décor: Some people complain about the nudity in the design of the ship; however, I found it very beautiful. I loved all of the art and I felt it was more upscale than the other Carnival ship I’d been on (Inspiration). One of my favorite designs on the ship was the Sunset Garden. It’s a quiet little spot that’s near the Taj Mahal.

 

Food: All of the food was great. In the 2 to 3 times a day that I ate for 7 days, there were probably only about 2 times that I didn’t like what I had. It wasn’t a big deal though because I’d just get something else. I was really impressed with the food being served in the Mermaid’s Grill everyday for lunch. We never ate in the MDR for lunch. The buffet has about 6 different stations that you can choose from with different types of food. There are signs at the front of each station to show you what’s being served at that station. This was the best buffet food that I’ve had on any cruise I’ve ever been on. The soups at the Asian station were great everyday. We ate in the MDR for dinner every night. We had anytime dining and it worked out perfect for us because we could go eat whenever we wanted to. We had a short wait on the first night and the first formal night, but walked right in on the other nights. We liked our food every night, although one night I ordered the salmon which is a classic dish that’s offered every night. It was not good at all. There was no flavor to it. I just ordered a pasta dish instead. Some of our favorites were the stuffed mushrooms, lobster & tiger shrimp, and the BBQ ribs. I do wish that they would have offered the crème brulee more than one night. It was delicious!! Oh, one little treat that I forgot about, there is a 24 hour ice cream machine on the pool deck right outside of the Mermaid’s Grill.

 

Entertainment: We didn’t go to any of the Broadway-like shows. I’ve been on enough cruises and those are not one of my favorite things to do on the ship. We did go to all of the comedy acts though. The first comedian that they had was Al Ernst. He was absolutely HILARIOUS!!! My husband and I were seriously crying laughing. He did 2 shows on his own and then he did an open mic night one night for people that wanted to try out their skills as a comedian. There were a few Carnival staff that were in the show and about 4 guests that were cruising with us. The staff were pretty bad and I liked all but one of the guests. The other comedian on the ship was Tommy Drake. He wasn’t that good in our opinion. We went to karaoke in the Starry Nights Lounge a few nights. It was okay. The people that were singing were having a great time, but the audience just wasn’t into it for some reason. The rest of the activities on the ship were pretty much what I expected. There was one new activity that I’d never seen on any of my previous cruises –the Mixologist contest. And guess who was asked to be a judge? Yep, yours truly. I loved every minute of it. The person that wins gets to have their drink sold at all of the bars for the remainder of the cruise. Jose’s “Camacho” was great. The night club was pretty live every night that we went except one. There was a Michael Jackson dance contest one night. That was pretty funny. Also, there are two break dancers in there every night. I think they were considered the “fun crew.”

 

Pool deck: I didn’t really like the layout of the pools, but we didn’t use the pool the entire time we were there though so it wasn’t a big deal. If you want to get in the hot tub, I would recommend going to the one in the gym/spa area. There are usually not any kids in there. The only thing that I did want to do was the waterslide and it was closed every day except the last sea day. I still didn’t get to use it that day because it was kind of chilly that day and the line was pretty long since that was the only day that they opened it. One thing that I wanted to do but didn’t get to was the mini-golf on deck 10 (I think). There is also a running track and a sports court on that deck. We saw some people playing volleyball one day.

 

Room Service: The BLTs are AWESOME!!!!! I had one at least 6 out of the 7 days that I was on the ship. The guacamole that they have on the ship is also pretty good but the only thing is they don’t serve tortilla chips. So I just ate mine with potato chips. I know you’re probably thinking that sounds gross, but actually it wasn’t so bad.

 

Cabin: We were in a category 8 cabin on deck 4 with a aft balcony. This was my first time ever having a balcony and I do think it’s going to be hard to go without one from here on out. The room was great and the balcony was great. However, if you’re a person that usually gets seasick I wouldn’t suggest getting an aft cabin. There was a lot of vibration. It was so bad on the last sea day that everyone’s glasses were chattering on the tables in the MDR. My husband got sick this day. I felt myself starting to fell a little queasy that day too but I was fine after I ate. Our cabin steward Nomer was GREAT!!!

 

 

Ports: I really didn’t like the itinerary on this ship, but a cruise is usually not really about the itinerary for me. It’s more about the ship.

Orlando - I really wanted to go to Universal Studios but there just wasn’t enough time and we weren’t really interested in Kennedy Space Center. So we decided to go get a couples massage instead in Cocoa Beach at Cocoa Beach Day Spa. The service was excellent. It was well into the 80s in Cocoa Beach that day. For anyone that may be interested, Ron Jon’s has opened up a new resort there. Someone tried to get us to do the timeshare thing, but we just didn’t feel like it and we didn’t have a lot of time there. But based on the pictures that he showed us of the resort, the resort is going to be really nice, especially for a family traveling with kids.

 

Nassau – We booked a segway excursion here through bestonbahamas.com. It was about $20 cheaper per person than booking with Carnival. It was 2 hours long and we really enjoyed it. We were the only 2 people for our appointed time so the tour guide said he got to do more with us because we didn’t have to wait for people. We went back to the ship to eat and take a nap. Then later that night, we ventured over to Atlantis. I read on here that if you go to the dig after 6pm, you can see it for free. We took advantage of this. The resort was spectacular. I’d love to stay there one day but I have the feeling that it’s probably more on the expensive side based on the shops that I saw there. LOL

Freeport – You only have about 5 hours in Freeport so there is not a lot of time do much. We went downtown (Port Lucaya) to go shopping and we were not impressed at all. We went across the street to get to the beach. The water is absolutely beautiful. I’m always amazed when I see the water in other places. All of the US beaches that I’ve been to are dirty water.

 

 

That’s all that I can think of right now. I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can. I'll post pictures soon, gotta make dinner.

 

 

This ship brought me back to Carnival for good....had a blast in AUG after trying RCCL & NCL...now going Dream June as a Platinum Cruiser!!