Just back from Carnival Pride from Baltimore 11/29-12/6

[princessofthesea]

I am back form an AWESOME cruise on the Carnival Pride from Baltimore to Florida and the Bahamas 11/29-12/6 ! We had such a great time !! I won't be posting a full long review at this time, but wanted to give a quick run-down. We loved everything. We had a partially obstructed cabin, cabin #5168. It was great ! Well worth the savings in price, there really is no huge obstruction, we could see down between lifeboats and could see out to the water, so it was perfect !

 

Our cabin steward so great, always took care of everything, our waiter in the dining room was awesome and we always had great food ! Food was also good in the mermaid's grille and once you got used to where all the stations were it was easy to navigate !

 

We had great weather in Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. In Canaveral, we did the airboat and alligator tour and LOVED it !! In Nassau, we went to the British Columbia Hilton for the beach - beautiful beach and very peaceful and great food for lunch ! That night in Nassau we went on the sunset champagne cruise and it was awesome as well !

 

In Freeport, we opted for a private tour, we did the Paradise Cove Snorkel, great cheap price which includes round-trip transportation, beautiful beach where we snorkeled to their reef. The water was a little rough that day due to winds but it was still great, saw some great fish and just had a fantastic time. They had us back to the ship on time as promised.

 

I loved all the vegas style shows on the ship, played some bingo, donated to the slots and just had an overall fantastic time !!! Used their gym everyday, great place !

 

Any questions or if anyone wants to see any specific pictures, just let me know and I will try to answer and post any pics I have. I took about 400 of them so didn't want to post them all at once !

 

Everyone who is going soon - have a great time !!! It was a blast !

[michelle1836]

Glad you had a great time!! we sailed on the Pride in July for our first cruise and it was amazing. can't wait to go again!

[javi1234]

Glad to hear that you had a good time. I leave this coming Sunday. What was the weather like the first few days? I am just trying to figure out how much winter clothes I need to pack.

[Granny1]

Your short review said alot..Thanks for mentioning what room you were in as we are also in a 7A but in 5182..We have never had a balcony, so was really curious about the 7A balconys..we don't sail til January 31st, it's sanity cruise after the holidays..:p

Will look forward to any pictures that you might post..

We also are taking a private private tour in Freeport, nephews in-laws live there about 5-6 months out of the year so they are picking us up at the pier, only wish we were spending more time in Freeport..We haven't planned any excursions, just chillin for the week..

Hope you have a Merry Christmas..;)

[princessofthesea]

The weather wasn't too bad the first few days in my opinion. It was almost 70 when we left Baltimore so we left during a warm front I guess. It was still chilly on Monday but by Tuesday it had warmed up enough that we didn't need winter clothes. On the way home Friday is still warm, Saturday was colder where you would need long sleeves etc.

 

Have a great time !!

 

 

 

Glad to hear that you had a good time. I leave this coming Sunday. What was the weather like the first few days? I am just trying to figure out how much winter clothes I need to pack.

[sisterfate]

Glad to read you had a great time! I wanted to know what was the best time to get to the gym, particularly if you want to get a treadmill?

[princessofthesea]

Hello !!

 

I went to the gym everyday from 5pm-6:30pm (except for Nassau day I went at 7:30am). When I went from 5pm-6:30pm there was never a wait for any of the machines including treadmills. I think because that was right during people getting ready for 1st seating dinner which is at 6pm. I had late seating at 8:15pm so it was a perfect time for me, and there were never alot of people working out during that time.

 

The one time I went at 7:30 am wasn't too bad either, but I did see one or two people waiting for a treadmill but there was no wait for ellipticals or bikes during that time. The wait for the treadmills wasn't long though, I think someone was waiting maybe 5-10 mins. Hope this helps ! Have fun on your cruise !

 

 

 

 

 

Glad to read you had a great time! I wanted to know what was the best time to get to the gym, particularly if you want to get a treadmill?

[princessofthesea]

I hope you have a Merry Christmas as well and fantastic cruise !

 

I wasn't going to post pics since I have so many of them but I am contemplating putting a link to a slideshow in a post later, but if there is anything in particular you would like to see, I can see if I have pics for it and share them.

 

 

 

Your short review said alot..Thanks for mentioning what room you were in as we are also in a 7A but in 5182..We have never had a balcony, so was really curious about the 7A balconys..we don't sail til January 31st, it's sanity cruise after the holidays..:p

Will look forward to any pictures that you might post..

We also are taking a private private tour in Freeport, nephews in-laws live there about 5-6 months out of the year so they are picking us up at the pier, only wish we were spending more time in Freeport..We haven't planned any excursions, just chillin for the week..

Hope you have a Merry Christmas..;)

[dnnkbk]

Couple questions about the airboat and alligator tour. Did you book through Carnival, or privately? I thought I read that the excursion is through Twister Air Boat rides, and I was thinking of renting a car(s) for our group and booking directly with Twister. Hoping we would have enough time after the tour to go to Ron Jon or the beach. Not sure if I can book a private tour the same day as the Carnival excursion though. If you went through Carnival, how long were you gone from the ship in total?

 

I'd love to see any pics you have from this excursion!

 

Thanks,

Doug

[jbrambach]

PrincessOfTheSea,

Thanks for the review of your cruise. I only have 27 more days until I get to sail and I can not wait!

 

I do have a question: Was the covered pool open on the first day? And is it warm enough in there to swim? Just wanted to know if I can look forward to swimming before we get to Florida.

 

Thanks

 

BTW, I hope you do decide to post your pics since it will be my first time on a Carnival ship.

[princessofthesea]

Hi Doug !

 

We did the Alligator tour with Twister that was offered thru Carnival. We picked the 9:30 AM time and were back on the ship by 12:30 PM. There is plenty of time after that tour to go to Ron Jon's or the beach. The lady who was our tour guide told us that when we returned to the ship, we could take a bus for $10 total per person that would take you to the mall, the Walmart, Ron Jon's and the beach and that it ran all day long. So if you go to the early Alligator Tour like we did at 9:30 AM you have plenty of time to do those other things.

 

We LOVED the alligator tour, I highly recommend it ! I'm sure booking it privately would work just as well but the Carnival Excursion makes the planning easy.

 

Here are some pictures from it !

 

Here is my husband next to the sign at Twister:

 

Our Airboat:

 

a view of swamp:

 

Some Alligators we saw (we saw about 6 or 7 in all)

 

Me holding a baby alligator:

 

Like I said it was a great excursion. The tour lady was awesome as was the captain of the Airboat. The tour included a drink and sampling of deep fried alligator nuggets which were sooo good ! They also had a wildlife rescue lady there showing us snakes and the baby alligator I am holding above. I highly recommend the tour !

 

Enjoy your trip !!

 

 

 

 

 

Couple questions about the airboat and alligator tour. Did you book through Carnival, or privately? I thought I read that the excursion is through Twister Air Boat rides, and I was thinking of renting a car(s) for our group and booking directly with Twister. Hoping we would have enough time after the tour to go to Ron Jon or the beach. Not sure if I can book a private tour the same day as the Carnival excursion though. If you went through Carnival, how long were you gone from the ship in total?

 

I'd love to see any pics you have from this excursion!

 

Thanks,

Doug

[princessofthesea]

Hello !

 

The covered pool was closed on the first sea day (monday) since it was a bit chilly - but with it covered it was warm enough in there to swim. By Tuesday they had it open and it was still warm enough to swim since the air temp was warmer that 2nd sea day.

 

Do you think I should post my pics on this thread or make a separate one? I can post pics later this afternoon if you want to see them.

 

Hope you enjoy your upcoming trip as much as I did mine !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PrincessOfTheSea,

Thanks for the review of your cruise. I only have 27 more days until I get to sail and I can not wait!

 

I do have a question: Was the covered pool open on the first day? And is it warm enough in there to swim? Just wanted to know if I can look forward to swimming before we get to Florida.

 

Thanks

 

BTW, I hope you do decide to post your pics since it will be my first time on a Carnival ship.

[jbrambach]

Thanks for the info on the pool.

 

As for the pics, I think you can only post 6 at a time per reply, or you can do one of those links like shutterfly (I am not the most computer literate person sorry) which ever would be easier for you. And thank you in advance for offering to post the pics.

[dnnkbk]

Hi Doug !

 

We did the Alligator tour with Twister that was offered thru Carnival. We picked the 9:30 AM time and were back on the ship by 12:30 PM. There is plenty of time after that tour to go to Ron Jon's or the beach. The lady who was our tour guide told us that when we returned to the ship, we could take a bus for $10 total per person that would take you to the mall, the Walmart, Ron Jon's and the beach and that it ran all day long. So if you go to the early Alligator Tour like we did at 9:30 AM you have plenty of time to do those other things.

 

We LOVED the alligator tour, I highly recommend it ! I'm sure booking it privately would work just as well but the Carnival Excursion makes the planning easy.

 

Perfect! Just what I was looking for, I'm sold. It seems as though you can save a lot of money by booking directly, but I do like the piece of mind going through Carnival. And, I don't like the hassle of renting cars.

 

Thanks again,

Doug

[gandgpa]

thanks for your posting. We are sailing on the Pride on 12/27, and since we've never cruised out of Baltimore in the winter, my wife had been bugging me to find out how to pack (our previous 7 cruises have been Caribbean from Fla or PR or Mediterranean in the summer) . Of course I doubt it will be 70 when we leave Bmore (we'll be lucky if it's 50) but you've given me a pretty good idea of what to pack (winter for 2 days spring for 2 and summer for 2)