My First Carnival Cruise -- Pride 2/14/2010

[ml64]

This was our 10th cruise but our first on Carnival (7—Princess & 2—RCI).

There were 3 of us: myself, DH and DS (9).

 

PRE-CRUISE

We stayed pre-cruise at the Sleep Inn in Brooklyn, Maryland. I got a pretty good rate for 1 night and parking for the week (total with tax $100). We arrived about 2:40 pm, but front desk said rooms wouldn’t be ready until 3 (standard line I think).

 

Room was nice and we got ourselves organized. We finally decided to try the restaurant attached to the Comfort Inn next door. Since it was the Saturday before Valentines Day, they had a limited menu (charging $40 per person) so we almost walked out (wish we had). They did say that there was also an appetizer menu so we thought we’d do that and have a couple of drinks. We ordered our food and there we sat for 1 hour and 30 minutes before flagging the waitress down. Now let me remind you that we were traveling with our 9 year old son who was hungry. Anyway, once I was able to get the waitress (and it wasn’t easy) I asked her if we were going to get our food within the next 5 minutes and she replied that she didn’t think so…she finally admitted that they lost our order so it wouldn’t be out for a while. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. After telling her we no longer wanted the food she said she would comp us our round of drinks because of the long wait. We ended up leaving and grabbing something at Checkers (fast food across the street…not the greatest but at least it was food).

 

EMBARKATION

Next morning we had every intention of getting to the port early. WRONG! Ship was late getting in so we ended up staying in the lobby of the hotel ‘till 2:00pm. Took the shuttle to the pier and got in line (something we did all trip long…lines, lines and more lines). Everyone was great in line and it moved along once embarkation started. Think it was about an hour and a half before we boarded. We had a nice time chatting with folks so all was well.

 

After getting on board we headed to the dining room to see about switching our dining time from late to personal choice OR early dining. Just didn’t want to eat at 8:30 every night. Maitre’d wasn’t really interested in my request and said he probably couldn’t help me but I’d be notified the next day. Really wasn’t thrilled with his lack of interest. I totally get that I booked this cruise late and that there were a million families that wanted early dining. I just thought he could have been a little more polite about it. Was not impressed with him and was glad not to see him again.

 

OUR ROOM

I booked a balcony guarantee and received an aft cabin (5299) which I was thrilled about. Balcony didn’t seem as big as the other aft balconies that we had on Princess & RCI but it was fine none-the-less—especially seeing as it was freezing out most of the time so balcony time was pretty limited. The room was about the same in size and layout as our RCI cabin. Loved the shower size but little water pressure made for difficult showering (I thought this was normal but after talking to others who said theirs was fine, I should have called to have it checked. Live and learn I guess).

 

Room steward was awesome (we had two different stewards—not sure what happened to the first one). DS loved his towel animals and looked forward to seeing what was waiting for him every night. I loved the fact that the couch was a single bed. On previous cruises the couch went out to a double and it was hard to walk around. Definitely liked the way Carnival does it.

 

KIDS PROGRAM

OK…let me just say there were 1,100 kids on this ship. I don’t think the Camp Carnival rooms on this particular ship were made to handle that type of crowd. This is just my opinion. My son’s group was the largest at 145 kids (ages 9-11). I think Camp Carnival counselors did the best job they could (loved Cassie…she was great!). I also don’t believe that this cruise is indicative of what Camp Carnival offers. Lines to get the kids in and out of program were crazy long and parents seemed frustrated. I also was surprised that there isn’t a more advanced system set up for checking kids in and out (like on RCI where they swipe your card) instead of a binder and signing. But again, just my opinion. My son did enjoy most of his time in Camp Carnival but I think was disappointed in the facilities (most of the time the kids weren’t even in Camp Carnival area—they were mostly in the disco or Mermaid’s Grille). I did like the fact that the counselors took the kids to see a couple of shows. My son really enjoyed “Vroom”.

 

DINING

Not to beat a dead horse, but hated eating so late. However, waiters were excellent and the food was fantastic in the dining room. If you like chocolate, try the Warm Melting Chocolate Cake (sorry if I don’t have the name exactly as it appeared). It was the best dessert I remember from all my cruises. Definitely a problem since it helped me gain weight during my cruise!

 

I didn’t really care for the buffet food. Once again, lines, lines and more lines. Just my opinion.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Didn’t get a chance to catch too many shows since most started late (late for us anyway). We did see half of one show and then was able to see “Vroom” which was fantastic. Really one of the better shows we’ve seen (and it was at 7pm so I was awake).

 

PORTS OF CALL

 

Port Canaveral: Cold and windy but had a nice time. My parents picked us up at the terminal and we went to the Brevard Zoo. Absolutely loved the zoo and it doesn’t kill your wallet (2 adults and 1 kid: AAA rate total $33). Spent almost 4 hours there and highly recommend a visit. We had done Kennedy space center last August and that is also a great day.

 

Nassau: We bought the ship excursion to Atlantis ($411 for the three of us—expensive) which included transportation to and from, lunch and the Aquaventure. Unfortunately, the day was pretty cold and I think that had an impact on our day. DS enjoyed the water adventure and we toured the aquariums. I found Atlantis extremely crowded but I guess that’s expected since it was break week for east coast schools. Found it a little difficult to find chairs near the pool where DS wanted to swim in. I’m glad we went just to experience it but I’m not sure I’d go back soon.

 

Freeport: We were only there from 7am ‘till 2 so we took a taxi to Port Lucaya and wandered around the shops and beach. Again, the weather was cold (might have hit mid-60s). We took a taxi to and from. Next time I would probably book an excursion.

 

WEATHER

COLD!!! Seas were pretty rough Monday night into Tuesday and even had to take some Bonine which I never had to do before. Weather was cold but that’s expected when traveling along the Atlantic in the winter. Coming home Saturday was awesome—seas were extremely calm and even got a glimpse of the sun from our balcony.

 

DISEMBARKATION

Since I over packed, self-disembarking wasn’t an option for us. We were given tags with #18. I think most people took their own luggage off so finding our luggage was not a problem. We were off the ship, with luggage in hand at noon. Finding the hotel shuttle proved more difficult than we thought. Since we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us, we just ended up taking a taxi. Unfortunately, the taxi driver got lost so it took longer than planned. Finally reached the hotel, packed the car and we headed home.

 

OVERALL

Really was pleasantly surprised with Carnival. The ship was different than we’ve sailed on but pretty (did get a little tired of seeing the half nude wallpaper all the time but what the heck). If the price was right, would sail on her again. I took a survey of my family and DH prefers Princess; DS and I like RCI the best. But again, I don’t think this cruise was probably a fair representative of a normal Carnival experience.

 

We met some great people while on this cruise and found it very relaxing, which for us is the key to a successful vacation.

 

Bottom Line: Very happy overall and will most likely book Carnival again in the future.

 

Hopefully this information is helpful to those traveling on the Pride.

[disneylynn]

Hi ml64

 

My family really enjoyed spending time with you guys.

it's to bad you had trouble getting back to the hotel.

 

 

Lynn

[happy_feet]

Can you please tell me how much it cost for the taxi to Lucaya in Freeport:)

[ml64]

Can you please tell me how much it cost for the taxi to Lucaya in Freeport:)

 

$5 per person. They try to rope you into paying roundtrip which we did not do.

[GeneK]

Very good review! Sorry the weather didn't cooperate better for you.

[happy_feet]

$5 per person. They try to rope you into paying roundtrip which we did not do.

 

Thank you :)

[jenelizab]

Thanks for the great review!

[Tiffany1203]

I was on the Pride 1/10/10 and I agree....I got tired of the 1/2 naked ladies on the walls but nonetheless it was a GREAT trip! :)