Pride Review (9-25 thru 10-2) (GT, HMC, and Freeport) lots of pics

[ardnassac79]

And thank you to everyone for the kind words!!

[Anung Un Rama]

She had the Lobster and Shrimp combo which I heard was good but wouldn't know as I don't do seafood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I live in Maryland and don't eat seafood. I know I've heard it all before :o

 

 

I once again had MCMC for dessert and Cass went with the Caramlized Apples on Puff Pastry. I think she was jealous of me that night.

 

 

After I changed into something more comfortable we went back to the Let It Ride table which was a bit more kind. Quite a few people were hitting good hands including the lady next to me who hit 4 of a kind for a quick $850. Since we were both doing ok we decided to skip the adult comedy which is always crazy packed the first showing.

 

Tonight's towel animal......

 

[gelo7]

Congratulations on your engagement and I am loving the review.

[ready2cruzagain]

Congratulations on your engagement guys!

 

Great review and waiting for more. Love sailing out of Baltimore but have never sailed Carnival out of Baltimore. I am sure we will soon though and love hearing about the Pride.

[Anung Un Rama]

TUESDAY (Fun Day at Sea)

 

We had never had breakfast in the MDR so we decided to do it today. It was OK. The food really is no different from what you get up on the Lido but the atmosphere is much better. It took a while to get food which was a bit odd but we weren’t in a hurry. If you like to avoid the hustle and bustle of the buffet, this is probably a good option. If you’re starving, just go to the buffet and take your food somewhere a little quieter.

 

 

Not exactly sure why I took pictures of waffles. I mean they're just.....waffles. Not a big meal by any standard but I wasn't really hungry and just humoring my lovely fiance (and no where near used to using that word yet)

 

 

She had never tried Eggs Benedict so went with those this morning

 

 

 

We decided to try our luck at the Serenity area again but since it was after 10, we knew we were pretty much screwed for a seat. It was packed so we went up to the little deck by the Whale Tail that very few people know about (used to be the topless deck). There was only one other couple up there when we arrived so it’s a nice alternative if you don’t feel like camping out for a Serenity chair.

[ardnassac79]

TUESDAY (Fun Day at Sea)

 

Not exactly sure why I took pictures of waffles. I mean they're just.....waffles. Not a big meal by any standard but I wasn't really hungry and just humoring my lovely fiance (and no where near used to using that word yet)

 

Keep in mind this was just one portion of waffles - if you do go, and are hungry for them - may want to order 2 portions! And the Eggs Benedict was DELISH!

[KruznKel]

Met up with some friends for the sports trivia but once again came up short and still no ship on a stick :(

 

Hey Chris hook up with me on the Breezers cruise.. I won a ship on a stick with 2 other guys from my cruise last year.. ya need the CANUCK knowledge in there:D

 

I hear ya on the seafood as well Chris I am from Newfoundland and don't do the shellfish LMAO:p

 

CONGRATS to you and your lovely wife to be Cass.. can't wait to meet you guys... LOVELY ring Cass.. you did good:D

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great review!!

[ardnassac79]

Hey Chris hook up with me on the Breezers cruise.. I won a ship on a stick with 2 other guys from my cruise last year.. ya need the CANUCK knowledge in there:D

 

I hear ya on the seafood as well Chris I am from Newfoundland and don't do the shellfish LMAO:p

 

CONGRATS to you and your lovely wife to be Cass.. can't wait to meet you guys... LOVELY ring Cass.. you did good:D

 

I think we will! It took us 3 cruises and a hefty dose of begging to get the Pride one - I'm worried 10 days on the Breeze won't be enough!

 

And thank you :) I'm a very lucky girl :D

[ardnassac79]

I'll take over for now - Chris is a gamer and is getting his video-gaming on right now :p.... so withour further ado....

 

 

 

We stayed up by the Whale Tale for a few hours, but neither of us can really stand the constant sun for too long, so we decided to pack up and head in (plus I had a hard time reading - its REALLY windy up there!) – on the way back we decided to check out the Lunch Menu for the MDR. Like breakfast, we never took advantage of lunch there on previous cruises, so decided to give it a shot.

 

They do a full 3-course menu just like dinner, but still being a little full from breakfast, we tried to keep it light (haha). One thing we were not used to was eating on the lower level of the MDR – for Anytime dinner, we have always been on the 3rd floor, so this was the first time we had a nice view of the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris started with the Jamaican Red Bean Soup. It had a little spicy kick to it, but not a lot.

 

 

I had the Chilled Curried Apple Soup which was really good with a really interesting flavor.

 

 

 

For our main course, we both had the Chicken Caesar Salad. Chris was able to get his with Honey Mustard dressing instead of Caesar, good to know if you don’t like certain dressings but still want a salad. We didn’t take pictures of that – when you see one salad, you’ve seen them all! There was a LOT of chicken in them though.

 

Finally, even though we tried to keep it light, we both ordered dessert as well – Chris had the German Chocolate Cake, and I had the Ice Coupe Belle Helene, which was vanilla ice cream with a poached pear and chocolate sauce. It was really tasty!

 

 

[ardnassac79]

After lunch, I wanted to try my hand in the Slot Tournament. The Fun Times said it started at 1pm, but we knew from past experience they allowed qualifications for a few hours. We headed down to the Casino and I was able to enter the 2nd to last qualifying round. Unfortunately, my Butterfly machine didn’t spin enough to win, but I still had a good time. A Roll Call member and her friend were also in the same round – her friend got in, but we aren’t sure how she did in the finals.

 

After that, we headed to yet another attempt at Sports Trivia in the Raphael lounge. Another try, another loss :rolleyes:. Some of those questions are so off the wall! By this point it was around 4pm, and the Past Guest party was starting at 4:30 so we headed towards the Taj Mahal and were close to the front of the line. People start lining up early for this, so we were glad to get a good seat. They changed the show from last year, so it was entertaining. We were also excited to be able to clap for our upcoming cruises we already have booked on the Liberty and Breeze!

 

 

 

During the Party, Trevor the Cruise Director had to step away. A few minutes later, he came on the announcements and said that the ship was slowing down and stopping because they saw a vessel that looked like it was in distress. At this point the Past Guest Party was about over, and most people started hauling up to Decks 9 and 10 to see what the commotion was all about. It was on the Port side of the ship, and was pretty comical to see almost 2000 people all on one side trying to see what was going on. We took a few pictures of what appeared to be an abandoned boat, and thought we may be able to get a better view from our balcony.

 

 

 

As we were heading down to deck 7, an announcement was made again to clear the area on Deck 3 as that was where the crew was attempting to bring this thing on board :eek:! Needless to say there was a lot of chatter from people with all sorts of conspiracy theories as to what happened.

 

Evidently, nothing was found, the ship was put back in the water, and we went on our merry way.

[ardnassac79]

At this point, neither of us were hungry from the late lunch, not to mention the appetizers and free drinks from the Past Guest Party, so we hung out on the balcony for a while and relaxed.

 

We saw a rain storm far away, and were able to catch a few pics of the storm, plus the rainbow off to the left if you look hard enough. As we got closer and closer, you could tell the rain was coming down pretty good, but we just barely got any. I think the captain may have tried to steer us around the bulk of the storm. It was still pretty cool to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally we got ready for dinner and headed down to the MDR. Chris had the Smoked Chicken Quesadilla – I had a bite and it was scrumptious!

 

 

 

I had the Study in Sushi. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture till after I already ate 2 of the 3 little guys. I tried to artfully arrange the shrimp tail back in the right place, but I don’t think this pic gives the dish justice.

 

 

For our main course, Chris had the Jerked Pork Loin. He ordered it with a side of white rice instead of the fried rice that comes with it, and he said it had a really nice flavor.

 

 

I had the Penne Mariscos, which is pasta with seafood and a tomato cream sauce. It was good, but I realized I’m not a big fan of mussels.

 

 

[Mad Capn Bob]

Morgan's Private Stock...like getting punched in the mouth by a fistful of vanilla beans...but in a *good* way!

 

We then had lunch up on the Lido and the burgers were good as always. I’ve never had a negative thing to say about the food on Carnival. When going to the grill on the Lido deck, expect a couple minute wait if you want a burger. The line may look long but it moves pretty quick. After that we checked out the shops and looked at liquor since we knew we would be getting a lot this year. Cass also checked out some jewelry that she wasn’t going to get but you can’t blame a girl for looking.

 

 

 

 

Mmmm, Private Stock!

 

 

Met up with some friends for the sports trivia but once again came up short and still no ship on a stick :(

[Mad Capn Bob]

Loving the account...I'll be on the Pride in 18 days. From the photos I've seen of the Serenity deck, I'm assuming there's no chance of eating breakfast there anymore? (didn't see any tables in the photo). Just have to do that midships, then.

[megansdad1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm, Private Stock!

 

 

Met up with some friends for the sports trivia but once again came up short and still no ship on a stick :(

 

 

That is an Epic T-Shirt! Love it. great review so far

[ardnassac79]

Loving the account...I'll be on the Pride in 18 days. From the photos I've seen of the Serenity deck, I'm assuming there's no chance of eating breakfast there anymore? (didn't see any tables in the photo). Just have to do that midships, then.

 

Actually there is.. we took some other shots on the last sea day fro a different angle.. Behind the white wall are tables. There aren't as many as before, but still a few. Here's a sneak peek :D

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Loving the account...I'll be on the Pride in 18 days. From the photos I've seen of the Serenity deck, I'm assuming there's no chance of eating breakfast there anymore? (didn't see any tables in the photo). Just have to do that midships, then.

 

 

You can also grab a seat, put your stuff down, and go grab food in the Mermaid Grill which is right through the doors. We did that once and saw plenty of others do it too.

[ardnassac79]

Ok sorry had to stop there for a little bit for dinner. Mmm leftover chinese food. Sorry, no food pics taken :p

 

Let's see, where were we...

 

 

 

For dessert we each had the Strawberry Cheesecake. We both liked the strawberry sauce came on the side, so you could add as much or as little as you wanted. It was light and creamy – very good.

 

 

After having a full breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus a few tropical drinks, we almost literally had to roll ourselves out of the MDR. We headed down to the Butterflies Lounge to catch the Adult Comedy act. It was packed, but luckily some friends from the Roll Call saw us, and they let us nab their seats – they decided not to stay because they saw the same act the night before. It was the Assistant CD (Eric Brouman) and was really funny.

 

After that we decided to make our daily offerings at the Let it Ride table. I lost a quick $100, but Chris was doing well (usually when I LEFT the table he did better than when I was there:rolleyes:) I knew we had an early morning the next day in Grand Turk, so I went up to the room early to relax.

 

I was greeted with this cute little guy:

 

 

Up next: Day 4 – Grand Turk!

[hawaii6o]

Congratulations on your engagement. Love your football jersey's. I am an Eagles fan and a Ravens fan, live in Delaware in between both states. Eagles arent lookin good. Ravens have Joe Flacco, former U of D grad. Anyway just had to bring that up. Have wanted to try the pride since it is so close to home. How was the ship looking? I havent been on carnival in a long time and have heard good things. I have cruised on RC, Princess and Disney. Thinking of trying the Pride or the Miracle out of NY.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review

 

Jeanne

[laumicmah]

Congrats! Great review so far. I'm on the Pride...same itin...in April. Leaving DH and the kids at home and taking my mom instead (surprise Christmas present for her)...DH is sick of cruising...can you believe that. I Can't wait! We live @ 20 minutes from port, but have never cruised out of there. We drove to FL for 4 of our 5 cruises and to NY for our last one. Looking forward to getting up and casually making our way to the ship. I'm aiming to get there around 11 like you guys did. I love the full 1st day on the ship. I just read about your lunch in the MDR...do you happen to know if there are different menus each time the MDR is open for lunch or is it the same every day? Thanks!

[birdistasty]

 

We also decided to be brave and tried the Didja Ever option tonight which was Alligator Fritters. These were surprisingly good though the filler and spices helped hide any real difference between this and chicken.

 

*cough* Conch fritter *cough* :p

 

LOVING the review so far!!

[ardnassac79]

Congratulations on your engagement. Love your football jersey's. I am an Eagles fan and a Ravens fan, live in Delaware in between both states. Eagles arent lookin good. Ravens have Joe Flacco, former U of D grad. Anyway just had to bring that up. Have wanted to try the pride since it is so close to home. How was the ship looking? I havent been on carnival in a long time and have heard good things. I have cruised on RC, Princess and Disney. Thinking of trying the Pride or the Miracle out of NY.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review

 

Jeanne

 

Yeah those Eagles are so disappointing right now. If we could get some O line protection, maybe Vick wouldn't have to get pounded 3 seconds after the snap. Ugh. Yeah it's nice we are in a different conferences, so our 2 teams don't meet each other very often.

 

Some great new friends we met on the cruise had done Disney before, and this was their first Carnival. They are now looking at booking another Carnival with them and their kids (aged 14 and 11 I think). They said for the $$ savings, its a no brainer - and they had a great time on this cruise. The Pride always looked good to me - I mean every once in a while you'll see something like an empty cup or something on the ground, but that's the fault of the guests, and the staff is very quick to clean things up. Later in the review we will post the Galley Tour we took, and I can say the Galley looked in tip-top shape!

[ardnassac79]

WEDNESDAY - Grand Turk

 

When we woke up on Wednesday, we were already docked at Grand Turk. We booked the Reef and Rays excursion through Carnival, which was to meet around 8:15 at the port, so we made sure to put out the room service tag the night before, with a scheduled delivery around 7. I woke up earlier than that, and was able to get some nice pics of the port, and was happy to see the day looked promising for great weather. I loved having a balcony on this side of the ship!

 

 

 

After breakfast was delivered, I got a few more shots as the sun rose higher. Our plan was to head to Jack’s Shack after the excursion was over, so I was pleased to be able to see it from our balcony ahead of time. (it's the little teeny blue sign in the middle of the below pic)

 

 

 

Around 8am, we headed down to Deck A Fwd to debark.

 

We walked through the first shop and in the courtyard is where all the excursion signs were posted for people to meet at. Ours was close to the Ron John shop. I walked over to the beach and tried to get a few more shots of the ship.

 

 

 

Our fellow Excursioners waiting to leave. My baby in the hat holding a towel refusing to have his pic taken.

 

[ardnassac79]

He couldn't hide from the camera for long, and I suckered him into one of the "hold the cameral out" shots I've tried to perfect.

 

 

Also thought these palm trees were interesting – they had these berries instead of coconuts!

 

 

 

Our guide, some great guys from Oasis Divers, checked us in, took our tickets, and led us over to where their pontoon boats were docked. We all got in, and made our way around the island over to Round Cay and Gibbs Cay. I was able to get some great shots of the ship from afar.

 

 

[ardnassac79]

The excursion included snorkeling first at the reefs off the coast of Round Cay. Evidently, this is the world’s 3rd largest natural reef, and we were excited to get in the water and see the sights!

 

Also in this area was “Jack” a very large barracuda who likes to hang around (mostly due to the chunks of food they were flinging him!) We were also able to try out our new Kodak PlaySport underwater camcorder/camera – so I was able to catch a few good shots of Jack, as well as some fishies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They let us snorkel for about 30-40 minutes, at which point we all got back in the boat and they took us closer to Round Cay. This is a small island that is inhabited by some animals and birds, but people are not allowed to debark and walk around on it. It is basically a very large rock, and had some really interesting natural formations on it.