Pride: questions/concerns

[LazySlug]

My family and I will be sailing on the Pride on 4-17-05. After reading several reviews of the ship I have some concerns:

 

Embarkation seems to be confusing and very long. We live in Orange Co.

and the drive to the pier is about 40 mins. Is there any advantage to showing up early? Is it possible to show up an hour or two before departure and avoid all the waiting around?

 

We booked a category 8A and have been upgraded to an 8H, a balcony room on the panorama deck, towards the rear of the ship, below the pool area. I have read some complaints regarding noise from the deck above. Any thoughts or comments on this?

 

We are bringing my two daughters with us(both 5 yrs old). The reviews of Camp Carnival I have read have been mixed. Seems people either love it or hate it. Any recent experiences with the childrens area would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Wennfred]

I can email you a great review that has Detail information if you like.

[tcsmithh]

 

Embarkation seems to be confusing and very long. We live in Orange Co.

and the drive to the pier is about 40 mins. Is there any advantage to showing up early? Is it possible to show up an hour or two before departure and avoid all the waiting around?

 

there is an early check in available on the Queen Mary, it closes at 10 am or 10:30. We did this last year and will this year too.

 

We are bringing my two daughters with us(both 5 yrs old). The reviews of Camp Carnival I have read have been mixed. Seems people either love it or hate it. Any recent experiences with the childrens area would be much appreciated.

 

when we were on the cruise last year, the kids all seemed to have a good time, i guess we will find out with you this year.

 

Thanks

We will be on the cruise with you, welcome :)

[thesassysally]

Wennfred--I would love to receive the emailed review of the Pride that you have as I am sailing on April 10. My email is thesassysally@aol.com.

Thanks

[michelle2]

I'm not sure if you consider 11/2004 recent information, but I'll tell you what I experienced.

 

We arrived at the Queen Mary at about 10:30. We were on the ship around 12:30. The two hours went by quickly, and we met some nice people in line. I never felt like the embarkation was confusing. There are Carnival people around to answer questions.

 

We purchased a balcony guarantee and were upgraded to a 8H on the panaroma deck - room 8230. We heard absolutely no noise from the Lido. We loved the location of our room, and we loved the extended balcony.

 

My kids were 6 and 9 years old, so they were in the 6-8 camp carnival group. They really liked the camp. They kept asking to go back. During the week they built, painted and exploded a volcano. The kids loved it. It seemed to be very well run. The activities change every 1/2 hour.

 

My family had a wonderful time on the Pride. I have recommended it to all my friends. I hope you have a great cruise.

[phroggie]

Your choice:

 

A. Line up after lunch on your dime.

 

B. Line up at 09:30 - 10:00 and have lunch on Carnival's dime.

 

It might be a tie if you're trying to get on Paradise through Monday morning O.C. traffic. But Pride on Sunday? Not even close.

 

I'd get there as early as possible and be ready to wait. Note that the line doesn't "move" until 12:30-ish, so you can spread out a blanket and wait.

[Wennfred]

TheSassySally: I sent you a copy of Mark's review on the Pride via Email, check it out, its Great.

 

Also go here for Kathys Day by Day review.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=42729

[LazySlug]

I can email you a great review that has Detail information if you like.

 

Wennfred,

 

Thanks. My email addres is bcross@cox.net

[LazySlug]

We will be on the cruise with you, welcome :)

 

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. See you on the 17th.

[LazySlug]

Thank you.

[LazySlug]

I'm not sure if you consider 11/2004 recent information, but I'll tell you what I experienced.

 

We arrived at the Queen Mary at about 10:30. We were on the ship around 12:30. The two hours went by quickly, and we met some nice people in line. I never felt like the embarkation was confusing. There are Carnival people around to answer questions.

 

We purchased a balcony guarantee and were upgraded to a 8H on the panaroma deck - room 8230. We heard absolutely no noise from the Lido. We loved the location of our room, and we loved the extended balcony.

 

My kids were 6 and 9 years old, so they were in the 6-8 camp carnival group. They really liked the camp. They kept asking to go back. During the week they built, painted and exploded a volcano. The kids loved it. It seemed to be very well run. The activities change every 1/2 hour.

 

My family had a wonderful time on the Pride. I have recommended it to all my friends. I hope you have a great cruise.

 

Thank you. The info is very useful. Especially regarding Camp Carnival. I want my girls to have an enjoyable experience. You reply is very reassuring.

[ronrythm]

I was on the 12/26/04 sailing. I left my place near Knott's about 3:00, hit absolutely no traffic and was down at the parking lot about 3:30. There was still a line to go through security and check in at this time. Took about 20 minutes to get through, which reading some other posts, doesn't sound too bad. Granted this was the holiday season so things may have been different then.

 

On the Camp Carnival front, the table next to me had a boy about 7 and a girl about 9 and they loved Camp Carnival and didn't want to leave it to go to dinner with mom and dad.

 

Enjoy

[Wennfred]

LazySlug, Marks Review sent via Email Enjoy.

[bardgal]

I left from LB on the STAR PRINCESS in SEPT of '03. The great thing was there was a bar and a few tables set up outside by the terminal. Is this still there? It was great hanging out there and waiting for the line to go down.

 

Also - If we have Skipper's Club, where is it? Are there signs pointing to where you need to be? Or do you have to wait in the long line outside the terminal before you ever get there?

 

thanks!!

:D

[Wennfred]

From Marks review, there are 5 Lines that start infront of the Dome shape terminal, next to 2 Newspaper boxes, Line 1 is for Earily birds that checked in around 9am, Line 2 Wedding line, Line 3 Special Assistance line, Line 4 The Skippers Club Line, Line 5 Regular Check in line.

[LaurenKP]

We sailed on March 27 and loved the early check in. We arrived at 9:15 and there was absolutely NO line. We were bored for a few hours and just walked around the Queen Mary until my son went to check out the line just before noon. We had our cell phones, so he called us to let us know when the line started to move. I'm not abslolutely sure the time, but I am certain it was before 12:30. The weather was beautiful so we did not mind the few minutes standing in line. However, if it had been raining, I imagine it would have been awful no matter what since the lines are outside. Once onboard, it's eating time! The cruise was outstanding, by the way!:)