Pride Review - 7/1-7/8/2012

[bgul99]

Off the Pride a couple of days ago and before I give you a review, let me share a little background of my one and only prior cruising experience. I was on the fairly new Liberty back in 2007 and that Cruise was amazing with 5 ports to go to and the ship with hardly a scratch on it.

 

The Pride schedule:

July 1 - Leave Baltimore

July 2-3 - Days at Sea

July 4 - Grand Turk

July 5 - Half Moon Cay

July 6 - Freeport

July 7 - Day at Sea

July 8 - Baltimore

 

My wife and I were celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary a few weeks late but it was worth it. We stayed at the Hampton Inn - Downtown Convention Center, right across the street from Camden. We did a walk down to the Inner Harbor - about 10-15 minutes. The Inner Harbor is a great place to walk around and have a bite to eat and there was some street performers who were entertaining. Made the day before the cruise go by quickly.

 

DAY 1 - Embarkation

We left the hotel about 10:45, took about 5 minutes to get to the port terminal, greeted at the terminal by very friendly port employees - that was the theme the ENTIRE cruise - dropped off our luggage, we were a VIP (Suite 7298) and we went through security, sat in the VIP lounge, and went onboard....we were onboard by 11:15am, it was crazy fast. I looked at the boarding for the majority of people and that was just as seemless.

 

We went on the ship, walked around for awhile, of course we had a beverage or two. Ate some lunch at the LIDO Grill. Food was good the entire cruise on LIDO. We went to our rooms about 1:45pm, and it was ready as well as OUR LUGGAGE. Wowsie!!

 

The room was amazing, and the balcony, well see for yourself.

 

We stayed in our room until the Safety Briefing which was at 3:30pm, set sail around 4:15pm. We had late time dining so we ate dinner at 8:15pm. Meals were always warm and very good. I'm not a food critic but nothing tasted awful and there was always a few things to pick from. Our waiters were always pleasant and very attentive to the detail. We didn't go to the welcome aboard show but went to the Piano Bar which always was busy when we went there, Roger is a hit with the folks and is very entertaining. We then hit the comedy show around 11:30pm and the comedian was funny and had a packed house. That was the first day. I'll post more later.

[suzinva]

Great, thank you, we cruise the Pride at the end of August and seeing the reviews is awesome!

[Room Service!]

We're waiting!!!!

Thanks! Will be looking forward to the rest.

[Andie272]

can't wait for the rest!

[PaCUfan]

Been on the Pride twice and look forward to a third! Great ship and crew and I love reading the reviews. Glad to see Jaime is back!

[Kato27]

Will be on her for the 2nd time in about 12 days!

[michelle1836]

glad you had a great time. looking forward to the rest of the review and perhaps some pictures? leaving on the Pride this sunday!! :D

[kids1stcruise]

looking forward to morrrrrreeeeee...;)

[LisaT12]

I can't wait to hear the rest.....we leave on the same cruise in 4 days!!:D

[Cruising Dreamer]

I'll be on the Pride this september for the second time but I still want to hear all about it and see pictures. Can't wait.

[djvickers]

Can't wait for more reviews!! We set sail on her on 7/29!

[bgul99]

Day 2 - Sea Day - On the way down from Baltimore till probably about 4-5pm, the bay/ocean were both pretty choppy, you did feel the boat move...just felt like I had a few too many drinks, even if I just woke up. One thing to note with the room, you do feel the vibration, but it really didn't do anything to you, once you got used to it, it was nothing. So, off to breakfast we went...we went to LIDO and my wife had an egg white omelet which she said was very good. I had eggs, bacon, potatoes and some normal breakfast goodies. Everything was good. We went to hit the shops as we missed our kiddos so we figured we would find them a couple of souveniers. We didn't hit the open deck, serenity, until maybe 10am or so, no seats at first, we walked around and someone was leaving just as we got by them. Perfect timing. The serenity is just that, peaceful....here are a few pictures of serenity taken when we had the entire area to ourselves the day before. Also to note, the activities were endless, Jaime D and her entertainment staff are amazing. The energy she has is something to see. It is contagious as all of the passengers were in to everything on the ship. More on that later. Day 2 also saw us hit the Sushi Bar at 5pm, yummy...we hit that every day it was available. Day 2 also was the first elegant night, and I'd say close to 90% or more of the ship was dressed up...it was awesome as everyone was taking pictures, dancing and having a good time. We had dinner in the MDR and it was very good. I had the prime rib which was cooked just right and the Mrs had a fish dish which was also very good. The evening's entertainment was a nice routine of music and dance. We also hit the piano bar and the dance club, all of which were busy and people were having a good time. Day 3 to follow later...please let me know what kinds of pictures, you'd like to see, I have most of the ship covered.

[mousey]

Liking your review! Not one single complaint so far...that's promising!:D We sail on the Pride at the end of July!

[Room Service!]

bgul99 - Pics? All of them, or whatever is convenient. Don't want to make this a chore for you.

Enjoying this. Sounds like things are going well.

[SLP50]

I am loving this review. I am also sailing on the Pride (for the second time) next Sunday (with Michelle and Lisa). I will be in the other Vista Suite on Verandah deck so I am interested in seeing pictures and hearing about the suite.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

The Pride is a great ship...my favorite class so far, not too big or too small. We are sailing that same initerary in August (same cruise as suzinva and Andie272!)

[bgul99]

As you saw the balcony is HUGE...my wife and I spent some time just relaxing on the deck. It has 2 deck chairs and 2 lounge chairs, with two small tables. The room itself is great, you walk down a little hallway to a small room, with a sofa (converts to bed), chair, small table with TV on the wall. There is a separate sitting room off of that with a big mirror, which my wife used to get ready for dinner and such. Then the bedroom with a king-size bed. Rumors were Carnival discontinued turned down service...big time false rumor as you can see from one of these pictures. The other picture is a shot of part of the room leading out onto the balcony. I do have other pictures of other parts of the room which I will find.

[bgul99]

Day 3 was another sea day, we headed to the MDR for breakfast this day. It was good but sitting with others and some complaining about bar prices, my opinion is if you don't want to pay the $$ for drinks, DON'T DRINK, carnival isn't twisting your arm. This lady was complaining that 18 years ago (her first cruise) prices were like $2 for a drink, I said and gas prices were under $1...look where they have gone. Anyways, that was the last breakfast in the MDR, the food wasn't bad just sometimes you don't have a choice who you sit with, much easier at LIDO. Lunch we had on LIDO, a burger is always a good choice and I think my wife enjoyed the salad bar. We got to serenity at 8:45 or so and there still wasn't spots but again we lucked out, another person had just left. I don't think many were space hogging, my guess is they went to get a quick bite as most of the empty spaces were filled within 15-20 minutes from when we got there. Also if you can't find a spot, there is always a spot around the pool for awhile until a lounge chair or shell opens up. There were people in and out of Serenity most of the cruise, so spots would become free every so often.

[bgul99]

The afternoon on Sea Day, we took a break from the Sun and had a slice of pizza for snack, always a good choice and I had a few pieces during the cruise and all were very good. My wife headed to the spa around 3pm (I gave her an anniversary present) for a massage which she said was the best one she has ever had. I went to one of the lounges which was having some trivia, again these were all well attended throughout the cruise. Some of the one's I can remember during the cruise were 80's, fun trivia, tv show music, sports and a few I didn't attend but there was plenty of them. At night we hit the MDR and again the food was very good with lots to choose from. After dinner, they were having a Mardi Gras Themed Night which started in the atrium, as you can see from the picture, it was well attended and everyone was having a blast. We went to the piano bar again which you could hardly find a seat and then hit another comedy show. Entertainment was always there if you wanted to, or you could always find a quiet place around the ship.

[camcruiser2]

Thanks for posting....I love reading it!!

[Silent Penguin]

Great review, I'm taking notes. We're sailing on the Pride on September 9th.

 

Lots of Pride people here. I wish someone reading this thread was on the same cruise as us. The roll call thread for our date consists of 3 or 4 people who know each other really well. I would join but they seem like the hard core drinking=party kind, and we're not.

[bgul99]

My wife had a few more pics of the room on her Iphone...here they are

[SLP50]

Thanks for the pictures of the suite. I was on the Pride last summer and I can't wait to go back on Sunday.

[lynz421]

Great review, I'm taking notes. We're sailing on the Pride on September 9th.

 

Lots of Pride people here. I wish someone reading this thread was on the same cruise as us. The roll call thread for our date consists of 3 or 4 people who know each other really well. I would join but they seem like the hard core drinking=party kind, and we're not.

 

 

No we are not, C'mon over Penguin. We joined up on a cruise 2 years ago and it's been fun ever since. We have maintained contact and enjoy the company.

Stop in and say HI. :)

[luvdasun]

Thanks for the info and pictures. We are sailing on the Pride this Sunday (with Lisa, Michelle, Sue, did I miss anyone that posted on this thread). Looking forward to reading and seeing more. I can't wait for Prime Rib! Glad to hear it was good.