Going Platinum - Pride Review

[bradm77]

Nov 17th was my DW's 43rd birthday AND embarkation day of our 10th cruise! Since all 10 have been with Carnival, we made it in 6 weeks under the wire to be grandfathered in as PLATINUM!!!

 

I don't normally do review, so my apologies if I do a terrible job at this!

 

The first photo is always the luggage pic, just before leaving the house in SE Ohio

 

 

We left SE Ohio at 5:30AM on the day of for our 5.5 hour drive to the Port of Baltimore. It rained on and off, we hit a few patches of zero-visibility fog, but we kept pressing on, and at 10:30 AM, there she was!!!

 

 

More to come.......

[BattyL]

Looking forward to your review and more pictures.:o

[bradm77]

Because the Pride had been late getting back that morning, we sat in line in our vehicles for about 20 minutes before they started letting us park. Me being an occasional social butterfly, I hopped out of the car and chatted up a few folks while waiting for the gates to open. Parking is a cakewalk at Baltimore, you drive up, drop the bags, pay at the window, and walk just a couple hundred yards into the port! I was very excited about seeing what VIP/Platinum checkin and boarding was all about, so much so that I totally disregarded Baltimore's no cameras policy....

 

 

 

:o:o:o

 

Checkin was nice, they take you to a private lounge with comfortabl seating to do your check-in and get your S&S cards, then escort you to a roped off area to wait for boarding with the other platinum, Diamond, etc. It would have been more exciting had we not sat there for an hour before boarding began!! LOL

 

Finally, around Noon, we start making our way to the ship!

 

 

That's my brother Kenny in the photo above, he and our youngest son Kirk (21) shared a 4K French door cabin while Tracy & I had an aft-view Vista Suite with wraparound balcony (more on that later). Kenny and Kirk did FTTF, so they were only a couple minutes behind us in boarding. Since Kenny had only been on Fascination and Victory, I had to get the "Oh My God" photo when he got his first look at the Pride:

 

[bradm77]

 

 

 

More Lobby:

 

 

We don't stand on ceremony and tradition too much when cruising, but there are some things you just don't waver from. One of those things is that the lunch on embarkation day ALWAYS involves 2 main ingredients: Potato Salad and a GRILLED REUBEN.

 

[bradm77]

OOPS!! I need to correct6 my previous post!! It SHOULD have said "THREE Main ingredients: Potato Salad, a Grilled Reuben, AND.............

 

 

My apologies for the discrepancy. ;)

 

Brothers. Casino Bar. Thirsty Frog Red draft beer. Good times. :D

 

[bradm77]

Since Kirk and Kenny had never been on Pride, and they had spent the last 4 months hearing Tracy & I yak about David's (ok, ok, hearing *ME* yak about it nonstop), we decided to go for dinner that 1st night!

 

David's Steakhouse ceiling (The frosted glass is actually the lower 2/3 of the whale tail on Spirit class ships)

 

 

Kenny & Kirk at David's

 

 

The Birthday girl enjoying a glass of Orange Moscato

 

Of course, no visit to David's steakhouse would be complete without FOOD PORN!!!

 

 

Crab Cake. I would LOVE to be able to tell you how wonderful the crab cake was, but there are no words. Another couple at the next table were blown away by it, and they live in BALTIMORE, MARYLAND! Let that sink in for a minute.......

 

 

Chocolate Sampler

 

 

The spiral staircase that leads into the Steakhouse lets you look straight down 10+ stories to the lobby! (If you don't do heights, you can take the elevator to David's and bypass the staircase)

 

Although I did not make any arrangements with the staff at David's for Tracy's birthday, they somehow knew and serenaded her with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" during dessert! The staff at David's really is top-notch. The presentation of the entrees, the pace of the meal, everything was just simply 5 star all the way around!

[bradm77]

Two very satisfied diners!

 

More David's:

 

 

 

We spent the rest of our evening in the Casino. Kenny had never played 3-card poker before, and it's my favorite game, so we headed over there. I should also tell you now that I am a regular smoker, and my brother is a once-in-blue-moon smoker. We went to the smoking 3-card poker table, a gentleman named Andrea was the dealer. We sat down, I got $200 in $5 chips and Kenny said he wanted to watch a few hands before playing. So far, so good. We order drinks and I start playing and he starts watching. We both light a cigarette. About 15 seconds after that, one of the pit bosses (a young short-haired Russian girl with glasses) named Olga comes over. Now, technically, there is a sign that signs that smoking is permitted at this table while playing and Kenny was not, at that point, playing yet. I guess what I am saying is that Olga was TECHNCIALLY correct when she picked up said sign, pushed it in my brother's face about 18 inches from his nose and said "CAN YOU READ?!?!"

 

I was shocked. Gobsmaked, in fact. In ten cruises, I have never, EVER, seen a Carnival employee behave like that. I've seen them less than joyful, occasionally even sullen, but this was just flat out NASTY.

 

After the initial shock wore off, Kenny bought $100 in chips and started playing and we both, in a word, were GRINDING. My $200 and his $100 lasted a little over 2 hours! We went from Andrea to Donka to Perfecto to Mariana and Evgenei (who gave me a 3 of a kind AND a straight flush in a ten minute span). After 2+ hours of this, I had almost $400 in chips and Kenny was sitting at $40, so we did get our money's worth. About midway through, I had ordered another drink, tried to sign for it, and was told Olga picked up the tab. Always nice to get a free drink when playing but that was November 17th and this is December 1st and I am still unhappy with they way she acted towards Kenny.

 

Later in the week, I was playing next to a gentleman who had spent far more time gambling than I who was asking Olga about her plans after this cruise. Turns out that our cruise was the last of her contract and that she is not planning to return to Carnival. Imagine that.

 

Up next - Day 2 (Day at Sea)

[bradm77]

We woke up around 7:30 on Monday morning. It was still only in the upper 50s/lower 60s and way too cold to be on our balcony.

 

We went to the Normandie dining room for our sea day breakfast to discover it is now the sea day BRUNCH and doesn't start until 8:30AM. I know the "beards" read these boards, even if JH doesn't, so since I did NOT get an email survey following this cruise, let me just say "Oh my god, please go back to normal dining room breakfast!" The new brunch menu was, to us, underwhelming at best. The huesvos was a sloppy lukewarm mess, the steak and eggs were average, even my eggs benedict were more cold than hot.

 

 

Tracy & I got coupons for a free drink, but the free drink is ONLY good during the brunch. We don't do mimosas and bloody marys, so that's a benefit that didn't benefit us at all, we never used them.

 

After breakfast, we went back to the cabin, threw on our warmest clothes, added bathrobes and top and braved the balcony!

 

 

 

Let me talk a little bit about the aft-wrap vista suite cabin. We were in 4228 (I'll post a video later), and, in our opinion, the pros are:

• HUGE cabin
  
• separate living area/ bedroom/ vanity & dressing area
  
• bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and double sinks
  
• the balcony is HUUGE (6 feet deep by 40 feet long)
  
• two flat panel TVs
  

The cons are:

• non-stop vibration when the ship is moving
  
• extremely loud banging and vibration when the ship is docking
  
• you feel a LOT more motion being aft as opposed to mid-ship
  

If you are a heavy sleeper, and not at all prone to motion sickness, then this might be the greatest cabin of your entire cruising life! BTW - I am not prone to motion sickness and sleep like a log. Tracy, on the other hand...... Thank god for BONINE! :o

 

We spent most of day two hanging out on the balcony, a little gambling in the casino, elegant night dining followed by VROOM. The air got warmer as the day went by and we went to bed very excited that day 3 was going to serenity deck and buckets of beers OUTDOORS day!

 

 

 

[bradm77]

Day 3 dawned with sunshine and WARMTH!!! The view from our aft balcony was awesome!

 

 

 

we went mid ship and hung out for a little while, just people watching and relaxing. We also had a meet-n-greet at 4PM with Open Bar where we would hook up with Steve and Ellen (Roll call) to arrange for our Wednesday visit to Kennedy Space Center!

 

 

After lunch at Lido grill, Tracy went off for some quiet time and us guys decided to do what we guys sometimes do - make stupid decisions, like Kenny & I joining Kirk in doing "Thug Life" shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey. I can hold my beer, I can handle my rum, but whiskey....... I should have known better!

 

 

We made it to the M&G. We met Steve and Ellen. We made arrangements for a minivan rental the next day for KSC. I know all these things happened because Tracy told me they happened and that I was there for them............. :o:o

[Luluwa]

Day 3 dawned with sunshine and WARMTH!!! The view from our aft balcony was awesome!

 

 

 

we went mid ship and hung out for a little while, just people watching and relaxing. We also had a meet-n-greet at 4PM with Open Bar where we would hook up with Steve and Ellen (Roll call) to arrange for our Wednesday visit to Kennedy Space Center!

 

 

After lunch at Lido grill, Tracy went off for some quiet time and us guys decided to do what we guys sometimes do - make stupid decisions, like Kenny & I joining Kirk in doing "Thug Life" shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey. I can hold my beer, I can handle my rum, but whiskey....... I should have known better!

 

 

We made it to the M&G. We met Steve and Ellen. We made arrangements for a minivan rental the next day for KSC. I know all these things happened because Tracy told me they happened and that I was there for them............. :o:o

 

Ready to hear and see more. We're sailing the Pride the first time in January

[bradm77]

But hey, I'm 44, and Kirk is only 21 and I outlasted him at his own brand of whiskey! I mean, I must have, because I was still conscious at some point to have taken this picture:

 

 

After some late afternoon napping, we all rallied to make it to dinner that night, where my CSG Jacky was selling shots, and we were off and running again!

 

 

Tip for any less experienced cruisers, especially those who enjoy mixed drinks: On day one, find a waiter or waitress working in whatever area of the ship you plan to spend a lot of time at (casino, Lido, serenity, etc). Be extremely generous with that first drink (I generally will add to the included 15% to go up to $12 - $15 total). Repeat that every 4th drink or so and by day 3, you will have your very own CSG (or CSB) which stands for Cruise Ship Girlfriend (or Cruise Ship Boyfriend). All of your drinks will be very strong, and some of them you won't even be billed for! In the long run, you'll pay about the same, will get tremendously fast friendly service, and never have to wait! In some cases, I've even ended up with a pen pal out of the deal (Krisztina on Elation and Ali on Fantasy)

 

It was on day 3 that our assistant waiter, Edy, was replaced by Rappaport (Our head waiter, Joseph, was with us all week). Rappaport quickly branded us 3 guys with the nickname "TWO TIMES". On previous cruises, if I wanted to try both the lobster tail and the prime rib on elegant night, or really two entrees of anything, I would end up with 2 full plates. Not Rapport! I asked Rappaport to double me up on Meatloaf, Rappaport said "Meatloaf TWO TIMES!" and brought this:

 

 

 

It all started with WCMC, Double Ice Cream, but pretty soon, we were getting "TWO TIMES" even when we didn't ask for it. Joseph and Edy/Rappaort were quite amazing, in that each night, we were through dinner and walking out before the singing & dancing had even started. We weren't rushed, they were just on their "A Game" all week long!

[jwlnroe]

loving the review.. we leave in 53 days for our cruise on the Pride.. keep the pics coming :-)

[Eiansmomma]

awesome review…. we leave in ONE WEEK!! Can't wait to read more

[MrBanana1240]

Great review! I miss pride, and we were going to book her for thanksgiving 2014 in a suite to say goodbye, but carnival just change things up and cancelled it, and now it will be in Tampa :( Glad you are had fun. I literally just for off Glory.

[dolphins76]

We were on the same sailing...Loving your review so far.

[bradm77]

Thanks, will try to add more today if I can.

[bigdog1958]

Thanks for the review... great so far.... I do disagree with you about the seaday brunch.. I thinks its nice to change it up for a couple of days and offer something different like the brunch...

[bradm77]

Our cabin - 4228 Vista Suite Aft-Wrap

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BeOddqQmxk&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Passing under the Key Bridge in Baltimore

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgJnYv3Ns9w&feature=youtu.be

[bradm77]

Wednesday morning was partly cloudy, temps in the mid 70's. We felt really bad for the Cocoa Beach folks as it rained on and off all day. We took the Budget rent-a-car shuttle and picked up our minivan for the ride to Kennedy Space Center. Steve was a nice guy and drove and I navigated with cell phone GPS.

 

 

 

 

[bradm77]

 

 

[bradm77]

All in all, Kennedy Space center was AWESOME. We spent a little over 6 hours there, and there was bunch of stuff we never got to see or do. If you've never been, I highly recommend it!

[Luluwa]

Can you tell me:

- how far out of Baltimore you pass under the Key Bridge?

- how far out your cell phone service worked from Baltimore?

Thanks :)

[dolphins76]

We went roaming when we got out of the Bay.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[LBroxon]

Can you tell me:

- how far out of Baltimore you pass under the Key Bridge?

- how far out your cell phone service worked from Baltimore?

Thanks :)

 

Yes out of the bay. The night before debarkation I got service back around 11:30pm.

[Radio]

I am loving your review ! I will be sailing Pride next month for the same itinerary !

 

Keep up the great job. . .

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

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