Proud Pride Cruisers!! (Feb 8th-Feb 15th Western Review)

[Viscus]

Just got off our Valentine's Day 7 day cruise with me and my wife (our 3rd cruise), and another couple who were first time cruisers. We sailed out of Tampa, FL, to Cozumel>Belize City>Mahogany Bay>Grand Cayman.

 

My photobucket decided to start uploading pictures from the newest backwards, so I have to wait for them to finish before starting my review officially, but I can answer any quick questions, and I also have the Fun Times from each day.

 

That said, it was a really, really fun cruise, and if I would've kept my butt out of the casino, an inexpensive cruise even with us doing some pretty crazy excursions in each port (more to come on that later!).

 

So, ask away, and Day 1 should be coming shortly.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Viscus

[mitsugirly]

Just got off our Valentine's Day 7 day cruise with me and my wife (our 3rd cruise), and another couple who were first time cruisers. We sailed out of Tampa, FL, to Cozumel>Belize City>Mahogany Bay>Grand Cayman.

 

My photobucket decided to start uploading pictures from the newest backwards, so I have to wait for them to finish before starting my review officially, but I can answer any quick questions, and I also have the Fun Times from each day.

 

That said, it was a really, really fun cruise, and if I would've kept my butt out of the casino, an inexpensive cruise even with us doing some pretty crazy excursions in each port (more to come on that later!).

 

So, ask away, and Day 1 should be coming shortly.

 

We will be on the Pride in April and can't wait to read your review...and especially the "crazy excursions" you mentioned.

 

I don't suppose you traveled with any children did you?

[Viscus]

Alright, here we go! Hopefully, my sense of humor actually comes across in text. Also, let me just go ahead and get this out there: We loved this cruise. Between the ship itself, the fact I actually researched the ports for this one versus what we usually do in just winging it at each port, and the fact we took 2 people that had never cruised before, we had a blast. I'd definitely recommend the research aspect, even if you don't pre-book excursions.

 

Day 1 (Sort of) - Driving to port Tampa, boarding, and first day!

 

The cruise departed out of Tampa, and the 4 of us all live in Atlanta, so we decided to drive down. We left the Saturday before departure day, but couldn't leave until 5PM EST because of the other couple and their silly plans about some birthday for their child. They definitely didn't have their priorities straight. We were lazy and stopped in some random side of the road motel in the middle of nowhere Florida. America's Best Value Inn or something? No pictures and not even sure where the motel is or its actual name, but believe me, you aren't missing much. I woke up at 2AM to a tow truck idling in the parking lot with the driver walking car to car to check VIN #'s. I was treated to a very entertaining show of someone getting their Lexus towed, was pretty cool. Not to mention what had to be 50 thread count sheets on the bed. Mistakes were made not going to the next exit.

 

We woke up around 8AM, enjoyed our luxurious breakfast of pre-sealed muffins, and got out of there as quickly as possible. IT WAS CRUISE DAY AT LAST!

 

We got to the port area around noon EST. Making the last hour or so of the drive was painful because some people in our facebook group were already aboard posting first drink pictures. Jerks. But let me say, FIND YOUR CRUISE CRITIC AND FACEBOOK GROUPS! It adds so much to the cruise experience. Even if you don't pal around all week (which we didn't), having some familiar faces on board is really nice, especially if you aren't with a huge group.

 

From our groups, we found out about Parking Doctors in Tampa. Port of Tampa parking is $17 a day (I think) with no shuttle. Parking Doctors is $8 with an air conditioned shuttle that drops you off at the front doors of the check-in terminal. Great choice for parking, lot felt safe, easy to find, etc. Also, they do online reservations, so no risk of them being full. Only issue was post-cruise, and it was a very small one which I'll talk about at the end.

 

Day 1 TBC (To Be Continued)

[Viscus]

We will be on the Pride in April and can't wait to read your review...and especially the "crazy excursions" you mentioned.

 

I don't suppose you traveled with any children did you?

 

No children unless you count my friend's pregnant wife. She decided to get preggers right before a cruise, great life choice. :P

[Viscus]

Day 1 con't:

 

After the shuttle dropped us off, we headed into the cruise terminal. Didn't have my iPad ready at the entrance, but the initial line was quick and painless, just an initial check of documents and ID's. Then the first craziness of the Tampa terminal happened. Their escalators couldn't be used by people with luggage, which meant NO ONE COULD USE THE ESCALATORS. We got there at 12:45'ish at the actual terminal, and the line for the elevators was already miserable. I feel terrible for people arriving later.

 

Once we got through the elevator line, it was time to stand in the check-in/S&S line. If you are cruising out of Tampa, I recommend being Platinum+ or getting FTTF. This terminal was miserably hot, lines took forever, and it was ran like a madhouse. On the plus side, for you smugglers out there, this port is a dream. No bag inspections other than a disinterested XRay person, a quick glance at 12 pack carry-ons and bottles of water, and on your way.

 

 

See what I mean? Total madhouse, and the Pride is one of the smallest ships in the Carnival fleet. Oh, and the other husband got a red card even though it was his first cruise. Odd...

 

TBC'd

[Viscus]

Day 1 Part tres:

 

Well, with the terminal insanity behind us, it was on to our cruise and a great time! We both had booked Inside Guaranteed Rates during the "24 hour" sale back in November of 2014. 24 hours in quotes because it was extended to 48 hours. After fees and everything, we each paid $750 for the cruise for 2 people. Great rate. Also, on the way to the port, we found out Carnival had refunded $14.50pp to everyone on the cruise (as far as I know :P ) for an overcharge on fees. Yay for free OBC!

 

We were in cabins 7114 (ours) and 7118 (theirs), which turned out to be an extremely quiet section of the ship. No noises other than one night, which happened on the night of doom (day 6, more details to come later ;) ).

 

 

 

 

 

As you may have noticed from the pictures, our room had an old tube TV. 7118 had one of the new flat screens from the refurbishment. Kind of lame, but who goes on cruises for the TV? That minor inconvenience aside, the room had a great AC system, and a fantastic room steward.

 

By now, it was around 1:30PM EST, and we had a cruise critic meet and greet scheduled for 2PM on the Lido, so it was time to get out and about!

 

TBC'd

[Viscus]

Day 1 part (french word for 4 here):

 

We headed for the Lido to grab lunch before the M&G, and were greeted by one of the Pride's live "bands". These guys were great, providing a great mix of music on the Lido in front of the movie screen, and down in the lobby. They might've played in other places, but I only say them in those 2 spots.

 

 

 

Our first cruise selfie! (I don't do tooth smiles, sue me)

 

I had sold the crap out of Guy's Burgers to the other husband, and it was time to put my cholesterol ridden burger where my mouth was. Needless to say, he loved them, and I might've gotten a little overzealous with my first burger. Kind of forgot to take a picture right away...

 

 

 

We took a quick walk around deck 10, took a picture of the main pool area, and then headed for the M&G.

 

[Viscus]

This was our first meet and greet, and it was a blast! One of the members brought beads and nametags for everyone, and it was so cool putting real live humans to CC names and Facebook avatars. It seemed like everyone on this cruise was a snowbird from somewhere frigid where humans don't belong. We might get an inch or two of snow tomorrow in Atlanta, and the city is planning on shutting down. Anything more than that is ridiculous. ;)

 

 

After the M&G, we headed back to the cabin to relax until the fan favorite muster drill. I forgot to mention this earlier, but as most of you know, the only red VIFP perk, which was a free Seaday Brunch drink, was replaced by a 1 liter bottle of water for each person red+. We were one of the first wave of cruises impacted by this change. When we first saw the bottles, me and my wife both laughed and scoffed at the idea. But we found them huuuuuuugely useful during the cruise since we had excursions booked at each port.

 

 

Off to the muster drill we went. The other husband and I "accidentally" lost our wives for this and we went down together. We had muster station B, which was outside. I think all muster stations are outside on the Pride unless you require Handicapped assistance. And let me get this out of the way.

 

This was a very old cruise. As in the people on the ship. Those poor slot machines got a workout this last week. So the handicapped muster station looked packed as we walked past it. Not that I'm complaining, there were almost no kids on board and was generally very quiet, which me and my wife love. That's why, when she starts teaching full time and we can only cruise during school holidays, we'll be giving the "older" cruise lines a try to see if we like them.

 

As usual, people were still shuffling their way into the station 15 minutes after they were supposed to be there. Just go people. The faster you get there, the faster we can stop lining up and watching life jacket demo's.

 

 

The deck at the time listed on the fun times (As in, the time everyone is supposed to be there).

 

 

The deck 20 minutes after the time listed. Thanks guys. Way to be punctual.

 

After the presentation, we hung out on the deck for awhile and watched the NCL Epic (I think, can't remember for sure) sail out of dock.

 

 

TBC'd

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

After the presentation, we hung out on the deck for awhile and watched the NCL Epic (I think, can't remember for sure) sail out of dock.

 

 

TBC'd

 

Epic=biggest cruise ship in NCL's fleet. Sun=one of the smallest. This would be the Sun. :)

[Viscus]

From there, we headed back to the rooms to grab our fun times we had forgotten (oops) and headed for the Serenity deck. This first night, chair hogs weren't an issue, and we actually found a bed chair and a hammock together to watch sail-away. Other days, not so much. You'd get out there at 8:30AM on sea days, and the iconic towel and book would be on every prime chair on the deck. Gotta love jerkfaces.

 

Here's the day 1 fun times and some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and if you're ever sailing out of Tampa, DO NOT miss when the ship sails under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. If you stand right under the whale tail, it looks like you only clear the bridge by inches. Such a cool sight, and was one of the things I was super excited about for this cruise.

 

[Viscus]

Epic=biggest cruise ship in NCL's fleet. Sun=one of the smallest. This would be the Sun. :)

 

I knew I'd get that wrong. The Epic was following us at a couple of ports, got them confused.

 

By the way, I love your reviews and used them a ton for my research, pretty cool you're following mine!

[mitsugirly]

I knew I'd get that wrong. The Epic was following us at a couple of ports, got them confused.

 

By the way, I love your reviews and used them a ton for my research, pretty cool you're following mine!

 

 

Hehe. No problem. I just thought it was funny considering the different sizes of the 2 ships. :D Just poking fun.

 

I'm loving your review so far. Can't wait for more. :)

[Viscus]

Required bridge in the background with the smiling couple picture:

 

 

From here, it was on to dinner in the main dining room. All 4 of us had Your Time Dining, and this was another complaint of ours. Since the Pride is a small ship (well, "small"), there is only one dining room. They have assigned dining on deck 2, and YTD on deck 3. The reason why this is kind of lame is the fact that the wait staff performs for the assigned dining people, and almost nothing for the YTD people. We understand why, they need to get people in and out of YTD as quickly as possible so people aren't waiting forever. However, this means a lot of time, you'll be sitting upstairs, listening to the dining room staff throwing a party downstairs, and you can't see anything unless you want to crowd around the overlooking balcony. Made me feel like we were getting jipped.

 

Anyways, the Normandie dining room (2nd floor, deck 3, YTD section):

 

 

 

Aaaaaand Day 1 food porn:

 

 

Shrimp Cocktail: Standard, 7/10, shrimp tasted fresh

 

 

Beef Brisket (I think, should've labelled these in my iPad): 9/10, reallllllllllly good.

 

 

Flatiron Steak: 6/10. Kind of overcooked, gravy saved it.

 

Menu on Day 1 was kind of boring, but overall, a good meal. Didn't get pictures of everything, but I remember my wife saying the fish dish she ordered was delicious. Maybe it was the tilapia? Who knows.

 

From dinner, it was on to a very expensive night in the casino. I wanted to learn how to play craps, and I paid handsomely for my lesson. After getting a drink and smoke to calm me and sedate my angry wife, I went over to the poker table (which stayed very lively throughout the cruise) and made back some of my losses. But I was definitely a donator this cruise, a fact my wife won't let me forget.

 

We went to the Punchliner after and caught a show. The 18+ show we caught was by JR McCollum. Wasn't a huge fan, felt like most of his show was bad improvised jokes and crowd pandering. Had a few good ones in there, and his audience involved jokes were pretty good, but his prepared stuff was a snorefest and very repetitive. Worst performance in the club this week by a mile, the rest of them (including a second show by him) were much better.

 

Off to bed for our 2nd day, our first sea day! Our itenerary was Sea day>Cozumel>Belize>Roatan>Cayman>Sea Day. Having all the ports back to back to back made me miss sea days by day 4, but Monday was a fun day. Also, I always rolled my eyes when people said these reviews were hard work, but man, this is intense. Fun, and it makes me feel like the vacation is still happening a little bit, but intensive.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Viscus

[Viscus]

Day 2: The First Sea Day: Relaxtion and Cornhole Domination

 

The day's Fun Times:

 

 

 

 

 

First things first, breakfast food porn. Our favorite breakfast spot on the ship is the Blue Iguana breakfast tacos. Mmmmmmmmmm. Had one this morning (debarkation morning) even. Sooooooo goooooood. The other couple went with boring shmoring buffet food. Husband #2 got an omlette, which he said was good.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First things first, breakfast food porn. Our favorite breakfast spot on the ship is the Blue Iguana breakfast tacos. Mmmmmmmmmm. Had one this morning (debarkation morning) even. Sooooooo goooooood. The other couple went with boring shmoring buffet food. Husband #2 got an omlette, which he said was good.

 

 

 

I can't wait for this...can you tell me what all is in it? Or do you tell them what to put in it? What are the choices?

 

Thanks for the Fun Times. I'm wondering if they will be the same for us since we are doing the cruise when she comes to Maryland.

 

Love the picture you caught going under the bridge with how close the whale tail was. That's awesome. I pretty much missed when our Sun cruise went under it and caught it at the very moment we were under it. That bridge is so neat. It makes me want to take another cruise out of Tampa just to get some better pictures. :D

[Viscus]

The wives headed up to the Serenity Deck and were able to find a couple of loungers for a few hours. Husband #2 and I went down the Green Thunder slide 10-15 times each...k, maybe not that many times, but that thing is a blast. You get into a chamber, the employee closes it, locks you in, and a countdown from 3 happens. When it hits 0, the floor drops out from beneath you, and you go flyyyyyyyying through the enclosed tube out above the sea, around and into a splash runway. Really cool, and since the cruise wasn't full of kids, no line all week. No pictures of the slide since I don't have a waterproof case for my iPad, but it's a blast.

 

Serenity deck on sea days:

 

 

Husband#2 and I also went from the slide to the Lido main pool area for the first cornhole tournament. This is where I won my first Ship on a stick (only one trivia trophy, we'll talk about that later :P), was really fun.

 

 

(I love the guy in the background of this pic. I'll let you look for him yourself, see if you see what I'm talking about ;) )

 

After some shopping, we headed down for cornhole tournament #2.

 

 

A beautiful watch I'd love to add to my collection, but they wanted $2100 for it. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!

 

 

They had cornhole in the Red Frog Pub throughout the cruise other than 2 games on the Lido deck. Was a really odd choice of venue since the ceilings were so low, but I guess they didn't have a ton of space to choose from.

 

From here, we met our wives for trivia. I just realized I didn't take pictures of the full schedule tear out, so I have no idea which trivia this was. We did a ton of them, so I can't keep them straight.

 

 

So, here's where I need to take a moment and be a sore loser. As I said, this was an older cruise. Older people do not like to lose trivia to us "whippersnappers" in our 20's. That said, my wife and I take our trivia seriously. Several times throughout this cruise, they'd ask for people's scores, we'd yell out ours, be the highest number, then after about 10 seconds, someone would inevitable yell out a score 1 higher than ours. They'd receive the trophy, we'd all clap and go our separate ways (unless there was another trivia there right after).

 

I'm not saying there was rampant trivia cheating on this cruise...but there was rampant trivia cheating on this cruise. GRRRRR! You stole my ships on a stick! You fiends!

 

From here, it was some ship exploration and relaxing before dinner.

 

My arcade picture is blurry, but I wish I could share it. It's tucked up on deck 4, and you have to go down to deck 3, walk along the exterior promenade, then up some very steep steps to get to it. I'm surprised anyone can find it unless they're looking for it.

 

From here, it was off to dinner and more food porn.

[Viscus]

I can't wait for this...can you tell me what all is in it? Or do you tell them what to put in it? What are the choices?

 

Thanks for the Fun Times. I'm wondering if they will be the same for us since we are doing the cruise when she comes to Maryland.

 

Love the picture you caught going under the bridge with how close the whale tail was. That's awesome. I pretty much missed when our Sun cruise went under it and caught it at the very moment we were under it. That bridge is so neat. It makes me want to take another cruise out of Tampa just to get some better pictures. :D

 

I should be able to quote it with how many times we ate there, but from memory:

 

Wheat or Jalapeno tortilla

Choice of Ham or Sausage (can do both)

Any combo of scrambled eggs, Mexican eggs (just seasoned with peppers), cheese, lettuce, onions, hashbrowns, and salsa

Choice of Sour Cream, various thinner salsas, and guacamole (can do all)

 

It works like a Chipotle. You tell them what to put in them.

 

And I was running up and down the deck trying to get good bridge pictures. I was like a little kid. My wife told me so. :P

[Viscus]

Day 2 food porn in the MDR, which was our first formal night by the way. You know what that means?! Lobster and Prime Rib night! So, porn:

 

 

Some kind of mushroom dish: 4/10, very bland and cold

 

 

Alligator Fritters: 9/10 One of the best appetizers we had all week

 

 

Prime Rib without the accouterments (which is how I had to eat mine, our waiter disappeared and I didn't want to wait for it to be cold) 6/10 Probably would've been higher, but like I said, I ate it without Au Jus or horseradish.

 

 

Lobster with shrimp: 9/10. I've had the lobster on our other cruises, and this was the best we've had. Not rubber or overcooked, tasted reasonably fresh, and the shrimps that come on the plate were amaaaaaazing. Oh, and another hype fest I did before the cruise for husband#2 was to tell him it was bottomless lobster if he wanted it to be. Needless to say, between the 2 of us, we made Carnival regret that policy. I think around a dozen lobsters met their end because of us.

 

 

The Southern Style Ribs: 3/10. No, my camera is not that terrible. The sauce was gelled onto them. Cold, tough, they did not get eaten past a couple of courtesy bites. Disappointing.

 

Oh, and on other nights, there will be desert pictures, but the reason they've been lacking to this point is because the desert menu's were kind of lacking this cruise. A lot of WCMC's were consumed this cruise because of that. Only so many times I can post those. :P

 

From there, we went down to the Red Frog Pub for some music and drinks. The band that played in there this week was absolutely amazing. Some of the best music we've heard on a cruise. Overall, the music was really good on the Pride, but these guys killed it. Their band name is the Rocking Dead, and all 5 of them are super talented. The 2 singers (one male and one female) were all-stars. Plus, on each night, for their early set, they'd all be dressed up in theme. One night was 70's night (disco clothes), another was 60's (bell-bottoms and afro's) and so on. They'd also play music from those decades those nights. Really cool vibe in there.

 

Picture of my wife and husband#2 acting immature on the shuffleboard table:

 

 

From here, it was on to bed, as tomorrow, we had the port I was the most excited for (at the time, another port took over as my favorite after the fact), Cozumel MX and Mr. Sanchos!

[Viscus]

And with that, I'm heading to bed. Looks like this site is mostly asleep too. My wife's already in bed and yelling at me to stop reminiscing and shut off the computer. She just doesn't understand man.

 

Feel free to ask any questions you think I didn't answer, I'll do my best. Again, if you don't want to read the entire review, even with the negatives, we loved the Pride, and Baltimore people will be lucky to get her in March.

[WinnipegCruiser]

And with that, I'm heading to bed. Looks like this site is mostly asleep too. My wife's already in bed and yelling at me to stop reminiscing and shut off the computer. She just doesn't understand man.

 

It is so very interesting to me that this is often the case. One person is 'involved' with CC, where the other just doesn't understand.

 

Great review. My DW and I are on the Pride for the 14 day repositioning cruise next month.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Really enjoying your review so far. I can't wait for the rest since I am doing a B2B in May on the Pride!

[bdink921]

Loving your review!!!! We are so looking forward to sailing on Pride in April...can't wait to finally see some sun and warm weather :D

[OttawaCountess]

Looking forward to the rest of your review & pictures. We too are sailing on the Pride repo cruise next month.

[petesweet]

Thank you for your hard work in doing this review. It is excellent, and very helpful to those of us who will be new to this ship.

 

Kathy

[Jamman54]

Enjoying your review!! We'll be back on the Pride for the 3rd time in April, but for the first time since the 2.0 upgrades.