Pirate's JOURNEY on the Pride...March 13-28 Photo Review

[Cruzoholic]

We did the Jalousie beach break with Spencer Ambrose during this cruise and we had lunch on the beach. His daughter brought the food and set it up and Kerry was in charge of the drinks there.

 

Evie

[debby31201]

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[Crusin Karen]

We did the Jalousie beach break with Spencer Ambrose during this cruise and we had lunch on the beach. His daughter brought the food and set it up and Kerry was in charge of the drinks there.

 

Evie

We did the sea, land AND beach break, so I guess you were having your beach lunch while we were doing the land part! :rolleyes: I assume you were in the lst boat that left at the beginning? Whatever, it was a great excursion and was the highlight of the cruise!

[pirate4me2]

While I was sad that we had no more ports to visit on this cruise, boy was I glad to FINALLY have a sea day to sleep in, relax, and recover from 8 fantastic ports! Today was also a very special sea day...it was our Throwback Sea Day, where they do some of the things that they use to do in the '80s, such as horse racing, frog racing, the Captain's Celebration, and the Grand Gala Midnight Buffet.

To start off my day, of course I slept in! I think I slept until about 9, and then Chris and I ordered room service for breakfast. I got my usual BLT (I hate bacon...but I love Carnival's BLTs. Haha. I think I just try and tell myself and everyone else that I hate bacon :p), and I forget what Chris got...maybe a grilled cheese? Don't judge, we are on vacation! While we ate our VERY TRADITIONAL breakfasts (hehehe :D) we watched the morning show. I fell in love with the morning show on our Sunshine cruise with Wee Jimmy, but Steve's was just OK.

We got dressed and decided to go see what was happening around the ship. We ended up at the coffee shop on deck 2, and I ordered a Iced Mochachino with dark chocolate , skim milk, and the ice blended. OH MY GOODNESS, it was fantastic!

 

 

It was like a milkshake, but not as unhealthy! I made the mistake of letting Chris try a sip, and his eyes got REALLY big and I knew he would be drinking those every morning the rest of the cruise.

We took our coffees into the Red Frog Pub to play some shuffleboard until the horse racing in the Taj Mahal. It was cute, and our fellow cruisers REALLY got into it. They auction the "horses" (there are 6) off, and you have to pay cash and then you can name your horse. Then there are the races, which are done by dice...the numbers that are rolled represent the "horses" and the "horses" that get rolled get to move forward. You can also bet on the races.

 

Meet the 6 elite Thoroughbreds on our sailing

 

Steve all dressed up in his 80's gear during the horse racing

 

After the horse racing we had a small window of time to have lunch before our frog racing would happen. We figured that we had just enough time to enjoy sea day brunch, so we headed to the MDR. Service was fantastic and quick! I ordered the fruit plate, which was yummy, and the Mac N Cheese with chicken mixed in. The Mac N Cheese was sooooo good, in fact, it was so good that this was the picture I ended up with for you guys.

 

 

Sorry...I got super excited when I saw it and couldn't hold myself back. It was perfectly warm , ooey gooey melty awesomeness.

[pirate4me2]

After lunch we ran up to Lido to claim our spots near the pool to watch the deck games. We ended up standing on the sides with a good view, and soon it was time for the Ping Pong Ball Challenge. Steve had the contestants get in the pool and they dumped a bunch of ping pong balls into the water. The people sitting around the edge of the pool kicked their legs to splash the balls around, and then the players had to grab and stuff as many balls as possible into their swimsuits. Both men and women competed, and when the last ball had finally been stuffed somewhere, it was time to see who the winner was. The rule was that you had to make it out of the pool with all the balls still in your suit, and I think everyone managed that. The balls were taken out and counted, and I think the winner had 40 something stuffed in her suit. It was hilarious.

Next up was frog racing!

 

 

Remember how I said there were only 2 frogs left in Cherry on Top last night? Well, they must have rounded up more frogs because they were selling them on Lido right before the big event. Chris saw that they had red frogs and he decided that our frog (whom I had decided to name Dog the Frog) wasn't good enough, he wanted his very own red frog to race. Boo! They decided to race the red frogs first, and Chris ended up in the very first race. Sadly, his frog was not the winner.

 

Nookie rounding up the frogs after racing.

 

 

Steve playing announcer of the races!

 

 

Dog the Frog didn't win when the green frogs raced, so I guess Chris and I didn't know how to pick winning frogs. :p It was still a really fun afternoon pool game, and now I have 2 little frogs I can stick in my pool at home and play with!

[pirate4me2]

We decided to go see what the napkin folding demo was all about down in the Captain's Club, but it was a pretty lame event. They had waiters and waitresses from the steakhouse and the MDR showing you how to fold the napkins like they do on the ship, but the guy we ended up with doing the demo only knew how to do 2 folds, and he wasn't really that good. At this point it was 2:45, and I told Chris I just wanted to go sit on the balcony with my book until the Captain's Celebration at 4:45. We went back to the cabin and I had about an hour and a half of good quality reading while listening to the wake of the ship. I think that is my favorite part about my aft balconies, seeing the wake and listening to it when I am out there.

After we got all spiffed up in our finest, we headed to the party. Man, this was awesome! We walked in and the band was playing, and once we sat down a drink server came by with free drinks, and a bunch of waiters came around with appetizers. Here's what we ended up with:

 

Pigs in a blanket

 

Honestly, I am not really sure what this is, but it was yummy!

 

These little shrimps were DELISH! Crunchy and hot, oh they were great!

 

My drink of choice

 

The servers kept bringing drinks by, and I think I ended up with 3 total. They were strong and good! The captain came out, as well as the other senior officers, and it was just a really fun, festive mood in the Taj Mahal for about an hour or so.

[pirate4me2]

After the party we headed to dinner. Guess what I ordered for my starter? You got it, Caesar salad. It was really good tonight. I couldn't decided between the Vegetable Princess or the Lobster and shrimp, so I ended up with both. The Vegetable Princess was FANTASTIC, I highly recommend it!

 

 

The shrimp off the other dish were yummy, but the lobster was rubbery and just kind of blah. I took the shrimp and added them to the vegetarian dish.

 

To finish off my meal I decided I wanted something light, and this is where Liza's assistant blew my mind. She came by with menus and then came back to take my order, and she REMEMBERED WHAT I HAD LAST NIGHT. How many people per sitting do these Your Time Dining waitresses and waiters help each evening? They don't always get the same people either. Yet somehow, she remembered that the night before I had gotten berries and cream, and when she came to take my order she asked, "Same as last night? Strawberries and cream?" It just blew me away. She came back shortly with my yummy dessert.

 

 

We hit the comedy club after dinner for a show titled "Dysfunctional," and it was a hoot. After that we decided to watch a little bit of the movie "Dirty Dancing" on the Lido big screen until it was time to take pictures of the Grand Gala Buffet at 11:15. I was really, really surprised that when we went down to the MDR at 11:10 we were the second people in line. I expected it to be packed!

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

 

 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

 

We debated hanging out to get a snack from the buffet, but by this time it was 11:30 and we decided there really wasn't too much there that we wanted to wait 1/2 an hour for. It's crazy to think that 300 manhours went into preparing that, and all that food was made to look so beautiful!

[pirate4me2]

After staying up until after midnight last night, I slept in until 9 this morning. It felt GREAT! When we got up and got motivated, we went to Open Seating breakfast in the MDR. I ordered my eggs benedict without any meat (so yummy!) with a side of pork sausage (sooooo much better than the chicken sausage earlier in the cruise!) and hashbrowns (undercooked, so they were left uneaten).

With our bellies nice and full we headed to the Taj Mahal for a Crew Connections event, called Maritime Q&A. On the way there we had to pass the coffee shop, and we decided to get some coffee. Chris ordered the same thing as me this time, and then we headed into the Taj. This Q&A was so awesome! They had the Captain, as well as several other senior officers, there to answer questions. I loved it, and it was so informative. I know on other cruises we have taken they have a Ships Life Q&A session, but this one was 10 times better.

After the Q&A was over we went back to the room for a few minutes and I began packing. I know it's still early, but let's face it, I overpacked. I had a bunch of stuff to arrange in my suitcases! I probably spent 30 minutes getting that started, and then we decided to head to the MDR for Open Seating lunch. I ordered the create-your-own-burger, and Chris got the BBQ ribs.

Now, a little background on Chris and ribs. He is a bit of a rib snob, he is a country boy who has grown up down south and loves his BBQ. I almost hate going to BBQ places with him as he is always comparing it to some of the competition BBQ he has eaten. I figured when he ordered these ribs he would be extremely disappointed.

I was wrong. He RAVED about them.

In fact, he sucked them down before I could even get a picture of them! He gave them the ultimate compliment, saying, and I quote, "These are some of the best ribs I have had. They are competition worthy."

I was shocked. My burger was good, but not competition worthy. Better than Guy's though.

 

 

After lunch we headed to the Love & Marriage show, which was a hoot as always. Then it was time for another Crew Connections event, this one a Q&A with housekeeping staff, wait staff, a pool & deck supervisor, and a few others. It was a great event, very informative. Then we headed back to the room until dinner. I sat out on the deck while Chris started some of his packing.

For dinner, we got to sit in Liza's section again. I ordered the fried shrimp for a starter, and they were the same shrimp that were served at the Captain's Celebration yesterday, and they were just as delicious! For my main I ordered a corn and quinoa vegetarian dish, and it was extremely good!

 

 

When it came time for dessert, Chris and I were both curious about the popcorn pot thing, so we ordered it to split. I also ordered a backup plan, the chocolate melting cake.

 

 

The verdict on the popcorn pot: it is WAAYYYYYY to sweet, sickeningly so! I was glad for Old Faithful.

We went and checked out the production show for tonight, 80's Pop to the Max, but it just wasn't our thing. We ended up going to the PG comedy show with a comedian named Derrick. He was really funny, and we enjoyed his set. The R rated comedy with another comedian was boring, so I left Chris there and went back to the room to pack some more. I was beginning to feel sad that tomorrow was our last day at sea!

[pirate4me2]

Can you believe it is the last day of this cruise already? Where did my 2 weeks go??

I got up at 9:15 and went to Blue Iguana to have my final breakfast burrito. Why don't the ones I make at home ever taste as awesome as theirs? After that I went back and did my final packing, then sulked on my balcony until 1:30 trying to come up with ways to hide onboard when the next cruise started. Chris finally dragged me away by enticing me with the idea of pizza and the chocolate extravaganza going on up on Lido for lunch.

 

 

I do not know what the cake was that I put on the plate, but it was not very good.

 

After lunch we walked around the ship some. Andy was playing on the Serenity deck, so we stopped and listened for a bit. Then we wandered down to the atrium to see if anything was going on there, and I noticed this statue for the first time.

 

 

We wandered into the casino and tried our luck on a machine or 2, but neither one of us are gamblers and our tries were failures. Oh well, I can at least now say that I have tried.

There really were not too many activities going on around the ship that interested us today, so we ended up back at the room packing and reading until it was about 4:30. At that point I went to the Red Frog Pub to order the Caribbean Colada I had been eyeing all cruise long.

 

 

It was incredible! Oh man, I could go for one of those right now.

Dinnertime came and Chris ordered some BBQ flatbread for his appetizer, but I can't remember if he said it was good or not.

 

 

I got the baked onion soup, and it was really good.

 

[pirate4me2]

I also decided to be healthy but instead of the Caesar salads which had been letting me down all cruise long, I ordered a chopped tomato and lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing. Here it is before the dressing was on it. It was pretty decent.

 

 

For my main course I got the cornmeal crusted chicken, which was super tender and moist.

 

 

I ordered a side of the whipped potatoes and green beans. Potatoes were good, the beans were pretty gross.

 

 

I ordered a hot cocoa to close out my dinner. Carnival has the BEST hot cocoa!

 

 

I told Chris that I wanted one last game of shuffleboard in the Red Frog, so we went and did that. Who knew I would become a shuffleboard addict? I beat him, and then we headed to the Piano Bar to hear Rob play one last time. We hung out there until 9:45, and then decided to turn in since we had a long drive home ahead of us tomorrow.

[pirate4me2]

I woke up and looked out the balcony door and saw this at about 7:45 on debarkation morning.

 

 

Where's my sunshine? And blue waters? Oh right...I'm not in the Caribbean anymore. :(

We had FTTF and were to meet in the Captain's Club at 8:45. We did a final check of the room and then headed down at 8:45, and I think that by 9:10 we were heading off the ship. Steve was right there to tell everyone goodbye, and it was a painless process, very efficient and organized. With one last "ding!" of the card, we were no longer on our cruise. The line to go through customs was quick moving, and we were one of the first people to get to the shuttle that would take us back to Best Western. I think we were probably back there by 9:45.

We had an uneventful drive home, and it was great to be reunited with the "kids" again.

Some final thoughts on the Pride...

*The ship overall we felt was in good shape. Yes, she has some signs of her age here and there, but hello, she is in salt water 24/7! There was always crew cleaning, painting, wiping down walls, and maintaining her. I feel like her crew really tries hard to take good care of her and keep her in the best shape they can.

*Steve is a great CD. I was skeptical on him since I had heard he wasn't that great, but he really is funny and seems like a nice guy.

*The food onboard was not the best we have ever had on a cruise (that award goes to Sunshine!) but we certainly did not go hungry! I would say it was a 7 overall.

 

Would I sail on Pride again? In a heartbeat! Baltimore, you have a great ship in your port!

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this. If you all have any questions I did not cover, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.

[PTAngel]

I certainly agree with you about the hot chocolate. I made it a point to stop in Lido deck every night for a hot chocolate before going to bed. Sometimes I would get 2, 1 for me & 1 for hubby. If he didn't want it, I had to drink it! Thank heavens our cabin was right next to the elevator & I didn't spill a drop.

[Crusin Karen]

I "discovered" the Caribbean Colada during our May, 2015 cruise and have been raving about it to everyone ever since! (Jamman, are you listening???) It was one of the lst drinks I ordered when we boarded the ship. (easy to make at home also, BTW) They only make it at the Red Frog Pub and bar on Lido for some reason. :confused: TY for the pictures of the midnight buffet. After meeting friends for drinks before the Captain's Celebration, then having sampling every drink they offered at least once DURING the celebration, then meeting friends for drinks after dinner, we decided to skip the buffet! Funny, a ton of your pictures are from a view point that I had on the cruise also so we must have been standing very near each other! And since we were also at the BW and were the lst shuttle back, we probably know each other, I just can't place your name with a face. THANK YOU for sharing this with us. I am going to have to put it in my favorite places just so I can relive it over and over. It was an awesome cruise and I am so grateful we were able to go. Enjoy all your countdowns and happy cruising to you!

[Cruzoholic]

Thanks Stephanie. Your review was wonderful along with the pictures. I can't wait till September. It was nice meeting you and Chris.

 

Evie

[pirate4me2]

I "discovered" the Caribbean Colada during our May, 2015 cruise and have been raving about it to everyone ever since! (Jamman, are you listening???) It was one of the lst drinks I ordered when we boarded the ship. (easy to make at home also, BTW) They only make it at the Red Frog Pub and bar on Lido for some reason. :confused: TY for the pictures of the midnight buffet. After meeting friends for drinks before the Captain's Celebration, then having sampling every drink they offered at least once DURING the celebration, then meeting friends for drinks after dinner, we decided to skip the buffet! Funny, a ton of your pictures are from a view point that I had on the cruise also so we must have been standing very near each other! And since we were also at the BW and were the lst shuttle back, we probably know each other, I just can't place your name with a face. THANK YOU for sharing this with us. I am going to have to put it in my favorite places just so I can relive it over and over. It was an awesome cruise and I am so grateful we were able to go. Enjoy all your countdowns and happy cruising to you!

 

Wow, thats crazy that we must have run into each other at some point! And my goodness, i will be raving about that drink to everyone now as well, it was incredible!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Stephanie. Your review was wonderful along with the pictures. I can't wait till September. It was nice meeting you and Chris.

 

Evie

 

Thanks Evie, it was great meeting you as well!

[luvs2beachit]

Loved every minute of your review! Especially loved your last comment about the food and the Sunshine winning the award for the best food since we are booked on her in July!

We were on the Pride several years ago and now after reading your review am thinking we will probably go on her again.

Thank you for posting.

[retiring soon]

HI all

 

pirate ~ thanks so much for this amazing report.:D The pictures were fantastic.

Wow, so much work in the midnight buffet & not that well attended. Looked lovely though.

 

Looking forward to your next cruise & mine too 3 days from now but not on Carnival this time. I'm eager for another Carnival cruise with Guys, Cucina & fun times.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[pirate4me2]

Loved every minute of your review! Especially loved your last comment about the food and the Sunshine winning the award for the best food since we are booked on her in July!

We were on the Pride several years ago and now after reading your review am thinking we will probably go on her again.

Thank you for posting.

 

Seriously, the Sunshine had fantastic food onboard. We ate in the steakhouse the first night of that cruise, and BY FAR it was the best steakhouse experience we have ever had! We keep comparing every steakhouse experience to that one now. We also ate dinner in Cucina one night and that food was amazing as well. The chef even came out to talk to us and insisted we try the dessert we had been wavering back and forth on, so we got a 3rd dessert for free! The MDR was good as well, and Blue Iguana and Guy's were yummy. I am back on her in May and hope it's as great as it was last year!

 

HI all

 

pirate ~ thanks so much for this amazing report.:D The pictures were fantastic.

Wow, so much work in the midnight buffet & not that well attended. Looked lovely though.

 

Looking forward to your next cruise & mine too 3 days from now but not on Carnival this time. I'm eager for another Carnival cruise with Guys, Cucina & fun times.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

Hey Jo, thanks for reading along! I hope your cruise is a great one! I am already counting down to my next one. :D

[Jamman54]

BRAVO Stephanie, for a GREAT review!! Can't wait to sail on the Pride again!!