Our trip on PRide 7/18-/24

[mom2oneXY]

So sad - we've been hom for 3 days now. I'm still in vacatrion let down mode. DS keeps saying that he hope the people in our room this week are having fun, but he wishes it was him. Me too kiddo, me too. Here's my review of a great week!

 

Embarking

We drove to port and had FTTF so we knew we wanted to get there early. We made it to the port by a little after 10 and waited in the parking line for about an hour. At 11 they started letting cars in. We had luggage dropped off, were checked in and in waiting area by 1130. Security did open our 12 packs and tape them back up and look at our wine bottles. They called FTTF boarding around 1215. The gangway was still broken so once on the ship getting an elevator was a pain. We were in our room by 1230.

 

Cabin

We were on the 7th deck mid ship in an extended balcony and it was a great location. It was near the lido, camp carnival, elevators etc. Our room steward, Patt, was fantastic. We didn't need much, just the fridge emptied for our soda, water, and wine. We never got the card with our service preferences, but he serviced our rooms twice a day no question asked. We did feel ship movement, but no more so than any other place on the ship.

 

Breakfast

The lido wasn't so great in our opinion. The omelet lines were long and the eggs on the buffet were not edible. Also getting DS up, dressed, and out of the room was a challenge. We did room service quite a bit and it was all we needed-cereal, bagels, muffins, and COFFEE! We tried the dining room and it was better. The omelet and eggs made to order were great. The scrambled eggs were slightly more edible, but still not good. We also did the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast and it was wonderful. The decorations, characters and service were great. We all really enjoyed it!

 

Lunch

Guys burgers, Blue iguana cantina, the deli, and pizza place were our mainstays for lunch. The chef's choices on the buffet were hit or miss. And of course dessert was ice cream every day!

 

Dinner

We ate in the MDR every night but one. Our head waiter, Wii, was great. He went above and beyond to endure we were happy, especially our 5 year old DS. Selections were good. The lobster on elegant night was great and the mushroom pasta on the 2nd elegant night was a favorite. DS enjoyed huge bowls of spaghetti with TONS of parmesan cheese!

 

Port Canaveral

What a joke of a port. We decided on a lagoon nature cruise which was boring. We were back on board by 1 and enjoyed a fairly empty ship. I feel bad for 1st time cruisers. What a let down to have this as a first port. I will be sure our future cruises on leave from this port, not visit it.

 

Nassau

We booked the day pass at The Hilton. We had a great time. DS was free because he was only 5. So for 120 we had a great beach day with 80 food/drink credit. We ended up going over by 20, plus a tip to our waiter. I will definitely book this if we end up in Nassau again. It was just our kind of beach day! Good service, not crowded, and a great price.

 

Freeport

We booked the family beach getaway. The beach was nice with a lot to offer. It rain most of the time including downpours with thunder and lightning. The last hour was spent under the dining pavilion waiting for the buses that were late. Not my favorite stop on a cruise, but chalking it up to the rain. I’ll probably try to avoid Freeport on future cruises, but I won’t rule it out.

 

The ship

We really loved Pride. It was the smallest ship we've sailed, but it had a ton to offer. We played a few rounds of putt putt, lots of rounds of shuffleboard and Fooseball in Red Frog Pub. We saw a few comedy shows and they were entertaining. We went to one production show and it was fun in a cheesy sort of way. We listened to some live music and Emily and Jimmy in the atrium were fantastic! The pools were small and crowded, but that's not uncommon on a ship. DS wasn't a big fan of the pools because of the saltwater, but he did spend HOURS and HOURS in water works. It was never overcrowded up there and he loved it. He loved the yellow slide. He wasn't tall enough for the green thunder, but I was :) It was really fun. The green thunder was operating on and off throughout the week. A few times it seemed there were troubles with the door, other times it said closed for wind. We never got to enjoy the serenity deck, but it looked nice.

 

Camp Carnival

So DS is 5.5 yrs. and the 1st time we checked him in they said he was bored in the 2-5 age group and we could sign a form to move him up to the 6-8 group. We know he usually does better with older kids so we were ok with it. The next time he went they said he couldn't follow the activities. They let us decide where to keep him. We decided to try the 6-8 group one more time and I was a bit more selective of the times we sent him. Overall he did very well and he was asking to go. We always gave him a choice - swim or camp carnival, movie with us or camp carnival, show or camp carnival. He chose camp carnival almost every time. The staff was really great. I think the glitch at the beginning of the week was just getting to know the new kids. I can't imagine doing their job and I'm a teacher! Large groups of new kids every week...no thanks!

 

This was our first Carnival cruise and we wanted to see how it compare to Royal Caribbean. There were differences, but not any that were big enough to deter us from Carnival again. The differences were just that - differences. Nothing better or worse. Food was similar, service was similar, clientele was similar, the only thing that stood out was the entertainment, but we make our cruises great - not the entertainment. To us price and itinerary drive our cruise search. I know that Carnival will win every time on price so we plan to cruise with Carnival again. We're already searching for our next one!

 

Any questions - ask away and I'll do my best to answer!!

[siestakeys04]

So glad to hear about your review for the Hilton was thinking about this excursion for my trip in November.

 

Freeport still trying to decide. Well I guess you will have to start planning another one!!!!:D

[loubetti]

Thank you for a very nice, concise review; the kind I like!

 

However, as a Floridian I must take strong exception to one part of it.

 

Port Canaveral.

 

I'm quite confused about you comment of it being a "joke". No doubt you are aware that it is the port for Disney World, Epcot and such. Also, Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. I have been to both on cruises into port Canaveral, and must presume that this was a very, very short port stop. Otherwise, why would you not at least visit the Space Center? Perhaps Moon launches, the mission control room, Saturn V rocket, Imax theater and much more might prove "boring", but they certainly weren't for me!

 

Just curious about your comment concerning the port.

 

 

 

Yeah, quite a joke, eh?

[JaniceB]

Thank you for doing a review of your cruise, it was very nice to read.

[Clarea]

Very nice report, thanks.

[mom2oneXY]

Thank you for a very nice, concise review; the kind I like!

 

However, as a Floridian I must take strong exception to one part of it.

 

Port Canaveral.

 

I'm quite confused about you comment of it being a "joke". No doubt you are aware that it is the port for Disney World, Epcot and such. Also, Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. I have been to both on cruises into port Canaveral, and must presume that this was a very, very short port stop. Otherwise, why would you not at least visit the Space Center? Perhaps Moon launches, the mission control room, Saturn V rocket, Imax theater and much more might prove "boring", but they certainly weren't for me!

 

Just curious about your comment concerning the port.

 

 

 

Yeah, quite a joke, eh?

 

Certainly didn't mean to offend your home state. We actually enjoy Florida quite a bit. We considered Kennedy Sapce Center, but thought it might be a little over our 5 year old's head and the ship excursion would be longer than he would need there. We plan to take him back on a trip to Florida when he is a bit older so he can really enjoy it.

 

We just took a week long vacation to Disney last winter and loved every minute of it. In my heart I just knew we couldn't have the same experience with just a day excursion. Again, this is part of a vacation back to Florida in another year or so.

 

We also considered Cocoa Beach, but knowing we had two other beach days planned after two days on the ship we thought we do something else. We also considered an air boat tour or zip lining, but for various reasons decided against them. There was certainly several options, but nothing seems to fit our family jusr right.

 

Our Pontoon Lagoon cruise was run by top notch people. The captain and the natrualist on board were great people. I realize they cannot control wildlife. We saw a manatee and a lot of birds. Overall my 5 year old was bored and that makes my life a little less enjoyable (think 2 hours of whining), which probably affected my opinion of this excursion.

 

I think there is something wonderful about getting off of your 1st stop in a Carribean island. It's something I really enjoy. Port Canaveral lacked that "ahhh the carribean" feel because it is Florida. This was especailly a let down after 2 full sea days. We were itching to get off the ship.

 

Florida is a great state with a lot of great things to do. We will be back as tourists and if my husband has it his way residents in the future (he actually works solely with Florida remotely here in VA).

[mom2oneXY]

So glad to hear about your review for the Hilton was thinking about this excursion for my trip in November.

 

Freeport still trying to decide. Well I guess you will have to start planning another one!!!!:D

 

I highly reccommend The Hilton if you are looking for a relaxing day within walking distance. Everything was so low key. It was wonderful!

[jlc22043]

Can you tell me if the FTTF line is clearly at embarkation?

[mom2oneXY]

Can you tell me if the FTTF line is clearly at embarkation?

 

When we finally got to the terminal it was clearly marked, but there were no lines anywhere so we just went where they told us. They are every organized inside the terminal. Once we had our passports checked, there was someone from security waiting for us and waived us over. Once through security there was a Carnival rep directing us which check-in line to go to. Once checked in, there was someone directing us where to go for FTTF. There was NO question what so ever where we were supposed to be going. I really appreciated this since we had a decent amount of carry on and a very active, excited little boy on our hands.

[loubetti]

Certainly didn't mean to offend your home state. We actually enjoy Florida quite a bit. We considered Kennedy Sapce Center, but thought it might be a little over our 5 year old's head and the ship excursion would be longer than he would need there. We plan to take him back on a trip to Florida when he is a bit older so he can really enjoy it.

 

We just took a week long vacation to Disney last winter and loved every minute of it. In my heart I just knew we couldn't have the same experience with just a day excursion. Again, this is part of a vacation back to Florida in another year or so.

 

We also considered Cocoa Beach, but knowing we had two other beach days planned after two days on the ship we thought we do something else. We also considered an air boat tour or zip lining, but for various reasons decided against them. There was certainly several options, but nothing seems to fit our family jusr right.

 

Our Pontoon Lagoon cruise was run by top notch people. The captain and the natrualist on board were great people. I realize they cannot control wildlife. We saw a manatee and a lot of birds. Overall my 5 year old was bored and that makes my life a little less enjoyable (think 2 hours of whining), which probably affected my opinion of this excursion.

 

I think there is something wonderful about getting off of your 1st stop in a Carribean island. It's something I really enjoy. Port Canaveral lacked that "ahhh the carribean" feel because it is Florida. This was especailly a let down after 2 full sea days. We were itching to get off the ship.

 

Florida is a great state with a lot of great things to do. We will be back as tourists and if my husband has it his way residents in the future (he actually works solely with Florida remotely here in VA).

 

Okay, understood, no offense taken. :) Where I live in Florida, it is sort of the Caribbean every day! Your husband has the right idea!

[flyersfan1129]

Thank you for your review! We are waiting for our first Carnival cruise on the Pride on 27NOV, and I love reading the reviews. We are looking forward to Port Canaveral, because we have a close friend who is a CM at WDW and we haven't seen her in far too long. She is taking the day off to take us to WDW for the day, good friend that she is.

 

I do have a question on the dining room breakfasts....was there a wait to be seated?

[KPfromCT]

Great review!!!!:D:D

Too funny......we just tried our first Royal cruise in June, on Oasis.

We also found them to be more similar than different.:D

Things we liked better about each line......

Definitely prefer the Carnival price tag, but this year, RCCL wasn't too far off.

lol

 

Thanks for the great review!

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your trip report.

 

Keith

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoyed your review.

[mom2oneXY]

Thank you for your review! We are waiting for our first Carnival cruise on the Pride on 27NOV, and I love reading the reviews. We are looking forward to Port Canaveral, because we have a close friend who is a CM at WDW and we haven't seen her in far too long. She is taking the day off to take us to WDW for the day, good friend that she is.

 

I do have a question on the dining room breakfasts....was there a wait to be seated?

 

No wait at all. Walked right up and was seated immediately.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[flyersfan1129]

No wait at all. Walked right up and was seated immediately.

 

Thanks. I like a nice sit down breakfast if there is time.

[kbd0627]

Hi sailing the Pride Aug 7. We too are midship 7 in an extended balcony. Do you mind telling me what cabin number you stayed in? Also which ports did your balcony face shore and which ports did you face the ocean? Thank you

[mom2oneXY]

Hi sailing the Pride Aug 7. We too are midship 7 in an extended balcony. Do you mind telling me what cabin number you stayed in? Also which ports did your balcony face shore and which ports did you face the ocean? Thank you

 

We were in 7167, Starboard side. We faced port area, but not terminal in Port Canveral. In Nassau we were wedged between Canirval Breeze and Fascination. We faced the Breeze. If they weren't there we would have been able to see Atlantis and the ocean. In Freeport we faced the instudrial port area - not the straw market area. The only time ourside was up against the port was in Baltimore.

[BattyL]

Great review! We will be on the Pride in April- this will make our 4th trip on it and will be doing the Bermuda cruise with DS & wife next September. Love this ship and the crew, not crazy about the itinerary but to us it's not the destination- it's the journey. Bermuda will be a nice change for us. :) glad you had an enjoyable cruise.

[kbd0627]

Thank you. We are port side mid closer to rear as you were closer to front. We have taken your BC Hilton recommendation for Nassau. In 07 we took a cab to the public beach next to Atlantis and were hounded all day by people trying to sell us stuff and braid the girls' hair. It will be nice to relax and not be bothered.

[kbd0627]

is the gangway still not repaired? Where did you get onboard? Trying to plan which way to turn to get to other elevators to drop bags in room.

[mom2oneXY]

is the gangway still not repaired? Where did you get onboard? Trying to plan which way to turn to get to other elevators to drop bags in room.

 

We entered at the forward elevators on deck 1, I think. I know they were the forward elevators though. Rumor was that the gangway wouldn't be fixed until this fall.