Carnival Pride Jan 7-15

[richbum]

Good Morning....I just got off of the Pride a couple of days ago and wanted to post a review. Its going to be long with lots of pix...so sit back with your favorite beverage and enjoy the ride.

 

Let me start off by saying this trip has been 4 years in the making! We booked, they switched our itinerary completely, cancelled because of covid, switched again because of my daughter being pregnant, and finally booking our current cruise. We started off with 21 people cruising, but by the time it actually happened, we were 7. 

 

My name is Robin (50) I travelled with my handsome hubby Charlie (51) my daughter Krissy (25) Son in law Mark (24) my grandson J (16 months) and our friends Leroy  and his bride Laura ....We left Ellsworth Maine on Jan 5th on an Allegiant flight...Direct flight to Tampa/St. Pete with a baby...Yup...lets do it! We had a night flight, hoping little man would sleep...haha...That was a funny thought...He slept a little...but was way to excited to be on a new adventure....so by the time we got to the hotel...he was ready for sleep. (around 11pm). We were able to get a rental with a carseat for 2 days dropping off at the location near the cruise port. We stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. It was fine for just a nights rest before heading into Tampa for the next day. 

 

 

[ShakyBeef]

Following.  Thanks for taking the time to do this.  I've sailed Pride more times than any other ship and have a soft spot in my heart for her (and LOVE Spirit Class in general).  I'm looking forward to your pictures, to see her again and see all that has changed.🙂

[richbum]

We woke up the next morning had a quick breakfast at the hotel and decided to head into Tampa to find something to do. We went to our next hotel (Quality Inn Airport/Cruiseport) and they let us check in early. To be honest, I thought the hotel was a little sketchy, but it turned out just fine. There was an outdoor pool which was pretty warm...even though the air temps were a little cold...even for those of us from Maine! The hotel was next door to a TJ Maxx for a couple of last minute things, and there were a few other places in the strip mall...one had wine. During the day...we did the Tampa Riverwalk...Parking was at the Convention Center Parking lot. We had lunch at the Armature Works building which had options for every taste. Between all of us, we had BBQ, tacos, chicken, empanadas, and sushi. After we ate, we hopped on Pirate Taxi (and watched a bunch of drunk woman hitting on a couple of college kids...it was kind of funny...they were enjoying it!) Once we got back to our car, we took a quick drive through Ybor City then back to the hotel. 

[richbum]

Just now, ShakyBeef said:

Following.  Thanks for taking the time to do this.  I've sailed Pride more times than any other ship and have a soft spot in my heart for her (and LOVE Spirit Class in general).  I'm looking forward to your pictures, to see her again and see all that has changed.🙂

I took tons of pix! I can't wait to share them all!

[Jamman54]

Thanks for posting! The Pride is one of our favorite ships. We'll be on her to Greenland in 2024. 😎

[richbum]

Sat Jan 7th....This morning we got up ate breakfast, filled up the gas tank on the rental, bought a last minute mega millions ticket and then headed to the port. Hubby and his friend dropped us off at the port with all of our luggage, but they had to drive about 5 minutes to the drop off location. (Enterprise, Hertz and National). They told them that if they had time, they would take them back to the port, but if they were busy, they would have to walk....just a little FYI for people renting from them and want to drop off near the port...it isn't right next door. They did get a shuttle, and finally we got to go through the line. We had a check in time of 11-1130. We got in line for that time...and waited...and waited and waited some more....finally they opened up another xray machine and we were able to go in. From the time we went into the building from our line to the time we walked on board was about a half hour. We were in the line outside for about the same amount of time.

[richbum]

5 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Thanks for posting! The Pride is one of our favorite ships. We'll be on her to Greenland in 2024. 😎

Thanks for joining along! I have read so many of your reports...I hope mine will be 1/2 as good as yours!

[richbum]

Once onboard, we had a little while to wait before our rooms were done, so we ate some lunch (I got a guys burger which the bread was soggy) and the rest of our group headed to the buffet. The food was great during our cruise! The one complaint I had here was the bar tender...I told the first one no thank you...I'll get a drink later...then another one came and put a drink i front of me and told me to give him his boarding pass...I told him I didn't want one right now and he insisted on my boarding pass and told me since I touched the cup I had to buy it (to give it back to him)...I finally said screw it..gave him the boarding pass and had my first drink of the ship. It was a funship special in a Red Frog Tervis cup...which cost me $30.....We walked around and took pix for a while then headed up to Deck 10 for sail away. 

[ShakyBeef]

That grandbaby of yours is freakin' adorable!☺️

[richbum]

At 1:30 we went to our room. We had room 6200 and our friends had the balcony next door. We asked if we could have the divider opened, and they sent someone the next day to do that for us....Having the double balcony really helped with watching pier runner during sail away. Also once we were able to go to our room, we snuck next door and decorated our friends room...It was his birthday....Not a lot of decorations but definitely an "Old lives matter" banner and a few other things to spruce up the room. 

[richbum]

7 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

That grandbaby of yours is freakin' adorable!☺️

Thank you...We agree....but he found out that if he screams on the ship it echoes and he liked that!

[richbum]

We walked around some more and went to find our table in the dining room....They put us at table 285 which was a small room off to the side in the Normandie Dining Room on Deck 2....We figured they must have heard about us and stuck us in the naughty room before we even set sail! We could not have asked for a better dining room crew to take care of us. Maynor, Myat and Adi were amazing.....If you ever have them as your waiters, you won't be disappointed!!! There was another waiter in the dining room that always came over to see J but I never got his name! He is getting married in August, and getting done with Carnival to be with his new wife. 

 

Sail away was from Deck 10. There weren't very many people so we were able to walk back and forth to get some pix. Right after sail away we went back to the room and got ready for early seating dinner. 

[richbum]

I skipped out to get a couple pix of the skyway bridge just before our meal arrived.  The food was amazing! I had a strawberry bisque and Braised Beef Briscut. It was so tender! I think hubby had the same thing...Daughter ordered a chocolatini and didn't like it....but loved her chicken and melting cake. It was our friends birthday so he wore his birthday crown proudly to dinner...the waiters sang to him and delivered a birthday Tiramisu. Most nights we would hit up the buffet for a quick snack...Mine was usually a salad and some fruit...hubby had either a sandwich or something from the regular buffet. 

[kelkel2]

I’m loving the start to your review. We leave Thursday for our Mardi Gras trip so this is a great way to pass the time!  Thank you for taking the time to do it!

[richbum]

2 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

I’m loving the start to your review. We leave Thursday for our Mardi Gras trip so this is a great way to pass the time!  Thank you for taking the time to do it!

My pleasure! I passed time before this trip the same way! It might take a little time to do because apparently while I'm at work...My boss expects me to do something....Whats up with that!

[d-train]

Thanks for sharing your vaca with us!

Love it!

[richbum]

10 minutes ago, d-train said:

Thanks for sharing your vaca with us!

Love it!

Its my pleasure....I loved seeing other people reviews, so I thought I would pay it forward.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!

[richbum]

Sunday Jan 8....Today was a sea day...Hubby and I did breakfast in the dining room...I think everyone else went to the buffet...or starved...who knows! Charlie got the steak and eggs with a side of corned beef hash...I got an omelet with some bacon. His food was good except for the hash....it wasn't his favorite...My food was good. We just wandered the ship today, had a few drinks, and just relaxed.... we were exhausted from the first few days of our vacation. This night was our first of 2 formal nights. They always have a bunch of different back grounds for formal pictures. While we were getting ours done, there was an announcement from Frankie the cruise director that we had to make a quick stop as there was a refugee boat right near us. Now let me tell you that Frankie is great about keeping you updated about things! The refugees did not want to come aboard, so we gave them food, water, blankets, sea sick meds, and a radio and went off on our merry way....Next up formal dinner

[richbum]

[richbum]

Tonight was formal night...tons of people in the dining room were talking about the refugees...and how it was a new experience to see them while cruising...it was for us too! This is Mine and Charlies 4th cruise (2 Royal 2 Carnival). Dinner was amazing again. The waiters are starting to get to know us and have things at the table that we like...for example...hubby and son in law liked the oil and balsamic with their bread...so they had those ready instead of the butter....Hubby also ordered an Arnold Palmer every night...so by the third night...they had it on the table when he arrived. J loved his "chocolatini" (aka chocolate milk) delivered every night when we got to the table too! The guys each got a shot after dinner every night too.

[heffy2]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I'll be onboard Pride for the first time in October for her TA back to the US.

[richbum]

5 minutes ago, heffy2 said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I'll be onboard Pride for the first time in October for her TA back to the US.

My pleasure! I hope you enjoy your TA this fall!

[hurricane0226]

Thanks for the review, we board the Pride on Saturday, the 21st, Looking forward to the 

cruise.

 

[richbum]

36 minutes ago, hurricane0226 said:

Thanks for the review, we board the Pride on Saturday, the 21st, Looking forward to the 

cruise.

 

You must be getting so excited!!

[richbum]

Our first port was Grand Cayman. We didn't have anything planned for this one except grabbing some Tortuga Rum (and maybe some BBD rum). I had mentioned Hell to our friends and they said Lets do it. So we got off the ship and found a tour operator who would do 5 stops and it cost $30. This was our second time in Grand Cayman but for everyone else....it was their first. Brian was our tour river...he was funny and informative. There was only about 15 minutes at each stop...but thats fine because Grand Cayman is a quick stop for the ship anyway. We went to Hell, the Tortuga Rum store/factory (factory was closed though) a dolphin place, 7 mile beach and one other that I can't remember. We had a great time with the tour, then got back on the ship grabbed some lunch and made our way to the Serenity Deck. It was pretty crowded, I sat down on a couch, and there was a man at the other end who then turned towards me and started doing sit ups...on the couch (taking up almost the whole thing) then he laid down and put his towel over him and had a nap....soon after a clamshell became available and we grabbed it. For those who haven't been to Grand Cayman, you have to tender here. Its about a 10 minute ride.