Live from the Pride!

[Eli_6]

Today is THE BIG DAY!!!!  We are leaving for our big European adventure to Barcelona, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Vigo, Leixos, La Coruna, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Mont St. Michel, Brussels/Ghent, Dover, Cambridge, and London.  We will be covering 5 countries in 2 weeks 5 days.  Here is our Itinerary.  I will be updating this thread with pictures from our journey as we take it along with any tips and tricks I have and my opinions on the "renovated" Pride. 

 

ITINERARY

May 24-25

Depart Wednesday May 24^th from IAH and arrive in London on May 25^th. Then we will depart LHR to BCN and arrive in Barcelona about 6pm on Thursday, May 25^th.  We are staying at Granados 83 in the Eixample district in a family duplex.

May 26

At 5 pm, I have the Sagrada Familia Basilica Nativity Tower Scheduled. My boys and husband may tour the Barca stadium in the morning.

May 27

As of right now, my plans are still pretty open because I know we are usually tired the days after travel. Plus, we are coming back to Barcelona next year, too.  We want to see Caso Batlo, Casa Mila, the fountains, possibly the  Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, Sant Pau Art Noveau site and La Pedrera.  Open to any suggestions anyone provides.

May 28

Check out at noon. Check in for cruise at 12:30-1. I may try to fit in a site or two depending on how we feel. Caso Batlo and Casa Mila are close to our hotel so we may try to squeeze one or the other in this morning.

NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT:  THE CRUISE!

Day 1  Embark at 12:30-1 (Hoping to get a pic with John Heald!)

Day 2   May 29 SEA DAY (i.e. Kids play on slides and Mom does laundry day.)

Day 3   May 30 – Gibraltar  -  We are doing this on our own. We will probably get cable car tickets and go to the top of the rock. 

Day 4   May 31 – Lisbon – We have a 4 person private tour booked through Viator.  I am hoping to see the Moorish Castle of Sintra and the Initiation Well of Sintra.

Day 5    June 1 – Leixos – All four of us are taking the “Ancient Braga” Excursion with Carnival.

Day 6   June 2 – Vigo – My husband and I are doing “Galician Historical Gardens” Excursion with Carnival.   

Day 7    June 3 – La Coruna -  My husband and I are doing the “Galician Special” tour with Carnival.

Day 8     June 4 – Bilboa – We have a Carnival excursion booked for all 4 of us. 

Day 9 – June 5- Bordeaux/La Rochelle

La Rochelle – I think here I just want to take a taxi into town and see the Towers of La Rochelle and The Old Town.

Day 10 – June 6 Sea Day

Day 11 – June 7 Mont St. Michel – Doing Carnival Excursion to Mnt St. Michel for all 4 of us.

Day 12 – June 8 Brussels – Doing Panoramic Ghent Carnival Excursion for all four of us.

Day 13 – June 9 Depart Dover  We will take a train to Cambridge because I have an appointment at the Corpus Christi Library to view some manuscripts in the Parker Collection for some research I am doing for my dissertation. There is a botanical garden near the university my husband will take the kids to.

June 10-12 – Plan to take my kids to the Tower in London and possibly Hampton Court as they have never been despite being to England before.  I think they will really enjoy the Tower because of the old armory, swords, etc.  Then we fly home!

[Eli_6]

A little bit about us:
 

We are a family of four: Mom, Dad, and two boys ages 9 and 10. This is not our first time in Europe or our first time on the Pride. We did the British Isles cruise on her last year. While the sites were amazing, the cruising aspect was not one of our better cruises with Carnival…so we are coming in with tempered expectations.  I am hopeful that there have been some improvements and will try to post my observations once on board. We have a hectic schedule so I can’t promise that I will get to check in or post pics every day, but I will try.

 

I am definitely the planner in our family.  So much so that the other day I expressed concerns about the security strike at Heathrow and making our connection.  My husband said, “Well, worst case scenario, we can always take the train to Edinburgh or rent a car and drive.”  In case you haven’t figured it out: We are cruising from Barcelona.  To Portugal, France, Belgium, Spain, Gibraltar, and ending in Dover. At no point are we going to Scotland.  Further, we have never taken a cruise from Edinburgh before. So, as you can see, my husband just shows up for the cruise and goes along with things.

 

As part of my planning, I start packing well in advance.  I have scoped out the best ways to get as much as I can in as little luggage as possible.  This is primarily a practical consideration as I want everyone to be able to carry their own luggage. I can’t be pulling my luggage and luggage for two kids.  And, when they were younger, I also had to keep them from playing in traffic or running off.  So, over the years, I developed a 1 backpack and 1 carry on rule. Everyone gets one back-pack and one carry on suitcase for their clothes and items.  This also allows us to be able to fly without checking luggage thereby reducing chances of lost luggage.  I use vacuum sealed bags to be able to get everything in and this seems to work well.

For Barcelona, I already divided out each day and have our outfits planned out for each day for all of us and all packed in one bag so that there will be no need for us to even unpack our other suitcases during our three days in Barcelona. 

 

Once on the ship, we will be able to wash clothes or send them out for washing--yay for finally being platinum and getting three free bags each!  I also vacuum pack many of our clothes to save space.

 

This year, we will also be forgoing formal wear.  I did bring formal wear last year and my husband’s dress shoes and boys’ dress shoes along with their suits took up an entire carry on. (Mainly it was their shoes—hubs is a 12/13 and boys are already in men’s sizes.)  That’s simply too much valuable packing space being used up for what amounts to dinner on only two nights.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Eli_6

[kwokpot]

Looking forward to your review of the renovated ship. Let's hope you don't have ANY repeats of the bathroom AND the aggressive employee issues you had last year. Have a GREAT time!

[Eli_6]

After there being so many issues last year with lost luggage, I invested in "Tiles" for all bags to track them. (Planning to fly with carry on only but just in case we have to check a carry on.) I also saw where the Apple air tags could even be used to track children...unfortunately, air tags dont work with a droid and they didn't have the wrist band "Tile" holders for kids like they do for air tags...but they did have tile dog collars.  So, this was my pre-cruise "hack" to track my kids with a Tile in the event someone was foolish enough to steal them...or one of them got lost going to the bathroom.  

Edited May 24, 2023 by Eli_6

[jsglow]

Enjoy the trip @Eli_6.

[Jamman54]

Looking forward to your review! The Pride has always been one of our favorite ships, and we'll be on her again in 2024 heading to Greenland.  

[Eli_6]

A couple of pics from JH of the Pride getting last minute dry dock touch ups:

[soccermom4]

Heading out of the cruise after yours.  Looking forward to hearing about the updated Pride.  Enjoy your adventures!

 

[TxTeach79]

Here it is! Been waiting for you to jump on board, so to speak! Safe travels today!!!!

[maluhia87]

24 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

After there being so many issues last year with lost luggage, I invested in "Tiles" for all bags to track them. (Planning to fly with carry on only but just in case we have to check a carry on.) I also saw where the Apple air tags could even be used to track children...unfortunately, air tags dont work with a droid and they didn't have the wrist band "Tile" holders for kids like they do for air tags...but they did have tile dog collars.  So, this was my pre-cruise "hack" to track my kids with a Tile in the event someone was foolish enough to steal them...or one of them got lost going to the bathroom.  

 

Another trick is to use one of the tiles if you are having issues finding the ship again.  We walked a few additional miles trying to get back to the ship in Athens and didn't think about the fact my tiles were active there.  We left quickly for our non-Carnival excursion, taking a taxi to get there and the metro to get back, thinking we knew where we were going.  That ended up not being the case. 

[Eli_6]

Just now, maluhia87 said:

Another trick is to use one of the tiles if you are having issues finding the ship again.  We walked a few additional miles trying to get back to the ship in Athens and didn't think about the fact my tiles were active there.  We left quickly for our non-Carnival excursion, taking a taxi to get there and the metro to get back, thinking we knew where we were going.  That ended up not being the case. 

Brilliant idea.  Thanks for the recommendation!  

[ninjacat123]

We have AirTags for our carry on just in case they get checked as well.  Looking forward to your review!!

[EllieinNJ]

We are on this cruise with you.  On Saturday we are doing Girona and Costa Brava with In-Out Barcelona Tours.  We saw all the major Barcelona sights when we were there in 2018.

[pcvtmom]

I'm excited for your LIVE trip report! I got a chuckle out of your second post (concerning your husband). My husband and I are Diamond with Carnival.  He rarely knows where we're going, and leaves all the planning to me! When we go to the Platinum/Diamond party, and they show the video of ships, he asks "which ones have we been on?" 😁

[nybumpkin]

Looking forward to your review! We'll be boarding the day you disembark.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, pcvtmom said:

I'm excited for your LIVE trip report! I got a chuckle out of your second post (concerning your husband). My husband and I are Diamond with Carnival.  He rarely knows where we're going, and leaves all the planning to me! When we go to the Platinum/Diamond party, and they show the video of ships, he asks "which ones have we been on?" 😁

Sounds EXACTLY like my husband! I have to decide when to correct him in front of others since I don't want to be one of THOSE spouses,lol😉

[Eli_6]

I have my boys and I fully packed.

 

My husband is still packing...and he hasn't gotten home from work yet.

 

Why do the people who pack 2 weeks ahead of time marry the people who pack as the cab waits outside to take you to the airport? 

[kelkel2]

I am so excited for reading yet another awesome review!! Have a great trip! 

[aml3679]

Enjoy 

Following

[Eli_6]

Waiting on my hubs.  He said at 3 pm (more than an hour and a half ago) he only had 3 patients left but he still isn't home.  Sigh.  

 

He has to clean all his animals and finish packing.  He animals = parrot, tortoise, 2 turtles, rabbit and 2 fish tanks.  I don't clean them because he let kids get them so he cleans them or they do.  We have a sitter coming to feed them but he needs to freshen them up before we leave.  

 

I am thinking our ride will be waiting on us for awhile.   

 

But it is OK.  Used to this.  I plan and am ready early. Hubs flies by the seat of his pants and is always late.  It makes life interesting!  And I am getting caught up on Vanderpump Rules.  

[Eli_6]

As I wait for my husband to get home, here are some pics of our pets.

Jubilee:

[Eli_6]

This is Slow Biden:

[Eli_6]

And Donald Hump:

[LatinaInTexas]

Loving all these exciting and unique to me reviews! Impressive how you have everything planned and everyone under control and still stay calm and collected.

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

And Donald Hump:

Do Donald and Slow live together?😅

Edited May 24, 2023 by ninjacat123
called him Joe ;)