Astronomer’s Carnival Pride Review, sailing 6-25-06 Part 2

[Astronomer]

Astronomer’s review of the Carnival Pride sailing 6/25/06 Part 2

That first morning waking up on the ship was special to me, as usual I woke up long before Moondance did, I steeped outside our balcony and just took in the still night air as the first glimmering of dawn was approaching. I slipped back inside and put some socks on, it was chilly out there.

We had coffee scheduled via the note hanging on the door, for 7:30 am, which was still quite a while away. Of course we were now on ships time having set the clock back one hour the night before.

I wanted to just relax a bit first and I was pleased to find out when I turned on our Balcony light that it was plenty enough light to read by. It was relaxing with the ship gently rocking and the sound of the sea passing by. After an hour or so Moondance started stirring, so I dressed and slipped out to buy her a cappuccino. To my surprise, the specialty coffee place was not open yet. When I came back to the stateroom she was back fast asleep, she later commented to me how nice it was to be rocked to sleep.

So I slipped back outside and went up to the Lido deck to explore. It was full Dawn now around 6:30 or so, I found a very bleary eyed couple sitting and having coffee. I decided to say hello and joined them. They were on their 4th cruise and were having a great time. I didn’t ask but they seemed to be sleepy looking for being on the Lido deck already, then she mentioned that they were only up here waiting for the deck hands to put the lounge chairs out so they could save theirs.

After a year of waiting I had finally met Mr and Mrs Chair Hog! And they were a really nice and friendly couple, obviously heading back to bed after placing the towel and books they had brought to save the chairs with. I tired not to laugh, but I suspect a smile did cross my face, and I am sure they had no idea why I was so close to chuckling.

I didn’t remind them there was no chair saving, I didn’t remove their stuff, and I didn’t toss it overboard after they left. I know you will all be disappointed in me. I passed Mr and Mrs Chair Hog several times during the Cruise, they always had a smile and a nod for me, I mentioned this to Moondance and she warned me that I must stop referring to them as Mrs and Mrs Chair Hog or they will hear me. But I couldn’t help myself, it was just too funny to me.

Bottom line, Mr and Mrs Chair Hog were a really nice couple, and I am certain they weren’t the only ones as there was hardly ever a Lounge Chair available ( not covered with towels and books ) by the central pool, but they were the two that I knew for certain were. There were almost always lounge chairs available on the Fantail, and we preferred that area of the ship anyway.

Back to the stateroom and our coffee and croissants and melon slices arrived. The ships standard coffee is ok, it is not great, it is not terrible, it is just coffee. But still very passable in the early morning when I need my coffee. ( I am addicted to coffee )

After that we got dressed and decided to go to the Normandie for breakfast. At breakfast and lunch you don’t sit at your assigned table, but they seat you ( I had expected open seating, but that is not quite how it worked ) they placed us with another couple and an older lady who were also ordering breakfast.

It was perfect, after meeting Mr and Mrs Chair Hog I also got to meet Ms This Cruise Stinks. The older lady complained about the service, the ship in general, the Normandie restaurant is being “too much” and generally didn’t like the ship, disliked the art, she seemed both upset that it was classical art at all ( nudes ) but also upset that the art is muted ( softened ) and not exact replicas. She was very upset when other people had anything positive to say and when I mentioned how much I enjoyed the ship she promptly asked me how much Carnival was paying me to say that.

She then proceeded to launch into a very long drawn out story and got annoyed with me when I stopped paying strict attention ( which I must admit I was no longer very interested in her opinions )

The other couple were also on their first cruse and acted relived when we sat down, they too were enjoying the cruise much to the annoyance of Ms “This Cruise Stinks”.

We got past breakfast ( which was good, not great, but good compared to the evening meal the night before ) and beat a hasty retreat. Moondance and I commented on what a good move it was to keep our dining assignment once we had met Becky and David, we had wonderful dining companions and looked forward to seeing them that evening.

It was time to fully Explore the Pride. Now I am not the photographer that Paul ( Victory_Bound’s DH ) is, I am just a point and click guy so most of my pictures of the interior didn’t come out very well. But the ship is beautiful! We explored for a couple of hours. We were particularly Impressed with the Gym, the Taj Mahal Theater, the Atrium, and the exterior Promenade ( which I mentioned before as my favorite part of the ship ) There was a lot of noise coming from the Perfect Game bar as everyone was watching Soccer, and the shops walk was just beautiful.

We decided to eat a light lunch at the Mermaid Grill, and were very pleased with the quality of the food, and the variety of the selections. We got a window seat ( there were plenty of them ). We also noticed the sandwich bar, the 24 hour Pizza bar and the Hamburger / Hot dog / French Fires bar. We decided there was no way we were going to starve ( chuckle ).

I decided to give the Casino a peak and after putting $5 in a slot machine ( just playing around ) I walked away with $5.25. Look out Carnival, I was prepared to break the bank, 25 cents at a time!

We went back up to the Fantail and had Pretti ( the bartender from India ) pour us a drink of the day. We had lost our Souvenir glasses the evening before ( left somewhere ) so we had to pay the full price again, determined this time to not loose the glasses.

The we just relaxed on our private balcony most of the rest of the afternoon, looking forward to the Formal dinner that night. Everyone had told us long ago that we wouldn’t spend all that much time in our staterooms, but I know us, we actually did spend time there, and on our balcony, Moondance and I also love our alone time.

Dressing for dinner was actually kind of fun, it was the first time that the Stateroom felt a little cramped, but it was also kind of fun. The Tux was just about perfect! And Moondance’s brown formal was gorgeous ( which may sound strange for that color, but look at the pictures, she looked great! )

http://www.dwightandhelene.smugmug.com/gallery/1627869/9/79379152

There was a receiving line for the Captains Formal Cocktail party entering the Taj, sure enough we got to shake hands with both the Cruise Director, Chris Jefferson, and our Captain, The presentation was lovely, the drinks were prompt, and the crowd was wonderful with everyone helping each other take pictures.

We left the cocktail party a bit early and wandered around until we found the background we wanted for our formal pictures ( there must have been 15 different stations taking pictures, and they took their time and took several of each party )

With that out of the way we proceeded to the Dining room and met up with your dining companions. Becky and David looked wonderful and were obviously enjoying the cruise.

Moondance and I both had the lobster but I asked to share an extra entrée with her of the Prime Rib. The entire dinner was fabulous, our Head Waiter Arnold was very formal while still being friendly and the assistant waiter Ying was just a doll, she quickly took care of anything we asked for.

We brought wine this evening, a very expensive and very tasty red. Of course we shared this with our tablemates.

Afterwards we walked in our formal dress on the promenade outside. It was a very special evening for us, I couldn’t have asked for a nicer or more elegant evening.

When we got back to our Stateroom of course we were greeted by our first Towel Animal, wearing Moondance’s spare glasses. It was so cute!

For the second night, the Pride gently rocked us to sleep.

Hard for me to say why Bob D owes us a cruise for this day…. Let me see…….

Specialty coffee shop not open early enough???? Is that enough for a free cruise?

( now Moondance took notes in a Travel Journal, I hope she doesn’t come along and start correcting my time line, this is all out of my head. )

[GoinCruisin]

Hey Astronomer, I'm loving your review and pics... but is there any way you can keep everything in one thread? It'll be alot easier once part three is pushed to the top and page one is on page 4, LOL... that way people that come along and do a search can read your entire review in one spot... just a thought :o

[Astronomer]

I can do that.... I will copy this to the other thread.

[JGB]

Astronomer

 

 

YOU ARE THE MAN!!

[GoinCruisin]

I can do that.... I will copy this to the other thread.

 

Great!!! I love being able to one stop shop :p

 

Awesome so far! I loved your pics!!!

[Astronomer]

Done... I copied this one over there, and I will put the rest of the parts in the Part 1 thread... thanks for the sugguestion, that makes more sense to me too :)

[chrly]

Astronomer...maybe I was doing something wrong...I did not see this part of your review under part 1 so I had to do a search for it...I found it and I can honestly say I feel like I am there....may have to convince hubby to do this cruise.

 

Edited to read: DUH....I'm definately having my blond moments this morning...went back and reviewed the origional thread and found part 2 of your review. (Closing eyes and shaking head)....maybe it's the lack of sleep last night...yeah....that's it....lol.