Pride Review Jan 20 - 27

[Anni_M]

Thank you Carnival for a great vacation! This was our 5th cruise - 2nd time doing the Mex Riviera, and first time on the Pride. Without a doubt - the Pride has now taken top honors as our favorite ship! (Altho that indoor pool in the spa on the Norwegian Dawn WAS pretty nifty!)

I'll start with my complaints - which were minimal. Food - disapointed with the lobster bisque, and maybe it was me, but the melting cake just didn't do it for me this time. (I ate it every singel night our last cruise)

The ship - could REALLY do without some of the artwork (we had to chuckle - they announced before one of the shows, "parents, the costumes will be minimal" - something along those lines......my 11 year old says "Mom - have they SEEN the artwork on this ship? What are they worried about costumes for?" ha!)

I guess that's it as far as complaints go!

We stayed at the Guest House hotel - I HATE having to chose a hotel over the internet. It was $95, had continental breakfast, free shuttle to the pier, and gets a 6 out of 10. No biggie, we were pooped by the time we got there.

The pier was very cool. Lots to do if you get there early. I definately recommend the early check in at the Queen Mary. Did the self guided tour - REALLY interesting - you can just FEEL the history. There's also a Star wars tour/show thingy (that we didn't see) and gift shops. Embarkation was a breeze.

We booked kind of last minute (a month out) and found a ridiculously good deal on 2 inside rooms (total cost with tax etc...etc... $1,700 for 4) so we were mid ship, Riviera deck. Normally would consider this the bottom of the food chain room wise - but the way the ship is layed out, it was an awesome location! We stayed in an inside one other time, and my biggest beef was how dark it was in there. Not this time. Nice and bright - didn't even need the light-up, make-up mirror I bought. Plenty of room for 2 - but I sure wouldn't put more than that in there. The beds were as comfy as ever. MAN I love those beds!! Dante was very accomodating, and did a fine job as our room steward.

The layout of the ship was wonderful. VERY easy to get around. I understand the Pride is a Spirit class ship. I don't know if they're all layed out this way, but it was really nice. There are 5 floors of balcony rooms, so the "public" rooms are down on lower decks. Camp Carnival was on deck 5 - not 11 for a change. The Butterfly lounge was just down the hall from us - the next floor up from us was the lobby, casino, main show lounge, etc..etc... Really convenient. As I mentioned, some of the art was a bit much, (the big naked David for example) but I GUESS it was tastefully done. The only really ugly thing was the wallpaper down the hallways. All in all it was a classy ship.

The food. This is always a biggie, and I am a food person. My 9 year old thought it would be amazing to eat steak, caesar salad, and a baked potato every night, and so that's just what she did! Her steaks (and ours) were cooked to perfection every meal. The food was very very good this trip. So good that I cancelled our supper club reservations. No regrets. The portions were perfect. I hate feeling stuffed like I just ate Thanksgiving. Some of the highlights were the pumpkin soup (had to have 2 - OH so good!) the spinach salad, prime rib, lobster - perfect, the lamb - oh my goodness the lamb!! The gazpacho - the best ever - only on Carnival! The alternate menu always has a New York steak on it - excellent. And the desserts...........bitter n blanc - I MUST have the recipe! Gran Marnier souffle', apple strudely stuff, creme brulee.......drool......slobber slobber................One night we decided to be "open minded" and try something that sounded really gross to us. It was something like, cinnamon cake with dates, figs, and somethin' somethin'. Cleaned the plate! It tasted like Amish friendship bread!

Breakfast buffet never changes. I've tried everything at least once on previous cruises, and this time I opted to stick with oatmeal (so good - perfect amount of lumps) and 2 pieces of ham every morning. The coffee was actually quite good, and husband fell in love with the banana pancakes.

The only problem at lunch is that there are too darn many choices! Every day my tray looked like foods from around the world - enough to feed a 300 pound man! EVERYTHING I tried was great - the reubens (ask for extra kraut) the pizza (excellent crust this trip) the salads, I don't remember what all I had - but I walked away feeling like I gained 10 pounds. We didn't get dessert from the buffets, we headed strait to the chocolate frozen yogurt, which is the best I've ever had. My advice if you eat at the buffets is to make sure you scope out EVERY station. On the last day I found a chocolate dipping station - complete with fresh donuts! (skipped the yogurt just the one time!)

The shows that we saw were good. We missed the 1st one (with the skimpy costumes) because we were in the karaoke bar so I could audition for the Legends show. The kids saw it with Camp Carnival, and it was SO COOL Mom!! Only went once to the piano bar, and unfortunately couldn't get a seat at the piano. Instead we found ourselves seated behind a huge rear end with the pants belted around the bottom of his butt, looking at a giant pair of green underpants. Stayed for 3 songs. The comedian was JeRome, 7 on a 1 - 10. Had a ventriloquist - 7 out of 10. The piano player in the lounge by the main dining room was amazing. Music in the lobby - the usual, very classy. Guy in the casino, 7 out of 10.

Karaoke fans will be pleased to know that this ship offers a very good karaoke program. They have special times for kids and families, adults only after 10:00 every night. The gal that runs it is the best I've seen on a ship, and the music selection is quite good. Yes, there is a new policy about using your own discs, but she said if she didn't have a particular song in the book we could use our own. I sang 3 songs and used only 1 of my own discs. It's a very good sound system for a change too. Unfortunately, I got really sick on Weds night. My 9 year old was getting over terrible sinus, cough, and congestion when we started this vacation. Bless her heart she decided to share it with me. I felt so crappy I had to leave dinner early that night. I was bummed out because I wanted to sing more karaoke! Worse yet, I was chosen on Monday to be Gloria in the Legends show, and was worried I wouldn't be able to sing.

I went to bed at 7:00 Weds night, and got up at 7 Thurs. The infirmary opened at 8, so off I went, knowing darn good and well I only needed antibiotics, and that this would probably cost me a flippin' fortune to go. But I really had no choice. I didn't want to be sick the rest of the week. WELL. The nurse (the very HUGE, nice, helpful, concerned nurse) chatted with me for a few, and long story short, I got off at Mazatlan, headed strait to the pharmacy they recommended and got my amoxicillan! 2 bottles, 120 capsules only $16!! (No WONDER so many people go to Mexico to get medicine!) All I can say is "Thank you nice nurse!"

So the show was the final hurrah of the week, and it was alot of fun. My costume was a hoot - I had a wig that was literally ALIVE. It was a giant head of curly 1980's brown hair. My kids about died laughing. It was very fun to be in, and under the circumstances, I now publicly apoligize to Gloria Estephan fans all over America!

Camp Carnival was awesome as always. I let the kids do the late night party on Friday night - they were out till 3 a.m. and had a blast! One cool side note......I thought I recognized one of their counselors - and sure enough - she was their counselor on the Fantasy last February! is that cool or what!?

The casino was very kind to me on the first and last nights. Co-inky-dink? I wonder.................

Ports. We went to the Krystal resort in PV. It was stunning. It's a 10 minute walk at best. Free to use their facilities which were lovely. Pool water was like bath water - the pool area looked like it was strait out of Italy. The beach had unbrellas and chairs to use for free, and VERY few locals! My only complaint? The sand wasn't soft! Ha! It was those big grains of sand, not the soft white kind. (How's THAT for picky?!) I had a wonderful massage, 75 minutes $40, which I highly recommend. I felt like rubber when I walked out! We did some shopping (buy your kahlua at the grocery store) and then headed to the ship for the day.

Mazatlan we did Stone Island. I wasn't much up for any adventure by this time, so we got a cab, a water taxi, and a short trek to Victors for the afternoon. Husband the kids played on boogey boards, and i layed there like a lump. We feasted on coconut shrimp, and headed back to the ship after some more shopping.

Cabo was kind of chilly, so it was just a shopping day for us. We went to Cabo Wabo (a pretty cool place) and were literally HOUNDED by the locals from the minute we got off the ship. We took a bicycle taxi for a spin which was pretty fun, and that pretty much sums it up. Mind you - we've already done this itinerary, so we went pretty low key this time around, especially considoring how I was feeling.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, and I would love to do the Pride again. If you are booked to sail on the Pride - you're in for a treat!!

Anni

[MzOhioLady]

Thanks for the Wonderful Review Anni! Glad you and family had a good time.

[Wylie Coyote]

Thanks for the great review....I can't wait until my turn on the Pride in a couple of weeks. Yippee :D

[luv2cruise777l]

Anni_M.........Thanks for the great reveiw!

 

How was your weather? Both going down to Mexico and once down in Mexico? We are sailing the Pride on March 2. Thanks!

[MEOWSMURPHY]

WOW..awesome review....makes me wish we were heading west this Sat instead of next Sat...oh welll it will get here EVENTUALLY...glad you had such an awesome time and I'll let you know if I agree with you on the lobster bisque...btw...did you have the escargot?? one of the things I really look forward to on a cruise...

[ATLbear]

Heading out on the Pride in a few weeks. Thanks for the update!

Cannot wait. This will be my first cruise :D

[dommer573]

Nice review, Thank you for taking the time to share;)

[Bombos]

Great review Anni M! Glad you had a great time! Can't wait to take advantage of all of the things the Pride has to offer!

[woodey]

That was a very Fair and well Balanced Review...thanks Anni :)

[melika091900]

thanks for the review, we sail the pride on 2/24,, getting anxious by the minute ,,,, let the countdown begin... :)

 

do you have any pics of your trip loaded yet ?

 

 

how was it with the casino above you ? i just noticed that our rooms are right below it on riveria deck, we are in rooms 1211 and 1215 next to the elevator..

 

thanks

melissa

 

HEY WOODY !!!!!!!

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the great review

[Anni_M]

In answer to your questions....

The escargot was DELISH (as always). I made quite the pig of myself that night having it, a crab cake, AND the cream of mushroom soup for a starter! (mmmm good soup)

I don't think room 1201 is under the casino -I think it's more like under the walkway. Ours was definately under the casino - and there was no noise. Pretty amazing.

The weather was around 50 when we left Long Beach. Too chilly to go outside Monday (altho the hard cores were out in the hot tub!) and Tuesday wasn't a whole lot better, but we did go lay by the pool. (in our shorts tho - not swimsuits)

FINALLY! Nice weather in PV - it was 80 I think, Mazatlan probably 75, and Cabo 70 and cloudy which felt chilly. Immediately upon leaving Cabo, not only did the wind pick up, but the ship speed did too, so it was once again too cold to go out.

Zipping back on Saturday the upper decks were closed - even if it wasn't windy - it was gray and drizzliy out. Yuck!

Anni