BellaSweet

Just be smart with these.. I know its exciting to get that offer but make sure you check everything out. We recently got one..move our obstructed view balcony to a regular balcony. But it would have put us directly under the Lido..no thank you to the noise! We'll keep our quiet, 5th floor room!

Its worth it to me. I have no desire to wait in lines on vacation. On our last cruise, we were down at guest services so many times(issues with the hub app.) I also like being able to take my stuff directly to my room, get settled in and grab a drink before muster. I gladly pay the money.

Just keep on looking..every day. My first cruise, they weren't listed for the longest time and then one day, they popped up.

Thanks for your review.. we cruised on her once before and while the interior is a bit old, we enjoyed it. We'll be on her again in June..after she goes into dry dock so maybe it will be a bit more freshened up.

We dd this cruise on Pride last year. It was a lot of fun. Loved being at dock for multiple days. The first day we did a full-day island tour, had dinner on the ship and then walked over to do mini-golf (one of the most challenging course I've ever played). The second day we spent the morning with Greg Hartley and his helmet diving excursion. Had a great time. We did Restless Native's sunset cruise after dinner, How can you go wrong with unlimited rum swizzles and fresh baked cookies? The third day we left port at lunchtime so we took the morning to shop right by the pier. Full review is at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2522670.

We're going in June 2019, I am going to read your review right now. Thanks for taking the time to post it :)

it might be because you are cruising during July 4 which is a holiday. holiday cruises might be special.There is some decorations on the ship during that day and a theme cake at the buffet on that day

Thank you for the response..I never would have thought of that.

We're cruising to Bermuda June 30th..its a 7 day cruise. I keep getting those "your FUN cruise needs your attention" emails and when I read it, it says the message below. What does a "Special Voyage Cruise" mean? I didn't see anything about that when I booked it.

Stateroom: Balcony

Stateroom #: 7A

7 DAY SPECIAL VOYAGES CRUISE

CARNIVAL PRIDE

JUNE 30, 2019

It doesn't really sound like any of this was the ship. You could sail on any of the ships and get sick. The thing with the Pride is..the waters are usually rough while coming in and out of the Chesapeake. So if you're prone to sea-sickness, it can be bad. I've sailed on her once..and was dreadfully seasick. It was October, which is a rough water time. I'm sailing on her again in June, we'll see how it goes.

I've only cruised with Carnival so I really don't have anything to compare it to.. But I really enjoy Carnival because their ships are fun. If I'm being 100% honest, I don't cruise for the ships..I cruise for the ports so it doesn't really matter to me if the ship is older or small.

DH has cruised with RC and he prefers Carnival because he finds the entertainment better..its a more enthusiastic, fun atmosphere.

Get rid of smoking in the casino. I can only be in there 1/2 hour at most before having to leave and use my inhaler.

I'm so baffled by this.. If I went to dinner and there was no tablecloth or bread, it wouldn't even register in my brain. I'd just sit down to dinner and enjoy it. If I got a dish that a roll would be nice with, I'd say "Excuse me, is it possible to get a dinner roll?" and if it wasn't available, no skin off my nose. I don't go on vacation for bread.

Our steakhouse dinner in October was fabulous.. One of the highlights of our entire trip!

I had the surf n turf..steak was cooked medium just like I love. The lobster was small but I definitely didn't leave the table hungry! BF had the spice-rubbed steak and he said it was great. A meal like that is a real treat for us and I'm glad we did it.

We chose to eat early, we were one of the first in the dining room so we had good service. The only odd thing was our waitress was a little pushy with buying wine..even when we explained that we had just had pre-dinner drinks at the Alchemy Bar..she was pushy and it was a little uncomfortable until she got the picture that I wasn't having it.

Dessert was also amazing.

I believe Holland America still provides Catholic Mass. I think they do it daily. Maybe someone has better info on this than I do. I think it helps them recruit their staff, which is all from the Phillipines.

They do.. my boss is one of the priests. He cruises with them 3-4 times a year. He does daily Mass and then is able to spend the rest of his time having fun. Great gig!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

John Hopkins is the closest.. or Mercy but I'd bet on JH.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You should have stayed on the Oct 2 cruise with us. The waters were as smooth as glass. The ship was only half full, so we got lots of great service. Carnival gave us $250 each OBC and 50% off our next cruise. I just booked a NE & Canada cruise for Sept 2017 using that offer. Going in and out of NY was amazing seeing the Statue of Liberty, the Freedom Tower etc. We also visited the 9/11 Museum which was very well done. The weather was perfect!

No thanks, I was very happy with my change. I go to NYC often so it just wasn't my idea of a vacation. Glad you had fun though! :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi Everyone.. I just thought I'd do a quick lil review of my recent cruise. It won't be as long and as grand as some but I'd be happy to answer any questions.. This is my 2nd cruise, first out of Baltimore. We were originally booked on the Oct 2nd cruise that ended up going to NYC rather than Caribbean due to Matthew. I was able to rebook, thankfully.

Embarkment:

We drove from Harrisburg, PA down to Baltimore..its an easy drive and we only got a little turned around once we were in Inner Harbour. Somehow we ended up driving past the Aquarium but that was quickly fixed with some mild cursing and GPS :) We arrived at the port of Baltimore around noon.

We had FTTF that was added late..when I rebooked, I was assured that my FTTF would transfer to the new booking and it didn't. So after many phone calls, I finally got it fixed. Due to this, our names weren't on the manifest in the parking lot..I was just supposed to show my confirmation email. But that didn't seem to matter because the porter just said "Oh okay" and slapped our orange tags on, no questions asked!

We sat for only 5 minutes in line, waiting to pay (use cash, its faster!) and headed in to the building. We went right in to security..I have to be patted down due to a medical condition. I'm not shy, I don't have anything to hide but I didn't appreciate the male security guard loudly questioning me about my medical condition. As far as I'm concerned(and legally) anyone can be asked to be patted down rather than wanded. He made me uncomfortable by drawing more attention to the situation. In 16 years, I've never had anyone question me at security areas like that..not even at airports. People were staring so I waved, promising that I’m not a terrorist or hiding any crystal meth on my body. But nevertheless, I got patted down and went on to the FTTF line to check-in. We were checked in and sitting down within 10 minutes.

With FTTF, we were probably one of the first 100-150 people on board. We only sat for about 20 minutes. We went right up to our cabin..5243, obstructed view balcony. Our room was HUGE and amazing. Its right near the elevators so I was worried it would be loud but it wasn’t. Our room actually wasn't ready but Hari, our amazing steward was there and let us drop off our carry-ons. He also asked if we preferred AM or PM or Both for cleaning.. I asked him what was easier for him and he said "Nobody ever asks me that." LOL So I chose PM and our room was always done by 8pm. We tried to get the HUB app to work and were unable so we jetted off to GS and they also had no luck. But they gave us a ton of free drink coupons for our troubles..we actually only had to pay full price for 3 drinks our entire cruise thanks to this! The GS's rep said "You're being really patient and polite about this problem so please take these coupons.." Yes, it pays to be nice :)

Days 1-2:

I learned a very important lesson on this cruise. I cannot cruise this time of year. After going to the MDR for dinner the first night, I was out the door by the time the main entrée was delivered and I was gathering up puke bags. I didn’t even wave goodbye to our newly introduced tablemates. Without being too graphic, I literally was sick for hours. I do get motion sick so I was prepared with medication but nothing was helping. So around 11pm, I found my BF in the casino..stole his coin bucket to puke in and I got to visit Deck 1 Medical. Just an FYI..the medical area closes at 8pm so go to guest services and they'll get someone to help you. If anyone was on this cruise, I was the girl who was sitting on the steps, clutching my coin bucket, wishing I was dead :D A lovely British nurse introduced herself and gave me "a quick shot in your bum!" and I was off to bed. She did mention that since I was throwing up, I wouldn't be able to eat at any of the public areas the next day. Fine by me, I was near death.

The next morning, I woke up and was feeling pretty good. So we left our room to go to Guest Services for a quick question and to put some money into our accounts. When we arrived back to our room, there was a letter in my mailbox..stating that I was quarantined to my room for 24 hours! WHAT? Um no, thank you. No fever, no bathroom issues..I was simply motion sick. I understand that they need to be careful but it wasn’t a virus. So yeah, I'll be honest.. I didn't follow this decree. I didn't go to any food areas or shops but I did find a deck chair and snoozed in the shade all day. That "quick shot in me bum" made me tired. Later, I went down to the medical area and they cleared me from "quarantine" and the person(different lady than I saw before) there seemed confused about why I was quarantined. If I had any other symptoms, I would have stayed in my cabin like asked..I’m a rule-follower but I literally couldn’t stay in my cabin with the rocking of the boat..I needed to be up on the top deck, with air. I ended up with a nice letter, with $125 future cruise credit for my troubles. I was surprised by this. We chose to not go back to the MDR at all..too much rocking and rolling back there.

Day 3-Grand Turk

Ohhhh, so happy to get off the ship and onto land!!! We did the Conch dive and Snorkel..it was fun..but tiring. I'm 33 and in good shape..but the waves were just too rough. The guides said its rarely this rough and they even seemed a lil nervous, having us out there in the water. People were falling on the boat. But anyway, we had fun and after the trip, we went down to Jack's Shack..not to eat but to meet Topher, the goldendoodle!!! I have a doodle and I wanted to meet this awesome dog :) I'll be happy to answer any specific questions about this excursion. It really was fun, I just wish it wasn't as rough.

Back on the boat (sadly, more rocking and rolling and sickness) and we were told we would be missing HMC and heading to Nassau instead. I didn't care. I'm happy to just be going somewhere rather than another sea day. But holy crap, that ship was moving fast to get to Nassau. We came out of the comedy club that evening and saw a whole group of women fall over like bowling pins. When we got to the elevator and saw the baskets of bags, I knew it wasn't going to be a fun.. so I drugged my nauseous self with Benadryl and went to sleep.

Day 4 Nassau:

We were set to arrive at 1pm, I think and we got there around 2pm. I’ve never been to Nassau but my BF has been once so he knew the way around the shopping area and knew to not let anyone put a bracelet on our wrists! Haha I feel like Nassau was an overwhelming experience. I’ve never experienced people grabbing me by the arm to try to get me to buy things like that. We literally walked down the streets, saying “No, thanks..No thanks..” over and over again. We were bombarded..I don’t know if it’s always like that or if it was the time of year..but no, I didn’t enjoy that. I also said “No, thanks” to the marijuana, coke and meth that was offered to me 5 minutes after I walked through the gate. I bought a gorgeous purse from an alley and drank my very first fresh coconut. A few shop owners warned us that we should get back on the ship at 5 pm even though we were there until 8 or 8:30, I can’t remember. We boarded around 4:30 and it just started to sprinkle rain a bit.

Days 5-6 Sea Days:

We knew we would be missing Freeport ahead of time so that meant an extra sea day. We played in the casino..made some money..lost some money..made some more! Not much to say..we drank and went to the comedy shows. BF bought a watch and a ring for me during the ship specials. The jewelry is, of course, all overpriced. I’m a jewelry designer so I know..but who cares? You’re on vacation! Buy yourself something pretty! I did go to the t-shirt sale on the last day and I was in shock at the women grabbing shirts. It was like Walmart was giving away gold bars on Black Friday. I got stuck between two women’s butts and couldn’t get out!

Disembarkment:

We chose self-assist and waited in the Butterfly Lounge. We were off the ship and in our car at exactly 9:35am. It was great! Everything went smoothly.

Highlights:

The Alchemy Bar—Loved it. I love unique cocktails and thanks to the free vouchers, I love cheap ones too! I think we paid $1.50 or something per drink with the vouchers..plus extra tip each drink. Gabriel and Katie were awesome. He is a very kind person and I enjoyed getting to know him. He made the world’s best Old Fashioned for my BF every day and made me something odd and unique. He also mixed me up a ginger drink when he found out I was sick..and would make me “sexy waters” if I wasn’t drinking alcohol. It might be odd to say that a crew member actually made our trip special but its true. We actually ran into him at customs while leaving the ship because he’s heading to the Vista!

David’s Steakhouse—We ate here on Friday..we had a 5pm reservation to celebrate our anniversary. I was happy to be feeling pretty good so I was able to enjoy it. It was fabulous. Our server was a little pushy with ordering wine even after we explained that we had pre-dinner drinks at the Alchemy Bar. But otherwise, everything was delicious. Get the mashed potatoes..just do it.

Guest Services—These people were great. FTTF gave us a separate line and we rarely waited more than a minute or two. I wish people could just be nice to them…I stood there and heard people shouting and yelling numerous times. It’s awful. We were treated so amazingly by them and it’s sad how they are treated.

Overall assessment:I will cruise again. I will not cruise this time of year. I'm just a crappy sailor when the water is rough. It was a learning experience and even though I was sick most days and we missed some ports, I still found ways to enjoy myself. We had fun and that’s all that matters. I will never understand the posts that I see where people complain about their cruise and say one issue ruined their entire trip. We had lots of issues and we still had a bomb-ass time! I try to find joy in everything..we even laughed our butts off about me using the coin bucket as a sick pail. I enjoyed the convenience of Baltimore but we’ll probably fly to Miami next time or maybe even drive up to NYC for a Bermuda cruise.

One last weird thing… the afternoon after snorkeling in Grand Turk, I noticed a little itchy mark on my ankle. I figured it was a bug bite and ignored it. It got bigger and both of my ankles were (and still are) covered in this horrific, itchy rash. Its HORRIBLE! I’m on steroids and from what my Dr can tell, she feels like it is some kind of bite or jellyfish sting. I don’t recall touching anything weird in the water but who knows. The weirdest things happen to me, I swear!

If anyone has any questions, please ask. I’ll try to post some pics soon..I’m writing this from my work computer and I don’t have pics on here. I have some cute ones of Topher, the golden beach doodle that I have to post!

I don't know. We never ventured up that way in the later hours.

I know this answer.. No, they only ever had pizza and Caesar salad. We often went up there at night :)

I was on the pride last week.. I am cold all the time. I wore capris or jeans with a sweater or sweatshirt most evenings.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

lol that's my Bf and me at the alchemy bar! We lived there with Gabriel :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

BellaSweet, where did you wait for debarkation? I was wondering how many floors I would have to carry luggage down to get to Deck A. You had FTTF I see and I was wondering if Diamond/Platinum were in there, too. Before the gangway incident, we waited in The Red Frog Pub and walked straight off the ship. If you know where Platinums wait, it would help me out on my packing for Sunday's cruise. I'm typically an over packer, but I also love getting off the ship ASAP when it's over. I'll lighten up if I have to for self assist.

We had to wait in the Butterfly Lounge, deck 1. So we had one flight of stairs to go down. Diamond and Platinum were also in there with us. I'm not sure if that is always the plan though..the crew seemed very confused and there was lots of walkie-talkie back and forth convos.

Our room service was great on this cruise.. I think it just depends on who's delivering it.

I wasn't overly impressed with the Lido for dinner..Otherwise(breakfast, lunch), it was great. We chose not to eat in the MDR after the first night and eating after 6pm was hit or miss. We ended up with a lot of pizza.

Debarkation was a breeze..we had FTTF and we were in our car at 9:35am.

Can this be used on the Pride?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Just got off the Pride on Sunday and we were unable to use the app. Other people were able to though..but not everyone. We went to guest services twice to try to get it fixed and they couldn't fix it. They did end up giving us $100 worth of free drink tickets and BF got the $70 internet package for free..without us even asking for it. It pays to be nice :)

I saw another post from someone on the Conquest and they said the Pizza Pirate had lasagna and other items available from 11pm-1am. Do you know if they had this on the Pride too?

 

Thanks

I was on this sailing as well and there was only pizza and Caesar salad the whole time.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi! I started WW yesterday and I must say it was a struggle!!lol!! Just being confined to those 30 points was not easy but I did it and did not go over. I have a 12nighter on Anthem in November and I'm getting married in the spring so I am determined to drop a few pounds. I think this upcoming cruise will be a bit of a struggle but I'm pretty active (spinning, running, weights) so hopefully I won't fall off the wagon to badly.

 

For those that have tried to follow the points system while cruising how do you do it?

It takes a week or 2 to get used to the 30pts. You'll figure out what you can eat and stay within your points. Like I know I can have 6-7 points for breakfast(I make a frittata for the week or a protein shake), usually 8-9 for lunch(Sam's Club has these awesome chicken flatbread sandwiches..and Subway salads are essential for me) and then a 10-11 point dinner. Don't over eat your fruit even though its "free", the natural sugar can hold up weight loss. Aim for 3-4 servings a day. Use the app as much as possible, its so helpful. And pinterest for recipe ideas. On the app, Connect is awesome..follow Brandy6310 for great food ideas.

As for cruising..I don't know. I leave on Sunday and I'm having a good time. I'm going to enjoy myself and eat good food. I plan on using the stairs rather than elevators and I will follow the plan as much as I can for breakfast and lunch. Dinner, I am not counting points. Watch those slushy, fruity drinks..they're killer on points!!! :( Thankfully, I'm a wine or whiskey drinker.

I've always taken the early dining choice (we're not ever late eaters) but was only able to get the late dining on our upcoming cruise on the Pride. We were also offered Any Time Dining, but not being familiar with that option, I declined. How well does ATD work out for early eaters? How easily can I change my dining choice to ATD? Thanks!

It might be an issue changing to ATD. Sometimes its full. We're sailing on Sunday on the Pride and we're currently waitlisted for ATD. Fingers crossed..I hate eating dinner after 8pm.