Pride review-4/18-4/25

[cantwait06]

We arrived at Blue Lagoon Island quickly and pulled up to the dock.

 

 

 

 

We could see the dolphins right away and that was so exciting to us that we walked over to view them instead of heading to the beach.

 

 

 

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Then as we walked on some more we saw a beautiful sea turtle, Lucky. They named him Lucky because he was the victim of a shark attack and only had one fin (flipper?) left.

 

 

 

We also saw the sea lions, adorable!

 

 

Then we headed over to the beach.

[cantwait06]

Now, like I said before, the beach was supposed to be a Carnival only excursion, so not only did I think we weren’t supposed to be there, I didn’t think I would want to since it would be jam packed. This was not the case. There were people there, but it wasn’t as busy as I had feared. And no one gave us any problems about walking right on to the beach. There were water sports equipment for rent. There were also picnic tables, hammocks, basketball courts and volley ball nets, plenty of chairs, and plenty of shade. The beach was amazing. It was sort of a lagoon-it was mostly closed off to the rest of the island, making it feel like you were in your own (well shared with about 30 others) private paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ramrac]

So did you book your dolphin encounter through Blue Lagoon or Carnival? I know they only allow Carnival there on Thursday's, so I was curious if they let you schedule it through them by saying you were going to be on Carnival. You may have already said this and I over looked it. I'm going on the Pirde on May 16, a 3 week late honeymoon for my husband and I, and we are both getting so excited, and reading your great review is making us even more excited!

[cantwait06]

We dropped off our stuff in the sand since we only had about an hour and headed right in to the water. It was so clear you could see your toes and lots of little fish swimming all around you.

 

 

The water sports prices

 

The water was chilly at first but warmed up immediately. We played for awhile, and I went to explore a bit. If you walk a little ways from the main beach there is a more private beach. No one was on it, I’m guessing because I wouldn’t swim here. It was very rocky and there were little waves, but it was beautiful. I was the only one here for most of the time.

 

 

 

 

[cantwait06]

 

 

 

 

[cantwait06]

We headed over for our dolphin orientation at about 1:50 and watched some clips of other people doing the encounter. My 3 year old started to tell us she was too scared to go in. I was afraid of this, but I just kept encouraging her and talking her through it.

 

 

Orientation was about 20 minutes I think. We had a great guide; she was funny and taught us all about the anatomy of the dolphins, and also a lot about conservation of the dolphins. She was great and everyone was laughing.

 

We headed over to our encounter space. When we got there, they announced there would be no water shoes or flip flops allowed on the platform, which kind of grossed me out, but I dealt with it. They have very small, free lockers for the guests. We couldn’t fit our bag in it, so we just took anything worth something (wallet, camera, etc) and stuck it in there. The only people around our bags were the observers watching their families do the encounter, and they were so busy watching that I didn’t give our bag a second thought. So we made our way down to the platform and had a seat. We could see the dolphins swimming around, and they did come right near us before we even started! We lucked out and got the same trainer from our orientation, which was good because she was really funny. We brought along a disposable waterproof camera so I could capture these moments. They did have someone taking pictures and someone filming the entire encounter. I don't have any pictures for you of the dolphin encounter right now, because my disposible is still being developed. As soon as I get them back though I will update with them.

 

The first thing they did was have all of the families come onto the platform one at a time to take a group photo with the dolphin kissing one member of the family. Our dolphin’s name was Andy. My daughter was adamant that she was not getting a kiss-she was terrified the dolphin was going to bite her. Our trainer reassured her that it would not happen and luckily (for us anyway) she allowed it, so we got the most amazing family picture of the dolphin kissing my daughter and me and fiancé right next to it. It was incredible. Then we made our way back up to the platform and sat down. After all of the families went she told us there would be 10 of us going onto the platform at a time, which left about 6 people to sit and wait through the first encounter. I think because we had a young child we went first, along with 2 other families with young kids. The other group was all adults that sat and watched us. Anyway, my daughter was still very nervous so my fiancé held her. The adults had to kneel down so when we knelt the water was up to about my chest (I’m about 5’2”).

 

We all took turns as the dolphin gave us a hug (so amazing) and then a kiss on the lips (really grossed me out!). I wasn’t feeling the kiss so much and it was really long but our trainer, being the joker she was, decided to get me. She gave the dolphin a sign (not verbal, I had no idea this was going to happen) to spit water in my face since I didn’t like the kiss. I didn’t know it was coming and had my mouth and eyes open-salt water from a dolphin’s mouth right into my eyes and mouth! Everyone (especially my fiancé) was laughing so hard (even me, I’ll admit it!) and while I was grossed out, I wasn’t mad, it really was funny. The dolphins were really cute, she could get them to stick their tongues out at people, or sometimes she would cover their blow holes when they were “talking” to make different sounds. We also got to “pet” the dolphin on the back and belly. The dolphin was incredibly smooth and felt pretty much how I expected. Then she had the dolphin open its mouth and we could touch its teeth-they were pointy but not sharp. Since my daughter was so scared of getting bit I was quite surprised to see her do this! Then the dolphin came to dance with each of us-we put our arms out, the dolphin came up, and we held its fins while our trainer sang a song for us to dance to. It was really cute!

 

Then it was over, but we were in the water with the dolphin for about a half hour, all of which was amazing. Absolutely worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We weren’t required to watch the second group, so we got out, dried off, and went back to the beach. Our encounter started at 2 with orientation, and now it was about 3. We played in the water a bit and then I decided to go check out our picture. We decided that no matter how the group picture of the 3 of us came out we were buying it, because it’s a once in a lifetime thing…you know how they get you! 1 picture 5x7 was $16, and they did have package deals but I don’t remember the prices. If you wanted the DVD of the whole encounter, it was $58. Most people were buying the DVD, but we were good with the picture, and we hoped that our disposable caught some great pictures as well.

 

The last ferry out of Blue Lagoon Island leaves at 4, and by the time I bought the picture it was time to go, so we got back on to head back to Nassau. The trip back was just as beautiful, but I had a tired 3 year old who slept on me the entire way, so I didn’t get as many pictures this time. The ferry went back to Paradise Island, and then took us back to the cruise terminal, so it was nice that we didn’t have to pay for another cab.

[cantwait06]

We went right back to the ship so we could have dinner on the boat and honestly, I didn’t care to spend any more time in Nassau anyway. If we do ever go back there, we will definitely go back to Blue Lagoon Island even if it’s just for a beach day, it is totally worth it. Oh, I should mention here that if you do the beach day, you can still walk through and view the animals swimming for free, so if you just want to see the animals the beach day is still worth it!

 

 

 

 

So we went to get ready for dinner and headed off. There was almost no one in the dining room since we were in Nassau until 10, but we had a table to ourselves anyway, so it didn’t matter. We ate dinner-I had spa carnival snapper (really good!) and my fiancé and daughter both got the filet mignon which was also really good. And guess what we had for dessert……you know it, warm chocolate melting cake. It was the best tonight, because it was mostly cake and not really melty. Yum! :D

[cantwait06]

More to come, but I'm heading out for a few hours. I will try to finish the rest of Thursday tonight! :)

[vacruizer]

Yay, more review!!! :D I'm getting excited - only 29 more days!

 

We had about the same experience you did in Nassau the first time we went. Last time we stayed on the ship and had a great day with the ship to ourselves!

 

The blue lagoon looks really nice, though. :)

[cantwait06]

After dinner my daughter really wanted to go to camp again (they were watching Alvin and the Chipmunks) so we dropped her off, went to the room to make some drinks, and walked around outside for a while. We then decided to try our luck at bingo again, knowing full well there was no way we would win, but why not, right?

 

So they started with 3 warm up games of bingo. There weren’t many people there, so I thought maybe we’d have a chance. The first game was worth $100, and 6 people won it! The next few games went up a little more but again, no luck. It was then that my cell phone from camp rang-my daughter wanted to come home. They were doing an $800 winning bingo next, so my fiancé stayed, I went up to get her. It turned out she spilled some water at camp and was afraid they were mad at her so she didn’t want to stay. I wasn’t going to push it, so I brought her back down.

 

My fiancé had waited for us to return and then went to buy our bingo tickets. He came back with 2, telling me he spent $40. I was sort of annoyed that he spent that much on bingo tickets but what can I do, so we sat down to play. This game was “C” bingo; you had to get a C in any direction to win. My card was terrible so I wasn’t very excited until I looked over at fiancé’s card and noticed he only needed 2 numbers to win. Then 1 number to win-G56. She called O65 and my heart sank. But there was no winner. So the next number was-you guessed it, G56. We won! $800, I couldn’t believe it! I guess it was worth spending $40 on after all! They put the money right on our sail and sign account which was fine with us, that’s what it was going to pay for anyway!

 

 

Our winning ticket :D

 

 

The comedian came on next and we were in such a good mood that we didn’t want to go back to the room, so we pushed our daughter just a little more and stayed for the PG family show. It was worth it, he was so funny! Tommy Drake, if you get the chance go see him. He was juggling, which was actually very cool to see, he could do some great tricks, and his jokes were really funny. After that though my daughter was really tired and we did have an early morning so celebratory mood or not, we headed off to bed. What a great day!

[cantwait06]

So I had read on cruise critic how ugly looking the port of Freeport is, and how there’s nothing to do there, and so on. Well when I woke up Friday morning, I looked out my window and agreed about the ugly part. It is an industrial port and there isn’t much to look at. The water is still an absolutely beautiful blue though. Since I do so much research on cruise critic, I also knew that Port Lucaya is a must see, so that was the plan. We got up a little later then I had hoped but it was really fine. Did breakfast on Lido and headed out to Port Lucaya.

 

Some lifeboats they took off the ship while we were in port

 

Immediately after getting off the ship, I already liked Freeport better then Nassau. The shops right outside the port are much cheerier looking-pinks and blues and friendly people. We walked over to the taxi stand and stood at the sign for Port Lucaya-it really couldn’t have been any easier. We shared a taxi van with 7 other people and for $10 per person round trip the driver drove us to Port Lucaya, giving us some island history on the way. I didn’t hear much, since my daughter never stops talking, but the one thing I was immediately aware of us that we were driving on the wrong side of the road! It was a crazy experience and felt scary at some times, but he knew what he was doing!

 

It took about 15 or 20 minutes to get to Port Lucaya, but when we did I was happy to be there. The drive there isn’t much to look at, but Port Lucaya is really nice. It was well kept, clean and beautiful. There was a great market area across the street from the beach with lots of great looking shops. We really just wanted to do the beach so we never ventured over there, but with more time we definitely would have.

 

We arrived at about 10:20 and he told us he would be back to pick us up at 12:30. We were happy with that, so he directed us over to the beach. We walked to the beach through the Radisson reef village/Our Lucaya resort. It was quite beautiful.

 

 

There were a few swimming pools and if you continued walking out, you ended up on the beach. We walked right past the towel hut, and I knew from reading on cruise critic we could get a day pass for $20 per person. That pass got you pool access, a towel, and a chaise lounge on the beach. Or, you could do like we did and just keep walking and park it on the beach, which is a free beach. So we did that, thinking we could swim in the pool on the boat if we really cared that much.

 

The beach was beautiful, with soft, cool, white sand and beautiful turquoise water. The water was a bit cold at first, but you got used to it really quickly. There were small waves that my daughter didn’t like, but it was nothing dangerous by any means. There were some rocks and some kids were snorkeling and said they saw some beautiful fish.

 

 

 

 

[cantwait06]

My advice is it is absolutely worth it to get off the ship in Freeport, even though there isn’t much time. The beach is worth it and beautiful. All it will cost you is $10 per person, do it!

 

Our taxi driver was waiting as promised in the drop off spot he told us to meet him in, and we made it back to the ship and were eating lunch by 1pm. We left Freeport at 2:20, I’m not sure if we were waiting for some last minute passengers or what, but it didn’t matter.

 

 

I was incredibly sunburned from my 2 hours at the beach, and my daughter was exhausted. We ate lunch on the lido deck (the international station was Mexican, my favorite, and so good!) and then headed back for a nap. I was determined that she would spend time at camp tonight so I could hit up that piano bar again! Tonight was our second elegant night as well.

 

Dinner was good again tonight, although I don't remember what I had. I do know what I had for dessert though:

 

 

Here is out waiter dancing:

 

After dinner we caught a gorgeous sunset:

 

 

And then my daughter headed back to camp! We did some shopping and walking around until the piano bar opened at 9:15, and then headed over there. We had made some great friends in the piano bar including Roger, so we were immediantly welcomed!

 

 

 

Roger was great again tonight-really funny and got the crowd going. We really had a great time with him.

 

 

For some reason tonight, everyone was in a generous mood because we were all buying drinks for each other, and we drank a lot-there were even people buying and doing shots with each other (not me though)! We had a great time!

 

After the piano bar we picked up our daughter from camp:

and called it quits for the night! Tomorrow would be our last sea day and last day on the ship.

[cantwait06]

So did you book your dolphin encounter through Blue Lagoon or Carnival? I know they only allow Carnival there on Thursday's, so I was curious if they let you schedule it through them by saying you were going to be on Carnival. You may have already said this and I over looked it. I'm going on the Pirde on May 16, a 3 week late honeymoon for my husband and I, and we are both getting so excited, and reading your great review is making us even more excited!

 

We booked through Blue Lagoon. They told us we could not use the beach because "it was closed for repairs." I have a feeling they have to say that, especially in writing, because of their contract with Carnival. When I arrived though they told us we could go to the beach, and no one was there checking excursion tickets or anything. The Carnival passengers didn't have wristbands or anything either. You would have to book the animal encounter through Blue Lagoon though, you couldn't book just a beach day. That would have to be done through Carnival.

 

You are going to have a great honeymoon! There were a few honeymooners on our trip and they had a great time.

 

Yay, more review!!! :D I'm getting excited - only 29 more days!

 

We had about the same experience you did in Nassau the first time we went. Last time we stayed on the ship and had a great day with the ship to ourselves!

 

The blue lagoon looks really nice, though. :)

 

 

Blue lagoon was nice, but if I'm not doing that, I don't know that I would get off the ship again in Nassau either. I know I will never go back to that straw market, I thought I was going to get assaulted by that lady!

[mississauga]

There were a few swimming pools and if you continued walking out, you ended up on the beach. We walked right past the towel hut, and I knew from reading on cruise critic we could get a day pass for $20 per person. That pass got you pool access, a towel, and a chaise lounge on the beach. Or, you could do like we did and just keep walking and park it on the beach, which is a free beach. So we did that, thinking we could swim in the pool on the boat if we really cared that much.

Were there any trees on the beach area for shade? Or umbrellas to rent even if you choose not to buy the day pass?

 

Congrats on the Bingo win. That $1000 bar bill didn't sting as much with that win. LOL

[cantwait06]

Were there any trees on the beach area for shade? Or umbrellas to rent even if you choose not to buy the day pass?

 

Congrats on the Bingo win. That $1000 bar bill didn't sting as much with that win. LOL

 

 

There really weren't any trees at all for shade, and I don't recall seeing any umbrellas either. If you purchased the day pass and used the pools, I do believe there were umbrellas at the pool area, but I don't think I saw any on the beach rented or other.

 

Thanks for the congrats! :D

[vacruizer]

We booked through Blue Lagoon. They told us we could not use the beach because "it was closed for repairs." I have a feeling they have to say that, especially in writing, because of their contract with Carnival. When I arrived though they told us we could go to the beach, and no one was there checking excursion tickets or anything. The Carnival passengers didn't have wristbands or anything either. You would have to book the animal encounter through Blue Lagoon though, you couldn't book just a beach day. That would have to be done through Carnival.

 

You are going to have a great honeymoon! There were a few honeymooners on our trip and they had a great time.

 

 

 

 

Blue lagoon was nice, but if I'm not doing that, I don't know that I would get off the ship again in Nassau either. I know I will never go back to that straw market, I thought I was going to get assaulted by that lady!

 

I was reading that and could completely see that happening in Nassau. :eek: Glad you got out of there safely! I actually enjoyed the day on the ship - got a whole new perspective wandering around the ship with almost no passengers. Lots of time to relax and talk to the crew as well.

 

Interesting to read your observations of Freeport. I think we are going to venture out further this time but I got a completely different vibe off of Freeport than I did in Nassau. Clean shops, friendly shopkeepers, nice people who were very willing to talk and share their culture.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to do the review!

[Glamourgal]

WOW!!! You are killing me:eek:...but I am loving it:D!!! We leave three weeks from today and you are making me more anxious than I thought was possible. We also plan on doing the Our Lucaya beach trek. We will probably do the chairs only though as I do like to sit on chairs on the beach.

 

I can't wait to meet Roger in the piano bar. We usually do the shows and then immediately head to the piano bar.

 

Thanks again...so much for the great review and pictures. I will also do a review but more than likely without the pictures as I'm not sure I know how to import them in to the review. If I figure it out I will try.

 

My mouth is watering for that melting choc. cake!!

[falkcor]

hey there! welcome back - though that always sounds funny... who wants to be 'back'... :rolleyes:

 

anyhow, i was hoping you'd post when you got back - and look at you, rockin' this review! way to go, i'm enjoying it...

 

takes me back... glad you enjoyed your cruise on the carnival pride!!! i'll be following this to the end :D

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

I am really enjoying your review!! I will be on the Pride August 15. I can't wait!!!!

[omalley16]

Great review. I cant wait 'till I see the menu for our cruise. And your daughter is adorable! She reminds me of my little cousin. She just turned three and is in a dress phase. All she wants to do is wear dresses. When I saw her on the formal night I just said 'Thats my little Ayla.' And in Nassau, I didn't like the straw market either. Because I was 13 at the time, they were doing the same thing to me, but I am really shy. I bought 2 wallets because I was missing two of my friends birthday parties. My mom convinced me to get my bangs braided though. $21 later... Right across from the straw market we saw an older man selling conch shells and starfish. He would go diving in the morning, and sell the HUGE shells and starfish for $5 each, I believe. Also, once your daughter is over the age of 10, I would suggest going on a NCL cruise to the bahamas. On their private island, Great Stirrup Cay, they have snorkeling. We did the snorkeling, and I LOVED it. Fact be known, I absolutely hate fish (kinda ironic). We also saw a stingray, and many types of beautiful fish. Anyway, thanks for the review.

[family cruisers]

I knew you'd love freeport. So glad to hear how much fun you're all having. Loving your review, keep it up !~~

 

Carrie

 

Love the pictures.

[rlthomas7]

Thanks for posting such a great review. We're doing this cruise next April with our son, who will have turned three a few months earlier. So it's great to hear about doing the cruise with a young child!

[kimba9615]

I love your review. We will be cruising with our 4 year old daughter in August. Your review has helped me picture what it will be like for her on the cruise. We want to have a good balance of family time and mommy daddy time and it looks like you did that. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

[slrteach]

Thanks for the great review of the Pride. We will be on that ship Nov 7 with our 2 sons ages 7 and 12. I think that they will really enjoy the dolphin encounter and the Our Lucaya beach-that is my choice! My hubby wants everyone to go to Atlantis but I do not think there is enough time to do that. :confused: Your review was awesome and your pictures are just beautiful which gave us a view of what our excursions could be. :rolleyes: