Wonderful Time On The Carnival Pride, 6/20/10

[mikedw]

Hello everyone, my wife and I just got home today was a wonderful week onboard the Carnival Pride. I'll make this a brief review for now, but feel free to ask any questions if you have any. We live in Hagerstown, MD which is about 70 miles west of Baltimore, easy drive to the port. Met my parents who live in Baltimore at Rallo's Restaurant in Locust Point for breakfast before heading to the ship. From pulling into the parking lot and getting completely checked in was less then 20 minutes. My wife is disabled, she used her scooter and we took her wheelchair with us also. We waited about 30 minutes in the HC waiting area before they called us to board.

 

First off, I want to thank everyone on here who talked about the Cabanas on HMC, best $225.00 I spent. As soon as we got on I went to the Shore Excursion Desk and there were only a few left, we had the pink one. Our cabin was 8239 which was an accessible cabin and it was a great design. Only negative was we went through a lot of towels whenever we used the shower due to there being on lip around it. We had Your Time Dining and we're hooked on it. Except for the last night when we sat in a different section, we had the same server and table every night. Roselle was her name and she was great, we had a table for two. We went to David's one night which was fantastic and the first formal night, the Maiter D who chatted with us every night we ate in the dining room told us about the Chef's Table which is something they started about three weeks ago. It's was $75.00 per person and it was well worth it. There was a group of 12 of us and we got a tour of the galley during dinner to see how it operates. Then they served us appetizers and they showed us how they made the Chocolate Melting Cake, we then moved to the disco which was set up for a formal dinner. Chef Ramesh served a seven course meal with wine and he would explain every course to us and his inspiration in making it. At the end we all received a picture of our group autographed by the chef and all of the ladies received a cook book signed by him. That was a very memorable experience and my wife and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The Mermaid Grill Buffet was nice, we only ate there a few times, wife doesn't like buffets.

 

Because of my wife's disability, we're kind of limited with tours. We did the Conch Tour on Grand Turk which was interesting, it was the only one listed as being accessible. Half Moon Cay was a lot of fun and Friendly Frank who is a staff member there helped my wife transfer to a beach wheelchair and pushed her to the Cabana, that is truly a beautiful place. In Freeport, we were scheduled to go on a Glass Bottom Boat Tour, but it was cancelled due to rough seas. I haggled a taxi driver down to $80.00 for a two hour tour, he was so helpful with my wife that I gave him a $100.00 at the end, very enjoyable tour.

 

The food and shows were great. My wife did three sessions of accupuncture in the Spa. Each treatment had better results then a month of physical therapy. She plans to continue that at home here. Well, let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer them as quickly as possible.

[yogimax]

Glad you had such a good time!

[littlesnit]

Hi Michael,

Glad you had a good time and the crew was so helpful.

I'm interested in treating my BF to the Chef's Table in Oct. as a BD present. How do I register for that, and do you know if I can register online before we cruise?

 

Thanks, Lynn

[lillian marie]

It sounds like you had a great time!

[mikedw]

Hi Michael,

Glad you had a good time and the crew was so helpful.

I'm interested in treating my BF to the Chef's Table in Oct. as a BD present. How do I register for that, and do you know if I can register online before we cruise?

 

Thanks, Lynn

 

Lynn,

 

I don't think you can do it online, because as of right now this is only the third week that it's been in place and only on a couple ships. They had a sign about it in David's, but we found out about it from the Maiter'd, he took a liking to us and spoke to us every day. On the first formal night he came over and explained it all to us and I said sign us up. When you get to the ship, I would go straight to the dining room and ask about it. It was worth every penny.

[wone3]

What time did you get there and on the ship. We are going in August and kind of want a timeframe to get us a shot at getting a cabana.

[littlesnit]

Thanks for your quick reply, Michael. I was concerned about the charge going on my BF's cr. card, but maybe I'll just register my own for my S&S card this trip. That'll be even a bigger BD surprise for him!:D

[mikedw]

What time did you get there and on the ship. We are going in August and kind of want a timeframe to get us a shot at getting a cabana.

 

We got to the terminal at about 11:50 and we were checked in and waiting in the Handicapped Waiting area by about 12:10. They boarded Zone 1 at about 12:30 and the Handicapped area about ten minutes later and we went straight to the Shore Excursion Desk. Unless you're a Platnum member or disabled, I would really recommend getting there by 10:30 so you can be in boarding zone 1, those Cabanas go fast.

[martyap]

What time did you get there and on the ship. We are going in August and kind of want a timeframe to get us a shot at getting a cabana.

We were on the same cruise. Half Moon Cay was wonderful without a cabana. Aqua water and powdery sand. We set up on the beach near cabana #2. There are shady spots all over if you want. From the area by cabana #2 it was a very short walk to the restrooms, buffet area, and covered picnic areas. Just continue on the brick path to the left. The clamshells seemed to go very fast but many complained they restricted air circulation. We stayed in the cooling water for so much of the day a cabana would have been a complete waste of $$$......couldn't get the kids out of the water or off the beach except for lunch:)

 

As for arrival to the port.....we arrived at 11:30 and were put in zone 22.

I had the feeling that the early zones were NOT full but we were a party of 10 and zone 22 had a full compliment of empty seats so they parked us there. They started calling zones 1/2 (VIP status & handicapped) at about noon. We (zone 22) were called about 12:45 and were eating lunch by 1:00. Timing worked for us. Did not make much difference if we were zone #4 or #22. They are very organized and fast.

 

Marty

[Aknot]

"The clamshells seemed to go very fast but many complained they restricted air circulation."

 

Ive been reading a lot about HMC one of the "tricks" is to set it up in such a way there is airflow under the back not sitting it flat with the sand.

 

OP,

 

Do you have any pictures? We sail in Sept. and I am devouring everything Pride.

[yvogarden]

I'll be on the Pride in August with a group of 8, and we picked your time dining. How long did you have to wait for a table?

I wonder if the wait will be longer for tables of 8 vs. tables for 2 or 4, as I imagine they don't have as many large tables for your time dining.

 

We were on the inaugural Pride sailing from Baltimore, and it was the first week they tried your time dining, and we heard it was a little chaotic. I love the traditional dining, but we'll have 3 adults and 5 teenagers this time, and thought the flexibility of Your Time would be better.

[martyap]

"The clamshells seemed to go very fast but many complained they restricted air circulation."

 

Ive been reading a lot about HMC one of the "tricks" is to set it up in such a way there is airflow under the back not sitting it flat with the sand.

 

OP,

 

Do you have any pictures? We sail in Sept. and I am devouring everything Pride.

Don't have pictures but I'll try to describe the set up.

There is a brick path leading from the tender area. As you are walking away from the tenders the water is on your left. From the path there is a slight slope to the beach through a row of trees running parallel to the shore. Interspersed in this line of trees are the cabanas. Slightly in front of both the trees and cabanas are the clamshells. No one seemed to move the clamshells and they all seemed "rented." This area, directly in front of the clamshells had lots of twigs. In front of the clamshells were rows of lounge chairs. The sand was free of any tree debris here. It was certainly possible to move a lounge chair to a shady area closer to the tree line. The further you walked down the beach (towards the higher number cabanas) the easier it would be to locate a shady spot under the trees.

 

We set up in the lounge chairs near the massage hut and cabana #2. It was about a 5-7 minute walk from the tender area. The huge covered food structure had multiple stations and the lines posed to issue. Adjacent to that structure are many smaller covered picnic areas.

 

We caught a tender at about 9am and returned to the ship at about 3pm.

It was really a very pleasant day.

[martyap]

I'll be on the Pride in August with a group of 8, and we picked your time dining. How long did you have to wait for a table?

I wonder if the wait will be longer for tables of 8 vs. tables for 2 or 4, as I imagine they don't have as many large tables for your time dining.

 

We were on the inaugural Pride sailing from Baltimore, and it was the first week they tried your time dining, and we heard it was a little chaotic. I love the traditional dining, but we'll have 3 adults and 5 teenagers this time, and thought the flexibility of Your Time would be better.

 

We had early seating, lower level, entry on deck #2. Anytime diners lined up outside the upper level on deck #3. If you get there right before the regular seating start times there will be a line. There was always a line at 5:45 - 6:00 for example. Guess you'll have to see how it works after the first night. There are lots of options in addition to a single large table.....back to back booths; adjacent booths, etc. We did early seating...got to the MDR usually right at 6:00....never a line.....usually took our time and left the MDR about 7:30-7:45.

[Karlyn8]

We also were on the Pride for the June 20 sailing. We left western PA (Butler) at 6:15 am and pulled in the parking lot at 11:30. We were on deck by 12:15 - Zone 13 - and I went directly to the Shore Excursion desk, waited for about 20 minutes and got the LAST cabana. It was number 15 and like Marty, I felt it was the best money spent on the cruise. We had the very last in the row cabanas (Violet) and there were dozens of clam shells further down the beach from the activities that the staff members were dragging toward the more populated part of the beach. Cabana 15 was perfect with very little traffic past us. We talked to our Wait Staff Person, Tatyanna, and she told us that past the 15th cabana is where the staff are allowed to swim. There were not many there. Half Moon Cay is the most beautiful Beach I have been to and the sand is like talcum powder.

 

Debarkation was the smoothest I have ever seen. I hope all of the Carnival ships start doing debarkation the way the Pride does. You are called by your code number. We were in room 8216 on the Panorama Deck #8 and left the room at 9:00. Went to the Mermaid and had a very relaxed breakfast then found a seat in the Raphael Lounge until our code was called. From there we were able to use elevators without any waiting and were off the ship by 10:30.

 

:)

[trptplayer22]

I got to see you all pull in to port Sunday morning. The morning news was showing the Pride come in..I don't go until Sept. Inlaws go on July 11. I'm jealous.

[glorialagos]

I'll be on the Pride in August with a group of 8, and we picked your time dining. How long did you have to wait for a table?

I wonder if the wait will be longer for tables of 8 vs. tables for 2 or 4, as I imagine they don't have as many large tables for your time dining.

 

We were on the inaugural Pride sailing from Baltimore, and it was the first week they tried your time dining, and we heard it was a little chaotic. I love the traditional dining, but we'll have 3 adults and 5 teenagers this time, and thought the flexibility of Your Time would be better.

 

 

I posted about this a couple weeks ago. We had a group of 6 and your time dining did not work at all unless we went at 5:45. That was the only time we were guaranteed to get a table without a very long wait (an hour or longer when trying 6:30 and 6:45). I do think part of the problem was not having a party of 2 or 4.

 

I think if we would have tried 7:30, when most of those 5:45 tables are opening up, we would have had more luck. As it was, since we were locked into 5:45 for no wait, I would have preferred a traditional seating with the same waiters every night.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Thanks for the review. I am really excited now!!!! I will be on the Pride Aug. 15th and I can't wait. This will be my second time going to Half Moon Cay - the most beautiful beach I have every gone to. Last time we rented a cabana and hopefully will get to rent one this time.

[rkacruiser]

Hi Michael,

Glad you had a good time and the crew was so helpful.

I'm interested in treating my BF to the Chef's Table in Oct. as a BD present. How do I register for that, and do you know if I can register online before we cruise?

 

Thanks, Lynn

 

Yes, you can register for The Chef's Table online. I was able to do it through the link on Carnival's web site for David's Steakhouse. The dinner is held two nights during the cruise. I think the first night, it was booked to the maximum 12 people. I booked it for the second night and there were only 10 of us. It is really a wonderful evening and Chef Ramish is a really friendly and personable person. He makes it an entertaining evening.

[mikedw]

Yes, you can register for The Chef's Table online. I was able to do it through the link on Carnival's web site for David's Steakhouse. The dinner is held two nights during the cruise. I think the first night, it was booked to the maximum 12 people. I booked it for the second night and there were only 10 of us. It is really a wonderful evening and Chef Ramish is a really friendly and personable person. He makes it an entertaining evening.

 

That's good to know for the next cruise I'm planning. Chef Ramesh was wonderful.

[nybumpkin]

mikedw - Thanks for your review! We sail on Sunday. What night was the Chef's Art dinner? We'd like to do this in place of the "Behind the Fun" tour (which we did on Conquest in February and is a great tour).

[mikedw]

mikedw - Thanks for your review! We sail on Sunday. What night was the Chef's Art dinner? We'd like to do this in place of the "Behind the Fun" tour (which we did on Conquest in February and is a great tour).

 

We did the one on Friday night, I belive the other one was Tuesday night.

[nybumpkin]

Thanks, Mike! I think that when we board, one of us will head to Shore Excursions to book a cabana on HMC and the other will head to David's to book the Chef's Table!:cool:

[chachi]

Thanks for sharing your review. Sounds like a wonderful vacation.