Mike & Tracy’s continuing adventures: Carnival Pride review (photos, funtimes & more)

[MikeyA53]

:D Mike, what can I say... as usual, again, your review is great !

 

The time and effort you have put into this is very appreciated by all !!

 

 

Thank you Kel040. Mike

[MikeyA53]

Thanks Mike ! Great Tips on this site.

 

BTW - Did you notice the 4 young guys on our cruise who all dressed alike in various outfits?

One day they were in sailor outfits, another in matching bathrobes and another day

in "Thurston Howell" getup. Very very funny. Maybe you have pix.

I did see a group dressed in matching Carnival white robes but it wasn't anything special since I've seen that in practically all our cruises. Unfortunately I didn't see them in their other outfits. :(

[MikeyA53]

Hi Mike: Just curious to know how you felt the experience was starting your cruise in cooler waters. We have been hesitant to sail from up north because a big part of the reason we sail is for the sunshine. Did you find the first day or so felt like you were just waiting for the real cruise to begin?

 

I don't think we will be cruising at that time of year again, especially like you said from cooler waters. Not enough warm weather for our liking.

[MikeyA53]

Thanks, Mike. I enjoy your reviews. The pictures are terrific. Best of luck to Tracy. She should be commended for working so hard.

We are leaving on the same cruise on Sunday. Having booked a balcony guaranty just 3 weeks ago, we found out what our cabin was Monday. A bit nervewracking, but it worked out just great. Looks like a terrific cabin. We are so excited to get some warm weather. Nothing else matters, just get warm.

Ohiodoglover

 

 

Thank you OhioDogLover, have a nice cruise. :)

[laurenpie]

Mike, you always write the best reviews. :) I think you could make any ship look great.

 

Looks like you had such a fabulous time together!!

I wish Tracy all the best for her training, and hope you all go ok for the time she is away!

 

:)

Edited March 3, 2011 by laurenpie

[sbcruising11]

What a Great review. Lots of photos love them all. You must be so proud of your wife. Wow what an accomplishment!!!!! Way to go.

Can't wait my first cruise coming up with stops in Half Moon Cay, St. Thoams, Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos. Any suggestions about what to would be great. I love reading about what a great time people like you and your family have on cruises.

[jnmcruise]

great review. Love the pictures. We are taking our first cruise 7-24-11 on this same trip so we hope to have the same great time you guys did!!

[crusinpsychRN]

I've done nothing all week in between patients but read this great review! Thanks for all your hard work.

[Crusing Nut]

I don't think we will be cruising at that time of year again, especially like you said from cooler waters. Not enough warm weather for our liking.

 

 

Hubby and I sail in Nov. from NY for a 12 day cruise. We usually fly down to FLL and take an 8 day cruise on the MIracle in Jan. I am worried about choppy waters and a cool breeze but it will be nice to see the Statue of Liberty up close and personal!

[MikeyA53]

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Funtimes day 5 - Nassau

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2011 by MikeyA53

[MikeyA53]

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Here are the downloadable Funtimes for day 5. Click on the link below, (Pride day 5) it will bring you 4shared.com.

Then click on Download now (blue box). You will get a message ' Your download link will appear in (for my computer) 20 seconds, Then click on 'Download file now' Then 'open" wait for about 5 seconds for it to download and there you have it.

 

 

 

 

 

Pride day 5

 

 

 

 

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[MikeyA53]

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We missed breakfast so we had ourselves a hearty lunch in the Mermaid Grill.

 

 

Lots of choices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

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Mitchel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracy and I had the grilled Reuben Sandwiches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracy’s second plate, that little girl can eat

 

 

 

[cruisinbabs]

Background info: Mike (55), occupation- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mountie), Tracy (38) Paramedic, formerly from Wales, UK. Mitchel (14). Our daughter Arielle (16) had commitments and did not come on this cruise.

 

We just came back from a B2B2B2B on Destiny, Imagination, Valor and Freedom in September. See our review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1281134

 

The reason we returned to cruising so soon is because Tracy is changing careers, she will be going away for 6 months of training on Feb 21st to become a Mountie and therefore we wanted to squeeze in one more cruise before she left. After her training it will be a while before she can take time off, hence our next cruise will be sometime in early to mid 2012.

 

Warning, this will be a very long, detailed review, took 1,258 photos.

 

We had a lot of fun on this cruise even tho the weather did not cooperate at all times. Our Freeport stop was cancelled due to high winds.

We met a lot of wonderful people, CC members and otherwise. Tracy sang karaoke and Superstar live. She was brought on stage to assist in ‘The physical comedy of Max Winfrey’. I participated in the gender showdown and both Tracy and I took part in Carnival Quest, you won’t believe the things we did. Good thing I have the photos to prove it. We won a bottle of champagne for our efforts.

 

We witnessed a marriage proposal on the karaoke stage, I have photos of that too. We dined in David’s steakhouse. Did the galley tour of the Normandy restaurant. In Nassau we spent time at Cabbage Beach, toured Atlantis and partied at Senor Frog.

 

Pre-cruise: We decided to be very cautious with the weather and gave ourselves two days to get to Baltimore. We left New Brunswick, Canada on Dec 31st and travelled 7 hours to Milford, CT. We stayed at the Hyatt Place Milford, $69.39 taxes included through Priceline, in a studio room with king size bed, mini fridge, free hot breakfast, free wireless, free parking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we stayed in a hyatt place in houston....LOVE these hotels.. i will stay in these everytime before a cruise... of course, always getting there a day before!!... i slept so good in ours, bfast was amazing, they had starbucks coffee, free computer to use (which i checked the port cam to make sure the ship was there, lol).. i recommend these to everyone.. and score on the flat screen in the rooms too!!

[MikeyA53]

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After lunch we disembarked, the plan for today was to go the Cabbage Beach and tour Atlantis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yacht in the previous photos, it's huge, look at the people standing next to it.

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested, "the Radiant was commissioned by the Russian media tycoon Boris Berezovsky but he subsequently sold her to Abdulla al-Futtaim, a billionaire car dealer from the United Arab Emirates, before she was completed. Built in 2010, length 110 m, crew 44, guests 20.

As well as the standard features for a yacht of this size - helipad, gymnasium, cinema, spa - she has one of the highest security specifications ever conceived. Berezovsky ordered a personal "escape launch" – a speedboat with turbo-charged twin diesel engines capable of exceeding 75 knots. She is also equipped with an arsenal of sonic guns that fire low-frequency sound waves that can burst the eardrums of approaching assailants, and a military water cannon capable of sinking an approaching boat at more than 100 yards."

 

 

Edited March 3, 2011 by MikeyA53

[MikeyA53]

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One of the dilemmas we had was taxi or water taxi to Atlantis. We had sought the advice/recommendations of several people including ship crew members. Prices for the water taxis was $3 per person, each way and $4 per person by taxi. We finally choose to go by taxi, going across the bridge we came to a $1 toll booth and the driver asked us for the money, on the return trip there was no toll. Total cost $13 plus $1 tip and return $12 plus $2 tip. After we crossed the bridge, we drove by a bunch of cruisers and our taxi driver made a comment that after they got off the water taxi they had to walk a mile to Atlantis or the beach. We were dropped off at the entrance of Cabbage Beach.

 

Later we spoke to several people who had taken the water taxi, they had enjoyed the guided tour of ‘the Paradise Island Estates’, home of a few famous movie stars but they did not enjoy the wait, because the boat did not leave until it was at full capacity ( they said they felt like sardines) and the smell of engine fumes were unpleasant, especially when it departed. After getting across, the walk was between 5-10 minutes to Atlantis, therefore probably less than a mile.

 

The beach was nice, the sand was beautiful, Tracy described it as silky smooth. The water was chilly, probably around 72 degrees. Facilities are available ( canteen, restrooms). It stayed cloudy, with menacing black clouds on the horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

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Testing the water

 

 

 

 

 

Come on Tracy, the water is really nice (little white lie), she didn’t bite.

 

 

 

[AndrewD65]

Mikey,

 

I love your review every day more and more. I have to say I rush home from work so I can enjoy everything you talk about and all the pictures you show. Any way you can host a class on here on how a review should be posted.. lol.. Keep up the good work.

[Naomi John]

great as usual. You don't have to say thanks. Just keep it up!!

[a,j,&fam]

love the review, and great pics.

[Captain Canuck]

1. for putting up with my humour..she who must be obeyed keeps warning me that nobody on cruise critic gets that I try to be funny

 

2. info on nassau..we go in Dec on the allure

[Beth73]

Enjoying your review! We (me, DH, DS(17), DD(15)) will be on the Pride on May1st.

While you were at Cabbage Beach, did you notice if they had motorized water sports, like seadoos?

[Captain Canuck]

1. we were in nassau over 20 years ago..think it was cabbage beach where a young german girl went topless...thought the local boys were going to go nuts

 

2. 30th cruise coming up next year...as is 30th anniversary...looking at doing the Pride

[JaniceB]

Just wondering what country flag is flying on the Radiant?

[MikeyA53]

Mike do you have to make a reservation for the shuttle bus in port canaveral?

We would like to go to cocoa beach, is this the best way to go? And I like that you can go to walmart and get more supplies if you like. And can I tell you how refreshing it it to see someone actually respond to everyone, thank you for that.

 

 

No reservations, just walk over to the taxi/stuttle area and buy your $10 per person ticket for the day. If you choose the same stuttle we did, the first stop is at the parking lot of Ron Jon Surf Shop which is just a short walking distance to Cocoa Beach. The next stop is Walmart and then Merritt Mall. They have several shuttles doing this route all day. So go to the beach, relax and have fun and when your done take the shuttle to Walmart. :)