moeferg Posted March 15, 2011 #1 Share Posted March 15, 2011 This is only our second cruise (first was honeymoon) and since this is our daughters HS graduation present, you can see that it has been a long time. Just some general questions, leaving from Baltimore, any tips for boarding day? (thinking about staying an a hotel and taking a shuttle to the pier) As for the ship, what are the "don't misses"? I believe from what I have read the food is decent. Any place better than others? Also, visiting Grand Turk, Half moon Cay and Freeport. Any thoughts on what we shouldn't miss? Any help, suggestions, tips or any other input would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KruznKel Posted March 15, 2011 #2 Share Posted March 15, 2011 This is only our second cruise (first was honeymoon) and since this is our daughters HS graduation present, you can see that it has been a long time. Just some general questions, leaving from Baltimore, any tips for boarding day? (thinking about staying an a hotel and taking a shuttle to the pier) As for the ship, what are the "don't misses"? I believe from what I have read the food is decent. Any place better than others? Also, visiting Grand Turk, Half moon Cay and Freeport. Any thoughts on what we shouldn't miss? Any help, suggestions, tips or any other input would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS!!! Welcome to CC.. I suggest you read this review.. and check out the ports of call board for excursions for your ports..;) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1361443 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof2cruiser Posted March 15, 2011 #3 Share Posted March 15, 2011 My husband, my two children and myself went on the Pride on February 20th. We had such a great time!! We read so many mixed reviews and really didn't know what to expect. Everything about the trip was absolutely perfect...the food, the ship, the entertainment! We visited Port Canaveral and the Bahamas, so our itinerary was different than yours. I wrote a review, but am waiting for Cruise Critic to post it. Let me know if you have any specific questions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moeferg Posted March 16, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I did read the review and it was AWESOME!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KruznKel Posted March 16, 2011 #5 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I did read the review and it was AWESOME!!! I think he has answered pretty much all your questions except ports.. where you can find that info out on the ports of call boards... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avandrie Posted March 16, 2011 #6 Share Posted March 16, 2011 This is only our second cruise (first was honeymoon) and since this is our daughters HS graduation present, you can see that it has been a long time. Just some general questions, leaving from Baltimore, any tips for boarding day? (thinking about staying an a hotel and taking a shuttle to the pier) As for the ship, what are the "don't misses"? I believe from what I have read the food is decent. Any place better than others? Also, visiting Grand Turk, Half moon Cay and Freeport. Any thoughts on what we shouldn't miss? Any help, suggestions, tips or any other input would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS!!! We chose the Pride out of Baltimore for our first cruise last April (2010), and we had an amazing time. Like many here, we read a lot of mixed reviews and that had me fairly nervous about my choice. Answering your questions... Baltimore: We chose to drive up a day early (we're from Central VA and the traffic can be sketchy with lots of backups); the last thing we wanted was to hit traffic and not make our embarkation. We stayed at "The Admiral Fell Inn" hotel in the Inner Harbor under their Park/Stay/Cruise rate. At the time we got it for $125 which included overnight accommodations, internet, continental breakfast, free transfers to/from port and free parking in a secure parking deck. We also had the little extra with the tidbit that the hotel was supposedly haunted. We didn't experience anything but a few items that were in disrepair. :rolleyes: Don't Misses on the Ship: This is truly an opinion that is going to differ from person to person. I fell in love with that infamous chocolate melting cake, I loved many of the lounge type comedy shows, and I took part in many a-random-naps. You'd think I was going on 80, but we are young 30 somethings. We enjoyed room service every morning - fresh coffee, fruit, cereal, etc - it was a great way to start the day. We didn't realize that the MDR (main dining room) was open for breakfast and lunch - that's something we'll try this go around. In my humble opinion - I think the food was far better than decent. Sure there were a few odds and ends that I didn't like (I wasn't impressed with the ice cream, pizza and chicken nuggets - all junk food), but most of it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Itinerary: I can't really comment on this part - our itinerary last go around was the Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. This go around I'm more excited as it includes Grand Turk, HMC and Nassau. I will say that we weren't really impressed with Freeport, but in all fairness it was an industrialized/commercial port. We also were burned out on beaches so we chose to catch and share a shuttle with another couple to one of the larger markets. When we got there, I was ready to turn back. It was too commercialized store-front-ish. The next time I find myself in Freeport, I'll hit a beach. :) Enjoy your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene56 Posted March 16, 2011 #7 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Sailed the Pride for Valentines day 2011. Awesome. In other cruises we liked being at the pier before 11am and onboard by noon. All i read I knew this would be a mistake to do that at Baltimore. We took Amtrak from Phila which takes 1 hour 7 minute and a taxi ride to the pier (13.00) We arrived a tad after one and they just called zone 7 to board. We were onboard and at the lido deck having our first lunch by 2:15 so we played the time right. -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dms419 Posted March 16, 2011 #8 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We are cruising the Pride out of Baltimore on March 27th.:D This will be our third time in 18 months. Every time we drove in on Sat. and stayed at Sleep Inn. 6055 Bell Grove Rd. Baltimore, MD 410-789-7223. Just called them last nite and made reservations for this cruise. 119.00 a nite plus tax and includes parking, shuttle, etc. Ask for stay and fly package. Lite Rail is within walking distance from the hotel if you want to go to Inner Harbor. Wal Mart, Target, etc. are not a far drive from the hotel. I did the "Behind The Fun" tour on the ship. It was very interesting to see what goes on behind the scene on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfros Posted March 16, 2011 #9 Share Posted March 16, 2011 If you want another review you are welcome to read ours click here. We had only cruised Princess before this cruise and found Carnival Pride to be GREAT! I could go on but all is revealed in the review. We stayed at the Brookshire Inn $125.00 for a 2 room suite. This included parking for the week (cost a pier 105.00) and shuttle service to and from the ship. Photos of the suite are included in the review. Enjoy your cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michellenook Posted March 25, 2011 #10 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Hi, I love the brookshire inn idea. How close are you to the Inner Harbor? It came up at 199 per nite but minus 105 for parking and its still a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moeferg Posted March 29, 2011 Author #11 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We are coming in from Pittsburgh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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