Pride review 4/3 - 4/10. Perspective from a first-timer!

[rlthomas7]

We're back from our 7-day cruise on the Pride. Our itinerary was Baltimore to Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. Lots of photos to come (as soon as I find a thread that explains how to post them). There were three of us, DH (Paul), me (Rachel) and our three-year old son (Adam). So I'll cover cruising with a child, Camp Carnival and the ports! I can't begin to compete with last month's amazing tale from Mike and Tracy - they covered all the main points, but cruising with a youngster definitely provides a different experience!

 

Thanks to everyone who helped me plan this trip. It was great to go armed with Cruise Critic tips such as asking for a particular section with anytime dining, the availability of resort day passes and day rooms, figuring out how to set up a bed in the room for a child who still needs a bed rail and things that we needed to pack that I never would have considered, like a power strip and a door shoe holder. I would have been in trouble without many of these tips!

 

So I need to start some work and get the photos off the camera, but if anyone is cruising soon and needs me to answer any questions, please ask!

[Duckie26]

Lots of photos to come (as soon as I find a thread that explains how to post them).

 

 

Upload your photos to a photo sharing site (i.e. Photobucket) and then if you look at the top of the reply box on this site, you will see all sorts of tool buttons. Click the yellow button that looks like a "picture" and it will take you the "Insert Image" option and then paste your URL to your picture when instructed.

 

It's very easy.

[Cobra1365]

Upload your photos to a photo sharing site (i.e. Photobucket) and then if you look at the top of the reply box on this site, you will see all sorts of tool buttons. Click the yellow button that looks like a "picture" and it will take you the "Insert Image" option and then paste your URL to your picture when instructed.

 

It's very easy.

 

 

An easier route is to copy the code under each photo on photobucket...the "IMG code".

 

Then just paste into your narrative.

 

No buttons to push!

[LBumb]

all ready to read.

[sassylisa08]

Hi! I'm going on the Pride in a few weeks, and I wanted to know what you were talking about regarding asking for a certain section of the MDR for anytime dining? I have anytime dining and would love to know what you are talking about. Thanks so much, and glad to hear you had a great time!

[CrusinCyndi]

How long was your wait time embarking in Baltimore? And how long was the de-bark time ?

[serene56]

Hi! I'm going on the Pride in a few weeks, and I wanted to know what you were talking about regarding asking for a certain section of the MDR for anytime dining? I have anytime dining and would love to know what you are talking about. Thanks so much, and glad to hear you had a great time!

 

 

I'd be curious to this too, When we sailed -the waiter explained that in each section there is a table left open for anytime diners. (mostly tables for 2 or 4 people.

Its the upper section that is opened for Anytime.

 

Did you have a wait time? every time we went to our seats the line was out the door for the anytime diners. I often wondered if it got better as the night went on. (it was at 6:00 when the dining rooms first opened)

 

I also am curious to how your 3 year old made out in the camps.

 

 

How long was your wait time embarking in Baltimore? And how long was the de-bark time ?

the Pride does not get back into port until 9am. Many people are arriving when we were getting off. From reading this on the reviews we decided to get to the pier about 1pm- they were loading Zone #7 onto the ship. We wound our way through secuirty- checked in and got onboard- dropped off luggage to the cabin and was sitting, eating at the Lido Buffet by 2:15. (it was perfect timing)

 

Getting off-- it seems more people do self embarkation on this ship then any other I have sailed. Self embarkation by decks started about 9:30 starting at the top and working the way down. (we had train tickets and were not doing self embarkation and the train comes at 12:30.) it was 10:30 and they just called deck 6. So we asked to get off right after that. We made it to the ship by noon.

[rlthomas7]

Testing the photo thing before I begin...

 

[nytonowhere]

Testing the photo thing before I begin...

 

 

you might want to make the image size a bit bigger..but not a big deal

[rlthomas7]

Testing the photo thing before I begin...

 

 

Ok, so I can probably go a little bigger on the next one, but that's the parking lot and the ship. We left home (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area) around 12:30 and arrived at the parking lot at 2:00. Adam slept the whole way down, which was the plan. We paid for parking, dropped off the bags and parked and walked to the terminal. This parking lot thing seems very strange. Seriously, it's a funny feeling handing over your credit card to a woman sitting in the passenger seat of an SUV while the radio is blaring and she's singing at the top of her lungs. But we did it and the credit card survived. We headed for the terminal, put all our stuff through the x-ray machines, filled out the forms, made it relatively quickly through the check-in lines and were on the ship and heading to our cabin at 2:40. So forty minutes from parking lot to ship. Not too bad! With an antsy child in tow, we were aiming to get there around that time to avoid crowds as much as possible and it worked. It was also nice that the rooms were ready as soon as we boarded.

 

We went to the Lido deck to check everything out and so that we could torture Adam by showing him a pool with water too cold for swimming.

 

We got Adam a snack and headed for the muster drill. We took the advice to get there late so we weren't smushed against the wall. We didn't wait long enough though, because we were in the middle. I had to hold Adam to keep him from freaking out in the crowd and he kept making tons of noise while they were talking. If you were near us, I'm sorry!

 

After the drill we unpacked a bit and then went up to the Lido deck to see us pull out of port. We danced for a little bit on the Lido deck. I saw the video camera trained on Adam and me dancing and, sure enough, he was on the cruise video that was showing on the televisions all week! After this, we went back to the room finish unpacking and headed for dinner.

 

We had anytime dining and showed up around 6:00, which was a mistake the first night. I forgot that we had to go to the third floor and we went to the second floor with a mob of hungry people. I went to the front of the line because I knew that anytime started at 5:45 and asked a man if he was there for anytime dining or 6:00 dining. He angrily told me to "WAIT IN LINE" Well thanks for that help, sir." So we waited until the doors opened, only to be told to go upstairs. Wish I had remembered that. We went upstairs and were separated out from the upstairs 6:00 diners, and were shown to our table. It was in the far back corner, which was great for us - if Adam got noisy he disturbed fewer people. We had a wonderful wait team of Cyrus, Oktavia and Gregorio. They were just wonderful, especially with Adam. And we requested them every night. They always had his booster seat and a straw for his water goblet ready to go! And they kept our food coming quickly, which is a plus when dining with a youngster.

 

To answer the question above, you can always request to be seated in a particular server's section. You'll either be seated right away, like we were every night, or you might have to wait. We usually went on the earlier side, around 6:00 - 6:30, and never had to wait even a minute. On the Nassau night we didn't get there until 7:00 and we sailed right in that night too.

 

Adam with Oktavia: He loved her. In fact, as the week went on, he'd just periodically shout "I love you Oktavia! at points throughout dinner.

 

For this dinner, I had the shrimp cocktail (good, but small), flatiron steak (if you look at other day one menus you'll see a New York strip. That wasn't offered - it was the flatiron steak with the three peppercorn sauce and mac&cheese). It was good. And the warm chocolate melting cake, which was outstanding! Paul had the heart of iceberg lettuce salad which he said was good, and the chicken a la grecque, which he said was very good. I think he had sherbet for dessert. Paul doesn't eat beef, pork or any meat besides poultry and white fish. He's allergic to shellfish. So he was pretty impressed by the vegetarian dishes on this cruise. He said he could probably go full vegetarian if he had a chef to prepare dishes like these. So if you are a vegetarian and are concerned about eating on the ship, fear not! We tried to get food photos, but forgot on night one. And we forgot for awhile in the middle of the cruise too. But some are coming, I promise!

 

We went to the Camp Carnival orientation and got there just as it was ending. I was expecting more of an open-house type of thing where you stop in, gather information, meet the staff, etc. but it was more like a lecture. So this is something to attend on time! We headed back to our room and worked on putting together Adam's bed. I was very concerned about the bed situation because he uses a bed rail at home. I had planned to just roll up a blanket and put it under the sheet for him and gave it a trial run the week before we left. According to the 1:00 a.m thud and screams that we heard on the trial run, the blanket under the sheet was not going to work. I came on here and asked about a bed rail and was told that the "mattress" cushion was attached, so nothing would fit underneath. Which led to getting out the thinking caps. So here was our bed solution:

 

 

We put our small suitcases inside our big suitcases to make them heavy and stood them up beside the bed and pushed the coffee table up against them to hold them in place. Then we got extra pillows from the room steward and used them for padding the sides. It worked great. The biggest concern was the wall-mounted lamp, because Adam flops around a lot on his bed when he's climbing in, getting up, watching TV, etc. and we were afraid he's whack his head on that. Hence the pillows on THAT side of the bed too! Our poor room steward had to deal with this crazy setup all week - I told him not to bother to make/turn down Adam's bed because between naps and bed time, the bed was always unmade anyway, but the steward kept making it and turning it down for us. He earned an extra tip for sure!

 

We also were a little nervous about giving Adam his bath, because he only uses a tub at home. But he adjusted VERY well to the hand-held shower. Although Paul had to get into swimming trunks to do it after getting completely soaked giving Adam his shower the first night!

 

All in all, we had a pretty seamless first day and night. More to come!

[mommyof3girls]

Can't wait to read about it! We are going on Valor in August with a 5 and 4 y.o. We live in Philadelphia, so cruising out of Baltimore would mean no airfare so curious to hear about that as well!

[rlthomas7]

Hi! I'm going on the Pride in a few weeks, and I wanted to know what you were talking about regarding asking for a certain section of the MDR for anytime dining? I have anytime dining and would love to know what you are talking about. Thanks so much, and glad to hear you had a great time!

 

You can always request your favorite waiter when you show up to the hostess stand. You always have to go to the third floor, but when you walk up to the hostess, you give your room number and she punches it in. And then you say that you would like whichever waiter and they put you there, if they can! We were never turned down and we never had to wait.

[rlthomas7]

How long was your wait time embarking in Baltimore? And how long was the de-bark time ?

 

We arrived at the parking lot at 2:00 and were on the ship at 2:40. Coming home was much slower. Self-debark took a VERY long time. Started around 9:30. We had zone 20 for regular debark and we were finally called around 11:30. Once we were called, it didn't take long and I'd say we were in our car heading home around 12:15.

[cantwait06]

wahoo, i was hoping someone would write a review for this week as I am leaving on Sunday:) I did the Pride last year with the same itinerary you did and LOVED it! Looking forward to the rest of your review:)

[jetravel]

Looking forward to your review!!!

[chrisitne30]

We're back from our 7-day cruise on the Pride. Our itinerary was Baltimore to Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. Lots of photos to come (as soon as I find a thread that explains how to post them). There were three of us, DH (Paul), me (Rachel) and our three-year old son (Adam). So I'll cover cruising with a child, Camp Carnival and the ports! I can't begin to compete with last month's amazing tale from Mike and Tracy - they covered all the main points, but cruising with a youngster definitely provides a different experience!

 

Thanks to everyone who helped me plan this trip. It was great to go armed with Cruise Critic tips such as asking for a particular section with anytime dining, the availability of resort day passes and day rooms, figuring out how to set up a bed in the room for a child who still needs a bed rail and things that we needed to pack that I never would have considered, like a power strip and a door shoe holder. I would have been in trouble without many of these tips!

 

So I need to start some work and get the photos off the camera, but if anyone is cruising soon and needs me to answer any questions, please ask!

 

Hi Rachel,

 

This was also my first cruise and I can't wait to read your perspective about the cruise. I really enjoyed myself on this cruise and cannot wait for the next one.

[nurse_nik]

Thanks so much for this - looking forward to the rest of your review. We're leaving on the Pride in May with our own 3 year old and I have a feeling you'll be addressing a lot of my questions! I'm really interested in hearing about your experience with Camp Carnival and any other suggestions you have for activities that your son enjoyed while onboard. Also, any trouble with motion sickness? And what day did the weather get warm enough that you could use the pools?

 

Oh, and could you post a link to the other review you mentioned that was so helpful before you left (Mark and Tracy)? Thanks a bunch!

[jnmcruise]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1361443

 

a really nice review by mike and tracy.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1068189&page=1

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1360179

 

2 more good reviews all with pics

[jnmcruise]

one more of my favorite reviews i forgot

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1190023

 

hope this helps! i just hope we have as much fun as everyone else does who writes up these reviews!!

[rlthomas7]

Thanks so much for this - looking forward to the rest of your review. We're leaving on the Pride in May with our own 3 year old and I have a feeling you'll be addressing a lot of my questions! I'm really interested in hearing about your experience with Camp Carnival and any other suggestions you have for activities that your son enjoyed while onboard. Also, any trouble with motion sickness? And what day did the weather get warm enough that you could use the pools?

 

Oh, and could you post a link to the other review you mentioned that was so helpful before you left (Mark and Tracy)? Thanks a bunch!

 

I'll definitely address Camp Carnival in a few days. We didn't have any trouble with motion sickness (unless you count car sickness on the drive down because I was reading, trying to finish a book so I didn't have to take it with me). But Tuesday was a rough day on the ship - really high winds and giant waves. It was cold and rainy too. Because Tuesday was like that, the weather wasn't warm enough for pools until Wednesday. But hopefully in May it will be better for you!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to read/see more.

[serene56]

I'll definitely address Camp Carnival in a few days. We didn't have any trouble with motion sickness (unless you count car sickness on the drive down because I was reading, trying to finish a book so I didn't have to take it with me). But Tuesday was a rough day on the ship - really high winds and giant waves. It was cold and rainy too. Because Tuesday was like that, the weather wasn't warm enough for pools until Wednesday. But hopefully in May it will be better for you!

 

 

Did you find that a lot of kids were swimming anyways? at least in that hot tub under the roof that was closed?

[JaniceB]

I am enjoying your review and waiting for more. I have a 2 and 3 year old granddaughter, so I am really curious to hear about Camp Carnival. I would like to take them on a cruise next year when they are 4 and 3.

[rlthomas7]

Did you find that a lot of kids were swimming anyways? at least in that hot tub under the roof that was closed?

 

Oh sure, kids will swim in anything as long as it's filled. There were quite a few kids in the hot tubs and a few more daring ones in the pools...

[rlthomas7]

On to the first sea day, which was pretty quiet for us. We took Adam to Camp around 10:00 and he screamed the whole way. Which leads me to a tip - try to avoid the cabins located between the forward stairs/elevators and Camp. My kid wasn't the only one screaming on his way to Camp, and I imagine it's also pretty noisy at night when the late-night activities end. We had a room on the fifth floor, but past the elevators and that was a great location.

 

For those who think that we're horrible parents for taking him when he was screaming, that's just how he is. He hates trying new things, but then he has fun and begs to do them again. Until it's time to go again, and the screaming starts all over. Of course we'd never force him to go to camp if he didn't have fun. There are video monitors outside of camp so that you can see what's going on. We'd always stick around to watch him go in and get settled playing before we'd leave. Also, on the first night orientation for Camp, you get a cell phone that works on the ship (I think this is only for younger kids). You give that number every time you check into camp, so that they can call you if you're needed. It also makes/receives calls to and from the cabin, which is very nice if someone is in the cabin and someone else is out.

 

With some actual adult time on our hands, Paul headed for the gym and I picked up my book and went to the Serenity deck for some quiet. We let Adam stay in camp for about 90 minutes and got him for lunch.

 

On this first sea day we went to the MDR for lunch and we were seated with our dinner team, Cyrus and Gregorio! I will say that the vibration was VERY stong in the dining room, particularly on this day. Our table and the ones near it were shaking so hard that our voices were vibrating and the glasses were clanking together. Oddly, other tables near us didn't seem to have the same problem. We felt the vibration at dinner too, but this lunch on the second floor had it far worse than dinner was. I was afraid Adam would shake out of his booster seat!

 

For the food, Paul had the Caribbean Pepper Pot and he said that was excellent. I had the medley of garden and field greens with balsamic viniagrette and it was very good. Paul had the pan fried fillet of king clip nicoise and he said that was absolutely amazing. I had the create your own burger and it was, well, a burger. We skipped dessert.

 

After lunch we headed to the cabin so Adam could take his nap. Paul headed out to the balcony with the DVD player and some movies and I planned to join him, but the room was so dark and the bed was so comfy that I took a nap too!

 

We woke up and started to get dressed for the first elegant night. If you want to see Fun Ship Freddy in his finest attire, head to the atrium before elegant night!

 

 

Adam is a sucker for anything costumed. And, let's be honest, so am I!

 

 

On to the food. Shrimp cocktail:

 

 

Paul had two starters, the baked stuffed white mushrooms which he said were very good, and the Greek farmer salad with he loved. I, of course, had the above pictured shrimp cocktail.

 

I had the lobster and shrimp and I ordered a double. Did I eat every bite? Yes! Did I really need two of them? No. I will say that the broccoli served with it was amazing. So amazing that I actually voluntarially ate broccoli. So that is some good broccoli.

 

Here's the photo!

 

Paul had the chili rellenos and he said they were good, not great.

 

For dessert Paul again went with the boring old sherbet, while I tried the carmelized apples on puff pastry. I think that this was the only thing I was truly disappinted with. I was really wishing for melting cake. It looked beautiful though!

 

 

 

After dinner we tried to get a few photos taken by the ship photographers, but nothing came out well. The chance you take with a getting-sleepy kiddo.

 

We returned to our room to find this guy!

 

 

Every night there was a race between Adam and me to get to the towel animals. Me to take the photo, Adam to behead the poor creatures in his excitement to see what was waiting for us!

 

Monday night was the worst night for sleep as the sea got REALLY rough. I mean I was actually pretty nervous that something might go flying in our room as we rocked and rolled!