Just back from the Pride with some hints!!

[Lydia B.]

Friends,

I just returned late last night from a super trip to the Mexican Rivera on the Pride. The weater was wonderful not a drop of rain and not too hot. Here are a few things I did find out that I thought might help some of you that are going.

. If you want to go a day early and stay on the Queen Mary do it..yea the ship itself is not in fabulous shape, but it still has it's charm. Make sure you go through the self guided tour to see what she looked like in WW II and rooms such as the infirmary in her prime. Also a must is the Legends and Ghosts tour, they have added some Disney like special effects and it is a blast. If you stay on the ship the tour only costs $10.00. Also consider the Sunday brunch although $35.00 it was truly wonderful. Also Parkers Lighthouse (go to the third flor) was charming, good food and not all that expensive.

. Early check in via the Queen Mary.....note that the staff of the QM and the Carnival staff don't communicate well. When you are looking at the QM from the parking lot look to your far right...that is the entrance for early check in and you access it from the outside. So you leave the ship's hotel part and then reenter at the far right for early check in. It did make it quite easy.

. No pub crawl or crafts on the Pride.

. Make sure you stay up for the Vroom show in the main show room. It is all classic rock music and I truly enjoyed it.

. If you play cards or bridge you are going to have a problem finding a table. The Carnival vacation program has taken over the library and they try to have folks play bridge on the tiny cocktail tables, not good.

. Book a tour with Mazaltan Frank (there is a ton of info on him, under the Mexican Rivera section). He lives up to the reviews, meets you with a sign with you name and the first place you hit (if you book the County tour which is a must) is a bakery with pasteries three for a dollar!! He also takes you to a hand made tile location and you can get marvelous tiles to take home for $2.00 per. His city tour is also great (we took both), and the churces you see are beautiful.

.In Cabo try and go to the glass factory, it was much much nicer than I had expected. You can go via the Coastal Highlights tours. They also take you shopping in a small ajoining town where the prices are much better!

. Getting off was very smooth, but we did have a 1:00 flight and we were at the airport for nine!!! That was the good news, bad news airport was a real nightmare, I heard that there was a convention of 15,000 folks and all were going home that day, but hey we made it with time to spare.

 

Ok, that is about all I can think about right now. If I can help anyone, just ask. All in all it was a great time, but I must admit 3 ports in 3 days wears you out!!

[OJulie67]

Thanks for the review!! We leave next Sunday! Happy Mother's Day to me~;)

I am assuming the ships waterslide was still closed?

[Lydia B.]

Yep the waterslide is still closed. Have a great time! And hey you get to celebrate it twice ours is on the 8th, but in Mexico they always celebrate it on the 10th. You also might see some other celebrations, they have a childrens day coming up and they have little parades. Lydia

[serene56]

ahh, so VVrrrooom has moved off the Victory-- I wonder what replaced it. Sounds like a few ships are getting their new shows.

[LornaT]

Is Jean Pierre still the Maitre D' ? If he is, any idea how long he'll be aboard?

Anyone going soon ???? If you see him and can ask, I'd love to know. Best Maitre D' we've had (had him on the Legend Christmas & New Years B2B 2004, and very good about making sure we kept the same wait staff and table for the second sailing) and hope he'll be on for the Christmas sailing we're booked for.

[Lydia B.]

Not sure about Jean Pierre, but we did ask for a table change and got great service.

[bankofdad]

Thanks for the review! We can't wait for our cruise.

 

Were there any Mexican theemed nights and late night buffets during your sailing?

 

Did you use the water taxi during your pre-cruise at all?

 

With the early check-in, what time were you actually able to board the ship? We were considering the Queen Mary for our pre-cruise as well, but were a little nervous about that because of the recent bankrupcy filing. Did you hear any talk about that while you were there as far as if there are any plans that might disrupt hotel operations because of the bankrupcy? What was your cabin on the Queen Mary like?

 

We have an early flight out of LAX on debarkation. Did you fly out of LAX or Long Beach? If LAX did you take a taxi (cost)? Did I read correctly that you were off of the ship by 9AM? What time did you actually arrive at the airport?

 

Thanks again for the review!

[Lydia B.]

Mexican theme parties...yes one night I belive it was PV they had a party on the Lido deck. Also one of the larger bars had drinks and salsa and chips one night. Nothing Mexican on the buffett.

 

Did not take a water taxi.

 

The week our ship left they were doing the every 6 week imigration check of the staff. So we had the big breakfast buffet at the QM. But I think those who did early check in got on around one, normally you can get on between eleven and noon. Don't worry about the bankruptcy thing, from what I heard this seems to be a regular thing.

 

We flew out of LAX with a 1:38 time, so we got to have early debarkation. Yes we were off the ship by nine!! I think that was a really smooth one. Took the Super Shuttle about $18 one way, they are waiting right outside the ship, took about 30 minutes, really easy. If you have departed from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale this port will seem much easier. Lydia

[bankofdad]

If you have departed from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale this port will seem much easier. Lydia

Thanks for the quick reply! Debarkation in Miami was a disaster this last cruise. It's nice to hear this should be a better experience!

 

Thanks again!

[bkw67]

Thanks so much for the review!!!

We are going on our first Carnival cruise on the Pride next spring (just booked it last weekend)! I will deffinetly look into Mazaltan Frank.

I have a few questions,

Are the doors on the Pride metal… i.e., will magnetic door signs stick to the door?

 

Anything we should miss (biggest dissipointment), or should not miss (biggest suprise) on the ship that you didn't mention.

 

We have a balcony; (if you know) does the door stay open, or do you have to hold it open? What works best on holding it open? Does the A/C shut off when the door is open?

 

Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, what is your number one semi-secret (I won’t ask for your big secret) thing you have found on Carnival cruise line (the Pride or spirit class ships). Could be boarding tips, ship secrets, upgrade, discounts, credits, etc.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[bigsky]

Thanks for the review. We were on the Pride when she was out of Port Canaveral. Loved it!!! We're leaving in less than 6 weeks again on her.

 

We're planning to use Supershuttle. Need to still book it. How do they know when to be outside waiting or are they always there going back and forth to the airport. We're flying into LAX. I need to prebook it online. Would like to just have it to ourselves, the 5 of us..lots of luggage.

 

thanks!

[Lydia B.]

I had the same question on the Super Shuttle in regards to times. I did not make reservations either way, but they will ask you if you did. How can you exactly figure when you get in or when you leave??

When you get to LAX the luggage pick up area is really close to the Super Shuttle area, just go outside go across the little street area and look for a sign (I believe it was blue a little hard to see) saying Super Shuttle, there will be attendants..just tell them where you are going and they will call in a van for you. Going out from the ship is even easier, they are right there to help you!

[Lydia B.]

Big secret huh....well I swear I would always try and book my return flight a couple hours early then they say so that you can get off the boat early!

Semi secret...but I think everyone knows who has cruise before is to not be afraid to order new types of foods things you might normally not. For instance one of the deserts was described as a cake having prunes and a peach sauce, frankly it sounded kind of yucky. I ordered it and it was fabulous the texture of the cake was chewy and crunchy on the outside, but still very moist, yummy. Also if you find that two desserts appeal to you then order them, you don't have to eat much of either.

Also go to the high teas, I think a lot of folks don't...thinking they have to dress up you don't. I always pop in from sunning on the deck in a bathing suit cover up, the music was very nice and I enjoyed it!

Biggest disapointment was Cabo Wabo in Cabo....way I mean way to loud and I did not see a soul eatting anything. Just drinking so we left. Find someplace to have some seafood, the Shrimp bucket was nice.

Also in PV Senior Frogs the restaurant was very nice, try and get a table out towards the front and you will have an incredible view, the good was good, but not great.

Also the Rythems of the Night was all they said, the boat trip has some fun entertainment and you eat right on the beach. The show was good and not to long. Coming back there were fire works over the cruise ships, very impressive. Hope this helps...all of you folks have a good time! Lydia

[sgriff17]

who's the current CD? Any stories about him/her?:D

[Lydia B.]

Sorry to say I can't even remember his name. frankly he was just ok. Or as they say in the survey at the end of the cruise "room for improvement". No bedtime story, no pub crawl and little interaction. Hopefully he is just getting his feet wet. Lydia

[bigsky]

Lydia,

The only thing is I don't want to have to wait for others or make any other stops. I think we'll do a pretty good job filling it up. So are they at every terminal by the luggage claim area? We just get our luggage and then are there doors to the outside to meet up with Supershuttle? I thought I read if you book with them, you just call them when you arrive at the airport. But sounds much easier IF they're there, just take it when u see them. Are they close enough so it's not a huge walk with all our stuff?

 

thanks!

I thought I heard Greg Kneale was the cd....sp? He's SUPPOSED to be wonderful!! Of all our cruises, we only liked one. That was the last time we were on the Pride.

[Tedson]

I really hope Greg is still the CD on our Carnival Pride cruise on May 22nd; we've heard so much about him. But I was reading a review from back in February and the reviewer was wishing Greg a happy retirement in Puerto Vallarta.

[bardgal]

Hey Ted!

 

Greg is about to open a bar in PV any day now - only wish it would be ready for us to come in and have a marg!

 

:D

 

t

[Tedson]

Yeah, that would be great, Tally. He could tell us that "bedtime story" he's so well known for while we sip our marg's :D