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Pride Review 8/26-9/2

Andie272

By Andie272,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Andie272

Andie272

Posted
Posted

I would love to say how this or that "ruined my cruise" but the truth is, I can't because the cruise was great and we had an awesome time!

 

It was me and DH (both 40) and DD8. The itinerary was Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Freeport. We were in room 5220.

 

Before the cruise we stayed at the LaQunita in Glen Burnie, we booked the stay and cruise package. The hotel was clean and in a safe location; lots of places to eat and things to do close by. We met some great people on our roll call that also stayed here so we hung out and got to know our new friends.

The shuttle to the port was fine, they share a shuttle with the Days Inn, so the times are a little off, but we chose the earliest we could and were literally the first people to check in, we got there around 9:30.

The Port of Baltimore is very organized and easy. Got though everything within 10 minutes (no lines since we were so early) I think it was around 11:45 or so when we got to board.

The room I felt was in a great location. Close to the aft elevators, which took us right to the dining room, close to one of the mid elevators and that brought us right up to the Lido by the pools and buffets. Our room steward was great; we always had ice and a clean room.

The ship was great, although I like the layout of other Lido decks better. We almost always got a seat by the pool, I would get out around 8-8:30 and could find seats, however the second row of the seats is half in the shade. Made it a little difficult to watch my DD in the pool and get some sun, but we made it work. I also miss the big screen on the Lido. I didn’t mind the DJ, I actually prefer it.

The food I thought was very good. We ate breakfast and lunch at the Lido every day, dinner in the dining room every night. We had early seating, service was a little slow, but once my tablemate complained it got better. The food was always hot and very good. The buffet was good also, lines were not too bad, only time we experienced crowds was if you went to lunch at exactly noon. Wait 30 minutes, and no lines. Also walk around; some stations have the same food and no lines.

Ship activities, the entertainment staff was amazing, there was always something to do. The shows were really good. I played way too much Bingo and didn’t win, although I won a little on the cash craze cards. The comedians in the Punchliner were hysterical. Roger in the Ivory Bar (Piano Bar) was AMAZING! YES I took my daughter in there for a little while one night, she enjoyed it. I saw other kids in there later in the week also.

Grand Turk was very nice. Our itinerary changed from when we first booked it and we were only at Grand Turk until 2pm, so we had to be back on board by 1:30. We didn’t rush off in the morning, went and did a little browsing in the welcome center and then went to the beach to the left of the ship, after a little we went to the Margaritaville pool. We were able to find seats easily and were not bothered to buy food or drinks. Since we had to be on so early we decided to go back on ship around noon, to beat the crowds and eat on the ship. We sat by our favorite spot on Lido and ate and swam some more.

Half Moon Cay…was GORGOUS! We had a cabana, #8, and so we got to get on the first tender, we were on the beach before 9:30. The cabana was the best money we spent, it gave us a place to escape the sun and set our stuff in. I could have stayed on HMC forever. The BBQ was really good also. The lines to get a tender back to the ship were long and in the sun, so if you want to avoid that go a little earlier. We got on line at 3, and got back on the ship around 4.

Freeport, we only got off for about an hour and a half. Went to the straw market right by the port and had my daughters hair braided, and got a few souvenirs. Then back on the ship to swim in an almost empty pool. It started to rain, so we sat by a table while DD swam in the rain.

Disembarkment was sad because we had to get off and our vacation was over. It was smooth though, we had zone 18, and we got called around 10:20 and were through customs by 10:50. Then we had to wait for the hotel shuttle, this was the only issue for the entire trip. Our friends got off before us, called the hotel and said we were 6 people, was told the shuttle would be around 30 minutes. Perfect! Except there was a mix-up, too many people for the same shuttle, it only hold 6 and 5 other people were there also, they were told they would get the 2nd shuttle, but they didn’t like that answer so took ours. We ended up not getting the shuttle back to the hotel until noon.

Overall we had a fantastic vacation despite the few little things that people see that they claim ruins there cruise; we just laughed about them and went on enjoying ourselves.

 

Any questions on something I didn’t cover, just ask and I will try and help.

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Room Service!

Room Service!

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There must be something wrong with you people! No real complaints! No wanting compensation! No, 'I'll NEVER sail Carnival again!!! ;)

Sounds like you had a great time. Happy for you. We'd all be lucky to have cruisemates like you guys. ;) Thanks for posting.

We sail her, again, in Oct. Looking forward to it.

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Andie272

Andie272

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There must be something wrong with you people! No real complaints! No wanting compensation! No, 'I'll NEVER sail Carnival again!!! ;)

Sounds like you had a great time. Happy for you. We'd all be lucky to have cruisemates like you guys. ;) Thanks for posting.

We sail her, again, in Oct. Looking forward to it.

 

LOL! It became the joke with us when we saw something happen that we would say it ruined our cruise!

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Andie272

Andie272

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Good to hear you had a great cruise! How was the location of cabana #8 for you? Was the beach very crowded in that area?

 

I liked #8, we did have some people walked down and sit in front of the cabana, but it wasn't overly crowded. We did have somebody ask to use one of the floats and my husband let her, we were not using all 4 anyway, she offered to give us money or buy us a drink but we didn't think that was necessary. We were right by the bathroom which I liked because I was able to let my DD go on her own.

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vivavegas

vivavegas

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Posted
There must be something wrong with you people! No real complaints! No wanting compensation! No, 'I'll NEVER sail Carnival again!!! ;)

Sounds like you had a great time. Happy for you. We'd all be lucky to have cruisemates like you guys. ;) Thanks for posting.

We sail her, again, in Oct. Looking forward to it.

 

Love it!:)

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Andie272

Andie272

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Forgot to mention Camp Carnival. My DD did go to it almost every night, a few nights after 10pm that we paid for. Her biggest complaint is that they advertise things as one way and it turns out another way. They tell you it is a 80's dance party, yet they don't just let them dance and have fun, it was all structured games and activities. My biggest complaint about Camp Carnival, they sometimes were not where they were supposed to be, so dropping off took way too long sometimes.

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roscoegirl

roscoegirl

Posted
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Hi Andie!

 

We were also on this sailing...I'm sorry I missed the M/M (try getting six women to agree on anything :rolleyes: ) Beyond that, I must agree, this cruise was as close to FANTASTIC as any I've been on.

 

The MDR was very good--we had AnyTime Dining and we were there by 6:30 each night. We also had breakfast in the MDR a few mornings and it was also great! I think, the entire VIBE of the ship was so good: cool, fun, engaging and smiles everywhere I looked!!

 

We did however witness some tweens running around and actually saw one of the officers pull them aside and chastize them about 'running on his ship'! It was a priceless moment-LOL!!

 

We thought the shows were very good and I also attended one of the art auctions. (pretty stingy with the free champagne-LOL) We hung out in the Starry Night club most evenings after visiting the casino! This was the first time I've ever taken a chance at playing the BlackJack table. I didn't win a lot of money but I didn't do too badly either.

 

We were in cabins 5202, 5204 and 5206. This was one of the best locations on the ship...centrally located and easily accessable to every venue. We loved HMC and did a short tour of Grand Turk with a little beach time. In Freeport, we only ventured out to the vendors market just off the gangway.

 

Before we left the ship, the one thing the six ladies did agree to was to DO THIS AGAIN! This was a great cruise!!:)

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Andie272

Andie272

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Did you partake in the afternoon tea while onboard? We haven't done that and would like to this go around...in November...yay. Just want to get the perspective of somene who has done it on the Pride.

 

I actually did 1 day. It was fine, had a selection of tea to choose from (same selection I saw on the Lido buffet) and then they came around with some small desserts and sandwiches.

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Andie272

Andie272

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I have a question about the hotel. Were you able to get a shuttle or transportation from the hotel to the inner harbor area and back? And thanks so much for the review! We go on the 16th!

 

Not sure, we had a car and were not going to Inner Harbor so I didn't ask, sorry.

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tcowgs21

tcowgs21

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So happy to hear you had a great time. We leave soon on the Pride and was wondering if you hit any rough seas when you hit the ocean. I have always gone out of Florida but this is so much closer to home my only worry is rough seas. Any help is appreciated.

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Andie272

Andie272

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So happy to hear you had a great time. We leave soon on the Pride and was wondering if you hit any rough seas when you hit the ocean. I have always gone out of Florida but this is so much closer to home my only worry is rough seas. Any help is appreciated.

 

We did feel the boat rocking a little more than we did in our March 2011 cruise out of Miami, but it wasn't bad. At times it was a little worse than other times. I felt it more at the very front and very back of the ship. I also took Bonine every night as a preventative.

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laumicmah

laumicmah

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I did this cruise in April with my mom and it was the BEST cruise ever. I loved everything except Freeport and noisy cabin neighbors (turned out to be a cabin of kids). My mom loved it too. I would love to do the same cruise again, but DH doesn't like sea days (he prefers 7 day cruises with 4 stops or 5 stops like the one out of San Juan...he'd love to do that cruise). Anyway, thanks for posting your lovely review.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Rocky123

Rocky123

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Posted

I was also on this cruise and enjoyed it very much.

My 24 year old son won the hairy chest contest. On the way home he did mention he should have received more recognition from winning. He said he talked to another guy who one on the Conquest and he was the King of the ship. LOL LOL

Sorry I missed you Roscoe but will meet another time....

Great food in the dining room.

Rocky

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