Review of our Spring Break '14 Cruise on Carnival Pride

[happymoes]

What canon camera lens would you recommend for cruising?

 

I would love to get one that does the fishbowl effect...what do you use for that? Which lens do you use the most?

[singbluesilver1]

Following... We leave on the pride a week from Sunday and it's my first cruise ever. This review is great. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Are you on our roll call?? I'll be on that sailing too!

 

 

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[PaulMedik]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

 

firstoftwelve,

 

There were a lot of first time cruisers on our sailing and the one comment I heard from most of them was they didn't expect so much movement on the ship. My advice to a first time cruiser out of Baltimore would be to invest in some Ginger pills and start taking them a day or two before the cruise.

 

Cruising is NOT a normal type of vacation; it's an addiction that gets into your every waking moment and soothes your dreams as well. I've talked with people who hated their first cruise, but after it was over they looked back and realized they had a great time. There's a lot to take in and experience, but don't feel compelled to do everything; save something for your second cruise.

 

 

 

sjn911,

 

You've read me well; I do love Carnival that's for sure. We have thousands of memories of our time at sea together as a family. Regardless of where we go or what the future holds, we'll always have the time we spent with each other. Cruising without Bryson this year was tough. Next year may be our last with Spencer since he'll be graduating and going to college, but this year may have been our last since he's also talking about playing baseball his senior year and missing Spring Break week isn't allowed for baseball.....

 

 

What canon camera lens would you recommend for cruising?

 

I would love to get one that does the fishbowl effect...what do you use for that? Which lens do you use the most?

 

Happymoes,

 

I used a Canon 24-70 F2.8L II, Tamron 24-70, and a Canon 15mm FishEye. In the past I've used a Canon 24-70 F2.8, but it doesn't have stabilization so I opted for the Tamron. I used the 24-70 more than any other lens; it's a little short for distant shots, but since my camera is full frame I can zoom in quite a bit to bring things closer in post.

[jimbo5544]

Keep it coming Paul. We will have to book another cruise out of Baltimore if this keeps up!;) We have enjoyed Kirk as well as a CD.

[firstoftwelve]

Are you on our roll call?? I'll be on that sailing too!

 

 

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Yes I am I just haven't been able to be very active on the thread... :-)

[firstoftwelve]

Thanks for the advice..still need to pick up the ginger pills!!

[NCTribeFan]

Ginger Root is miraculous. Really has made a tremendous difference in my cruising enjoyment. It's the single most-useful thing I've learned on Cruise Critic.

 

I did think Miracle had more side-to-side movement than other ships. Of course, every sailing is different and you can't generalize and say "this ship rocks more than that ship." But I do wonder if the difference in shape adds to that.

 

Thanks for the reminder to find my bottle of Ginger. Have written it on my post-it note that's stuck to the front of my phone with all the other last-minute things I have to do!

 

I'm in an aft cabin on Main, just slightly port-side of center. Hope the azipod issue doesn't cause even more shaking and shuddering than normal back there (had quite a bit in 4230 on Miracle). Just as long as it doesn't cause my wine to slosh out of the glass or to make things in the cabin rattle and creak so much that it wakes me!

 

I also love seeing a man in a tux. Wish more still did it. After all, every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man! ;)

[l2f]

Ginger Root is miraculous. Really has made a tremendous difference in my cruising enjoyment. It's the single most-useful thing I've learned on Cruise Critic.

 

Here is one of those dumb questions. Where do you get it and is it a pill?

[NCTribeFan]

Get it at Wal-Mart or any drug store. It's a capsule. Take with lots of water or else it can feel like it's stuck half-way down and can give you "hot burps." :p

 

I'll start taking it tomorrow. I take one am and one pm and I even continue it for a few days after the cruise (I now feel more "movement" post-cruise than during).

 

After I board Sunday, I'll take 1/2 meclizine, just in case. Depending on the seas and how I'm feeling, I'll continue the 1/2 meclizine at night. I usually don't take one the night before a port day.

[l2f]

Get it at Wal-Mart or any drug store. It's a capsule. Take with lots of water or else it can feel like it's stuck half-way down and can give you "hot burps." :p

 

I'll start taking it tomorrow. I take one am and one pm and I even continue it for a few days after the cruise (I now feel more "movement" post-cruise than during).

 

After I board Sunday, I'll take 1/2 meclizine, just in case. Depending on the seas and how I'm feeling, I'll continue the 1/2 meclizine at night. I usually don't take one the night before a port day.

 

Thanks.

[manmtnmike]

Get it at Wal-Mart or any drug store. It's a capsule. Take with lots of water or else it can feel like it's stuck half-way down and can give you "hot burps." :p

 

I'll start taking it tomorrow. I take one am and one pm and I even continue it for a few days after the cruise (I now feel more "movement" post-cruise than during).

 

After I board Sunday, I'll take 1/2 meclizine, just in case. Depending on the seas and how I'm feeling, I'll continue the 1/2 meclizine at night. I usually don't take one the night before a port day.

 

Good plan!!

They say it's better to already have it in your system before you notice symptoms...Often i get more sea-sick with the minor rocking at dock then I do with lots of waves.:confused:

See you soon!:)

Mike

[iheartmarshall]

Britt and Spencer had pizza;

 

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You can tell we had a wicked cold winter when teenage boys want to lay in the sun;

 

 

 

In this wake picture you can better tell that one azipod is working harder than the other;

 

 

As a fellow West Virginian, I totally agree with you on the wicked cold winter. We still have two weeks until we sail, but I am SO looking forward to sun and hot weather!

 

Love your review and can't wait to read the rest :)

[PaulMedik]

Our sailing had two Diamond members with 205 days at sea. Kirk brought them up on stage for a photo with the Captain;

 

 

 

The bar servers made sure that nobody had empty glasses;

 

 

Karen and many of our fellow cruisers were up on stage dancing;

 

 

 

 

[PaulMedik]

After the Past Guest or VIFP party I checked out our wake and made note that the starboard azipod was running slow again;

 

 

Almost sunset;

 

 

 

I was hoping to get a pic with our smoke trail a little higher off the water;

 

 

Not a lot of clouds to highlight the setting sun;

 

 

I had to zoom in to catch some fire;

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

 

 

If you've spent much time aft watching the wake you'll recognize calm seas when your wake disappears into the horizon;

 

 

 

Karen and I enjoyed Mexican up on Lido while Spencer and Britt went to the dining room;

 

 

Well, Mexican mixed with some Italian;

 

 

Capers for our Grand Turk visit along with a letter informing us they would be cleaning the balcony while in port and that to avoid voyeurs we should close the curtains;

 

[PaulMedik]

Our balcony at night with the lights turned on. I think this was one of only two or three times that we turned them on the entire cruise. We only turn them on to look for something because they mess up the view;

 

 

You know you have a problem with taking too many pictures when you take a picture of the water splashing back and forth in the non functioning whirlpool tub;

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection of the setting sun;

 

 

Karen and I spent a couple of hours playing BlackJack and we each even played the .02 cent slot for a while to try and win a BMW. We played for an hour and I was up by $14 and Karen was up by like $8. She cashed out her $108 on the last night and I ended let them keep the 0.48 cents that was left on my account. How do you lose $100 playing $0.02 slots? BlackJack more than made up for it, but I've never lost at slots before! Granted I don't play much, but still!

 

We turned in around midnight and slept like logs.

 

I enjoyed a hearty breakfast on Lido before our day in Grand Turk;

 

 

 

After breakfast I got some shots of our approach to Grand Turk from the Serenity area;

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

 

 

 

 

They really need to either shutter the casino and turn it into something else or open the place up a little;

 

 

 

We stood in line on deck 1 for way too long;

 

 

 

Twenty five minutes after we got in line we made it to the forward stairwell;

 

[PaulMedik]

Forty Five (45) minutes after we got in line to get off the ship we were finally off the ship in Grand Turk! That's crazy! They had one side of the gangway open and they were constantly allowing people from Grand Turk to board via the other side of the gangway. Regardless of what they are getting on board for, they need to either wait until the rush is over or they need to slide another gangway out.

 

 

We heard too many comments from people in line who were saying 'it's not like this on Royal....' Well it's not like this on Carnival either! I doubt it's the norm for Pride, but if so they need to fix it.

 

The 45 minutes we spent in line weren't completely wasted; we got to see many funny things; a lady parading down the line insisting that she was 'Gold Member' and was allowed to get off first. We also saw a group push thru that insisted they were going to be late for their excursion which was very amusing to hear the back and forth. What was most amusing was that we met them coming back on board before we even got off because they had forgotten a S&S card.

 

Grand Turk debarkation;

 

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The Carnival pic that you can see us pose for in the video above;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spencer is holding the GoPro for the video above;

 

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

Carnival end of pier pic;

 

 

 

Walking thru the Duty Free store;

 

 

 

 

Margarittaville pool;

 

 

Walking thru Margarittaville;

 

[YOUTUBE]JjQtQpaHs20[/YOUTUBE]

 

[PaulMedik]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'How long does it take to walk to Jack's Shack and how do we get there?' It takes about eight minutes and you just walk down the beach;

 

[YOUTUBE]7APWO0zQnGs[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

 

Crew Bar;

 

[Jenny in TX]

Enjoying your review. I love the cherry blossom pictures in DC. Thanks for taking the time to write this review!

[PaulMedik]

Casino;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Britt picking out a conch shell;

 

[Steve8]

Hey Paul. Thanks for another awesome review. It seems like we are always following each other for cruises. We just got back from the Breeze a few weeks ago and are going on the Pride in September. This will be our 4th time on the Pride. I can't say it's our favorite ship but we do LOVE being able to drive to the port.

 

We will be having the same type of experience as you did on the Pride. It will be our first trip without our DD as she leaves for college a few weeks before we sail. I'm sure it had to be strange not having Bryson there. It seems like it was just a couple years ago we were talking about our kids teddy bears and now they are going to college. Man we are getting old. Thanks again for sharing your families vacation!

 

Steve

[PaulMedik]

Hey Paul. Thanks for another awesome review. It seems like we are always following each other for cruises. We just got back from the Breeze a few weeks ago and are going on the Pride in September. This will be our 4th time on the Pride. I can't say it's our favorite ship but we do LOVE being able to drive to the port.

 

We will be having the same type of experience as you did on the Pride. It will be our first trip without our DD as she leaves for college a few weeks before we sail. I'm sure it had to be strange not having Bryson there. It seems like it was just a couple years ago we were talking about our kids teddy bears and now they are going to college. Man we are getting old. Thanks again for sharing your families vacation!

 

Steve

 

 

Steve,

 

Thank you.

 

Bryson brought his bears out to show his girl friend last week after the cruise and told her how many cruises they had been on with him. Priceless!

 

It takes a while to get used to cruising without him....I'll let you know when ever it finally happens!

 

 

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[PaulMedik]

'Topher.' The celebrity of Jack's Shack;

 

 

 

 

 

Our first two drinks of the day;

 

 

 

 

Britt and Topher;