Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Thanksgiving on the Pride 2014, a review

Cruise Envy

By Cruise Envy,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Sorry gang -- busy week. The speed will pick up at the weekend.

 

Travel Day 2 - Sat 11/22

 

We woke up at the Hampton Inn in Richmond Hill, had our free breakfast, and hopped back in the car to finish our trip to Florida. One nice thing about I95 is there are plenty of places to stop as you need it. We stretched our legs as we got to the Florida Georgia line... can you tell we were a little car crazy at this point??

 

026.jpg

 

171.jpg

 

168.jpg

 

We continued down the road, and even stopped for lunch at one of our favorite BBQ places:

 

069.jpg

 

Late afternoon, our target for the day was finally in sight!!

 

190.jpg

 

192.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Travel Day 2 - continued

 

Again, we chose a Hampton Inn. This time we took an optional upgrade to a King whirlpool suite. My kids again declare the pool to be "too cold" and instead dove for the in room whirlpool.

 

200.jpg

 

The room also had a wet bar and a sofa bed. The hotel included a free breakfast, and had a free shuttle that will take you anywhere in a 3 mile radius. We had a park and cruise package.

 

We took the shuttle down to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company a few blocks away for dinner. We are Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives fans, and this one had been featured.

 

10805760_10204723122905587_7890743931777547832_n.jpg

 

10689894_10204723298509977_4342996779982921182_n.jpg

 

Food and service was good! We chose to walk the three blocks or so back to the hotel.

 

One more sleep, and it will be time to board the Pride!!

photo.php?fbid=10204723122905587&l=e799a2a293

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 1 - Boarding the Carnival Pride!!

 

We had the same note as many have recently on the Pride from Carnival "... don't arrive before 1:00 PM". Yeah, right. I had FTTF for both cabins. We had signed up the night before to catch the 10:30 complimentary shuttle. We woke around 8am, and headed down to the lobby for our hot breakfast.

 

One thing I found interesting in this hotel was that your room key was required to use the elevators going up. They did have a nice breakfast area though.

 

054.jpg

 

After breakfast we went back to the room to wait... when I realized I had somehow left most of the luggage tags at home. :eek: We took one downstairs and the front desk photo copied them for me. Here I sit laminating them with packing tape.

 

031.jpg

 

FINALLY it was time to head downstairs. We waited out in the vestibule for the shuttle to pull up out front. We loaded up the luggage and climbed aboard!

 

060.jpg

 

We met passengers from the Holland America Ryndam and the Norwegian Sun on the shuttle. We were the first drop off, at Terminal 2, about a 5 minute drive from the hotel.

 

We transferred our luggage to a porter, grabbed our carry-ons, tipped the shuttle driver and the porter, and headed inside. Overall, I would repeat this hotel again. It was a little pricey, but VERY convenient to the Tampa port.

 

We breezed through document inspection, up the escalator to the second level, filled out our do-you-have-ebola health forms, and moved into the priority line. We were almost immediately taken to the counter to check in. The only snag was the camera at the counter wasn't working, so we had to get our S&S pictures done later in the process. We were handed a priority boarding card, and directed to seating.

 

Here we met the first member of our roll call, Orchid3179. My son took a contraband picture, despite the signs saying 'NO PICTURES'.

 

071.jpg

 

It wasn't a long wait, but a bit confusing. They started listing all the groups that would board and in what order, and then fussed at us for joining the line. It could have been clearer. As FTTF, we boarded after Diamond, Platinum and suites. We had our S&S picture taken, then our boarding photos.

 

250.jpg

 

 

I crossed the threshold of the ship at 12:20 PM!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Day 1 - The Cabin

 

We boarded on Deck 2 in the main atrium. We decided to walk to the forward elevators and head to our cabins to lose our carry-ons. Bonsai Sushi is RIGHT there in the atrium (picture later).

 

Headed up to deck 5, forward to our cabins, 5105 & 5107.

 

 

 

082.jpg

 

I had ordered the bon voyage decorations for my kids' cabin,

 

090.jpg

 

and a friend had ordered birthday decorations for mine.

 

084-1.jpg

 

This was our first balcony cabin, and it connected to the kids' interior. First "surprise" of the cruise -- we had to get Ahmad, our cabin steward to unlock the connecting door. On fantasy class, each room can open their door; here it's one, locked door. Another surprise... the 5105 cabin was set up with one twin pushed RIGHT against the connecting door, which kind of defeats the point, don't you think?

 

We asked our room steward to unlock the connecting door, and if he could help us move the beds so we could use the door. He explained it was difficult with 5105 being small, but he would try. :mad: He did manage to get it done, but there was barely room between the boys' beds. And NO floor space. I would not book 5105 again as part of a connecting pair unless it was to be configured as a king bed.

 

The balcony, however, was better than expected as an extended balcony.

 

093.jpg

 

091.jpg

 

All four of us could comfortably be out there, and we could have added another chair if we chose to.

 

The cabin had three closets -- one full length, one with two hanging bars, and one with shelves. There were several drawers, although one had the hair dryer in it and you couldn't store much else there. The bathroom had alot of counter space, and was fine. We did have to get the clothesline thing in our shower fixed, and one day our shower gel holder jumped to it's death (we found it on the floor of the shower with gel EVERYWHERE, but that was cleaned up and fixed that night.

 

Next up -- lunch and first impressions!

Edited by Cruise Envy
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 1 - Lunch

 

Once we had visited the cabin, we proceeded up the forward elevators to the Lido deck. We made a bee-line for Guy's Burgers, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!

 

239.jpg

 

While my men tried a couple of the other varieties, we generally stuck to the Plain Jane with cheese, and doctored it from the toppings bar. The buns are made fresh, soft and delicious, and the burgers are flavorful, tender... YUMMMM!

 

Personally, my favorite item from the topping bar was Guy's BBQ sauce, which I dipped those yummy fries in.

 

120.jpg

 

Not only are the burgers THAT DARN GOOD, the line goes REALLY fast. Seriously... this has to be one of the best things Carnival has ever done.

 

235.jpg

 

167.jpg

 

 

How can you beat such great food with a Funship DoD??

 

243.jpg

 

234.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Momma1980

Momma1980

Posted
Posted

I'm sad that the Pride is leaving Tampa so soon. Never had the chance to sail on her. I would have liked to experience a Spirit class ship after 2.0 changes. Sailed on the Legend twice (before she went 2.0 and left for Australia) and really like the Spirit class. Glad that you enjoyed your cruise. I look forward to seeing more of your review. Thanks for posting!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ahoys

ahoys

Posted
Posted
Which Hampton did you stay at in Tampa? I have ressie for Ricky Point but I'm afraid it is further away from port than the one you stayed at.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

OP stayed at the Hampton in Ybor City. Your Hampton is by the airport, which is farther away from the port. It is, however, closer to two malls that have great choices for restaurants. It might be worth the longer drive to the port on the morning you sail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cojuqui

cojuqui

Posted
Posted

Hey Carolyn, enjoying your review so far. I started mine this weekend as well and have been enjoying looking thru my photos and typing everything up as it went along. Super great to meet your family, we had a great time. The link to my review of the same trip is in my signature. Looking forward to reading more of yours.

 

Connie

 

PAST CRUISES:

 

Discovery Sun 2003 Freeport Bahamas Day Cruise

Celebrity Solstice 6/26/09 Eastern Mediterranean

Carnival Conquest 08/10/10 Eastern Caribbean

Carnival Victory 06/10/12 Southern Caribbean http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1659913

Carnival Miracle 07/30/13 Alaska http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=39476968#post39476968

Diamond Princess 12/23/13 New Zealand/Australia http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2112413

Carnival Pride 11/23/14 Exotic Western Caribbean (review in process) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2135404

 

 

20983-profile.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted
OP stayed at the Hampton in Ybor City. Your Hampton is by the airport, which is farther away from the port. It is, however, closer to two malls that have great choices for restaurants. It might be worth the longer drive to the port on the morning you sail.

 

Ahoys is correct! I would stay at this one again, but would also explore other choices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Envy

Cruise Envy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 1 continued

 

After our lunch, we changed into swim suits and tried out the pools.

 

This is the midship pool:

 

273.jpg

 

We chose to get in the forward pool (which is NOT under the retractable roof) because it had a whirlpool as well.

 

159.jpg

 

We even found a mermaid!

 

280.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...