Our Carnival Pride Spring Break cruise - 4/5/15 (with pics)

[Jamman54]

Just great to see everyone again .....you all look great and thanks once again...I am along for the ride very happily....Sarah

 

Always appreciate your comments Sarah. Glad you're back on board for the ride.

 

 

I officially want to go on the Pride. Isn't it coming to Port Canaveral?

 

No, she's in Baltimore for the long haul I hope!! She does visit Port Canaveral on one of her itineraries though.

[Jamman54]

Serenity looks awesome on the Pride! I never go to Serenity because I love the pool, it would be neat to have a pool so close!

 

I totally agree on that!

 

Yep, no doubt, the best Serenity areas in the fleet. The Sunshine has an awesome set up, but it is noisy.

[422Melissa]

Subscribing! We had a great time on this trip.

[Jamman54]

Loving the review!! We are sailing on the Pride for the first time in September and I'm soooo looking forward to it!!

Kim

 

Thanks for reading! I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

 

OF course loving the review and Patty's pictures, I can not believe that Ryan is taller than you now... loved your answer to the price increase of drinks, that you were to busy drinking... maybe at the end of your reivew you can answer that question when ya's got the bar bill LOL... 74 days and counting down... Can you get to my favorite spot, I really need a beach fix!

 

Thanks Barb!! Be patient my dear. :D

[Jamman54]

Thanks for the entertaining review! We will be back on the pride in 10 days. The last time was pre-2.0 and during Hurricane Sandy.

 

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your cruise!!

 

Great review so far! I had to actually Google Maryland House. That's the fanciest rest stop I've ever seen!

 

I've seriously considered booking out of Maryland and would if the price was right.

 

Love the pics and your observations. Thanks for doing such detailed reviews!

 

They just did a major overhaul of Maryland House. It used to be an older building. Thanks for following along, much more to come.

[Jamman54]

Hey gang!! I want to thank you for your patience during this most hectic week for me. Thanks to everyone who posted comments, as they are truly appreciated. I promise I will respond to them more going forward. Today I plan to complete the first day which is about 14 pages. I won't be posting tomorrow, but starting Monday, I should be able to post some pages each day until I am finished. So without any further ado....

 

Patti continues on her picture walk. Here are some photos of the Apollo Pool. This is the most forward pool on the Lido Deck, and is not covered with a retractable roof. You can see that there is one hearty soul in the hot tub, even though the temperature outside today is only in the mid 50”s…..

 

 

 

 

Here is Mr. Apollo himself….

 

 

There is comfortable seating along the windows in the Apollo Pool area…..

 

 

A couple of ping pong tables can be found here, but appear to be too close together…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti’s peeking into David’s Steakhouse, located on Deck 10…..

 

 

 

Carnival Water Works, located on Deck 11 aft…..

 

 

The Splash Zone…..

 

 

Water Works seating…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The Twister water slide…..

 

 

 

The Green Thunder water slide…..

 

 

 

 

 

The Water Works area and slides are open from 9am until sunset daily, weather and conditions permitting.

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

That’s our van parked in the lot…..

 

 

A nice view of the funnel…..

 

 

This is the unsightly container that contains the back- up generators. I’m happy that it’s there…..

 

 

Ryan and I caught up to Patti, and posed with the Green Thunder sign…..

 

 

It was getting near the time for our informal meet and greet back at the Serenity Bar, so we made our way back there. Here is Ryan checking out one of the hammocks…..

 

 

Ryan and Dad at the Serenity Bar…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Love those yellow, fluffy Serenity towels…..

 

 

The Serenity CHOG warning. We never had an issue getting a chair all week. Sometimes we had to wait a few minutes, but that was it. It was probably because with the large number of children aboard with their families, the number of adults using Serenity was less than normal. Worked for me!!

 

 

They had Bud Light, and my favorite, Thirsty Frog Red, on tap here…..

 

 

Patti and Ryan decided to head back to the cabin and start unpacking, while I stayed for the informal meet and greet. As expected, the turnout was light, but it was great to meet peekyman, Bridget, and Laura. On the way back to the cabin, Patti snapped these pictures, all in the Mermaid Grille. The Salad Bar…..

 

 

The Sweet Spot…..

 

 

The Italian buffet line…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The Coffee Bar…..

 

 

The Pizza Pirate…..

 

 

Around 3:30, I left Serenity to head back to the cabin to meet up with Patti and Ryan for the muster drill. The muster drill was supposed to take place at 3:45, but it didn’t start until around 4:25. Our muster station was outside on Deck 3 aft port side. With the weather being cool, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all, and it was over in about twenty minutes…..

 

 

 

A few of the crew were sporting their bunny ears for Easter…..

 

 

Once the drill was over we hung out for a few minutes to avoid the crush of people on the stairwells. Here’s a picture of Patti and Ryan as we waited…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti and Ryan decided that they would enjoy the sail away from our cabin’s balcony. I grabbed the camera, and made my way back to Serenity to document our departure from Baltimore. The Serenity sign…..

 

 

The Serenity pool…..

 

 

The gangway has been retracted…..

 

 

We’ll be heading out in that direction, and under the Key Bridge…..

 

 

Right around 5pm, they threw the lines, and our cruise was about to start…..

 

 

Looking at downtown Baltimore, with I-95 in the foreground…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We’ve pushed away from the pier…..

 

 

This is a view of the full parking lot. The luggage carts that I talked about earlier are visible in the foreground…..

 

 

A view of the Maryland Cruise Port…..

 

 

Today the water is brown, tomorrow it will be blue!!

 

 

Sailing away from the port and Baltimore…..

 

 

Looking up at the slides…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We’ve got some company…..

 

 

Goodbye Baltimore…..

 

 

Approaching the Key Bridge…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here we are sailing under the Key Bridge…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my view from my seat at the Serenity Bar. Looks like we have a few more hearty souls in the hot tub now…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are Dian Ayu and Neichulu, my two favorite ladies at the Serenity Bar…..

 

 

I hung out at the Serenity Bar until about 7pm, and then made my way back to the cabin to get ready for our first night’s dinner. I stepped out on the balcony and saw that we were about to sail under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[SMSACE6]

Loving the review as always:)

 

I was only once in Baltimore many years ago. Flew in there from Ottawa for a work related tour of Washington DC. It was on Eastern airlines, that will tell you how long ago:D

 

I would love to go back some day and check it out from a cruise ship:D

[Jamman54]

We had the 8:15pm Late Seating Dinner in the Normandie Restaurant. I had emailed our Maitre d’, Ken Byrne, a few weeks prior to the cruise asking him if we could be seated at a booth for 4. We have sailed with Ken a few times in the past, and he took good care of us. I’ll talk more about Ken as the review progresses. We were seated at table # 197.

Patti and I at our first dinner…..

 

 

Ryan at our first dinner……

 

 

For the time being, they are still using the old menus on the Pride. I am ready for a change, especially having had the new menus on the Liberty last August. But believe me, we enjoyed all our meals. I had my usual shrimp cocktail, followed by the gazpaucho…..

 

 

I had two entrées , the sweet and sour shrimp……

 

 

Followed by the linguine and sausage…..

 

 

Patti had a ceaser salad, followed by the salmon…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Ryan also had the salmon, along with a chicken breast. For dessert, we all had ice cream. We were all tired and full, but we were determined to do something before turning in for the night. Here is a list of all the entertainment on the Pride this week…..

 

 

There was also a list of all the happenings in the casino for the week…..

 

 

Ryan and I wanted to head to the casino and play blackjack. Ryan had turned 18 a few weeks before the cruise and was now allowed to gamble in the casino, using his money, and under our watchful eyes of course. He had spent the last few weeks learning to play the game the right way, and was eager to play for “real” money.

 

Patti wanted to play the first session of Bingo in the Taj Mahal lounge, so she made her way there……

 

 

The Bingo hosts name was Sam, and Patti, and later Ryan, said she was very annoying. After every number she called, she would have a lengthy commentary, which was not very funny, and dragged the game on forever……

 

 

Patti had no luck this night, and on her way back to the cabin, she took this shot of the EA Sports Bar…..

 

 

She also took this shot of Bonsai Sushi…….

 

 

To be continued……..

[KPfromCT]

SO excited that your hectic week is OVER!!!!:D:D

Long overdue for an awesome review........

Can't wait to see more.

Enjoyed our Pride cruise, but excited to see her with the 2.0 upgrades:D

 

Thank you!!!!!

[Jamman54]

Ryan and I played blackjack for about two hours, and after his first session, Ryan was exactly even, and I was up a hundred. We went back to the cabin where we saw our first turndown service of the cruise. Our Platinum / Diamond gifts had arrived, along with our tour tickets, but gasp, no chocolates.....

 

 

We had no idea what towel creature this was supposed to be…..

 

 

Ryan and I were up for a snack, so we ordered some room service. This was going to be the last week with this old menu on the Pride. Next week they will be offering some hot items for a charge, and some of the items on the old menu will be discontinued. I for one like the idea…..

 

 

We ordered a BLT……

 

 

A shrimp salad. This is one of the items that will disappear …..

 

 

A grilled cheese sandwich….

 

 

That sure hit the spot. Goodnight!

 

Coming up next, our first sea day!

[Jamman54]

Loving the review as always:)

 

I was only once in Baltimore many years ago. Flew in there from Ottawa for a work related tour of Washington DC. It was on Eastern airlines, that will tell you how long ago:D

 

I would love to go back some day and check it out from a cruise ship:D

 

Thanks for reading. Baltimore is a great city, and a great place to sail from.

[Jamman54]

SO excited that your hectic week is OVER!!!!:D:D

Long overdue for an awesome review........

Can't wait to see more.

Enjoyed our Pride cruise, but excited to see her with the 2.0 upgrades:D

Thank you!!!!!

 

Well, not out of the woods yet, but I got a lot accomplished today. Thanks for following along again! :)

[jmcghee2024]

Love you review! Thanks so much! We sail next week. Do you have any Fun Times that you can post. Thanks!

[dms419]

I always read your reviews and am excited to read this one! Booked the Pride this past week for next month (I never booked this close to sailing!). Have been on her several times in the past and excited to see the upgrades!

Can you tell me where the Bonsai sushi is? Can place where it's at.