Swodog94's Eastern Caribbean Cruise on PRIDE 23-30 Oct 16: A Review and Pictures

[swodog94]

Strange, but I didn't have to pay for the champagne toast in the Atrium. I was on the ship in Sept and Oct.

 

Sue

 

Huh. I didn't check my account to verify, but I know the server noted my folio number on her pad. And I'll reiterate, the bellini's were not good. :(

[ETski]

First I would like to thank you for your service in the US Navy. Hubby served in the Navy 45 yrs ago. Second I am enjoying your review. Perfect timing since my 89yr. old mom, sister and I will be cruising on the Pride a week from this Sunday. I sailed on the Pride 2yrs ago and can't wait to see the upgrades. I do have a silly question. I recently read a review of the Pride. The poster stated there is a charge for regular coffee and tea in the MDR. Say it isn't true. I do know that there is a charge for specialty coffee but never for coffee, tea, ice tea and lemonade in the MDR.

[swodog94]

First I would like to thank you for your service in the US Navy. Hubby served in the Navy 45 yrs ago. Second I am enjoying your review. Perfect timing since my 89yr. old mom, sister and I will be cruising on the Pride a week from this Sunday. I sailed on the Pride 2yrs ago and can't wait to see the upgrades. I do have a silly question. I recently read a review of the Pride. The poster stated there is a charge for regular coffee and tea in the MDR. Say it isn't true. I do know that there is a charge for specialty coffee but never for coffee, tea, ice tea and lemonade in the MDR.

 

First, tell your husband I said "Thanks for YOUR service, shipmate!". As for your 89 year old mom, we had dinner with an very nice lady and her 89yo mom...and mom was lots of fun! So I'm glad your mom is sailing.

 

The coffee and tea are free on the Lido. There are several stations where you can grab a mug and get coffee, hot chocolate, or hot water for tea (tea bags are available there, too). There are choices to sweeten your drink (sugar, brown sugar, and pink, blue and yellow packets), and pitchers with either half-n-half or milk. Again, there is NO charge. The quality is not gourmet, but I've had worse from 7-11, so this is no issue (it's hot, black and has caffeine). There is a specialty coffee bar on the Lido deck:

 

 

There may be a charge for these coffee drinks, but I didn't use it, so I don't know. There is also a specialty coffee counter on deck 2, with pastries and desserts, and I know there is definitely a charge for that.

[swodog94]

I was super excited to go to Grand Turk. I had read some awesome reviews and had great expectations. It seemed a perfect combination of crazy bar place (Margaritaville), fun pool with a swim-up bar, and snorkeling beach. I promptly went out and bought a GoPro!

 

We awoke early at 0700 because based on the Funtimes, we knew we were scheduled to be moored in Grand Turk at 0800.

 

 

Red, right, returning! Making our approach to the pier!

 

 

[swodog94]

As we make our approach you see the many catamaran's and other boats that are standing by to take out the excursions.

 

 

Some of the local town.

 

 

And the iconic wreck on Governor's Beach.

 

 

And some random scenery to show you how beautiful this island truly is!

 

[swodog94]

We moored in Grand Turk and soon they passed the word that we could head to A Deck to debark. We grabbed our beach bags and headed out. Sadly we neglected to take beach towels...those are NOT provided with your cabana in GT, and we wound up buying a souvenir towel. Anyway, we headed below to get off the ship.

 

 

 

We headed down the pier to enter the Grand Turk port center.

 

 

 

 

[pcvtmom]

First I would like to thank you for your service in the US Navy. Hubby served in the Navy 45 yrs ago. Second I am enjoying your review. Perfect timing since my 89yr. old mom, sister and I will be cruising on the Pride a week from this Sunday. I sailed on the Pride 2yrs ago and can't wait to see the upgrades. I do have a silly question. I recently read a review of the Pride. The poster stated there is a charge for regular coffee and tea in the MDR. Say it isn't true. I do know that there is a charge for specialty coffee but never for coffee, tea, ice tea and lemonade in the MDR.

 

Coffee, tea, and lemonade are free in the MDR, as well as on the Lido.:)

[swodog94]

At the entrance to the port we found an example of the Turk Head Cactus. This is the reason that these island (Turks and Caicos) are named as they are. Can you see the fez?

 

 

A random cannon. Not sure what historical significance it holds. Probably just put there because it looks cool.

 

 

We strolled through a Duty Free area and then into the rest of the shops. The Grand Turk Cruise Center was basically built just to accommodate cruise ships and bring their revenue stream into the local economy. The shops include International Diamonds, Colombia Emeralds, and other such overpriced shops that try and convince you that you are getting a good deal because your purchases are duty free. They are NOT a good deal. Buy stuff if you MUST have it, but don't do it because you think you're getting over on anybody...you ain't. These folks know how gullible Americans are, so as in every Caribbean port, there's a Harley shop where there is no possibility of a Harley being present.

 

 

We walked through all this chaff and got to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. This is another Caribbean mainstay, but if you want to drink and eat food that is vaguely familiar to the america palate, you will go here. It holds a monopoly on drinks of any kind in the Grand Turk cruise center.

 

 

 

[swodog94]

I wasn't sure where to get my cabana. The info on the ticket (which you will get delivered to your cabin) says to go to the Welcome Center. It turns out they mean the Maragaritaville hostess stand (as if you were requesting a table). Once we checked in, one of the servers led us to our cabana. The cabanas are essentially part of the Margaritaville experience.

 

 

We headed around the pool:

 

 

There are nine cabanas, and we had number 3.

 

 

The ship looms over the cruise center.

 

 

[swodog94]

These cabanas are very comfortable.

 

 

There's a ceiling fan on the porch that provides cooling for the two loungers out there. Then inside, there is an a/c and another ceiling fan. In October, these kept thing very cool, but I can see how in July and August these are required just to stay comfortable.

 

The cabana includes a small fridge, although there's nothing in it. I guess you can put stuff in it that you order.

 

 

There's a coffee table that has some menu's on it. One is a drink menu, one has the food you can order from Maragaritaville.

 

 

Want to to order some food? Press this button and a server will show up in few minutes to take your order.

 

 

There's even a small table with flatware and condiments for whatever you order.

 

[swodog94]

As stated, we had cabana #3 of 9. There were only a few cabanas in use. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that every one I saw "occupied" was rented, because a few looked like some folks took over the porches without being able to use the interior. However, each of them had an outside shower.

 

 

The Flowrider was nearby, but I didn't try it out. I'm just not that coordinated!

 

 

The pool had two bridges that cut the pool into three seperate but distinct polls.

 

 

And the palm trees led the way out to the beach!

 

 

[swodog94]

When we I knew we were going to Grand Turk I went to my storage unti and hunted up my old snorkeling gear. Sadly, it had been a few years (20) since I had used this stuff, and it was not usable. So I went out and bought a few things: a snorkel set (mask, snorkel and fins) and a GoPro. After we were settled in to our cabana, I headed to the beach to start snorkeling. The area just off the cruise center isn't a very pretty area...there's no vibrant coral reef. But once you start looking, you realize there's lots of stuff going on here.

 

 

Whoa! There's a fish! As a matter of fact, there's lots of fish.

 

 

There's some "seaweed" growing on the bottom.

 

 

 

And even some live coral, despite the fact that we're so close to the beach and the ship pier.

 

[swodog94]

There were also some man made objects on the bottom. Some sort of concrete plug that must have anchored a buoy or a line at some time.

 

 

And a no joke stockless anchor, with part of the chain attached. I'm not sure if this was actually abandoned here, or if it was planted to excite idiots like me!

 

 

Some live coral!

 

 

An interesting view of the ship.

 

 

And i even found a conch on the bottom! I didn't keep ir becauseI'd read somewhere that i could,'t take any of these back with me.

 

[swodog94]

While I snorkled, my wife laid out on the beach on one of the many chairs. I spent about an hour out there, and then when I came out we headed back to our cabana. It was noon by now, and we knew that we had to be back on the ship by 1430 (2:30pm) so we pushed the yellow button and ordered some sustenance. I had previously tried the local Turk's Head Beer.

 

 

It was good, so I ordered a bucket of the local beer. If you have a cabana, the server will bring you six beers and a bag of ice. There is a bucket in the corner of the cabana, and the beers and ice go in there.

 

 

We looked at the menu and couldn't decide if we wanted to get burgers or several appetizers. We decided to get the Sampler Platter, which had corn chips, artichoke dip, hot wings, chicken quesadillas, and spicy shrimp. Turns out, that was best choice! It was plenty of food for the both of us and it satisfied our hunger until we got back on the ship at 1430.

 

 

The scenery around the cabana was pretty, including some colorful shrubs.

 

 

There was some wildlife nearby, although I had hoped to see some iguanas or something similar.

 

[swodog94]

Our time in Grand Turk was drawing to a close, but I felt like I had not enjoyed myself enough. I waded in to the pool and headed to the swim-up bar.

 

 

I wanted a drink that would be a true memory of Grand Turk and Margaritaville. I bought a frozen margarita served in a plastic cup that looks like a blender. It had a test tube with a shot of tequila in it!

 

 

Other folks bought a frozen drink served in a clock replica that hung around their neck (like Flava-a-flav) that was permanently set at 5pm. It was all good! We got our stuff together, settled our check with our server (done with a normal credit card, because the S&S card doesn't work here), and headed for the ship. I'll include a picture of my wife here, because I think she's awesome!

 

 

[swodog94]

As I mentioned previously, we were supposed to back on board at 2pm, with sailaway scheduled to 2:30pm. That didn't come close to happening. We headed towards the pier around 2pm. The Duty Free shop was packed, but I didn't see anything I wanted to buy. Instead, I abandoned my wife and headed out to take pictures of some stuff we had not seen yet. First off was the NASA display.

 

 

John Glenn, after being the first American to orbit the earth, splashed down in his Mercury 7 capsule near Grand Turk. He was brought there after being recovered by the US Navy. There is a display in the cruise center that memorializes this.

 

 

 

 

Things were getting late, so I looked back towards the pier, and realized that the ship wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon. Note the long ass line at 1352...not even close to being ready to get underway.

 

 

 

 

[swodog94]

I headed towards another Grand Turk landmark, the whale statue.

 

 

 

 

Then we got in line to get back on board the ship.

 

 

Amazingly, there were still some folks hanging out on the beach! Some very irate security folks were yelling to "Get back on the ship!".

 

 

[swodog94]

We got in line to get back on board.

 

 

Lines were secure, with the eye dipped.

 

 

The crew is clearly ready to get underway.

 

 

We're on board! Goodbye Grand Turk!

 

 

[swodog94]

I went up to the Auxiliary Bridge to watch us get underway.

 

 

I looked down to the bow. Note the extra blades for the screws.

 

 

Not sure if that's for the azipods or the bow thrusters. Anyway, the ship pushed her way off the pier and aft.

 

 

 

We twisted to port and headed to sea.

 

 

[amandajean06]

Thank you, Swodog, for your service to our great country!

 

My grandfather is a 91 year old WWII US Navy veteran, and my how we have loved hearing his stories throughout the years. What a sad day it will be when all of those brave men and women are gone.

 

My husband, myself, and our two boys (3 and 1) will be on the Pride in May and we cannot wait! We have cruised Carnival several times but never on the Pride.

 

I can't get enough of your review. It's so nicely done, straightforward, and you just seem like the nicest guy! My best to you and Mrs. Swodog. Can't wait for more! Thank you!

Edited November 6, 2016 by amandajean06

[swodog94]

Here's where the next big departure from the schedule came in to play. We were supposed to go Half Moon Cay the next day. I had tried to get a cabana at HMC from the first day I booked our cruise, but they always showed as SOLD OUT on the website. Shortly after I boarded on day 1, I went to the Excursions Desk and asked if there were any cabanas available. I was told NO, but my name was put on a waiting List (I was the second name on the list). The next day I received a note in the mailbox outside my door informing me that we had been booked into cabana #4.

 

Sadly, the CO came over the announcing system and told us that the weather the next day was expected to be too bad for tender operations at HMC (this is a port where the ship anchors and all passengers must be ferried to the beach on tenders (small boats)). This port, where we were supposed to be from 0800 to 1700 (8am to 5pm) was now to be replaced by a port visit to Nassau from 1300 to 2100 (1pm-9pm). This was not what we wanted...but we had been to Nassau before, so we knew we could make it work.

 

A long day at Grand Turk had left us drained. We went down for a serious nap! After we got up and got showered and dressed for dinner, we swung by Alchemy and had some drinks created by Gabriel. Dinner was very normal. The only picture I have is of my main entree, the braised beef rib.

 

 

After dinner, we came back to our stateroom to find this towel animal.

 

 

The seas were starting to rise as the evening went on, and my wife went to bed fairly early. I followed not far behind. The ship was starting to rock side to side, but that just put me to sleep!

[swodog94]

That gets us through two sea days and Grand Turk. I watched Navy beat Notre Dame today and I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I'll get to this review again tomorrow. Next: Nassau!

[swodog94]

Thank you, Swodog, for your service to our great country!

 

My grandfather is a 91 year old WWII US Navy veteran, and my how we have loved hearing his stories throughout the years. What a sad day it will be when all of those brave men and women are gone.

 

My husband, myself, and our two boys (3 and 1) will be on the Pride in May and we cannot wait! We have cruised Carnival several times but never on the Pride.

 

I can't get enough of your review. It's so nicely done, straightforward, and you just seem like the nicest guy! My best to you and Mrs. Swodog. Can't wait for more! Thank you!

 

Thank you amandajean, glad you're enjoying it! My best to you and your 91yo grandfather! God bless him!

[swodog94]

Sorry folks, I forgot to post this. I posted a video tour of our Grand Turk cabana on the tube-site-that-cannot-be-named (rhymes with gootoob). Type in "Grand Turk Cabana Tour". Hope it's useful.

 

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review. Great writing style.