Matt & Ashley's Carnival Pride Review - (New Year's, Pictures, FunTimes)

[crusinpsychRN]

Thanks for all your hard work on the review. Those clear stairs get me every time. Dreadful! I don't remember David having a fig leaf when I was on Pride. Going on her in 8 days! She's a beautiful ship.

 

Carnival's towel animals beat the heck out of HAL's.

Edited January 7, 2017 by crusinpsychRN

[jimbo5544]

Thanks for all your hard work on the review. Those clear stairs get me every time. Dreadful! I don't remember David having a fig leaf when I was on Pride. Going on her in 8 days! She's a beautiful ship.

 

Carnival's towel animals beat the heck out of HAL's.

 

 

David has gotten more modest since he first was "exposed". No big deal....

 

 

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[DCCruiser1013]

Thanks so much for this amazing review. A great read on this snowy Saturday morning. Sailing the Pride on April 2nd - can't wait!

 

Love the pictures of the balloon drop!

 

Thanks for reading! It's amazing that about a week ago we were in HMC, and now I'm about to go shovel and salt our sidewalk.

 

 

Thanks for all your hard work on the review. Those clear stairs get me every time. Dreadful! I don't remember David having a fig leaf when I was on Pride. Going on her in 8 days! She's a beautiful ship.

 

Carnival's towel animals beat the heck out of HAL's.

 

Thanks for reading! I think the only reason I was able to go up the stairs was because the view below was blocked by all the balloons. Otherwise we would just take the elevator to Deck 10. Like Jimbo said, the fig leaf is one of the 2.0 additions.

[DCCruiser1013]

Day 7 – Sunday January 1 – Final Day at Sea

 

 

 

All things considered, we didn’t really have much to drink on New Year’s Eve, but today felt like one big hangover. We woke up around 8:30am near Wilmington, NC. The weather was already gray and chilly.

 

 

 

They kept the dome over Lido open the night before, and they can’t close it while the ship is in motion, so all 3 pools were pretty chilly. Ashley and I got our daily burritos and watched the morning show on Lido. We mostly wandered the ship until around lunch time, where Ashley decided to try out Bonsai sushi. While she checked on getting a to-go box, I headed up to Lido for a Guy’s burger. We met back in the room. Ashley got California rolls and a side salad. She was pretty excited to try the sushi, and it could just be that she was unlucky, but she wasn't crazy about it.

[DCCruiser1013]

The famous chocolate extravaganza was at around noon. I went around and took pictures of the food art, but neither of us were really feeling up to a chocolate buffet.

 

 

 

 

What we did feel up for was this. Boom – frozen lemonade.

 

 

This is something we learned about here on CC. If you fill up one of these little cups about halfway with vanilla soft-serve, then fill up the rest with lemonade and leave a little room for mixing. Be patient as you mix, it may not seem like it at first, but you’ll eventually get to the right consistency. It is delicious!

 

Afterwards we wanted to start bidding our farewells to the various staff members whom we had gotten so friendly with over the past week. We started by heading to the Piazza café to ask for one more black & white milkshake from Phookham. She was always super friendly, and she makes a mean milkshake. By the way, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the staff members learn people’s names. Phookham knew who I was by the second time I saw her.

[DCCruiser1013]

We decided to get a head start on packing, so at around 4 we headed back to the room to get going. I packed my suitcase, then sat on the couch to watch the Redskins game while Ashley packed hers.

 

 

Soon after – a minor disaster struck. Earlier I had picked up some envelopes from guest services so that we could give some extra gratuities to our steward and wait staff. I put cash in the envelopes and asked Ashley to label the envelopes and write notes thanking the staff members, since my handwriting is atrocious. I noticed that Ashley had misspelled Adrian’s (our waiter) name, and decided we would just get another envelope from guest services. Ashley, not knowing that I had already put cash in the envelopes, ripped up the misspelled one.

 

 

What do we think people? Is this a little beyond “Tape it up and bring it to the bank”?

[DCCruiser1013]

We headed down to the Alchemy Bar, stopping by guest services to grab another envelope on the way. I got another whiskey sour, while Ashley got a cucumber sunrise. We were able to use our free drink coupons at the Alchemy Bar, but there was still a small charge because the coupons only covered drinks up to somewhere in the neighborhood of $9. With the promise to Katie that we’d return, we headed to dinner.

 

The glare on these menus is pretty bad. Sorry about that.

 

 

 

 

 

I got the shrimp cocktail and the Caesar salad. Ashley ordered the caprese salad and the pepper pot. We both ordered the prime rib for dinner. For dessert Ashley got the bread pudding, and I got the chocolate melting cake. After we finished we bade farewell to Adrian and his team, who in turn had some incredibly nice words for us.

 

We headed back to our room to finish packing, and put our luggage outside at around 9. We headed downstairs to the Alchemy Bar to get one last drink from Katie (another whiskey sour from me, and The Deal Closer for Ashley – which she reports is the best drink she’s ever had!).

 

Our last stop on the Matt & Ashley Say Goodbye tour was the Piano Bar. The entire time we were there it was as empty as we had ever seen it, and we were able to chat with Jo Ann (it was her birthday!). Jo Ann was insistent that we request a song, which we hadn’t done the entire cruise. I wanted to attach some money to the request, so I headed to the room real quick to get some cash. By this point everyone’s bag was in the hallway.

 

 

I came back and we requested Hey Jude. At around 11:00 we decided to head back to the room, so we gave Jo Ann a big hug and headed back upstairs.

[DCCruiser1013]

It was a little chilly out on the balcony, but I looked outside and saw the skyline of Virginia Beach, which meant that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was coming up. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this structure, it’s a between 15-20 mile crossing at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, connecting the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area to the bottom of the Delmarva Peninsula. Most of the length is a bridge, but there are a couple sections that tunnel underneath the Bay for about a mile each. Those sections are what the Bay traffic crosses over. It’s pretty interesting seeing headlights heading across the bridge and then dipping down into the water. I tried to get a few pictures, but it was a little too dark for them to be great.

 

 

 

 

We finally crossed a little after 11:30, then went to bed.

 

 

Coming up shortly: Debarkation

[DCCruiser1013]

Day 8 – Monday January 2 – Back to Reality

 

We opted for relaxed debarkation, which debarks after self-assist. We didn’t have to be out of the room until 9, so we got up at 7:30 just prior to crossing the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

 

 

 

 

Eventually through the fog we were able to make out the skyline of Baltimore.

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

We headed up to Lido to get some burritos to bring back to the room. We were out of the room at around 8:30. We headed down to the Sunset Garden, which we have found is a great place to wait to debark. It took a while for anyone else to show up. We sat and played cards, and watched the forklifts scurry back and forth between the ship and the terminal, hauling everyone’s luggage.

 

 

Since we had Faster to the Fun, we could head down to the Butterflies lounge at 10am to wait to get called off. The debarkation process began a little early, but we still didn’t head down until just before 10am. A little after 10:15 we were off the ship, waiting for my sister to pick us up.

 

 

She arrived at around 10:30, and eventually we were back on I-95S, waving goodbye to the Pride.

 

 

And on our way home.

 

 

Once we got home we introduced our Glory magnet to its new friend.

 

 

And started the countdown for our next cruise.

 

 

We had an absolute blast on this cruise, and we’re glad to have another one booked. It makes the sting of debarking a little easier to take. It took a few days for us to get our land legs back, and it took a few elevator rides at work before I stopped hitting the button to my stateroom floor.

 

While we had a great time, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out some of the small annoyances that we encountered. Please keep in mind that we are aware these are small potatoes. First, a vast majority of the bars seemed grossly understaffed. On several occasions we stepped up to a full bar with one bartender who somehow managed to keep a smile on their face and maintain their friendly demeanor, but was obviously completely overwhelmed. This probably kept our bar bill from being much higher, so it’s not all bad. Also, the smallest of complaints is that we got at least 2 flyers for the various art auctions and sales in our mail box every day. I’m not exaggerating. It seemed we got back to the room, emptied the mail box, then on our way back out there was another flyer. These small issues aside, we had an amazing time on our cruise.

 

Folks, we really appreciate you taking the time to read our review, and we hope you enjoyed reading it as much as Ashley and I enjoyed reliving it and writing it. One great thing about a review like this is that we are going to be able to relive it over and over.

 

If you have questions about things we didn’t address, please feel free to ask and we’ll be happy to answer if we can. Otherwise we wish everyone a lifetime of happy cruising, and we look forward to reviewing the Sunshine in August, a ship that is brand new to us!

[pcvtmom]

Outstanding review! We love the Pride and cruising out of Baltimore. Your review has me thinking about booking another one soon!

[Laney219]

Thank you for a great review.

Can't wait for a Sunshine review in August :)

[Balto. Guys]

Thanks Matt for a great review. We will be on the Pride for the 4th time in April. We live about 20 mins. from port so it makes it nice. We are thinking about maybe taking the Sunshine out of New York. Was wondering...how do you plan on getting to New York?

[crusinpsychRN]

Any guacamole at Blue Iguana or Guy's?

[mbrownferrier]

Thank you for the wonderful review.

 

 

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[G8R On Board]

Thanks for the excellent review. It will be our first time on Pride in May 2017. One question about the gym....did the individual machines (like the ellipticals) have their own TV with stations to select from?

[JMAE]

Thanks for the review, we sail the Pride in 84 days.

[DCCruiser1013]

Outstanding review! We love the Pride and cruising out of Baltimore. Your review has me thinking about booking another one soon!

 

Thank you for reading! We absolutely love how convenient it is, and it's especially nice when someone is willing to drop us off at the cruise terminal.

 

Thank you for a great review.

Can't wait for a Sunshine review in August :)

 

Thanks for reading! August seems so far away but it'll be here before we know it. It'll be a great way to cap off Ashley's summer vacation!

 

 

Thanks Matt for a great review. We will be on the Pride for the 4th time in April. We live about 20 mins. from port so it makes it nice. We are thinking about maybe taking the Sunshine out of New York. Was wondering...how do you plan on getting to New York?

 

Hey there neighbor! That's a good question. We haven't really decided yet. The way I see it, there are three options.

 

1) We take Amtrak from DC/Baltimore to New York the day before, spend the night in Manhattan, then head over to the terminal the morning of the cruise, and Amtrak back. My rough estimation of cost for this including the fare, hotel & parking in DC is about $500, plus whatever we decide to do in Manhattan that evening.

 

2) We drive up to New Jersey the day before, stay at a hotel, and drive to the pier. Cost estimate for this is about $400.

 

3) We drive to New Jersey the day before, stay at a hotel, and have a shuttle take us to the pier, leaving our car at the hotel. Cost estimate is about $300.

 

I'm really 33/33/34 on these options, with 34 being option #3. We should decide soon, though, I suppose.

 

 

Any guacamole at Blue Iguana or Guy's?

 

Yep, they have guacamole as one of the things you can request. I'm not sure they have it at the salsa bar or at Guy's.

 

Thank you for the wonderful review.

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

 

Thanks for the excellent review. It will be our first time on Pride in May 2017. One question about the gym....did the individual machines (like the ellipticals) have their own TV with stations to select from?

 

Thanks for reading! I asked Ashley (no gym for me :) ), and she said they do have their own TV's.

Edited January 7, 2017 by DCCruiser1013

[DCCruiser1013]

Thanks for the review, we sail the Pride in 84 days.

 

Thanks for reading, have a great time!

[dogbert's mom]

Thanks for the review. We haven't sailed on the Pride since 2007.Your pictures really high lighted all the changes and make us even more excited to board her in 50 days!!

[Jamman54]

Thanks again for a GREAT review!!! You will have a great time on the Sunshine, and sailing out of NYC is just awesome. Enjoy your planning! :)

[DCCruiser1013]

Thanks for the review. We haven't sailed on the Pride since 2007.Your pictures really high lighted all the changes and make us even more excited to board her in 50 days!!

 

Thanks for reading! Have a great time on the Pride!

 

Thanks again for a GREAT review!!! You will have a great time on the Sunshine' date=' and sailing out of NYC is just awesome. Enjoy your planning! :)[/color']

 

Yeah, we are definitely excited for that sailaway. We pulled the trigger on the wraparound balcony, so we'll have a great view in most directions. And to get ready for it I'm sure we'll be going through your fantastic review from a few months ago at least a couple more times! :D

[tilliebob1919]

Thanks Matt for an excellent and thorough review. After reading it I am now really looking forward to and very excited about our Pride cruise that will be here soon. Am sailing out of Tampa which we have not done in several years. Thanks again!!!

 

 

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[GradUT]

Before the show Brad (the Piano Bar entertainer) warmed up the crowd and mentioned that we could vote on what the final song would be. The options were Tutti Frutti (Little Richard), I’m Still Standing (Elton John), and something by Rod Stewart. We voted for I’m Still Standing, but the winner was Tutti Frutti. We were wondering if that song ever loses. Anyone?

 

In answer to your question...."Tutti Fruitti" is not always the winner. On our cruise in late October, the winner was "I'm Still Standing" which pleased me since it's probably my favorite Elton John song.

 

Thanks for all the photos! I enjoyed re-living our cruise on the Pride.

[norwane]

Great review! Did they happen to have 'white or theme night parties?' Which nights?

 

Thanks for the review!