Frisco and Friends Pride Revue 2/25-3/4

[stevefrisco]

Miscellaneous

 

We all spent a lot of time at the gym. The Pride is my favorite ship on any line so maybe I'm biased, but I think the Pride has the best gym facilities of all the ships I've been on. I really enjoy the hot tub, sauna and steam room. We all did the hot tub at least once per day. The layout of the gym is kind of wonky and the equipment isn't very new but we were able to make it work for our purposes. I really liked the multiple levels aesthetically even if they weren't that functional. The views from the elliptical machines and exercise bikes were great for views. Gyms aren't profitable for the cruise lines so I think the Pride's gym is probably as good as it is going to get.

 

I enjoyed the library. Again this isn't a profitable area for the cruise line but I thought the selection was great and it was just about the right size. There was always someone in the library doing work or homework and they need this space. I don't get a lot of free time to just sit down and read a book at home and I had a great time reading 5 books!

 

The other folks on the cruise were really nice. There weren't too many kids, especially school aged kids so I don't feel bad that I didn't bring mine (we don't let them miss school for vacation). There were a lot of retired folks and couples celebrating weddings and anniversaries. Unfortunately this demographic meant there wasn't as much partying as we were used to. No problem for me but Larry and Gary were kind of disappointed I think that there weren't more ladies looking to let loose.

 

I always enjoy shuffleboard in the Red Frog Pub. Unfortunately, the set up has not be properly maintained and a lot of the pieces were on their last leg. They also didn't have sand on the board which changes the game considerably. I hope someone reads this and they do a better job keeping up with it.

 

The slides seemed to be always closed. Gary and I are big sliders (Larry is a baby) and we didn't really get our fill. The Splendor and Pride have the best slides and I hope the Magic is able to meet my expectations!

 

POKER- I will never use the electronic poker tables again. In the interest of full disclosure, I lost for the trip but it seems like every time I play on these tables there are crazy hands that are designed to generate action (and higher rake). The table was going more on this cruise than I've ever seen. I can't help but wonder how much more action poker would have had if there was a real dealer.

 

 

Saffie- The cruise director was Saffie. I usually don't interact with the cruise director much and this cruise wasn't an exception. She seemed like she did a good job and wasn't always on the mic pumping noise in the rooms. I think a lot of people really like her and I hope that they keep her around as long as she is willing to do it.

[stevefrisco]

Negatives

 

Port/Homeland Security- Gary tried to smuggle a bottle of booze on. I'm not mad that they took his stash as I know it's against the rules and he knew he was taking a risk. What make me angry is that in the same back that they got his alcohol he had a small baggie of drugs that he forgot was in there. It makes my head spin that they let drugs on the ship so they could do such a hardcore search for alcohol. I made Gary flush his stash because I didn't want to get in trouble later in the cruise in case the authorities did a search. He was fine with this because he truly didn't mean to bring it on and I offered to get him a few drinks to make it up to him.

 

I was also very disappointed when we got off the ship in Baltimore that we didn't have to fill out customs declaration forms and they didn't search our bags at all. I had 6 bottles of booze and I know I owed taxes on at least some of them. I don't like paying taxes and try not to pay more than what I truly owe. However, I feel pretty scummy not paying when I know I owed something. The fact that we weren't searched is also really scary and disappointing. I know most people who cruise are good people but I am sure it would be pretty easy to get a bunch of drugs or other contraband in the Caribbean and bring them back to America. I'd be fine if drugs were legal and every place was America. But drugs aren't legal and every place isn't America so if we are going to have laws and borders, we have to enforce them.

 

Finally, I wish there were more off-peak hours for food. I hate when food is wasted so I understand they are trying to reduce that. But, the room service/deli/pizza selection is getting stale for me and I'd like it if there was something else. Comfort food like mash potatoes or mac and cheese would sure hit the spot late at night.

[sparks1093]

Thanks for the thoughts, it's nice to see the same cruise through someone else's eyes!

[pacruise804]

Thanks for the thoughts, it's nice to see the same cruise through someone else's eyes!

 

Agreed. I'm thankful for the different reviews and viewpoints that helped us plan our cruise.

 

I don't know if I'll get around to posting my own, so I hope you don't mind me sharing some of my experiences on your review for others to see.

[stevefrisco]

Positives

 

The staff was absolutely delightful the entire cruise. I don't know what Carnival does to hire/identify these people but they are doing a great job. I do hope they don't keep cutting back on staff though, the more I cruise the more rushed they seem to be due to extra responsibilities. I love having conversations with staff (probably more than guests) as they are usually very smart and offer worldviews cultivated from a different upbringing and set of difficulties than what we face in the US. I always walk away thinking we are a lot more alike than different and I admire all of them for working so hard to give us a nice vacation. Instead of chain migration, it would be nice if we'd just target some of these people who want to come to America. I'm sure many of them don't and love their lives at sea and in their homes but these are the people we need in this country!

 

 

One thing that blew me away was how many staff members remembered Larry and myself from our cruise in October and addressed us by our names at first sight. I remembered all of them but these people see thousands of guests per week, I don't know how they do it!

 

 

The bar service staff in the casino, blue iguana staff and our serving staff were exemplary. I hope they all continue to get hired on and make advancements within the company.

 

 

I think the decor on the Pride is the best. I'm still convinced of this. I hope other ships will go for a more classical look instead of the loud colours that seem to be favored lately.

 

 

There's lots of other little things that would take too long to mention but overall I loved this trip! I will do a longer summation and review of debarkation later on today or tomorrow.

[stevefrisco]

Thanks for the thoughts, it's nice to see the same cruise through someone else's eyes!

 

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed as much as me, I plan to check out your review asap! I saw there were a couple from our cruise I am curious about others as well, just didn't want to read them before I finished up in order to remain as objective as possible.

[stevefrisco]

Agreed. I'm thankful for the different reviews and viewpoints that helped us plan our cruise.

 

I don't know if I'll get around to posting my own, so I hope you don't mind me sharing some of my experiences on your review for others to see.

 

Thanks for reading. Share away, no skin off my nuts! This review is a temple to free speech!

[pacruise804]

Port of Call- Princess Cay

I had a good time overall at Princess Cay. It's a little more developed than HMC in my opinion but I think HMC has prettier sand and water. I wouldn't hesitate to head back.

 

Carnival's tender process at this port was one of the best we've experienced. Very short ride and easy getting on/off. We had FTTF which helped for the trip over (although I'd imagine you didn't have much wait going late morning).

We enjoyed Princess Cay and also went to the less crowded right side (over the bridge). The flies were bad at the picnic area so you probably didn't miss much from the meal. I figured they bring limited beverages over from the ship, so your friend's drink assessment might be right. We just brought bottled water with us from our cabin and saved the heavier drinking for onboard.

 

 

Looking forward to trying HMC, I've heard it has great sand. People near us commented how good the snorkeling was though, so it's a trade off. If you plan to go into the water I echo the recommendations for water shoes. It is very rough and uneven close to the shore.

 

Port of Call - Nassau

 

The beach was beautiful but I felt like the vendors were some of the pushiest I've ever encountered, even in Jamaica.

We've also found Nassau to have very aggressive vendors. I was grateful we had an excursion booked and were able to avoid the pushiness.

[pacruise804]

Port of Call Freeport

 

Most people seem to not like Freeport and I'm not exception.

 

Even though Senor Frogs was a bust, this was one of my best trips to Freeport. I think I'll be getting an excursion the next time I'm in Freeport. Everyone I talked to on the ship who had an excursion seemed like they had a blast.

 

I guess we are the exception as Freeport was one of my favorite ports.

 

We took the ship's Kayak excursion and it was nice to see some of the island on the drive out plus our guide was great. It seems often in ports that the roads and vehicles aren't good and there is such a stark difference in the tourist economy versus the rest of the island. I liked seeing some of their other industry and the area reminded me a lot of where I grew up (except on Lake Erie we would usually have several feet of snow and the water isn't quite as clear;)).

 

The kayaking was fun and just the right level of challenge with the narrow areas, and Gold Rock Beach is stunning and unspoiled.

 

 

On our next trip we plan to just visit the shops though, since having to be ready by 7 for our excursion was a bit early:eek: . We might check out Fat Tuesday's too since it sounds like a smaller crowd which suits us.

 

 

Miscellaneous

 

 

We also found the gym very adequate for a cruise ship.

 

We didn't see a lot of kids either, and those we did were well behaved. Carnival did a cute show with them as part of the Lip Sync Battle where the different age groups each did a song/dance.

 

Spent a lot of time in Red Frog Pub and never noticed the shuffleboard:o . I did notice a few times that the bean bag game was VERY loud.

 

We saw a few people using the slides, but it was pretty cold the first day or two, and too windy after Freeport. Hoping to try them out in September. Saffie did a nice job without being too annoying:)

[pacruise804]

My thoughts below:

Positives

 

The staff was absolutely delightful the entire cruise. I don't know what Carnival does to hire/identify these people but they are doing a great job. I do hope they don't keep cutting back on staff though, the more I cruise the more rushed they seem to be due to extra responsibilities. I love having conversations with staff (probably more than guests) as they are usually very smart and offer worldviews cultivated from a different upbringing and set of difficulties than what we face in the US. I always walk away thinking we are a lot more alike than different and I admire all of them for working so hard to give us a nice vacation. Instead of chain migration, it would be nice if we'd just target some of these people who want to come to America. I'm sure many of them don't and love their lives at sea and in their homes but these are the people we need in this country!

We appreciated the staff as well. It was obvious how busy they were, so we didn't interrupt them with conversations other than brief discussions to answer questions asked.

 

One thing that blew me away was how many staff members remembered Larry and myself from our cruise in October and addressed us by our names at first sight. I remembered all of them but these people see thousands of guests per week, I don't know how they do it!

I often find this, but any-time dining staff did not seem to have the knack for it (just to remember people from that week or even that service).

 

I think the decor on the Pride is the best. I'm still convinced of this. I hope other ships will go for a more classical look instead of the loud colours that seem to be favored lately.

We liked the look of the ship and that it wasn't too garish like the first ship we sailed but also not "beigified" as one poster refers to some lines.

 

There's lots of other little things that would take too long to mention but overall I loved this trip! I will do a longer summation and review of debarkation later on today or tomorrow.

 

Thanks for your review.

[stevefrisco]

Debarkation

 

Due to the Nor'easter that we encountered on the way back home, our debarkation was delayed. The ship staff did a decent job accommodating people. They had all of the food options open the next day except sea day brunch. They also had the gym and casino open in addition to other activities going on. I'm not sure how Cheers would have worked and didn't check into the casino to see if my DOU card worked still. I'm interested if someone has any information on that.

 

 

Normally, I'd be pumped to have another half day on the ship but I had some business to tend to back home and it set me back a bit. Not a big deal, I know others with flights or more pressing business matters or work shifts had bigger issues than me. They did a pretty good job keeping us up to date about when we'd be in port and instead of taking it easy the last night we were able to get pretty wild, so there's that:D.

 

 

I did appreciate that the staff opened the phone lines for the last 30ish hours on the ship so people could call to make arrangements and update loved ones. Of course once the announcement was made that the lines would be open, people overburdened the system for several hours. We were able to dial out before dinner. This was not a big deal to us as we drove but I'd probably be a bit frustrated if I was frantically trying to rearrange the flights. I guess you get what you pay for with free calls. We are children at heart and made a bunch of prank calls before dinner and throughout the night. We were cognizant to wait to do this until the lines seemed to be working properly so if your going to flame, flame us for needing to grow up, not being selfish!

 

 

We pulled in around 3:00 and were cleared for debarkation around 4:00. We had Platinum perks and did self-assist so we were some of the first to get off. We would have been among the first regardless as 1st floor was the first to get dismissed. We had to be out of rooms by 2:00 though I don't think we actually left until 2:30 due to some confusion in information from our stateroom attendant.

 

 

We were on the road by 4:20 (Gary enjoyed his 4:20 ritual of course ;)) and made it back to God's Country by 11:00 and reconciling/getting yelled at by spouses/significant others by 11:15.

 

 

 

[stevefrisco]

Summations/Regrets/Try Harder

 

Overall, I think all three of us had a blast. The Gary found women, Larry lived drunk and I didn't lose my shirt in the casino. I still love the Pride and it's staff but I'm excited to try a couple new ships in the next few months.

 

 

I was proud of how much we all went to the gym. We've all been on a collective health kick and it really did break up our days. Lifting that much every day made me a lot stronger, I couldn't believe the gains I'd made on some lifts in just a week when I got back to my home gym.

 

 

This is the coldest month I've ever cruised in. If I do it again I'm think I'll have to leave from a warmer port. We all agreed the last and first day was just like being home but hey the price was right. I also regret not getting on the ship earlier or coming into port the day before. The first day felt a bit smashed together so it would have been cool to just chill on the deck all day smashing beers and tacos, even if I needed a jacket.

 

 

On my next cruise, I'm going to try harder to not just gamble for points/gamble sake and only play late at night or early when I'm really feeling it. I'm also going to try to be more social. I used to go out of my way to make friends on cruises and I've got away from that lately just because my job has become so social that I like to cheque out from interaction. The last night or so we met so many people that would have made the trip more enjoyable had we been more social at first.

 

 

I also have decided I like taking trips with bigger groups. Even with the three of us, it felt a bit lonely at times not having a few people to hit the club with or encourage me to degen in the casino. I think the magic number for a group is 2 or 6+.

 

 

Overall, I'm getting fatigued of cruising or maybe need to try another line to mix it up. Carnival has been pretty good to me with casino offers so I don't mean this disparagingly, I just think the activities are similar or the same and I'd like something else. The people/staff are always great and I know I'll be on another Carnival ship again at some point after my next two cruises, just not sure how soon it will be.

 

 

I plan to take a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico and hit some National Parks soon. I may cut back a bit on vacationing/gambling in general soon. I think the economy is going to stay strong for a bit longer so I'd like to stash some cash for the next dip and really live it up during the next recession. If I do book more cruises, they will have to be really cheap and probably 5 days or more port intensive.

 

 

If anyone has any Pride questions, I'd be happy to help answer them if I can. I've done the ship three times in the past 10 months so I feel like I know the ins and outs at this point! MAGA and go UMBC (my life partner actually had that upset in her bracket!)

[sparks1093]

Debarkation

 

Due to the Nor'easter that we encountered on the way back home, our debarkation was delayed. The ship staff did a decent job accommodating people. They had all of the food options open the next day except sea day brunch. They also had the gym and casino open in addition to other activities going on. I'm not sure how Cheers would have worked and didn't check into the casino to see if my DOU card worked still. I'm interested if someone has any information on that.

 

 

Normally, I'd be pumped to have another half day on the ship but I had some business to tend to back home and it set me back a bit. Not a big deal, I know others with flights or more pressing business matters or work shifts had bigger issues than me. They did a pretty good job keeping us up to date about when we'd be in port and instead of taking it easy the last night we were able to get pretty wild, so there's that:D.

 

 

I did appreciate that the staff opened the phone lines for the last 30ish hours on the ship so people could call to make arrangements and update loved ones. Of course once the announcement was made that the lines would be open, people overburdened the system for several hours. We were able to dial out before dinner. This was not a big deal to us as we drove but I'd probably be a bit frustrated if I was frantically trying to rearrange the flights. I guess you get what you pay for with free calls. We are children at heart and made a bunch of prank calls before dinner and throughout the night. We were cognizant to wait to do this until the lines seemed to be working properly so if your going to flame, flame us for needing to grow up, not being selfish!

 

 

We pulled in around 3:00 and were cleared for debarkation around 4:00. We had Platinum perks and did self-assist so we were some of the first to get off. We would have been among the first regardless as 1st floor was the first to get dismissed. We had to be out of rooms by 2:00 though I don't think we actually left until 2:30 due to some confusion in information from our stateroom attendant.

 

 

We were on the road by 4:20 (Gary enjoyed his 4:20 ritual of course ;)) and made it back to God's Country by 11:00 and reconciling/getting yelled at by spouses/significant others by 11:15.

 

 

One of my sons had the Bottomless Bubbles and it stopped being honored around lunch time I think (it may have been before that but that is when he tried to get a soda). Our social media plan stopped working around the same time.

[stellarose]

i have heard of people sneaking booze on bc they don't check the bags carefully. so who knows.

 

I want to bring mostaco- the kind I get does not have a cork. so will i be charge a "cork fee"? the "one bottle" per person confuses me . So i carry on the two bottles or put a bottle each in my suitcase (DH and I).

 

I know.. sneaking booze on is wrong. I just want my moscato.

[mkmaj]

Thanks for the great review! How did the ship handle the rough seas?

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Keith1010]

Great review.

Keith

[JAJameson2010]

Thanks for the review! We board today on our first cruise!

[stevefrisco]

i have heard of people sneaking booze on bc they don't check the bags carefully. so who knows.

 

I want to bring mostaco- the kind I get does not have a cork. so will i be charge a "cork fee"? the "one bottle" per person confuses me . So i carry on the two bottles or put a bottle each in my suitcase (DH and I).

 

I know.. sneaking booze on is wrong. I just want my moscato.

 

Yeah it's definitely possible. I think it's just a numbers thing. I used to do it pretty often and never had an issue but I get free casino drinks so it's really worth the hassle/worry anymore for me. I definitely don't judge people who do it. I talked to a college age girl in line for coffee who told me that she brought tequilla in a mouthwash bottle so maybe my friend should have just been more creative. My main issue is that there was illegal contraband in the same bag and it got on but by gummy they got his booze. Blows my mind!

 

Off my soap box, if you want to bring wine, make sure you carry it on at check in, do not put it in your checked luggage as they will take it. The people looking through checked luggage assume you already have hit you allotment of wine so they confiscate all of it, even if it is within the amount. My siblings don't drink wine but bring it on for my mom in their carry on and it is never a problem.

 

I think the "cork fee" is a term of art, they will charge you to open it in the MDR or specialty restaurant regardless of if it is screw off bottle. One way of getting around that is to have the bottle already open when you get into the dining room. Also, I don't think they charge every time (based on the experience of others on here) so you may just get lucky. Seems like the reduced manpower has helped the wine drinkers!

[stevefrisco]

Thanks for the great review! How did the ship handle the rough seas?

 

It was definitely the most movement I've ever experienced and I've had the pleasure of going through or near a couple hurricanes and a tropical storm this year. We were on the first floor so we didn't feel it too badly while we were sleeping but I noticed they had "barf bags" throughout the ship. It doesn't really bother me, especially if I'm drinking alcohol and avoiding greasy food.

 

The craziest thing that happened was a part of ceiling in the Red Frog Bar fell almost hitting a bartender. I could tell it really freaked her out so I felt bad for her. Luckily she was ok but would have been terrible if she was hit.

[pacruise804]

i have heard of people sneaking booze on bc they don't check the bags carefully. so who knows.

 

I want to bring mostaco- the kind I get does not have a cork. so will i be charge a "cork fee"? the "one bottle" per person confuses me . So i carry on the two bottles or put a bottle each in my suitcase (DH and I).

 

I know.. sneaking booze on is wrong. I just want my moscato.

 

Moscato is a type of wine, so as long as you aren't bringing more than one 750 ml or smaller bottle per 21 or older passenger - in your carry-on - you aren't sneaking and should be fine. I carried both bottles (DH and mine) in my carry on and opened the bag for inspection. Takes less than a minute, and no problem to be in the same bag as long as you check in together. If 4 adults in the room all 4 bottles could be in the same carry-on too.

 

Corkage fees are not a fee for uncorking a bottle, but rather an upcharge for bringing your own bottle to an establishment that sells their own. If you bring your own, unopened bottle to the MDR you will likely be charged a fee, but they may wave it. We consumed one bottle in our room and walking around (peach wine, better for balcony than with dinner), and poured our sweet wine for dinner in the room and carried down with us. This only gives you one glass with your meal, but does avoid the corkage fee. We also bought a bottle of Moscato in the dining room one night.

 

Another option would be to purchase the Cruise the Vineyards package. You would purchase tickets for wine (either 3, 5 or 7 depending on the package) and turn in a ticket at any bar, MDR, or specialty restaurant for a bottle of wine. They will hold any left overs for you or you can take with. I think the Moscato is on their mid-level price package. It is supposed to be a 25% discount per bottle. If you have Cheers, you can always just order by the glass too.

 

Thanks for the great review! How did the ship handle the rough seas?

We felt a lot of movement, but thought the Pride handled the seas quite well. For us it was a pleasant "we're on rough seas" not "I can barely walk and seasick" - we have been on other cruises with rough seas and thought the Pride was one of the better ships, especially for its size.

[stellarose]

Moscato is a type of wine, so as long as you aren't bringing more than one 750 ml or smaller bottle per 21 or older passenger - in your carry-on - you aren't sneaking and should be fine. I carried both bottles (DH and mine) in my carry on and opened the bag for inspection. Takes less than a minute, and no problem to be in the same bag as long as you check in together. If 4 adults in the room all 4 bottles could be in the same carry-on too.

 

Corkage fees are not a fee for uncorking a bottle, but rather an upcharge for bringing your own bottle to an establishment that sells their own. If you bring your own, unopened bottle to the MDR you will likely be charged a fee, but they may wave it. We consumed one bottle in our room and walking around (peach wine, better for balcony than with dinner), and poured our sweet wine for dinner in the room and carried down with us. This only gives you one glass with your meal, but does avoid the corkage fee. We also bought a bottle of Moscato in the dining room one night.

 

Another option would be to purchase the Cruise the Vineyards package. You would purchase tickets for wine (either 3, 5 or 7 depending on the package) and turn in a ticket at any bar, MDR, or specialty restaurant for a bottle of wine. They will hold any left overs for you or you can take with. I think the Moscato is on their mid-level price package. It is supposed to be a 25% discount per bottle. If you have Cheers, you can always just order by the glass too.

 

 

We felt a lot of movement, but thought the Pride handled the seas quite well. For us it was a pleasant "we're on rough seas" not "I can barely walk and seasick" - we have been on other cruises with rough seas and thought the Pride was one of the better ships, especially for its size.

 

thank you. I am going to bring two bottles of mosato and see if my inlaws will too. 4 bottles is enough for the week.