Pride Post Dry Dock Cruise Mini Review 2/17/19-2/24/19

[jfunk138]

Embarkation - The ship was delayed coming back from dry dock in Freeport.  Since I had been checking the ships location since Friday afternoon, I knew well ahead of time a delay was coming.  When it was still in Freeport around dinner time on Friday, I prepared the kids for a possible disappointment.  Luckily the ship started to move before they went to bed...  We drove down to Baltimore from Massachusetts and spent the night at the Courtyard Inner Harbor.  We did a one way rental from Hertz to avoid parking at the port.  On our way through NJ, the Chevy Malibu, had a malfunction and threw a check engine light and the engine went to safe mode and had trouble going above 50MPH.  Luckily we were about 20 miles from PHL airport.  After a tiny detour and a few minutes filling out paperwork we were on our way again in a Camry.

 

Saturday evening Carnival sent the notice that the ship was officially delayed by a very optimistic "2 hours".  We were able to extend our checkout at the Courtyard to 2pm.  Spent Sunday morning at the National Aquarium (which is a great visit, Boston's aquarium is an embarrassment by comparison).  Ordered an Uber to the port at our 2pm checkout and off we went.  It was organized chaos at the port.  We were booked in a Suite, so we sailed through security and checkin and were sent to the "lounge".  Around 4pm, we finally boarded.  I'm not sure if the rooms were "officially" ready, but everybody seemed to be going anyway and our cards were in the mailbox, so we dropped off our carryons and went for a tour before our 6pm dining.  It was our first time on the Pride and first cruise ever for our kids.  Stopped by the kids club to get the schedule and take a look around.

 

At dinner, ordered the 5 bottle value wine package from our waiter for $115 and enjoyed the first bottle of Pinot Grigio that night.  They really should have a 7 bottle package for a 7 night cruise... never had a problem finishing a bottle per meal (sometimes with a glass for the road).   The food was excellent, and calamari was on the appetizer menu.  My daughter was in heaven.  Never saw that again.  She should have ordered 2 I guess.  Dinner was slow to start, but accelerated at the end.  Muster was to occur between the 2 dinning times...

 

Muster happened around (I think) 7:30.  Finished wine en route.   Couldn't hear/don't remember Dr. E's muster entertainment.  I'll pay more attention next time.

 

Headed to the Taj for the sail away show.  Didn't expect much, so those expectations were easily exceeded.  Ship started moving sometime around 10pm... I think.

 

To be continued...

 

 

[JaniceB]

Nice start to your review.

[fair-winds39]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are a few days away from our 6th Carnival Pride cruise. We usually bring the two bottles of wine, but this time I suggested we purchase the wine package when we board. My question is this, since we've never ordered it before...some folks say they were able to order a 3 bottle package, and others say only the 5 bottle is available for 7-day sailings. Did you notice if a 3 bottle package was available? Thanks in advance for your response.

[meatloafsfan]

Thanks for the start of the review.

 

We love the Pride and I've booked another cruise on that ship for this summer. I'd love to hear what shape she's in since the dry dock.

[jfunk138]

Part 2:

Some ship condition comments.  New carpet in staterooms and fresh paint in various places.  Smell of paint remains very strong for the sea days but starts to thin until we get to Nassau and Freeport when work resumes during the time in port.   Sun deck forward and aft is mostly closed the first sea day, including half of mini golf.  Sun deck aft, port side is closed the entire voyage for a new deck board installation.  Access to waterslides (which opened on Day 2) is via Sports or Sun deck starboard only.  The mid ship Lido roof was stuck halfway until it was apparently fixed in Freeport and then remained closed the rest of the trip.  A few of the Day 1 Lido activities were moved elsewhere due to it being open.

 

Remote in our stateroom was missing batteries, steward brought us a new one in a few minutes after we notified him.

 

There is a fancy new arcade where I understand the chapel was formerly.  We visited on embarkation day and luckily the kids forgot about it.

 

There seemed to be general maintenance going on constantly throughout the ship but nothing that impacted us in any way.

 

 

Day 1:  At sea

 

I wake up around 7:30 and take a look outside... still in the bay.  But I can see the Bay Bridge Tunnel not far ahead, was pretty cool to watch the cruise ship cross the tunnel section.

 

Lido for breakfast was running smoothly.  No long waits or issues finding a clean table.  

 

Went to the kids club to check the kids in... line was backed up down the hall.  Not exactly sure what the hold up was.  Some combination of people that had not pre registered and a very slow check in tablet.  After the kids went in I walked around for a bit and then headed to the excursion info session, mostly to just enter the raffle.  Dr. E was entertaining but the information was nothing a second+ time cruiser wouldn't already know.  Didn't win the raffle.  

 

Met my wife after her trip to the spa and decided to go get the kids for lunch.   It was even worse than dropoff.  I convinced her to come back later and we went to what was supposed to be a "mixology challenge" at 12 in atrium.  The bar tender was there but the entertainment host was MIA.  My wife gives up and heads back to the kids club.  Around 12:45, Angie and Dr. E show up to have the challenge.  My mix doesn't get selected but Angie lets me be a judge.  Was a fun time.  

 

I head upstairs and look for the wife and kids.  Apparently Lido was a zoo 30 minutes earlier but it's clearly better now.  No wait grabbing a sandwich from the Deli.  Kids hated the kids club.  Apparently the club was pretty disorganized and they wanted to tour around the ship.  

 

We head to the Taj to do an overpriced bingo.  $40 for a chance at maybe $500 total across the 3 games with over a hundred people playing...

 

Wife and daughter head to the spa to get haircuts, my son and I go exploring.

 

Tonight is elegant night.  Lobster on the menu.  My daughter and I both order that.  Our awesome waiter brings us both a second without asking.  He must have sensed my daughters disappointment that calamari was not on the menu.

 

Head to comedy club for the PG show.  Kids were bored at first, then he really got going with some jokes that had my kids rolling on the floor laughing.  "Why can't we come for the 9pm show Daddy?"  "I want to sneak in"

 

Kids want to go see if the hot tub is open.  Not only is it open but the pool is also open.  Captain seems to have found some warm water.  It might only be 70, but for a Massachusetts family in February, it feels like summer.  Wife turns in for the night while I take the kids for some late night swimming and mini golf.

 

To be continued...

 

 

 

  

 

 

[jfunk138]

3 hours ago, fair-winds39 said:

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are a few days away from our 6th Carnival Pride cruise. We usually bring the two bottles of wine, but this time I suggested we purchase the wine package when we board. My question is this, since we've never ordered it before...some folks say they were able to order a 3 bottle package, and others say only the 5 bottle is available for 7-day sailings. Did you notice if a 3 bottle package was available? Thanks in advance for your response.

3 bottle is available, see attachment for details.  We still brought our 2 bottles as well.  I drank mine (Barefoot Sangria with a slice of orange from Lido) but we ended up bringing the wife's back to Massachusetts...

[Narcussist]

Jfunk, If you do not mind me asking, what is the age range of your kids?

 

We are going May 2020 and our daughter will be 13. Only ask so we know what to expect for her.

[JaniceB]

Glad you are having a good time.  I have heard stories about sailing right after a drydock.  It doesn't sound too bad for you.

[jfunk138]

2 hours ago, Narcussist said:

Jfunk, If you do not mind me asking, what is the age range of your kids?

 

We are going May 2020 and our daughter will be 13. Only ask so we know what to expect for her.

8 and 6

[fair-winds39]

Jfunk138, thanks again for the info. Enjoying your review.

[jfunk138]

Day 2:  At sea

 

For Day 2, the weather outside is completely tropical.  All pools are open.  Kids are ready to swim after breakfast.  I signed up for the the 11am Poker Tournament so I head downstairs for that.

 

Sadly much the poor payouts of the bingo, they did the same with Texas Holdem.  $150 buy-in to an 8 player game and $650 to first place.  First and second also get a satellite ticket to a $75,000 tournament in May (cost of transportation to New Orleans and cruise fare is your own responsibility).  Since I don't have time to be taking another cruise out of New Orleans in May, this ends up being a gigantic rake for Carnival.  Nonetheless, I wanted to play some cards, so 90 minutes later I finish in 3rd place... grrr.   Sadly this was the only time the entire cruise that I saw anyone at the poker table.  I'm sure they could get 8 players every night at 10pm with a decent tournament and fair rake.  Instead their fancy electronic poker table sits idle...  

 

Back on Lido just in time for Hairy Chest Contest.  My daughter wants me to do it, my son says I'll embarrass him.  One had each arm pulling opposite directions.  Luckily, the contestants were chosen before anyone could win the tug of war...

 

The kids loved watching the contest.  After, I went to the buffet for lunch.  The special of the day station was Caribbean.   The seafood fritters were delicious, along with some other island food that I don't specifically remember.

 

My son was looking up over the deck and noticed people at the top of the slide.  So over to the slides we went until dinner.

 

Regular dinner, don't remember anything in particular except our waiter's jokes about riding on a "chicken tender" in Princess Cays tomorrow.  Service was great as always.  And no calamari...

 

I remarked to my wife that I don't even remember the maitre'd on our previous cruises but this guy was singing every night and really good.  It wasn't until we returned that I found out he is no ordinary maitre'd, but the famous singing maitre'd Ken Byrnes.  

 

Another night at the Comedy club, with the kids rolling on the floor laughing and the kids were too tired to even attempt deck party... 

[fair-winds39]

Well, DH will be disappointed again. Thought they would have a real dealer for Texas Hold'em, and not that Electronic table. That's how it was last time on the Pride, and never more than a couple of players at the table. I guess we'll play some Blackjack.

[jfunk138]

Day 3:  Princess Cays

 

We were in a suite, so we received the letter telling us to come at 8am to Butterflies for priority tender.  The kids didn't wake up until 7:30, so by the time we were done with breakfast it was 8:30.  We went to Butterflies anyway and then just down to A deck and showed our Suite Guest stickers.   Not sure if this is how it is supposed to work but they just put us on the next tender.  

 

A quick tender over and we were on the island.  There was no running water on the island because of the January fire.  They had big tanks of water outside the restrooms for hand washing.  Yes, there are a good number of LARGE rocks under the shallow part of that beach and I don't think water shoes solve that problem.  Many places you could scrap your ankle pretty good if not careful.  That said, the water is pretty clear and you can watch where you are walking.  They have these tube chair floats for rent and wife and kids could not resist.  $5.95 each for the day.  

 

Lunch was good for me, but I am more adventurous than the rest of my family.  The jerk chicken and the various Caribbean sides were excellent.  The hamburgers and hot dogs were not as good as Guy's and the Deli, so the picky eaters suffered.  They did enjoy the fresh fruit and dessert.  

 

We packed up around 2:30 - 3 and the kids had to stop and see the vendors.  Since there are just a couple and they all seem to be friends, there isn't much room for haggling.  Both found some souvenirs they liked.

 

Back on the boat in time for a few waterslides before dinner.  There was a gift waiting in our stateroom when we returned:  a letter from the Captain stating that because of issues with the ship, every passenger was getting $200 OBC for their troubles.  Honestly, other than delay in Baltimore, the screwup with the ship activities on Sea day 1, and the dysfunctional kids club we were having a great time, so the gift saved some grief when I got the wife's spa bill from the previous 2 sea days...  Given that $200 was pretty close to 50% of the cruise fare for some quad occupancy interiors and 25% for us suite rollers, I thought it was pretty generous.

 

Dinner was again a casual night.  I realize I should have taken some pictures of the menu to remember what I ate.  By this point, daughters chocolate milk and son's chicken nuggets were arriving without even ordering.  I think this might have been the night rabbit was on the "Rare Finds" section.  Was an interesting sweet concoction served on a pastry.  Never had rabbit before, but I'd order again.

 

Tonight was karaoke in Butterflies.  Honestly, people were far too sober and it was kind of depressing.  At least Cheeky Charlie was hosting and the kids loved her.  The kids went to bed early to rest up for the big day at Atlantis.

 

I decided to see if anyone was playing poker... tumbleweeds at the poker table of course.  There were a few people at craps and the table was pretty hot when I got there.  Stayed for about an hour and won back a little over half my poker buy in.  

 

 

 

 

[jfunk138]

Day 4:  Nassau

 

Forgot to mention that the previous night we heard horror stories about the cost of food at Atlantis, so we ordered 4 room service peanut butter sandwiches to take with us the next day.

 

Kids slept until 7:30 or so again.  So it was 8:30 before we went to the gangway.  Again hearing horror stories about taxis in Nassau waiting for them to fill up, etc., I convinced everyone to be adventurous and try the jitney bus.  We walked past the 30 guys asking us if we needed a taxi and out of the port.  It's not very clear where to wait for the bus, but a nice Bahamian lady sensed we were lost and told us where to wait.  A bus pulled up almost immediately.  We tell the driver we're headed to Paradise Island bridge and he takes us to the shorter bridge.  Fare: $1 each.  Once there however, my wife is ready to kill me.   The bridge looks _huge_.  In reality, its no more of an elevation than the "Power Tower" which the kids walked up many times without complaining.  So we powered on.  We picked up our pre-purchased wristbands at the desk and headed in.  We found some chairs right around 10am when the slides were opening.   

 

Atlantis is an interesting experience.  #1.  It's a maze.   #2.  It's a tube scavenger hunt.  The first time up the Power Tower, we couldn't find the tubes, so decided to try the body slide.  It's kind of a black hole and my son was scared.  Eventually he agreed to give it a chance.  I ends in a cave and you have no idea where you are.  There are 2 exits that are completely unlabeled.  We chose the one that took us right back where we were before, still with no tubes...  The blue tubes come from the river rapids.  You can really only expect to get these tubes to use on the slides at the main entrance to the River Rapids, the intermediate exits are a crapshoot.  Helpful hint #1 The tallest tube slide is basically the exact same ride as the lower tube slides in Power Tower with a much longer wait, skip it!  #2  There are a bunch of random body slides in the Mayan tower with entrances hidden all over.  The lines are shorts so its work seeking them out.

 

Everything except the cookies from our room service lunch survived the trip.  The cookies crumbled and weren't in great shape.  Avoiding the food lines was yet another plus.  Waiting 20 minutes for a $12 hotdog was not what we paid $500 to come to Atlantis for...

 

We agreed to meet up at the chairs at exactly 3:30 for our trip back to ship, by taxi this time.  We walked through the Dig aquarium on our way back.  My wife and I had been to this exact place 14 years earlier, when it was free to walk through.  While my memory was foggy, I checked some pictures I had taken... 14 years and it was exactly the same.

 

Our taxi driver told us about the history of the bridges and colors of the buildings, various tour guide stuff:  $21+tip.  The same trip would be $8 via Uber back in the states.  

 

More vendors in the port area and the kids had to check it out.  A bit more opportunity for haggling here.  One interesting thing that caught my wife off guard.  They ask for photo id in addition to ship card to get into the port area.  They let her through with ship card and a credit card.  Don't remember any id checks ever 14 years ago...  

 

Back on the ship, my son still wanted more waterslides.  He pretty much had them to himself this time.  Grabbed a beer at Serenity bar and enjoyed the sail away views.

 

At dinner our waiter team was a well oiled machine by this point.  Another fabulous meal at casual night.  Sadly, we finished up our wine package this night.  Next time, I'll ask if we can buy a 5 and a 3...  The kids were feeling comfortable enough with the waitstaff to go do the conga line with them, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Tonight my daughter wanted to swim and hot tub.  Wife and son went to karaoke.  I find out later, my 6 year old son actually sang a karaoke song (well what little of the words he actually knew).  Cheeky Charlie inspired him.

[JaniceB]

Sounds like you are having a great time on the Pride and what nice OBC for the delay and ship not quite ready.

[jfunk138]

Day 5:  Freeport

 

Ah yes... Freeport.  My wife and I were prepared with low expectations.  My son was expecting another paradise.  He woke up around 8 and went on the balcony... "Where are we?  This is not right..."  I wish I had my camera ready to capture his reaction, as words do not do it justice.  I explained to him that the other side of the ship has a slightly better view and there are many vendors and gift shops here, "OK, I guess".

 

We headed up to breakfast on Lido and he got a better view of the other side.  MANY workers were working all over the ship, it was like a continuation of dry dock on the outside of the ship.  Paint rollers, sanders, life boats extended, the works.  After an uneventful breakfast we headed down to the gangway and into the port.

 

We did the shops in the buildings first.  Kids found many interesting knick knacks... I told them the best deals are yet to come, we'll come back if you still want this stuff later.  I noticed a sign on the liquor store... $3 Kalik.  It's 10:30am and I'm on vacation.  In the meantime my wife managed to find some knock off bag she liked.   

 

Then we headed over to the straw market.  Knick knack heaven for the kids.  At this point the haggling we told them about started to work.  They managed to negotiate at least 25% off most of the things they wanted.  They loved it.  And the Bahamian women running the shops were so nice to them, helping them find the exact colors they wanted and smiling as the kids negotiated the price.  In the meantime half a dozen people asked me where I found the beer and I pointed them in the right direction, eventually following them over for round 2.

 

Around noon we decided to see what "Fat Tuesday" was all about and ordered a couple of overpriced frozen drinks then headed back to ship.  I think the drinks are better at Red Frog...

 

There was some kind of Dr. E hosted competition going on in Taj when we got back.  My daughter quickly volunteered me before my son could stop her.  I'm not very talented at scooting a beach towel across the floor without using my hands... I'll blame drinking in Freeport all morning.

 

After the show we got lunch on Lido and then back to the pool and waterslides.

 

Dinner was elegant night, this time with Filet Mignon as the signature item.  Daughter and wife both ordered the Filet, while I stuck to the exotic with the rare find and "port of call" entree:  I think it might have be a jerk pork loin.

 

After dinner we headed to Taj for Hasbro game show.  But not without another crappy bingo first.  This time, at least, won $5 on the instant win strip included in the $40 card package...  This time Dr. E was calling the numbers and it was a riot.  A non stop streams of jokes and wise cracks.  And some guy in the upper deck with a "fake" bingo.  I guess I got my $40 worth of entertainment.  Hasbro game show was OK.  Might skip it the next time.

 

 

 

[jfunk138]

Day 6:  At sea

 

What were we thinking when we booked our Seuss breakfast at 8am?  Didn't think this would be an issue 6 days ago.  I managed to throw everybody out of bed and off we went to the dining room.  Ice sculpture of the Cat in the Hat wowed the kids on the way in.  The food was good, the service was great, but I think my kids are starting to outgrow character breakfasts.  It was a nice change of pace from Lido breakfast and the green eggs were a hit.

 

After, we headed up to Lido to check out the weather.  Jack Frost had made his triumphant return to the Pride...  I exaggerate but it was 68 degrees, raining, and the strongest wind we had seen.  One might describe it as "June in Cape Cod".  A little weather wasn't going to stop my kids from another day of water play, so they got their suits on and hopped in.  BONUS:  The ocean was also getting rougher, so the pool was more like a wave pool.  The life guard, Kristian, was very patient but had to explain to kids the importance of not jumping when the ship is moving underneath you...   DOUBLE BONUS:  Despite what the letter with the OBC had said, the Venus pool was fixed.  Since the roof was also fixed, at least it wasn't raining in the there but what fun would that be?

 

At lunch I finally tried one of those Guy's burgers that everyone was talking about.  Coronary blockages are best saved for the END of your cruise.  Yes, it was pretty good.

 

I think there were some tears at dinner when the kids said goodbye to our waiters.  Ken did two songs this night.  "New York, New York" for the large contingent onboard and "Leaving on a Fun Ship" with the wait staff singing along.  

 

After dinner it was off to the Grand Finale show, with a stop by the room to pick up the free bingo cards they put in our mailbox.  The Grand Finale show was a combination of Dr. E comedy and the conclusion of the lip sync battle that we apparently missed the tryouts of.  Part of the show was some kids from Kids Club dancing a dance they had learned with the Playlist Productions cast.   OK... clearly we should have read that Kids Club schedule a bit better.  My kids were so jealous.  The lip sync battle itself was a great production with some great comedy by Dr. E.  All in all, a great finale to the cruise.

 

Debarkation review tomorrow...

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review, sorry to see it end.

[jfunk138]

Day 7:  Debarkation

 

Our debarkation letter said the ship would be late to Baltimore (10am arrival), but since we were in a suite to meet in Red Frog Pub at 10:30 for priority debarkation. Woke up around 730 and the scenery looked like Baltimore.  Sure enough, at 8am the ship was docked.  By the time the kids grudgingly left there beds it and we finished the final packing it was almost 9am.  Headed to Lido for breakfast (open till 9:30).  First time we ever had trouble finding a table at breakfast.  

 

We watched as people were clearly streaming off the ship.  So around 10am we decided to stop waiting and head down to Red Frog, sure enough the priority "ship had already sailed".   They put us right in line to get off next.  10 minute wait for Customs/Immigration.  I'm not sure they even looked at our passports.   "Where are you headed?"  "Massachusetts"  "Have a good day"

 

Quick Uber ride to the airport to pick up our rental car and our vacation was over...

 

If anyone has any doubt whether we thoroughly enjoyed this cruise, we gave my kids the option of our usual trip to Ocean City this summer or go back on the Pride for the Grand Turk, HMC variation of the itinerary.  Looks like we'll be back on the Pride July 7.

Also asked both whether they like Disney World or Carnival Pride better.  My daughter instantly said Pride.  My son had to think for a bit and said they are about equal...  

I do think this reflects poorly on the current state of the Mouse.  Between ride breakdowns and the pools closing 8pm during our stay with the Mouse last year, they had a number of high profile disappointments.  Not so with the Pride.  The pools were open enough to keep them happy and the Apollo hot tub was open every time they wanted to use it.  Despite the "have a magical day disposition" of the Mouse's army, the Pride staff learned the kids names and became their friends.  The great personal interactions they had simply cannot be matched by Disney.

Edited March 18, 2019 by jfunk138

[pcvtmom]

Excellent and thorough review!  We live in VA, which makes it very convenient to sail out of Baltimore.  We LOVE the Pride, Dr. E, and Ken!

[swodog94]

Thanks for a great review! We love Pride and have cruised her four times. We also really enjoy the Grand Turk/HMC itinerary, and if you're sailing in a suite, you should really try and get a cabana at HMC...you will not regret it, especially with the heat in July. The cabanas are probably not available on-line right now, but that doesn't mean you can't score one...I've had 100% success getting a cabana on embarkation day.  Sad to hear that the Chapel and library on Pride are gone; old school cruising is slowly fading away.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for the review.  I love that your kids had a great time on the Pride.  I live in Maryland and love the Pride but haven't taken the grandkids on it yet.

[katpetal]

This was an awesome read, thanks for a great and thorough review! We sail in January on the Pride, and my kids (who will be 6 &9) are super excited about it. It'll be their first. 

[heffy2]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with us.