Just returned on Carnival Pride - questions?

[SDBeachLovers]

We returned yesterday August 12 from this great cruise! There are some other threads out there, but I decided to start a new one as everyone's experience is a little different.

 

My wife (DW) and I took the cruise to celebrate our 18th annniversary without the kids (we're in our early 40s). We probably paid more than we had to for the cruise as it was somewhat last minute, but the dates worked out with the kids being at Grandma's and Granpa's.

 

We enjoyed the sea days to wind down and signed up for activities such as yoga, massage, golf lessons (I also did a lot of reading out on our balcony - finished the Harry Potter book!). Our dining room waiters and steward were outstanding, the shows were all very good (some better than others) and we enjoyed the experience immensely.

 

I had signed us up for the Los Veranos canopy tour on-line before we went and everything went very smoothly. My DW is not a fan of heights or "extreme adventure" activities, but she and I both count this as one of the highlights of the trip. Yes, it was hot and humid, but the crew there was fantastic, and we took insect repellent. I did not take a change of clothes, and this posed no problems. We did not go into the river after the canopy tour as it had recently rained very hard and the water was high and dirty. The rest of the day we explored the downtown area, walking from Los Veranos' office to see the shops, el Malecon, and the Liz Taylor - Richard Burton bridge.

 

In Mazatlan, we took a pulmonia from the dock to downtown to do a self-guided walking tour. However, it was early so everything was pretty much closed. We had planned on going to the beach later, so he offered to drop us off at the water taxi to Stone Island first, which we did. He took us to the water taxi place west (seaward) of the cruise ship and it cost 15 pesos for a round trip ticket. The dock was a very short walk from the beach and as we were still pretty early, the beach was nearly deserted. We sat, swam in the warm water, and then had a snack/light lunch at Lety's - DW and I shared a bowl of guacamole, Shrimp with garlic (al ajo) and a couple of cold beers - delicious! I had seen Lety's as one of the places recommended on this board and was not disappointed. It is a family owned business, and we spoke to the father, mother, grown son, and grandson - very friendly. After lunch we took the water taxi back, walked the three blocks to the ship, dropped off our stuff and showered, and then headed back out. Took a pulmonia to the Cathedral, walked to the market close by, to the beautiful Peralta Theatre, the small archeological museum, and the ocean at the Olas altas beach.

 

In Cabo I had reserved a car at the ex-Plaza las Glorias hotel (now Tesoro) on the harbor and a short walk from the cruise ship dock. Unfortunatley Dollar's office at the hotel had closed (even though it was listed as a location on-line). Fortunately, a very nice man in the dive shop at the hotel saw our predicament, called the main Dollar office for us, and they came in a bout 15 minutes to pick us up. We drove to Santa Maria Bay for snorkeling, Chileno Bay just to look, and the Medano beach in town before going shopping. This is a relatively short stop on the cruise, so we took a tender back around 2:30 (last one is at 3).

 

We had dinner in the dining room every night except two - after PV we were too tired and got something quick on the Lido deck, and on the last night (our anniversary) we went to David's Supper Club. The food was amazing (both quantity and quality). We bought the fountain card for soda's but I am not sure that it was worth it - if your drink a lot of sodas I'm sure that it would be. Juice, water, and coffee are free, and you have to pay for any alcoholic drinks separately anyway.

 

Congratulations and thanks if you've managed to read all the way through my mini-novel, as you can tell we had a great time!

[momthecruisedirector]

Thank you for the great review, we'll be on the ship on 9/2. Can't wait!

[gusandgidgetsmom]

Great review. I will be on the Pride in Oct. Can't wait!!

[neverpar]

I will be on the Pride in October....thanks for sharing your review with us! May I ask....what deck were you on?

When you went to the Cathedrial, did you wear shorts? And if so did anyone say anything about wearing shorts, sleevless tops etc....

[JGB]

I too am interested in the golf lesson could you give me a briefing on this including price.

thank you,

JGB

[dcruisers]

Sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary! Congratulations.

Glad you hear that you had a wonderful cruise.

Your review has made me more excited about our Nov. Mexican Riviera cruise.

One question.........were the first and last sea days chilly? It seems like all the reports I have read have mentioned that 2 out of the 3 sea days are chilly and you can't lay out.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review your trip.

[dcruisers]

Sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary! Congratulations.

Glad to read that you had a wonderful cruise.

Your review has made me more excited about our Nov. Mexican Riviera cruise.

One question.........were the first and last sea days chilly? It seems like all the reports I have read have mentioned that 2 out of the 3 sea days are chilly and you can't lay out.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review your trip.

[SDBeachLovers]

I will be on the Pride in October....thanks for sharing your review with us! May I ask....what deck were you on?

When you went to the Cathedrial, did you wear shorts? And if so did anyone say anything about wearing shorts, sleevless tops etc....

 

We were on the 8th deck. While we had a great view and this was convenient to going to the food stations on the 9th deck, we did get some noise from something (plates and food on carts I imagine) rolling above us at about 6 some mornings.:(

 

As for the Cathedral, there were signs (in Spanish) outside the churches in both PV and Mazatlan about appropriate dress, so we just looked from the outside as we were in shorts.

[SDBeachLovers]

I too am interested in the golf lesson could you give me a briefing on this including price.

thank you,

JGB

 

I'm both cheap and not much of a golfer so I took a 1/2 hour lesson for $45 (tip not included). A one-hour lesson was $80 and probably the best value was 3 half-hour lessons for $99. There was also a deal that with a lesson of 1 hour or more you could get 35% off of a spa treatment but I believe that this could only be used on a port day. I thought that the pro was good and he gave me some things to work on. For all lessons of 1/2 hour or longer he uses a video camera to analyze your swing. While this is good, he had no way to put the video on tape or CD if you wanted to take a copy home. The golf pro also has clubs for sale or rental and leads excursions to golf courses on each of the port days (sorry, I didn't go so I can't report on that). Hope this answers your question.

[SDBeachLovers]

One question.........were the first and last sea days chilly? It seems like all the reports I have read have mentioned that 2 out of the 3 sea days are chilly and you can't lay out.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review your trip.

 

Although one day was cloudy in the morning, and the last day was windy for a few hours, none of our sea days was cold (I took a sweatshirt just in case but ended up never using it). That being said, the weather when you go in November may be different.

[JGB]

SD..

Very helpful thank you.

JGB

[neverpar]

We were on the 8th deck. While we had a great view and this was convenient to going to the food stations on the 9th deck, we did get some noise from something (plates and food on carts I imagine) rolling above us at about 6 some mornings.:(

 

As for the Cathedral, there were signs (in Spanish) outside the churches in both PV and Mazatlan about appropriate dress, so we just looked from the outside as we were in shorts.

 

 

We are going to be on the 8th deck also......aft but right by the elevators...I'm hoping that it won't be a bad area...

Thank-you for the info on the Cathedral....I'm hoping to get to see both of them.

Thank-you again for taking the time to answer our questions.

[Ziggy7]

Thank you for the wonderful review, we will be on the ship on 11/6/07. We can't wait!

[Shutterlady]

You had stated that you booked the Los Veranos trip on-line before you left. I did the same thing. How do you get from the pier to the office for the excursion? Did you take a taxi? And if so, how much and how long did it take?

[SDBeachLovers]

You had stated that you booked the Los Veranos trip on-line before you left. I did the same thing. How do you get from the pier to the office for the excursion? Did you take a taxi? And if so, how much and how long did it take?

We walked from the ship outside of the gates and took a cab on the main street. I believe that we paid $7 for the cab ride to the Los Veranos office. We went around instead of through downtown as the cab driver said that it was faster, and the ride took us about 20 minutes. It was very easy.