Carnival Pride 4/11/2009 - Quickie Review

[Catrin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Usually, I give a day by day Diary of my family's cruising adventures.. full of pics, emotions, etc.....

 

To be honest..I am just not up for it.....

 

But... I have posted my reviews here for the last 7 cruises.. and my family has asked!

 

So, here is a very quick review... Carnival Pride, Eastern Caribbean out of Miami on April 11th.

Ports Visited: San Juan, St. Thomas and St.Martin.

 

Info..

It was the 9th cruise for my husband Steve and I ..all on Carnival. My mom, Valerie came with us for the third time. My kids .. Kyle, 14.. Matt 10 and Allison, 4 are all seasoned cruisers!

 

Pre-cruise..

We flew into FLL and I booked a FLL Hotel due to Price. I booked with HOTWIRE and got the FLL Airport Hilton for $129.00. For that price, great hotel... BUT>>> and a BIG BUT>>>> there is nothing nearby at all. It is not a great hotel for a family - as the dining options were limited to the expensive hotel restaurant.

 

There is a terrific pool area, however....

(picture links aren't working)

 

Transportation

We booked with SAS Several Months ago... for Transportation from the Hilton to the Port of Miami... well....THEY NEVER SHOWED!! Panic time! Luckily, the bellmen at the Hilton were fantastic and arranged a Van for us, for the same price as SAS.

 

Embarkation

A Breeze! We got to Miami at 11:15 - and .. NO WAIT to Check In. We were assigned Group 10, and we were on the Pride right after noontime.

 

The Ship and Cabin

I really love this ship class. The ship is beautiful - yes, those pictures were the subject of much giggling by my 10 yr old son.. "Mom..that is just NOT RIGHT!"....

 

We stayed in two adjacent AFT Cabins -4241 and 4232. Great cabins and we are glad we tried the aft. BUT>>>> since they are now an 8I, I would not choose this over a 8A. The price difference, in my opinion was not worth it. They did remove the dividers for us. This made going between cabins a breeze.

 

The Food

Same ole, Same ole. Great when great.... bland when bland.... etc. The highlights for me were the Mongolian Steak Salad at lunch one day.... best thing I had all week. Chateaubriand was fantastic. I have been on Weight Watchers.. so being on program and cruising is hard, but possible! I had the diet desserts most nights. My kids at Pasta with Cheese on most nights. I did love my eggwhite omelets!

 

Ports

We went to Senor Frogs after Dinner in San Juan - Fun Time as Usual.

In St. Thomas, Mom, Allison and I went with Sunny Liston and his wife Gigi - this was our second time with Sunny. What terrific professional people. We shopped, toured and had fun at the beach.

The boys went to St. John on thier own, and to Trunk Bay. They had a blast and Steve said it was gorgeous.

In St. Martin, we had hit somewhat of a "wall" as a family.. and the boys decided that they just wanted to stay on the ship. Mom, Steve, Allison and I walked around Phillipsburg..... we shopped and just enjoyed the atmposphere. We took the water taxi, which was so simple to do.

 

Camp Carnival

Kyle, my 14 yr old loved the Circle C Program - or the kids in it, anyway. We didn't see him all week, and now he emails his new friends daily.

Allison loved the 2-5 program - from Tshirt Making to Dance Parties, to visits with Fun Ship Freddy!

Matthew was the tough one. He didn't enjoy the 9-11 program at all, and just ended up hanging with us. He loved playing Trivia and going to Kareoke!

 

Entertainment and Staff

Mark Price was going through the motions - in my opinion. Nice enough guy, but we never saw him.

I really enjoyed Stephen and Jess from the Social Staff - fun kids. There was a lot of Trivia on this cruise.. and I won THREE Trophys!

We saw the second show VROOM - I thought it was terrific. The Legends show is getting SO OLD.. but still a hoot to watch.

 

Service Staff

How in the world can a room steward take care of 27 rooms?? These guys and ladies are amazing. BUT.. there was a bit of stress in thier eyes daily. We always had a clean room - nothing fancy, nothing special.. just terrific service.

 

Dining Staff

Our staff was terrific... and one of the neatest things was running into our Asst. Waiter from the Liberty last year!

 

 

Just a note... about people arriving LATE. Do they realize how it throws the whole schedule off for the other tables surrounding them? We had a family in the table behind us who arrived late most nights. Our waiter had to STOP .. and then START with them...and our dinners ended up sitting on the tray getting cold, before he would serve us.

 

Overall... it was a terrific cruise... but not one of my favorites. No reason, really..... just did not have the "wow" factor as some of our other ones. The folks in Baltimore are lucky to have the Pride near thier home, however!!

 

I will add pics soon! (Or Checkout the WEBSHOTS Link - They are all there!)

Catrin

[megr1125]

nice review and pix...thanks....we cruise on Pride (1st CCL) cruise in November.....can't wait.

[libbyonthelabel]

Hi Everyone,

 

In St. Thomas, Mom, Allison and I went with Sunny Liston and his wife Gigi - this was our second time with Sunny. What terrific professional people. We shopped, toured and had fun at the beach.

Matthew was the tough one. He didn't enjoy the 9-11 program at all, and just ended up hanging with us.

Catrin

 

We were with Gie Gie in St Thomas on the Pride 11-18 as well. We must habe been on the same truck.

My husband and I were in the very back row on the outside.

 

My 9 year old generally loves CC, but he also did not enjoy this group either. I think it was a little bossy, according to my son.

[Nezmo]

Interesting comment about SAS. I had heard several folks say how reliable they were. I tried to contact them before heading to Miami a few weeks ago but could not get anyone to call me back (my calls went to voice mail).

 

btw, I was right behind you guys on the Liberty on the 4/11 :)

 

 

[libbyonthelabel]

Interesting comment about SAS. I had heard several folks say how reliable they were. I tried to contact them before heading to Miami a few weeks ago but could not get anyone to call me back (my calls went to voice mail).

 

btw, I was right behind you guys on the Liberty on the 4/11 :)

 

 

 

I have video of you leaving!!

[royal_flush]

Nice review and thanks for the pics. That boat sure is grand!

[LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden]

thanks for posting

[Catrin]

Interesting comment about SAS. I had heard several folks say how reliable they were. I tried to contact them before heading to Miami a few weeks ago but could not get anyone to call me back (my calls went to voice mail).

 

btw, I was right behind you guys on the Liberty on the 4/11 :)

 

 

 

Wow! Thanks for that pic!

We can see our cabin.... 4th deck..the two in the middle right in front of the flag!!

 

Catrin

[shellyrock]

Hi Catrin, Sorry we did not get to meet. I was on the pride roll call. I was looking at your pics and loved them. I really liked the one marked "CHEERS" from San Jaun. My husband and I are on the right hand side of that picture:D. We had a blast that night!!! I saw it and had a great laugh...We had a wonderful honeymoon and can't wait to go on the glory next august. This will be my 3rd cruise I'm hooked!! Thanks again for posting the pic's Michelle

[FIRELT5]

Hi Everyone,

 

Usually, I give a day by day Diary of my family's cruising adventures.. full of pics, emotions, etc.....

 

To be honest..I am just not up for it.....

 

But... I have posted my reviews here for the last 7 cruises.. and my family has asked!

 

So, here is a very quick review... Carnival Pride, Eastern Caribbean out of Miami on April 11th.

Ports Visited: San Juan, St. Thomas and St.Martin.

 

Info..

It was the 9th cruise for my husband Steve and I ..all on Carnival. My mom, Valerie came with us for the third time. My kids .. Kyle, 14.. Matt 10 and Allison, 4 are all seasoned cruisers!

 

Pre-cruise..

We flew into FLL and I booked a FLL Hotel due to Price. I booked with HOTWIRE and got the FLL Airport Hilton for $129.00. For that price, great hotel... BUT>>> and a BIG BUT>>>> there is nothing nearby at all. It is not a great hotel for a family - as the dining options were limited to the expensive hotel restaurant.

 

There is a terrific pool area, however....

(picture links aren't working)

 

Transportation

We booked with SAS Several Months ago... for Transportation from the Hilton to the Port of Miami... well....THEY NEVER SHOWED!! Panic time! Luckily, the bellmen at the Hilton were fantastic and arranged a Van for us, for the same price as SAS.

 

Embarkation

A Breeze! We got to Miami at 11:15 - and .. NO WAIT to Check In. We were assigned Group 10, and we were on the Pride right after noontime.

 

The Ship and Cabin

I really love this ship class. The ship is beautiful - yes, those pictures were the subject of much giggling by my 10 yr old son.. "Mom..that is just NOT RIGHT!"....

 

We stayed in two adjacent AFT Cabins -4241 and 4232. Great cabins and we are glad we tried the aft. BUT>>>> since they are now an 8I, I would not choose this over a 8A. The price difference, in my opinion was not worth it. They did remove the dividers for us. This made going between cabins a breeze.

 

The Food

Same ole, Same ole. Great when great.... bland when bland.... etc. The highlights for me were the Mongolian Steak Salad at lunch one day.... best thing I had all week. Chateaubriand was fantastic. I have been on Weight Watchers.. so being on program and cruising is hard, but possible! I had the diet desserts most nights. My kids at Pasta with Cheese on most nights. I did love my eggwhite omelets!

 

Ports

We went to Senor Frogs after Dinner in San Juan - Fun Time as Usual.

In St. Thomas, Mom, Allison and I went with Sunny Liston and his wife Gigi - this was our second time with Sunny. What terrific professional people. We shopped, toured and had fun at the beach.

The boys went to St. John on thier own, and to Trunk Bay. They had a blast and Steve said it was gorgeous.

In St. Martin, we had hit somewhat of a "wall" as a family.. and the boys decided that they just wanted to stay on the ship. Mom, Steve, Allison and I walked around Phillipsburg..... we shopped and just enjoyed the atmposphere. We took the water taxi, which was so simple to do.

 

Camp Carnival

Kyle, my 14 yr old loved the Circle C Program - or the kids in it, anyway. We didn't see him all week, and now he emails his new friends daily.

Allison loved the 2-5 program - from Tshirt Making to Dance Parties, to visits with Fun Ship Freddy!

Matthew was the tough one. He didn't enjoy the 9-11 program at all, and just ended up hanging with us. He loved playing Trivia and going to Kareoke!

 

Entertainment and Staff

Mark Price was going through the motions - in my opinion. Nice enough guy, but we never saw him.

I really enjoyed Stephen and Jess from the Social Staff - fun kids. There was a lot of Trivia on this cruise.. and I won THREE Trophys!

We saw the second show VROOM - I thought it was terrific. The Legends show is getting SO OLD.. but still a hoot to watch.

 

Service Staff

How in the world can a room steward take care of 27 rooms?? These guys and ladies are amazing. BUT.. there was a bit of stress in thier eyes daily. We always had a clean room - nothing fancy, nothing special.. just terrific service.

 

Dining Staff

Our staff was terrific... and one of the neatest things was running into our Asst. Waiter from the Liberty last year!

 

 

Just a note... about people arriving LATE. Do they realize how it throws the whole schedule off for the other tables surrounding them? We had a family in the table behind us who arrived late most nights. Our waiter had to STOP .. and then START with them...and our dinners ended up sitting on the tray getting cold, before he would serve us.

 

Overall... it was a terrific cruise... but not one of my favorites. No reason, really..... just did not have the "wow" factor as some of our other ones. The folks in Baltimore are lucky to have the Pride near thier home, however!!

 

I will add pics soon! (Or Checkout the WEBSHOTS Link - They are all there!)

Catrin

 

Any noise or vibration from the props in these cabins ???? TNX !!!