Pride Review 8/14

[lfresa]

Pride review 8/14/09

 

We left from Connecticut at 5:00 the Thursday before our cruise was to depart. The travel time was approx 4 hours we made sure we did not go over the GW bridge in New York. So we did Tapanzee Bridge, Garden State to New Jersey Turnpike. Worked out great. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites downtown Baltimore. Downtown near the harbor was beautiful I wish we had more time. My husband was bummed the Redskins had an exhibition game right down the street from the hotel. Hotel was only 10 min of that to the port.

 

We arrived at the port at noon. Word of advice pay for your parking in cash there was no line. We were in the cruise terminal by 12:30 and sitting down to wait by 12:45!!!! We did not get on board until about 2:15. They started at 2:00. I would rather be inside settled and waiting than in the longer parking lines for people arriving around 2:30 or so.

 

I thought the ship was beautiful. I have two teenage boys and at first they chuckled at the nudes but then it was never an issue. It was all in good taste. Ship was always spotless. We had cabin 6232 extended balcony. If you can grab this do it!! It was I think 75 feet long. The cost was only 40.00 additional than the balcony that we had. Perfect location right above the dining room 3 levels down. Cabin steward was amazing. We asked for a lounger chair since our balcony was so large. We had 4 chairs, lounge chair and table and still had plenty of room.

 

In the dining room we had the early seating. Word of advice on the first night it is open seating. Do not eat any later than 7:00 or you will be in a HUGE line trying to get in. I had never so a line so big in my life waiting to eat. That was the only flaw and it’s not the ships fault. We had table 203 Head Waiter Deep, her assistant Numerino and bar waiter Alexis. They were fabulous. If you have them as your wait team you will be very happy. We never had a bad meal in the dining room. So much to choose from, I am more of a picky eater so I did have their grilled chicken 3 nights and loved it. The ribs were amazing.

 

Buffet was okay. I had breakfast delivered to our room in the morning just to enjoy my coffee on the balcony. You could always find something to eat so I never ate breakfast or lunch in the main dining room. My husband did breakfast because he likes omelets so he went by himself in the mornings.

 

I stayed at the back end of the ship in the adult area for sunbathing. I love children and have two teens of my own but I was really not into the screaming and jumping in pools. It was so peaceful in back. I would use the shower outside because it was so hot. The do have a pool and hot tub there also. I found that the adults were respectful of the no children allowed policy. The couple that did come with their parents were very well behaved. Please be careful on the lido deck near the main pool area when it is wet. It was like an ice skating rink in my flip flops. I saw so many people fall. I was attached to the railings.

 

My teems two boys ages 17 and 14 ½ ( they let my younger one get into the older group he is 5 foot 11 and a sophomore in high school. I wish they would adjust the ages maybe to coincide grades in school. I could not complain tho they moved him just by asking. Important thing it to have them show up the first night. I only saw my boys at dinner ( we made them go to dinner with us ) on the islands and when they were sleeping. They made so many friends. My older one met a boy that lived one town away from us.

 

Grand Turk we just did the beach for an hour. We have been here before so we did not get off early to get a chair so we went back to the ship. Love Half Moon Cay!! I wish we had two days there. I just floated in the water you do not even need a raft with the salt water. I brought cheerios to feed the pike fish. In Freeport I highly suggest using Sand Dollar Cruising with Captain Tony. I found them through the cruise critic board and if google them you will find them. 3 hours of snorkeling for only 49.00 each. The only thing was the seas were really rough. I was the second one in the water because I didn’t want my boys not to go in. I figured if I went in they would. They loved it. Half the people on the boat did not snorkel due to the sea’s plus there were many getting sick on board. Not the Sand Dollars fault. Do not drink on board if there are many waves. I could have stayed on the boat all day.

 

Casino was fun. My husband got into the slot tournament so he has fun. Funny he was first then at the last 20 minutes he came in second to qualify. Beforehand he said he wanted number 7 for his machine. Well the lady in front of him picked #7. Guess what #7 won and she won 500.00. My husband was not very happy. Shows were okay. Don’t get me wrong the singers were fantastic and entertainers were good but we have seen the headliners on other carnival ships. I wish they would mix up their daytime activities it’s always the same questions on the love and marriage show and same jokes.

 

I have to say that the cruise director Danny was Fantastic along with the assistant cruise director Matt. They were the best I had every seen!!!! Very involved with the people on the ship.

 

The last day we left our rooms at 9:30 and stayed in the casino on deck 2 to wait for our deck number to be called. They started letting people off at 10:00 and we were in our cars at 10:35. This was the best most organized departure from a ship that I have been on . Feel free to ask my any questions. lfresa@snet.net

[sallyb]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post the review. My turn is next weekend, very excited!

[kates024]

Thanks for the review, 3 more weeks to go!!

[lfresa]

Have a great time. I have to say this was one of the best Carnival cruises I have taken so far. Everyone of the staff I met were so friendly. If you have any questions ask away, Lisa

[pickypeg]

Was you eck any larger than the ones at 6243. Trying to guess how it will be. Thank you

[lfresa]

Not sure what deck size the one that you are talking would be. I just know ours was huge compared to the normal deck size. You can only fit 2 chairs with a normal balcony we had 4 chairs, lounge chair and room for 2 other chairs.

[cruiser82]

I was on this cruise too! I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Some people in our group had a big balcony too and I don't know if it was an extended one or not, they were 6115. We were in 6235 and had a normal sized balcony but that was fine since we weren't out there much.

[DanJ]

I have to agree about showing up earlier rather than later as Carnival suggests, for boarding. We arrived at 2, and it was a half hour to drop luggage, half hour to get in the door, and another half hour to get checked in. We boarded at 330. Not as early as the people showing up before 10am, as we saw yesterday, but 1230-100pm would have likely worked out better for us than 2pm.

 

As for the debarkation, they really need to work on this. It might have worked out fine for the OP, but they didn't call deck 6 self assist down until after 1130. They only called deck 1 even number cabins at 950, which is about 70 cabins. There was a steady stream of people leaving, and the area outside immigration was almost lined back up to the gangway. They didn't call odd number deck 1 until almost 1030, then it went deck 8, deck 7, deck 4, deck 6 and deck 5, and from where we were sitting just aft of the atrium area, there was a lot of time before they called the next deck when there was nobody leaving and there was barely any line at immigration. They didn't start calling the general debarkation zones until noon, 4 groups at a time. We were number 18 and were called off around 1215. The next call after ours was for everyone else.

[family cruisers]

Please post your review when you return ..

Have a great cruise.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post the review. My turn is next weekend, very excited!

[lfresa]

To DanJ we must have lucked out. We were on deck 6 but sat in the casino to wait. After they let out deck 1 and 8 Matt the asst cruise director told us to hop in line while it was quiet to get out. We were in our car at 10:35. We just lucked out on this one.

[DanJ]

To DanJ we must have lucked out. We were on deck 6 but sat in the casino to wait. After they let out deck 1 and 8 Matt the asst cruise director told us to hop in line while it was quiet to get out. We were in our car at 10:35. We just lucked out on this one.

 

Not pointing an accusing finger at you, since it's always struck me the cruise staff don't really care how organized debarkation is so long as they get rid of us.

[Captain'sgirl]

What deck do you disembark from???

[lfresa]

Deck 2