Eva Alonzo

Age: 40
Occupation: Business Owner
Number of Cruises: 7
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Carnival Pride
Sailing Date: June 22nd, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Our family just returned from the June 22nd Pride cruise to the Western Caribbean. A bit of background on us. We live in Orlando and own our own business, both age 40, and it was our 7th cruise. Our children were with us, and they are 9 and 13 respectively. We have previously cruised the Celebration, Fantasy, Century (twice), Infinity, Sovereign of the Seas and now the Pride. We were traveling with another family, 2 adults and one 4-year-old child from Kerrville, Texas. This was their first cruise. They flew down the day before to ensure there were no airport snafus. In writing my review, please note that these are our opinions and our observations about our cruise.

Embarkation/Debarkation

We arrived at Port Canaveral at approximately 11:00am. There were very few lines, and the entire process took less than 45 minutes. There was a bit of a problem with the baggage handlers and our luggage but all in all this was a fairly smooth embarkation. Although Carnival says not to go to your cabin until 12:30pm, we were able to drop off our carry on luggage without a problem. Our friends cabin was locked, so they left theirs with us. Debarkation was a bit more hectic. Our friends were on a different deck than we were, so we were trying to figure out a way to disembark at the same time. When their number was called, we just went along. Absolutely no one checked our tags and we were off the ship quickly. A pretty painless process in our opinion. All in all our embarkation and debarkation went very quickly.

The Ship

The Pride is a beautiful ship. Art was everywhere. We were quite impressed as the décor was so “Un-Carnival like”. No neon to speak of, no bold colors, no garish decorations. There is a lot of “nude” art on the ship, and they were everywhere, but after a couple of day no one seemed to notice. I know all of us thought the Pride is a stunning ship. The Pride is probably one of the tallest ships we have ever been on, and be forewarned – to get to one end of the ship from the other really a bit of a hike, but don’t worry, there are many nice things to look at no matter what deck you are on. There were many public places to sit down and numerous bars and such. The Butterflies Lounge was an interesting place, along with the Sunset Garden. Both were quite visual and very pleasing to the eye. Many different lounges had live music every night, so there were choices for everyone. Everything on the ship was pretty well laid out. There were plenty of elevators so there was never a really long wait to get anywhere.

Our Cabin/Cabin Steward

Our Cabin was on the Verandah deck, Cabin number 7256. It was port side, near the stern. We had a Category 8I with the extended balcony. There was a queen size bed (which was made up as a true queen size bed, no crack in the middle) a sofa that converted to a bed (which was never a sofa again for the rest of the cruise) and one bunk that came out of the ceiling. The room was laid out quite well but it was tight on drawer space and space in general (at least it was for us, others said it was fine). It took a bit of creativity for all 4 of us to get ready for dinner at the same time. Thankfully we had the balcony, as one was always able to sit outside and wait for their turn in the shower. Our cabin steward was Aldrick and was very attentive to our needs. We never saw him for days on end, but everything we needed was always done. We did ask for a deck chair for our balcony and he delivered one. One warning, with a full sized deck chair it is hard to move around on the balcony if there were more than 2 people on it. We wound up putting ours upright, and never using it. He also opened up our mini bar but said it was a really big hassle to remove the contents from the cabin. He suggested we place them around the safe and on a shelf. We did, and had full access to the refrigerator for the entire cruise. There was a nice basket of amenities in the bathroom on arrival (razors, hairspray, deodorant, skin creams as well as mints and hard candies). We thought this was a really nice touch and a welcome surprise. All in all we were pleased with our cabin and the service we received. The only negative was that our cabin was a bit small for our family, but as I stated previously there was plenty of space for others. All depends on personal preference.

Normandie Restaurant

There were many places to dine on the Pride. We had early seating in the Normandie Restaurant, but since the cruise was sold out our table was in the “Captains Club” which was off to the side of the main dining room. Upon arrival there was a snafu on table numbers, which made for a bit of confusion. None of the waiters in that particular section were willing to help us so they sent us to the Maitre D’. He came and said the numbers were wrong and basically pointed to the correct table (which had people already sitting on it). Once the people were moved, he left. We never saw him again. Not once did he enter into our part of the dining room. At the end we all decided not to tip him, as he never came around at all during the week to see if everything was fine. The bad part of where we were sitting was not being able to see the entire goings on in the regular dining room. The one night that was Caribbean themed, our waiter and his assistant took the three kids with them so they could experience the fun in the main dining room. All the kids had a thrill that night. Our waiter and assistant were very personable and did a good job, but we found their service to be a notch below what we would have normally expected. Not once did they remember that one person in our party always requested iced tea and water was hardly refilled. Granted these are small items, but on other ships the waiters always seemed to be a bit more attentive to the little things. There were also a couple of mistakes on meals ordered, but since it really wasn’t a big deal we never made an issue out of it. Honestly we all (the seven of us) thought that the meals were average. Each night there was definitely a standout meal, but at times others thought the meals were just ok. Meals were always presented well, and were always hot. The pasta however was wonderful and a highlight of every dinner. Each and every pasta meal was absolutely delicious. If you want you can get it as a starter. I highly recommend any of the pasta dishes in the Normandie. Desserts were all right, nothing spectacular, nothing bad. Oddly enough all of us thought that there would have been at least one “to die for” dessert, but if there were none of us ever ordered it.

Mermaids Grille/Room Service/David’s

The Mermaids Grille was the buffet area on the Pride. The choices were really amazing. They had a grill for your proverbial hot dogs and hamburgers and French fries. Everyone who ate them loved them. Then they had countries of the day (try the Indian food, was really good and truly authentic), a deli (the best tuna sandwich on the high seas), your regular buffet food (a bit of everything) and the pizzeria. The pizza was really good, always fresh and always hot. This was one of the most popular spots to eat on the cruise. The pizzeria and deli were always open (I know the pizzeria was, and I know we ate in the deli one night at around 1am). The only drawback was breakfast. While everything was hot, fresh and always abundant, there could have been a bit more variety. Each and every day there was the same thing. Others we spoke to said the same thing, so we knew it wasn’t only us. The omelet stations were very good. They will also make you eggs to order, any way you like it. Everyone who we talked with really enjoyed this. Other than the lack of variety during breakfast, we were happy with the Mermaids Grill. There is also an ice cream bar. Gosh, was this a popular place (ask my husband!) In the afternoons they had all sorts of sundae makings, and at other hours there were always cups and cones available. Normally this area was maintained very well as it was used quite extensively. Only one time was the ice cream area a complete mess (no cones, no cups, dripping ice cream, etc). Shortly afterwards a waiter saw it and they had it cleaned up. We ordered room service a couple of times and always received it promptly. The room service menu was one of the largest we have ever seen. Once however we filled out the card to pre-order breakfast and it never arrived. It seemed that kids were taking the cards off the doorways (the purser told us this as that particular morning we were not the only ones to complain about it). We did not eat in David’s but spoke to many people who did. Every last person said it truly was an awesome dining experience. One of our only regrets is not being able to get to David’s. I think we truly missed something special.

Kids on board/Camp Carnival

Since our group had three kids with us (ages 4, 9 and 13) we were very familiar with Camp Carnival. Both of the younger ones had a great time in Camp Carnival. The younger one spent both formal nights with them, and one port day. He really enjoyed everything that he was doing at Camp Carnival. His parents were shocked when he told them he would rather spend time with the kids than his parents (we warned them it would happen). Our 9 year old also loved the activities in Camp Carnival. The only drawback was that they allow the 9 – 11 year olds to sign themselves in and out (We think that 9 is too young to be allowed to do that). Since our daughter was in the younger age bracket of the group we were very cautious about her signing herself in and out. The highlight of her time at Camp Carnival was the special “After-hours night”. This was a special program on the last formal night that lasted from 10:00pm – 3:00am (at a charge of $30.00). There were only 10 kids in this group that did everything from arts and crafts (cups, sand art, puzzles, paintings) to playing hide and seek in the Tag Mahan showroom (at 1:30am). After all the festivities, the counselors dropped the kids off in their respective cabins. The one thing we thought was odd was that Carnival had a lot of “Family Activity” times scheduled. On other cruise lines there were a few activities, but not nearly this many. In fact the first night there was no set kids program per se, but a night of family time. I am guessing they do this as they have so many kids on board it might be hard to deal with all of them en masse with only 2 or 3 counselors per age group. Our son who is 13 did not like any of the activities in Camp Carnival, as there were very few his age in the program. He spent a lot of time in the video arcade and just generally hanging around. I think that goes true for every cruise line and teens in that age group. The waterslide was open every day from 12:00pm – 5:00pm. The first day that our kids went on the waterslide there was a big problem. One of the Camp Carnival counselors was working the slide and was allowing kids to enter the slide before the other person was exiting. She was also allowing kids that were under the 48” height requirement to go down the slide. When my husband pointed this out to her (after a deckhand also pointed this out to her) her answer to him was very curt, “Why don’t you just enjoy your vacation and not worry about anything. You are here to have a good time, so don’t worry”. He got very annoyed at her answer as it was a safety issue and complained to the Purser. He complained about her attitude and the fact that she wasn’t doing what she was supposed to to ensure everyone’s safety (there were signs posted concerning the height requirements and the number of people on the slide). Considering this was a safety issue concerning primarily kids (kids could collide on the bottom, little ones could be submerged under water) the Purser took this complaint very seriously and the situation was rectified by the next day. After that there wasn’t any problem with the slide and everyone loved it.

Ports of Call

Our first Port of Call was Key West. This was our only port that we booked a Carnival Tour. We went snorkeling on the Fury Catamaran to Sand Key. This was an awesome experience!! Saw lots of fish and the water was crystal clear. If you didn’t have any snorkel gear there was more than enough on the boat to borrow. It was about an hour’s ride to Sand Key. After snorkeling for an hour, the catamaran sailed back and had unlimited beer and soda if you wish. After that we did a little shopping. Key West is always a nice place to visit. Our second Port of Call was Belize. We booked an independent jungle/eco boat trip through Action Belize. We were supposed to cruise the Belize River and go to many places with wildlife and such. Unfortunately right before we got to Belize they had a tropical wave go through and flooded most of the rivers. There were many tours through the ship that were cancelled as well. Although we wound up never going through the jungle, we had some adventure on our boat ride in Belize!! Action Belize picked us up at the Port and took us to where the riverboat was docked. Captain Sommers was at the helm and off we went. Honestly we saw parts of Belize that normal tourists just don’t get to see (the mangrove highways and deep into the waterways of Belize) and got caught in such a downpour (imagine 8 people on a 20’ boat with a bimini top in a torrential tropical downpour) we never laughed so hard in our lives. The Captain felt terrible (no one can control the weather) and tried his hardest to outrun the rain. He even tried (unsuccessfully I might add) to put the boat under some trees for shelter. He truly was a great Captain and really concerned for our welfare. Honestly although we didn’t get to see anything that we thought, our trip to Belize was definitely the highlight of our ports (even though we didn’t do any shopping – was too wet). I cannot recommend Action Belize enough. What a great company to deal with. Our third stop was Cozumel, Mexico. We have been to Cozumel numerous times so decided to go to Playa Sol for the day. Playa Sol is a nice all-inclusive resort that has a lot of amenities. Great beach, nice pool, nice bars and a host of other activities. The only problem with Playa Sol was that it became very crowded when the rest of the ships docked in Cozumel (The Pride was the first of 6 ships in that day). Other than the crowds, everyone had a great time at Playa Sol. One warning though, we never got our tickets from Carnival for Playa Sol until the night before and then they were sold out. We wound up spending more per person than we would have if we bought them on the ship. If you decide to go to Playa Sol get your tickets early!! Our last stop was Progresso, Mexico. What a quaint town! Great shopping, the beach looked gorgeous, and the Mexicans were so friendly. This town is what Cozumel used to be before it was all built up. We just stayed in Progresso and shopped and sat by the beach and had great lemonade. Others went into Merida (a bus or taxi ride away) and really enjoyed that as well. Progresso was a welcome change from a lot of the tourist traps that are in other larger cities. We look forward to another trip to Progresso.

Odds and Ends

The Casino on the Pride was great! There were plenty of slot machines and our friend hit for over $1,800 on two different machines. I myself played roulette quite successfully and won almost $1,000 in two nights. Bar service in the casino was never a problem, either while on the machines or on the tables. There was always live music at night in the casino, which really added a nice touch. The spa on the Pride was also a great place to unwind in. I had two treatments (a spa foot ritual with paraffin and a hot stone massage). I was pleasantly surprised when both spa technicians didn’t really try to sell me any product (on other cruise lines hard selling is a turn off for spa treatments). Both services were great and I truly enjoyed them. The showers in the spa are to die for!! Everyone should experience them, even if it is just once. There were also sauna and steam rooms along with an adults only Jacuzzi in the spa. Honestly, it was one of the nicest spas I have ever been to on a cruise ship. As I stated previously entertainment was never a problem on the Pride. Although our group didn’t take in any shows others who did really enjoyed them. We played Bingo a couple of times as well as our friends bought quite a number of pieces of Art from the auction. There was always something to do if you wanted, or you could do nothing as well. No one could ever say they were bored on the Pride.

Final Thoughts

One thing we thought was odd was there were a lot of “young adults” cruising with us, without any adults present. I am not sure if their parents were sailing with them or not, as we never saw them with any adults. I would say there must have been quite a number of people between the ages of 18 and 21. We had 18 year olds in the cabin next to us, which did make a bit of a ruckus at times. Soundproofing was great once you were in the Cabin, but when you were out on the balcony you definitely heard them. I give them kudos for knocking on our door one night and letting us know if they got too loud they would curb the noise. Oddly enough the one time security was called it was from a complaint from cabins away, not even ours. None of the “young adults” were rowdy or disrespectful; there were just a lot of them. Much more than the other cruises we have been on. We all thought the Pride was a gorgeous ship. Carnival definitely is heading in the right direction by making ships like the Pride. The folks on the West Coast are in for a treat to have such a nice ship heading their way. I think the Pride would appeal to anyone – young and old alike!

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