Terry

Good luck in your new life!

Terry & Ritchie from Vancouver, BC sailed 9-9-9

I wish the best of everything to you and your bride. I hope life’s journey takes you to majestic and beautiful places.
I saw you as the killer bee and that was a hilarious show. I am sure you will be a success in anything you choose to do. Take care and my best to both of you.

Gloria aka Sue

Kap (Kathie)

LOVED your Blues Brothers show on the Spirit last April, and you were an outstanding CD in all other ways too! I enjoyed your onboard Q&A along with your ACD. Congratulations on your coming marriage! Best wishes to you both in all your future endeavors! Please come back to CCL as a fly-in!

Wendell

Dear John,

We just returned from sailing on the beautiful Carnival Pride and I wanted to thank you for your help with our meet & greet and everything you did for us. You along with Kirk the fantastic CD, William ACD who graciously wore the Crab Hat all week that we brought onboard and had so much fun with and beautiful Jaime who always had a sincere warm smile and hug, helped make this cruise one of our best.

Here is our review. I hope it is not too long.

This was our first cruise from the Port of Baltimore and since we are 20 minutes from the Port it was really convenient.

Embarkation: The Port of Baltimore is a really wonderful Port to sail from. Everyone there was really friendly and helpful. We left our home at 12:30 and we were on the ship by 1:30. This was also my Michael’s Platinum cruise and the VIP boarding was wonderful.

The ship:

The Pride is a beautiful ship. It is done in a Renaissance era theme and we loved how elegant it was. I have uploaded pictures here so you can see for yourselves. http://picasaweb.google.com/cruzingal/PrideSailing9062009#

Our Cabin # 5236 obstructed view balcony

We loved this cabin and found the view was really not obstructed at all. We could still view the ocean and were able to look down between the Lifeboats. With its very extended balcony we found this cabin to be a terrific deal for the money. It was a quiet cabin and located close to the aft elevators which made getting to the Lido Deck and the dining room really easy.

The crew:

We have 18 Carnival cruises between Michael and myself and have never had a bad crew experience. This was true for the Pride crew also. From our Room Steward team to the dining staff and the Lido deck staff, each and everyone was smiling and more than happy to make our vacation the best it could be. Kirk the Cruise Director and his entire staff are absolutely the best! The shows were wonderful and the comedian Carl Strong was hilarious and not to be missed if you are on a ship that he is on. I cannot say enough about Kirk and William (ACD) and Jaime, the soon to be ACD. They were always available and more than willing to help in any way possible. Kirk and Jamie arranged for our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet to be held in the beautiful Starry Night Lounge and went above and beyond to make sure that we had a great gathering. Thanks guys for a wonderful cruise.

We had 3 sea days on this cruise and I loved being able to relax. Most of our other cruises have been 5 to 6 Ports on 7 day cruises and although I love visiting the Islands, it can be very exhausting. The Entertainment Staff always had something going on from the Hairy Chest contest to Ice Carving, the Love and Marriage Show (Which was really too funny for words.) and much, much more. You will never be board on board a Carnival ship!

The Ports:

Cape Canaveral – We decided to rent a car and visit a friend while we were in this Port. There were shuttle buses waiting as you got off the ship to take you to the rental car offices and it could not have been easier. We drove down the main highway A1A and although you could see where this recession has taken its toll, the area is still very beautiful. We spent the day at Canova Beach with our friend and it is really a beautiful beach. Not crowded at all.

We returned to the ship at around 4:30 and enjoyed the Lido deck for the remainder of the day.

Nassau – We had been to this Port before and so we decided to wait until the first debarkation crowd got off then just go to the Straw Market and walk around. I am glad we decided to wait because the biggest thunder and lightening storm came over the Island and poured rain for about 1 and 1/2 hour. Because of the lightening, Carnival had to cancel shore excursions but they handled the reimbursements so well. They sent staff to the Lido deck to give on board credits for anyone that had purchased excursions and it was seamless. The weather finally let up a little and we departed the ship.

If you are going to Nassau, I would suggest that you walk past the Port markets and go a few blocks into the area. There are many beautiful buildings and things to see. There are also lots and lots of vendors if you are looking to make purchases.

Freeport – We loved this Port. It is not as commercial as Nassau and we really felt the “island flavor” here. We decided to do a Catamaran snorkel sail. I cannot tell you how great this excursion is and we highly recommend it to anyone. My only regret was that we had so little time in this Port.

Behind the Fun Tour on the last sea day – I had read that Carnival had began offering this “special” tour and I was very excited to go on it. This tour takes you behind the scenes of the ship from back stage to the crew quarters, to the kitchens and a Q & A with the head Chef. You also go the see the laundry, the Engine Control Room and meet with the Chief Engineer and then up to the Bridge and meet the Captain. We ended up in David’s Steak House and meet the Hotel Manager and were offered Champagne or wine and were given wonderful goodies and mementos of the tour. We also received 3 photos. One with the Chef, one group with the Captain and one individual with the Captain. This tour is not to be missed but book early because there are only 16 places allowed.

Dining on board:

We chose the Your Time (Anytime) Dining for this cruise and loved it. Not having to rush and get ready for early seating was a blessing. One night we ate at 6:15 and then others we ate around 8:00. On our 3rd night we found a wait staff, Donovan and his staff, that were simply amazing. We chose to dine with them from then on and I loved that we could choose. We will be doing Anytime Dining from now on.

David’s Steak House – We reserved David’s for the 2nd sea day night and ate at 6:30. We had done the Steak House on the Valor so we knew what to expect and David’s did not let us down. The service is impeccable and the food is definitely a 5 star experience. If you have not done a dinner at one of Carnival’s Steak Houses I highly recommend that you book and enjoy.

Debarkation back at Baltimore.

Since we were Platinum on this cruise we had Zone #1 for debarkation. We left our luggage out on Saturday night to be picked up for the next morning. We wound that this debarkation was relaxing and easy. We awoke around 8:00, dressed and went to breakfast then back up to our cabin to wait since we did not have to be in the Starry Nights Lounge until 10:45. This is where Platinum guests were asked to wait. They began calling the decks for self debarkation at around 9:30 and were done around 11:00 then a crew member came into the lounge and escorted all Platinum guests off the ship. We were off and trough Customs with luggage in tow by 11:30 and arrived back home by noon. This was the quickest and most painless debarkation that we have ever experienced.

Now I do have one con about this ship. The beds! On every one of our previous cruises I could not wait to crawl into the wonderful Carnival beds but the beds on board the Pride were hard as boards. I talked with many other cruisers and they felt the same. Not sure why these beds are different but I do hope Carnival changes them out.

All in all, this rates as one of our best cruises and we will definitely do this cruise again. Many, many times.

Thanks again John and Carnival.
Princess Sallie of big Ed’s Krewe