Great vacation! This was 8th cruise overall and our 2nd cruise on the Pride this year. We are still HUGE fans! We've sailed on the Splendor and the Liberty, as well as the Celebrity Eclipse, Serenade of the Seas (RCL), and the Crown Princess. We've loved them all for different reasons, but the Spirit class layout of the Pride is a winner for us. Such an easy ship to navigate, with nice sized staterooms and a nice big dining from aft that doesn't break up the flow of the ship. This time around we noticed some wear n' tear that's to be expected with so many cruisers each week, but nothing to take away from the beauty of the ship. The crew are always around shining things up and keeping things neat n' tidy.

We opted for Faster to the Fun this time around, and it's unlikely that we'll ever cruise without it from here on out. We were dropped at the port and on the ship within 30 minutes, completely avoiding the sea of folks waiting in line to check-in (not sure how that new "staggered check-in" is working out). We actually felt kind of guilty...for about 5 seconds...it was that fast. It comes with other benefits as well, like priority tendering and debarkation. In our opinion it was well worth the $60 a cabin (not per person).

We brought along a couple of first time cruisers who've always sworn that "if they ever cruised it would only be on a Disney ship". They had a blast. No complaints from our cruise mates on the stateroom, the decor, the food, the staff, or anything other than the smoking in the casino and the outer decks. As non-smokers, we're always going to hate the smoke. Unless Carnival cuts out smoking altogether, which we'd never expect to, it will always be unpleasant. Not that big of a deal. Sometimes we smelled smoke. Most of the time we didn't. I've read reviews about how the Lido deck on the Pride was "filled with smoke". Never the case, at least not during our two cruises. Read more