I generally don't write reviews of any kind - but I thought I would make an exception because, based on our recent experience aboard the Pride - I have lots to say!

First off - we drove from Toronto, Canada to Baltimore (8 hours) and stayed at a friends house the night before the cruise. The drive down was lovely, the weather in Baltimore on the Saturday (Jan 23) was sunny and about 60 degrees. That was the end of our good fortune as far as weather goes. The next morning the rain and clouds came in. But no matter - we trekked to Annapolis for the morning before heading out to the port to get aboard ship.

I want to say a big "CONGRATS" to Carnival for making the Embarkation process so smooth and painless. I wish I could say that for some of my fellow passengers - is it too much to ask for people to follow simple directions? Anyways - we arrived at the port at 2pm, got dropped off with our luggage - and was aboard ship and in our cabin by 2:50pm. Not bad at all. In fact, this was our 8th cruise and by far the easiest one to get on. My hopes were raised that the getting off would be just as easy...but more about that later. Read more