First time cruiser sailing with Wife, Sis in law, and 2 yr old son. Having never sailed before I spent a lot of time gathering preconceptions about the itenerary and the Pride through review sites. Thanks Cruise Critic for all the great reviews! Here's what I personally expected: An overcrowded embarkation port, a sub-par ship that was not good enough to be in Florida, and a poor itenerary which was compiled from a bunch of left over ports which makes for what some refered to as a great beginner cruise. I expected the food to be low grade and service to be so-so. We chose this cruise for the proximity to home (45 min) and price. The only port we were looking forward to was Nassau. The other two (Port Canveral and Freeport) were not something we were really excited about based on what we have heard from reviews and friends that recently took the same itenerary. The morning we drove to Baltimore to embark I remember telling my wife that if we enjoy ourselves we will take a "real" cruise next year out of Fl or a gulf port. Here's the experience I had after taking the exit off the interstate to the Port of Baltimore:

Embarkation: PIECE OF CAKE. The parking staff were extremely efficient and friendly. The porters were great and we gladly tipped them. We had just parked the car and already I was having a change of mind about this embarkation port. The terminal was very clean and air conditioned. We moved through security very quickly. We left home around 11:30 am, and were parked and in line by 12:30 pm, and the last time I looked at the clock before boarding it was around 1:30 pm. I feel that that is extremely efficient! As soon as we boarded I found the ship to be extremely clean. I was impressed already. The crew was very quick in moving those boarding into public spaces such as the lido deck and buffet since we could not go to the rooms. I already felt like we were on vacation and we didn't leave port for another 4 hrs! We took time to tour the lido deck, eat at the buffet, swim in the pools, and take lots of pictures before taking a spot on the front of deck nine to watch us leave port. At one point during this time we had to go to muster drill. I was AMAZED at how the crew handled over 2,000 guests and getting them to thier places for the drill. I felt much safer at that point should something go wrong at sea (remember, first time!). Once we left port it was not long until the rooms were ready. We found our room and our Steward, Conrad, met us in the hall right away, introduced himself to us, and fell in love with our son. Every time he saw us from that point on he called me by name and asked how my son was. We had ice in our ice bucket every time we came back to the room. He was very good. He would even stop in the hall when he saw my son and make him a towell animal right then. We tipped him very well for his efforts. We found the room to be small for three adults and a child but manageable. The only problem we really encountered was showers at dinner time but I would go to the gym and use the showers there, which were great because they had five nozzles pointing at you. Very refreshing after a hot day in the Bahamas! We spent the first evening touring the ship, eating, swimming, and eating some more. The ship was incredibly clean, and someone was always painting, washing, repairing something. I was very pleased and suprised at the appearance and condition of the ship. We spent our first two days at sea enjoying the pools (somewhat crowded, but not to the point where they can't be enjoyed). The other activities offered during the day did not interest us at all. My idea of a cruise is not doing trivia, playing Sudoku, or bingo but hey, maybe it is someones idea of a cruise! The pools were plenty for us to be entertained for two days. If we weren't swimming we were eating, which brings me to the food: The buffet food was great in my opinion. Pizza, Salads, Fruit, awesome deserts, asian (wonderful!), and every day a different style from another part of the world was offered, along with hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, etc. Potato salad was a daily staple but I found it addicting and delicious. Ice cream was unlimited and great for kids and adults alike, but no toppings were ever offered, even though it seemed that a bar was there to accomodate it. At the pool there were bar attendants walking around offering drinks, but they were not pushy. We are christians so we do not have a need or desire to drink alcohol, but we did have some smoothies which were around 5 bucks. Not too bad considering they bring it right to you. Bar service was also available on the first floor of the Taj Mahal lounge during shows. The dining in Normandies was great, but I feel would have been much better if we would have opted for a specific dining time rather than any time dining. The service was slow, but still very friendly and we looked forward to dinner each night. The hostesses loved our son, and would spend time playing with him when we walked up. We appreciated that. We went to Davids supper club one formal night and the food and service were out of this world. Gabriella was our server, and she was awesome. We tipped her extra (gratuity is included in the 30 dollar fee) and went down to guest services to compliment her service that night. She was very friendly and took time out of her busy evening to talk about live onboard a cruise ship. I highly recommend David's. By the end of the week, the food began to reveal that it was covered in spices, and eventually I longed for some Mcdonald's, but it was still great food. The only complaint that I have regarding food service was in Mermaids Grill: It was nearly impossible to find ice during the day. Often times drink islands were closed or broken, and all of the ice dispensers seemed to empty out at the same time. That was very annoying. We got room service several times, many times in the wee hours of the morning, and it was fantastic. We tipped a few bucks each time. We never once met the Maitre'd. We never saw him and only heard him on the public address speaker in Normandies. We did not see a reason to tip this person. The entertainment: The shows at Taj Mahal were very good. They were vegas style and enjoyable. Everyone seemed to enjoy them. We got there early each night to get close seats. The dancers were not in step often times, but it's no doubt they were dancing thier heart out. The time spent at sea were very enjoyable, and we wouldnt have minded even more time at sea. Kirk the cruise director was good, Jaimie his assistant was everywhere we were every minute of the day it seemed and she was awesome. Very nice, talkative to the guests, and seemed to really enjoy her job, as did Kirk. When we arrived at Baltimore to disembark. It was slow but not too painful. We hated to get off. It was a great time had by all, and all thoses preconcieved ideas about the ship were gone. We have only been home a week and have already booked a cruise on the Pride for next year! We loved the Pride and plan on sailing all available iteneraries before moving on to another ship.

Overall experience: Best vacation I ever had, and I cannot wait until next year when we go to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Freeport (UNEXSO here I come!) I was so wrong about the ship, the ports, the Port of Baltimore, and it will be my vacation home for years to come!