Carnival Pride Review
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This trip was a last minute vacation. I had been looking at vacation destinations for a months before this cruise but my husband and I weren't able to get away. My parents celebrated their 75th birthdays this summer and they will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this fall. They were talking about possibly going somewhere to celebrate their milestones but as always they don't like to travel by themselves. I convinced them to go on vacation with me and happily volunteered to be their tour guide. My husband wasn't able to come along due to work issues. I wanted us to go to Mexico or the Caribbean but my Dad refused. He wanted to go to Myrtle Beach which I nixed so we compromised on another cruise.
We left from Baltimore on the Carnival Pride for what was supposed to be a seven day cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. We booked two side by side balcony rooms somewhat at the last minute. I didn't really think about the weather when we booked, but as the cruise got closer, I realized that we may have some trouble due to Hurricane Irene. It ended up that the ship had to disembark from the prior cruise a day early and spend Sunday out at sea without passengers, so we had to set sail on Monday. Carnival gave everyone a credit for the missed day. The amount ended up being pretty much what I charged on my Sign and Sail card during the cruise so I came out even. I still would have rather had the extra day.
My husband was going to drive us to Baltimore on Sunday to see us off on our vacation. Since we left a day late which was on a Monday, he had to work and couldn't drive us. I was worried about the effects of Hurricane Irene on traffic so we booked a car service with Premiere Limousine from PA and were picked up at 7 AM. My husband and I used them in a pinch last year and they were able to squeeze us in their schedule again without any problems. It was very convenient and the driver was courteous and proficient. We bought trip insurance through Carnival and when we got home I tried to convince them that they should pay for the last minute transportation but they refused.