My husband and I cruised 9-30 through 10-7-2018... We live outside of Richmond so it was a simple 3.5 hour ride to Baltimore and decided to drive up the day before and stay.. (We stayed at Arundal Mills The Perserve Hotel Park and stay which was awesome because our car was safe in a garage for the week, we had a nice room and it was basically the same price as a parking space at the terminal) A quick uber to and from the hotel to port was ideal. 15-20 bucks each way and boom back at the car and on the way home in minutes. We booked about 1 month out and chose a cabin 8K , 7160 Premuim Balcony room.. We knew going in the ship was older. This was never a problem and overall I thought the ship itself was fine. It is going into dry dock in Feb 2019. Some of the decor was not our taste but overall they do a very good job cleaning. Baltimore port was great.. On the ship in about 30 minutes total. Our room was fine, a bit out-dated but we did not really care as long as it was clean and comfortable. Its an old ship. Our room staff was fantastic and they work extremely hard. 10 hour days, 7 days per week. That actually made me sad. Leave extra cash on the bed when you leave it in the morning. They work hard. I was impressed they knew our names after the first night. Food was good in the dinning room. We decided to book the Chef's Table and OMG it is fantastic.. They take you down in the galley of the kitchen and you can see the workings of the staff, system, etc.. during dinner. They serve approx 950 guest in an hour. Crazy but really interesting. Totally worth the money to do this and the food was really good. I was not a fan on the other area.. The food was greasy or not my style. We are more healthy option people and that was very limited in my opinion. I wish they had a smoothie bar, more salad options, protien bar, etc. I wouldve paid for that option. I guess because I work in a hospital it amazed me the amount of food people ate or piled their plates up and just left. I felt this was just a waste of food. Bonasi sushi was fantastic. David's steakhouse was great. Pools were nice. Shows fun, casino would have been better if it was smoke free..It smelled like an old grandma"s house that is a smoker.. Strong perfume, musty and smoky LOL... but it is true. Dr. E made the entire cruise.. He is hilarious. Laura in the dance group was so sweet and sent a gift to our room. A fellow London girl :) Tips: Bring a power strip (only one plug in the room) a beach towel, towel clips, They do not give towels out until 8-9 am, clip to hold your towel in place from the wind, lanyard for sail card, noise machine (you hear everything) fan, (our room was hot), Yeti type cup, Just easier, hand sanitzer and lysol to spray or wipe down cabin. and leave extra tip money above your 15% for the staff. A few dollars extra per day is just nice. They work hard. Overall I think the cruise was about a 6.8 out of a 10. Ports were just ok to me. I liked Turks the best. Freeport is a trinket hell of nothing and we were back on board with in an hour. What bothered me was how inconsiderate the people were.. Letting the doors slam going in and out of the cabins at all hours was just rude to me.. The door going to the deck I understand wind can get to it but to let it continuely slam over and over for a week is inconsiderate. The drunkedness of multipule guest screaming up and down the hall at 2am almost every night. These are not the fault of the cruise and I understand that but it took away from my experience. Would I travel again with Carnival.. I am on the fence on that.. Staff was overall pleasant, ship was what I expected, food in dining room was good, but food on LIDO deck was just not for me or my husband. Kids running everywhere out of control, drunks, and inconsiderate people, smokey casio would having me thinking again. Maybe If I did another cruise I would choice another port just because :) Read Less

Carvinal Pride Review 9/23-9/30 Grand Turk - Half Moon Cay - Freeport My Husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding Anniversary with a cruise from Baltimore on the Carnival Pride. We are first time cruisers and liked the convenience of a local port within a few hours drive of our home. Our son who is three and a half also cruised with us. After researching cruise lines, itineraries and ports we felt the Pride would best suit our needs for some family fun in the sun! As for our review it’s from a young family’s perspective and first time cruisers trying to learn the ropes. Although we saw most of the venues onboard we did not go into more of the adult themed areas like Serenity, some specialty bars, specialty dining, night clubs, ect. We learned the great fact about cruising is it’s what you want to make of it. You can do very little or have an activity almost any time of the day or night. To some this review will feel like we did very little, but it’s what we chose :) Our family had a blast. Port of Baltimore: It’s very convenient to get to and embarkation and debarkation moved quickly. The Pride: We found it to be a beautiful ship. The theme may feel dark and heavy to some guests, but I personally did not find her run down as some reviews had stated. Carnival Hub App: I highly recommend. Download at home and log in once on board. It accesses the ships wifi to give you tons of info while on board. You need not buy an internet package to use the app. Very handy to track S&S expenses, access the weather, see what’s open and what’s going on! Dining: There were so many choices! I can’t say anything I ate was terrible, some dishes were better than others. We had ATD and ate all dinners in the MDR. There was always a line regardless of what time we headed up to dine. It was fairly long most nights but always moved quickly. We were given a pager the first elegant night but our wait was under 15 minutes. Great meal selections in the MDR and desserts were nice as well. I especially enjoyed the tiramisu, wish it were a staple on the dessert menu. Lunch on the Lido has a lot of variety. We tried everything. Guy’s Burgers and BlueIguana are very good. My son really enjoyed selections from Chopsticks. My husband and I enjoyed the deli quite often for a nice MTO sandwich and the truffle fries are great! There is usually a short wait at the Deli as they prepare your sandwiches as your order. Pizza Pirate and the remainder of the buffet filled every gap in between. The 24HR soft serve ice cream was a big hit with our son, and we stopped there numerous times (a day)! Breakfast selections on the Lido were our go to. We did Sea Day Brunch once, it was also very good. Drinks: I found the ship’s drinking water to be very palatable. We had ordered a 12 pack of bottled water for our cabin and used the majority of that for taking along on port days. I packed insulated drinking tumblers for each of us. We would ice them up in the Lido and fill with soda which we carried on. They worked out great! Ship coffee on the Lido was strong, but we enjoyed it. The hot chocolate is very good! Mixes well with the coffee for a mocha style beverage. Specialty coffee was also good, especially paired with a cookie! We do not drink beer but all the mixed drinks we had were strong and delicious. I especially liked an extra dirty vodka martini, tiramisu martini, and hurricane wave. Pools & Waterslides: We enjoyed lounging around the pools and they are refreshing for a quick dip. Not a hot tub fan so I never ventured in there. Waterslides and kid’s splash area were never too busy when we visited. I did not witness many “chair hogs” in the pool area as some reviews have stated. Most mornings around the pool decks there were only a handful of towels out on chairs around 7:30AM. We were usually to the pools by 9AM and were able to find loungers around the Venus pool but preferred the Apollo pool as it wasn’t so loud or full. Ports: We enjoyed all three port stops on our stay, even Freeport which always gets a bad rap. Grand Turk was great! We were first ship in port. Be prepared for the locals to be persistent while you are walking on the beach. We politely declined them and walked down to Jack’s Shack. Very nice area of beach and great drinks! Margaritaville looked very busy, we just walked by. We also stopped at the Beached Whale. Beach is rocky there with a small swimming area, but the clamshells are free and it’s very quiet. Great spot for photos! HMC is spectacular. Most amazing water and sand I’ve ever seen. We spent all day lounging in water. Wait staff walk through the loungers taking orders. Ship photogs on site for pro photos. Island BBQ lunch was good. Buffet lines moved quickly and seating was ample. Wish we had a few days there, we hated to leave :) Freeport is industrial. Nothing to do directly off ship except the market. Booked excursion through Carnival for “beach at your leisure”. $19.99 PP no charge for our son. Roundtrip transport to a private beach club for just under 2 hours of sand and sun. Club was cute, water was rougher than GT or HMC. Drinks were tasty but we did not eat there. Fun time for a short stop. Glad we booked it! Entertainment: The list seemed endless, something for everyone indeed! Shopping: Nothing onboard “spoke” to me, but there were all kinds of stuff to browse. From perfume to purses, jewelry and trinkets, discounted booze and cigs in duty free. I did pick up local rum in GT for Christmas presents. Staff: All the staff we encountered on board was hardworking and attentive. They were super friendly and diligent about their jobs! Guests: Everyone we encountered was friendly and talkative. We met people local to our home area and some as far away as Alaska! I did not witness any unruly or bad behavior. Weather: We left the rain in Baltimore and it cleared by our first day at sea. We did hit bad sea conditions the afternoon and evening of our second full day at sea. The Atlantic can be unpredictable in the fall and she showed us her might with 99MPH winds. We had fantastic weather on our port days! A passing shower and light winds on the return trip. Read Less

I Love Carnival the staff was Awesome Dr. E was really good. Like being close to home the Port is 15 mns from my house. Did not eat in the dinner room that often. Entertainment was great.Ports Half Moon Cay was Awesome. Grand Turk was nice. Cabin was nice and taken care of well. I traveled with my husband and myself. We meet really nice people enjoyed just relaxing. Embarkation went very well like that you have a time. One thing I dislike is that everyone in the cabin has to get the Cheer package I do not drink my husband likes to have a few beers or a drink i do not think everyone should have to get it. I understand it is no way for them to check but unfair. I wish the Pride would go to more Islands as well. And I have more Vegetarian dishes... / Read Less

We booked this cruise about 2 months before sailing. We had a 4K cabin which is classified as an interior room with an obstructed view. This was a great option for us, we don't usually use a balcony but like to have the natural light. Our cabin steward was friendly. We only saw him on the first and last day of the cruise because we don't spend much time in the cabin but he remembered our names and did a great job. We had late dining. Unfortunately, the rest of our table never showed up but our wait staff, Michael, Robin, and Soping were great. They would chat with us and gave us great information about upcoming ports, disembarkation. Also, we had Ken the singing Maitre'd, he did a great job and has a lovely voice. The food was wonderful. We had fun doing trivia with Steph (need to get my ship on a stick) and karaoke. We really enjoyed the cooking demonstration and the ice carving demo as well. Dr. E is an amazing cruise director and always entertaining. We enjoyed the comedians if you get a chance to see B.T. do it. We did not do an excursion at Grand Turk since the beach is right off the pier. We snorkeled and saw many different fish and an octopus. We did the bicycle eco ride at Half Moon Cay and it was fun. There is really no reason to do an excursion there, the beach is lovely and the water is perfect, but the excursion did get us priority tendering so it had an added benefit. We did the all inclusive beach day at Freeport and had a great time. It was a 25-minute ride from the port to the beach. The umbrellas were included but tips are expected for the person who puts it up as well as the wait staff/bartenders. We had a great time. Ryan the waiter constantly brought out drinks and checked on us. Elaine who was working the other side of the beach appeared just as competent. They also had paddleboards and the staff taught people how to use them which was a nice touch. It was well run and everyone there was friendly. I would do this excursion again. I would do this same cruise again. We had a great time. Read Less

I chose this Cruise line because that first time I've ever been on a cruise it was so nice and enjoyable. My honeymoon on the Carnival Pride# Staff was not friendly the bar staff is very friendly other than that not at all. The staff barely understood English that meant really no communication. The food was loudsy they do not cater to ur eating habits if u did not eat pork there was not much of a choice. Guys burgers not good too greasy. I lived on boiled eggs and french fries. The price match false advertisement . I found a tour cheaper then I paid on board bought back apix of the difference in money they came up with a lame excuse it has to be On Line That's not wat the commercial saids IF YOU FIND AT LOWER PRICE THEY WILL REFUND THE DIFFERENCE!!! LIKE I SAID THIS was not a good cruise Read Less

My first attempt at a cruise review after 4 cruises. We were to leave Baltimore on September 9, 2018 for Bermuda. Because of Hurricane Florence we were rerouted to the Bahamas. Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. We cruised to those islands in 2011. I will give you some updates on changes I noticed on this cruise since our last cruise in 2016.. MY OBSERVATIONS: PARKING LOT: There used to be 2 lanes, one for cash and one for credit. The cash line was always the shortest. Now both lanes are open for either cash or credit. EMBARKATION: Seeming long lines at the 1:00 - 1:30 check in but they moved really fast. Carry on bags went through the xray conveyor belt but this time they were not opened and inspected like they did in 2016. We were aboard in about 15-20 minutes. Rooms were ready at 2:00. SHOWER: Water pressure in the shower was excellent. Shower curtain was extra long and didn’t wrap around you while you were taking a shower. I do wish they would add a small grab bar in the shower while the Pride is in drydock. ROOM SERVICE: Room steward brings a card and you check off AM, PM or BOTH. We were not pressured one way or another. We chose AM and wrote in ice. Our room steward was I Ketut and he was great! ROOMS: Our 4K room had a flat screen TV. Previous years you could find the day’s menu and check your sign-and-sail balance on the TV. Now you have to download the Carnival Hub to see those things. We didn’t take a device to use and locked our phones in the safe so this was no help to us. We would check our balance and add money if needed at one of the Kiosk’s at either end of the Casino. Never had to stand in line at Guest Services. I listed the TV Channels you get on the room TVs at the end of this review. BRUNCH: OJ was the only juice offered but you could ask for others. The bread basket came around and you could pick one piece. Menu was great! DINNER: We had YTD on the 3rd floor dining room. Bread basket was placed on the table. Water was really good on this cruise. Some choices came in little bit larger portions (caesar salad especially). Our waiters were awesome! Arta, Arya and Libin. At around 5:30 the line would start forming for the YTD. Crew members from the Dining Room were nice enough to bring those disabled guests right in to a table so they didn’t have to stand in line. I thought that was very nice. In past years they had a menu board outside the Dining Room with that night’s dinner menu. This cruise there was none. LIDO: Lots of good choices for lunch. Breakfast was always the same. I am not a fan. Best drink we found from Lido was to put about ½ inch of lemonade in the cup, add ice and then fill with water. Excellent lemon-water! Lido now has platters alongside the plates. Perfect to use as a tray if you need one, especially for bringing coffee and pastries back to the room. GUY’S BURGERS: Guys is a matter of opinion. Some love it and some do not. My husband loved it but I don’t usually eat burgers. The fries looked greasy and not crispy. However, I love fried onion sandwiches! I got a burger roll from Guys and filled it with the (yes, very greasy) fried onions from their fixins bar. Delish! PIZZA: We both preferred the pizza of 2 years ago made on a flat bread/foca bread type crust. This time it was made on traditional round pizza crust and it was served as ½ pizza when you ordered. (Unless you wanted a whole one. Approximate size was a medium). SHOWS: We didn’t go to any of the musical shows except KARAOKE which was fun. Hosted by Assistant Cruise Director Bendy Blake who was awesome! We did attend the CARIBBEAN SHOPPING SHOW. As reported by others, it was a waste of time, just telling you where to shop on the islands. (Stores associated with Carnival). Love and Marriage Show was hosted by Dr. E and of course it was very funny. He asked around 10 questions. COMEDIANS: Didn’t attend but heard they were very funny but only about 20 minutes sessions. Last couple of nights they had no comedians because they were to be picked up in Freeport on Friday but we skipped that port and came straight home Thursday after Half Moon Cay. CASINO: We spent a little time in the Casino on the first night. The smoke was unbearable. When we got back to our room, our clothes smelled like cigarette smoke! I wish they would make the table game side of the Casino the smoking section and the Slot Machines on the right as non smoking. That might help a little. DH was able to pick up a stack of $100 from the claw machine. We saw a couple other people grab one as well. CREW: As always, you won’t find a nicer, friendlier crew anywhere. When ship is docked in a port, the crew members are busy cleaning. CRUISE DIRECTOR: Reverend Dr. E (Eversen) was so funny and personable! Best cruise director we have ever sailed with! PORTS: GRAND TURK: We were last in Grand Turk in 2011 so it has been awhile. Back then Carnival advised to stay in the Carnival port area and not wander off beyond there. This time, locals were everywhere in the port. They offered golf cart rentals, jeep rentals, tours, chairs and umbrellas closest to the beach. It was really a big difference and to me it just seemed overcrowded with so much going on. Port shops were great. Half Moon Cay: Awesome as always. Captain announced on Thursday evening when we left Half Moon Cay that we would not be docking at Freeport on Friday due to Hurricane Florence. We would leave right then and go farther out to sea and around the Hurricane on our way back to Baltimore. Friday was a rough sea day as we did hit some rough seas. This also cancelled the Comedians for Friday and Saturday as we were unable to pick them up in Freeport. DEBARKATION: We did self-assist for the first time and loved it! If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer. TV CHANNEL SHOWING 11 FUN FINDS 13 CRUISE LIFE 14 CHANNEL GUIDE 15 SAFETY INFORMATION 16 FUN ABOARD 17 CARNIVAL ADVENTURES 18 MAP CHANNEL 19 FORWARD CAMERA VIEW 20 LIDO CAMERA VIEW 21 AUDIBLE FUNTIMES 22 CNN 23 CNN INTERNATIONAL 24 CNN SPANISH 25 HLN 26 BOOMERANG 27 CARTOON NETWORK 28 TNT 29 TBS / WATCHED IN ENGLISH/COMMERCIALS IN SPANISH 30 TCM 31 TRUTV / SPANISH IN PM & ENGLISH IN AM 32 FREE MOVIE CHANNEL / MOVIE GUIDE BETWEEN MOVIES 33 FUN FOR ALL 34 OCEAN VIEW 35 GOOD TO KNOW 36 MUSIC CHANNEL Read Less

Price was amazing! Dining food at dinner and breakfast is very tasty and artfully presented. Love Ken, the Maitre'd singing each night! Such a talent and lots of fun. So convenient being AFT with a fantail suite with the DR only a few floors below and the Mermaid Grille which always has something open 24 hours. We highy recommend the Pizza Guys who make custom individual pizzas for you. Delicious! Best crust ever! Our suite number was 4237 or 4327? We prefer to be higher but when we booked this was the only floor remaining with a 1-BR, fantail HUGE wrap-around balcony remaining. Spa is excellent. We had a couples salt scrub followed by massages. Luxurious. 7-night cruise. Had to divert to just outside Charleston on 2nd night as personal onboard was in medical distress. No problem. All was handled beautifully. We had to skip Grand Turk but that was no issue because we got Nassau instead. My husband and I love to eat in Nassau at Athena's Greek Restaurant whenever we are there -- it never disappoints. Service is impeccable and food scrumptious. You won't want to leave. Carnival's private island, is truly fabulous. Loved the trip! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it departed from the port of Baltimore, It saved us from having to travel to Florida for departure. The guy who attended to our room ( ARNOLD) was super great. The activities on the ship were second to none. We really liked the comedy shows and the late night party at Beauty's.. This ship was run very professionally by Dr E. Every thing was well coordinated and on time. We found ourselves opening our balcony door whenever Dr E came on the speaker just to be updated. There were some times i felt like we were in a buy buy an excursion, painting, or a steak or something from one of those shops, but I guess that's part of the business.Sometimes i also felt like the staff was on a mission to sell me something by using the word ( Free) to get me to buy something. Of all the people we met on the ship we ( wife & myself) was very impressed with the person ( ED-Warren) i think that's the way his name is spelled. Professional, cheerful, positive and a breath of fresh air.Every time we came down the steps he greeted us with a good morning evening . He always addressed us by our names as if he knew us for a long time. I know it't job to sell but he did it in a way to make you feel not pressured to buy anything. Ed_Warren was always smiling and better yet always and I mean always professional. People like that make me want to travel on that ship again Read Less

Everything was great. We had amazing weather the entire trip. Leaving out of baltimore was super convenient and getting onboard was a breeze. Parking is simple and is 15$ a day. Our luggage was taken before we parked and arrived in our room at a resonable time after we left. We explored the ship and our room was ready by 2pm. Food was plentiful during embarking. There was always activities going on and we were always busy or relaxing. Ofcourse this is an older boat and perfection wasnt expected. But the boat was clean and beautiful. Our room was great and the balcony was fabulous. It would be nice if everyone jad common courtesy of not banging there doors closed and being loud on there balconies. If you hold the door handle while it closes it doesnt bang shut, super simple poeple.thats really my only complaint. My neighbors sucked. They knew eachother and felt it to be cool to constantly communicate from there balconies on either side of me before 6am alllllll the time. Again all it takes is simple common sense and respect for others. Ok rant over, we loved every other minute on the cruise. Grand Turk was beautiful and half moon cay was even better! We did an excursion at freeport just bc we wanted a day out of the sun. We did sea and see and it was ok. Nothing amazing although our tour guide valerie was awesome. All of our meals in normande were great and the servers are awesome. Guys burger was ok but fries were amazing. Blue igana was ok. And this could just be a me thing since im really just a simple eater. My daughter loved the ice cream machines. The pools were nice, crowded but fun. People do save chairs alll day which is unfair but i did see crew put stickers on chairs they saw being saved but guests didnt seem to pay them much mind. Again just common courtesy some people just dony possess. Pg comedy shows were good and ee enjoyed the lip sync battle. We didnt make it to any of the shows, casino or clubs. My daughter did go to camp ocean one day and was bored crazy within 20 minutes. The fitness center was nice and the spa was good, we got massages. It can be loud tho so although it was relaxing it was noisy as well. I didnt feel super pressured to purchased lotions which was nice but i did get a speel about it. All in all it was a great time and we would for sure do it again. Read Less

My daughter and I went on this cruise because I had not been vacation in five years and to celebrate by 40th. After much research I figured a cruise was my best bet because they have a camp on board where I could leave my daughter if I wanted some adult alone time. First, embarkation was not what I expected. We arrived before our scheduled arrival time and were waiting around when an older couple started talking to me The woman said I should not wait and go through the line anyway because it takes a long time. I'm glad I ran into her. Once you get in the building, the line is ridiculously long, then you have to wait in seats until they call you to get on the ship. Once we got on, we went to have lunch like most of the reviews suggest. The party started right away with plenty of music and dancing. We didn't really tour the ship because we had a carry-on but after about an hour and a half, a staff member let us know we could get in our room. I let my daughter change into her bathing suit and we went to the kids water area and we almost missed dinner. Our luggage arrived around 8. Dinner each night was amazing. Our wait staff was awesome and always called us by name. We even enjoyed our randomly chosen table mates. The second night the waiters sang happy birthday and I got a special dessert. Each day there were plenty of activities to do, so much so that I missed some things I wanted to do. I also dropped my daughter off at Camp Ocean during the first two sea days and she really enjoyed it. Only two complaints: On the first night it was scheduled that someone would be there for the evening to tour the space and meet the staff. When we got all the way there, there was a sign that they would not open until the evening. Other complaint is that the room was always freezing. I was also disappointed with the Seuss at Sea breakfast. It was rushed, the food was not that great and it was more about getting the kids to take pictures to buy later. While the space looked beautiful, I wish it would have been more kid-friendly and interactive. We had a great time at all three ports. Bring plenty of sunscreen! We did the family beach excursion at Grand Turk which was ok but not worth the money. Turns out there is a beach as soon as you get off the ship. I liked that the private beach was quieter, but we lost a lot of time waiting on our ride and getting to the location. I also did not care for the food but my daughter enjoyed it (rice and beans, jerk chicken and some cold salads) Half Moon Cay was amazing. They need more drink stations. We also did the nature walk and I wish I had saved my money. The tour guides acted like they had no desire to do the tour and it was something we could have done on our own. At Freeport we did not get an excursion so got in a cab and went to the shopping center. Again, we lost a lot of time waiting. The sellers in the straw market were very pushy. I had no intention of spending much money so we walked to the beach which was pretty much empty. Many of the hotels are closed from the last hurricane. You must get the guava duff from Zorba's. I had been in Freeport 10 years before and became hooked and it was just as good (have them heat it for you) As far as the ship, we never made it to every floor. It is huge! My daughter enjoyed the water play area and mini-golf when it wasn't too windy. You can almost get blown over on that level. The evening shows are a must to attend. The first night there were not many people but attendance increased each evening. The group on our ship should skip Motown night because they butchered all the songs. Their singing got better during the last few nights. Breakfast at the buffet is tough because it's hard to find seating. We did brunch in the dining room during the first morning but service was expectedly slow and my daughter was getting antsy so we did the buffet the rest of the week. They should have more staff at the deli and pizza spot because the line was always long, especially when the rest of the buffet was shut down. You also can spend a lot of money if you're not careful. The cost of pictures adds up and there are going to be other things you want. You also get bombarded by spa staff trying to get you to visit. I also got well over 15,000 steps each day just in doing normal activities, not trying to work out so be prepared. Also the Lido deck gets very slippery! I almost fell one time with some flat bottomed slides then wore my sneakers and slides with better grip. Disembarkation was a headache. You have to be out of your room early, breakfast ends early and then you're sitting around forever waiting for your group to be called. Definitely have the ship take your big luggage off.Then you have the rude people who get in line before their number is called. Overall, we had a great time and I am ready for our next cruise but will pick a cruise with different ports. I will say that I got sick during the first sea day and slept much of the day but was fine for the rest of the cruise. I did experience what I believe was vertigo for almost two weeks afterward which I was not prepared for. Read Less