We sailed 8/5/12- 8/12/12 with our 16 year old daughter and 18 year old son. This was our 3rd Carnival cruise. We have enjoyed past cruises on other lines including Princess, NCL, Celebrity, and RCI. We loved spending the time together as a family and enjoyed ourselves very much on the Pride.

We noticed RIGHT off the bat the desire from Carnival to spend $$$ on drinks. Everyone who passed wanted to sell us a drink when we boarded. About the 4Th encounter with yet another drink salesperson, I requested that the dirty dishes that sat at our lunch table from the previous people be cleared and the drink waiter got very vague and said someone would do that. No, I don't think so, but there were plenty more asking us about those drinks. We notices the drinking theme, jokes, and references to be much more so than on other cruises. Also they ask and ask you for drink orders especially outside, but then take a long time to come back with it. I would rather not be asked and just grab one quick when I wanted it at a bar.

That being said I enjoyed my share of drinks of the days and we enjoyed the nice variety of food choices on board. The meals in the Normadine Dinning room were excellent. We also enjoyed the made to order omelets and cooked eggs each morning in the buffet. There is a Sushi cart from 5-8 every night outside the casino. There were good sandwiches, and chocolate cake from room service too. Read more