My husband, 3 boys (ages 11, 11 and 10), and myself sailed on the Pride during spring break week- Mar. 24-31, 2013. This is our third cruise, completing the trifecta of major cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and now Carnival).

EMBARKATION: First, this was absolutely the easiest embarkation we have experienced. Our cruise documentation listed our boarding time as 1:30-3:30, however my husband's sister dropped us off at the port at 12:00 because she had somewhere to go in the afternoon. We figured we would get to the port, check-in and settle in for a long wait. So we were very pleasantly surprised that we barely had a chance to breathe and we were on the ship. There was a short security line and no line for our sail and sign card. After getting our cards, we were directed to the waiting area and within 5 minutes or so we were boarding. As I said, we were dropped off at the front door at exactly 12:00 and we were in the Mermaid Grill eating lunch by 12:40- doesn't get any better than that!

SHIP'S DECOR: After lunch, we had to wait until about 2pm for our staterooms so we walked around and checked out the ship. Yes, as other reviewers have stated, the artwork is everywhere. I really liked looking at it and thought it added a nice touch, however I don't think they made the best choices for artwork placement. For example, on one wall there is a huge, wall-sized Renaissance painting of a nude woman reclining in the grass. This made my children laugh for half the trip. There are also several scratched out nipples on the nude paintings in every elevator. As long as you are prepared for the extensive artwork, you should be ok. Walking around the ship, it is obvious that it is an older ship and getting to be in need of refurbishing (apparently scheduled for Jan. 2014). While the ship was extremely clean, there are spots of wear and tear on the carpets, seats, walls, etc. Read more