Where do I begin? My family and I have cruised four times previously, the most recent being Holland America to Alaska. Each cruise was on a different line and destination. We do have an idea what to expect, so anything less than those expectations and I would be letting you know my issues. I had some reservations about this cruise. The Carnival Pride sails right from Baltimore, and I live in the suburban metro area. I had heard lots of recommendations, but kept hearing this was a party ship. Pleasantly that was not the case. Not that you cannot have a good time, several of the bars have lively gatherings nightly, but I never saw or heard anything that suggested a party ship.
Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived around 1:15, and we were on the ship by 1:45. We had a family member drop us off, and the port’s team unloaded our bags with a minute or two of the car stopping. We had two brief lines in the terminal. One for security screening and the other for ship registration. We were in line an average of 10 minutes per.
The ship is about 16 years old and does show some normal wear and tear. Our balcony room was on the fourth floor, it was in line size wise and overall appearance with experiences on other cruise lines.