Carnival Pride Review
Carnival delivers- for an experienced and first time cruiser
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Well, what can I say? Carnival does it again! On our way home up 95 all I could say to my wife was, when we pick up our son- can we make it back in time for another trip out to sea?
We had an experience that will continue bringing me back to cruises and actually got my wife (her first cruise) hooked and wanting to come back. We booked this cruise because it was local and would keep costs down by avoiding airfare. I knew the ports weren't on the top of my list, but we had a wonderful time.
Embarkation was "smooth sailing". We left South Jersey at about 10:15am and we were parked and in the Port of Baltimore by 12:30pm. I would say by 1:30 or 2:00 (absolute latest) we were on the ship. We ate lunch up on Lido, wandered the ship to get my bearings and give my wife the chance to get a feel for what is on the ship and were in our room by 3:30. Luggage got there by about 5:00ish.
Cabin Review
We were on deck 1 (Riviera) mid ship, room 1191, ocean view. The room was plenty spacious, closet space was fine for us. I had 2 suits, my wife had 3 dresses and tons of shoes. If we were doing a 2 week cruise, it may get a bit cramped for storage. We encountered some moderately rough seas, so being on the first floor made it not quite as rocky as it could have been. We were just above something that was causing quite alot of banging in the morning. I'm not sure what that something was, but it was a bit annoying. Not so much that I'm complaining. I have a 15 month old, so I'm used to not sleeping past 6 or 7 am. The only complaint I do have is that the room smelled pretty strongly of smoke, which is why I rated the cabin a 4. I know that smoking is not allowed, but the fact is that it did smell of smoke and with a pregnant wife whose sense of smell increases 10 fold during a pregnancy it was uncomfortable for her and I really don't care for the smell either. The previous guest must have been smoking and that made it a bit undesirable. I have cruised on the 1st deck for all of my cruises. I said to my wife that the next time I think I would prefer to try to get a balcony room. Although, we vacation for fun and value, so maybe not, if the price is right.