Better Than Expected

I took this cruise because it was 45 minutes from my home. It cost $105 to park your car all week. I had an interior cabin with 2 narrow beds. There were 2 of us in the room. There was more than enough closet and storage space for 2 people and plenty of hangers. We had Late Dining, but were able to be changed after the first night to the Early sitting. This was much better for us. We were seated with 5 other couples. Our Dining Waiter Paul Chamberlain was excellent at remembering names and all the requests. He also liked to dance. Carnival has the waiters do a dance every night. Some did not look thrilled to be doing this. The food was just OK I had no complaints. Also ate in the Steakhouse one night and the food there was excellent. On the Lido deck, the Mermaid Grill food was also OK, especially Guys burgers and the Pizza place.

Our cabin was sufficient but I found some change in the bedside drawers (2 drawers); which suggested the drawers are not wiped out after the last guest.

I was VERY ANNOYED that in the Red Frog Pub, late night, with folks drinking alcohol, they let people bring children/toddlers in there to run around. This disturbed people on the dance floor, and distracted from the excellent band, CoCo Notes. Come one Carnival, I get that you want everyone to have fun but there is a time and place for children! The man who brought these kids had no insight his kids were disturbing people. Carnival it takes away from an adult experience when you allow children in drinking venues. Who wants to be around little children who should be in bed at midnight?

The Casino was also pretty smoky. I was surprised to see smoking and Vaping is still so popular.....

Carnival did give my companion lots of perks for playing in the casino; which were also extended to me.

I got a Pappasan lounger twice in the Serenity Lounge; but you have to be there before 7 am to get one facing the very back. I found a man trying to reserve 4 of them in the back, (with no towels or belongings on 3 of them) and I told him that wasn't right, and I told him so, he agreed and I took one!

Gran Turk island was the worst port I've ever stopped at. The beach where the ship stops is rocky and full of boulders. There are hardly any free umbrellas and there are people there trying to steer you to the paid ones for $25. Be careful at this beach, its crowded and you will stub your toe or trip over one in the water. I also ordered 2 cocktails from the Maragaritaville there and it was $32 with tax and tip! There were no bar waiters circulating on the beach.

Half Moon Cay was a tender port and much better. Carnival serves a nice lunch there for free. My last experience with a private island was with Norwegian where you get charged for food on their island. The water was beautiful. Most of the chairs don't have umbrellas for shade. Get off early so you can try to score a covered chair.

Freeport stop was cancelled due to a recent hurricane. We had 5 sea days in total. I didn't mind because I just wanted to relax and read.

The Pride is a small ship, holding over 2000 guests. The Carnival Magic (4000 + guests) was parked next to it in Grand Turk, and you could clearly see that ship was twice as big and way longer. I liked the compact size of the Pride. It was easy to get around the ship no matter where yur cabin is located. All in all I enjoyed the cruise and would take it again not for the onboard activities and ports; but for rest and relaxation. Fortunately the ship was not overrun with children on my Sept 22 departure.