Carnival Pride Review
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This was our 5th Carnival cruise and 9th overall and an enjoyable one. Here are the highlights, with just a few lowlights:
EMBARKATION: Parking was a breeze in Baltimore, and you can literally see your car from the ship. When we first arrived, we were able to pull right up to a luggage tram and watch the porter put it on. Parking is self parking, and a short walk to the terminal. We arrived around 1:30 knowing the Pride had been running late the past few weeks, but even that was too early. Guests from the prior week were still debarking, and that lasted until 2:15. We boarded about 3:30 as thousands of people were already ahead of us. Given that, the lines did move quickly and check in was not bad. Be warned, there is nothing to eat in the terminal. The few vending machines were sold out in no time. There was water put out by Carnival and water foundations, but that was it. We brought sandwiches with us, as we had a 3 hour drive without traffic, and noticed envious stares.
FOOD: Very good to excellent. Perhaps 2 dinners were okay and the rest were quite good to even better. Seriously, I think my favorite food in the whole world is the chocolate melting cake. DW never ordered it as it is too sweet for her, but my mouth waters just thinking of it. I also ordered the butter pecan ice cream and have it melt in the cake, and top it off with a glass of milk. The only other dessert I ever had was the bitter and blanc which was also very good. We ate breakfast in the dining room, and the only complaint is that it never changed. I have been on other lines where they will have a special everyday (blueberry pancakes one day, chocolate chip the next day, etc.). The Mermaid grill on Lido is very confusing. Even on the last day I still did not know where everything was. The Chinese food station was excellent (and this is coming from a New Yorker). Wonton soup, shrimp roll and entrees great. I do not eat sushi but my kids do and about half the evenings sushi was served on deck 2 near the casino entrance. They enjoyed it and had it a few times. The Lido also served fresh fruit at breakfast and lunch that was very fresh. My best compliment is that the food overall seemed high quality and tasty.