Cruising on the Carnival Pride

My wife and I and some of our friends just came back from a cruise on the Carnival Pride. It was a seven day cruise out of Baltimore. For those of you that read my articles titled “The Foolish Man” and “We Need to Change the Law,” this cruise was planned and paid for before all of those issues arose, but even if the issues stated in those articles did not cause me financial distress, the point I was making would still be valid.

That's enough about that. I am writing about my experience on the cruise. We sailed from the port of Baltimore on March fourteenth. First, I would like to thank the Carnival Cruise Line for making cruises available out of Baltimore. It is so convenient to drive less than an hour, drop off the luggage and head right for embarkation. It also makes the cruise quite a bit cheaper not having to pay for airfare.

The embarkation process was very smooth. I actually have to go by the time it took my friends to board. This is my ninth or tenth cruise on Carnival so my wife and I had VIP boarding and that was very quick. I would guess that we were on board in no more than two hours from leaving home.

The cabin was very comfortable. You can't expect rooms to be huge on a cruise ship but it wasn't much smaller than a hotel room. It had everything that a standard hotel room would have and a basket full of the kind of things that one might forget when traveling. We had a balcony but to tell you the truth, in the future, I wouldn't pay extra for it. A cruise from Baltimore at the end of winter does not put you in warm weather for several days. We went out on the balcony just a few times and no more than a few minutes at a time. We spent the vast majority of our time out of the room.

The ship itself was beautiful. It had a European art motif which I thought was a little out of place on a Caribbean cruise but I'm sure the ship will be used for other itineraries. There are images of classic European nude paintings all over the ship so if you think that this would bother you or your children then maybe you should not book on the Pride.

I could never say enough about the hard work that is put in by the staff on the Carnival Pride or on any of the cruise ships that I have been on. I have never been treated more like royalty from the stateroom steward to the waiters in the dinning room, every member of the staff works as hard as they can to make your cruise comfortable and worry free.

If I had to knock anything about the cruise I would have to say that the food was good but it wasn't as good as I had experienced on other cruises. I am a big eater on a cruise. I make the same announcement as I am walking on a cruise ship to start a cruise. That announcement is, “Let the eat fest begin!” I ate early and I ate often. The food was good but the preparer didn't seem to know the difference between a medium rare steak and a medium steak. Also I am of Italian descent and I need my pasta fix. I didn't find their Italian dishes to be the best. I'm not saying that the food was bad; it was tasty. I am just saying that I have had better on other cruises.

There is nothing like sailing over the ocean and watching the waves and ships on the horizon. We even were treated to a pair of dauphin playing in the wake of the ship. I really enjoy the “at sea” days when there is nothing to do but go to the gym, wander the ship, do some gambling, eat like crazy, and watch the beautiful scenery.

The ports are good for adventure. The ship excursions are a good way to go but they can be a bit pricy. They have some great adventures if you're willing to pay for them. They have everything from swimming with dauphins and other creatures to four wheeling through a rain forest. The major benefit of the ship excursion is that your are guaranteed not to miss your boarding time back on the ship. If you go off on your own and you don't make it back by boarding time the ship will sail without you. There is always a worry of going miles away from the ship and having your transportation breakdown or not show up to get you back. We have done a lot of excursions over the years and our favorites were the snorkeling excursions off a catamaran. Now we feel we'd rather not spend the money. We are not that bold about wandering around in other countries so we will walk to things close to the port or just stay on board. On this cruise we stopped at Port Canaveral. The ship had an excursion to Kennedy Spaceflight Center but we decided to go on our own. Our group of eight found a transport service at the port that took us to Kennedy Spaceflight Center and back. The cost of the transportation and the ticket into the space center was about thirty dollars cheaper per person that the cost of the excursion to do the same thing. Kennedy Spaceflight Center is fantastic. It is definitely worth seeing if you're in that part of Florida. 

When we got home the debarkation was so smooth that we almost didn't know it happened. It did help that we went out on the VIP line, but the overall process had improved greatly over the years. It seems that they focus on examining your bags when you board. While you are relaxing before the ship sails your bags are examined. Of course your carry on is screened on embarkation. At each port everything you bring on board in carefully checked. Doing this allows them to only spot check during debarkation and feel confident that nothing harmful is entering the country. They did a wonderful job in this area.

Overall we had a wonderful time. I would sail on Carnival Pride again next week if I could. Cruising is still my favorite vacation.