Diana, Bon Voyage

I am in complete and utter envy of you at this moment.

Have a wonderful, relaxing cruise.

A'ndrea

Okay, Diana... anytime now. I am anxiously awaiting your fabulous review on Pride.

A'ndrea

Geez A'ndrea....you beat me to it!!!

HIIIIIII!!!!!! DIANA

Welcome Home!!!!!!

I'm with A'ndrea...we're anxiously waiting....

Any time now....

my goodness it sure is taking you A LONG time!!!!

Oh yeah....WE MISSED YOU!!!!

Hi Michele. She's probably too busy scheduling and planning her next cruise.

A'ndrea

I'm BACK Let me just start by saying.... OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the best vacation ever! I have so much to share and so much to recommend. I have no complaints! Just raves and yahooos. We loved is to much that I cried when our waiters sang us their goodbye song! I am also 5 pounds heavier. EASILY!!! I will be posting my review and comments tomorrow. I am falling asleep as I type but I wanted to at least entice you a little. Andrea, all of your advice was helpful and Michele, I wish I could go with you in Sept. Let's just say that I got off the ship and pulled out the Carnival Cruise Line booklet to start planning another one! I promise to post tomorrow and as our cruise director Tina said, "Toodles!" I am uploading all of my 345 pictures on webshots and will add the link tomorrow as well!

I knew you would love it as well

Diana,
I'm not one to say I TOLD YOU SO!

I cannot wait to read your review and see your photos.


So, Pride has changed Cruise Directors since February. Tina is her name? Good. Both the C.D. and the Hotel Director were pitiful when we were on Pride. I'm sure cruisers complained. You don't verbally abuse the people you're hired to please.

Can't wait to hear from you.
Just so you know... it's going to be impossible for an older ship to measure up to Pride. You are spoiled by her. You're going to have to upgrade next time. Liberty perhaps.

Glad to see you've been bitten by the cruising bug. It's infectious.

A'ndrea

Diana, I am also anxiously awaiting your pics and review.

Welcome home and I am so glad you had a great cruise.

We are on the Pride Sep 2 and I can't wait.

I tried to watch you embark but the webcam was down and then was pointed some other silly place in the harbor yesterday, but got to see the pride in port for a while early yesterday.

Was thinking about you.

Brenda

Yea- I am glad you had such a wonderful time...makes looking forward to mine that much better!

And just think...March 2009 WE GET THE BRAND NEW SHIP THE SPLENDOR!!!!! We will be waving goodbye to the Pride and HELLO to an outdoor movie screen, Children's Waterpark area, etc. etc.... I think we are going to take the Mexican Riviera again on the Splendor for my 40th birthday that month. I have already decided to check it all out while we are on the Pride.

Well can't wait to see the pics and hear the review!!!!! AND I HAVE a TON of questions for ya!!!!!

A'ndrea - I was worried about that whole "sucks to be on a smaller ship" thing when I was thinking about taking the Conquest in 2009. I really want to do the Western Caribbean...and RCCL Freedom of the Seas is a titch out of our price range. It's so darn hard with the four of us. Then adding the airfare in. The Conquest would allow us to afford the cruise adding the airfare...but I may just be spoiled be the Pride! Imagine that!!!

Brenda...the count down starts for you! 48 more days!!!!! WOW thats exciting! Have you decided on any shore excursions yet?

Hi Michele,
I totally understand your concerns.

When you start totally up Pride -- the cruise price, airfare to LA, extended stay in LA on front and back end of cruise, meals. Times this by 4 people. It adds up very quickly. Pride was our only cruise this year. It has to be. College tuition is due.

We are just now starting to plan our '08 cruise.

We haven't been to Eastern Caribbean yet. So, that just might be next for us.

A'ndrea

Michelle and all,

Yes, it is getting exciting.

We have contacted a man in PV and he also does MZ who is available to give us our own customized tour.

We are all over 50, don't care much for the zipping, atv'ing, snokeling thing, so we are just going to have him and van for the day and go where and when we want, with air cond and him to give us tips/suggestions. All five of us together.

He says he will stop when/where we want to if we see something interesting and he will stay with the whole day.

Sounds like our kind of deal.

And in Cabo, a couple of WabaRita's and I should probably start back for the ship. Stumbling slows ya down ya know?

LOL - I can't wait to hear new review and see new pics.

bw

This waiting is killing me... waiting for our cruise was bad, but this waiting for Diana's review is wrenching.... lol

She is probably so busy and head still in the clouds, hope she does not forget about those of out here salivating waiting to see her pics and hear all about it.

And I hope that I can live up that also when i return. LOL

Okay I know you are all awaiting my review. I had a terrible sleep. I got so used to the soft rocking of the ship to lull me to sleep that I couldn't get to sleep last night. I kept dosing off all day. (I'm still on vacation)

I have never done a review so I guess I will start with day one and go from there.

Embarkation: The check in and embarkation process was a snap. We got there around 9:45 a.m. and did the early check in at QM. There was no line! They gave us our sail and sign cards and a slip of paper that tell us our loading zone. We had loading zone 1. There were benches there and we waited for about an hour and half which flew by really fast and were on the ship by 12:00 p.m. (I highly recommend early check in at QM because you avoid the long line and while these people are still checking in, you can enjoy lunch on the ship.) We entered the ship on deck 3 which has the portrait studio and the shops. However they immediately sent us to deck 9 which is the lido deck to have lunch at the mermaid's grill. The buffet was great! They have so much food that you don't know where to begin. Mermaid's Grill is also a nice place to sit and enjoy the view from the inside. It has large ceiling to floor windows and is great for cold days at sea.

The decks you need to remember are decks 9 and 2. Deck nine has the buffet, pizza, pools, and outdoor bars, and deck 3 has the atrium bar, casino, and Taj Mahal where they have most of the shows and other entertainment.

We had access to our rooms around 1:15 p.m. Our steward was awesome. He went out of his way to explain our room procedures and where he was if we needed anything. On our first formal night, we left the room in a disarray. We came back and it was spotless. We are very organized people and I think that he appreciated that we made his job much easier. He left the boys extra treats on a few nights. We also loved the towel animals. We got our luggage around 7:00 p.m.

Normandie. The first night was casual because you don't get your luggage on time. Although many people did not follow the dress code on the other nights. I was a little bugged about this because we made sure to follow the dress code. Otherwise, the food was fabulous. All I can say is that you have a so many choices! They had veal, escargot, prime rib, lobster, duck, steak, etc.. it was so gourmet. The starters were amazing as well. Just remember that you can order anything that you want as many times as you want. The desserts were out of this world. Creme Brulee, The melting chocolate cake, and the list goes on. They also have a childrens menu and they give the kids crayons to keep them busy. Dinner takes about 2 hours from start to finish but the time goes by very fast. Our waiters were awesome. We were at table 316 and had Winston and Adalberto. I really loved Adalberto! He knew that I always had coffee after dinner and that Ryan my 7 year old always ordered chicken nuggets with fries, brownies and an extra piece of bread every night.

We had breakfast at the normandie every day. The food is great and we enjoyed getting served. It can get pretty chaotic at the buffet so we thought that lunch at the Mermaids Grill was good enough.

Overall, the wait staff was excellent I never felt so well taken care of and pampered in all of my life. Every person on the ship always had a smile on their face and made sure to always greet you. These people work very hard to make your time as enjoyable as possible. I made sure to greet them myself and thank them for their hard work.

This ship always had something for everyone! There was so much to do that I didn't have enough time for everything. They had bingo, comedians, las vegas style shows, animal towel making classes, dancing, dancing classes. galley tours, The horse race( I was number 2 and lost) ETC. I highly suggest that you participate and have fun. You may get tired but take advantage of the entertainment and enjoy it. You can also relax at one of the three pools on lido deck 9.

The only problem I ran into was that someone stole my towel! So watch out for that. If you check out a towel the pool or bring one from your room, keep an eye on it or you are responsible for it. I laid it on a lounging chair and got into the hot tub, when I went back to it 10 min later it was gone. Luckily, one of the guys working the towel check out gave me a new one.

If you are planning on lounging by the pool, get there early. It gets pretty full around 11:00 and there are no chairs available after that.

Late Night snacks: you can order room service or go the pizzeria. Their pizza is awesome! Even if you are not a pizza person, you will become one. They also always had coffee, ice tea, lemonade and orange juice. This is all on deck 9.

Pictures: The photography staff is continually taking pictures. The pictures are available on the following day. If you are planning on purchasing any, make sure to do it the following day. Do not wait until the last night on the cruise. The lines are long and it is hectic.

Ports of Call =

Just a quick note, you don't get a lot of time for shopping at the ports. The cheapest port to shop at is Mazatlan. The most expensive is Cabo.

There is a port of call talk on the ship. They will give you pamplets with maps and places to eat at. We only at out at P.V. and Cabo. We found that we were better off eating on the ship.

Also, when shopping or catching a taxi, make sure to barter, barter, barter. They start with very high prices and you can get them low. Just act interest and say things like what? The other guy said 10 and I thought that was expensive. Even though there was no other guy. I got a guy to sell me a cowboy hat for 10 and he started at 20. I also got a lady to sell me a swim suit cover for 12 instead of 20. Taxis shouldn't cost more than 40 pesos one way. If they say more than that "say 60 pesos! " They will lower it.

Puerto Vallarta was nice. We did the pirate boat the Marigalante. Carnival offers this tour at night not during the day and now I know why. We missed the pirate boat and had to be taken to it by a small dingy. It was great except that I got sea sick! I never thought that would happen but it did. I was hurling at the back of the boat. Luckily I had some bonine with me. However, it ruined my day. This excursion to us to a private beach called La Majahuitas. They had banana boats, kayaking, snorkeling. I was afraid to do any because of the motion sickness. They also had an open bar on the beach and boat. They served great breakfast and lunch too. Breakfast did not stay too long in my belly. After our excursion, we went back to the boat showered and went out to the city. Watch out for the white cabs. They are paid by time share owners. Only take the yellow cabs. Also, do not fall for the cab drivers food suggestions. They are also paid by restaurant owners to take you to their places. We went to a restaurant called La Chata. It is authentic, faces the ocean and costs about as much as eating at Red Robin or TGIF. It is located right on the main strip and there are lots of shops there.


Mazatlan - We took the Shopping and Beach tour. It was the best. It ran so smoothly. We met at the Taj Mahal and they led the way. They provided taxis to the shopping area as soon as we got there we saw an indian show. After that we were able to shop at our leizure. We then walked over to the resort called Plaza Mazatlan Hotel. It was beautiful. As soon as we got there we checked it, and got our beach towels. They had a room just for us to change and shower. After we changed we went out to the outdoor restaurant which faces the ocean and had a buffet lunch which was spectacular. We also had a choice of two margaritas, beers or soft drinks. Of course i had the margaritas. We then enjoyed the beach. Once were were done, we showered, returne our towels and they sent us back to the boat.

I really enjoyed this excursion because they did all of the thinking for us, we just had to show up.


Cabo - Okay. I know that many people have said, do not take the water taxis. Well everyone did and you know what, they were safe! Look for the nice taxis though. We did the lands end tour and that was cool. You could see the fish clearly throught the water. We then went to CABO WABO. The food was great and is not expensive. We walked around a little. There is not much shopping there. It is expensive and it is more of a party town. We decided to take a water taxi to the beach. It cost 14 round trip for three.If you are interested the ship is called Fredy but will be changing to La SONAJA. The owner is Walter. I know you can trust him because I paid him and he did come back for us at the time that I asked him to. He also threw in a little water tour to the end of the penninsula. The beach was great. It was a little cold but clear. We hung out and had a few margaritas. Afterwards we went back to the ship. It was a formal night so we got beautiful, had a great dinner, saw a show, went dancing and then saw a midnight comedy show. All this in one day!

Clothing - The first 2 days on the ship are cold, so take a light jacket. Once you hit the Mexican Riviera on Tuesday it is warm. You will change alot. Especially if you go to the beaches and swim at the pool. Saturday was also cold. I suggest you bring a pair of jeans and a light sweat suit for the days and if you plan on going to the gym. You probably think, I'm not working out. Trust me, after eating and eating and eating you will wish you brought some work out clothes. I did.
We changed at least three times a day. Formals are as formal as you want to get. The other nights are pretty casual. Do not wear jeans to the normandie please.

Camp Carnival. As soon as you walk on the ship a crew member will hand you a flyer with meeting times. You will meet after dinner at the Butterfly Lounge on Deck 1 to sign up your kids. This was the best thing I could have done. They have some many activities for them to do. My son Ryan made a friend and looked forward to hanging out with him every night. They exchanged emails and they live pretty close so we are planning play dates.

Plan your activities around the one that you want to do if you feel bad about leaving your son/daughter in too long. They close for lunch and dinner although they do have dinner time for kids that do not want to eat with their parents. Camp Carnival closes at 10:00 p.m. but they have slumber party time from 10:00-3:00 a.m. for $6.00 an hour. This was great because we got to do those late night shows. Also, friday night they have their farwell party with games and prizes. Some of the activites they have are" Knights night, Mexican Party, Dinosaur Education, Volcano creation and eruption, color a camp carnival t-shirt, Pirates we will be and treasure hunt. They will give you the itinerary for the week so you can plan ahead.
My teenage son made friends immediately and i only saw him about twice a day.

Michele, it was a great idea that you booked a room on deck 5. Camp Carnival is located at the forward part of the ship and you can access it from either side of the deck.

Cruise Critic - This was one of the best things that I could have done. I replied to a roll call for our cruise and I met some great friends. We met the first day on lido deck. One cruiser had a son my own sons age and they hit it off immediately. The other had a daughter my sons age. We all hung out a few times during the cruise and are planning on keeping in touch and hanging out on land.

Visit cruise critic and see if there is a roll call for your cruise date and if there isn't post one. It is great to have some down time with other people on the ship.

If you have any more questions, please post them and I will reply!

The debarkation process begins the night before. We had to place our luggage outside our stateroom between 8p.m. and 12 midnight. We left out our clothes for the next day. Don't forget that!

Debarkation - There is a debarkation talk on Saturday. I suggest you attend that. That night you will get your comment card that you should fill out and place in the boxes throughout the ship and your declaration form for customs. Have them filled out. You will need your sail and sign cards, passports and customs claim form to debark. They will open mermaids grill at 6:3o a.m. and normandie at 6oa.m. for breakfast.

They will begin debarking first by those that are taking early flights home, next by self debarkation and last by the color of your tags on your luggage. (make sure that you get the tags that are sent to you with your docs. If you do e docs they will give you blue ones. The blue are not the color of your deck.) Get your actual tags from the pursers office if you do edocs. I will explain why below.

Debarkation - You can wait on deck 2, deck nine and Taj Mahal. It went very smoothly. It was quiet in mermaides grill and everyone followed directions. I highly suggest that you do what we did. We got up at 6:00a.m. and left our room by 7:00 with all of our carry on items. We went to mermaids grill, found a table by the windows and had breakfast. it is cold in the morning so we waited at our table until our color was called. Do not get up too late because they will start calling colors out around 8:00 a.m. and a few people that sat down late for breakfast had to leave right at the beginning of their meal because their color was called. Once you get called you go to deck three. you sign out one last time with you sail and sign card which you get to keep. You go through customs where they will check passports and stamp your declarations form. You will then go to baggage claim. All bags are placed at sections with the signs announcing the tag color.
Our tags were blue so we went to the blue section. When we got to claim our luggage, we couldn't find it. We looked and looked for about 10 minutes when I finally went to a crew member. It seems that the online edoc tags are color coded blue and they stand for VIP. The crew members thought that our luggage was VIP and they sent it to that section. If I had know this, we would have debarked VIP but of course we were not. That was a relief. Everything had gone so smoothly and we thought that someone had stolen our luggage!
If I think of more things I will log back on and add them.

I am so glad you posted that review, Thank You SO MUCH Diana!!! I am leaving on the Pride in NINETEEN DAYS. It always seemed before this like something that may happen far in the future - now it is actually real. We are also taking the Beach and Shopping trip in Mazatlan, so I am glad that you liked it. I am having lots of dreams: I brought the wrong plane tickets, forgot our birth certificates, cannot find the ship, etc. But we just went shopping for all the items everyone at Cruise-Chat has recommended: Bunjees, clothespins, highlighters, bug spray and ponchos, umbrellas, the over the door shoe holder, and more! I have kept careful track of all the suggestions and went off to Target with my list, haha.
I want to thank everyone for all the advance help, and thanks to all of you for your helpful reviews. Diana, I am so glad you had such a wonderful time!

Cynthia i am so excited for you. you will absolutely love it. my kids are already planning our next one. My 7 year old was busy browsing the Carnival Catalog today. Please ask me any questions. I have uploaded my pictures to webshots and will be adding comments tomorrow. I will post the link then!
Diana

Diana, what a great review ! Sounds like a great time was had by all...

47 days and we will be on the Pride.

I can't wait, but I guess I will have to.

Looking forward to your pictures.

bw

Diana - All I can say is WOW!!!! I had tears in my eyes reading your review....I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I need a few hours to let it all sink in - I have sooooo many questions for you! I am glad you are back! Sorry about PV - what actually made you late for the Pirate Ship. Did Pride get in late? Or was it the different times ship vs. port? And yes, I am very excited about Camp Carnival. I believe we are 12 rooms away! I can open the bedroom door and watch him go there!!! Ok just kidding... I wouldn't let him go by himself!!! (I'll send the 13 yr. old down with him!!! ) That was very important to me to be so close - I know Tyler will have a blast down there!

You changed your Mazatlan tour....I thought you were heading over to El Cid. What changed your mind...which tour did you go through?

In Cabo - same question...which tour-did you still use J&S? And which beach did they take you to. I would like to go over to Lover's Beach...but with the two kids I hate not having any "restrooms" out there.

Well I will start my list of "additional" questions and post later. I need to go read your review a few more times!!!!

Glad YOUR BACK!!!!

Michele, I got teary eyed on our last night at dinner when the waiters were singing their goodbye song. My son Chris was so sad that he couldn't hang out with his new friends anymore. He was with them 7 days about 15 hours or more a day.

Anyways here are the answers to your questions.

Mazatlan - We decided to go with the shopping and beach tour through Carnival because it was the only excursion that we booked through them and I wanted to know what it was like. Well it was awesome because they did everything for you. I did not have to worry about tranportation and food. I highly recommend this excursion for those that want to shop for a few items and relax afterwards at the beach. I uploaded my pics and will be posting comments. I made sure to take pictures of the resort.

Cabo - We did the glass bottom boats through J&S Tours. We did not get off at Lovers Beach the water was too rough. Instead, we took a water taxi to Medano Beach. Click on the link below and you can see it. http://www.allaboutcabo.com/
You can see the boat from the beach and the side of the arcs. Many people from the Pride were there. They have bars on the beach and Ryan had a great time playing there. They also rent out seadoos do parasailing there.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Where can we go to see your pictures?