Dean Garrison

Age: 42
Occupation: Retired Air Force, Government Contractor
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Carnival
Name of Ship: Pride
Sailing Date: June 14th, 2003
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

My wife Sherry and I drove in to Port Canaveral on Friday, June 13th. I had reserved the “Cruise Package” at the Cocoa Beach Hampton Inn. For $85 total, we received a balcony room, free parking for the duration of the cruise, and transfers to and from the pier (plus $3 each tip both ways). Considering parking at the pier would have been $70 for the week, this was a GREAT deal! We walked the beach on Friday and then drove to Rusty’s, which is on the port across from the Carnival pier. Had a great “early bird” special as well as Happy hour specials (3-6pm). Went back to the hotel and rested up for our cruise.

We woke up early on Saturday and enjoyed the free continental breakfast downstairs in the hotel. The shuttle was scheduled to leave at 1215, but I decided that we’d get down there early. They called us a Taxi at 1045 and we went to the Carnival terminal. It only cost about $14 with the tip. We were a cat 8a guarantee, so we had to change luggage tags at the pier. I found out that we had been upgraded to 8h, cabin 8210, which was on the Panorama deck, mid-ship! Needless to say, I was VERY happy with the upgrade to the highest cabin deck! I hadn’t told my wife Sherry, about getting a balcony… so I was getting excited about her seeing the room!

We flew through the security check and the check-in procedure, then had to wait until 1200 to board the ship. Once they opened up the gates and started the procedure, it was very fast and fluent. Walking into the atrium, we were in awe…. It was magnificent! We went up to the 8th floor to put our carry-ons in our room. Needless to say, when I pulled the curtains and Sherry saw the balcony, she was VERY happy! The regular cabins on the Pride are all 185 Sq. feet, very roomy for cruise ships. I’d been on the Inspiration and the Enchantment of the Seas, and the room is much larger than on RCCL. We then went up to David’s, the upscale restaurant to make reservations for Sunday night. Once again, it was really easy… more on David’s later. We then went to the Mermaids grill for the lunch buffet. I liked the layout of it… different lines for different cuisines. After lunch, we then bought a frozen thingy for Sherry and explored the ship. My wife is an Art teacher; so needless to say, she was engulfed by the ship’s artwork. So many different lounges with different themes, but most of the common areas of the ship were decorated from the renaissance period. We went up to our room to enjoy the balcony and relax before muster and sail away. Muster went smoothly, but as the case during the summer, it was quite hot on the deck. The usual grumbling from people who didn’t know better was prevalent, but I thought it went as quick as was possible. A quick trip to the cabin to deposit the life preservers, then it was up to the Lido Deck for Sail Away! The weather was beautiful as we parted the hundreds of small boats heading out of the canal.

We met our Cabin Steward, Reshma from South Africa, that first afternoon. We asked her to clean out the mini-frig, so that we’d have room for our sodas, etc. She was very efficient and friendly, always with a smile no matter what time of day. Our luggage arrived about 1½ hours after we set sail. Using tips I’d learned from the message board, I “un-bubble wrapped” our libations from our checked baggage… no breakage at all! I attached the bungee cord to the balcony door (another tip I’d read), and it worked like a charm! We slept every night with the balcony door open…. the sound of the wind and waves singing us to sleep (ok, that was corny!).

Our Dining room team was Head Waiter Virgil from the Philippines and asst waiter Vanessa from Peru. They were absolutely wonderful… Vanessa always made sure that I had my small glass of milk with dessert!!! The “shows” that the dining room staff presented every evening were wonderful. There was lots of singing, dancing, costumes and asking the cruisers to join, too. It was a blast! The food was exceptional… there was always a tough choice to make every night (except on lobster night). We were at a table for six (table 223), smack in the middle of the Normandy dining room. We only had one other “regular” couple at our table, Craig and his wife from Cleveland, Ohio. They were a very pleasant couple and we had great conversation every night. The other couple only showed up on the third night… I guess they had other plans the rest of the cruise!

Now for David’s…. what an experience! We decided to make reservations for Sunday night at 730 after a day at Half-Moon Cay. It is located on the 10th deck of the Pride. There is a reproduction of “David” at the very top of the Atrium inside the restaurant. Needless to say, it was “anatomically” correct! There was a pianist and a vocalist throughout dinner, and they were wonderful. We danced in between courses…as we were there for about 2 ¾ hours. The staff was very attentive, we saw about 5 different people during our time there. We brought a bottle of Moet White Star on the cruise and they kept it at David’s until we showed up for our dinner. They didn’t charge us a “corkage” fee; they didn’t even ask if we acquired the bottle on the ship. The surcharge for David’s is $25 per person, and this was the best $$$ that we spent on the cruise. The presentation of all the courses is 2nd to none. I’ve eaten at a few 5 star restaurants, and I’d classify David’s as 6 stars, without reservation. For my main course, I ordered the South African Lobster…. it was HUGE!!! My wife had the Porterhouse, and it filled up the whole plate. She enjoys her steaks rare to medium-rare and it was done to perfection. To bad, she couldn’t eat it all… I had to help her. Oh, well… the sacrifices that I make for Sherry. The rest of the meal was just as luscious…. And the flourless chocolate cake made for a magnificent dessert! They even gave us a “Happy Anniversary” cake for later and sang to us…. It was truly a memorable evening. We were so pampered that I felt guilty. I almost had Sherry go in to the kitchen and help wash a few dishes. I’m just that kind of “caring” guy…

Earlier Sunday, we tendered off of the ship to Half-Moon Cay, the private island in the Bahamas. The weather was perfect, as it would be for all the ports. Our cruise director, Michael, made an announcement that we needed to shower off completely if we went into the water at the beach there. He said that there were a great deal of small jellyfish, and that jellyfish “lice” came with them! That didn’t stop a lot of people from getting into the water there… it was so clear and the beach was a pristine white powder sand. We set up our lounge chairs at the edge of the water and enjoyed the sun. Carnival sets up a “barbeque” just off of the beach at Half-Moon Cay… it was great too! They provided hamburgers, Hotdogs, Salads, desserts with all the trimmings. There are numerous covered shelters with picnic tables around the bbq area, so everyone that wanted a seat, got one. There is a small gift shop on the island, and you use your Sail and Sign card in it. There were a few “native craft” booths set up too. They had a wonderful band on the island, which played the whole time we were there. Just as on the ship, Lemonade and tea were free. Soft drinks and alcohol were the same price as on the ship, again you just used your S & S card. Since we were going to David’s that evening, we left at 2pm and tendered back the ship to get cleaned and rested up.

Monday was the 1st “fun day” at sea. I used it to explore the casino a little bit further! I just missed getting in the finals of the slot tournament, placing 13th (top 12 advanced). I was a little bummed until I hit a jackpot on the slots that night! That paid for our shopping the next 2 days. My wife used the day at sea to finish the novel she was reading. She alternated between the Lido deck and our balcony. I went searching for her and somehow wound up on the topless deck! I was so shocked and appalled!!! It took me at least 20 minutes to get over the shock and make my way down from there. I’m a little slow sometimes, as I found myself mistakenly up there later on in the week, too. At the Captain’s cocktail party Monday night, we asked a couple if we could sit with them. We started talking and before you knew it, we had made friends for life with Rick and Susan from Kentucky. We spent the rest of the week cementing our friendship. Susan even told us of Rick’s fear of kittens, that’s all I’ll say about that (with a grin on my face). We had reservations with Godfrey for a tour of St. Thomas the next day…. They had no plans yet. We ended up deciding if Godfrey had room that they would join us. This was also our first formal night; we had a blast in the Ivory Lounge (Piano bar) after dinner.

Tuesday was our day in St. Thomas. I had picked up a tip on the message boards about Godfrey Renal and his tours. I would HIGHLY recommend him to everyone! You can find him on the web at www.godfreytoursvi.com/ . I wouldn’t put his web address on here without the highest assurance of everyone’s satisfaction. I emailed him, telling him what Ship I’d be on and the day that I’d be in St. Thomas. He emailed me a very nice reply telling me all the info that I’d need to spot him on our arrival. Godfrey had my name on a placard when we departed the ship at 9am. I asked him if there was room for our new friends, and he said “of course”. Godfrey’s tour bus (open seating in the back like a jeep) was brand new and was quite comfortable. There were a total of ten of us on the tour. Looking at all of the crowded busses, we felt pampered. Godfrey gave us a quick synopsis of the island tour and then took us to the downtown shopping area. He told us that he’d be back at 1145 for our tour of St. Thomas. 2 ½ hours of free time shopping, my wife was on cloud nine. I had mistakenly forgotten to leave my wallet on the ship (just kidding, dear), so I was ready for the “shopping bag haul”. We did the normal for the people back home… T-shirts first. I learned from my 21 years in the Air Force how to bargain, my wife would probably rather I didn’t. After 1½ hours of trinket shopping, we went to Diamonds International; Rick wanted to look for a ring. He found a beautiful Solid gold Panther ring. After about 10 minutes of dickering on the price, he bought it and a watch for his wife. Luckily my wife’s tastes weren’t so expensive this cruise! We mailed off some Post Cards from the Post Office, which was on the way to Godfrey’s pick-up point. Godfrey met us at the prescribed time, and away we went. Winding up the mountain, as Godfrey narrated the trip from the truck cab over a speaker, we were able to see some spectacular scenery. We stopped a few times so that Godfrey could explain in detail about the many hurricanes that have hit St. Thomas, as well as the history of the island. He was VERY thorough and attentive to our questions and us all. We finally made it to the highest point on the island and took about a twenty-minute break to experience their world famous banana daiquiris. Well, my wife did… I’m not much of a daiquiri drinker. My idea of an exotic drink is Red Stripe Beer, which I was able to get on St. Thomas, too! At the top of the mountain, there is a medium-sized, air-conditioned shopping center… very nice! The prices are a little higher than down in the city, but a lot cleaner and no pressure at all. After our break, we continued our tour down the other side of the mountain. Godfrey gave us our choice of beaches, and we all decided on one, Sapphire beach. Godfrey said this beach had the best snorkeling, so I was happy that everyone decided on it. He would have dropped us off at separate beaches, in case you were wondering. We arrived at Sapphire beach at about 2pm which gave us 2 hours of relaxing. We ate at their outdoor restaurant; they had a wonderful spicy chicken breast sandwich. We all got changed after that, and stepped onto the beach…. Once again the weather was perfect. I went snorkeling and Godfrey was once again right… the reef was beautiful! I brought my underwater camera and got some excellent pictures. I will put them on the boards when I get them back. One thing that I did forget was my reef shoes. On my way back from snorkeling, I got in some shallow water. I carefully stood up and yelled for my wife to throw me my sandals so I could walk out without cutting up my feet on the coral. Now for the story of the cruise…Remember Rick’s new Panther ring? Well, he wore it on the beach without getting it sized down. To make a long story short, he went out swimming and lost it! He had been searching for it for over 15 minutes and had given up. I had just gotten back from snorkeling and decided I would find his ring. I went out to about 6-7 feet of water, looked around for about 2 minutes. The sun came out from behind the clouds, I looked down and something was glimmering in the sand! It was Rick’s new panther ring (like you didn’t already figure that out). I picked it up, showed my wife and sarcastically said, “Does it look like this?” If anyone has been to Sapphire beach, you know that the sand is very fine, and the odds of the ring not disappearing into the sand before 20 minutes would be very high. Needless to say, I drank for free courtesy of Rick for the next two days! Godfrey picked us up at 4pm and took us back to the ship. Now for the unbelievable part, Godfrey only charges $20 per person for this daylong tour. We, of course, tipped him accordingly, in addition to the Oklahoma Sooner's T-shirt I brought him from home. If you do book with him (online is the easiest), take him a T-shirt from your home state; he’ll enjoy it. I emailed him a Thank you when we got home, and he’s already replied telling me how much he enjoyed showing us “his” St. Thomas. You won’t go wrong with Godfrey. I’ve been on three cruises, and this was the best time I’ve had on a tour. If you do book Godfrey, tell him that Dean from Oklahoma sent you!

Wednesday was St. Maarten. We had learned from our previous cruise, that sometimes you don’t need to book an excursion (some are tiring!) at every port. We decided to take a water-taxi from the ship’s pier to the edge of downtown Philipsburg. It costs $5 per person for an all-day pass and for those of you with kids, under 12 is free. We did some shopping and bought my wife a gold cross pendant among other things. Gold is definitely cheaper on St. Maarten. While my wife was doing some more shopping with Rick and Susan, I used the $10 match play coupon from the ship for one of the casinos downtown (across from MacDonald’s, the Casino D’Nour, I believe). I was dealt a 20 and beat the blackjack dealer for my $20 profit from the coupon. You also get a coupon for a token on the free pull machine… We just kept the token as a souvenir. I played their slot machines while I waited on the rest of the gang and actually won another $30 in quarters. They also give you free drinks if you’re playing. After they came and retrieved me from the casino, we headed for the beach. The beach in the heart of Philipsburg is wonderful. Once again, the weather was outstanding. The clouds would come and go, allowing you to cool off in between bright sunshine. The only problem on that beach is the constant vendors coming by to sell you their goods. You just have to say NO thank you firmly and they finally get the idea. You might want to consider wearing your bathing suit under your clothes in St. Maarten as my wife and Susan had to walk all the back to the tourist center to change. You can find cans of beer for as little as a buck a piece or 2 Hinies for 3 bucks on the beach. My wife wasn’t a bargain finder on this afternoon… she found bottled beer for $3 at the Everything Cool bar. <Grin> We left the beach in the mid-afternoon and took the water taxi from the mid point of the beach back to the ship. We went to the Mermaid Grille and had lunch, then got back off the ship to check out the little strip shops just off of the ship’s pier. Don’t bother… twice as much for their souvenirs as opposed to downtown Philipsburg. The only thing cheap at that shop was Cigarettes. For those who smoke, they were only $11 per carton there. You can only buy 1 carton per person in St Maarten, but you can buy up to 4 in St. Thomas. The same ratio goes for alcohol too…. The prices are great at both places! Next time we go to St. Maarten, we’ll check out the French side of the island. Orient Beach <eg> will just have to wait until then! Wednesday night, there was a late night party on the Lido deck… lots of dancing and fun into the wee hours with a live band.

Thursday and Friday were “Fun” Sea Days. I returned some of my profit back to the casino, but had lots of fun doing it. We spent after dinner (again) in the Ivory lounge, singing along with the “Piano Man”… what a blast. Thursday was our final Formal night. Since our regular dining partners were eating at David’s that night, we asked if Rick and Susan could join us at our table. Virgil said it would be no problem. We had a great dinner… it’s just wonderful to see everyone dressed to the “nines”. At Friday’s farewell dinner, Virgil presented us with a watercolor litho of the Pride. Virgil and Vanessa personalized it for us, which made it very special… It was quite the perfect memento of the cruise.

Saturday, sadly, it was time to leave the Pride. Debarkation went smoothly. After they called our color baggage tag, we were off the ship and in our shuttle in 10 minutes. I was very surprised at the quickness of the process. Unlike our previous cruise on the Inspiration, our baggage was together in the same “color” section. That made it a snap to find. We flew through customs, no questions asked, then out the door to the pick-up point. Art’s transportation took us back to the Hampton Inn. We tipped the driver, put our baggage in our car and off we went… back to Oklahoma. This was our best vacation ever, made some wonderful life-long friends. Who could want anything more from a cruise?

Odds-n-Ends:

They take A LOT of pictures, be prepared.

We only went to a few of the shows, but what we saw we enjoyed. We spent most of the time after dinner in the Ivory Lounge.

There were 500 kids on board, but you couldn’t tell. There were a few rowdy ones, but for the most part, the teens were well behaved. The Butterflies and Beauties lounges were usual hangouts for the teens. I did not see any blatant underage drinking. One question for this certain 14 year old girl’s parents, “Where were you when your little girl was out at 3am looking for boys?” I’ll leave it at that.

The terminal at Port Canaveral is very well organized. For those of you who’ll park at the terminal, parking is right across from the Carnival pier. The personnel were very polite, too.
I brought crisp two-dollar bills for tips. The baggage handlers and room service seemed to enjoy receiving those.

There was a slight vibration in the dining room the first night. I never really noticed any movement of the ship after that. It was “smooth sailing”.

I enjoyed the “separate stations” in the Mermaid Grille. They had different sections for Oriental food, rotisserie, Pizza, Deli, Salad, desserts, etc. Very well organized and thought out.

The Balcony cabins on the Panorama deck are definitely the best! The overhang extended about 5 feet above our balcony due to us being directly under the Lido deck, so no one could look down into our balcony. (It’s a good thing too!!!) We could look down and see people leaning over their railing, but for the most part; all of the balconies are private. There was plenty of closet space, and the bathrooms were better designed than the ones on the inspiration. If you bring your own mixers, etc, have your room steward empty out your mini-frig. That way you won’t be tempted to buy the $4 water and $8 peanuts! When you empty out your safe, be sure to remove the little carpet and feel around the edges of the safe, even the corners. One pair of my wife’s gold earrings had found their way into the front corner of the safe. I also found a previous cruiser’s earring there, luckily for them it was just costume.

I found the pre-tipping convenient, never having to “put back” money or get change on the last evening of the cruise. I never experienced a lack of service because of the pre-tipping.
Bring plenty of film for your camera, you’ll need it! I took just as many pictures on the ship as I did in the ports. If you snorkel, bring a waterproof camera, too.

Well, that’s it! I hope you enjoyed your three cups of coffee while reading this! If you have any questions about the Pride or the itinerary, please email me at SoonerG@aol.com . One final tip I’ll give you: Don’t be afraid to ask someone if you can join them, you’ll make some great friends that way! If Sherry wouldn’t have been late getting ready for the Captain’s party, we would have probably found a table to sit at by ourselves in the Starry Night lounge. As it was, I asked some perfect strangers if we could join them. Well, after about 10 minutes, Rick and Susan were no longer perfect strangers, and now we have friends for life! We’re already talking about taking a cruise next year, hopefully with them.

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