Carnival Pride (July 2022)
PRE CRUISE TIME:
We flew into London about a week before our cruise. Stayed in a perfect location right in Central London, about a couple mins walk from the London Eye (just to give a point of reference). We are a family of 4, and I pre-purchased the 5-day London Pass for us 4 and we got to see and do so much in those 6 days we were there… we went to Westminster Abbey, View at the Shard, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, The London Bridge Experience, Boat ride down the Thames River, London Zoo, Royal Observatory Greenwich, Cutty Sark – all of which were included in the Pass, and saved us a lot of $ (over 50% savings) vs if we had bought tickets on our own once we got there. We also did some things outside of the Pass (London Eye, British Museum, Change of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, several markets). We walked a ton, took the tube, bus, overground train, their DLR.
From the over 2 dozen sights we saw in London, my personal favorite or most memorable was when we were in Little Venice and we took a boat ride up the Regent’s Canal to Camden Lock Market. That boat ride was very quaint and picturesque, and we got to pass by parks, the London Zoo, and Victorian houses. It’s really a beautiful area and I day dreamed a bit of living there until I saw the price tag of a typical house there, lol.
Then the day before our embarkation, we took a private shuttle from our London Hotel to Dover, where we stayed there for 1 night. After checking in, we walked to The White Cliffs of Dover (about a mile from hotel to visitor center), and walked aaaalll the way east to the National Trust Lighthouse (another 2 mile hike from visitor center to the Lighthouse). It’s a beautiful walk with gorgeous views and I highly recommend it if anyone there who has at least 2-3 hours in Dover.
EMBARKATION:
Very smooth, once we got to the terminal. We had the 10am check-in time, and I arranged a taxi to take us from our hotel to the terminal around 9:30 or 9:40, even though it was only a mile away. Taxi was on time and waiting for us right infront of the hotel, and only cost us £7 total. He dropped us off right at the gate, which was closed by the Dover port security since it was before 10am as they were not letting any taxis or drop-offs to the terminal before then. So we had to walk with our luggage from the gate area to the terminal, which was maybe a 10min walk. Once we got to the terminal, it was a breeze through security and check-in. There was no wait time at all, and we had VeriFLY completed, so we just showed that on our phone with our passports, and that was it. We were then in that waiting area until they cleared us to board, which was somewhere between 10:30 and 11, and then that happy dance walk on the gangway onto the ship.
SHIP (FIRST IMPRESSIONS):
As soon as you board, you are immediately hit with by the Renaissance (old world) feel and theme décor, with like replicas of Mediterranean paintings and statues. Some areas of the ship looked more updated (like Alchemy bar) than others. It is a 20 year old ship, so seeing some wear & tear is not surprising, but it didn’t really bother us since we had realistic expectations for what to expect.
As far the layout, I really enjoyed it. Ship is fairly small at least compared to the newer ships and easy to navigate. I really liked that the Butterflies Lounge where all the Punchliner comedy took place is on Deck 1 fwd, which is right underneath Taj Mahal Main Lounge where the main shows and other entertainment is done (which is on Deck 2, and 3 and 4 fwd). So you finish a show in Taj Mahal in the evening, and just take the stairs down to Butterflies Lounge for the comedy club.
I also loved the “Sunset Garden”, which is this little Interior Promenade on deck 3 fwd around the Taj Mahal theatre, both on port and starboard side. There are some chairs there with windows and a great little quiet place to watch the ocean, or chillax or read a book if you’d like.
OUR CABIN:
We had a standard balcony on deck 7 mid Starboard side, and it was pretty standard compared to other balconies had in the past on other Carnival ships. Cabin had enough desk top space, a mini-fridge which was empty, and a safe; that old stype safe where you have to swipe a card to lock/unlock. There was enough drawers and shelves and hangers for all our clothes. We hung one of those over-the-door shoe organizers. There was no USB or plug outlets by the bed that we saw, only a 110 and 220V outlet in the middle of the cabin below the mirror, and also an outlet plug in bathroom up high near the ceiling; which we used for our electric toothbrushes. Bathroom was pretty standard. Curtain shower. Balcony had 2 chairs that you can lift the back support to make it a lounge chair, and a small table. Since we were a family of 4, our sleeping arrangement was the 2 twin beds together (converted to a King), single sofa bed, and 1 upper pullman.
DINING AROUND THE SHIP:
We us being onboard for 3 weeks, we ate everywhere on the ship! Lol.
You dining options are: Lido Buffet, MDR, Guy’s Burgers, Blue Iguana, Deli, Pizza (all free), then extra cost/Specialties are Bonsai Sushi, David’s Steakhouse, and Chef’s Table.
Buffet Lido: It was fine. Self service ofcourse, exception for the omlette station, which I always got one in the morning. Breakfast food on lido was fine but a bit repetitive since it’s mostly the same everyday. Lunch time had some more variety, they also have Chopsticks there which was also self-service, and ofcourse you have Guy Burger’s, Blue Iguana, Deli and Pizza…. One thing though is that it was would get packed and sometimes hard to find a seat at peak times. It was a bit upsetting when you saw some people playing cards or just chit chatting with no food or anything on their table, while others were trying to find a seat, and some even ended up eating around the pool area or even their cabin.
MDR: we had Early assigned dining @ 6pm, and we ate there on most nights (I think 18 nights, out of our 21 nights). That is because one night we were in Reyjavik all day until 10 or 11pm; one night we ate in the Steakhouse; and one night we ate The Chef’s Table. I’ll go over each shortly. Food and service in MDR was good in our experience. We had a table for 4 and were we always immediately greeted by name as soon as we got there with bread basket and water poured. We always got there right at 6pm and were consistently done between 7-7:15pm, even with my 3 or 4 or sometimes 5 appetizers that I ordered every night, lol.
On Sea days we also ate in the MDR for Sea Day Brunch which was good. You basically check-in on the Hub app when you’re ready, and they assign a table for you which you get notified through app. Our dining room hostess was great. On one of the first Sea Days after a table was assigned to us, when we got to the dining room I saw it wasn’t busy, so I asked the hostess if she can change our table to be one by a window, and no problem so she got us one. Then every Sea day after that, whenever I’d check in on the Hub App and go to the dining room for the Sea Day Brunch, she’d greet us there at the entrance and tell us “I got you a window table”, which was something I didn’t expect and ofcourse you can’t reserve that on the Hub App, which means she remembered our name and our preference.
We are in Bonsai Sushi one day since my wife and I love sushi, and it was good (we got the boat for 2).
We did David’s Steakhouse on our 2nd night of our 2nd leg, and the service was top notch. We got a complimentary bottle of wine, and food was super delicious. All of it, from the appetizer, main, side, and dessert. I personally had their 3 kinds of bread, the lobster bisque soup, cowboy steak, baked potatio, and the chocolate sphere for dessert. We were all done in under 2 hours.
We also did the Chef’s Table, and it was phenomenal!!! The whole experience— the service, the food, the entertainment. We started off first in one area where they served us this fancy tea and a couple of treats, then moved us to another area where they had assigned seats with our name on it and all, and it was an amazing! We were served Chef’s Taste, Duck, Surf & Turf, Sea Bass, Lamb, Prime New York Strip, and a couple of super delicious desserts Patisserie Art, and Mignardises (which was a burnt custard tart, almond chocolate, caramel, raspberry licorice, elderflower caviar). Well worth the extra cost and so happy we did it.
ENTERTAINMENT ONBOARD:
During the day there was always Trivia going on. And Bingo ofcourse. In the evenings, they always had stage/production shows, done twice (at 7:30, 9:30), repeat of each other. We’re not a big fan of the stage shows, but did thoroughly enjoy the “Viva Variety” (one man/woman show instead of whole production cast). Some were singers, some were funny entertainers. Three of my favorites were Kate Lindeman, Jonathan Timpanelli, and Marcus Anthony! They were all very different but really wonderful! Kate has the most beautiful voice and sang Classical and Opera…. which I love. Jonathan is a very charming and funny and has a good voice, and Marcus is always a pleasure to see him sing and get the audience to join him! Love & Marriage show was ok (same questions heard many times before), and Deal & No Deal was fun, which was fun and done once per cruise; kids enjoyed it. Besides those, you’d always find me in the comedy club. It was nice, with back-to-back comedy, you didn’t have to clear the lounge between shows, or wait outside in a line to get in. There were a few deck parties at night, but I didn’t go to them since I was mostly in the comedy club then, but I did like going up to Lido after all the comedy and everything at midnight or later, and just check out the beautiful view and sky, since it was still daylight, because of the midnight sun.
SEA DAYS:
We only had 6 sea days total from the 21 days onboard. There was about 2000 guests (out of the 2124 guest capacity), with lots of Platinum and Diamonds especially the Iceland sailing — so ship was nearly full at about ~94-95%, but it really didn’t feel that crowded, except during peak times in lido buffet seating area, like I mentioned earlier. We were always able to find a seat in Taj Mahal Main Lounge, and same for Butterflies as long as we got there maybe 10 mins before a show. There was no waiting line outside the Punchliner lounge to get in. Lots of Trivia by the Piazza Café which got busy and sometimes hard to find a seat. Other activities around the ship like towel folding fun, crafts, dart throw competition, Bean Bag toss, etc. As far the pool area, there are 2 pool areas on lido, Apollo Forward Pool (which they mainly had covered) and Venus Main Pool (which wasn’t covered). Neither was really congested, and there was hardly anyone in the pools.
We did have some rough seas on our 2nd Sea Day from Dover to Iceland, as we passed through a storm. I remember sitting out by Sunset Garden on deck 3 fwd watching the waves from those windows they had there. Some people onboard weren’t feeling good that day, seasick, the crew even had the puke bags out by the elevators. We were good though, none of us got seasick.
The Platinum & Diamond VIFP party was done on a Sea day near the end of each sailing. Both were done in the main show lounge (Taj Mahal), and they served free drinks there but no food. On the Iceland cruise, almost half the ship was Platinum or Diamond (900 out of the 2000 guests), so they had to host it twice and split the big group into 2, since too many to fit in the 1 show lounge. My son who’s 7 got the Youngest Platinum award, along with his friend Maddie who he met onboard at Camp who is also 7. They took a picture together with their plaques which was so cute. It was my son’s 15th and 16thcruise.
PORTS OF CALL:
(1) Bergen, Norway: We did this day completely on own. We pre-purchased tickets for the Floibanen Funicular which a tram that takes you to the top of the mountain (mount Floyen), with some excellent views from up there. We canoe’d up there in their lake and did some walking trails. Then when came back down, we walked around town, had lunch in the Fishmarket and checked out other areas before back to the ship.
(2) Alesund, Norway: We did a 7.5 hour guided tour that I booked directly with one of the tour operators to some AMAZING sites outside of the city. The drive was through some villages and to Trollstigen, with lots of waterfalls, Fjords and some hairpin turns, with lots of stops. Everywhere you look was just breathtaking and almost unreal. When we got back to Alesund, they took us on a quick drive through the city and then straight back to the ship, as it was back on board time.
(3) Molde, Norway: We did our own thing by taking a taxi to top of a mountain (mount Varden) for some Panorama views. The views from up there is supposed to be great with like 360 degrees of views of mountains everywhere, but unfortunately it was a cloudy and foggy that morning so didn’t have a great view from the top, and only started to clear as we were walking back down to the city. Once we hiked down we just did some shopping, souvenir, etc, then back on the ship.
(4) Olden, Norway: It was a beautiful sailing through the Fjords to get here. Olden is a beautiful small village of about 500 residents. After walking around for a bit taking in the beautiful scenery, we went on a tour bus that we booked direct with them to Briksdal Glacier, where we hiked up the mountain to the Glacier and lake and even heard the glacier calving, which sounded like a big thunder. Once we got back to the ship, we were in our balcony to watch the sailaway since we were docked on the pier side. I remember this so well: We had the BEST send off by the local people with loud music on their speakers like “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli; people coming out of their homes waving their Norway flags; even cars and trucks were pulling over on the side of the road and coming out on the street to wave goodbye to us. It was so beautiful and quite emotional. P.S: Every time I hear that song by Andrea Bocelli on my playlist or elsewhere, it immediately brings me back to Norway and I get goos-bumps thinking of that beautiful sendaway we had.
(5) Skjolden, Norway: This was another breathtaking small village with population of about 200 people. Crazy to think the ship comes in and we are 10x their population. To get here we also had to sail thru the Fjords which was beautiful in itself. We first hiked up to a panoramic viewpoint, then walked around town, saw some Llamas, then we did a RIB Adventure Speed Boat that sailed through the Fjords with many photo stops and guide explaining the different areas and where he lives and such. It was really beautiful and we all loved it, including the kids.
(6) Stavanger, Norway: We took a boat ride with Rodne Fjord to Lysefjord with some views of steep mountaincliffs, Pulpit Rock, and waterfalls. Pulpit Rock is where they filmed that cliff scene of Mission Impossible (Fallout) with Tom Cruise. Then after the boat ride we walked around town to several areas (Gamle Stavanger, Skagenkaien area, Ovre Holmegate, Stavanger Cathedral) and also stopped by their lake (Breiavatnet) where we fed the ducks and birds.
(7) Dover (B2B Day): We had the same cabin for both sailings, so we didn’t need to pack/unpack or anything. The crew dropped a letter to our cabin before this B2B day with our “Transit Express Card”. That morning, we met in Taj Mahal lounge area, where they checked us off the B2B list, gave us our new Sail & Sign card, picture taken (they gave it to us for free), champagne glass, and off we went free around the ship. Didn’t need to go to the terminal for customs/processing or anything. We did get off the ship around 10am by choice since we wanted to see Dover Castle, and we met up with a good friend of mine at the cruise terminal who was getting on for the new sailing. I actually spotted him and his family from our balcony before we got off. We took a taxi to Dover Castle, maybe 4 hours or so there, then walked back to the ship, and with our Transit Express Cards we bypasses any lines that was there, went directly to the security xray, then straight onto the ship with our new S&S cards on hand.
(8) Reykjavik, Iceland: Because of the storm that we had just passed coming from Dover, we got to Reykjavik about 2 hours late, and it was chaotic to get off the ship with a long long line since they only had 1 gangway to leave from for some reason. We were finally out by 1pm or so, but thankfully back-on-board time wasn’t until 10:30 that night. We rented a car and had a great day checking out so many sites around the Golden Circle on our own… we stopped at Kerid Crater, Faxi waterfall where we had lunch, Gullfoss, Strokkur, Þingvellir National Park. Stood on that tectonic divide with one foot in North America continental plate, and other foot in Europe plate. It was really a great day.
(9) Grundarfjordur, Iceland: Even more beautiful than the Golden Circle in my opinion. We had a Private Tour for just the 4 of us with a wonderful guide who took us to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, with many many stops. She was so knowledge and treated us like family and my 7 year old like her own grandson (holding his hand, showing him around). She told us so many stories about Iceland legends and also about her own family; took us places where she took her grandkids. We really enjoyed it, both her company and the tour itself. We will not forget her or this day.
(10) Akureyri, Iceland: which is in northern part of Iceland, and we had to cross into the Arctic Circle to get there! My wife and I enjoyed the views late at night well past midnight, at it was still daylight, because of the midnight sun. In Akureyri, we went on a 3 hour Whale Watching tour which I booked independently, which was great with snow cap mountains in the background. We did see lot of whales, their body length coming out of the water and their tail fin, but none breached. Then once back to the town we walked around on our own, saw a couple of churches (Akureyrarkirkja, St Peter’s Catholic Church), Botanical Gardens, and also had icecream at a popular icecream shop called Brynja.
(11) Seydisfjordur, Iceland: which is on the Eastern side of Iceland, and we had to cross into the Arctic Circle again around midnight to head there. Small town of about 700 people. We went on a bus tour to see the Puffins in a different coastal town in East Iceland called Borgarfjörður Eystri, something we have wanted to see for several years. Those Puffins were so close to us and so many! The views in itself going over and around the mountains to get there and back was amazing. Then after the tour, we did some sightseeing on our own in Seydisfjordur including the rainbow street with the blue church.
(12) Stornoway, Scotland: We did a private tour with a local archeologist guide in his Land Rover to many sites in Isle of Lewis. We saw several standing stone circles, medieval settlements, a Blackhouse, Butt of Lewis, beach, and several other sites (he even did some off-roading to take us to some deserted places). Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and shared so much information with us, from a cultural and archeological standpoint, and also how this island differs from Scotland mainland and other Scottish isles.
(13) Belfast, N. Ireland: Another private tour, this time to the Giant’s Causeway, Ballintoy Harbour, Carrick-a-Rede (Rope Bridge), and Dunluce Castle. Our favorite was the rope bridge, something we wanted to do a couple years ago and finally did it this day. The views were amazing!! We were lucky we were able to do this, since buses were not allowed in there, as there is a 2 meter gate you had to get through to the parking area, before you hike to the rope bridge.
(14) Holyhead, Wales: Again another private tour for just my family with the guide. He took us outside Holyhead to this town with the 2nd longest name in the world, then to Caernarfon Castle where he guided us through everything in there, then to Snowdonia National Park (which had gorgeous views), and several other villages and viewpoints. Very professional and knowledgeable guide, gave us so much history and info, even inside the Castle and everywhere.
DEBARKATION:
Debarkation from the ship itself was fine, they did the self assist folks first starting around 5:30 in the morning or so, then called out by Zone. But on our debarkation day (7/22) it was kinda unique, since Dover was all over the news as it was in gridlock, with massive delays and chaos there, which the Dover port authorities blamed understaffing at the French border control. It was also the first weekend of school summer holiday there so you can imagine tens of thousands of travelers were trying to leave England to France through the Port of Dover. And to make things worse, there was a serious accident on the M20 which is one of the highways to Dover. So because of all this, there was massive delays for buses and taxis to get to the Dover port and a long line of people at the cruise terminal getting off waiting for one. Thankfully we were not flying back that day, and we had a rental car booked, so we just walked off the ship, picked up our luggage from the terminal, bypassed the long line, and walked all the way to our rental car company, which was about a mile away. We drove off to Canterbury, checked out the beautiful Cathedral there, then to Leeds Castle until they closed for the day.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was an absolutely AMAZING cruise / trip that checked off many Bucket list destinations for us (but I won’t be surprised if we go back). We got to see and do so much, from Castles, Cathedrals, going to top of mountains, hiking to a Glacier, sailing in speed boat through the Fjords, seeing waterfalls, volcanic land, craters, geysers, Icelandic horses, Puffins, Whales, midnight sun, standing stone circles, crossing the Arctic… Each of the ports and countries we visited were beautiful and unique in their own way, but I am so so glad we added the Norway cruise, since it wasn’t in our initial plans when we first booked the Iceland and British Isles cruise. Norway was unbelievably beautiful especially in the Fjords and Olden and Skjolden. That emotional send off we had in Olden I described earlier will never forget. We also made a lot of new friends on the ship, sharing with each other and felt like we were all one big cruise family, which was great.
Hope you enjoyed this review, pictures, and helpful to some who are thinking about doing it.
