This cruise is cheap for a reason. We left Baltimore in January, so the first two days were cold (we expected that going in). However, we expected that given the absence of normal outdoor activities, Carnival would plan multiple indoor-based activities. Not so. There was, at most, one activity per hour. If you didn't want to throw $25 to the bingo gods, you were bored. When you're bored, you have one of two options: eat, gamble, or drink.We're not big drinkers, but we did do plenty of gambling, mostly out of boredom.

The food was good, but not great. Carnival recently re-did their menu to make it more appealing to a crowd less used to fancy meals. There were burgers and meatloaf in the main dining room, something I was not expecting.

The comedy club and piano bar is where we spent most of our evenings. Part of the problem with this boat is with one activity per hour, if you wanted to go from the 10:45 magic show to the 11:45 comedy show, you had no shot at a seat; you had to be 30 minutes early to get a seat. Very disappointing.

The ports were okay. We stopped at Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Freeport. We only got off the boat in Nassau. Many families enjoyed trips to Disney or Kennedy Space Center, but they were both out of our price range. In Nassau, we did a Catamaran Sail and Snorkel through Carnival, which was an excellent excursion. In Freeport, you're only in port from 7:00-2:00pm, so not much time to get anywhere.

Overall, it was a fine cruise and a nice escape. I would cruise Carnival again, but not on the Pride or out of Baltimore.

 

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