Day 1 – Heading to the ship

Terminal letters
The Carnival Pride leaves from terminal 5. The odd part about the terminal numbers is that when you are on the main road (sr. 528), the signs say Terminals A and B. Turns-out Terminal A contains terminals 1-4 and Terminal B contained terminal 5. This would get confusing for first time arrivers if it weren’t for the digital signs displaying the cruise ship names and the exit to take.
Basically, when heading east on sr. 528 (Beeline), it's the first exit you take to get to the Pride.

Parking
I was on the Pride for 2 weeks (2/2 and 2/9). Went through the parking stuff twice. I saw several cars dropping of luggage. I decided just to park and lug my luggage (my luggage has wheels so it wasn't too bad). There were several bag handlers carting luggage around. All bags (above carry-on size) MUST be checked-in. No large bags are allowed in the terminal. Besides, checking in the luggage made it so much easier. Your bags are placed outside your cabin and most arrive a few hours after check-in. The first time there were several cars and it took awhile to reach the parking lot (around 12:00). The second week was much smoother (got back to the ship around 2:00). Note: It cost $56.00 to park and they accept both cash and major credit cards.
I booked 5 days before the cruise; it was too late for them to send me my boarding information. I had to get my info at the terminal. When i got there i checked my luggage in front of the terminal. The bag handlers had a list of all the passengers and i was on the list. I got my tags (and room number) at that point. Then i had to stop at a small desk before going upstairs to show them my TA paperwork and get my blue booklet.

Pride Terminal
At Port Canaveral, you walk into the terminal and go up an escalator onto the second floor. There are tables (counters) were you can fill-in slips for your sail and sign account then you get in one-of-two lines. When you reach the counters, they check your id and passport (or birth certificate), check your other info, and give you your Sail & Sign card. Next you get in line to have your picture taken for the S&S card. Then you continue through the metal detectors and into the hallway that leads to the ship. In the hallway, you pause to have a ‘welcome aboard’ picture taken. Then it’s on to the ship. The lines move quickly and the people were friendly (several of them walked around to help and answer questions).

Sail & Sign card
You use your S&S card to purchase items (including drinks) while on the ship. Occasionally, you also you’re your card during some of the excursions. When you leave the ship, you run your card through a machine that records the fact that you have left the ship. When you re-board the ship, your also must run your card through the machine. This not only logs you back into the ship but also displays you photo so the crew can verify that it is indeed you, and not someone else, who is boarding the ship.

Lifeboat Drill
The lifeboat drill (muster drill) took place just as the ship was about to leave the port. Both weeks I was on the Pride, we started the drill between 4:00 and 4:15 The emergency signal on the Pride consists of 7 short blasts followed by 1 long blast of the ship’s horn (and over the PA).
This was after they told you several times that the drill was about to take place. 15 min before, then 10 min, then 5 min. A lot of people had already gone to their cabins and got their life jackets before the drill began.
This was a very simple and quick drill. There was an announcement signaling the end of the drill.
On the Pride, the Muster stations are on deck 3 just under the lifeboats. There is a map on the back of the door to your cabin that shows you which way to go to get to the station. The station letter (A, B, C or D) is also printed on the life jackets in your cabin. Also, there are green signs showing four people (one in each corner) with arrows pointing toward the middle. These are the muster signs and direct you to the muster stations.
Along with the signs, there are people wearing bright green (florescent green) hats during the drill or any emergency. If you were to get lost or separated from your family, you just have to ask a person with a green hat and they will help you find your family.


Day 2 – Key West

Navy pier
We docked at the Navy pier. You cannot walk down the pier (you’re not even supposed to cross to the other side of the pier). There were many shuttles transporting people into town and people seam to have to wait about 15 min to get on one. I took the trolley train and actually had to wait longer than the people leaving on the shuttles. I would think it's one of those timing things (crowds come and go). Remember to bring your photo ID. You will need it to get back through military security (machine guns and all) on the pier. Several people had to stand around at the checkpoint while their friends or family went back to the ship to get their IDs.

Trolley Train Tour
I took the Trolley Train Tour of the city. The train was actually a Jeep that was re-designed to look like a train. The ‘cars’ of the train had bench seats that each held about 5 people. They were covered with a canopy which helped keep to sun off of your head. There were speakers within each car so there was no problem hearing the tour conductor’s commentary. The ‘train’ worked its way through the city and pasted by several interesting points. Unfortunately, the trains are not allowed to stop due to the length of the train and the restriction imposed by the city. The tour finished at there trolley station. You could then get off the train and walk around the city. After spending some time in the city, you go back to the trolley station and board one of the trains heading back to the ship. You must take a train (or trolley) as you are not allowed to walk down the pier.


Day 3 – ‘Fun day at sea’
See Day 7.


Day 4 – Belize City, Belize

Tender to the Pier
The ship does not dock at a pier in Belize. Instead, the ship anchors out in the harbor and you board a small boat, called a tender, which brings you to the pier. The pier in Belize City was new and very clean. Belize City itself was not so clean. The poverty level is high in the city and there were a lot of places with security bars and fences. There were several excursions that left from the pier. Some of the ones with the best reviews included the River Wallace and Ruins tour, the Cave Tubing, and the Jungle Horseback riding tour.

Horseback Riding
I went on the Jungle Horseback & River Adventure (Banana Bank) in Belize. I had a very good time.
We left the dock on a bus and drove for about an hour to the Banana Bank site. There were 42 of us on the bus so the organizer (a man from the US working at Banana Bank) split the group into 2. The first group did the river trip first and then went horseback riding. The second group (the one i was in) did the horseback riding first then the river trip.
The organizer went to everyone on the bus and asked their skill level (1,2,or 3). We ended up with two levels (2 and 3). The 2-level group's ride was less taxing then the 3-level riders. I was in the 3 level group.
After the bus ride we crossed the river (on a boat pulled across by hand) and entered the site. Very nice place (straw huts and all), we had a mini breakfast (bean tortillas and juice) then we mounted the horses. We traveled through the jungle on very muddy trails (some very steep up and downs). The trails also lead through some water (up to the horse's belly at times). There are a lot of trees (watch your knees) and a lot of giant ferns. We got to run the horses every now and then. We were on the horses for about 2 hours (got pretty sore).
After the riding we had a very nice lunch in their main hut. Plenty to eat and it tasted very good.
After lunch, we went on the river while the others went horseback riding, Our group started at the compound and travel up-river for about 1/2 hour, turned around and traveled back to the site. The river trip was ok. The first group got to travel down-river the whole time (they were dropped of up-river before we went to the site). I think we got to spend more time on the horses (fine with me).
They also have a mini-zoo there with a Jaguar, some birds, and 2 monkeys.
All in all, I think it was the best tour i went on in the 2 weeks i spent on the cruise ship.
The trip cost $85.00 and took approx. 7 hrs.
We did have one Problem:
The last group across the river missed 6 of the people. We left them behind by mistake. After driving for 20 min, we had to turn around and go back for them. Because of this we were 45 min late getting back to the ship (people were bumming). The tour contacted the ship and they did not leave without us (though there were several people applauding us as we returned). The bus driver's assistant could not understand the time zone difference and couldn't count very well. Make sure you don't miss the bus.
One more thing: Forgot to mention. Out of the 5 people from our table that went horseback riding, 2 of them found a Tick on their body. Check yourself when you get back to the ship, just incase.


Day 5 – Cozumel, Mexico

Tropical Jeep Safari Tour
I did the Tropical Jeep Safari ($85.00) - Sounded nice in the brochure. After the tender ride to the mainland. We hopped into the jeeps. Now according to the brochure, we were to drive through bumpy lush green vegetation to a cavern and then a private beach. What we actually did was to drive down the highway (at 110 Kph) for about 20 min. Then we drove down a dirt covered (but paved) road for about a half mile to the caverns (note the plural form). At the caverns we enter a dead cavern were we had our introduction. Then we enter a living cave were we had the option to enter the water or walk the path. I decided to walk. Those of us who walked, walked approx. 50 feet into the cave were we stood for 15 min while the guide talked. When finished, we turned around and left. For those who swam, they went around a large rock formation and returned to the beginning a few minutes before we returned. They seemed to like it but it was not what i expected.
After the cavern, we got back on the highway, drove about 35 min back down the highway. We left the highway, drove by some burnt-out trucks (this was also about 1/2 mile) and we reach the private beach. The beach was nice (had some food) however, there were adjacent beaches to ours and people (even with there dogs) were up and down the beach. After about 75 min at the beach, we went back down the highway to the tender and back to the ship.
One guest asked when we would drive off-road. The answer was, 'we just did' (the road to the beach).
I will try to be nice and just say i was not impressed. To be fair... Some people did tip the tour guides.


Day 6 – Progreso, Mexico

Chichen-Itza
We left the ship, walked down a very long pier and boarded the buses. The bus ride was 2 hrs in each direction. The bus drove mainly on the highway through country-type terrain. There was nothing special to see during the bus ride (some of it was scenic, others not). The 2 tour guides on the bus spoke for most of the ride and it made the time go by quite well.
On the bus we each received a bag lunch. In the bag were a sandwich, fruit, snack bar, candies, juice drink and a few other things. I had breakfast in the morning so i saved mine for the ride back.
The bus was comfortable, the air conditioning worked but not very well (some people in the back of the bus complained about the heat on the return trip). Chichen-Itza itself was quite nice (you can find a lot of info on it on the web). Our tour guide walked us around for a while explaining many things and then he let us explorer on our own. Several of us climbed the pyramid. Boy it's a lot higher when you’re on the top (there is a rope for people to use on the way down).
I took many pictures and also decided to get the personalized calendar. It was $25 for the book (personalized by name and date). You order the book during the trip to the ruins and the bus stops on the way back to pick-up and distribute the books (when the bus stopped we were crowded by people trying to sell us stuff). I was happy with the book however, I gave the guy $40 (2 twenties) and he tried to give me only $10 back.
Overall, I had a very nice time and our guide was very informative.
Note: Uxmal is also a large site... It was a tough decision between the two tours. Next time I will do the Uxmal tour which should be just as good. Both of those places seam to have the most (largest amount of) ruins compared to the other ones in Mexico and Belize.


Day 7 – ‘Fun day at sea’

Days at Sea
Along with relaxing, sunning, people watching, or viewing the art around the ship.
There is several other things going on as well. Some of them are:

• Putting competition
• Trivia
• Dolphin racing
• Bingo
• Men’s hairy chest competition
• Latin dance class
• Newlywed game
• Ship board survivor
• Blackjack tournament
• Win, lose or draw
• Many different kinds of music.

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