My wife, 4.5-year-old son, and I joined our neighbors and their two boys (almost 5 and 3) and had an enjoyable cruise to the Bahamas from Baltimore on board the Carnival Pride from 30 December 2018 to 6 January 2019. In keeping with my TripAdvisor review style, I offer the following feedback:

Home Port (Baltimore). The port is easily assessable from I-95, making it a great airfare-free cruise destination for many cities around Baltimore. Parking and boarding were relatively painless, and everyone was very pleasant at embarkation and disembarkation (although we arrived back in Baltimore 1.5 hours late due to choppier-than-normal seas). Customer Service allowed us to disembark early because of our neighbor’s foot problem, and that saved us a bunch of headaches and time—kudos, Carnival!

Port of Call #1 – Princess Cays (0800 to 1700 hours). Carnival’s private island—and extension of the ship—was fun and just a short boat ride from the Pride. The beach was clean, the snorkeling area was clear and fish-filled, and the buffet lunch was adequate. Princess Cays also has a satisfactory play area with a small pool that was a big hit with the boys after a gratifying time at the beach swimming and building sand castles. Read more