My last cruise before the pandemic was a late November 2019 sailing on Norwegian Encore. I was booked on MSC Meraviglia in March 2020, but the world shut down a week before I was supposed to depart. Nearly two years and two doses of Pfizer vaccine later, I finally boarded my first post-pandemic cruise ship, Carnival Pride.

Did I spend the cruise anxiously avoiding my shipmates and hiding on my cabin balcony? Did I throw caution – and masks – to the wind, and join the crowds like it was 2019? Was it the relaxing getaway I’d been dreaming about through lockdown?

I have one last sea day before my cruise ends, and we’re sailing through a storm. The ship is pitching in 12-foot swells (or so guesses the cruise director), and we’ve seen lightning flashes out our stateroom window. 

The pool areas are drenched and closed. The Deck 3 lobby flooded by the doors to the promenade deck. All entertainment activities have been moved indoors.

Our last port of call is Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. It’s a short stop, mainly to refuel the ship. Carnival Pride arrived in port while it was still dark, and all-aboard was set for 1 p.m.

Paradise Cove

Today was another early wakeup call day, so we ordered room service to arrive at 7 a.m. We ordered an array of breads, fruit, yogurt, and caffeinated beverages, and ate it on our balcony while watching the container ships and forklifts on the cargo pier across from us.

Today was the day I most looked forward to on my Carnival Pride cruise to the Bahamas. We would be spending nearly the entire day at Half Moon Cay, Carnival’s drop-dead gorgeous private island.

Land, ho! After two days floating around the Big Blue, I woke up this morning to Atlantis rising up from the horizon – and room service knocking on my door. Today is our first port stop in Nassau, Bahamas, and my friend and I booked a morning snorkel tour through Carnival. 

It was not fun to set an alarm for 7 a.m. (room service arrived at 6:55 a.m. – ouch!), but our day ashore was worth the wakeup call.

The goal for today was to have the full sea day experience on Carnival Pride: pool, sunbathing, water slides, and top-deck meals.

The Carnival Comfort Beds still live up to their name, and I awoke to sea views out my cabin window. After getting a bit of work done in the cabin, I was ready to explore more of the ship.

Carnival Pride decor

Carnival ships, especially the older ones, are known for their over-the-top, eyeball-burning decor. Love it or hate it, you can’t be indifferent to the loud interior design in the various assorted spaces. Carnival Pride has an Italian Renaissance theme going on in many – but not all – of its public areas.

It’s been months since cruising restarted from U.S. homeports, but I have not set foot on a cruise ship since November 2019. How exciting, then, to see Carnival Pride’s iconic red, white, and blue funnel come into view as we pulled off I-95 and headed for the Baltimore cruise port. 

Would it feel strange to be onboard a ship wearing a mask or would it be a slice of familiar in a very strange year? A bit nervous, a bit giddy, I headed for the ship.

Carnival Pride is the first cruise ship sailing out of Baltimore since March 2020, and I’ll be onboard  this weekend’s seven-night cruise to the Bahamas. This will be my first cruise since 2019, and I’m excited to be back on a ship. I’ll be blogging daily to show you what it’s like to sail with current health and safety protocols, as well as how you can have fun onboard and ashore.