Carnival Pride - Day 6 - Freeport (Part 2)

Back to the cabin to change for dinner as tonight was our second and final formal night. Some people assume that formal nights are only on sea days but oftentimes, especially when the later sea day is the last night of the cruise, the other formal night will actually be on your shortest port day. Despite being a super long line again, we made it in without a pager. I have a feeling though that since the hostess who was walking the line checking cabin numbers and party sizes stopped at our spot in line and walked back to the front with us, that we were one of the last groups tonight to avoid a pager.

We ended up being seated back in the same section as the other night with Selvin as our waiter and the slow service. The wait staff remembered that I ordered soda at dinner and brought me another can and cup of ice versus the fountain soda. Unfortunately, the slow service was also the same and we sat for a long time in between courses to get our food and/or have our plates cleared. I believe at one point they even brought out our next course and were shocked when they couldn't find room to put it down because our table still had the plates from the previous course.

I was so excited to see Stuffed Mushrooms listed as an appetizer tonight hoping that it was the same bread crumb and seasoning stuffed button mushrooms with melted cheese baked over everything I'd enjoyed on my previous cruise. Alas, it seems the budget cuts trickled all the way down to the cheese as this dish was swimming in something resembling tomato sauce. I'm pretty sure I have some Italian relatives that are hanging their heads at this dish. Joni went with the Chesapeake Crab Cake.

For an entrée Joni chose the Duo of Filet Mignon and Short Rib along with the Teriyaki Salmon Fillet. She was glad that she ordered both because hated the salmon from the first bite. I went with the Grilled Jumbo Shrimp and the Fusilli Mushroom Cream. For some reason whenever shrimp is the main part of an entrée, the dish barely has anything to it so it wasn't a big stretch to eat both that and the pasta. Joni even sampled some of the pasta and said she wished she'd ordered that instead.

 

Tonight was another round of dancing wait staff and something that was even more worth the wait - it was Joni's turn to get sung to! She was the first one to spot Selvin coming around the corner with the same little birthday cake and cringed. He backed up out of sight again and she thought she was in the clear. No such luck my friend, as a minute later he brings the cake over to Joni's seat and proclaims that I was making them sing to her.

I tried to get it on video to post on Facebook but alas, it didn't start recording until I was already bringing my phone back down to sit on the table. I showed Joni the video and she asked why I got a picture of just her boobs. All you can see in the short clip is her pissed off look and threatening to throw the now blown out candle at me while commenting "I can't believe you did this!" Well that and how they didn't bother to bring her any utensils for which to eat the cake. Thanks for the blame Selvin. 

The Grand Marnier Souffle she ordered with tableside sauce pouring made her happy again. I had to try the tip I'd read online about ordering some peanut butter to go with your Carnival Melting Cake so that once mixed together, it was like eating a warm gooey Reeses cup. The way people recommend it, I thought the wait staff would have been used to the request but instead I got a very confused reaction. "You want what? Peanut Butter? Like a little cup? What?" I can now say, the cruisers online are right! It's not quite like a Reeses cup consistency wise but more like a chocolate peanut butter cake or one of those brownie sundaes.

A lot of people were chatting today about the addition of gratuities added to everyone's account summaries. Ours came to around $90 so I can see why people were a bit taken aback at such a large single entry added to their bills. I used the kiosk to check my account statement as well this day to confirm that the credits and refunds were being applied to my overall total. The app summary would show the credits but not adjust the balance total. If you'd rather not waste the paper, just look it up on the kiosk screen and then exit out. Just don't wait until the last day. Not only is it a rush to get something wrong fixed but you're also stuck in the long lines waiting at guest services. I heard some tempers flare the last day at the kiosk even because some thought others were taking too long at their turn.

I loved how Carnival tries to put a good spin on the old "out of order" sign in the public bathrooms:

Despite the slow dinner we made it to the Punchliner comedy club (aka Butterflies Lounge) in time to get the last few available seats for the family friendly comedy shows of Jim Brick & Damon Sumner. I like how both Oasis and Pride offered a comedy show that featured two comedians. The best part was when Damon leaned back on the projected picture of a brick wall and nearly fell off the stage.

We noticed that in addition to unique drinks you can order during the comedy shows, you can now also get pitchers to share. On my last Carnival cruise, it was the usual bar menu on the tables with a couple Punchliner themed drinks at the bottom. Now you can get pitchers and buckets in your own little checklist:

Note that the starred options for pitchers, four shots, and buckets are not eligible for Cheers:

Unlike previous comedy shows on the Pride where they made us all leave and line back up to give everyone a new chance to get a seat, they didn't bother to empty the venue this time in between shows. We stuck around and watched Jim Brick's first adults only show where he spent 95% of the time mocking the family in the front row. We opted out of staying for Damon's one only adult show. There was also a late evening second adults only show with Jim Brick after that but we didn't feel like going back down after getting comfortable in the cabin. Back in the room was papers about disembarkation and picking our own luggage tags in the morning. I suppose this was close enough to the last day when I think disembarkation info should appear. I've been on cruises where it shows up in your cabin day 2. Welcome aboard, now think about getting out!