Our last day at sea was a rocky one, but the seas seem to be calming down as we approach the Chesapeake. We managed to outrun Tropical Storm Danny and fight high winds from the north.

This is the worst part of any cruise – the last night. Time to pack the bags and say good-bye to all the wonderful crew and guests we have bonded with for the past 8 nights. This cruise has been wonderful in so many ways. Great food and more importantly terrific service.

Our cabin steward Daniel from Haiti has done an amazing job keeping our stateroom fresh. Waiters Kadek and Ali from Indonesia have been superb by providing us with top-notch service in the main dining room. Maitre’d Andrea from Italy has orchestrated a perfect service ambiance for all the guests onboard and Sen, the amiable “table artist” from India, has performed amazing magic tricks for the kids.

Being able to drive to a cruise offers great convenience, not to mention tremendous cost savings by not having to buy airline tickets. Carnival has a winner sailing the Pride out of Baltimore year round. Every guest I have spoken with wants to come back for another cruise. Simply put – you can’t beat the convenience and amazing value for the money.

It’s 1:30 AM and the Carnival Pride is having a rodeo ride at sea. We are currently east of Jacksonville, Fla. and Tropical Storm Danny is several hundred miles to the east of our position.

Winds are gusting between 25-45 mph and the seas are rough. The Pride is hauling back to Baltimore this evening doing 21 knots. The rough seas started around 5:00 PM – a few hours after leaving Freeport, Bahamas. This evening’s show “Jazzin” had to be canceled because it was deemed too unsafe for the dancers to be on stage. In place they changed to the ship’s comedian Tommy Drake.

Stay tuned to more Pride blogs…

The problem with a great beach day is getting a little lax on reapplying the sunscreen especially after playing various beach activities. Such was my misery this morning…I am red on the tops of my shoulders and thighs – ouch! No playing in the pool today. The kids had a great time, but I had no choice but to stay in the shade.

The Atlantis Resort is an amazing place that offers 141-acres of waterscapes comprised of 20 million gallons of fresh and saltwater. There are more than 50,000 sea creatures here from the tiniest tropical fish all the way to the massive Manta Ray. The Aquaventure area is nirvana for kids young and old alike with its mile long rapids and wave river to the Mayan Temple’s five water slides and 7-story Power Tower which offers four massive slides. This is definitely a great family fun day that should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. If you go be prepared for a hit on the wallet — it’s $120 per person!

Call it cruiser’s nirvana — a little island in the Bahamas that offers powder perfect sand and warm turquoise waters. Welcome to Little San Salvador Island or affectionately known as Half Moon Cay to cruisers of Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines.

In 1997 Holland America Line acquired leasing rights from the Bahamian government for this ten mile long and two mile wide paradise. The majority of the island is international bird sanctuary; however, there are 55-acres developed just for cruisers. Developed areas include an aqua park, nature trail, horseback riding trails, stingray encounter, and the most indulgent activity of all – renting one of the 15 air conditioned, private beachfront cabanas. I was lucky enough to grab one before they were all gone. I feel pictures speak better than words. Enjoy!

Last night I had the best steak of my life at David’s Steakhouse. Carnival’s supper club venue is one of the true treats at sea offering impeccable service and perfectly prepared steak. The top-of-the-ship views aren’t bad either, which makes for a special ambiance. Ladies will certainly appreciate the gigantic naked David statue at the entrance (wink, wink)

Finally it was land ho today. It was nice to set foot on terra firma after two days of wobbling around the decks. Grand Turk is a picture postcard destination – turquoise waters, perfect sand, and water as warm as a bathtub – ahhhh.

I was here three years ago onboard Crown Princess and did the Gibb’s Cay Stingray and Snorkel tour. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish the excursion because one of my shipmates stepped on the barb of a stingray. Ouch! It was bad as the barb went all the way through his foot. The poor man was bleeding profusely not to mention being in excruciating pain. The tour operators quickly gathered everyone back into the boat to rush the man back to the ship. Thankfully he ended up being okay. But I always wanted to go back and finish this tour because it was an absolutely gorgeous cay with a pristine beach. Today, I did just that.

It was funny because I had to same boat captain as the first tour. He recognized me and we chatted about what happened three years ago. There had been some changes over the years. For one, the entire bucket of fish food was no longer handed to guests to feed the rays. Now each guest was handed one piece of bait at a time to feed the rays. Rays can get excited when you feed them. They are sweet creatures, but are very strong and if you get enough around you rubbing your legs for food you can easily lose your balance – that’s what happened to the man three years ago.

It was a perfect two hours of rays, snorkeling, swimming and beach combing – I would have stayed all day if I could. This is one tour I’d do again and again…

Tomorrow Half Moon Cay and cabana fun!

Last night it was “Elegant Night” onboard the Carnival Pride. I guess Carnival opted to change the terminology from “formal” to “elegant”. Clearly “elegant” has more leeway in terms of what a person considers to be their fanciest frocks. I didn’t see a lot of sparkle, but I did see some leather duds.

Dinner was terrific and again I had a perfectly prepared Maine lobster. I don’t know what Carnival does, but they are one of the few cruise lines that knows how to prepare a crustacean. Other cruise lines seem to have a knack for turning their lobsters into rubber thingys. Overall it was a lovely evening of dining and entertaining moments. The “Wonderful World” show was outstanding and the two singers were dead ringers for Seal and Heidi Klum.

I am amazed at my teen daughters and their ability to pack in more food than a linebacker. At 106 and 80 pounds respectively their quest for chocolate, pasta, pizza, and chicken strips is unending. Cruising is clearly saving me a fortune in groceries this week.

This afternoon was the infamous Carnival “Hairy Chest Contest” and it came down to two wild and crazy guys from my home state of Pennsylvania. There was Rangwal the Indian doctor from the Philadelphia area and Oscar the African American businessman from Scranton. It’s hard to describe the antics these two went through, but I have a video that I will upload next week. Suffice it to say it was insane and Oscar ended up taking home the prize even though Rangwal was clearly the hairiest guy of the bunch. Lots of laughs and one heck of a conga line followed the festivities. Carnival certainly does live up to its “Fun Ship” reputation.

Tonight we dine in David’s Steakhouse one of Carnival’s amazing supper clubs. Tomorrow is our first port of call.