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Our Carnival Pride Repo Journeys Cruise (with pics) - 2/26/17


Jamman54
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Ahoy there mates! In case you don’t know me, my name is Jeff “Jamman54” Maskall, and I am a cruise addict. My wife Patti and I just returned from one of our favorite cruises on board our favorite ship, the Carnival Pride. This was a 14 day Journeys repositioning cruise from Tampa to Baltimore, with plenty of fun in between. Here is where we went…..

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This will be a tale of three all-inclusive beach days, (Cozumel, Aruba, & St. Maarten), a partial Panama Canal transit, (awesome!), two countries we have never visited before, (Costa Rica & Bonaire), and seven, yes count them, seven glorious sea days!

Please be patient as this review will take some time to complete. Patti and I, well mostly Patti, took nearly 4,000 photos during our journey. Also, I have tons of items to scan in, including all of the Fun times. For the first time ever I brought along my laptop, and we were glad we did. Every day, I was able to download photos from the camera and work on them, deleting bad ones, resizing, cropping, etc. That will save a lot of time moving forward, but I still have to upload our finished pictures to our photo hosting site as the ship internet, even the Premium Package, was just too slow to accomplish this.

Taking this cruise would not have been possible if Patti hadn’t retired last year. Once she did we immediately booked the Sunshine 7 Day Canada cruise, then this one. First, we had to figure out the logistics of leaving from Tampa, and returning to Baltimore. Here is what we decided to do. We would drive down to Baltimore four days prior to the cruise, and stay at the Best Western in Elkridge for one night. We wanted to build in some extra days in case the dreaded “S” word camein to play. Thankfully, it didn’t. The Best Western has a “Park and Cruise”package which allows you to park free for the duration of your cruise, so we got 17 days of free parking. The next morning we flew to Tampa, and stayed at the Bay Harbor Hotel for the three nights prior to the cruise. Once the cruise was over, the shuttle from the Best Western picked us up and took us back to the hotel, where we got our van, then drove back home to New Jersey. Easypeasy!

We will be covering our “Journey” from driveway to driveway, including our time in Baltimore and Tampa. I know that some don’t want to see the pre-cruise stuff, and I can appreciate that, so all I can say is please check back in a few days to see if I have started the cruise itself. Thanks again for your patience.

Our roll call on Cruise Critic had to be one of the largest I have ever seen, and I understand that the one on FB was huge as well, (we are not FB people). We joined the roll call about a year out, and it was very active. Let me just say that we met many wonderful people at the hotel and aboard the ship. It was great to meet each and every one of you! Hard to believe though, that there were a lot of roll call members we didn’t get a chance to meet. Hopefully we’ll meet some time aboard another ship in the near future. I invite anyone who was on this cruise with us, whether we met or not, to post their thoughts and comments as this review moves forward. There is no such thing as “hijacking” any of our reviews. We welcome your opinions even if they are contrary to ours. We want this review to be fun and helpful to all that read it!

I think that just about covers all the pre-review mumbo jumbo, so grab yourself your favorite DOD and enjoy the ride. We are glad to have you aboard with us!!!

Every“Journey” has a beginning, so here we are preparing to leave for Baltimore. Can’t you see the anticipation in our faces!

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Here I am driving down the New Jersey Turnpike……

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We head across the Delaware Memorial Bridge and out of New Jersey…..

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Any drive to Baltimore must include a stop at Maryland House! Lol…..

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To be continued…..

Edited by Jamman54
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After a three hour drive, we arrived at the Best Western in Elkridge, Maryland…..

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One of the Best Western shuttle buses…..

 

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Here is the Stained Glass Pub. It’s right across the parking lot if you want a close place to eat…..

 

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Check in was very easy, and we arranged for our shuttle to the airport the next morning. We were given a room # 103 on the first floor. Here are some pictures of our room which we found nice and cozy…….

 

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To be continued……

Edited by Jamman54
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Here are a couple more of our room pictures…..

 

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Patti caught me utilizing the free wi-fi…..

 

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The vending and ice machines were nearby…..

 

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Here are a couple views of the breakfast area. They have an awesome free breakfast here from 6am to 10am, but since we had a 6am flight we didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast here this time…..

 

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To be continued…….

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Here are some views of the lobby area…..

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The internet station…….

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While I was on the computer, Patti hopped in the van and went to check out a nearby mall. When she returned, we drove a mile or so down to road to a restaurant called Timbuktu, which is famous for their crab cakes. I had the crab cocktail, which was really good, and the broiled scallops. Patti chose to just have a salad and the grilled salmon. The meal was pricy even by our New Jersey / New York standards, but the food was all very good. Back to the hotel, and early to bed, as we have to get up very early tomorrow.

 

To be continued……

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Jeff, I had to laugh at your picture of the Maryland House. It's been a running gag for DH and me for 40 years. When we were in high school, our marching band (South Jersey) did several competitions in Virginia and the Maryland House was always our rest stop. Back then it was a phony Colonial mansion with really lousy cafeteria food. We've stopped on occasion since then, but it's just not the same.;)

 

I'm looking forward to your review. I'm still six years out from retirement, so hopefully some day I'll be able to take a cruise in a month other than a summer month.

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Thursday, February23rd - Baltimore to Tampa (via Atlanta).

We were up at 2:30am. We would be on the 4:00am shuttle to BWI to catch our first of two Delta flights at 6:00am. We were the only two persons on the shuttle. We arrived at the Delta terminal and were able to check our bags curbside. We are always pre-checked, which means we don’t have to take off our shoes, belts, and jackets which is great, but since my knee replacement seven years ago, I set off all the alarms. No big deal as I get pulled aside and wanded by Mr.Personality, who seems to be annoyed that he had to walk ten feet to do so!

That task done,we now get to walk to the farthest gate possible, in order to catch our first flight which will take us to Atlanta. Patti has purchased Delta Comfort seats on both flights so that we have some extra leg room, and receive free drinks and snacks. Our flight departs right on time, and soon we are leaving Baltimore behind…..

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The screen says we are on our way to Atlanta……

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I have my free beer and a game to keep me occupied…..

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The sun has risen as we make our way to Atlanta…..

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To be continued…..

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We arrived in Atlanta at 7:40am a full 25 minutes ahead of schedule. Our next flight isn’tuntil 9:30am, so we have plenty of time. That’s a good thing, since our Arrival gate (B4), and Departure gate (A3), couldn’t have been farther apart! It was along walk to the beginning of Terminal “B”, a train ride over to Terminal “A”,then a long walk to our gate. Our original itinerary when we booked a year in advance only had us with a 25 minute layover, which would not have worked.Thankfully, in the year since we booked that time grew to an hour and a half.

It turns out that our flight would be delayed about 15 minutes because the flight crew assigned to our flight was arriving on a flight that was coming into Terminal “B”,and they would have to make the same trek that we did. How ironic!

Soon we were on board and on our way to Tampa. Patti is happy that this part of our journey is almost over….

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Patti has her wine, and I have my beer to help pass the time. It’s only an hour flight…..

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Looking out the window we can see we are approaching Tampa…..

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We have arrived in Tampa!!!

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To be continued…..

Edited by Jamman54
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Can't wait!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

Your wait is over. Welcome aboard!

Following...we're also from NJ (Marlton, Burlington County) and we're taking our kids on our first cruise on the Pride out of Baltimore next month. Can't wait to read the rest of your report!!

 

Thanks for following along! You're going to love the Pride.

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Jeff, I had to laugh at your picture of the Maryland House. It's been a running gag for DH and me for 40 years. When we were in high school, our marching band (South Jersey) did several competitions in Virginia and the Maryland House was always our rest stop. Back then it was a phony Colonial mansion with really lousy cafeteria food. We've stopped on occasion since then, but it's just not the same.;)

 

I'm looking forward to your review. I'm still six years out from retirement, so hopefully some day I'll be able to take a cruise in a month other than a summer month.

 

Hey Kathy! Glad to have you along for the ride once again! :D

Yay!!! A Jamman review! Good reading to escape during the winter storm:-)

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks for reading! I should be off tomorrow so more time to work on the review!

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Awesome. Another great review from JAMMAN54. I always love reading your reviews, its almost like going on the cruise with you.

 

Glad to have you aboard with us once again! :cool:

Hey Jeff, another great review has started, can't wait to see and read all about it.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Hey Jimbo! Glad to have you with us again. This was an awesome cruise! :D

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Yay, another awesome Jamman review! Thank you!!

 

You're Welcome! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Yay, another Jamman review! Can't wait for it all ... I sail her next in Sept and for 2 weeks Nov 2018!

 

Glad to have you aboard. You'll have a great time on the Pride!

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(y)(y) Cannot WAIT to read this! Even tho I am sure I will be kicking myself that I did not book it as I had originally planned to. And I ordered tomorrow's blizzard special so you could have another day off to work on your review! ;):D

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Do not worry, sir, we all appreciate the fine details of your itinerary. I love the reviews with all the pre-cruise trips and flights and out to eats and wanderings. Please feel free to post all that you do. I have been following you for quite some time and am always entertained. I am new to cruising and an avid traveler and I research all there is to do, so I understand the detail you go into. Thank you so much!

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