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Georgia Pearl Turns Bermuda Girl: My Pride Cruise to the "Island Paradise" & TS Karl.


gapearl
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Hey y’all! Your Pearl Girl is back with another review!

 

If you’ve never read any of my reviews, welcome! Get comfortable because they are LOOOONG. Those of you returning, welcome back! This trip was on the 9/18/16 sailing of the Carnival Pride from Baltimore to Bermuda.

 

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My name is Kimberly, and I’m a 36 year old single gal from Las Vegas. WHAAATTT??? I thought you lived in Atlanta? Well I did, but after 10 years there I put my house on the market and moved 2,000 miles away when the opportunity presented itself. I’ve been out here since June and am getting used to living in the desert. Coming from the south, I can say it’s so brown and I do miss the greenery of Georgia but I’m so excited for this change. Guess I should change my name to NVPearl huh? Lol I’m a flight attendant for NTYW Airlines. That stands for Not Telling You Who cause I know someone is going to ask which one lol but I’m not naming names on here. My reviews have made me a minor celebrity and I’m recognized on flights from time to time so if I ever serve your diet coke on your flight to your cruise, say hi, and you’ll know which airline it is then lol. And yes, I’m still living the single life. My dating life has certainly been more interesting lately but those of you wondering when will you get a “GAPearl Wedding Cruise Review,” stop waiting. I’ll lose 50 pounds on the Krispy Kreme diet before I get married hahaha.

 

My last cruise on Carnival was 15 months ago, my Magic birthday cruise from Galveston. OMG I’m just now getting over the hangover from that night. Last October, I sailed on an AMAZING journey to SE Asia on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. Missed them? Here are the links.

 

Magic- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2225880

 

Mariner- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2278154

 

In between cruises and my move, I took land trips to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Everyone always asks how was Cuba, and I loved it! I haven’t had time to put it on my travel blog, so here are some pictures if you might be interested.

 

http://s1096.photobucket.com/user/gapearlcruiser/slideshow/cuba

 

Ok, back to the cruise. I took this trip with my mom. She never wants me to post anything of her, so she’ll stay hidden. Just don’t tell her she was plastered all over my Breeze review lol. My friend Sean decided to crash this trip since it was his birthday and he could drive to the port, so you’ll be seeing some of him. He and I met 2 years ago on Splendor and have remained friends since, meeting for lunch when I’m occasionally in his area and texting our next travel adventure plans. He’s “seannyice” on here and has his own review going, so check it out.

 

This was our original itinerary, but it was slightly modified because of Tropical Storm Karl, more on that later.

 

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I've seen people ask why don't they have cruises to Bermuda in the winter. Well remember that Bermuda sits parallel with the Carolinas and is not deep in the Caribbean, so winter there might be a little cool and not that warm weather you're trying to escape to.

 

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Here's a map of the country. The Pride was docked at the Royal Navy Dockyard.

 

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Disclaimer: This will not be a short, overnight review. It’s gonna be long and VERY PICTURE HEAVY. Picture reviews take an incredibly long time to put together and get done around work and other every day activities, so please be patient with me and I’ll try to get it done as soon as I can. Also I’ll be writing the whole thing in pink (as I’ve done in the past) in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

 

Alright y’all, I think I'm about ready to get this thing going. :D

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Really looking forward to this! We're on the July 2 cruise to Bermuda on Pride next year. On off-season weather: DH's grandparents sailed to Bermuda from New York in January 1938. We have the pictures. They were bundled up on deck.:eek:

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The planning and research for this trip began months ago.

 

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If you need advice on how to pack light, I have some for you. Don't ask me what to do because clearly I'm clueless on how to do that. The two big bags had my clothes and too many shoes. The small black one had my cameras, laptop, and other electronics, and the duffel had my makeup, wallet, etc and was really a back up in case my big suitcase was over the weight limit. :o

 

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My mom flew from Memphis to Baltimore and I took my flight from Vegas. We landed at the same time, made our way to baggage claim, and boarded a private Super Shuttle to Washington, DC. My mom has never been here to see the monuments, so I knew she’d enjoy a couple of days sightseeing in our nation’s capital. I prebooked a private van with no stops and was sent a tracker after checking in on how far away the driver was. I thought that was kind of cool. The ride to DC was about an hour in traffic and the cost was $86. She talked my ear off the whole way, catching me up on all the church gossip that could be made into a drama filled Tyler Perry movie. lol I had debated about whether or not to get a rental car, but I’m glad I didn’t. Traffic was pretty bad plus Sean basically told me parking in DC is about as rare as a Kardashian Jeopardy champion. Also my hotel charged $30 a night for parking, we were right above the metro station, and in the end I knew I wouldn’t feel like filling up the tank, returning it to the airport, and finding a taxi to get to the port on Sunday. Skipping the rental car was a good judgment call.

 

Here I am at BWI waiting for the shuttle. So I've changed my look a little bit. In addition to blue hair (wore it on vacation since I can't wear it to work), I've got these train tracks on my teeth for a year and a half. :rolleyes:

 

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Yay, it's here and I was there :D I like getting to relive the cruise x2! I did see you a couple times, but each time you were in conversation, so I wouldn't interrupt.

 

We did have eye contact and a smile in the terminal waiting to board ... I was in the FTTF, right by the door to the premium area.

 

I also saw you taking your pictures on the Lido ... LOL you were snapping everything in sight!

 

I still haven't taken a solo cruise, but, due to your encouragement on your last review, I did go on my first truly solo land vacation last May and had a blast. My Sept. Vista cruise will be my first solo! At least so far... The Bermuda cruise was my yearly vacation with my mother, but we ended up being 6 strong, so we'll see.

Edited by aztekpm
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We stayed at the Marriott Crystal City, right in the heart of DC. The rate was $123 a night, a pretty good deal considering the location. Thankfully I booked early enough to get that rate as it soon increased to over $400 a night. Shopping and tons of restaurants were within walking distance.

 

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My mom didn’t feel like going anywhere or doing anything after a half day of traveling, so I set out to find us some food. OMG y’all I haven’t had Chick-Fil-A since I left Atlanta (we don’t have one in Vegas yet). I got my life today!

 

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We spent the next two days taking in some of the many free monuments and museums. First up was the Washington Monument. Unfortunately you can't go to the top at the moment..

 

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The WWII Memorial.

 

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Nope, can't take my picture in front of Georgia any more.

 

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The Capitol out in the distance.

 

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The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful day.

 

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Heading to the Lincoln Memorial.

 

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So many historic events have taken place right here, yet all I could think about was Jenny running through that water screaming FOREST!!! FORRRREESSSSTTTTTT!!!!!!!! lololol

 

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I was hoping to get us a tour of The White House, but we got unlucky. You have to set this up through your congressman 2-3 months in advance. Unfortunately I received this email that we were denied. :(

 

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But there it is!

 

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Oh how I wish I had ordered that Daryl Dixon for President shirt to wear today LOL.

 

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I caught a little bit of a Latin festival happening that weekend.

 

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YEAH!!! Excited to read more! HA Im cracking up on the Forest Gump scene... I so think that too!

 

Hoping you and Sean will motivate me to finally get my last cruise review on here.. yet Im sure Ill just enjoy your reviews instead LOL.

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All 3 of my evenings, I splurged $7 each way for a Lyft to The Salsa Room, the top Latin dance club of the area and only 5 minutes away. I used to think I knew how to dance salsa, until I started dancing salsa and realized I knew nothing lol. I started taking salsa and bachata classes in January and faithfully go to class every week. I learned some Cuban salsa in Havana and have been to a few congresses. Maybe there will be a video or two of me dancing when I get back from the Aventura Latin Dance Cruise next month.

 

Here's a preview of what's to come for my "outfit of the night" y'all love to see every night at dinner. They never should have let me loose in the Bebe Outlet.

 

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They have a free class for those that don't know how to dance to learn a couple of basics.

 

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I had a lot of fun dancing here this weekend.

 

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Ok now it's time to get on to the cruise! :D

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Cruise Day 1- Baltimore

 

I was up bright and early at 7:30 am to start getting ready. I showered and ran downstairs to Rite Aid to get some sodas, wine, and a few toiletries. Our ride to the port was with BT Shuttle, $80 for us one way and it took about 50 minutes. The port was closed early in the morning, which made the Pride late docking. I heard it was because the FBI thought they found the NY shooters in the area and then I heard there was an active shooter on the loose, but ultimately I don’t know what the real reason was. The port was reopened sometime between 9-10 am and the Pride could finally dock. The traffic backup was ridiculous and the driver said he’s never seen a line this long.

 

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Braces selfie in the shuttle.

 

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It was about 11:30 am when we were finally curbside. Once we got inside, there was a long line of cars waiting for people to leave so they could park. It was also at this time that after spending 3 days with me, my mom first noticed my blue hair lol. There was a really, really, really long line to check in, but no one was in the priority line which made us #1. The check in lady was like it feels good to skip to the front doesn’t it? I was like yeah that’s what 13 cruises will get you. haha

 

We waited in the priority lounge when the announcements began that passengers were still debarking and we would begin boarding at 2:30 pm and it was now noon. Also, they stopped letting passengers into the terminal since there was nowhere for them to sit and some people were stuck outside for upwards of 3 hours. I made myself comfortable and indulged in my Netflix binge of the moment Prison Break (where has this show been all my life?) until boarding started around 2 pm. There was a wedding and I hated that they would likely be rushed.

 

Welcome aboard! You certainly couldn't miss me with my yellow jumper and blue hair.

 

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Once onboard we went straight to the lido to get some lunch. I was surprised the potatoes from the buffet tasted stale even though I was one of the first people served.

 

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Some of those delicious fries from Guy's.

 

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Loving your review so far! You are right about Crystal City being awesome. I have been to DC twice-one of which was during the shutdown, which was my first time there #fail-and we stayed at the Hyatt Regency and Embassy Suites in Crystal City both times. Great location and easy metro access. You were right about not getting a rental car-you don't need it there because the metro is awesome and can take you anywhere on the three day tourist pass!

 

Can't wait to see your cruise review! I want to do a bermuda cruise sometime :)

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Our room was ready when we arrived and our luggage was waiting. This was my 16th cruise and surprisingly my first time in a balcony. I was originally looking at a 4K interior with French doors, but the balcony was only $200 more total so that was easy. We were midship in 4170.

 

The bathroom.

 

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Three closets, of which I took over two lol.

 

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I've never seen a closet on the ship with two rods.

 

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