Pride 5/24 REVIEW

[octcruise10]

WOW...what a great ship! A little background: I was cruising with my mom who is in a wheelchair, my daughter and her friend both 13 and in another cabin my friend and her daughter 22 and niece turned 21 on cruise. We were celebrating a few things on this cruise.

1st my mom had a massive heart attack last year and was on life support. It was a long recovery and I promised if she made it through I would take her on a cruise. She remembered nothing but the fact I promised a cruise. She made it through and I made good on my promise!

2nd My daughter who is home schooled aced a test to get into a very prestigious high school.

3rd My friend turns 50 this year...enough said!

4th her niece turned 21...enough said!

5th my friend's daughter graduated college.

 

AND SO THE CELEBRATION BEGINS.......:) more to follow

[octcruise10]

We arrived in Baltimore at 12pm -our scheduled time 12-1. My mother was wheelchair(we provided the wheelchair) assist --- I set up weeks before with guest services.....special needs. They emailed me a form and I emailed it back and they assured me they would help with embarking and debarking. Which they did. They only thing negative thing I would say about this is.... once we got to the port I asked several people when does the wheelchair assist start and how to go about it. I received several different answers. In the end we basically had to park and then wheel my mother into the building and through the security check and then they took over after we got our sail and sign cards. Still a very easy process.

[octcruise10]

Once we received our sail and sign cards the assistant pushed my mom on board and I took over from there. Whew...the ramps going on board are a bear! We were on board by 12:40. We were told the rooms would be ready at 2:30 but we went up to ask if we could put our carry on luggage in the room and the room attendant said it was ok...extra tip for him!! BY THE WAY he ...was fantastic room 7275.

[octcruise10]

Up to the Lido we went. Had some lunch and a few drinks. Buffet is not my favorite but they always have a great selection and it is always good for buffet food. After eating and drinking a bit we went to our rooms to check them out. My friend had an extended balcony which was nice but she only had one chair and a small table. I told her to ask about it since they had 3 in their cabin but she didn't mind. Our cabin was just a few away from hers and we had 2 chairs on our balcony and a small table. One of our chairs reclined which was nice! I have been on the Pride before and did not have that. I guess it is the luck of the draw? I had also purchased the decorations for both rooms as a surprise and they were ready with snacks as well from the Fun Shops. Everything was what I ordered and delivered the time I ordered it to be delivered. Thank you Fun Shops!

Edited June 1, 2015 by octcruise10

[octcruise10]

...come sail away...come sail away...come sail away with me. We always watch sail away from our balcony with a drink of course. Under the bridge YAY we made it! After this we explored the ship a bit and then back to the cabin to rest. We had late dining so we had plenty of time to get ready. Traveling as a group of 7 women was hard to make sure we were all ready to go at the same time. Sometimes it worked...other times not so much : )

Type A personality but quickly realized to relax my expectations.

[octcruise10]

I hope I am posting this correctly...please forgive me if I am not.:):)

 

After exploring the ship and resting we got ready for dinner. I have to say this was our first time ever doing late dining and I liked it in some ways but not so much in others. Late dining was good because you didn't have to rush during the day and take advantage of the time in the sun and relaxing during the day but I felt it also shortened our night time activities. Only because I am a early riser early to bed kind of person. I also felt that sometimes I was just too tired to go to the show at night.

 

By the way...I thought the shows were shorter than I remember and with less entertainers and less pizzazz then I remember from my last time on the Pride.:confused:

 

Anyone else agree??

[Crusin Karen]

We did a B2B and disembarking when you got on. What a beautiful day for sail away. I agree, that ramp onto the ship was a work out in itself. :eek: Looking forward to hearing about YOUR cruise. We had an awesome 2 weeks!

[Bevlawyer]

Enjoying your review thus far:-). Cruised on the Pride for the first time last August and cruising on the Pride again in October, so your review is increasing my excitement!!

[octcruise10]

Crusin Karen...wow 2 weeks...great! I want to do the 11 day in November.

Bevlawyer-Yes, the Pride is a wonderful ship...maybe you will see me in October..that is when I usually cruise.:):)

[octcruise10]

The wheelchair had to be able to fold up and store in our cabin..which ours did but it was not so comfortable with 4 of us in the cabin. The wheelchair was not an easy task either...sorry to all those people trying to get by in the hall as I tried to fold the wheelchair EVERY TIME!

 

 

Dinner in the MDR is the best part of the cruise for me. I think it is a great time to get dressed and go to a fancy-ish dinner every night. Not necessary to get real dressed up if you don't want too unless it is Elegant night. Even then you can be as fancy as you want (prom, wedding attire or just dressy enough to pass for a person that has it together). LOL

 

I love to cook and usually cook every meal but also serve and clean up every meal:mad: I enjoyed being waited on and not have to worry about dishes!;)

 

1st night we met our head waiter....DESA and his helper---They were fantastic and had A LOT of energy and were very sweet. I had to wheel my mom in every night (again a ramp UGG......but I had fun on the way out every night flying down that same ramp.....lol).

They helped her get in and out of the wheelchair and even took care of her wheelchair for me.

[octcruise10]

I have been trying to upload pictures but they come out sideways??

 

 

 

Any suggestions??

[Delta Dear]

Looking forward to your review because we are sailing on the Pride for the first time in November. I am so happy that your mother is doing well and that you were able to take her on the promised cruise. Congratulations on all of the events you celebrated.

 

We have requested wheelchair assist for embarkation and debarkation due to mobility issues. My husband has very limited mobility do to leg cramping and I have bad knees so we will both use wheelchairs for boarding and leaving. My husband uses a rollator *walker with wheels and a chair when we cruise so we have to fold it up and carry that on. I have already received their confirmation on service.

 

Did you park in the handicapped area of the parking lot ? I will need to drop my husband off and then park because of his issue of not being able to walk very far. Was that parking convenient to the building ?

 

We do have FTTF. Was your room a handicapped one ? I'll be interested in hearing how things worked out for you. I can't wait for Nov. to come.

[chocolate melting cake]

We're going in Aug. with our 12 year old granddaughter. Enjoying your review. As to the pictures, always a problem when you take them portrait (holding the camera sideways) rather than landscape (holding it with the wider sides "up and down"). What I normally do is go to the site the picture is on (in this case Flickr) and upload the pictures, the ones coming out sideways are then manually "rotated. Easiest solution, just take them landscape and crop-----however, this was taken last month by a passerby who did the portrait style-so I rotated and cropped it.

[octcruise10]

Looking forward to your review because we are sailing on the Pride for the first time in November. I am so happy that your mother is doing well and that you were able to take her on the promised cruise. Congratulations on all of the events you celebrated.

 

We have requested wheelchair assist for embarkation and debarkation due to mobility issues. My husband has very limited mobility do to leg cramping and I have bad knees so we will both use wheelchairs for boarding and leaving. My husband uses a rollator *walker with wheels and a chair when we cruise so we have to fold it up and carry that on. I have already received their confirmation on service.

 

Did you park in the handicapped area of the parking lot ? I will need to drop my husband off and then park because of his issue of not being able to walk very far. Was that parking convenient to the building ?

 

We do have FTTF. Was your room a handicapped one ? I'll be interested in hearing how things worked out for you. I can't wait for Nov. to come.

 

Thank you.

 

We parked in the parking lot where there are handicapped parking but there were none that seemed to be available by the time we got there. It is pretty close to the building tho, if you can get a close spot. When we dropped off our luggage the guy told us to make sure we drop my mom off before we park. When I tried to do that they had cones up and I could not get through. When I asked the lady when I was paying for parking she said I will have to park. It was a little frustrating but we made do. Definitely drop off first then drop off luggage and pay.

 

We did not have the FTTF and the room was not handicapped but again we made do.

 

Thanks again

[jimbo5544]

Good start. There is a site called tinypicdotcom (you have to figure out the logic in this as if I wrote.com it would be blocked) which is very easy to upload bigger pictures, just a thought.

Edited June 2, 2015 by jimbo5544

[octcruise10]

[/attach]

 

 

I am trying with these pictures....I feel like a bumbling idiot.:)

[octcruise10]

Room Decorations!

 

 

Green Slide from Balcony

 

[octcruise10]

Anyway..I will try to figure this picture thing out while I post. Sorry!

 

OOPS--I almost forgot..with my mom being in wheelchair we did not have to go to our regular muster station "C" but was allowed to go to muster station "D" which was inside. This was a nice alternative. Just had to make sure they wrote our names and cabin number down.

[octcruise10]

Here is the entertainment schedule for the Pride.

 

I found that this time.... although I did not attend all of the shows , I found that the ones I did go to were shorter then what I remember them being. I also did not think they were as elaborate as I remember them being but still enjoyable. Not sure why this changed...anyone know?

 

 

Entertainment.pdf

 

 

entertainment1.pdf

[octcruise10]

Good start. There is a site called tinypicdotcom (you have to figure out the logic in this as if I wrote.com it would be blocked) which is very easy to upload bigger pictures, just a thought.

 

Thank you...I will try this...fingers crossed!:)

[jimbo5544]

Thank you...I will try this...fingers crossed!:)

 

It takes a little experiementing, but use the message board size and it turns out to be as simple as cut and paste, once you figure it out. Let me know if you cna't get it and we can walk thru a version somehow.

[octcruise10]

Here are the Fun Times for Day 1---

 

 

Fun Times 1st day.pdf

 

 

Fun Times 1st day -a.pdf

[octcruise10]

MEMORIAL DAY!! MY MOM!! :)

 

 

 

 

Still no luck...going sideways still!:(

[octcruise10]

Today we wore our headbands to celebrate Memorial Day. Thank you to all our service men/women.

 

My daughter and her friend saw Gary in the elevator and he took their room number and sent them ships for dressing up for the day! Thank you Gary...I thought this was very nice!:)

 

[octcruise10]

Fun times day 1

 

 

Fun Times 1st day.pdf

 

Fun Times day 1 a.pdf

 

Fun Times Day 1 b.pdf

 

Fun Times Day 1.pdf