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

[gapearl]

Loving your review Kim, can't wait for the next instalment 😀😀

 

Thank you!

 

I love reading your reviews! I love all of your dresses. They look amazing on you! I can't wait to read the rest. I thought of you because I cruised solo during the summer aboard the Splendor. I always cruise with my mom and nephew, but they couldn't make it. I live 30 minutes away from the Port of Miami. I have cruised solo 4 times out of my 28 cruises, and on this cruise I decided to eat in the main dining room. When sailing solo I always eat on lido. Carnival did an excellent job seating me with other solos. They were the best table mates, and we always hung out after dinner.

 

Thanks for all the nice words! I'm glad to hear you had a good time on your last solo cruise. Carnival does a great job with matching solo cruisers together. I never have any worries about a bad MDR experience. :)

[gapearl]

Yes!!!!!!!!

 

[attach]395640[/attach]

 

Hahaha hey Larry!

[cruizin4sho]

What's up Kim! Hope Vegas is treating you well! Did you enjoy your balcony? After 8 cruises I finally stayed in my first balcony this past September and let me tell you, it's going extremely tough going back to an inside or ocean view cabin! Absolutely loved it!

 

I see that you're cruising on the Escape next year, so am I! The Escape is a fantastic ship and I'm sure you're going to love it (especially if you chose the UBP).:)

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[Delta Dear]

Hey Kim,

I've been waiting for another trip on the Pride. Thanks for taking me along. You saw things I never saw. LOL Can't wait to read the rest.

[ch27088]

OMG, I've been looking for your review for months...so glad I found this. Congrats on your move to Vegas, you'll love it, especially the night life.

 

I've already settled in with a cup of coffee, and now I"m ready to read this review. Welcome back Kim (aka GAPearl), very excited to read this review.

[teetee6263]

These are from the ladies locker room. Sorry guys, I don't have any from yours lol. They're equipped with lockers where you don't need a key but a 4 digit code of your choosing.

 

 

The steam room was broken and out of service all cruise.

 

 

Hey Kim! You know I've been not so patiently waiting on this review. I was waiting till the end to comment but I had to say this... If you remember I said you were sailing with 4 of my Aunties, well 1 is a bit of a diva & was not happy about the closed steam room. I found out from her sister that she complained to the CD & wanted them to close the men's steam room for an hour so she could use it. Of course they didn't, but she got a bottle of wine & 25% future cruise.

[cruzin Phillis]

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

I hope its southwest...lol. happy that you are sharing another review. Cant wait to get started!!

 

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk

[gapearl]

Cruise Day 3- Bermuda Day 1

 

Today we would finally be making land in Bermuda!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I didn’t realize there was a time change from ship’s time to local Bermuda time and we had to set our clocks ahead an hour. Well, we were supposed to do it last night, but I just got around to it this morning. I wanted to get up and go work out, but I was way too comfortable in my bed looking out the balcony window so that didn’t happen lol.

 

Tracking Karl on the morning news.

 

 

Our Cruise Critic meet and greet was scheduled for today at 10:15 am. It was listed in today’s Fun Times, but I didn’t notice it. On my last Royal Caribbean cruise, there was an invitation to the CC party I believe on day 1. I’m not sure why Carnival doesn’t do this as well to ensure a good turnout. Sean sent me a message saying it wasn’t well attended, maybe 20 people. I wasn’t too active on this roll call, but I know that way many more people than that had signed up. Oh well, I showered and went to the MDR for breakfast. My mom had been long gone to somewhere on the ship. The hostess asked if I didn’t mind sharing a table, which of course I don’t since I prefer sitting with others, and was seated at a 6 top by a window with some really nice people.

 

The sea day brunch menus.

 

 

 

Pastry basket.

 

 

I used my drink coupon to get a mimosa.

 

 

I always order the same thing at brunch- French toast, hash browns, and chicken sausage. I promise to get something new next cruise lol.

 

[gapearl]

I later found my mom on a slot machine in the casino. We talked for a bit and I went to the ATM to get some cash out for Bermuda and then went to pack my beach bag. Today I had planned a beach day for myself. My mom is not a beach person, NOT AT ALL, but I didn’t want to come here and not get at least a couple of hours at one. I felt like a bad daughter for leaving her like this. However she’s easy to please and assured me she would be fine spending the day on the ship. I had to ask my cabin steward for two new beach towels as they weren’t automatically replaced yesterday. He was a nice guy, but just wasn't always on top of things.

 

I noticed a lot of wear and rust out on my balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the view.

 

 

Almost there!

 

[gapearl]

I waited close to 30 minutes in the Butterflies Lounge for priority debarking and was one of the first people off the ship at 3 pm. HELLO BERMUDA!

 

 

 

 

It's pretty cool how those two balcony partitions are open. I bet they had some good times out there.

 

 

 

Anthem of the Seas was in port with us today. I considered booking Anthem on this sailing to Bermuda, but their 5 day cruise was the same price as Pride's 7 day, so duh I booked the Pride.

 

[gapearl]

I did a ton of research and saw that I could take the #7 bus to Horseshoe Bay, but as soon as I was off the ship I discovered I could share a shuttle for $7 each way. Sold! A private taxi would have been $30 each way, so this was much better and I wouldn’t have to endure the many stops on the bus. I had to wait a while for others that had the same plan to leave the ship but after about 15 minutes we were loaded up and on our way. The ride was about 25 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's lots of construction in preparation for the America's Cup.

 

[gapearl]

I sat in the front seat so I could take some pictures. Our driver was a really nice guy and kept us engaged in conversation the whole ride. The hot topic was Tropical Storm Karl that was on our tail. He said hurricane parties were in the works but they’re mostly ignored unless they’re a category 3 or higher. He told us that a gallon of gas was almost $8 a gallon and pointed out how all the houses are painted different colors. There aren’t any color restrictions and you can paint your house any color you want. Just an FYI, tourists aren't allowed to get rental cars here, so we were told.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Representing all the flags.

 

 

This is the world's smallest drawbridge.

 

 

It only opens 14 inches.

 

 

More shots from the ride.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

This is one of many bus stops. Some are very colorfully painted.

 

 

Just about there....

 

 

Hair braiders are waiting as soon as you arrive.

 

 

 

Made it!

 

[gapearl]

We arrived at Horseshoe Bay at 4 pm. I don’t know why me and no one else, but the driver offered me weed as I was leaving. I passed lol.

 

There's a restaurant and restrooms just ahead of the beach.

 

 

Drink menu.

 

 

Food menu.

 

 

 

 

The restrooms are located here. I'm sorry to say there were NOT well maintained. I was pretty grossed out by them. I don't know how often they're serviced. It very well might be every hour or two, but they looked like they hadn't been touched all day.

 

[gapearl]

The guys selling beach chairs said they would be collecting them at 5 pm and seemed like they didn’t want to be bothered, but I got them to let me have one even if just for an hour. The price was $7.50. However with the ship’s late arrival and a gang load of cruisers continuing to pour in, I guess they made an exception and people still had their loungers even as I was leaving later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Horseshoe Bay Beach, the famous pink sand beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

After the rain comes a rainbow. :-)

 

 

Ugh that dark cloud tho....

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I laid out for a while to, you know, work on my tan lol, and eventually got in the water. The waves were very rough and strong today. One big wave came out of nowhere, hit me hard and knocked me underwater, sending my almost new $300 prescription sunglasses off my face and into the deep blue sea.

 

*insert any 4 letter word here* :mad:

 

There must have been at least 5 people helping me locate them, including a guy with goggles who swam underwater in both directions, but it was of no use. The waves were too strong and they were gone. Disappointed is an understatement in how I felt! However there are much worse things in this world to be upset about than a pair of sunglasses that can be easily replaced. I know of a lady that was knocked unconscious by a similar kind of wave in Hawaii a couple of years ago and later passed away from severe injuries. It could always be worse so count your blessings.

 

 

 

These waves were no joke. Guess it was my own fault for having them on in these conditions, but that was the first time I've ever been hit so hard by a wave.

 

 

 

I have no idea who that is, but I pretended like he was waving at me lol.

 

[gapearl]

A few more from the beach.

 

 

 

 

I guess you can call this the kiddie area. The water was very shallow and there were no waves. Perhaps I should have been over here lol. There were lots of families with small children.

 

 

 

Cute.

 

[gapearl]

I didn't stay too much longer after losing my sunglasses. It was beginning to look like rain anyways. I had to have a quick drink at the Rum Bum Beach Bar on the way out.

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I will never not strike a pose haha.

 

 

This nice guy from Dubai was one of the folks helping me to locate my glasses. He even bought my drink for me.

 

 

Pina colada loaded with plenty of rum.

 

 

Rum makes everything better. :D

 

[gapearl]

I left the beach just in time as it started to rain after I had my drink, so I took a ready and waiting shuttle back to the port around 6 pm. My new driver told us more history of Bermuda. We mostly talked about the wealth that exists here. Bermuda is not a poor island and there’s a lot of banking and finance. Many people here have “old money” that’s been passed down for hundreds of years through family businesses. There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires here but they don’t blow their money on expensive cars and what not. They’re likely to be riding the bus next to you or on a moped. The wealthy don’t receive any special attention just because they’re wealthy. He told of how Michael Jackson visited Bermuda and was mad that he got no special attention lol. He was regular guy just like everyone else. There’s one community college in Bermuda, and many young adults will leave to further their education in the US or England. There’s hardly any crime on the island. I asked how do they feel about the US when they turn on the tv and hear about all of our crime, and he was completely honest and said his father is scared to visit the US because of our extremely high crime rates. It’s interesting how you can learn about your own culture when learning about someone else’s.

 

The calm....

 

 

Before....

 

 

The storm....

 

 

Wait for it....

 

 

Oh my! :eek:

 

[gapearl]

The rain was really pouring by the time we got to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Notice that long line of people in the rain waiting to get back onboard.