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

[kbeer15]

I have read all of your reviews and I'm excited for this one. Loving Tampa but can't wait for the cruise to start.

 

 

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[Souper Cruiser]

Love your review. We leave Sunday on the Pride so your review is perfectly timed. Hurry up and get on the boat though. [emoji16]

 

 

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[Hooked!]

Yayyy! Another Jamman review! Many thanks for the time and effort you put into taking us along on your journeys. Can't wait for more!

 

Megan

[Namelocg]

Bahama Breeze has excellent coconut shrimp.

[Crusin Karen]

All I can say is I am looking at those pictures of Tampa, then looking out my window at piles of snow and the thermometer reading 21* (in MARCH!) and realizing we are on the same planet and I just shake my head wondering what I am doing here! Hope the great weather follows you on your cruise. Hotel looks like a great place to stay, after all the initial problems.

[pcvtmom]

Nothing beats a Jamman review to get me out of the cold North and back to my happy place! (Except, of course, being there myself!) Thanks for the review! Looking forward to the rest...

[jbhcw]

So excited to see another Jamman review...you and Patti do such a great job!! Wonderful sunset photos.....have never sailed out of Tampa so enjoying all the pics so far...and I also LOVE all the pre cruise pics and info....Thanks so much:):):)

[Jamman54]

Following... loving it so far!

 

Thanks for reading!

I have read all of your reviews and I'm excited for this one. Loving Tampa but can't wait for the cruise to start.

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Thanks for following along again! Should start the cruise portion later tonight or tomorrow.

[Jamman54]

Love your review. We leave Sunday on the Pride so your review is perfectly timed. Hurry up and get on the boat though. [emoji16]

 

 

Thanks for reading! Getting to that part soon. Enjoy your cruise on the Pride! :)

 

 

Yayyy! Another Jamman review! Many thanks for the time and effort you put into taking us along on your journeys. Can't wait for more!

 

Megan

 

Hey Megan!! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

[Jamman54]

Bahama Breeze has excellent coconut shrimp.

 

That's what we heard! :D

All I can say is I am looking at those pictures of Tampa, then looking out my window at piles of snow and the thermometer reading 21* (in MARCH!) and realizing we are on the same planet and I just shake my head wondering what I am doing here! Hope the great weather follows you on your cruise. Hotel looks like a great place to stay, after all the initial problems.

 

Hey Karry!! We had great weather all cruise, until the last sea day. Brrrrrrrr!! :D

[Jamman54]

Nothing beats a Jamman review to get me out of the cold North and back to my happy place! (Except, of course, being there myself!) Thanks for the review! Looking forward to the rest...

 

Glad to have you along for the ride again! :)

So excited to see another Jamman review...you and Patti do such a great job!! Wonderful sunset photos.....have never sailed out of Tampa so enjoying all the pics so far...and I also LOVE all the pre cruise pics and info....Thanks so much:):):)

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words! :D

[Crusin Karen]

That's what we heard! :D

 

 

Hey Karry!! We had great weather all cruise, until the last sea day. Brrrrrrrr!! :D

Mother Nature was trying to prepare you and bring you out of your fantasy world slowly!

[ch27088]

Jamman so glad I found your review. For some reason, since the new format of CC, I haven't been able to find any reviews lately, but know that I found yours, I'm going to sit back and relax with my granola and yogurt, so I can enjoy your review. Thanks for taking us along on your journey!

[JaniceB]

I want to go to Whiskey Joe's looks like the place to be!

[pghsteelerfan]

More hijacking...sorry. From Johnstown here. Go Steelers / Penguins!:p

 

Small world. At one of my jobs down here (actually worked in MD), two of my coworkers were from Windber and another current friend has family in Windber. I'm from Greensburg to be exact. Hope the Pens repeat this year!!! :)

 

Again, sorry for the hi-jack. I think I'd love the location of the hotel you stayed at. As a matter of fact, we were on a cruise 11 years ago from this very moment. Miracle out of Tampa (today, the 16th, was Belize). We stayed on night, pre-cruise, at the Spring Hill Suites. Great place but nothing to do in that immediate area. I'd love to sail out of Tampa again and would love to be on the water. Love the location of the hotel you stayed at and the surrounding area looks like a lot of fun. I guess even with the check-in and attitude of front desk, it may be worth it to consider next time we get a chance to sail out of Tampa. Just good to know what to expect. Is this far from the cruise terminal? Love, love, love the sunset pictures!

Edited March 16, 2017 by pghsteelerfan

[bettyboop16]

We stayed at the Bay Harbor a couple of years ago when it was the Best Western. Never had a problem with any of the staff members. Check in was quick. Guess they made some staff changes.

 

Beach Bar was then Hulk Hogans Beach Bar. It was filled with his wrestling memorabilia. I notice in the pics it was all gone.

[spartn91]

Thanks for the great review as always!! We will be sailing on the Pride in October. I can't wait to read more about the Pride and ports of call.

[sstalk]

DW and I are going on our first Journeys to Hawaii in December. I look forward to the rest of your review. You definitely know what you're doing. Thanks for letting us enjoy your cruise vicariously.

 

 

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[dcwalker]

So happy for this, jamman. In six months, I'll be on the Pride for the first time. So, I too, am one who says OK OK ENOUGH WITH WHAT YOU AND YOUR LOVELY WIFE DID BEFORE THE CRUISE. SHOW ME MY BOAT!!!!!!! Sorry, yes, I am shouting, sorry, it's your review. Carry on as planned.

[Sue1260]

Hi Jamman loving your review can't wait for you to board. I read your review about New England cruise aboard the Sunshine and truly enjoyed it that cruise for sure is on DH and my bucket list. I sailed the Pride in 2013 can wait to see all the updates to her. Baltimore is probably considered my home port since I live just 7 miles south of Pittsburgh in Bethel Park! Great to see all the other PA people her!❤

[Jamman54]

Jamman so glad I found your review. For some reason, since the new format of CC, I haven't been able to find any reviews lately, but know that I found yours, I'm going to sit back and relax with my granola and yogurt, so I can enjoy your review. Thanks for taking us along on your journey!

 

Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

 

I want to go to Whiskey Joe's looks like the place to be!

 

That place was rocking all day long!

[Jamman54]

Again, sorry for the hi-jack. I think I'd love the location of the hotel you stayed at. As a matter of fact, we were on a cruise 11 years ago from this very moment. Miracle out of Tampa (today, the 16th, was Belize). We stayed on night, pre-cruise, at the Spring Hill Suites. Great place but nothing to do in that immediate area. I'd love to sail out of Tampa again and would love to be on the water. Love the location of the hotel you stayed at and the surrounding area looks like a lot of fun. I guess even with the check-in and attitude of front desk, it may be worth it to consider next time we get a chance to sail out of Tampa. Just good to know what to expect. Is this far from the cruise terminal? Love, love, love the sunset pictures!

 

I liked the location of the hotel. It is about 10 miles to the cruise terminals. But until they get their act together and finish updating all of the rooms, I would not pay the going rate.

We stayed at the Bay Harbor a couple of years ago when it was the Best Western. Never had a problem with any of the staff members. Check in was quick. Guess they made some staff changes.

Beach Bar was then Hulk Hogans Beach Bar. It was filled with his wrestling memorabilia. I notice in the pics it was all gone.

 

I'm sure it was run a lot better when it was a Best Western. The staff at the Beach Bar & Grille were very good though.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for the great review as always!! We will be sailing on the Pride in October. I can't wait to read more about the Pride and ports of call.

 

DW and I are going on our first Journeys to Hawaii in December. I look forward to the rest of your review. You definitely know what you're doing. Thanks for letting us enjoy your cruise vicariously.

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Thank you both for reading. Going to get to the meat of the review very shortly.

[Jamman54]

So happy for this, jamman. In six months, I'll be on the Pride for the first time. So, I too, am one who says OK OK ENOUGH WITH WHAT YOU AND YOUR LOVELY WIFE DID BEFORE THE CRUISE. SHOW ME MY BOAT!!!!!!! Sorry, yes, I am shouting, sorry, it's your review. Carry on as planned.

 

Your wish is my command. Thanks for reading! :)

 

Hi Jamman loving your review can't wait for you to board. I read your review about New England cruise aboard the Sunshine and truly enjoyed it that cruise for sure is on DH and my bucket list. I sailed the Pride in 2013 can wait to see all the updates to her. Baltimore is probably considered my home port since I live just 7 miles south of Pittsburgh in Bethel Park! Great to see all the other PA people her!❤

 

Thanks for following along. Time to get you back on board!

[Jamman54]

Sunday, February 26th - It’s Embarkation Day!!!

 

We were up early, partially because we were excited, but mostly because we knew we had to get moving. We knew that with 163 rooms checking out in a short period of time in order to board the shuttles to the pier, chaos would be the order of the morning. We were correct.

We went to breakfast for the last time at the Beach Bar & Grille, and even though it was quite crowded this morning, we were served quite quickly. I just want to say that the service and staff at the Beach Bar & Grille were great during our entire stay. Our plan was to be out of our room and down in the lobby by 9am. Last night, as we came back to the room, we grabbed a luggage cart. We were not going to be stuck without one again!

We checked out quickly, (hooray!), and took a seat in the back of the lobby to wait for the shuttles. We were not the only ones…..

Let me tell you about the shuttles. As I mentioned earlier in the review, gingerma took it upon herself to make the arrangements, which was a HUGE job when you consider that over 200 people would be counting on the shuttle company to get them to the pier. We were divided into two groups of about 115 people each. One group would be leaving the hotel at 10am, and the other group would leave at 11:15am. We were in the 10am group. The cost was just $10/pp, which was awesome.

Two years ago, on another Pride repo cruise, gingerma had made similar arrangements, and it did not go so well. This year she made arrangements with a totally different shuttle company, who told her she would not have the problems this time. They lied to her.

At exactly 10am one bus and a small uhaul type trailer showed up. Obviously, this was not enough equipment to handle 115 people, but we all lined up to first, stow the luggage in the trailer, and then get on the bus……

Of course, the trailer and bus filled up way before we got to the front of the line. The shuttle people kept repeating that more buses were coming. Why wasn’t all the equipment needed not there at 10am? The first bus and trailer pulled away, and about 10 minutes later a small bus and a trailer, and then a larger bus showed up. The line then reversed, so instead of being near the front of the line, we were now near the end…..

 

To be continued…..