Calamity Jane Takes PRIDE (11-15-15) in Having NO Calamities

[Delta Dear]

 

We are Morgan, (77) and Jane (73) from near Dover, DE, off on our 7th cruise in 7 years since we started cruising.

 

I’m the one who loves, loves, loves cruising. This cruise was booked at Morgan’s suggestion way back in April, or May, 2015. Little did we know at the time just how much we would need this cruise.

 

On Aug. 5, Morgan had by-pass surgery in his leg to help improve poor circulation. That was followed by two weeks in a rehab center in Baltimore where he had the surgery. One week after being released, I had to call 911 for an ambulance because he suffered dangerously low (30) blood sugar. He was hospitalized for 5 days with that. To top it all off, a week after that release, he was admitted via ER to the hospital in Baltimore with an infection in the leg that was operated on. Another 8 days of hospitalization, then in home PT, visiting nurse through the entire month of October and numerous doctors appointments in B’more, 90 miles away from our home. Finally, on Nov.3, the final physician cleared him, with blessings, to go ahead with our cruise plans. So, on with the review.

[funinthesun1964]

Hi Jane!

 

I'm glad that you were able to go on this cruise and enjoy yourselves, and I am really looking forward to reading all about the fun you two had!

 

I wish you both much happiness and good health for the New Year!

[Delta Dear]

Morgan has had mobility issues for quite some time so we were booked into Cabin 7260, a handicapped cabin. I rented a scooter for him to use because there was no way he would have been able to move around just using his walker.

 

The scooter certainly made a big difference in our enjoyment of the cruise. When we were on the Freedom last December, he had to stop so often to rest, it limited our movement around the ship. We ended up eating dinner on the Lido Deck three times on that cruise because he just could not walk well enough to get to the dining room. I DISLIKE eating dinner on the Lido Deck !! The scooter was as much so I could enjoy the cruise as it was for his convenience.

 

The night before I cruise, the dreaded email; we will be arriving late in Baltimore. Do not come to port until 4:00. Dang ! We had planned to drive over to arrive at the port around 10:30 ready to board. On to Plan B. We revised our plan and decided we would try to arrive at port close to 1:00 based on the expected time in port. WRONG move. We were turned away at 1:15 because the ship, although in port by 10:00 had not unloaded and the parking lot was still full. They told us to come back at 4:00. We drove around, had something to eat and arrived back at port at 3:30 to a total MESS. Cars, long lines, just a zoo.

 

I was not able to drop Morgan in front of the terminal so he had to use his walker to get to the benches outside the terminal. I was unable to find a handicapped spot so I had a short hike with one carry on without wheels, two C-Pap machines one slung on each shoulder, and my purse. Lesson learned: Always have wheels.

 

Thank goodness for FTTF. I know that some people think it is a waste of money, but for us, it is a great convenience. As we approached the door of the terminal, a man came out to say he wanted Priority Boarding people to follow him. Yes ! That was music to our ears. We had only one or two people ahead of us in line. Other lines were LONG and chaotic. We were on board by 5:30, let the cruise begin.

 

We both use wheelchairs for embarkation. Morgan was ahead of me and just, ‘happened,’ to conveniently be rushed past the embarkation photographer much to my dismay. Guess I won’t be starting my cruise scrapbook with that photo as I always had. I’ve been cheated. We were onboard so quickly I was the only one in Priority line at Guest Services when I stopped there to apply my Carnival Gift Cards and sign up for the Social Media Plan.

 

Our cabin was fantastic, 7260 with the extended balcony. As you will notice, there is no couch but instead there is a small table and two chairs. I’d ordered the Congratulations decoration package just because Morgan had been through so much just to be well enough to cruise and to symbolize, WE MADE IT. He enjoyed the festive decorations which stayed up the entire cruise.

 

The scooter I rented was there awaiting him, so Morgan was sure to have a good time. This fun mug was also awaiting me. Sipping hot chocolate on the cool days we are now having recently gives me a double warm feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

 

We had time before dinner so we went to check on our seating in the dining room. We had been assigned a booth which was not going to work for us, so they assured us they would seat us at a table the next night. After the muster drill we went to dinner which was open seating because of the delayed departure and we were placed at a table for two. I did ask that we be seated with others for the other nights because we enjoy meeting new people.

 

It was our introduction to the American Menu. I was not terribly impressed with the menu choices. After dinner we just went back to the cabin. No Welcome Show for us. We had to turn back to B’more due to a medical emergency shortly after we left the port. It was after 10:00 when we departed for the second time.

 

We discovered that the extension cords we brought to plug in our 2 C-Pap machines would not take the 3 prong plug for the scooter, so it remained unplugged that first night. Carnival brought us a power strip the next day when I requested it. Pre-purchased bottled water was very helpful to have. I will always order that from now on. The cabin was too cool. Both times when we called about it, it was serviced very quickly.

[Delta Dear]

[font="Comic Sans MS (not sure why this is showing up.)

 

Our favorite spot for breakfast is the Sea Day Brunch. We enjoyed that each day it was available.

 

 

 

 

The other days we had breakfast of made to order omelets, fruits and pastries on the Lido Deck. We ate breakfast on the day of disembarkation in the MDR where the regular breakfast menu was in effect.

 

Walking through the MDR following brunch that first morning, I met Dave and Denise who were on our roll call. We recognized each other because some of us on the roll call ordered shirts from a friend of mine.

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later while walking along, Vincent, from the roll call was walking by and saw us so he stopped to introduce himself. The roll call folks had decided to meet in the Red Frog Pub that afternoon so we met several others there.

 

 

Mary had volunteered to contact John Heald to see if he would arrange to contribute some prizes for our gathering. I think there was a ship on a stick and two other prizes sent that we had a drawing to pick the winners.

 

 

More roll call photos in the next post, then I'm taking a pause for the cause. Photobucket is very slow this morning and my patience is being tested by that. Be back shortly. Stay tuned.

 

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[Delta Dear]

I'm back. Ready to move on with a few more photos of the Roll Call friends who checked in at the Red Frog Pub. Before I do, I see when I copied and pasted my review, I left one part out which will help explain the name, Calamity Jane.

 

For those of you who have read my other reviews, you may remember a husband who had us running all over Ft. Lauderdale on our pre-cruise day getting a prescription from home refilled because he had packed insufficient insulin for the cruise. When we returned to FLL, we discovered he had left the newly replaced insulin in the cabin refrigerator so we had to cut our visit with our son, one day short. On another cruise, when I removed my hearing aid one of the hearing aid buds stuck in my ear where it remained for several days until I could see my audiologist to remove it. We had a piece of luggage destroyed by SWA on the way to one cruise. Luckily we borrowed a suitcase from our son who lived in FLL. Now you can understand why I was so happy to report we had NO calamities on this cruise.

 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled review. As promised, a few more Roll Call members.

 

 

 

 

This guy doesn't even know how to get on a roll call, he's just tagging along with me. He also was not putting on his lovely matching, personalized t-shirt because it was still pretty cool and he does not like cool.

 

 

 

 

My first drink of a cruise has always been a Chocolate Mocha Getaway at sailway but embarkation day was so crazy I never got around to having that first drink. Instead, my first CMG was right here in the Red Frog Pub at our roll call meet and greet. It was as good as ever.

 

 

[Delta Dear]

 

We did a lot of resting and relaxing on this cruise. We never left the ship, but instead enjoyed our balcony, naps now and then, walking around the ship and chatting with others. The ship is the perfect size for us because of the ease of walking straight through on every deck. The Pride was much easier to navigate than the Freedom, or the Breeze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a new favorite drink; the Hurricane Wave. I cannot eat pineapple which eliminates a lot of drink choices since many contain pineapple juice. This was a good find. I will be enjoying more of these on future cruises.

 

Sitting on those window seats on the Promenade Deck is one of my favorite places to sit and relax. The ol' knees have to do a little extra work when it is time for me to stand, but that's ok. They are up for the challenge. If not, I'll just grab a chair on that deck and enjoy the view. People watching is always in style on that deck. Hmm, and there are some sights to be seen.

 

I'm going to stop for now, but will be back later. By the way, the review is all written in Word, then cut and pasted in here. I learned the hard way while doing another review, don't take a chance of writing a long post and then accidentally hitting something only to have your hard work disappear.

 

See you in a little while, my eyes need a break.

 

[LaCal]

Thanks for your review....Looking forward to reading more

[NoName]

Thanks for putting the time into doing a review for us! Appreciate it and keep it coming! Thanks...Kim

[Conway733]

Great review, and I love the shirts! Would be nice to offer something like that on our roll call!

[pcvtmom]

I always enjoy your reviews! So glad to have another one to keep me occupied.

[retiredgram]

Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise. We also love the size of the Pride and have been on her numerous times. Also, the port is less than 30 minutes away. :D

Awaiting the rest of the story.

[rguy123]

Good review

[Delta Dear]

 

As for entertainment, we went to The 80s Show and the Heart of Soul Show. Granted, they are not like the shows of old, but they were a relaxing break between dinner and the Red Frog Pub. We popped in the Butterfly Lounge one night for Karaoke but it didn’t hold our interest. Our main hangout at night was the Red Frog Pub. The Ooo La La Band was GOOD. We had a really good time each night. The place was packed each night so we weren’t the only fans of the band.

 

 

We didn’t go to any of the comedy shows or nightclubs. We peeked in on the Hasbro Game Show no thanks. too corny and too noisy for us. Name That Motown Tune in the Atrium one night was fun. We didn’t really have any interaction with the Cruise Director which is ok with us. I can’t even tell you what his name was. Some CDs leave an impression on you, some don’t. He didn’t.

 

We seldom do anything in the casino except walk through or play if we’re in a group that does a slot pull. One night when we were cutting through, Morgan decided to stop at the first slot as we entered.

 

First, he put his SS card in the wrong slot where it became stuck. We had to find a crew member to open the machine to take it out. We learned his card needed to be registered or something, so I took it to the cashier to do so. Next, he wasn’t sure just what to do so a woman playing the slot slightly around the corner to his, left her machine to come over to show him just what to do. Two pulls later, Morgan was up $100.00 from his $20.00 deposit. He decided to cash out and enjoy his winnings. He will hardly qualify for a Casino Rate offer on our next cruise. Oh, well. Winning is always fun even if it isn't that much.

[Delta Dear]

 

Now, on to address a favorite subject; cruise food. As always, Guy’s Burgers hit the spot one day for lunch. The fries seemed to not be as thick as they were originally. We only had Guy’s once. A new favorite for me is the shrimp burrito minus the burrito from the Blue Iguana. Yummy !

 

 

 

 

The first time I cruised on Carnival, I tried a sandwich from the Deli and was not impressed. On this cruise, however, it became another favorite spot. A Reuben made with both corned beef and pastrami was super good. We had lunch on the Lido deck daily, with soft ice cream somewhere along the way. The chocolate buffet on the final sea day warranted a drive-by.

 

A late night visit to the Pizza Pirate was surprisingly good. Similarly, I tried the Pizza Pirate on the Freedom and didn’t care for it. This time, the Pride Pizza Pirate was a hit. This time I discovered the garlic spread or something they will put on the crust before adding the cheese. Garlic makes everything better. Morgan’s other nickname is King Garlic. Morale of the story; every venue is worth a second chance.

 

We enjoyed our tablemates in the Main Dining Room. We were seated with other older couples who were interesting and fun. We were not fond of the new American Table selections, however. Some nights it was a choice of what looked least unappetizing. I missed the old menu.

 

The soups were all good. We missed the fruit selection as starters. The fried oyster starters were very good. We used to like the lasagna, but this time it was not good because it had WAY TOO MUCH cheese, the pasta tasted extremely starchy.

 

We enjoyed the lamb shanks, the prime rib and the grilled pork chops. Desserts were hit and miss.

 

 

Chocolate Melting Cake, Mickey Mouse style with two ice creams was as good as always. GA Pearl is the promoter of two ice creams and she's right.

 

Blueberry pie was horrible because it had too much gelation added to the fruit. We enjoyed banana splits several nights from the children’s menu.

 

 

David’s Steakhouse was very disappointing. On each previous cruise, we have eaten at the Steakhouse and found the meals have always been wonderful. The shrimp cocktail appetizers were very good. The service was just ok but the New York Strip Steaks were not good. Morgan believes we were given sirloin steaks, not NY Strips. The steaks were tough and did not have much flavor and the Yukon Gold mashed potatoes were lukewarm at best.

 

As good as the Chocolate Sampler was, it did not make up for the steak. Did we complain? No. We do not like to send food back to a kitchen so we chalked it up to a subpar experience. Morgan didn’t bother to get dessert that night.

[Delta Dear]

 

Our cabin steward, Sutopo, and our dining staff were all excellent. The other crew members were very friendly and helpful. There was a man, a server at a nearby table, who noticed that when I stood up after dinner, it took a few minutes for me to get the old knees and legs in motion. Each night when I would stand up, he would come over, offer his arm and accompany me to where Morgan had parked his scooter.

 

I am sorry that I did not note his name because I was very grateful for his help. I did slip a tip to him on the last night also. It was nice to recognize a server we had had on the Breeze. He would wave to me each night in the MDR or wherever I saw him on the ship.

 

We ordered a few assorted things from room service. One night I wanted something salty so I ordered chips, pretzels and some ginger ale. Perfect. We also decided to try the wings for $5.00. Absolutely terrible. Remember the old jokes with the rubber chicken ? I swear, those wings were from that chicken. I’ll stick with the freebies from now on.

 

 

We used the, ‘hang on the door the night before,’ card for coffee and juice once. Delivery was prompt. I did miss the smoked salmon offering. Otherwise, their limited menu met our needs just fine.

[meatloafsfan]

Great review!

 

Could I ask a couple of questions?

 

For your balcony - was there a step or a ramp? We're planning a cruise next summer with my brother and his family and I am debating on upgrading my mom's cabin to a balcony (instead of the 4k) because that accessible balcony would have space for all 8 of us. My mother is a full time wheelchair user so I would only get the balcony if it was fully accessible (with a ramp to the balcony).

 

Second question - we debarked at Baltimore in March (but embarked at Tampa as it was the repositioning cruise). Do they use the same ramps to go up to the ship as they do to debark? I remember it being 3-4 ramps down and worry about trying to push my mother up that. I am hoping that for embarkation, there is another way onto the ship.

 

thanks!

[microbuck]

Hello Jane and Morgan ! We are Keith and Dawn, just up the road from you in Townsend Delaware. I am enjoying your review, sounds like you guys needed a good cruise !

[Delta Dear]

Hi Jane!

 

I'm glad that you were able to go on this cruise and enjoy yourselves, and I am really looking forward to reading all about the fun you two had!

 

I wish you both much happiness and good health for the New Year!

 

Thank you so much. We really had a great time as you will tell from the rest of the review. Wishing a happy and healthy New Year to you, also.

[Delta Dear]

I love reading reviews and yours is no exception. It sure sounds like the cruise started out with some challenges! You have a very positive attitude and that's so refreshing. I'm looking forward to the rest of your story. :)

 

Thank you. You have to stay positive, go with the flow and make the best of the situation. We were SO happy to be able to go forth with our plans. Several years ago we had to cancel a cruise because Morgan ended up in the hospital five days before we were to sail. He was there for over two weeks. Fortunately, I always purchase insurance, (not from Carnival,) and received a total refund which paid for the Valor cruise you see in the reviews in my signature.

 

Enjoy the rest of the review. I am determined to finish posting it tonight.

[Delta Dear]

Thanks for putting the time into doing a review for us! Appreciate it and keep it coming! Thanks...Kim

 

Thanks, Kim. I hope you enjoy the rest of the review.

[Delta Dear]

I always enjoy your reviews! So glad to have another one to keep me occupied.

 

Thank you. I enjoy writing the reviews almost as much as cruising... oh, please, who am I kidding !

[Delta Dear]

Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise. We also love the size of the Pride and have been on her numerous times. Also, the port is less than 30 minutes away. :D

Awaiting the rest of the story.

 

You are very welcome. It was our first cruise on the Pride but it won't be our last. Enjoy the rest, there's more to come.

[Delta Dear]

Great review, and I love the shirts! Would be nice to offer something like that on our roll call!

 

Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying the review.

 

My email address is at the very bottom of my signature. Send me an email and I will share the information about the shirts. My friend has a company that does a lot of shirts for cruisers; either groups or individuals. The quality is excellent and so are her prices. I'll look forward to hearing from you.

 

I simply posted the design and roll call members emailed me for the contact information. We agreed on when to wear them and that was it. Each person was on their own to order, pay etc.

[Delta Dear]

Good review

 

Thank you. I have learned so much and had such a good time reading reviews, it is the least I can do to share our experiences. Our perspective can be helpful for those traveling with older family members as well as just sharing the fun.