JAYVIATION

11 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

@sid_9169....WOW you "sound' really HAPPY!   ENJOY!   Such a refreshing change for you!

I noticed this as well. After all the stories I have read from you Sid, this one was the most "weightless" on your mojo for lack of a better term. Knowing/surmising all the stresses you have been through to finally come to this trip where you could truly RELAX with someone that enjoys your company for you.

It goes that sometimes the best things happen when you are not looking for it and I'm going to be that guy and say although I have looked forward to following this trip with you, I would be content if you just unplugged and just selfishly (in the best way) enjoyed this time with JinxyB.

I will second how genuinely happy you are on this trip and am in turn happy for you... you salty old softy :)

10 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

not going to hijack and go too far off topic but Sid posted the pic so its his fault....didnt even know KTM made a 200...not a bad looking little buzzer... took 6 bikes to find the one that checked the most boxes, love the Trident 660 as a commuter....<train back on tracks>

Honestly Sid (stupid high cost aside) you should uptent and move to Miami..... it could not be more you if just for its sense of humor......heck its one of the only reasons I got married to a Quebec lady....for having to endure the 6 month Quebec winters, I get to retire in FL.. its all about the compromises 😛

your chariot awaits

Things are coming together (in many ways 🙂 ) nothing like that morning of a cruise....everything just lifts off your shoulders. Sid/JinxyB, were either of you nervous of the flying in the "day of"? nothing more nerve rattling then the stress of that... understand scheduling is a big factor and probably not what was preferred but glad JinxyB made it.

Cant help but notice JinxyB works in the medical field ? 

Looking forward to the joined "I'm on a boat".......sorry "WE'RE on a boat"  moment !

I'm your Huckleberry

Man I have been binging through all your reviews and been refreshing the LIVE posts every day hoping this one with you and JinxyB would happen and you, Sir Sid ..do NOT disappoint. The humor (in all forms), attention to detail (yes I know a lot of this is your OCD but still), the incredible photography and your serious skill of engaging storytelling is a constant gift that brings us along with you (apart from when the cabins a rockin) has been nothing short of a renaissance on this forum.

THANK YOU !  for taking the time, effort and trust bringing us along for what have been some wild rides. Having a kid at 50 is no joke and ages you in dog years (but wouldnt change it for anything) so sharing your adventures provides that nice pause from the chaos. Much appreciated Sid. Many happy nautical miles for you and JinxyB

 

"Then when I saw the itinerary of Independence and realized that it will stop at San Juan PR from 4-11pm, I became hesitant again. I searched and found people have also complained about the late itinerary, but some people do like the night view of San Juan. My concern was, since we haven't visited San Juan before, it might be better to visit it during the daytime for the first time. Do you think we will miss something in San Juan during the daytime which other islands will not have (Philipsburg/St. Maarten, Basseterre)?

There are some excursions that occur in San Juan in the evening only. There is a bioluminscent (or however thats spelled) kayak trip where the waters naturally light up...heard thats amazing. And I saw this guy twice now and if you are looking for something with energy..this is it. Very humble, gracious, funny and talented flamenco guitarist and he has the dancers too and they are something to see. His name is Juan Carlos and a sample of my excursion trip to see him perform.

there are also plenty of shops that are open day and night and some real great shops of genuine craftsman not just the touristy stuff.

And with that, I'm heading to bed. Looks like this site is mostly asleep too. My wife's already in bed and yelling at me to stop reminiscing and shut off the computer. She just doesn't understand man.

 

WOW verbatim what my fiance' was doing to me when I did mine. I just reminded her how much "Candy/Pet/Soda/Whatever Crush" she played and I got some extra time to "play" with my review :)

Required bridge in the background with the smiling couple picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flatiron Steak: 6/10. Kind of overcooked, gravy saved it.

 

 

Off to bed for our 2nd day, our first sea day! Our itenerary was Sea day>Cozumel>Belize>Roatan>Cayman>Sea Day. Having all the ports back to back to back made me miss sea days by day 4, but Monday was a fun day. Also, I always rolled my eyes when people said these reviews were hard work, but man, this is intense. Fun, and it makes me feel like the vacation is still happening a little bit, but intensive.

Glad I wasn't the only one that thought the Flat-Iron steak was a bit "off". I love steak but something just tasted downright awkward with it every time I tried it ( 3 different times )

Thanks for doing the review. Did mine a couple weeks ago and yea it is kind of like stretching out that vacation feeling just a little more. You put it very well indeed. Great Job!

Awesome review and fabulous pics ! Thank you for taking your time to put all this together and share ! Congratulations to you and Annie....and (I think this is a given ;)) may you have many happy years together !

Thank you for the feedback and kind wishes :) and congratulations on your upcoming Platinum B2B ! ..soo lucky!

Great review !! Thanks for sharing. :)

 

We were booked on the Pride for Sept but just this weekend changed the booking to April !!! Can't wait - less than 2 months to go.. :D

Thanks for the feedback ! I'm so jealous you will be on Pride again sooner than later :) She is by far my favorite ship out of the 7 I have been on and I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

I have noticed quite a few that have returned from my sailing and others after that my views of her are shared and she has turned the opinion around from the turmoils following her drydock.

I proposed to my GF while parasailing in Grand Cayman a couple weeks ago on the Pride (lucky I didn't fumble the ring). It was a special moment at 600ft for just us. I gave the camera to one of the boat guys and they took a bunch of the pics for me.

She definately did NOT want a public thing, but she never saw this coming.

I have a thread with our story on here, but I wont hijack your thread with the link.

It takes courage to do this and I wish them all the happiness and cant wait to hear what is decided to be done :)

Thanks for the review, this was great!

 

When I was on the Pride in February much of the art had been defaced. An example is that someone had scratched the nipples off of any art applicable. Did you notice any of this? I was wondering if it was fixed in drydock.

I did but it wasn't nearly as bad as some made it out to be.. its one of those things you see and are like "meh" not like "Holy Cow Look At That!"

so no they were not fixed, just dont think it was considered as critical as David's "coverup" :)

Question about the library:

 

Did you use it much? Was it well-stocked? and were the shelves open at all times? (Some ships lock them up.)

 

Just wondering how many books I need to take with me.

 

Kathy

because the library was the same location as the internet cafe, it was open 24-7 and as such, all the cabinets were open that I saw. That said, I did not make notice of the particular selections and would suggest you bring a backup or two should there not be something to your liking :)

This was a truly great pictorial review. The story line wasn't bad either.:D Congrats to both of you on your engagement. We will be on the Pride in just under 4 weeks. It is one of our favorite ships. We appreciated the pics of all the updates. Loved your excursion photos. When do we get to hear from Annie?;)

thanks from both of us :) part of the deal we have is; I do all the planning and review stuff , and she just enjoys it all. fair enough :)

Wow, one of the best reviews I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

Congratulations on your engagement. She'll never forget that proposal, and the ring is just gorgeous.

Enjoyed the pictures, especially all the sunset ones. Those were particularly spectacular.

To actually witness that in person, well Breathtaking really.

My husband and I are coming up on our 53rd Anniversary, in April. I wish for you and Annie to also have a long and happy life together.

I'm speechless (for once :) thanks so much for all the kind words and an early congratulations for your upcoming 53rd. May you have many many more !!

I really enjoyed your review! Thank you for putting in the time you did, and the photos are great! Best of luck to you and Annie with your engagement and future life together :D

 

My husband and I are sailing the Pride in June and I LOVE to play Name That Tune. I was wondering if you could check the FunTimes for me and let me know what different types of Name That Tune that they offered on your sailing. Thank you in advance!

alright, Name That Tune's

sail away night= none

day 1= 80's guess that song

day 2= one hit wonders guess that song

day 3= 50's guess that song, 60's guess that song

day 4= guess that classic TV theme, guess that song decades, guess that song 50's, guess that song 70's

day 5= guess that song musicals, , guess that classic rock

day 6= name that country tune

You two look great on formal night! Did most dress up on your cruise. My two times on the Pride it seemed like a lot of men didn't even want to put on long pants.

HA ! I read that too fast and I thought you said " a lot of men didn't even put on pants "

Yes the formal night is certainly becoming a niche thing. On those nights, there were quite a few hawaian shirts, jeans..that kind of thing. No shorts or anything but certainly less dressed up then other cruises I've been on.

Perhaps people are more conservative with packing now with the crazy baggage fees airlines have in place, so people may not want to pack a suit for something they will wear one night or maybe 2. just my opinion

Congratulations on your engagement. I thoroughly enjoyed your review it was very informative, entertaining, and included pics of all the very best stuff. My husband and I will be on the Pride for our 20th anniversary in August. And I can't wait.

very kind of you to say. Congratulations to you as well on your upcoming 20th ! From the 6 other ships I have been on, Pride is certainly my favorite and I am glad you chose her for your trip. May you have many more anniversary cruises to come :)

My first reply to your review, but ive enjoyed it incredibly. Congrats and i must say that might be one of the gutsiest proposals ive heard of. I wouldve fumblex the ring for sure! cheers to you both

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Forums mobile app

thanks for the compliment! in hindsight I guess I could have "bungied" the ring to my wrist or shorts... in case anyone else wants to give that a go :)

Look forward to it. I have only one suggestion: At the very beginning show a picture of you and Annie. We saw the lovely Annie, but it helps to see who is writing the review.:)

 

Kathy

ok, noted for next time for now... it's at the end :)

Jason, wonderful job. You did good, there's another guy called "Radio" and he does a lot of reviews for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (just like your style) but to be truthful your style is a whole lot better.

 

Congrats to you and Annie :D

 

 

High praise indeed Debbie and I thank you. I think I will do another on our next cruise and I welcome ideas for improvement. I was initially going to start the review deck by deck of the ship with deckplans for reference, but I feared having it nixed because the deck plan images would not have been mine.

It's hard to strike a balance of humor and commentary with the dryness of explanations of things without boring people. I feel it was a fair balance. But again, nothing is perfect and I can't get better if the fine members here don't tell me where I missed something or could enhance another.

...yak...yak..there I go again, but I already have an idea or two for the next one. Thanks again Debbie

Waiting is the hardest part of a cruise and I made a HUGE mistake and picked up one of those "countdown" clocks ....UGH.. nothing worse then going to work and seeing your days in the hundreds constantly.... I found one little way I came up with to help pass the time to at least show SOME progress to the vacation...

I found a good sized picture file of the deck plans for the ship... big enough to where the largest deck would fit on a 8x10 piece of paper.

I printed it out ( in color if available ) and glued them neatly on a manila file folder for rigidity. I then carefully cut out each deck and depending on the ship, you would usually have between 10-15 decks.

On the first of each month ( or spread out whatever way it makes sense depending on your time before your cruise) I would then attach one deck on top of the next... slowly building your ship and building toward your vacation so by the time you were done you had a goofy little paper model.

cheers!

Jason

I have a question about that awesome slide. I'm 75, but I plan to be on it (more than once!).

 

Can you remember what hours it is open? What about port days? Is there always a long line?

 

Thanks.

 

Kathy

it was open till 6pm every day.. sea and port days. and believe it or not, there was never a line ( and i was up there a lot doing pictures)...so enjoy many times over :)

Thank you for your great review!! & awesome pics of 7301... we have that room in May! Can't wait :)

 

congratulations on your engagement!!!

Was a pleasure to grant a preview for you. pics are good , but wait till you step out on that balcony for the first time... :) thanks for the congrats, twas a long time in the making