Pride Review (9-25 thru 10-2) (GT, HMC, and Freeport) lots of pics

[Anung Un Rama]

Heading down the beach to our cabana. Let me just say that I've never felt sand like they have on this beach. I was litteraly like walking on powdered sugar. Just incredibly soft and it never seemed to get hot (of course it was mostly cloudy in the afternoon so that may have had something to do wiht it).

 

 

Our awesome home for the day

 

 

 

The free food that comes with the cabana. There was also a few sodas and 2 big bottles of water in the fridge.

 

 

View from our cabana

 

[Anung Un Rama]

The cabana also included some water gear, floating mats, and snorkeling gear. We loved the floatie mats and used them a lot. It was so relaxing just floating on the water with little, subtle waves rocking you. That is my new happy place :D

 

We also had a little guy come to check out that everything was cool in the cabana

 

 

We snapped a few more pics of the Pride before we got into the water

 

 

[cuted126]

Great Review!!! Congrats on your engagement!!

[Biff Cruizer]

I'm enjoying your review. Great photos!

[bythehex]

Congratulations on your engagement, you two are such a cute couple! We had the same itinerary last year, we loved it. Youre photos are bringing the memories back to me. Loving your review.

 

We'll be on the Pride this coming Sunday, with the other itinerary. We just LOVE that ship!

[gaylensgigi]

Congratulations Cass and Chris. I cant decide which port I like better,HMC or Grand Turk.Cass your ring is beautiful,cant wait to sail with you two on the Breeze. Bonnie

[Anung Un Rama]

OK sorry, Photobucket is virtually worthless on my work's internet.

 

There were a couple of wedding's held on HMC which I think a certain someone has embedded in their skull that's where she wants to get married. Hey, if it get's me out of wearing a tux, I'm all for it.

 

 

It was time for a stroll and also a little video of the cabanas and areas which we have right here. It's about 6 or so minutes long but gives a good overall impression of the populated areas of the Cay.

 

 

From here we both got a Bahama Mama in the Monkey Head. They were very good and then headed to the buffet for lunch. There was a good selection of food and everything I had was very good.

 

 

I also stopped by the Captain Morgan bar to refill our drinks and the staff was very entertaining.

 

 

 

Since it was such a short walk, we took our food back to the cabana for a nice little private meal.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Most of the rest of the HMC pics are pretty much what's on the video so I'll spare the reposting of those. The afternoon was pretty cloudy which was a good thing since we didn't need to hide in the cabana. Spent a lot, I mean A LOT of time on the floatie mats out in the water. I really hope everyone makes HMC a priority for a cruise. If you've been there, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you will once you go.

 

 

 

We took the 2nd to last tender back and the line was long but they herded us on and we were sadly sailing away from our new favorite place.

 

We headed to an early dinner, for us anyway, and the food was great as usual. We weren't feeling very original and we both ended up ordering the same thing for appetizer and entree. We had chicken tenders marinated in Thai spices (delicious, probably the best app all week) and then duet of petite filet mignon and short-rib confit (also very good).

 

 

 

I'll give you two guesses as to what we had for dessert but you'll only need one ;)

[Anung Un Rama]

After losing more money in the casino (fortunately a little slower than most nights) we headed back up to the room to call it a night. This little guy was waiting for us..."Can you believe it Mr. Frodo? An Oliphant? My Old Gapher would never believe this"

 

 

Tomorrow......Freeport

[ardnassac79]

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG if words could only describe the hijinxs that ensued during this "Sand Worthy" wheelcahair experience!! Probably the hardest I laughed all week... Sorry Eric! (and Dave!) :p

[ardnassac79]

Great Review!!! Congrats on your engagement!!

 

Thank you!!

 

I'm enjoying your review. Great photos!

 

Thanks Joe! I'm plesantly surprised at how good these look online for the little Nikon point-and-shoot S3000

 

Congratulations on your engagement, you two are such a cute couple! We had the same itinerary last year, we loved it. Youre photos are bringing the memories back to me. Loving your review.

 

We'll be on the Pride this coming Sunday, with the other itinerary. We just LOVE that ship!

 

Aww thank you so much! I'm jealous you're on the Pride so soon! You'll have a blast, no matter what Itinerary - we did the Port Canaveral/Nassau/Freeport one twice, and had an excellent time!

[ardnassac79]

Congratulations Cass and Chris. I cant decide which port I like better,HMC or Grand Turk.Cass your ring is beautiful,cant wait to sail with you two on the Breeze. Bonnie

 

Thank you!! I can't wait for the Breeze and all the new ports, plus going back to Grand Turk!

 

There were a couple of wedding's held on HMC which I think a certain someone has embedded in their skull that's where she wants to get married. Hey, if it get's me out of wearing a tux, I'm all for it.

 

Since it was such a short walk, we took our food back to the cabana for a nice little private meal.

 

 

:D Yep - and it's less expensive than a regular wedding at home! :p

 

Wanted to also chime in and say even though we were in cabana 12, it wasn't THAT far of a walk back to the cabana with the food using the "behind the beach" paths. I took both our plates while Chris went to get refilll Bahama Mamas, and I didn't have any trouble.

[ardnassac79]

So just a little supplement to Half Moon Cay...

 

We also uploaded a few other videos of HMC - very short - one is just a shot of walking on the beach. I tried to show just how awesome the sand is on this island (Chris wasn't kidding with the Powdered Sugar analogy) plus, he pokes a little fun at me trying to pose in 99% of all picures taken with my ring in the shot :o

 

 

We also got a quick video of our little guest in the Cabana! I beleive it was a Basilisk Lizard based on how he ran. What a cutie!!

 

 

Finally, just a bit of video of us being silly in the morning on the floatie mats. It was really crazy how much the tide affected the shore. In the morning when this video was taken, the water was at least 5 feet deeper than it was later in the afternoon. Just a few hours later, we were only a few feet closer to shore at this point, and could touch the bottom! (Well, Chris could... me, not so much). Just another point about how much we loved the floatie mats!! Seriously these things were awesome. It was like floating in a giant pool with really gentle waves. Heaven on Earth!

 

 

 

I also wanted to share a few more photos - one of my wonderful fiancee, because he would never post pics of himself :rolleyes:

 

 

And also how deserted the lounge chairs were in front of our cabana for most of the day...

 

 

I also wanted to add that we saw some of our Casino dealers were able to debark and enjoy HMC as well - they were very close to our end of the beach. I thought that was really cool they got a little bit of relax time off the ship!

 

I also think we had a group of Carnival Videographers (crew) close to us as well - they were foreign (speedos! :eek:). For the most part they were fine (although I swear I saw one walking out of our Cabana at one point) but it was hilarious because they were playing frisbee in the water for like 5 hours straight... at one point, I think they set up their professional camera equipment to film one of their 5-man frisbee sessions! Hey, whatever floats your boat!!

[Biff Cruizer]

 

 

 

It was time for a stroll and also a little video of the cabanas and areas which we have right here. It's about 6 or so minutes long but gives a good overall impression of the populated areas of the Cay.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed your narration. I made the cut! I can't tell in the video, but did I acknowledge you when you walked by #7?

 

Also, the pirate ship bar opened in January. From what I was told, we (the Liberty) were the first ship to use it.

[jetravel]

So happy to see your review posted! Bringing back memories and wish it was not over.

 

Let me know when you book the wedding cruise...might just have to book it to see you guys (if we do not catch up again before then);)

 

Cass - I WISH I had the video camera rolling with the sand wheelchair. Especially going down hill to get to the cabana. :D

 

Congratulations again! We are so happy that we got to be part of your special trip!

[ardnassac79]

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed your narration. I made the cut! I can't tell in the video, but did I acknowledge you when you walked by #7?

 

Also, the pirate ship bar opened in January. From what I was told, we (the Liberty) were the first ship to use it.

 

Joe - yep!! I definately waved on the way past - I was trying to stay quiet for the narrator :p

 

So happy to see your review posted! Bringing back memories and wish it was not over.

 

Let me know when you book the wedding cruise...might just have to book it to see you guys (if we do not catch up again before then);)

 

Cass - I WISH I had the video camera rolling with the sand wheelchair. Especially going down hill to get to the cabana. :D

 

Congratulations again! We are so happy that we got to be part of your special trip!

 

We will DEFINITELY catch up before then! We want to see Eric up and about like a spring chicken :p (And you being able to relax and not worry about how he's doing!)

 

We're so happy to be able to call you our friends after this cruise - I can't wait to be able to share more tropical memories with you!!

[Room Service!]

So sorry it's over. :(

It's been a real treat.

Thanks! :)

[ardnassac79]

We'll be posting Freeport sometime today - probably not till tonight. Stay Tuned!

[birdistasty]

 

:D Yep - and it's less expensive than a regular wedding at home! :p

 

 

I dunno about that - ours cost us ~$100 ($50 for the license, another $50 for the food to feed my parents and siblings, and Joey's parents, sister, and nephew). To be fair, though, we self-united in our kitchen. It consisted of me asking, "Well, should we do this?" Joey saying, "Yeah, I guess." "You sure you want to do this?" "[shrug] Why not?" And we signed a paper.

 

If we can somehow manage to get his family and mine on a cruise, we'll do the vow renewal thing, actually take vows for the first time, and actually exchange rings (something we still haven't done - and even if we don't get everyone on the cruise, it's still on our "we should really do this at some point" list).

 

Seriously, though, you HAVE to tell us when you're going back so I can keep an eye out for the pictures. You will make an absolutely gorgeous bride :D

 

Also, I am LOVING your pictures. One of these days, maybe I'll sit down and write a review, too (I tried to do that for BJs yesterday, and the page timed out - lost everything. So pissed...).

[dolfinmusic]

We'll be posting Freeport sometime today - probably not till tonight. Stay Tuned!

 

I hope today as we leave tomorrow for Baltimore!! :D

[debster11]

After lunch, I wanted to try my hand in the Slot Tournament. The Fun Times said it started at 1pm, but we knew from past experience they allowed qualifications for a few hours. We headed down to the Casino and I was able to enter the 2nd to last qualifying round. Unfortunately, my Butterfly machine didn’t spin enough to win, but I still had a good time. A Roll Call member and her friend were also in the same round – her friend got in, but we aren’t sure how she did in the finals.

 

After that, we headed to yet another attempt at Sports Trivia in the Raphael lounge. Another try, another loss :rolleyes:. Some of those questions are so off the wall! By this point it was around 4pm, and the Past Guest party was starting at 4:30 so we headed towards the Taj Mahal and were close to the front of the line. People start lining up early for this, so we were glad to get a good seat. They changed the show from last year, so it was entertaining. We were also excited to be able to clap for our upcoming cruises we already have booked on the Liberty and Breeze!

 

 

 

During the Party, Trevor the Cruise Director had to step away. A few minutes later, he came on the announcements and said that the ship was slowing down and stopping because they saw a vessel that looked like it was in distress. At this point the Past Guest Party was about over, and most people started hauling up to Decks 9 and 10 to see what the commotion was all about. It was on the Port side of the ship, and was pretty comical to see almost 2000 people all on one side trying to see what was going on. We took a few pictures of what appeared to be an abandoned boat, and thought we may be able to get a better view from our balcony.

 

 

 

As we were heading down to deck 7, an announcement was made again to clear the area on Deck 3 as that was where the crew was attempting to bring this thing on board :eek:! Needless to say there was a lot of chatter from people with all sorts of conspiracy theories as to what happened.

 

Evidently, nothing was found, the ship was put back in the water, and we went on our merry way.

 

These pictures are a little creepy. Kind of like out of an episode of CSI Miami. Lol. It would (and actually does now) bother me just wondering what happened to the people who were on this boat. Probably nothing, but you never know.

 

Enjoying your review. We don't sail on her until next year, but I am still excited!!

[ardnassac79]

I hope today as we leave tomorrow for Baltimore!! :D

 

Ahhh pressure!! We actually just stayed on the boat this trip, but was going to add in highlights from our 2009 and 2010 trips there - we had great excursions the past 2 years. I'll make sure we get it up tonight :D

 

These pictures are a little creepy. Kind of like out of an episode of CSI Miami. Lol. It would (and actually does now) bother me just wondering what happened to the people who were on this boat. Probably nothing, but you never know.

 

Enjoying your review. We don't sail on her until next year, but I am still excited!!

 

I Know!! Just between you and me (and all of CC) My own personal conspiracy therory was something along the lines of murder/suicide, but that's just me and my overactive imagination :p:eek: In reality it was probably a boat that got undocked from somwhere during Irene and got tossed about through all the storms.

[2tall]

Thanks so much for your review! I keep reading pretty good reviews of the cruises out of Baltimore so I'm starting to rethink them as an option. It's probably less than an hour's drive for us!

 

Congratulations on your engagement! It was a lovely proposal and a beautiful ring. And I love romantic stories like yours...so sweet and what a wonderful way to start a vacation!

 

I did have to struggle a bit through the first few posts since the photographs were so horribly ruined because of the EAGLE'S JERSEY. :p AAACCCCKKKK!

 

Hail to the Redskins! [Any comments about the past two seasons will be emphatically ignored.]

[megansdad1]

Thanks so much for your review! I keep reading pretty good reviews of the cruises out of Baltimore so I'm starting to rethink them as an option. It's probably less than an hour's drive for us!

 

Congratulations on your engagement! It was a lovely proposal and a beautiful ring. And I love romantic stories like yours...so sweet and what a wonderful way to start a vacation!

 

I did have to struggle a bit through the first few posts since the photographs were so horribly ruined because of the EAGLE'S JERSEY. :p AAACCCCKKKK!

 

Hail to the Redskins! [Any comments about the past two seasons will be emphatically ignored.]

 

 

Just the last two seasons?

[ardnassac79]

Thanks so much for your review! I keep reading pretty good reviews of the cruises out of Baltimore so I'm starting to rethink them as an option. It's probably less than an hour's drive for us!

 

Congratulations on your engagement! It was a lovely proposal and a beautiful ring. And I love romantic stories like yours...so sweet and what a wonderful way to start a vacation!

 

I did have to struggle a bit through the first few posts since the photographs were so horribly ruined because of the EAGLE'S JERSEY. :p AAACCCCKKKK!

 

Hail to the Redskins! [Any comments about the past two seasons will be emphatically ignored.]

 

Since you started out with lovely compliments, I'll keep all comments to myself :p Besides, I can't say much with the pathetic showing the Birds have had so far this year.