Bittersweet Pride Med cruise 10/01/

[jimbo5544]

So come join us on aboard the Pride 10/01 Greek isles cruise out of Rome.  This is going to a really different cruise and review for two significant reasons.  The first is Intrepid just is finishing up a spectacular Greek islands cruise and my home town area just got destroyed by Hurricane Ian.  We were up north and preparing for the group we were leading on the cruise. Oh…….where to begin.  The beginning is always a good place.

[pe4all]

Along for the ride.  Hoping your home town is starting to recover from Ian, and no one was injured, or worse.    Loved our Greek Isles cruise.

[NCTribeFan]

Boarding 10/11.  Need ALL the details! 

 

Sorry about your home town.

[ninjacat123]

DH and I are doing this cruise Oct 2023 so I'm really looking forward to reading about your trip.  If you go to a restaurant when on excursion or before/after the cruise, please write down the restaurant's name in your review.  Thanks and safe travels!

[Jamman54]

Hey Jimbo! Looking forward to your review as the Greek Isles are on our bucket list. Hope everything works out for you on the home front. 

[pjhootch]

Jimbo, I am sorry to hear about your home town.  So much devastation- I hope your family and friends are safe.  I am very much looking forward to your review, because we board Pride on the 11th and are looking forward to it.  Have a great cruise.

[EllieinNJ]

Have fun.

[jimbo5544]

This cruise started about two years ago when we saw then selected the cruise, deep in the depth of Covid mania, I thought what a better way to explore the Greek Islands.  We already had a really busty travel year set up but managed to find a good slot and this cruise fit rught in nicely.   The cruise became fairly popular and people booked.  As covid remainined and rules posted about cruisng in Greece people cancelled and we lost about half of our cabins.  As the rules began to ease, some come back, quite a strange experience, but this is the world we live in now……on with the review.

 

[jimbo5544]

Halof of our group was from SW Florida and half from the Northeast.  Many had decided to fly in a couple of days early into Rome.  We had some stay in Rome (we have been there many times, so we flew in but ….umm…lets say did not take an an aggressive tourist track.  Some went to the port area and stayed in the nearby town (this is something new and different but we assisted them in finding places to stay, more on that later.

[jimbo5544]

17 hours ago, pe4all said:

Along for the ride.  Hoping your home town is starting to recover from Ian, and no one was injured, or worse.    Loved our Greek Isles cruise.

Thanks, appreciate the thoughts….  I am on the board of our condo and while I am trying (and will) enjoy the cruise, I am torn back there thru email and allmthat is happening (or not) and seeing if we can help.  

[jimbo5544]

11 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Jimbo! Looking forward to your review as the Greek Isles are on our bucket list. Hope everything works out for you on the home front. 

Thanks Jeff, some good news arrived (which helps), our building fared well from wind, but water surge damage unknown, fingers crossed).

[jimbo5544]

Almost everyone in our group (except two were planning to fly on Thursday)was flying out Wednesday and spending two days getting adjusted before getting on the Pride…..or so we thought.  

[jimbo5544]

The weekend before the trip, a tropical storm pops up on the network news in the gulf….meh nothing to worry about🙄

[jimbo5544]

By Monday, all those thoughts were gone and we realized we needed to worry.  Boy did we.  SOme of the group called and expressed concerns that they might not be able to get out of RSW (the airport that services southwest Florida).  So we rolled up our sleeves and working with each airline (some easier than others) changed all of their flights to Tuesday.  This was no easy task and took about 6 hours to accomplish, but we got it done.

[jimbo5544]

By Tuesday, we def knew that making those changes was wise, RSW was to be closed on Wednesday.😵

[jimbo5544]

Wednesday morning arrives and we begin to understand the world had now changed and where we live and love was being attacked by a monster.  P\retty darn hard to go to JFK and board a plane not knowing what was happening in Florida.  But we decided it was the right thing to do.  Fast forward 8 hours and a non issue flight on Delta and we arrive in Rome.  After retrieving our bags, we go out to catch the preordered ride from the airport to Rome.  I turned on my phone an found that the world had changed while we snoozed and wqatched movies on the flight.

[jimbo5544]

We begin to get messages and see clips that inform us that beloved sleepy area that we love and live in had changed forever, each more and more as more info reached us, calls updating us, texts telling us, internet blasting to us. The second guessing of leaving began to set in, but no go backsees..

Edited October 2, 2022 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

We normally stay in the same hotel on Rome, but one portion of our group asked us to consider another hotel near the Vatican that they stayed in.  Since a good portion of the group was going to the Vatican in their time there, and it is always nice to try something new, we agreed and we chose Star Hotels Michelangelo. Nice hotel (rooms were kind of small, nicely appointed and def within walking distance to the Vatican.  Wish I had captured pictures, sorry about that, but my heart was just not in it. 😥

[jimbo5544]

The good news, our flight was early and we arrived at 10 tot he hotel and were told that our rooms were ready.  We went up showered and went down and grabbed a bite and headed out, heading for the Vatican. Some of the pics I captured to follow.

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]

Having all sorts of issues posting….just forget the ship pic and the phone system pic

[NCTribeFan]

Glad you mentioned hotels.  I have a room booked near the Colosseum and i need to cancel since we're all at a double-apartment AirB2B.  I had totally forgotten that I'd booked a room!  I did enough of the "tourist thing" on my one day in Rome on the Vista inaugural.  This time, all I want to see is the Colosseum and Forum.  And have some good food and wine.  And relax.  There will be enough touristy things to do in the 17 ports we'll have!

 

[pe4all]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Wednesday morning arrives and we begin to understand the world had now changed and where we live and love was being attacked by a monster.  P\retty darn hard to go to JFK and board a plane not knowing what was happening in Florida.

We were in FLL for a few days at our condo, and were flying out Wed. a.m.  Tuesday late afternoon we kept getting tornado warnings amidst torrential rain , and kept going down to the 1st floor library to wait each out.  I kept an eye on our JB Flite to Kennedy, and watched as every flight after ours was cancelled.  Our 9:30 flight got out, but barely.  We didn't get anything nearly as bad as the west coast got - many of our friends got terrible damage, if not total destruction of their homes.  Try to enjoy the adventure you are on now - you will take care of everything necessary when you get home.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Jimbo, what town in Fl is your condo in?  Glad to hear no wind damage, hope water surge spared you as well.  The video coming out of Sanibel is heartbreaking, I have great memories of shell-hunting with my daughter there when she was 9 and 11.