This report is going to be a little different because it's more about cruising when handicapped than about the cruise itself. I find there isn't enough information on cruising when mobility is an issue plus we don't do a lot of the activities - we enjoy our big balcony a lot. Because of health issues, flying has gotten harder and harder for me, so I love sailing from my homeport of Baltimore on the Pride. It's 40 mins, from my house. This was my 6th Pride cruise. I use a wheelchair or scooter and decided to rent a scooter this time. Check in at the terminal was easy as always and my travel buddy and I were seated with others who also needed assistance boarding. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and were sitting waiting to board by 11:50. The place was filled and they started boarding soon after we arrived. Pretty soon the place was almost empty, and still we sat.... and waited and waited. The woman who seemed to be in charge of our area told us that someone had sent all the "pushers" to a lunch break at the same time. In the past, we'd never had this long of a wait. Finally we arrived on lido deck and of course by this time it was packed. Luckily I also had my walker so I was able to get around until we could get to our room and pick up my rental scooter. We had a Guy's burger which was delicious as always. It wasn't long until we were able to go to our room. We were in room 6281 which is a full handicap balcony room. The door automatically opened when you swiped your sign and sail card. This was a nice feature because it meant I was able to come and go on my own when I wanted, without needing my friend to hold the door open for me and the scooter You opened it from inside the room by pushing a button. The down side was it took forever to close, so anyone walking by could stare into the room for quite a long time. The shower had a fold down seat and was much better than the ones in the modified handicapped cabins because it had more floor drains right around the shower. This meant the floor didn't flood like it does in the modified rooms. There was room to park the scooter and still get around. As in all the handicap rooms, there is no sofa. Just a chair a small table. There was no raised area to step over to go out to the balcony so I could have taken the scooter out there, but I just used my walker. There were 2 lounge chairs, 2 deck chairs and a small table on the balcony. We used the balcony a lot every day. Our cabin steward did a good job, but asked if we wanted a.m. or p.m. service. When I asked for both, which is very much an option, he didn't seem very happy. We are neat people, so he didn't have much to do, but I wanted to make sure we had clean towels and wanted any room service trays removed so I requested both. We didn't see him at all after day one, but as I said, he kept trash emptied and brought fresh ice daily as we requested. We never got off the ship when in ports because we'd done this same cruise before 5 times. My friend used this time to enjoy the less crowded hot tub in the Serenity area.

We had Your Time Dining and had wonderful service. We really liked the staff we had the 1st night, so we requested them nightly. The longest we waited for a table for 2 was about five minutes one night. We were not crazy about the new American Table menu. I actually won money in the casino but wish they could do more to keep the smoke and the smell of cigarettes cleared away. We didn't go when it was crowded as neither of us smoke and when crowded it's pretty smoky there We played cards in the library a few times. On the morning we arrived back in Baltimore we were told everyone needing assistance with debarkation needed to meet at the Red Frog Pub, but not before 10 a.m. We got there at 10:05 and it was already packed. A lot of the seating here is on high stools - not an option for a lot of us. I liked it better when the meeting place was the Alchemy Bar area as there are regular chairs. Once again, just like at embarkation, people began leaving and we all just sat. People doing self assist left, people who had left their luggage outside the night before left and still we sat. There were lots of wheelchairs lined up, but nobody pushing them. Once in awhile someone would come and one person would leave, but we never saw the employee who assisted them come back. Finally an announcement came on and someone read out our names and asked us to "please vacate the ship !! "..It was embarrassing hearing my name being announced all over the ship, begging me to leave. LOL !.

I wont go on any longer, but I can honestly say I was the last guest to leave the ship. My cousin and his wife were picking us up and they'd been sitting in the parking lot for hours. I got off the ship around the same time I'd been almost home on my other 5 Pride cruises. Not a good ending to a great relaxing cruise. I am going back in August and hopefully the same problems won't occur. The staff all were so helpful. At lunch someone who quickly appear and offer to help my get lunch at the buffet, or help me get an elevator. I love the Pride !!