After having our 2 previous Panama Canal cruises canceled due to the pandemic, we finally made it on board. It was so nice being back on a ship again. This trip was all about relaxation. We turned Platinum on this cruise.

Tampa - Embarkation

The Pride was docked at terminal 3. Tampa is a pretty easy port to navigate. The parking desk is quite close to terminal 2 and 3. Terminal 6 has its own parking. I decided to use valet this time. It was well worth the extra 20 dollars to us. We drove into the drop off area and asked the gentleman directing traffic where to go for valet. He asked if we had prepaid as that was all they were taking. The valet drop off line was to the left. I pulled up and the valet and porter were just finishing up with the car in front of us. My husband got the checked bags for the porter while I showed my receipt to the valet, got our claim ticket and handed over my key fob. Then it was off to the terminal. Our check in time was 11 am (which I believe was the earliest one for this cruise). It was about 10:30 at this point. We headed up the escalator, showed our boarding passes, and headed into the terminal. There was a brief wait at security as they confiscated someone's small scissors from their carryon. My husband had to take off his belt after setting off the security machine. We were directed to the priority check in line. They were already calling for wedding parties. We checked in as they started calling Diamonds. Shortly after we checked in, Platinum were called and we headed to the next check point. We bypassed the embarkation picture and started up the gangway. We boarded on deck 3 and were immediately directed to our muster station which was also on deck 3. We got there as they were starting to demonstrate how to put on the life jacket. They scanned our boarding passes and then we went to our cabin to drop off our carryons. Our cabin steward was almost done but we headed back out to grab a Guy's burger. I saw our car in the valet lot as we ate. We hung out in the shade in the serentity area waiting on our cabin. We didn't go check it until 1:30 but I suspect that it has been ready for a while. Our room steward introduced himself shortly after we got into the room. He asked if we preferred morning or evening service. We requested evening but he came in the mornings most every day. If we were on our balcony he always asked if it was ok to clean the room. Our luggage was delivered pretty quickly. Read more