Help- Which cruise to take late April 2010-

[tiger belle]

when I read what Krooz posted, I thought the same thing!

 

I have not been on the Dream, but I've been on the Glory, and it's a great ship!

 

I've always wanted to vist San Juan...I think the Glory itinerary has a nice variety of ports

 

Have fun!

[tiger belle]

Got a balcony room port side mid ship on Verandah deck 8

 

on Glory we were also on Verandah deck with a balcony room mid ship...it was an awesome location...I think you are going to have a wonderful cruise :)

[ISurfTooMuch]

My wife and I are also on the Glory on the 25th. Small world! :)

 

Actually, I was just about to chime in on this one. We did Nassau last year on the Fascination, and, although there were some nice beaches, our impression of the city wasn't so great. It isn't that we felt unsafe, but the place just didn't seem too appealing to us. I don't care if a city is squeaky clean (I have always loved New Orleans, especially as a kid in the late '70s, before they cleaned it up a bit), but Nassau just held no magic for me. It's dingy, crowded, and loud, and not in a charming way like New Orleans. Just my opinion, and I'm sure some will disagree with me.

 

I've got about six weeks of prep time under my belt on this trip, so maybe I can help you out by telling you what I've done so far. We're flying into FLL on the 24th, since we did the same-day flight thing on our honeymoon cruise and came uncomfortably close to missing our plane, so never again will we do that. If you're close to an airport with Southwest, check their prices, keeping in mind that they don't charge for checked bags, while most other airlines do. After we get to FLL, we're going to stay at the Cambria Suites, which offers a free shuttle from the airport. When I booked, rooms were going for $79, but the place had just opened, so the price may have changed. However, Choice Hotels, which owns this property, also has other good deals there, and many (though not all) include the shuttle, so pay close attention to the hotel description when visiting their site, as the ones that include it will tell you. http://www.choicehotels.com To get to Miami, we're using SAS Transportation (http://www.ridesas.com), which charges $15/pp each way. In addition, Steve (the owner) said he'd pick us up from Cambria the morning of the cruise for no extra charge, something not mentioned on his site. I'd just confirm that he can do the same from the hotel you choose before booking the hotel, but you might consider Cambria because he confirmed he can do that one and because he already has at least two confirmed passengers from there that day. Reaching him on his cell can be difficult, so use his site's contact form, and you should hear from him in a couple of days.

 

As for excursions, I've mainly been working on St. Thomas. I contacted Sunny Liston, but, unfortunately, he'll be off-island the day the Glory will be in port, so he can't do any tours, but he referred me to Henry Christopher with EEE Tours, and I booked with him. By all accounts, he's a very nice guy and does a great tour. http://www.eeetours.com You might also want to look at Godfrey and Air Force One to see what they can do. http://godfreytoursvi.com http://www.havefunwithus.net

 

For Grand Turk, the only thing I've decided so far is that we'll most likely go to Jack's Shack to have lunch and hang out. http://www.jacksshack.tc

 

That's all I have so far. I need to work on San Juan next. For Half Moon Cay, I think a totally laid-back beach day is in order.

 

Good luck, and have fun getting your vacation planned out!

[Fourseventeen]

flight we are doing what we did for our Valor cruise (and sister ship to Glory).

Fly into Fort Lauderdale the morning of the cruise. we fly out of phoenix at 11pm, hit a connecting flight and last in FLL at 10am. We hired a private car service at 70.00 one way from the airport to the port of miami so I assume we will do that again.

flight ended up costing me 622.00 round trip for us both...not bad but its by far the best price I could find on a red eye flight. I didnt want to fly in a day or 2 early cause I need to stick around and make some money while I can so the later I can leave the better.

 

Now that the cruise and flight is booked and paid for I need to figure out what we will do for excursions. I want to avoid booking with Carnival as much as possible. On our Western Caribbean cruise I decided to book 100% away from the cruise line....that was the best cruise I have ever been on BY FAR!...so far!

I think Half Moon Cay will be a relaxing beach day.

All the other ports...no clue yet. I am sure we will find some nice excursions. I will check the site mentioned above as well...thank you.

[Fourseventeen]

flight we are doing what we did for our Valor cruise (and sister ship to Glory).

Fly into Fort Lauderdale the morning of the cruise. we fly out of phoenix at 11pm, hit a connecting flight and last in FLL at 10am. We hired a private car service at 70.00 one way from the airport to the port of miami so I assume we will do that again.

flight ended up costing me 622.00 round trip for us both...not bad but its by far the best price I could find on a red eye flight. I didnt want to fly in a day or 2 early cause I need to stick around and make some money while I can so the later I can leave the better.

 

Now that the cruise and flight is booked and paid for I need to figure out what we will do for excursions. I want to avoid booking with Carnival as much as possible. On our Western Caribbean cruise I decided to book 100% away from the cruise line....that was the best cruise I have ever been on BY FAR!...so far!

I think Half Moon Cay will be a relaxing beach day.

All the other ports...no clue yet. I am sure we will find some nice excursions. I will check the site mentioned above as well...thank you.

[k2excursion]

When we were in St. Thomas, we took the ferry over to St. John and went to Trunk Bay. Cabs, ferries, and entrance fees all together came out to around $50pp. It was well worth it. St. John is a spectacular island (of course, so is St. Thomas). Trunk Bay is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world: perfect sand and water, great snorkeling, a mountainous backdrop, and a great view of St. Thomas across the water. It's my favorite beach so far. We had plenty of time there, and got back well before the ship left.

[Fourseventeen]

Thanks K2. I will put St Johns on my list of things we may want to do. I appreciate the info.

[CruisingAmazona]

"But, I say choose the Dream, as we'll get to meet you guys."

 

:-) - That was going to be my reply.

 

Seriously though, both itineraries are fantastic and I agree that San Juan is definitely worth seeing, in fact, has much more history and culture than most of the other Caribbean islands. However, I would go on the Dream because it's the newer ship!

 

Either way, enjoy the cruise you choose!

[CruisingAmazona]

All the other ports...no clue yet. I am sure we will find some nice excursions.

 

For San Juan you need nothing but a really good pair of walking shoes and strong thigh muscles to get you up the steep cobblestoned roads...and a good camera!

[chachi]

I would pick Glory because it has 4 ports. I hate booking 7 day cruises with less than that.

[Fourseventeen]

Thanks again guys and gals.

 

Glory is booked. I didnt like the idea of the DREAM having numerous other ships in port at the same time. Having over 14,000 cruise passengers in St Thomas just didnt sound to appealing to me though I would loved to have been on the Dream.

 

I have some good walking shoes and strong calve muscles...I hike and mountain bike weekly and use my treadmill almost daily. :)

[nobody000]

LOL looks like you are! Ill be on the cruise after yours though.

 

 

lol you will love it..just did that itin in Nov..we love Eastern...im sure you will love the Glory also! We wont trash her to to bad! ;):D Congrats on he booking!

[Fourseventeen]

Thanks :)

 

Ive done western caribbean so why not try the eastern in April. We are planning to do the Valor AGAIN in October western caribbean....we really enjoyed those ports so we are gonna do it again :)