First Cruise and what I learned. Glory 4/3/04

[pshaze]

We sailed on the Glory 4/3/04 (the Eastern Caribbean)

 

First I have to tell you I had serious reservations about sailing on Carnival, especially during spring break. This was our first cruise. After reading all the reviews and message boards I thought it was going to be a disaster. Well I could have not been more wrong. We had a wonderful time and would do it again in a heartbeat. Almost everyone we met was friendly, kind, considerate, and fun. Not the crazy, classless, wild group I expected.

 

I read these message boards in preparation for our trip and the information was invaluable. You definitely need that power strip or extension cord, nightlight and bungee cord (for balcony door). Also, I found the hairdryer in the drawer difficult to use because you had to hold the button to keep it running, so I was glad I had brought my own travel one. In the bathroom there were 6 shelves to hold our stuff, so on the Glory you don’t need that over the door thing.

 

For the first time cruisers:

 

There were a few things we weren’t prepared for...... after we checked in and received our Sign and Sail cards I thought we were done and ready to board the ship. We went down the hall and came to a room where they had these podiums with mats in front of them that looked liked something from Playstation (actually I thought they were a scale). We were the only ones in there at the time. They asked us to step on the mats and give them our sign and sail cards. I was looking around trying to figure out what they were doing and not one of them would tell us, they just shuffled us along. I thought they just weighed us in! I was asking my DH do you think they have a weight limit or something? Do they put that information on you Sign and Sail card? As a plus size person that is not something I advertise. Well it wasn’t till we were returning to the ship from St Maarten that we figured out what they were doing. For the new cruisers, when you return to the ship they put your sign and sail card in a slot and your picture shows to the staff. My picture showed a beautiful view of my neck, chin and nostrils. (I must have been looking at the ceiling when they took the picture). I now know that is what the smirks and smiles were about when we were boarding. In my mothers picture her hand obscured her whole face because she was removing her glasses. So for all the new cruisers out there smile for the camera (you can’t see) when you step up to the podium.

 

One of the other things we found out was that U.S. Custom allowances on purchases were as follows $400 per person plus $200 for purchases made in St Maarten and an additional $600 per person for purchases made in St. Thomas or the total of $1200 per person may be spent in St. Thomas. So if you want to do some shopping, St. Thomas has a larger limit. Unfortunately for us “Super Shopper Derek†told us the shops in downtown St Thomas closed at five but would reopen at 5:30. So we planned our shore excursions for the morning and shopping for later. After we returned to the ship and got ready to go shopping we found out the stores downtown are closed at 5. The stores at the pier really didn’t have the selection we were looking for so we were out of luck.

 

Just a couple of quick notes about the Glory: We found it very difficult to get around on. The maps they give you are really useless. Most of the bars, casino, and Atrium were smoky. There is a lot of walking from the ships into the ports especially in Nassau.

 

Since it was our first cruise, and we had no idea what to expect, we decided to book our excursions through Carnival. We did the Atlantis tour in Nassau, ($45) (we met Mohammed Ali and got my son’s picture with him there), Trunk Bay snorkel in St Thomas ($69), and the Island Tour in St Maarten ($35) (Air conditioned bus).

 

If anyone has any questions let me know. Thanks to everyone on this board. You were a great help!

[richym1]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bmaddog:

Unfortunately for us “Super Shopper Derek†told us the shops in downtown St Thomas closed at five but would reopen at 5:30. So we planned our shore excursions for the morning and shopping for later. After we returned to the ship and got ready to go shopping we found out the stores downtown are closed at 5. The stores at the pier really didn’t have the selection we were looking for so we were out of luck.:<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I don't understand? "Super Shopper Dave" told you the shops closed at 5:00 and you went shopping at 5:00?

 

Richy

Our Disney Page!

[aqusis]

He told them the shops closed at 5:00 but reopened at 5:30. I think she is saying that they didn't reopen but closed for the day at 5:00 and did not reopen as she had been told.

 

Mariner of the Seas