Glory and taxes

[gstepic]

Just when I thought I had what we wanted nailed down my wife told me she does not want to cruise in December because it is too close to Christmass (don't know how this changes anything but after being married 27 years I don't argue!). So after doing a new search I thought about a cruise out of Orlando on the Glory. The Glory seems to be a real nice ship according to the review I read. I wanted to make a later trip than October 2nd to increase the odds of missing any Hurricanes, but my thinking is as long as I do not have my heart set on any one port then we will enjoy the trip even if a port stop is disrupted. The port will always be there and hopefully there will be more cruises in the future.

 

I was able to get some rates off of the internet that includes port charges but not taxes. Does anyone have any idea what taxes will run per person for the 7 night Western Caribbean cruise on the Glory? I am like a little kid and am very impatient on nailing down costs. The agent I will be working with should be able to give me the costs, but she will be out of town for a few days.

 

Any opinions on the Glory are also welcome. Maybe I do not need any opinions because I am so darn excited about going on our first cruise I am having a very hard time getting anything done at work. I need some sort of control that limits my access to this site because I am spending too much time on it. I guess it is not that bad for a 58 year old to feel like a little kid again, but that is how I feel. And the comments on the cruises just get me all the more excited - so if none are posted about the Glory I will get some work done and if any of you do post your views on the this ship this old guy will appreciate it very much.

 

By the way, do the cruises have passengers give any info about themselves to make it possible to hook up with others that may have the same interests? I saw where on many cruises seating is assigned for meals so I would think some sort of survey would be a good idea to match the interests of passengers. For example, our faith is important to us so it would be nice to know passengers that share similar beliefs. Hope this does not sound narrow minded because I do enjoy getting to know people with vastly different beliefs, politics, etc.., but shared hobbies, philoshophies, beliefs, and the like can contribute to making some longer lasting friendships.

[NRWO]

Federal taxes will bot be a significant amount extra. Shouldn't be more than $50/60 a person.

[NRWO]

As for your last paragraph.. wow, I don't know where to start, but that's just not how it works.

[JudyKa]

Just when I thought I had what we wanted nailed down my wife told me she does not want to cruise in December because it is too close to Christmass (don't know how this changes anything but after being married 27 years I don't argue!). So after doing a new search I thought about a cruise out of Orlando on the Glory. The Glory seems to be a real nice ship according to the review I read. I wanted to make a later trip than October 2nd to increase the odds of missing any Hurricanes, but my thinking is as long as I do not have my heart set on any one port then we will enjoy the trip even if a port stop is disrupted. The port will always be there and hopefully there will be more cruises in the future.

 

I was able to get some rates off of the internet that includes port charges but not taxes. Does anyone have any idea what taxes will run per person for the 7 night Western Caribbean cruise on the Glory? I am like a little kid and am very impatient on nailing down costs. The agent I will be working with should be able to give me the costs, but she will be out of town for a few days.

 

Any opinions on the Glory are also welcome. Maybe I do not need any opinions because I am so darn excited about going on our first cruise I am having a very hard time getting anything done at work. I need some sort of control that limits my access to this site because I am spending too much time on it. I guess it is not that bad for a 58 year old to feel like a little kid again, but that is how I feel. And the comments on the cruises just get me all the more excited - so if none are posted about the Glory I will get some work done and if any of you do post your views on the this ship this old guy will appreciate it very much.

 

By the way, do the cruises have passengers give any info about themselves to make it possible to hook up with others that may have the same interests? I saw where on many cruises seating is assigned for meals so I would think some sort of survey would be a good idea to match the interests of passengers. For example, our faith is important to us so it would be nice to know passengers that share similar beliefs. Hope this does not sound narrow minded because I do enjoy getting to know people with vastly different beliefs, politics, etc.., but shared hobbies, philoshophies, beliefs, and the like can contribute to making some longer lasting friendships.

 

I understand certain ideals are important to people; but we don't really go on a cruise to find life-long friends with people really.....if it happens, GREAT! We make our own happiness. =o) We as a couple in our mid-50's enjoy our quiet and zen-times at times on cruises and at other times enjoy the party. Everybody to their own thing I always say.

 

In the dining rooms, they do seem to group people according to children/no children, age, or marital status somewhat on the Carnival cruises. I've read on this board that some people do make new close friends during these meal times and out and about on the ships and during shore activities. However, I don't think the ships actually get passenger info and personal interests to publicly post before cruising.

[RWolver672]

The Glory is a beautiful ship. Unfortunately for us, on our cruise the ship had engine problems heading into the first portof Nassau. St. Thomas and St. Maarten were replaced with Freeport and Key West. The crew was wonderful and went out of their way to make sure that we were all having fun and enjoying ourselves.

 

They don't place you with people of your same interests. That's pretty much up to you to start a posting of your cruise and get to know fellow cruisers before you ever get to the port. On two different cruises, we got to know people ahead of time that we really connected with. On one, it was a different story. It seems that some people come across differently in person than they do on the Internet.

 

I can just about guarantee that you will have fun and get hooked. DW is 57 and I'm 58 and we love Carnival. Been on four cruises and plan to keep on doing it until they plant us in the ground.

[molme]

When you decide a a specific cruise check the roll call board and see who else is sailing with you. You may meet someone on there that you would like to meet in person on the ship.

 

We usually sail in Jan and don't have to worry about hurricanes. We have done both the eastern and western on the Glory. You will love her, she is a fantastic ship.

[big_duck]

The Glory is a beautiful ship. Unfortunately for us, on our cruise the ship had engine problems heading into the first portof Nassau. St. Thomas and St. Maarten were replaced with Freeport and Key West. The crew was wonderful and went out of their way to make sure that we were all having fun and enjoying ourselves.

 

They don't place you with people of your same interests. That's pretty much up to you to start a posting of your cruise and get to know fellow cruisers before you ever get to the port. On two different cruises, we got to know people ahead of time that we really connected with. On one, it was a different story. It seems that some people come across differently in person than they do on the Internet.

 

I can just about guarantee that you will have fun and get hooked. DW is 57 and I'm 58 and we love Carnival. Been on four cruises and plan to keep on doing it until they plant us in the ground.

 

Nice to see someone else with a positive attitude about that particular sailing. :)

 

One thing you can do, is start/visit the rollcall for that particular cruise and see if there are people on your sailing with similar points of view. Once established, you can contact them directly and link your booking numbers through your TA/PVP for dining purposes.

[sweetpea-2]

Just when I thought I had what we wanted nailed down my wife told me she does not want to cruise in December because it is too close to Christmass (don't know how this changes anything but after being married 27 years I don't argue!). So after doing a new search I thought about a cruise out of Orlando on the Glory. The Glory seems to be a real nice ship according to the review I read. I wanted to make a later trip than October 2nd to increase the odds of missing any Hurricanes, but my thinking is as long as I do not have my heart set on any one port then we will enjoy the trip even if a port stop is disrupted. The port will always be there and hopefully there will be more cruises in the future.

 

I was able to get some rates off of the internet that includes port charges but not taxes. Does anyone have any idea what taxes will run per person for the 7 night Western Caribbean cruise on the Glory? I am like a little kid and am very impatient on nailing down costs. The agent I will be working with should be able to give me the costs, but she will be out of town for a few days.

 

Any opinions on the Glory are also welcome. Maybe I do not need any opinions because I am so darn excited about going on our first cruise I am having a very hard time getting anything done at work. I need some sort of control that limits my access to this site because I am spending too much time on it. I guess it is not that bad for a 58 year old to feel like a little kid again, but that is how I feel. And the comments on the cruises just get me all the more excited - so if none are posted about the Glory I will get some work done and if any of you do post your views on the this ship this old guy will appreciate it very much.

 

By the way, do the cruises have passengers give any info about themselves to make it possible to hook up with others that may have the same interests? I saw where on many cruises seating is assigned for meals so I would think some sort of survey would be a good idea to match the interests of passengers. For example, our faith is important to us so it would be nice to know passengers that share similar beliefs. Hope this does not sound narrow minded because I do enjoy getting to know people with vastly different beliefs, politics, etc.., but shared hobbies, philoshophies, beliefs, and the like can contribute to making some longer lasting friendships.

 

part of the fun of having a diverisfied group of dining companions is to widen our horizons....I think that there is no way for any cruise line to know about beliefs, politics, hobbies as it would take forever to match up people and I for one do not want to fill out a questionaire about my beliefs on any level......

[Ilovepj]

I am going on the glory on Nov 24th, eastern route, check out our roll call, we are almost all in our 50's, and we are all like you, like a bunch of kids that cant wait. I have never been on the glory, but have heard some really great things about the ship, from the wonder people on cruise critic..:D

[gstepic]

Even though I am basically introverted I enjoy meeting people of all kinds of backgrounds, doesn't matter what their beliefs or politics are. The only kinds of people I really don't care to know are arrogant and/or dishonest people, and I don't think I am much different than anyone else. My wife on the other hand, is also on the introverted side as well but really does not care to meet new people as much as I do. She also kind of likes to call the shots so I am hoping she makes some friends so she can go on different activities with them at times than I may want to go on. I guess I am being a little selfish.

 

No matter what, I am not really worried about our cruise and know we will have more fun than what we normally do. We go on a lot of vacations and rarely get to know other vacationers and always have a nice time. But on a boat the situation is a little different and it just seems like you are bound to get to know some other cruisers and I would think it could add to the experience. Chalk these thoughts up to being a cruise newbie! I will check out the roll calls when we decide for sure which ship we go on. I would never expect to make lifelong friends on a cruise but when I was in the insurace business many years ago we would make friends on some of our trips and it really did add to the experience.

[JudyKa]

I would never expect to make lifelong friends on a cruise but when I was in the insurace business many years ago we would make friends on some of our trips and it really did add to the experience.

 

Oh, I agree totally......part of the fun of vacationing IS talking with new people; but I was just saying that my hubby and I aren't all that extroverted either and haven't really spent that much energy toward finding people of the same interests to goof around with on the cruises. Hope I didn't come accross to you as being snooty-ish, gstepic....didn't mean to sound that way if I did. =o)

 

There are many port excursions that go in passenger groups through either Carnival or independently run. Would your wife mind blending in with these groups from your ship while you are doing something else?

 

....and like several of the posters on here have said.....there are many people on here that like to meet and greet on their scheduled cruises. When you decide which cruise, you ought to meet up with a few of the nice folks on this board that are scheduled for your cruise.

[poptart]

I can just about guarantee that you will have fun and get hooked. DW is 57 and I'm 58 and we love Carnival. Been on four cruises and plan to keep on doing it until they plant us in the ground.

 

Hey Dick, did you used post on the AOL cruise boards. I remember your signature from wayyyyy back. My screen name on there is Talkgreen

 

Enjoy your cruise on the Glory, I know we're sure looking forward to our turn in November!!

[gstepic]

I am sorry if I sounded defensive, did not mean to. I am just going to go into this with little preconceived notions, hope I can do some of what i want to do, and I am sure this will be one of our best vacations ever.

 

We went on our first vacation to Hawaii two years ago and that was one of the best trips we ever had. What made it special was we were out at sunup and came back at sundown, but just wandered downstairs to the resteraunt that was open to the beach and listened to the music while sipping on drinks. Hate to say this but this is something we rarely do and we need to do more often. As much as I enjoyed the trip I felt it would have been better if we had gotten back a little earlier and had more time to visit the various lounges and listen to the music while sipping on our drinks. This is what is appealing to me about our cruise, even if i don't get to do everything I want to do (I am used to this! LOL!). I really think it is going to be a romantic time for us and I will not let anything ruin that. So if I have to read a book on the beach instead of taking an inland jungle tour to take photos while my wife snorkles, so be it, it will still be enjoyable.

 

Once we book, and I think we will do that this weekend, we will make an effort to get involved with the roll call. By the way, I called Carnival and found out I get a very nice discount for being a vet of the military, better than any other discounts. For the money this costs I feel we get an unbelievable value compared to just about any other type of vacation. Can you tell i am getting a little pumped up for our cruise!

 

Gary

[Gator Bait]

We are booked on the 10/21/06 Glory sailing. I pulled our bill out for this cruise, our taxes were a total of $131.90 ($65.95pp). We did get the military rate, don't know if that makes a difference in taxes. We have been on the Glory before, you will enjoy this ship.

[NRWO]

It doesn't. The federal taxes on crusies are flat. It's not a percentage.

[Gator Bait]

I find this interesting, after posting about the taxes on our future Glory cruise, I checked my file on our last cruise on the Glory (10/29/05). We keep good records. The taxes on that cruise were a total of $92.26 (46.13pp). The 05 however was a eastern, and our 06 will be a western. I guess it must not depend on price of cruise because we paid a lot more for the cruise last year than we did for the 06. Can't figure that one out, but that's what we paid. It would be best to call Carnival then you'll know for sure.

[big_duck]

It doesn't. The federal taxes on crusies are flat. It's not a percentage.

 

That's why when people get really good deals or "free" cruises, they are shocked by how much it actually costs them.