RoyalVisit

Question - was the tour you had of St. Lucia one of the Carnival excursions or another company? and if so, which one? I am confused about what to book for St. Lucia. Thanks!

We decided to take the Discover Martinique tour. Not sure we will book any other tours. None of the Antigua tours are grabbing our interest.

So many tours to choose from in each port, it's been hard to make up our minds! The eco tour with Adventure Antigua looks fun! We did a glass bottom boat tour in Aruba and it was great. My swimming skills are not the best unfortunately - even living by the sea!

I really have to sit down and make time to figure out what we are going to do in each port. I don't want us to have a tour in each port, I think we will just want to walk around for some of them. We were in London in August and we had a very busy itinerary (to see as much as we could in a short time) so I think we will take it easier on this trip, especially since we will no doubt have been sick of shoveling snow by then!

I think we might hit the beach in St Thomas too or maybe go over to St John by the ferry. As long as I can lounge a bit in the sun and read my book I am blissful! I've picked up Celia Umrie's memoir "The Happy Hoofer" and her other book "Not Quite Nice" to take with me. My husband says I am an old British woman at heart! haha

I work in a political environment and my husband also works in government so I enjoy being distracted by the vacation experience.

I should really put a list of our cruises together like I see on everyone's profiles here.

One booked! We booked the "Top 10 Best of St Kitts tour". We are in St Kitts on a Sunday, so I hope that doesn't affect us too much with places being closed etc. I don't care about shops - we never buy much!

We took our first Carnival cruise last year, the entertainment was not even a consideration for us when we booked Carnival again for a cruise in January.

The Hasbro game was boring and one of the two comedians was ok while the other was also boring. The stage shows were like karaoke and Halloween costumes squished together.

The movies under the stars option is a nice alternative but I couldn't help thinking that there really isn't anything special about watching movies (that have been out for a while) under the stars with people walking back and forth in front of you etc.

Carnival could improve their entertainment is they budgeted a little more money for it and think outside the box.

Thank you so much for your suggestions and comments! I have been looking at the St Kitts Highlights tour which includes Brimstone. We both like island tours. We like to experience some history, nature and culture when we travel. We went to London, UK this summer and one of the highlights of all the places we visited was Kew Gardens and Kew Palace because it has extensive greenhouses and a treetop walk. Shortly after we came home from that trip we booked this cruise.

The exchange rate for Canadian to USD is miserable right now so I'm going to hold off to see if that changes and hopefully the tours will still be available when we are ready to book them.

I watched a YouTube video about the Pitons hike and while it looked like a lot of fun, I don't think my knees could cope with that. I have been having this ongoing battle with patellofemoral syndrome. I'm 37 with knees going on 80 apparently. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and extensive walking helps to a point. Thankfully we have two dachshunds to keep us off our butts.

I think I was confusing Coco Cay with Half Moon Cay, I think Half Moon has the one main long primary beach for everyone versus Coco Cay which has several beaches on each side of the island. Either way Half Moon will definitely be a beach day for us.

I haven't looked into Martinique much yet. I read somewhere that Empress Josephine was born there and they have a small museum dedicated to her so that might be interesting to see.

We are on the 6pm dining this time (neither of us are night owls) but we are going to try our best to experience some of the special midnight events this time. I'm crossing my fingers for some steel band music.

I was there several years ago and had a great experience. Cubans were genuinely friendly and I felt safe. I stayed on a resort in Varadero but I took a day trip to Havana which was so interesting and a lot of fun! It's a bit like walking around in a time capsule, their legislature looks like Capitol Hill in Washington. I would say the food was disappointing, bland mostly but adequate. I would definitely go back to Cuba.:)

Also, I went to China in 2006, know exactly what you mean! love to go back there too. Hong Kong was also fascinating.

I recently found a cruise to Cuba - all GAY - for this coming winter. It leaves from Montego Bay for 7 days.....has anyone been to Cuba or had experiences w/ travel to Cuba. I'd like to get there before McDonalds and this looks like a good opportunity. Back in the early 1980's I went to China for a month & it was fantastic to see a culture pre McDonalds.

I was there several years ago and had a great experience. Cubans were genuinely friendly and I felt safe. I stayed on a resort in Varadero but I took a day trip to Havana which was so interesting and a lot of fun! It's a bit like walking around in a time capsule, their legislature looks like Capitol Hill in Washington. I would say the food was disappointing, bland mostly but adequate. I would definitely go back to Cuba.:)

We'll be on this cruise as well.

 

We haven't been to Half-Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Antigua, or Martinique yet, so it'll be nice to explore some new places. We've already booked some excursions, but I don't think we've figured out what to do in St. Thomas yet.

We haven't booked any excursions yet! can't make up our minds. We found Grand Turk crowded around the beach area by the pier (2 ships in last time) so I think we will probably go to the museum and maybe walk the bird/nature walk to explore the island a bit. Half Moon is fantastic, we always head to the furthest beach away from the food stations where it is a little quieter. I like to lay back, read a book and watch the palm trees sway! :)

Antigua and Martinque are new to us too as are St Lucia and St Kitts. I'd like to explore all of them so I have to sort out what we can do by foot vs a tour.

We're toying with the idea of taking the ferry over to St John in St Thomas as we have been there twice before as cruise ports.

I would appreciate any suggestions you have for the ports you have visited!

Hi Everyone,

I didn't find a roll call in the LGBT forums for the January 23, 2016 sailing on the Carnival Glory so I'll be the guinea pig. There is one under the Carnival forum, many appear to be doing the back to back sailings.

I can't convince my better half to socialize much but I'm going to try my best this time round! Second cruise for us on Carnival but we've been on sever al others. Four of the seven ports are new to us so we are looking forward to visiting them.

Scott :)

Hi Scott, there have been no Journeys cruises yet. We will be on the same cruise as you. We have a very active roll call that you might want to join.

Thanks I am following it! :)

There haven't been any Journeys cruises yet. The first one is on Oct 4 for 11 days. Perhaps after that cruise you might get some info.

I guess I'm too eager! :p

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has feedback on the additional activities that were included on their Carnival Journey sailing?

We are taking the Carnival Glory on Jan 23, 2016.

Scott

Not sure when your cruise on the Symphony was but the dress code has definitely become far less formal in the last year or so. You will always see some tuxedos but far fewer, especially on a seven day cruise.

It was several years ago, so I'm glad to hear the tuxedos are not the norm anymore! Too much hassle to bring a tux with you, and too expensive to rent one onboard.

There are still lots of great deals if you keep checking. We booked the Carnival Glory 10 night cruise on Jan 23, 2016. When we booked, the gurantee rates for interior were $379, Oceanview $449, Balcony $799 plus port. This was during a 36 hour flash sale so we received an email from Carnival and booked it a few hours later. I checked today, balconies and suites are sold out, interior guarantee is now $599, Oceanview $699. Sailing must be close to selling out so it really does depend on popularity with a particular sailing, the ongoing sales and how closely you are monitoring the prices. Good luck!

I sailed on a 7 day cruise on the Crystal Symphony. My main observations:

- elegant, dressing for dinner means a tuxedo on Crystal, very few suits.

- most of the passengers on the sailing were age 70 plus

- food was fantastic

- service was exceptional

- quieter atmosphere

- Crystal spends a small fortune on their evening shows, costumes etc.

A great experience overall but it was refined...picture Downton Abbey at sea.

Having only been on Carnival cruises, I can say that Bostonjetset's comments are actually really accurate.

 

Although I can't compare the food to other lines, I can say that I've never sent a meal in the MDR back. There's a good variety of choices and the portion size of the main course is usually rather large.

 

The decor of their three newer ships (Dream, Magic, and Breeze) is much more toned down compared to the older ones.

 

My husband and I prefer the smaller ships because they feel less crowded. The Dream-class ships have a much larger guest capacity, but the public area sizes are not proportionally larger compared to the smaller ships.

 

We've also never had an issue with crew members or other guests as far as being gay. The other guests on a Carnival cruise are quite diverse, so to me that's saying a lot.

 

One thing we've noticed is that the 7-day cruises in January have a much smaller number of kids on them. The ships do have activities for all age groups and do a pretty good job of keeping them occupied.

 

With all that being said, we go on cruises for the ports and being able to visit a number of places in one trip by the most economical way possible and Carnival certainly fits that criteria.

I would echo Robear14's comments except that having been on other lines, we can compare the food, service, ship decor etc. I was honestly hesitant to book our first Carnival cruise in 2014 but it turned out very well. We had been on Crystal, Holland, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean before.

The only negatives for us: the lack of the a round-the-ship promenade deck (Conquest) in the middle of the ship like some of the other ships in the other lines have. If you don't like being in the crowded higher decks around the pool, it was nice to be able to walk laps/read in a quieter spot. We ended up with a balcony stateroom so we had our quiet spot but still missed the full promenade. The service was basically the same as the other lines, I didn't notice much difference in that regard. Carnival was generally louder and more congested but not so much as to ruin the experience. The food is also not to the standard of Celebrity or Royal Caribbean but acceptable. The cabins could also use a spruce-up, the colours are a bit tired.

Overall we were still very happy with Carnival and our next cruise is booked with them on the Carnival Glory on January 23, 2016.

Scott

Hi everyone! Where is everyone from? We are a gay couple based in Sydney Australia.

Hi Everyone - we're from Nova Scotia, Canada.

Our next cruise is one of the Carnival "Journey" sailings on January 23, 2016 on the Glory. :) We haven't been to 4 of the 7 ports so we are looking forward to the variety.

:):)

Thanks for sharing your experience with us! We sail on the Glory on 01/23/16 for the 10 day journey. We sailed on the Conquest in July 2014 and that was the first Carnival cruise for us but we've been on several other lines. Unfortunately the food is the negative point for us. Carnival puts little effort into food presentation and the food also lacks flavour. The best meal I had was the Indian vegetarian platter. Still looking forward to the cruise but Carnival needs to greatly improve the menus and presentation to compare with Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.

141 days...Glory, Jan 23, 2016

Hey, I forgot to say...but you may already know this...if you go to the steak house for dinner the first night of the cruise (additional charge of $35.00 pp but worth every penny and reservations required) they throw in a bottle of wine no charge...but this is only on the first night. We do this on pretty much every cruise and this year it happens to fall on our actual anniversary :)

Thank you! We're vegetarians so we will skip the Steakhouse but we appreciate your ideas! Wehoo only a few days to go! :D:);):rolleyes:

Canadians here...getting married two days before we leave and then taking a honeymoon cruise on the Carnival Conquest departing June 22, 2014 from Miami. First time for both of us on Carnival so hopefully we will enjoy it. Normally we stick with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Balcony on the Lido deck. Yeay! :) It's going to be funny to refer to my partner as my husband! :p