Sophia67

I cruise in 9 days, and it will be my 4th aft facing balcony.  The view is amazing, and yes, there is less foot traffic.  Additionally, the balconies are usually bigger (deeper) than balconies on the sides of the ship.  There is more room to sit and lounge.  We had an aft balcony in the Havana area on Vista last year.  The balcony was HUGE.  We stacked the deck furniture up and had at least 15 people comfortably out there for sail-away.

Thanks for the response.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

We will be taking this same cruise on Sept. 8th.  Couple of questions...  Do the self-serve laundry machines on the Glory take S&S cards?  Did you ever find a secret hot-tub/whirlpool in the spa area that did not require a spa pass or spa cabin?  Do you remember which pier your tender docked at in Grand Cayman?

Thanks for the great review.  I am living vicariously through your adventures...  9 day countdown (with a 3-day pre-cruise vacation in NOLA).

Thanks for the great replies!  I think I'll check with guest services the night before, but also keep an eye out for a notice in our mailbox.  I've had FTTF before but never had to use the priority tender service.

We have FTTF for our cruise on the Glory in two weeks.  We have an early non-Carnival excursion scheduled for Grand Cayman.  How do we take advantage of the priority tender access?  Do we have to go to guest services?  Do we just squeeze past others lined-up for the tender and likely annoy them?  We need to be ashore at 8:00 a.m. 

Thanks!  I like to use Lyft, but I wasn't sure if there was a drop-off pick-up area at the Port of New Orleans.

Your review seemed like a big preview for my Sept. 8th cruise.  We are staying at the Hampton, have a deck 7 aft cabin, and also have FTTF.    I really appreciate all of the information.

Thanks for the reminders and heads-up about Doctor's Cave Beach.  We went there a few years ago and plan to again.  We previously experienced something similar to your transport issues.  When the bus driver tried to convince all of the passengers to take her tour, I insisted that we were told that we had a direct taxi to the beach.  She grumbled, but still took us directly to the beach.  She definitely confused/intimidated a bunch of the other passengers.  If we encounter the same arguments that you did, we will do the same as you and just get off and walk the rest of the way.  Yep, not far.  It's a shame about your seats on the beach.  Last time, we had plenty of room and great beachside food/drink service.  I will definitely keep your issues in mind when getting our chairs and umbrella set up.

Since you drove to the port, you can't address this question, but I am not sure about how to arrange transport from the cruise terminal to the airport after disembarkation.  I know that I could use the Carnival shuttle, but it's often over-priced.

We are also staying at The Hampton Inn, French Quarter!

We sail on The Glory Sept. 8th and will be in aft-extended balcony cabin #7446.  Thanks for the review!

I'd be a guest lecturer for archaeology and history.

My husband thinks he'd be the captain!

For those that have recently sailed on the Glory...  Is there still a hot tub that is open to everyone in the gym area?  Also, do you need a spa pass or something similar to use the sauna and steam room in the gym, or are they open to everyone?  Thanks.

315 days... too long!

You guys are awesome. I am putting the pieces together.

Regal Princess - April 1996 - I had totally forgotten about Mayreau, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Star Princess - December 1996 - I had the St. Croix stop listed for the April cruise. Thanks for the correction!

Dawn Princess - December 1999 - San Juan, Aruba, Caracas, Grenada, Dominica, St. John

I've been scanning all of my old photos, negatives, and slides. I confess that some of them got scattered / lost / disorganized.

I am trying to figure out what the itineraries were for a few of cruises that I took back in 1996 and 1999. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

April 1996 - Regal Princess, 7 Day Caribbean out of San Juan (I know that we stopped in Barbados on April 8th)

December 1996 - Star Princess, 7 Day Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale (I know that we stopped in Nassau and Princess Cays)

December 1999 - Dawn Princess, 7 Day Southern Caribbean out of San Juan (I know that we stopped in Caracas)

Thanks! I can't find anything online.

We did the brewery tour last week on Vista. We signed up at the Red Frog Pub just after boarding. It is $24.95 and you taste 4 beers. You get to take home a pub glass and a certificate. There were 12 people in our group.

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I had a check-in time of 11:30-12:00 and boarded at about 12:30 in Miami.

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We had a dry erase board on our door last week and had no problems.

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Answering my own question post-cruise... some of the JiJi’s cocktails are also available in Bonsai Sushi. The Sake Sangria is yummy.

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I just spent a week in a Havana Aft cabin #6465. We had some windy weather and it was a bit bouncy, but I had no problems. I only faintly heard the music from the bar.

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I use heavy duty magnets from Harbor Freight to hang our door decorations. Worked on the Magic, Sunshine, and Miracle.

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5 - Woo Hoo!

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Mongolian Wok... yum

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In the past we haven’t brought much (definitely no iPhone), have waterproof cameras, and take turns watching for each other. This year, I’ve bought a lockbox safe that I can attach to a heavy or immovable object. I know that it’s not foolproof, but it will be a major deterrent. A thief would either have to have cable cutters or steal the chair/table/umbrella I will attach it to. Both would draw attention to them.

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Nope. Not a very good deal. I did better with my AMEX.

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