Fortnight on Carnival Glory – Review – West/East B2B

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

It is light out, the sun is shinning in through the open (drawn blinds) window and onto the bed, and I wake to the thought…”It is Tuesday morning, and before long we will be in St. Thomas. We had better get up and get our shore bags packed and have breakfast so we will be ready to head off to that wonderful place that is rated ‘1 of the top 10’ such places in the world.”

With minimal reluctance, we did get up and got ready. Breakfast again in the Red Sail, and we waited to dock and for the Immigration Check.

We arrive in St. Thomas at about 10:00 am.

Since we visited Nassau (a Non-US port) since leaving the USA (Port Canaveral), coming now to St. Thomas means we are re-entering the “USA after being abroad,” and the USA requires that everyone on board (whether going ashore or not) pay them a visit. So they board the ship and set up stations to do their thing. It really is not long before they are ready.

USA citizens had to join a line on deck 5 (Promenade) that ran from the forward elevators (by the upper level to Amber Palace), past the gift shop, around the Atrium, past Formalities and the jewelry store, down the promenade by the casino, the shopping specialist desk, past Creams and all the way to White Hot Disco.

Non-US citizens had to enter the Amber Palace from the Lobby desk, entering on the port side (by the excursion desk).

Mark (the CD) started calling passengers who had early excursions booked through Carnival (you had to have tickets to prove your excursion time). They called for the really early excursion people, then for another group of slightly later excursion people, and then they started calling “US Citizens” people by deck, asking them to join the line. They made the deck calls by a “pre-determined random” order. What do I mean by “pre-determined random?” At the show last night, they had a young boy come up on stage (from the audience). They then had him draw from a bucket the names of the various decks… the order in which he drew them (random) became the order to be used to call people in the morning.

There was just one call for all Non-US citizens (about 10:15 am). We were sitting in the Lobby waiting for the call. When the call came, we went right into the Amber Palace, walked down the isle and past a pre-check-point where we were ask if we were “non-US.” At the bottom of the stairs to the stage, we meet the line that has 2 or 3 couples (and another 3 or 4 couples at the imigration stations on stage) ahead of us. A person there lets people go to the stage as an immigration official is freed up. DW and I made our obligatory appearance before one of the officers, and we are ushered off the stage and out the other side of the Amber Palace (starboard side – by the Purser’s Desk). Just before leaving the theater, you have to swipe your Sail and Sign card (which encodes their system, indicating that we have cleared immigration - so that when you reach the debarkation gangplank and swipe to leave, they know you are cleared to go).

We disembarked at about 10:30, caught a taxi van that went downtown and dropped off a few people and then on out to our destination (cost - $ 18.00 for the two of us)… Megan’s Bay Beach (an entrance fee of $ 6.00 each – I think). We were out to Megan’s Bay (one of the Top 10 Beaches in the World) by about 11:00 am.

From where we were let off, we went towards the water and a bit to the left to...

...the gift shop (around to the left after going up the steps) and canteen area.

I rented two lounge chairs @ $ 6.00 each (plus $ 5.00 each deposit) – (you pay in the gift shop, and they give you a slip that you show to get the chair and then again when you return the chair… you then get your deposit back inside the gift shop). Here is a picture of the price list of various things you can get for the beach.

I gave my beach bag and the camera to DW and I drug the two chairs down to the right (as opposed to left) end of the beach.

We settled down here under some palm trees and enjoyed the heat, read, swam, and watched others swimmers…

…and snorkellers over by the rocks (at the end of the beach)...

...more to follow...

 

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[JanesCruisingBuddy]

We really enjoy the peaceful setting of this bay. We laid under some palm trees (etc) for some shelter from the hot sun…

…the problem with that plan is that the branches move in the breeze, which means the sun gets through…

…and burns… just ask my sore DW. She got a nice burn today, which kind of put a damper on some of the rest of the week.

As the day passed by, our end of the beach gained a few people, but everyone still had lots of space around them. However, down in the center of the beach, it got a bit more crowded…

If you take a careful look at the right side of some of these picture, you will see that the left end of the beach also is not very crowded… thus there is lots of room at Megan’s Bay beach for many more people, both for those who like the crowds, and those who do not.

 

...more on Megan's Bay and St. Thomas to follow...

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[JanesCruisingBuddy]

We really enjoyed the beach and the water, but the time came when we had to return our lounge chairs and head back to town to do some other things. So, around 2 pm we headed out, but not before going to the washrooms…

…this building is found just back off the center area of the beach. The end you see is the men’s end, the ladies rooms are on the other end. They have both a section with changing rooms (facing the beach) and the washrooms on the backside. They are not the Hilton, but they are what you would expect at most public park/beach settings.

From where I was standing to take the above shot, I turned clockwise (a third of a full revolution) and was facing the taxi stands (across the drive and in through the trees a bit)…

We caught a taxi to downtown ($ 18.00), and on the way back, from up on the hill, we got a decent picture of the port…

…and we went shopping.

After a bit, we caught an open safari type taxi back to Havensight ($ 4.00). I told him we wanted to go to the skyride to Paradise Point (DW told me later that she also told him). On the way back I got this shot of the cruise ships…

Our taxi driver drove right past the skyride…

…and took us all the way into the Havensight area. We walked back.

...still a bit more to follow before we leave St. Thomas...

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

We bought our tickets for the ride ($ 19.00 each) and got waited only about 5 minutes for the next set of cars to come.

Each of the cars/cabins hold up to 8 people. We rode up to the top…

From the top is a marvelous view of Havensight and the port and ships. Unfortunately, the sun was on its downward slid, thus making difficult for me to get good pictures, but here is one of my attempts...

…Glory is in the center… (someone made the observation that these are 3 different class Carnival ships all in a row… neat)…

Most (or all) of the buildings in front of the cruise ships would be part of Havensight.

After a short stay at the top, we rode down again sea level. I think the ride was really priced a bit too high for what one got for their money, but I had never been on a lift before and enjoyed the ride. Would I ever do it again? I would not schedule my day around doing it, and missing it would not ruin my day… but if we had time and the budget was doing ok, yes, I likely would do it again.

Last fall DW had seen a real nice glass vase that she really wanted, but was afraid it would not make it back (airlines etc.). We found the shop that had them and asked if they ship back to the US (I figured I would use my US PO Box address). They said no, but that they packed them really well. She showed us how they would pack it, and we decided to take the chance. Thus DW made the second of 4 purchases “that she returned to the Caribbean for.” (The first was some Mexican Blankets in Cozumel – the remaining 2 she would try to make tomorrow in St. Maartens.)

We boarded the Glory a bit after 5:30 and had to rush around to make it to supper, actually we were late (6:15). After the meal, we roamed a bit, relaxed, and DW crashed at 10 pm. I went to the “Justin Illusion” show at 10:15. I got a seat right up near the front on the main floor near the isle. I believe it was much the same as I saw last fall and the music was quite loud (I am showing my age with that statement… aren’t I). But it was quite amazing to watch and try to figure out (I did not figure out anything). After the show, I went back to the room and crashed.

…tomorrow we visit St. Maartens…

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[kinggartk]

We stayed on our balcony for a bit enjoying our free treat, and looked out at…

 

 

Disney Magic was in before the Glory and left after the Glory both weeks… but next Saturday was nowhere to be seen… and there was NO terminal activity around it. We later heard that it had gone off on a new itinerary (might have been to Europe).

 

 

 

 

 

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Just an FYI...Disney Magic was on a 16 day repostioning cruise to the USA west coast. Will be doing west coast itineraries for 3 months before returning to PC.

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

If I remember correctly I think her name was Lenka. If that's not it please correct me, but we went a couple nights.

 

You were right... I checked my Capers last night... Karaoke was with Lenka. Thank you RLG1023.

 

Just an FYI...Disney Magic was on a 16 day repostioning cruise to the USA west coast. Will be doing west coast itineraries for 3 months before returning to PC.

 

Yeah I knew I could be off on that... I could only partially hear the conversation about where it went. Thank you kinggartk.

 

Awesome review! I am enjoying it so much, that my DH is thinking we should go on the Glory next year!

 

Your DH is right... go with him!

 

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[joyefullcruiser]

Before I jump into thoughts, observations and processes relating to Day 8/Day 1, the B2B issues, I want to take a moment to highlight what was for me one of the on-board highlights of the cruise.

 

My wife and I really had never danced before. Oh, last fall on the Valor, we stepped into Paris Hot (the equivilant to Bar Blue on the Glory) a few times, and got brave and stepped onto the floor for a couple slow dances when there were enought other people on the floor to hide in ;) , but we had no idea what we were doing:confused: . We just held on to each other and turned in circles... felt rather self-conscious...

 

Early this spring I found a DVD in a discount bin near a checkout that contained lessons to "prepare your for your first wedding dance." We were not preparing for a wedding dance, but worked with that a bit and basically got a handle on the basic steps of the slow dance and waltz.

 

So, this first week of the cruise, I took my DW dancing, for the first time. It was real nice to step out there and at least think I knew what I was doing (others watching may still have questioned whether or not I did, but who cares, we were on a cruise, and that was GREAT!). We first went to Bar Blue (since that was basically where we had tried in the fall... thought it might give us a bit of a "home floor" advantage :D ). But we struggled a bit there, for us the music or crowd just wasn't right some how.

 

Then we walked through the VERY PUBLIC (and thus intimidating) lobby atrium, and there was a couple (guy and girl singing... the fellow playing electric piano/organ) performing there (called themselves "Summer Breeze"). Their sound was so pleasant, peaceful, rich, inviting, classical etc. The "public-ness" of the place took back stage, and we joined on the dance floor.

 

We so enjoyed this place and their music that we started watching the Capers to try to catch them as often as we could. We were not the only ones that seemed to appreciate them, the chairs in the area were usually 80-90% full, and the dance floor was seldom empty. [i do not at all remember seeing this kind of response in this venue on the Valor.]

 

Dancing with DW is now one of my favorite pasttimes... we will practice and learn more so we will be more prepared on our next cruise... when ever that happens.

 

The picture did not turn out very well, but here is a pic of them...

 

(Sorry about the darkness of the picture... I should have tried again.)

 

Summer Breeze was the one of our favorite parts of the cruise in March. My DH and I would spend our evenings in the lobby listening to them. I think the lights are the reason your picture is dark. I took several and they are all dark.

 

Loving the review. Like I am back on the ship.

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

Unfortunately, I never got my notes written on today (and the remainder of the cruise), so now we are are going to have to rely on my two + week old memories and any “prods” I can find (pictures and Capers). Lets see what we can do…

Carnival Glory was to arrive in St. Maarten around 8, so that meant we had to be up early to get ready for a day we had been looking forward to for 8 months (since being here in September). We loved the beach here, and knew we would again. So, up we got, and went up to Red Sail for another hearty breakfast.

We did arrive…

…on time, and DW and I got off and went to the taxi stand (we were some of the very first of the ship). There were several taxis waiting (along with drivers). We approached the area and somehow I think we must have looked like we were not ready to go (as if maybe we were waiting for others to join us) because no one paid any attention to us. We sat down on a bench and waited for things to start moving. We looked at them… they looked at us. There were no other passengers looking for taxis. After ~ 5 minutes of looking at each other, I got up and tried to look like I wanted to go somewhere… and sure enough, someone asked if we were ready to go… we said “yes.” :rolleyes: They asked where, and called forward a taxi for us, and off we went.

It really is not a long drive out to Orient Beach (15 – 20 minutes maybe). I asked the driver how long a ride it would be to Marigot and then back from there to the Philipsburg (in case we decided to do the circle)… I think he said 20 minutes for the first leg, and 30 for the second leg of the trip. We asked to be let off near Pirates Bar, and our driver did so. My memory fails me, but DW’s memory says it was $ 15.00 for two lounge chairs and umbrella and 2 drinks (she is probably right, but to be safe, I would say that on the outside it was maybe as much as $ 20.00).

South of Pirates Bar (towards Pedros and Club Orient)…

Pirates Bar…

North of Pirates Bar…

 

There were very few people around this early, actually they were still setting up chairs etc. That was quite ok with us, because it was already plenty warm and we are not big on crowds… and it gave us a choice of chairs. We settled in on a couple chairs in the front on the waterfront. Once settled, DW told me to go for “it” before the crowds arrived :D .

…more to come…

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[Frenchsnowhite]

How much for the taxi ride?

 

 

What about the beach towards the port? I don't remember the name, but the one we can use the water taxi at the port to go to.:rolleyes:

 

Is it a nice beach?:confused:

[Froufie]

How much for the taxi ride?

Taxi ride cost goes down the more people in the taxi/van!

 

And there are always tons of cruisers going to Orient so if you are at the taxi stand try and hook up with others going there as well. We did this and ended up paying $6 pp instead of $10 or more!

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

How much for the taxi ride?

 

I am sorry, I forgot to put that information in...

 

At the taxi stand...

 

...they have a chart that lists many fare rates from the pier...

 

...and several large boards showing various destination rates...

Orient

 

Mullet Bay

 

and Marigot

 

Other boards give rates to Dawn Beach and Pinel Island (snorkelling). (Click on of the above pictures and then the link to "Full Album" and you will be able to access those pics too.)

 

NOTE: these pictures (above) are not "mine." I found them in the winter on a post on the St. Maarten Port Board.

 

Little Bay is $ 4.00 and Downtown is $ 3.00. The Water Taxi is $ 4.00 (one-way) -I think an all day-unlimited ticket is also available for the water taxi, but I do not know the price.

 

What about the beach towards the port? I don't remember the name, but the one we can use the water taxi at the port to go to... Is it a nice beach?

 

That would be Great Bay Beach... I took this picture later in the day... we never actually put our feet in the sand here, but it looked nice.

 

 

I used to read reports that the water here was not as clean due to it's proximity to the busy harbor, but also think I heard it had improved.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Ok this review gets my vote for Best Review to date for me, I loved every part of it! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us ;)

[Frenchsnowhite]

You've got my vote too :D

 

 

One other question about Orient Beach, was there some waves? My children love waves, and as I can see there's probably none at Great Bay Beach.......:(

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

Ok this review gets my vote for Best Review to date for me, I loved every part of it! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us ;)

 

Thank you!

 

You've got my vote too :D

 

 

One other question about Orient Beach, was there some waves? My children love waves, and as I can see there's probably none at Great Bay Beach.......:(

 

...and thank you too!

 

Waves, there were some, but not HEAVY. A goo healthy swell with some breaking at shore. Last fall, when we were farther north on the beach, it was a lot wavy-er... I have heard it tends to be that way, rougher to the north, and calm farther south (especially into the Club Orient area).

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

...There were very few people around this early, actually they were still setting up chairs etc. That was quite ok with us, because it was already plenty warm and we are not big on crowds… and it gave us a choice of chairs. We settled in on a couple chairs in the front on the waterfront. Once settled, DW told me to go for “it” before the crowds arrived ...

 

 

Did I do "it?" See the top of the next page...

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

Yes, I did go for “it.”

(I had chosen this location because research here on CC had told me that they did Parasailing from a point between Pirates and Pedro’s.)

I went and made arrangements to be the first one up this morning.

(I had wanted to do this last fall, but our location on the beach was so far away from the parasail boats and I was too lazy to take the long walk, not knowing if they even accepted walk-ins without reservations.) This time, we had settled in close to one of them, and I knew they welcome people without reservation.

Me waiting for the launch boat…

What a ride…

 

…high in the air.

…What a view…

That island (above) was just a ways off shore from our end of the beach. You can see a sandy area there… there were people swimming and sunbathing there… it looked like a real nice place.

…looking straight down on the water…

The colors were magnificent. Both a sailboat and a jet skyer went by right under me.

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

Here are a couple shots of the tow boat…

At one point, they slowed down and dipped my feet in the water.

 

The cost was $ 60.00 plus tip. My only regret was the sunburn that DW got in St. Thomas yesterday, which had her feeling timid (afraid of the harness on her back etc.), and thus she could not join me for a tandem ride (which I believe would have cost $ 90.00). That would have been fun if she had been up to it.

(All pictures of views from the air were taken with an 1 year old disposable underwater camera that had been through airport x-rays several times - two trips to the Caribbean. They are a bit duller than those taken with the digital camera, but not bad... considering.)

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[Frenchsnowhite]

Wow! I cannot believe that soon this trip report is going to end......:(

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

After the ride, I rejoined my DW, and we continued to lounge under the umbrella and dip in the wonderful Caribbean water (I guess technically, the waters at Orient are part of the Atlantic Ocean, but we will continue to think of them as Caribbean).

What some might consider the down side of our location was that Pirates is next to Pedro’s which is next to Club Orient. This resulted in many more walking, lounging and swimming “topless shows” than we had last fall and a few walking “shows” of more.

I think we left the beach at about 1 or 2 pm. There were no taxis waiting near Pirates, but I knew there would be some farther down (up, northward) along the beach. Jane went to use a washroom to change into dry cloths (I think they charged her $ 1.00). While she got changed, I checked out a few local shopping stalls… did not see anything that interested me.

Once together again, we started to look in earnest for a taxi, and one came right along. After loading us in, he continued to drive along the beach looking for another fare. After ~ 5 minutes, he gave up and headed back to port. We had him drop us off in the shopping district in Philipsburg.

DW had her heart set on picking up some linens at a shop we had visited in the fall. It took us a while, but eventually we found it, and she made her purchases. Some very nice stuff.

We also searched out and visited The Belgian Chocolate Box on Old Street… (under their white oval sign on the left side of the street)...

We purchased a small box, with arrangements for them to deliver it to the ship and subsequently to our stateroom that night (more on that in a dedicated posting a little later).

We continued to shop for a while, and then caught a water taxi from the boardwalk back to the port.

DW had one last purchase she wanted to make… again, last fall, she had eyed some wooden wind chimes that she wanted (last fall we had not spending budget… we did that trip on the cheap so we could try to live this trip up more… we had been planning this trip since May 05). We started looking around the shops at the port, but could not find them. She was disappointed, but then, as we made the final approach to the pier, there was the shop she had been looking for. [There, she successfully got all 4 items that she came on this trip for: Mexican Blankets, Square Glass Vase from St. Thomas, Linens and Wooden Chimes from St. Maartens... I suppose we can head for home now.]

The chimes sound so nice out on our deck. Combine them with the sound of the two small water fountains we have on the deck, and (if it is warm enough) one can quite easily put themselves (mentally) back in the Caribbean.

So DW got what she was looking for, but I could not find what I wanted. As noted before, I collect key tags. Last fall I had looked for St. Maarten and St. Martin key tags… but cold only find tags that had both or St. Maarten (the Dutch side) printed on them. So, I had gotten a tag that represented both sides of the island. This time I was determined to find separate Dutch and French tags, but only got St. Maarten…I guess I will just have to go back some day and spend more time on the French side of the island to find my missing tag.

Back on board, we did not have much time to get ourselves ready and off to dinner (actually, I think we were a few minutes late again).

Tonight’s main show in the Amber Palace was a combination of magic and comedy. This was one of the shows that did not show up last week, so I know I wanted and planned to go… but I cannot remember going. I think the sun had so “zapped” us today, that I must have just decided to skip it. I know I had also considered going again to see the “Glory Days” show in the Ebony Cabaret (with the Glory Dancers) … (did see this last week)… but again I ended up skipping it. I think we again just roamed around the ship for a bit, danced some in the Atrium (Lobby) with Summer Breeze… and finally called it a night after a short visit to Karaoke.

[cruisingwiththekids]

I've enjoyed reading your review so far. We'll be on the eastern route in August and the family really wants to parasail. i would like to go to Orient beach, so it looks like we will all get our wish. I'll have to remember to take a waterproof disposable camera. Great idea!

[sewut]

Ok this review gets my vote for Best Review to date for me, I loved every part of it! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us ;)

 

You have my vote too. It's so informative and the pictures are great! It's nice to read a review that's not just about bars and drinking.

Sewut

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

You have my vote too. It's so informative and the pictures are great! It's nice to read a review that's not just about bars and drinking. Sewut

 

Thank you... but we sure did drink too... we drank so many glasses of Coca-Cola that we ought to have earned shares in the corporation, and Carnival certainly did not make any money on our Soda Cards! The Bars were great at serving us our Cokes.

[Frenchsnowhite]

I hope that by the end of this WONDERFULL trip review we'll have a chance to see you and your wife in a picture!;)

[gscruise]

Thanks for the informative postings on Room 6450 on the Glory. I just booked this room for June 20, 2009 Eastern Caribbean. Have not taken this trip or 7 day. Have taken other Carnival cruises of shorter duration to Western Caribbean and had a blast. My wife and I will be celebrating our 25th on this trip. Any suggested Shore trips or advice. Thanks

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

Thanks for the informative postings on Room 6450 on the Glory. I just booked this room for June 20, 2009 Eastern Caribbean. Have not taken this trip or 7 day. Have taken other Carnival cruises of shorter duration to Western Caribbean and had a blast. My wife and I will be celebrating our 25th on this trip. Any suggested Shore trips or advice. Thanks

 

Your welcome, and I am sure you will have a blast.

 

On both occassions that we have done this itenerary (Valor last fall and Glory this time) it happened that "beaching" has been our goal, and those are highlighted previously in this review.

 

Last fall we did have one excursion booked through Carnival for St. Thomas, but due to a medical emergency which resulted in us ariving in port several hours late, the excursion was canceled due to its length (time), so I really could only speculate on excursions based on the research that I have done in the past (not through experience).

 

This board is full of good information, but also use the Port of Call boards.