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Carnival Glory - In and out of Hurricanes, A Search and Rescue Mission - GREAT TIME!

pj7262

By pj7262,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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pj7262

pj7262

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We just got back from our 7 night cruise from Port Canaveral, FL on August 30th, 2008. Let me tell you, for all the rain and complaints from other guests - WE had an AMAZING time!

 

When we were boarding we got a letter handed to us stating that because of Hurricane Hannah we would not be going to the Bahamas. We were issued a $20 credit each and ended up with an extra day at sea. However, with the shore excursion we picked we were still able to see 3 islands - St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and St. Johns.

 

St. Thomas was POURING when we got there - so we figured perfect time to swim! We headed to Magen's Bay and it was a surreal experience. It cost $8 per person to get there and $4 per person entry. Apparently people do not want to get wet while swimming because we had the ENTIRE beach to ourselves. I can not begin to describe the feeling of being at one of the top 10 beaches in the world with just 4 people. I'll never forget it.

 

We ended up going to St. Johns on a shore excursion on a recommendation from our cruise director Butch (Butch for Captain!) and it was WELL worth it. We were taken to Trunk Bay - which had a great little snorkling trail perfect for first time snorklers. We had a blast and because it is a protected beach there was only a limited amount of guests allowed to visit. We were also the only ship at port that day so I'm sure that helped.

 

St. Marteen was nice as well - we went to Orient Bay - rained again but it was beautiful. Great bar right on the beach. However it was EXPENSIVE! And watch out for the little black bugs that look like sand... they bite! (We later learned they were fleas!) We were kinda bummed we never made it to Maho Beach to see the planes, but there is only one bridge to the beach and they said we would not make it back to our ship on time.

 

The days at sea were filled with tournaments, lots of food, and good shows. There was a magician who was kinda lame, but besides him everything else was fun. We even won $100 bucks at Bingo.

 

The staff was friendly - Agus, Harold and Butch made our cruise!

 

On our way back we learned that there was a boat that capsized well off the coast of the Dominican Republic and that we were the closest ship to them and had to go on a search and rescue. Talk about crazy! Under maritime law we were required by the coast guard to abandon our route in search of them. We found them just as a helicopter was swooping them up. We got to see the smoke from the flairs, the bottom of the boat as it was sinking, and the little orange life raft. It was definatly an experience and made for some cool pics. They were all thankfully ok.

 

This rescue did put us into port at 8:30am instead of 7am and we ended up missing our flight. But, we had a good story and Delta did not charge us to go on a different one.

 

All in all - it was an AMAZING cruise. All those people who complain need to learn how to make lemonade out of lemons. We may not have had the most sun (actually I think it was only sunny about 30% of the cruise) but we were living it up anyway!

 

Carnival Glory was a great time - and we are looking forward to go on our next cruise soon. :)

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

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We just got back from our 7 night cruise from Port Canaveral, FL on August 30th, 2008. Let me tell you, for all the rain and complaints from other guests - WE had an AMAZING time!

 

When we were boarding we got a letter handed to us stating that because of Hurricane Hannah we would not be going to the Bahamas. We were issued a $20 credit each and ended up with an extra day at sea. However, with the shore excursion we picked we were still able to see 3 islands - St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and St. Johns.

 

St. Thomas was POURING when we got there - so we figured perfect time to swim! We headed to Magen's Bay and it was a surreal experience. It cost $8 per person to get there and $4 per person entry. Apparently people do not want to get wet while swimming because we had the ENTIRE beach to ourselves. I can not begin to describe the feeling of being at one of the top 10 beaches in the world with just 4 people. I'll never forget it.

 

We ended up going to St. Johns on a shore excursion on a recommendation from our cruise director Butch (Butch for Captain!) and it was WELL worth it. We were taken to Trunk Bay - which had a great little snorkling trail perfect for first time snorklers. We had a blast and because it is a protected beach there was only a limited amount of guests allowed to visit. We were also the only ship at port that day so I'm sure that helped.

 

St. Marteen was nice as well - we went to Orient Bay - rained again but it was beautiful. Great bar right on the beach. However it was EXPENSIVE! And watch out for the little black bugs that look like sand... they bite! (We later learned they were fleas!) We were kinda bummed we never made it to Maho Beach to see the planes, but there is only one bridge to the beach and they said we would not make it back to our ship on time.

 

The days at sea were filled with tournaments, lots of food, and good shows. There was a magician who was kinda lame, but besides him everything else was fun. We even won $100 bucks at Bingo.

 

The staff was friendly - Agus, Harold and Butch made our cruise!

 

On our way back we learned that there was a boat that capsized well off the coast of the Dominican Republic and that we were the closest ship to them and had to go on a search and rescue. Talk about crazy! Under maritime law we were required by the coast guard to abandon our route in search of them. We found them just as a helicopter was swooping them up. We got to see the smoke from the flairs, the bottom of the boat as it was sinking, and the little orange life raft. It was definatly an experience and made for some cool pics. They were all thankfully ok.

 

This rescue did put us into port at 8:30am instead of 7am and we ended up missing our flight. But, we had a good story and Delta did not charge us to go on a different one.

 

All in all - it was an AMAZING cruise. All those people who complain need to learn how to make lemonade out of lemons. We may not have had the most sun (actually I think it was only sunny about 30% of the cruise) but we were living it up anyway!

 

Carnival Glory was a great time - and we are looking forward to go on our next cruise soon. :)

 

Welcome to CruiseCritic - we were on the same cruise! Sorry you were not part of the ROLL CALL for this sailing, as you would have met many nice people at the Meet-n-Greet.

 

Glad you had a great time, in spite of the weather. We were not going to get off in Nassau anyway, so the $20 per person cabin credit was "icing"!!

 

Here is a little more information regarding the rescue mission:

 

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-rescues-3-dominicans-searching-for-1-other/2008/09/05/

 

We were in the Emerald Room that evening, and were able to watch most of the activity from our table.

 

We had a great time as well. Cheryl and I each managed to have our ticket drawn ( THREE winners over two different nights) in the casino - winning a bathrobe, $50, and then $30 in FreePlay cards. It sure helps when you have close to 100 tickets in the drawing! :eek: :D

 

Tom

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cv322

cv322

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How refreshing to read such a positive & up-beat review, after all the whining and complaining from persons getting off the Miracle yesterday. I'm so happy you had a great time regardless! And imagine...getting wet and having fun while you're swimming! What a concept!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

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cheeseheads1

cheeseheads1

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Kudos to people who can make their own fun in life and not expect someone to do it for you!! Sometimes the alternate plans reap the best rewards. We took a wrong turn on a hike one time that cost us time but we came face to face with 2 Doll sheep. Worth the wrong move. ;)

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pj7262

pj7262

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Thanks for all the welcomes! :)

 

I forgot to mention we got paired up with a great couple from Atlanta and spent a lot of our cruise with them! It's funny because we remember hearing some sort of announcement for cruise critic? Or it might have been something read on Butch's morning show.

 

I do have pictures, but I'm not really sure how to post them here? :confused:

 

I didn't mention how we got to port. We ended up renting a car from Avis and it cost $37.00 with the delta skymiles code we found here. =) It took us about an 1/2 hour to get to port. We saved money the way back because our new friends from Atlanta offered to bring us.

 

It really was a fantastic time!

 

Thanks again!

Jessica & Paul

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Pitboss32

Pitboss32

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Welcome to CruiseCritic - we were on the same cruise! Sorry you were not part of the ROLL CALL for this sailing, as you would have met many nice people at the Meet-n-Greet.

 

Glad you had a great time, in spite of the weather. We were not going to get off in Nassau anyway, so the $20 per person cabin credit was "icing"!!

 

Here is a little more information regarding the rescue mission:

 

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-rescues-3-dominicans-searching-for-1-other/2008/09/05/

 

We were in the Emerald Room that evening, and were able to watch most of the activity from our table.

 

We had a great time as well. Cheryl and I each managed to have our ticket drawn ( THREE winners over two different nights) in the casino - winning a bathrobe, $50, and then $30 in FreePlay cards. It sure helps when you have close to 100 tickets in the drawing! :eek: :D

 

Tom

 

I must have sat next to you then at the $25 Blackjack table one night...You were sitting 3rd base.

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

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I must have sat next to you then at the $25 Blackjack table one night...You were sitting 3rd base.

 

BINGO!!

 

errrr... MONKEY!!!

 

errrrrr.... BLACKJACK!!!!!

 

:D

 

That was me (and usually Cheryl or a friend or two who came along for the ride).

 

It's a SMALL SMALL world - WOW!

 

Tom

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Irishlinny

Irishlinny

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Awesome!!! So glad you made a tough situation good and had a great time! I think you should hold a class in training cruisers how to react when things don't go as planned! Wonderful to read such a positive and fun review.....and just think of how much fun you will have if you take a cruise where everything goes in your favor!!! Woweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Think you better book another right now...LOL!;) :D

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SenatorsFan

SenatorsFan

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So glad to hear you had such a good cruise. We were on Glory 2 weeks before you and also had a good cruise (Butch for Captain, yah!). I would have loved to have been on a beach with only 4 people. And next time, go to Maho Beach; it was incredible seeing those jets thundering by right over our heads.:)

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