Carnival Paradise 5-day Western Caribbean Ports of call: Mahogany Bay in Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico

 January 2023

This is a brief post, as I have already shared information for both of these ports in several previous posts. I am sharing some new information here, and you can click on the links at the bottom of this post to find more details about areas you are interested in.

Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan from Carnival Paradise

Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

We had a casual day at this port; we walked to the port beach after lunch for a few hours. We were the only ship in port, so there were plenty of loungers available in the shade without having to rent an umbrella. Wifi is available for the day for $5. You can purchase with cash at a booth, or online with a credit card. I suggest purchasing with cash, as the credit card purchases were not working correctly. After I agreed to the terms and payment, the page reloaded and told me to pay $5 [again]. When I went to the booth to get this corrected, I waited behind another passenger being helped who had had the same trouble. The staff member got her account signed in, and then she fixed mine. If you purchase wifi at the booth, you are given a one-time access code to sign in with (which is pretty much what the staff member did after confirming we had actually made the purchase). Local beers were available at the bars for $5. Wine and mixed drinks were available too; however, I do not know the cost, since we did not purchase any. We have previously gone on the Tabyana Beach shore excursion at this port, which I recommend, if you are looking to get away from the ship dock. 

Iguana in the Cozumel port shopping area

Carnival Elation 7 Day Eastern Caribbean Ports of Call: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau

January 2023

We have been to all of these ports more than once prior to this trip. We did not book any excursions this time, and you can find more information about any of these ports by clicking on labels of interest at the bottom of this post.

 Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023 

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

You are supposed to have had COVID-19 vaccinations to disembark in Grand Turk. We received a letter the day before our arrival, saying that we needed to go to guest services to show our vaccination cards, if we wanted to go ashore. This information was then linked to our sail and sign cards that are scanned when disembarking. When we disembarked, people in the line next to ours were not being allowed off because they had not done this. This caused a brief holdup in that line while they were taken out of line to return to guest services or stay on the ship. Different passengers on shore told us they had not received the letter, and that they had not shown proof of their vaccination to anyone. They said they are vaccinated, so I am not sure if this had been taken care of by their travel agent, or another way, and they just did not recall it.

Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023

Our experience in Grand Turk was peaceful, and we enjoyed it more than prior visits. We walked on the beach on both sides of the port, and not one person tried to rent us overpriced chairs or umbrellas. There is no charge to use lounge chairs at the cruise center or Margaritaville. You can find more information about this in my posts from February 2020 and 2022. The beach area to the right after you get ashore is less crowded; however, the swimming area on this side is also stonier, than the busier area on the left. You can read about the Junkanoo Party Bus, Rum Mixology & Beach shore excursion that we took last year in the February 2022 blog post.

Carnival Elation at Half Moon Cay January 2023

Carnival Magic 8 Day Eastern Caribbean Ports of Call: St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, Grand Turk

February 2022

Some of the ports on our cruise itinerary had paused cruise ship visitors before our cruise, so we were not 100% sure if any of our port stops would be changed. Locations were starting to reopen right when we left on our cruise, and Carnival Magic ended up stopping at all the original ports.

St. Maarten from Carnival Magic spa cabin 12038

St. Maarten 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

We love this island! The people are great, and the beach within walking distance is beautiful. You can take a water taxi ride to the beach area for $7 roundtrip, if you prefer. We wanted to walk through the shops first, so we did that, and then continued out of the cruise terminal, then down the sidewalk to the beach, which is an easy walk of about 1 mile, one-way. 

Beach in St. Maarten in front of Kalua Bar & Restaurant

We rented our chairs from a friendly guy with chairs in front of Kalua Beach Bar & Restaurant. We paid $15 for 2 chairs, and an umbrella right by the water. You could also rent chairs that came with rum punch (I do not know if it was unlimited, as we did not purchase that). The beach and water in this area is beautiful! When you walk farther down the beach, toward the shopping pier and downtown shops, the sand becomes more like the beach near the cruise port in Grand Turk with crushed shells. It is still a nice beach; the sand is just not as soft as it was where we were seated. You can enlarge any photo in this post by clicking on it.

Above: some of the crushed shells on the beach near the west end
Below: looking east from in front of our seat in front of Kalua

With the chairs we rented, we were also allowed to use the bathroom in the bar, and the wifi code. The wifi signal was not strong enough to use by the water. There are benches along the sidewalk by the bar, so we used it there before we left for the day. A bucket of 5 beers with ice from Kalua cost $12, and the guys renting chairs were eager to please. 

View while on our walk back to the cruise port in St. Maarten

We stopped at Amsterdam Cheese & Liquor Store on our way back to the ship for complimentary tastings. This store is just outside the cruise terminal, so it is not far to carry purchases back. There is a public restroom outside at this location. Everyone on this island is extremely friendly, and the prices are fair. Payment was not expected to use any of the restrooms. When we politely declined sales by people on the beach and when leaving the cruise terminal, we were not resolicited.

Two of the ships docked in St. Kitts February 2022

Southern Caribbean Ports of Call from Carnival Horizon: Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, Aruba

February 2020

We have been to all of these ports before, and only booked one excursion this trip. You can find previous posts with more information by using the search bar at the top of this page, or by clicking on any of the labels at the end of this post.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the afternoon, 
after we had gotten back on board.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

This was our first experience arriving in Grand Turk on the first cruise ship, and arriving so early. One time, our ship could not dock at all, another time, we docked a few hours late, and only had a short time on the island, and the last time, we arrived around 11AM after another ship. After our first bad experiences on the island, we have learned a few things: all the beach chairs with a green Cruise Center umbrella are complimentary at the Cruise Center, even the ones by the water. The Cruise Center is located left of the pier. Additionally, the chairs at Margaritaville are complimentary, unless you rent a cabana. Be aware that locals will come up to you and try to charge you for chairs. We went ashore about an hour after we had arrived, around 8:00 AM, and all of the complimentary beach chairs had already been taken. If you click on the photo above to enlarge it, you can see that there is only one green umbrellas near the water, and it also looks like there are fewer chairs in the Cruise Center area than there had been the last time we were at this port.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the morning when we arrived.

Last time, we had been able to purchase a liter of local rum and then some mix to take it back to our seat for the day. This time, we were told we had to go to the ship, if we purchased a large bottle (smaller, non-local, more expensive bottles could be taken ashore). I am not sure if things have changed, or, if we took it back to our seats in error last time we were here.

Looking toward the [rocky] beach to the right of the pier in Grand Turk.

The beach area to the right of the pier and Duty Free shops is less crowded; however, the beach in this area is rocky. Although the water is beautiful in Grand Turk, the atmosphere on this island has been the same every time we visited--crowded, touristy, and locals who want nothing more than to take your money. I am already rethinking how we will spend our time the next time we visit this island; provided our ship docks there. I am writing this post during the Coronavirus pandemic, and our next cruise with a stop in Grand Turk is almost a year away. If things return back to normal, and we do visit Grand Turk again, I imagine we will take our time in the morning to enjoy breakfast and be relaxed, and then walk ashore with only our towels and no expectations. At the very least, we will walk the beach in both directions, swim, and maybe do a little shopping or browsing before returning to the ship.

Carnival Horizon in La Romana.

Carnival Conquest ports of call: Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove

February 2019, ports from 6-day cruise on Carnival Conquest

Docked in Nassau; view from front of ship overlooking serenity deck.

This is a brief post about our ports of call from Carnival Conquest. We have previously visited most of these ports, and we did not book any shore excursions this trip. Click on the labels at the bottom of this post for more information about places of interest. You can also find additional photos with information in the Carnival Conquest Facebook album, and information about the cruise in the cruise blog post.

View from our balcony, cabin 7405, while docked in Nassau.

Nassau, Bahamas: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Nassau was our first port of call after one day at sea. Since this was a busy cruise with a port of call almost every day, and we will be returning to Nassau before the end of the year, we decided to enjoy the view and silence from serenity deck for most of the day. Later in the day, we got off the ship for a short time to look around. There were three ships docked during our visit, and it was easy to disembark and return to the ship. We observed an outdoor market with items for sale inside the port area, and the area outside the port was similar to other ports we have visited: shopping, dining, and vendors trying to sell excursions, and such. Returning to the ship, we noticed a sign for guests boarding Disney about bringing wine and alcohol on board. It said guests are allowed to bring one bottle of alcohol and wine on. Carnival guests are not allowed to do that at any of the ports of call. Carnival guests can bring one bottle of wine on only from the home port at the start of the cruise.

Carnival Fantasy Cruise ~ 6 - Day Western Caribbean [Cozumel Plus] from Mobile, Alabama

November 2018

This was our first experience on Carnival Fantasy, and our first time cruising out of Mobile, Alabama. You can find additional pictures and information about Carnival Fantasy in my Facebook album. 

Carnival Fantasy atrium steps and elevator behind bar.

Pre-cruise

This cruise was kind of a last minute decision for us. We initially thought we would rent a condo in Orange Beach, Alabama for two weeks; however, the cost was quite high. We rented a condo last year for a week, and my husband said he wanted to go for two weeks this time to make the drive from Michigan worth it. I am the one who usually does all our vacation research; however, he found this cruise! The cruise was a much better value than booking the condo for a second week. 

View of Carnival Fantasy in Mobile showing location
of cabin E244. Click photo to enlarge it.

Western Caribbean Ports of Call from Carnival Magic: Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan, Costa Maya

February 2018

With the exception of Costa Maya, we have been to all of the ports in this post more than once, ranging from 2003 to the present. You can find additional port and shore excursion information from our previous visits by clicking on the labels at the bottom of this post, or links within this post. I started this blog in 2010, so information prior to that is not provided. That information is probably outdated, anyway! I also have more photos posted in the Western Caribbean Facebook album.

Carnival Magic in Cozumel port Puerta Maya

Cozumel

Cozumel was our first port of call, and our ship was docked there for most of the day. We arrived before the scheduled 9:00 AM arrival time, and we stayed until 6:00 PM. We have visited Cozumel in 2014, 2011, 2010, 2005, and 2003. You can find information about the Deluxe Sail & Snorkel Tour that we took in 2011 in my Carnival Glory blog post. We did not book an excursion in Cozumel this trip.

The Carnival Magic docked at the farthest out dock at the Puerta Maya pier. I thought there were two other ships docked at Puerto Maya (Triumph, and I do not recall the other one); however, the port schedule website only lists two ships for the day we were there. A couple more ships were also docked at the pier next door, across from Royal Village Shopping Center.

Shops at Puerta Maya pier in Cozumel

Carnival Cruise Lines Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee

January 2018 claim for cruise sail date February 2018

I had forgotten about the ad Carnival has on their pages for the 110% shore excursion price guarantee, until after we booked our excursion. Fortunately, we had booked our excursion with Carnival, and I recalled the offer within the allowed time frame to submit it. This was my first time submitting a claim like this, and I was impressed with the results.

Photo of Tulum ruins we visited last year.
The excursion we booked with the price guarantee was for the ruins in Belize.

Terms and Conditions for the price guarantee

• You must reserve the excursion through Carnival prior to your cruise. 
• You must complete and submit an online Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee claim form at least seven (7) days prior to the commencement of your cruise.
• The Best Price Guarantee is available only for exact shore excursion matches, for example, duration of the shore excursion, transportation fees, and the exact same dates of the shore excursion as booked through Carnival Cruise Line. 
• Lower rate must be publicly advertised and available to the general public at the time your claim is filed, as determined by Carnival Cruise Line personnel. (Rates offered on membership program websites, corporate discounts or rates; group, charter, rewards program, etc., etc., or prices available only by using a coupon or other promotion not offered to the general public are ineligible.) 
• Full T & C can be found via a link on the claim form, which I have included under the next heading.

Carnival Splendor Ports of Call - Eastern Caribbean

February 2016

Following is information about our ports of call while aboard the Carnival Splendor. This was a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami. We stopped at four ports: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

In addition to this blog post, you can find more photos and information in the Facebook ports of call album for the Carnival Splendor.

approaching Amber Cove - photo taken from the 
secret balcony (as my husband calls it) at the front of the ship

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic 

Amber Cove -
view from our balcony cabin 7434

Amber Cove is a new port that just opened October 2015. This was our first port of call scheduled for 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. My husband and I went on a safari type tour when we were in Puerto Plata a few years ago, which was fabulous. I have not been on the Carnival Outback excursion, although I imagine it is similar. I highly recommend this type of excursion, if this is your first visit to the area. The vehicle we rode in on our tour was similar to the one in the Carnival photos, and the description of the day sounds similar, as well. Most of the reviews posted on the Carnival website for this excursion have five stars.

view of Amber Cove from deck 12

We arrived before 8:00 a.m., and I do not know exactly what time guests started disembarking. We were walking on the jogging track on deck 12, and did not hear any announcements about disembarking. One of the first photos I took with guests walking up the pier was at 8:02 a.m. Some of the guests were already to the building at the start of the pier, so we must have been cleared before 8:00 a.m. It is a bit of a walk along the pier, and locals on bicycles pulled a rickshaw for passengers who did not want to walk.

Carnival Sunshine Cruise ~ 7-day Exotic Western Caribbean January/February 2014

Pre-cruise

Our son had given us dinner in the steakhouse for Christmas this year, and we wanted to go the first evening because a bottle of wine is included the first evening. A few weeks before our cruise, I made the reservation online. The computer screen showed that my transmission had been successfully sent; however, I never received an email confirmation. I searched for information about steakhouse reservations online, and some guests said that they had been contacted prior to their cruise, and some said that they got their reservation details after they boarded (these comments were not specific to the Sunshine). I decided to call Carnival a few days before our cruise to make sure our reservation had been received. The person I spoke with did not say whether she could check into this; she merely said that our reservation would be confirmed during check-in. *2019 update: our experience on different cruises this year, is that the reservation and payment is confirmed immediately; just like a Fun Shops purchase.

Arrival and Check-in ~ Port of New Orleans

We walked to the cruise port because our hotel, the Astor Crowne Plaza, was only a little over a half mile away. This did not end up being as easy as we anticipated. My husband and I had gone for a walk to the cruise port that morning, and we chatted with two female travelers who were pulling their luggage. They told us that they had just gotten off the Carnival Sunshine, and that they had walked out from the ship. They pointed to the corner across the parking lot, which they said is the cruise port entrance. There was a sign at the entrance into the parking lot from the sidewalk that said, "Pedestrian Entrance," so we did not walk any farther. We expected there to be a pedestrian walkway after we entered, so we returned to our hotel to finish getting ready.

View from Serenity deck

When we were headed toward the cruise port with our luggage around 10:30 a.m., we passed a few more travelers pulling their luggage headed in the opposite direction. After we went though the pedestrian entrance, we saw that the parking lot was uneven, and that there is not a pedestrian walkway through the lot. Since we did not think we had much farther to go, we continued on. We found the cruise port entrance in the corner exactly where we expected it; however, the cruise port is not pedestrian friendly.

Cruise port view from our balcony
cabin 6363
Click on photo to enlarge and read labels

We observed many people walking along the edge of the road inside the port, even though there were signs that said, "No Pedestrians." Since I did not see any cruise ship signage, I asked an officer in the area how to get to the Sunshine, and he gestured toward the road leading to the south end of the port. I asked him if it was okay to walk through that way with our luggage (after all, the signs did say, "No Pedestrians"!), and he said yes.    

Carnival Breeze ~ 8-day Exotic Southern Caribbean, February 2013

Carnival Breeze in Aruba

Check-in

Our check-in at the Port of Miami was the smoothest we have experienced since becoming Platinum guests. We arrived around 11:30 a.m., and were quickly routed through the Priority lines. We got held up briefly at the check-in counter because our son was with us, and he is not a Platinum guest. Our PVP had told us that if we tied his account to ours with the same credit card, he would be able to board with us. We did this online a couple of weeks before the cruise; however, when we got to the check-in counter, his sail and sign card was not ready with ours. The employee helping us had to ask another employee for assistance, and then they made his card right then.

The VIP lounge area was fairly full; we found the last two seats together, and our son stood. Coffee was available on a table in the room, although there were no restrooms in the lounge. We had passed the restrooms outside the lounge and around the corner before we entered. When I went out to use the restroom a few minutes later, there was a wait for the single room. All of the priority guests were already boarding and gone from the VIP lounge when I returned (except for my family members who were waiting for me!). If I had realized we were going to board that soon, I would not have left the lounge.

Carnival Miracle -- 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Port Everglades

March 2012 from Fort Lauderdale

View from Jeep excursion

Check-in

This was our second experience with VIP status. The first time in Seattle was quite unorganized, and I was surprised when the experience at Port Everglades was not much better. I hate to be the kind of person who questions what I am told and keeps track of everything to make sure I am getting what I paid for and what I expect; however, our past two experiences have made us think we will need to do that next time. This was our experience with VIP check-in:

The lines were not very long when our cab driver dropped us off after 11 a.m. The VIP security line was located at the far end of the baggage drop area with no signage telling how to get to it. We were somewhat familiar with this port, so we looked around, found the area, and figured out how to get there with no assistance from a Carnival representative (we did not see anyone except the porters in the baggage drop area). As we went through security, we heard an announcement for VIP boarding and then some Zone boarding. After we exited security, we started to enter the VIP check-in area, as did the guests in front of us who had also went through the VIP security lane. They were directed out, and then we showed our VIP boarding pass to the representative who also directed us to the same check-in line. The line was not very long, and we thought maybe the process was changing since boarding had started. 

After we stood in line for several minutes, I began to think this was not the correct process, and then I noticed that other guests around us were holding boarding passes that did not say VIP on them. When it was our turn to check-in, the agent tried to give me a Zone 13 card! I told her I did not want the card because we had a VIP boarding pass. She then told me we needed to go to the VIP room, and she pointed across the room where we had tried to enter to begin with. I said that we did not want to wait in line again. Although the agent directing guests was no help, the employee working behind the counter was. She checked us in, then escorted us to the VIP room to get our Sail & Sign cards, and then through the entrance to board. 

Every time we have been to Port Everglades for prior cruises, a Carnival representative was greeting guests, looking at boarding passes, and directing guests properly. We did not experience this on our last two cruises. I had thought maybe this was a Seattle problem; however, after this check-in experience, it seems like Carnival representatives are no longer directing guests like they used to.

Aft balcony cabin 7300, category 8N

balcony #7300

This cabin was pretty much the same as any other aft cabin that we have had. There was a couch across from the vanity/counter area, and it had a deep balcony. There was one lounge chair and one sitting chair on the balcony along with a small table.

This ship had been refurbished just a few weeks before our cruise. Everything is the stateroom looked new, or at least in excellent condition--flatscreen TV, cupboards, walls, and shower--except for the carpet. The carpet was not in poor shape; it just did not look like it had been replaced when the ship was refurbished.

Prior to this cruise, I have always preferred the side premium balcony rooms with a longer balcony, and my husband has preferred the back rooms. Because of this, we usually alternate between a side cabin and a back cabin. After this cruise, my husband decided he prefers the premium balcony rooms on the side too--yay! 

Food & Beverage

This ship had typical Carnival dining venues--Lido buffet, Grill, Deli, and 24-hour Pizzeria on Lido deck, sushi bar, room service, dining rooms, and coffee shop and steakhouse for a charge--with a couple of differences.

There was no Fish 'n Chips by the steakhouse, which I had thought used to be on the Spirit (when we cruised to Hawaii), and on the Legend. Either Carnival has removed that dining venue, or I am mistaken about which ships have this. This ship had food available for delivery in the Serenity area on sea days, which is the first time I have seen this. A server stopped with a menu, so we decided to try a sandwich and a wrap one day. It was nice to have the food delivered; however, the sandwiches were not as good as the ones from the Deli. The food was served immediately in a plastic container, so it must have been prepared ahead of time. It was similar to pre-made sandwiches that can be purchased in convenience stores or airport kiosks or markets. The meal included a small salad with fresh baby greens.

Assigned time dining was located in the lower dining room on deck 2, and anytime dining guests were seated in the upper dining room on deck 3. The menu was similar to previous cruises, with the addition of "comfort foods." Crab legs, like we had on our last cruise to Alaska, were not on the menu any of the days, so that item must only be on Alaskan cruises. This was an 8-day cruise with two formal/elegant nights. Lobster was only on the menu the first elegant evening; however, prime rib was on the menu both times.

The breakfast menu did not have any changes from other Carnival cruises, and we ate in the dining room once for lunch. I thought the dining room decor was very cool, although one of our table mates did not like it.

I was disappointed that Korbel was no longer listed on the lounge menus. I did not notice this the first couple times that I ordered a glass at the start of the week. After a few days, I saw that this was not listed on the menu, and I was not able to get it in some of the lounges. It appeared as though this was being changed over, and was only available until the supply was depleted.

Pool and Outside areas

A serenity deck had been added to the Miracle shortly before our cruise. The serenity deck, and the other pool areas were usually quite full every sea day. The serenity deck on this ship was at the back, and consisted of only one deck. It did not include near enough cabanas or soft loungers. If you wanted a cabana or soft lounger during a sea day, you needed to get out before 6 or 7 AM to save one. I have seen hammocks on other ships in the serenity area, although there were not any hanging on this ship during our cruise.

The serenity area on the Miracle was not much different than the aft pool area on Spirit class ships. The only differences were - the loungers had cushions, cabanas and cushioned couches had been added, the ice cream and pizza stations had been moved into the dining area, and a towel counter had been added. There were signs that said that the serenity area is for guests 21 and over. This was not enforced the day we boarded; however, it was after that.

There was a small jogging track on the top forward deck where the basketball hoops and mini-golf were located. This was open the first sea day, and then it was closed for a few days because of the high winds. After that, it was open again for the remainder of the cruise. I was surprised that seaside theater had not been added when the ship was refurbished.

Bloody Mary, Mimosa, and Screwdriver morning specials were offered every sea day morning until noon. These were a good value compared to the regular price.

Lounges and Entertainment

Madhatter's

We had two comedians on board at the start of the cruise, and a different comedian boarded after our first port of call. We saw both of the first two comedians in Madhatter's Lounge at the start of the cruise, and both shows were good. I loved the decor in Madhatter's Lounge, and wish I had taken more photos of the room. The schedule for the second comedian was not conducive for early dining guests. One show was scheduled before the show in the showroom ended, and the second show was full when we tried to enter after the showroom show, and we were not allowed to enter. The comedian was on again the next night; however, that was also the last night of the cruise, so we had packing and other things going on. If you want to see the comedy show at the end of the cruise, make sure to arrive early.

main showroom stage

We went to two shows in the showroom--a ventriloquist, and the Beetles show. Both were great! We liked the live band in Frankie and Johnnie's; however, this was also a smoking lounge, so we only visited twice. It seems like the best live bands are always in the smoking lounge. The karaoke band in Madhatter's Lounge was also excellent.

Ports of Call and Shore Excursions

We booked the Golden Eagle Sail and Snorkel tour through Carnival before our cruise at our first port of call in St. Maarten. This was a 3.5 hour tour departing at 1:15 PM for $79.99 per person. Our cruise time was changed to 12:30 ahead of time, which we liked, because we preferred the 12:30 departure time. I had read many positive reviews about this excursion, so I was excited. This excursion was advertised as follows: Experience one of the biggest, fastest and best-looking sailing catamarans in the whole Caribbean.

• Stop at a quiet cove to snorkel in the crystal clear waters or bob around on a beach float.
• Explore caverns or dive through coral formations teeming with fish.
•  Stop on a fabulous pink sandy beach, one of the finest you will see in the Caribbean.

St Maarten

Based on the description, we expected to stop in a cove to snorkel, and then at a beach. I had read that the snorkeling wasn't the best, so we didn't expect much in that regard. We thought the sail and experience would be great anyway. Details, of course, said that this may be changed due to weather conditions. There were not any weather conditions the day of our excursion--it was a perfect sunny Caribbean day with a light breeze. After this excursion, we have decided not to do any more sailing excursions. Every one we have been on is mostly about the rum punch, and is never as nice as advertised. We did not think this excursion was worth the money, and I would not recommend it.

Here are the details of our excursion day: We had to remove our shoes before boarding--even if wearing boat shoes. I expected this because I had read this comment by other reviewers; however, it was still kind of yucky to use the restroom without shoes on, I thought. The sailboat was nice enough; however, the table where we sat had not been cleaned, so we could not set anything on it. After we left the dock, a crew member raised the back sail, and we motor-sailed to the beach. They did not put any sails up for the trip back. Crew members mostly texted on their iPhones and smoked on the back of the boat for the trip out. Made me wonder why we left them a tip at the end. Make sure to choose a seat forward of the galley, if you don't want to be near the smokers.

We anchored at the beach, and stayed there for a little over 1.5 hours. The beach was beautiful; unfortunately, we had only brought our underwater camera, so I don't have any beach photos. Some people snorkeled around the rocks just off the beach, and the snorkeling was better than we expected. Refreshments included rum punch, beer--Coors Light and Presidente, water, juice, and french roll type sandwiches. The sailboat paused in front of Maho Beach where the planes land, on the way out and on our return, which was kind of cool. Must be this was our stop instead of the "quiet cove to snorkel." We arrived back at the dock, and were all off the ship well before 4:00 PM, so our excursion was actually less than 3.5 hours. Since most of this excursion was spent at the beach, we thought it would have been a better value, if we had just taken a cab to the beach and back.

St Lucia beach and Jeeps

In St Lucia, we had not planned anything beforehand. We had brought a printed map of the port, and initially planned to do something on our own. Here is a link to a Castries St. Lucia map.

road to beach

After we read the shore excursions again, we decided to book the 4 x 4 Jeep Getaway. This was a 4-hour Jeep tour with a stop at a private beach for $55.99 per person. We thought this was an excellent excursion that delivered exactly what was described. We had a great group of people in our Jeep, and it was not too crowded or uncomfortable. A local guide rode in back with us, and provided a narrated tour. We made several brief stops to take photos, and we stopped at a small market before arriving at the private beach. The trail back to the beach was a bit rough, but not bad. Refreshments included rum punch (surprise!), beer, water, soda pop, and fresh coconut. This tour was from 9 AM - 1 PM, so you may want to pack a sandwich or something, if you want more than a few slivers of coconut to eat.

In St. Kitts I had found information online about a resort within walking distance where we could spend the day for $10 per person, plus $2 for a towel, if you did not want to bring your own towel. The walk was less than a mile, and the view from the resort was great. We thought the walk was easy; however, if you are not a walker or adventurous, you may prefer a cab ride. The resort also contains a beautiful garden, and Shell Works gift shop. Here is a link to the resort--Palm Court Gardens, and to a port map. We decided not to bring our towels because we did not want to carry them back wet, and we planned to do some shopping on our way back to the ship.

We arrived early, spoke with an employee at the resort, got two towels, and found a nice cushioned lounger for the day. We were told we could pay with cash, or use a credit card and pay at the end of the day, so we chose that option. I thought we might have a few beverages; however, the bar choices were limited, so we ended up with only one beer on our tab. They did not have Bloody Marys, and when I asked about an iced blended beverage--like a mudslide or something--I was told that they did not have anything like that.

We stopped at a liquor store on our way back to the ship, and made one of our least expensive liquor purchases this cruise. Taxes are quite a bit in Michigan, so we purchased Absolut for $11 a liter in a shop right next to the ship. My husband also wanted to get some local rum, of course! We checked prices in the supermarket in town, and in other stores farther away from the cruise ship, and did not find better prices.

Debarkation

VIP debarkation--just like embarkation--was not properly executed on this cruise. We had time before our flight, so this was not a huge deal, except that it was something we had expected. Zone 1 luggage tags had been delivered to our cabin with debarkation instructions. The instructions said that VIP guests should wait in the showroom, and that we would be escorted to the exit when it was time, so we went to the showroom at the designated time. After all of the self-assist guests had left the ship, Zones 1 - 3 were announced all at once for debarkation. Since we were in the showroom, we had to walk back to the atrium to disembark. We passed a Carnival representative on our way out who may have been on her way to the showroom for VIP guests; however, it would have been too late at this time. Almost all of the VIP guests had left the showroom by the time we did, and we did not observe any guests being escorted out after we left the room. By the time we got to the exit, the area was filled with many guests who had been waiting in the atrium, so we had a bit of a line to get off, and then quite a crowd to maneuver through as we had to make our way through Zone 2 and 3 guests to get to the Zone 1 luggage area.

This was the first cruise we have returned from where the customs officials did not even look at our declaration form. She set it aside, looked at our passports, and then waved us on. Even with the confusion disembarking, we still got off the ship quite early, and could have easily made it to the 11:15 AM flight we were originally booked on. The Carnival website suggests not to book a flight before 11:30 AM, so we had changed our flight to a time after noon.

Overall

We thought the cruise was a good value, and we liked the itinerary. We did not need to tender at any of the ports, which is always nice. Fort Lauderdale is a good value airport for us to fly into, and the port is close to the airport with many hotel choices, if you choose to stay in the area before or after your cruise. I liked the Serenity deck better on other ships that we have been on where it is located on the forward decks near the Spa, because the area has more room. I also missed the poolside theater. We have enjoyed a couple good concerts on the screen under the stars on other ships.

All in all though--this was a great vacation! Our cabin steward was great, and we were able to sit at a different dining room table and dine with some new friends a couple of the evenings.    

Carnival Glory cruise -- 7-night Exotic Western Caribbean from Miami

Carnival Glory;
photo taken from our excursion boat in Belize

Check-in at port of Miami

This was our first experience with kiosk check-in. I had not noticed that our boarding document said "kiosk ready" on it before we arrived. Two Carnival representatives were greeting and directing guests to two different lines. They were also providing zone number cards. We arrived around 11:30 a.m., and received a Zone 7 card. One check-in line was for guests with kiosk ready boarding passes, and the line on the left was for other guests. After checking in and scanning our passports at the kiosk, we received a receipt from the machine with a window number for our cabin key pick up. Our receipt was for window number one. There was no line, and we were immediately greeted and given room keys. We sat down to wait, and our zone was called about 30 - 40 minutes later. We were on board the ship around 12:30 p.m.

When we had first arrived at the port, we noticed guests who rushed right past the Carnival representatives instead of waiting to speak with them. They were in such a hurry to get in line, they paid for it later. While we were waiting for our zone number to be called after check-in, we observed guests being redirected to the other line (they had chosen the incorrect kiosk or non-kiosk line in their haste). And, some guests did not have zone number cards because they had not waited to speak with a representative when arriving (we had to wait briefly behind four or five guests when we arrived). When these guests noticed the zone numbers, they asked what they were for, and what time certain guests had arrived (yes, some of them asked us what time we had arrived). Then, the guests without numbers expected Carnival to give them a low number (or, they expected guests like us who had a low number to include them in our group). They claimed that a representative was not greeting guests when they arrived, which was untrue. I always observed at least one representative greeting guests from the time we arrived until we boarded. There was only one representative when we first arrived, and the second representative returned to a his post a few seconds after we stood in line to wait. We were glad to see that the Carnival representatives were not providing already called zone numbers to the complaining guests.

Cabin 7442, balcony, category 8M

We had an aft cabin extended balcony room. The balcony is much deeper than the aft cabin balcony we had on the Legend; however, the room is smaller. There was no couch, and there was only one chair with the table. There was room for two chairs, so I did not understand why only one was provided.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

There were two chairs and a lounger on the balcony, which was great! Unfortunately, I do not have any good balcony photos to share.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

Food & Beverage

The food on this ship included the same offerings that I wrote about in my Freedom post from December 15, 2010.

There were a couple differences, which I will list here. There is a burrito bar on the opposite side of the ship from the deli counter. It was similar to the deli: You waited in line to special order any type of dry burrito desired. My husband had a shrimp burrito, which he said was great. If there was a burrito bar on the Freedom, we missed it. The sushi bar on this ship was open every evening from 5:00 - 8:15 p.m., instead of just a few nights. This was not listed in the Fun Times each day; however, I observed a sign stating the hours.