I went on a Carnival Glory cruise .

[EMMOM]

THANKS, for posting pictures so quickly and I am looking forward to more, can't wait to show my family and friends.

 

[Monagles]

Interesting thread and thanks for posting.

How do the shore excursions compare and does Carnival have a Castaway Cay type island?

 

[kctwinmommy]

Interesting thread and thanks for posting.

How do the shore excursions compare and does Carnival have a Castaway Cay type island?

I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling that excursions are pretty comparable between different ships. We usually don't book them anymore. We just book or do our own thing, it's usually cheaper. But Carnival doesn't have CC, as I'm assuming that's DCL's private island...

 

[captchris]

I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling that excursions are pretty comparable between different ships. We usually don't book them anymore. We just book or do our own thing, it's usually cheaper. But Carnival doesn't have CC, as I'm assuming that's DCL's private island...

On some itineraries, Carnival utilizes Holland America's Private Island I believe. I think it is called Half Moon Cay. Carnival Corp does own HAL, Princess and a few other high end cruise lines, so this would make it easy to enjoy a private island experience. With as many ships as they have, just find the itinerary that goes to private Island.

Princess, NCL and RCI all have private islands as well. None of them have a dock like CC. That is something DCL wanted to raise the bar on. I have heard though that the other islands are quite nice, but not quite as nice as CC.

 

[kctwinmommy]

On some itineraries, Carnival utilizes Holland America's Private Island I believe. I think it is called Half Moon Cay. Carnival Corp does own HAL, Princess and a few other high end cruise lines, so this would make it easy to enjoy a private island experience. With as many ships as they have, just find the itinerary that goes to private Island.

I stand corrected! I never realized that they had that though... I'll have to check out one of those itineraries for a trip!!

 

[princessmomma]

Carnival cruise line offers a steep military discount to all those who served for a least 2 years, teachers, policemen, and firefighters.

\

Is it possible to get these discounts (interested in the teacher discount) online or do I have to call Carnival directly?

 

[cruisnfamily]

Does anybody know about the babysitting situation for under 3 years old on the Glory?

 

[tammymacb]

We've sailed the Legend, the Pride and the Glory. My kids LOVE Carnival, and the clubs. For the price, you can't beat the new Carnival ships.

 

[kctwinmommy]

\

Is it possible to get these discounts (interested in the teacher discount) online or do I have to call Carnival directly?

I believe you'd have to call them directly. We always go through one of their travel agents. I even had a friend of mine who was a travel agent herself and got some great cruise deals try to beat it, and she couldn't beat it at all! I can give you our Carnival agent's number if you'd like, just PM me...

 

[linda8892]

I just came back from the 3/14 sailing of the brand new Carnival Freedom to Italy, Greece and Turkey (12 day cruise) and it was wonderful!!! Although the excursions were very long and tiring I would definitely return. I have also cruised on the Carnival Glory....

 

[cruisnfamily]

We are Disney Cruisers thinking of trying Carnival.

I'd love to hear some reviews/info on the kids clubs on Carnival. Kids would be ages 2, 10, 11, and 14.

It sounded to me from talking to the rep that it's one big club area with different groups within. That means that the 12-14 group shares a room with the 2-5, 6-8, & 9-11 year old groups? Not sure I''d like that, not sure the kids would like that.

Also, for the 10 & 11 year olds...I understand that after 10pm you pay for "babysitting" but are there still activities or is it just sit on a mat and watch movies? If they're all sharing one room and the younger ones are having quiet time and movie time I don't see how they'd continue to have activities.

Anybody know the ratio of kids to counselors for the 2-5 year old group?

What kinds of activities do they do in the 12-14 group?

Basically, I'd love any and all details you may have on the kids club.

Thanks!

 

[Makua]

DCL is also the only cruise we've done but we want to try something new. Can you tell me if there are alot of smokers? I have severe allergies and have a bad reaction to smoke. I had heard that you have to go through the casino to reach alot of the places on the ship and that it is very smoky. I know you can't always believe what you hear. I have no problem with it on deck because I can just move down wind but inside is a different story. Thanks!

 

[kctwinmommy]

DCL is also the only cruise we've done but we want to try something new. Can you tell me if there are alot of smokers? I have severe allergies and have a bad reaction to smoke. I had heard that you have to go through the casino to reach alot of the places on the ship and that it is very smoky. I know you can't always believe what you hear. I have no problem with it on deck because I can just move down wind but inside is a different story. Thanks!

Actually, smoking is very limited on the ships. I'm not a smoker anymore, but I still fall of that wagon on occasion. My DH smokes cigars on occasion too, so we both partake a bit of this on vacation. If I remember correctly, there's no smoking on the decks (can't remember for sure, but I don't remember smoking there at all). And then there's only smoking in the bars/lounge and in the casino. And the casino on the Glory we didn't go through it all that much. It's in a way that you can really avoid it without a problem. I know I went to the sports bar usually to smoke since it was a deck or 2 away from ours.

Anyway, that's my take on the smoking issue. I don't think you'll find it a problem at all, they really have made it very minimal for smokers.

 

[kctwinmommy]

I had heard that you have to go through the casino to reach alot of the places on the ship and that it is very smoky.

Here's a link to that specific deck...
http://www.carnival.com/Deck_Plan.aspx?shipCode=GL

And if you see the casino there, you'll see there are a few things beyond, depending on which direction you're heading. But, looking at the linked picture, the atrium/elevators are "above" the casino and that whole section is the shops and such. But it's pretty much all the bars/lounges "below" the casino. And you can walk through the Kaleidiscope Boulevard (on the right) and that's some chairs and sitting area, so it's not really part of the casino.

Basically, just realize that the casino is such a small part of the ship. So don't worry too much about that. Honestly, I never realized this was such a hot issue with so many people (the casino itself). I think we went for our first time on our last trip, and that was about 10 minutes of some slots!

 

[Makua]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm not really concerned about the casino itself, just the smoke. I've been known to blow 10 bucks or so! Big gambler I am!

 

[kctwinmommy]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm not really concerned about the casino itself, just the smoke. I've been known to blow 10 bucks or so! Big gambler I am!

LOL!! Sounds like us! I don't really need to "give" anymore money away!

 

[MinnieNurse]

I am so glad I found this thread. We have a land/sea vacation planned through Disney for 8/2008, but I needed a vacation sooner so we booked a Carnival cruise for this summer. Now I am really excited about it and DH is a firefighter-I wander if it is to late to get the discount.

 

[kctwinmommy]

Now I am really excited about it and DH is a firefighter-I wander if it is to late to get the discount.

Call a travel agent with Carnival to find out! It never hurts to ask! If you want ours, just PM me and I can send you his name and number...