Travel Escapades-Eastern Caribbean



	Eastern Caribbean

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	General:			This trip was our second trip on Carnival Cruise Lines. We traveled to the Eastern Caribbean on a new ship called the "Glory". It was a 7 day cruise with ports in Nassau, St.Thomas, and St. Martin. I have to say I was very disappointed in this trip. It was not nearly as nice or elaborate as our first trip to the Western Caribbean on the Mardi Gras about 18 years ago.

				The dismay started with our loading onto the ship. It was very disorganized and we spent a good hour or two waiting in one line after another to get on board. This scenario was to play itself out for every port we visited also. It was very frustrating to be lined up in long lines, around tables, and in between every nook and cranny until we wound down to the exit. On one stop we were very irritated to have a new line formed in front of us with people lined up in front of us who had been further back in line. (Carnival you've been doing this for years, haven't you figured out how to manage your crowds yet? There's got to be a better way.)

				Except for the dinner dining, the food was just like eating at a school cafeteria. They seemed to think as long as they made sure they had plenty of food available, it would keep people happy. I saw a lot of waste as a lot was tossed out after one or two bites. We did enjoy the grill and pizza parlors now and then as a change, but the lines were sometimes long and the pizza could have been better. The kids all enjoyed the open soft-freeze ice cream as did quite a few adults. We purchased soda cards and that worked out well. They run about $25US for the kids and about $35 for the adults. You just show the card and you can get sodas without having to carry change. My daughter didn't like having to carry the card around. A safety pin or chain to put it on would have been handy.

				My daughter and niece are both teenagers. Both they and my husband and I were quite bored most of the time on board the ship. There was not nearly enough activities. They do have a video arcade, for which they rake in quite a bit of money since it was just about the only entertainment for the kids. At one port I saw a K-Mart store. I walked back and purchased three board games so we could at least do something in between feeding times. (We had asked for playing cards earlier but they didn't have anymore on board.) The night shows were quite good, but most played during our meal times (we had the late meal) so we missed several shows including the talent show and were late for several others. All the bingo games were played while we were at dinner.
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				I do enjoy playing the slots in the casino, but it didn't take me long to figure out the machines were not going to give any money back, so after the first couple days, I tried my best to stay away. I did venture back now and then as there isn't a whole lot to do to stay busy. I never once won any money. I believe I put in a little over $200 US in all. I also played the slot tournament. But this again isn't a very good pay off for the customer. It costs each person $25US to play and they probably had 100 to 150 people participate.We all competed for a measly $500US prize...Let's see they collected between $2,500 - $3,750, and paid out $500. Does this tell you what our odds were??

				The ship is not designed well for walking. On our previous trip I liked walking along the deck in a big circle, you can't do that on this one. You have to go up and down levels and some floors come to a dead-end. They have lots of elevators (lifts), but you usually have to wait, for a ride, especially when everyone is going the same direction. I got lost almost everyday and we saw lots of others that also had trouble finding their way around. The pools are quite small for such a large ship and the shopping on board is slim pickins. I did notice there was no choice of booze left in the liquor shop just before we docked, so some people may have been disappointed if they waited to buy theirs. I bought an inexpensive watch on board, I had forgotten to bring mine along. On the last day on board, right after the shops had closed, it broke.

				Overall I felt we spent a lot of money for not having a very nice time. Besides the trip cost we spent another $1,000 on board for the four of us and we were very conservative. This amount includes the tips they charged us and just one port tour. We spoke with a few others who were also very disappointed in this cruise. Most were regular cruisers, but said they would not want to go on another Carnival Cruise. I have to say I agree with them. There are too many choices out there to settle on one that you aren't going to be happy with. This is a newer ship, it is quite a bit bigger than the previous ship we took. Perhaps this is just too many people to handle on each voyage.

				Once they have you on board it's like having a blank check with them, they keep looking to see how much more money they can wring out of you before you disembark. They also told people that we could be jeopardizing our purchases if we bought goods from any vendor not on their preferred vendor list at each port. We were told by a passenger that is because they get paid to advertise for these businesses. They also say the same thing about the island tours. We did one of their tours for the first island, but decided to take our chances after that and had a much better time doing them on our own.

	Nassau			First stop is Nassau. Nassau is the capital city of The Bahamas and is located on New Providence Island. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, it is British rule. They also drive on the left side of the road.

				The time here is very limited. We chose a tour of the Atlantis hotel. I believe the cost was about $50 US for each of us. They take you on a short boat ride to the hotel, about a ten minute ride. You are taken on a short tour and left off in the casino for a little gambling. It was extremely hot when we were there. The hotel is quite a site that spans some 14 acres. The open channel of aquariums is quite interesting and you see quite a variety of fish, sharks, and stingrays. It was something to see, but not really worth $200 for the four of us. There wasn't much close by that we had time to check out before we had to board the boat back to the ship. We did run across the street and got a few sodas on the way back. Atlantis1 Atlantis2 Atlantis 3 Nassau
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	St.Thomas			Our second port was in St. Thomas. This island is bigger than Nassau and there is much to do here. We were looking for a tour bus and wound up going with a gentleman in a jeep/truck type vehicle. His license tabs said "Godfather" and that's how he introduced himself. We were going to just go to the beach so our two teenage girls could snorkel, but were so impressed with the Godfather, we stayed on with the other people to take the island tour. He took us all around and explained a little bit about each area. He agreed to take us to the beach after our tour and said he would come back for us. He took us to Sapphire beach.

				Sapphire beach is beautiful and a great place to snorkel. It is very shallow for a quite a distance out and is full of all kinds of marine life. The dive shop gave the girls feed for the fish so they would come to them. We brought underwater cameras but the pictures did not turn out too clear. The girls loved their time here and this became the highlight of their trip. They still talk about the sting ray they saw in addition to all the fish.

				The Godfather returned and took us back to the ship. He was an excellent tour guide and very fair in his prices. He only charged us $20 US for a full city tour and the ride to and from Sapphire. So we gave him a $10 tip.
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				St.Thomas is a lovely island and there is lots to see here. There are several nice beaches, but our tour guide recommended Sapphire. It was not as crowded I think, as it was a little more off the beaten track. We really enjoyed our time there. St. Thomas: More St.Thomas

	St.Martin			Last port: St.Martin. We enjoyed our time here also, but the tour guide was a quiet lady and not nearly as good or as much fun as the Godfather in St. Thomas. Our trip was much shorter, she didn't allow enough time to shop (30 minutes) and didn't drop us off at a good spot for shopping. We walked in circles and didn't find any place to shop before it was time for her to pick us up. One site she drove right past, and I had to ask her to stop, it was a good thing I noticed it as we drove by. It was a little fort on top of a hill with some good views. She also charged us the same amount of money as the Godfather, $20 US each. Our trip lasted about 2 hours, the Godfather took care of us all day and made extra trips for us.

				The island is half French and half Dutch. They literally have two sides. When we visited the public beach we saw some nude sun bathers. The tour guide explained they must have been the crazy French people. She said they are supposed to stay on the other end of the beach, but it is hard to control them. It made for interesting conversation, especially for our two teenage girls. The man I saw was right dab in the middle of the main area next to the bar. He obviously didn't mind that he was in plain view. We also saw one topless gal as she strolled down the beach in front of the bar. This beach was very busy, so it wasn't like we were in a secluded area. I have a whole different concept of the French now.

	Page Up:			There was some fast food places and shopping near where the ship was docked. There were jewelry shops, linen, and souvenir shops. There were also some small booths outside that were selling different items, several had rum for sale. St.Martin

	Conclusion:			This concludes my notes on cruising the Eastern Caribbean that I am familiar with. There are many other areas to discover. Transportation including taxis are reasonable. The islands were all fun places to visit except I wasn't too impressed with Nassau. Since we didn't have much time there we didn't get to see much, perhaps there is more that we didn't see.

	Disclaimer:			This was our most current trip. If you have ever gone on a cruise you know the time goes by very quickly and you don't have a lot of time at each port. I have tried to document as much as I can remember about each place but there is so much more that I was not able to experience.

				The links provided are links I found in searching the net. Some are to travel agents or other services. I have not used most of these services, so I am not recommending any. I am only adding these links to provide additional information to my travel documentaries above.

				I suggest you do your own research before traveling and only book your travel adventures through a reputable travel company. Buyer beware: there are lots of scam artists that use the travel industry to make a quick buck, don't be a victim. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.



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	Updated 3/27/04
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