New to Caribbean Cruising Booked on Glory 2018

[rhcustoms]

Hello to all

 

Wife said no more west cost cruises to Mexico for awhile, what to do, the Caribbean but east or west we have never been there. That's not totally true we've been to Cozumel several times for diving years ago. I just couldn't decide so I booked a back to back on the Glory 11-24 to 12-01 18 for. the Eastern 12-01 to 12-08 18 for the Western half.

Will be needing help form fellow cruisers on what each port has to offer from the restaurants that offer the local meals, to maybe a cigar and rum factory and maybe a good dive spot or two.

Only problem is that days until cruise counter is not clicking down fast enough.

 

Thanks for any suggestions

RH

[mishka422]

So, which western ports and which eastern?

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Forums mobile app

[rhcustoms]

Sorry, I guess that might help, for the eastern from Miami, Grand Turks, San Juan, Saint Thomas, Amber Cove. Western is Miami, Grand Cayman, Mahogany bay, Belize, Cozumel back to Miami.

[rain_bowbrite]

Haven't been to all those ports, but I love Bohio Dive Resort in Grand Turk. Beautiful sandy walk in beach and great snorkeling right off the shore. There is a restaurant there for food and drinks as well. Also a pool.

 

For St Thomas check out Coki beach or an excursion to St. John/Trunk Bay.

 

San Juan I just love walking up to the Fort and browsing all the neat shops and cobblestone streets. Definitely get a pina colada at Barrachina. (sp?)

[rhcustoms]

Thanks Jodie, will put those on are list of possible things to do. Do you know if the Bacardi tour is worth doing on San Juan?

RH

[rain_bowbrite]

Thanks Jodie, will put those on are list of possible things to do. Do you know if the Bacardi tour is worth doing on San Juan?

RH

 

I haven't personally done the Bacardi tour. I'd check the San Juan board for more information about it. Sounds like fun though!

[mishka422]

Grand turk we usually use as a beach day. There are free loungers just off the pier and a maragaritaville with a pool.

San Juan, love the forts. Also, we took the mojitos and mofongo tour through Carnival last time and it was fantastic.

St. Thomas, sonny liston tours is cheap and a great time. We went up to the highest point of the island to the daiquiri bar and then to sapphire beach. Beautiful.

Cozumel, love Mr. Sanchos. AI side and they have a pool with a swim up bar.

Grand Cayman, sting ray city is fun as is the turtle farm.

Belize, take a tour, don't try to do anything on your own.

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Forums mobile app

[mishka422]

Oh, and mahogany Bay, we just layed on the beach and snorkeled a little. My son got a clear kayak and paddled around for about an hour. He saw lots of interesting sea life through the kayak

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Forums mobile app

[MissKIA]

That is almost the exact same thing we did on our first cruise which was also a back to back (on the Liberty). The only difference was we went to Half Moon Cay instead of Amber Cove.

 

Cozumel - DH and BIL went on a deep sea fishing excursion (didn't catch anything but enjoyed it)

SIL and I went to Paradise Beach. It's inexpensive and a nice beach/pool day

 

Roatan - Carnival owned pier with a shopping area and beach right there you can use for free, which we did. (Love it there!)

 

Belize - Walked around and shopped. Nothing too exciting.

 

Grand Cayman - Private Stingray Excursion. Lots of fun, we all loved it. I think we used Captain Marvins?

 

San Juan - We got off the ship and hopped on a tour bus for $10 per person and showed us around.

 

St Thomas - Went on a private shopping/tour of the island. We have used both Sunny Liston and Godfrey Tours. Both are basically the same but Sunny Liston is much livelier (louder!)

 

Grand Turk - Another Carnival owned pier where there is plenty to do there without taking an excursion.

 

I don't know what you're interested in doing, but that's what we did on our first Caribbean Cruise to give you an idea. Hope it helps somewhat.

[rhcustoms]

Thanks for the great info will be checking it out.

 

RH

[Organized Chaos]

Thanks Jodie, will put those on are list of possible things to do. Do you know if the Bacardi tour is worth doing on San Juan?

RH

I can't tell you if it's worth it or not but I remember this user including it in her review earlier this month. She included a view photos too (posts #183 & 184). From her description of the tour, it seems to be pretty short. But hey, it includes a free drink at the end and you get to keep the glass, so there's that. :cool:

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214017&page=10

[BahamaMama1214]

We love the Glory, it's one of our favorite ships!

In Belize, I recommend diving or snorkeling. It's the second biggest barrier reef in the world and it has been excellent every time we've been.

In Grand Cayman, the stingray tour is really cool, but we also love Rum Point.

In Cozumel we love to walk around and just shop, but there are also plenty of wonderful beach clubs.

In Mahogany Bay, we just treat it as a beach day since the free beach is right off the dock.

[rhcustoms]

So many things to do, so little time to do it in, stingray city was on my list in Grand Cayman, do not know if I can talk the wife into it.

 

Thanks

RH

[MissKIA]

So many things to do, so little time to do it in, stingray city was on my list in Grand Cayman, do not know if I can talk the wife into it.

 

Thanks

RH

 

My husband didn't want anything to do with the stingrays so he just stayed on the catamaran. He still enjoyed the excursion, he just watched everyone with the stingrays from the boat.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Out of all those ports, Belize and Roatan have world class diving.

[tvlworm]

Sorry, I guess that might help, for the eastern from Miami, Grand Turks, San Juan, Saint Thomas, Amber Cove. Western is Miami, Grand Cayman, Mahogany bay, Belize, Cozumel back to Miami.

 

 

I'll try to stay in order of the ports listed with the exception of Amber Cove as I haven't been there yet. Looks similar to Grand Turk with the free pool and loungers and could also be a very cheap port day!

 

Grand Turk - great free/low cost port day! Plenty of free loungers right off the ship on the beach. Snorkeling gear and floats were available for rent and the snorkeling was better than I anticipated! The whaler bar restaurant isn't quite as chaotic as Margaritaville and has great views. Too can walk down the beach to Jacks Shack for inexpensive eats and drinks.

 

San Juan - port is in old San Juan area, lots to see just walking around. The passenger ferry to that takes you to Bacardi is a short walk from the pier and is only a few $. The actual tour isn't very long but we enjoyed it, especially the free samples :)

 

St Thomas - several popular beaches are a short cab ride away. We had no planned excursion and after a short walk around the port area towards the city, flagged down a cab with a group of other cruisers and did a Island tour. Loved it, brought us to many scenic overlooks, told us about the island and all the way to Mountain Top for shopping and daiquiris.On the way back down, he dropped us off at the top of the 100 steps and we strolled through the shops and had a leisurely walk back to the ship.

 

Grand Cayman - we did an island tour through Captain Marvins and I'd highly recommend any of their tours--they offer several. Our 2 1/2 hour tour went through town, to Hell, Tortuga Rum factory and to the Turtle Farm. Really fun day and Redd our tour guide was great! Had him drop us off at Public beach on Seven Mile and we took a cab/bus back to the port area. Love GC!!

 

Mahogany Bay - haven't been there yet but going next March on Glory which will also be our first time on that ship! Have been doing a lot of research and are either going to Tabyana/west bay Beach or to Little French Key--both look amazing and I'm having a really hard time deciding!

 

Belize - also new to us next year on our Glory cruise. Looking at a tour to the ruins to break up beach days :) and leaning towards Lamanai with the river boat tour. Since it's our first time and I've heard sketchy things about what it's like outside of the port area, sticking to a Carnival excursion in Belize.

 

Cozumel - returning to our favorite, Mr Sanchos! All inclusive meals and drinks for $55. Nice beach and fun atmosphere! Really enjoy it and looking forward to going again!

 

Hopefully this helps with additional ideas! Have a great cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums