Glory Shore Excursions

[riderfan89]

DH and I are booked on our very first cruise on Jan. 16/09 on the Glory. Because we're newbie cruisers (and newbie travellers), we're planning on booking our shore excursions through Carnival. Does anyone have any recommendations? Or any to definitely stay away from?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

[cruzeluver]

Are you going on the Eastern or Western route?

[riderfan89]

Eastern route.

[riderfan89]

Sorry - should have been more specifc (newbie error). Our stops are Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten.

[Tripinbrums]

if you are going on the eastern cruise to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Nassau I can help. In St. Maarten we got a taxi and went to Orient Beach.(the clothed side) There were little huts for drinks, jet skis, beach chairs just great. Our friends booked through Carnival and did the ATV and beach trip , they loved it. St. Thomas got a taxi bus right off the pier and did Magens Bay. Maybe $10 to go and $8 to get in. In Nassau we did the stingray trip because we have small children plus you get the stingray adventure plus time to lounge on the beach and swim.

[blackrose602]

It's hard to make specific recommendations, since we don't know your interests. That said, I can tell you the things that we really enjoyed.

St. Thomas

There's a fairly new excursion called the Pirate Shopping Catamaran. It's basically a water taxi to the three main shopping areas. Along the way, though, you'll get a harbor tour and stories on the pirate history of the area. The guides are super friendly and a lot of fun. It's a ride all day wristband deal, I believe $10 per person, and beats the heck out of hot, stuffy taxis! Definitely recommend this if you plan to shop!

 

Paradise Point is directly across the street from the ship. It's an aerial tram ride to the top of a mountain. There's shopping, dining and live music up there and the views are incredible! The ship's in port till late, so go up and enjoy the sunset, just give yourself plenty of time to get back down (we almost missed the ship) :eek:. I want to say tickets are around $10 through the ship, cheaper than buying them when you get there.

 

Atlantis Submarine Tour -- If you have time, this one's a lot fun too. You'll actually sit down on the sea floor at 90 feet depth. Great photo opportunities!

 

St. Maarten

The America's Cup Regatta!! It's a shortened version of the yacht race, on sailing yachts that actually competed. You'll participate in the actual sailing, but nothing *too* strenuous. This was a lot of fun!

 

Nassau

Not our favorite port, though it's pleasant enough. Pretty much all the tours offer an option to end at the Pirate Museum, or you can go there on your own. Love the museum! Try to make it to the Straw Market also, make sure to bring cash and be prepared to haggle on price.

 

We're not beach people, so others can help you out with that. Hope some of this helps!!

[crusinpsychRN]

My elbows hurt for 6 months after the America's Cup! I was the main sheet.

[riderfan89]

In Nassau we did the stingray trip because we have small children plus you get the stingray adventure plus time to lounge on the beach and swim.

 

We were also thinking about the stingray excursion. Glad to hear you liked this one.

[zillabe]

We went and swam with the stingrays on our first cruise. It was at Pearl Island not the current place they are offering. I can say that it was the highlight of our whole trip! I think they now offer Blackbeards Cay or something like that. We are going on Eastern again in May...and we will check out the stingrays again lol

[-ClevelandRocks-]

Glory eastern has been my favorite cruise to date. My GF preferred the western but agrees the eastern is more scenic. Port Canaveral is an exceptional facility. We've been to Nassau many times before and it's not one of our favorites but, we took the historic tour (in a taxi) and went to all three forts, quenn's staircase, and around town. It was VERY cheap and if you like history it's a must. Otherwise, Atlantis is a nice place and right across the harbor from where you dock. In St. Thomas we did the 5-Star St. John + Trunk Bay excursion. A replica oyster boat picks you up on the dock, narrated scenic cruise to St. John, snorkle the beach at Trunk Bay, then a free rum limbo contest back to the ship. It was the best excursion we've done yet. In St. Maarten make SURE you see both sides of the island. IMO, the French side blows the Dutch side away. Glory is a great ship and the eastern itinerary is gorgeous.

[riderfan89]

We went and swam with the stingrays on our first cruise. It was at Pearl Island not the current place they are offering. I can say that it was the highlight of our whole trip! I think they now offer Blackbeards Cay or something like that. We are going on Eastern again in May...and we will check out the stingrays again lol

 

If we do this excursion, I'll let you know what the new location is like! :) You're right, it is Blackbeard's Cay.

[boatdoc]

In St. M- If you like beaches, Orient beach is a must.

St.T- We just found an open truck (benches in back) and went to a shop

Grand Cayman-Stingray city,turtle farm

 

Have fun

[tiggerlover]

In Nassau, we did Blackbeard's Deluxe Stingray excursion and it was awesome! We will definitely do this one again. From the moment we stepped on the water ferry until we returned to Nassau we had a blast! :)

In St. Thomas, we did the Sunny Liston island tour. We researched this before we booked and let me say that we were not disappointed! We did the private tour with Sunny as our driver. He is knowledgable and very accomodating to your requests. We will also use him again in the future and he comes very highly recommended! :D

St. Martin was cancelled for our cruise because of Hurricane Omar and we were rerouted to Grand Turk for a wonderful beach day at Margaritaville. :p

I loved the eastern itinerary and look forward to sailing it again!

[viciouslysh]

In ST. Maarten, Bernard's Tour is very nice. He does a little of everything. The Orient beach stop was wonderful, the shopping, airport and tour were great!

In St. Thomas we went on a private day sail with Captain Max. We really enjoyed her, her boat, her cooking and the snorkeling was awesome.

[cruiseapril]

St. Thomas- For very good swimming- Magen's Bay Beach.

 

Nassau- For a quiet beach day- a day pass at the British Colonial Hilton

For a more active beach day- the Wyndham at Cable Beach.

[Hurricane Girl]

In St. Thomas we went with Godfrey's Tours. He took us to all of the island hilights, we had shopping time, and beach time. He was wonderful, he told us the history of the island at the stops. He picked us up at the port & took us back with plenty of time to spare. He has his own website where you can go and look at his prices & tours that he offers.

In San Juan, we did not get there until 5:00 p.m., not much time to do anything...so we went to Senior Frogs after walking around for a few minutes.

In Nassau, we have done the Yellow Bird Party Boat before and had a blast. We have been there several times and now we mainly do things on our on.

We didn't go to St. Maarten, we went to Antigua & Tortola instead.

Have fun on your cruise!!! :)