Tips & Tricks of all things cruising from a self professed cruise ADDICT.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Carnival Glory: ATLANTIS AQUAVENTURE
After we checked out our room, we headed out to Aquaventure!! There were some awesome smaller lagoons along the path towards the beach and aquaventure. The property was nice & clean we found many helpful employees to direct us along the way. That is one thing they could use, more signs! The property is HUGE and the maps are just as big and kinda confusing.
We made our way down the path, once you hit the end of it you have hit a dead end at the beach. You can go left or right, Aquaventure is to the left. There seems to be some pool to you right. You could also hit the beach. We walked along and finally got to a towel hut to pick up our wrist bands. We had been stopped by security at two separate locations to see proof of our stay. Then we went to the Hospitality station to rent a locker. They have 3 sizes available. Small $7, Medium $9, Large $12. We asked for a medium but were charged for and given a small, we were chatting with the guy so we must have confused him. Anywho a tote bag with 4 Carnival beach towels, 4 pairs of flips flops and clothes for all 4 of us all fit, but it was pretty tight. This area also had changing rooms.
We went straight to the Mayan Temple area to go on the Serpent Slide which is an inner tube (single or two person) that you go through ending in a clear tube through the shark tank. You can also take the regular slide through the tank with no inner tube. Our friends tried & liked that but thought it was pretty steep. There were no lines, a lot of people must have cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy but we had awesome weather, no rain until we were getting back on board.
We wanted to try the current so we headed over to one of the multiple entrances to that. This was a lot of fun but took about 30 minutes as it is a mile long. Like I mentioned, there are lots of entrances/ exits but I am not sure where all you end up as it is a large park. Once we finished there we wanted to see the beach a little before heading inside to the Digs.
Due to the Hurricane, there was no swimming allowed in the ocean but we walked along putting our feet in. There was a lifeguard down the way that kept whistling at us. I know it is dangerous but we were seriously not even in ankle deep, the water was not pulling back in either. Oh well.
We made our way down the path, once you hit the end of it you have hit a dead end at the beach. You can go left or right, Aquaventure is to the left. There seems to be some pool to you right. You could also hit the beach. We walked along and finally got to a towel hut to pick up our wrist bands. We had been stopped by security at two separate locations to see proof of our stay. Then we went to the Hospitality station to rent a locker. They have 3 sizes available. Small $7, Medium $9, Large $12. We asked for a medium but were charged for and given a small, we were chatting with the guy so we must have confused him. Anywho a tote bag with 4 Carnival beach towels, 4 pairs of flips flops and clothes for all 4 of us all fit, but it was pretty tight. This area also had changing rooms.
We went straight to the Mayan Temple area to go on the Serpent Slide which is an inner tube (single or two person) that you go through ending in a clear tube through the shark tank. You can also take the regular slide through the tank with no inner tube. Our friends tried & liked that but thought it was pretty steep. There were no lines, a lot of people must have cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy but we had awesome weather, no rain until we were getting back on board.
We wanted to try the current so we headed over to one of the multiple entrances to that. This was a lot of fun but took about 30 minutes as it is a mile long. Like I mentioned, there are lots of entrances/ exits but I am not sure where all you end up as it is a large park. Once we finished there we wanted to see the beach a little before heading inside to the Digs.
Due to the Hurricane, there was no swimming allowed in the ocean but we walked along putting our feet in. There was a lifeguard down the way that kept whistling at us. I know it is dangerous but we were seriously not even in ankle deep, the water was not pulling back in either. Oh well.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Atlantis: Room 7109
We had a room booked in the beach tower so we headed up to our room to see what it looked like.
Honestly, we were a tad bit disappointed. It was a good sized room, 2 queens, a terrace, a large bathroom but it wasnt as grand as I was expecting for the Atlantis. However, it is also the cheapest tower, you get what you pay for.
When we checked in we were given a small folder with 4 rooms keys, an "all things Atlantis" catalog of sorts, and a map of the property. The map is very large, as is the property. In hindsight, it may have been easier to look at the map before getting on our way. There are signs along the way but it is slightly confusing.
Honestly, we were a tad bit disappointed. It was a good sized room, 2 queens, a terrace, a large bathroom but it wasnt as grand as I was expecting for the Atlantis. However, it is also the cheapest tower, you get what you pay for.
When we checked in we were given a small folder with 4 rooms keys, an "all things Atlantis" catalog of sorts, and a map of the property. The map is very large, as is the property. In hindsight, it may have been easier to look at the map before getting on our way. There are signs along the way but it is slightly confusing.
Our "view"
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Carnival Glory: ATLANTIS!
The Atlantis is somewhere I have wanted to see since I was a little girl and the Mary Kate & Ashley movie where they stayed there came out. It looked sooo awesome. So when we booked a cruise to the Bahamas I knew it was a must see.
When originally going over our game plan for Nassau, we had 2 days in port so the best bang for our buck was to rent a room so that we could enjoy both days there if we wanted to. We compared booking with Atlantis vs Comfort Suites and found that there was a $5 difference (we booked really late) so it was a no brainer to book direct with Atlantis.
If you book early enough Comfort Suites is a true value. You get full access to Atlantis and they do have free breakfast. It is literally right next door so it is no problem to walk down the street to get to the resort.
We went to check in and ran into a minor hiccup. I had called previous to booking once as well as calling the day before we arrived from the ship. I asked specifically on my first call if there were any additional charges that were not included so that I made sure we were actually better off booking with Atlantis. I was assured the only thing extra would be food, lockers, etc. When we checked in they asked for a card to link to the account so I gladly handed over mine. Before adding the card she left me know that there would be a $150 hold per day on the card for incidentals. Even though I had asked previously about this, I was fine with this. However, then they told me it would be held for 31 days! I have stayed at many hotels where it is a week at most, usually they reverse the charge when you check out. I was shocked. 31 days? That is just crazy. I let them know I was very disappointed with this as I had called with questions and was not told about this, it is also no where in the terms & conditions which I read before agreeing to. I let them know that I had spoken to Celine, a manager in the reservations department. They kindly waived this $150 letting me know that I wouldn't be able to charge anything to my room while at the facility. I said that was fine as I prefer to charge everything to my card at the time of purchase to make sure I am charged the correct amount.
Wanting to get started on our day we finished checking in and headed to our room to see it before heading out the aquaventure!
When originally going over our game plan for Nassau, we had 2 days in port so the best bang for our buck was to rent a room so that we could enjoy both days there if we wanted to. We compared booking with Atlantis vs Comfort Suites and found that there was a $5 difference (we booked really late) so it was a no brainer to book direct with Atlantis.
If you book early enough Comfort Suites is a true value. You get full access to Atlantis and they do have free breakfast. It is literally right next door so it is no problem to walk down the street to get to the resort.
We went to check in and ran into a minor hiccup. I had called previous to booking once as well as calling the day before we arrived from the ship. I asked specifically on my first call if there were any additional charges that were not included so that I made sure we were actually better off booking with Atlantis. I was assured the only thing extra would be food, lockers, etc. When we checked in they asked for a card to link to the account so I gladly handed over mine. Before adding the card she left me know that there would be a $150 hold per day on the card for incidentals. Even though I had asked previously about this, I was fine with this. However, then they told me it would be held for 31 days! I have stayed at many hotels where it is a week at most, usually they reverse the charge when you check out. I was shocked. 31 days? That is just crazy. I let them know I was very disappointed with this as I had called with questions and was not told about this, it is also no where in the terms & conditions which I read before agreeing to. I let them know that I had spoken to Celine, a manager in the reservations department. They kindly waived this $150 letting me know that I wouldn't be able to charge anything to my room while at the facility. I said that was fine as I prefer to charge everything to my card at the time of purchase to make sure I am charged the correct amount.
Wanting to get started on our day we finished checking in and headed to our room to see it before heading out the aquaventure!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Carnival Glory: Nassau
Yay! We made it to the Bahamas!! We had never been so we were really excited. There were 5 other ships in port that day, 3 were Carnival, 1 NCL, 1 Royal. It was packed. Due to this we couldnt see much when pulling into port which was disappointing, however, we didnt want to stay long looking outside since we had a limited number of hours on the island.
We headed to deck 3 forward so that we could be one of the first off the ship. We were asked to move from the stairs due to customs coming on board, fire regulations etc. However after we moved, they allowed a lot of people down the steps. Oh well. We waited next to the Amber Palace and then we were out of there! Our plan worked and we didnt have to wait in line to get off. We experienced a 45 minute line getting off in Cozumel which was awful!
We walked along the port area, saw some Bahamian Navy ships, then headed out through the shops. Followed the signs to the taxi drivers, found a driver right away and waited a couple of minutes for the taxi to fill up. The ride was $4 pp and only took about 10 minutes. The driver was a bit much as far as thinking he owned the road, but was a much better driver than others we have experienced.
We were dropped off right in front, just past the Comfort Suites and walked right in to check in.
We headed to deck 3 forward so that we could be one of the first off the ship. We were asked to move from the stairs due to customs coming on board, fire regulations etc. However after we moved, they allowed a lot of people down the steps. Oh well. We waited next to the Amber Palace and then we were out of there! Our plan worked and we didnt have to wait in line to get off. We experienced a 45 minute line getting off in Cozumel which was awful!
We walked along the port area, saw some Bahamian Navy ships, then headed out through the shops. Followed the signs to the taxi drivers, found a driver right away and waited a couple of minutes for the taxi to fill up. The ride was $4 pp and only took about 10 minutes. The driver was a bit much as far as thinking he owned the road, but was a much better driver than others we have experienced.
We were dropped off right in front, just past the Comfort Suites and walked right in to check in.
A sign in the cab :)
Carnival Glory: "Fun Day at Sea" #1
Today was the day that they changed our itinerary. The day actually started out pretty nice. It was still pretty chilly but we were able to lay out for a little bit on the side of the lido, near the pool was PACKED! We watched a bit of the hairy chest contest, ate and just mingled around until we decided to go to the hot tub in the spa which we fantastic!
That is when the captain came on. We of course couldnt hear so I had to get out of the hot tub and ask. They explained that we had a medical emergency the night before and had to turn around back to Norfolk. We were on the Lido when this happened at about midnight, the coast guard helicopter came down. They closed off the area with the pizza etc. Later we found out a woman was having chest pains and eventually had a heart attack but is okay. He let us know that it would delay our arrival in Nassau until 1 pm.
Then he explained about Sandy (still a TS). We would only get from 1-8 in Nassau, instead of overnighting and miss Freeport on Friday. We would instead would head to Port Canaveral on Friday (eye roll, hardly a cruise stop). Due to large projections of the storms before we left I really wish they would have diverted us to Bermuda. Thought would have been awesome.
So the announcement really put a damper on the day and I headed to guest services where they allowed us to call for free any pricate excursions that we had booked. I went down to call Atlantis to see if there was anything we could do. We had a room booked and wouldnt be able to use it so we were hoping to be able to cancel it with a refund of some sort and then make new plans for the day.
Atlantis has a 31 day cancellation policy and said that they didnt have any info on the storm being such a threat ( that was obviously a lie seeing as how the storm turned out). They said we had two options, either continue with our plans to stay at Atlantis or they could hold our booking for 6 months. If we chose option #2, we would be responsible for any extra charges or difference in room costs. Since we didnt have any plans for an upcoming trip to Nassau we were forced to keep our reservation. More on that in the next post.
Tonight was also Elegant Night. We got all dressed up, went to the MDR. Everything was great. We went to the comedy show after, Jorge Solano was hilarious. Afterwards we went to the hot tubs and then the disco.
Next up, our awesome day at the Atlantis!!!
That is when the captain came on. We of course couldnt hear so I had to get out of the hot tub and ask. They explained that we had a medical emergency the night before and had to turn around back to Norfolk. We were on the Lido when this happened at about midnight, the coast guard helicopter came down. They closed off the area with the pizza etc. Later we found out a woman was having chest pains and eventually had a heart attack but is okay. He let us know that it would delay our arrival in Nassau until 1 pm.
Then he explained about Sandy (still a TS). We would only get from 1-8 in Nassau, instead of overnighting and miss Freeport on Friday. We would instead would head to Port Canaveral on Friday (eye roll, hardly a cruise stop). Due to large projections of the storms before we left I really wish they would have diverted us to Bermuda. Thought would have been awesome.
So the announcement really put a damper on the day and I headed to guest services where they allowed us to call for free any pricate excursions that we had booked. I went down to call Atlantis to see if there was anything we could do. We had a room booked and wouldnt be able to use it so we were hoping to be able to cancel it with a refund of some sort and then make new plans for the day.
Atlantis has a 31 day cancellation policy and said that they didnt have any info on the storm being such a threat ( that was obviously a lie seeing as how the storm turned out). They said we had two options, either continue with our plans to stay at Atlantis or they could hold our booking for 6 months. If we chose option #2, we would be responsible for any extra charges or difference in room costs. Since we didnt have any plans for an upcoming trip to Nassau we were forced to keep our reservation. More on that in the next post.
Tonight was also Elegant Night. We got all dressed up, went to the MDR. Everything was great. We went to the comedy show after, Jorge Solano was hilarious. Afterwards we went to the hot tubs and then the disco.
Next up, our awesome day at the Atlantis!!!
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