paulanddarnell

A little background about us, we have been on 10 cruises with a few different cruise lines. We have spent the most days with Carnival because we find they are the best value. We are close to or in our fiftiesJ. We are pretty easy to please (especially me). We love to relax on vacation and because we are busy and take of an aged parent, we prefer to cruise just as a couple.

We really enjoyed the Glory! I am going to start a detailed review for my records and share it here. Feel free to ask questions. I am hoping that I finish this review. I am often good at starting but then get distracted at some point – just a warning.

Thursday, 12/28/17

This would be our long travel day. We had a red eye flight out of Long Beach that left here at 9:15 and arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 4:56 a.m. I figured this wouldn’t be too tough on us because we are night people and that would be more like 2 a.m. our time. I was excited for the flight because it was on Jet Blue which usually means a comfortable flight. Unfortunately,that was not the case this time. The journey to the airport was okay although we had an Uber driver that used the brake pedal more in one 20 minute trip than I do all day. We had plenty of time, and Long Beach is a very small airport.The TSA Precheck closed just as we came up so that was a bit annoying, but they gave us a paper so we at least did not have to take our shoes off. After waiting a bit, it was time to board.

As we started walking down the aisle, I looked to about where are seats would be, and I had a bad feeling. My husband and I are not small people. I am short and a bit chubby, but have pretty broad shoulders fora woman. I also swim so I think that has made my shoulders bigger. I recently tore my AC joint in my shoulder making it harder for me to reduce the right shoulder in tight situations. My husband is built like a defensive lineman. As we neared our seats, a very, very large lady was in the window seat. She was very self-conscious and tried to be as much in her seat as possible, but it just was not possible.I spent a very long flight leaning into my husband as he spent the flight leaning into the aisle. This was indeed, the worst flight I have been on. (I am not trying to be mean here, just reporting and recording my trip.)

After the long flight, we landed bright and early into FortLauderdale. The airport was hoping. We caught an Uber and headed to the QualityInn or Stirling. I had called the night before to assure my room was held sinceI booked it for Thursday and Friday night. Well, that was not the case. I had bookedthe room under my husband’s name but used my credit card. When the hotel wentto charge my card, they found the name different and canceled the reservation.I was speechless and on the verge of getting upset, but the very nice clerk didnot seem flustered. She told me the room rate was indeed higher, but that shewould just charge me for Friday night so we ended up saving $100. I asked whenwe could check in, and she replied, right now. Big, big sigh of relief.

I was just on the Carnival Glory last week. We were in Roatan on Tuesday, and there were many cruise ships in the area. Praying that everyone on the islands and the ships are safe.

We just did a sharks and reef snorkel in Belize. It is harder to get to as mentioned. It was a 45 minute boat journey to Cay Caulker. It was AMAZING! The reef was beautiful and the sharks, oh wow!

We did also snorkel in Cozumel. It was really rough so not as good this time. However, we did it about 8 years ago, and it was a beautiful day and beautiful snorkeling.

Lgb is a tiny airport. You can get there an hour before and have absolutely no problem making your flight. I bet even 45 minutes would be fine. You should be fine. Plus, it will almost certainly be the only ship coming in that day (the port is not like Miami).

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I have done CCL, NCL, and Princess. We love all of them! Princess was better food imho, however, I love food so will not complain. I do feel it is a little more low key than a Carnival cruise, but we were not bored in any way. First time on Princess, it was just me and my husband. We were in our early 40's then. We loved it and really did not notice that we were younger or older than anyone else. The next time, we took our newly married son and wife. They were in their mid-20's. They loved it! We could find chairs, relax on deck, and spent many nights sitting by the pizza place playing Words with Friends.

We are going on our third NYE cruise leaving on the 28th. They are so much fun! I do not think they are anymore wild than a normal cruise; however, people do party pretty late on NYE. What we found is that the excursions on the first are not full - many people miss. The first one, we were in Bonaire on the 1st. Should have been a full catamaran but ended up being me, my husband, and one other couple. It was great, but many people lost out on their deposit. I think after that wild night, it is pretty tame. The fireworks we saw in Aruba and over the ABC's was one of my best memories of NYE ever. You are going to have so, so much fun!

Thanks! That makes me happy RiotAct.

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So if I like a drink that always seems to stump the bartenders, will this be the place to go? My brother is a bartender and got me hooked on the Ramos Fizz. I always get strange reactions when I ask for it here in CA.

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We carry an extension cord in the CPAP case every time we travel. On cruises, we usually have to run the cord across the floor to the desk. I use the mat that they give you for putting the luggage on the bed to cover it each night so it will not be a tripping hazard. Works well!

Just off the Splendor yesterday. There was a system that we sort of hit, but it went more inland to Belize instead of to where we were headed (and please forgive me if the heading is incorrect - just explaining). Anyway, we had some rain - first port day in Grand Turk, really bad rain. We were on a snorkel tour so headed to a different place, but I heard it cleared the beach. The rest of the cruise was beautiful.

As for motion, yes, the ship was rocking! One evening, I really felt it. I take Bonine the night before the cruise and each night of the cruise. I did not get seasick. The interesting thing is I felt it on one night, but the next night (night of Dominican Republic with next day in Curacao) I did not feel it. When we woke up, the cruise director said that we were late docking because we had 55 mph winds and the sea was rough. So we docked about 2, and it was kind of a mad house getting off. Was a beautiful day in Curacao.

Bonine is a great suggestion. I talked with someone during our Curacao tour who had bad motion sickness. She was not taking anything. I am very prone, but I was fine. We were prepared for our itinerary to change when we heard the news of the system, but it did not. I trust the captain (and my Bonine). BTW, get the generic at Wal Mart. I have had the same bottle for at least four cruises now.

I read Deadpool is down right raunchy! I am surprised they are showing that one. However, I get it - don't like it, don't want kid to see it, don't go!

My absolute favorite was St. Lucia. I do really like Bonaire and Aruba. I would say Bonaire was my second favorite. We love to snorkel and that was up there with some great snorkeling. We are doing Curacao on our next cruise so hoping it is wonderful.

Whew! Made me go check my future cabin to make sure it was only for two.

I think you totally did the right thing. The teacher in me always comes out in this situation. And I think that is the important part of this. Right now, he is still a minor. He needs to learn that there are consequences. If he learns before 18, you have done him a great service (and by his reaction, I believe he did). When I taught at the high school my stepson attended, I watched as we had one soft principal who did very little when a few boys were caught breaking into cars. A couple of these boys have continued to have problems with the law according to my son. I partially blame the principal. Sure it is possible they may still have been bad, but a good scare might have had some impact.

I agree with what LoriPhil said. I take a Bonine the night before the cruise and go to sleep. Then every night on the cruise, I take a Bonine before bed. It has kept me from getting sick on every cruise with the exception of a tiny cruise ship in the Greek Islands. Had no idea the ship would be so small and the water so rough. The other cruises, and I have been on many, have been great.

From the reviews on Trip Advisor, I would make sure to bring ear plugs.

Okay, I have never stayed here, but we did this once in Zurich, and it was great! We have an upcoming trip where we will be flying to Orlando from the West Coast. I am still waiting on a drop in airfare (trip in November) and have the hotel inside the Dallas airport and the one in the Orlando airport booked and will use one of those so we get the most rest possible.

Just bought some two minutes ago! Wohoo!

We brought a duffle bag, put soda in it, and checked it. The steward told us we could just empty the fridge so we put it in the stuff in there in the ottoman. The fridge was somewhat cold, but the steward kept our ice bucket filled. We were happy! I drink Pepsi, but still brought my own because I need my first one pretty soon in the morning so I do not get my withdrawal headache.

The Getaway does fireworks one night! It is so cool - right off the back of the ship. I am not sure, but I think the Breakaway does too!

We were happy with our room on the 13th floor. I did feel a bit of motion, but I am sensitive. We were 13196. It was mid-ship but still close to front elevators. The back ones were a bit of a walk, but after what we ate, no big deal. I could at times hear the music up top but nothing that was a problem. Also, we were on the port side and had a beautiful view of the fireworks.

On the Getaway, it was a larger bathroom and shower. The shower was wonderful! It had six jets. It also had more room. We loved it!

Since we had the UDP, the show was included for free the first night. I booked the 8:45 show some time in February. We planned on going and not eating, but hey, not eating and cruising do not go together. We showed up about 30 minutes early and were sat in the very back. The seating is kind of like a horse shoe. The first semi circles are I believe smaller tables, then a set of large tables, and finally semi-circle booths in the back. We were put in one of the booths with a family of four. Unfortunately, this was not very comfortable for my husband who had lower back surgery long ago, and honestly, I do not think I would have been able to see around him all that well.

I asked a server if we could move to two open seats at one of the large tables, and she had me talk to the hostess. They were very nice and told me it would be a $5 upcharge. No biggie! So we moved. Let me tell you, that row was so much easier to see from. I know people complain about seeing, but even from the second to back row, it was good. So I do suggest upgrading. They did mention that it was often too busy to do that so I think next time I would just make sure to ask at the box office before the show to pay the difference.

The next day, there was a charge for I believe either 21 or 24 dollars each for the show. I went down and talked to Guest Services telling them it should be $5 each, but she told me it would be totally removed the next day, and it was. So the upgrade turned out to be fabulous.

The food was really good too! There were people who put there napkin and silverware right in from of them which signaled no food, but we did not. The prosciutto was very good. There was actually so much ham. I ate most of the tomatoes and cheese but left a good amount of ham. Next came the shrimp and tenderloin. I thought they were both good. The dessert was okay, but I am not much of a sweet person.

The show was really cool! I do not want to give anything away so I will just say the illusions were great! I was questioning everything trying to figure out just how in the heck they did what they did. On an interesting note, a couple of days after the show I saw Casino Mike and his wife. She asked if they did a certain act, and I said no. She explained that she was pulled up on the stage for that act, participated in illusions that wowed the audience, and being part of the show she knew what they were doing was not staged. She explained this in detail, but again, I do not want to ruin anything in case that act comes back. It sure was interesting since I still was questioning just how they do what they do.

Settling in on Day 1

After we dropped our bags off, we headed up to the Garden Café Buffet for something to eat. We followed everyone’s advice and headed to the very back, and there was room to sit and move around in the buffet. We walked around a little on deck and peeked into the Flamingo Grill. We did not ever eat in there even though I know it was supposed to be good. I think with the UDP, we just always had eating to do!

The mandatory life boat drill was pretty easy and painless. I am usually the get there early person, but we decided to come at exactly the time it started. That was much better. We quickly found our section by Guest Services, scanned our card, and listened. They kept telling people to be quiet and listen, but this was a loud crowd. Also, the man that was giving us directions seemed to always wait to talk until someone was talking on the loudspeaker. That seemed really silly, but we just patiently waited and listened. They do block of the inner entrance to the elevators so we stood near the edge near the Shore Excursion Desk so when they were finished we went quickly around the back of the elevators and were on the first set going back up.

I had made all reservations before I left and for night one, I booked Moderno at 6 p.m. The timing seemed perfect because we had started moving, and honestly, I was getting a little seasick. I think going down to Deck 8 helped at bit, but I was still really feeling it. I am a little wimpy! When we got to Moderno, it was really pretty empty. I think there were just two other larger families seated. We were seated pretty near the entrance but at a nice window seat. This was a great introduction to cruise eating with a beautiful view. The salad bar (which to me seems more like a low carb appetizer bar) was very nice, but I had to really limit myself as I knew I wanted to be able to eat the meat that was coming.

Here are my little goodies from the salad bar:

They soon brought out the goodies that go with the meat – some beans, plantains, some potatoes, sauces, and a few other things. These were all pretty good. I liked the plantains and chimichurri sauce. The rest I just tasted because I was still trying to save some room. All the meat was really good. My favorites were the lamb chops and the chorizo sausage. The lamb chops were amazing. I had them three times. I did notice that the first two times the servers came from the back with the skewers (is that the right word) full and probably right out of the fire. The lamb those two times was so tender. The last time, it looked like it was actually still the skewer from the second time I had lamb. It was much further up and just a few left. It was not as good. Not a big deal because I was already full, but I figured I would mention it in case someone gets a favorite and it does not live up to expectations. Might be best to wait for a fresh skewer on some meats. The chorizo sausage was good no matter how long it had been on the skewer. I would include a picture, but I forgot to take one until we finished. The photo I did take is of the lamb bones. Kind of gross!

I like that you are reading and contributing Eric. I will be great to compare our trips. I did see Burn the Floor, and like Eric, we loved it! It was really fun. We did really think about seeing it twice because it was so enjoyable. We had booked to see Legally Blonde but never did see it. The reviews were mixed so we skipped it. We did see "The Illusionarium" and liked that also. I will try to get that review written tonight as I think I have at least one good tip about that.