virginiab

We were on the Glory last week and our experience was somewhat different from what some others have posted.

We had late dining on the upper level of the Platinum dining room. The folks we saw around us seemed to be well dressed at dinnertime. There were probably exceptions, but my general impression of fellow diners was good.

It was obvious that the whole deal was new and there were plenty of rough edges, At our table (six people: My spouse and myself, two male friends traveling together, and a woman traveling with her mother), we felt like we were all learning (passengers and staff) how this worked.

The first night, a dish of mashed potatoes was put down next to a plate of one guy who had ordered mashed potatoes and he did not hear the waiter say "for the table" as it was served. When his friend, the other person who had asked for the potatoes, asked him to share he said they belonged to him. They had been served without a serving utensil. The waiters then brought out a smaller dish of mashed potatoes for the other guy.

The second night serving utensils came out, but a bit after the dish was served. By the third night, the tongs arrived only a minute after the Caesar salad I shared with my spouse. By that point, we were all getting the hang of this style of service.

Almost every night, someone at the table ordered the calamari appetizer. At first, these were usually just shared with the personal traveling companion, but as the week went on, they were also offered to others at the table.

The entrees were not very different from past Carnival meals. I thought the breads were more interesting than in the past, but I'm sure others will have differing views on this, as on all matters of personal taste.

I was reading the evening's menu one afternoon on the cabin TV and saw an appetizer of chorizo-wrapped broiled shrimp. By the time we arrived at late dining, the appetizer had changed to traditional shrimp cocktail. When did it change? I don't know. Did they offer the original version at early dinner and not get enough ordered, or orders sent back?

Clearly things are in flux, kind of like when a play opens out of town before heading for Broadway. It gives a chance to do rewrites and to improve the experience.

For those who are concerned about sharing the WCMC, it was served at our table in a bowl at least twice thee size of the old ramekin they used. So after the first night, my spouse and I DID share, but we are dessert-sharers by nature. The main shared desserts were pies, and our table never ordered one bigger than two servings.

I thought the bare wood tables looked very modern, although sweating glasses were a problem. Maybe all the long-time platinum folks should bring their Tervis cups with them to dinner?? :)

I was surprised when our waiter told us on the first formal night that everyone would get all the appetizers and I enjoyed the presentation of them which was a plate for each of us with four small dishes on it. I also enjoyed sampling each of the tasty treats.

One night we saw a big huddle with the maître d' meeting with the head waiters for each team before they opened the doors Either they were getting instructions about the newest changes or they were praying that someone finally knew how this was supposed to go.... :)

Gotta go now. I have to hang up some of our cruise clothing that is ready to come out of the dryer.

I believe these changes are about keeping old customers happy and luring new ones. It's about increasing revenue by having more people who want to cruise carnival, so that ships sail with cabins filled at better prices, instead of having to discount a lot of cabins.

While cutting costs is one way to improve the bottom line, it can often (not always) lead to lower income, so the business generally declines and fades away. Of course, sometimes a business just figures out a way to do things more efficiently, so costs are cut while service is maintained at or above its previous level.

I suspect Carnival, while of course looking at efficiency savings in all areas of business, is also looking to once again provide customers with a wow! experience in various areas.

I will be on the Glory for the first week of the new dining scheme and I'm quite excited about the changes. I hope to still be excited about it at the end of the cruise, but it is a pilot attempt, so there will probably be some rough edges as they work everything out at full scale. Anyway, it should be fun!

Southwest has no change fees. Gotta love it!

I bought the 3 in 1 sheets a few years ago and used them on a couple of cruises. Then they just sat in my laundry room. One day, when I had run out of my regular detergent, I used the 3 in 1 -- and got the dreaded spots for the first time. So my theory is that it's all about how old they are....

The hint about rinsing them before adding to the machine sounds good, but I think I'm done with that product. You only get to mess up my clothes once....

It sounds like there will probably be a separate security line, so we'll keep an eye out for it on Sunday, Thanks for your replies; I really appreciate it!

I feel like I must have read about this somewhere, but my search hasn't turned up the answer....

We will turn Platinum on our cruise coming up next week. At Miami, is there a separate line for security for priority boarding, or do the lines only separate after we get through security?

I appreciate any info on whether there is a separate security line, and if there is, where to look for it!

Thanks for your help!

They will make an announcement on the public address system when the rooms are ready, You can also head to yoour deck and see if the fire doors are open so you can get to the cabins. This is often before the announcement, as ALL the decks may not be ready. Figure on 1 or 1:30.

For the steakhouse, you will sign for the cost after dinner, as you would with a regular restauranr meal. Although a tip is included in the fee, lots of folks add an additional fee. The dinner fee and any tip you choose to add will then show up on your Sail and Sign account onboard.

The stuff you buy in the website before your cruise seems to go through an entirely different accounting system, so they never show up on your main cruise account.

Enjoy your first cruise. It's great that you found Cruise Critic as lots of us have learned SOOO much here to improve our cruise experience and minimize costs. Have fun!

And once in a great while, something delays boarding for everyone. I remember once waiting outside of the port for the ship to be cleared by customs. We probably boarded about 2 or 2.5 hours after arriving. That's one time out of 12 cruises so far...

If you get an answer from a rep and it doesn't make sense to you, it is definitely worth calling back to ask someone else (preferably without referencing your previous call). Different reps will often give different answers. Just be persistent and charming.

Good luck!

On my first Caribbean cruise, we had an oceanview on the riviera deck. I fondly remember leaning on the window ledge as we were leaving ports, looking into the water. We saw a fair amount of floating garbage but we also saw rays swimming close to the surface. Very cool!

Haven't they had a "12 days of christmas" for the past several years, with a different special each day?

BarclayCard Arrival. Provides 2 points per dollar spent on anything. You can book your travel through anyone you want, and apply your points to defray the charges from travel purchases up to 90 days ago. I just got one for myself and they are currently offering 40,000 points bonus if you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days of having the card.

You can buy a lot of gasoline for a $600 savings in airfare, plus avoiding a bad layover. It sounds like a good idea.

Avon makes Ideal Flawless BB (beauty balm) cream and it's only $10 for a 1 oz tube. It comes in 5 colors, SPF 15. I like the texture of it. At the moment it's on sale for $7.99 if you want to give it a try. You can buy it from Avon online or from your friendly Avon lady, if you have one.

I have visited folks in both types of cabins and I think it depends on how you cruise. If you spend all available time on the balcony, consider the wrap. For myself, I can't handle too much sun and I really like having a sofa in the cabin, so I'd take the regular balcony.

Well, I'm not going to address the difference in the itineraries, because everyone has a different opinion about that, and I tend to value the ship more than the ports. That said, I'd pick the Epic in a minute, plus you have the fun of cruising with friends. The entertainment and buffet food are generally better on NCL, main dining room food (in my humble opinion) is somewhat better on Carnival. The Epic is a newer ship with lots more options for entertainment and dining.

And I'm booked on the Glory in December....

I'm talking about drinks on the ship. I think you save 2 or 3 dollars per drink by skipping the alcohol. I don't generally hang around in bars in port, so I don't know their practices, but most any bar will be happy to make you an alcohol-free version of most of their drinks.

On the ship, the bar menu specifically offers alcohol-free versions of their popular fruity drinks.

Have a great cruise. Find some new friends. Enjoy your traveling companion. Hang out and relax.

Thanks for your well wishes. I've been reading reviews and yesterday, I couldn't help but feel a pang of - oh...:( - when I saw the pics of people drinking the "famous rum cocktail!" or "famous pina colada stands!!". My DH says don't think about it. My thoughts are that maybe I can have a fruity concoction minus the booze. Because honestly, when it's dog hot and you are dying of heat, an icy concoction like that is awesome.

You can definitely get alcohol-free versions of all the icy-fruity-tropical-fun type drinks, complete with the frou-frou of fruit on a stick or an umbrella or whatever. Enjoy your vacation, and congratulations on your continuing sobriety.

I can't remember whether this was true on the Victory, but often there are excursions offered in rum-punch vs no alcohol versions, so you can pick which catamaran tour, for example, that you want. And the alcohol-free one is less expensive, of course!

Have a great cruise. Although you will see a lot of drinking, we generally see very few drunks. The last night is apparently a heavy drinking night, in part because the cruise line delivers to the cabins the booze that folks bought in port and some apparently choose to carry it home in themselves. Yikes!

Anyway, you can have a lot of fun on a cruise without drinking.