rsharp83

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Is the noodle shop staying for the season?  We're on Q in five weeks.

I don't think that is a question any of us can answer definitively.  It didn't appear to be going anywhere.  

Should I say anything about food…

 

I’ve been reading the constant horror stories about food, the new menus, etc. I was curious about what I would experience as far as food went. 

 

We ate a majority of our evening meals in the MDR. Yes, there are fewer choices than pre-pandemic. Yes, there were a few things we missed. I especially liked all the different cold soups they used to have. Those are gone. I believe we had French onion, butternut squash, potato, and leek and potato. But not a huge deal. 

 

The overall MDR food was fine. But some inconsistencies like the first night pan roasted fish dish was very good and the later in the week the pan-seared filet of sole was tasteless. There were 2 dishes that everyone who ordered them sent them back. The lobster Mac and cheese being the worst. I’m not sure what that was but it looked and smelled awful. There was also a portobello mushroom that no one would eat. But those were really the only ones that I would say were bad. The shrimp cocktail was never cold.

 

On the plus side the lasagna was really good. Lamb gets a big thumbs up. Honey glazed chicken and the maple bourbon salmon got high marks. The desserts were generally better than before. Cake was actually CAKE and not spongelike gelatinous stuff. Although Jammer still has those. 

 

We did the Solarium Bistro for dinner (you need a reservation but there is no extra charge). With a group of 12, they put us in a side area that was separate from the rest of the dining room and it was like having our own private meal! Maybe they just wanted to keep us all away from the other guests. LOL. The food there is all Mediterranean and everything was very good. Not as many different selections as they used to have but that is really the case for all dining venues. And the desserts were all 3 very very good.

 

We ate lunch in the MDR several times and found it to be much better than the Jammer. Also, breakfast in the MDR is a much better experience. We did Solarium Bistro for breakfast sometimes. The first morning the sausage in Bistro was horrendous. I mean inedible. The rest of the cruise it was fine. Not sure what happened with that.

 

Warning about an item in Jammer. They had “Crispy Pork Belly” so we stood in line and got some. It may be one of the worst things I’ve ever eaten, or should I say tried to eat. Maybe it is a cultural dish for someone but I really don’t know how you would eat it. Maybe we just got the end pieces? But crispy and hard a diamonds are not the same. Then I bit though the outer crustation and hit the inner part. I expected a bit of juicy pork belly, what I got was like biting into a water balloon. Juices and grease squirted in every direction like an explosion. Just trust me, stay away. I am currently washing the shirt I was wearing that day, I hope it isn’t ruined.

 

The narrower menu helps boost the quality of what’s served and reduces food waste exponentially. Only had one instance of cold food and that was cheese sticks at MDR lunch. They quickly brought us hot ones. But overall, we were fine with the food we had. There was always some choice to satisfy everyone.

 

We did 2 specialty dinners: Wonderland and Jamie’s. 

 

We had 3 people who had never been to Wonderland. It was my second time. It’s fun, it’s an experience. The appetizers are where much of the “wired” food happens. If I go again, I’d ask for several of the shrimp and the veggies in “dirt”. The shrimp is by far the best appetizer. Maybe I’d get the cones. But I’d skip the rest. The smoked egg is ok but just not my deal. The main course has 2 big winners IMHO. The Pork-belly and the rib. The 2 fish dishes are good, but the chicken was blah and we actually sent it back in favor of the pork-belly. The chocolate globe is always a hit.  

 

But Jamie’s…I’ve eaten there before, and it was fine. This time it was excellent. Everything we had was really good. The Prawns appetizer is good but messy because you gotta rip off the head. The pastas were very good. Lamb good. The 2 big winners here were lasagna that just melted in your mouth and the short rib that might be the best short rib we’ve ever eaten. Given the choice, I’ll take the Jamie’s rib over Wonderland’s any time. The lemon meringue cheesecake is the best dessert we had. 

 

So a non-foodie, incomplete review of the food. Your mileage may vary.

I just hugged FGB and said farewell to Mr. FGB. Then I watched them try to jam a month’s worth of luggage in to a Tesla Uber. It took some doing but they finally got away.
 

We all had a wonderful day exploring Stanley Park and other areas of Vancouver. 
 

Thanks for reading all our ramblings and thoughts. 
 

R#

 

 

 

2:15 am on Quantum of the Seas

2,738 miles 

 

 

 

 

Lion’s Gate Bridge 

 

 

Lions Gate Bridge

Vancouver, Canada

 

 

 

 

 

What’s this trip been like?  

 

Well the Hawaii days were like a normal port intensive cruise. Up early to get off the ship and land based activities all day. Then back to clean up, rinse, eat, sleep and repeat. With our pre-cruise stuff we had seven straight days of go go go. Some in the group had more, nobody had more Hawaii than FGB. So when we sailed away from the Big Island we were all ready to switch gears. 

 

I really didn’t know what to expect from 6 straight sea days. And the thought of coming from Brisbane to Vancouver—well that just seems like an eternity. The most consecutive sea days any of us have ever done is 2. 

 

I’m happy to report that the days at sea were great. Many activities to chose from each day. Solid entertainment. And time to, relax. To sit in the music hall long after the trivia game is over surrounded by friends. Lots of people playing games of all kinds. People reading. Or just laying in the sun. Or swimming in the very cold pool. 

 

I’m not sure I’d want to do this without some friends along for the journey. Sometimes we were together and other times we were all over the ship. It really worked out great. 
 

Finishing up my duties here on Quantum of the Seas. 
 

 

Poker Face

 

It’s too good a story not to tell even though it isn’t something applicable to anyone else’s cruise. After trivia this afternoon I decided to walk through the casino…

 

I noticed a crowd of about 20 people all huddled around the poker table. There was a Texas Hold’em tournament in progress. There are 9 available slots the and buy in is $100. Top two players split the pot 70/30. 

 

I’d watched a game earlier in the week. The blinds raised every 10 minutes and the game was very fast paced. The table was friendly and the players had fun. Exactly what these low stakes hold’em tournaments are supposed to be. Fun for a bit of money. 

 

That is not what today’s tournament was— today’s tournament was a war of mind games. As I approached there were 7 players left, 6 men and one woman. Turns out the woman was married to one of the other players. (This matters)

 

There were angry people, pointing fingers, heated words being exchanged and the pit boss was trying and not succeeding in keeping everyone calm. It quickly became apparent that this game was a 6 vs 1 affair. And the one, well he was a complete a-hole, and he knew it and pushed the envelope on every hand. 

 

He was a completely disruptive player who wanted to cause chaos on every play. He constantly screwed up his bets. Raising improperly, never putting out the right amount of chips, wanting to know how much the whole bet amount was instead of just what he needed to call. 

 

He never was ready for his turn. Many times he hadn’t even looked at his cards in advance of his turn. He had an old iPod player and he messed around with it all the time. One earphone in one out, then switch them, scrolling through songs every 45 seconds. Adjusting his sun glasses, messing with his chips. Muttering insults under his breath and then denying he said anything. He walked away from the table several times and was demanding that he would be served another drink or he wouldn’t play. I could go on and on about all the things he did. It was perversely mesmerizing. 

 

But here’s the deal…he was KILLING the table. Totally dominating play. He was the big stack so I assume he’s the one that took out the first 2 players. But instead of pushing the action he played passively and broke almost every rule of strategy there is. 

 

But he won every major hand. Every one. Guy goes all in on pocket Queens. He has pocket Kings and trips them. Guy has a high pair, he gets the nut flush. You got Aces with the flop? He has an ace too, with a king kicker. He took out every player until only the woman remained. 

 

She was seated next to him and had been talking the brunt of his antics. She was constantly having to call for the clock on his deliberate slow play. Or tell the dealer the bet was wrong. The dealer was completely rattled even mis-dealing a hand. The pit boss was hiding from the table. She had to call him over multiple times and he would always flee as soon as he could. The tension was off the charts. 

 

But, she could play poker. And she slowly began to chip away at his stack as the blinds escalated forcing him to bet. Every time she won a hand the crowd cheered. 

 

Then he accused her of cheating. Saying her husband was seeing his hole cards and somehow tipping her off. So the pit boss had to clear some of the crowd out. By now she’s shaking like a leaf on every bet. Fighting to keep herself under control and focused. 

 

She went all in and he called her. She had suited Ace 4, he had a King. The first flop card was a King giving him the pair. Don’t remember what the other card was but it didn’t matter. The third card was a 3. Turn card a 2. River card…a 5. She straighted. The crowd erupted. Their stacks were now roughly even. 

 

She immediately stood up and called for the pit boss. “Chop!” She looked at the guy and motioned as she again called for the chop. (50/50 split of the cash prize. $450 each). She looked at the pit boss and said “I’m done! Chop! I’m not going to continue.” 

 

The guy looks around at the crowd and says, “Why are you all against me! I haven’t done anything.” She again glared at him, “Chop.”  He finally agreed then demanded his winnings in cash at the table instead of chips. The pit boss finally stood up to him and said no. He took his chips and walked off. She collapsed into her chair and said, “I need a drink!” Then told the pit boss, “This was a horrible experience.” 

 

I looked at the young woman who had been the dealer and said, “You need a drink too.” She smiled and shook her head in agreement. 

 

Never seen anything like that. I’ve seen some annoying players and behavior but nothing on this level. He’d have never gotten away with this in Vegas. 

 

Crazy drama for about 40 minutes. Better than any reality TV show. I got a lot of entertainment in the casino, and I didn’t spend a penny. 

Art House

I’m not an art critic. I’d never be buying paintings on the ship. I know people who spend insane money on art onboard, but that’s not me.  And I’ll let you decide how much of a scam/ripoff vs legit art investment opportunity you believe the onboard art shows are. 

 

I do however enjoy looking at the art throughout the ship. Taking different routes, taking the stairs, just trying to be aware that these ships are floating art galleries. Haven’t been overly impressed by this ship’s art. Seems to be a lot of “motivational poster” kinds of things. Just not my style, everyone has their own preferences. There are several pieces that incorporate video that are interesting. Here are some very poor photos of some of the art. Again, very poor quality photos, I was on the fly. 
 

 

Random thoughts

 

Just some random things about the ship and the transpacific voyage here on Quantum of the Seas. 

 

I wasn’t sure what kinds of entertainment we’d have over six sea days. But each night at sea has been a different headliner act. I can’t comment on the port days in Hawaii because, hey we were in Hawaii and I had better things to do. 

 

During the days at sea there’s been a lot of activities to choose from. Lots of various trivia, meditation, lectures on science and rock music, games of various sorts, etc. Yesterday the activities director said they had provided 23 hours of entertainment on the previous sea day. Staff have been busy. 

 

Normally, I’d not be attending a lecture on astrophysics while cruising. But with so many days and so much time, why not. And yes, the Two70 was full of people for that lecture. 

 

I’ve done a lot of things I would normally not take the time to do. I’m sitting in the solarium right now reading a book. Don’t typically do much of that.  In fact I was in the solarium for 5 hours — beating my previous record of solarium time by 4 1/2 hours! 

 

The other day the back part of the solarium was blaring music. Way to loud and annoying. Today I’m up front and the hot tub seems to be drowning out the music. I seem to remember a quieter solarium, am I just imagining that? Maybe I have it confused with tranquil music they play in the Bellagio in Vegas. 

 

And speaking of the solarium, how early do you have to get here to get a clamshell? Not sure, but it’s earlier than 6:15 am. I did get a front row bow seat. Which is kinda cool. The sun is finally out and the solarium is warming up. It was pretty chilly at 6:15. Many of us are still in denial about the fact we aren’t in the South Pacific anymore. Or, we just didn’t pack enough warm clothes. Maybe both. 
 

 

I spent 5 hours in the solarium today. I’m trying to relax.  Bono was along for the ride. 
 

 

 

The Main Stages 

 

As I’m writing this I haven’t seen FGBs post tonight. In fact, we haven’t talked since our last trivia victory this afternoon. The group went several different directions tonight. 

 

So I’m going to write a bit about the 2 production shows on Quantum: Starwater and Sonic Odyssey. 

 

I’ll start with Starwater, I know FGB has given you her thoughts on this show. 

 

The first 10 (yes I timed it) minutes of the show are incredibly annoying. They’ve taken a show segment that should be 3 minutes max and needlessly turned it into 10 minutes of cringe worthy content. I won’t give anything away but, they took one song that all of you know and clipped about 30 seconds of it out. Not even the best 30 seconds. And they’ve cut it up and they repeat it. Again and again and again. Interspersed with another song segment that you’ll probably know played at a very low volume. The dancers are doing minimal stuff throughout this part of the show. It’s awful. 

 

One music geek note. Listen closely and you’ll hear the opening of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” dropped in which I thought was kind of cool. But it foreshadows the second song which uses the “In Your Eyes” music with different words. 

 

The show gets better after the opening, it really couldn’t get worse. It’s very performance dance driven and most of it is not especially upbeat until the end. It’s certainly worth seeing if for nothing else the incredible technology of the Two Seventy venue. Probably the most versatile area I’ve ever seen on a ship. Or anywhere else really. 

SONIC ODYSSEY 

I’ll lead with the conclusion, Sonic Odyssey is the best stage production show I’ve seen on Royal. Hands down. (This does not count the Aqua Theater shows — if we’re counting those then the Harmony’s Fine Line is number 1). 

 

This show is staged like Cirque du Soleil without the circus acts. The dancing, costumes and music arrangements reminded me of Cirque. Throw in some of the funky musical instruments from Blue Man Group. And then mix up an eclectic group of songs both contemporary and classical and turn them on their heads. 

 

The central instrument spreads across the entire theater. I saw this same instrument on an even larger scale played at the Coachella Music Festival several years ago. Visually and sonically there’s nothing else like it. 

 

If we hadn’t had dinner reservations at Wonderland I’d have turned right around and watched the 9 pm performance. Bravo on this one Royal. 

A little more Astrophysics. Because I KNOW that these are the pictures you all are dying to see. 

 

 

This happened today. 
 

 

Workin’ for a Livin’ 

 

Over on that other social media platform, you know the one run by Mark Z, we’ve had a running gag going. So we decided I should share it here. 

 

Seems I was a bit short on cash leading up to the cruise.  And now I need daily gratuities. 

Because I’m resourceful I took to doing odd jobs around the islands and the ship to make some quick cash. And here they are:

Flight Time

 

Our morning was up in the air today, literally. We signed up for Rip Cord. The iFly experience. 

 

If you are wondering what iFly is — basically indoor skydiving. Big clear tube with giant fans pushing air up the tube. They can regulate the air flow depending on the size and experience of the person in the tube. 

 

And on Royal Caribbean iFly, size matters. More than 5 but less than 10 years ago we had a group of friends celebrate my wife’s 50th with an iFly outing. Now at that iFly size didn’t matter. We had several that exceeded the posted weight limit and it was no problem. We all flew. 

 

But here in Rip Cord on the high seas, there are not exceptions. If you are under 6 feet tall the max weight is 230 pounds. Yes, you have to step on the scale before being allowed to enter. The scale is thankfully set to metric so no Americans will have a clue what your weight is but the staff will know. I knew going in that I wouldn’t get to fly and since I’ve done it before it wasn’t a big deal. But A# easily clears the weight limit so she could pass through the doors while I was banished to the outside observation area. 

 

Behind the doors you watch an instructional video. Then staff ensure that you remove everything that’s not essential— clothing is essential. Thank god. But earrings, jewelry, eyeglasses, etc. all have to go in a storage locker. You must have good fitting shoes. 

 

You get goggles, jumpsuit and ear plugs. It’s LOUD in the tube area.  You come out with the instructor and one by one enter the tube for your flight. Each person gets 2 one minute flights. The instructor helps to balance and guide each flyer. 

 

After your group session the instructor does some demonstration flying, otherwise known as showing off. He flips and spins, runs up the side of the tube. It’s fun to watch, those guys can do some really cool things. 

 

Then you are all returned to civilian clothing. Of course there are a multitude of pictures for sale. Your non flyer friends and relatives can take pics and videos but they will likely have some glare from the tube. 

 

As a free experience the iFly is great. We paid a lot of money for a somewhat longer experience. But the Rip Cord is worth your time. 

 

I’m sure FGB will post as well. They flew too. 

 

 

 

So after the somewhat breakneck pace of the Hawaiian islands portion of our trip we are now out to sea, for longer than I’ve ever been out to sea. And I’m currently sitting on our balcony and not attending the Adult Dodgeball game that’s on my Royal App calendar.  Because I’m attempting to…relax. Tough concept for me.  
 

I'm not a relax vacation kind of guy. My wife A# (I’m R#) tends to go either way. She’s a go go vacation gal up to a point. That point was reached yesterday about 8 hours into the marathon volcano tour when we pulled into a small fishing area so our driver could yak with his old fishing buddies while we looked at some dilapidated boats. At that point we still had over an hour and a half of driving left to do. I knew that it was probably a good thing that we were done with excursions. No amount of macadamia nuts or candy store samples would bring her around. 
 

So now that we are somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean I’m going to try to shift into relax mode. But I’m already antsy so I’ll go do the Flow Rider tomorrow and fall on my butt a few times. 
 

Oh, and if anyone on Ovation is following us in a few days look for A#’s brand new aloha hat that blew overboard this morning. 

Here are some more hiking pics, because you can never have enough pictures!

 

 

The Day 2 Hike in Maui

 

I posted above that I was a bit apprehensive about the ship sponsored rainforest hike in Maui. As our group rounded the corner and headed to the parking lot, there it was, the van from Hike Maui — so yes, we got to go with the tour company I wanted from the jump. I was probably a bit too excited about this turn of events. Lol. 

 

We headed up to the Twin Falls near Haiku. There’s a public accessible area here that is popular but, lucky for us, Hike Maui has arrangements with the 4 farms that are adjacent so we got to go where other groups cannot. This kind of arrangement is a huge bonus when looking for hiking trips on Maui. 

 

We had some excitement right out of the gate. The water was raging because of some unusually heavy rainfall over the past few days. Therefore, the waterfalls were massive torrents compared to the usual flow. We had a local man out on the edge of the falls, he’d been drinking and was determined to dive in. Nothing was stopping him. We watched as our guide Mirna got out her rescue throw line. She was clearly worried. In the end he did jump. He surfaced and did make his way out. Our guide was eager to move on and get us to the private hiking area. 

 

Once back on the trail we were surrounded by flora and fauna. The trail was wide and well maintained. Mirna found some Inga edulis, known as ice-cream bean fruit. We all got a taste of the sweet fruit and yes, it tastes like ice cream. 

 

We eventually forded a stream and spent time at the base of one of the falls. Again, much higher flow rates than normal. We hiked up a more difficult set of paths to see more waterfalls and have our provided lunch. Complete with Apple Bananas, which are soooooooo good. 

 

This hike isn’t flat trails. We were confronted with lots of tree roots, rocks, etc. You must constantly pay attention to where you are stepping or you’ll go down. Twisted ankles and other minor injuries are certainly possible. One guy in the other hike group showed up in flip flops! The guide wasn’t happy about that! 

 

All the Hike Maui guides are super informative and interesting. It’s one of the standout memories from my hike with them from over 20 years ago. We got a constant narrative on the trip up and throughout the hike itself. Good guides can make or break your experience. They also provided all the essentials we needed: backpack, water, bug spray, food, etc. 

 

It was a great day and once again, the RIGHT kind of tour provider makes a huge difference.

Today is day #2 and our first Maui day. Many years ago my wife and I came to Maui for our 10th anniversary. And I hooked up with a group called Hike Maui. We spent all day off the beaten path in the Hana region, hiking to waterfalls, and every other sort of attraction. The guide was fantastic and fed us delicious organically grown fruit the whole day.  It ended with he and I jumping into various water holes off of cliffs for 45 minutes at the end of the hike. To this day, it’s probably the best excursion I’ve ever done. So I was eager to book it again, and show my friends what a great experience this company provides. However, it was not to be. They were booked and even if they weren’t, we couldn’t have made the tour time with the tenders. So we did what I typically never do, booked a ship sponsored tour.  We are headed to the rainforest to look at waterfalls etc. crossing my fingers…

Meanwhile, this is the best picture I’ve taken. 
 

 

Rsharp here. Yeah this is my crew of 14 cruisers. (In 2019 we had 54). But this is a smaller closer group. But a group that is obviously read for adventure. 

I started this day with a huge rainstorm that looked to thwart our plan for a 6am Diamond Head hike. But somehow the clouds broke in time so up the volcano we climbed. 
 

I wrote this post in a swirl of sleep deprivation and cursing at Elon Musk for failure of Starlink Then finally dropped the phone in mid sentence and succumbed to sleep…

 

I’ll try to do better. 
 

R#
 

 

One thing I forgot to mention:

Big difference between Mahogany Bay and Royal's private ports of Labadee or Coco Cay. On Royal the private ports are all inclusive to the extent that your drink package works, internet works, and you get free food. No so at Mahogany Bay, nothing is included. It's just like any other port stop except people from the outside can't get into the area or beach. If you are considering a cruise that goes to Labadee or Coco Cay then you must consider that your costs to visit Royal's ports is almost nothing! No charge for chairs or food. And it makes buying a drink package much more reasonable since you can use it all day long on a "port" day. The typical 7 day cruise with 3 islands means you really get 4 days of drink package instead of the usual 3.

I’ve been loyal to Royal since my first cruise on Allure. I like the product that Royal offers and the ships are great. Especially the Oasis Class. I originally posted this in the Carnival thread since it’s a comparison of my Carnival experience vs my past Royal sailings. But I thought it might offer insight on the Royal board as to what Carnival does for those that are interested. If you don’t care about the differences, then this won’t be a thread you should read. If you are considering a possible Carnival cruise, then this could be helpful information.

 

Carnival Glory was my first cruise that wasn’t Royal Caribbean. I likely would not have booked Glory on my own and I likely would not have chosen to sail out of New Orleans. Those choices were made by the convention planners and I was along for the ride. So, Carnival it was, and we were on the Glory.

 

In June 2019 I sailed on Royal’s Harmony of the Seas, one of the largest and newest ships in the world. To compare Glory and Harmony head to head is completely unfair. Glory is an older, smaller ship that has limited amenities. Harmony is a mega-ship with all the gee wiz stuff you could ever want. They are just different kinds of ships.

 

What I do want to do is note some differences between the two lines and compare and contrast. These are just my observations. My sample size from Carnival is obviously limited while my Royal knowledge is broader. Royal ships I’ve sailed: Oasis, Allure, Harmony (All mega ship Oasis Class), Liberty, Adventure and Jewel. The most comparable RC ship to Glory is the Jewel. I found Glory and Jewel to have a similar layout and some of the same limitations that the newer larger ships don’t have.

 

The one HUGE difference I noted between Carnival and Royal

“Washy Washy”. Any Royal cruiser will know exactly what this phrase means. You simply cannot escape Washy Washy. It is everywhere all the time. There is a song, a video, announcements, and crew members who constantly say it to you. Sometimes they even post crew members in the bathrooms to remind you, “Sir, could you please wash your hands.” In the newer Royal ships, you cannot even enter the buffet without going through a washing station where the crew will make sure you wash your hands and then sanitize them. Sanitizer is everywhere.

 

On Carnival, not a single word. Nothing about washing your hands was said. There were some sanitizer dispensers, there were some small towels by the bathroom door exits to use as you grabbed the door handles. But other than that, no emphasis at all on hand washing and prevention of spreading noro virus or other germs.

 

Now, should I conclude that Carnival cruisers are just cleaner and have better hygiene practices than Royal folks? I doubt that is the case. And when I first cruised, I was stunned at the number of times I heard a crew member tell someone exiting the bathroom to, “Please wash your hands”.

 

This was just interesting to me. I am not bashing Carnival for its policies or practices concerning hand washing. I was just surprised. But it did make me think twice as I navigated the buffet lines.

 

Sell me something!

I can’t be sure of the “why”. I only know that the Carnival crew did almost no “upselling”. I was only advised a few times the first day or so that I could buy a drink package or eat at a steakhouse. No crew came to my table at lunch trying to sell me something. No one was hawking upsells in the hallways.

 

On Royal the upsell is constant and sometimes unrelenting. Buy a specialty dining package, a drink package, excursions, etc. Especially on the big ships where they have a lot of things to upsell. And maybe that is the “why” of the Glory’s limited upsells. Glory just doesn’t have much to sell. They have a steakhouse, chefs table and a drink package as the only real upsell opportunities. Perhaps on other larger Carnival ships there are more upsell things to offer? But the hard sell was pretty much non-existent on Glory. I liked not being hounded.

 

Apps, Tech and Internet

Both Royal and Carnival have Apps for your phones. You can do a variety of things on the apps and you can communicate by texting through the apps while on board for a small fee. We had iPhones on both recent trips, so we bypassed the app and used iMessage instead. We also purchased internet plans on both cruises.

 

I give the edge on the app to Carnival HUB. It’s easy to use and navigate. The schedules for everything going on were there and they were correct! Royal never had the right things on the app schedule and there were a lot of things showing up that just made no sense on our trip. At one point nearly all the shows and entertainment were showing up only on day 7! It wasn’t reliable. Carnival HUB did its job and only a couple of times did it not load, and I had to try again. Royal always tries to be flashy with their tech but often they overreach what they can reasonably deliver. While we are talking tech, the Carnival website was easy to use, and it seemed to actually work. The Royal website is notoriously awful.

 

As for internet, the advantage here goes squarely to Royal. The VOOM packages they offer are very good. Connections even on the huge ships are solid and reliable. Plus, the Royal mid-level internet is far superior to the Carnival mid-level service. Carnival’s top level was described as the one you needed to Skype and stream video and movies etc. I didn’t need to Facetime or watch Netflix, so I chose the mid-level that described itself as being appropriate for social media, emails etc. Well, Carnival considers streaming not just things like Netflix. Any video of any kind is blocked on the mid-level package. So, any little Facebook clip or Twitter video would be blocked. Loading anything was very slow.

 

Food…

I hesitate to even mention food. It’s such a divisive topic and people get all crazy about food. I am not a particularly picky person when it comes to food. I’m in no way a foodie and I can usually find something to eat on a cruise that I like without much problem. I’ll highlight some things I liked and didn’t like about the food on the Glory and compare a little bit to food I’ve had on Royal.

Lunch on Carnival was great! Not that Royal is bad, but the Carnival quick food lineup is fantastic. You can go get a custom-made burrito or go to the deli for a sandwich made on the spot. Yes, the buffet is open for lunch, but you can largely ignore it. Go upstairs and get BBQ, real honest to goodness BBQ. I’m from the Kansas City area, we have BBQ. Carnival had very good offerings and signatures sauces that were excellent. The pizza has long been a downer for me on Royal. It’s just not very good. Carnival pizza was very good. Thin crust, some variety, fresh and hot because it doesn’t last long when it comes off the oven. And they’ll deliver to your room for $5.

 

But the star of the lunch lineup is Guy Fieri and his burger joint. Those burgers are the bomb and the fries are outstanding. I could eat at that place every day; I came really close to doing that. Royal only wishes they had a place this good for lunch. While Royal goes for named chefs on their specialty dining venues, Carnival offers up Guy’s burgers for no extra cost. PS – The signature BBQ sauces also belong to Guy.

 

The buffet. Here the advantage goes to Royal. At least on the Glory the buffet offerings were pretty limited and often they were the same things being served in the main dining room. I always look at the main dining menu and expect the buffet to offer alternatives. If I didn’t find it appealing on the main menu then why would I want it in the buffet? My observation was that at least two of the dishes each night were the same at the buffet and in the dining room. I also noticed a lack of ethnic foods being served. Royal just has a wider variety of foods in their Windjammer buffet each night, alternatives to the main dining menu, ethnic offerings for the non-Americans, and themes for their nightly dinner.

 

Carnival sea day brunch is a big hit. Some very good choices for lunch and breakfast foods. Yes, it’s busy and you must wait, but the wait was rewarded with a good meal. A great banana cream pie was on the menu and that was worth the trip all by itself.

 

Dinner is up and down on both Royal and Carnival. I had nothing terrible or awful. It was mostly good on Carnival and Royal. For some, the main dining will never be good enough but I’m not one of those people. I cannot really give an advantage here either way. However, Carnival did feature unique items on several nights and encourage you to try a small portion. I had Braised Ox Tongue one night. It was delicious and I would certainly have it again. They also offered some dishes that were related to the places we were visiting. I didn’t try one of those offerings but maybe next time I will. The Carnival wait staff seems to perform more often than on Royal. This is a negative for me, but I know a lot of people like the singing waiters thing.

 

Steak

We hadn’t planned on eating at the Steakhouse, but we wound up there and I am glad we did. I’ve eaten at Royal’s Chops steakhouse several times. Each time has been a little less satisfying. Lot’s of cuts to the menu, the portions, and the service over the last few years. They have also continually added extra fee things to the menu which is another upcharge over the upcharge you are paying to eat at Chops in the first place! I’m not a big fan of Chops. It’s an average steakhouse at best.

 

The experience at Carnival’s steakhouse was first rate. The sea salt bread was melt in your mouth good, so good that a meal of bread and butters would be fine! I had the pork belly and wow. The sauce was delicious, I could have simply had the sauce it was so good. We also were treated to a “complements of the chef” appetizer. I know they do this for everyone, but it still felt special when it was delivered to the table as a surprise. It was some sort of fried won-ton kind of thing with cherry jelly. So good. When it came to the steaks, fantastic. A cowboy and a rib-eye that are both 18 oz monsters! The filet mignon was really nice as well. All our steaks were cooked perfectly. The sides were also excellent; Parmesan onion rings, wasabi whipped potatoes, BBQ beans, etc. For a finisher we chose “Art at your Table.” It’s an all or nothing choice, meaning everyone at the table must do it. JUST DO IT! A chef brings out a large flat surface and begins drawing on it with creams and syrups, making designs. Then more little candies and fruity things. Then large white chocolate globes filled with cake, creams, ice cream etc. It’s a feast of flavors. Everyone just digs in and eats!

 

Sweets that stood out over the week: Vanilla creme brulee, S’Mores parfait, tiramisu cake, hummingbird cake. In fact, every day there are lots of cakes at the lunch buffet. They are really good, and they don’t serve them at dinner. At dinner it is back to the gelatinous desserts and spongy cake things.

 

Big Ship Vs. Little Ship

My bias is up front, I love the big Oasis class ships. I have sailed 2 smaller ships in Jewel and Adventure. Glory seems to fall in between these two but is more closely comparable to Jewel. I have the same issues with both Glory and Jewel compared to all the other ships I’ve sailed. I don’t like the design of traffic flow or the way you must navigate around on them.

 

Glory has decks 3, 4, and 5 that are the main hubs of the ship. Those decks house shopping, guest services, excursion desk, casino and the main walkway from the theater at the bow to the dining and lounge areas on the stern. The casino is right in the midst of the path everyone uses. The casino is wide open as you pass by and that means the smoke goes everywhere. There are some lounge type seats and couches along the opposite wall but those are totally exposed to the constant smoke. There is a performance stage tucked along that wall and I pity the poor performers that have to sing and play there. If you want to sit and listen, you do so from either side. In front of the performer is a casino and all the noise that accompanies gaming action. In-between is the main walkway, and it’s pretty narrow. What makes it even narrower is the fact that just beyond the performance area is the photo area. At least 4 photographers are set up along the walkway each evening with various backdrops and all their lighting and flash equipment. Oh, and let’s not forget the Art salesman hawking his wares that are also displayed in this same area. By the time you get all that stuff set up and start taking pics and showing off artwork, there is no room to actually walk! It’s beyond ridiculous. And the way the entertainment schedules are set up you have people walking to the theater and then back to the comedy club or piano bar every hour or so.

 

That brings me to a point. I hear people all the time say something like, “I never want to sail on one of those big ships, they must be so crowded.” Well I will tell you right now that NOTHING I have experienced on the big Oasis ships even compares to the crowdedness I experienced on Glory trying to make it through the casino/art/photography gauntlet multiple times every night. And god forbid there is someone on a scooter or that has mobility issues in your path. Yes, the big ships have more passengers, but they have way more open space to maneuver around. They also have higher ceilings and a variety of paths to use to get from A to B. On Glory the only way to avoid the gauntlet was to go up to one of the higher floors (at least deck 6) and walk the stateroom hallways to avoid smoke and crowds.

 

One area that Glory had a good design for was the outside smoking section. You could completely avoid that area with no issues of getting where you wanted to go. In fact, it was several days before I actually happened upon the outside smoking area while roaming in places I hadn’t looked at yet. That was a nice positive for Glory.

 

Entertainment

Again, I have a bias here. The Oasis ships have an insane amount of topflight entertainment. I compare it to a floating version of a Las Vegas resort hotel. A rundown of just the production show options would include: 2 ice skating shows; 2 full stage production musical shows, one of them being a former Broadway hit show the other being an original show unique to the ship; a massive outdoor acrobatic and water show with divers and aerialists. Comparable to Cirque de Soleil shows. There is also another show in the aqua theater during the day that is more playful and comedic. Beyond all that you have comedy club, headliner performers, bands, piano bar, individual musicians, etc. Unless you have seen it you really just cannot understand the level of activities and entertainment that are available on an Oasis class ship. Yes, I have high expectations when it comes to the entertainment on board.

 

I knew Glory would not be able to match that level of entertainment, it is just not designed to do something like that. We went to the first night’s production show called Epic Rock. It was fine and not unlike many other shows on a variety of cruise ships. The staging was minimal except for a larger video backdrop that did most of the work for setting the tone for whatever song was being sung. The performers did do some interactive things with the video which was good. Overall the show was fine. It was kind of a karaoke with action vibe though. The vocal talent (at least on Oasis class) is far superior. 

 

We didn’t go to the other production shows that week for a couple of reasons. The next one was Motown music and they weren’t going to dance or do any performance other than singing. Perhaps because the seas were rough and the boat was rocking quite a bit. We did catch a few minutes of the Latin music show later in the week. It looked to be staged much like the rock show. Content of the shows didn’t interest us enough to make a point to rush from dinner to get to the show. And dinner was delayed at least once preventing us from getting to the show because the wait staff was too busy singing and dancing around the dining room to actually get our food to us in time for us to get to the show.

 

The other reason we didn’t see many production shows was comedy. The comedy club area was aft and held about 300 people in a lounge kind of seating arrangement. Instead of doing an hour-long comedy set the schedule was multiple 30-minute sets. Moving back and forth between the theater and comedy club would result in not getting a good seat for comedy. Lots of people either stayed in the comedy club between shows or didn’t venture very far so they could get back to the club at least 20 minutes ahead of time and before the theater show ended. Thus, in order to get a good comedy seat, we skipped the shows. The comedians were great. Over the cruise we had four different ones, and each was funny in their own way. Early shows were family safe, later shows were 18+ and for people not easily offended. We especially enjoyed the later shows. Therefore, comedy took up most of our evening time since we usually saw all three sets which took us past 11 pm each night.

 

On Oasis class you are lucky to get one comedy show in per cruise at the comedy club because it is small. On the other hand, there are so many shows to see on Oasis that is likely all you have time to see. 

 

Little Things

Distilled water was available as a room service item and not from your cabin steward. They also charge $3.81 for the gallon of distilled water.

 

One electrical outlet. That is all you get so you’d better plan for that reality. Actually, there is a second outlet in the bathroom that is pretty much useless for anything but an electric razor.

 

My wife and mother-in-law both thought that the balcony cabins on Glory had more storage room than any other ship they’ve sailed on. They put everything away with lots of room to spare! And we are NOT light packers.

 

I had the bubbles soda package, but I really missed the Coke Freestyle machines with the soda mug that Royal has on most of their ships. Carnival is now serving Pepsi and they serve it all from cans.

 

Guest services desk was open 24/7 and were very helpful since we had some special needs concerning a scooter.

 

Balconies are very small compared to newer ships. Balconies are also where you see a lot of the age of the ship because of rust.

 

The Glory was very clean, and you can see they work very hard to keep it looking nice.

 

The décor is a bit dated. Not as much artwork and decoration as the Royal ships have. Royal goes much further with ascetics and art. 

 

Glory staff were very good. Cookie the cruise director is an up and coming young CD who will be on the Glory for the next 3 years. His Q&A session was really good, and you shouldn’t miss it.

 

Serenity adult area is nice and mostly away from the noise and action elsewhere on the pool deck. We got lucky and scored a clamshell on both of the sea days to start the cruise.

 

Final Thoughts

Would I sail from New Orleans again? No. If I am picking my own port it wouldn’t be NOLA. We must fly to any port we sail from so Florida is the first choice since it offers so many more options on ships and cruise lines. I’ve been to NOLA twice and it’s fine but not a place I really need to visit again.

 

Would I sail on Glory again? No. Nothing specifically against Glory. But, for the same price point there are lots of newer better ships out there. If Glory and NOLA are within a short drive, then it’s understandable why you might sail Glory multiple times. However, if you can afford to go to another port and try some newer ships it would be worth your time and money to do that at least occasionally.

 

Would I sail on Carnival again? Yes. In fact, I am booking Carnival Mardi Gras with our big group in June of 2021. One reason we are sailing Carnival is that Royal simply priced us out. The same cruise we did in June of 2019 is now almost $2,000 more expensive. The rate on Symphony out of Miami is over $4,600 for an ocean balcony. That’s out of our price range. So, we have decided to go on the new Mardi Gras. I was holding off booking until I took the Glory cruise as a “test run.” There are certainly things I will miss about a Royal cruise on an Oasis class ship, but Mardi Gras looks to be a close alternative at a much better price. As information on Mardi Gras rolls out over the next year or so I will be reading all I can get.

 

Any day on a cruise is likely better than being at home working. Glory was a more laid back than most of our cruises have been. We had a small group of people and there wasn’t the pressure to see everything and do everything. I noticed lots of people playing cards and other games on the ship. A relaxed atmosphere.

 

Excursions

A word about our activities on the land. We didn’t venture as far as we typically do on a cruise. My father-in-law is recovering from bypass surgery, so we stayed pretty close to the ship on this trip.

 

We had planned a beach day at Mahogany Bay -- the private port for Carnival. However, the rain and weather wasn’t cooperating. We did a spontaneous zip line trip that was located just outside the port area. It’s a good zip line but the better one in Roatan is located elsewhere on the island, South Shore Zip Line. Big difference here as Mahogany Bay is the Carnival version of Labadee or Coco Cay, except it's not. On Royal the private ports are all inclusive to the extent that your drink package works, internet works, and you get free food. No so at Mahogany Bay, nothing is included. It's just like any other port stop except people from the outside can't get into the area or beach. 

 

We never book ship sponsored excursions and therefore we typically get a more intimate experience. We booked a trip to the Mayan Ruins at Lamanai with King David tours. We got to navigate rivers for over an hour looking at crocs, birds, plants, and iguanas in a small boat with 6 people on the tour. We arrived at Lamanai and we were able to avoid the big cattle call groups and get to places ahead of those crowds. Our guide got us to the top of the high temple with just 4 of us in the group! We were up there all by ourselves, it was fantastic. We also got a simple but tasty lunch while other tours just looked at us getting to eat. Good tour I would highly recommend.

 

In Cozumel the weather did corporate and we had a very nice beach club day at Mr. Sanchos. It’s a clean and well-run beach club along the strip of clubs in Cozumel. The food, service and amenities were great for the price. We had a very relaxing day at Sanchos. My favorite Cozumel excursion is The Bar Hop bus that takes you on a tour of beach bars on the undeveloped side of the island. If you’ve never gone to the “other side” it is a must see and the Bar Hop bus is the best way to experience it.

 

Hopefully this review will be useful for a couple of different audiences. Maybe it gives some insights into Carnival for those that only cruise Royal and vice a versa. I hope it might also give a few tips for those who only want to sail on small ships to maybe give one of the mega ships a chance.

 

Thanks for reading and I hope I don’t get flamed to much…but I probably will.