Carnival Glory: January 13-20 Western Caribbean Review

Question about your Tabyana beach break in Roatan. Were going in April and I booked the Tabyana beach break through the cruise ship excursions but in the description it says for excursion time is 10:15 am to 2:15 pm. But the ship is supposed to be in port till 6pm. Is the last bus back to the ship leaving Tabyana beach at 2:15 pm then? Ship gets into port at 10 am and I get that buses start running at 10:15 am and run round the clock back and forth shuttling passengers but the excursion description say till 2:15 pm. Just want to verify if that mean last bus leaving Tabyana back to ship is at 2:15 pm or does that mean last bus from ship to beach is at 2:15 pm?

It's probably the last bus from Tabyana back to the port, but they will have bus departure times posted at the beach. I believe they were every 45 minutes or so. Keep in mind it takes about an hour to drive back to port, so factor that in to your plans.

DAY 6- COZUMEL

We woke up to a cloudy morning off the coast of Cozumel, and it appeared that we hadn’t docked yet. We enjoyed breakfast in the MDR- our excursion ticket said to meet at the end of the pier by 10 am, so we had plenty of time to eat. Turns out we had more time than we thought, because our docking was delayed by about an hour. As we stood in the forward staircase with dozens of fellow impatient passengers (talk about a fire hazard), we heard the announcement that several water-based excursions had been cancelled due to strong winds and high waves. Our excursion was “Everybody Loves Rays and Sharks,” which is swimming and snorkeling with sting rays in a private cove. I checked my Carnival Hub app and sure enough, we had an excursion refund posted to our account.

I was really bummed, because after the two cloudy/rainy beach stops on our trip so far, I was really hoping to get in some more water time. I guess I could understand the concern since we would have been swimming in a shallow cove with the waves crashing all around. When we finally got off the ship, we decided to walk around the Puerta Maya shops for a while and get the last of our souvenirs. Shopping tip- if you’re looking for the typical souvenirs like shirts, hats, shot glasses, etc. there will be four or five shops selling the exact same merchandise. If you have the time,compare the prices at a few stores before purchasing. You can even take photos on your phone to reference as you go.

We ended up with a few bags full of goodies to take home, plus a large backpack to throw all our dirty laundry in so we would have more room in our suitcases for souvenirs. By this time we were getting hungry for lunch, and the sun was starting to burn through the clouds. We hiked back to the ship to drop off all our purchases and extra gear, then set off again on a lunch finding adventure.

Instead of the port restaurants and bars (Fat Tuesday,Margaritaville, etc.), we decided to leave the complex in search of a less “touristy” dining experience. From the port complex we turned left and headed north along the coast. After half a mile of walking, we stopped at a place called “Paprika” on the right side of the road. We immediately ordered some chips and guacamole with some beer, followed by a shrimp quesadilla and fish sandwich. Everything we ate was AWESOME. The quesadilla was one of the best I had ever had, and they even stuffed avocado in it (as a San Diego native I do love my avocados).

After lunch we decided to walk a bit further in search of a beach bar. We ended up getting a table at Sunset, which had free wifi and happy hour drink prices. Our table was in the sand, but it was more like a sandbox since the coast here is very rocky. They did have a few steps that went down into the water, so I quickly got my feet wet and retreated to the safety of our table.

We spent an hour or so here before walking back to port. The wind was still blowing full force- we could feel it pushing us as we walked back to the ship. We tried to enjoy the Serenity hot tub, but the heat didn’t seem to be on so it felt like a windy bathtub. Oh well, we still made the most of an unpredictable day.

We had our second formal dinner in the MDR that night. There was no lobster on the menu, so I went with the crab cake appetizer and grilled jumbo shrimp. We still had some Carnival “Gestures” left on our account, so we spent the rest of the evening taking more formal photos and visiting the comedy club.

UP NEXT: Spa Day at Sea

Enjoying your review, we sail on the Glory in 80 days!!

DAY 7- FAREWELL DAY AT SEA

We spent the morning packing up most of our things, then headed to the Spa around 11:00 am for a much needed couple's massage. They were running about 10-15 minutes late for our service, so they added hot stones onto my massage for free. My spa experience was positive overall- I will say that my masseuse did a very good job working on my problem areas, and I didn't feel sore afterwards like I did with previous massages. DH agreed that his massage was very good also. There were two things that detracted from our experience. First, whoever designed the ship's layout decided to place the kids camps directly above the spa, so despite the calming music we could still hear thumping footprints running back and forth above our room. It kinda killed the mood a bit. Second, our masseuses lathered us down with some kind of pain relieving oil, which felt a lot like Icy Hot. By the time we were done, I felt great, but I was greasy from head to toe. I wish I had just worn a bathrobe instead of having to put on my regular clothes.

After the spa, we visited the front desk to settle our account, grabbed lunch and drinks at the buffet, then got some hot tub time. Unfortunately we lost track of time, so we went back to the room feeling overcooked, tipsy and very sleepy. I made the mistake of taking an afternoon nap, and by the time I woke up it was time for dinner.

We got ourselves dressed up for dinner at the Emerald Steakhouse. I had been looking forward to this all week, but at this point I was still groggy from my nap and tried my best to enjoy it. For starters I had the Lobster Bisque and Caesar salad, while DH had the Beef Carpaccio and the Ahi Tuna Tartare. Everything was great so far, and they even offered us a free bottle of wine (not sure why, maybe because of our anniversary). We didn't need it because of our Cheers package, but we went ahead and ordered a $35 bottle of Zinfandel, and the quality was much better than what we had been drinking. I don't eat steak, so I ordered the lobster ravioli- it tasted pretty "fishy" for lobster, so I'm guessing it wasn't very fresh. We were both completely full by dessert time, so we ordered the cheesecake and chocolate samplers to go. We finished the night at the comedy club once again, had a few bites of our dessert before turning in for the night.

UP NEXT: Disembarkation

Terrific review.

Keith

Great review, thanks for all the details!

DAY 8- DISEMBARKATION (MIAMI)

Apologies for taking so long, work and life in general have been crazy busy!

Anyway, we woke early in the morning to the sound of the gangway being prepped on Deck 3 above us. We could see it from our window, as well as the rest of the deserted port terminal. We grabbed a quick breakfast and our last specialty coffees up at the buffet. I will say that I found the breakfast buffet much more enjoyable than lunch, and I can't comment on dinner since we never tried it. My favorites were the French Toast, Eggs Benedict and potatoes. The Pizza Pirate was okay for a late night snack, but we preferred getting fresh grilled sandwiches at the Deli. After breakfast, we headed back to the room to grab our stuff. We had elected to self-disembark with our own bags in tow because we didn't want to miss our 11:00 am flight home. We lugged our stuff forward and up to the Deck 3 theater entrance, which was already packed with people. Had we thought to walk over to the other entrance, we would have seen the signs labeled "Early Flight" which is where we should have lined up. Oh well. After about 20 minutes, the crowd of people started to move off the ship, and soon we found ourselves in customs. We got through with no issues and proceeded outside to a taxi bound for the Miami Airport.

We reached the airport around 8:30 am, with plenty of time to make our flight. We headed to the American Airlines check in/baggage check and found a HUGE CROWD OF PEOPLE gathered there. Apparently there were multiple lines for multiple kiosks which then fed into one line, but many passengers seemed to be having issues so this process took forever. We were there for almost an hour before we finally got our bag checked and proceeded to TSA. From there it was another long day of flying, and we finally touched down in San Diego at 4:30 pm.

Looking back on my vacation, I know I had a lot of hopes and expectations pinned on this trip. After all, we probably won't be able to do another long vacation for a few years. I wanted to make the most out of everyday, to eat and drink anything and everything because I could, and to try to relax with DH without having to worry about kids, work or house chores. Yes the weather was windy/rainy a good portion of the time, and our beach days were less than ideal. But I hope that looking back on our photos in a few years, I will remember that we still had fun, made memories and visited places we've never been to before.

Thanks everyone for your comments! Feel free to leave questions and I will try to answer them. For those of you going on this ship in the near future, I hope you have a Glory-ous time :-)

Enjoyed your reiew. As I stated earlier, the weather was not the best for this cruise, but I love your attitude and have always said "A cruise is what you make of it". You took it in stride and made the best of it. Good for you two.

We were on the same ship and, as said, the weather was not the best, but the ship is a good ship and love the staff. I can not say enough about this ship. So much that when we got back home, I booked the Glory again for an April cruise.

Hope you can have a vacation sooner than you think again and if cruising again, hope you have a wonderful time.

DAY 8- DISEMBARKATION (MIAMI)

 

Apologies for taking so long, work and life in general have been crazy busy!

 

Anyway, we woke early in the morning to the sound of the gangway being prepped on Deck 3 above us. We could see it from our window, as well as the rest of the deserted port terminal. We grabbed a quick breakfast and our last specialty coffees up at the buffet. I will say that I found the breakfast buffet much more enjoyable than lunch, and I can't comment on dinner since we never tried it. My favorites were the French Toast, Eggs Benedict and potatoes. The Pizza Pirate was okay for a late night snack, but we preferred getting fresh grilled sandwiches at the Deli. After breakfast, we headed back to the room to grab our stuff. We had elected to self-disembark with our own bags in tow because we didn't want to miss our 11:00 am flight home. We lugged our stuff forward and up to the Deck 3 theater entrance, which was already packed with people. Had we thought to walk over to the other entrance, we would have seen the signs labeled "Early Flight" which is where we should have lined up. Oh well. After about 20 minutes, the crowd of people started to move off the ship, and soon we found ourselves in customs. We got through with no issues and proceeded outside to a taxi bound for the Miami Airport.

 

We reached the airport around 8:30 am, with plenty of time to make our flight. We headed to the American Airlines check in/baggage check and found a HUGE CROWD OF PEOPLE gathered there. Apparently there were multiple lines for multiple kiosks which then fed into one line, but many passengers seemed to be having issues so this process took forever. We were there for almost an hour before we finally got our bag checked and proceeded to TSA. From there it was another long day of flying, and we finally touched down in San Diego at 4:30 pm.

 

Looking back on my vacation, I know I had a lot of hopes and expectations pinned on this trip. After all, we probably won't be able to do another long vacation for a few years. I wanted to make the most out of everyday, to eat and drink anything and everything because I could, and to try to relax with DH without having to worry about kids, work or house chores. Yes the weather was windy/rainy a good portion of the time, and our beach days were less than ideal. But I hope that looking back on our photos in a few years, I will remember that we still had fun, made memories and visited places we've never been to before.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments! Feel free to leave questions and I will try to answer them. For those of you going on this ship in the near future, I hope you have a Glory-ous time :-)

Loved your review. Glad you all had fun!

Hello fellow San Diegan, and thanks for your review! We are sailing the same itinerary in June, so looking forward to it.

BTW, cruising is really fun with the kids, if budget allows. There are activities to keep them occupied while you two hot tub or go ashore. We did our first cruise when our boys were 5 & 8, getting ready for our 5th at ages 16 & 18. The Mexico cruises are great getaways! I just wish they still sailed out of San Diego - boy, was that handy!!

Very nice review, wow, in Cozumel, you walked back and forth twice off the ship, then walked a half mile to a restaurant outside the port, you're in good shape!-))