Carnival Glory

Mywife and I spent the week of January 13th on The Carnival Glory,. Mywife and I have been cruising for the last 7 years and enjoy this type ofvacation and have been on at least 10 cruises. We have sailed 3 times withCarnival first on the Fantasy then in the Havana Cabana on the Vista and now ona premier casino cruise on the Glory.

Tostart off with the Glory is a beautiful ship. The first night in the Golden Dining room I ordered a Shrimp Cocktail,French Onion soup, Caesar salad and a steak. The Shrimp Cocktail came in a bowlwith four of the smallest shrimps I have ever seen. The onion soup had verylittle flavor and was watered down I requested anchovies with the salad andagain was very disappointed. The salad dressing had very little flavor as didthe anchovies. Now we come to the best part. The first steak they brought mewas “ICE COLD.” I immediately broughtthis to our waters attention and he apologized profusely. Several minutes laterhe brought another steak and asked me to taste it, again it was “ICE COLD”. Thewaiter could not understand how this could happen twice and said he was goingto get me another steak at which point I declined as I had lost my appetite. Hewas very insistent and I refused. Approximately 10 minutes later he brought mea third steak which I immediately refused and asked to see the manager of thedining room. I explained to him what had transpired and he was very apologeticand said he had tested the third steak and assured me that it was hot but I hadalready lost my appetite and was thoroughly disgusted with the meal and thiswas our first night on board. Our friends finished their meal and we exited thedining room. What eased my hunger was the Pastrami sandwich that I had at theDeli on the lido deck.

Thesecond night in the dining room was not much better. The food was acceptablebut not hot and the soups were watered down. The third night we ate in thesteak house where again the food was better but not great. I have come toexpect much better food

onyour cruise line. The fourth night I ordered a steak in the dining room fromthe steak house not only was it hot but it was most enjoyable and tasty. Thelast night (Friday) I ordered in the dining room the Prime rib it was alsotasty but cold and was in no mood to send it back.

Carnivalyou had better get your act together. We enjoy your cruise ships but have tothink long and hard if I will ever book on your line again

My wife and I agree. We just got off the Glory Saturday and the food in the MDR and buffet was not great. Definitely a decline in quality and portion size over the years. The Steakhouse was very good the three nights we visited but the Chef's table food was disappointing compared to the four others.

The new deli food was prepared and not freshly put together. Overall it was a disappointment. The chicken sandwich was tasty but it was a nugget size portion the two times I ordered it. The sandwich sums up all the cutbacks Carnival is doing. :eek::eek:

Pretty sad looking.

Sorry to hear about your dining room experience and food issues. In the past my wife was always disappointed the food was not served "hot" enough..... However...our last 2 cruises on Carnival (Breeze in 2015 and Vista 2017).....probably the hottest and best food we've had on our 12 Carnival cruises. Just shows Carnival needs to improve the consistency of their product offerrings fleetwide

My wife and I agree. We just got off the Glory Saturday and the food in the MDR and buffet was not great. Definitely a decline in quality and portion size over the years. The Steakhouse was very good the three nights we visited but the Chef's table food was disappointing compared to the four others.

 

The new deli food was prepared and not freshly put together. Overall it was a disappointment. The chicken sandwich was tasty but it was a nugget size portion the two times I ordered it. The sandwich sums up all the cutbacks Carnival is doing. :eek::eek:

Pretty sad looking.

Wow- that pic was an eye-opener! I think I'd have been asking for a do-over with a decent piece of chicken!

Wow- that pic was an eye-opener! I think I'd have been asking for a do-over with a decent piece of chicken!

The tray they had of pre-made sandwiches all the chicken looked the same. I had a second chicken sandwich a few days later and it was the same small size. I guess you could ask for two pieces. It tastes much better than it looks.

I was going to say the same thing, why did not simply ask for another piece of chicken.

Well, that's no good! We leave on the Glory next weekend, so I'm hoping for a better food experience in the MDR than you had. We have steakhouse reservations one night, too. It's our first Carnival cruise after sailing NCL, so we're testing it out. Looking forward to it, but hoping for not-cold food!

Good luck. The staff in the MDR go around dancing and carrying on which delays the food service and it"s the paying guests who suffer. Just saying.

Well, that's no good! We leave on the Glory next weekend, so I'm hoping for a better food experience in the MDR than you had. We have steakhouse reservations one night, too. It's our first Carnival cruise after sailing NCL, so we're testing it out. Looking forward to it, but hoping for not-cold food!

Actually still on the Glory waiting to debark. You have nothing to worry about. About 84 dishes for our party in the MDR and every one of them was served at the appropriate temperature.

The comment about the buffalo chicken sandwhich at the Deli is, sadly, true.

Too bad the OP's experience on the Glory has left him cold. I've sailed the ship several times, including a 21 day B2B Journeys cruise, and will be on it again this April as a premier casino guest.

Had I ever experienced anything remotely like what the OP describes, I would not sail Carnival again. I haven't, hence my re-booking.

Actually still on the Glory waiting to debark. You have nothing to worry about. About 84 dishes for our party in the MDR and every one of them was served at the appropriate temperature.

 

The comment about the buffalo chicken sandwhich at the Deli is, sadly, true.

Thanks!! Excellent to hear you had what sounds like great food experiences, deli sandwich notwithstanding. We're not too hard to please when it comes to food, though we definitely have our likes and dislikes. And we realize that food is subjective (disliked RCCL's food, but love NCL's), and we're excited to sail the Glory one week from today!

Hope you had a great time!

We cruised on the Glory last year and friends just went in January and we all had great dining experiences. I’m sorry yours wasn’t as good!

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Thanks!! Excellent to hear you had what sounds like great food experiences, deli sandwich notwithstanding. We're not too hard to please when it comes to food, though we definitely have our likes and dislikes. And we realize that food is subjective (disliked RCCL's food, but love NCL's), and we're excited to sail the Glory one week from today!

 

Hope you had a great time!

Thanks - it was right up there af the top of the list (with about a dozen “friends”). Haven’t had a truly bad cruise yet.

Hope yours is great too!

My wife and I sailed the Glory Feb 10-17. 4 out of 5 dinner meals in the MDR were ok...tasted like they were prepared hours before, bland taste, and served luke-warm. The desserts were delicious, and we loved the service. We had breakfast twice in the MDR with similar results. The Lido buffet was no better. Neither of us are particularly picky, but we both expected more for the price of the cruise. We did eat twice at the Emerald Steakhouse and found it to be excellent. Guys Burgers was also delicious, but the pizza was only ok, to us.

We just came off the Glory on Saturday. I was worried about the quality of the food going in, but I would say that overall the quality of the food was fine. There were some definite hits and misses. I didn't like the shrimp cocktail, so I never ordered it again. But one of our tablemates ordered it over and over. So, different strokes for different folks. Sometimes the starters were tiny portions, sometimes larger -- so we usually ordered 2 different starters, and ate the ones we liked. If you are unhappy with something, ask your waiter and they will bring you something else. They really work hard trying to please everyone. I tried several new starters I had never eaten before: some were hits & some were misses. But always it was a fun adventure! I love seafood, so I was very happy with most of my main dishes, except when I tried the "port of the day" specialty dish with the mystery fish. Yeech! A grilled salmon replacement was brought right away, and all was well. I stayed more to the main menu after that -- less experimenting with the main meal. So, when people complain about cruise food here on Cruise Critic --- take it with a grain of salt. There are soooo many dishes to choose from. My frogs legs were bad & not warm. Was it Carnival's bad recipe? Or was it that I would not have liked anyone's frog legs? Who knows? The amount of good or great food you will have, will definitely outnumber any mis-steps that may happen.

Most nights we ate dinner in the main dining room (MDR), and I felt the meal quality was much better there at dinnertime. We only ate dinner on the Lido deck once when we were exhausted and didn't want to spend an hour doing a sit-down dinner. The quality and variety on the Lido at dinner time is extremely limited. The steak was tough, and the entrees were meh. Fine for kids, but most adults who seemed to be enjoying their meals either had a Guy's Burger or Pizza. It is super fast--- but the buffet quality is not the same as the MDR, even though sometimes they have 1 or 2 of the dinner items being served in the main dining room.

However, We had EXCELLENT meals on the Lido deck for lunch. Lots of great choices, and they have a nice selection of differently prepared salads. Every salad was fantastic. There was a huge selection of hot items as the 2 buffets on the Lido deck (9) offer different items. I think one side has comfort foods (or something like that) -- more heavy meaty dishes, chicken tenders, pasta, etc. The other side which is closer to "The Sweet Spot" dessert bar has the great selection of premade salads, hot dishes, fish, usually a carving station. Between the 2 buffets you can easily find some lunch options you will be happy with. If not, on the same deck 9 you have the Iguana Grill for mexican food, Guys Buger, the pizza place, and the deli for hot sandwiches (their Reuben is not bad). We had 4 port days & the buffet food on deck 9 is open until 3:30pm. A lot of people try to get back on the ship before 3:30. Between 3:30-6pm, the MDR & Lido buffet are closed. So, your food options are only: Guys Burgers (very tasty), the pizza place, the sandwhich deli, ice cream station, or room service. I never had luck with the Blue Iguana Mexican place being open later in the day--- so I don't know their hours are. If you are okay with spending some cash the Seafood shack & the sushi place are also open in the afternoon. But seriously --- when you come back from port at 3:20pm, dripping wet, sandy, and exhausted --- you will agree with me that late lunch on the Lido deck is without a doubt some of the best food you have ever eaten!

So, those are my opinions being fresh off the Glory.

--- Rene

We just came off the Glory on Saturday. I was worried about the quality of the food going in, but I would say that overall the quality of the food was fine. There were some definite hits and misses. I didn't like the shrimp cocktail, so I never ordered it again. But one of our tablemates ordered it over and over. So, different strokes for different folks. Sometimes the starters were tiny portions, sometimes larger -- so we usually ordered 2 different starters, and ate the ones we liked. If you are unhappy with something, ask your waiter and they will bring you something else. They really work hard trying to please everyone. I tried several new starters I had never eaten before: some were hits & some were misses. But always it was a fun adventure! I love seafood, so I was very happy with most of my main dishes, except when I tried the "port of the day" specialty dish with the mystery fish. Yeech! A grilled salmon replacement was brought right away, and all was well. I stayed more to the main menu after that -- less experimenting with the main meal. So, when people complain about cruise food here on Cruise Critic --- take it with a grain of salt. There are soooo many dishes to choose from. My frogs legs were bad & not warm. Was it Carnival's bad recipe? Or was it that I would not have liked anyone's frog legs? Who knows? The amount of good or great food you will have, will definitely outnumber any mis-steps that may happen.

 

Most nights we ate dinner in the main dining room (MDR), and I felt the meal quality was much better there at dinnertime. We only ate dinner on the Lido deck once when we were exhausted and didn't want to spend an hour doing a sit-down dinner. The quality and variety on the Lido at dinner time is extremely limited. The steak was tough, and the entrees were meh. Fine for kids, but most adults who seemed to be enjoying their meals either had a Guy's Burger or Pizza. It is super fast--- but the buffet quality is not the same as the MDR, even though sometimes they have 1 or 2 of the dinner items being served in the main dining room.

 

However, We had EXCELLENT meals on the Lido deck for lunch. Lots of great choices, and they have a nice selection of differently prepared salads. Every salad was fantastic. There was a huge selection of hot items as the 2 buffets on the Lido deck (9) offer different items. I think one side has comfort foods (or something like that) -- more heavy meaty dishes, chicken tenders, pasta, etc. The other side which is closer to "The Sweet Spot" dessert bar has the great selection of premade salads, hot dishes, fish, usually a carving station. Between the 2 buffets you can easily find some lunch options you will be happy with. If not, on the same deck 9 you have the Iguana Grill for mexican food, Guys Buger, the pizza place, and the deli for hot sandwiches (their Reuben is not bad). We had 4 port days & the buffet food on deck 9 is open until 3:30pm. A lot of people try to get back on the ship before 3:30. Between 3:30-6pm, the MDR & Lido buffet are closed. So, your food options are only: Guys Burgers (very tasty), the pizza place, the sandwhich deli, ice cream station, or room service. I never had luck with the Blue Iguana Mexican place being open later in the day--- so I don't know their hours are. If you are okay with spending some cash the Seafood shack & the sushi place are also open in the afternoon. But seriously --- when you come back from port at 3:20pm, dripping wet, sandy, and exhausted --- you will agree with me that late lunch on the Lido deck is without a doubt some of the best food you have ever eaten!

 

So, those are my opinions being fresh off the Glory.

--- Rene

Thanks for sharing! I have 61days to go before we're on the Glory! We were just on the Elation end of November and food was hit and miss in the MDR but I never had a problem getting the waiter to bring me something better. The smoked salmon from the deli is my favorite. I have them hold the bagel so I can have more [emoji6]

Thanks for sharing! I have 61days to go before we're on the Glory! We were just on the Elation end of November and food was hit and miss in the MDR but I never had a problem getting the waiter to bring me something better. The smoked salmon from the deli is my favorite. I have them hold the bagel so I can have more [emoji6]

The Glory had bagel with smoked salmon & cream cheese on the menu every morning in the main dining room, both for breakfast or the sea day brunch. It came with capers, red onion, and piles of smoked salmon! Several times my husband & I would split an order as a side dish, because it was so much salmon.

On the ports when we had to be up & out super early they usually had a salmon benedict at the Lido breakfast buffet. But I would describe it as a slice of cooked salmon, rather than smoked salmon under the poached egg & hollandaise. Still, it was pretty good. Somedays there was eggs benedict with ham,

On the Lido (deck 9), there was a separate line on both sides of the morning breakfast buffet if you only wanted an omelette. So that was nice. I usually ended up being either the 1st or 2nd person in the omelette-only line, which was much better than the long buffet lines on port days. I thought their custom omelettes were so much better than the scrambled eggs at the buffet.

Also, on the Glory, the Deli changes their sign to be an "omelette station" in the morning. My husband would usually get in that line because you could get sides orders like bacon at the same time. But I would go to the buffet and get in the omlette-only line, and beat him to the table every time!

I ordered room service every morning as my wake up call. Just a pot of coffee & half/half. But it made getting ready a little easier. They mostly have cold options on the menu & toast, or a bagel with cream cheese. I have read here on cruise critic that people have written in + smoked salmon with their bagel order & received it. So, you might want to give it a try if you are ever in a rush, or going to Sea Day Brunch closer to 11 or 12.

-- Rene

Hi rdh rules will be on glory same time and looking forward to Guy;s Burgers :) and relaxing

might see you at meet and greet if we get 25

Also just back from sailing the Glory last week, and we thought the food we had in the MDR was pretty good. I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars if asked for a rating. Nothing stood out as stupendously awesome that we had to order it again, but nothing was terrible, or cold, or underdone, or something we absolutely hated. We don't expect gourmet food on a cruise ship, but we do enjoy food and the experience of dining on a ship. All of our appetizers, entrees, and desserts were good. Sure, there were a couple hits and misses, but I usually expect that. Try something and don't like it? Order something else! And service was always friendly - the waitstaff were all kinda quirky and fun each in their own right, and we enjoyed that.

Guy's and the Pizza Pirate were always our go-to's for lunch (we both worked out / ran each day, so didn't feel too guilty!). Twice we checked out the Lido buffet for dessert. The chocolate extravaganza was so-so.

My DH's complaint about food was mainly the Lido buffet for breakfast. He said the options were rather limited compared to what we're used to at NCL's breakfast buffet, and that the food there wasn't great. He did find the breakfast burritos at the RedIguana and enjoyed those (I'm not a big breakfast eater, so usually just to yogurt from room service).

All in all, we were happy with the food on the Glory.

The Glory had bagel with smoked salmon & cream cheese on the menu every morning in the main dining room, both for breakfast or the sea day brunch. It came with capers, red onion, and piles of smoked salmon! Several times my husband & I would split an order as a side dish, because it was so much salmon.

 

On the ports when we had to be up & out super early they usually had a salmon benedict at the Lido breakfast buffet. But I would describe it as a slice of cooked salmon, rather than smoked salmon under the poached egg & hollandaise. Still, it was pretty good. Somedays there was eggs benedict with ham,

 

On the Lido (deck 9), there was a separate line on both sides of the morning breakfast buffet if you only wanted an omelette. So that was nice. I usually ended up being either the 1st or 2nd person in the omelette-only line, which was much better than the long buffet lines on port days. I thought their custom omelettes were so much better than the scrambled eggs at the buffet.

 

Also, on the Glory, the Deli changes their sign to be an "omelette station" in the morning. My husband would usually get in that line because you could get sides orders like bacon at the same time. But I would go to the buffet and get in the omlette-only line, and beat him to the table every time!

 

I ordered room service every morning as my wake up call. Just a pot of coffee & half/half. But it made getting ready a little easier. They mostly have cold options on the menu & toast, or a bagel with cream cheese. I have read here on cruise critic that people have written in + smoked salmon with their bagel order & received it. So, you might want to give it a try if you are ever in a rush, or going to Sea Day Brunch closer to 11 or 12.

 

-- Rene

Thanks for the advice, we got an upgrade offer from our porthole to a balcony and having smoked salmon sitting outside would be great! I did have it once for breakfast in the MDR and it was very good with lots of salmon!

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Hi rdh rules will be on glory same time and looking forward to Guy;s Burgers :) and relaxing

might see you at meet and greet if we get 25

Noblewoman, look forward to seeing you! I can't wait to be relaxing with the ocean underneath me and the beautiful sweet breeze hitting me!!