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Carnival Glory Quick Review


cingroomer
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I just got off the Glory on Saturday and wanted to post a quick review. First off, our Eastern Cruise became a Western, which I wasn't happy about, but what can you do? You just have to make the best of it,so we did. There were 6 of us that went, my husband with me, one other couple and 2 single ladies. It was the first cruise for one of the single ladies, the other single lady is Platinum and the other couple red.

 

So, lets start with embarking in Miami. I find this to be a really easy port to enter, park at and get onboard. It was a little different this time as they assign you a time, which ours was for 1:30, but we arrived at 11:30 and they ushered us on anyway. You also pick up your S&S card from your rooms mailbox, ours was there waiting for us. Without the long lines waiting for the card embarktion was very quick.

 

Now as for the Glory, I loved the colors, not overstated but very pretty. The new blue bathrooms, much better than that pink. The hair dryers suck, they are in the desk drawer and unless you sit on the ground there is literally not enough cord to pull out of drawer. Take your own. The shampoo and body soap pretty watered down, smell good but don't do much for cleaning, but ok, just use a lot. Elevators a bit slow.

 

Now for the nuts and bolts and my quick take on things:

Food - some of the best I've have on carnival, even the buffet was decent, albeit, I don't eat meat so some of the meals I had a difficult time with choices, but I survived and enjoyed. French Onion soup was outstanding, the bread fantastic, everyone loved the Flat Iron steak every night, service slow, coffee in dining room is good but lousy on buffet. The Guys BBQ upstairs is really good and a must try. Chocolate extravagaza was just that, really awesome.

 

Entertainment - the rock show was awesome, trivia games fun but repetitive (and also on deck 5 which I will address in a minute), comedians were ok, Dustin was a hoot (the CD), reggae music on lido which was awesome, the deck 3 band was awesome, some others not so good, karaoke in small room was ridiculous, white heat not open till late which sucked, no real farewell party on lido deck, divein movies fun (they need better popcorn), not really a whole lot was going on, they need to mix it up, add some new stuff for those of us that have cruised a dozen times or more. Same songs and dancing in dining room as it was 10 years ago.

 

Service -my room attendant was great(though my room 7208 sucked). He always addressed us by name, had us sign the first day for either once or twice a day for him to clean up the room, brought us housecoats on request, fresh ice daily, empty refrig when we boarded, cute animal towels every night.Room service was atrocious. They missed our breakfast 2 mornings, one morning they had only one coffee cup on tray and no butter, and the only night we ordered room service it took 1.5 hrs to get the food. Dining room service was very slow, but they tried. I noticed a huge cut back in staff. Alchemy bar attendants no personality at all, so we drank elsewhere.

 

Casino- here is my biggest complaint and probably the only reason I won't go back on the Glory. The Casino is full of smoke, not just in that area, but the casino bar, the seats alongside the casino, the entire deck permeated with smoke and this is also where they had the trivia and in the evenings some great musicians. Unfortunately after day 2 of trying to play some slots or sit in the sport bar or play trivia, I ended up with a major sinus infection from the smoke. I also noticed that after day 2, many more slots were open and there were people like me complaining about the smoke, even the casino staff told us how unhappy they are that they have to work in that all day. So unnecessary and Carnival needs to step it up and stop the smoking indoor with their lousy non existent ventilation system.

 

Adult area - I love that they have the adult only pool and there were signs stating that every where as well as an employee stationed there. I didn't see a lot of chair hogs which was nice. The hot tubs should be renamed to luke warm tubs, never did they get hot. The aft pool has been redone and they used a dark tile for the bottom of the pool which makes it look like murky dirty water, very poor choice. Serenity area is ok. Hot tub, bar and loungers, just about what you would expect. At times you can hear the music from the lido area which I always enjoy.

 

I saved the fun times in case anyone has any questions. Overall, I really like the Glory. They didnt have any midnight buffets which disappointed me too, no wine tastings, martini tastings, nothing different. Pretty much the same routine from ship to ship and year to year. If you are cruising to relax and eat and have a little fun, Carnival is still a pretty good option though.

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I didn't do the waterworks because I also blew out a knee in Jamaica. I was surprised though how short the lines were.

We were on the Liberty last year and our bathroom was pink (and really ugly)

What cabin did you have on Liberty? I was on Liberty when it was new and the only ships I have seen pictures of with pink bathrooms are Victory, Destiny, and Triumph.

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What cabin did you have on Liberty? I was on Liberty when it was new and the only ships I have seen pictures of with pink bathrooms are Victory, Destiny, and Triumph.

 

Now you are taxing my old brain. LOL but it may have been the Victory, I've been on her twice also.

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Thanks for your awesome review. We are cruising on the Glory in February and excited to hear about what things you enjoyed. Do you have a way to post the fun times on this thread? I'm definitely interested, and I'm sure others would be too.

 

What excursions did you choose on your itinerary, and what did you think of the 4 western ports you visited? We are booked on the Glory on a B2B cruise, Eastern & Western itineraries. Thru December 9th they are now substituting Half Moon Cay, Nassau, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk (yeaaa!) for the original Eastern Caribbean ports. When I called Carnival they said that by February the Glory might be able to return to its original ports - St. Thomas, San Juan, Half Moon Cay, and Grand Turk. Not sure how I feel about going to see the beautiful Virgin Islands or San Juan stripped of their lush foliage -- but I guess we would make the most of it. It's been 25 years since I was last there. So heartbreaking what all these hurricanes have done to some of the most beautiful places on earth.

 

What were your thoughts having booked an Eastern Caribbean cruise, then experiencing the 4 Western Ports instead? Thanks!

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Thank you for the quick review. I am cruising for the first time with my husband on Glory in January. It's good to hear that there is an adult pool that appears to be enforced and I'm planning on spending some time in the Serenity area to get away from any kids running around. I would really appreciate it if you could post the fun times.

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We also got off the Glory on Saturday. We had spa room 1122 - location was great. The only thing I don't like about those rooms is that there is only partial coverage from the floor above and people are constantly looking over at you. I won't complain since it was an upgrade from an inside.

We had a great time - I agree about the casino - and JD (singer) was in there so we did sit often listening to him.

We also enjoyed the Rock show and the Beach (can't remember the name).

Ok here is my rant - WHY do people who chose a specific dining time come to the dining room late? Evening after evening we would see the same people come in as late as 640. Really? There is an option of your time dining. It is rude to your tablemates as well as the hard working wait staff. They cannot get their job done right when circumstances that this arise. Hubs and I were at a table for 2 which we really enjoyed.

Can't say anything about the ports - we went to relax and only got off at Cozumel for a couple of hours. Rest of the time spent by the pool. Even the rain the last day didn't bother us as we just found a quiet place on 5 and read and played scrabble.

Debark - we had #1 and we were told to make our way to Golden dining room at 730. As we got there at 720 - Dustin walked in and said if you have #1 you can head out to the gangway - we were at the airport by 805 - no complaints at all - customs guy didn't even take our declaration.

I enjoyed Dustin's enthusiasm - I quite enjoyed the trivia in the Atrium in the evening.

There was an interesting mix of people on the cruise - but it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves.

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Thanks for your awesome review. We are cruising on the Glory in February and excited to hear about what things you enjoyed. Do you have a way to post the fun times on this thread? I'm definitely interested, and I'm sure others would be too.

 

What excursions did you choose on your itinerary, and what did you think of the 4 western ports you visited? We are booked on the Glory on a B2B cruise, Eastern & Western itineraries. Thru December 9th they are now substituting Half Moon Cay, Nassau, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk (yeaaa!) for the original Eastern Caribbean ports. When I called Carnival they said that by February the Glory might be able to return to its original ports - St. Thomas, San Juan, Half Moon Cay, and Grand Turk. Not sure how I feel about going to see the beautiful Virgin Islands or San Juan stripped of their lush foliage -- but I guess we would make the most of it. It's been 25 years since I was last there. So heartbreaking what all these hurricanes have done to some of the most beautiful places on earth.

 

What were your thoughts having booked an Eastern Caribbean cruise, then experiencing the 4 Western Ports instead? Thanks!

 

We/ve done the Western Ports before so we only got off in Cozumel long enough to run to the pharmacy and buy some Z Packs and antibiotics. We also got off in Jamaica and did a bus tour, and it was ok. Sad to see how poor it is there, or should I say, you are either rich or poor, no in between. There is a really huge pharmacy in the "outer" city part just minutes from the ship that I could have shopped in all day. LOL I really wanted Grand Turk and San Juan, had waited a year to see those places so I guess I'll just have to rebook and hope for no hurricanes next year.

 

I will try to get the Fun Times posted within the next couple of days.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Hopefully Dustin will be there, hes a hoot.

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Thank you for the review. We are doing the Glory in Feb of 2019...long way off!

 

I completely agree about the stupidity of trivia etc in what is basically the hallway by the casino. They did that on Freedom too and it stunk. In the meantime there was a lounge just down the hall that was never used.

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