Yoohooo and Rocking and rolling on our Carnival Glory 11/21 to 11/28 2010 Cruise

[nothomeonacruise]

Carnival Glory 11/21 to 11/28 Cruise review.

First of all, there were 3 of us for this trip. My daughter, who always accompanies us, was unable to go this time. (She’s an older teen) The trip included myself, my husband, and my mother. I highly suggest getting to the port early if you want to avoid waiting in lines. We had a wonderful time on this cruise, but there were some minor things that happened, too.

EMBARKATION: We arrived at 10:30 in Miami and checked right in. We found a comfy set of chairs and waited. There was a huge crush of people later complained about a long wait. We didn’t have a single problem. Embarkation was a bit delayed due to late debarkation (from the previous cruise) of some passengers, but we didn’t mind waiting.

THE CRUISE: Our cabin was on the 8th deck right under the Lido. When we booked I thought would be fine, as we were on the edge of where the outside Lido area begins. However, we did hear the scraping chairs, and the band could be heard on our balcony. Also, I found cigarette butts and scraps of paper on the balcony, too. The noise wasn’t as loud at night, and it didn’t keep us awake. My mother had the cabin next door and she rarely heard anything. She had a cabin right above her. Upon embarking onto the ship, we headed to the Lido for lunch. It wasn’t as crowded, as we had an early loading zone. (Another reason to get to the port early) One other point, we carried (rolled) on our luggage. My largest piece was able to be rolled right on. We checked the measurement prior to leaving the house. You’d be surprised at the size you can carry on. My husband and I had two suitcases, with one smaller case and one larger. My husband stayed with our luggage in the Lido, as my mother and I headed to the Maitre’d to check our table location. We were placed in the back of the Platinum on the lower level for early seating. We tried to move to a closer table towards the center and the Maitre’d informed us he’d put us on a list. (more on this table later)

THE SHIP: I found this ship had interesting decorations in some of the lounges. The Amber Lounge, for example, is very elaborate with gold statue cornices. The wall colors and glass ceiling change in the atrium. The entertainment in the atrium was terrific with a couple who performed almost every night. We found ourselves finding it hard to find chairs. While I’ve seen live music on other cruises, this one seemed to have more than the others. It was delightful with a wide variety offered.

Here was the first problem. That evening at our appointed time, we arrived for our early seating table. We were in the corner with several tables of young children around us. The waiters were rushed and pushed the menus at us in a hurry. We then waited to be served. There were two tables in back of us of VERY loud children. I am a mother and my daughter would never speak that loud in a restaurant. It felt like McDonalds. To the side of us, was a woman with 3 very well behaved boys. They quietly sat and politely ate their meal. Another family further down, let their two boys run around the table while the waiters navigated around with heavy trays. The noise level got louder and louder. I think the low ceiling in that portion of the restaurant may have made it even louder. Our waiter came over and apologized for making us wait. He told us that a few people had showed up from the other dining room. We told him we were switching to a later seating due to the kids and noise level. He said he understood. I just can’t believe that some parents do not teach their children to speak with inside voices. Why they let their kids get that loud is beyond me. We found out the hard way that later seating is much quieter. The waiters are not as rushed at that later seating, either. After dinner that first night, we spoke to the Maitre’d who told us we’d be put on a list for an available table at the later seating. That next day we received a notice of a table change. The new table location and time was perfect for us. Our new waiters were wonderful and very friendly. We were seated on the second floor of the Platinum, which was fine. That next night my husband ordered a ginger ale with the dining room bartender. His name was Made. After that night, he had my husband’s soda ready for him. One note, Thanksgiving was great. We cruise during this holiday and so knew what to expect. There was one funny photographer on this cruise who would say, "yoohoo" when he took your picture. He would giggle when he said it, which made us laugh with him. The Yoohoo was heard all over the ship as a catch phrase. It seemed everyone knew this photographer who I later learned was named, Nur.

On a side note, the ship hit turbulent waves for those first few days. It was very rough and the first show was canceled due to the unsteady waves. I found most people took this with a sense of humor. We would bump into someone and they’d laugh with us. It really wasn’t too much of a problem and did not stop anyone from having a good time.

Our first port was Nassau. We ventured into the straw market. . Although there were some things repeated in several stalls, we did find quite a few things. I found the people very friendly in the market. I’ve been in other markets where the vendors were much more aggressive. In Nassau, we did the most shopping. I found straw purses, totes, t-shirts..etc.. The vendors were willing to negotiate, which I found great. After spending quite a bit of time there, we headed back to the ship.

Our second port was St. Thomas. We headed over to Gladys Café in the Royal Dane Mall. The “mall” is actually a historic group of alleyways. We always say that finding Gladys’s place is half the fun. She’s located on a lovely small cobbled street. While there, we ordered a delicious lunch and made sure we bought more hot sauce. My husband bought a large bottle, which “looks” like a whiskey bottle. Gladys wrapped it up in newspaper. Our hot sauce was almost confiscated. I had the sauce in my straw tote (purchased in Nassau) and put the tote in the scanner as we entered the ship. The security guy motioned us to head over to the table where they confiscate alcohol. I told the guy that I had hot sauce in my tote. I pulled out the well wrapped bottle and showed it to security. He almost grabbed it when the original guard waved us through. A good laugh on our way to the elevators and we were fine!

Our third port was San Juan. We took the EL Yunque excursion to the rainforest with Carnival. It was wonderful. Did I say it was wonderful? I cannot express how beautiful it was. I’m a big fan of National Parks and this one does not disappoint. Our guide was Yogi, who kept us laughing the whole way. We stopped at an information building and then were taken to the start of a nature trail. The trail is bumpy, but paved. My mother has a knee problem, but she managed the trail quite well. It took us into the rainforest. I live in Florida, and I’m used to seeing tropical plants, but I’ve never seen so many crowded into one place! The plants grow in huge abundance due to the rain. It was very lush. The waterfall was pretty, too. I did see people climbing the waterfall and our guide told us people fall all the time. In my opinion, it’s not too smart to climb a wet slippery waterfall with sharp jagged rocks! It was very cool and breezy there, too. Thankfully, it didn’t rain while we were there. The tour left us in the town and we ate at a place called, The Food Court. It’s not far from the port. Yogi recommended the stall further down where they sell beans and rice. I had the pork loin and my husband had the chicken. It was delicious.

Our fourth port was Grand Turk. I’ve been to this port in the past. We were curious to see how much the port had changed since the hurricane. We noticed the bus area that took passengers into town was not in an obvious location. It seemed like we couldn’t see the busses at all. The last time we visited we took a ride into town. This time we couldn’t find the busses or transportation. We came to the conclusion they don’t want you to leave Margaritaville. There are more stores now, too. It seems as if the place has expanded in size. To be honest, I could easily stay onboard for this port, as it’s very similar to many places I’ve seen in Orlando. If you aren’t into drinking and swimming in the pool area, there just isn’t much to do. I like a more natural setting and I see this place as a resort. It’s just not my cup of tea. It didn’t spoil our vacation, though. We did manage to find some nice t-shirts and caps for our daughter and her friends.

Overall, this vacation was wonderful. Carnival took care of the one problem we had (dining room) and we had a great time after that. The cabin location didn’t stop us from having fun, either. I would sail the Glory again. She’s a great ship. There’s a comfy feeling with this ship. I can’t explain it, but I felt it when we came onboard. The staff were very helpful and friendly. As I stated, there was music everywhere, which I found wonderful. While we have had music on our other cruises, it seemed more prevalent this time. The CD Jorje, was a riot and his assistant, Tina, was great. I had a laugh during the deck party when she came out in striped stockings and her hair in pigtails. She kept us busy dancing the entire time and there was a long conga line. On the two elegant nights I saw many well dressed people. I’ll say this was the most I’ve seen on a cruise in a long time. It was very nice to see long gowns again. I’d go on this ship again. I just wish our trip was longer!!! We’re already planning our next cruise!

I’ll try to post pictures soon, as I’m going to put some of them in Photobucket. I have some gorgeous sunset pictures.

[Hulaloola]

Thank you! We're booking our first cruise on the Carnival Glory in January.

[kpsuzyq]

THank you so much for your review! We go on the Glory this Sunday with the same itinerary.. One question.. Did they have the Christmas Decorations up yet? we were just wondering...

[Unknotted]

We're on the Glory Jan16th, so I just love, love, LOVE your review...thanks so much for taking the time to write it.

[nothomeonacruise]

Thank you everyone. Yes, they had decorations. You're going to love it. I'll post pictures in a bit. (working on it..LOL) I do have some with decorations.

[danabobbyt]

Hello! My family and I were on this same cruies. We also had a wonderful time. The rough seas did make it interesting. We sat in the Golden dining room and had anytime seating. The service was not good at all. It was a minimum of an hour before receiving our main entree after ordering as soon as we sat down. This was our 10th Carnival cruise and it was the worst service we have ever had but it did not ruin our cruise just a little bump that we weren't used to.

Did anyone hear of something happening to a passenger while on board. I think it was Thursday we saw a family run through the red sail eating area (we were still at port) and a few hours later we heard an announcement for crew members to report to deck "0" for a code bright star. My son had "heard" that someone got hurt really bad but I never heard anything else about it. Just curious if anyone else heard anything.