Glory Quick Review: Boston to Saint John 6-14-12

[JohnBoy in NC]

Just returned from short 4 day cruise to Saint John out of Boston. This was a surprise trip for my wife – once we were at 30k feet she opened her notebook to see what we were going to see/do in Boston…. :) She was very surprised to be going on a cruise out of Boston. She sure did miss her warm chocolate melting cake.

 

 

 

Weather was fantastic and seas smooth. Air temp cool – but on serenity deck it felt like the Caribbean with the full sun and wind being partly blocked. No fog. Saint John was cloudy most of the day, but nice city to walk around. Cruise felt longer than 4 days which is good.

 

 

Glory itself – not bad – I liked the décor of the Freedom better but had no problems with Glory. I did notice that the photographers and drink service staff were not pushy at all (Freedom was crazy)…it was the right amount of contact to me. Steakhouse the first night was packed (it was 7:30pm) – the other two cruises we were one of a few couples….but then again we dined early (6pm, 6:30pm). Since it was packed the service was not as good – but the food was great as always. Carnival did honor the $30 rate from having existing reservation before $5 increase.

 

 

 

The Glory did NOT have the indian food station on the Lido deck like the Freedom….so I was hurting.

 

 

 

We were on Empress deck midship – convenient to everything and good stewards. Did have bedtime chocolates, did have ice in room w/o asking. No past guest or fun farewell party of course. :( No discount for drink refills. Did have free cappuccino in MDR…and MDR food was good as well as service (maybe somewhat slower than in the past…but we were eating at peak times it seems w/ Anytime Dining).

 

 

 

Saw two new shows – Just Rock and Living in America – I thought they were pretty good. Cruise Director Josh was decent – enjoyed the Love/Marriage show. Did not see any comedians. Filipino cover band was good – but no rock-n-roll….and they played in smokey bar for 2 nights so we did not really get to see them.

 

 

We tried the Wine Pairing activity at the Steakhouse for the first time ($15 each)…it was good and I thought worth it (5 glasses of wine – tad less in quantity if you purchased from the bar and samples of salmon, steak, cheese, fruit).

 

 

 

Fastest Embarkation and debarkation ever experienced in my short cruise career. Received “urgent” email from Carnival the day before about boarding later (To ensure a smooth embarkation experience, check-in for your cruise is now scheduled from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM.)…however we flew in that morning and saw the ship at the dock at 8:30am…and roll call members posted updates from cruiseship tracker. We took our time getting to Black Falcon Terminal from the airport – arrived at 10:30am. Proceeded up escalator after showing ID and walked right up to the Carnival desk. Received Zone 1 and sat down for 15 minutes…then we boarded! We were on the ship right before 11am and we eating Fish-Chips at 11:15am. Not sure why Carnival sent the warning email – maybe to space things out due to limited seating in the port? Debarkation - we left the ship around 8:30am and never stopped walking. Not sure if it was because we just went to Canada – but we just handed our customs form to Officer and walked to the bus stop.

 

 

 

Nice change from Caribbean cruise and would do another New England cruise in the future (especially to escape the summer heat)...but I heard from cruisers on board not to count on such decent weather every time.

 

 

John in NC

[bougiet]

Very excited to hear you had a good time. I am going on the same crusie July 12 and have been a bit nervous only because Canada is not the Caribbean:) I am sure no matter what I will have a blast. Thanks for the review!!

[kellygirl719]

Thanks for the review!! We're boarding the Glory on Saturday and we're so excited (and crossing our fingers for good weather) :)

[paksmom]

Thank You for the review, have been getting nervous with the previous reviews. Glad to hear you had a good time and things went smoothly!:)

[dznymom]

So happy you had nice weather and that the embarkation problems mentioned in reviews of the previous weeks seem to have been resolved. Thanks for posting!

[JohnBoy in NC]

So happy you had nice weather and that the embarkation problems mentioned in reviews of the previous weeks seem to have been resolved. Thanks for posting!

 

Someone in our Roll Call mentioned they arrived around 1pm and it was a madhouse...long lines. So maybe verify the ship arrived as usual (6:30am ish) and shoot for 10:30 port arrival?? There is not a lot of seating it seems in the port terminal....

 

Have a great time and I hope the weather is nice for everyone sailing soon!

 

John in NC

[deffenm]

Thanks for posting. We also leave on Saturday and can't wait.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your cruise, sounds like you had a good one.

[marajade]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Glory on June 28 and it is so encouraging to hear a good review!

[TiffLB]

Thanks for the review! We're leaving next Monday and it was great to hear that you had a good cruise!

[cruiseclues]

We think the Indian Food is good, too...unfortunate it can't be on all the ships...thanks for the review. :):):):)