Carnival Glory: Christmas Cruise Western Caribbean. First timer

[roxiebarclay]

We struggled trying to find a vacation that would meet the needs of a 9 yr daughter and 3 boys (14-20). Never having cruised we were hesitant due to stories of line-ups, and partying, crowded conditions, tiny rooms etc, etc.

 

We decided on a cruise - mainly because of the destinations - Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman and finally cozumel thrown in. We went into the cruise expecting to face lines, and obnoxious drunk people but we were pleasantly suprised.

 

Embarkation- wow- what a breeze. No wait through security. Very short line for room keys and on board we were. Rooms were ready before we knew it and we were enjoying the cruise.

 

The food was really quite good. Line-ups at the buffet- yes but not long.. I can't figure out why it takes people so long to pick between sausage and bacon but whatever it is their vacation too.

 

We rarely ate at the buffet- not a fan of buffet food and I much prefer to have food brought to me. So we ate at the main dining room as a family every night. The food selection was decent and when we weren't interested we would just order salad and dessert and get a sandwich from the deli later in the evening. It was so wonderful to sit down every night- no wait and order a meal. Breakfast- in the main dining room for the same reasons.

 

Misses:

Communication around Port Change. Changed Port of Belize to Costa Maya upon Embarkation and did not communicate it well. Said it was due to port congestion- I don't buy it, since they book ports a year in advance. They already knew how many ships would be in port. I don't appreciate changes to the itinerary for nonsense reasons- weather I get but port congestion- that was not an unknown. This is not fair to paying customers.

 

PA announcements in Cabin: thumbs down. I did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night for a Brightstar operation alert. I thought it was telling us that there was some sort of amazing star show. I almost went out on deck since I was already awake. Then the dining staff told me in the am it actually meant medical emergency.

They would also make annoucements into your room when we arrived in port. If you weren't getting off the ship early, who wants to be woken up every morning at 6:30 am. Not me, I am a light sleeper

 

Scrambled eggs are awful!

 

Pool- seemed quite cloudy to me. Too many kids, I think.

 

Movie Nights: Some good movies. Some awful. I don't think too many people and kids are interested in watching Andy Williams Christmas retrospective. Overall fun to sit out at night with a blanket and watch a movie as a family.

 

Tender Debarkation- Grand Cayman. Very slow. Started earlier than they anticipated which meant that people missed the first tenders because they were still eating breakfast. Long Lineups in the stair well! Getting back on the tender and back to the boat was fine.

 

Guest Services- understaffed. Didn't answer phones. Needed to get information for a potential visit to the ships doctor re something in one of my children's eye but it wasn't easy getting through to them.

 

Hits

Serenity Deck- WOW!! so peaceful, great loungers.

 

Pool Chairs- lots of availability

 

Revue Shows- Very entertaining, not crowded.

 

Rooms: really much larger than I expected and very clean. We booked interior rooms and they were nice and dark- conducive for sleeping. Our room attendents were amazing and sooo friendly.

 

Fitness facilities- great.

 

Decor- was anticipating gaudy, but it wasn't. It was fine.

 

MDR- Service and food selection good. Breakfast/Brunch- service excellent and food very good.

Guy's Burgers- excellent

Deli- excellent panini's

Pizza- kids loved it. The specialty pizza's had more flavor

Ice cream/frozen yoghurt- good

Fish and Chips- good

Chocolate buffet- so/so

 

Camp Carnival: Daughter loved it. I enjoyed getting a couple of hours peace to just relax on sea days.

 

Towel animals- Daughter loved them, and son's loved destroying them.

 

Ice water in the main dining room was soo good. I did not miss having diet coke that week.

 

Gift Shop Sales: annoying. Nothing more annoying than going down in the am and finding out that a product would only be on sale from 12- 2pm. Lost my sale. Not interested in buying in an frenzy of people.

 

Overall: We had an amazing time. We never felt crowded. The ship was clean and the service amazing. Loved the assigned dining time, and I wasn't sure about that to begin with. It was just nice and relaxing. The youngest enjoyed camp carnival, when we let her attend. The older boys did nothing but go to the gym, eat, eat and eat and read books on the lounge chairs to the wee hours of the morning.

 

The ports were good. Cozumel- shopped and had drinks on our own in town.

 

Costa Maya- disappointed that we missed Belize and disappointed that it was an arbitrary Carnival decision. That being said we cabbed to the little town nearby and did an all inclusive with Senor Frogs. If I had been given the opportunity to research the port in advance we wouldn't have wasted our money with an all inclusive. Costa Maya is all beach lined with bars. No need to pay for an all inclusive that you can't differentiate from any other place on the beach. All in all it was a relaxing beautiful day at the beach so not a waste but not where I wanted to go. The port village was very small but there was a wildlife company and the kids were able to hold baby lions which made their day.

 

Roatan- Private Freestyle tour. Debarking at 7 am. Too early!! The morning was gray and misty. It didn't warm up until it was almost time to go back to the boat. Kids did ziplining and had a blast but it was over in 30 min since were were first to the location. Played with some monkeys- one bit me but didn't break the skin. Not warm enough for the beach this early. Toured the island- very, very poor. Did not have time to visit Mahogany Beach

 

Grand Cayman- Sting Rays and snorkelling on a catamaran. Tour company not too friendly, they just wanted to get it done an over with. They didn't even speak to us on the cruise over or back.

Sting Rays- wouldn't do that again, they were just like big floppy pieces of meat. Not like puppies or cats like I have heard. Snorkelling was okay, not the best or worst but it is just nice to spend part of the day enjoying the ocean.

Grand Cayman, the water was beautiful here. The colours gorgeous. It would probably be just as enjoyable going to 7 mile beach and having a beach day.

 

Debarkation: Organized and quick once it was your turn. I made the mistake of getting up too early. I should have let the kids sleep in and gone for breakfast 20 min before it closed. Service was fast that morning and we were zone 16 so we weren't even called to get off the boat until after 9:30 am. So we could have slept in a little.

 

I would do it again in a second!!