Just off the Glory 7/2 - 7/9 Review

[impcinder]

Glory Review 7/2 Western Itinerary.

 

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.

 

When we booked this cruise last spring, we were limited by the time of year, and preferred to sail out of Tampa or Port Canaveral. We selected the Glory because of Progresso. When the port was dropped, we tried to change to the Miracle, but was unable to book the cabins we wanted.

 

Boarding -

As we were members of the Skipper Club, the entire process from unloading the car to enjoying lunch on the lido deck took less than 60 minutes. Boarding process was streamlined and fast moving.

Had to open one bag for security, they wanted to verify the 12 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper. No hassle about bringing that and 12 bottles of water on board. DD smuggled a six-pack of Coronas in her luggage.

 

Staterooms-

Empress 7259 Suite and Verandah 8257 (DH & I shared the Suite and DD 19 and DD 23 shared the Cat 8C. Meet Sunil (7259) the first day when we pushed the beds together. Otherwise, never saw him, but it was evident that he was maintaining the room. Not sure who was the steward for the DDs; but did a fantastic job – you can only imagine how much clothing, makeup, etc two young ladies can have!!

 

Platinum Dining Room

Food –

Headwaiter Sheriff – can’t say enough wonderful things about him! After the first meal, he knew that we were ice tea fans and consumed ‘gallons’ during dinner. Sheriff and Joel (assistance waiter) kept our glasses full.

Food was the typical Carnival Dining room fare – good, but no surprises. I compared the menu from a previous cruise 2 years ago, basically the same but 1 less option for each category. There were enough choices, we didn’t go hungry. In fact, one evening, Sheriff brought us two additional Tiger Shrimp entrees.

Breakfast in the formal dining room had the same offerings as the Red Sails Restaurant with one addition – Eggs Hollandaise. Breakfast is open seating, so you are placed at a table with other passengers. Servers let you select from a tray of sweet rolls (same offerings as Red Sails). Took your order and served the meal. Found the entire process took about 75 minutes. We had breakfast once in the dining room but decided it wasn’t worth the extra time.

Did not eat lunch in the Dining room.

 

Red Sails Restaurant

Breakfast –

Same fare everyday!! Became boring. Sweet rolls – apple, cheese, and raspberry. Bread – croissant and hearty grain. Would have liked something different! Offered scrambled eggs, pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon and either hot oatmeal or grits. Fresh fruit consisted of grapefruit, orange segments, melon and prunes. (Bananas were available at the start of the cruise). I think there was a selection of 5 or 6 cold cereals. Three different types of yogurt were available. Orange, apple, and punch were the juices available. The buffet had cheese, lox, and salami (?) available.

Omelets were made to order. Suggestion – check out all four omelets stations, some lines were much shorter. Saran would be my first choice for omelet maker! He had a cheerful personality and made my day start so much brighter!

Most mornings, there was a shortage of coffee cups. On Tuesday, I just kept my cup, cleaned it in my room and used it the rest of the week.

 

Lunch

Varied selections on the buffet, it seemed to me the range was not as wide or as varied as on previous cruised. Tried the deli – great sandwiches! The Oriental was true oriental style – not Americanized! Fish and Chips – excellent. This was the only place on the ship that had black and green olives!

We sat upstairs (deck 10) found this area to be less congested.

 

Dinner

Had dinner one night in Red Sails (Belize). We were exhausted from our dive in Belize and did not want to dress for dinner. Only 1 buffet line was opened, not crowded, and uninspiring.

 

Pizza –

Limited choices, but available 24/7.

 

Burgers –

Simple fare however ran out of onions and mushrooms the last two days of the cruise.

 

Ports of Call

Key West (Sunday)– IMHO, I would drop this port. Been there, done that several times. I would prefer to go to ports that would be difficult/impossible to drive to. Had lunch at Sloppy Joes (DDs request). Toured Mel Fisher’s museum and walked around. Had a frozen chocolate covered key lime pie – delicious! (think Eskimo pie).

 

Sea Day (Monday)

In the early hours of Monday, experienced heavy rains. However, by noon, the sun was shining. Tropical Storm Cindy was brewing near Belize; the Captain ‘hung around’ Cuba and reversed our ports. Turned out to be a wise decision.

 

Cozumel (Tuesday)

Due to the port changes and less time in Coz, the shore tour to Chitzen Itza and the night dive were cancelled.

Docked at the pier and walked through a shopping store tunnel into a “Mayan shopping village”. A number of shops, plays to meet your booked tours or to catch a taxi $6 to town.

We booked the snorkel tour to Sunset Beach. (Called Unlimited Snorkeling) We are certified divers, we had no problems snorkeling. We were placed in groups of 4 or 8 to taxi to the beach – about a 3 – 5 minute drive. Upon arriving at the beach, we were given brief snorkeling instructions, then into the water. A group of 50+ with two guides. I saw some novices struggling – it can be scary the first time you snorkel! We stayed close to the dive guide to avoid being ‘swimmed over’. Saw a number of colorful fish and some corals. The guided portions lasted about 45 minutes and then back to shore. You could snorkel on your own, lay on the beach, have lunch, or return to the ship.

Warning – the beach is almost non-existent. Once the two tours deposited towels, clothing, there was about a 4ft strip to lie on. The walk into the water was rocky.

Didn’t try the food. Showers and bathrooms were available.

We stayed in the water and snorkeled on our own. Saw a small octopus and more fish and corals. Returned back to the ship by taxi (cost was included with the tour) cleaned up, had lunch, and went to town.

Cozumel had not changed in the years, same shops, vendors, etc. We were fortunate, the only other ship in port that day was the Carnival Sensation – downtown Coz was not overwhelmed with tourists.

 

Belize (Wednesday)

Did the certified two-tank dive offered by Carnival. The dive boat picked us up at the ship avoiding a tender into town.

A fast boat ride took us to Spanish Atoll were the group picked up the gear. I was amazed at the condition of the gear – looked brand new!! Then back on the boat for Turneffe Atoll. There were 3 dive masters for 15 divers, 1 captain, and 1 helper onboard. Was not a “cattle boat” dive, with the small ratio of divers per dive master. Saw turtles, barracudas, moray eels, shrimp, lobster and an assortment of fish. Purple fan coral, black coral, barrel coral were amazing as was the wall. Visibility was 75+ feet, no surge. We felt it was one of the best dives that we experienced.

After the second dive returned back to the boat about 4pm. Did not go into Belize City – not enough time. Heard from other pax, town shopping could be finished in 10 minutes.

 

Sea Days – (Thursday and Friday)

The Captain decided to go faster to avoid Hurricane Dennis – very little motion, but sunny skies on Thursday and some clouds on Friday. Could not have asked for better weather.

 

Port Canaveral (Saturday)

Disembarking took longer this time. In previous years, Skipper Club members were given VIP luggage tags and were among the first off ship. Immigration cleared the ship at 9:00am; our color was not called until 10:00. However, was able to gather luggage and be on our way by 10:45am. Finding your luggage on a carousel was so much easier than hunting the mounds of luggage in Miami.

 

Activities on Board

Typical Carnival offerings. New- you are assigned to a team (red, white, or blue) and your team earns points from the various activities through out the week. Final points are given at the last show on Friday night.

IMHO, to save money, some shows were only offered at 10:30 pm, instead of an early and late. This lead to crowding in the Amber Palace and people sitting on the stairways. (Possible hazard). We did not attend the Talent show offered one evening. IMHO, this should be during the afternoon – not instead of professional offering. Please don’t flame me, I am sure some of the talent is great; I just think this is one way Carnival is cutting expenses.

The family shows (expecting to be G rated) are no longer innocent. The male dancers stripped to thongs while performing “the Full Monty”. Yes, Carnival did tell you that it was a Las Vegas type show but …. The only comedy act at 10:30 on Friday was supposed to be family friendly. Some parts could have been considered non-G rated.

 

Overall Impressions:

 

Did not eat at the Emerald Restaurant. Didn’t want to pay $120 for the four of us! Used the money for jewels instead!

 

Cruise Director –Mark Price, was informative and funny. Never heard/saw Wee Jimmy.

 

Missed CNN or some 24 hour news channel. Previous cruised, Carnival had a four page newspaper. With the news in London, would have liked more information.

 

The ship was full – lots of kids, but we found several places to avoid kids. (Seemed to be more running around on the lower decks and closer to the mid ship pool and slide).

 

Ship was clean, some areas are starting to be shabby, normal wear and tear. Saw people vacuuming common areas twice a day.

 

Loved the fact that no longer did the shops place merchandise out in the walkways! (only exception – “chains by the inch”.

 

Carnival Security was lacking – there were rules but no enforcement.

 

Adult hot tubs were full of kids. Didn’t mind the non-diaper wearing, but objected to the water fights. Went to the Spa hot tub – kid free!

Swimsuit cover-ups were to be worn in the Red Sails Restaurant. Saw a hairy 25 something ‘drip’ on the food in the buffet. (We then ate were the food was served to us).

The port side outdoor decks were no smoking. Yet pax smoked and were not asked to refrain.

 

All of the above incidents were brought to someone’s attention, yet nothing was done.

 

Conclusion

IMHO, Carnival cruises are still one of the best vacation values. Yes, CCL is cutting corners, but how much did fuel prices increase since we booked? Would we cruise again, most definitely YES. Would we try a different line? Depending on the cost. When we booked last Spring, Carnival had the best prices for balcony rooms and the most interesting itinerary.

[pacerzfan]

Nice review...Thanks!!!!!

[emmaco]

Why was this port dropped?

[SoccerMom#3]

Thanks for the review. It sounds like you had a great time.

[Knights on the Beach]

Thanks for posting your review. I'm glad to hear that for the most part you had very good weather; my nephew's family was on your cruise, and I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.

[impcinder]

We never heard officially from Carnival, but from reading these boards, it seems the ship was regularly late departing Progresso and would be late arriving in Port Canavaral. Supposely, wind had an adverse effect.

Another opinion is that more pax wanted to stay longer in Cozumel and that there wasn't that much to do in Progresso.

[Scotch]

IMHO, to save money, some shows were only offered at 10:30 pm, instead of an early and late. This lead to crowding in the Amber Palace and people sitting on the stairways. (Possible hazard).

 

Darn it, I was counting on two showing of each show so that DM, DH and I could all attend in shifts while one stayed with our baby in the cabin (becase baby gets bath at 8 pm and sleeps by 8:30 pm). :( I'm really disappointed. Doesn't make sense to create a hazard (having folks sit on stairs) by having one showing with this size ship/crowd.

[Jenna1983]

I was on the Glory 5/7-5/14 and there were always two shows, unless it was a late night comedian. Other than that, every show was shown at 8 o'clock and 10 or 1030..Had early dinner, went to the 8 o'clock show.

 

Cruise Director –Mark Price, was informative and funny. Never heard/saw Wee Jimmy.

 

Wow! That's surprising you never heard/saw Wee Jimmy! He was EVERYWHERE on our cruise. We rarely saw Mark outside of the shows and the Captain's Party. Wee Jimmy, he was always at Bingo, Colors Party, horse rances, games etc. Mark was great though!

 

IMO, it really was the wind that was the reason they pulled out of Progreso for now. It really was bad. They lost money by getting stuck/out late in that port. I had the 9 hour delay in Progreso and honestly, it sort of sucked because the weather really was very windy. I read somewhere that they hope to go back to Progreso when the weather's better.

[mnsawyer]

Thanks for the review. We sailed the Glory 4/9 and absolutely loved her! We went to Progresso and thought it was only ok - very windy and cool that day so beaching wasn't the hot topic for the day. We should have taken a tour and just walked around in town (not impressed, sorry...) and then back to the pier which was very nice, clean and new. I believe we were back on the ship by 11:00 or so. I feel badly in that Carnival has dumped millions of dollars into the pier and of course, am sure the economic impact on the local economy is devastating since 3,000 people won't be coming every other week.

 

Not sure what you meant about no CNN??? We had more channels on the Glory than ever! Watched the Today show from the NY affiliate every morning with our coffee!

 

We loved the ship, the crew and the itinerary. Also, we loved sailing out of Port Canaveral as well. We'd sail the Glory again next year!

[Scotch]

I was on the Glory 5/7-5/14 and there were always two shows, unless it was a late night comedian. Other than that, every show was shown at 8 o'clock and 10 or 1030..Had early dinner, went to the 8 o'clock show.

 

So is the change to one time for the main evening show just a temporary thing or a new cost cutting decision?

[Jenna1983]

No idea if it's them cost cutting or a temporary thing. The first night, there was only one show @ 1030 since it was the Welcome Aboard show. However, every other night there were two shows @ 830 & 1030. Some nights even had Adult comedy @ Midnight. There was like three or 4 nights of that.

[LadyTechDock]

we took the glory in May. I liked the key west stop since I missed it back in 1970. I went to florida on vacation and missed going to key west because of a hurricane. Aren't the chocolate covered key lime pies great. We now live in arizona so we went to a seafood restaurant when we were there.

 

The only smoking problem I had was the casino. I would have gambled had this been nonsmoking. Just walking through to get from one side to the other gave me a headache there was so much smoke.

 

We were not impressed by progresso. Didn't do any tours, just went to a beach to go swimming. I might have had better things to say had I gone on a tour.

 

The Berlize submarine tour is great. It goes down over 100 feet and there is so much to see.

 

If we ever do the caribean again, it will be in May. The weather was great all 7 days and NO HURRICANES!!!!

[CruiseDawg2001]

Do you remember if they are still doing the pub crawl (and what night they did it)? I have read conflicting reports on the subject. If we get the 8PM dinner as I requested I would do Scarlett's that night to make sure we are done with dinner before it starts.

[Disneycruiser#1]

We just happened to be in Cancun the same week you were on the Glory and the weather was not very nice the 3rd, 4th and 5th..........black flag days, pounding surf, heavy rains, good thing we had books and English CNN......I had sat on our balcony the nights before and watched the ships leave on the horizon not knowing the TS was heading for the Gulf/Yucatan. I think I have bad "weather luck and of course tis the season".....we leave on the Glory on the 6th and after all of these cruises it would be nice to see the eastern caribbean (lol)....last year we left on the CP and were switched from eastern to the western and it ended up being 9 night cruise so I hope we get out of the port. Sorry your weather was not great but glad you did get some dive time in.

 

We are taking our 4 and 7 year old sons and yes they are ship trained aka broken :)....did you happen to notice the childrens menus in the dining rooms?

 

Thanks for your review.

[impcinder]

The table next to us in the dining room had younger children (my DDs 19 & 23). I notice the one boy had macaroni and cheese and chicken fingers a few times. I didn't see a special menu, but then again, we didn't need one.

[Tweety]

On our first cruise with our daughters, they didn't have a special kids menu, but they could get mac & cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter & jelly (but it's on toast), chicken nuggets or pasta. Although, we tried to get them to at least try something new every night since we weren't actually paying for it, if they didn't like it, someone at the table helped finish it up. The waiters were always great about it. They could also order pizza.

[kari333]

We were on the Glory last month June & there were 2 shows every night so surprised that they changed it for July. There is a definate kids menu in the dining room at night - it is the same every nite -chicken fingers, pizza, hamburger, mac & cheese, & one or 2 other items and for dessert small banana split, ice cream. It is a small paper menu given to our small children.We were one of the last ships to go to Progresso & it was extremely hot and there is very little to do there plus carnival's shuttle to town took forever - one shuttle and huge line. Our debarkation also took a very long time due to delays. We didn't get off till 11 am.

[Racks_Please]

Wee Jimmy was everywhere on our last cruise as well. Very funny guy, even though he rigged the Battle of the Sexes.