Carnival Glory Review - Eastern

[pbastedo]

A group of nine had a fantastic time on our 7-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Glory from July 23 – 30. We flew from LAX into Orlando with the threat of Tropical Storm Franklin hovering around the Bahamas, our first port of call. We arrived in Orlando, on schedule, the day before our cruise and had to wait two hours for our luggage due to a lightning storm (understandable). We rented a 12-passenger van from Budget for our drive to Cape Canaveral that afternoon. As the rest of the group was at baggage claim, I went to get the van. Since I had a Budget FastBreak card I just went straight to the garage and within 5 minutes was in the van. When our luggage finally came I picked everyone up at curbside and proceeded to Cape Canaveral. It took us about 45 minutes to get to our hotel, the Radisson at the Port. This was the perfect place to stay the night before our cruise. The hotel had a festive atmosphere, a beautiful pool area with an outdoor bar and restaurant, so we ate and drank poolside. I stayed in a King Suite (two-room and about $30 more than a normal room). It was well worth it. The suite was much bigger and nicer than the normal room.

 

 

 

The next morning I drove the group to port (about one mile from the hotel) and dropped them off with all our bags about 11:00 am. I took the car back to Budget (just down the street from the Radisson about ½ mile) and they took me back to port. Budget was extremely accommodating both for drop-off and pick-up. I got to the port about 11:30 am and was on the ship ready for lunch by 12:00 noon.

 

 

 

Rooms – We were able to get to our rooms at 1:00 pm, some of them were not quite ready. Most of us had inside cabins on the main deck, one couple had a balcony. The ocean view and balconies are a little bigger than the inside cabins, but we felt we had plenty of room. Everyone commented on how comfortable the beds were (they must have been outfitted with the new mattress system.)

 

 

 

Smoke- I was concerned about smoking on the ship and getting a cabin that had a smoke smell. I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not a problem at all. They only place I had a hard time with the smoke smell was the Casino (I stayed away), and some of the small lounges. Otherwise smoke was not a problem and I am very picky about smoke smell.

 

 

 

Food – The food in the main dining room was great. Some dishes were better than others, but overall we loved the food. The buffet in the Lido Deck was pretty good with a variety of selections. The breakfast food I thought was fair to poor. I tried the buffet on the Lido and the dining room. After a couple of breakfasts, I just ended up skipping breakfast and waiting for an early lunch.

 

 

 

Ports – Our first stop, Nassau, we all went to the Atlantis. Some took a taxi ($4 each way), some took the water taxi ($3 each way). The water taxi does not drop you off at the door to the hotel, instead you have to walk about ½ mile after you get off the boat. I would recommend taking the water taxi one way and the land taxi back. Anyway, we just walked around the Atlantis and admired the beach and aquarium before going back to the ship. At St. Thomas our deck was the last to go through immigration and get off the ship. The order was done by random drawing at the orientation talk the day before. We were off the ship at 12:30 pm and headed to Trunks Bay on St. John. We had to take a 15-minute cab ride to the ferry, a 15-minute ferry ride to St. John, and then another 15-minute cab ride to Trunks Bay. It was worth it, the beach is beautiful blue with great snorkeling. We spent about 2 hours there before heading back on the 4:00 pm ferry, they leave every hour on the hour. We made it back to the ship by 5:30 pm. Cost each way – 1st taxi $9, ferry $3, 2nd taxi $5, Admission to Trunk Bay - $4. In St. Martin we just took a cab to Orient Beach and hung out there for the day. Orient Beach is a long stretch with many different bars along the beach. They will rent you a chair and umbrella. We paid $14 a couple which included two drinks. They beach has parasailing, wave runners, and some snorkeling near the Club Orient side. We did take a walk to check out the mostly nude section. After seeing a few old men and a beached whale, I decided to turn back. From our beach spot we saw a few topless girls walk by and maybe one naked man.

 

 

 

Evening Shows- we though the shows were great. They had several comedians, an illusion (magic) show, and a tribute to Broadway. We loved them all with maybe one exception. Also, the cruise director, Mark Price, was great. He is funny, humble, positive, and has a great singing voice.

 

 

 

Disembarkment – We arrived in port on time. I chose to do self-assist (carry my one luggage off the ship) so I could get the van and be ready when everyone else in the group got off the ship. They started calling people at about 7:30 am (I was ready), but my deck (2 – main deck), was not called for self-assist until 9:20 am. I carried my bags, waited in short lines and was off the ship quickly. Budget had two shuttle vans in the parking lot ready to go, so I was on my way to pick up the van in no time. The rest of the group was called about 10:45 am. They call the upper decks first and work their way down, so deck 2 was the 2nd to last to disembark.

 

 

 

Anyway, we all had a great time, dodged tropical storms and hurricanes and had wonderful weather. The only rain we hit was when out at sea and just a shower or two.

Azure Seas 1981

Carnival Inspiration - Western Caribbean - 2004

[trish614]

Thanks for the review. We're sailing on the Glory on Saturday!

[SoccerMom#3]

Great review! Sounds like everyone had a great time.

[MelBCroozer]

Hi Soccermom#3

 

Hope you are having a great summer. Just wanted to say how since we have chatted before. My kids are about to start school and are still reliving their cruise. I hope you get to plan another cruise with your family.

 

Take care,

MelBCroozer

[SoccerMom#3]

Hi Mel,

 

It's hard to believe summer is almost over. My kids go back to school in 3 weeks. How was your cruise? It sounds like all Glory cruises are great.

 

I've tentatively booked Triumph for Thanksgiving since my kids have the entire week off from school but now my 15 DD is worried that she will miss too much homework time. I'm ready to just let my kids fend for themselves while my DH and I cruise. Ugh

 

Elise

[basketballmom]

We were on the Glory the same week as you! We also rented from Budget (loved the fastbreak program) and stayed at the Radisson. The Radisson is well worth the extra money spent. The pool there is great!

 

I echo your comments about the week. Although we were lucky in St. Thomas, we were off the ship by 10:45 because of our tour booked with Godfrey.

[Gabsabunch42]

Thanks for the review! We are also sailing this Saturday. When were the formal nights?

[Gabsabunch42]

 

I echo your comments about the week. Although we were lucky in St. Thomas, we were off the ship by 10:45 because of our tour booked with Godfrey.

 

We also have Godfrey booked. How can I be sure to get off early for that. Do I need to go to the purser's desk with a copy of my E-mail from Mr. Godfrey?

[Disneycruiser#1]

I have 2 questions if someone has the time. We leave on the Glory on Saturday.

 

1. If Immigration is called by random order of decks what if you have an excursion booked through CCL that leaves earlier?

 

2. What nights were the formal and semi formal nights?

 

Thanks :)

DC

[P and J of VA]

I was on this cruise also. First they called for all passengers with tours 11 or before. Then they called for those with tours 12 or before. You did not have to show any proof of a tour. We had an 11:30 tour and it took us 15 minutes max to go through the whole process.

[P and J of VA]

The formal nights were Sunday and Thursday. Though Thurs there were many men not even wearing coats. Sunday night was pretty dressy however.

[Disneycruiser#1]

So if we do not have a tour then we should expect to be off around 12:30 ? thanks!

[MelBCroozer]

Soccermom #3

 

Our cruise was great on the Glory. The kids are still looking at their pictures and video. We had friends who went on the Triumph this summer. My kids return to school on Aug 12th. Summer is about over for them. Enjoy your summer. If you would like to keep in touch with e-mail, my e-mail address is mcbroadbridge@aol.com.

 

MelBCroozer

[mnsawyer]

We sailed the Glory (western) in april and loved it. We too, rented from Budget and we were pleased at the service we received in Cocoa Beach. I did not think the smoke was bad at all with the exception of the casino which is to be expected. We enjoyed the entertainment and dining. We didn't get sick of breakfast in that we tried to stay pretty healthy and there was always a good selection. Eggs and bacon would get pretty sickening after a day or two but that's just me and of course there is so much to choose from.

 

Thanks for your review - sounds like you had a great time

[basketballmom]

I'm not sure what time the last floor got off in St. Thomas. I didn't hear many people complaining so it might not have been that bad.

 

Just get in the immigration line with a copy of your confirmation. We were asked to show proof of our tour time before we were escorted past the line. I just showed a copy of the email I received from Godfrey confimring the tour and time. Carnival booked excursions will fall into the tours before 11 and tours before 12 category and they will wait until you are all there.

 

You will enjoy your tour with Godfrey. He was really nice and we learned a lot about the island of St. Thomas. The tour was well worth the $20 pp.

[Disneycruiser#1]

Are there laundry facilities on the Glory we leave on Saturday and I really am usually up to date and informed but this time.....oh well. Packing for little ones is hard.

 

Also in St. Thomas we did not book an excursion we were going to head out on our own to Megan's Bay so I will not anything to show but if we dock at 10:00 am then hopefully we will be off by 12:30 pm.

 

Thanks for any info about the laundry or sending it out. I always take my travel Shout wipes and Travel All to wash in the sinks but like a back up :)

 

DC

[Gabsabunch42]

Basketballmom, thank you for all your information. You have been a big help!

[TonyCinNYC]

I was on this cruise as well.We had a great time the ship was beautiful and we celebrated my 49th birthday on board on the 27 of July. The golden dining room waitresses we had were excellentan gave me a real wonderful birthday celebration.Coincidently it was one of my table mates birthday as well on the same day.All in all everything was fantastic and I loved everything about the cruise except just one thing:some of you may not like what I am about to say.These are just my observations and opinionsand are not ment to offend anyone.Here we go: My God,I have never seen so many obese people in my life in one place at one time.And judging by they way they were gorging themselves it's no wonder they are as big as they are.I didn't think it was possible for anyone to eat as much as they were.So be it ,I was a bit turned off by this because I'm not used to seeing such groos lack of table manners.Once again just my opinion! Other than this it was all great.I had great table mates and made many new friends and I'm just wondering why no one showed at the Azure bar on Monday except for MY wife and I and Richard(lTaylor)from the boards.What happened to basketball mom and all the others?

[Imasealuvr]

Thanks for the great wealth of info. Can't wait for our sailing on Glory 9/10/05.

[basketballmom]

Hey Tony, I showed up at 10:15 and stayed until 11:00 but didn't see anyone else there. Where did you guys sit? I was so disappointed because I thought no one showed up. I was waiting around the bar/table area in front of the pizza place.

 

Laundry answer: We were on the Riveira Deck 1. The laundry was located right across from cabin 1359. If you are lucky, try to get the first washer as you walk in the door. It was malfunctioning on our cruise to our favor. You didn't need to put money in it. I did 3 loads for free!

[TonyCinNYC]

Basketballmom we were at the same place from about 10am to 2pm taking the sun and having drinks!!!So was richard,too bad we didn't see each other. Maybe next time.By the way I sent in a fabulous picture to the t-shirt contest but no matter how good it is I won't win because the room host took offense to my cmments on Obesity on the ship.Too bad.Well maybe next time!! Bye and nice review I couldn't have said it better myself..

[basketballmom]

Hi Tony:

 

I'm sorry I missed you and Richard. Hope you had a great birthday on board. DH and I had a great anniversary.

 

I have to agree with you, I saw way too many people that shouldn't have even thought about wearing a bikini! Don't people look in the mirror before they go out ;) And then there are all those kids who took the elevators up one floor. TAKE THE STAIRS KIDS!

 

I submitted my review yesterday so we'll see how long it takes to get posted under the review section. I broke it up into 3 installments so people wouldn't have to wait.

[TonyCinNYC]

Basketballmom I saw your review and it was very good. May I add that if the ship was a bit less crowded it would have made things easier for everyone.Aside from this and the opinion I stated previously it was a wonderful cruise and the weather was perfect.I even got to take pictures with the Captain at the private party.Nice touch.We spoke in Italian together and he was thrilled to find a passenger who was able to speak to.I also met his wife and kids who were on board.All the officers are allowed to have their families on board 1 month per year if they choose to.What a nice vacation for the family.Hopefully we'll meet in the future.BYe

[TonyCinNYC]

Just bumping !! to have others see the review

[basketballmom]

Boy, being able to stay on the cruise ship one month! Can you imagine the sea legs you'd have afterwards:).