Carnival Glory Eastern Caribbean Review Nov. 29-Dec. 6

[ducksmama]

More More

[jpm1973]

Thanks for the review! It's great to see families enjoying each other's company :) And, having an upcoming cruise (my first with Carnival) booked soon, love seeing pictures of the Glory!

 

Did you go to any of the deck parties? How were they?

 

We actually did not go to any of the deck parties but saw a couple of them while they were going on - looked like everyone was having a good time! I will say the CD (Eversen Bevelle) was outstanding - always out and about interacting with guests. He seemed more involved that the CD on my one other cruise.

[jpm1973]

Even in the midst of a downpour it was easy to see why people rave about their stops at HMC – such a pretty island. We ran for cover at the Rum Runner bar to wait out the worst of this short deluge. Where is everyone? Oh right, behind me under cover!

 

 

 

Once the rain let up a bit I stopped by the excursion hut to ask about our cabana, and unfortunately heard the staff telling everyone that all excursions (snorkeling, jet skis, etc.) had been cancelled because of the weather. I felt bad for those who had planned on an excursion here but understood why they’d not want to take a chance with the weather being what it was. The crewmember told me that we could catch the tram to our cabana so we walked over to the tram loading area and waited. Not two minutes later the tram arrived and we were on our way to cabana 4!

 

 

 

Having read so much here about the cabanas I knew what to expect but mom was pleasantly surprised at all it included. She had rented a cabana on a previous cruise on a different port stop but she said it was nothing compared to what you get here. Based on her description it sounded more like one of the clam shells you can rent to cover your lounge chairs. Our chosen beverages and food had already been delivered so all that was left to do was hope for some sun to warm us up. Not long after we arrived at the cabana we did see some clearing skies and the sun even made an appearance for awhile! I took advantage of the clearing to get a few shots.

 

 

 

[jpm1973]

After some time in the sun I went to the BBQ lunch to grab mom and I some food. It all looked good but I opted for the jerk chicken and a couple different salads they had. It was all pretty tasty. Otherwise the day was pretty uneventful. We spent most of it lounging in the sun on our cabana deck, drinking a few beers and enjoying the sun (when it came out) and the beautiful scenery. While I did take a walk down the beach and got my feet wet, I never did venture further into the water since it just never felt warm enough. The beach seemed pretty busy earlier in the day, but definitely emptied out as the afternoon wore on. We made our way to the tender pier around 3:45 and were back on board the ship by 4:15. A few more shots from the island and our ride back:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realize now I got very few pictures of the island itself but I have tons of the ship. Even more reason to go back! So even despite the on and off rain, the day was pretty fantastic. As I’d heard from many people it is a beautiful beach and the island itself is just a great place to spend a relaxing day. Next up…rocking and rolling on our first sea day.

Edited December 10, 2014 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

Thank you so much for doing a review. We are cruising Glory over New Years. I'm loving reading your review and seeing your pictures. Makes my time go a little faster. :D

 

Not too much longer to go! I'm sure you'll have a great time. :)

[kona_wahine]

We did the same itinerary in January on the liberty. HMC was windy and cold the day we went. We are going back in April on the glory. I don't know what I'll do if the weather is bad!!

[2 cruzen]

I think it may be the same bartender; he mentioned being on the Liberty in the past. Here he is...I have a better picture somewhere but this is what I found right away.

 

 

Thanks, I think that IS the Brian from Liberty..:D

[17andacruiseaddict]

Yup that's Brian! I'm friends with him on FB and also met him while on the Liberty. Considering the Glory again for April 4th and excited for the possibility to have some more vodka soaked strawberries or pineapple with him lol. Those things are disgusting and toxic. Definitely get the job done. And Brian makes awesome drinks

[pbmsmile]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the rest of it! :D

[CruisingObsessed]

We actually did not go to any of the deck parties but saw a couple of them while they were going on - looked like everyone was having a good time! I will say the CD (Eversen Bevelle) was outstanding - always out and about interacting with guests. He seemed more involved that the CD on my one other cruise.

 

Thanks! I heard his staff is really good too. Can't wait to find out! :)

[puffer46]

Thanks for the review. Going on the Glory January 10th. My 3rd cruise. I'm getting so excited and your review is increasing my excitement. Can't wait.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

 

I'm really enjoying your review so much. We too are going on the Jan. 10th sailing on the Glory. There are eight of us in our group from Upstate New York. Looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. :D

[jpm1973]

After returning to the ship we spent a little time on the balcony watching our departure from HMC. We went back to the dining room for dinner again, this time closer to 7 and we did have a short wait for a table. Mom and I both had the shrimp cocktail; she opted for a Caesar salad and I had the gazpacho (yum!); and for entrees she chose the veal and I had the port of call entree - Caribbean pepper steak. It was all good, though mom wasn't a huge fan of the veal. For desert I got peach pie (meh) and mom again chose the melting chocolate cake.

 

After dinner we paid a return visit to the casino, mom playing slots and me at the craps table again. I did better than the previous night but mom left some of her money behind. The seas had gotten noticeably rougher the further we got from HMC and it was pretty rocky on board. We went to Alchemy for some more drinks and it wasn't long before I had to say goodnight - the motion was just too much for me. I went back to the cabin, took some Bonine and crashed in bed while mom tried to win back some of her money from the slots. This little guy was waiting for me in the cabin:

 

 

Next up...more rocking and rolling on our first sea day.

[jpm1973]

Day 3 – At Sea

 

Since this was a sea day, neither mom nor I felt any need to rush to get out of bed. So we didn’t! I ordered some room service coffee for around 9:30, and we took our time getting ready to start the day. On my last cruise I never made it to the sea day brunch so we were definitely planning on that for today. We were hoping for nice weather so we could spend some time outside, but this is what I saw first thing:

 

 

A few bright spots, but mostly cloudy and quite windy. The rain seemed to come and go, though never came down too hard. The seas were still very rough as well, so it wasn’t going to be such a smooth go of it. Luckily the Bonine I took worked its magic so despite feeling the ship movement, it wasn’t making me sick anymore. I little later I did happen to catch this nice view:

 

 

And to give you an idea of how rocky it was, these were all over the ship on this day:

 

 

After a few cups of coffee in our cabin, we made our way to the aft Platinum Restaurant for the sea day brunch. We both had our free drink coupons to use so we each ordered a bloody Mary. I opted for a ham and cheese omelet with onions, some bacon, and hash browns, while mom got just a cheese omelet with sausage on the side. The food was good and the bloody Marys even better.

 

After brunch we made our way upstairs to the casino yet again…what else do you do on a day at sea with no sun to be found? Today they were holding a slot tournament so we decided to enter. The entry fee was $25 and that got you a seat in one of the qualifying rounds, where you would compete against eight others to rack up the most points in five minutes. The top nine from all of the qualifying rounds would then move on to the finals where they would compete for five additional minutes for a chance at first and second place. First place won $500 and a seat in the Ultimate Slot Tournament Finals on the Carnival Dream in May 2015; second place won a seat at the Finals.

 

Now if you’ve never participated in a slot tournament before, it’s quite easy. You sit at your chosen machine and hit the “max bet” or “repeat bet” button as fast as you can and hope your machine is feeling generous. Mom got the last spot in the first qualifying round so I put my name down for the second qualifying round. Mom hit her machine like it deserved it and wound up with a pretty good score; no telling how it would hold up though after the subsequent rounds. For my qualifying round I chose machine 8, my lucky number, and beat that “max bet” button like there was no tomorrow. I ended up besting mom’s score, but she was still among the top nine. Maybe we both would make it to the final round!

 

We didn’t hang around for the subsequent qualifying rounds, as there was more than two hours until the final round line up would be determined. So mom found a slot machine to play, and I found a spot near the casino bar and read for a while, trying to ignore the endless rocking of the ship. Periodically I would check in on the slot tournament standings; mom unfortunately fell out of the top nine but I was holding on. Once they called the final qualifying round I stuck around to see how things shook out and I ended up at number six – I couldn’t believe I’d actually made it to the final round.

 

 

You know how some people are just always lucky – they win at everything? Well I am not one of those people. I think I won a CD from a radio contest once 20 years ago. So you can understand my shock at actually making it into the final round here. Of course I knew my odds of doing well enough to win a second time in one day were slim, but it was fun trying.

 

I was able to snag my lucky machine number 8 again for the finals so at least had that going for me. By this point my mom was there along with a few other friends from our meet-up group to cheer everyone on. They gave us a countdown and then the five-minute race was on! In the first round I think I had a pretty slow start in terms of points, but hit some big payouts toward the end that really pushed my score up. This time it seemed more consistent with the payouts, but had several spins in a row where I was getting nothing at all.

 

The casino host was on a mic keeping track of the leaders, and he kept mentioning another player's name. I kept trying to look at who was ahead and how far behind I was, but figured it didn’t really matter anyway so I might as well just keep hitting that button and hope for the best. Not long after I heard the casino host say my name, and then the other name, and then my name again. Sounded like I might actually be giving the leader a bit of a race for first! I couldn’t believe it but just kept hitting that button, hoping for some big payoffs in the last few seconds. They called time and miracle of miracles: I had actually won! It was a close race between me and one other player right up to the end apparently.

 

So in addition to the $500 and seat at the final tournament next May, I also received a Carnival Players Club t-shirt and a 24k gold plastic ship on a stick. Not a bad take for 10-minutes’ work!

 

 

Right after the slot tournament was the time I’d set up for our slot pull and there were already a few people ready to go. We ended up with 13 total and we each contributed $15 to a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine. We’d take turns spinning, each of us getting at least five spins with the max $3 bet per spin. After everyone took their five spins, we still had enough in the machine for everyone to spin at least three more times. Group consensus was to keep spinning and hope for a big payout. After several more rounds we were down to less than $50, so the group chose the two luckiest members to spin out the remaining cash. Unfortunately we didn’t hit that big jackpot but we had a good time trying! One of our group members had gotten prizes to give out to the top three earners in our pull: first place received a Players Club t-shirt, second place a ship on a stick, and third a bottle of champagne.

 

After the slot pull and tournament, I decided I’d spent enough time in the casino for a while and went back to the cabin to drop off my stuff and pick up my book. I made my way down to the lobby bar, found a quiet couch in the corner, and read for a bit. A little later I went to go check on mom in the casino and we decided we would skip the dining room that night (it was formal night and we planned to get dressed up for the second formal night) and just grab some food from the Lido buffet. We stopped at Alchemy first for a drink, then made our way upstairs for some dinner.

 

After dinner we ventured back to the casino, but this time luck was not on my side. We tried blackjack for a bit; I lost pretty quickly but mom did pretty well. After she returned to the slots and I lost a little more with the dice again. We ended the night with one last drink at Alchemy before turning in for the night. Here’s what was waiting for us in our room:

 

 

Next up…San Juan.

Edited December 12, 2014 by jpm1973

[ducksmama]

Can't wait..

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[VacaLovers2]

Great review so far...Keep is coming!

[B-Turn]

Thanks for the review. I was on this cruise as well for my first ever cruise and it's nice to see a different perspective.

[1stTimeCruiserAmy]

Great review! I'm booked on the Glory on the January 10 sailing! We have an aft-wrap on Deck 8. Looks like your room was back near there. Did you have any issues with your room? The motion of the ship? Sounds from the deck above?

 

Also, you mentioned your car rental from FLL? We are flying into FLL and staying at the Hilton Miami Airport. I wonder if that's maybe not the best place to stay since it could be an expensive trip to the port. What time did you head to the port? Sorry for all the questions, this is technically my second cruise, but the first was 12 years ago and we did it easy style where Carnival picked us up from the airport and I don't remember any more about it. Was the car inexpensive? Where did you drop it off? Can't wait to hear more about your adventure!

[DavyJoneses]

Thanks for the pics.

[nybumpkin]

Great review! I'm booked on the Glory on the January 10 sailing! We have an aft-wrap on Deck 8. Looks like your room was back near there. Did you have any issues with your room? The motion of the ship? Sounds from the deck above?

jpm1973 - Love your review! We've sailed on Glory 5 times - one Eastern Caribbean, three Canada out of NYC, and one Western Caribbean. Congrats on the slot tournament.:cool:

 

Amy - We've had aft wrap 8455 twice. We love this cabin - didn't have any noise from above and no problems with motion for us. Do keep in mind that the balcony can be seen from decks above if you're standing by the rail - when we were on Glory this past August someone on one of the decks below apparently didn't realize that and we saw a lot more than we should have.:eek:

[jpm1973]

Great review! I'm booked on the Glory on the January 10 sailing! We have an aft-wrap on Deck 8. Looks like your room was back near there. Did you have any issues with your room? The motion of the ship? Sounds from the deck above?

 

 

 

Also, you mentioned your car rental from FLL? We are flying into FLL and staying at the Hilton Miami Airport. I wonder if that's maybe not the best place to stay since it could be an expensive trip to the port. What time did you head to the port? Sorry for all the questions, this is technically my second cruise, but the first was 12 years ago and we did it easy style where Carnival picked us up from the airport and I don't remember any more about it. Was the car inexpensive? Where did you drop it off? Can't wait to hear more about your adventure!

 

 

Our room was great - never heard any noise from above and only occasionally would hear the stewards in the morning as their work area was across the hall from our cabin. Loved being one floor away from Lido. Since this particular sailing was rocky in general, can't really say if our cabin location exacerbated that it not.

 

We didn't rent a car but rather had a car service take us from FLL to our hotel in Miami. I'd imagine you could find a good deal on a one way rental where you pick it up in FLL and return to a location in Miami. Someone on our cruise did this through Alamo and they provided a shuttle from the return location (Miami airport I think) to the port.

 

I think we left our hotel downtown around 10:45 and were at the port by 11.

 

Please let us know what you think of the aft-wrap - would love to try one of those on my next cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[2 cruzen]

jpm1973 - Love your review! We've sailed on Glory 5 times - one Eastern Caribbean, three Canada out of NYC, and one Western Caribbean. Congrats on the slot tournament.:cool:

 

Amy - We've had aft wrap 8455 twice. We love this cabin - didn't have any noise from above and no problems with motion for us. Do keep in mind that the balcony can be seen from decks above if you're standing by the rail - when we were on Glory this past August someone on one of the decks below apparently didn't realize that and we saw a lot more than we should have.:eek:

 

So excited, we have cabin 8455 booked! There are 8 of us, the rest on in inside cabins, so I can't wait to share this balcony! :D

[puffer46]

I so am enjoying your review... I love that you made the most of the good and the not so good. Example; bad weather, winning and losing in the casino, dinner items (good & bad). You seem like such an up person !!! Can't wait for the rest of your review to come. I hope we have better weather in Jan. than you seem to have had. :rolleyes:

 

Linda S.

[thephillykid]

Checked in with FTTF at the port waiting to get on the GLORY.....we will add to comments when we get back next week.

[INCHARGE]

Congrats on your slot pull win! Can I please ask you a question? When you go to the Ultimate Slot Tournament in May on the Dream, is the cruise paid for, or do you have to purchase your own ticket? I'm asking because I want to decide if I will enter the slot pull on my January cruise. Thanks

 

It makes me smile to see a young man spending so much time with your mom. I'm sure mom appreciated it, especially since you do not live near each other. Wonderful quality time, and Kudos to you. :D

[jpm1973]

Congrats on your slot pull win! Can I please ask you a question? When you go to the Ultimate Slot Tournament in May on the Dream, is the cruise paid for, or do you have to purchase your own ticket? I'm asking because I want to decide if I will enter the slot pull on my January cruise. Thanks

 

 

 

It makes me smile to see a young man spending so much time with your mom. I'm sure mom appreciated it, especially since you do not live near each other. Wonderful quality time, and Kudos to you. :D

 

 

Thanks! It was a lot of fun cruising with mom...hope to do it again.

 

The slot tournament win only gets you a seat at the grand finals - you still have to book and pay for the cruise itself. Not sure if I'll be doing that yet or not; as of now the prices on that sailing are a bit high for my liking. I'd say enter the tournament - Only $25 and if I can win you can!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums