B2B on Glory, Feb. 28 to March 14

[AryMay]

We just returned a week ago from a b2b (our first!) cruise on the Carnival Glory. In the past I have done extremely long photo reviews of our cruises (links are in my signature), but this time I am going to post the review to my blog instead of Cruise Critic. I realize that many people won't take time to check out the link, but hopefully a few of you will take a look. My main motivation for doing the reviews has always been to preserve the memories for myself, and a personal blog just seems like a better way to do this. I can assure you that I will post even MORE photos on the blog than I would have in a CC review! Here are a few just for fun...

 

 

 

I am still happy to answer any questions on this thread if I am able and you can also leave comments and questions on the blog. I have all of the Fun Times if anyone has any questions on activities that were offered. Here is the link to the blog:

 

My Souvenir Memories

 

It will take me some time before I finish all of the posts for this cruise. I have the first few days complete now and will update this thread as I add more.

 

Unfortunately the second week was when the college student went overboard on the Glory. Since I was not a witness, I do not have any facts other than announcements made by the captain or what I read online in news accounts. The cruise continued, but the incident was on everyone's mind the rest of the week.

 

[kapcruiser]

Thanks for the great review. I'll keep checking back for more.

[alyivan12]

Really excited to read your review! I'll be on the glory in less than 3 weeks!

[AryMay]

Thanks to those of you who have checked out my blog!

 

Although I am getting requests, I don't plan to publish all of the Fun Times. Trying to get them all scanned and posted would take almost forever!! I have 15 different newsletters since a second Fun Times was posted on the day we missed Half Moon Cay. I am more focused on just getting the blog and my photos posted for each day!

 

I did post the American Feast menu from our first formal night, but that is the only menu that I have. Sorry. :(

 

[AryMay]

Since I won't be posting the Fun Times, I thought I could at least show you the flyer that we received at the beginning of each week listing all of the evening entertainment.

 

After not sailing on Carnival for three years, we definitely noticed a cut in the evening entertainment. The musical productions no longer featured a live band or sets, but instead used taped music and a video background. (The shows were part of Carnival's switch to "Playlist" productions.)

 

Out of the four shows, Epic Rock was the only one we could really say we enjoyed. Also, some evenings the entertainment consisted of game shows or karaoke. In the past those evenings would have featured a magician, juggler, singer, hypnotist, etc. Definitely a money saver for Carnival, but not what I consider to be entertainment.

 

Here is Week #1 (Western)

 

 

And Week #2 (Eastern)

 

[Jenny in TX]

Thank you for the link to your blog to read this review. I will be on the Glory in April doing the HMC, GT, St Thomas & San Juan sailing. Really looking forward tot his cruise as we have never been to any of the ports.

[Sparky2]

Since I won't be posting the Fun Times, I thought I could at least show you the flyer that we received at the beginning of each week listing all of the evening entertainment.

 

After not sailing on Carnival for three years, we definitely noticed a cut in the evening entertainment. The musical productions no longer featured a live band or sets, but instead used taped music and a video background. (The shows were part of Carnival's switch to "Playlist" productions.)

 

Out of the four shows, Epic Rock was the only one we could really say we enjoyed. Also, some evenings the entertainment consisted of game shows or karaoke. In the past those evenings would have featured a magician, juggler, singer, hypnotist, etc. Definitely a money saver for Carnival, but not what I consider to be entertainment.

 

We're doing a B2B (4th B2B in a row + one in 2008) on Glory next January.

 

We did a B2B (6 day & 8 day). On the 8 day, they did fly in a "Variety Action Comedy" guy by the name of Max. He was fantastic. This was our first experience with Playlist Productions, and I sure missed the Production Shows & Big Band. No comparison. Oh, well, I don't sail for the evening entertainment.

[AryMay]

I have finished covering all of the ports on Week #1 our our cruise on my Blog: My Souvenir Memories. Still more to come...

 

I did want to point out that the entertainment schedule I posted above for the first week shows we were going to Costa Maya on Thursday. I was actually excited when I saw this. Costa Maya would be a new port for us and one I would much rather visit than Grand Cayman which was on our itinerary.

 

But...in the end this was just a typo. We did stop at Grand Cayman but for us it became a day to enjoy the solitude of an empty ship.

[adoptivemommy]

Thanks for the review. :) :)

[PurdueChefAmber]

Thanks for the review!

[mississauga]

Thank you for your blog. I have enjoyed reading it.

 

We are doing the Eastern itinerary ion May 2 so hope you will have that posted before we go. We leave for Florida April 25 to enjoy a week there before the cruise.

 

We have been on the Glory before but it has been a few years so looking forward to read your take on that itinerary and especially looking forward to the ports of call food item for those ports. A little different for us. It will be our first time trying the new American menu.:D

[mississauga]

In Cozumel, you went to the Money Bar. What was the charge for the loungers and umbrella and did you have to buy the package to get free wifi?

[pirate4me2]

Yay, a good Glory review! We sail her next October so I am really starting to research her. Thanks for posting this!

Edited March 26, 2015 by pirate4me2
I can't type

[quickrate]

Thank you for your blog. I have enjoyed reading it.

 

We are doing the Eastern itinerary ion May 2 so hope you will have that posted before we go. We leave for Florida April 25 to enjoy a week there before the cruise.

 

We have been on the Glory before but it has been a few years so looking forward to read your take on that itinerary and especially looking forward to the ports of call food item for those ports. A little different for us. It will be our first time trying the new American menu.:D

Hi Mary,

I will also be on the Glory May 2. I think we cruised togother on the Breeze a year and a half ago.. I believe that was the cruise John Heald was onboard and we did a meet and greet with him. See you on the ship!

Pat

[mississauga]

Hi Mary,

I will also be on the Glory May 2. I think we cruised togother on the Breeze a year and a half ago.. I believe that was the cruise John Heald was onboard and we did a meet and greet with him. See you on the ship!

Pat

 

Yes Pat, I recognize your screen name and know we did cruise together before. Will be nice to see you again.

[AryMay]

In Cozumel, you went to the Money Bar. What was the charge for the loungers and umbrella and did you have to buy the package to get free wifi?

 

Thanks to those who have checked out my blog! I will keep plugging away and hope to get week #2 done in a timely fashion!

 

To answer your question...there was no charge to use either the loungers or the umbrella at the Money Bar, although I know they expect you to buy food & drinks. I can't really answer your question about wifi because we didn't use it, but I did see quite a few folks who were so my guess is that you do not need to buy a package to get it.

 

Since we were planning to eat lunch at the Money Bar anyway, it just made sense to get the package once we decided to get massages. The massage alone was $30 and but with the $45 package it also included one cocktail, lunch, and a regular non-alcoholic beverage. They had a special lunch menu we ordered off of for the package but it had quite a few items listed. The burrito I got was enormous...and delicious! And as I mentioned in the blog, the frozen mint lemonade was extra good and refreshing! We all enjoyed our cocktails a little later sitting in our lounge chairs.

 

Regardless of whether you get a package or not, they will keep a running tab for you and then you pay at the end of the day. The waiters were hustling taking orders from those in lounge chairs so you don't even need to get up if you don't want to!

 

For us, the Money Bar is just a great way to spend the day in Cozumel. It is one of the closest beach bars to Puerta Maya so the taxi ride is quick and cheap. And the restrooms at the bar are some of the cleanest you will find in Mexico!

 

If you would like to see what the snorkeling is like at the Money Bar, click on the link in my signature to my Carnival Legend review from 2010. I have a lot of underwater photos. Even though the review is 5 years old, the underwater views really haven't changed!

 

[mississauga]

Mary, thanks so much for the invaluable information you are providing here and on your blog.

 

Even though we are not going to Cozumel on this upcoming cruise, I thought I would get the info from you at this appropriate time for you. We cruise a lot and Cozumel will be one of our ports at one time or another so I will just keep the Money Bar in mind for next time.

 

It is always good to learn new things about the ports for future reference.

 

You have been a wealth of information. Thank you thank you.

 

Look forward to reading more of your blog. I have it bookmarked.:)

[1threadshort]

beautiful pictures. what camera did you use.

[AryMay]

beautiful pictures. what camera did you use.

 

Thanks! I took three different cameras! Oh...actually four. I did take a few photos with my iPhone!

 

An older Canon SD 200 - a small camera that I could fit in my purse. I used it a lot around the ship.

 

An underwater Canon D10 - I used this for the ziplining photos and underwater photos in Roatan. I also took photos in St. Thomas with this camera that I will be posting soon.

 

A Canon SX50 - A bridge camera that I bought for our cruise to Alaska last summer. It has an incredible zoom which is fun to play with. For example...I was able to stand on the top deck of the ship and get a photo of Topher (the dog) digging in the sand at Jack's Shack waaaaayyyyy down the beach!

 

 

Edited March 27, 2015 by AryMay

[kapcruiser]

Which side of ship would you prefer cabin?

[ready2cruzagain]

OP...I am following your blog since we will be sailing on the Glory next Jan for 21 days. I am curious, you stated that you stayed in Ft. Lauderdale then had a shuttle take you to the port of Miami. Who did you use???? I want to do this but no idea on who to use to get us to Miami and back.

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[kapcruiser]

We have used SAS in the past and very pleased with them.

[ready2cruzagain]

We have used SAS in the past and very pleased with them.

 

But I don't think that SAS picks you up at the motel in Ft Lauderdale and takes you back to the motel from the port

[AryMay]

OP...I am following your blog since we will be sailing on the Glory next Jan for 21 days. I am curious, you stated that you stayed in Ft. Lauderdale then had a shuttle take you to the port of Miami. Who did you use???? I want to do this but no idea on who to use to get us to Miami and back.

 

We booked the shuttle through SAS Transportation. They picked us up right at the scheduled time of 9:30 a.m. at the hotel, but then we made several more stops at other hotels before we headed to Miami. They made sure the van was TOTALLY full...a very tight fit, believe me! When they dropped us off at the Port of Miami, there were some very angry people that had gotten off the ship and had been waiting for a long time for the shuttle back to the FLL airport. Our driver cautioned us to make sure we got off the ship before 9:30 am to avoid that problem when we returned.

 

Our timing must have been better, because at the end of our cruise, we walked right out of the terminal and the van was there waiting. (We did request luggage tags for early debarkation and got Zone #2. Another option would be to do "self debarkation" but there was no way we could handle all of the luggage we had!) Once in the van we circled around and around the port area for 30 minutes picking up people from other ships. Again, they didn't leave until the van was packed to overflowing. One couple was getting so irritated that they almost got off and took a cab.

 

In the end, the price was much cheaper than using a Carnival transfer and they got us where we needed to be. The drivers were quite friendly as well. And to clarify...as mentioned on a post above...SAS will PICK UP at Ft. Lauderdale hotels (there is a list on their website), but return trips from Port of Miami only go to the FLL airport.