Sailed Breeze and just got off Glory!

[portlandpete]

We just returned from the Glory yesterday and I wanted to give a little review of our time on the ship. I did a review with photos of the Breeze but I don’t have enough time to review this ship like I did before. But I get so much valuable information from CC I thought I could maybe help someone else. I will separate each part of the cruise so if you don’t care about our hotel stay or excursions just skip over them and get to what you may want information on. A little background on us: We have sailed Celebrity and Princess and we were curious how Carnival would be compared to them and I am happy to say our first Carnival cruise on the Breeze was our best cruise. So we figured let’s try a small, older ship and see if the Breeze was so great because it was bigger and newer. We are 58 years old from Maine and have been married 39 years and love to travel!

 

Hotel: We stayed at the InterContinental Miami near Bayside Marketplace. We arrived from MIA and the cab fare was 30.00 plus tip. We arrived around 6pm to no lines at all. We paid 178 (on LMT) for a double bed city view room. I asked for an upgrade and got a view of the Port! And it was no cost for the upgrade! Lovely to wake up to see our ship waiting for us!! As I unpacked my husband went to the CVS right around the corner for soda and granola bars to take with us. It was dark when we left the hotel for dinner but many people were out so it was a really nice 5 minute walk to the Bayside Marketplace. There are many restaurants and shops there. It was a beautiful way to start the cruise by being able to eat outside after the long, long winter we had! There were NO elevator waits at all and in the morning we walked outside and there was a cab waiting for us and we paid under 10.00 plus tip to get to the Port.

 

Arrival: We arrived at the Port at 10:30 and we had FTTF. There were already a lot of people there when we arrived. I loved sitting and watching everything and they even had some dancing and singing to get you in the mood. At 11:30 they started letting people on. Even though we had FTTF our luggage did not arrive to our cabin until 3:30 so we were on the ship for a while before we got it. Not a big deal at all to us but if you have FTTF your luggage might not be there as early as you want.

 

Cabin: We were on a balcony Lido deck and loved it!! We had wonderful neighbors because we never heard anything. There was no running the halls or anything but I know that is the luck of the draw and you can’t count on that. Our room stewards were excellent. We never saw them but they filled our cooler 2 times a day with ice and the cabin was kept spotless. We love Lido deck because when we want a drink or food to enjoy on our own balcony it’s nice to just run out and get it. We got the towel animals not every night and that was ok with us. We had more than enough room for storage and everything was very clean. The bed was super comfortable and the sheets felt really good. We bring our own portable fan and it was not a problem at all bringing it on board. On the 2nd night the room was very, very hot. We went to guest services and asked if someone could look at it. We got back to our room very late and it was still hot but we managed to sleep. We woke up in the morning and it had been fixed through the night. The great part is we received a letter saying they gave us a credit for the day for both of us because of it going out! I thought that was great customer service! We did not complain at all and really just asked for it to be looked into so I think that was great of Carnival to do that.

 

Food: We thought the food wasn’t that good. Sorry, but I have to be honest! That said we never went hungry and it didn’t affect the cruise. We went to the dining room and I got Prime Rib and it was at the most a quarter inch thick and I asked for it rare and it was gray. Yes, gray. The potato was cold and the waiter brought us the wrong desserts. The waiter was great and we didn’t say anything we just decided we would eat other places which we did. We didn’t think the food on the Breeze was that good either so we knew what to expect and obviously we love cruising Carnival or we would not have booked the Glory! We loved the Steakhouse and everything there was perfect! We thought well worth the 35.00 per person plus tip. We also loved the Fish and Chips, Blue Iguana Cantina, Guys Burgers, and the pizza. The buffet food was just ok. We started our meals with salads first and then went back for the food and always managed to find something. There was always a line for the pizza but even though it looked long it didn’t take as long as you would think. We also went to the omelet station at breakfast and they were perfect! Don’t go in the buffet line but go over to the starboard side and there is no line for the omelet only station. One day they had someone passing out bacon and another day you got it yourself so not sure how they normally do it. We also ate the brunch in the Platinum restaurant and it was very good. So as you can see you can always find something and really we look at it like we are not cooking it or cleaning so we are fine with food not being as good as we would like. If you are a foodie than I can see that you would maybe be disappointed.

 

To be continued!

[portlandpete]

Entertainment: We loved the music on the Breeze and the Glory was even better!! I know I read complaints about the entertainment but for us we were very happy with the entertainment and found there was so much to do at night that we didn’t know if we could fit it all in. We couldn’t! We were out late every single night! We especially liked the live music of The Whole Notes! They were very good. We also enjoyed Christian and Keith. We loved how they had many different musical options and different venues they would play. The DJ when he played in the lobby was ok but around the pool way too loud for us! We also enjoyed the piano bar and the comedians. The line for the comedians were long but on the Breeze we never went because of that so we decided this time we would wait and it was well worth it. We even watched 1 movie at night and loved the popcorn. It was very relaxing. We went to the 3 Playlist Productions shows and really enjoyed them. Our favorite was Epic Rock. We thought they sang and danced really well and liked the video in the background. But what we realized is if they play the same 3 shows on every ship that would be boring for us. We felt like once we saw each show than it was enough for us. So I can totally understand the complaints of frequent cruisers. My DH played roulette and won 240.00!! We both played video poker and walked away only losing 50.00 but we played for quite a while so it was fun. The smoke wasn’t as bad as it was on the Breeze so we were able to play longer. We also went to karaoke and there were some really great singers there. There were deck parties but that really is not our thing. However, when we would walk through the lido deck there were many people enjoying it.

 

Ship: We loved this ship! Every crew member was smiling and very friendly to us. They were constantly cleaning and the ship was in great shape. After reading so many things about the colors being gaudy we did not find it that way at all. It was colorful but we thought in a fun way. I liked how the Breeze’s atrium is very open and Glory’s wasn’t as much but you could still hear and look over to see what was going on in lobby. There seemed to be more pools on the Glory and the AFT pool actually closed overhead. There were many hot tubs. The lido pool area was very open with lots of seating but it was really sunny! Great for the people who tan but we stay out of the sun. That said we don’t spend hardly any time around the pool. We go to the pool area late in the afternoon/early evening when it clears out. We are not into the pool games or the music there. But many, many people are because it was packed on sea days!! I did notice there were always chairs available if you wanted to watch what was going on there. We always found shade around the decks and liked the quiet for reading. Even though there were many people sitting near us it was not the party atmosphere of the pool area. That’s why I think Carnival is a perfect fit for us because we get the entertainment we like but the quiet you can find when you need it. I loved the spa on the Breeze and got the spa pass for the week when we sailed on her. There really isn’t a spa on the Glory. I remembered reading that there was a hot tub that no one uses and you can find it by going through the changing room in the gym. So I had to try it and was disappointed. It feels like you are in the middle of the gym! Yes, I was only one using it but it was so hot I couldn’t even stay in it. I don’t think I would have anyway because it was to open for me. So that hot tub didn’t work but there were many more on this ship if I really wanted to use one!! I also read complaints about the elevators and it was not an issue for us. We maybe waited the longest for just a couple of minutes. We never saw kids playing on them either. But there were very few kids on this cruise and the ones we saw were mostly younger.

 

Passengers: Everyone we came in contact was friendly! Seriously we did not come in contact with any rude people at all. I didn’t see saving of chairs on the decks or theater either. No cutting on any lines in the buffet or pizza line or anything like that. I did notice late afternoon when we would go to the pool area that there were babies in the hot tubs with the parents. The hot tubs were packed! I mean lots of kids and adults. Some of the hot tubs had just kids in them too. I didn’t see the kids act up at all but I know I wouldn’t want all those kids in with me!! All the kids I saw were well behaved and that’s why we loved going to the pool in the late afternoon because the kids are so fun to watch!

 

To be continued!

Edited May 3, 2015 by portlandpete

[pooksma]

Enjoying your take on the Glory.

 

Keep those thoughts coming please.

[portlandpete]

Ports:

Grand Cayman we have visited before and did sting ray and snorkeling which was great. This time we we went to Calico Jacks. We took a taxi which was 5.00 per person. They filled the taxi up and away we went. I loved the water at Calico Jacks but the slope into the water was very steep and hard to get in and out of. The water was beautiful though. We paid 5.00 each for a chair and we were in the shade so we didn't need an umbrella. We took the taxi back and didn’t like it at all. I read they waited to taxi was full and that is exactly what they do. They had taxi’s out front and we paid a lady and she directed us to the correct taxi. The problem was we sat there. People on the bus were already sitting there for over 20 minutes! We waited another 15 minutes till every seat was crammed with people. The whole time he kept the bus running with very light air conditioning. Everyone was complaining. I was glad to get back to the port!! It didn't take away for the beautiful water though!!

 

Roatan: We used Victor Borden for a private tour. It cost us 80.00 plus tip. The driver (Lainy) brought us to a nice restaurant/deli and Carribbean music with chairs and an umbrella for 10.00 each. We were the first ones there so we had our pick of where we wanted sit. We were near Tabyana Beach which is why we wanted a private tour so we can spend more time there than an excursion with other people. The snorkeling was the best we have ever seen!! We spend most of the day there and then Lainy brought us to different area’s around the island. Really loved Roatan!! Best beach day ever!

 

Belize: We never take ship excursions but we didn’t want to tender in so we did the Carnival Snorkeling Wonders of the Barrier Reef because they could pick us up from the ship. The crew and boat were wonderful. The sandbar was beautiful and they gave us mats and there were some loungers to lay on after the snorkeling. There was some food you could buy like hamburger, hot dogs, soda and beer. You get in the water from the beach area and not the boat that took us there. It was rough that day so the swimming to the reef was tough. We could barely see anything because everyone’s fins were in your face. There were a lot of people on this tour and you couldn’t hear the guide telling us what there was. You also could not go out on your own and they kept herding everyone together. Way too many people on this tour and we wouldn’t do it again. Although like I said the crew was fantastic!!

 

Cozumel: We have been here too and we decided to stay on board and practically have the ship to ourselves!! It was wonderful!!! I always wondered what it would be like to stay on board and we will do it again on another cruise!!

 

To be continued!

[portlandpete]

Conclusion: We really loved the Glory! To us it was the same as being on the Breeze so we would book either ship depending on itinerary and cost. The ship was very clean, the crew friendly and it was just a wonderful week and we didn’t want to leave. The food wasn’t great but we never went hungry and always found something to eat. The entertainment was perfect for us so we would book Carnival again no question! Wish we were there right now!

Any questions just ask!!

[carnivaladdix120]

Great review, thanks for sharing!

[RjayB]

Nice honest review, glad you had a nice time! I don't like the sound of the AC going out though, that's one of my biggest fears :eek:

Sounds like you had a great group of people also!

[Playhouse05]

We did the Glory for the third time this past March and couldn't agree more, my favorite ship! We're doing the Breeze next February, I really hope it lives up to its reputation.

[portlandpete]

Nice honest review, glad you had a nice time! I don't like the sound of the AC going out though, that's one of my biggest fears :eek:

Sounds like you had a great group of people also!

 

We always bring a fan whenever we travel. More for noise but also I can't stand a warm room at night. I thought it was great they credited us though!

[quickrate]

We were on the Glory with you and also loved the ship. the alchemy bar was awesome!!

Pat

[portlandpete]

We did the Glory for the third time this past March and couldn't agree more, my favorite ship! We're doing the Breeze next February, I really hope it lives up to its reputation.

 

We loved the Breeze but honestly we would sail both again. I know Glory is old but I really thought it was so kept up and clean and lots of entertainment options. You will have a wonderful time on Breeze!

[portlandpete]

We were on the Glory with you and also loved the ship. the alchemy bar was awesome!!

Pat

 

Didn't make it to Alchemy bar but it looked fun. So much stuff to do on the ship!

[Ronsangel]

Curious since you've sailed on Celebrity as well, which line you prefer? We have sailed the Glory before and enjoyed it. Looking at either the Breeze or Celebrity Equinox for a December sailing since both are going to ports we've never been to before, but can't decide which to choose. We're in our 40's love good food, but love entertainment too. I can't find much about the quality of Celebrity entertainment. Would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!