Quick Review of Dec 12th sailing on Glory

[txcruiser4life]

Hello, this is my review of my December 12th Cruise on the Carnival Glory visiting the lovely ports of Half Moon Cay, San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk. This won’t be a picture review; just my thoughts and observations on the trip in general, the ship and the ports.

 

I traveled with my DH and we were celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary. We had a non-eventful flight from Houston, Texas to Fort Lauderdale arriving a day prior to our cruise. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Lauderdale. The hotel was clean and the staff was friendly. The hotel offers free shuttle from the airport to the hotel; however, you must call them to have them pick you up which we were not told about when booking our room. After about 40 minutes standing outside waiting for the shuttle to appear I finally called and they sent the shuttle. So, if you book this hotel be sure to call them when you land, it took about 30 minutes for them to arrive. The hotel also offers a shuttle from the hotel to the POM; the cost was $75 for up to 5 people and you can reserve the shuttle with the front desk. We split the cost with two sisters we met on the shuttle ride to the hotel who were on the same cruise as us so that worked out to $18.75 per person before tip. The hotel offers free shuttle to and from several restaurants and shopping centers. We opted to just stay in and eat dinner at their restaurant and the food was on par with what you would expect at a hotel restaurant. They did have a good selection at the bar in the hotel as well.

 

Embarkation- we arrived around 10:45am and were quickly ushered into the Captains lounge. Since we splurged and booked a suite this was one of the perks. We boarded around 11:40am, went straight to guest services to pick our Cabana (#12) and quickly dropped off our luggage in our room and went to get a Thirsty Frog!

 

Our room- As mentioned above, we had a suite (7268) this time and while it was nice to have all the extra storage and a bigger room, I am not sure I would book one again. I would rather have spent the money I would have saved booking an ocean view or balcony for another cruise… plus the “Jacuzzi” tub was tiny. Our steward, Dwi, was fabulous. He was engaging, funny and always made sure any requests we had was handled quickly.

 

Dining- We usually have “Your-time” dining and are so impressed with our wait staff we request to be in their section for the entire cruise. Sadly, this was not the case on this cruise. The first night, our wait staff were rude, did not speak to us except to take our orders and they were slow. Our food came out cold every single course that night. Our warm melting chocolate cake was a cold gelatinous glob.  The second night we were tired from our day on Half Moon Cay and decided to just eat on the Lido and watch a Dive In movie. We had different wait staff the rest of the cruise and while they were good, they just weren’t outstanding like we are used to. So that was disappointing. We also had the American Table for the first time and that was hit or miss. A few nights towards the end of the cruise we ordered the Steak House selections because nothing seemed appetizing on the American Table Menu.

 

Entertainment- The entertainment staff was fabulous. The Cruise Director, Mike Pack was phenomenal! He was funny, engaging and loved to give hugs. We love trivia and they had a good amount of trivia this cruise and I finally won my first Ship on a Stick. Glory Days was a fantastic duo who sang in the lobby each night and covered everything from the 80’s to Motown to current songs. They were really good and we spent a fair amount of time listening to them. The Epic Rock show was easily the best show I’ve seen in a while on a Carnival Cruise. By the end of the cruise I lost my voice signing so much lol! One last thing, my husband is a veteran (GO ARMY!) and every prior cruise we have been on they would have a veterans meet and greet somewhere on the ship, usually in the library and it was a small (but nice) gathering. This time; however, they had a huge Military Appreciation show for all of the veterans in the Amber Place that was fantastic. They brought each branch of service up on the stage and had them introduce themselves. It was such a great treat and I wish they would do that on every ship.

 

Overall impression of the ship- The ship showed her age but she is still a great ship and the staff work very hard to maintain her. She was clean and it never really felt crowded on her. I loved the Serenity deck and spent a lot of time there as well as the aft pool. Unlike my last several cruises where kids took over the hot tubs and pools on Lido Aft, I didn’t see any kids in either this go around. The ship was decorated beautifully for Christmas with caroling in the lobby area. Even Santa paid a visit so that was a real treat for the kiddos on board.

 

Ports:

 

Half Moon Cay- my husband burns easily, so we got a cabana on Half Moon Cay and it was well worth it. We were in cabana # 12 which was close to the bathrooms and a short walk to the bar. Plus, it wasn’t as crowded in front of our cabana. Half Moon Cay is gorgeous, probably one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. I would highly recommend going if you have the opportunity.

 

San Juan- We did the two fortresses tour and it was very interesting. They tell you to bring water and wear walking shoes and I am glad I listened! The first fortress was cake compared to the second fortress which kicked my butt with all those stairs! Lol It was well worth it though and our guide, Maria, was very knowledgeable. We tried Mofongo for the first time at a little restaurant with green umbrellas on the patio (sorry I can’t remember the name) but it was in Columbus Square and it was great. I had the shrimp with garlic sauce and my husband had the skirt steak. Their Pina Coladas were amazing too! We are seriously considering going on a cruise out of San Juan in the future.

 

St. Thomas- We loved St. Thomas. Our excursion was Snuba at Coral World and it was the BEST excursion ever. We had a fantastic guide, Glen, who brought us a variety of sea life to hold or touch and I was literally 10 feet away from a shark. It was amazing and I highly recommend this excursion. You could easily spend an entire day at Coral World, they have tons of things to do and I will definitely make plans to visit again.

 

 

Grand Turk- We really didn’t do much at this port but walk around, chill at Jacks Shack for a little while and do some shopping. It really is beautiful though and next time I will probably get a cabana at Margaretville.

 

If anyone has any questions let me know, I would be happy to answer them.

[OntarioTraveller]

How many ships were in port at Grand Turk?

Was it crowded? We booked a cruise where our ship arrives at 11 am with at least one other ship already there so are trying to get a sense of what that would be like.

[txcruiser4life]

How many ships were in port at Grand Turk?

Was it crowded? We booked a cruise where our ship arrives at 11 am with at least one other ship already there so are trying to get a sense of what that would be like.

 

Ontario Traveler: The Sunshine was the only other ship in port and was there when we arrived. The beach was pretty crowded right next to the ships but the father you went down (to the left towards Jacks Shack) the lighter the crowds. Margaritaville was packed the entire day. Some shops were crowded but most weren't.

[Manatee Mom]

 

If anyone has any questions let me know, I would be happy to answer them.

 

 

Do you remember which nights were Elegant nights? was it the night of Half moon Cay (Sun) or the 1st sea day (Monday)

[lmsdf]

So nice to hear a positive review. I've been getting a bit anxious about sailing the Glory, but now I am looking forward to it. Thanks for your review!!!

[txcruiser4life]

I am pretty certian it was the first sea day.