12-10-05 Glory Review

[estherhead]

We are a family of 4, My dh & me (31) and two girls (3 & 5.) We also had my sister, her dh, and their 3 boys (2, 5, 8.) My parents (60s), and three couples in their 30's-50's.

 

Some of us started our trip at Disney for a week. It was awesome but we caught a cold there. I started spraying the Zicam & taking my vitamins, which did make my cold less severe, but I couldn’t avoid it all the way. I’m still stuffy today, as are all the rest of us who did Disney & the cruise.

 

We drove to Port Canaveral and were there by 11:30a, after I got us briefly lost, we were in line for security. Dh parked & got stuck in a serious line which stressed him out, but other than that it was completely painless. I venture to say the best boarding experience I’ve had. We were on the boat by 1pm and were allowed to go to our rooms immediately. Ours was actually bigger than I thought from looking at photos online. The girls shared an upper bunk so we pushed the other one out of the way & then turned our beds to make a king and so our heads were under their bunk. It was nice. Fairly easy to move around in. Even the bathroom was fairly roomy. At one point the two girls & I were in the shower & Tim was at the sink & it was just fine. My best friends were in room 1310 and their bathroom smelled of sewage. We were in 1302 and ours didn't.

 

After checking out our rooms we went to the Red Sail and got food. The hotdogs, cheeseburgers, and fries were great, the pizza was disappointing. The Chinese food was yummy, and the fish & chips were adequate, though some thought the portions were small and there always did seem to be a line. We always ate breakfast and lunch in there. The first 2 days they played Christmas music which made everyone try to escape the Red Sail. They finally got the hint and started playing fun music. It got a lot better after that. The got omlet station made over easy eggs, too, which made everyone happy. My girls loved it. I pretty much had a croissant & two slices of bacon every morning so my opinion doesn’t matter. I can’t waste calories on greasy breakfast food.

 

One thing we all enjoyed was meeting up in the mornings. We would always sit at the Turquoise Pool & very slowly we would all end up there. Watching the water & the sun warming us. The weather was great. Great. And the way the ship was set up it was easy to find our friends without trying. We generally hung out at the middle pool. The way it’s set up with the chairs being stadium seating made chair saving issues almost obsolete. We sat right next to the pool many a time & we didn’t ever need to save seats. There just always was one available where I wanted one. And then my friends would be passing by & they would find their own seat, or drag one over. Totally hassle free sunbathing. We did have our girls in the hot tub. The Turquise ones were for kids & the Azure were adult only. Very nice, though they weren't hot enough in my opinion. To be continued...

[estherhead]

Mustering & unpacking & then our first dinner. Our team was Alberto and Zhivle. They were good. Zhivle was new to the Glory & we felt bad because she kept getting yelled at for making mistakes. We thoroughly enjoyed her, and I’m pretty sure she enjoyed us too. We had two tables, one of 8 & one of 9 at the back corner of the dining room. I can’t imagine better tables. It wasn’t loud, and we were fairly private. Dinner was almost my favorite part of the cruise. I say almost as the beaches were awesome & I hated desserts. Plus I don’t eat seafood so it cramped my choices. But desserts were definitely disappointing. Even though I ordered something every night I usually only took a bite and then drank coffee for dessert. Good thing too cause I’m pretty sure I didn’t gain any weight.

 

I'm the girl form an earlier thread who is a baker & sugar artist. I felt that both the "art on a plate" and the flavor was substandard. My whole party of 17 agreed that my desserts were way better & prettier than anything they served on board. But it's OK because I only gained 1 pound!

 

The girls were treated like royalty. Chocolate milk waiting at the table and strawberry soup and steak cooked just the way Lexy likes, French fries waiting for Siena no matter what she ordered. Yes, I think the girls got a bit spoiled by the delicious food. I’m gonna have to step it up a notch at home.

 

Some of our favorites were the filet mignon, the flourless chocolate cake, the chicken quesadillas the last night. Dh loved the Beef Wellington. The liver turned me off, but he thought it was great. His favorite dessert was the Grand Marnier Souffle. We mostly ignored the Maitre’d, though we did dance when forced. Alberto always seemed OK with dancing which surprised me as he seemed the serious sort. I guess if it means tips…

 

The Deck party (I think on Wed) had a Mexican buffet which was delicious. We had a really great time that night. The whole color competition was nice as people participated more than I've seen in the past. I would say 500-700 people were at the deck party. Two years ago in the Pride there were maybe 50! It was nice to see people getting into their color. We were blue and totally rocked.

 

Our room steward I never really had a relationship with. I couldn’t figure him out. I think perhaps we even switched room stewards halfway through. The one we ended with was named Dexter, but I swear the one we started with was names Najah. Hmmm… Confusing. But it was irrelevant. Whoever he was our room was always clean and we had cool towel animals and when I had to have the feathers removed because I was allergic he did so promptly and made our bed up even nicer than before.

 

The beds were so comfy. Soft & comfy. And since we were on the bottom deck interior, it was dark and rocking. Just like being the womb. A womb without a view.

 

And on to my favorite part of the cruise ship: Camp Carnival. It was awesome, awesome, awesome. My children begged to go. The counselors were amazing and it was uncrowded. Just a few kids in each age group. I think there may have been 10 in the 2-5 age group, 4 of which were with our group. I didn’t really notice too many children on board at all. It was mostly older people. Those in our age group(30’s) I think I met most of them. Everyone on board was so friendly, passengers as well as crew. Chitchatty, even.

 

One of the most endearing things was there was a man who was mentally handicapped on board. And he loved to dance. He was a dancing fool. There was this other group of gorgeous young people who also loved to dance. And they adopted him into their group. On the first two days he would be dancing by himself in the disco & by the end I saw him everywhere with them, including the dance floor. You don’t normally see that kind of thing, people being kind & open. It was nice. Especially after being at the Happiest Place on earth, I was expecting it to be a rude awakening to be back with “normal” crabby people. But it wasn’t that way. I guess that rude awakening will happen Monday when I’m back at work.

 

I had read on CruiseCritic that the Glory was impossible to find your way around. I’m not all that great directionally, but it wasn’t bad. Of course, I have my husband who always knew exactly where we going at all times. I really didn’t have to know where I was cause I had him. But even the 3rd floor being blocked, I didn’t really get because why can’t you just walk through the dining room? That’s what I did. Open the door & walk through. I just thought it was easy. And much better than the Pride. I got so tired on the Pride because no matter where I was, where I wanted to be was 10 miles away. On the Glory I was always close to where I was going. We’d drop the kids off at Camp & then go to the show right below in Amber Palace. It was easy. And our rooms being right in the center was helpful.

 

Which brings me to the shows. I skipped night one, but on the first formal we went & it was good. Las Vegas style. It’s got a sports section in the middle, though, and it was a bit tough to take the very gay dancers playing football in a very gay way. They couldn’t even keep a hold of the football and it ended up flying off the stage and hitting a poor woman in the face. Perhaps that section was supposed to be comic relief? It was, but I think it was intentional The second formal night the show was awesome. Awesome. Rockin Down Broadway. Lots of Broadway songs I’d never heard of but highly entertaining. I have no idea how they were able to change the stage and costumes that many times that efficiently. Amazing. Now if only they could get rid of the lead male singer. He was a bit hard to take. Other than him, it was good.

 

We also hung out in Bar Blue, the Karaoke bar. It was smoky, but worth it. Most of us sang, Matthew & Gail with no inhibitions, the rest of us hesitantly. But I thought I really should to see if I enjoyed it. I shook terribly and am not a born performer. But it was nice. I would definitely do it again. If there was a song I knew & wouldn’t slaughter too terribly. There were some great singers & some truly horrendous singers. That’s what makes it so interesting.

 

The Ebony Caberet had an Oriental Beatles group. Interesting. We didn’t spend a lot of time in there, but it was slightly diverting. We did however spend a bunch of time in the White Heat Disco. The music was great, except 70’s & 80’s night which was impossible to dance to. I got sick of it and since we were pretty much the only people dancing the DJ was willing to put on more modern stuff. He said he always takes requests so that was nice to know. We always left by midnight though, as it was just too smoky by then. One woman even got yelled at for smoking on the dance floor. Who smokes on a crowded dance floor? Goofy woman.

[LizaMM]

Great review so far!! Thanks!! I can't wait to read the rest!

 

Will you have photos?? ;)

[moonlily]

estherhead,

 

We were on the Glory the week before. The Hot tubs were on the cool side for us also.

 

The Pizza does look diferent. The crust doesn't seem the same as it was during our April 2005 cruise. It seemed to be a premade "bready crust" instead of the thiner crust I remembered.

 

 

Su Mer does do fairly tight portion control especially on the oysters. I'm suprised they still offer them.

 

I don't understand why some rooms on the same deck have that sewage smell and some don't. I would notice the smell occasionally. Mostly when the ship was in Port or moving slowly.

[Beach4me]

Esther...are you telling me that that olive oil dessert didn't just wow your socks off? ;) I've been waiting weeks to hear about your dessert thoughts...especially the olive oil one!

 

Maybe for the passenger entertainment show, you could have made and decorated a cake...shown then how it's supposed to be done! Oh wait, I guess they've gone to a singing-only talent show, haven't they? Definitely Carnival's loss!

[estherhead]

The ports of call were great: Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Marten. We met friends in Bahamas and just hung out with them. In St. Thomas we did Sunny Liston which was very nice. The beach was great: Sapphire beach. It was so relaxing. But not nearly as relaxing as St. Martin. We just walked off and into Phillipsburg and onto the nearest beach. My girls made friends and we just chilled there all day. We did venture into shopping simply to buy alcohol.

 

As far as the St. Thomas customs, it was bizarre. But we got in a full hour early. So we had no problems meeting up with our tour on time. Otherwise we certainly would have been late.

 

Debarkation was super annoying. I swear we were the very last people off the ship. It was about 10:30. Just so boring. Plus it started pouring at about 10. Which meant everyone else got off in nice weather, we got drenched. Sigh. I would have done self assist but with two preschoolers & all our stuff it was impossible.

 

All in all, it was lovely. But I don't think we'll cruise for many years. And when we do, I think we'll try something other than Carnival. There are many times that I felt hostage. I'm not sure why. I've never felt that way before. But I just wanted to get off. And I got tired of always looking at my watch. When do we need to be back on board? When is dinner? When does Camp open? When does Camp close? When does the disco open.... You get the idea. Plus, I think perhaps I'm just too good of a cook. It was very nice to not do dishes and never hear "What's for dinner?" VERY NICE!!!! But I was disappointed in the food.

 

If we were to do another cruise I think I'd try another cruiseline. Though a funny story about that was we were following the Caribbean Princess & Royal Voyager around and therefore met a lot of people on shore from them. We all compared notes and they said that the food was amazing, etc, etc but that they were a bit bored and all the Carnival people all seemed to be having so much more fun than them. The Princess guests said the average age on board was like, 90. Not that that is a bad thing, but perhaps a bit lonely if you aren't 90.

 

I bought a hole punch and belt clips from Wal-mart. They were priceless. I brought 3 and I should have brought one for each person in our party. I brought clothespins for the shower curtain, but I think it would have been OK without them. The shampoo in the shower was Dove as was the bodywash. I used them all week and they were nice.

 

The photos my family took were fabulous. They are $19.95 for the formal 8x10 shots. Better than we've ever taken at the local shop. The photographers were very patient even with my 3 year old who has an expressive face, not always expressing a positive expression.

 

There is so much more I want to say, but I think perhaps I've talked enough. If you have questions, please ask. I'd love to answer. As I think of things, I'll add them.

[estherhead]

Great review so far!! Thanks!! I can't wait to read the rest!

 

Will you have photos?? ;)

 

I took lots of photos of our room & intend on posting them but that will take me awhile. I've never done the webshots thing before so ya'll will have to give me time.

[estherhead]

Esther...are you telling me that that olive oil dessert didn't just wow your socks off? ;) I've been waiting weeks to hear about your dessert thoughts...especially the olive oil one!

 

Maybe for the passenger entertainment show, you could have made and decorated a cake...shown then how it's supposed to be done! Oh wait, I guess they've gone to a singing-only talent show, haven't they? Definitely Carnival's loss!

 

The olive oil dessert was not great. I ordered at least 3 desserts every night to give them a fair shot. The cheesecakes were all awful. The prune dessert was actually quite yummy. The flourless chocolate cake was good too. There were a few puff pastry desserts (like a pistachio napolean) that were nice. One diet orange cake at the Red Sail was very good. Other than that, either sub par or actually yucky. My husband liked a few souffles, but I'm not really a souffle girl. The chocolate mints in our room were good ;)

 

One thing that annoyed me was that any chocolate "Painting" on a plate was hard as a rock. I understand this since it means you can do it in advance and then stack the plates in fridge. But it in no way adds to the taste since you'd have to chip it off the plate to eat it.

 

I would have loved to bake something for them all. I missed it while I was gone. Once I realized I was doomed to disppointment I started ordering cappucino (which is free, by the way) and butter pecan ice cream. Than I would add the ice cream to the coffee. Super yummy and a perfect ending to the meal.

 

As for the appetizers & entrees, etc. Many were quite delicious. I really enjoyed the quail. Many soups, like the wonton & strawberry were super yummy. The salads were not great. I ended up ordering 2 soups (or a soup & appetizer) every night instead of a salad. Some of the appetizers were really nice too.

 

One cool thing that happened was my dad is a vegetarian. The first two nights the veggie entrees were vegan (no cheese, dairy, etc) which meant basically glorified bulgar or polenta. He decided not to come to dinner anymore but my mom was enjoying herself so she went up to the Maitre D's assistant (can't remember her name but she got a nice tip!) and explained the situation. They brought him so much food and made such a fuss from there on out it totally embarrassed him. The chef made all kinds of things just for him which was very special to our family.

 

I guess we're just hard to please in the food area. I'm a professional, my dad's a vegetarian & an expert pizza & bread maker (he'd be professional if we'd let him,) my sister and I are Weight Watchers leaders so we're sensitive to greasiness. Not an easy group to please.

 

Oh, one final thought on the food, the bread was good. On Tuesday there was a sourdough roll that was so yummy I called Alfredo over so I could have another one. I recommend trying them all every night. I did that from then on. There was a sun dried tomato bread that was also delish.

[estherhead]

Another thing I remembered today that I wanted to comment on was the casino. I'm not a gambler and on some cruises you are always walking through the casino, which is smoky & loud. On the Glory it is set to one side and you don't have to walk through it! I loved that. If you want to gamble it is very accessable, but if you don't it isn't in your face.

 

Also wanted to mention that a lady sitting next to my husband won $1000 in bingo! Boy was she excited!

[Classynfun1]

Did you happen to keep the menus? If not, could you suggest which day we should make reservations in the Emerald Rood for dinner? We don't want to miss a great menu in the main dining room though. Thanks! We can't wait! :D

[indygirl76]

Thanks so much for the detailed review, Esther - good reviews increase my already absurd excitement level! 39 days and counting!! :)

 

One question - you mentioned clothes pins for the shower curtain. ?? Do you mean to hang clothes from the curtain line? Or does the curtain not shut properly without them?

[estherhead]

Thanks so much for the detailed review, Esther - good reviews increase my already absurd excitement level! 39 days and counting!! :)

 

One question - you mentioned clothes pins for the shower curtain. ?? Do you mean to hang clothes from the curtain line? Or does the curtain not shut properly without them?

 

I put them at the bottom of the shower curtain (a tip I learned on this board) to keep the shower curtain from "hugging" us as we showered. It also keeps the water in the shower better and not all over the floor. Just take a few and you'll see what I mean. Of course, I also used them for the clothesline too. I had a bottled explode in my suitcase and had to wash and dry a bunch of socks on day one. I was very grateful for the clothespins then.

[estherhead]

Did you happen to keep the menus? If not, could you suggest which day we should make reservations in the Emerald Rood for dinner? We don't want to miss a great menu in the main dining room though. Thanks! We can't wait! :D

 

Oh dear, I didn't keep them. I would say the first night, the last night, and the two formal nights you should eat in the main dining room. That leaves... Monday & Tuesday for the Emerald room? I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to eat in there but I did go inside on Tuesday looking for a treasure hunt clue. It looks very nice and quiet and dignified. I'm not sure crazy me wandering in added to the dignified quality!

 

(By the way, the treasure hunt clue isn't inside Emerald Room, so don't bother them ;-)

[estherhead]

Hey, a better idea. Just look on your TV every morning at that days menus and then book the Emerald Room after you've decided it's a meal you can miss! Then you can make your own decision. My dh looked every am to see what he'd be eating that night.

[estherhead]

I keep remembering things that I had questions about before leaving and on the cruise I kept thinking, "Remember that so you can tell all the cruisecritic people!" Thus all the additions to this review.

 

The latest is: My sister's baby (2 years old) is pre-asthmatic and spent a couple weeks in the hospital this spring. He had an attack on board and she took him to the doctor. She loved the doctor, who was from South Africa, and was very happy with the experience (as happy as you can be when freaking out about your baby.) It cost $136.00 and that included two nebulizer treatments and other medicines. It was no more expensive than a land based version, perhaps even cheaper. So don't be worried about a trip to the doctor while on board.

[metney]

Did you go in the cigar bar next to the platinum dining room? We were on the Glory 2 years ago and always went to that bar to listen to a quartet (violin, flute, cello and piano). Played classical music every evening and we loved it. I hoped to hear them next week:D

[LizaMM]

Did you go in the cigar bar next to the platinum dining room? We were on the Glory 2 years ago and always went to that bar to listen to a quartet (violin, flute, cello and piano). Played classical music every evening and we loved it. I hoped to hear them next week:D

 

 

I love sitting in the cigar lounge and listening to the music with a drink before dinner! Sometimes I've heard jazz and sometimes classical....PLEASE post a review when you get back and fill us in :)

[marieadela]

Hi Estherhead,

 

I too was on the blue time with you last week. We sure did rock. ;) My review to come soon.

[estherhead]

Hmmm, I didn't go into the cigar bar but once. I don't mind smoke too much, but there was a guy with a HORRIBLE pipe. It wasn't the normal pipe smoke that smells kind of like cherries. It was cough, empty the room pipe. LOL. As for the bar blue, marieadela, what did you sing? I was the raspy (had a sore throat) girl who sang Grandpa (The Judds) and my b-i-l sang a couple songs, most noteworthy was a Journey tune that he wore sunglasses. I can't wait to read your review!