Just Back Today From the Glory

[jabbo]

This was my first cruise on the Glory. I have sailed on the Sensation once, Jubilee once, and the Fantasy 3 times. These are my opinions of the Glory. It is a very pretty ship. The staff is very friendly and the service by steward and dining room staff is excellent. Will I sail on the Glory again? No. The ship is too large. There were too many people onboard. The cruise director said the count was 3700 plus. There were many teenagers and many small kids on board. Some were well behaved but many were not. Kids threw ice cream cones down inside elevators and left food all over the stairs and on hall carpets. Getting off and back on the ship in Key West was just horrible. There were not enough buses to take the passengers into Key West and back. Tendering into Belize and back is also terrible. It was so crowded on the ship that it was hard to get around in the public areas. Sometimes the wait for elevators was very long. Children would ride the elevators up and down and tie them up for long periods of time.
The food was very good in the dining room and on the Lido deck. There are no complaints there.
We had a balcony on the verandah deck. The room is nice and there is plenty of storage. The balcony is small.
The entertainment was pretty good on the Glory. The temperatures last week were pretty cool for the Western Caribbean and it was extremely windy.
The time in all the ports was short. I wondered why the time could not have been extended since it takes so long to get off and on the ship. You lose a lot of time in the process.
In the future we will stick to the smaller ships.

[cruzenbabe]

Thank you for taking the time to report back to these boards.
You have to wonder where were some of these kids raised to be acting like that.
All in all, I hope you really had a nice time. It's a bummer to spend on a vacation and it turns out to be not what you fantasized about.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for the report. I found the Glory to be too crowded last year also. The same thing this year with the Triumph. The Destiny/Conquest class will be my last choice when picking a ship in the future.

Gordon

[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/cruisingator"]http://community.webshots.com/user/cruisingator[/url]

NCL Starward-86, Starship Atlantic-91, Caribe-92, Seabreeze-93, Fantasy-93, Norway-94, Celebration-94, Sensation-95, Imagination-96, Destiny-97, Celebration-98, Triumph-99, Victory-00, Majesty of the Seas-01, Fascination-01, Carnival Pride-02, Majesty of the Seas-02, Carnival Legend-02, Fantasy 7-03, Glory 9-03, Fantasy 11-03, Triumph 3/04.

Navigator of the Seas 12/04/04
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[jabbo]

I did forget to say that we have sailed on the Carnival Pride also and did not find it to be this crowded. Some people may like a huge ship like the Glory but I really don't know why. One good thing that I would add to my comments is the addition of the rule for self assisted luggage for debarkation. We were off the ship and in our car driving out of Port Canaveral by 7:54 am this morning. We got coffee and cereal from room service and were on our way off the ship by 7:15.
About the kids, I too wonder what the parents are thinking about to let them roam around a ship and bother other people some of them did. I felt sorry for the staff who had to clean up after them.
There were some very well behaved children on the ship and they were in the company of their parents like they should have been.
We did have a good time. Our favorite port was Progresso. The beach is delightful. We just wished that we could have been there longer.
We had been there a couple of times before and will have to say that the beach is much improved. It is spotlessly clean and there are lounge chairs for free. Beer and soft drinks are very reasonable too.

[Knights on the Beach]

I do like the huge ships. The Triumph and Victory are my favorites, so I'm really looking forward to cruising on the Glory next month. I like the layout of the ship, and I absolutely love the tiered decks around the pools.

Sorry to hear about all the issues with kids on your cruise! I'm hoping NOT to encounter a mess like that on our cruise. If my kids didn't know how to act in public, they wouldn't be cruising with us. They know what a good thing they have going and don't want to run the risk of blowing it! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I agree, the crew shouldn't have to deal with cleaning up after the kids -- the parents should!

Thanks for posting your thoughts. The whole tender issue in Belize is basically what made me decide to book our excursion there through Carnival. At least that way, we know we'll be able to get off the ship at the set time. We're really looking forward to visiting Progreso and Costa Maya for the first time, too. Cozumel will be our only repeat stop.

Beth
~~~~~~~~~~~

Countdown to Glory
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Emerald Seas 6/86
Emerald Seas 11/87
S.S. Royale 10/88
Celebration 6/97
Grandeur of the Seas 6/98
Sensation 6/99
Carnival Triumph 6/00
Carnival Triumph 11/17/01
Enchantment of the Seas 10/27/02
Carnival Victory 5/25/03
Carnival Glory 5/22/04

[jabbo]

Costa Maya should be a great port to visit. We heard nothing but good things about it. You don't have to tender there either do you? Can't you go right off the dock? The decks around the pool on the Glory are just georgous. I think the problem might be that the Glory was absolutely full this week. There were 4-6 people in some cabins. Hopefully it will not be as full when you sail.
It was Spring Break so that probably accounts for the ship being so full. Have a great time on your cruise!!

[Frequent Floater]

Jabbo thanks for your quick review.
Can you please tell me when the formal night were and what time the ship left Cozumel. It states 3pm but I've heard that it is now 4:30.
Thanks we leave in 1 week on the Glory western.

Festivale 1984
Holiday 1988
Tropicale 1989
Festivale 1990
Tropicale 1992
Holiday 1994
Inspiration 1996
Celebration 1998
Inspiration 2000
Elation 2001
Destiny 2002
Glory 4/24/04
Spirit 11/9/04

[jabbo]

The first formal night was the 1st day at sea, Monday. The other one was the day that we were in Progreso. That would have been Thursday. We left Cozumel at 4:30 I think. Several teenaged boys missed the ship. They did not pay any attention to the 2 hour time difference. They had to take an overnight bus to Progreso and we heard that they were pretty scared. They probably won't do that again.
You will be staying in Costa Maya til 7:00pm and that is much longer than we stayed in Key West.

[Frequent Floater]

Thanks for the info Jabbo.
Our sailing is still porting in Key West, Costa Maya starts in May I believe. Another couple questions.
How was the size of the fridges/freezer in the stateroom?
Did you happen to find if there were any public ice machines on your deck. I know they replace the ice in the buckets 2 times a day but we need more than that.
What deck were you on?
Thanks again for your help.

Festivale 1984
Holiday 1988
Tropicale 1989
Festivale 1990
Tropicale 1992
Holiday 1994
Inspiration 1996
Celebration 1998
Inspiration 2000
Elation 2001
Destiny 2002
Glory 4/24/04
Spirit 11/9/04

[jabbo]

We were in 8217 on the Verandah deck. The fridges are small, about dorm size. The only ice machines were the ones where the stewards refill the buckets. You can call your steward if you need ice more than twice a day. They were almost always in the hallways. I took some tomato juice with us and managed to squeeze it in the fridge. My husband drank the beer in it but the only kind that they have for the room is Heineken and Amstel and those are not his brands. The room steward said if you wanted any other brands you had to order it from room service or bring it from a bar.
I bought several bottles of liquers in Progreso and was not stopped when reboarding but did not open any of it. I packed it into our suitcase.
We self carried our luggage off and it was not x-rayed, scanned and no dogs sniffed it. We saw a dog outside in the parking lot but he was going potty. We declared it on our customs form and the agent told us that he hoped that we had a great time.

[dshellen]

We will be on the Glory on April 24th. Do they stock the refrigators with soda also. And I beleive that I read somewhere that there is a shampoo dispenser in the shower. Is this true and does it work?

[jabbo]

There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. The shampoo dispenser and shower gel dispenser work great. The shower is a real treat too, just be careful. The water gets hot really fast.

[richym1]

Thanks for the report! Not sure I like huge ships or not. This will be our first real big one. Last week was Spring break, and that could explain all the kids. We are sailing in August and there will be alot (including mine) on that one I'm sure. Can't wait to see it!

Richy
Carnival Glory 8/14/04
RCI Radiance 11/21/04

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[hbutton]

Thanks for the comments on the Glory. I'm sailing on May 1 and hope to find it not so crowded. Spring break should be over by then. Our first time on a big ship. We have sailed on Sensation and Insperation so this will be a new wxperiance, Lookiing forward to it. Some how I think I will like the smaller ships in the end but had to try the Glory.

[diving_blue_bonnet]

Thank you for your review. You have me a little scared to go now. This is only my second cruise. My first was on NCL's Sea. It is appx 45000 tons, so the Glory will be over twice the size. We are sailing Sept. 11th, so maybe there won't be as many kids on it by then. I kept that in mind when choosing a date.

I do have a question that I hope you can answer. Do you happen to have a list of the excursions and their prices? I'm a big planner and want to have a pretty good idea about how much money we will be spending. My husband and I dive and are planning for that in Belize We also want to go to one of the ruins in Progresso and Costa Maya. I hope you can help.

Thanks again,
Lori

I will be working on my tan on Carnival's Glory on 9/11/2004
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NCL's Norwegian Sea 10/00

[1tonysmom]

Hi. We sailed on the Glory last Thanksgiving week. The ship is huge, but after the first day, we had no problems finding our way around. Sometimes the midship elevators were crowded, but we would just take the stairs (we were on Upper deck) or go to the aft elevators, which were never crowded. The only problem we had getting on or off the ship was in Cozumel. Getting back on was a zoo! The line extended all the way through the duty free shops on the pier. We liked the ship so much, we are sailing on her again this coming November, however, we are going the week after Thanksgiving. It should be considerably less crowded then.

Happy Sailing,

Joanne [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

11/27 Carnival Glory Cruise
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Carnival Glory 11/03
Sovereign of the Seas 5/01
Paradise 10/00
The Big Red Boat 5/98
Emerald Seas 3/90

[jabbo]

I do not have a list of excursions. When we got to Cozumel there had been a bad storm the night before so most of the excursions there had been cancelled because of the rough water. The beaches were closed too. I'm sure that other people will be reporting on the April 10 cruise so someone else may be more helpful.
The ship will probably be a lot less crowded in September.

[Frequent Floater]

Hi again Jabbo. Another few questions for you.
How was the weather on your sailing?
Where was your cabin, deck & side and what ports did you face into when docked or tendered and finally the fridge in the cabins. Was there a freezer compartment, I assume that it is tiny but need space the size of a soda can turned on its side.
Thanks

Festivale 1984
Holiday 1988
Tropicale 1989
Festivale 1990
Tropicale 1992
Holiday 1994
Inspiration 1996
Celebration 1998
Inspiration 2000
Elation 2001
Destiny 2002
Glory 4/24/04
Spirit 11/9/04

[lemongirl65]

divingbluebonnet: here are some links re excursion prices


[url="http://community.webshots.com/album/91724884GzpMfr"]http://community.webshots.com/album/91724884GzpMfr[/url]
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rccl majesty of the seas 4/01
norwegian sea 12/02
carnival glory 4/04
carnival sensation 1/05

lordy! lordy! ms glory!
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Taylor Bayou Family "sensational" Reunion 1/24/05
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[jabbo]

Let's see, no freezer. We were in 8217 on the Verandah deck, starboard side so we did not face the ports. Temperature in Key West was hot and it was very humid. After we left Key West it became very windy and the water was rough. It was warm enough in Belize but windy. In Cozumel it was cool. As I stated there had been a storm the night before and the beaches were covered with starfish. The water was rough so snorkeling had to be cancelled. In Progreso it was really nice. It was not unbearably hot like it had been when we had been there before so was nice on the beach. After leaving Progreso, it was windy and very cool. We could not sit on our balcony the last sea day because it was so windy and it was too cold.

[Cyt4SoreEyes]

I am assuming none of you who are saying the Glory is huge have been on RCCl Voyager class ships...those are huge!!! The glory is a Pee-On compared to them!! BUt I have to say I love the Destiny/Conquest class ships..and sorry that you encounter problem with lots of kids acting out of control!! 3700 ppl is alot of ppl..wheeeeewe.!! What did you think about the food on the ship in the dining rooms..was it outstanding?? Thats what I am looking forward too..lol!!! Also did you happen to notice anyone winning on the wheel of fortune slots machines in the casino?? Thanks for the review!!

Cyt

Atlantic
Oceanic
Norway
Enchantment of the Seas
Destiny
Voyager of the Seas
Conquest March 30th 2003
Glory May 29th 2004

[CementShoes]

Maybe all the kids were out of school because of Easter/spring break or something.

 

Is the stay in progreso too short for a trip to Chitchen Itza Mayan ruins?

[ken_nyc]

No, my wife and I went to Chitchen Itza 2 years ago, very impressive. I would definately take the ships tour because of the time factor is very close. The bus gets back to the ship with like a half hour to spare, so if you go on your own and the vehicle your in breaks down you will have to meet the ship at the next port on your own expense. If it is a ship tour they will wait.

Carnival Pride 8/17/02 (Western Caribbean)
Carnival Glory 8/21/2004 (Eastern Caribbean) 30th Anniversary Cruise
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