A GLORY-ous Cruise - REVIEW 1/28 Western Sailing

[LizaMM]

Well......As promised I am attempting to write my review of our 1/28/06 Glory Western Sailing. Please be forewarned.....THIS IS LONG.....I will do it in stages as I relive my experience here at Cruise Critic. I will post a shorter review as well after I finish this one for those of you who don't feel like reading my novel :eek:

 

I am also including a lot of information that I think might be helpful to first-time cruisers.

 

Ok....here we go....

 

CRUISER BACKROUND

A little background on us: I (Liza) am a 38 year old single mom with 4 children ranging in age from 8 to 16. I have been on 3 Carnival cruises in the past 2 ½ years (Triumph 2x and Destiny). I have cruised both with my children and also solo. This was my first cruise traveling with a “partner”. My Boyfriend (Arthur) is a 48 year old single dad with 3 children ranging in age from 16 to 21. He has been on 2 previous cruises about 5 years ago (Carnival Destiny and RCCL Monarch of the Seas) and both of those were family cruises with his ex wife and children. We took this vacation “adults only” so there were no children with us :D

 

I selected this particular cruise for several reasons. The timing was good for us; we liked the ports of call; I loved that the itinerary included 3 full days at sea and we were also able to book a Resident Special Rate for this sailing which made it a much more attractive price than the other sailings I was looking into.

 

I definitely wanted a balcony cabin and due to the Resident Rate I was able to book an 8A at a good price yet select any deck on the ship. I chose a cabin on Deck 10, Panorama (an 8E).

 

We planned to fly into Orlando the day before the cruise. I wanted to be able to get my kids off to school on Friday morning and found a great flight on Spirit Airlines out of LGA. Since we would not be arriving to MCO until the afternoon we opted to stay in Orlando and used Arthur’s reward points for the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport. We pre-purchased shuttle tickets via Carnival as this was most convenient for us.

 

TRAVEL DAY – FRIDAY 1/27/06

Left Connecticut and made it to LGA without a hitch. We had a reservation at AutoPark to leave the car for the week. They were very courteous and shuttled us over to the airport right away. We checked our bags and headed for the gate. Purchased a snack and some coffee and boarded.

 

The flight went well and we arrived at MCO on schedule. Porters were plentiful and he took us directly to the reservation desk at the Hyatt. Checked in and went to our room and began to relax.

 

Hyatt Regency Orlando – Staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. We were in a room on the 9th floor with an outdoor balcony. There were many rooms with balconies that overlooked the atrium/fountain area but the outdoor was a plus for us as I am a smoker and Art is not. We had booked a non-smoking room as I would not smoke in the room with him and would have gone outside if I wanted a cigarette. The outdoor balcony made that a little easier for me. I did not take any photos of the room but for anyone interested I can report that it looked very much like the room shown on the hotel website.

 

We relaxed for a while considered using the gym but opted for a nap instead! I did take a stroll around the airport terminal for a bit and sat by the fountain sipping a Starbucks coffee. Very strange feeling to be sitting in the middle of an airport with no bags and not waiting for a plane! It is really cool for people watching!!

 

We headed out for dinner. The hotel has 2 restaurants. One is on the 9th floor and is the fancier of the 2. The other one is downstairs and more casual and also has a bar area. We opted to walk into the terminal and eat at Macaroni Grill. The food was quite good and we had some wine. After dinner we went to the bar at the hotel and ordered drinks which we brought up to our room. Called for a wake-up call and got some much needed sleep.

[LizaMM]

EMBARKATION DAY – SATURDAY 1/28/06

Wake-up call as planned at 7:30AM. We showered and dressed and had breakfast in the hotel dining room on the 9th floor. They had a buffet but we ordered a la carte off the menu. Food was good and the service was great.

 

After breakfast we went back to the room and called for a porter. He was there in under 5 minutes and took us all the way to the Carnival reps in the terminal where we would catch the shuttle.

 

Carnival rep told us where the bus would be and where to put our luggage and that the next bus should arrive in about 20 minutes. There was plenty of seating in this area indoors. We sat on a bench outside and chatted with fellow pax. Always great fun to talk to people who are about to go on a cruise!:) The bus arrived promptly. They loaded us up very quickly and we were off. The driver was informative and pointed out a few things on the way and told us when to get our cameras ready if we wanted to take photos (which I did!). Art and I decided to start our cruise by toasting and having some of the vodka “water bottles” we had in the carry-on.

 

We arrived at the terminal and unloading of the bus went very smoothly. We got online and immediately made friends with the people behind us. A great couple who we would continue to see and chat with daily throughout the cruise.

 

WINE AND BOOZE NOTE: I know that there has been a lot of talk about the different wording of the wine policy so I want to share my experience. We had packed some vodka in Poland Spring bottles and also brought 5 bottles of wine with us in my carry-on. The wording in our particular cruise contract said:”…..at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, wine enthusiasts may bring fine wine or champagne on board. A $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine/champagne in the dining room, or a $14 corkage fee per bottle if consumed in the Supper Club…..” We got stopped by the agent as we went through security due to the wine bottles. I was very honest about what we had. I am in fact a wine enthusiast and had been reading my copy of Wine Spectator on the plane. It was not my intention to be cheating Carnival out of money (in fact we did purchase wine on board) but that I had some special bottles from my collection that I wanted to drink on the cruise. The agent said that the contract states 2 bottles per person and I showed him that our contract did not specify that. In the meantime the people behind us got stopped as well and had even more than we did! The agent said that he would call for a supervisor. The 4 of us stood there chatting and after about one minute the agent said “never mind” and let us all go through. The other couple dubbed me “5 bottle girl” and were laughing and thankful that because of us they had gotten through without a problem as well. This was just our experience but I am guessing that the policy that the agents are told is 2 bottles per person.

 

The rest of the lines went quickly. We got our sign and sail cards, moved along for photos and then were crossing on to the ship. The whole procedure from entering the terminal to walking on the ship was about a half an hour to 40 minutes. Honestly, things were going so well and we were having such a good time chatting with people that I did not really look at the time!

 

We were handed a couple of info sheets during the check in procedure as well. One was the letter stating our port change from Cozumel to Costa Maya which we had known about and there was also info about luggage arrival, lunch, dining room changes, cabin stewards, tipping, the spa etc.

 

We got on the ship and were so excited! She is really beautiful! I looked at tons of photos online and it was just what I expected. Truly a Carnival ship in that there is lots of glam and glitz but I found the “colors theme” to work nicely in the atrium area. There seemed to be enough dark wood to offset the glowing colors and she is certainly a little less “Vegas” looking then the Triumph and Destiny although I enjoyed the kitch of all these ships.

 

We decided to go up to our cabin to see if we could leave our carry-ons. Met our assistant room steward who was just lovely and she said it was fine. We left our bags and headed straight for the Lido Deck and those first Fun Ship Specials of the cruise. Between the vodka on the bus, the drink of the day and my general excitement I was in full cruise mode within moments! Sat and chatted with people, met Ocruisers from Cruise Critic who were beginning the second leg of their back to back cruise and got some good info, Art purchased a soda card and at around 1:00 we headed off to tackle our “to do” list.

 

Our “to do” list included checking out our actual dining assignment. We knew from our sign and sail cards that we had the late (8:30PM) seating in the Golden Dining Room. We had requested late seating so that was great but I had also told my travel agent to make a note that we preferred a large table so I wanted to find out about that. There were a ton of people sitting around and in line at the Dining Room. A waiter who was assisting came to us and asked us what our situation was. I explained and he looked at the card and told us that we were at a table for 4. I was disappointed and wanted to get more info but the line to wait for that would have taken quite a bit of time so we decided to just wait and see at dinner that night and moved on.

 

We also made a reservation for the Emerald Room Supper Club. They have a table set up in the atrium where you board to do this as well as go up to the actual Emerald Room if you desired. We were going to head up to make our reservation as I had learned on CC that you can actually select your table this way (thanks Serene!!) but we were in fact able to make that request with the woman at the reservation table in the atrium area. Since we knew where we preferred to be (again, thanks Serene!) there was no need for us to make the extra trip upstairs.

 

We also went to the Spa with the intention of making reservations but when we got up there we realized that we were in fact not sure exactly what treatment and when we wanted to go so we decided that we would just play that one by ear.

 

Additionally we visited the internet café, purchased a package and sent a quick email. I told my children that I would read and send email each day and this was how they could stay in touch me during the cruise.

 

Our chores done, we headed right back out to the Lido Deck for another beverage. The band was playing and we started dancing and having a great time!!

 

Muster drill went quickly and smoothly. When we returned to the cabin to put back the PFD’s all our luggage was in front of the door. We watched Sail Away from our balcony and then unpacked.

 

Hungry….we decided to venture over to Sushi Salmon bar. We filled our plates and sat along the promenade deck area. Met some nice people who again we would continue to meet up with daily throughout the cruise.

 

Back to the cabin for a short nap :)

 

We had scheduled a Meet and Greet with some Cruise Critic folks for 7:30 at the Old Glory Atrium bar. We sat for a few minutes before finding each other. There were 2 other couples and we decided to move over to the Kaleidoscope bar beside the Casino since a few of us were smokers. It was great meeting these people we hit it off quite well and before we left for dinner we made plans to try and meet again before getting off the ship in Key West the next day.

 

GOLDEN DINING ROOM – LATE SEATING. We arrived for dinner and were shown to our table. We were on the second floor of the dining room in a booth table that overlooked the first floor. We did not feel like going back to the cabin so we ordered a bottle of wine and waited for our table mates to show. They never did. We discussed this for a bit and although we both enjoy each others company we were really looking forward to dining with other people. Personally, for me, a large percentage of what makes a cruise experience different from other forms of travel is the dinner experience which includes table mates. We looked around and saw lots of empty seats and chalked it up to being the first night and decided we’d enjoy dinner and see what happened the next night.

 

I had the Crema de Funghi (wild mushroom cream soup); Hearts of Romaine Lettuce with Cherry Tomato and the NY Sirloin with 3 Peppercorn Sauce. The soup this night was actually quite good and was the best soup that I was to have in the main dining room all week. Salad was ok and the steak did not come prepared as I requested. I ordered medium rare and was served medium well. I did not send it back because it was tasty and I was hungry. I can’t recall what I had for dessert but I am sure that it was chocolate and I did enjoy it :p

 

After dinner we decided that we would rather walk around and enjoy some of the live music and dancing rather than go to the show.

 

I can’t recall the exact order of our ventures as the drinks had been flowing throughout the day……We visited the Ivory Bar to listen to some jazz but the musicians had just gone on a break so we decided to try back later (never did that night!). Stopped in for dance music in the Ebony Cabaret. It was quiet in there and the music was not what we looking for. Bar Blue had karaoke but it was standing room only when we walked by. We sat on the velvet lounge chairs outside of the Burgundy Wine bar for a bit and went to the Kaleidoscope bar by the casino for a refill and a smoke. Jeffrey was playing and singing there on the Promenade and we hung out here for a while dancing. He played a variety of music and got the crowd involved. We were having fun but I just had to check out the piano bar which is notoriously my favorite lounge on a ship! So we then went over to the Cinn-A-Bar piano bar and we definetly found our niche! Barry was the “piano man” and he was fabulous! We immediately got into all the fun and singing and antics and made some friends in the bar (including Barry whom we would continue to see all week and also meet in the disco and have pizza with on Lido). Later in the evening Jeffrey (from the Promenade) came into the lounge and he sang a few with Barry and the rest of us in the crowd.

 

I LOVE the piano bar on a cruise and I can honestly say that this was my best experience yet! Barry was just wonderful and had a great way of getting the crowd involved and had us all up dancing as well as singing and playing games.

 

We stayed at Cinn-A-Bar until it closed and then we headed over to the White Heat Disco where we danced until the last song was played.

 

Propped open the balcony door with our bungee cord and fell into that comfy bed!!

 

Until tomorrow.......I will add more and hopefully have some photos going up on webshots which I will link here.

 

Until I can add to the review feel free to ask questions!

[racegrrl]

Welcome back, Liza! Looking forward to the rest of your review. I have a ton of pictures to post, but since we have dial up, it's such a big job and easy to put off.:(

 

Interesting your troubles with your wine at check in. Some people say their docs had a limit, other did not. Ours did not, though we only brought two bottles on board, we were still questioned a bit.

[beloum]

We also made a reservation for the Emerald Room Supper Club. They have a table set up in the atrium where you board to do this as well as go up to the actual Emerald Room if you desired. We were going to head up to make our reservation as I had learned on CC that you can actually select your table this way (thanks Serene!!) but we were in fact able to make that request with the woman at the reservation table in the atrium area. Since we knew where we preferred to be (again, thanks Serene!) there was no need for us to make the extra trip upstairs.

 

We are sailing on the Glory in Dec. What particular area/tables in the Emerald would you recommend?

[msolberg]

LizaMM -

 

Your review is great. I can't wait to read more. :)

 

Diane

[Virgincruiser06]

Thanks for the start of a wonderful review. I am 38 also and this is my first cruise. I am traveling with my husband. No kids, leaving them at home with family. We have booked an inside state room in the middle of the ship on the riveria. Partly because of the price and because the agent with carnival recommened the middle of the ship due to my history of motion sickness, she says the middle is most stable. My question is: I am reading about the balcony's and am getting jealous, the sights and sounds of the ocean are calling me, if I could get an upgrade to the middle of the ship with a balcony, would it be worth the extra $ and how is the motion there?

Question #2: WE are also flying into MCO, but not until the day of the cruise. WE arrive at 1:30. How long did it take the shuttle to take you over to Port Caneveral? I have a feeling we will be arriving at the last minute before she sails! Any tips for last minute arrivals?

Question #3: I am sure you will post your excursions later, but was wondering what you did in Costa Maya, we have booked ours but now I am afraid we won't have time to do both and have wasted our money. We booked the mayan ruin tour which is said to be 3 1/2 hours, then the beach break, but how long will it take to return to the ship from pez quadro?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to the rest of your review!

:)

[SCDreamWeaver]

When is yours?? We are doing the same one on 4/8/06...I AM ABOUT TO BUST!!:D

 

Thanks for the start of a wonderful review. I am 38 also and this is my first cruise. I am traveling with my husband. No kids, leaving them at home with family. We have booked an inside state room in the middle of the ship on the riveria. Partly because of the price and because the agent with carnival recommened the middle of the ship due to my history of motion sickness, she says the middle is most stable. My question is: I am reading about the balcony's and am getting jealous, the sights and sounds of the ocean are calling me, if I could get an upgrade to the middle of the ship with a balcony, would it be worth the extra $ and how is the motion there?

Question #2: WE are also flying into MCO, but not until the day of the cruise. WE arrive at 1:30. How long did it take the shuttle to take you over to Port Caneveral? I have a feeling we will be arriving at the last minute before she sails! Any tips for last minute arrivals?

Question #3: I am sure you will post your excursions later, but was wondering what you did in Costa Maya, we have booked ours but now I am afraid we won't have time to do both and have wasted our money. We booked the mayan ruin tour which is said to be 3 1/2 hours, then the beach break, but how long will it take to return to the ship from pez quadro?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to the rest of your review!

:)

[cruzn4life]

Thank you for a GREAT start to your review!!! This week is going SO SLOW!!! :p Can't wait to see GLORY for ourselves! ;)

[LizaMM]

Welcome back, Liza! Looking forward to the rest of your review. I have a ton of pictures to post, but since we have dial up, it's such a big job and easy to put off.:(

 

Interesting your troubles with your wine at check in. Some people say their docs had a limit, other did not. Ours did not, though we only brought two bottles on board, we were still questioned a bit.

 

Beth - I re-read your review. Great job!

 

The wine situation is rather interesting and seems to be so varied. This was the first time I ever brought bottles of wine on a cruise.

 

I can't wait to see your photos! I have started downloading mine but I took so many that even with high speed it is going to take me awhile! I also have a couple of one-time use water cameras that I need to take in to be developed which I used in Belize and Costa Maya.

[LizaMM]

We also made a reservation for the Emerald Room Supper Club. They have a table set up in the atrium where you board to do this as well as go up to the actual Emerald Room if you desired. We were going to head up to make our reservation as I had learned on CC that you can actually select your table this way (thanks Serene!!) but we were in fact able to make that request with the woman at the reservation table in the atrium area. Since we knew where we preferred to be (again, thanks Serene!) there was no need for us to make the extra trip upstairs.

 

We are sailing on the Glory in Dec. What particular area/tables in the Emerald would you recommend?

 

I think that this is a personal preference. We like to be in the action and there was a thread going here with suggestions about Supper Club :

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=279306

 

It pertained to the Conquest but as you read through it you will see what I am referencing in my review.

 

You might want to actually go up to the Emerald room and take a look around if you think that you might have a preferred place to sit.

[Ms_Pammy]

Ahhhh Im looking forward to reading the rest of your review, so far sounds great.

 

I do have a guestion...can you tell me about this..... "We had a reservation at AutoPark to leave the car for the week" and how you get ahold of them?

 

 

Thanks

[LizaMM]

Thanks for the start of a wonderful review. I am 38 also and this is my first cruise. I am traveling with my husband. No kids, leaving them at home with family. We have booked an inside state room in the middle of the ship on the riveria. Partly because of the price and because the agent with carnival recommened the middle of the ship due to my history of motion sickness, she says the middle is most stable. My question is: I am reading about the balcony's and am getting jealous, the sights and sounds of the ocean are calling me, if I could get an upgrade to the middle of the ship with a balcony, would it be worth the extra $ and how is the motion there?

Question #2: WE are also flying into MCO, but not until the day of the cruise. WE arrive at 1:30. How long did it take the shuttle to take you over to Port Caneveral? I have a feeling we will be arriving at the last minute before she sails! Any tips for last minute arrivals?

Question #3: I am sure you will post your excursions later, but was wondering what you did in Costa Maya, we have booked ours but now I am afraid we won't have time to do both and have wasted our money. We booked the mayan ruin tour which is said to be 3 1/2 hours, then the beach break, but how long will it take to return to the ship from pez quadro?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to the rest of your review!

:)

 

It is so nice to leave the kids home and travel as adults! I am sure that you will have a great time!

 

#1 - I have been in insides, ocenview and balcony cabins. I LOVE having a balcony and the extra money was absolutely worth it to me! It would take me hours to tell you all the reasons that I love having a balcony :eek: I would definetly do an inside cabin again if I needed to. I can't really speak to your motion sickness issue as that is something that I have never experienced. I am a seasoned boater - both friends and family have boats and I spend a large percentage of the summer out on the water. Your TA is right that the lower, middle areas of the ship will get less motion. There are many threads on the boards about motion sickness and peoples experiences and what they use to help them out. I would suggest that you read some of those before you make a decision.

 

#2 - EEK!!! I get nervous just hearing your flight plans!! I don't mean to scare you or anything but I am just a firm believer in flying in the day before. I only flew in the day of one time and my arrangements were similar to yours. I was nervous about timing and also quite stressed from the travel day when I finally got on the ship and I just did not feel like I relaxed and settled into vacation mode that easily. When I fly in the day before I am refreshed and relaxed and on the ship as soon as they let us board which is like adding a whole Fun Day At Sea to the cruise.

 

That said....It took about 45 minutes for the drive from MCO to the port. If you are landing at 1:30 it will take time to get your luggage. Then you get to the shuttle area and perhaps have to wait for the bus, load up and get going. Did you book your air through Carnival?? Any way you can get an earlier flight?? If not I would just say relax and have the attitude that all will go smoothly so that you don't stress out!!

 

#3 - I don't know what time your Mayan Ruin tour is but it does not sound like you need to book both to me. We did not book an excursion in Costa Maya, just went over to Mahahual on our own. You might have time to go to Mahahual and Pez Quadro after your excursion but I doubt you would get your moneys worth out of the "excursion" and would be better off doing this on your own if the time is there. Additionally, there are many other places on the beach in Mahahual which are much closer to the taxi stand than Pez Quadro (which is in fact the farthest away) so that you don't have to add walking time

 

Hope this helps!

[LizaMM]

Ahhhh Im looking forward to reading the rest of your review, so far sounds great.

 

I do have a guestion...can you tell me about this..... "We had a reservation at AutoPark to leave the car for the week" and how you get ahold of them?

 

 

Thanks

 

MsPammy - I see that you are in Florida.....We were flying out of LGA here in New York and that is where we left the car. Would you still like the info???

 

Diane and Linda - Thanks! Don't worry there is more coming as soon as I can! Photos should be up in the next couple of days as well

[gypsyrose]

Liza, Thank you for the detailed start of your review. Love it!! Glad to hear the piano player was lots of fun. Hoping to get a good seat there most nites. Looking forward to the rest of review and of course the pictures.

 

Virgincruiser.....I agree with Liza. You are really cutting it close landing at 1:30. If you booked your flight thru Carnival you will probably be okay as they will wait on you. If you didn't book thru Carnival, I would check to see if there was an earlier flight. It will cost extra but would be worth it. I flew in same day on my 1st cruise but we took the 1st flight out that day and landed 10 am. What if there is a delay? You will miss your virgin cruise.

[Ms_Pammy]

Liza, yes please as we are driving and need to park for the week.

 

Thanks agian

[albertiger]

Liza,

a few questions from another Connecticuter about to do the same cruise. (same hotel too)

where did you meet the Carnival rep the next morning and what time do the buses start running to the port?

Who do you purchase the transfers from? your agent or from the Carnival rep at the airport?

and, did you use the 3 star/orlando airport category on Priceline?

thanks so much.....:D

[OCruisers]

Great review, Lisa!

 

So glad to meet you folks on the cruise! Did those "swimming pictures" turn out? :eek: Sorry about that!

 

We took a Carnival cruise to have FUN! We certainly did have FUN! By the second week when you all boarded, we had already had too much fun and were a bit tired! :D (Honestly, think our bar bill was more than the cost of our cruise .... :rolleyes: )

 

Our major problem with Glory was the quality of the food! Whatever, no cruise is ever perfect! We took this cruise for FUN, not FOOD! We had a great time doing our ship bar/lounge hopping almost every night! Wonder how many times Barry (Piano Bar) played "I Don't Wanna Work... I Wanna Sit at the Bar All Day ...." song each night? Now, I can't get it out of my head ....

 

[If anyone is going to be on Glory between now and the end of March, do stop by the Casino Bar when "Diamond Jeff" is there. He can play ANYTHING! In two weeks he was different each night.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do such a wonderful review!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :) [/b]

[gypsyrose]

Why the end of March? I thought the same crew stayed for 6 months. Does anyone know? I dont go till the end of April and I want to hear Diamond Jeff:(

[LizaMM]

Liza,

a few questions from another Connecticuter about to do the same cruise. (same hotel too)

where did you meet the Carnival rep the next morning and what time do the buses start running to the port?

Who do you purchase the transfers from? your agent or from the Carnival rep at the airport?

and, did you use the 3 star/orlando airport category on Priceline?

thanks so much.....:D

 

 

Not just a fellow CT'er but almost neighbors...I am in Norwalk.

 

- The porter from the Hyatt took us directly over to the Carnival Rep. which was by the baggage claim area.

 

- I am not sure what time the busses started. We headed over after we ate breakfast, around 10:00AM. We had to wait about 20 to 30 minutes for the bus to arrive. The bus driver announced that we were the 3rd bus to head over. I would imagine that they start fairly early due the the people who come in on early flights. The timing we had was great for us.

 

- I purchased the transfers through my TA when I booked the cruise. There are other ways to do this but I decided that this was just the easiest way for us.

 

- We booked directly through Hyatt because we used rewards points.

[gypsyrose]

Liza, where is the 2nd installment? I have been trying to be patient but....:o Please, I need more.

[Iamthesea]

[If anyone is going to be on Glory between now and the end of March, do stop by the Casino Bar when "Diamond Jeff" is there. He can play ANYTHING! In two weeks he was different each night.

Is the casino bar smokey?

[zebster15]

Liza,

a few questions from another Connecticuter about to do the same cruise. (same hotel too)

where did you meet the Carnival rep the next morning and what time do the buses start running to the port?

Who do you purchase the transfers from? your agent or from the Carnival rep at the airport?

and, did you use the 3 star/orlando airport category on Priceline?

thanks so much.....:D

 

Former neighbor, From Monroe....

You will see the CCL reps walking around the terminal. You can purchase transfers from them but it is easier to do it ahead of time. $50 p/p r/t

Yes there are shuttle companies that are less and yes you can rent a car, but if its just the 2 of you I would just go with CCL.

 

The Hyatt is right IN the terminal at MCO. There are many hotels around the airport, but the Hyatt is the easiest. If you get there early in the evening all of the shops and restaurants in the terminal will be open.

Have a great cruise...

 

Lisa, glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

[Virgincruiser06]

Thanks for the answers LizaMM, I was worried about the flight too and still am a little, but the agent at carnival told me the latest flight we could have would have to arrive at 2pm and we arrive at 1:30. The only other flight comes in at 12:50 which is a little better, but it has 1 stop and you have to change planes, so you risk losing the luggage! At least we have a straight flight with the other one. I have always had good luck with my flights being on time, let's hope and pray this one is!!!

I checked on the balcony upgrade and it would be an extra $400, I think I will just stick with inside and save that money for something else. This is our first cruise so we will think the inside is great I'm sure.

I may try to see if I can cancel the beach break I have scheduled in Costa Maya due to the time frame.

ONe more Question: What should we do in Key west on Sunday from 12-6?

Thanks!!:)

[OCruisers]

Why the end of March? I thought the same crew stayed for 6 months. Does anyone know? I dont go till the end of April and I want to hear Diamond Jeff:(

 

It's because "Diamond Jeff" (also know as Jeffery) is an entertainer ... in no way a regular crew member. Some entertainers are only on the ship for a week or less. His contract is through the end of March on Glory.

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[OCruisers]

Is the casino bar smokey?

 

Actually, the non-smokers get the best seats for Diamond Jeff/Jeffery in the Casino Bar. Smokers have the mid to back end of the bar. Non smokers have comfy seats against the wall and the bar stools directly in front of where he plays.

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)