Just back from the GLORY...Not much fun....

[voyagerfl]

I am glad a few things went well for you. Next time take your kids on a Disney cruise. Not man:cool: y College kids and this is a ship for kids and families. We went as a family at Christmas time and loved it. I will be on the Glory on 3-25 and look forward to meeting all kinds of people. yes I know there will be college and H.S. kids. It is also our Spring break we are all teachers. We will have a Great time. Can't wait.

 

Gregory5.....you beat me to it.......

I was going to say take a Disney Cruise......and who would cruise at Spring Break and not expect a lot of partying ?

As for the Kids..and what they hear...as long as it is not profanity...they gotta live in the world ! There are Gay people everywhere.......people drink....etc...like i said.....if you want something catered to kids....go disney.:)

[habby]

To echo what some of the other posters have said, thanks for sharing such a balanced review. It seems like there were some communication problems even before your cruise regarding things like Camp Carnival, tipping, menus etc., but it sounds like you took the proper steps regarding things that disappointed you. I wish things could have worked out better but I hope you were able to enjoy the ports. What a wonderful experience for your children, to visit places that some only dream about.

[baybreezin78]

Sorry you had a bad time!! IMHO, I would never judge my level of enjoyment by the fact that the hair dryer doesn't work or that the dancers were chubby etc etc...in fact, on a cruise..I wouldn't even notice that!

[Littlegoo75]

I too am sorry that you didn't have a great vacation, but Spring Break is no time to vacation if you want to avoid the party crowd. The college-aged group isn't going to care whether their behavior is offending you or inappropriate around children.....they are on Spring break and want to party (MANY of us have been there), so there really isn't much else to expect. I am not generalizing about the college kids, I was there not too too long ago, but I know that if I went on a cruise with my friends in college, I would have probably been a little loud and a little tipsy, although not vulgar, as I was raised better than that....however I have witnessed the conduct of drunk 18-25 year olds....and a lot of the time, it's not pretty. Cruising is so affordable now, that college kids are a common sight on board cruise ships when school is out..... you can squeeze 4 kids in an inside cabin....just something that you have to be prepared for.

I went on a cruise over Easter vacation back in the 80's when I was 7 (Sitmar), and I don't remember anything about drunk crazy people, but things were different back then....If I had kids and were to take them on a cruise, I would probably pick Disney or Carnival during a non-Spring break time.

Good luck with your next cruise, hopefully you aren't soured on Carnival.

[katsted69]

Sorry your cruise wasn't the greatest but at least you enjoyed portions of it and your family was together.

 

We are coming up on our first cruise and I was just wondering.....when is spring break for college kids? Our school is on break now, is it the same everywhere? Our kids school is on spring break in April which is when we will go. Not worried about rude people because I can be rude back. Not that my children haven'theard a few choice words before and they will be in CC anyhow but there really is a limit to how stupid a grown adult should act. JMO

[BND]

The vast majority of colleges have spring break sometime in the month of March. There are a few in Feb and April from what I've heard, but not enough to affect cruising. I had one son home the week before last and one this past week. Most of their friends were here during one of those two weeks. We were on Fantasy this past Nov and you will never get away from smoking or drunkeness. There are always a few who drink 24/7 while on a cruise (probably at home too) and age isn't a factor in that. The fact is, kids who party at school are looking for places they can party away and cruises and the caribbean and Mexico are favorite destinations and Carnival is not the only cruise line that attracts them. Not all college students drink and not all adults stay sober. But, just like we cruise in early-mid Nov because there are less children, we wouldn't cruise in March due to spring break.

[glrounds]

I would have to agree with the OP about the food in the dining room of the GLORY. I didn't find it particularly tasty or interesting (only took dinner there three times on this cruise). And the service in the dining room was pathetic: slow, disinterested, lots of joking around with each other bordering on horseplay, and actually sitting down at one of the empty tables (an absolute NO-NO in any fine restaurant).:eek: I would also agree with the OP that the buffet on the GLORY was terrific.

Also would agree about the singer/dancers, very mediocre and yes, they could stand to hit the gym. I did however enjoy the shows, just noted very average singers and some of them sporting a few extra pounds (also usually a NO-NO in any vegas-style show).

I did have a lot of fun, however. Drunks are, at worst, pathetically amusing to me. Loud, boisterous, colorful language only gives me a pleasant nostalgic trip back to my youthful days . . . many decades ago. :D

I would agree wholeheartedly with Ventureman, the best time to cruise is October and then again in May. Eliminate a lof of the things which seem to turn people off.

The GLORY is, without a doubt, my least favorite Carnival ship, but I would never be able to say I didn't have fun. :)

[nrdsb4]

We did the Disney cruise on spring break a few years ago. It was so much fun! Plenty of kid friendly activities as well as a whole deck devoted to adults only. If you have young children I would HIGHLY recommend it.

 

We did Explorer of the Seas at spring break, and Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan at Thanksgiving, both ships completely full. Maybe I just got very lucky, but I don't recall anyone causing any problems, and I'm referring to kids, college age kids, young adults, or older folks. I just saw lots of people enjoying their families, friends, the ocean, and all of the wonderful ameneties.

 

It's not necessarily a given that a spring break cruise will be bad, but again, maybe we just got lucky?

[voyagerfl]

I'd be thoroughly disgusted myself if trapped on a cruise ship while college drunks disrupt family peace ! OMG, with young children, drunkedness and loud filthy language....that's a bummer.

 

A few critics on threads have suggested that college break immature drunks generally take the shorter cruises (like 3-4 days)....may we ask, how long was your Glory cruise?

 

Thanks....and we feel for you.

 

Heirloom

 

• We all know when Spring Break is.....So you make a choice.
  
• And if you sail during Hurricane Season, (we often do) don't blame Carnival if your cruise gets changed or disrupted. (of course sometimes they need to communicate better)
  
  
• I can not imagine anyone thinking the waiters are not worth at least the minimum tip.
  

Don't mean to put down the OP.....I do feel badly for anyone that does not get to fully enjoy thier cruise. And sometimes Carnival could be better at communicating certain things.

Course we gotta know how to open our mouths and ask for stuff also.:)

[gfsmith]

First off i am really sorry you had such a awful experience, that being said it would be a bios opinion to base this with a typical carnival cruise. It was "Spring Break", which by no means makes the behavier of the pax acceptable but it should have definetly been thought of prior to booking during spring break, especially with young children.

 

As far as the shows and chubby dancers we also have been noticing a trend here. But we always go and if we don't like it we leave and find somthing else to do. so many things to do so little time....

[Ehpride]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I have to say. I am a college student and I would hope that my friends and I would have more sense about how to act around small children. I hope you'll give Carnival another try at some time other than spring break.

[K.T.B.]

It's a shame you had such a bad experience. I must say though, based on your previous posts, you knew going into it that your 5 year old would not be allowed to be with his brother and that Carnival is generally inflexible in that regard. Also, having just searched through RCI's website (damn annoying music, too), they do not yet have bowling alleys on their ships. Who knows...? They might in the future, but not now.

[ncjeff]

I am so sorry you had such a bad time...I saw that when you posted you only had 7 or so post previous. We too thought that maybe we should not be woo'd by the prices. Lets face it if you wanted babysitting go for Mickey,or pay the the 3rd or 4th traveler.If not the Boat does offer Prvate sitting services. If you want Crystal Service.......

[L_T]

• We all know when Spring Break is.....So you make a choice.

Well, I guess I don't know when spring break it for sure - it would be nice if there were such a calendar available.....

Last year we cruised at the first of April and there were a number of rowdy jr-high aged kids on board that caused enough disruption for us that my wife does not want to cruise again during the time when there is any possibility of a large number of young people being on board. I would think sometime from mid April through mid May would be okay - however, with Easter being later than usual this year, we just aren't sure.

[TanIslandGirl]

Wow, we were on this ship in February and had a wonderful experience. Also, the "scottish" guy...we loved him!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeee jimmy!

 

Totally agree with the kid camp issues. That annoyed us and our children didn't attend the camp either.

 

Food and service was excellent...I guess it does depend on who your servers are.

 

Can't wait to cruise the Glory again.

[lgmtseawa]

Just a different perspective on the kid camp... mine are 7 and 2, so no question they'd be in different groups. Not all cruise lines even take them below 3 (IIRC, Disney doesn't take below 3 in their camp!), and of those who do take down to 2, many others require either perfectly potty trained (no accidents, or so I've read), or they page you to change the diapers. My understanding is that Camp Carnival will even change the diapers, so we can actually go do something uninterrupted for an hour or two. :)

 

As for spring break, we are going during our school district's spring break, which is the first week of April. Seems from what some others have said here, most of the colleges should be done with their breaks by then; hope so! The university I work at has its break the week before my son's; now I think I'm glad! (I can't imagine many colleges would want spring breaks too much into April, since they tend to end earlier than K12 for the summer.) But I hadn't thought about the issue before reading this thread, so I'm glad for the heads-up.

 

Carolyn

Conquest 4/2/06

[Catrin]

You know what a great time to cruise is???

 

The first or second week in May....

THe college kids are taking thier Final Exams.... no cruises for them!

All the NorthEast April Vacations are OVER!

And the Schools down south are not over YET!

 

We went two years in a row in May... there were only 150 kids on board the Triumph each time.

Catrin

[woodz]

I don't mind dancers that are not "stick-thin", they just need larger costumes. On the Conquest a few weeks ago we had some girls who could dance, but their small costumes really distracted from the performance.

[msolberg]

I was on the same cruise but had a different experience. My wife and I sailed with six of our friends. We are all in our 40's (when did that happen?) and could rightfully be classified as partiers while on vacation. There were a lot of college aged kids on board but the age mix is one of the things that I liked on the ship. We've been on past Carnival cruises where the ship became a ghost town after 10pm. I thought this cruise had a good mix of all ages. I actually suggested to our group that we book during spring break next year.

 

I think picking a cruise is like picking a vehicle. The sports car, pickup truck, SUV, or minivan driver all have different needs and expectations. We sailed the Paradise back in its non-smoking days...that was a mistake for us. It was definately a very quiet ship.

 

Mark

[swatts1]

Sorry to hear that your trip wasn't all that you had hoped for. Please don't let your experience sour you on Carnival. I was on RCCL in March 2003 with my daughter and some of her sorority sisters and their moms. We had a fantastic time and the moms were honored to be invited by our daughters. I sat at the restaurant one morning and heard a group of college guys at the table next to be talking very loudly about their sex lives and what they'd been doing on the ship with various women. I am the mother of two college students and even I was appalled. If you cruise during college spring breaks you take your chances on a fair amount of eye opening experiences. Your experience would probably not be any different on any ship where lots of college students were cruising.

[OceanCruise]

I can understand your disappointment but where does Carnival draw the line with the age groups? If they make an exception for your child they will have to make exceptions for others or parents who think their child is mature for their age. Aren't the age groups delineated on the web site or brochures? As far as the shows, they are generally intended for adults because most kids are in the kids clubs. Usually most jokes will go over young kids heads anyway and I have never found the shows to be out of line-just harmless fun. Did you really not know kids can have different food than adults at dinner? Did you even ask? When our son was younger we would even ask for things not on the menu and were always accomodated. I guess you know know for the next time.

[sunryz710]

If you have kids and you are concerned aout them being exposed to language etc. you don't travel during spring break.

 

I never travel during spring break because who wants to be surrounded by drunk college kids..

 

The best time is May all the kids are in school and not out for the summer..

 

One last comment... why would you take a 5 & 7 yr old to Bingo?

That is just dumb in my opinion.. You can't complain about adult jokes in front of your children when you are the one who put them in an adult environment. There are many activities for children to do while you are playing bingo or attending adult events. If you didnt want them to be separated form you then you shouldn't have played Bingo but instead choose a family activity.

 

I for one would be more irritated with the family who took their winey 5 and 7 yr old to Bingo (an adult activity) than with the BINGO MC making jokes on a cruiseship during a key spring break time.

[donnavb5]

Thanks for the Info. I'm cruising May 13 and THOUGHT it was a good time. Good weather, not so many kids. We all want different things. I would probably prefer not to be on during spring break, but I also don't think dead at 10 PM sounds so hot either. Last year we cruised the first week in May and it was perfect.

[Jtd724]

Norwegian Cruise Line is coming out with the first bowling alley at sea, and it will work, something called bumper bowling. It has been on the wishlist of many cruisers for years. RCCL talked about it but they too felt the ocean played to big a role, NCL feels otherwise. They say its just for fun, not competition. I applaud the move by NCL. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, try another line. NCL might fit your bill nicely from what I've seen they have alot of kids activities and even a mini waterpark/pool, and soon enough BOWLING!!

[CruiseHealing]

I am not sure what week you went, but this past week over 2.3 million college kids were on Spring Break. The week before that it was 1.3 million. We sail on the Senation on March 27th, there will be about 700,000 college students on SB. That is the same week that many Florida schools (elem. to high school) will be on SB. I expect to see alot of families, but that's ok, we expect it.

 

When we were thinking about booking on the Sensation, college SB was considered, so I googled "College Spring Break Calendar" and found this site in seconds. When I noticed a majority of college students would have already completed their SB, I figured this was not a big concern. I noticed that some colleges were not listed, but it does give you a good idea.

 

www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar2.htm

 

Sorry you had such a bad experience, we sailed the Glory a couple of years ago and loved it. Thinking about sailing her again soon.

 

Sensation 3/06

Sovereign of the Seas 4/05

Sovereign of the Seas 12/04 (Cancelled)

Carnival Glory 5/04

Disney Wonder 6/03