Review: Carnival Glory - June 12, 2004 to June 19, 2004 - Eastern Caribbean

[CoachTerry14]

Review: Carnival Glory - June 12, 2004 to June 19, 2004 - Eastern Caribbean

 

Pre-Cruise:

My wife Nina and I used Buycruises.com for this cruise. We drove down to Palm Coast, Florida the night before and stayed at a Hampton Inn. There is a Cracker Barrel right next to the Hampton Inn. We ate at the Cracker Barrel for Dinner. We did the complimentary continental breakfast on embarkation morning. The drive to the port is a short 90 minutes on I-95. However, we traveled a little ways on A1A…you just have to enjoy the view! There is a rest stop on I-95 about 30 minutes from the port. If you are traveling this direction, this is a great place to stop and get your stuff together before getting in the luggage line at the port.

 

Embarkation:

The luggage line moved its normal slow pace and we were there about 11:30. Once we unloaded the luggage and parked the car ($70 for 7 days), everything started moving a little better. Once in the terminal you go through the security check on the bottom floor. We brought on two six packs of soda and a six pack of Propel water. We had no problems getting through security at the port. Now it was time to go up the escalator and head to the Skipper’s Club. It is to the left when you get off the escalator. The Skipper’s Club has several chairs and a check-in desk. There were two families ahead of us in the Skipper’s Club. However, this process moved very quickly. They did not take our Bahamian papers, but no problems later. Once this process was completed, we headed towards the ship. We had our Sail and Sign photos made, skipped the embarkation photo and we were on the ship in minutes. You enter on deck number three at the main lobby. We have sailed the Conquest Class before, so the Glory’s layout is the exact same. No problems heading towards our room on deck seven. It was about 12:00 and we were given a paper saying not to go to our room until 1:00. We went straight to our room, dropped off our two carry on bags, and went for lunch. The first Cheeseburger with French fries and coleslaw is one of the best meals. This made our eighth Carnival Cruise and we always look forward to this meal!

 

Our Room:

We were in a Category 12 Cabin – 7312. The category 12 cabin is similar to the category 12 cabins on the Destiny Class and Spirit Class. The Spirit Class cabins have much nicer balconies. We were on the port side and do enjoy the much larger rooms. There is plenty of storage space, hangers, etc. There is a dressing area before the bathroom with a sink and hair dryer. The bathroom is very roomy with two sinks, plenty of storage, a toilet, bidet, and Jacuzzi tub with shower doors. There is lots of good stuff in the white free form ceramic bowl. There are shower gel and shampoo dispenser in the tub as well.

The room has a mini bar stocked with lots of good stuff to drink and eat. The cabin comes with a wet bar with numerous glasses, etc. The room has several art pieces and several mirrors. The room comes with two chairs and a very large couch. The balcony had two chase lounges and one chair along with a little table. The balcony is very long but not very wide. The room has a TV and a VCR. There were several art deco lamps and lots of ceiling lights. We just love the little adjustable twinkle lights. The room also has a table, end tables, and two nightstands. One cabinet has your safe. It can be activated with a credit card or any card with a black strip on the back. They advise you not to use the Sail and Sign Card.

 

Gifts:

When we arrived at our cabin, we had several gifts waiting for us. We received three gifts in total: A Bottle of Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Robert Mondavi), a plate of chocolate covered strawberries (1 dozen), and huge tray of fruit and cheese. All of the gift cards said they were compliments of Carnival Cruise Lines. We really are not sure why we received the gifts, but we really enjoyed them all! We also received our $100 Shareholder’s Sail & Sign Credit. I had order my wife the Superior Floral Arrangement prior to the cruise. It really made the room look nice.

 

Ports:

We had been to all three ports at least once before. In Nassau and St. Maarten it was just shopping. In St. Thomas, we went to Coral World on our own. We really enjoyed this Park near Coki Beach. The cab ride over was an adventure –very much like a roller coaster ride. The ride was $7 each per person. The cab driver gave us two discount tickets to Coral World for $3 off each. The park is usually $18 per person –so it is $15 with the discount tickets. There are lots of aquariums and viewing tanks, but the highlight of the park is the underwater observatory. You can see lots of fish and coral. The have lots of feedings scheduled through the day. They have a nice little walking path with lots of flora and fauna. Beware, there are iguanas running around freely throughout the park! Some of the iguanas were over two feet long! Very educational place to visit…I highly recommend it if you are into this kind of stuff. This is very safe place to take children. In Nassau, we just walked of the ship and shopped in the downtown area. In St. Maarten, we took the water taxi to the downtown area. The water taxi is $5 per person all day. There were only three ships in port at Nassau, three at St. Thomas, and four at St. Maarten.

 

Onboard Activities:

There is so much to do. We participated in almost every trivia contest. I won one after a double tiebreaker. We spent a lot of time in the Casino. The Casino Host Brett was one of the better Casino hosts. We hit lots of little wins and jackpots. I hit a three of a kind playing Three Card Poker. I played just about every table game once. I really disliked FACE UP Blackjack. “Funship†blackjack was Ok. Wheel of Madness Blackjack was fun, but Craps and regular blackjack were the only games I made money. We played allot of slots with various amounts. My wife had over 7600 slot points by the end of the cruise and I had about 4500. My wife had a $50 check from Ocean Player’s club waiting when we arrived. We also got some of the free crap from the casino…mainly key chains. We both were offered a free drink in the casino by the casino host. This was a new experience on a cruise ship.

We also did a few of the other activities, but mainly avoided the main shows. Many of the talks and Cruise Host Shows were rebroadcast on the TV and we watched them as we dressed or fell asleep each night.

 

Food:

We ate everywhere. We ate too much. We did dinner in the main dining room (Platinum late) four nights including the first formal night. We ate dinner one night in the Red Sail dining room. We also ate dinner one night at the Emerald Room. This was one of the best meals I have ever had. I have eaten at other specialty restaurants on other ships including David’s on the Pride. Nevertheless, the service and food were far superior here. The food did not stop. There were several “compliments of the chef†courses. My wife had the Filet Mignon and I had the NY Strip. The best part of the meal was the Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes! If you go to the Emerald Room skip lunch! We ate lunch in the main dining room one day (BBQ Rib day!). Otherwise, it was the Red Sail, the Fish & Chips, or the Deli. We even tried the Chinese food one day. My favorite was the Fish & Chips. My wife enjoys the deli!

 

Service:

Our service in the dining room was excellent. Our room steward was good. Everyone seemed to be smiling and working very hard. Free postcards are available at the purser’s desk. I used the Internet Café – I purchased the 100 minute package for $55. I really could have used more time. I used the Spa/Salon twice: Once for a manicure/pedicure package and once for a facial. I really enjoyed the manicure/pedicure and saved $20 by doing it on a port day.

 

Cruise Host:

Mark Price was very entertaining. His right hand Darcy was excellent and Ronaldo (his left hand) was very good. Darcy’s dry sense of humor was right up my alley.

 

Debarkation:

We did the self-assist debarkation. We were in our car at 8:00 am. If you are fit enough to carry your own bags –do it! We were off the ship in minutes.

 

Areas for improvement: Nothing ruined the cruise and no one is perfect!

1) Several errors (facts and/or grammar and/or spelling) in the Carnival Capers. One day they were talking about Costa Maya in one section. Since this was the Eastern Cruise –this was a major mistake. Another day the capers said they were doing a drawing of the store raffles. The drawing was not held in public and no one knew anything about it. Later the winners were posted, but not sure about this one. The Supper Shopper was once called the SUPPER Shopper. I could go on here!

2) Photo Lab. I dropped off two disposable cameras on the same day. One was ready in 24 hours. The other camera was not ready for 3 days! The quality of the prints was fair at best.

3) One day the trivia was listed as an hour long and it only lasted 30 minutes. After pointing this out to Ronaldo, he went out of his way to make it up, but by the time he returned most people had left.

 

Conclusion:

It was a great cruise. The few minor problems are listed only to give balance to the review. The weather was nearly perfect and the seas were extremely calm. I felt the ship move, but that is the fun part of cruising. A seven day cruise goes by so quickly.

Please email me if you have questions.

 

 

terrygbennett@yahoo.com

[michelle319]

Great review, Terry!

 

Looking forward to your cruise on the Glory in August!

 

Michelle

 

Carnival Glory 8/21/04

Carnival Fascination 9/02

Carnival Imagination 6/01

Majesty of the Seas 12/00

 

Glory - August 21, 2004 - Here we come!!

 

[michelle319]

Ooops! I meant to say, looking forward to "our" cruise in August

 

Michelle

 

Carnival Glory 8/21/04

Carnival Fascination 9/02

Carnival Imagination 6/01

Majesty of the Seas 12/00

 

Glory - August 21, 2004 - Here we come!!

 

[thecoolstew]

Thanks for the excellent review Terry! Does the menu at the fish and chips include steam shrimp and oysters, and what are the hours?

[ken_nyc]

Thanks Terry for the GREAT review, looking forward to our August cruise!!

 

Carnival Pride 8/17/02 (Western Caribbean)

Carnival Glory 8/21/2004 (Eastern Caribbean) 30th Anniversary Cruise

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[CoachTerry14]

The Fish & Chips place was open primarily for lunch. I ordered the fish and chips both days...I also order the calamari side dish...Yummy!

 

 

terrygbennett@yahoo.com

[CoachTerry14]

Someone e-mailed me about Trivia. Sometimes it was individual and sometimes it was team. Depended on who was running it. There was only one trophy or prize no matter what. Categories included: General Trivia, Really Hard Trivia, Cartoons, The 80's, Slogans, TV Themes, etc.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

terrygbennett@yahoo.com

[CoachTerry14]

I did use the Spa/Salon Services twice. The service was wonderful. It does pay to pay attention to specials!

[CoachTerry14]

Thanks Terry for the GREAT review, looking forward to our August cruise!!

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[Karitannis]

We too were on the Glory Eastern itinerary. Hearing so many negative things about Carnival, we were apprehensive, but LOVED it. The food was excellent. There were one or two things we thought we might suggest, but by the end of the cruise, we forgot what they were. Maybe the photo shop employees could have been a little nicer, but other than it was A #1. From start to finish. We loved the Glory and the itinerary. My only suggestion would be to take your own non ship excursions. That was our only mistake, We took one ship's excursion in St. Thomas, only because they kept changing the time we were going to be in port. Our ship's excursion was a zoo. thousands of people being hurded like cattle. The other two private ones were awesome.

 

Go Glory!

 

Cruiser Chics on the Glory - 6/12/04