Just Back from the GLORY 4/22 to 4/29....Gonna be long

[momto1.5]

We are back from our cruise and land depression is setting in.... I loved reading the detailed reviews before we left, so I'll try to fill in all the blanks for future travelers...

 

On Friday, 4/21, we stayed at the Residence Inn/Port Canaveral. It was AWESOME. Best hotel I've stayed in in a long time. It was $99 per night (Government discount). We had a full breakfast buffet in the morning and a great room. The hotel lets you leave your car in the paking lot and offers a shuttle through Cocoa Beach Shuttle. (The shuttle cost us $6 per person round trip). The shuttle service sucked (but that's a whole other story).

 

Saturday,4/22....... We were at the port by 1215 and on lido deck by 130. Lines weren't bad and our room was ready when we boarded. I am 5 months pregnant and wanted a lower room (to help prevent any nausea). I LOVE sleeping in complete darkness and always (except one time) book inside rooms. We don't spend much time in the room!!!! We were on Main deck room 2436. It was nice and clean with enough storage space for everything. Our cabin steward was OK. (I've had much better). I can't even remember his name if that tells you anything. We dropped off our carry on bags and were exploring and eating soon enough. The ship is HUGE... largest I've been on, but even on sea days, I never felt like there were 3500 people on board. After some exploring, We went to the muster drill and was stuck there until after we had set sail. It was a typical drill with the exception of the very large, sweaty, smelly man in front of me. (I'm sorry if you are reading this... but don't forget to put on deodorant before packing it) :( Dinner in the dining room that night was different. We requested early seating and was assigned late. No biggie... I'm on vacation, I can overcome and adapt. We requested a table for two and was put at a table for 6. Again no biggie... Till one of the couples demanded a VERY annoying game of 20 questions about us. Our attempts at ignoring him were unsuccessful. The other couple was wonderful. (Again, I apologize if this was you......) Food was great!.

 

Sunday 4/23....... Key West... Been before, love it. We basically just walked around, shopped a little and went back to the ship. It was nice day and even the shuttles didn't take too long. Breakfast in the dining room, lunch on lido, and dinner in the dining room again. (We requested achange and received it). We were moved to a two person table with the BEST Waitstaff :D Mihaela, Teodora, and Alex were incredible. By the third night, they had all of our preferences memorized.

 

Monday 4/24....... Day at sea... Very hot day, but still fun. There was always something to do. Room service for breakfast, lunch on lido, and dinner in the dining room. This was the first formal night. I was surprised that there weren't a lot of people ruining the formal night by wearing jeans or shorts. This is always an issue. This was probably one of my favorite days becasue my SO gave me and engagement ring right before dinner. :)

 

Tuesday 4/25.......Belize... YUCK, YUCK, YUCK.. This port sucked. Of course, I couldn't participate in many shore excursions (cause of my belly), so we took a taxi to cucumber beach. It was like going to the lake at home; only MUCH more expensive. Take a tour or do an excursion. We ordered room service the night before and took the sandwiches on shore with us. (Glad we did, Belize SCARED me)

 

Wednesday 4/26.......Cost Maya... Port was ok. I like Belize much better. We were going to hop on a water taxi and head to cayecaulker, but chose to spend a few hours in port. There were three other ships there that day and it became SUPER crowded, around 1ish, we ended up just heading back to the ship and hanging out by the pool. This was my other favorite day, cause the SO actually got up the nerve to ASK me to marry him to go along with the ring (you men are so cute when you are nervous).

 

Thursday 4/27....... Day at sea.... after so much sun exposure, we decided not to do the pool that day. We found a quiet deck (Lobby level 3 starboard side and played cards and read. It was so peaceful and relaxing. Second formal night.... wasn't as good as the first, but still.....

 

Friday 4/28....... Day at sea.... Pool day. The waterslide was SOOOO cool.

 

Saturday 4/29....... TIME TO GO HOME :mad: We were up at 7, eating breakfast at 745, off the ship by 820 and on I95 heading north by 930. We did self assist and were lucky enough to be called first (by deck). This was awesome, but I suggest doing it only IF your luggage is ALL rolling :D

 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY....

 

Dining room food-- Excellent

Waitstaff-- Excellent

Crew-- Excellent (with the exception of the one girl with bleach blonde curly hair in the watch gift shop. She was HORRIBLE)

Room Steward--Good

Ports--OK

Gym--Good (SO wanted more free weights).

Pools--Excellent

Bar-- My two non-alcoholic froo froo drinks were great

Fish and Chips-- Excellent

Deli--Good

Oriental--Excellent

Lido Buffets--Good (The Chocolate Buffet was EXCELLENT)

Grille--Excellent

Pizza--Excellent

Ice Cream Stations-- Excellent (Would have snuck one home in my luggage if I could have)

 

Now for packing..... Things I could have left at home....

12 pack of sprite -I drank lemonade and punch all week)

power strip - didn't use it

two extra pair of flip flops - didn't wear em

t shirts- we came back with 5 clean t shirts between us....

snacks - always something to eat on the ship

 

Things I'm glad I took....

Over the doorshoe hanger - helped keep stuff organized

highlighter - for the capers

cash - we stuck to $30in cash for the casino,once it was gone... it was gone.

ziploc bags- handy for many things

 

Please ask any questions... I'll be happy to fill you in!!!

[Talltales]

Hi,

 

Thank you so much. I leave this Saturday! If possible reading your review makes me even more excited! Sorry the ports aren't great. I was really looking forward to Belize - I've booked a Mayan ruin excursion. Doing the beach in Costa Maya and staying onboard in Key West ( been there, done that a thousand times). Question, I was reading another review of the same cruise and they mentioned smelling sewage on deck 8. Did you notice that? I'm staying on the Spa deck, but still, it got me scared - is there a problem with the pipes? Also, did you notice a lot of movement?

[gamecockvic]

Mom

 

We are staying at the Residence Inn May 19 and plan to use the shuttle. What was the problem you had with it?

 

Vic

[brianroberts2526]

Nice to hear the review. We are having our wedding on board the Glory in a few days.

[momto1.5]

I've also read about the smell, the constant rocking, and the horrible kids on board. Was a little worried before we left.

 

I noticed NO smell on the ship. I spent most of my time on the Lido deck (9) and there was no smell there either.

 

This ship did seem to rock more for me than any other I've been on. I thought that might be because of the pregnancy, but my SO confirmed it and even pointed out the waves in our water glasses at dinner one night. That being said, I had no issues on the ship with nausea or feeling jelly legs. The first full day back on land, I felt a little unsure of my footing. The last night we must have hit a whopper of a storm or something, because stuff was actually moving in the cabin. (It just made me sleep better).

 

The kids weren't toobad. There are always a few obnoxious ones anywhere you go, but I think that comes from parents letting them run wild on a ship at the age of 9.

 

About the shuttle... It is supposed to be $3 round trippr person (plus tip). The driver we had tried to charge us $8 per person each way and went so far as to make a copy of my credit card adding a $5 tip on for himself. I demanded that copy back and chose to pay him with cash. He then tried to charge us $4 per person each way. It could all be an innocent mistake, but my instincts told me otherwise. On the way back, we were off of the ship and WAITING on a shuttle driver. We waited for over 30 minutes. It was an inconvenience and didn't make my opinion of the company any better. There was a guy on our shuttle who took and dropped his whole family and all the luggage off at the port, then took the shuttle from the hotel. I thought it was a great idea. Saved him $ plus no luggage to carry around :)

 

Wish I could go back on today! We had a plan on the last day where we could hide our luggage on a lifeboat and sleep on lido deck to get another week in. :D

 

Hapy cruising!

[c3ajeff]

Our first cruise will be aboard the Glory on 5/3/06. Thank you for all the great information. I am one of those people who obsesses about every little detail; but once I am there I do know how to have a good time. I have read everything I can get my hands on so I know what to expect.

 

We can't wait for our cruise!

 

Jeff & Ali

[emmysmommy]

About the shuttle... It is supposed to be $3 round trippr person (plus tip). The driver we had tried to charge us $8 per person each way and went so far as to make a copy of my credit card adding a $5 tip on for himself. I demanded that copy back and chose to pay him with cash. He then tried to charge us $4 per person each way. It could all be an innocent mistake, but my instincts told me otherwise. On the way back, we were off of the ship and WAITING on a shuttle driver. We waited for over 30 minutes. It was an inconvenience and didn't make my opinion of the company any better.

 

First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Thanks for the review.

 

It's amazing that anyone takes this shuttle if they try to pull that stuff! Good for you that you didn't take their cr*p! We are staying at the Residence Inn post-cruise.

[woodman]

Did you mean that on 5/13 you will cruise for the first time? You posted you were leaving on 5/3. That's a Wednesday the Glory sails on Saturday. If it is May 13 come join us on our roll call for the cruise. We have a nice little group and there is always room for a couple more.

[beaming90]

<<This was probably one of my favorite days becasue my SO gave me and engagement ring right before dinner. :) >>

 

 

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for the great review, I cannot wait till I get to see the Glory in December!

[shandabyb]

Do you happen to remember how many times and which days were the $15 laundry service?

 

And how big the bags were?

 

Thanks :)

 

Shanda

[dst]

Diane: Thanks so much for this great review. I even forwarded it to my mom. We are on the 5/20 sailing and I normally do not book excursions but decided to this time and after reading your review I am glad that I did.

 

Thanks again, I am so excited now. It was nice to hear an honest review and the pros/cons...

 

By the way CONGRATS..........on both the baby and being engaged :)

[Talltales]

Thanks for answering the "smell" question. I'm so excited about leaving this Saturday. Not sure why, but this week is just crawling! What are my chances that next week will go by slowly as well? ;)

[Mikerin]

The bags are like a large grocery store paper bag. Last time we were on Glory they had mid week a $10.00 laundry day. :)

[cruisinMImom]

Great review. Cannot wait until my next cruise (30 days)! :D

 

I sailed on the Glory for my sister's wedding in June '04. About 16 people in our group. She is a beautiful ship. Loved the fish & chips!!! I remember the sun deck being so large (three decks high, I believe) and the sun deck / pool games were always so fun because so many people participated.

 

Stopped in belieze when I sailed the Legend in January '03. We loved it. I was pregnant at the time but was able to do the cave tubing excursion. It was alot of walking (through the beautiful rainforest) but then got to relax on my innertube while leisurely floating through all the caves. Got to wear a miner-styled hat with a light on it! The water was great. Shallow in alot of places, you could stand up and re-position your tube if needed.