Glory Review with Pictures- August 4-11, 2007

[Paradisefound619]

Carnival Glory Review August 4-11, 2007

 

I will try to be as thorough as I can be. Please feel free to ask questions. I am also going to try and include pictures!

 

Day 1: Embarkation- We drove to Florida from Wisconsin. Any questions about this let me know but I don’t want to bore you with the details, although we did some fun things along the way. We arrived in Port Canaveral on Friday night and stayed at the Radisson. This is an excellent hotel! Very clean, friendly staff and they have a great pool. On Saturday morning, we swam for a while and then got read to head to the ship. We had called ahead to arrange a ride on the Radisson shuttle. Our scheduled time was 12:30. We went down to the lobby at 12:15 to find plenty of others waiting too. We waited about 20-25 minute and then boarded the shuttle. I would recommend doing this because we didn’t have to pay to park our car and left it at the hotel. Once we reached the ship, the shuttle dropped us of very close. Our checked luggage was taken care of and we took our carry-on bags and headed inside. The embarkation process went very smooth- have ALL paperwork filled out ahead of time. This will save you time and stress!!!!! This includes the Bahamas Immigration form. It seemed like a lot of people had not received this ahead of time and were filling it out in line. We left the hotel around 12:40 and were on ship at 1:40. Our room was ready, so we dropped off our carry-on bags and went to lunch at the red sail. Lunch was crazy! Everyone had to eat there if they wanted to eat since nothing else is open. It went fine but get ready to experience PEOPLE! Lunch was good, nothing special. But this is how I felt about the buffet all week. It’s a buffet…..

 

After lunch, we walked the ship for a while to check things out and get some of our first pictures. Around 3:00 we went back to our room to unpack. Some of our luggage had already arrived. We had 4 checked pieces and they all came at separate times. I got my final piece after the muster drill at 4:30. Make sure you bring extra coat hangers if you plan to hang your clothes. They are some hangers in the closets but not enough and there is plenty of space to hang things. The muster drill call came at 4:00, so we put on our life jackets and headed up to deck 4. Watch the TV program about the drill ahead of time as you unpack, it made things a lot more clear. Just follow directions and everything will go smooth!

After the drill (at 4:30) we headed outside to watch the ship leave port. It was really exciting!!!!!! I had a “fun ship” drink in hand and my camera in the other. We found a spot on deck 11, it was windy but who cares when you are beginning a great cruise vacation.

 

 

 

Port Canavaral, all quiet now that the ship is leaving!

 

Since this is my first review with pictures, I am going to post this to see if I have done it correctly. If so, I’ll write more! If not, I’ll problem solve and write more!

[Senoj84]

Good reveiw. Im looking forward to the rest of your review and some more pics! Sounds like everything went smoothly.

[Giggles2007]

Carnival Glory Review August 4-11, 2007

 

I will try to be as thorough as I can be. Please feel free to ask questions. I am also going to try and include pictures!

 

Day 1: Embarkation- We drove to Florida from Wisconsin. Any questions about this let me know but I don’t want to bore you with the details, although we did some fun things along the way. We arrived in Port Canaveral on Friday night and stayed at the Radisson. This is an excellent hotel! Very clean, friendly staff and they have a great pool. On Saturday morning, we swam for a while and then got read to head to the ship. We had called ahead to arrange a ride on the Radisson shuttle. Our scheduled time was 12:30. We went down to the lobby at 12:15 to find plenty of others waiting too. We waited about 20-25 minute and then boarded the shuttle. I would recommend doing this because we didn’t have to pay to park our car and left it at the hotel. Once we reached the ship, the shuttle dropped us of very close. Our checked luggage was taken care of and we took our carry-on bags and headed inside. The embarkation process went very smooth- have ALL paperwork filled out ahead of time. This will save you time and stress!!!!! This includes the Bahamas Immigration form. It seemed like a lot of people had not received this ahead of time and were filling it out in line. We left the hotel around 12:40 and were on ship at 1:40. Our room was ready, so we dropped off our carry-on bags and went to lunch at the red sail. Lunch was crazy! Everyone had to eat there if they wanted to eat since nothing else is open. It went fine but get ready to experience PEOPLE! Lunch was good, nothing special. But this is how I felt about the buffet all week. It’s a buffet…..

 

After lunch, we walked the ship for a while to check things out and get some of our first pictures. Around 3:00 we went back to our room to unpack. Some of our luggage had already arrived. We had 4 checked pieces and they all came at separate times. I got my final piece after the muster drill at 4:30. Make sure you bring extra coat hangers if you plan to hang your clothes. They are some hangers in the closets but not enough and there is plenty of space to hang things. The muster drill call came at 4:00, so we put on our life jackets and headed up to deck 4. Watch the TV program about the drill ahead of time as you unpack, it made things a lot more clear. Just follow directions and everything will go smooth!

After the drill (at 4:30) we headed outside to watch the ship leave port. It was really exciting!!!!!! I had a “fun ship” drink in hand and my camera in the other. We found a spot on deck 11, it was windy but who cares when you are beginning a great cruise vacation.

 

 

 

Port Canavaral, all quiet now that the ship is leaving!

 

Since this is my first review with pictures, I am going to post this to see if I have done it correctly. If so, I’ll write more! If not, I’ll problem solve and write more!

 

 

Hello Paradise,

 

Excellant review so far. I actually feel like I was there with you. I will be sailing Glory in 2009 and currently doing alot of research about her, so I will be checking your review out each day. It also helps when I take notes on the different things you mention about your trip. Reading these boards has help me out alot and then I get on board looking like a PRO! So keep 'em coming.

[Chef Mike]

Nice. My girlfriend and I leave for the Glory's Western jaunt a week from tomorrow, Aug 25th-Sept. 1st. We're also from WI (Milwaukee). I'll try and riff off of your post when I get back.

[MikeNKim]

Great review so far....I will be looking forward to reading the rest.....

I am cruising Glory as well but not until.....MARCH 08:eek:

 

Kim

[Paradisefound619]

Glory review continued…..

 

Day 1: Saturday- After leaving port and watching the land disappear we head back to our room to finish unpacking and read the Capers (the daily newsletter and schedule for Glory). Then we got ready for dinner in the dining room. We had an 8:00 seating time in the Platinum dining room. It was around 7:00 when we left the cabin and proceeded first to the liquor tasting on deck 5. This was a fun event and a nice way to sample some of the liquor on sale for the week. Do not feel pressure to buy any liquor right there at the tasting. It’s in the gift shop all week, same price. Really good prices! Don’t pass up some of the deals. We continued on deck 5 to the sushi bar. We got a variety of sushi and sat on some comfy couches and watched the ship sail through the ocean. We loved hanging out in this area of deck 5 and did so often before dinner. It’s open enough to have space to ourselves, yet fun to watch the people and the ocean going by.

 

This is the area I am talking about, deck 5, earlier in the day while we were exploring the ship.

 

Here is my husband enjoying the sushi on deck 5.

 

We were cruising with my husband’s parents and met up with them before dinner. We then headed to the Platinum Dining room for our 8:00 seating. Do not get to the dining room before your time. The doors will be closed and you will have to waiting in the crowded hallway. 5 or 10 minutes after is just fine. We were surprised to see our table was just for the four of us but were fine with that. It was fun to meet our dining staff, Jude and Igusti. Dinner was okay. I ordered a fish entrée off the spa menu. It was fine but lacked taste (for the rest of the cruise I stayed away from the spa menu except for the desserts at the buffet, even though they were diet they were sometimes the best choice and really good!). Dessert was fabulous! Crème Brule. After dinner, my husband and I went to the aft hot tubs to relax and reflect on our first day on ship. Then it was off to bed! Oh, having a night light is important if you have in interior cabin like we did. When the lights are off its pitch dark. We did not use the night light every night but it was nice to have the first night while we were getting used to our surroundings!

 

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

We arrived in the Bahamas a half hour late, 8:30. Not a big deal since we didn’t have anything scheduled. We put on our suits in hopes to find a beach. I also brought my beach bag with sunscreen, camera, id, sign and sail, a hat and a change of shoes. We planned to do a walking tour that we found on the boards and then hang out at the beach so I wore tennis shoes but also had sandals. I found that I carried this beach bag every where. It was the perfect size and great for day trips or just walking around the ship. Nassau was HOT! We did the walking tour with Erik’s parents for a while but then decided to find the beach! After swimming for a bit we shopped and then went back to the ship. We were on board around 11:00. I hung out in the main pool for a while, since nearly no one was in it and then laid out in a sun for a few (not too long though…it’s pretty intense!). Lunch places opened at noon, so we tried the fish and chips and also had some things from the buffet. The fish and chips food is really good, different but good! After lunch my husband decided it was nap time. I decided to hang out on deck 10 and 11 and watch the ship leave port. Here are some pictures:

 

Beach we went to in Nassau. This picture was taken from the back of the ship while in port. I have no clue what the name of the beach was. Towels were $3 to rent although you could have easily brought your towel from the ship. We did not think to do this, so we rented two towels. Since it was Sunday, the beach was nice and deserted.

 

I took this picture while we were leaving the Bahamas. It is one of my favorites! I love the colors and the way the picture turned out. It was a beautiful area just too hot for us to enjoy. We would have enjoyed the Bahamas more if we would have planned some kind of excursion. However, I really enjoyed the beach, a little shopping and then going back to the ship early.

Next up, our first formal night and sea day. I need to go enjoy the beautiful Wisconsin weather for a while but then I’ll be back with more.

[Payd]

Great review so far! I really like the pictures too!

 

Payd:)

[Casey]

Thanks for the pictures, awesome review. Feels like Im on the ship with you!!

[DJ56]

Really enjoying reading your review and great pictures. I will be on the Glory next month for my first cruise and I am so very excited!! Will be anxious to read more.....

[kaytez]

Looking forward to more!!!

Always enjoy pictures along with the comments.:D

[Vivatic]

Yay! What a great review! Looking forward to reading the rest as well!!

 

Do you have a link to that walking tour of Nassau? I'll be there in Sept. and fingers crossed, the weather will be a little cooler so maybe we'll try that!!

 

Thanks!

Aviva:)

[Paradisefound619]

Yay! What a great review! Looking forward to reading the rest as well!!

 

Do you have a link to that walking tour of Nassau? I'll be there in Sept. and fingers crossed, the weather will be a little cooler so maybe we'll try that!!

 

Thanks!

Aviva:)

 

Check out this link for the walking tour: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=332656

 

If it doesn't work, go to the Bahamas boards and type in "walking tour" for the search and you'll find the same maps and descriptions that I had. I think it will be much more enjoyable in September! Have fun!

[Paradisefound619]

Day 2: Time for formal night- After our morning in the Bahamas and some relaxation on the ship we were ready for a fun night! Oh, before I forgot…bring an insulated mug for beverages. Even if it’s just for water, punch, ice tea, etc from the buffet. The cups they have are small and sometime you can not find one! Bring your own. We got ours at Wal-mart for $1.50 and then just threw them at the end of the trip (no room in luggage).

 

Okay, so formal night….First we went and worked out around 4:00. The workout area is nice but pretty busy. Great view from the treadmills! After working out it was time to get ready. We were ready about 6:00 and headed to the Captain’s party. Get there on time (depending on your seating). We found a nice seat for the 4 of us, had some great *free* drinks and enjoy the singer.

Formal night #1 and Captain’s party

 

After the Captain’s party we went to the show Livin’ in America. It was a Vegas style show with singing and dancing. The ladies wore thong type costumes at times (which my husband loved) so beware if you bring children. Although, I didn’t really think it was that bad. The show was finished just in time for us to make our way back to the aft of the ship for dinner in the Platinum Dining room. I had lobster this evening and it was really good, although not as good as the lobster my husband had in the Emerald Room (I will write more on that experience later). The dining experience is great and I encourage everyone to at least try it. We ate there most nights. Can’t beat the great variety and taste of the food! Next we were off to the “R” rated comedy show with Michael Macy. We really enjoyed it and the humor was great. Someone in the audience was being a smart a** back to Mike and that got a little old.

 

Day 3: Sea Day-We ate breakfast at the Red Sail/Buffet today which we did on most day. However on our last two days we tried breakfast in the dining room. I highly recommend eating there. Better selection and portion sizes are perfect! I got really sick of the same thing every day at the buffet for breakfast. Some mornings it was fine because I just had a yogurt and fruit.

 

After eating we read inside for a while in the Atrium. Then we went to the Amber Palace for bingo and then Game Show Mania. Both were fun! There are a ton of things like this to do on Sea Days. Just check the capers for what catches your eye. I highlighted the things that I thought would be fun do go to. We had lunch at the Fish and Chips and Deli. I LOVED the deli. Best Rueben’s and tuna sandwiches!!! I would also go to the grill and get a plate of fries to enjoy with my sandwich. During the afternoon we read in the shade for a bit and then hung out by the water slide.

I was surprised at how we could find a spot by this pool and there was plenty of room for us to enjoy the water.

 

After being in the sun it was nap time! Naps on the ship are great! It is super dark and you get gently rocked right to sleep. Once we woke up we got dressed up again, not for a formal night but for our dining experience in the Emerald Room. The Emerald Room is $30/person extra. We knew we wanted to take Erik’s parents here for dinner one night and book it as soon as we got on the ship after embarkation. They suggest 2 hours for dinner here, we spent almost 3! It is so much fun and so good!!! Here are some pictures:

 

Surf and Turf

 

Me eating the best steak I’ve ever had in my life!

 

Chocolate Trio Desert

 

The Emerald Room dining experience is not one that should be missed! We really enjoyed every minute. The food is FABULOUS!!!! We ate way to much though and couldn’t do much more that night except sleep.

 

Sorry I have to break this review up into so many pieces. Posting pictures takes up a lot of space. Hopefully you are able to follow everything okay! More to come……

[Cigar Dude]

Where is the Emerald Room exactly? I can't seem to find it on the deck plans. :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Paradisefound619]

Where is the Emerald Room exactly? I can't seem to find it on the deck plans. :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

The Emerald room is located on Deck 10 above the Red Sail Restaurant. You can get there for inside the Red Sail or by taking the back elevators. There is a great map of a ship at the pursers desk. It is small and easy to take with you. Shows where everything is and how to get there.

[Paradisefound619]

Day 4: St. Thomas- We pulled into port and it was over cast and raining. In St. Thomas you have to go through US immigrations on ship. It is a bit of a process but runs pretty smoothly if everyone follows the directions! We proceeded through immigrations, went back to our room (on deck 1 which is perfect for days in port since you get off the ship on deck 0) to get our stuff and then we were off. We had booked a day sail on the Winifred through the web site www.sailwinifred.com . We caught a taxi at port and they drove us to Red Hook which is where we met our Captain of the Winifred, Sharon. She got us into rain jackets and we got into the dingy to get out to the sail boat. There was another person, Amy, who came along too. Just the five of us on board, Captain Sharon and her first mate, Jacquie. It was a very personal experience and one I would recommend. We sailed for about an hour and then arrived in Christmas Cove where we snorkeled for about an hour and a half. While snorkeling with Jacquie, Sharon made lunch and had things ready for when we got back on board. While snorkeling we saw squid, manta rays, puffer fish, urchins and many fish. It was awesome! The rain had stopped and the sun even came out for a while.

Area of Christmas Cove where we snorkeled

 

The Winifred

 

After snorkeling and lunch we headed back to the island. We shopped a bit in Red Hook and then caught a taxi back to port. We shopped there a bit too and then watched the ship leave port at night. It was a beautiful site.

 

We did not eat in the dining room this night because we didn’t get back on ship until 7:30 and then watched it leave port. We had the buffet and it was fine. My husband wasn’t feeling the best (head cold) so we kept this night pretty mellow and headed to bed after walking around the ship for a while. We had St. Maarten to get ready for!!!!

 

Day 5: St. Maarten- We docked the next morning in St. Maarten and disembarked no problem.

Glory in port at St. Maarten

 

We had schedule a day island tour with Island Marketing (http://www.stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/) and met our guide Lloyd at the end of the pier. He drove us around the island in a very nice van with A/C. We started the tour on the Dutch side where we docked. Lloyd told us lots of interesting history of the island and was fun at the same time. We crossed over into the French part of the island (smoother pavement!) and drove to an over look of Orient Beach. It was beautiful.

Orient Beach

 

From there we were off to the Loterie Farm Adventure Center to do the ropes course and zip line. I have a lot to say about this and the rest of St. Maarten and will post more later.

[Vivatic]

Check out this link for the walking tour: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=332656

 

If it doesn't work, go to the Bahamas boards and type in "walking tour" for the search and you'll find the same maps and descriptions that I had. I think it will be much more enjoyable in September! Have fun!

 

 

Thanks for the link! It looks great!! :)

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[Funseekers]

Great Review!! :) I am taking a group of 70 on the Glory in October to the Eastern Caribbean.. This is very helpful!! ;)

[Paradisefound619]

I am glad the review has been helpful so far! I learned A LOT from these boards before our first cruise. I enjoyed it so much that I can’t wait to go again!

 

Day 5- St. Maarten (cont.)- Lloyd drove us along the beautiful roads to the Loterie Farm Adventure Center. I am sorry but I do not know the cost of this because my mother-in-law was in charge of the excursions. This is one that should not be missed! We arrived and stowed our bags in a cabinet. I gave my husband my wallet to keep in his pocket (money, id, sign and sail) just in case. We were all given a climbing harness to put on and then told how to work the carabineers and pulley system. My husband and I rock climb so we were very comfortable with the equipment and with being independent on the course. A guide came along with at the beginning to help clip in if you need help and also watched you set up the first pulley system for the zip line and then you are on your own. The guide walked along below us giving directions and taking pictures with my camera. I entire course took about a 1 hour and was so amazing. It is kind of scary at first but what a sense of accomplishment when you are finished. This is not a relaxing adventure! Be ready to sweat! Here are some pictures:

 

Me on the first zip line

 

My family on the course

 

This one was challenging!

 

My husband on the hardest part of the course. You had to clip into the rope, get on and swing across. There was a cable to walk along too if you couldn’t swing far enough.

 

My husband and I enjoying the course.

 

Well, that’s all the room I have for pictures for this post. I’ll write more about St. Maarten after dinner. This excursion was fantastic!

[Paradisefound619]

I am on a roll, so I will just keep on typing. It’s so fun to relive the cruise this way. I can’t wait to scrapbook it all!

 

Day 5- St. Maarten (cont.) - After our adventure at Loterie Farm Adventure Center, Lloyd continued our tour of the island. We first stopped at Fort Louis a French fort. After climbing about 99 steps (not too bad) we had a wonderful view of the island.

 

Fort Louis and view of Margiot

 

Next, we stopped in Margiot for shopping (about 45 minutes). There were a lot of fancy and expensive shops but also a street market. This was a fun area and very beautiful. Then it was time for lunch. Lloyd brought us to a beach side restaurant at Baie Rouge. The ocean was beautiful. We put our things down at a table, ordered and then hit the waves. It was a lot of fun. We were hot from the day’s activities and ready to cool off! Lunch was very good also. My cheese sandwich took forever because the cook thought the waiter said cheese salad. Of course, they are on “island” time so I didn’t get it for literally an hour if not more but who really cares when you are in paradise. Plus I had a guava colda, so I was set!

 

Island restaurant, Chez Raymond, where we ate

 

Beach where we cooled off and had fun! There were ladies selling items on the beach and I got an awesome St. Maarten beach bag for $6. It is huge! I love it.

 

We spent about 2 hours at the beach and lunch. Lloyd came back to get us and had lunch with us too. Then we were back to the island tour. We stopped a few times to get pictures and I got this great one of the Glory in port.

Beautiful site!

 

We ended the day by stopping in Phillipsburg to shop for a while. We bought some Guava berry rum and a few fun souvenirs. Then it was back to the ship. The tour was wonderful and Lloyd couldn’t have been more nice. This was the best excursion ever!!!!

 

Erik took a nap in the cabin while I watched the ship leave port. It began to rain so then I took a nap too. We were very tired from the day’s adventures! We ate in the dining room and I had wonderful fried cheese a.k.a. mozzarella sticks (can you tell I love cheese) and mahi mahi for dinner. After dinner we went to a magican/comedian and then another comedian after that. I thought they were both only okay. Not the best. My husband really enjoyed the second comedian. There was a Mexican buffet at 11:30 and then a deck party. We watched the deck party for a while which was basically dancing on the lido deck. Lots of group line dancing type songs. Fun to watch but not something I felt like doing on the Lido deck. The Mexican buffet was good, nothing to special though.

 

Day 6: Sea Day- We were looking forward to our two sea days in a row. We loved being in port but we also loved being on the ship and exploring. Definitely go and “sneak” around. We found some great access doors that are not so obvious and got to some great viewing/deck areas. We did the usual sea day things for us; read, lay out, swim, and walk the ship. We also watched the Newly Wed game which was very fun!!!! We also attended the afternoon tea in the Ivory room. This is a must. So neat and great little treats. My husband was a little disappointed that the actually tea wasn’t more fancy (it was just Lipton tea bags) but it was fine with me. We also gambled in the casino a bit. This was the second formal night so we took a while getting ready. There was a martini special on deck 5, so we headed there around 7:00 for some tasty drinks.

 

After martinis and sushi it was off to formal night in the dining room. People seemed a lot more dressed up than the first formal night. I saw a lot more tuxes and some prom type dresses. Many people looked very nice. I didn’t see any jeans and t-shirts in the dining room. Maybe people are getting wise???? We had a wonderful dinner and then sat to enjoy some music by Teri Jo on deck 5. My husband and I ordered drinks from the casino bar. I had a “Riviera Delight” It was VERY good! There was another “R” rated comedian. He was okay but I am not that in to comedians. My husband loved it though! The grand buffet was this evening. Okay….here is one of my only complaints. This was so LAME! We left the comedian early to take pictures (which was fine with me). The picture line was crazy even though we came a half hour after it opened. We walked around the line and took some pictures on the side of the desserts and 1 big ice sculpture. Couldn’t see much else. Then we waited in line to eat at the buffet. It was hardly moving (mind you it is midnight at this point) and so my husband went to see what the food looked like. He came back and said it wasn’t worth it. So we left the line and went to the pizzeria (which is AWESOME-best pizza ever!). Many other people were doing the same thing. The grand buffet is on the lido deck where the regular buffet is. No such a big deal to me and definitely something to skip. I guess I really don’t have a complaint here I just thought it was going to be really neat, and it wasn’t!

 

By the way, I am going to post some highlights (in my mind) at the end of this review. Also, if you want to see a specific picture of something, let me know. I took close to 1000 pictures. Thank goodness for digital!

 

More to come tomorrow- last sea day and disembarkation!

[Gingee]

I am enjoying your review. Thanks. Do you have a link to your pictures?

[Funseekers]

So tell about the hiden access doors.. Any really good areas that you can remember? I know when I was on the Valor last year.. we found one on.. I think it was deck 7 that led out the front of the ship. It was so cool at night to just watch the stars!

[Grits53]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us! I found it especially interesting, since I hope to take the Glory on the eastern itinerary next year. I love your photos! Girl, you are GOOD!!

[Pegs222]

Great review, and I want to say, I love your UN, very cute. I could actually see you on the deck leaving port and praying that you would not drop the drink and or the camera LOL.

 

I look forward to the rest, and please more pictures.

[gypsyrose]

How awesome! I just love picture reviews. You are doing a fabulous job. Bring on the rest :D