Glory Review (a.k.a. The Cursed Cruise)

[JrMafia90]

I just got back no more than 30 minutes ago. No as most of you know I thought I would have the cursed cruise if you read that post before I left about all the bad things happening. So I thought it was going to get better and I would have a good time but I guess I was wrong. Don't get me wrong I had a nice time. But let me start.

 

The first day:

First the limo was late to pick us not, not that much late only about 30 minutes late. Not a big deal. Then at the airport if check-in could take any longer! Then we found out our plane was changed and it was parked at the VERY LAST gate in the international terminal. So it took us at least 15 min. to get down there. Then something kept on going off when I was going through security and here it was something wrong with the metal detector. They found this out because it just kept on beeping so they used a different one and it werked. This only took about 20 min. Then sincoe our plane was changed all of our seats were spread apart and some of the families weren't by their kids and people WOULDN'T MOVE! Then when we get at the airport some of the group decides it's okay to just stop for coffee with out telling anybody because they THOUGHT they knew which baggage claim it was at. Here they ended up at the other side of the airport. Then we lost 2 bags of luggage but they came back because they went on the next flight (they say this happenes often) and then some guy who was taking the luggage put it on a different bus! But luckily it was still going to the Carnival Glory. Then the lady who gives out the tickets for the bus to the airport thought she put us all on the same bus but she had us on 3 different busses. And we couldn't wait for the next time because there wasn't gonna be enough time because the luggage problem took so long. Oh yeah and when we get at the prt the fun pass is a joke. The line went quicker for the people who didn't do funpass. And then you still had to go to another line to get your sail & sign card. I never had to do that before. So when we FINALLY got to board the ship we couldn't even get a group photo because we were all split up. So as soo as I got on the ship with my son there was a problem with the cabins. We needed to do a cabin change because one of the family's who had little children wanted the connecting stateroom which I completey understand that but Carnival said that they had those 2 rooms next to each other but they didn't. So that only took 45 minutes! Then it still wasn't right. My son couldn't use his room key because the room we were moved too only legally held 2 people but we had 3 in there because the people at information said it was fine. Then when we went to dinner the service was so slow that we missed the show. We had late seating at 8:30 we got there at 8:40 and we didn't get our actual ENTREE until 10:15. And we placed our order as soon as we sat down. So I think nothing else happened that day just waiting for the luggage to get to our rooms.

The day at sea:

As far as I can remember everything was fine on this day. Just little problems between waiting for people or the kids fighting.

Costa Maya:

We did the Jungle Beach Break. The water was so nasty it was mainly sea grass just a little are where you can stand at. And then an oil tanker was cleaing its tanks ans the water was covered with oil 3 or the kids got oil all over them. And my brother-in-law twisted his uncle when he hit a stone that was in the water. Then when we came back from the tour there was a nice pool. Even the kids said they would of liked to go to the pool better. But Carnival never said anything about this. So it was to late and we had to get back on the ship. Then at dineer we missed the show again because of slow service. We told them and we complained but they did nothing. The assistant said he works in the kitchen too and he only get us our drinks then goes into the kitchen. And our waiter only had our 3 tables.

Belize:

Belize was real nice. We did the shark/ray alley tour. LOVED IT! I just stayed with the tour guide because I kept on thinking about "Open Water". I thought our luck had changed but then while we were eating CNN was on at I happened to look at the screen and Hurricane Frances was expected to hit the Florida Coast Friday night into Saturday morning. I didn't want to say nothing but then the cruise director John Heald made an speach that we might not get home on Saturday. Speaking of John I think he was the worst cruise director. We saw one show and the toher 2 that we missed on t.v. and I saw some of the people from the show and they all said they they were told to do what they did (e.g. on the game show answer all the questions wrong and change some people's name like Willy Banger or You Screwed. This 2 people said that id not their real name. At dinner the service improved and we made the show!

Cozumel:

I did the Jepp to Paradise excursion with my son, daughter and friend. When we went on the course my son and daughter's seat belt kept coming unbuckled we told the guides but they just said hold on. Then when we went over a hill by son flew out of his seat and hit a pole and got a big bump on is head. We stopped and got the guide he said everything was okay and it wasn't his fault that the seatbelt came unbuckled. So when we got to the beach we put some ice on it and it went down a littlet bit he still has the bump. We went to passion island I didn't think it was all that great. It was okay. I loved the white sand beaches. Then we took the jeep's back. All of them are manual only 3 are automatic. I didn't know this. Goind there I was lucky I got automatic but going back I wasn't. The guide let me drive one of their jeeps since a couple were automeatic it had a/c. So it turned out good. We just keep ice on the bump.

Progresso:

I didn't get off the ship because we had to monitor my son for 48 hours and I let my wige go shopping I didn't eant to get off anyway I heard it wasn't nice. She watched him all night and he was tired and he was sleepin so I just stayed in the room and got room service. We were late leaving Progresso because somebody's taxi broke down so we had to wait.

A day at sea:

Just little problems happened like fighting and other stuff. Like horrible shows not a lot to do because of the cruise director who set all the shows up.

Back in Cozumel:

We came back to cozumel from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. we went to a beach nanchi combi. It was real nice with a pool by the beach. It was the best day.

Sunday at sea:

Can't think of any major problems just little problems.

Monday at sea:

The only prpblem was trying to get airfare back home and a hotel but we got it.

Tuesday:

We went to Miami we walked for about 10 min. through that long port. Then we tooks the 4 hour bus ride to the Orlando Airport. Then 20 min. to the hotel Caribe Royale. I love this hotel I come here often. But what I didn't know was they had hurricane rates so the reates were only $89.99 which wasn't bad compared to $349.99. We stayed at the pool until it closed it was nice.

Wednesday:

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get our limo at 7 but it broke down so we had to take 2 separate buses. The we had to get the special security screening at the sirport which tookd at least 30 min. butthen everything turned out okay.

 

If you have any other just questions just psot them.

[robbyxoxo]

just READING ur review gave me a headache.....so the curse must still be kickin......was this ur first cruise ever?......and what was the prob u had with THE GOD John Heald?....i personally find him just as corny as the rest of the CDs but u dont often find anyone here comin back knockin him........cant even imagine sitting there that long waiting for ur dinner.....somethin was seriously not right thar.......sounds like a draining vacation....welcome home

[JrMafia90]

No, it wasn't my first cruise. I compared John Heald to Gary on the Victory last July. There was a lot of activites on the Victory and a lot better shows. The travelog on the Victory was filled with the activites and captian's dinner. Not the Glory. On this cruise it seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

[bombero]

Sorry to hear about your bummer vacation.. I'm glad to hear that Carnival wasn't to blame for most of your problems.. We were on the Glory the end of April and couldn't have been more pleased.. We rated the Glory a tie with the Golden Princess for 'best cruise ever'.. Sorry, you where not so lucky... Bombero

[dixiegirl]

jrmafia90 - not sure what cruise you went on because my cruise on Glory last week was wonderful!!!! I was on the same ship as you and had no problems whatsoever. We also had the late seating at 8:00am and we were always out of there by 10pm at the latest because of our talking and picture taking. Okay, so we had to stay on the ship a few extra days and Yes, they had to bus us back to port canaveral but it could have been worse.

 

I loved John Heald. He had me laughing so hard and I actually learned some new jokes.

 

My only complaint about the entire cruise would be two of the late night "R" rated comedians. Lewis Nixon and the last one(I will have to check on his name) were awful. I mean they sucked wind big time. The other two comedians were hilarious.

 

Okay, I do have a second complaint. I felt there was too many people smoking. I thought there were designated areas for people to smoke but they were everywhere. I would love to do a cruise on the Paradise ship since it a no smoking ship.

 

I am sorry your cruise turned out so bad. Maybe you had some bad karma or something or maybe it was meant to be bad from your outlook on it. I don't know....just my opinion. I went into it with a positive attitude and it seemed to work for me! Maybe the next one will be better for you.

[hstrybuf]

At least you had some fun on your cruise! :) I can't imagine having such bad service for nights in a row.

 

Leigh Ann, the Paradise is on it's last no smoking cruise. After that, it'll be smoking just like all the other ships.

[chadby4]

We were on the GLory in july and thought it was one of the worst cruises. Bad service!! We would be the first in the Dining room and the last ones to leave. Had a horrible table, we were the first on the ship at 11:30 and didnt receive our luggage until 8:00pm . Had wonderful excursions in all the ports, but just thought service should have been better.

[rudgie99]

I was sorry to hear about your experience. I cruised on the Fantasy a number of years ago and had some bad experience also. I am planning another in April and HOPE it is better.

 

I do have a few questions for you.

 

Since you missed your original plane did the airline/cruise help you get another flight???

 

Did you have to pay the difference or did they???

 

Or did you purchase the travel insurance?

 

This is one of my fears about traveling(missing the plane).

 

I hope you don't let this experience prevent you from going again.

 

Thanks

Karen

[grenowoods]

We were on the Glory in July and loved it. The service was wonderful and all the entertainment was very good. Will be back on her next month to do the eastern route, my favourite. Too bad we'll miss the famous John Heald though.

 

Stu.

[demos]

Sorry your cruise was not what you expected. I guess on any ship you can get the luck of the draw with your dining staff.

 

We have cruised the Glory twice, loved it so much our daughter is getting married on the Glory next May. Both times (Oct 03 and May 04)wanted to bring our dinning staff and cabin stewards home with us!

[ken56]

all I can say is please post when your next cruise is and what ship so I can book something else!..... geeze I cant think of having such bad luck or risking being on the same ship as you if that curse doesn't break. lol. sorry you had such bad experience there. we will be on the glory in feb. and I hope things like the the service have improved........though some here say they had great service. it just goes to show you........everyone has a different experience even on the same ship at the same time. happy cruising all

[basketballmom]

First on doesn't mean you get your luggage first. We are usually on board by 11:30-12:00 and sometimes we haven't gotten our luggage til after 7:00.

 

JrMafia: Sorry your trip was so bad! Nothing worse than all that planning and having things go wrong.

[JrMafia90]

Well I just thought of some other things that happened. In my mother-in-law's cabin there was bugs like spiders and some other kinds. My mother-in-law and my wife got bug bites on their legs. They went to information to get a room change or get somebody out there to fix the porblem but there wasn't any cabins left. So they sent a guy to the room 3 DAYS later. And i'm being serious he came with a plastic bag and tweezers and I stayed there and watched him. No bug spray or nothing. And I looked at his tag to see what job he had since he was dressed in normal clothes and he was "TEAM HEADWAITER" so we had a waiter TRY and get rid of the bugs. Also their room was so hot they had the thermostat on as low as it would go but it was still so hot they my wife and mother-in-law were sweating. The called and complained everyday. My mother-in-law had blisters on her back the doctor didn't know what it was he said an allergic reaction. When we went on the island we asked somebody on there about the bites and the blisters on her back. She said the bites were spider bites. And that she had a heat rash. So she went back to the infirmary and a nurse told her it was a heat rash. When she went to the spa to get a massage they wouldn't give her a massage they sent her down to the infirmary because they didn't know what it was on her back. So we were still going to information about the a/c. They even said that their records show that we called 3 times in 1 day and they said they will try to send somebody out. We also told them only a little bit of air came out of the vent. We said we were going to try to see if the vent was even open they said we weren't aloud to take down the little vent thingy. So then on Friday night they finally sent somebody and he said the vent was closed. All he did was open the vent. There was still bed bugs we even caught one. But they said they couldn't do anything. So they gave us 6 drink coupons. Then in my room the drain wouldn't work in the shower and they said they couldn't fix it until we got back to Florida. I have no reason why but that's what they said. So every night the bathroom would fill with water. I tried to always look at the bright side but it was really hard.

 

rudgie: We didn't have to pay for the airfare because the airports were closed too. And our flight was cancelled. And we did NOT buy the travel insurance. The airline paid the difference.

 

dixiegirl: I thought the rated "R" shows sucked too. Especially that last comedians who performed with the lady who did magic and told jokes, she was okay but the guy before her SUCKED even at the midnight show.

 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask me. If I think of more problems I will post them.

[Knights on the Beach]

Sorry you didn't have a great cruise. But I gotta tell you, even with all your bad luck, I'd much rather have been in your shoes than here dealing with our second hurricane in 3 weeks! Thanks to Hurricane Ivan, my vacation has been cancelled.

[chadby4]

I didnt mean to say that it guaranteed you to get your luggage early, but when we boarded with other relatives and they got their luggage 45 mins later, and we didn't get ours until 81/2 hours later, you get a little upset. Overall i would say it was a good cruise, would I cruise with them again? No

 

I think for the price that we paid for this vacation I would have expected a little more treatment.

[judyf]

Sorry to hear all the "bad" things you remember. There most have been a few "good" things you can tell us about on those days with only little problems.

[cruztime]

Alrighty then,

 

Am I the only one that thinks this got a little far fetched? Spiders on a ship? Bed bugs on linens that are constantly changed? Drains that fill a bathroom with water? I was on the Glory in May and loved it! So much so that we're going again in October. I can understand how someone who doesn't like alot of A/C might take down the cover and close the vent. The cabin steward should have been able to take care of at least checking that. I've been on 5 different Carnival ships and have loved every one of them. Maybe I'm just too positive. I feel like my vacation is what I make of it. I know going in that there will be minor glitches here and there. I have heard all the stories about poor service. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've always gotten good service. In fact, they are usually tossing us out of the dining room to get ready for the morning. As far as CD's go, they all tend to be a little corny, but that's their job. Try being upbeat all day and night, every day and night and see how far you get. I know I couldn't do it. The only annoying thing I found in May was that shopper woman (whoo hooo!!!). Seemed like every time I turned on the TV she was there. One thing I did learn early on though was never travel with a large group of family. We organized the first cruise and ended up playing tour guide. Never again. Now we mostly travel alone or with our friends we met on a prior cruise. They are so much like us, it's scary. We have a great time together. If all of this was indeed true, please try again. It's got to be better.

[hstrybuf]

Am I the only one that thinks this got a little far fetched? Spiders on a ship? Bed bugs on linens that are constantly changed? Drains that fill a bathroom with water?

Actually I don't find it far fetched at all. Inexcusable yes. There have been reports of other ships with clogged drains, A/C problems and most recently bedbugs. :eek:

[mercedes355]

I know when I was on the Celebration, the bathroom drain clogged up two times during my cruise. But fortunately, my cabin steward was able to fix it both times very quickly.

[chuleta]

When I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas last May we had what must have been bedbugs. On second day I talked to another couple and mentioned about my bug bites and sure enough, they had them also! We were on differnt decks and differnt ends of the ship. So it is possible.

[basketballmom]

Always carry a can of Lysol with you! Spray the mattresses if you feel the bites. The bedbugs aren't just in the sheets so changing sheets every day wouldn't make a difference. Another big thing, sand fleas.....oucch! Once they get in the carpet it is sometimes tough to get them out.

[JrMafia90]

cruztime: No it isn't far fetched. Thank you to all the people who know problems like these exist and that they did happen. Carnival has records of these happenig to us. So does our doctor. So no it is not "far fetched".

[deadbug]

Sorry you seemed to have such a bad time on your vaction! Should have been a time to sit back and not have to worry and to relax. At least that is always what I have done on my last 7 Carnival cruises. Sure, sometimes dinner has ben a bit slow, and some times the comedians suck, and I have definately had a CD that rubbed me the wrong way (although, in my years of reading these boards indicate that John Heald is peoples all time favorite--mine too). But you know what??? I have NEVER has a bad cruise. Come to think of it, I am usually pretty happy while at home too...I have learned in life that whenever everything seems to be going wrong---it is always my attitude; and when I am pointing my finger at everyone around me and blaming them for my unhappiness---it is always me!!!

[JrMafia90]

Well even though we had a bad time. I did have some fun times. And I am in the process of booking another cruise. I don't know if it is going to be through Carnival, but maybe it might. I am looking at Princess.

[cruztime]

Wow!!! I guess I owe everyone an apology. It just seemed like so many things were going wrong that it started to sound like a 3 Stooges episode. No insult intended.

 

I must be extremely lucky to have not had any problems. I only wish my luck in the casino was as good LOL!! I have never heard anyone even mention bedbugs on the cruises I've been on. You would think that would be a major health concern and the authorities would want to look into that. I realize they are foreign registered ships but they do use US ports. I'll probably be itching like crazy now each time I climb in bed.

 

JrMafia - I'm so sorry you had those problems. I hope Carnival in some way compensated you. If not, I would bombard them with phone calls until you get someone with the authority to do something.

 

Again, my apologies folks.