Just off the Glory

[gunnywife]

We sailed 1/12-1/19 on the Glory. We had never sailed out of Port Canaveral and found it was a good experience. We dropped our luggage off and then parked right across the way from the ship. The personnel at embarkation were very helpful and friendly.

The ship is clean, but I was surpised to see they don't have hand sanitizers at the entrance to the buffet or the dining room. Most ships have that now with the threat of the noro virus.

The crew were friendly. Wherever you went on the ship you were acknowledged by the crew members.

The food was wonderful. I have felt that the food has deteriorated on cruise ships in the last few years. But the chef on this ship really outdid himself with the menus. We ate most of our meals in the dining room. The exceptions were lunch the first day, pizza a couple of times and hamburger and french fries for lunch one day. Also Carnival has the best hot chocolate.

The biggest disappointment was the shows. They were terrible. This is not just our opinion. I heard many people make the same comments about the entertainment. It certainly leaves much to be desired. This is unfortunate because I think most people look forward to the shows while cruising.

There were only 3 ports on this cruise. We took a tour in Belize to the Mayan ruins and enjoyed that. We had visited the other 2 ports several times so we just walked around the port area and then it was back to the ship.

There were lots of kids on the ship and they were very well behaved. They had supervised activities for them, but even when you saw kids going about the ship on their own they were really good.

All in all it was a good cruise. We had a nice, relaxing time.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help you if I can.

Lynn

[Karson]

so, your 3 ports were.....Cozumel, Belize, and Nassau????

 

did you receive any kind of onboard credit for missing the 4th port?

 

I will be heading out on the Glory this coming Saturday...Western

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

We sailed 1/12-1/19 on the Glory. We had never sailed out of Port Canaveral and found it was a good experience. We dropped our luggage off and then parked right across the way from the ship. The personnel at embarkation were very helpful and friendly.

The ship is clean, but I was surpised to see they don't have hand sanitizers at the entrance to the buffet or the dining room. Most ships have that now with the threat of the noro virus.

The crew were friendly. Wherever you went on the ship you were acknowledged by the crew members.

The food was wonderful. I have felt that the food has deteriorated on cruise ships in the last few years. But the chef on this ship really outdid himself with the menus. We ate most of our meals in the dining room. The exceptions were lunch the first day, pizza a couple of times and hamburger and french fries for lunch one day. Also Carnival has the best hot chocolate.

The biggest disappointment was the shows. They were terrible. This is not just our opinion. I heard many people make the same comments about the entertainment. It certainly leaves much to be desired. This is unfortunate because I think most people look forward to the shows while cruising.

There were only 3 ports on this cruise. We took a tour in Belize to the Mayan ruins and enjoyed that. We had visited the other 2 ports several times so we just walked around the port area and then it was back to the ship.

There were lots of kids on the ship and they were very well behaved. They had supervised activities for them, but even when you saw kids going about the ship on their own they were really good.

All in all it was a good cruise. We had a nice, relaxing time.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help you if I can.

Lynn

 

I guess the entertainment value is subjective just the the quality of the food. Sorry to hear you did not enjoy the shows, I for one sailed the Glory a few weeks ago and I thought the living in America and down broadway shows were the best we have seen on carnival in our 15 cruises with them. I thought the female singer (Ami Castro) was fantastically talented. Glad you enjoyed the cruise overall.

[LoraJ]

How were the seas???

 

I hear it's really rough right now. Getting nervous for our cruise next week.

[pepperm1]

I was on the Glory in Oct 07. You will love it. The ship is beautiful. The staff was great. The food was much much better than the Triumph.I would sail the Glory again. Went went to Old Belize which was nice. They have a man made beach area. Our kids had fun. We went to Freeport,Cozumel,Belieze and Hondura's. There is not much in Hondura's. I was very unhappy with that port. You will enjoy the Glory.

[sheri18]

so, your 3 ports were.....Cozumel, Belize, and Nassau????

 

did you receive any kind of onboard credit for missing the 4th port?

 

I will be heading out on the Glory this coming Saturday...Western

 

 

was wondering the same thing about OBC, originally with though costa maya but since thats out and it s just 3 ports is there a OBC...

[mstea]

That's exciting to hear about the Glory. We will be doing the Eastern, in June. We have been on the Triumph, We thought the lay out was a bit tough. how is the Glory?

Any other suggestions or wish you would have would be appreciated.;)

[snedecor]

If you don't mind, who was the captain on your sailing?

 

Thanks,

[pepperm1]

I am sorry but I can't remember. This ship is really nice. You will enjoy. The late night comedy was good if you like to stay up late.

[BND]

We were on Glory (eastern) in Nov 06 and it by far had the best food of the three cruises we've done so far. Princess had the worst. We're doing Glory again this Nov (western). We also found the crew very friendly and the ship clean. We didn't find the shows in 06 all that great either. The singers weren't very strong. We'll check them out again this trip. The layout on the Glory can be confusing, but we had it down by the second day. We love the coffee bar and had a latte every day.

[tcs1366]

We will be taking our first cruise on the Glory on 2-23 / 3-1-08

 

when we got our itinerary in Oct or Nov, Costa Maya was still listed. In browsing the internet, i found it was devastated by Dean in Aug, so i questioned it.... the TA said we'd be getting a $25 "credit" to be used on the ship.

 

But last week i spoke to a friend of ours who will also be on the cruise, and she stated we also get a refund or some sort from the insurance company.

 

so -- we'll see what we finally end up getting.... I soooo wanted to go to Costa Maya.

[gunnywife]

Karson: There was a $25 pp ship board credit for the missed port.

Carnival Platinum Cruiser: I agree about us all having different opinions on cruises. I did think Ami Castro had a good voice. I would have enjoyed hearing her more.

LoaJ: The seas were pretty smooth. A couple of nites were a little choppy. I heard some people say they felt kind of seasick, but I must say I had no problem at all.

tcs1366: We rec'd the 25pp on-board credit, but I never heard anything about insurance giving a rebate. I can't imagine why they would do that.

But if you hear more about it I would appreciate if you would share the information.

One other thing. If you requested early dining, be sure to check your card. We had requested early dining because my husband is a diabetic and it's better for him to eat early. On boarding, our card said late seating. The first day I went to the dining room (along with about 500 other people) to request a change. We got a card under the door saying they couldn't honor our request. But we did go to the dining room the second night and they got us in with no problem. From that nite on we had the same table with a wonderful waitress and helper.

Lynn

[clinthi]

I was on Glory at the same time as Lynn (but we didn't meet)-- and I can share similar experience:

 

The dining room food is FANTASTIC.

The tea, lemonade, punch, etc at the Red Sail restaurant (buffets) was horrible-- spring for the soda card if you don't drink water.

I really enjoyed the shows--especially the dancers, illusionists and comedy acts!

I lost every night at the casino-- I wonder what the house odds are on that ship?

Our stateroom was great-- lots of drawers, closet space and shelves. We had a decent balcony. Our steward was good and we always had plenty of fresh towels and cute towel animals waiting for us each evening.

They played BINGO every day. I was losing $30 a day on cards.....It is more fun to lose that money in the casino.

Always navigate on deck 5--it goes across the ship. Go to which side of the ship you need on deck 5, then use the elevators to go up or down from there.

I think Carnival is in bed with Diamonds International. They distributed 100 pieces of literature about their stores, gave numerous panels and coupons, had onsite "shoppers" etc-- they really pushed that store HARD on the cruisers....

Other fun things: Rum tastings, Hairy Chest contest, What's in the Bag, The big slide!, etc.

Wee Jimmy was a hoot!

The professional pictures are expensive-- 5x7s are 8.99 and the 8x 10 are 21.99-- and they mostly print 8x10-- and you can't buy any other size until you buy the 8x10 first. We spent a ton of $ just in pictures.

The drink of the day is very reasonable-- just $3.75--and it is always a fruity concoction.

If I think of anything else, I'll post later...

[snedecor]

Karson: There was a $25 pp ship board credit for the missed port.

Carnival Platinum Cruiser: I agree about us all having different opinions on cruises. I did think Ami Castro had a good voice. I would have enjoyed hearing her more.

LoaJ: The seas were pretty smooth. A couple of nites were a little choppy. I heard some people say they felt kind of seasick, but I must say I had no problem at all.

tcs1366: We rec'd the 25pp on-board credit, but I never heard anything about insurance giving a rebate. I can't imagine why they would do that.

But if you hear more about it I would appreciate if you would share the information.

One other thing. If you requested early dining, be sure to check your card. We had requested early dining because my husband is a diabetic and it's better for him to eat early. On boarding, our card said late seating. The first day I went to the dining room (along with about 500 other people) to request a change. We got a card under the door saying they couldn't honor our request. But we did go to the dining room the second night and they got us in with no problem. From that nite on we had the same table with a wonderful waitress and helper.

Lynn

 

You mean you just walked into the dining room for the early seating and asked if there was room? We may just try that if we don't get our request. I'm pre-diabetic and eating late messes up my blood sugar all night and the next morning.

 

P.S. Could you check your capers if you have them for the captain's name?

 

Thanks!

 

Leaving in 11 days!

[clinthi]

Thought of a couple more:

 

If you plan on going to the captain's cocktail reception-- GO EARLY! It fills up fast and you will never get any appetizers, drinks or a seat if you are late!

 

We only had one outlet in our room--at our desk. No other outlet in the room or bathroom. We brought a power strip so we were ok. The hairdryer was "wired in" and in the top drawer so we didn't have to worry about plugging in a hair dryer anywhere.

 

The TV had several interesting channels-- one was a live feed from the front of the ship. One was a loop of videos taken on board during the cruise-- it is fun to see things you missed or catch your friends on TV! You can check the nightly menu, your folio charges, messages, etc. There is a bridge report channel showing you weather, sea conditions, tracking position, direction, etc.

 

The casino closes at 2am.

 

The spa had specials every day-- it is wonderful! Indulge in this!

[gunnywife]

snedecor: Here's what happened with dinner. Once I discovered our cards said dinner was 8:00 I found out that the maitre'd would be at the Golden Dining Room at 3:00 Sat. (day of boarding). I was down there right away and was one of the first in a looooong line. When it was my turn I told him that my husband was a diabetic and that we had requested early dining as soon as we booked the cruise. He very nicely told me he would appreciate it if we would go to late dinner the first night and he would then see that we were changed to early for the remainer of the cruise. He said a note would be delivered to our room with that info. At noon the next day there was indeed a note under our door telling us they were sorry they could not honor our request. I wasn't a happy person. So I called the dining room and it was then I was told to be down at our dining room at about 5:45 and if there was available seating we would be accommodated. We did that and sure enough we got a table for 2. We would have taken any size table. As a matter of fact we never requested any particular size table. I still haven't figured out how this table miraculously became available. We had this seating for the remainer of the cruise and were very happy with our servers.

 

I agree that the best way to navigate the ship is by using Deck 5.

 

Casino: We lost, but had fun doing it. We heard of some who won $200 to $300. I don't think the slots were any looser or tighter than other ships.

 

The TV even had CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX and when I watched (which was seldom) it was coming from of all places, Colorado.

 

Most cruise lines seem to push Diamond Int'l. It's been that way since we started cruising years ago.

 

I can't remember the name of the Captain. To tell the truth I don't pay attention. And I don't keep the Capers. I toss them each day.

 

Lynn

[saltyswife]

Karson: There was a $25 pp ship board credit for the missed port.

Carnival Platinum Cruiser: I agree about us all having different opinions on cruises. I did think Ami Castro had a good voice. I would have enjoyed hearing her more.

LoaJ: The seas were pretty smooth. A couple of nites were a little choppy. I heard some people say they felt kind of seasick, but I must say I had no problem at all.

tcs1366: We rec'd the 25pp on-board credit, but I never heard anything about insurance giving a rebate. I can't imagine why they would do that.

But if you hear more about it I would appreciate if you would share the information.

One other thing. If you requested early dining, be sure to check your card. We had requested early dining because my husband is a diabetic and it's better for him to eat early. On boarding, our card said late seating. The first day I went to the dining room (along with about 500 other people) to request a change. We got a card under the door saying they couldn't honor our request. But we did go to the dining room the second night and they got us in with no problem. From that nite on we had the same table with a wonderful waitress and helper.

Lynn

 

Does everyone get the credit or just those that booked before port was dropped????

[tcs1366]

considering we booked in Mid-Oct .... and even thought Costa Mays was already technically "off", it was still listed on our itinerary... so we had no idea.... then i questioned it, and she was like... "OH, yeah - $25 OBC."

[kinggartk]

Does everyone get the credit or just those that booked before port was dropped????

 

The $25 on board credit is just a refund of a port charge that you had paid for. Since you didn't go to that port, Carnival did not have to pay that port charge, so they have to refund that to you. They are not giving the $25 OBC as a courtesy, they are required to refund that.

[tcs1366]

The $25 on board credit is just a refund of a port charge that you had paid for.

 

Gotcha!!

[GeckoGirl]

I think Carnival is in bed with Diamonds International. They distributed 100 pieces of literature about their stores, gave numerous panels and coupons, had onsite "shoppers" etc-- they really pushed that store HARD on the cruisers....

...

 

 

Royal Caribbean is the same way, we cruised with them in December and they had a "shopping show" that was all about Diamonds International, they passed out coupons and literature just like you said they did on Carnival. Must be some financial deal between the Diamond International and the cruise lines to push their products. We even received a free charm bracelet with the DI logo, it looks very cheap, I never even opened the package.

 

Anyway glad you like the Glory, we are thinking about booking the eastern trip next year.

[okgirl]

That's exciting to hear about the Glory. We will be doing the Eastern, in June. We have been on the Triumph, We thought the lay out was a bit tough. how is the Glory?

Any other suggestions or wish you would have would be appreciated.;)

 

I was on the Glory in September and agree that it's a great ship and Port Canaveral is the easiest embarkation port that I've ever been through.

 

The Glory is a Conquest class ship and most would probably say that it is the most difficult type of layout to get use to. I actually prefer them, but I would suggest that you spend some time between now and June on Carnivals website looking at the deck plans.

 

Most peoples big complaint is that the dining rooms and Galleys are on decks 3 and 4 so you can walk bow to stearn on those decks. The largest of the dining rooms is at the rear of the ship and if you'll just remember to go to the rear elevators/stairs and go down to 3 you'll be right at the main entrance.

[MonaCD]

Anybody know what the debarkation zone number is for the Upper deck aft might be or what flight time you have to have to be able to get the earlier zone number for debarkation. Just found out Air Canada changed our departure time up an hour to 12:35 p.m.

[cw5joevon]

I was on same cruise and had a blast. I won on the bowling machine and the sheep in Casino. Not much but enough to feel good about. My brother in law hit the sheep for 700.00 and danced all over casino. We had the best time and great weather. I thought the entertainers were very talented however, the shows were not bad but not good either. I guess you could say I was entertained but not blown away:rolleyes:

 

We zip lined in Belize and had a good time. We hit Mr. Sanchez's beach in Cozumel and it was fantastic. I have made comments on other boards in the last couple of days regarding the Glory and our experience. I hate to keep repeating myself.

 

P.S. Bowling machine by tellers and is 5 cent machine. When you get bonus it will be good (we all agreed that managed to hit it)

[cw5joevon]

One other thing I thought interesting. One of our party hit Bingo for 250 scratch off tickets. We spent one day scratching by the pool. Then you had to sign and drop off at Diamonds International for drawing. We thought the experience was a little irritating. They won about $100.00 off scratch offs but we worked hard to get it:eek: It would have been better if we could have just won the 100.00 and saved all the trees from becoming scratch off tickets.

 

We finally got to meet and greet with Weee Jimmy. We loved him and spent the first few days on a mission to find him. He was not around much. We saw him on TV, so we wanted to know if he really existed. When we met him we found him to be very charming. He was very intertaining throughout the cruise.