Glory Review April 12-19, 2008

[rbden]

A bit of background before the review: Sailed on Carnival Destiny back in 1999. Have since always sailed RCCL (4 cruises on Voyager, Radiance and MOS). Sailed with wife and 8 year old daughter. We chose to try Carnival again mainly because of itinerary, price and the reviews on this board.

 

Booked a balcony 8A back in Feb 08. In mid March got a call from Carnival TA telling us we had been upgraded to CAT 11! Very suprised but thankful the fairy paid us a visit.

 

We flew into Orlando the night before our cruise and stayed at the Hilton Orlando Airport since we got in so late. We rented a car from Avis and drove to the Port the morning of 12th. We left the Hotel about 9:15 AM and were at the Avis rental return in Port Canaveral at 10:15. The Shuttle had us at the pier around 11 AM. Since we were in a Cat 11 we used the VIP check in and that was just a great experience. We were wisked to the front of the line and guided to an office where a very nice woman checked us in. We were then escorted to the ship by another woman.

 

Once on board, we headed up to the Lido deck for the buffet lunch. We grabbed a seat right next to the bar and grabbed a cocktail and some lunch. Everyone on board was in a great mood and the staff were pleasant and helpful

 

At 1:00 PM we headed down to our cabin 7271. We opened the door and for the first time in our cruising life, we could move about the cabin without running into each other or something. I told my wife we are now officially spoiled and it will be hard to go back to a regular stateroom. We dropped off our bags, went out onto the balcony for a while and then headed out to explore the ship. Navigating around the ship was fairly easy. We were assigined early seating 5:45 in the Platinum Dinging room. We had a table for 4 which was great. usually we are assigned to a large table. This was a very nice touch as we had tables on either side of us with children. In fact the whole section was family with kids ranging in age from 4-9.

 

At 4 pm we had the Muster drill or Munster drill as I like to call it. Here is a hint, show up late for this drill LOL, less waiting and you wont be in the back where there is no air! After the drill we went back to our room and our luggage was there waiting for us. We got cleaned up and headed for a pre dinner cocktail in the lobby bar. To be continued later.......

[floatingaway2525]

Wow you were off to a fabulous start!!! Great ship, we loved it! Can't wait for more review!!!:D

[FloridaLaura]

thanks for the beginning of your review, looking forward to the rest!

 

5 more days and I will be on board !!!

[TakeMeAway1001]

Congrats on the great upgrade :) Can't wait to read more of your review~

[littleone9699]

Woohoo!! Lucky you on your upgrade!! Did you do Eastern or Western? Can't wait to hear more of your review!!

[jtyerspc]

WOW That's my room! I have 7271 for 4/26. Any pics of the room? How was the location? Did you happen to stash any casino chips anywhere I might find them?............Don't hurt to ask!!!

[sheri18]

cant wait to read the rest.........

[xxjulzxx]

cant wait to read the rest.........

 

Ditto!

[rbden]

WOW That's my room! I have 7271 for 4/26. Any pics of the room? How was the location? Did you happen to stash any casino chips anywhere I might find them?............Don't hurt to ask!!!lo

LOL cometo think of it.....yes..but not in the room..just in the dealers hands

[rbden]

.....OK back for some more of my review...we headed down to the lobby deck 3 for a predinner cocktail..this was a very mellow and relaxing place to have a drink pre or post dinner. They had a treo piano and 2 violinists playing music..not my style usually but hey its a cruise so you adapt. Great people watching in this spot as they have several picture taking stations in this area.

 

We drank our cocktails and made our way to the dining area. you have to go up to deck 5 and go all the way aft and then down 2 levels to get to the dining room. given we were in a forward cabin and had requested the 6:15 dining time, it made no sense we had to do this day in day out. Oh well a little excercise sure didnt hurt.

 

We entered the dining room, very chaotic as no one knew where to go, but found our table. Our waiter introduced himself..Jar and his assistant Santosa. They were nice enough but I have to say I found the service lacking compared not only to our other cruises but with the wait staff at the tables next to us. I will give you a few examples:

 

1. They never addressed us by our names or even sir or maam. 2. We never were offerred bread more than once a nite without asking. 3. Service was slow. 4. We ordered ceasar salads and pasta and never were asked if we wanted fresh pepper or parm cheese...(the table next to us with a different waiter did all of the above). I could go on but I dont think its a reflection on Carnival just this waiter. The Maitred was outstanding and quite an entertainer. This night I ordered shrimp cocktail, salad, the lamp chops...fantastic by the way and some chocolate cake for desert. All in all the food was OK most nights and sub par a couple nights.

 

After dinner we cruised along the promenade and visited the shops. Not much to do with a 8 year old at night. We finally made our way to the show lounge for the welcome aboard show. One complaint is that on at least 3 nights there is only one show so if you are early dinner, you have a couple of hours or more to kill before. There is not much entertainment during this time so the bar bill and or the casino seems to increase.

 

The show was great and the dancers are really really good. Much better than what we have seen on RCCL. The singers were good..if not for the guy singer i would say they were great..he was truly what Simon refers to on Idol lol. ...not good. The lady..amy castro was really good. More to come later...

[falconfan]

Here is a hint, show up late for this drill LOL, less waiting and you wont be in the back where there is no air!

 

It doesn't matter when I show up I am always put in back because I am 6'7" tall. I am enjoying the review, keep it coming.

[rbden]

....ok after the show we headed back to the cabin. We met our cabin steward Gabriel from Costa Rica earlier in the day. He was very nice and did a fantastic job. He made us towel animals every night and of course this was a huge hit with our daughter, especially the hanging monkey. We slept like babies as we were tired from our trip in and a very busy day. The cabin was spacious and located near the atrium elevators. We could hear the lobby act a singer and a keyboard player but lucky for us we brought along ear plugs. It was quite loud and they played late..12:00 or 12:30 most nights.

 

Day 2 Nassau -

 

We woke up around 8 am and we were already docked in Nassau. We had decided early on that we would leave this day as a casual do nothing but hang out day. We had ordered room service the night before and the guy showed up at 8:05 am with our coffee and pastries. We ate on the balcony and then got ready to leave the ship.

 

We have been to Nassau several times so we just went shopping. It was a Sunday so not all the shops were open. We walked around a bit and finally decided to head back to the ship around noon. We headed upstairs to the red sail buffet and had a nice relaxing lunch. Most people were just starting to get back on around this time and soon the buffet was packed. We found the lines to be quite long and slow moving compared to RCCL. We also thought the buffet quality and variety to be better in our RCCl cruises.

 

After lunch the ship set sail and we had found a couple of lounge chairs near the pool. A calypso band was playing music so we relaxed and our daughter went to the pool and slide. Since we had early seating we headed back to our room around 4pm. We got ready for dinner and made our way down to the lobby bar again. more later.....

[rbden]

...this was the first formal night on the cruise and also the captains welcome party. Unfortunately we were a little late getting ready..well not me but the wife LOL, so we missed it. Heard it was a good party with free drinks and alot of sitting around. Was really suprised by the amount of people that were dressed up in formal attire. Reading these boards and hearing about the "dress down" crowd had me concerned but everyone looked great. About 30% of men in tuxes the others in suits, maybe a handful without ties. Women were also in gowns and cocktail dresses. We did see one family in what i would call Halloween costumes..looked like gangsters with yellow and funky green jackets and hats..bizarre but who am i to criticize..looked like they were having fun....still really bizarre LOL.

 

Dinner was absolutely the best this evening. Lopster Tail with Shrimp was what we chose and it did not disappoint. Even our 8 year old had it and loved it. I have had good lobster, bad lobster and ok lobster and believe me this was good lobster. The Prime rib lookeed good and our table neighbors said it was good. After dinner we headed to the show and it didnt disappoint. Good dancing and singing..well minus the guy...again he was not good. We sat 2 rows from the front since my DD is a dancer and insisted..cant say it was a bad view either wink wink.

 

After the show we dropped our dd at camp carnival..they have group sitting available after 10 pm for 6 bucks an hour..great deal and it gave us time to hit the casino. I hit the pokerpro Hole Em table for the first time and met a great group of mostly guys that would play every nite for the remainder or our cruise. Hit the nite club for a bit and watched all the middle agers like ourselves make fools of themselves dancing but loving every minute of it. isnt vaca with strangers a blast lol.

[TN cruisin]

We only have a few more days to wait. Thanks for your review. The Glory is sounding like such fun!

[alb1956]

Hey rbden,

My Dh and our son and his girlfriend were on the same cruise!! We also had the early dinner...our table was upstairs and we saw the same three guys dressed up in their funky green and yellow( and I mean LOUD green and yellow, and I think the third guy was in RED, suits!!) But what really set off the suits were the matching hats!!! What a hoot they were!!! We saw them again on the Thursday night formal!!! Same guys....same suits!!! LOL......

[rbden]

Hey rbden,

My Dh and our son and his girlfriend were on the same cruise!! We also had the early dinner...our table was upstairs and we saw the same three guys dressed up in their funky green and yellow( and I mean LOUD green and yellow, and I think the third guy was in RED, suits!!) But what really set off the suits were the matching hats!!! What a hoot they were!!! We saw them again on the Thursday night formal!!! Same guys....same suits!!! LOL......

LOL they took pictures at every station i think..they were everywhere lol.

[rbden]

...ok so where are we..yes end of day 2 and going to bed. Yes i won someone's money at the poker table..yes i ended up losing it somewhere else in the casino :(

 

Day 3 - Fun day at sea

 

We did not order room service or set an alarm...we slept in until 10:00 am and would have been longer but the cruise director woke us up with his morning announcement. Cant say enough good things about Ryan. Funny, and not overbearing like others we have encountered. Just enough to get you by and he can talk a mile a minute.

 

We headed up to the lido deck to look for chairs...LOL what? no chairs? LOL we didnt care..we found some on the upper decks..and threw our stuff down. Went back to the red sail and grabbed some breakfast..same stuff everyday...omelets, runny eggs, sausage, bacon, etc etc etc.. Carnival would do well here to add some variety here. After eating enough to last the entire day..we went to the pool and and back to our chairs, and no we didnt leave our stuff there for more than 30 minutes.

 

Got a drink and before I knew it it was lunchtime ...crazy how time flies when you wake up at 10 have breakfast at 11 and drink before noon LOL.

 

This was the first time I got somewhat annoyed on the cruise. The line for lunch was long and very slow. I could not beleive how many people loaded up there plates with food and grabbed everything in sight slowing it all down. Felt like this was the last supper or something..people the food will not run out..its ok to eat in phases lol.

 

Lunch fare is ok...burgers are good, pizza was marginal in my opinion. The rest is well buffet food..not great not terrible. Ate a little bit..ok i lie..i ate a salad, burger, fries, and dessert lol. the sun makes me hungry??? i cant explain it. anyway once this was over i headed to the casino and left the DW and DD at the pool. We met up later to get ready for dinner.

 

Every evening a ritual occurs on board the Carnival ships..its called picture time. I cannot believe how many times we were asked to have our picture taken. I swear some people take pictures at every station and there must be at least 10-12. I cant stand it. one or 2 is good for me lol. anyway i digressed....went to dinner..and ate some more food. After dinner we did the show ...and then the casino for some poker. We noticed the piano bar was mostly empty every nite. We walked in a couple times and the piano guy was not very entertaining. once I had enough poker I headed off to bed where my DW and DD were already fast asleep. All in all a very relaxing and filling day at sea.

[rbden]

ok last post for the day...

 

Day 4 - St Thomas

 

The day began again with an announcement from Ryan our CD that we had arrived in St Thomas and that we were ready to start the customs procedure. This was a strange and ridiculous procedure but required by our govt since we were in the bahamas after leaving Port Canaveral. Once your deck is called, you make your way down to deck 5 and get in a long line with your id's and sail and sign card. moves pretty fast all in all a complete waste of taxpayer money and vacation time.

 

Once we were done we departed the ship. We grabbed a taxi and headed to Megans Bay (18 dollars for the 3 of us one way ). We had not been here in some time..last few crusies we opted for sapphire beach, and it was spectacular just like we remembered. The water was warm and calm. the beach was not too crowded as only 2 ships were in port. We ended up renting chairs and a floatie..12 dollars total. They had a cocktail waitress cruising up and down the beach taking drink orders. We ordered 2 times from her..great service. What a relaxing way to spend a few hours. When we were ready to leave we just asked the taxi guys and they loaded us in a van and took us back to the ship. Got some island history along the way back as well from our driver.

 

Once we arrived back to the dock we did some shopping. DD got some gifts for her friends and DW bought some clothes. Checked out the prices on liquour and found the prices on the ship could not be beat. If you intend to buy liquor..do so on the first night of the cruise they do a 10% discount on the already low prices.

 

I ended up buying a new digital camera and will upload some pics in the next couple of days. The deal was pretty good..go to Boolchands either downtown or by the docks. Make sure you get a free SD card and case included in the deal. the prices of the cameras are usually the same as in the states. The real deals are on jewelry and watches.

 

After we shopped we went back to the ship, cleaned up and went to dinner. The dining room was pretty empty as the ship wasnt departing until 8 pm. If I recall correctly, I didnt enjoy the food and either did my DW. After dinner we took our DD to the kids club. She really enjoyed her time there. Cant say enought about what a great job these people do taking care of our kids and keeping them happy. The show this evening was a magician/illusionist along with the dancers. After this off to bed as we had St Martin awaiting us the next morning. All in all a fantastic day.

[USA41018]

Any cabin pictures. We are booked in a Category 11 Suite on the Liberty, a sister ship of the Glory. Would really like to get an idea of what the suite looks like.

[NCTribeFan]

Glad to hear the prime rib was ok. It was one of the few beef items on Miracle that was edible.

 

Looking forward to the pics.

[cruisin_fanatic]

Nice review, cant wait to read more...we board the Glory in less than 2 weeks...so close yet still too far away....*sigh*:o

[rbden]

To those asking about cabin pics, I will try and post tonight when I download them from the sd card.

 

Day 5 - St Martin

 

Long lines to get off the ship in this port. It is caused mostly by the fact that the carnival picture staff are set up to take pictures on the gangway as you depart.

 

We decided to take a taxi to Orient Beach. We had not been to this beach before with our DD. We had prepared her for the possible naked people by explaining that different countries have diff customs etc. We happened to be in line for a taxi with 4 of the Carnival dancers and ended up sharing a ride to orient with them. Nice kids and I say kids because they are 18-23 year olds. They were commenting on how one of the dancers was 26 and how old he was LOL. Anyway they told us where they like to hang out and we followed them. We found a place we liked and rented 2 chairs and umbrella for 20 dollars.

 

For those of you who have not been to Orient..do go..its fabulous. The nudity was not so bad, only topless women. we were in the very center of orient so we didnt see any naked men.

 

Water was incredible and the waves were fun for DD. We built some sand castles and just relaxed. Ate lunch right there and also had drinks. Great food and fabulous time. After we had enough sun, we headed back towards the ship for some shopping. Front Street is crowded but great shops and the boardwalk is nice as well.

 

Back on board we got ready for dinner. Wife had Mahi Mahi and I ordered the Beef Wellington. Both dishes were decent. After Dinner did the show , watched some Kareoke and DD went to the kids club for a party.

 

Day 6 - Day at Sea

 

Woke up late this morning and unfortunately the sun was not out. cloudy with rain most of the day. Went up to the pool deck for some lunch. It was very crowded and hard to find a table. For the first time there were many deck chairs available LOL. DD went to the kids club for activities while we went to the spa. Did some of the activities and some bingo as well. This evening was the second formal night. Again everyone was dressed up and standing in line for more photos. At Dinner we both decided on the Filet Mignon...not impressed with this meal at all. Not very tender and it lacked flavor. I asked our waiter if I could order something else and of course he said yes. I asked for the Veal Parm and minutes later I had it. Again huge disappointment..no flavor and not very tender. Dessert was where I made up for my dinner odering chocolate melting cake and the chocolate rasberry cream cake...yum.

 

hit the show and DD hit the kids club and they were having a late nite slumber party. DW and I watched some kareoke and hit the casino. Again the piano bar was basically empty. The most popular place on our cruise was the casino and casino bar. Alway packed.

 

Day 7 - last day at Sea

 

Better weather today although it was quite chilly. headed up for Breakfast and then to find lounge chair..impossible to find near the pools so we settled up a deck. The main pool was out of commission for some reason..maybe all the rocking the ship was doing was causing water to be spilled all over. Too cold to swim for our tastes so we just laid in the lounge chairs. The Chocolate buffet was in the red sail for lunch. Lots of stuff to choose from..but again the lines were ridiculous and I could not believe the people loading up 2 plates full of sweets. I opted for a sandwich from the deli for a change. It was ok..burgers were really the only memorable food from the red sail.

 

Went to the debarkation talk as well..waste of time. All you need to know is given to you in your room by the steward. They switched to a number tag system and we were lucky to get #7 our of 41 numbers. 1-5 are for early departures and post cruise tours in orlando.

 

Sadly we spent part of the afternoon packing our stuff up. The week flew by and wish you could rewind and do it all over again.

 

After packing we went to the lobby bar had a drink and went to dinner. Had the Quail and it was quite good. Wife had the Prime Rib and it was overdone and tough.. She ordered another one medium rare this time and it was better. The waiters sang a good bye song and we said goodbye to our table neighbors.

 

Skipped the show tonite as DD wanted to spend some time in the Kids Club with her ship friends. We headed to the casino where i gave back my poker earnings for the week. Had a cocktail at the casino bar and headed back to the room. We sat on our balcony and listened to the ocean and reflected on a wonderful week.

 

final day later and overall impressions compared to rccl later.......

[rbden]

Here are some pictures I uploaded...the room pics are the best i could do. The room has tons of closet space, a seperate area to get ready with mirror and counter space as well as a bathroom with jacuzzi tub/shower.

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563184809dVIyxm

[spunky109]

Hi,

 

I've enjoyed reading your review and am looking forward to your comparison between RCCL and Carnival. We have 8 RCCL cruises (Sovereign and Mariner) under our belt, but we are considering the Glory (Western) for a change of pace. Thanks for sharing!

[rbden]

Debarkation

 

We woke up about 6:45 AM. We quickly got ready and at 8:00 are number for debarkation was called. We were had our luggage and on the Hertz Bus by 8:30. This was the quickest and easiest debarkation we have ever experienced. Was sad to go but as always looking forward to the next one.

 

Overall we had a great cruise and would recommend this ship to anyone.

 

Some specifics that come to mind both good and bad:

 

Overall Service was good not great, mainly because of the Dining room service

Bar Service was good as was most of the entertainment in them except the piano bar.

Casino was good except for all the smoke..we are recent ex smokers and now I know how a non smoker feels. Claudia the Casino Hostess was extremely pleasant and helpful.

 

Ship was in great condition as were the cabins and the suite well it was sweet.

 

The ugly room decor award goes to the dining room. Reallly did not like the look. Loved having a table for just the 3 of us.

 

Carnival needs to figure out the deck chair issue..too many saved chairs.

Stop asking if I want my picture taken. They have stations every 20 feet and if I want one I will ask for one. I am on vacation quit harrassing me lol.

 

Food needs improvement in some areas but overall it was decent. Entertainment was good but need more activities for families in the evening when there is no early show. Not everyone wants to dump there kids at Camp Carnival. We go on vacation to spend time together not apart.

 

Any questions let me know. I am going to post another thread with my comparison to RCCL as I dont want to have this thread hijacked with bashers from either side LOL...enjoy your cruises and remember everyday on any cruise is better than any day at work.