Glory Review 8/30/08

[IrishGirl1230]

Hi all. Here is a review of our 8/30 sailing on the Glory. We were a party of three women - 27, 32 and 60.

 

We flew into Orlando a day ahead of time. We opted to rent a car to drive to Port Canaveral. We rented through Budget, which was located right in the airport. We wound up with a beautiful Ford Explorer which held all our bags nicely! We flew in on Continental. The flight was good. Unlike other airlines, Continental gives you a complimentary snack along with your beverage. (Cranberry muffin going, and a small turkey sandwhich, chip and candy coming home.)

 

It was a very easy drive from the airport to the port area. We stayed at the Radisson. Its a pretty nice place and quite big. We were in the 500 building. However, for three of us, the room was very small. As others have done, we had lunch at the pizza place right next door. The food was very good.

 

Friday night, we had a meet and greet scheduled with our fellow cruise critic buddies. We all met for dinner at Rusty's. Its a great sea food place right near the port. We all had a great time getting to meet in person.

 

We were a little disappointed in the breakfast buffet that was offered. There didn't seem to be many choices offered.

 

We had originally arranged to take the Radisson shuttle to the port on Saturday morning. However, after getting up and eating, it was still early. We were on the 11:30 shuttle. We decided to return the car. The Budget place was literally down the block. They had a free shuttle, which put us at the port even before 11 am.

 

When we arrived at the port, there was very little traffic. We pulled right up to the place where they take your luggage. It goes straight into the bin to go on the ship. From there, we walked right into the port building. It was very well organized and a very nice place! We were through security and checked in within a matter of minutes. We had a seat for a few minutes and were on board by about 11:30am!

 

We went straight to the Lido where we had lunch.

 

The ship is very nice. We were on the Valor last year and it is almost identical except for the decor.

 

Due to food allergies, we were in contact with Carnival prior to sailing. They assured we would have our own table. Well, the first night, something strange happened. It was the 3 of us at a 4 top table, when a lone gentleman sat down. He announced it was also his table. He went on to say he was all alone because his girlfriend broke up with him and he deiced to come anyway. Needless to say, it was quite uncomfortable! We spoke with the staff the next day and they were able to change our table. The wait staff in the Platinum dining room were great. The food was very good. It was nice having some different choices - had the usual filet mignon and prime rib, but also had two different kinds of chicken, a different pasta and a stuffed pepper. We had breakfast once in the dining room but was not impressed. The portions were small and the service was reallllly slow. We stuck to the lido deck the other days. Due to schedules, we had lunch on the lido as well. There was always something to enjoy. One day they had a chocolate buffet. Another night, they had a Mexican buffet.

 

We had a balcony room on deck 8. We were below the lido deck and didn't have any trouble with noise. We were mid ship, near the elevators, so it was a good location. Our room steward was Mathew. He was very friendly and did a great job keeping the room tidy and supplying towel animals!

 

Upon embarkation, we were told of us having to skip Nassau due to Hanna. We were given $20 OBC. When we arrived in St. Thomas, it was pouring! Ponchos were sold for $3 on the gangway. The weather cleared up beautifully after a little while. We have been there before, so we decided just to shop at the port. We spent hours going in and out of the stores. Like last time, we had lunch at Delly Deck. Its a small place right inside the gates. We bought quite a bit of jewelry at Dazzlers. We shopped there last time and have gotten great deals.

 

We didn't have anything planned for St. Maarten. It was drizzly getting off the ship and the water was very choppy. The plan was to take a cab into town, but I decided not to go at the last minute. I am glad I trusted my instinct because the cab driver dropped my mother and sister off in some ghetto place and they had to walk through back alleys to get to the shopping place. Then it poured. I headed back to the ship and they came back a little while later, completely soaked! We had to use the dryers to take some of the water out of their clothes. We had some rough weather during the week. The seas were choppy and on our balcony, you could feel mist hitting you from the white caps. On two nights, there were spectacular thunder storms where the lightening lit up the sky. On one night, it rained inside the ship. Apparently, there was water coming in on the lido deck, running under the glass doors and down the glass elevator shaft.

 

The day after we left St. Maarten, we almost had the chance to participate in a rescue mission. The cruise director came on the loud speaker and advised us that they had been advised that there was a capsized vessel and we were the closest ship so we were required to go assist. We grabbed cameras and made a bee line for deck 12 all the way at the front. It took about 45 minutes to get close. There was a Coast Guard plane circling overhead. Apparently there were 3 people in the water. Just as we got close, the Coast Guard helicopter came to the rescue and picked the three of them up. There were tons of cheers!

 

Debarkation had a slow start. We sat by the casino and waited. We were tag number 17. I forget the order, but it was something like early flights, self assist and then general. Once they got to general, it went quickly.. but before that, there was about 20 minutes in between groups of numbers. It was well organized and easy to find our luggage. We had arranged to take the Carnival transfer back to the airport. We were put on a very nice tour bus. We were group A, which was first off. We had an original 4PM flight home, but due to bad weather in NJ, the time changed several times. They finally boarded us at 4:15 but didn't take off until 5:05. We had a nice plane that had a screen with movies and games behind each seat. The flight was rough back to NJ. There was so much turbulence when we got close to NJ. When we landed, it felt like the plane fell onto the runway and all the passengers clapped!!!! It was pouring out and it felt like we were floating home.

 

Overall, we had a great time and had lots of excitement!

[johnlcruise]

Nice review.

Thanks for taking the time to report it.

[Indianamale]

Great review I really enjoyed reading it.

[teedee]

Thanks for posting your review. I'll be on the Glory in less than 2 weeks, I can't wait!!

 

Terri

[Payd]

I would have been green almost the whole time, if the seas were that rough!

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

[DqALEX]

Hi all. Here is a review of our 8/30 sailing on the Glory. We were a party of three women - 27, 32 and 60.

 

We flew into Orlando a day ahead of time. We opted to rent a car to drive to Port Canaveral. We rented through Budget, which was located right in the airport. We wound up with a beautiful Ford Explorer which held all our bags nicely! We flew in on Continental. The flight was good. Unlike other airlines, Continental gives you a complimentary snack along with your beverage. (Cranberry muffin going, and a small turkey sandwhich, chip and candy coming home.)

 

It was a very easy drive from the airport to the port area. We stayed at the Radisson. Its a pretty nice place and quite big. We were in the 500 building. However, for three of us, the room was very small. As others have done, we had lunch at the pizza place right next door. The food was very good.

 

Friday night, we had a meet and greet scheduled with our fellow cruise critic buddies. We all met for dinner at Rusty's. Its a great sea food place right near the port. We all had a great time getting to meet in person.

 

We were a little disappointed in the breakfast buffet that was offered. There didn't seem to be many choices offered.

 

We had originally arranged to take the Radisson shuttle to the port on Saturday morning. However, after getting up and eating, it was still early. We were on the 11:30 shuttle. We decided to return the car. The Budget place was literally down the block. They had a free shuttle, which put us at the port even before 11 am.

 

When we arrived at the port, there was very little traffic. We pulled right up to the place where they take your luggage. It goes straight into the bin to go on the ship. From there, we walked right into the port building. It was very well organized and a very nice place! We were through security and checked in within a matter of minutes. We had a seat for a few minutes and were on board by about 11:30am!

 

We went straight to the Lido where we had lunch.

 

The ship is very nice. We were on the Valor last year and it is almost identical except for the decor.

 

Due to food allergies, we were in contact with Carnival prior to sailing. They assured we would have our own table. Well, the first night, something strange happened. It was the 3 of us at a 4 top table, when a lone gentleman sat down. He announced it was also his table. He went on to say he was all alone because his girlfriend broke up with him and he deiced to come anyway. Needless to say, it was quite uncomfortable! We spoke with the staff the next day and they were able to change our table. The wait staff in the Platinum dining room were great. The food was very good. It was nice having some different choices - had the usual filet mignon and prime rib, but also had two different kinds of chicken, a different pasta and a stuffed pepper. We had breakfast once in the dining room but was not impressed. The portions were small and the service was reallllly slow. We stuck to the lido deck the other days. Due to schedules, we had lunch on the lido as well. There was always something to enjoy. One day they had a chocolate buffet. Another night, they had a Mexican buffet.

 

We had a balcony room on deck 8. We were below the lido deck and didn't have any trouble with noise. We were mid ship, near the elevators, so it was a good location. Our room steward was Mathew. He was very friendly and did a great job keeping the room tidy and supplying towel animals!

 

Upon embarkation, we were told of us having to skip Nassau due to Hanna. We were given $20 OBC. When we arrived in St. Thomas, it was pouring! Ponchos were sold for $3 on the gangway. The weather cleared up beautifully after a little while. We have been there before, so we decided just to shop at the port. We spent hours going in and out of the stores. Like last time, we had lunch at Delly Deck. Its a small place right inside the gates. We bought quite a bit of jewelry at Dazzlers. We shopped there last time and have gotten great deals.

 

We didn't have anything planned for St. Maarten. It was drizzly getting off the ship and the water was very choppy. The plan was to take a cab into town, but I decided not to go at the last minute. I am glad I trusted my instinct because the cab driver dropped my mother and sister off in some ghetto place and they had to walk through back alleys to get to the shopping place. Then it poured. I headed back to the ship and they came back a little while later, completely soaked! We had to use the dryers to take some of the water out of their clothes. We had some rough weather during the week. The seas were choppy and on our balcony, you could feel mist hitting you from the white caps. On two nights, there were spectacular thunder storms where the lightening lit up the sky. On one night, it rained inside the ship. Apparently, there was water coming in on the lido deck, running under the glass doors and down the glass elevator shaft.

 

The day after we left St. Maarten, we almost had the chance to participate in a rescue mission. The cruise director came on the loud speaker and advised us that they had been advised that there was a capsized vessel and we were the closest ship so we were required to go assist. We grabbed cameras and made a bee line for deck 12 all the way at the front. It took about 45 minutes to get close. There was a Coast Guard plane circling overhead. Apparently there were 3 people in the water. Just as we got close, the Coast Guard helicopter came to the rescue and picked the three of them up. There were tons of cheers!

 

Debarkation had a slow start. We sat by the casino and waited. We were tag number 17. I forget the order, but it was something like early flights, self assist and then general. Once they got to general, it went quickly.. but before that, there was about 20 minutes in between groups of numbers. It was well organized and easy to find our luggage. We had arranged to take the Carnival transfer back to the airport. We were put on a very nice tour bus. We were group A, which was first off. We had an original 4PM flight home, but due to bad weather in NJ, the time changed several times. They finally boarded us at 4:15 but didn't take off until 5:05. We had a nice plane that had a screen with movies and games behind each seat. The flight was rough back to NJ. There was so much turbulence when we got close to NJ. When we landed, it felt like the plane fell onto the runway and all the passengers clapped!!!! It was pouring out and it felt like we were floating home.

 

Overall, we had a great time and had lots of excitement!

Thanks for posting a review

[xxjulzxx]

Great review!

Do you have any pics?

[bcs819]

thanks for the review. Did you tell the poor guy that you would prefer to be alone, or did he just show up at dinner he next night and find himself all alone? We prefer to eat alone, too, and would have been uncomfortable as well, but given his situation, he was probably already feeling rejected...poor guy :( Not saying you shouldn't have switched, but hope you had least gave him a heads up...

[SunnyinMA]

Nice review, thank you for taking the time to write and post it!

[IrishGirl1230]

I have TONS of pictures! I have to get them on webshots so I can post some. I'll come back over once I get them up.

 

As for our dinner companion, I believe we were both going seperate ways. He said he much preferred to sit at a large table because he likes a big group of people. We made him aware that we had made special accomodations ahead of time. The dining room hostess even came over during dinner to introduce herself and to discuss dining options, so it was pretty clear we needed to be to ourselves during meals. We wouldnt have minded sharing the table with him.. but with a food allergy, we cant control what another person outside of our family will eat, so it was safer to sit elsewhere. Two thumbs up to the staff for their handling of the allergy!

[tiger belle]

thanks for the review, irishgirl...we will be on the same itinerary on Glory in November...it sounds like your room location is very near where ours is...do you mind my asking which cabin # you had?

[REAGS]

Irish Girl, thanks for a great review!

 

You mentioned that the Radisson room seemed too small for the three of you. We are also staying there the night before our cruise in Nov. There are four of us (two couples) booked in one room. Can you elaborate on why you thought it was too small for the three of you?

 

Thanks!

[TakeMeAway1001]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review :)

[rebeljohn]

Nice review.......Thanks for posting it............looking forward to the pics...........

[Froufie]

Thanks for the review - wondering if you visited the Casino? or what you thought of the entertainment and cruise director?

[ohiochic]

Nice review. Thanks!

[phinfan63]

As for our dinner companion, I believe we were both going seperate ways. He said he much preferred to sit at a large table because he likes a big group of people. We made him aware that we had made special accomodations ahead of time. The dining room hostess even came over during dinner to introduce herself and to discuss dining options, so it was pretty clear we needed to be to ourselves during meals. We wouldnt have minded sharing the table with him.. but with a food allergy, we cant control what another person outside of our family will eat, so it was safer to sit elsewhere. Two thumbs up to the staff for their handling of the allergy!

 

Glad to know it was handled well. I'm curious though, if someone in your family has a food allergy how does what someone else eat affect them?

[IrishGirl1230]

I hope I remember the few questions!

 

Radisson - it was a very nice place and a very nice room. The beds were a double size (2 beds) and a chair with the other normal furniture. There was NO room to manuver around in the room around the furniture and the luggage. The sink is outside the bathroom and the bathroom is tiny.. barely enough room for the tub and toilet. But I did have the best shower ever!

 

Food allergy - its the kind of allergy, like people who are allergic to peanuts, she cant be around people who are eating things like tropical fruits (especially bananas, she has trouble breathing). The tiny food particles get into the air and she cant be in close contact. Thats why we eat at our own table.. we're far enough away from others and we know what we're eating

 

Casino - spent some time there. Didnt win anything big, but I did hear a guy at dembarkation saying he won $6000 on a slot. The casino can be very smokey for those who dont smoke, but there is a small non smoking section

 

Cruise Director - His name was Butch. He was a young guy, I think from Minnesota. He seemed ok. Very energetic.

[IrishGirl1230]

We were in room 8340. It was a great location. It was right in the middle. Didnt have to go too far in either direction and right near the elevator.

 

Entertainment - we saw one show and thought it was great! It was a show with singing and dancing to songs about different US states.

[gweedo]

Thanks for posting a review. We will be on our first Carnival cruise in Jan and am looking forward to it.:)