Glory 11/7-11/15 Review - Heavy on Pics

[Ms Belvedere]

This review will be a quick one with more pictures than words. My reviews are usually light and breezy skimming over the not-so-great things. This time I'll add some of those for more balance.

 

We flew from Dulles to Orlando 2 days before the cruise, breakfast was at Harry's Tap Room in the Dulles Airport before the flight. mmmmmmm, those creamy grits were so good!

 

 

Southwest got us down to Florida in great time, we rented a car from Avis at the airport and drove to Radisson at the Port.

 

 

 

 

[murphy4]

I can't wait to see your cruise pics. did you do Eastern or Western?

[Ms Belvedere]

 

 

 

This is a picture of my in-laws room, they were cruising with us and had an identical room except for the bed arrangement. We had a queen they had 2 doubles.

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

Microwave and refrigerator, the refrigerator kept things cold and worked well. We didn't use the micro.

 

 

 

We went to dinner at Florida's Seafood Bar and Grill that was recommended on the Port of Call thread as being where the locals ate. They had Rock Shrimp on the menu and I had 2 dozen, DH had a Florida Sampler. The service was only okay, the plates were metal and the utensils were plastic. I hate plastic forks and spoons, the napkins were thin and they didn't bring enough of them, the table felt sticky. Overall, I'd recommend you go to either Fishlips or Grills at the port and skip this one.

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

We hit Publix and the ABC stores more than once in the two days prior to sailing, we also went to the Coco Beach Surf Company beside Ron Jons. They have free parking in a garage above the store with an elevator that opens directly into the store. We had never been there, always went to Ron Jons and have watched the prices go up and up over the years.

 

The Coco Beach Surf Company was outstanding with sale racks and a full section of North Face which DH loves! So he found some shorts and a couple of tee shirts.

 

http://http://surf.lastinfoo.com/20061129-cocoa-beach-surf-company.html

 

The Tiki Bar at the Radisson has pretty good food and after the in-laws showed up we ate there for dinner. The next day we ate breakfast next door at Zachary's. Excellent food, good prices and better than McDonalds.

[Ms Belvedere]

Of course the big discussion was where the cruise ships were going to go since a Cat 4 hurricane was developing and headed for Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. Our first stop on our Eastern itinerary was Nassau. Disney cruisers at the Radisson knew that they were changed, we didn't hear until we got on the ship that we'd been changed to Western, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Nassau (last port). I checked Carnival's website and Cruise Critic a few times (no news on either one) before leaving but was happy for the change. DH and I had been to the Western ports on the Valor in Sept, but my in laws hadn't been Western in a few years and after a few hurricanes. They were thrilled. :D

 

They had an inside room on the 8th floor, we had an ocean view on the spa deck with the floor to ceiling windows, room 1108.

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

All of our luggage arrived without incident and we had dinner in the Golden Dining Room, table 224 with Joseph as our Maitre D. He certainly was supercharged, and we enjoyed his personality and carrying on. The waiters seemed to really like him, too.

 

Our food was the average Carnival food, no pics, sorry. Dinner took forever every night, we don't know why, our waiter's station had plenty of empty seats. :confused:

 

Here are a few pics of the ship. I took more pics of the ports than the ship since so many sail on the Glory and show pics in their reviews.

 

 

 

DH has more pics of the ship but I don't have them downloaded. My pics of Costa Maya took most of the day to edit and post.

[Ms Belvedere]

 

Here is the Whirlpool in the spa that has the waterfall. To get to this you have to go through the locker rooms to the door marked Whirlpool. You'll pass by the steamroom and sauna to get to the door out to the whirlpool.

 

It is free to use this whirlpool, a little oasis of fresh water in the middle of the gym!

 

 

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

Our first port was Costa Maya and I have a pretty thorough pictorial of it here:

COSTA MAYA

 

[Jeans*Fanatic]

I am really lovin' your pictures! I have never been on the Conquest, though... but I plan on it!

[BND]

We had table 220 in the Golden 1-8 Nov. Joseph is truly your "supercharged" Maitre'd. I think that's the only adjective he knows. Our friends who cruised with us also were with you the next week. It's been an interesting two weeks on Glory. First our week, we didnt' board until 6:30 pm and then we had Roatan cancelled which worked out fine since the hurricane was forming there and by not staying, we got ahead of it. Then, you guys had your itinerary changed.

[Ms Belvedere]

In Cozumel we docked at Porta Maya, I may have the name wrong, it's the port at the end of town, not Punta Langosta. There are tons of rebuilt shops, plenty of places to find a refreshing beverage and taxis waiting to take you anywhere on the island. MIL wanted to see if the original Los Cinco Soles was still alive and kicking. We took a taxi to Punta Langosta and walked to the far end of town from there.

 

 

 

 

 

Pic taken from inside Los Cinco Soles:

 

[Ms Belvedere]

Pictures of Pancho's Backyard, the restaurant in the downtown Los Cinco Soles:

 

 

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

I love to see people in port going about their daily lives. On the Valor in September we saw fisherman with their fresh-caught-that-morning fish, scaling and cleaning them along the water and selling them to the local chefs and townspeople. I've bought fresh tacos along the water from the same man the last three trips. Delicious.

 

Two pictures from this trip:

 

 

 

Disney in port with us:

 

 

More pics in Cozumel:

 

 

[littledipper]

Great review...we'll be on the Glory next april for 2 weeks. Can't wait...

[Ms Belvedere]

We were docked in Cozumel beside the Inspiration. If anyone's read about the small balconies on the Fantasy class, here is an innovative idea for turning your chair forwards to sit comfortably:

 

 

Here is a shot of the rear end of the Inspiration, you can see the Water Works and Serenity areas:

 

 

And the Miniature Golf:

 

[Ms Belvedere]

At the port in Cozumel, Pancho's restaurant in Los Cinco Soles:

 

 

 

 

Some of the landscaping at the dock:

 

 

 

[fargodakota]

That is Holiday hiding behind Disney Magic. We were in port the same day. It was such a nice day.

 

Glory looks like a sweet ship.

 

Thanks for posting!

[Ms Belvedere]

That is Holiday hiding behind Disney Magic. We were in port the same day. It was such a nice day.

Glory looks like a sweet ship.

Thanks for posting!

I'm sorry not to have given your ship a shout-out. There were 5 ships in port at Coz that day. As we walked back to the ship we said, once again, Carnival RULED THE PORT! :D

 

Carnival Holiday

Carnival Inspiration

Carnival Valor

Disney Magic

Freedom of the Seas

[Ms Belvedere]

Nassau was our last port, we've been here many times but can always find something fun to do. We took my in-laws into town shopping for a bit then went to the Conch place across from the Hilton for lunch. Although the food was good and reasonably priced (for this island) I was a little PO's that the waitress didn't catch that I ordered one appetizer then changed it to another. She brought both. Oh well, I ate more than I should have. The appetizers were 7-10 apiece. We had 4 apps and two drinks for 42.00. Tip was extra.

 

Port of Naussau:

 

 

Atlantis:

 

 

 

Beautiful Alley in Nassau:

 

[Ms Belvedere]

More Pics of Atlantis:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manta Ray in the Water at Atlantis:

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

We rode the Ferry back to port in Nassau and one of the workers on the ferry gave us a detailed account of the islands and who lived where. :p

 

The ferry back to the ship was 3.00 pp and I gave him a tip for his verbal tour.

 

 

We were in port over night and many pax and crew members went back out in the evening. I think everyone was excited about being there late, the Fascination pulled out in the early evening and there was a lot of waving and good-natured yelling back and forth. On the crew deck there were 3 employees waving and one was dancing his little butt off. So cute!!!

[Ms Belvedere]

After debarking the ship, PAINLESS compared to the Valor in Sept, we rented a car from Avis and drove down through Coco Beach. We came back to the port and ate lunch at Fishlips with an upper deck view of the lucky cruisers who are out there this week on the Glory and Disney.

 

 

[Ms Belvedere]

Fishlips Upper Deck:

 

 

Seafood Gumbo:

 

 

2 lbs Steamed Mussels:

 

 

Big Kahuna Burger:

 

 

Brie and Portabella Mushroom Salad:

 

[Ms Belvedere]

Almost forgot about afternoon tea! It was held twice when we sailed, on the afternoons on Sunday and Friday in the Ivory Lounge: