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Glory 7/11 - NIGHTMARE - My Review

jas1178

By jas1178,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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jas1178

jas1178

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First, let me say that I have often been accused of being a Carnival Cheerleader. I am sure that there will be some who may have a problem with my review. Quite honestly, if the opportunity had been available, I would have envoked the Vacation Guarantee and washed my hands of this cruise.

 

BACKGROUND:

After a really rough few months, we despirately needed a quiet relaxing getaway. We left 2 of our 3 kids at home, and planned no shore excursions. This was my 5th cruise.

 

EMBARKATION:

This was my first time out of Port Canaveral. We felt it was efficient. One unique element is the limited seating available in the terminal. They actually seat you filling all chairs in the long narrow rows. These rows actually serve to form a "line" for embarkation, and make that process much more efficent, however, I think that I do like the more general seating areas of other ports. Overall, well call this one a positive.

 

We arrived at the port at 10:30, and were on board by 11:15am. We headed straight for Fish and Chips - which was FANTASTIC! After lunch we toured the vessel, and about 1:30 headed to our stateroom to drop off luggage.

 

CABIN: (FIRST CABIN)

We had cabin 2348 (6C). First thing we noticed upon entering (door was still propped) was the warm temperature. We mentioned this to our AWESOME Cabin Steward "CURTIS" and he said that it was probably the door being open all day, but would put it on report. (More on this later)

 

DINING STAFF:

We were seated on the upper level of the GOLDEN dining room. (235) Our headwaiter IDA was on his final cruise before heading home. His assistant was PUTU. These guys were some of the best service we have EVER had. These guys had milk iced in their station (and from previous experience - asking for milk is a huge issue, since it is ALL THE WAY on the wrong side of the galley.) There were so many other examples of how efficient these guys were. We were ALWAYS well finished with dessert while some tables were getting main entrees, and always finished well before dancing.

 

We also had a bar waitress that SHOCKED me! I have always had trouble with the bar waiters getting and keeping soda at dinner. EVERYNIGHT she had my drink served within minutes of me sitting down. She also had refill cans (she asked if this was ok) sitting on the table as my glass would get low. The last night I felt compelled to tip her, I gave her a tip and she seemed SHOCKED! She couldn't get over that she had received a tip. I explained that she had provided the best service I had ever had.

 

SHOWS:

It appears that Glory has received several new shows.

 

Welcome aboard opens the same fleetwide and then had a cruise director segment, and a comedian. The CD section was long and drawn out, and I left (seeing the remainder on TV throughout the cruise). Missed the commedian that night.

 

Living in America was good (we have seen it on another ship).

 

Justin Illusion is a fly-on illusionist that they have produced a full in your face production with the Glory dancers, in theatre effects, etc. It was stunning.

 

PUCK - is a hynosis entertainer. His show was hilarrious. His adult show was even more hillarious. (Side note: My biggest complaint about most adult comedy shows I've seen is that the "R" rating is not about the situational comedy (sexual enuendo/adult topics) but because they flip a switch and cuss every other word.) PUCK was not like this at all, he used a little enuendo and adult topics, but nothing over the top. You laughed till you couldn't laugh anymore.

 

Just Rock was another new production show. Well done Carnival!

 

Legends - Some were good, some were not. Show started badly with a "Lip Synching" James Brown (Didn't know that was an option). It got better, but some performers were great, other not so great. One note, Ryan the CD talked way to much during the show.

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR:

Ryan is a young cruise director, who honestly I hope matures into his position. Sometimes I think he talks to hear himself speak. He made long drawn out announcements throughout the day (that could have been 1/2 the length). He also did this at all shows/etc that he did. In addition to babbling, he often would spout out inaccurate facts as truth. (Bad during the Excursion talk - and debark talk). My wife said that she had tuned him out by day 2...he just wasn't memorable.

 

STAFF:

We found out really by accident that their was a major turnover in staff in the past few weeks. Nearly all of the senior staff including the Captain were new just this week. Ryan apparantly had only been on Glory for 6 weeks. I wonder if this might be some of the operational failures we saw this week.

 

Coming up Next....The details of the nightmare...and more!

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jas1178

jas1178

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FOOD:

The dining room food was good. We definitely saw the budget cuts, especially with side dishes and minor adjustments to the menus. Don't get me wrong, those who didn't know any different would still be impressed.

 

We visited the supperclub one night, and had a problem with my wife's steak. (over cooked, and something wrong with the cut of meat) The service was good, the presentation was good, but the food itself wasn't all that much better than the dining room. This was our first visit, and compared to the review I have read (especially from the very highly respected opinion of Host Mac), I am hoping what we experienced was a fluke.

 

Fish and Chips was very good - and visited several times. (First time experiencing this) Other Lido offerings were also great (Deli, Taste of Nations, Grand Buffet, etc.)

 

A highlight was the Chocolate Buffet! Awesome!

 

 

Speaking of which, I'm getting hungry, Going to take a minute to get a bite to eat and will come back. Funny, my table isn't set....Where is IDA? Putu? Oh, and why isn't my bed made? No Chocolate? No Towel Animal? Oh yeah, I guess I'm not on the ship any more!

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Kcarp

Kcarp

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STAFF:

We found out really by accident that their was a major turnover in staff in the past few weeks. Nearly all of the senior staff including the Captain were new just this week.

Who was your Captain?

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snoopymcc

snoopymcc

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My guess is the a/c didnt work, anyone else want to guess? He already mentioned his hot cabin.

 

I am nervous about this...who wants to sleep in a hot room?? I will be glad to be on a ship but I will NOT be happy if the a/c doesn't work in the room!! I paid Carnival's price so I think a/c is not too much to ask! Even if I did get a good deal!

 

Glad the op is starting with the positive's...maybe he won't get flamed so bad!

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Nunu

Nunu

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I am nervous about this...who wants to sleep in a hot room?? I will be glad to be on a ship but I will NOT be happy if the a/c doesn't work in the room!! I paid Carnival's price so I think a/c is not too much to ask! Even if I did get a good deal!

 

 

Pre-cruise complaining!

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jas1178

jas1178

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Ok, moving right along.

 

SATURDAY:

I mentioned that we walked into a warm cabin at 1:30 on embarkation day. Curtis reported it, and we closed the curtains, and he promised as soon as he finished vacumming he would close our door. The thermostat was set as low as it would go.

 

We came back about 3:30 to put my 3 year old down for a nap. My wife and I layed down while she went to sleep, and then started to unpack while she napped. It was VERY Hot. (Thinking 80-82 degrees with very little air flow)

 

That evening we stopped back after dinner, and it was a little cooler (think 79-80). Curtis checked on us, and called it in again.

 

By evening when we were ready to retire it was a little better 78ish. We have a small fan with us for "Light background Noise", which we turned on, and all went to bed tired.

 

Unfortunately, we tossed and turned, and really didn't sleep much. The temperature (which we felt got a bit warmer in the night). All the bed linens were, of course, on the floor. Clothing was as minimal as we could with a 3 year old in the room.

 

SUNDAY

Early the next morning, I stopped by the purser's desk and personally reported the problem. Within a few hours an engineer measured the temperature (His meter said 75.2) and he popped the cover and made sure the vent was fully open. He then indicated that he would have another engineer check the unit for our section, and would get back later that day. He commented "This is a big ship"..."This is the hottest area"..."We're headed into drydock in 6 months"

 

We went about our sea day hitting the activities. Mid afternoon we took our 3 year old for a nap, and again it was unbearable. I took our little fan in the doorway, and blew air in from the hall to help. This meant of course that one of us had to stay up. (though we were both tired from nearly no sleep the night before). The fan worked to a small extent.

 

Back down to the purser to see if they had a report back from the earlier activity. They did not, and dispatched another engineer immediately. This one took the temperature as 74 degrees. (Felt say 78) The purser called and indicated that this was within Carnival's 71-74 degree standard.

 

We dropped our little one to camp carnival and headed to the Captains Party (in the back 3 lounges) with Free Drinks but no food. After dinner and the show we picked up our little one and headed off to the room.

 

The room seemed ok (say 77-78 degrees). At this point we learned to keep the curtains closed all day, which helped a little. Unfortunately, we had NOT yet learned that showers were not a good idea. After my wife took a shower while I got our little one to bed, she opened the door...and it GOT HOT! I decided I would shower in the spa. While I was gone we ran the fan in the hall again.

 

Upon returning, it was very warm. Back to the purser's desk...to which we immediately had a temperature check. 74.8 The engineer still says he is going to try somethign. Follow up with purser indicates to let them know if there is further problems.

 

Needless to say, we had another uncomfortable night.

 

MONDAY:

Another trip to the purser's desk...another temperature check...more empty words. We walked off the ship in Cozumel for lunch and a little shopping. Back on board my wife, who is exausted breaks down balling in the room. I decide we have to do something. I beg the purser's desk for help. Purser indicates that the room measured 67 degrees this afternoon, I loose it. I let him know he was mistaken...other purser walks up and interveined. She agrees that was another guests room that was complaining it was to cold. I ask if there is any other room on the ship, and was told every other room was occupied. The purser noted we had a fan, and I stopped her indicating we would take another one....I was despirate. Nap time in the hurricane of two fans was not good. I tried the hall trick with one fan, but the hall was also warm.

 

My wife wrote a letter to the chief purser which she delivered (didn't realize this), I head back to the purser and for the first time utter the words "If the Vacation Guarantee still applied, I would be envoking it." I asked for phone calls from the Chief Purser AND Hotel Director. I gave them my pager number (I was wearing a ship pager for camp carnival).

 

Fast Forward to evening. We are still showering in the spa, attempting to get air from the hall, have two fans running, and I now have a mercury thermometer purchased in Cozumel hanging on the wall reading 79. Also include additional temperature checks throughout. That night we also added earplugs due to the loud hurricane of fans, a few close as possible, and all bedding off on the floor except one sheet (but if you cover with the sheet, the wind can't make you feel cooler....)

 

Again, with little to no sleep this night...we tossed, we turned, we prayed, we cryed.

 

 

CONTINUED SHORTLY....

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jas1178

jas1178

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Wow...sorry for the delay, I'm back and will type as fast as my fingers will go. Just wait, it gets better(well not really). Also have some other things to share.

 

The board is running REAL slow tonight....

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altarrose

altarrose

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I'm excited to read the rest of your review too... but also nervous! I sail on the Glory in 7 days with my new fiance (I've told him how much he's going to LOVE cruising as it'll be his first time) ...so I hope it's everything I've promised him!

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