Everyone who's been on the Glory!

[estherhead]

I'm taking a group on the Eastern Glory next December and have read many reviews which seem to be mixed. I'm a bit nervous. Last year when I was on the Pride there were only a few nay-sayers, everyone else adored the Pride and so did I.

 

Can all of you who have been on the Glory please reassure me that it will be my best cruise ever?

 

Esther

[Cruisedogs2]

Esther,

We've been on 32 cruises on all different cruise lines and sailed the Glory last February. We're going again on the Glory in January - only 3 more weeks to wait - WOOOOO HOOOO!!!! It's a beautiful ship and you will have a blast!

 

CRUISEDOGS

[Lauri32]

estherhead- What exactly are your concerns? I went on the Glory (western route) last year and thought it was a beautiful ship and I had a fabulous time.

[Randy & Carmen]

Loved Glory.......would do her again in a heartbeat!:D

[ShelleyQT]

I just got back from the Glory 2 days ago. It was my third cruise (my other two were on the Elation when she did the Mexican Riviera itinerary). I wouldn't call myself a "naysayer," because I did have a good time on the Glory, but the ship itself is hard to get around for sure. My biggest complaint about it was that the walkway along the promenade is way too narrow for so many passengers...that always seemed really crowded in the evening and hard to get through.

 

On the other hand, the ship has tons of balconies (we even got upgraded to a balcony when Priceline accidentally double-booked our oceanview cabin). The balconies are awesome! The food was consistently delicious and served hot, and the stage shows were outstanding. The cruise director, Stuart Dunn was just "OK." He wasn't an entertainer...didn't sing or tell jokes, and he really liked to hear his voice with seemingly endless announcements.

 

Oh, and the Glory also has tons of deck space with plenty of places in the sun or in the shade, whichever your preference. It has several swimming pools and a huge water slide (the water slide is slow, but the kids like it). There is also a reservations-only supper club where for $25 per person, they'll treat you like royalty. BTW...because we booked the Supper Club on our first night, they gave us a voucher for a free 8 X 10 photo and a picture folio! That was a $30 value right there.

[robertf]

We were on the Glory last year and it was a beautiful ship. It is a bigger ship then the Pride. This is probably why differerent individuals either like the Glory or not. We were on the Prides sister ship, the spirit, and loved it because it was smaller. Both are excellent!

[kujobie]

We thought the glory was awesome. After our first two cruises on smaller, older ships, we were just amazed at how clean and shiny and huge and beautiful she is. The sheer size of the ship mandates that it will take a little longer to get used to the layout but, after a day or two, we were able to find our way around. The food-quality, quantity, and variety-was FAR superior to our previous cruises. My only complaint was that the live music in the clubs and poolside was not as good as previous cruises, but that may have been an isolated thing. Port Canaveral is a very nice, new port facility. I can only compare it to Tampa, the only other port I have cruised from, but it is MUCH nicer. AND, you can stay at a hotel on Cocoa Beach, right on the Atlantic Ocean, jump in a cab and be at the port in 5 minutes. Awesome. I was worried about the negative reviews, too, but we had a blast. I love the itinerary, too. St. Thomas and St. Maarten are way cool.

[robiwan]

Haven't posted before but have been doing a lot of reading the last few months leading up to our Glory cruise. This was my fourth cruise but it has been about 15 years since the last. I went without expectations. That way I would not be dissapointed.

 

I was concerned, however, about too many children and smokers after reading posts regarding both. I have to say that neither were a problem. The children were well behaved and well looked after by the staff and the cruise program for their ages. Of course there was more activity around their dance club and the video games. I only saw about 4 smokers the entire cruise and they were very considerate. There may have been more but I don't use the casino where they might mostly congregate.

 

The cruise was great. I enjoyed the size of the ship and had fun exploring all the decks. Yes, I did get turned around frequently from deck to deck and fore to aft but I considered that to be part of the fun. Where do I need to go that is so important that I have to rush. Hey, I'm on vacation and I'll get to where I need to be eventually. Besides you are on a ship, How far can any one place be from where you start?

 

I was greatly impressed by the staff. The ship is immaculately clean and is kept that way 24 hrs. Everything still looks brand new as if this was the first voyage. I have never seen such a hard working, considerate, and genuinely pleasant group of people. Always a smile on their faces and always a pleasant "good morning" or "hello". The young lady, Zeljana, that took care of our room treated us like we were the most important person on the ship as did Ricky and Gitanas our waiters. I talked with another staff member from Croatia, like Zeljana, and learned how to say "Good Morning" and "Merry Christmas" in Croatian so I could greet her with a surprise. Talk about getting a big smile that day.

 

I would get up each day about 5:30 (I'm an early riser) and go to the top deck for my daily Tai Chi before spending an hour in the fitness center and then to breakfast. The fitness center is nicer than most I have seen on land. It has a full array of weight machines, maybe eight or more treadmills, about six eliptical walkers, a recumbent cycle, ten or so stationary bikes, and free weights. Even with the exercise I put on about 8 or 9 pounds. The food was that good and always available in an amazing variety.

 

We booked a guarantee inside cabin at a very low rate and would have been happy with the lowest deck since the rooms are pretty much the same no matter what deck you are on. We were given a room on deck 7 all the way in the back which was about a 4 level upgrade. This put us between two decks that were all cabins so we didn't have any problem with traffic or late night music from a lounge.

 

My wife went on a bike excursion in Belize that also went to Altun Ha and we both went to ChichenItza out of Progresso. This was the main reason for the cruise and we had a great time. Well worth the cost.

 

I'm ready to go again but we'll have to save up. My wife and I like our canoe camping and backpacking and we will do a little travel to Canada before we cruise again in a few years. If I had the time and funds I would go every year and would take the Glory in a heart beat. This is the most relaxed vacation I have had in years and I will actually be refreshed when I go back to work.

Well, this is enough. Thank you everyone for all the tips. I hope your cruise is as much fun as mine was.

[OSUcruiser]

I sailed Glory in June of 04 and found her awesome. The only time smoke was bad was on our balcony...neighbors smoked...and in the piano bar but that is to be expected. Food was great and so was the service. Don't worry!

[estherhead]

Thank you for all the great posts. I had heard negative things about the service, especially the room stewards, about there being too many crowds everywhere and the only decent food being the fish and chips. You have all taken my worries away. I'm pretty easy to please anyway, I just can't handle blatant problems.

 

Anyone with smaller kids go? I was wondering about the pools for elementary kids?

[kujobie]

My kids were 12 and 14 when we went on the Sensation in 2003. They had a blast. Carnival does a good job of keeping the kids entertained.

[cruznlobo]

We got married on the Glory last January.

We had a group of about 30 and it seems everyone enjoyed her.

Right now I can't think of any things that really mattered.

I do have to say that we like the Spirit Class "boats" better because you don't feel crowded on them. Of course you really don't feel crowded on the Glory but it seems that the Spirit Class is easier to get around on.

I'm sure you will enjoy Her, She is great "boat".

[hill6]

My daughter wishes she could live on the Glory. We sailed on her inaugural Eastern Caribbean Sailing. We had some issues associated with a new ship (including a broken stabilizer) but once that was fixed the trip was great. I would sail her again in a minute.

 

Be sure to do the Emerald Room (supper club) it is worth the few dollars for the gourmet meal.