Carnival Glory April 7 - 14 review (Western)

Cruisers were myself, DW, three sons; 12, 10, and 6. We were familiar with the Conquest ship layout and with Panorama deck balcony cabins so there were no surprises there.

Pre Cruise:

Flew into Sanford Orlando International via Allegiant Air from Huntington TriState Airport. Flight was uneventful other than the flight attendant had the best sense of humor I've even encountered from a flight attendant. She was hillarious. We left snow in WV and arrived in Orlando to balmy 70 degree weather. We rented an SUV (Ford Edge) from Hertz and proceeded to Radisson at the Port in Cape Canaveral for two days of relaxation prior to the cruise. The Radisson is close enough to the port to see the ships come in via their web cam. The Radisson is a nice hotel and also has a shuttle to the port, but we opted to use the shuttle from Hertz in order to arrive at the port earlier.

While in Cape Canaveral we visited Jetty Park to watch the cruise ships sail away. Jetty Park is a nice RV park with a pier out along the cut from the cruise ship piers to the Atlantic. We watched Seven Seas Navigator sailaway:

As you can see, their sailaway isn't similar to a Carnival Fun Ship sailaway...

We also watched RCCL's Sovereign of the Seas sailaway and it was quite a bit more familiar in appearance;

On the morning of our cruise, this was the view from the second floor balcony of the Radisson:

It's a very warm feeling seeing your home for the next week for the first time just setting there waiting for you! (Yeah, I know the picture sucks, but it was a bit nippy out and difficult to steady the camera for long range)

Embarkation:

We arrived at the port via Hertz shuttle and entered the boarding area at 9:47AM.

Many passengers were still exiting from the previous week's cruise and it was the typical maze of luggage going and coming as we entered the building.

We were on board at 10:54AM after completing our S&S and other preboarding documentation in the embarkation building and having our boarding photos taken;

It is my understanding that those who arrived later were directed to areas on board the ship to complete S&S info, but I don't know that for a fact.

All things considered, it was a painless & efficient boarding process. It seemed like a thousand or so people also showed up early and I didn't see anyone getting too upset. There was some grumbling about having to fill out Bahamma's visitation paperwork prior to completing S&S, but nothing major and they provided areas to step out of line for those who needed to complete the info. Port Everglades is much better at embarkation, but Port Canaveral isn't too bad. I'd give them a 7 out of 10.

WOW! what a nice pictorial review, i hope the rest of your cruise was just as good:)

Initial Impressions:

Carnival Glory is an impressive ship and I saw no evidence of maintenance neglect nor lack of cleaning. I've read where some people had negative reactions to the color schemes and design elements, but I really feel the Glory is somewhat subdued in comparison to other Carnival ships.

This Lido buffet after boarding was excellent. As you can see, we all chose sweets and dessert items perhaps because the buffet at the Radisson had filled us up;

The obligatory muster drill was completed shortly after 3:00PM;

My family and I were ALONE on deck's 10 and 9 forward for sail away and thus began our cruise for the week;

Bon Voyage decorations for our room were provided by Carnival Cruise Lines; (Thank you very much Carnival!)

Carnival also provided a complimentary fruit basket, key chains and a few other items. The fruit was delicious and lasted us all week.

On Saturday evening we attended the Camp Carnival orientation and signed up our sons for the various age groups. Our six year old loves camp carnival and would rather spend port days on the ship in CC than go off the ship; but we drag him off with us anyhow. As you can see, he likes to make sure his Mom fills out everything correctly:

Getting settled in:

After the muster drill we had the early dinner seating (5:30PM) in the Platinum Dining Room. Our table for eight was #519 located on the starboard side of deck four (Second level of dining room) near a window. Our dinner companions were a couple and their son from South Carolina and we enjoyed their company very much (Later in the week we met up and ventured through the hole in the fence to Chac Chi Resort in Costa Maya but we'll get to that later.)

At diner we also met our wait staff for the week and got a hint of the level of service to come. Our head waiter was Charnel from India. Charnel provided the food choices with fluent and tantalizing details of each dish, but he also learned that we wanted warm chocolate melting cake every night and he also tailored his service to provide an excellent time for my boys.

I'm sure it was a bit frustrating at times for him, but he made my boys refuse to eat diner anywhere but the main dining room! Can you imagine three young boys talking about how they can't wait to get to dinner just to be there?

After an excellent dinner, we met our cabin steward, 'Cecil' from Jamaica and unpacked our bags (bags arrived just before dinner.) Here's a picture of Cecil taken later in the week;

Cecil was the absolute best cabin steward we've ever had. Without exception he always greeted us warmly and you could tell he enjoyed his job and interaction with everyone. Anyone lucky enough to have Cecil assigned to them will see what I'm talking about.

We contacted the pursor to have our cabin balcony dividers opened and they said they were a bit tied up, but they promised to send someone ASAP. I then tried out my Ford key on the divider lock and it turned it just fine so for those who need to open their balcony divider, buy a Ford and take the keys with you! (I just lifted a little with my foot to take the pressure off the lock and it turned easily with my key)

The Carnival Glory was rocking quite a bit the first evening and night and as we turned in we were gently rocked to sleep by rhythmic rocking and an occasional list from side to side.

Day 1 (Day at Sea):

According to my wife, the chair hogs were out in force;

We spent the day relaxing in the sun, sipping drinks of the day, buying a few items in the shops and making donations to the casino.

My youngest really enjoyed his day at Camp Carnival and arrived back at his room to get ready for the first formal night like this:

In hindsight, we should have just had him put his suit on and go like that, but he agreed that taking a shower would be best.

We had a few pictures taken prior to dinner:

And a few on our balcony after dinner:

I had a couple of lobsters for dinner and they were excellent. Charnel managed to keep my boys attention thoughout dinner and even though they didn't eat much, they all said they had a good time.

Our first day went by waaay too quickly and we were soon in bed enjoying the ship's gentle rocking. No listing from side to side on this night, but the gentle rocking was welcome for those who are less tolerant of being at sea.

What an absolutely wonderful way to do a review. I love it. I also loved the Glory. Probably will have to wait a week for the rest of your review, we're heading to the airport for our cruise. :D Great review Paul.

Great review Paul! So sorry I did not get to meet you! Soon after dinner the first night I got slammed with an upset stomach. Ended my evening early and I did not venture off my balcony on our sea day until I knew I was better!

Great review.

Can't wait to see what choices you made in each stop on the Western Itinerary....(I already have narrowed down the choices in each port for us in September)

Bill

caribbean dreams,

Thank you, and yes the rest of the cruise was nice as well.

gypsyrose,

Thank you. Bon Voyage!

gail811,

Thank you. I can't blame you for staying on that balcony; Your pictures sure makes it look inviting and I can't wait for our next cruise; we've got the same room booked on Freedom that you had on Glory.

bguppies,

Thank you.

Day 2 (Cozumel, Mexico)

We docked at the temporary International Pier in Cozumel. You can see remnants of the old pier and ongoing construction of the new pier from where we docked. From the way it looks, they are going to make the new pier much like it used to be.

We had a large buffet breakfast in the Red Sail restaurant, then headed for the gangway on Deck 0 and began our day in Cozumel @ 09:50AM.

As you can see, the weather was beautiful and the sea was calm and clear;

We visited the shops in Cozumel and searched in vain for a blue sweatshirt with 'Cozumel' in small print on the front;

We finally gave up and asked a Taxi driver about the Miro store and he said it was at the down town pier and not open yet because no ships were in port. We then proceeded to Paradise Beach and paid $18 plus tip for the ~10 minute ride there. ($18 total, not per person)

Our day at Paradise Beach was awesome. We each paid $9 for wrist bands and used the snorkel gear;

Ocean Kayaks:

Beach floats;

Trampoline;

Iceberg;

Trees (Yes trees!)

After trying out most of the water toys at Paradise Beach, we then had a hearty lunch;

I had the Seafood Platter which had a whole lotta lobster, squid, shrimp, octopus, conch and all the fixings;

It was absolutely delicious. I wasn't able to eat it all, but I did make a big dent in it!

After lunch they took a picture of us. Perhaps to show where all their food went?

It was a great and relaxing day at Paradise Beach;

Spencer (my 10 year old) and I also went Parasailing at Paradise Beach;

GReat review and photos!! More!! Am anxious to hear about Costa Maya and the Chai Chi resort...thought getting to that was not possible now. We sailed the Glory western in April 2005 and loved it! Glad to see you had a great time at Paradise beach. We did too!

After playing at Paradise Beach all day, we tried out the new shower area behind the main building at Paradise Beach;

Then we caught a taxi back to the pier ($18 total plus tip) for some more shopping;

Heading back to the ship we couldn't help but notice how smooth and clear the water was;

Gotta love that 'Welcome Home' sign at the top of the gangway;

After droping the boys off at 'Home' DW and I headed back over to do some last minute shopping, then we came back 'Home.;

We were too late getting back on the ship for dinner in the main dining room so we had a drink of the day and later we had a burger from the grill. Glory's burgers are awesome!;

Here's a picture of Spencer parasailing at Paradise Beach;

And another;

And a picture of Paradise Beach from the air while parasailing;

You can even see all the way to the pier and Carnival Glory while parasailing;

We've been to Cozumel & Paradise Beach before, but this trip was definately better. Paradise Beach is obviously becoming more popular, but the staff there is able to keep up with increasing demand.

Hands down, the best format for a review I have ever seen!!

The Wife and I will be sailing on the Glory later this year and cannot wait!

Thanks for all of the info and photos.

Paul this is the best review ever.....You have a beautiful family....

I am reliving my cruise on the Glory by reading your review. Thanks so much for the effort. What is the tree thing at Paradise Beach? Did not see that there. How much was that seafood platter. It looked amazing!

I am absolutely LOVING this review. Thank you so much!!! The pictures make it just wonderful :)

Oh, and I gotta say, what a gorgeous family! Those boys looked so handsome in their suits :)

ballinafad,

The seafood platter was excellent. It was $45 for the platter and our total for all five of us came to $100. We had chips and salsa, chips and quacamole (sp?) and each of the boys had an order of something and my wife had fahitas or some kind of wraps. It's safe to say that I didn't sample their meals!

The tree climbing is new since our last visit. It's located at the rear of the beach area and is included in the wrist band price for Paradise Beach. After walking by the trees a few times, I didn't realize they weren't real and were made for climbing. They really blend in with the other trees there quite well. Paradise beach employees apply the climbing harness and attach the belay rope to you and you're then on your own. There's also a timing race clock and button you tap once at the top to stop the clock if you're racing against someone. There's a belay mechanism that lowers you slowly if you drop off and keeps you from falling if you slip.

carnivalkim,

Thank you.

Frank12,

Thank you. She's a fine ship and I'm sure you and your family will have a great time.

mainer208,

Thank you. A couple of cab drivers near the pier in Costa Maya also told us that Chac Chi was closed and that we couldn't get in and that it would take 45 minutes to walk there. As you'll see, they were wrong!

Day 3 (Belize):

We had planned to do the zip line / cave tubing tour through Zip Line Belize dot com and we will definately be doing that some day. I had concerns about whether my six year old would be able to go on the tour and do everything and I was assured that he would be, however after having him get scared while riding the ocean kayak (which he has ridden before in rougher seas) and watching him hesitate just a little too much while tree climbing at Paradise Beach, we opted to wait until a future trip to do the tour. Given the distance from the ship to the tour area, we decided to cancel our tour and just visit the port area.

Our 6 and 10 year olds were signed in to Camp Carnival and our 12 year old opted to go with us to the port. RCCL Explorer of the Seas was anchored off our port side so we had a nice view of her from our balcony window;

We had a nice buffet breakfast in the Red Sail restaurant then headed down to deck 0 for a tender ride to Belize; (Tender tickets are 'required' but I'd read on Cruise Critic that it was best just to head to the tender on deck 0 so we did)

The ride to Belize takes about ten to fifteen minutes.

Belize is a beautiful area from what we could see from the port. I'd read enough about Belize to know that we didn't want to venture off on our own and we also wanted to stay nearby because our two youngest were still on the ship. As we disembarked from the tender, Carnival photogs were on hand to greet us;

What a fabulous review. Cant wait for the rest. I am starting to book m family on the Glory for next march. Your reveiw feels just like being on vacation with you!! That being said,please pass me some chocolate melting cake!!!

What a fabulous review. Cant wait for the rest. I am starting to book m family on the Glory for next march. Your reveiw feels just like being on vacation with you!! That being said,please pass me some chocolate melting cake!!!:) :) :) :)

Paul, I love your trip report! The pictures are fantastic! Thanks for all your hard work putting it together. Can't wait for the rest.

The shops in Belize have an interesting assortment of offerings. The pharmacies sell just about anything;

And of course they have a DI;

And the Cuban Cigar store is also interesting even if it's a little bare;

We also met about twenty people in separate groups from our home state of West Virginia. It's hard to imagine that many Montaineers in one Central American country! We had them take our picture, but we should have taken theirs and verified where they were from!

I just love your review!! Your family looks like they are having such a great time. You all look spectacular on formal night! What fun seeing all your pictures, it bring back lots of memories from when we sailed the glory.

Enjoy all your future sailings:)