Glory Review 12/30/17-1/6/18

A little background about us, we have been on 10 cruises with a few different cruise lines. We have spent the most days with Carnival because we find they are the best value. We are close to or in our fiftiesJ. We are pretty easy to please (especially me). We love to relax on vacation and because we are busy and take of an aged parent, we prefer to cruise just as a couple.

We really enjoyed the Glory! I am going to start a detailed review for my records and share it here. Feel free to ask questions. I am hoping that I finish this review. I am often good at starting but then get distracted at some point – just a warning.

Thursday, 12/28/17

This would be our long travel day. We had a red eye flight out of Long Beach that left here at 9:15 and arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 4:56 a.m. I figured this wouldn’t be too tough on us because we are night people and that would be more like 2 a.m. our time. I was excited for the flight because it was on Jet Blue which usually means a comfortable flight. Unfortunately,that was not the case this time. The journey to the airport was okay although we had an Uber driver that used the brake pedal more in one 20 minute trip than I do all day. We had plenty of time, and Long Beach is a very small airport.The TSA Precheck closed just as we came up so that was a bit annoying, but they gave us a paper so we at least did not have to take our shoes off. After waiting a bit, it was time to board.

As we started walking down the aisle, I looked to about where are seats would be, and I had a bad feeling. My husband and I are not small people. I am short and a bit chubby, but have pretty broad shoulders fora woman. I also swim so I think that has made my shoulders bigger. I recently tore my AC joint in my shoulder making it harder for me to reduce the right shoulder in tight situations. My husband is built like a defensive lineman. As we neared our seats, a very, very large lady was in the window seat. She was very self-conscious and tried to be as much in her seat as possible, but it just was not possible.I spent a very long flight leaning into my husband as he spent the flight leaning into the aisle. This was indeed, the worst flight I have been on. (I am not trying to be mean here, just reporting and recording my trip.)

After the long flight, we landed bright and early into FortLauderdale. The airport was hoping. We caught an Uber and headed to the QualityInn or Stirling. I had called the night before to assure my room was held sinceI booked it for Thursday and Friday night. Well, that was not the case. I had bookedthe room under my husband’s name but used my credit card. When the hotel wentto charge my card, they found the name different and canceled the reservation.I was speechless and on the verge of getting upset, but the very nice clerk didnot seem flustered. She told me the room rate was indeed higher, but that shewould just charge me for Friday night so we ended up saving $100. I asked whenwe could check in, and she replied, right now. Big, big sigh of relief.

We went up to room which was on the fourth floor – why is the elevator so far? And then decided to go down and have a bit of breakfast.The hotel is older, but the price is good. The breakfast was also pretty good.We headed back up the room to sleep. We both fell asleep around 6:30 a.m. At 11, a very loud knock on the door from housekeeping, but then she left. About 16 minutes later, the knock again. I got up, told her we were staying another day. She was very apologetic, and luckily, we were able to fall asleep for a few more hours.

Once we awoke, we both felt pretty good. We watched a bit oftelevision, and I found some great restaurants that were very close. One was avery interesting sushi café with quite a mix of food and one was a pita place.As I looked to see their hours, both closed at 4 on Friday. At first I wasquestioning why, but then I realized they both had Jewish owners and this wasfor Shabbat. So it was back to Yelp to find another place.

I found a sushi place a few miles away, and the description said it was a nice quiet place. It looked like it had great food. So we ordered an Uber and off we went. Soon we were having a great dinner. The lamb chop appetizers were wonderful! We then walked to Seven Eleven, I got a 12 pack of Coke Zero, we hailed another cab, and back to the hotel room to sleep.

Will be following along.

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That wonderful moment you wake up on the day of your cruise.We were both excited and well rested! I had SAS scheduled to pick us up at 12:30 and realized I should have scheduled it for earlier. But I have used them before, and often they come early. Sure enough, the driver called at 10:30 and asked if we could be ready in an hour. We were almost ready so this was no problem. At 11:22, he was at our hotel, and we were on our way to the cruise.

We were in the shuttle van with four other couples. Two were on the Carnival Vista and two were on NCL, not sure which one. We talked about the cruises and cruising. I imparted some Cruise Critic wisdom. I felt a bit bad for the NCL cruisers. They had an entirely different itinerary that was changed to three of the four ports we were going to. I know I had looked at that cruise, and it was quite a bit more. I know I would have hoped to have at east four ports had it been me, but of course, nature dictates what can happen in the cruise industry.

We dropped the Vista people off first. Looked like a cool ship. Then the NCL people, and then we were last. Now here is where there was a HUGE difference from previous cruises. We left our luggage with the porter and headed to check in. We were early since I had an appointment for 12:30-1 but had been picked up closer to 11:30. We were sent to the early line, walked right up to someone who checked our boarding pass and passports. We went to the x-ray machine, and one of the ladies told me I couldn’t bring soda. Then she laughed, and we joked that she was hassling me. We then continued walking and walking right up to take our sailaway photo. Then, we just kept walking and we're on the ship. We never stopped from the moment we were dropped off. It was great!

Nice start. Looking forward to the review.

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We got on the ship, and it was beautiful. Our last Carnival ship was the Splendor. We liked the ship, but the décor is different. We have been on the Valor also, and of course the Glory is just like the Valor. We really liked the way they look.

We headed up to the Lido, and I knew where I was going. My husband did not yet know, I had not told him about Guy’s. We got in a bit of a line, and one of the crew members said, “There is another line, follow me.”Sure enough there was a line on the other side with no one in it. So tip for the Glory, do not go to the line for Guy’s that is near the center doors. Head to the side where less people line up. I got the Piggy Patty, and my husband got one of the burgers. We went over to the toppings bar, and he was so happy!He loves sauces and all the toppings. I knew this was going to be a great surprise for him, and it was.

It was crowded on the Lido. We did find a table, but it was right in the aisle way so I said let’s head to our spot. We went up above the Lido to deck 10 where there are always just a few people for the first few days(and I often think they must be Cruise Critic members). I looked at my watch, it was 12:30. With the new check in system, we were eating our burgers at the beginning of our scheduled appointment time. WOHOO!

Enjoying your review/report.

Keith

We are going on Glory in early June. I can't wait to read your whole review!

Enjoying your report/review..

Sweet! Thanks for a great start to your review. We are sailing the Glory's Eastern itinerary in February after having sailed NCL for our last few cruises, so I'm soaking up as much as I can about Carnival.

If the NCL ship you dropped people off at was the Escape, yeah, the itinerary they were on was meh. It's a great ship, but the itinerary switch wasn't the greatest. Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Great Stirrup Cay, Nassau. We love NCL and considered switching our Glory cruise to the Escape after Hurricane Maria, but the Glory's itinerary and want to try Carnival, plus lower price, won out and kept us on Carnival. We're looking forward to it!

I may have missed it, or you may be getting to it, but what was your itinerary?

Thanks everyone! I will be adding more today. I think you will really like the Glory. We really like NCL, but we enjoy Carnival too. And yes, that must have been the ship. That was the itinerary, and the people on the shuttle were not too happy.

We did Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.

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We board her in 28 Days !! Love whatever tips you have.

Enjoying your review so far! We sailed on the Glory almost 3 years ago and it still remains one of our favorite cruises to date!

Sailing on the glory in May. Can't wait for the rest of your review . Following along .

We hung out on deck for a bit, and then a bit after 1:30 decided it was time to check out our room. It was ready for us. The soda and water we ordered was there. We were in a balcony room on the Empress Deck –room 7351. It was just a bit aft. It was very close to the middle elevators and not too far from the aft elevators. Laundry was probably about 6 cabins from us which was very nice.

First impression of the cabin was that it was great. There was lots of storage as usual. The fridge was empty which is a nice change. We felt it was just maybe a wee bit warm on some days, but we found that if we made sure to close our curtains this was not really a problem. People usually ask if it is a quiet cabin, so I will address that. We had cabins above and below us so no noise from that. There were no utility rooms across from us.There was a stretch of maybe five inside cabins across from us. I would say overall quiet, BUT….people sure slam doors. This happens on so many cruises. I guess they are not really slamming, but just letting them close without a gentle hold. We could hear the slamming. I always wear ear plugs so it was not a big deal for sleeping, but my husband did ask for some and sleep with them after the first night.

The other question people have is about motion. This roomwas really nicely located as far as being slightly aft. I definitely could feelmotion. I get seasick really easily. I take a Bonine every night before bedstarting the night before the cruise. I did not have any problems withseasickness, but I feel that without the Bonine, I might have, but I cannoteven ride certain kid rides at Disneyland.

One real plus we liked about his cabin was the water pressure in the shower. It was beyond strong. I almost wonder if something had been done to the showerhead. The pressure was so strong that we really did not turn it up all the way.

Our luggage arrived before the muster drill, and I was able to get everything put away for the week before we headed to our muster station.The drill was uneventful. A few people did not show up, it went sort of quickly, and soon it was time to cruise.

We spent time on the balcony as we exited the port of Miami.We were starboard side so were able to watch the sunset. We walked around checking out the ship, and then decided we would go the Alchemy Bar. The bar was not too busy at all, and we saw the people we had talked to at the muster drill. I asked about the martini sampler, and the bartender explained that we could circle four martinis to try. He would then bring them out, and if we could label which martini each was, he would give us all small prize. We tried the fiery tropical passion, the Caribbean Manhattan, the spicy chipotle pineapple, and mixologist’s mixer (which is a bartender’s choice drink). We had no problem figuring out which was which. I liked them all except the Caribbean Manhattan – a little too strong and too much whiskey for me.

After the martini tasting, we headed to the steakhouse for dinner. We like to do the steakhouse the first night. It sets up the cruise.Plus, we like to get the ½ price wines. In the Fun Times, it stated that the ½ price wine special was for the first night and first elegant night so nights 1 and 2 of the cruise. When we arrived, there were two people without reservations that were asking to speak to the manager and not happy. So we waited a bit. They ended up getting a very good table, and then when we looked up a few minutes after we sat, they had left. Go figure!

We ordered a bottle of a Caymus Cabernet which we had on a previous cruise per a Cruise Critic member recommendation. We also ordered a bottle of Castello del Poggio Moscato which I really like. We did not open either for dinner though. Later, the waitress recommended I try a bubblier Moscato since it was a better deal with the half price off. That one is called Santa Vittoria Moscato. I cannot comment on the taste of it yet because we did not end up opening it at all, and I brought it home.

For dinner, we started with the escargot (which is a must when I cruise), lobster bisque, and the beef carpaccio. My husband thought the bisque was one of the best he has had. I liked the presentation of escargot. It was not really rich and buttery like usual. It was done three different ways and was nice, but not as super filling as it often is. We both had the filet and lobster. My lobster was very large. We accompanied it with spinach, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms. I liked that the sides were pretty small. I was very worried we would have way too much food, but it turned out to just be a tiny bit too much. For dessert, we had the strawberry cheesecake and the black walnut ice cream. Both were very good, but I was really impressed with the cheesecake ice cream. It was not overly sweet. It really was good. We headed up to the room to be greeted by our towel animal and went to sleep.

We will be on the Glory next year. Our second time. Love reading reviews. Thanks for sharing!

Our time on the Glory was one of my favs. Enjoying your report!

We leave for our second time on Glory in 14 days! We love her!

Looking forward to more!

Thanks for the review.

We are sailing the Glory for the first time in June, enjoying your review.

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Husband and I are looking at the Glory for our next cruise, possibly next year. I hope you continue the review, I am looking forward to hearing more about the ship, and the rest of your cruise.

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We sailed Glory in September and loved it! Great crew and the whole week was great - thanks for the review!

I'm enjoying your review thus far. I will be doing B2B Glory cruises February 2019. An Estern and Western itinerary.

I hope you will continue tellling us about your experience on the Glory

Brian