Review: Carnival Glory to Canada - 7/17/10 - 5 days

[nothomeonacruise]

Looks like a nice place to visit! :)

[01Sweetpea]

Dave...I'm waiting for my daily dose of your review!!!

[Dave0311]

Around 5:00 I went back to the room so I could watch sailaway from our balcony. Glory was scheduled to leave Halifax at 5:30. We did leave on time, but there were still some latecomers. This was the first time I watched the pier runners.

 

Here’s some just entering the gangway.

 

 

These folks took their time getting back on the ship, even though we were minutes from sailing.

 

 

Needless to say, the people on the bridge were not impressed.

 

 

As we watched the ropes leading to the gangway get put away and the ship get untied from the dock, we were given one last bit of entertainment. A bagpiper and a drummer played for us as we sailed away.

 

 

 

Their playing was well-received by everyone onboard. After a few minutes, I saw heads poking out of all the balconies on our side of the ship. It’s funny how they were able to draw everyone out of their rooms. We all enjoyed their music, and it was a nice way to end our day in Halifax.

[Dave0311]

For dinner tonight, everyone at our table had the chateaubriand (which was very good). I also got the bing cherry soup as a starter. I’m not sure if I mentioned this yet, but I love the chilled fruit soups! I always make sure to get an order when it’s on the menu. Some of the flavors I’ve seen on past cruises include: strawberry bisque, bing cherry, mango, and orange. There are probably others, but that’s what I can think of off the top of my head. If you’ve never had them before, I implore you to try one. If there’s any place to try one, it’s on a cruise! The worst that could happen is you don’t like it and give it back. A lot of people I’ve talked to seem grossed out by the idea of a cold fruit soup, for some reason. I simply do not understand what’s unappealing about them. Try it! You’ll like it.

 

Alright, now that I’m done talking about soup, let’s move on with the review. At 8:00 I headed to the Amber Palace to watch the gender showdown. I was in the casino and had forgotten about it, so I showed up a little late. When I arrived, they were asking the men questions about things that would interest ladies (nail polish, shopping, clothes, that sort of stuff), and they were asking the women questions about guy stuff (cars, sports, etc.). The women destroyed the guys.

 

Next was a rather unique competition; something I’ve never seen before on a cruise. And quite frankly, I was surprised they did this considering the amount of kids in the audience. They asked for 5 male and 5 female volunteers, 18 or older. The volunteers came up on stage and had to partake in a game of skill and, uhh, well I’ll just describe it. Each team was given a medallion (like the winners sometimes wear around their necks). Taking turns, they had to place the medallion where the sun don’t shine, walk back toward a cup, squat, and drop the medallion in the cup. The guys did very well with this and ended up winning the whole competition.

 

 

 

Right after the gender showdown was a game called “60 seconds or less.” Again, there were two teams: 5 guys, 5 ladies. The contestants were presented with various tasks, all of which had to be completed in 60 seconds or less. Whichever person did the worst for the round was eliminated.

 

 

Some of the tasks included: picking up 6 penne pasta (uncooked) using a linguini (uncooked) being held by their lips; putting pencils on the back on your hand (2 more at a time, up to 12 pencils), throwing them in the air, and catching with the same hand; building an upside-down pyramid using cups and plates; pushing cups off a table using the air from a balloon you had to inflate on your own. There were a couple more as well. This was a very fun competition to watch. Again, this was something I had never seen before on a cruise. I really enjoyed this and I hope they do it on future cruises!

 

 

After the shows were over I headed back to the casino. I ended up walking away even tonight. My mom played in the blackjack tournament for my grandmother, who didn’t feel well tonight. She was out before I even had a chance to make it over to the table to watch! :rolleyes:

 

Up next: our last fun day at sea!

[01Sweetpea]

Dave - Do you know if the menus are new? The copies of the menus I have do not list cherry soup or chateaubriand. Right now I have reservations at the steakhouse for night 4, which should coincide with the post you just made, but now I'm second guessing if I picked the right night.

[Dave0311]

Dave - Do you know if the menus are new? The copies of the menus I have do not list cherry soup or chateaubriand. Right now I have reservations at the steakhouse for night 4, which should coincide with the post you just made, but now I'm second guessing if I picked the right night.

I haven't been on a 5-day cruise since 2002, so I don't know the usual 5-day menus. As for what was on the menu, I didn't really notice any new menu items. I ordered items like chateaubriand and cherry soup last year as well.

[Dave0311]

Wednesday was our final fun-filled day at sea. The last sea day is always bittersweet. The cruise still isn’t over (:D) but it’s time to start those not-fun, end-of-cruise chores like packing, debarkation paperwork, etc (:(). To think you might never see some of the people you just spent the last 5 days with ever again is a strange feeling, at least for me. Here are people from all parts of the country (or the world) and different walks of life, who came together to enjoy the same cruise. People you’ve probably never seen before and will never see again.

 

Then out of the blue, you run into some people who live so close by you probably see them on a regular basis. Which leads me to breakfast. (Did you like that segue?) On the elevator ride down to the MDR we ran into a family of 3 middle-aged couples who live about 10 minutes from our town! We waited in line together at the MDR, and we learned that one couple knew our cousins. We were put at the same table for breakfast, where we discovered even more similarities. It’s a small world for sure!

 

Our breakfast extended longer than planned (in a good way though) and we missed TV theme song trivia, part 2. Oh well. There will be plenty more of them in future cruises. There was nothing going on for us between now and lunch time, so we went back to the room to pack. As much as it hurts to do it, it has to get done eventually.

 

At noon we went up to walk around the promenade a little bit before lunch. There was a guy there playing “cocktail piano music,” according to the “Fun Times.” He drew a pretty decent crowd too!

 

[spideyfam]

Great review. Sweet pictures of sail away!

[Dave0311]

For lunch today I returned to the burrito bar. I just had to get one last burrito before this cruise was over. Once again they did not disappoint. I made sure to savor each and every bite, knowing this would be my last Carnival burrito for at least two years. (We’ll be travelling on the Legend again next year, which does not have a burrito bar.)

 

Today they had the chocolate buffet. I stood in line to get some so-so cakes and other treats. I really didn’t see the appeal in it. Maybe I was turned off because of the huge lines. They should have a platinum line for this thing! :p To be fair, I think I was disappointed because I’m not into overly-sweet food, and that’s what most of this was. It was just too much for my taste. I will try it again next year though. Maybe it’ll be better on the Legend.

 

At 1:30 we headed to the Ivory Bar (the non-smoking cigar bar in the twilight zone) for Super Trivia Round 2. Little did we know that this was a continuation from a trivia session earlier in the week using teams. The hostess let us and the other newcomers join the already-existing teams for the game though.

 

Super Trivia was a new kind of trivia game, at least for me. Instead of writing down answers to questions like traditional trivia, everyone gets in teams and the teams take turns answering their own questions. A team captain rolls a huge die to determine how many points the question will be worth (1 through 6 points). He then picks a smaller colored die out of a box to determine the question category. There are various categories, including sports, history, entertainment, wacky, etc. The team then discusses the question and comes up with an answer. Only this team gets to answer the question. If they get it right, they get the points. If not, they do not lose points. The points and the teams carried over from the first round earlier in the week.

 

It was a lot of fun. There’s a thread going around the boards right now about trivia, and how it’s unfair for singles to compete against people who work together. This trivia event eliminated that unfair factor. Now everyone works in a team.

[Dave0311]

At 2:30 I went to the Game of Love, formerly known as the Newlywed-Not so Newlywed Game. As always, this was a funny and entertaining event. This time around, they chose a newlywed couple married two days before, a couple married 25 years, and a couple married 70 years. In my opinion, the oldest couple is usually the funniest. This time the newlyweds were the funniest. The wife always put down answers that spoke highly of her new husband, but the husband always put himself down (and his wife too).

 

 

After the Game of Love was over I went back out on deck. Everyone was out soaking up the sun on our last day of the cruise.

 

 

The pools weren’t very crowded, but the slide was very busy today, as you can see by the wet tracks leading from the end of the slide back up to the slide entrance.

 

 

Without the fog, this one could pass for a Caribbean cruise picture!

 

 

4:00 rolled around quickly. I went back to the promenade to check out charades. I think I can safely safe I don’t like charades. The whole thing was boring to me. I was gone within 10 minutes. Part of the reason was probably because half the people didn’t understand charades entails not talking. The person would be performing in some way and would be saying out loud what he/she was doing. What’s the fun if you’re telling us the answer?

[Dave0311]

Thanks to CC (once again), I knew to check out the Fun Farewell party for some free booze. The Fun Farewell party was held in the Ebony Cabaret at 5:00. The drinks were flowing and the band was playing some good music.

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was very good. I ordered the penne mariscos, which is a dish I look forward to every cruise. It’s penne pasta in a red cream sauce, with shrimp, scallops, and calamari. My mouth is watering just typing this up! Next year I think I’ll order it as a starter and then again as an entrée. :D

 

After dinner we said our sad farewells to our waiter and assistant waiters. Goodbye Anil, Agus, and Gerald! All three were very good.

 

Tonight was spent, as usual, in the casino. I had a small bit of luck again tonight. My gambling money was mostly big bills. But I had one five left and I had to decide what to do with it. I hadn’t played roulette yet, maybe I’ll play that? Nah, my mother had zero luck with roulette this cruise. Pass. What else? As I’m walking around, I see the “high stakes” slot area. Just for fun, I decide to blow the $5 with one spin on a $5 slot machine. Wouldn’t you know it, I win 5 credits! Now I have $25 to cash out at the casino. Hooray for me! This last little win signaled the end of the casino for me. I went back to the room to put our suitcases out for the people to take. Because we didn’t have a plane to catch this year, we opted for the relaxed debarkation option instead of our usual self-assist.

 

This guy was waiting for us when I went back to the room:

 

 

We spent a little more time in the casino and up on deck. After a little while we decided to end our final night onboard. Off to bed we went for the last time this cruise.

 

Up next: debarkation

[Dave0311]

We're nearing the end! Probably only a couple more posts to go. I should have them up tonight. :)

[mitchpam]

Thanks for the great review.

[01Sweetpea]

Oh no...it can't be coming to an end. :(

[TIPPTONI]

We're nearing the end! Probably only a couple more posts to go. I should have them up tonight. :)

 

Again I must say, GREAT REVIEW! If you connected to guests aboard the Glory the way you have in CC, then I'm sure some people had a great time in your company!

[Dave0311]

When we woke up on Thursday, the Glory had not pulled into port yet. I took advantage of the opportunity to get some sunrise pictures of NYC.

 

 

 

 

A tugboat came along to help us into port.

 

 

 

 

We met my grandmother and my uncle for breakfast in the MDR this morning. Because we were doing the relaxed debarkation we were in no hurry. The 5 of us enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Aside from the fact that our table didn’t have napkins to start with, it was a very good breakfast and a nice end to the cruise.

[Dave0311]

After breakfast we went back to our rooms to wait to be called. As VIPs we were zone 1. Self-assist and debarkation for those with early flights were first.

 

Self-assist debarkation goes by deck. I wish I had taken the debarkation information sheet so I could tell you the order of the decks and the approximate times they were called. Alas, I forgot to take it and I really regret that. I wanted to provide more information than this, but I can’t. I apologize for that.

 

US citizens disembarked on deck 3, and non-US citizens (or US citizens travelling with non-US citizens) got off on deck 2.

 

The good part about cruising out of NYC is trying to find your car from the ship.

 

 

It was also interesting watching the ship get loaded up with supplies for the next cruise.

 

 

There was also a guy who looked like he was either washing or painting the hull.

 

 

One last shot from our balcony before our number is called!

 

When #1 was called, we down to deck 3, heard the ding one more time as we swiped our S&S cards, and then we were off the Carnival Glory. It was sad to think that just 5 days before we had walked up these same gangways, knowing our cruise was just about to start. And now it was over. Now it was someone else’s turn to enjoy the experience. At least we already have another cruise booked to look forward to. :) That really does make it easier.

 

One last goodbye to the Carnival Glory.

 

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading my review as much as I enjoyed writing and reliving our cruise on the Carnival Glory!

[Dave0311]

I'll still be able to answer any questions you might have. So don't be afraid to ask just because the review is over! :)

[01Sweetpea]

Dave - you are a very talented writer and I've enjoyed reading your review.

 

One quick question...weather...was is shorts & tee-shirt weather, or long pants & tee-shirt?

 

Also, is the dining room cold?

[Dave0311]

Dave - you are a very talented writer and I've enjoyed reading your review.

 

One quick question...weather...was is shorts & tee-shirt weather, or long pants & tee-shirt?

 

Also, is the dining room cold?

Thank you. :)

 

The weather during our cruise was warm. It was in the 80s the whole time. Well actually, the morning of the last sea day was a little chilly. I had a sweatshirt on then, but by lunchtime it was off. So other than that, it was shorts and short sleeves all the time. As with any cruise (or any vacation for that matter), the weather is a crapshoot. I heard the cruise before us had rain in the ports, while we had sun and heat. The added factor for Canadian cruises is the temperature. It wouldn't surprise me if it was in the 60s or 70s.

 

Bottom line is to pack a mix of summer and fall clothing. During the summer there's no need for heavy winter clothing. But a couple sweatshirts and long pants couldn't hurt. You may not need it, but it's better safe than sorry.

 

The dining room was not cold. It was really like the rest of the ship. To be honest, I don't recall any parts of the ship ever getting real cold on this cruise. I guess going north they don't make the ship as cold as going to the Caribbean.

 

Hope this helps! :)

[Plan80]

Hi Dave. I have been following your review religiously because we are leaving on the Glory on 8/14! Carnival should hire you. Do they run a laundry special in the middle of the cruise? You know, 15 dollars for a full bag. I like to travel lightly and have taken advantage of this service on other cruises. Thanks in advance.

[Dave0311]

Hi Dave. I have been following your review religiously because we are leaving on the Glory on 8/14! Carnival should hire you.

I would like that. :D

 

Do they run a laundry special in the middle of the cruise? You know, 15 dollars for a full bag. I like to travel lightly and have taken advantage of this service on other cruises. Thanks in advance.

I looked over the Fun Times, and I didn't see anything about a laundry special, sorry. :( In regards to packing lightly, see my previous post about packing summer and autumn clothing. :)

[browneyedwoman]

Thanks for the great review. It's nice to hear that the weather was so good for you. We leave in a few days and are really excited to go.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

The tugboat is Theodore Tugboat. It is based on a series of children stories.

 

Is the character's nickname, "Little Toot"? If not, he is identical to a children's book of that title I read to my son. . .right down to the red ball cap!

[Mrs. Squirrel]

Best review I've read on this itinerary. Thanks!