Glory 4/30 Review Part 2

[Eddiesgirl]

Food - We ate in the dining room 6 nights and The Emerald Room 1 night. Formal nights were Monday and Thursday, so we ate in the Emerald Room Thursday night. The food in the dining room was a close second to the best food we've ever had on a cruise. Between my husband and I we had prime rib, lobster, chateaubriand, beef wellington, seafood newburg, snapper, grouper, filet mignon, chicken ala greque, weiner schnitzel, sweet & sour shrimp, lamb, scallops and more. Our favorite desserts were the lemon verbena creme brulee, Grand Marnier souffle, tiramasu and the flourless chocolate cake. We also enjoyed the sushi bar every night before dinner.

My husband is really not much of a seafood person, but he really liked the sushi ! The food in the Emerald Room was truly excellent, both in taste and in presentation. If you go allow 2 - 3 hours for dinner, but it's truly an evening you will remember. We were still talking about our meal there 2 days later ! The buffet food was very good. Especially liked the oriental, the deli, the fish & chips and of course the pizza! I have to start a new section now to talk about the ports.

[Eddiesgirl]

Nassau - This was another glitch in our almost-perfect cruise. I haven't cruised since 2003 and at that time when you came into port & docked, they would announce that customs had cleared the ship & you could go ashore. They don't do that anymore, at least not on the Glory. I asked a crew member why not and was told that too many people complain about the announcements waking them up. Anyway, we were waiting for the announcement & while we were waiting our excursion to Blue Lagoon left without us! We ended up walking around town and going to the Hard Rock Cafe instead. We did get credits for our shore excursion tickets.

 

St. Thomas - Let's get this out of the way first. Immigration was really not the nightmare I heard it was, at least not for us. We docked at 10:00 and we were off the ship by at least 11:00. It wasn't as easy as just walking off the ship but it wasn't anything I would think would ruin your trip. We had arranged in advance to rent a powerboat from Nauti Nymph boat rentals at Red Hook Marina. Continued........

[Eddiesgirl]

St. Thomas - Our rental was to start at 12:30. When we arrived there was no one at the Nauti Nymph booth, so we went into the Marina office and called them. Turns out there was some confusion as to what day we would be there. When our friends made the reservation they put the right date but the wrong day of the week. They had boats available so that was easily cleared up. We took the boat over to St. John to do some snorkeling. It was a perfect day. The snorkeling was great. One place we stopped, the ocean floor was literally covered with starfish, some as big as a foot across! We also saw a turtle and many, many fish. If you like to snorkel and can handle a boat, this was well worth doing. We had no crowds anywhere we snorkled. We took drinks and snacks with us on the boat and had a great time.

St. Martin - We rented a jeep here from Arthurs car rentals. This was another great day. We did have one problem. Us two girls drove and our husbands sat in the back and navigated. No matter where we tried to go, our husbands kept navigating us back to Orient Beach ! We must have gone through Marigot 6 times! We stopped in an art gallery at Oyster Pond called Dona Bryhiel. She does some beautiful work. We ended up buying some prints.

 

I think I've just about covered it all. If there are any questions, I'll be glad to answer them. Remember this is my perception and experience, yours may be different.

[Go-girl]

Thanks for the review. It sounds like you had a great time even with a few bumps in the road. I'm looking forward to my cruise in July.

[OCruisers]

Enjoyed reading your review -- thank you!!

 

Please tell us more about what you did on your "At Sea" days and for FUN in the evenings.

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[basketballmom]

Glad to hear St. Thomas immigration is not the nightmare some posters have made it out to be. The snorkeling on St. John's sounds great, especially about the giant starfish.

 

You said formal nights were Monday and Thursday? Are you sure because most Eastern Caribbean glory cruisers have said Sunday and Thursday? I would prefer the Monday instead of rushing after a day in Nassau.

 

Go-Girl: You will be on the our cruise! Join our roll call with Shabcruzn and Magnifique!

[kbatschke]

Thanks for the review Eddiesgirl.

 

Glad your St. Thomas experience was better than ours on 4/16. Your floor must have been one of the first called. Ours was second to last, and we were not off the boat until 12:15, despite being at the pier at 10:00. Others waited until after 12:30. Unless some much-needed improvements have been made over the past month, it's safe to say that it all in the luck of the draw.

[shabcruzn]

Thank you--a review like yours is very reassuring

B-ball mom--I am about ready to burst with anticipation--how about you?

Go-girl--hey to my older sibling!

[mnsawyer]

We sailed the Glory 4/9 on the western itinerary. It was the best Carnival cruise we have had. Loved Port Canaveral and the Glory. Even thinking about doing the eastern Glory cruise next year. Have heard that St. Thomas is a nightmare in terms of immigration but from your review, doesn't sound that way. Thought the ship, food, atmosphere, etc. were the best. I don't know where the bad reviews on the Glory are from...I'm pretty particular about things and though the Glory was the best! Just as a point of reference we sailed the western Triumph two years ago and it was no comparison to the Glory.

[basketballmom]

Mnsawyer - great to hear you enjoyed the Glory also.

[Magnifique1908]

Great Review!!!! I'm counting down the days....:D

[Eddiesgirl]

I did have my days mixed up. The formal nights were Sunday and Thursday.

As for what we did on days at sea, my favorite activity is just laying by the pool with a drink and a book. My husband & our friend brought their guitars with them, so they spent their time playing and going to the casino. We also attended several art auctions. We saw the show "Living in America" and also the comedian Percy. He was hilarious. We did get a chance to see the hairy chest contest out by the pool one day. If you've never seen it, you should try to catch it. It was a hoot! Amazing what men will do for a little recognition and a bottle of champagne!

[basketballmom]

Don't men just love the attention of being "famous" on the ship after they have been in a contest....."Hey there's Mr. Hairy Legs".....

 

They really should do the formal night on Monday since it is a sea day. Oh well, we'll all be nice and pink for our formal night pictures!

 

Thanks for your comments.