Glory review - complete

[Lisa&Neb]

Embarkation: this was the easiest embarkation I have ever done. We arrived at the CellPhone lot at 10:30, paid the $60 and parked the van. We all got on the shuttle bus that left around 10:45 and were in the terminal right away. We gave the porter our luggage and went up the escalator. There were 2 couples in line in front of us waiting to check in. We quickly went to the counter, got our room keys, and walked on board. As soon as we stepped foot onboard our picture was taken (for security, not one of the "friendly photographers".

 

The cabins were not ready at this point, actually on our deck (Lido, deck 9) they had large doors closed with a sign that said the rooms were still being made up and that we could access them at 12:30. Well... since it was only 11 we thought might as well get a burger from Guys. Our son doesn't like burgers so he just had the fries. The rest of us had a burger. We first found a table that the 4 of us could sit together and keep our carry on luggage close by. It was around 11:30 that we finally had food in front of us. The burger was pretty good, but I thought they put too much lettuce on it for my personal taste. After finishing our food and walking around for a bit we looked at the time and it was about 12:40, so we thought, let's go check out our room. We walked back to the door and the sign was still up - boo. We stood at the stairwell for a good 10 minutes, then a young man (another cruiser) said 'just open the door, most rooms are done", so we did just that. We opened the door and walked down to our cabin.

 

Cabin 9200: this is by far the best oceanview cabin! There were four of us and plenty of room for everyone. Our kids slept on the sofabed (which was a queen and not too bad for comfort), our bed was put together for another queen. I'll try to post some pictures later (well... when my husband wakes up as he is the one that knows how to do techy stuff like that).

Food: (I apologize for the choppiness of the food portion of this review)

We did eat at Guy's burgers (found out the hard way that the cheese/cheese sauce didn't sit well with me at all), a couple days. Ate at Punchliners both sea days and the food was decent but the staff sucked (bad!). As far as our dining experience at night, we had Anytime Dining and well.... we too were forgot about (or some of our food was) a couple times. I would think that if a waiter saw a child (our 4 year old) falling asleep at the table, he would speed up our desserts a little, but nope - I'm not sure how long we waited but eventually walked out. Every night for dinner we ordered a lemonade or milk for our kids, but only saw lemonade twice for our son, and milk (in a really small glass) once for our daughter. I was disappointed in the menu selection as well. One of the chicken dinners I ordered I didn't expect it to be covered in penne and a plethora of other stuff that wasn't listed on the menu. I remember it saying sweet potatoes and chicken, but didn't like/want the tomato sauce or other stuff that was in the bowl (and neither did the woman seated next to us). We did have the chocolate melting cake and loved it, up until the last night. For the first few nights that we ate in the dining room the cake was warm, had a decent amount of cake and a decent amount of the melted stuff. On our last night, the top layer was cake, but underneath was just liquid. It was lukewarm and not very good. We ate in the buffet for dinner one night as the menu for the dining room didn't impress us. Well, we should have just gone to the dining room because the buffet food sucked (for our taste). I was able to make a decent salad, but as far as main entrée type food, it was lacking (unless you enjoy fish, as there was at least 2 fish options).

Breakfast: first two mornings we did room service and it was delivered on time and correctly. I found that if you put the actual number of desired items in the check box, you are more apt to get that number, example we wanted 1 fruitloop, 3 croissants, 1 guava jelly, 4 orange juices, and then at the end where it says number in persons, we would put 4. Two mornings we had brunch - decent omelettes, pancakes looked fluffy, but my husband wanted the steak and eggs but with scrambled eggs not fried eggs and we were told that he couldn't have it like that. So he ordered just the steak with no eggs, and was given a really dirty look. The coffee was not to my liking, it was not hot and tasted very watered down. The second sea day that we went to the brunch I had the funny French toast and it was different. I had mine coated in frosted flakes, not something that I would want every morning, but it was different. I also had the hashbrowns, and an omelette. Our debarkation morning we had breakfast from the buffet, it was nothing special, just croissants, cereal and pancakes for our son.

Dinner: most of my dinner information was mentioned earlier. Our daughter participated in Camp Carnival and went to dinner with her friends a few nights and she had nothing to complain about. In the main dining room, our son had chicken nuggets and fries almost every night and he really enjoyed them. He also had mac & cheese one night, and for a boy that really only likes Kraft, he gobbled it all up.

Overall things to mention: The captain did make an announcement saying that maritime law required him to blast the fog horn every 2 minutes during the day and every 10 during the night. This made it impossible for us to be anywhere on deck because our son had huge issues with the loudness of the horn. On our last sea day the weather was wonderful, we were all finally able to go swimming/hot tub. Because of the air temperature being a bit cooler, most kids were in the hot tubs rather than the pool. At one point, I counted 18 children in the hot tub that I was in with my kids, but I was the only parent nearby. I was kicked in the face, legs, stomach many times from kids that thought that the hot tub was a pool that they could swim around in. Not impressed at all by this, but it was not Carnival's fault for parents not watching their children. Our daughter went on the slide a few times, but was too cold standing in line waiting to go down. We went to the art auction because it is something that we enjoy doing, and I've had good luck with the raffles (this time included!). I wish that the auctioneers would judge the audience more and not put up 10,000+ art pieces when he knows that no one is interested. They really should only include pieces that people want to see, not the other stuff.

Ship photographers: the weren't too "in your face" or we didn't think so. In the evenings, they had multiple backdrops set up that you could get pictures taken at, this caused a back log of people, especially for those just trying to get to the dining room.

Casino: could have had better ventilation because the smell of smoke was nasty in there.

Shows: because of the kids, we didn't go to any of the shows, but heard mixed reviews.

Camp Carnival: our 6 year old loved it, our 4 year old didn't. We paid the extra $20 for our daughter (6) to stay up til 1am and go to the "Glow in the Dark Party". Something that I did notice, was that only some things were followed on the "schedule", some things were omitted and a movie was watched instead, other times the movie that was supposed to be watched was switched with another.

Ports of Call:

St. John - we did the "City Tour" on a city bus. It was $20 for each adult and $10 for children 5-12 or something like that. The tour was 2 hours long and we enjoyed it. It took us to the market (were able to get off and into the market for about 15 minutes), and we also went to the reversing falls where we saw the rapids just before slack time for the river. Saw the Red Rose factory and other important things in St. John. The weather in St. John was not very nice, it was cool and dreary, but nothing can be done about weather so no use complaining.

Halifax - we walked down the harborfront to the "Harbor Hopper" tour stand (there is a harbor hopper right outside the cruise terminal but it was more expensive). This took us around the city while learning about Halifax. We drove around the Citadel (if we go back, I'd like to explore this a little more). The Harbor Hopper took us literally into the harbor for more information. We saw the Canadian naval ships, our ship, and learned about the Halifax explosion and various other historical events.

Debarkation: We had to go to the Amber Lounge as we are Canadian and in Boston there isn't anywhere for immigration in the terminal. I wish people would be respectful of this process and come on time. We were told to be there at 6:45, but had to wait until about 7:30 for those that decided to relax and not be there on time. Once everyone was in the lounge, customs came aboard and started screening everyone. If you are not there, they WILL come and get you, as seen by one woman coming in barefoot and in a housecoat. Once we were cleared, we were able to go and pick up our carryon baggage and find somewhere for breakfast. We decided not to go to the Platinum restaurant and instead we went to the Lido deck for the buffet. Once debarkation started it again, was simple and easy. We were called by groupings, we were in group 12. They started with all passengers that were walking off with their luggage. Then they cleared those with 1-5, about 10 minutes later 6-10, and 10 minutes after that we were heading off. Once we collected our luggage, we got on the shuttle bus and headed to our van. Trip was over and we were headed home. We were off the ship and in our vehicle by 10am.

For some reason, after this cruise (and the last one), I have had a serious case of vertigo. Sorry for the craziness of this review, hopefully some of you will enjoy it and if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer it.

[princess_mom]

Hi Lisa -

Sailing on the Glory NY to Canada on 8/24, cant wait!

Thanks so much for this great info re: kids stuff! I'm sailing with my EXTREMELY picky 9 year old daughter and those without a picky kid just dont get it! I've been searching reviews like crazy to find out what they have that my daughter will eat (other than grilled cheese). She will eat chick nuggets, fries, and mac-n-cheese but she also only likes Kraft. I hope that she will try Carnival's version, just to have some variety. I do have her promise that she will try some new things on the cruise, she is good about trying fruits and veggies at least!

Also, good info about the kids club, I'll keep schedule changes in mind.

I was hoping that we will get to swim/slide at least 1 or 2 days, hopefully on our first day sailing out of NYC it will be warm enough (90s here this week~!)

Thanks again!

Regards,

Lori

[Aldeya]

St. John - we did the "City Tour" on a city bus. It was $20 for each adult and $10 for children 5-12 or something like that. The tour was 2 hours long and we enjoyed it. It took us to the market (were able to get off and into the market for about 15 minutes), and we also went to the reversing falls where we saw the rapids just before slack time for the river. Saw the Red Rose factory and other important things in St. John. quote]

 

Thank you for taking the time to wtite the review.

 

We'll be in St.John in August and thought about taking this tour. I know it's first come, first serve.

 

We are thinking about 10am tour but I'm not sure how early we have to be at the bus stop to get the tickets? was it far away from the dock? Did the bus driver sell the tickets or there is a booth somewhere?

 

TIA

[Ronsangel]

Hi Lisa,

 

Thanks so much for this review. We're leaving for Boston Friday (also from London, ON), and are on the Sunday sailing. How was your drive down? Any suggestions on places to stop? How long did it take you to get there?

 

Was there fog every night? Just wondering if I should invest in ear plugs if the horn will be sounding all night. We're on deck 7.

[Lisa&Neb]

Thank you for taking the time to wtite the review.

 

We'll be in St.John in August and thought about taking this tour. I know it's first come, first serve.

 

We are thinking about 10am tour but I'm not sure how early we have to be at the bus stop to get the tickets? was it far away from the dock? Did the bus driver sell the tickets or there is a booth somewhere?

 

TIA

 

we did the 10am tour and it was fine to get to. Remember that locals will be on local time (1 hour difference from ship time). The area that the bus is located is very easy to get to. You will get off the ship and through the building where locals will be giving out St. John pins and roses to the ladies. When you exit the building, turn left and walk towards the end of the port parking area. You will see the ship tour buses and a couple other buses. Just off the sidewalk there will be a white sandwich board with the information on it. If you walk all the way up to the lights, you have gone too far. I would also check out the tide times, you might want the later tour time if the tides are not doing anything. We were at the reversing falls about an hour into the tour.

 

Have fun.

[Lisa&Neb]

Hi Lisa,

 

Thanks so much for this review. We're leaving for Boston Friday (also from London, ON), and are on the Sunday sailing. How was your drive down? Any suggestions on places to stop? How long did it take you to get there?

 

Was there fog every night? Just wondering if I should invest in ear plugs if the horn will be sounding all night. We're on deck 7.

 

 

We left London at 8am on Monday, we stopped at Cracker Barrel just outside Buffalo for a late breakfast/early lunch. We planned on staying in Albany for the night and got to our hotel around 4:30. We have 2 small kids so we seemed to stop more than I would normally stop. The hotel was great, but the location wasn't one that I would want to go out and explore the area. We left Albany around 8:30 in the morning and arrived at the cell phone lot at 10:30am. On our way home, we were in our van at 10am and pulled into our driveway at 10pm. Had a lot more stops on the way home because of the kids. The one thing we did notice, was that there were a lot of possible traffic jams, luckily for us they were always on the other side of the turnpike. You will need to slow down for each toll area (we had a transponder so that made it a bit easier and faster). There is information on AM1610 and AM1620 for traffic information and they have large signs that will flash when there is something that you will need to be aware of. The one accident actually closed the turnpike for a couple hours (I mentioned to my husband that I was glad the we gave ourselves a lot of extra time because this could have been us in that jam).

 

If you want information about hotels or anything else, I did extensive research prior to booking in Albany.

[jkneern]

We were on this cruise as well. Did you notice on the last sea day about 20 kids in the hot tub took the plastic grate that covers the outside of the tub apart and broke it into 100's of pieces and were hitting each other with it . I pointed it out to a crew member and she just shrugged her shoulders. Oh well no parental supervision at all. Not very happy with this cruise in general. Food was horrible and an obvious lack of staff.

[cruisenk]

We were on the 6/30 sailing of the Glory and had the fog horns, too. Wow, they are loud! Unfortunately, we didn't make too much use of our balcony and that sailing.

Question - do you think the quality of dining room service is different for Your Time Dining vs. the MDR? We were in the Platinum dining room for dinner and had absolutely wonderful service for our family of 4. Just wondering.

[cruisenk]

One of our children was (sometimes still is not) an adventurous eater. But we have a deal when we cruise . . . both children MUST try a new food at each meal. They only have to try it. This has opened their minds to so many new foods I never would have dreamed they would enjoy. My 8 year old orders the alligator fritters whenever we cruise. My 11 year olds favorite is Caribbean Pepper Pot soup. Never in a million years would I have thought they would have enjoyed these. If they want ice cream, they have to try something new! It works for us. Good luck!

 

Hi Lisa -

Sailing on the Glory NY to Canada on 8/24, cant wait!

Thanks so much for this great info re: kids stuff! I'm sailing with my EXTREMELY picky 9 year old daughter and those without a picky kid just dont get it! I've been searching reviews like crazy to find out what they have that my daughter will eat (other than grilled cheese). She will eat chick nuggets, fries, and mac-n-cheese but she also only likes Kraft. I hope that she will try Carnival's version, just to have some variety. I do have her promise that she will try some new things on the cruise, she is good about trying fruits and veggies at least!

Also, good info about the kids club, I'll keep schedule changes in mind.

I was hoping that we will get to swim/slide at least 1 or 2 days, hopefully on our first day sailing out of NYC it will be warm enough (90s here this week~!)

Thanks again!

Regards,

Lori

[Ronsangel]

We left London at 8am on Monday, we stopped at Cracker Barrel just outside Buffalo for a late breakfast/early lunch. We planned on staying in Albany for the night and got to our hotel around 4:30. We have 2 small kids so we seemed to stop more than I would normally stop. We left Albany around 8:30 in the morning and arrived at the cell phone lot at 10:30am. On our way home, we were in our van at 10am and pulled into our driveway at 10pm.

 

If you want information about hotels or anything else, I did extensive research prior to booking in Albany.

 

This is great information...thank you! We're driving right to Boston, but will need pit stops, lunch, etc. and was hoping there would be some right on the highway rather than having to pull into a town (although a mall could lure me farther in :) ) We're crossing at Queenston/Lewiston (according to my GPS), so it looks like Utica or Albany will be good mid-way stops. Like your kids...I need lots of 'breaks' too :)

[Aldeya]

Thank you for taking the time to wtite the review.

 

We'll be in St.John in August and thought about taking this tour. I know it's first come, first serve.

 

We are thinking about 10am tour but I'm not sure how early we have to be at the bus stop to get the tickets? was it far away from the dock? Did the bus driver sell the tickets or there is a booth somewhere?

 

TIA

 

we did the 10am tour and it was fine to get to. Remember that locals will be on local time (1 hour difference from ship time). The area that the bus is located is very easy to get to. You will get off the ship and through the building where locals will be giving out St. John pins and roses to the ladies. When you exit the building, turn left and walk towards the end of the port parking area. You will see the ship tour buses and a couple other buses. Just off the sidewalk there will be a white sandwich board with the information on it. If you walk all the way up to the lights, you have gone too far. I would also check out the tide times, you might want the later tour time if the tides are not doing anything. We were at the reversing falls about an hour into the tour.

 

Have fun.

 

Thank you so much for the details! Much appreciated:)

[Lisa&Neb]

This is great information...thank you! We're driving right to Boston, but will need pit stops, lunch, etc. and was hoping there would be some right on the highway rather than having to pull into a town (although a mall could lure me farther in :) ) We're crossing at Queenston/Lewiston (according to my GPS), so it looks like Utica or Albany will be good mid-way stops. Like your kids...I need lots of 'breaks' too :)

 

 

There are various service centres right on the turnpike, so no need to get off and on. Some will have Burger King, others will have McDonalds, and some closer to Mass. will have Roy Rogers (NOT a fan of that one). We stopped at the last centre in New York and it was a Roy Rogers, Quiznos, Starbucks and it was packed with people. Quiznos only sells 8" subs and they were about $7-$8 each. Roy Rogers was a self serve kinda thing where you just pick your stuff up a la carte. No clue how long the food was sitting under the self serve heat lamps or how many people touched the food before you pick yours. As you get further into New York and Mass. you will notice Tim Horton's starts to be replaced by Starbucks. A lot of the service centres will have a traditional fast food place, a coffee shop (Tim's, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts) and a sub shop (usually Quiznos and I think Subway)

 

You can board the ship as early as 11:00am from what I've heard. Watch your timing and allow for any slow downs on the turnpike (this would include the toll plaza's) What time are you planning on leaving London?

[Ronsangel]

We were thinking of leaving London at 8am. We're driving on a Friday, so I'm sure we'll hit rush hour somewhere along the line. Good to know there are a number of options for stops....and I've made a note about the Roy Rogers!

 

We're staying in Cambridge for 2 nights before the cruise leaves so that we can see a bit of Boston. We've heard driving in Boston is nuts, so we'll get to our hotel and do a hop on, hop off bus tour from there! Planning on getting to the cruise terminal for 11...I like to be on the ship early!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for writing and posting your review. Really enjoyed it.:)

[Gingee]

Was the city bus tour just a regular bus?

[Lisa&Neb]

Was the city bus tour just a regular bus?

 

 

it was a regular city bus, it had elevated seats at the back of the bus (we sat on the wheel hump because it put us up a bit higher). The driver used a microphone and sound system to give us the information about what we were seeing (or not seeing because the fog was so thick!)

[PCHENG]

Looking forward to pictures of 9200. I am curious to see how the decor differs from the same room on the Valor and Conquest.

[Lisa&Neb]

Looking forward to pictures of 9200. I am curious to see how the decor differs from the same room on the Valor and Conquest.

 

can not figure out how to post pics.... but I do have them!

[cjknox]

Enjoying the review so far looking forward to the pictures and the rest of the reviews.

[serene56]

awesome== thanks

[rrraydon]

Thanks for the review!