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Glory Review 1/31/15: Super Bowl, Stingrays, Snorkeling, and Sun!


KCLangs
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About Us:

DH (51), Me (48), Kid (13). We live in the Midwest and prefer late January/early February sailings so we can take a break from the cold and snow midway through winter. This is our fourth cruise and all have been on Carnival (see signature below for ship names). If you are looking for someone to knock the line, you’ve come to the wrong post. We love Carnival!! It’s perfect for us, affordable and fun, and we’ve discovered this is the only type of vacation we truly enjoy from beginning to end.

 

This particular cruise was seven days (Jan. 31st to Feb. 7th): Saturday sailing, Sunday Sea Day (Super Bowl Sunday!), Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay, Grand Cayman, Friday Sea Day, Saturday disembarked. Our 1st cruise was four days, 2nd was five, 3rd was six. I think we’ve discovered we prefer six days and no more than three ports. Four port days in a row was a bit much for us and we were missing home and our dog pretty good by day seven.

 

It may take me a few days to finish this review, but I’ll try to do so for those who will be sailing on Glory this weekend! I do have the FunTimes for each day and I’ll do my best to figure out how to get them posted.

 

Up Next: Travel Day

 

 

 

 

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Friday -Travel Day:

We booked a non-stop KCI to FLL on Southwest (wow, airfare is expensive!). A friend dropped us at the terminal and we headed to the nearest bar for our “vacation has begun” beer. We could have had five beers! There was a two and a quarter hour outbound delay – something about plane swaps (whatever the heck that means) as it certainly wasn’t weather related. Our plane was supposed to be coming from the southwest and Kansas City was actually sunny, warm and dry. It just proves we never want to try and fly in the same day as sailing day.

 

We booked the Holiday Inn at Sheridan Street in Fort Lauderdale (“high season” $231 total). Gene from Haiti picked us up in the complimentary airport shuttle and regaled us with info on the new FLL runway/tunnels (cost, number of people employed, how long it took, etc.) – he was great. With the flight delay, we didn’t get to the hotel until 8:00 p.m. We had planned to meet friends for dinner, but that plan obviously had to be changed to drinks in the hotel bar. Claudia at the front desk greeted us with a smile and told us she had several “Lang” families staying the night and asked if we were connected (we weren’t – but thought that was very interesting). We dumped our luggage in the room and headed back downstairs to meet our friends.

 

We sat in the bar and had drinks with them (and ordered nibbles for ourselves – the food wasn’t anything memorable). As an FYI, the bar is open until 11 p.m. and serves food from the restaurant until 10 p.m. The kid could hardly wait to hit the outdoor pool, even though it was night time. Claudia provided him with a pool towel. The outdoor pool is beautiful and warm (85 degrees). It was an enchanting and peaceful place to be in the evening under the stars (there’s also a hot tub outside). Claudia pretty much said don’t worry about the pool’s “closing time”.

 

The room was nice and large with two queen beds, very clean, very quiet. The only complaint I have is there’s a bright green light emanating from the hairdryer docking station located in the dressing area and I couldn’t figure out how to effectively cover it up or turn it off (towel wouldn’t stay over it and there was no visible plug to unplug).

 

Up Next: Sailing Day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

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Saturday – Sailing Day:

The limited breakfast buffet at the hotel was a bit expensive (continental for $7 and the basic hot foods for $14).

 

I had scheduled MJS Transportation (gomjstrans DOT com) for a 9:30 am pick up and called them at 8 am to confirm. This company picks up at several FLL hotels and ours was one of them. The shuttle cost us $15 per person and took us directly to the Carnival terminal at Port of Miami. They were fairly on time at picking us up (9:40 am) in a large newer/clean Mercedes shuttle van (there were six other people besides us so nearly full). Ray the driver was a Brit and talked DH’s ears off (DH sat in the front passenger seat, kid and I sat in back). If you haven’t seen it yet, the new tunnel that travels under the water at the port is REALLY cool! As a side note: I looked into a “do it yourself” to get to POM from Fort Lauderdale since our hotel was across the street from the train station and we are familiar with traveling via TriRail, etc. in and out of Miami. Turns out that would have cost roughly $36 for the three of us (TriRail, transfer to MetroRail, onto the free people mover downtown, then taxi to the terminal). It didn’t make sense to attempt this in order to save only about nine or ten bucks, plus we’d have had to slog the luggage (yuck!).

 

We hit the practically empty terminal at 10:30. Check in was very smooth. The 90 minute wait seemed interminable - we are scheduled Zone 2 for embarkation. Noon boarding started w/ special groups, then diamond/platinum. 12:10 they called Faster To The Fun. At 12:17 Zone 1 was called. Finally, the 12:20 call for Zone 2!! Bit of a line to get up the escalators, have a picture taken, then hit the gang plank at 12:28 – YIPPEE we are onboard! By 12:43 we had drinks in hand and were headed to get our first Guy’s burger (no line!).

 

Time to walk the boat and sign up for Bubbles and CHEERS! We popped into the cabin to see if our luggage had miraculously arrived (nope) and dropped off the carry-ons. We were booked into cabin 7350 (interior on Empress deck), two twins convert to King and the Pullman comes down on the left side (left if you are standing facing the bed, right side if you are in the bed). This cabin is very quiet but it does have a small consistent rattle from an unknown source which I never really got used to. Napping between drink three and muster is impossible because of the constant announcements over the P.A. Muster took about fifteen minutes – very organized. Then we grabbed a drink and headed to deck 10 to watch the spin in the basin and sail away.

 

The ship started to head to the basin to turn around at 4:20. We watched the shore get smaller and smaller then headed to Lido to watch the dancing/fun that had already begun. We then headed to the EA Sports bar. We were interested in checking out the sports bar to see how big it was and if it was going to be a viable option for watching the big game (it’s small and the bartender expected seats to be “taken” by noon – so that wasn’t going to work for us since we didn’t want to spend the day inside). The kid managed to find his way to the sports bar earlier and we found him there playing FIFA on Xbox against the bartenders (he was kicking butt!). Quote of the day, "Does he go to school or just play video games?" P.S. Yes, he goes to school. ***wink***

 

DH unpacked for him and the kid then we spent a lot of time wandering the boat. I went back to the cabin at 7 to unpack then at 7:30 we got cleaned up for the 8:15 late seating in the dining room. We had a private table (#429 – which is really a table for two with a chair/extra place setting added). However, the kid decided he's too tired to sit through dining room dinner so we started at our table on night one and ended (by invitation) at the big table of ten next to us. Cruisers are so friendly! We began dinner with calamari and cured salmon appetizers (awesome). I ordered lobster ($20 up charge) and it too was great. I’m not a lobster connoisseur, but always try to have it at least once on the boat. I know there are lobster eaters who think the ship lobster is overdone, but I really like it. DH always chooses flat iron steak on night one, and he’s always happy with it. We both ordered bacon mac & cheese as a side dish. It was very tasty but we were too full for more than a couple of bites. Dessert is WCMC and tiramisu - yum! All said, it was an excellent meal with very enjoyable company.

 

Up Next: Super Bowl Sunday!

 

 

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I just finished my review of this ship over the week you were out (hyperlink is in my signature if you need pointers along the way, or just want to compare expereinces :D)

 

She's one of my favorites, and I've always had a good time on her, and by the title of the review, I think you did too! :p

 

Reading reviews is just as fun as writing them, so I will be following along! :D

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Sunday – Super Bowl Onboard:

Cruise Director Everson woke us up with his good morning song, I think about 8:30. It didn’t come out of the cabin P.A. speaker but you could definitely hear it from the corridor speakers. It was slightly annoying even though he does have a nice voice. We fell back asleep for another hour or so. The boys cleaned up then left to find food. I took a nice long uninterrupted shower (a luxury for most wives/moms I’m sure) then headed out for coffee.

 

I found DH at the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar (this bar became our favorite hangout – Ferra and Erica are excellent bartenders – friendly, responsive, accommodating, and not shy with the spirits. DH was “holding” three bar stools at the Blue Iguana that had good views of the big screen for the big game. We spent the afternoon people watching, listening to the DJ, and witnessing the hairy chest contest (Yikes!). CD Everson also did some line dancing instructions and that’s always fun to watch. There was a live entertainer too at one point, I’m sorry I don’t remember her name, and she was really good. I very much enjoyed her rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee”. We came and went one at a time, eating (I had my lunch from the fish & chips bar on 10 – WOW!), and drinking, and meeting people, all so we wouldn’t lose a place to sit.

 

We kept an eye out for deck chairs (they were extremely hard to come by on deck – it was such a lovely day) and a place to put them right down front from the big screen and we finally snagged three loungers at about 3:30 which we placed front and center. Some very nice folks next to us scooched over to make a smidgen more room, so we bought them a bucket of beer. It was going to be the perfect spot from which to watch the Super Bowl!!!

 

Pregame started an hour before kick-off and we watched and ate and drank and had the best time. It was an exciting and competitive game and I can’t think of a more unique or enjoyable way to watch it. There was a short (three or four minutes) blackout of the feed in the middle of the first half of the game – don’t know why. But it came back on before we had to worry too much about it – thank goodness. I wonder what commercials we missed?!?

 

Obviously, we didn’t eat in the dining room. Between the buffet, Guy’s burgers, Blue Iguana and fish & chips – there was plenty of good food to choose from and we pretty much sampled everything that day. And the drink specials – “Green Machine” for Seahawks fans and something red/white/blue for Patriots fans (I can’t remember the name) – were very fun and exceptionally tasty.

 

We are seriously considering repeating the Super Bowl cruising next year, it was really such a kick!

 

Next Up: Cozumel

 

 

 

 

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Monday – Day at Paradise Beach, Cozumel:

We slept in then ate at the buffet. I sometimes read on here that some don’t care for the breakfast buffet, but I always find a decent variety and, for the most part, the food is good. We certainly don’t go hungry eating breakfast at the buffet. It’s about the only time I eat grits. We just don’t take the time to cook them at home, so it’s a nice treat.

 

In Cozumel we do our own thing: take a cab to Paradise Beach ($15 or so). We love Paradise Beach! We discovered it on our first cruise, and all the rest of our cruises have included a day there. They charge $3 per person entry fee, another $18 per if you plan to use the water toys (kid really enjoys them). We’ve never seen it crowded, the facilities are very clean, and the service is excellent. They expect you to spend money to eat and/or drink, and they tell you that upfront, which is fine by us. We enjoy the buckets of local beer and the nachos are really good (one big plate for the three of us is a good size snack). They have a full menu and there are plenty of food types to choose from (sandwiches, burgers, seafood, snacks, sweets). We’ve never eaten anything there we didn’t care for.

 

The boys rent a jet ski and have a blast on that (I think the rental was $65 for half an hour). DH always gets a laugh re: the “safety briefing” from the jet ski rental guy, “Senor, don’t hit anyone”. Life jackets are required/provided. I enjoy just sitting by the beautiful pool and drinking Tecate light, reading, and people watching. They have free Wi-Fi, too – so it’s an excellent chance to check in at home, if need be.

 

After about four hours we felt like we'd had enough fun in the sun so we headed back to port. The look of the sky that day also hurried us up a bit. We browsed through the shops (there are A LOT of shops at the pier) then got back on board for a bite and drink and a nap. While we were having our bite to eat, the skies opened up – boy can it rain in Cozumel! It didn’t last long: 30-45 minutes or so. We felt a little guilty chortling at the people running down the pier to get in out of the downpour.

 

The rest of the day flew by and then it was time to clean up for dinner in the dining room, which always includes a stop at the bar for a pre-dinner drink. The meal was excellent once again. DH started with shrimp cocktail, then had veal parmesan. The kid skipped the appetizer and decided on grilled salmon and whipped potatoes. I start with Caesar salad, then I too had grilled salmon and whipped potatoes. We all had WCMC which is always a favorite.

 

In bed early since meet up for our excursion the next day is 8:15 am!

 

Next Up: Belize

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday – River Tubing, Belize:

We got up early, had a quick bite at the breakfast buffet, then headed to the tender meet up point (Amber Palace theater). We were off the boat right at about 8:30 just like the excursion ticket said.

 

We had a smidgen of a wait just inside the port terminal (restroom visits, organizing excursioners) then onto the bus for a smooth (at first) then bumpy (very bumpy) ride to the river. It's a long ride (not quite an hour) with Phillip the driver (excellent) and Liz the guide (very engaging). We go through Belize City and she tells us all about the buildings and the growing commerce and some cultural stuff too.

 

Leaving the city on the two lane highway and you definitely notice the drop in affluence. Belize is poor, no doubt. I'm sure tourism brings a lot of cash to the country, and we certainly did our part. But it made us grateful to be American. After about half an hour we head "off road". Talk about bumpy! Pot holes, deep rut tire tracks, and just about the time you start to think “this can't be worth it”, you reach the excursion's beginning point.

 

They have decent facilities (especially considering the surroundings): good building w/bathrooms and lockers, covered picnic type eating area, and a souvenir stand. We change into water shoes (available for rent, but we brought our own), life preservers and helmets. There’s a bit of coordination re: tubes vs. rafts (your choice) and free float vs. tied to others (also your choice, in the beginning). Just to be clear, this is NOT rapids. It is a slow easy river, beautiful. But if you want exciting, choose a different excursion. It was perfect for us. DH is not a great swimmer so we are careful in choosing excursions dealing with water.

 

After we geared up, we got back on the bus and went upstream a little ways. It’s remarkably interesting the difference between bridges at home and “bridges” in foreign lands. We went over one “bridge” that was planks of wood, no guardrails, like something you’d see in the Old Wild West. Then they let us out and we met up with our guide Janellie (very sweet), and collected our tubes. It was a short hike down some stairs to the river.

 

The first leg is about 30-40 minutes of meandering downstream. Belize is so green and the water is clear. About halfway through the trip, we stop at a peaceful alcove for a quick snack (Belizean type Doritos) and bottled water (both are provided). There were a few people who swam across the deeper water to jump from the rocks on the other shore (I heard said these rocks were slippery). Plus the guides went across to climb the hill and pick wild oranges to bring back so everyone could have a bite.

 

From this point, continuing down river, the tubes do get tied together and I think mostly it's a staffing issue not a safety issue. Having 30-40 people trying to navigate shallow areas over rocks would require more guides and would be tough on the tubes. As it was, our group had one tube punctured by low hanging branches – the rider made it back on that tube but I’m sure it required a good patching. Toward the end there was a photographer on the riverbank taking pictures of everyone going over the “rapids”.

 

We had two groups of eight tubes each plus three rafts with 4-6 people in each. It was a beautiful relaxing float. We heard howler monkeys and a few people said they saw two, I did not. No iguanas either, and the birds were average, nothing spectacular. The water is cool, not freezing – “refreshing” was the term the guides used. Bugs were minimal (I'd still recommend bug spray). It was a lovely warm mostly sunny day and a fun trip downriver. At the end you do carry your tube up a fairly long flight of stairs but anyone with decent mobility can manage.

 

Now, for lunch! Chicken with some kind of spicy sauce (not hot spicy, not bad spicy, just different) plus rice & beans, and cabbage coleslaw type salad. There was a bar where you could buy cocktails and beer (we bought a bucket of local beer - 6 for $20) plus sodas. They provided free bottles of water and they weren’t shy about passing them out, even to those of us who already had beer/soda.

 

The souvenir stand had some unique souvenirs to choose from. And the photographer had a laptop set up to show the pictures he’d taken. You could buy two pictures for $10 and they take your email address and send you a Dropbox link (we received our email before the end of the next day). You can even take a bucket of beer on the bus ride back, but we met at least one guy who would say, “Don’t do it!” That’s a very long, very bumpy ride to endure with too many beers in your belly. ***wink***

 

All in all it was a terrific excursion. We booked ours through the ship for peace of mind. You could probably save a few bucks going direct to the contractor (Dark Night Excursions), but after reading about a bad Belizean experience or two, I thought the extra few bucks was money well spent. Tenders run at a pretty good clip and we were back onboard with plenty of time for a quick snack/cocktails before the boat started moving.

 

We had dinner in the dining room. Apps: DH had creamy broccoli soup (good) and I had cannelloni (ok). Dinner: kid had Mahi tuna (very good), I had braised chicken stuffed pepper (too spicy), and DH had some kind of linguini (good). Dessert was carrot cake – a definite new favorite – oh it was YUMMY! The dancing waiters were a hit, as we all sang along to "Happy".

 

We hit the rack soon after dinner since the next day we have another early up and out.

 

Up Next: Mahogany Bay

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday – Snorkeling, Mahogany Bay (Isla Roatan, Honduras):

The 7:15 wake-up call was a shocker. We arose for a quick bite at the buffet before heading to shore. We’d booked the ship's 8:30 am barefoot catamaran w/lunch excursion and we highly recommend it!

 

The Jolly Roger crew collected us and we had a short walk down to the pier where the catamaran was docked. We took a seat onboard and had a brief wait for two stragglers (friends we’d met onboard and watched the Super Bowl with). ***chortles***

 

There was a quick introduction of the crew and away we went. The thirty minute boat ride was splendid – such a beautiful looking island from the water. Once we reached the snorkel sight, the crew briefed us on safety and then said, "Get off the boat"! I gathered from the conversations around me, first time snorkelers will love this, but seasoned divers will be bored. There are fish and there is coral but neither is abundant or exceptional. We'd never snorkeled before, so this was a terrific experience for us. The crew was very helpful and patient and fun; great guides to show the group where to see the most fish.

 

Once back onboard the rum punch started to flow and they set out lunch. The punch was tasty and apparently we were the first ever group that finished off all the rum. ***wink***

 

They served chicken, pasta salad, yellow rice, and coleslaw. All was quite edible and plentiful. Then we had the most beautiful leisurely sail back to the dock. They really took their time and fun was had by all!

 

Back at the port I headed to the ship while the boys did a little shopping. We met up again on deck 10 to watch sail away. The horn sounded the last call to get back onboard and here come the runners. It is so funny watching them and listening to everyone hollering for them to hurry up. It was quite a warm day in Roatan so being up top outside in the breeze was fantastic.

 

Snacks, drinks, rest, then dinner time! The boys had some very tasty meatballs as an appetizer while I had Caesar salad (again). Kid and me chose salmon and whipped potatoes (again) and DH had lasagna. Dessert was cheesecake for me & kid and WCMC for DH. As you can see, the kid and I aren’t adventurous at meal time. Nonetheless, it was an excellent meal.

 

Up Next: Grand Cayman

 

 

 

 

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Thursday – Swimming with Stingrays, Grand Cayman:

We all slept in since our excursion wasn't until 2 pm. We had booked the ship's deluxe stingray sandbar excursion. What a phenomenal experience! We just loved the MarineLand Tours boat and crew.

 

The tender process that morning seemed quite chaotic but by the afternoon it was running smoothly. It’s a bit of a long ride to shore but we’d left in plenty of time to do a little shopping and sample the local beer at the bar right at the pier. Be prepared – Cayman is expensive! The kid and I wandered around the shops while DH took a walk down the street to find the post office and mail postcards. Then we met back up at the excursion meeting point.

 

The crew gathered us all together and we walked out to the trolley busses. We drove through town then out to what appeared to be a private marina where we all climbed aboard the most amazing boat. It had an indoor deck with lots of seating and an outdoor up top level if you wanted to enjoy the sun and fresh air. We went up top – it was a lovely day and a fabulous boat ride (there’s also a snack bar and bathrooms onboard). The crew explained several things while we headed to the sandbar and they will take pictures of your group with your camera if you ask.

 

This boat has the most amazing “back deck” – stairs that go all the way down into the water. If you are mobility challenged, you can do this excursion! The crew regularly handles the Stingrays and they seem to really care about the wellbeing of these wondrous creatures. We petted them on top and underneath, they’d lift one and it would spurt water out of its mouth (it looks like a spitting smiley face!). We were able to hold them, and kiss them (10 years good luck!) and feed them. And even though some in the group had a difficult time understanding the concept of taking turns, everyone that wanted to got to take a turn interacting with the rays.

 

Snorkel masks were provided if you wanted the option, but I didn’t see anything in the water except the stingrays – there are a lot of rays at the sandbar. The water is about waist deep so, with the exception of little little kids, most everyone could standup and see and participate. We took a lot of pictures that day! And then… It was over… All good things must come to an end or you don’t know how good they are!

 

Tenders were efficient getting everyone back onboard – plenty of time for a snack and drinks and other such nonsense and then sail away. Before we knew it, it was time to cleanup for elegant night #2. The kid decided he'd rather do his own thing instead of getting dressed up, so he set off for the buffet, and the arcade, and the sports bar. We didn’t bring formal ware this trip, but we dressed appropriately and went to the dining room via the bar.

 

The appetizers we chose were awesome! I couldn't decide between clam chowder and crab cakes so I chose both. Then I had grilled jumbo shrimp that had the only marinara sauce that I have ever enjoyed. I can’t really describe it except to say it was SOOOO mouth-watering good. I also had mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. DH had pasta with a mushroom sauce and loved it too! When these wonderful entrees were all gone, we both wished out loud we could lick the plates! Dessert was key lime mousse for DH and amaretto cake for me. Yum!

 

Up Next – Sea Day

 

 

 

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Friday – Sea Day:

 

Our last day and a sea day and we are ready for relaxing! Slept late then made our way to sea day brunch around 10:30. We used our VIFP drink tickets and got mimosas. The kid had chocolate pancakes, I ordered my favorite cruise breakfast of all-time, eggs Benedict, and DH had steak and eggs. Don’t get in any kind of hurry during sea day brunch. I don’t know what it is, but each cruise at sea day brunch, the food comes out really slow. It’s worth the wait and quite enjoyable – just don’t expect quick.

 

The day passes peacefully: reading, casino, sports bar, nap, very little adult beverage consumption (I’d had enough and DH must’ve agreed since I saw him with only one drink that day). Mellow was the name of the game the entire day.

 

We dressed for dinner and headed to the dining room without the kid since he had decided to do his own thing. DH and I had eaten a late substantial snack and thought seriously about skipping the dining room, but we wanted to say goodbye to our excellent waiters. We decided to just go and have appetizers (caprese salad, baked onion soup) and dessert (banana coconut cake, chocolate ice cream), followed by fond farewells and many thanks to our wait staff. They were absolutely marvelous and we just think the world of them. If you are traveling on the Glory, we hope you get Ioan (pronounced Yo-In), Oka, Nepa, and Vlad in the dining room!

 

Then the dreaded time to pack. ***boo hoo***

 

 

Goodbye Glory:

 

We chose to have the ship handle the luggage so we could enjoy one final breakfast in the dining room unencumbered. So, the next morning we cleaned up, ate breakfast then waited on Lido for our number to be called. We were off the boat at about 9:30, then through customs (always a joy), then out to the sunshine to wait for our friends to pick us up.

 

Our flight wasn’t until 3:30, so we spent the time between boat and plane at Dave & Busters in Fort Lauderdale. The kid enjoys the games, we get a chance to catch up with our friends and enjoy one final “vacation beer”, then off to the airport.

 

Return trip home was completely uneventful.

 

 

Up Next: General Observations

 

 

 

 

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