Glory 5-day Miami-Jamaica-Grand Cayman March 21, 2015

[BooBooMonkey]

WARNING: Enter at your own risk! This Carnival Glory review will be detailed and contain many photos! This will include food porn, cabin pix from every angle, all four pages of all five Funtimes, and other assorted minutia (e.g., the mini-bar price list), as well as some pre-and post-cruise commentary. Also, this review is my opinion of this particular cruise, guided by many years of cruising, and is in no way intended to be the facts as someone else may have seen them. I will try my best to create moderately-sized paragraphs in a pleasant font, using good grammar, with no typos, and to successfully post viewable (but not too large) versions of my photos.

 

 

As you will see from the background below and my past reviews (which can be linked to from my signature line), I am a fairly loyal Carnival cruiser. However, I will be posting some opinions on things that could have been done better. “Carnival cheerleaders”—please don’t flame me—I am one of you! Also, feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer—but be patient with me on questions posted after Monday 3-30-15, as I do have a JOB to return to lol. In addition, things we did NOT do (so you won’t waste your time asking about them) included: production shows, piano bar, taste bar, art auction, bingo, spa, pool deck games, and Grand Cayman (will explain later).

 

 

Background: This cruise was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

I think (starting to lose count) this was my 16th cruise (11th on Carnival) and DH’s maybe 13th cruise (8th on Carnival). I have been on the Glory once before to Canada from Boston, and mostly on Fantasy class ships other than that (plus Triumph and Destiny each once, and the Carnivale way back in the day with my parents). Other lines we have cruised were NCL (4) and Costa (1). We have done cruises from 3-7 days in length (usually 4-5 days) to the Bahamas, Eastern and Western Caribbean, Canada/New England, and Mexico and have sailed out of every Florida port at least once, plus Charlotte, Boston, and New Orleans. We live in Ohio and have sometimes driven to port and sometimes flown. We book cruises for schedule, price, and homeport location/itinerary (probably in that order). We have cruised both with and without kids/teens/family/friends along. This one was just us!

 

 

Pre-cruise: We flew (for free--love those Delta Skymiles) to Miami late the evening before the cruise and took a taxi to the Residence Inn (Marriott) Miami Airport West. It was a standard Residence Inn—which we find very nice and always try to stay in one even if it is only for one night. I travel frequently and “live” at a Residence Inn every other week for work, so we were able to get the room free with points. Taxi was around $24 plus tip from the airport (more on that later). The airport is in the flight path of the airport, so if noise bothers you—don’t stay there. I will post a review on Tripadvisor with more detail. Now, on to the cruise!

 

 

The morning of the cruise, we planned to arrive early to port. Hubby had researched Uber for transportation, and found a Groupon for your first ride free, so we decided to give it a try. You can’t go wrong with the Uber service, I think. We left the hotel around 10:20. The driver did get a bit confused around the port area, but they don’t charge you if they go over. We also took one on our way back from the port to MIA and were pleased (That was around $14). The drivers were both very nice and professional and they had very nice clean sedans. We will definitely use this service again! I have more details on this, so ask if you are interested.

 

 

We arrived at port around 10:45 and were on board the ship no later than 11:45. I am platinum, so we went through the VIP lines and then were directed to the VIP staging area to wait. We were glad of this once we boarded and saw the general boarding area so full of people! Won’t miss those days at all! I think they boarded special needs, wedding parties, and then us, and then FTTF, before starting with the zones.

 

 

Once on board, we went straight to our room to drop off luggage so we could enjoy the Lido without hauling it around. We had cabin 9256, which is an inside Port (left) cabin on Deck 9-Lido (I just heard the female voice of the elevators say that in my mind, lol). I do have many cabin pix to share, but more on that in a bit. Here is a shot of us in our corny, matching 25th anniversary shirts with Miami in the background, as well as one of Hubby’s first Guy’s burger of the cruise. Sorry if some pics are sideways, but I think you can click on them and open in my photobucket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That evening, we went to our early dinner seating and met most of our table mates. We had a large round table for 10 near the front of the Platinum (aft) dining room. I think Carnival always does a great job matching up guests on these large tables. Ours was all couples either slightly younger/older or the same general age as us, with kids (none on the cruise). We all had some things in common, and had great conversation together. If you are worried about eating with others, no need. We have always had a good experience with this.

 

 

The service was WAY off the first night. We were all seated by maybe 6:10 and they did not start taking orders until 6:30. Therefore, it was kind of long that first night. They did bring it back up to par the next night (in fact, they were right on point the second night). The only thing I remember about the food is they left the bread on the table that night (instead of doling it out—which is a good thing), and they brought me a spinach Caesar instead of romaine, which I did not prefer. I believe the fried shrimp was my entrée, which was good. I’ll post some food porn later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we went to the casino and played blackjack and a few slots. The casino this trip deserves its own section, so I’ll get to that later as well. Short version—worst odds ever (and we are frequent gamblers, both on and off ships), and I made it into the final of the blackjack tournament! We also danced a bit to the sounds of the band at the Casino bar.

 

Next up: Cabin and general ship notes, followed by Fun Day at Sea!

[islandatsea]

Great start to your review & thanks for taking the time to write one :) .

[Guest]

I was on this cruise also.Sent in a review. Don't know if it will be posted.I thought the food and service were lacking. Nobody could even answer a question.

[BooBooMonkey]

Let me preface that all our cruises prior to fall 2010 were in either inside or oceanview cabins. Some of them were with the two of us and our three kids in the same cabin (Fantasy class ships)! So, we are not too choosy on cabins. The first balcony cabin I had (on an impromptu cruise with our then 18yo DD) was an upgrade at port on an IS guarantee by NCL. Felt so bad for DH that he wasn’t on that one! After that, however, our next three cruises together, we paid for the balcony room and enjoyed it. DH is one of those smokers who wakes in the night to smoke, so before the rule change, the balcony was a good choice (no flaming smoker-haters—remember the warnings and disclaimers at the beginning of my post please lol). I particularly enjoyed it for that morning cup of room service coffee while getting ready for the day.

 

We decided not to pay the extra for it this time though, but selected the Lido location so we could be close enough to outside, the food, etc. Two years ago on this very same ship, we were in a balcony across the hall from this inside location (maybe 2 rooms farther forward).

 

First of all, the inside cabins on this class of ship are NOT the same size as the outsides, as they are on Fantasy class. If you think about it, the sofa in a balcony/outside cabin is like four feet long, and the vanity is placed lengthwise, instead of width wise. I will post pictures below. This is why they don’t have the classic 5-person inside cabins on this class of ship. You would be crawling over one another constantly!

 

Also, this cabin in this location (second one beyond the area where the forward stairs/elevator are), was not a quiet cabin/location AT ALL. If you have ever been in a midship, lower deck, inside cabin on a Fantasy class ship, you know how dark and quiet they can be! I was looking forward to the dark and quiet, but it was not to be. We do not remember hearing any hall noise from the balcony cabin we had in nearly the same area of the same ship before. In this particular cabin, I could hear the “bing” and “bing-bong” of the elevator, conversation in the rooms on either side, and passenger and steward activity in the hall—especially that.

 

The other problem with the location is that the Platinum dining room is really far away (deck 3 aft), and even the deck 5 midship activities (mostly casino for us) were a bit of a hike—considering we ordered two bottles and mixers from Bon Voyage ahead of time. If we ever do another inside cabin on this class of ship, I think we will go with deck 7-mid. However, if the only cabin that we could get was this exact one, I’d book it again! The cabin doesn’t make or break a cruise for me.

 

Cabin amenities are what you generally expect. Three closets (one with just shelves), 4 drawers, a vanity with a chair, a minibar/fridge, and a tiny bathroom with actually decent counter space, small flat-screen TV, small safe with a code (no need for a used gift card with a magnetic strip).

Here are several pictures of the cabin and its storage spaces (again sorry some are sideways):

 

Taken from the hall door-

 

Taken from right side of head of bed-

 

Taken from left side head of bed-

 

Closet Space-

 

Drawer space-

 

Minibar (emptied out with our stuff in it)-

 

General Ship notes and pictures will be next!

[SMSACE6]

Nice start to your review! I am following and enjoying your detail.:)

[Guest]

I am also waiting with baited breath.

[BooBooMonkey]

Other than the above-mentioned room location, observations about the Conquest Class (of which Glory is one):

 

We love it! It is a bit larger than the Fantasy class ships, but not so much as to feel overwhelming (at least after the first day). A lot of my comments are based upon having been on a lot of Fantasy class ships (and even smaller--Norwegian Majesty and Carnivale). Nice stability/not too much motion. There are plenty of places to find peace and quiet if you want it (Deck 3 outside especially comes to mind). The dining rooms are set up in a more open floor-plan on two decks with high ceilings. Larger (3 deck) show theater, more pools and hot tubs, more balcony rooms, more forward “secret” decks, wider walkways on the inside decks near the atrium, more elevators, etc. We really like the 2.0 improvements such as Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana. We missed them on our last cruise on Sensation (which is one of our favorite ships).

 

The music on Deck 5 by the Casino was great the entire trip. The "Whole Notes" was the name of the group who usually played there late. They were fantastic!

 

Here are some random ship pictures you may like:

 

Seaside movies on Lido at night:

 

 

Pool deck on sea day:

 

 

Sea Day sunrise:

 

 

Sea day sunrise near Serenety deck entrance:

 

Panoramic shot of Atrium:

 

 

Funny t-shirts of random couple at casino bar on the first day. The guy has like a bajillion ship pins on his hat too:

 

Tomorrow, I will get to the first Day at Sea, Steakhouse Cooking Demonstration, and Elegant Night, along with our first port day in Jamaica!

 

Thanks for reading :-)

[BooBooMonkey]

We had a hard time sleeping in this morning (see noise above), so DH went out to catch some pretty pictures (above). We went to the dining room for the seaday brunch and so I could get my free drink using the platinum free drink coupon. My breakfast was fine, but DH’s eggs benedict were terrible. The egg was overcooked, and the hollandaise sauce was congealed onto the top. He actually sent it back (something he’s never done) and ordered pancakes.

 

After breakfast, we spent most of the day lounging around and playing blackjack. That night was the elegant dining night in the MDR. We got a new couple at our table who had not come to dinner the first night. Also, every couple came in in dribs and drabs so that he table wasn’t fully seated until probably 6:30. However, unlike day 1, the wait staff were right on with their timing. They did not wait for everyone to be seated. So the first couple was on mains while the next few were on apps, and the last couple were just ordering. By the end of the meal, we were all caught up with one another for dessert. It actually worked out wonderfully and no one was waiting too long between courses.

 

We ordered the lobster tails. These were actually delicious and well-prepared this time! DH had two of them. We forgot our camera, so no pictures of them. The bread police were out back though—they doled out bread instead of leaving the basket on the table. I did see one young man in shorts, tank top, and backwards baseball cap in the dining room. This fact will become more important when I tell our Steakhouse story later. Here is a panoramic view of the waiter dance—not sure which night this was, but you get the drift!

 

 

DH hit one of the comedy shows that night, which he enjoyed. I turned in a bit early after starting what would be a rest-of the-trip losing streak in the casino. The production shows were Latin Nights and Motor City—neither of which we attended. Again, the band at the casino bar stage were great!

 

The next installment will include our awesome tour in Jamaica the next day! In the meantime, here are your Funtimes for the first sea day:

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I don’t have page 4 for some reason…

[BooBooMonkey]

Finally, a port we have not been to! We were excited to be going on a pre-planned tour booked directly with Liberty Tours to the Blue Hole. Our tour guide, Ricardo, had e-mailed those in our group individually to make sure we would contact each other on the ship to arrange to all go out together and meet up with him in Falmouth and the port. This is a tour where you make reservations online, in advance, and pay in cash when you get there.

 

I left a note in the mailbox of another couple that was joining us on day 1 suggesting we try and hook up on our sea day. Funny story…the female half of that couple called our stateroom that day when I was out of the room, but hubby was there. He, not expecting anyone but me to be calling the room, answered “Hey sexy!” Then Dawn, being the awesome person we spent the day with in Jamaica, played right along with him and they both had a laugh about it!

 

As it turns out, Dawn and Shawn with two tween boys from Indiana, and two couples—Kim and Dustin from Melbourne and Sabrina and her other half (whose name I have forgotten—sorry!), were the perfect group of people to spend the day with, along with our guide Ricardo! We met up in the lobby and then walked the length of the port shopping area to be directed to the independent taxi stand to find Ricardo. Ricardo was prepared with a cooler full of ice cold water and Red Stripe beer for those who wanted it. That was the first indication of the great time to follow! Here are some pictures of the port at Falmouth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…

[BooBooMonkey]

We headed across the island to reach our destination, which would be about 1.5 hours away. Along the way, we made several stops, and Ricardo taught us some of the native language (things like Ya Mon and Irie, and No Problem). There are no problems, just situations! He was really good about telling us what we were seeing outside the window and giving us historical facts. At one point he asked if we would like to try some beef and cheese. Several did so he called ahead to order them. These were like empanadas with ground beef and a ton of cheese in them, and were actually quite delicious for only $2 each. At that point, seeing that several were partaking of the beer in the cooler, he asked if we wanted to stop at a supermarket to get some supplies to make his secret recipe rum punch. Didn’t have to convince any of us about that!

 

After our supply stop, Ricardo drove us to our tour stop-the Blue Hole. I had researched on cruise critic and trip advisor and thought this would be an amazing, less-crowded option. I was right on both counts! Ricardo had called ahead and requested Riley to be our guide at the Blue Hole. This young man was an amazing guide and we will never forget him climbing high up on the rocks and trees and doing acrobatic jumps into the water! He was also very good at helping those of us who needed a hand climbing the rocks to the various areas and telling where to safely jump. Here are some pictures of how beautiful that place was:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This place reminded me of the old Brooke shields movie the Blue Lagoon. It was so pretty there. There were a handful of other groups there, but by no means was it crowded, like I imagine the other falls excursion was that most people are familiar with. I am very happy with our decision to take this tour. However, I would not recommend it for anyone with children younger than maybe 6 or 7, or for anyone who cannot climb and be steady on their feet. I did not jump off of any of the cliffs, but my DH did all but the last one that requires you to climb down a rock hill with falls coming over it. Even without doing any of the daring things, I still had a blast watching everyone else do it!

 

Rest of the tour in the next post…

[BooBooMonkey]

After about an hour and a half there, we made our way back to Ricardo’s van and took some group photos with Riley. While we were gone, Ricardo had mixed up the rum punch in a 2 gallon jug and had cups for us to use. Can’t decide if I’m proud or ashamed to say that we 8 adults finished that sucker off by the time we got back to port!

 

On the way back, we stopped at Scothcies restaurant for some jerk chicken and beans and rice, which was included in the $75 we paid for the tour, along with the entry fee to the Blue Hole also being included. Ricardo had arranged for our meals to be ready when we got there, and we had a large round table under a canopy reserved. So, while others there were waiting in line for food, we were sitting in the shade eating and drinking our rum punches!

 

Here is a group photo, minus DH who was taking the picture. I am in pink next to Ricardo on the right.

 

 

The food was delicious! I would highly recommend this place if you have a tour that offers it as a stop.

After lunch, we headed back toward Falmouth which was still maybe an hour away. We made one pit stop along the way, and stopped at a scenic view.

 

 

We were back in port with about 30 minutes to spare, which was fine for us. We got to watch for pier runners (there were none) after getting ready for our Chef’s Table dinner which was scheduled for 6:25.

Here are the Funtimes for Jamaica Day:

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, Chef’s Table.

[elainmir]

I did actually look for you guys in your matching anniversary t's but never saw you! I'm glad you guys had a great cruise..we sure did. There were a few things that weren't awesome but we didn't let that bug us. And you are right those eggs were congealed and the hollandaise sauce was congealed..it was NASTY looking. We didn't have the bread police in the MDR but we only went the one night...I'm hooked on fried oysters and chipotle lime sauce:D we were so busy also chasing kids , meeting up for meals or to do things we didn't get to the MDR but once!

[BooBooMonkey]

Hey! Glad you had a good time with your family! We only did the MDR twice for dinner and twice for brunch. I am kind of anti-buffet because of some of the things I see people do there! Did get pizza twice, and had one Guy's burger--stuff other people aren't touching the serving utensils with. Geez, I sound like a germophobe! Really I am not :o

 

Will you be writing a review? I would love to hear how your trip was from a more family-oriented perspective.

[BooBooMonkey]

On the first day, I had stopped by the Steakhouse reservation table to find out which day our Chef’s Table reservation would be held. I had made the reservation online by e-mail ahead of time, but they cannot tell you the day until you board. I found out it would be Jamaica day, so I then changed our Steakhouse reservation I had also pre-booked from that day to the next. No problem. The next day we received this confirmation in our cabin:

 

 

I called and confirmed and was told no photography would be allowed. However, as you will see below, they did allow us to take pictures of the food. The cost is $75 per person and WELL WORTH IT!

 

So, after our day in Jamaica, we were to meet at the lobby bar for our Chef’s Table experience. We were greeted by a server who gave us the first of several glasses of champagne. Once everyone was there, we were guided through the center MDR to the galley for our tour. We first stopped and had several appetizers while the chef told us interesting facts about the kitchen and allowed us to ask questions. The appetizers were all delicious! I made a point to try everything, even if it wasn't something I thought I would like. I believe this was Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow with Chocolate Bacon and Apple Ribbons:

 

 

Next, they gave us a tour of most areas of the kitchen. We learned how they make warm chocolate melting cake (by the pastry chef who is diabetic—poor guy!). We saw their computer system that lets them know how many orders of each dish have been ordered/served/remaining to be served. The chef said that at the end of a service, they have it so close they may only have a pan of broccoli and a pan of potatoes left over! They really do make everything from scratch from fresh ingredients (few exceptions like the frozen soft serve, and the scrambled eggs which are real eggs, but pasteurized ready to cook come to mind).

 

For meat preparation, they have separate grills for each level of doneness so that one person is only making well done, one person only medium, and so on, to help with consistency.

Here is a big vat of chicken bones being made into stock for use in the next days’ recipes:

 

 

From there, you are escorted into a side room off of the middle MDR where you find your place setting with your name on a card. We took the group picture at that time. Then we were seated for dinner, and offered our choice of red or white wine (or both). I started with the white, but switched to the red when we got to the Wagyu beef course. Anyhow, here is the menu:

 

 

Here is our group picture. I am in front of DH who is in the yellow shirt just to the left of the chef.

 

 

I will post the food porn from this culinary adventure in the next post. It was delicious!

[BooBooMonkey]

So, the meal itself is brought out course by course. They explain how it is prepared, and the sous chefs are over on the side putting the finishing touches on each dish and you can watch them, which was fascinating! These guys are talented with a piping bag for sure (I had to Google that)! It is apparent that they have everything down to a science.

 

I’m sorry I only have pictures of three of the courses. Here is the 5th one, which was the Sea Bass with Chorizo Crust, Fried Popcorn Pudding, Lemon Macaroon, and Lobster Foam:

 

 

Do you see what I mean about the attention to detail on the presentation? I think that was what I was most impressed with. The next course after that was the Wagyu with Bone Marrow Souffle, Scallion & Garlic Panisse, and Gremolata Crisp. I don’t even know what half of that means, but it was delicious!

 

 

Finally, three hours after beginning this extraordinary meal, was the dessert. Sea Salt Praline Chocolate, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel, and Citrus Cream, all on one beautifully plated dish.

 

 

I had my dessert packaged to go! It made an excellent midnight snack!

 

Now, I had said earlier that this experience at $75 per person was worth every penny. Here is why I say that.

1. DH and I together probably drank a total of one bottle of champagne and one bottle of wine over the course of the evening. At Carnival wine prices, let’s call that $75 for the low end.

2. We received an 8x10 photograph. I never buy them, but I think that would be around $20.

3. If we had eaten a meal in the Steakhouse, instead of this, that would be $70 for both (and this was much better).

4. Finally, had we taken the behind-the-scenes tour (at $95 per person), a kitchen tour would have accounted for maybe 15% of that time, or approximately $28.

 

Therefore, the total “value” of the Chef’s table = $193. We paid $150 plus tip. Do the math :).

 

To be perfectly honest though, this was the longest, most drawn out dinner we have ever had (and we have sailed on Costa; and I am half French with a big family there…I know about long meals)! This takes about 3.5 hours start to finish. It is almost impossible to enjoy the last 2 courses, unless you budget room throughout the meal. I ate only about 75% of each course—knowing I would never make it! I had read other reviews, and decided to take it easy, and I only ate half of my lunch earlier at Scotchies. I also pre-planned to ask to take the dessert to go.

 

Remember I said DH is heavily addicted to nicotine? Well, about 2/3 of the way through the meal, he excused himself to “go to the restroom”. Guess what? They escort you to the restroom and wait outside the door for you to bring you back! He was about to lose his mind by the time course 6 came, and managed to slip out while no one was looking and come back right before dessert. While we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the meal, we would probably not do it again because of the amount of time it takes.

 

I think they could do it in an hour less time and have the same general culinary experience. Overall:

 

Deliciousness = 5/5 stars

Value = 6/5 stars

Took too long = 2/5 stars

Average = 4.3 out of 5 stars