Glory 4 Day Review -- Such a Shame

[justusfour2014]

My family just returned from a 4 day Glory cruise to Key West and Cozumel. We are previous fantasy ship cruisers and wanted to try a larger ship and this fit our schedule.

 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:

 

The Good: Easy embarkation and disembarkation which I was totally surprised by being Port of Miami. We had an inside cabin on the Main Deck and the size was laid out much better than on Fantasy class ships -- especially the bathroom. Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina was excellent! We also enjoyed the Dive In movie (Big Hero 6) with popcorn and soft blankets.

 

The Bad: Our cabin steward, MDR wait staff and the layout of the ship. First night our cabin steward didn't even clean our room or let down the kids' beds. We tried housekeeping, no one answered. Then Guest Services who called housekeeping and no answer. GS finally said they'd find someone to come down to get it taken care of. An hour later 2 maintenance men came and let down the beds. The next day we finally meet our cabin steward and my husband jokingly said to him that he missed our cabin last night and the maintenance men had to let the kids' beds down. The cabin steward told us he didn't and started to argue with my husband. Funny part of it, the cabin steward for the next set of cabins (who met us the first night) asked me (BY NAME) what was wrong, "why we standing outside of cabin?" When I told him he sighed very loudly and said "I so sorry for your family. I got key if no one come." I wish I could have given him our tips bc "S" was an awesome steward and actually cared about his passengers.

 

Our MDR wait staff was like watching Moe, Larry and Curly. The fist night took almost 2 hours and when dessert finally came, they tried to rush us out bc they had another seating. The main waiter was uptight and not happy at all, one assistant seemed very new and clueless, and the other, Nestor, was nice and smiled but got yelled at constantly that night by uptight head waiter dude while the clueless one just stood around. Needless to say, we never went back to the MDR to eat.

 

The layout of the Glory was insane and confusing. Public restrooms "tucked away" and extremely hard to find. Up a flight of stairs so you can just go back down bc you can't go that way. 24 hour pizza and ice cream located in the aft where it has "Adults Only" pool? Then you get hear all the adults back there whine about kids coming back there for pizza and ice cream?SMH

 

The Ugly: It amazed me how rude and disrespectful the passengers were to the crew. I found myself apologizing for people in front of me who belittled or were just downright nasty to a crew member. The poor omelette crew dude - I just stood there glaring at the guy who was just awful to him. I told the crew dude that if he'd been on land at a restaurant ordering his food it would have been spit on! He laughed and said "it's okay." BUT it's not okay! My daughter left the lido deck so mad bc the table next to her was throwing food and plates on the floor just to watch the crew pick them up!! AND it wasn't kids, it was adults! Not to mention people running up and down the hallways at all hours of the night, yelling and slamming doors.

 

This was our third family cruise with Carnival and by far the worst one. The ports were great and I'm glad we got to see them. Did any of the above ruin our vacation - absolutely not! We always have fun and enjoy our time as a family no matter what we are doing. Will we take another cruise on the Glory or cruise out of the Port of Miami again -- probably not. Thanks for reading!

[kona_wahine]

We go on the glory in a couple weeks. I hope we don't get that steward or wait staff. Sorry your cruise kinda stunk. Better than being at work though. ;)

[justusfour2014]

Thanks for the warning, but I did book the cruise like the ones before. All three were different. As I said, we always have fun and enjoy our time as a family. :-)

[justusfour2014]

kona_wahine, exactly! It was better than being at work! You'll have a fabulous time even if you get them. Enjoy and havd a Guy's burger for me!

[mississauga]

Why did the Glory do a 4 days cruise. I thought it alternated with 7 east and west itinerary cruises. Was there a reason why they cut it to a 4 days cruise?

 

Also, in your Good segment, you said the embarkation and disembarkation was easy. Do why will you not cruise out of Pirt of Miami again?

 

Crew come and go so not always the same on each cruise. Sorry you got ones who were not up to standard. As you said, the other cabin steward was more attentive.

[justusfour2014]

No clue why the 4 day switch up unless it was to align the days back to a normal schedule.

 

We drove to Miami - 16'ish hours and it was rough - not something this body wants to do again.

[Budget Queen]

You can run into a less desirable passenger mix on short cruises. Maybe look for 7 day or longer sailings, in the future?

[justusfour2014]

That could have been it Budget Queen. I'd love to try a 7 day in the future - just need the time and money.

[elainmir]

We just did the five day on Glory March 21st-26th...and somewhere on here I have a review on that..the cabin steward we had was horrible. Never addressed us by name, I called for ice he told me to call room service ( uh sure I can give room service part of your tip. no problem) our room didn't get any service the first evening. I wasn't thrilled.

I'm sorry it was so bad for you..the people on this cruise were not that bad! I think honestly it wouldn't matter if it were 3,4,5 or 7 days...the folks on board are luck of the draw.

[cruiser fanatic]

Sorry, that this cruise was not the best. In regards to the rude passengers, the crew of the Freedom (which recently repositioned from Florida to Texas) said that they noticed a HUGE difference in the passengers. They said in Florida many people were flat out rude to them. Ever since coming to Texas most passengers have been very friendly and like to have fun!

[nybumpkin]

Why did the Glory do a 4 days cruise. I thought it alternated with 7 east and west itinerary cruises. Was there a reason why they cut it to a 4 days cruise?

Victory does this itinerary usually, but she is in drydock. I think they must have wanted to keep the 4/5-day itinerary in place since it's spring break season.

[justusfour2014]

elainmir, I think you nailed it with - the folks on board are luck of the draw.

 

The cruise wasn't horrible, just not as good as the first two. It was bound to happen one day!lol

 

AND, the ship listed port side for several long minutes while going through a horrible storm. Freaky!! I believe that is a category of its own!lol

[justusfour2014]

Interesting and I'm glad for the crew. Perhaps cruising out of Texas should be considered in the future!

[SadieN]

Spring Break cruises, especially the short ones, are notorious as you found out. Been there,done that, now laugh about the 22yo peeing during muster.

Edited April 2, 2015 by SadieN

[v3cruiser]

That is a shame! We enjoyed the Glory and crew very much.

[Eeyore_Lover]

I have been on the Glory three times, as that is the class of ship I enjoy most.

 

OP, I agree the layout is a little strange, but all the Conquest class ships are that way. Now I am thrown for a loop when I go on a ship and can actually get to the the aft dining room with having to go down from 5 or up from 2 :)

[Markmom18]

We were on the Glory for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise this last August. You brought back our memory of the Cabin Stewart.....who was that masked man? We didn't meet him either. But, we did meet another very nice cabin Stewart. We saw him out in the hall every morning ....but not "our" guy. I really don't know who took care of our cabin each day. But, it was done very nicely ...so we didn't complain.

 

We liked the Glory, had a wonderful time actually. As it sounds you did too. :) This August flying to Florida again. But, we're going back over to RCCL on the Freedom. I like both lines....soooo many nice folks on both!

[hockeyguru32]

Sorry you had a rough trip. My first time on the Conquest class of ships I was also lost for a couple days but once you get the hang of it you learn. We are on the Glory in a couple weeks and we will back the best of it bad service or not. No one can or will ruin my vacation and I like what Carnival provides. A great Vacation and Value for your money

[graygirl]

Thinking about your poor omelet station cook and buffet wait staff. It seems too many people have watched the Titanic movie and somehow think that class distinctions are still applicable today. How anyone could be rude to someone who works so hard to make sure you have a wonderful vacation is beyond me. We all need a good dose of humility and compassion. :)

[ASchaff]

We drove to Miami - 16'ish hours and it was rough - not something this body wants to do again.

 

That's why we never sail out of Miami. It is only about a 8-9 hour drive if all goes perfectly for us, but we HATE that drive. We go to the Keys every year and I dread the drive. Did it two years ago in August with no AC in the truck. Absolutely miserable.

 

We love the Glory, so we were very disappointed when she moved there. We did have a negative dining experience on the Glory years ago as well, but our was more related to our table being close to the waiters station and it smelled awful.

[ASchaff]

On the cabin steward note. I think our best steward ever was on our 5 day paradise cruise out of Tampa, so I think that is also luck of the draw, but I cannot recall ever having a bad steward, just some better than others. He was absolutely wonderful. He remembered us all by name, the first day we met him in the other end of the hall and he asked if we needed anything, we asked for an ice bucket since we knew there was no fridge, he remembered which rooms and what we needed even though he was busy with everything else.

Edited April 2, 2015 by ASchaff

[kyrisong1]

Spring Break cruises, especially the short ones, are notorious as you found out. Been there,done that, now laugh about the 22yo peeing during muster.

 

This!!!! well said Sadie!!!

[CAnative1]

My first time with Carnival was on the Glory. I admit I also thought the lay out was a little strange in regards to having to go up or down decks to be able to go all the way through... but, it did not bother me much. I really liked the ship, and my experience was the complete opposite of the OP.

 

As others have said, I guess it is just the luck of the draw. I've been lucky each time that I have cruised (although I have limited experience). I hope my luck continues on my next one as we are booked with another line.

[roberooski]

I had a different experience but was not very impressed with the staff as I have been on my many other cruises with Carnival. Our room steward was fine. We hardly saw him, which is fine with me because we didn't need anything. Our room was cleaned, bed turned down....towel animal present. We're good.

 

I found what was typical on weekend cruises - groups of bachelor and bachelorette parties that were COMPLETELY OBNOXIOUS. By no means do I blame Carnival, or anyone else for that matter, for this. Their behavior was embarrassing to say the least but they didn't care. I didn't encounter anyone else during this cruise that was disrespectful, thankfully.

 

Agree that Guy's Burgers was AWESOME and easily a highlight of the trip for all of us (we had 15 in our group).

 

We encountered some seriously bad weather - in that we had high winds that made the ship tilt pretty dramatically to the side. Now, I was amused as I knew we were completely safe. I'm sure others may not have felt the same way I did. That was Saturday night and Sunday the winds were gale-force so that we couldn't sit on deck. I even tried to sit on my balcony with no luck as the winds were fierce.

 

The biggest complaint that I have (that I'm sure will get worked out) was the amount of smokers in the Casino. Since it's the only place to sit inside and smoke, so many people were sitting on stools at Slot Machines (I don't play them, so I really don't care) just drinking and smoking with their friends like it was a bar. Just like when the decision was made in my state to ban smoking in restaurants, the first few months were a trial period - so I hope that they figure out something that will work for everyone.

 

We all had a GREAT time otherwise and will be cruising again with Carnival.

[CAnative1]

The biggest complaint that I have (that I'm sure will get worked out) was the amount of smokers in the Casino. Since it's the only place to sit inside and smoke, so many people were sitting on stools at Slot Machines (I don't play them, so I really don't care) just drinking and smoking with their friends like it was a bar. Just like when the decision was made in my state to ban smoking in restaurants, the first few months were a trial period - so I hope that they figure out something that will work for everyone.

 

 

I don't intend this to seem as though I am flaming or anything else, but I have to ask....

 

If you don't play, then why was the smoking in the casino the biggest complaint for you? Is it because others in your group play but don't smoke?

 

I don't play, and I don't smoke so for me it would not be an issue as I would just not be in the casino unless I had to pass through to get somewhere else. Just curious as to why this was an issue for you.