Beagle's Glory Review w/Pics 4/11/15

[Beagleluv6107]

It feels like a lifetime ago since I boarded the Glory on 4/11. This will be my 2nd review. I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone that takes the time to do these reviews. I love reading every single one and a quick shout out to some of our top reviewers; GAPearl, Jamman54, and Wrigley.

 

Here’s a little background information. I dreamed of cruising for over 30 years and finally got my wish when DH and I were married on the Destiny in 2008. Since then I’ve been on 2 additional cruises. We planned the cruise on the Glory for 2 years. The main reason was to visit Belize. DH had been before and went cave tubing and couldn’t wait for me to give it a try. (more on that later) I am terribly prone to seasickness so each cruise I have worn the Transderm Scop Patch. Apparently, I also have a bad memory because I forgot the patch causes me some side effects. (more on that later as well)

 

In the days leading up to the cruise, I really wanted to journal my excitement. However, I started an Algebra class on March 16th. If any of you reading this are working full time and getting your degree, I commend you. To say I despise going back to school is an understatement. If I wasn’t over half way to this degree, I would quit, quit, quit. I don’t think I felt so strongly about quitting until Algebra class. I am taking the class online so I Iooked up Carnival’s Wi-Fi packages and decided I would purchase the 240 minutes for $89. I did the majority of the work for the cruise week ahead of time, but I still had to log in and participate to get credit for attendance. I also had a dear friend moving by herself to Florida that week and I wanted to stay in touch via email. (Let’s just say none of my plans worked out).

 

Going on the cruise were DH and 3 good friends: RY, JA, and RA. This was RY’s first ever cruise and he was pretty excited. JA was on my wedding cruise and did most of the videoing and photography that whole week. He also went on the last cruise with us on the Valor in 2013. RA had been on at least one cruise before so she knew what to expect. We picked up RY at 5am and off to Philly airport the day of the cruise. I picked the first flight in case there were delays and sure enough, we had a problem. After we checked our luggage the whole computer system went down before RY could get his bag checked. JA and RA were already at the gate waiting for us. It was about 6am and the flight was to depart at 7:30. We stood waiting for about 15 minutes until I started to panic that we needed to get thru security. Some friend I turned out to be, we just left RY standing there helplessly waiting on US Air to get their computer system back up. After awhile they did get things going and we all boarded on time… or so I thought. The captain made an announcement that the luggage was taking awhile to load because of the issues and so we just sat. We ended up sitting for 2 hours on that plane before we finally took off. At some point I realized that I forgot to put the seasick patch on. After I put the patch on, it only took about an hour until I felt I little nauseated and headachy. DH said it defeats the purpose if I’m feeling sick when the plane hadn’t even moved yet. I knew the next day was a full sea day and it would be in my best interest to leave the patch on all day to get used to it. Hopefully when we were at sea, I would feel fine. At least I had very good intentions. Once we were up in the air I drank a little ginger ale the stewardess gave me. It’s a shame I did not order a drink because she gave JA one for free because of our 2 hour delay. Darn, a missed opportunity… but the patch had me feeling like I already had a drink. I knew I’d better pace myself later once we finally got on the boat. Here’s a picture from the flight.

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Everything went smooth once we reached Miami. I noticed on our Carnival paperwork that we could “check-in” at the airport. That was a great idea but, I did not know this at the time. We walked down thru the baggage claim area until we saw a Carnival sign and few folks working. There weren’t any customers in line but us. They let us use their stapler for our luggage tags. They took our picture and issued our sign and sail cards. What a great feeling having that card and I haven’t even seen my ship yet. It took about 10 minutes and we walked outside and got a cab to the port. We were dropped off and immediately a porter got our attention and started to help with our bags. He mentioned a squeaky wheel getting the grease. DH gave him a $5. The others were oblivious. So he started loudly mentioning how important our luggage was and to ensure its quick delivery we should grease the wheel. He probably got another $15 from that.

 

Here is a picture of my first sighting of Whale Tails in the distance.

 

sorry so blurry

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We found our way inside and saw the security line. One sign said if you checked in at the airport stand here. We all waited and I realized that the line was the exact same line as everyone else. I started to get irritated. JA asked a carnival employee about the Ebola paperwork and she helped him and told us we were in the wrong line. We probably wasted 15 minutes before she saved the day. We walked through a separate area and gave our sign and sail cards and the next thing you know we were walking onto the boat. I was elated because there were several hundred people in line at the Glory check-in.

 

We all decided to drop off our carry on’s and meet in the Lobby Bar. It was time to sign up for the Cheers Program. Look at this beautiful DOD… my beloved Funship Special. I regret to say it was the only one I had all week. I have no idea why because that drink is pretty darn tasty.

 

[cruiser fanatic]

Thanks for doing a review. I enjoyed the cave tubing in Belize but overall do not care for Belize. Hope you enjoyed it!

[Beagleluv6107]

A picture of the view from the back of the boat.

 

 

 

A picture of Miami from my balcony.

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I was a little concerned about too many DOD’s because of the patch, so I just kept it to beer after that. We made our way back to our favorite spot at the back bar. It was called the Azure bar on the Glory. There we met Tutty. She was awesome and we saw her every day. There were two things I could not wait for after reading reviews. The first was my Funship Special and the next was that Guys Burger. Oh yes, it was everything I had heard about and more. There was a spicy mayo that was awesome. This was the only day I got fries with the burger. They were great too and perfectly seasoned, it’s just that after the first one… my stomach was ready to burst. After starving myself for weeks to get ready for this cruise there just wasn’t enough room in there for fries, burgers and beer.

 

[Beagleluv6107]

After my burger it was time for the muster drill. I don’t recall anything out of the ordinary. It sure went faster than last time on the Valor (in San Juan at night). We headed straight to the back of the boat and I took some cool shots leaving Miami. I’ve only sailed out of San Juan at night and Tampa once so this was by far my favorite sail away. We ended up going further into the port, turning around, and then sailing out.

 

 

 

 

 

I was in heaven; was the beginning of vacation, the patch and few drinks had me feeling especially happy, my belly was stuffed with a Guy’s Burger, Miami was beautiful, and… I had DH and my buddies. What more could a girl ask for? Oh no, time to go to dinner. (why did we have to have early seating LOL)

[Beagleluv6107]

I was still feeling pretty stuffed when we made our way down to our dining room. We had the platinum dining room table #626. JA and I discussed asking the Maître D about getting a table for 5. However we never acted on that discussion and now it was 6pm. I didn’t want to ask at that point. I knew we’d be risking a table for 12 with strangers but the table was right by the window. Oh, I just fell in love with the view. I’ve always been right in the middle of all dining rooms before so this was great. Especially since we did have the early seating, I would have daylight to look at that beautiful water every night. We had a grandmother with her granddaughter from Russia at our table. They were very quiet. We had two solo ladies that seemed to strike up a nice friendship. One lady was a school teacher and later in the week she won a snorkel trip that she offered to us. That was so sweet. We didn’t go but to be first on her list was really nice. Our head waiter was Adrian. I thought he did a great job with us for the entire week. He was quick to take our order and all week we had appetizers right away and then the main course as soon as we were finished. I also never really saw his assistant or got his name. The last two nights there was a lady that helped but I never got her name. Delmar was the waiter that took our drink orders but unfortunately, he never really asked if we wanted drinks. After the first two nights, I just went ahead and gave my drink order to Adrian.

 

Here is a picture of that great view.

 

 

 

DH had shrimp and I had fish with a pineapple and rice salsa.

[Beagleluv6107]

That night was Saturday, April 11th and there was a Nascar Race on TV in the sports bar. I left DH and his buddies to watch and I returned to the room to unpack and sit on the balcony. I ran into our room steward Sucada. She called me by name and asked if DH and I needed anything or had any preferences. I’ve had some good room stewards but they never asked me if I wanted anything additional. That was so sweet. She was great all week. Our first towel animal was waiting for me when I got in the room.

There really is no better feeling in the world than the first day of vacation.

 

 

I hope to share day 2 & 3 tomorrow.

[ReggaeRoy]

Very nice. Looking forward to more.

[Beagleluv6107]

We forgot to order room service. I was up around 5am and just stared at the wall until I could finally see some light coming through the balcony. I got up and tested my camera on a few sunrise pictures. The view was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I spotted someone behind us.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I was having serious lingering effects of the patch, I don’t know why I didn’t take it off right then and there. I sat on the balcony and tried to read and take more pictures but I couldn’t stand it and finally woke DH up around 7:30. I was very wound up and ready for that sea day Bloody Mary before brunch. I think we met up with RY around 9am at the Azure Bar. Tutty was there with a smile. Bad news if you used to love the Bloody Mary's. They now make them from tomato juice and lemon instead of the Ocean Spray mix. It tasted awful. That was the first and last one I had all cruise.

 

 

I think we headed to brunch around 10am. This was salmon and I have no idea what the little pieces are but they were topped with cheese so I ate them. I polished that off with this brownie. It was just ok. The salmon was great.

 

 

 

DH had the steak

[anamarieus]

anticipating more! Love it so far and beautiful shots of the sunrise! Thank you for doing this!

[Jamman54]

GREAT start!! We've loved our cruises on the Glory. She is a very colorful ship!

[Beagleluv6107]

After breakfast we went to the internet café. I purchased the 240 minutes for $89. We must have been there an hour. I would have given up but I had to post to the online class for credit. It eventually did finally work but only long enough for my post. I tried to email my friend that was moving and the cursor just spun and spun. I gave up.

 

We finally met up with JA and RA at the Red Frog Pub. We spent hours watching the hairy chest contest and the mixology contest. I sure did get some laughs from that. The assistant cruise director was Hugo and he was funny. His accent made some of the jokes even funnier.

 

 

Check out this beer. Not mine but very cool.

 

 

We finally made our way to the slide. I was going to take videos with the new camera I bought. I got a Fujifilm XP just for the underwater pictures I planned to take. A side note… I tried to learn the camera before the cruise but I got side tracked doing dreaded algebra. So needless to say I didn’t have all the features memorized on what and where but figured how hard can it be to hit video? RA and DH headed up to wait in line while I got into position. JA forgot to tell me when they are coming down the slide so I missed them both. I blame him for that one. The second time around they all went up and I hit video in my settings but neglected to hit video on the outside of the camera. I totally missed all of the action. I got an F for that. JA had a Go Pro on and he did video himself coming down. I bet I’m in that video standing at the end like an idiot (not videoing) as he comes down the slide. Thankfully, he was able to video the rest of them as they made their way down the slide. After that it was off to lunch. I thought about a burger but we all opted to try the Blue Iguana tacos.

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Then it was time to shower up for dress up night. A shout out to my favorite reviewer … Ms. GAPEARL. (love that girl) Just like her, I love to dress up every single night!!! But tonight I would take extra effort since DH would be in nice clothes for a change, I mean for pictures.

 

We were all supposed to meet at the Azure bar before heading to dinner but the rest of the group were no shows. Turns out they heard we had two dress up nights and they didn’t want to be bothered. I love to eat dinner in the dining room. Maybe it’s because I don’t get to do that EVER here living in the country. I take full advantage.

 

This particular night was the fastest dinner I have ever experience on a boat. We did not get to the table until 6:05 and we walked out at 6:30. We did not get desert but wow that was some fast service. Since our friends weren’t there it was just us and our 4 single gals. I had the kale salad and fish. These fried potato patties were awesome. DH had the prime rib.

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight's Animal

 

[Beagleluv6107]

GREAT start!! We've loved our cruises on the Glory. She is a very colorful ship!

 

Thanks Jamman! Yes the Glory was a blast!

[Beagleluv6107]

Thanks for doing a review. I enjoyed the cave tubing in Belize but overall do not care for Belize. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

Hi Cruiser,

I can see exactly what you mean about Belize and thank goodness we all really had a great time during the cave tubing.

[Beagleluv6107]

anticipating more! Love it so far and beautiful shots of the sunrise! Thank you for doing this!

 

Thanks Anamarieus

[Beagleluv6107]

This was the day I was most looking forward to on the entire cruise. The first reason was because it was RY’s first stop and it was not a tender port. I’m not a big fan of tendering but then again I’m sure none of us are. The second reason was Mr. Sanchos. I found pictures and reviews online and I absolutely HAD to go there. I didn’t want to be bothered with the all inclusive. I just wanted to pay my 12 bucks and hit those fun water toys.

 

We did order room service this day and it arrived about 40 minutes early which was fine. Attached is a picture of the Triumph that was docked by us.

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We all met pretty early and had breakfast in the buffet. I think we got off the boat at 11. We hopped in a cab to Mr. Sancho's only to find out they were closed for a private affair. (unless you had the all inclusive). So RA suggested a place she found online named Carlos and Charlie’s. It was ok and pretty packed. We swam and I did bounce around on one trampoline. I think my biggest issue was the water was not clear at all. No sense in taking any underwater pictures. I found out later the other water toys you had to pay to go on. By then I was not interested.

 

 

A really nice guy came along selling these skulls. He ended up sitting down and chatting with us for at least 15 minutes.

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Carlos and Charlie’s offered free Wi-Fi and gave us the password but it never worked. I still wasn't able to check on my friend that was moving.

 

We got back to the pier and found this spot to hang out for awhile. I found a SOL. I tried one for the first time in Pittsburg of all places. I think I like the SOL better than Corona or Dos Equis.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I took this picture on the walk back to the ship.

 

 

Once we were back on the ship I did try to use Wi-Fi again to check email and again it was not working.

 

I forgot to take pictures of dinner that night. I don’t think we went to any shows either.

[GMRPHRN]

Thanks so much for your review.

 

I will be sailing on the Glory in October out of Miami. I am very anxious about arriving day of departure but various things have prevented us arriving a day early. Would you mind sharing what time your plane landed (eventually), what time you arrived at the port, and when you were on the ship to give us an idea of the time frame. '

 

I really appreciate your help. Looking forward to the rest of the review.