Side to Side Carnival Glory and NCL Escape review

[crmc]

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We did side to side cruises on the Carnival Glory Jan. 16th and NCL Escape Jan. 30, so I'll try and post this on both the Carnival and NCL forums. We had a great time both weeks. I'll do a little comparing, but realize that we booked two very different cruises. The Glory was just my husband and me in an inside cabin, while the Escape added two of our kids, their spouses and three grandchilden under the age of 3 in three adjoining balcony cabins with the beverage package. This was our second Carnival cruise, third NCL cruise, and we've been on ten Royal Caribbean cruises.

EMBARKATION

GLORY We got to the Glory between 1 and 1:30, waited in a very short luggage line, breezed through the rest of the process and right onto the ship. We each brought a bottle of wine and were asked to take them out of our carryons to show what size they were.

ESCAPE We got to the Escape around 9:30, checked in quickly, were assigned to boarding group 4, and sat down to wait for our kids to arrive. Boarding started about 11:30. The room was packed and there seemed to be delays with one side being closed. My husband overheard a crew member say the ship had hit some platform!?! Anyway, group 4 was called and when half our group got through the card scanning point the rest of us were told to wait. Computers down? Ramps too full? I don't know, but we stood there another 15 minutes. Meanwhile the group on the ship got us a table at O'Sheehan's and were ready for their second drink by the time we got there! :)

CABINS

GLORY Our inside on the Glory was smaller than some insides we've had. No chair or loveseat. But it was perfectly adequate with plenty of storage. We thought the bed was a little firm and the comforters are always too warm for us, so we asked our room steward (he said 'Just call me Danny Boy') if he had a pad to add to the bed and a thinner blanket. He ended up using the comforter as the pad and making up the bed with a thinner blanket, which worked out perfectly. Our cabin service was excellent. Every time we returned from breakfast or dinner our cabin had been made up, and yes, there were towel animals. :) We were on deck 9, the lido deck. It was very nice having the buffet and pool on our deck.

ESCAPE Our Escape balcony cabin on deck 10 had the bed next to the closet. There wasn't a lot of room between them, but that didn't pose a problem for us. The room had everything we needed, but I had trouble finding the hair dryer, which was mounted under the desk. The bed was comfortable, but again we asked our room steward for a lighter blanket the second morning. He made up the bed with the regular comforter and put a lighter folded blanket on top, so we had to remake the bed. The next day he did make the bed with the lighter blanket and put the comforter on the loveseat. There were lights you could put on to ask to have the room made up, but I don't know why we bothered, because our room was NEVER made up when we came back from breakfast or dinner. Our cabin steward was friendly, but not too efficient.

I'm usually fine with an inside cabin, but with the 3 little ones it was awesome to have the balconies. The best part was being able to open the dividers between them to have one larger space and access to all 3 cabins, so when kids were napping you could be on the balcony or the next cabin.

MUSTER

Both were fine, not too long. On the Glory we were all lined up outside. One the Escape we were seated in one of the restaurants.

MDRs

GLORY We had the 6:00 seating on the Glory, which we prefer. We like getting to know the other people at our table and having the same wait staff each night. We enjoyed everything we ate there, including the lobster, which is no longer complementary on NCL. We indulged in the chocolate melting cake several nights! As noted earlier, we brought 2 bottles of wine. The first we opened in our cabin and just brought glasses of wine to the table. The second, we opened in our room, but brought the bottle to the table. We were charged a $15 corkage fee on that bottle. Dinners were generally well paced, but we could do without the wait staff dance shows. We couldn't see them anyway from our table and it made dinners longer than necessary. Let the entertainers entertain and the wait staff serve food!

We also ate one breakfast and 2 sea day brunches in the MDR. The steak and eggs were good, but I couldn't figure out why they served both fried potatoes and and a cup of french fries with it. The fruit plates were small, but at least included a couple of pieces of pineapple and a strawberry, which were no where to be found at the buffet all week.

ESCAPE On the Escape we ate all of our dinners in the Manhattan room except for one in Savor. We generally enjoyed the food, but were surprised that the nightly specialty was some type of steak every single night. Service was hit or miss. Some nights it was well paced and others slower than molasses. We figured dinner with 3 toddlers would be challenging, but maybe it would've been smoother with the same wait staff every night. We had made 6:30 reservations for each night in advance, but they seemed to just set a table up for us when we got there anyway. They had macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken tenders and pizza for the kids. We ordered grilled cheese twice and it came as a double decker, which was fine the first night, but the second night it was basically 3 pieces of toast with unmelted cheese between. The kids didn't eat it. Just make a regular grilled cheese sandwich for kids!

The third night the kids were signed up for a day care session ($20 for one, $36 for the other 2 siblings) so we could have an adult dinner. That was the night we went to Savor. Service was so slow that 2 hours later when the kids needed to be picked up, we still didn't have our entrees, so we had tired kids at the table with us when they finally arrived. The other nights my husband and I went to eat at 5:30 while our kids took the toddlers to the buffet. Then we entertained the toddlers while their parents ate. Our service at 5:30 was always good. We enjoyed the live music in the Manhattan room and even danced a few times between courses.

BUFFETS

GLORY We only ate at the Glory buffet a few times for breakfast and one salad bar lunch. The setup was a small continental breakfast station with fruit and baked goods, omelette stations, and a main line for everything else. I was disappointed that there was no pineapple. The honey dew melon was fine, the cantalope was tasteless. Omelettes were fine. Baked goods were so so.

ESCAPE The Escape buffet was very large with a lot of variety. We ate all of our breakfasts and several lunches there and thought the food was good. You could just go in and grab what you wanted rather than waiting in one main line. One thing that wasn't very handy was the 3 stacked shelves with fruit and baked goods. They all had plastic doors over them that had to be lifted, and when someone had one door open, you couldn't get anything from the other 2 shelves. The scrambled eggs I had one morning were very poor, but the premade and made to order omelettes were good. I also enjoyed the salmon and bagels and the chocolate croissants. The muffins were just OK. At lunch I liked the Asian dishes – lots of good veggies!

OTHER COMPLEMENTARY FOOD OPTIONS

GLORY On the Glory we had Guys Burgers for lunch one day. They were good. We also liked the burritos from the burrito bar and the breakfast burritos we had one day. The fresh made pizzas were good (we liked the garlic one) and it was nice that you could also get a ceasar salad there when the buffet was closed.

ESCAPE The only other complementary option on the Escape was O'Sheehan's. We had lunch there right after we embarked. It wasn't that crowded yet and everyone was satisfied with their lunch and service. We went back for lunch at noon another day and service was poor. Half of our group was served and they finished eating before the other half got their food.

BEVERAGES

GLORY On the Glory we brought wine and ordered additional bottles at dinner. Other than that we had a few cocktails and beers. Service was fine. We were in 4 ports, so enjoyed generally less expensive beers off the ship.

ESCAPE It was nice having the beverage package on the Escape. We tried some new things and with only 3 ports we had more sea days to take advantage of it. Bar service was good. We never had to wait more than a couple of minutes for a drink. I would've liked a Brandy Alexander or a Grasshopper made with ice cream, but they didn't make ice cream drinks. The mudslide was a pretty good substitute. Once I got a mudslide and got a scoop of ice cream from the buffet to mix in. It was extra good! The District had good beers. We liked the Dogfish IPA. At our second O'Sheehan lunch with the very slow service I looked at their beer list and didn't see anything interesting, so I went to the District any picked up a few Dogfish IPA's to bring back to the table. We had our beer before the rest of the drinks came! I don't drink that much beer, so when I do I want a good one!

We enjoyed the Waterfront on deck 8 and it never seemed that crowded. The Wine Cellar had indoor and outdoor seating there. We enjoyed several glasses of the Oberon cabernet. In fact, most nights we stopped there before dinner and took a glass to dinner with us.

ENTERTAINMENT

GLORY We saw 4 shows on the Glory with the same singers/dancers in each. The shows relied heavily on the large video screen that the dancers complemented or interacted with, which I thought worked well. The dancers had a lot of energy and we enjoyed each show. After a couple of the shows the cruise director and dancers made their way out to the atrium dance floor and got the crowd dancing, which was fun. We also went to a few of the comedy shows. We thought Happy Cole was great – lots of energy and very funny. The others were OK.

We would've like more live music after dinner. One night the show was the Hasbro Game Show, which we weren't interested in. There really wasn't anything else going on that evening– no live music, no outdoor movie. Some nights we listened and danced to “The Glory Days”, but your timing had to be good. One night they played for 30 minutes, took a 30 minute break, played for 20 minutes and took another break! Sometimes there was a solo guitar player in the atrium or at the pool deck. There was a latin band, but we never seemed to catch them. Sometimes there was music on the small stage in the casino, but that didn't interest me because of the smoke smell.

ESCAPE We really enjoyed “The Million Dollar Quartet”. My husband also liked “After Midnight”, but I admit I dozed off at the 10:00 show after a big meal. We would've liked more than 2 shows on a 7 night cruise, though. We stopped in at “Howl at the Moon” for a little while one night. Not really my thing, but I guess a lot of people liked it because the room was pretty full. We could always find live music to dance to in more than one place.

POOL DECKS

GLORY We really liked the Serenity area. The lounge chairs had extra cushions and we never had trouble finding a chair or space in one of the hot tubs. They also had ice water with fresh limes in it available, which was a nice touch. The chairs around the main pool did fill up at times, but we appreciated seeing notes from staff on some chairs indicating that belongings would be removed if no one showed up in 20 minutes.

ESCAPE The pool deck was crowded and loud during the day, as others have said, but we were always able to find a chair and space in a hot tub. We did go in the hot tubs in the adult area a couple of times. They had football or other sports playing on the big screen in there. The kids really enjoyed the splash pad. I thought the tube slide was lots of fun, and we went on it several times when there was no line. On the last sea day it did get crowded. My husband and some of our big kids enjoyed the drop slide, but I chickened out. If you decide to try it, be aware that you can have nothing in your pockets and no jewelry, including wedding rings.

One beautiful night we took the kids up to the pool deck after dinner around 7:30 to walk around and get some exercise. We were amazed to see totally empty pools and hot tubs! At first I wondered if they were closed, but they weren't. After a while a few people did go in one of the hot tubs. So, if you don't like crowds, that's a good time to swim!

I guess I'll mention the ropes course here, too. We thought it was challenging and fun. There are many spots where you can choose which way you want to go. It was windy the day we went and I wasn't brave enough to walk the plank. The 2 zip lines were fun. The only negative was a rather strong sewage smell in several spots. If you go you must have shoes with a closed heel and toe and nothing in your pockets.

KIDS

There seemed to be more kids on the Escape, probably due to the 3rd and 4th passenger free promotions that our kids had taken advantage of. The kids we saw on both ships were generally well behaved and supervised. Since we didn't have kids on the Glory, I can't comment on their program. The Escape did have some features for kids that the Glory didn't, like the Splash Pad. They also had a kids ropes course that our two year old had fun on.

On the Escape, kids under 3 can participate in the Guppies program. There was a small room with toys open several hours a day for kids to play in with their parents. There were also staff led programs most days, usually around 9:00 and 3:00 for kids with their parents. Our kids attended painting, construction, and a disco party. There were generally 6 to 10 kids attending. Staff was very friendly and competent. A bigger area with access to the outside would've been nice. There was also the option of dropping kids off for a 2 hour session of care for $20.

PORTS

Glory had a 4 port Western Caribbean itinerary and opposed to the Escape's 3 ports. I always prefer more port days. We always get off the ship to do something in port, but even if you decide to stay on the ship, a port day means less people to share the ship with!

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

We liked the modern look of the Escape and felt the 3rd and 4th passenger free along with the drink package made it a good value. The ropes course and slides were fun, with nothing comparable on the Glory. The Glory still looks good, aside from some panes of glass that are somewhat discolored. The passengers we met in the dining rooms and hot tubs on the Glory were all friendly and fun seeking. We didn't have as much interaction with those on the Escape since we had our own larger group. We weren't disappointed with either ship!

[Keith1010]

Nice review.

Keith

[_beachgirl_]

Great review! I'm considering doing a side by side very similar to this next year (Escape and Vista) so I was very interested in what you had to say.

 

Also we were on the Glory with you last month. Had a great time as well.

 

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

[sparks1093]

Thanks for your thoughts! Sounds like we'll have a glory of a time on the Glory:).

[kalebnoah]

We are also doing a side by side cruise in October. Just wondering ,did you walk or take a shuttle to the escape from the glory? We are a party of 18 going from a 3 day on Royal to a 5 day carnival. I asked a question on the forum about this and most suggestions were to walk it. Just curious, Glad you had fun. We almost went with the escape this year ,but family members who went over Christmas said it was terrible. Thanks for your review.

[cmptrwiz]

We are also doing a side by side cruise in October. Just wondering ,did you walk or take a shuttle to the escape from the glory? We are a party of 18 going from a 3 day on Royal to a 5 day carnival. I asked a question on the forum about this and most suggestions were to walk it. Just curious, Glad you had fun. We almost went with the escape this year ,but family members who went over Christmas said it was terrible. Thanks for your review.

 

We too are doing a side by side. Going from Glory to Splendor. At least we are staying on Carnival. I too would be interested in how the transfer process went.

[sjn911]

Great....thanks for your thoughts. I always think the music has gone down on Carnival's Conquest ships...comparing what I hear on new ones.

 

I always remember now long ago Star Princess 2001 or 2 having so many music things my room mate went earlier to bed one night and I could roam safely 5 bars/venues with great varied music...rare to hear that good of a report.

 

My nephew got to do Breakaway and the wonderful thing was the ship's band had a main member that went to school with their chaperon and youth minister that took the group..this year it is Peru and some service work...quite different. Anyways they all got to play music with this guy and some time was in that Manhattan room..so happy for him I could pop..still...he can talk to anyone and had the time of his life...young.

 

So glad you got one on one and family time..wonderful review and way to do it...

[crmc]

We are also doing a side by side cruise in October. Just wondering ,did you walk or take a shuttle to the escape from the glory? We are a party of 18 going from a 3 day on Royal to a 5 day carnival. I asked a question on the forum about this and most suggestions were to walk it. Just curious, Glad you had fun. We almost went with the escape this year ,but family members who went over Christmas said it was terrible. Thanks for your review.

 

Easy enough to just walk as long as you can handle your luggage. It was only a couple of blocks. Since we got to the Escape so early, the luggage handlers were still helping departing cruisers, so it took a few minutes to find someone to take ours.

[crmc]

Great....thanks for your thoughts. I always think the music has gone down on Carnival's Conquest ships...comparing what I hear on new ones.

 

I always remember now long ago Star Princess 2001 or 2 having so many music things my room mate went earlier to bed one night and I could roam safely 5 bars/venues with great varied music...rare to hear that good of a report.

 

My nephew got to do Breakaway and the wonderful thing was the ship's band had a main member that went to school with their chaperon and youth minister that took the group..this year it is Peru and some service work...quite different. Anyways they all got to play music with this guy and some time was in that Manhattan room..so happy for him I could pop..still...he can talk to anyone and had the time of his life...young.

 

So glad you got one on one and family time..wonderful review and way to do it...

 

Yes, more live music would've been nice. What a great experience for your nephew!

[kalebnoah]

Easy enough to just walk as long as you can handle your luggage. It was only a couple of blocks. Since we got to the Escape so early, the luggage handlers were still helping departing cruisers, so it took a few minutes to find someone to take ours.

 

Thanks for the reply!