Carnival Glory - LIVE - Aug 25-Sep 1 - NOLA - Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

[Saint Greg]

It's been a long six months. I'm ready for a break.  

 

My last four cruises have been Vista, Dream, Dream, Breeze so I can't say I'm super excited that the ship is Glory. I'm going from the newer, prettier ship to an older, wore out one with less features...And it costs about the same money. This is exactly why I won't get married! 

[Saint Greg]

I'm starting this a week early. This review is really going to kick off on friday with two days in New Orleans before the cruise. I like to give the new people time to get caught up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is for everyone. When I started my blog site a few months back I wanted to close the gap between when I started cruising and when I started posting live reviews. The first thing I did is write about all of my old cruises. These aren't nearly as detailed as what I'm doing today. I never realized how few pictures I took before I started doing these reviews. It turns out that the reviews actually help me because they force me to take more pictures.

 

If you care to read about how I started cruising, my run-ins with customs and port security, and all of the stupid mistakes I made along the way, you can read about those here:

 

https://saintgregtravel.com/r1-my-intro-to-cruising/

 

https://saintgregtravel.com/leaving-the-elation/

 

https://saintgregtravel.com/i-will-triumph/

 

https://saintgregtravel.com/seven-days-of-freedom/

 

https://saintgregtravel.com/breezy-like-sunday-morning/

 

[Saint Greg]

This is a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory from New Orleans to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. The trip includes two nights in New Orleans pre-cruise.

This will be my 11th Carnival cruise, first on Glory, and eighth out of New Orleans. It will be my second time to Montego and Grand Cayman, and my tenth time to Cozumel.

 

I have really settled into these last week of February and last week of August cruises. The last week of February is after football season but before spring break. The last week of August after summer break for most but before football season. The prices are good both weeks and they are exactly six months apart.

 

I booked this cruise almost 18 months ago. At the time I hadn’t been to Grand Cayman or Montego Bay yet. It was also the perfect week out of my favorite port of departure.

 

 

 

 

Parking

For this trip I am using Fulton Parking Garage. I booked two days of their hotel parking at $18 per day and seven days of their rooftop cruise parking at $10 per day. After taxes and fees it comes out to a total of $124.40 for the nine days.

 

If you are interested in reading about all New Orleans parking options, you can do that here.

 

 

 

Hotel

I am actually staying at two hotels this trip. My first night will be at the Hilton Garden Inn which is almost directly behind Fulton Parking Garage. My second night will be at the Sheraton Four Points on Bourbon Street.

 

I booked both hotels on Hotwire.com. I paid $78 after tax for the Hilton Garden Inn and $106 after tax for the Sheraton Four Points.. Those are outstanding prices for those hotels– Especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

 

 

Pre-cruise Activities

The plan for the first day in New Orleans is to spend the day at the World War II museum which is just a couple blocks from the first hotel. I went there once about five years ago but I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted. I didn’t take any pictures. And I believe they’ve added a new building since then.

 

The plan for the first night was to watch the Saints preseason game at Manning’s which is also just a couple blocks from the first hotel. It turns out I had the dates wrong and the Saints game is actually the second night. That threw a bit of a wrench in my plans. Now I’m going to have to move my second night plans to the first night. That plan is Frenchman Street which isn’t close at all to the first hotel, but we’ll make it work.

 

The plan for the second day is a French Quarter bar hop/city tour before finding a place to watch the game that night.

 

 

 

Excursions

Montego Bay

If you are interested in Dunn’s River Falls, you can read about it here.

 

I booked this cruise knowing it would be a repeat of these ports. I felt confident there would be some reason to repeat the ports–There usually is.

As you may know the one souvenir I buy at each port is the Harley Davidson poker chip. The Dunn’s River Falls excursion did not allow me the opportunity to pick one up. We were the first excursion to leave, the last to get back, and we never stopped near a Harley Davidson.

 

The other thing I missed was a few photo ops. One of those photo ops was a great view overlooking the port. I missed out on that because I killed my phone battery at Dunn’s River Falls and didn’t bring my charger since I didn’t know if I’d have a place to put it while I was on the falls.

 

When looking for an excursion for this cruise it had to be something that allowed me to get to a Harley Davidson. Since there is one on the “hip strip” that is the first excursion I looked for. For all of my excursions I checked Carnival, Shore Excursioner, Viator, and Cruise Compete before booking.

 

I booked the “Top 10 Best of Montego” excursion through Carnival. It was $39.99. I got 10% back for booking with my Carnival Master Card. It only has three of five stars. The biggest complaint I’ve seen is that they didn’t go ten places. Reading the description it lists the top 10 as three site stops, two photo ops, and a drive by five sites. I know that going in. I’m good with it.

 

One of the photo ops is listed as a “panoramic view of the bay.” I think this may be the photo op I missed out on last trip–Another plus for this excursion.

Other sites include Old Town, Sam Sharpe Square, St. James Parish Church, Fairview, and Scotchies. Scotchies is a place I remember hearing was popular for jerk chicken. One of the negative reviews on this excursion was that they didn’t have time to sit down and eat at Scotchies. They had to take the food with them and eat it on the bus. As long as we aren’t eating in my car, it doesn’t bother me.

 

The last stops on the tour are the Shoppes at Rose Hall and Margaritaville on the Hip Strip. I believe we’ll also be able to access Doctor’s Cave Beach from Margaritaville.

 

 

Grand Cayman

If you are interested in Stingray City, you can read about it here.

 

For Grand Cayman I ended up booking the Grand Cayman Hell and Turtle Farm Orientation on Cruise Compete. This excursion cost $49 and has a rating of 4.5 out of 5. The Turtle Center and the Rock Formations they call Hell are both on my list of places I’d like to see in Grand Cayman. The description indicates we’ll also have a short stop at seven mile beach–Another place I wanted to see.

 

They have multiple times for this excursion. 8:45, 10:45, 11:45, and 12:45. I went with 10:45. This is the same site where I booked my glass bottom boat excursion in Roatan last December. I picked the second time and ended up getting a private excursion with them. Maybe I’ll get lucky again.

 

 

Cozumel

If you are interested in the Cozumel Bar Hop tour, you can read about it here.

 

The number one excursion I have left to do in Cozumel is the Tulum Mayan Ruins. I hear that it is a long, hot day so I’m saving that one for February.

 

This time my plan is the Atlantis Submarine Excursion. It has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. I began preparing for this excursion with the glass bottom boat tour in Roatan last December. The glass bottom boat didn’t bother me so I’m ready to go a little deeper–100 feet to be exact.

 

I’m planning on using onboard credit for this excursion so I’m booking through Carnival and I have to wait until I get on board. Hopefully they don’t sell out between now and then. It’s a $100 excursion.

 

 

 

Specialty Dining

Glory doesn’t have all of the options Vista does as far as specialty dining but I will be visiting the steakhouse one night.

[Jamman54]

Hey Greg! We just boarded the Ecstasy and I'm sitting at the Red Frog  Rum Bar reading this. Have a great cruise. Will  be following along closely as we are doing a B2B on the Glory in April. 😀

[Saint Greg]

4 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Greg! We just boarded the Ecstasy and I'm sitting at the Red Frog  Rum Bar reading this. Have a great cruise. Will  be following along closely as we are doing a B2B on the Glory in April. 😀

 

Time flies! It seems like you just got back from Hawaii! Have a great cruise! 

[sid_9169]

I'm on the 35 day countdown to the Horizon, so this'll hold me over until then... I've cruised the Glory 2 times, and even though it doesn't have all the "bells & whistles" of the newer ships, it's still a great ship... 

[Jamman54]

6 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I'm on the 35 day countdown to the Horizon, so this'll hold me over until then... I've cruised the Glory 2 times, and even though it doesn't have all the "bells & whistles" of the newer ships, it's still a great ship... 

 

Sid, I hope you will be doing your usual review. 😀

[sid_9169]

4 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Sid, I hope you will be doing your usual review. 😀

It'll be coming in "hot & heavy"... 

[Amadawn1]

Yay!  A new Saint Greg live review!  I'm really looking forward to following along.  Really looking forward to more Alchemy pics.  We're 41 days out from the Magic and can't wait to hit the Alchemy based on your recommendations.   Be sure your little buddy is with you before you board this time. 😀 He should be at least almost Platinum by now!  Have a wonderful cruise, Greg. 

[MEUB1112]

We're at 140 days until the Panorama, this will help hold us over. Never been on the Glory but have loved the Conquest and Valor. Will be following. Love your reviews!!

Edited August 17, 2019 by MEUB1112

[Saint Greg]

19 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I'm on the 35 day countdown to the Horizon, so this'll hold me over until then... I've cruised the Glory 2 times, and even though it doesn't have all the "bells & whistles" of the newer ships, it's still a great ship... 

'

Nice! That'll help pass some of my time before Magic.

[Saint Greg]

14 minutes ago, Amadawn1 said:

Yay!  A new Saint Greg live review!  I'm really looking forward to following along.  Really looking forward to more Alchemy pics.  We're 41 days out from the Magic and can't wait to hit the Alchemy based on your recommendations.   Be sure your little buddy is with you before you board this time. 😀 He should be at least almost Platinum by now!  Have a wonderful cruise, Greg. 

 

I'm not even platinum yet. I'll be 7 days away after this one...and my next cruise is a 6-day. I'll get it next year. Oh I'm going on Magic next. I think the bartenders that are there now are going to be there for the rest of the year. You'll be on before me but  I can give you the scoop I've gotten from my research.... Bojan, Luby and Cornelius get great reviews. Bojan seems like a character. He shows up on fb as much or more than any alchemist.

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Saint Greg

[jimbo5544]

Your reviews set the bar, it will be interesting to read your impressions of the Glory.  Love your website also.   

[jimbo5544]

Not to steal the thread, Jeff, enjoy the Ecstasy.  

[Amadawn1]

49 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Bojan, Luby and Cornelius get great reviews. Bojan seems like a character. He shows up on fb as much or more than any alchemist.

Thanks so much for the head's up, Greg!  I will definitely look for them at Alchemy, and report back.  Sounds like they'll be a blast!

[Jamman54]

25 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Not to steal the thread, Jeff, enjoy the Ecstasy.  

 

Thanks! I'll raise a toast to you and yours. 😁

[jimbo5544]

11 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Thanks! I'll raise a toast to you and yours. 😁

Deal!

[jbethel11]

@Saint Greg I'll be in NOLA the day when you leave. No promises, but I will try to snap pictures of the Glory sailing away! She was my first cruise after all!

[Saint Greg]

42 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

@Saint Greg I'll be in NOLA the day when you leave. No promises, but I will try to snap pictures of the Glory sailing away! She was my first cruise after all!

 

Cool. I like watching sail away from the river walk mall when I’m in New Orleans. Outside the food court is practically like being at the port.

[j1d1]

Looking forward to another Saint Greg review.  Our preferred port is also New Orleans.  We are also lamenting the current selection of ships.  Hopefully you find that the Conquest class is holding up.  We have a 5-night on the Valor in November.

[blarko]

Yay! I really enjoy your live reviews. The last week in August is my favorite week to cruise as well, mainly because of schools being back in session, yet it’s still summer weather, so nice and hot in most ports. Can’t wait for the live review to begin! Enjoy your cruise.

[Saint Greg]

5 hours ago, blarko said:

Yay! I really enjoy your live reviews. The last week in August is my favorite week to cruise as well, mainly because of schools being back in session, yet it’s still summer weather, so nice and hot in most ports. Can’t wait for the live review to begin! Enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks! Well I prefer the last week in Feb since it’s cooler and before spring break. But I don’t want to wait a year to get back on the ship. I did the first week of March once and got stuck in a spring forward situation and didn’t like losing the hour of sleep. I stay up late enough as it is. I think it ended up being 3am on the spring forward day. 

 

The last week of August is my favorite this time of year.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

5 hours ago, j1d1 said:

Looking forward to another Saint Greg review.  Our preferred port is also New Orleans.  We are also lamenting the current selection of ships.  Hopefully you find that the Conquest class is holding up.  We have a 5-night on the Valor in November.

 

I did freedom once. I think she’s about 5 years newer than the Glory. The main thing I have to remember is not to go out on the lanai. 

[jbethel11]

22 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

mainly because of schools being back in session

Except for mine, which makes it the best of both worlds as I can cruise with cheaper fares!

[blarko]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Thanks! Well I prefer the last week in Feb since it’s cooler and before spring break. But I don’t want to wait a year to get back on the ship. I did the first week of March once and got stuck in a spring forward situation and didn’t like losing the hour of sleep. I stay up late enough as it is. I think it ended up being 3am on the spring forward day. 

 

The last week of August is my favorite this time of year.

 

 

 

Well that spring forward crap would certainly suck. I’ll have to keep that in mind when looking for a cruise, as I wasn’t able to cruise this year and am thinking about doing one in the spring of next year.  My kids have been out of school for so long that I don’t even know when school breaks are. I certainly don’t want to get caught cruising during spring break, summer break, Christmas break, ground hog day break, or whatever else kind of breaks schools have these days. Living in Cleveland, I don’t get a lot of hot weather months, so when I cruise I like it to be hot 🔥