A GLORIOUS New Year's Eve cruise. Review of Glory 12/29 sailing

[SERK]

3 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Following along. I leave for NOLA on 1/30, and board the Glory 2/2, Super Bowl Sunday. I can’t wait! Keep the review and pics coming! I was disappointed to see the muster drill was standing outside. I haven’t had to do one like that since 2014! Oh, well. I will survive. At least NOLA shouldn’t be hot at that time of year and I won’t faint standing there. 

We will be getting on while you're getting off.  Family doing first Journey Cruise.  We cruise out of NOLA all the time since we live in state.  I hope you have a fantastic and safe cruise!

 

Scuba Ninja, loving the great pictures and commentary.

Edited January 10, 2020 by SERK

[watermelonqueen99]

Loving your review! We're sailing on the Glory later this year!

[scuba_ninja]

Thanks for the compliments folks. Sorry for this review taking so long, but I came back to hell damnation and pandemonium at work. 

 

The first two days were sea days and sea days are awesome.

 

You can see That the bridge was decorated a little bit for the season. They had a tree and some other little festive touches.

 

Room stewards also has festival towel animals on their carts

 

I spent a good part of the first day just wandering and staring at the ocean.

I only ever actually had. A small snack at the buffet, but I did wander through a bunch. Some dishes looked better than others. I did find that on the whole the cakes were pretty, but flavorless and dry. As we learned in our tour, all of the "sponge" (cake base material) is baked overnight and then decorated as needed in the morning. 

For those curious about the tea and lemonade, here are a few pictures you probably were better off not seeing. This stuff is as far from natural as you can get without it being legally classified as liquid plastic. The lemonade though does contain some real lemon pulp, so it's slightly more natural? I decided my best course of action is to mix the two and make what I called "Arnold's plastic surgery". Like and Arnold Palmer, but with more artificial flavor and preservatives. 

[scuba_ninja]

As I mentioned before, I like money too much to gamble it away. The house always wins. I have some serious card sharks in my family, but I guess I didn't get that Gene. I did however get the one for premature grey hair. Thanks Dad!

 

The casino was pretty smokey as they often are, but this felt particularly bad. Because of the position I had to walk by/through it often and that annoyed me. Ventilation there isn't great. I suspect that the ship in general is having age/maintenance issues honestly. The casino smell would waft over or strange places often and is suspect it has to do with vent system issues. Why would the starboard exit to deck 11 always smell like smoke when casino in on Deck 11?? There were a few other places like that around the ship too. As a non-smoker it felt like the casino was leaking around the ship a lot.

 

I don't think deck 5 is particularly well designed. There's only one side of the ship that actually goes through, I don't see why they couldn't have had ways to walk through the casino on both sides. It made that hallway super crowded, especially around dinner time. The club O2 lounge is right there, and the kids were often milling about outside it. That in itself isn't a bad thing at all but it made that area feel more cramped. 

 

 

Oh, and to make it even better, they always had pixels photo backdrops set up in the that walkway. Not a great design. 

 

 

This casino felt Bigger than other ships I've been on, so if you're the gambling type, yay for you.

 

I Never walked into the arcade but from the ship Map, it looks pretty big. 

 

Carnival cruise ships are known for gaudy decor. If that's your thing, this ship doesn't disappoint. The theme seems to be colors, but also international colors. Like, the camel club is vaguely Egyptian themed and brown.

 

 

The ivory bar is white with Indian sort of decor and so forth. The colors lobby is all about getting stoned and seeing colors, hence the pot leaf on the floor. 

[Theosprey247]

I am enjoying your review.  Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[scuba_ninja]

Here is a few more pictures of the different lounges and things. The Ebony Cabaret (comedy club) Cinna-bar piano bar, bar blue and the white heat dance club. That club was probably the emptiest room on the ship. No matter when I passed by day or night, it seemed very lonely in there. The DJ didn't sound that bad either. It was just a ghost town. Except one night when I passed by after finishing an 11pm comedy show and there was ONE person inside. She was obviously stumbling drunk and trying to "dance". Alone. 

 

The comedy club is a decent size but often got to be standing room only packed. The masks decor was weird. I guess it was supposed to be "African" themed. Amber Palace if I had to guess was an Eastern European theme. The buffet was a "stuff your face with fried stuff" theme. 

The gingerbread scene was neat. I particularly felt a kindred spirit with the snow devil. 

Edited January 10, 2020 by scuba_ninja
Posting on mobile is such a pain in the ass

[scuba_ninja]

Dinner was a pretty good menu. 

 

One of the best things I've eaten on a carnival Cruise is the ox tongue. I ordered three. I'm not kidding. 

 

Look, every has a very different palate. For some people mashed instead of baked potato is adventurous eating. I really encourage you to go outside of the box, especially on a cruise where it doesn't cost anything extra. Ox tongue is delicious. I personally will try anything that's not immediately poisoning me, and in general I enjoy foods most here would never dream of, so my frame of reference may be different. But, I also don't eat tomatoes and I can't even choke down spinach. I gag and puke on it every time I try. I'll eat tongues and ears and all manner of strange parts, but I can't eat two of the most common foods. Go figure. 

 

The ribs were.... Ok. Too soft for me. Real BBQ folks know ribs should be chew off the bone, not fall off. Falling off means they were boiled. I get it, they don't have a smoker on the ship, but these were not particularly great. 

 

 

The bitter and blanc did not disappoint.

Neither did our dinner show, or the towel heart. 💙

 

My wife told them it was our honeymoon (slight stretch) but they did give us some coupons for pixels and $5 for a treat at the treat shop. 

[luvcruzing]

20 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Following along. I leave for NOLA on 1/30, and board the Glory 2/2, Super Bowl Sunday. I can’t wait! Keep the review and pics coming! I was disappointed to see the muster drill was standing outside. I haven’t had to do one like that since 2014! Oh, well. I will survive. At least NOLA shouldn’t be hot at that time of year and I won’t faint standing there. 

Don’t be so sure.  It was hot in Miami on our cruise in November, and we stood there so long waiting for them to get started, that my travel buddy almost passed out.  Had to call for a wheelchair.  Of course none of the crew had a radio.  Horrible.

[scuba_ninja]

2 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Don’t be so sure.  It was hot in Miami on our cruise in November, and we stood there so long waiting for them to get started, that my travel buddy almost passed out.  Had to call for a wheelchair.  Of course none of the crew had a radio.  Horrible.

That's because Miami is Satan's armpit. I lived there for two years and I can tell you there's only two things in that city I don't hate. La Moon's hot dogs and Pollo tropical chicken. The rest of the city runs entirely on drugs, human trafficking and bribes from those industries. Thankfully, at least in winter NOLA is generally more mild than Miami. 

[BigEasyCC]

Pictures all look great! You may have even convinced me to try Ox Tongue. I've tried Frog Legs and Escargot on Carnival and both were surprisingly good!

[scuba_ninja]

22 minutes ago, BigEasyCC said:

Pictures all look great! You may have even convinced me to try Ox Tongue. I've tried Frog Legs and Escargot on Carnival and both were surprisingly good!

Yessss!!!! Come to the delicious side!!! Ox tongue is even tastier to most than those two. Tastes a lot more like the meat you're used to. Just way more tender. 

 

We'll get to the escargot and the foggy legs. Both also favorites.

 

The rabbit in the puff pastry I did not try. I've had rabbit a few times. In Paris I found it inedible (saying a lot from a guy who eats pig snouts). But in New Orleans I couldn't get enough of it. I figured I'd leave it at the good experience this week. 

[MzShae]

14 hours ago, scuba_ninja said:

decided my best course of action is to mix the two and make what I called "Arnold's plastic surgery". Like and Arnold Palmer, but with more artificial flavor and preservatives. 

LOL That's my favorite too!

[DQGal]

Thanks for the great review!!  We leave on the Glory Jan 19th,  with our daughter,  son in law and 3 children  lol  5, 3 and 8 months!!.  Except for our daughter, it will be their 1st cruise.   I use to have chinchillas,  they are so sweet!!!  We also have booked the front rooms with the secret deck, on several carnival ships. They are nice with out the cost of a balcony. 

[clmsntgers]

Yay!  Loving this review - we'll be on the Glory in June.  Question - you said to stay up late to see the oil rigs leaving NOLA.  About how late?  My son would love to see them.

 

Also, we are trying to decide whether to come down to NOLA on Friday and spend an extra day pre cruise so if you do have any suggestions/pictures at the end of the cruise review, I personally would love to read/see them!

[BigEasyCC]

On 1/12/2020 at 7:30 AM, clmsntgers said:

Yay!  Loving this review - we'll be on the Glory in June.  Question - you said to stay up late to see the oil rigs leaving NOLA.  About how late?  My son would love to see them.

 

Also, we are trying to decide whether to come down to NOLA on Friday and spend an extra day pre cruise so if you do have any suggestions/pictures at the end of the cruise review, I personally would love to read/see them!

Expect to see the oil rigs around midnight. If you're going to be up that late I would suggest checking out your schedule if another ship is docking at New Orleans the day after you leave. If so, you will pass the ship returning near the mouth of the Mississippi River around 11pm usually. If it's the Valor, expect to hoop and holler as you pass the other ship! You will pass fairly close in the river!

[scuba_ninja]

On 1/11/2020 at 4:17 PM, DQGal said:

Thanks for the great review!!  We leave on the Glory Jan 19th,  with our daughter,  son in law and 3 children  lol  5, 3 and 8 months!!.  Except for our daughter, it will be their 1st cruise.   I use to have chinchillas,  they are so sweet!!!  We also have booked the front rooms with the secret deck, on several carnival ships. They are nice with out the cost of a balcony. 

Yeah! Chinchilla owners unite!  Ours were so happy to see my wife when we got back. I'm apparently not as important. Even though I do most of the cleaning, feeding, etc. 

 

Glory is a good ship, you'll have fun. I'm going to try for those front rooms every chance I get. They were great!

[scuba_ninja]

On 1/12/2020 at 7:30 AM, clmsntgers said:

Yay!  Loving this review - we'll be on the Glory in June.  Question - you said to stay up late to see the oil rigs leaving NOLA.  About how late?  My son would love to see them.

 

Also, we are trying to decide whether to come down to NOLA on Friday and spend an extra day pre cruise so if you do have any suggestions/pictures at the end of the cruise review, I personally would love to read/see them!

We left about 5 ish I want to say, yeah, it was around midnight before we saw any. On my last cruise on the Dream 2 years ago, we ended up seeing them sooner. It could have been the ship, weather, river traffic, etc. but I do remember not having to stay up as late. Or maybe now that I'm 2 years older I'm just more tired. 

 

On the way home we hit the rigs much earlier. I'll post a few great pics I have of them at sunset. 

 

Glad you're enjoying the review! YES!!! SPEND EXTRA TIME IN NOLA!!!! In my humble opinion, do it before the cruise. After and you'll be too tired/full to really enjoy the city. I will for sure post more NOLA pics and suggestions at the end (feel free to remind me too!). I just wanted to make sure I got to the cruise itself before people got antsy. 

[scuba_ninja]

5 hours ago, BigEasyCC said:

Expect to see the oil rigs around midnight. If you're going to be up that late I would suggest checking out your schedule if another ship is docking at New Orleans the day after you leave. If so, you will pass the ship returning near the mouth of the Mississippi River around 11pm usually. If it's the Valor, expect to hoop and holler as you pass the other ship! You will pass fairly close in the river!

I have a picture of our Valor passing! I will post it!

[VentureMan_2000]

Any Escargot… or beef wellington... or Lobster... or lamb shank... frog legs... ox tails...?

I'll have to try the ox tongue.

[hockeyguru32]

On 1/7/2020 at 12:45 PM, scuba_ninja said:

 

 

The infamous Glory Hole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ricew001]

On 1/10/2020 at 10:20 AM, scuba_ninja said:

Dinner was a pretty good menu. 

 

To me the Shrimp Escabeche was the absolute best thing I ate on the shrimp for our whole cruise. I would have liked that served as a meal!

We had a balcony and I stood and watched the oil rigs in the middle of the night. That was very cool!

 

 

 

[Mavrick_RN]

Like DQGal, we too are on the Jan 19 sailing out of NOLA and can hardly wait. 

 

Super great review and PICTURES!!!!  I am all for the Miiississsssippppiiii River sights.  Especially want to see the oil rigs at night.  It would be a real treat to see other cruise ships and even pass one coming back.  Was born in St. Louis and used to watch the river boats all the time and dream of takin' a raft down Ole Man River.  Did you see the "You Are Beautiful" graffiti on the old Rice Mill (converted to condos) building ?

 

Can you remember what night was lobster night in the MDR?  (Please don't be Tuesday cuz we have reservations at the Steak House).

 

Once again Super enjoyable review.  I get your sense of humor and proper evaluation of ribs.  (Falling off the bone is boiled rot)

 

Mav (and Patty)

 

 

[scuba_ninja]

On 1/13/2020 at 1:47 PM, VentureMan_2000 said:

Any Escargot… or beef wellington... or Lobster... or lamb shank... frog legs... ox tails...?

I'll have to try the ox tongue.

I've got pics of most of those from this trip. 

 

The lamb was very good. I should have ordered two. 

[scuba_ninja]

On 1/13/2020 at 6:31 PM, Mavrick_RN said:

Like DQGal, we too are on the Jan 19 sailing out of NOLA and can hardly wait. 

 

Super great review and PICTURES!!!!  I am all for the Miiississsssippppiiii River sights.  Especially want to see the oil rigs at night.  It would be a real treat to see other cruise ships and even pass one coming back.  Was born in St. Louis and used to watch the river boats all the time and dream of takin' a raft down Ole Man River.  Did you see the "You Are Beautiful" graffiti on the old Rice Mill (converted to condos) building ?

 

Can you remember what night was lobster night in the MDR?  (Please don't be Tuesday cuz we have reservations at the Steak House).

 

Once again Super enjoyable review.  I get your sense of humor and proper evaluation of ribs.  (Falling off the bone is boiled rot)

 

Mav (and Patty)

 

 

THANK YOU!

 

I GOTCHU FAM! 

 

Lobster was the second formal night actually (not NYE). So, not Tuesday, but your sailing may vary because of the lack of holiday. 

[scuba_ninja]

I'm sorry folks that this review is taking so long to bust out, but good things come to those who wait? 

 

I'm having a devil of a time getting re-adjusted back to real life/work, and I have tons of pics I have not even gotten to sort through yet. 

 

Last we left our heroes it was dinner on the 30th. Before I forget, because it was asked for, here's a pic of the Valor passing us on the 29th. 

 

 

Because I'm broken and couldn't sleep, here's the sunrise on New Year's eve.

A damn fine sunrise picture if I don't say so myself. 

 

Seaday Brunch menu

and my order of fried chicken with Kimchi. My wife had the steak and eggs. The steak was fantastic. The chicken and kimchi was great, but the biscuits... not so much. We also had the chia seed pudding which was so good, I wished we had ordered more and saved them for later. That's for sure one of those foods that you should try. The texture might not be for everyone, but it is good stuff, and pretty good for you too. 

 

 

OK, someone has to explain this to me. 

This guy was walking around every day at breakfast with a plant in a bottle. He never gave anyone the plant. Or leaves from it. Or anything. I just saw him walking around with a plant in a bottle. What the heck am I missing here?

 

 

The Hairy Chest contest was that day. This is all I caught of it. I dunno, didn't look very interesting to me. But this guy was for sure hamming it up in the shower. 

 

 

At first I was thinking they should have a hairy chest contest for women too. But then I realized I probably don't really wanna see that. No. The more I think about this, the less I want to see that. At one point I passed by something happening on the Lido and a 70 year old granny was twerking. I think that was planned. Because seeing that sure made some folks hit their 15 drink limit that day. 

 

Moving on, there was also a neat ice carving demo that day. 

 

 

 

Apparently this guy makes all the carvings for the ship. Fruit, ice, soap, etc. Pretty.... COOL. GET IT. ICE? COOL?  

 

 

Here's some more pics from around the ship, including the chicken tikka masala sammich. Which was actually super good. 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by scuba_ninja
stupid photo uploader