Latest Glory Cruise

[icft]

Sunday we got back from our most recent cruise on the Glory out of New Orleans. In past months I have commented on our September 2022, December 2022 and January 2023 cruises on the Glory so I thought I would make some observations about our latest cruise.

 

We really enjoyed this cruise. Things are looking up. The bottom line is everything was great except the food.

 

Embarkation was as smooth as glass. While there is the rare glitch, the Carnival terminal in New Orleans usually has one of the easiest embarkation experiences you will find. While not relevant for another year, I will mention that on the two Sundays before Mardi Gras there are parades in the terminal area. The parade routes are some distance away but those parades assemble their floats in a big open lot right by the turn into the terminal. We drove to the port and allowed an extra hour for traffic and that was about right. Almost all the traffic problems were in the short stretch from the main highway to the turn into the terminal so even if you stay at a hotel you need to plan on additional time if you are arriving on one of those two Sundays.

 

The ship's condition continues to be great. For the past year it has been quite obvious they are putting a lot of effort into upkeep.

 

The entertainment was good for us. The production shows are the usual but the musical performers around the ship (atrium, casino, etc.) seemed a step up from the usual and the comedians were all very good (though that is largely a matter of personal taste). We especially liked that they did a back-to-back show of the two comedians on the first half the cruise in the main theater and did the same with the two new comedians on the second half of the cruise. We prefer the less cramped location and the longer stretch of entertainment.

 

The crew on Carnival ships is always outstanding; friendly, helpful and in good cheer. On this cruise they were even better. I don't know if they are now up to full staff and the reduction in stress is showing or what, but everywhere we went (except the main dining room) they seemed to be happier, more solicitous and proud of doing a great job than in the past. I think the main dining room guys feel guilty serving the slop they serve and it shows in their subdued and lackadaisical demeanor.

 

Two things on this cruise were especially welcome. One was that our fellow cruisers were all happy, polite and courteous. It is amazing how much more fun it is when those around you don't take every situation, word or look as a threat to their manhood and actually understand how to behave in public and have fun. This is the second Glory cruise in the last two months where we noticed this. Perhaps things are looking up. We were having second thought about cruising due to the numbers of boorish cruisers we had been encountering. The second was that security people were constantly strolling about the ship. I saw after we returned that Carnival said they were beefing up the security presence and on Glory it has already happened. The security guys don't seem in the least oppressive, as if they are looking for you to do something wrong. They just casually walk around and seem in good humor. It made us comfortable. 

 

The only fly in the soup on this cruise was the food. It is now, in our opinion, seriously bad. I could go on and on, but in essence Carnival is running a feed lot. For those not familiar, a feed lot is where ranchers send cattle to be fattened up for sale. They feed the cattle a high carbohydrate diet (corn is popular since it is high in starch) at minimum possible cost. Carnival is doing everything possible to reduce costly protein and replace it with cheap carbohydrates like pasta. For example, I have always been a fan of Carnival's chicken noodle soup. This time the MDR chicken soup did not have a speck of chicken. It may have had chicken broth, but if so it was so diluted as to impart no chicken taste. I think it was just pasta and carrot served in the water it was boiled in. I couldn't eat it. One night the buffet had jambalaya. For those not familiar jambalaya is a south Louisiana dish that has rice, meat (usually pork, chicken and sausage) and lots of spices. I really spooned through that serving tray and could not find any meat of any kind. I tried some anyhow and it appears to have been just rice with some kind of tomato sauce dried on it. Like I said, I could go on and on. If you think I have you haven't heard a tenth of it.

 

Disembarkation was well organized and went smoothly. With the CBP using facial recognition I really don't know how they can make it any faster or easier. You can only unload a few thousand folks so fast.

 

All in all this was a great cruise. We are especially heartened that passengers who are not housebroken seem to have moved on to greener pastures and that Carnival has beefed up the security presence. It is really nice to see the crew appearing to enjoy themselves and that the ship is being well maintained.

 

 

 

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We'll be on her in August. Thanks for the review! 

 

Did you try guys, blue iguana, or the bbq place? If so, how were they?

[icft]

3 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

We'll be on her in August. Thanks for the review! 

 

Did you try guys, blue iguana, or the bbq place? If so, how were they?

The Blue Iguana was its usual good and one of the places that kept us fed. The Old Fashioned BBQ is doing better with having hot beans (for a while they tended to be cold) and the meat is OK, but reflects the lower quality meat Carnival is buying these days and the smaller portions these days. We always asked for more meat as the portions were small and it was not unusual for a good percentage of the beef to be fat.

[crucero]

We are going in June. Finally using our credits from so many canceled cruises. Did you try the steakhouse? I hate to pay extra for food that isn't good! I usually love the main dining room. Which locations had the best food? Maybe I need to change up where we eat. Thank you!

[icft]

We did try the steakhouse and it continues to have great food. The Blue Iguana was also good, but I would go for chicken rather than beef as the beef was hit and miss with occasional gristle. Guys was OK but I can't really put my finger on why it didn't thrill us. The steak and cheese sandwich at the deli was good. The Old Fashioned BBQ was OK this time, though in the past they have tended toward cold beans and mac and cheese - the portions of meat have gotten smaller with more fat so don't be afraid to ask for more.

 

But our experience overall is that each Glory cruise is different. You just have to try the various places and find the ones good on that cruise. The main dining room was not good on this cruise, but it has been good on some others. It is pure hit and miss other than the steakhouse which has been consistently good.

[crucero]

Thanks so much for the info! I'm starting to get excited for our cruise at the end of June. I am a little disappointed because this is to replace the inagural cruise on the Mardi Gras (and then every other canceled cruise after that...) But, I booked flights today and am looking at excursions and getting EXCITED to be cruising again! Our last cruise was over NYE 2019/2020! HA!

[LHARTWICK]

Thank you for this post, OP.  We sail on Glory again on May 7.  We've always enjoyed her in the past, and I am very glad to hear about the stepped up security.  CCL's MDR food is definitely not as good as pre-COVID, but I don't leave hungry either - LOL!!!  Count me in as another Blue Iguana fan - great place to eat with great food AND it's healthy to boot.  Happy sailing!

[MississippiMom]

21 hours ago, icft said:

We did try the steakhouse and it continues to have great food. The Blue Iguana was also good, but I would go for chicken rather than beef as the beef was hit and miss with occasional gristle. Guys was OK but I can't really put my finger on why it didn't thrill us. The steak and cheese sandwich at the deli was good. The Old Fashioned BBQ was OK this time, though in the past they have tended toward cold beans and mac and cheese - the portions of meat have gotten smaller with more fat so don't be afraid to ask for more.

 

But our experience overall is that each Glory cruise is different. You just have to try the various places and find the ones good on that cruise. The main dining room was not good on this cruise, but it has been good on some others. It is pure hit and miss other than the steakhouse which has been consistently good.

We have sailed on Glory (pre-covid) and definitely enjoyed it.  Sailing on the sister ship, Valor, in July for the first time.

 

I'm so glad I read this, because I never once approached the Old Fashioned BBQ (which I think is a Mongolian Wok place on Valor) or the deli (except to look for a cookie, once), so I'll make sure to check those food areas out this summer.  I love Blue Iguana, and it is our youngest's absolute FAVORITE on Carnival ships.  Like you, Guys was OK, and I know that many people LOVE it.  For me, it's just not worth standing in the line.  (I felt that way about Johnny Rockets on RCCL, too.  Maybe I'm not a burger-at-sea person.)

[pjhootch]

Just did the Glory first week of April.  I was with a friend so did things a bit differently than my husband and I (creatures of habit) usually do.  Also- it was a "spring break" cruise so the ship was super crowded, which led to changing patterns of behavior to avoid crowds (for me).

 

MDR food was okay.  I agree it is worse than pre pandemic, but still a good meal most of the time.  We do YTD so it elegant nights have a long table wait- especially with the spring break crowds.  We had a lot of college students, lots of family groups that had multiple high school kids with them, and many family groups with small children.    All the pools and hot tubs were people soup.  🙂   Folks were complaining about chair hogs and all the normal routine type of complaints.  Lots of lines for food, but I found they moved okay.

 

The buffet food was decent most of the time and that is usually where we went.  

 

Don't believe in the stepped up security thing too much.  At least don't rely on it to be working the way people might like to see.  There are definitely drug dogs and warnings to ditch the weed.  I didn't really smell skunk on this cruise like I have the last year or so.  BUT- security was really struggling to keep the drunks in hand.  Not the college kids or the high school kids.  The college kids were fine, if sometimes rowdy, and I didn't see any real issues with them.  The high school kids roved in packs, ate pizza and ice cream and stayed up late but didn't seem to cause any drama I noticed.

The drunk adults showing their a++ in front of their families, spouses and the world- sheesh.  People need to learn how to hold their booze, or at least be happy drunks.  There were quite a number of relatively minor security incidents.  We called security on the cabin next to us on the very first sea day when a guy was in there pounding and screaming curses and it sounded like maybe slamming or breaking things.  Never heard anyone from anyone in that cabin again so don't know what happened.

 

Overall- most of the issues were due to the crowds over spring break.  Nothing bad or earth shaking happened. I like the Glory and she was very clean and the staff was great. Alchemy bar tenders were fantastic. Piano bar good- 

 

I have no complaints about the cruise at all as a whole.

[LHARTWICK]

21 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

or the deli (except to look for a cookie, once), 

We've noticed on the last few CCL cruises the cookies were no longer available at the deli.  I'm referring to the dark chocolate sea salt version - really good!  Another cutback I guess. 😢

[Djptcp]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Glory for 7 days in Sept. as schools will be back in session. 72 cruises overall and first time sailing out of New Orleans. We already have Steakhouse reservations and usually order Steakhouse Selections in the MDR if we don't like the entrees in the MDR on a particular evening.  Love the Blue Iguana and want to try the BBQ.

 

We are sailing on the Freedom out of Port Canaveral in 3 days. We live near Tampa, so sail out of FL on various cruise lines.

[Thad409]

Thanks for the update in the review we have sailed out of New Orleans twice and you're correct embarkation is usually a breeze, we sell on the glory July 2nd this will be our first cruise post covid can't wait thanks for your opinions and your update

[MississippiMom]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:05 AM, LHARTWICK said:

We've noticed on the last few CCL cruises the cookies were no longer available at the deli.  I'm referring to the dark chocolate sea salt version - really good!  Another cutback I guess. 😢

Bummer

(Probably better for my waistline, though.)

[Etta1213]

On 2/21/2023 at 3:46 PM, icft said:

Sunday we got back from our most recent cruise on the Glory out of New Orleans. In past months I have commented on our September 2022, December 2022 and January 2023 cruises on the Glory so I thought I would make some observations about our latest cruise.

 

We really enjoyed this cruise. Things are looking up. The bottom line is everything was great except the food.

 

Embarkation was as smooth as glass. While there is the rare glitch, the Carnival terminal in New Orleans usually has one of the easiest embarkation experiences you will find. While not relevant for another year, I will mention that on the two Sundays before Mardi Gras there are parades in the terminal area. The parade routes are some distance away but those parades assemble their floats in a big open lot right by the turn into the terminal. We drove to the port and allowed an extra hour for traffic and that was about right. Almost all the traffic problems were in the short stretch from the main highway to the turn into the terminal so even if you stay at a hotel you need to plan on additional time if you are arriving on one of those two Sundays.

 

The ship's condition continues to be great. For the past year it has been quite obvious they are putting a lot of effort into upkeep.

 

The entertainment was good for us. The production shows are the usual but the musical performers around the ship (atrium, casino, etc.) seemed a step up from the usual and the comedians were all very good (though that is largely a matter of personal taste). We especially liked that they did a back-to-back show of the two comedians on the first half the cruise in the main theater and did the same with the two new comedians on the second half of the cruise. We prefer the less cramped location and the longer stretch of entertainment.

 

The crew on Carnival ships is always outstanding; friendly, helpful and in good cheer. On this cruise they were even better. I don't know if they are now up to full staff and the reduction in stress is showing or what, but everywhere we went (except the main dining room) they seemed to be happier, more solicitous and proud of doing a great job than in the past. I think the main dining room guys feel guilty serving the slop they serve and it shows in their subdued and lackadaisical demeanor.

 

Two things on this cruise were especially welcome. One was that our fellow cruisers were all happy, polite and courteous. It is amazing how much more fun it is when those around you don't take every situation, word or look as a threat to their manhood and actually understand how to behave in public and have fun. This is the second Glory cruise in the last two months where we noticed this. Perhaps things are looking up. We were having second thought about cruising due to the numbers of boorish cruisers we had been encountering. The second was that security people were constantly strolling about the ship. I saw after we returned that Carnival said they were beefing up the security presence and on Glory it has already happened. The security guys don't seem in the least oppressive, as if they are looking for you to do something wrong. They just casually walk around and seem in good humor. It made us comfortable. 

 

The only fly in the soup on this cruise was the food. It is now, in our opinion, seriously bad. I could go on and on, but in essence Carnival is running a feed lot. For those not familiar, a feed lot is where ranchers send cattle to be fattened up for sale. They feed the cattle a high carbohydrate diet (corn is popular since it is high in starch) at minimum possible cost. Carnival is doing everything possible to reduce costly protein and replace it with cheap carbohydrates like pasta. For example, I have always been a fan of Carnival's chicken noodle soup. This time the MDR chicken soup did not have a speck of chicken. It may have had chicken broth, but if so it was so diluted as to impart no chicken taste. I think it was just pasta and carrot served in the water it was boiled in. I couldn't eat it. One night the buffet had jambalaya. For those not familiar jambalaya is a south Louisiana dish that has rice, meat (usually pork, chicken and sausage) and lots of spices. I really spooned through that serving tray and could not find any meat of any kind. I tried some anyhow and it appears to have been just rice with some kind of tomato sauce dried on it. Like I said, I could go on and on. If you think I have you haven't heard a tenth of it.

 

Disembarkation was well organized and went smoothly. With the CBP using facial recognition I really don't know how they can make it any faster or easier. You can only unload a few thousand folks so fast.

 

All in all this was a great cruise. We are especially heartened that passengers who are not housebroken seem to have moved on to greener pastures and that Carnival has beefed up the security presence. It is really nice to see the crew appearing to enjoy themselves and that the ship is being well maintained.

 

 

 

 

Is there a 24/7 coffee/snack place on the ship? Location?

[icft]

48 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

Is there a 24/7 coffee/snack place on the ship? Location?

Nope! You are often out of luck even finding coffee after midnight. They are supposed to have one or two coffee stations open all night but often they are out of cups or spoons. The fun ships keep nursing home hours.

[80sGal]

Do you know if the "secret" hot tub is still in the fitness area or has it been removed?  

[Slush]

13 hours ago, 80sGal said:

Do you know if the "secret" hot tub is still in the fitness area or has it been removed?  

I believe that it was removed and is now a Yoga/workout room.