Glory Eastern Review June 12, 2004 Part 2

[tootiesmom]

Part 1 left off as we boarded the Glory...

 

Upon entering the Glory on Deck 3, there was a table set up to inform you about the Emerald Supper Club. Nine of our group had said that they wanted to eat at the Supper Club on the 1st night, so I shot over to sign us up. I signed us up for 6:00 pm and on we went to our cabins, etc.

 

At this point I need to telll you that there were a total of 20 people in our group. Our high school class decided about 2 years ago to have our 30th class reunion on a cruise, so here we are. Lots of people were reallly excited about this idea and were all "gun-ho", but when the $$$ and time came, only 6 of us committed. After it was all said and done, we six decided that the others have no idea what a great time they missed and we decided to all do this again on our 35th year reunion and hang what the rest of them want to do. Of the 20, there were only 6 classmates. The rest were family members, friends, etc. Out of the 20, only 7 had cruised before. Needless to say, cruising has gained 11 new fans and are all looking forward to their next trip.

 

Everyone checked out their cabins and started to check out the Lido Deck buffet for lunch. We decided to meet on the aft deck just above the Lido Deck after the safety drill for sail away. After sail away, we went our separate ways until dinner.

 

Dinner at the Emerald Room - What can I say !!! This was the best $25 I have every spent on a meal. I have read on this board where people are concerned about paying extra for a meal when you have the dining room, lido buffet, etc. I'm not an authority on fine dining, etc., but I'd bet that if you were to go to an upscale restaurant on land and order the meal that we had, you wouldn't get out for less than $150 or more per person. I had the filet, mixed green salad, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, and the warm flourless chocolate cake with homemade ice cream. In addition to the above items, we were served several complimentary items from the chef, ranging from appetizers, to dessert drinks and petit fours. Everything was prepared to perfection and the service was impecable. I believe that I would pay $25 right now to get those mashed potatoes again !! Our dining experience lasted 3 hours and was well worth the $$$ and time. In fact, it was so wonderful that we ate there one more time during our trip and it was just as good the 2nd time.

 

Other dining - we ate our breakfasts at the Lido Buffet and had the usual breakfast foods: scrambled eggs, bacon, omelets, sausage links, cereal, milk, orange juice, apple juice.... not all at one time, but during the week LOL.

 

Lunches - Mostly at the Lido Buffet, the hamburger grill, pizza place and the fish and chips place upstairs at the Red Sail Buffet. We are not hard to please at all when it comes to food and we never had any complaints about our food.

 

Dinner - We were assigned to table 524 in Platinum Dining Room upstairs and Maria was our main server. Since there were so many of us, we were at a total of 3 tables right next to each other so we were still able to chat with everyone and catch up on what everyone did during the day, etc. Our meals were great and never had a problem. Everything came as ordered, hot and delicious.

 

Room service - We only ordered room service 2 times and it was very fast and very good. We ordered the turkey sandwiches one day and the roast beef and brie sandwiches the 2nd time.

 

Spa - I didn't get to use the Spa this trip, but several in our group did and were very impressed and satisfied with their treatments.

 

Activities, etc. - We all participated in lots of activities throughout the ship, but not all of us together due to personal interests. I will limit my review to what I actually did. Only played bingo 1 time toward the end of the week when the pot was big. Lost... Casino... lost, took Reynaldo's Latin Dance Class.. some of the most fun of the week, Karioke (sp?) great fun, trivia games...didn't win, but had fun seeing just how much I don't know, pool games.. fun to watch, art auctions.. didn't buy anything, but fun to watch.

 

Bartenders - I was looking forward to having my favorite drink (Kiss on the Lips) for sail away. I went to back bar on the Lido deck to order one then meet everyone for sail away. I was so disappointed when the bartender said that he had run out of one of the ingredients, but smiled and said let him make a drink he thought I'd like. I reluctantly said OK and waited. Well, he started pouring several things into the mixer and thought "what am I getting into??". This drink he made for me had the consistancy of a daiquiri and was the most wonderful thing I've ever had as far as mixed drinks go. It doesn't have a name, but I know what he put in it because I ended up going to whatever bar he was assigned to to get several more during the week. His name was Karum and worked in the Glory Bar during the day and in the Ebony room at night. The ingredients were Island Oasis mixes of strawberry, banana, mango, peach schnapps and butterscotch something. If you're interested, just go find him and tell him the ingredients and he'll fix you right up.

 

Shows - We went to both of the big shows in the Amber Palace showroom and enjoyed them very much. Love the fact that Carnival puts alot of $$ in set design, costumes, etc. I do have to say that the male lead singer seemed somewhat weak compared to the female singer, but he's doing something I wouldn't do.... Didn't see the magician show or the talent show. Saw both of the midnight comedians and thought they were both very funny. Definately R rated...

 

Our room - We had cabin 6282, port side, very close to the Glory glass elevators. It was great being that near elevators!! Never had problem with noise, etc. Our room steward was Julia (not spelled the way she spelled it). She was very attentive to our cabin and very nice and always smiling.

 

Pools - I'm not a pool person, but noticed that the pool at the back of the ship didn't seem that crowded most of the time. The pool in the center of the ship seemed very crowded in comparison. Deck chairs - except for the areas directly around that center pool, I noticed lots of empty chairs on most levels. If you don't have to be near that center pool, then an empty chair will not be a problem.

 

Camp Carnival - we didn't have anyone that needed to use Camp Carnival, but just an observation.... I didn't notice an over abundance of children on the ship during the week until Friday. I take that to mean that Camp Carnival did it's job and did it well. I did venture up to Camp Carnival to take a peek and found that there were lots and lots of children up there, all were involved in some activity and all were controlled.... no running around screaming, crying, etc.

 

Ports of Call - Had been to Nassau before. Have not been impressed with it, but we had not been to Atlantis, so we took a cab over to Atlantis, walked around a bit, played a very short while in the casino, then cabbed it back to the ship.

 

St. Thomas - We cabbed over to Sapphire Beach for snorkeling for a couple of hours, back to Charlotte Amalie for shopping, up to Paradise Point on the cable cars, then back to the ship. Snorkeling was great, Sapphire Beach was beautiful, the shopping was great - lots of wheeling and dealing, Paradise Point was beautiful.

 

St. Maarten - I'd move to St. Maarten if I could. This place is beautiful to me. We had pre-arranged before leaving home to go parasailing at Orient Beach. We cabbed over by 9:30 am and enjoyed the beach before our parasailing adventure. Parasailing was great and we could see several of the nearby islands while we were 700 feet in the air. We left Orient Beach about 12:30, cabbed back to the ship, showered and went shopping in Phillipsburg. Walked around the town for about 1 1/2 hours and back to the ship.

 

This 'n That - On a scale of 10, with 10 being best, I'd rate our week a 15 !!

Only a few minor not so negative observations... the Emerald Supper Club is positioned under the basketball court. I believe there is sign at the basketball court indicating that play should stop at 6:00 pm. That's the time that the 1st reservation is for at the restaurant. Both nights that we ate in the Emerald Room, sometimes it was kinda like eating under the basketball court at Madison Square Garden. I can see where some folks that are used to being catered to would find it unacceptable, but like I said before, we're not used to living like that and it was not a big problem to us.

 

The next one is not a problem with the ship, but with my stupidity. I forgot to put sunscreen on the tops of my feet and while at Orient beach, the tops of my feet received very bad burns plus I also got 3 stress fractures in my right foot due to the fact that I was without supportive shoes during that time. I never never never go without shoes and that is what happened. Luckily, my best friend, who is also my doctor, was with us on this trip and did the best to help me until we got back home. By midday on Thursday, my feet were swollen so bad, I could barely walk. I ended up having to be wheel chaired off of the ship on Saturday. Didn't ruin my trip though....I think the only thing that would have ruined this trip would have been if it had sunk !!

 

I have a message for Cyt4SoreEyes if she reads this.... the crew in the casino said "Hi" and come back soon !!! Also, Cyt, you must have drained the slots in the casino, because they weren't very good to us, but we had fun trying!!

 

I hope that some of what I have written might help someone in the future.

 

tootiesmom :)

[mar915]

Great review.. I hope my 2year old will not be crying up there in Camp Carnival..he is a little attached to me. So my DH will take him. My 6 year old is about ready to count down the hours since we leave on Saturday. Our cabin is near the elevators so great to here about the noise. We are on the other side though.

 

Glad you had a great time.

 

Mar

[tootiesmom]

Mar, Hope you and your family have a great time on the Glory. We had a fabulous time. Hope your children like Camp Carnival. I overheard one lady who was getting very angry with her child because they were getting ready to go on an excursion on St. Thomas and the kid didn't want to go because he wanted to stay on the ship and do what they had planned at Camp Carnival for the day. He didn't get his way, but he wanted to stay at Camp Carnival.

 

 

tootiesmom :)

[tootiesmom]

I forgot to include about getting off the ship, etc.

 

Since I had 3 stress fractures in my right foot, I was wheeled off the ship in a wheel chair and made it off the ship in about 10 minutes. I will tell you about the rest of my group getting off the ship.

 

About 7:30 - 8:00 am they made an announcement that the ship had been cleared and that self assist could soon start leaving the ship. Everyone in my group did self assist and I'd say that it took them about 45 - 50 minutes to get from their cabins to go through customs, etc. and out of the terminal.

 

Art's Shuttle was ready and waiting for us right where they said they'd be and had the van nice and cool for us. After about 45 minute ride back to the Orlando Airport, we checked in and waited for our Southwest flight back to Raleigh. Our flight was delayed about 15 minutes due to a storm in the Ft. Lauderdale area. Our plane arrived, we boarded and had an uneventful flight to Raleigh. After getting our bags loaded in the vehicle, we drove to TGI Friday's for dinner before heading out for our 1 1/2 hour trip back home. We arrived home about 10:30 pm.

 

I'm having Post-Cruise Depression very bad and have been on the computer just hunting for another cruise. Wish I were like some of the people on this board and be able to book several cruises a year....what a life !!!

 

tootiesmom :)

[Facation Fanatic]

Sounds like a great time was had by all. Sorry to hear about the problem with your feet, what a bummer! Fortunately, it didn't take you down, only slowed you down.

 

I have been planning my Glory cruise for about 7 months now and had decided that I was not going to do the alternative dining option. But, since you have written about like you have, I am reconsidering.

 

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it very much!

[lsp]

We sailed at the same time and had a great trip. We had no problem boarding, no wait and we were on by 11:45 and eating lunch. Our cabin was a balcony which was awsome. We had dinner in the Emerald and were highly impressed with the food and service. We were at the window and asked the maitre d if he could raise the curtain and if the people outside could see in. He said the glass was tinted and no one could see in. We found out differently but you know, we aren't snobs and didn't really care. Just waved back at everyone.

 

We rode with our husbands while they played golf at Mahoganey Run, they stopped keeping score after the 3rd. hole. We entertained ourselves finding lost balls, got quite a few. We were also one of the few who managed to sneak into the pool at the Atlantis. That water was so cool after that water taxi ride over. We wanted to para-sail at St. Maarten but kept getting delayed so we will save that for next time. Our dinner time was at 8:30 in the Golden Room and had Ivanna who was great. She was from Croatia and played along with our goofy husbands every night. She even lent us a wig for my husband in the talent show. If you were there then you know he was "My Girl". All of the entertainment was great, especially the "Full Monty".

 

I think Carnival is great and people who complain generally will find fault with everything, no matter what. I am referring to minor details, not major things like room leaking or bad employees. We started out with a bad waiter and just made a request for a bigger table with more people to meet. We new that he didn't have any vacancies and we would get moved elsewhere.

 

Linda

 

Liberty 9/2005

Glory 6/2004

Conquest 6/2003

[tootiesmom]

Linda, I see that you have already booked the Liberty for next Sept. Where did you book, etc. Would love to know pricing, etc. Glad you had as good a week on the Glory as we did !! We had a balcony also and it was wonderful. It would be very hard to back to anything less....

 

tootiesmom :)

Jeane

[ken_nyc]

Thank you for your review, I cannot wait!!

[tootiesmom]

Ken ! Have a great cruise on the Glory !!! When is your cruise?

 

tootiesmom :)

[picktown cruiser]

tootiesmom,

 

Great review! We sail in about a month on the Western side. I can't wait. Sounds like our cabin is about 4 or 5 cabins up from yours. I'm glad there wasn't a problem with noise from the elevators I've been a little worried about that. Hope your feet are all healed up. Thanks again for a great review.

 

Sharon

[MoonBaby]

We were booked on this Glory trip but decided to change to the Miracle out of NYC instead. A couple of reasons: not having to fly, and were concerned about the ship being just too big, with too many people.

Our cruise was great..I love the Spirit Class ships! However, our experience at the NYC Cruise terminal was a nightmare, and I have vowed to NEVER cruise from there again unless they make MAJOR changes!

I have a few questions: Is the size of the Glory overwhelming? (Never been on a ship that big!) Did it seem crowded?

I am going to try to find part one of your review...am curious about how boarding went. Anyplace has to be better than NYC! But the disembarkation in NYC was even worse! ARRGHHHHHHH!!!!!! :mad:

[Cyt4SoreEyes]

Hey TootiesMom,

What a wonderful review you wrote..made me wish I was right there with ya. I was glad to hear you had an awesome cruise!! And the Drink you mentioned sounded mm..mmm delicious..I might try to make me some this weekend. Thanks for giving my message to the great ppl on the Glory and thanks for returning theirs was very nice..makes me want to rush right back on her..they were one great bunch. Sorry to hear the slots weren't so generous for your cruise but glad ya had fun fun anyways!! That Parassailing was something else huh.. my Sis and all the kids done it..me I stayed on the ground..well in the ocean..hehehe! Well you take care again thanks for the AWESOME review!!

[Knights on the Beach]

Dinner - We were assigned to table 524 in Platinum Dining Room upstairs and Maria was our main server. Since there were so many of us, we were at a total of 3 tables right next to each other so we were still able to chat with everyone and catch up on what everyone did during the day, etc. Our meals were great and never had a problem. Everything came as ordered, hot and delicious.

Was that a long table for 10? If so, part of our family sat there last month. Maria was the main waiter and Monika was her assistant. The other four of us were at a table right next to it, but had Alex and Danuta as our servers. We all had excellent service. Here's a picture of us doing the ketchup dance with Maria:

 

[tootiesmom]

Moon Baby - About the size of the ship.... I didn't find the Glory to be overwhelming at all. The only place I noticed crowding was around the center pool when the games, etc. were being played. You could easily go up one level and see everything that went on. I never have to be right in the thick of things to enjoy myself, so the next level was fine with me.

 

Part 1 of my review has about embarkation at Port Canaveral in detail. My overview is that it was one of the easiest things I've ever gone through. I'm sure that some people have problems and I may have just had good timing, etc., but I would go out of Port Canaveral anytime.

 

Cruisemom2 - Thanks for the link to the pix of Maria. That is the Maria we had. Our table was a long table for 8 at the back windows and there was a table for 6 directly behind me. Thanks again for the pix!

 

tootiesmom :)

[Knights on the Beach]

I'm glad you found the picture of Maria. I tried to post it in my other post, but it didn't work out. I guess I'll get the hang of the new boards eventually! :)

 

We really loved going out of Port Canaveral; it's only about 45 minutes from our house. One thing we'd do differently next time is park our car FIRST (unless there is no line of cars waiting) and then wheel our luggage over to the porters. We arrived at the port at 11:00 (after having read many reviews saying they won't let cars in till then) and sat in a line of cars for about 30 minutes. It wasn't a really long line, it just wasn't moving. We dropped off our luggage and my husband and brother-in-law went to park the cars. They had to loop around and come back through the same way we had just come in, only now the line of cars was longer and passed the entrance to the parking garage. So they had to wait in line TWICE. Once they finally got the cars parked, check in was a breeze and we were on the ship around 12:30 -- but I talked to people who actually boarded the ship around 11:00! Next time we'll get there earlier too.

 

Getting off was just really easy. We decided not to do self-assist, but got lucky and ours was the first color tag called. We were off the ship and at our car by 8:30 (where we had to wait for my mother-in-law for 30 minutes, but that's another story)!

[LRRiz]

Hi Jeanne,

I was wondering about Arts Shuttle Service, did you book this on your own, do they go to the airport? We are going next April vacation and will definitley get off the ship ourselves because we have an 11 am flight. There are 7 of us on that flight and 4 others on a 1pm flight(I don't know yet if they want to leave early with us or not). Any help with phone numbers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lisa

[tootiesmom]

Lisa, I arranged for Art's Shuttle to pick us up at the airport, take us to the Radisson at Port Canaveral and pick us up at Port Canaveral and back to the airport. I did this by phone about 3 - 4 weeks prior to leaving. The person I spoke with faxed me a copy of our arrangement immediately and the whole experience went exactly as they said. I would definately recommend using them if possible. Their website is http://www.artsshuttle.com and phone is 1-800-567-5099. Be sure to go to their website and check out group prices. If you have at least 7 people (I think), you qualify for the group rate of $12 per person one way to Port Canaveral. Hope this information helps !!

 

tootiesmom :)

Jeane

[iluvdoxies]

Moonbaby, we have been on the Spirit class ship (Pride, Legend and Miracle) as well as conquest class, the Glory.

Pros and cons for the Glory design--the bad thing is the aft pool and bar area is all enclosed- gets very hot--I prefer the open railings like on the Miracle.

It was convenient to have all the bars close together on the Glory, Lido deck cabins are great!

As one posted said, the supper club is under the basketball court- not a good location.

The size of the Glory didnt seem any bigger to me than the Miracle, Pride or Legend- public rooms are just arranged differently.

ALso, liked the casino bar- it was IN the casino.

Hope this helps....

[LRRiz]

Jeane,

Thanks for the information, I wrote it down and will check the website.

Lisa

[Karitannis]

ok, I felt compelled to write about Art's Shuttle. We were on the Glory 6-12 cruise, loved every minute of it and hated to leave. When we arrived at Port Canaveral I went to get my car that we left there all week. The front tire was flat as could be, (not noticed it, until we loaded all of our luggage) Since we were 4 girls, there was A LOT of luggage. A really nice young man from Art's Shuttle service (from Minnesota) offered to change our tire in the 95+ degree heat. He did this without reservation and had to pick up a load of people in 10 min. I had to force paying him $20, as he just said how nice it was to be in Florida. When I got home I also called Art's Shuttle to tell them what a great employee they had, and that I would be using their service in the future.

 

Long story short. - Use Art's Shuttle!