Review Glory Christmas 12/23 - 12/30LONG

[njs]

Just got home last night after spending the weekend in Fort Lauderdale after the Glory Cruise and will add my observations and hopefully some helpful tips.

Daughter(14) and myself flew Toronto to Orlando direct on Thurs Dec 21

Husband and sons (18 and 16 ) arrived Dec 21 from Toronto. In-laws (mid 70's) flew Newark NJ to Orlando friday Dec 21. All stayed in Orlando before the cruise and use Tiffany Towncar service to the port on Sat am. Arrived before ship had been cleared by customs so waited for maybe 20 minutes, then began the check-in process. We were in the first 50 processed, so it went smoothly and we were up in the red sail for lunch.

Luggage arrived in batches throughout the afternoon. One piece was minus 2 wheels so thanks to Mr Dood (I think) who posted about problems with Carnival reimbursement we went to the purser and got a letter stating what was damaged and telling us to get it fixed and send them the bill for reimbursement.

Food:

Enjoyed the first of many Rueben sandwiches (that was my normal lunch through-out the cruise). Not overly thrilled with the buffet in general , although there was a variety to choose from. My one son had fish and calamari everyday but I thought it was a bit greasy for my liking. None of us tried the oriental counter because there were always long lines at it (maybe that's an indication it's good). Daughter got food from the grill everyday so the variety of food available was great for our group of 7. Of course we all enjoyed the ice cream daily.

We were in the Platinum dining room at table 308 - first sitting 5:45. We had wanted 6:15 sitting but went to see about switching but were told that 6:15 was completely booked. Also told since we were Mid-ship on empress deck the platinum dining room would be easier for us to get to:confused:

Anyway, we were really impressed with our waiter (Julio) and assistant (Tomas) so were glad we hadnt switched. They were very efficient and refilled our glasses constantly, and offered bread repeatedly (something we dont remember happening on previous cruises). We thoroughly enjoyed the new menu and sampled just about everything . I became addicted the the melting chocolate cake (got it just about every night) Im not a huge fan of choc cake but this was superb. Julio was good at suggesting what was good and he was right every time. Naturally we gave both Julio and Tomas an extra tip at the end of the cruise. One meal my husband got was not as hot as he wanted so it was replaced very quickly with one that was. These guys were the greatest team of hard workers I have ever met. I'm in bed before midnight buffets are offered, but the rest went to them, but thought they weren't much to write home about. So they would go back to the room and order room service instead. Sounds like they became addicted to the roast beef and brie sandwiches. AS a matter of fact when we arrived home last night, the boys suggested calling room service for their nightly roast beef and brie

It's great when you see how much the kids appreciated the whole experience.

BTW dont miss the afternoon tea on sea days. This was done well - tea,cucumber sandwiches, salmon on crackers and toast points, meringues and cream puffs. And of course beautiful classical music by piano, violin and cello- great way to relax and unwind.

Room

We had 3 balcony cabins mid ship on the empress deck (deck 7) When we got to our room around 1:30, we asked the room steward to open the partitions, but he told us to call 7777 to make the request and it would be open the next day at 2pm. Dont know if that was a ship policy or just our steward (on other cruises it has always been opened on the first day) No big deal tho - it was open the next day. Enjoyed the balcony (I had room service for bkfst most days ) and loved being on the balcony as we came into port in Nassau. Rooms were spacious enough and bedswere comfy, and quiet. We were right across from the Laundry room and I was afraid it might be noisy, but instead it proved to be quiet and very convenient. Wouldnt hesitate to book that location again!

Ports:

Nassau - shopped in the little shops near the port and took a horse and buggy ride to tour a bit more of the area. This was a short stop, so didnt want to stray too far away.

St Thomas - A real NIGHTMARE in terms of customs and debarkation. I think I would seriously consider deleting from my cruise choices any that go to this port. The debarkation was a mess - neither Carnival nor customs could get their act together. Of course each was quick to blame the other when questioned. My children and I are Canadian so we went to the Amber Palace. My husband and in-laws are American so they went somewhere on deck 5. We had a tour booked thru Carnival for 10:30 so were sent to the left hand side of the Amber Place (deck 3). People without bookings were in the middle. When customs arrived and started processing the people in our group, people in the middle without tours booked started cutting in. We didnt get off the ship until after 11 and my dh and inlaws got off about 10 minutes after us:confused: They said it was bedlam in their area. Funny that we beat the Americans in our group going thru American Customs!!!! Took the Pirates Tour that took us to a few scenic lookouts stops on the way to Blackbeard's castle - it was ok - was to include swim time at the pools on the castle site- but since we wasted so much time in immigration, we skipped the swim and went back to town to shop. Ended the day with a sky-ride and famous bushwacker.

The traffic was horrific at the end of the day. Definitely a place to use taxi or water taxi, and not venture out on your own. In no hurry to go back to this port.

St Maarten.

By far this was our favourite port. Thanks to advice from others on this board, we rented a van from Best Deals at the pier. Had fun driving those hair-pin curves and hills. DH managed to get quite a few gasps from MIL and myself. We went straight to orient beach b/c kids wanted to parasail. Got a great deal($45/pp) from the vendor closests to the nude beach (not sure of his name ) Took the 3 kids, DH and MIL out on raft to boat and they launched and landed in the boat. THey had single ride (not tandem) and just loved it. I stayed on shore b/c have had hip and knee replacement and thot it would be too rough landing, but even I would have had no problem with these guys- they were great. I had to stay on the beach and try to ignore all the old ugly prune-skinned nude men - ugggggh:( Then went on to Phillipsburg for shopping - best shopping on the whole trip. We liked the shopping here much better than in St Thomas (altho the cruise shopper pushes st thos) BTW in St Thomas, watches are not covered in the jewellery discounts. Husband wanted to get a Tissot (?sp) and when he finally had a deal he could live with, he pulled out the $50 voucher for that store that the carnival shopping expert had given him and was told watches not included. He told her when we got back to the ship to include that info in her talks. She didnt know (and she's the expert) Oh well!!!!!

Debarkation

Another nightmare (makes me think debarkation is something the glory really needs to work on - you cant always blame customs and expect people to believe it) On other ships debarkn is usually done from the top down (ie the higher you are, the more you pay, the sooner you get off) Glory doesnt seem to know this. We were on Empress Deck 7 and were the last ones off the ship (I think riviera and main were called 1st and 2nd):confused: When we got to customs the girl asked how many were left because she was already supposed to be done. We finnally got our luggage at 11;20. Definitely not a record to be proud of.

Amber Palace

I am convinced the sound technician is deaf and is trying to make everyone else the same:mad: He ruined this aspect of the trip - Way tooooo loud, esp on deck 3 on the sides under the speakers- these areas are quite PAINFUL b/c volume is too loud. We thot the lead singers (Cassandra and Ed) cannot sing in tune and hold the notes - really quite dreadful - Have heard better talent from local productions. If these 2 were in one of the lounges on the ship, I doubt you would go back to hear them again. Is Dana (CD) also deaf - doesnt he have any say who the lead singers are? This is the first cruise, I skipped many of the shows in the Amber Palace.

Soooooo, will I sail Carnival again - of course - the price is right and in spite of what others say we found plenty to do and loads to eat .

Will I sail Glory again - not likely esp if CD is the same- he didnt seem as organized or on hands as the others we have met. Sailed in past with John Heald - not crazy about the guy's personality, but he was very organized and we had no debark'n problelms like this ship

Would also like to try another cruiseline for comparison.

Have booked Valor for next Christmas (was looking forward to the aft wrap around balcony but the vibrations in the platinum dining room make me think maybe I wouldnt like that room after all)- but kids not sure they want to be away from home next year. Got a bit of time to think about.

Sorry only a few from these mesage boards made it to the meet and greet. Enjoyed meeting buddyjo,trepid, family three (loved your kilts) and christmas cruiser. I know, the muster drill went long and didnt leave much time to get ready for supper.

Sorry this is so long, but once I started I kept remembering more things so say. Any questions, ask away.

[cupidsarrrow]

I am not too sure what you are talking about when you got into St Thomas...is this a tendered port? I assumed you can just come and go off the ship as you please. I also dont understand why your group had to be separated on the ship, sounds really confusing to me. We are all Canadains here too, and we just wanted to do things on our own in St. Thomas, site seeing then the beach. Is this a bad idea now?

[TxStacey]

I am also interested in the situation in St. Thomas. I have cruised many times but not to the Eastern Carribean so I am not familiar with having to clear customs at a port. What is involved in this? Has anyones eles had a similiar experience on the Glory recently? Just trying to prepare myself:( !! Thanks!

[mbuote]

I am convinced the sound technician is deaf and is trying to make everyone else the same:mad: He ruined this aspect of the trip - Way tooooo loud, esp on deck 3 on the sides under the speakers- these areas are quite PAINFUL b/c volume is too loud. We thot the lead singers (Cassandra and Ed) cannot sing in tune and hold the notes - really quite dreadful - Have heard better talent from local productions. If these 2 were in one of the lounges on the ship, I doubt you would go back to hear them again. .

 

I'm glad to hear your DH was well enough to take the cruise. Sorry I missed everyone after the muster drill but finding things was an issue on the first day.

I thought Cassandra had a good voice actually. Ed was indeed terrible. He sang flat all week. Some really painful notes there. :( I have some inside information on the the sound issue. The sound tech was a fill in for the week. The usual sound technician had a family emergency and had to leave just before we set sail. The back up did not have a lot of experience. It is true though that Cassandra's mike level was way too high. During the rehearsals for the Legends show that I was in they could not get the mic to work for about 5 minutes. I honestly don't think that Dana the CD had anything to do with thehiring of the singers. From what I understand he is new to the ship. They were probably there before he was. I talked with him a lot backstage and found him to be a great guy. I have never cruised before so my experience with him was my first with a CD.

[njs]

Hey Cupidsarrow and txstacey

No we did not tender But this is a US port after visiting Nassau so everyone on the ship must go thru customs - even if you want to stay on the ship on the port day. It was a total mess. The Island was ok but couldnt understand all the hype we heard b4 going to it claiming it to be the best port of the cruise. We all like st maarten better, but still enjoyed st thomas as well

[njs]

Hey txstacey and cupidsarrow

No we did not tender in any of the ports. But since St Thomas is the first US stop after visiting a foreign port (Nassau )everyone on the ship must go thru customs-even if you dont plan on going in to port. This was total chaos. We just enjoyed st maarten better, but still had a good day in st thomas (once we got off the ship:D )

[njs]

I'm glad to hear your DH was well enough to take the cruise. Sorry I missed everyone after the muster drill but finding things was an issue on the first day.

I thought Cassandra had a good voice actually. Ed was indeed terrible. He sang flat all week. Some really painful notes there. :( I have some inside information on the the sound issue. The sound tech was a fill in for the week. The usual sound technician had a family emergency and had to leave just before we set sail. The back up did not have a lot of experience. It is true though that Cassandra's mike level was way too high. During the rehearsals for the Legends show that I was in they could not get the mic to work for about 5 minutes. I honestly don't think that Dana the CD had anything to do with thehiring of the singers. From what I understand he is new to the ship. They were probably there before he was. I talked with him a lot backstage and found him to be a great guy. I have never cruised before so my experience with him was my first with a CD.

Hi mbuote- sorry you missed the first day meeting - hope you had a good trip anyway- dh back was out for first few days and had to take it easy but he managed to parasail in st maarten so obviously was back to normal by then. So were you in the legends show- sorry I missed that then - but after the first few nights of headaches from way too loud shows I skipped the rest that involved singing - enjoyed the commedian and magician . Yes Cassandra had a better voice than Ed (obvious on the smaller 60's show on the last night), but we didnt think either were headliner calibre. As far as the sound goes we werent alone in voicing our opinion to CD and yet it didnt change. Yes I agree Dana is a nice guy, but I think he needs an "assertiveness training" program to be a leader on the ship. I know the singers are contracted so he couldnt get rid of a poor singer, but at least turn down the volume

[buddyjo143]

Great review njs!

 

I say go for that aft cabin if you can. We only noticed the shaking in the dining room when we were leaving St. Maarten.

 

I wasn't impressed with St. Thomas either. It was the one port we all wanted to see since the reason we were on this itinerary was that DH's grandparents sailed the route in the 1970s and loved it and we were using inherited money to do this trip in their memory. My Mother had traveled there in the 1980s and loved it too.

 

Besides the trouble with customs we had trouble with the tour operator. Would definitely go it alone if we go back there again.

 

Funny about your sons and the room service. I brought home the hanger tag to put on the cabin door for privacy/please make up my stateroom. I've had it on the bedroom door for 3 days now and no one has come to make up my stateroom :eek: What's up with that:rolleyes:

[njs]

Great review njs!

 

I say go for that aft cabin if you can. We only noticed the shaking in the dining room when we were leaving St. Maarten.

 

I wasn't impressed with St. Thomas either. It was the one port we all wanted to see since the reason we were on this itinerary was that DH's grandparents sailed the route in the 1970s and loved it and we were using inherited money to do this trip in their memory. My Mother had traveled there in the 1980s and loved it too.

 

Besides the trouble with customs we had trouble with the tour operator. Would definitely go it alone if we go back there again.

 

Funny about your sons and the room service. I brought home the hanger tag to put on the cabin door for privacy/please make up my stateroom. I've had it on the bedroom door for 3 days now and no one has come to make up my stateroom :eek: What's up with that:rolleyes:

 

So you would feel safe driving in that traffic - Im glad we did a Carnival tour - I thought the trip back to the ship was rather scary!!

I love the cabin door hanger story - should have brought home the laundry request sheet to see if anyone would do mine:D

[njs]

I am not too sure what you are talking about when you got into St Thomas...is this a tendered port? I assumed you can just come and go off the ship as you please. I also dont understand why your group had to be separated on the ship, sounds really confusing to me. We are all Canadains here too, and we just wanted to do things on our own in St. Thomas, site seeing then the beach. Is this a bad idea now?

 

Dont want to discourage you from visiting St Thomas just want you to be aware so you can prepare. If you are all Canadians you will all go to the same mtg place for customs. If you have booked a carnival excursion and it is in the am you should get thru customs first. If you are doing something on your own with no pre-booking, you will have to wait until the booked tours leave. This is a very beautiful island, but remember that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the traffic is heavy in town. One nice thing on the glory, the CD announced in his info session that if you buy the skyride ticket for Paradise point from Carnival and run out of time and dont use it, they will refund you your money -cant beat that deal. It is a fabulous way to see the beauty of the island and bay