Glory Eastern 3/31-4/7--my review

[dominocat]

Just back from the Carnival Glory(sail date March 31st) and thought I'd share my impressions. My husband and I traveled with a group of 30+ people. All are in our mid 30-50's. There were several children as well.

Our embarkation was a disaster. We booked our air through Carnival because holiday air rates(Easter) on our own were too expensive. We flew from Phila. to Atlanta to Melbourne. The flight didn't arrive in Melbourne until 2:30(delays) and there was no transportation waiting for us even though we had vouchers from Carnival for them. By time we arranged transportation for the whole group, it was after 3pm and the ship was due to sail at 4pm. Travel time to the Port was at least 45 minutes. Needless to say, there were many frantic calls to Carnival to hold the ship. Marista at the port, stayed on the phone with us while we were in transit and she was truely the saving grace in all this. We arrived at the port and hurried on board. They pulled the gangways while we were walking to our rooms at about 4:15. I'll never do this again(fly the same day). Air travel is an unreliable mode of transport. I am still working with Carnival to obtain reimbursement for the trip to the port and to find out what went wrong. So far they have been very helpful. This start left a bad impression as we always felt we had to hurry back to the ship so we didn't miss it when we were in port.

 

Our room was great. We had an inside room with plenty of closet space and bathroom space. Our room steward was very friendly and accommodating. We had pre-ordered some liquor and it was in the room when we arrived.(this was nice) The bed was very comfortable and I would have slept great except for the rocking(more on this later). Our room was directly above the casino and there was very muted noise from it--not a problem at all. I was concerned about the smell of smoke from the casino being in our room and this was not a problem. Smoke was not a problem anywhere on the ship. Room service coffee in the morning was the best!!! If you ordered it on the card that you place outside your door at night, it was delivered at the time you asked. If you called, your order arrived withing 15 minutes. What a treat!!

Meals were great. We had dinner every night in the Platinum room. Since this room is in the back of the boat it tended to rock quite a bit. Things that stood out as excellent-- smoked Duck appetizer, tiramisu, melting chocolate cake, salmon(I love salmon and had it 3 nights--large portion and very tasty), prime rib, Caesar salad. I enjoyed all the dinners. Breakfast everyday at Red Sail was okay--omelettes good. Lunch at the Grille(very good), Fish and Chips(good), Deli(excellent--grilled Rueben, yum), pizza(good). Overall I thought the meals were good to very good. Wait staff was excellent. Always asked how the meal was and if we wanted anything else or more of anything. Portion sizes were very good. All the children in our group were at one table and their wait staff kept them constantly entertained with jokes, magic and stories. They loved dinner every night and looked forward to it.

Activities. We went to the Wyndham hotel in Nassau--nice, St. John Champagne catamaran in St. Thomas--very good, and Orient beach in St. Maarten(good--a bit rainy). On board activities were very good--hairy chest, watermelon eating, ship building. Ship entertainment was fair(we didn't care for the main singers) Comedians were great. Motown performer--absolutely excellent. Wee Jimmy was fun as the cruise director.

Gym and fitness. Very nice areas. The treadmills were all in use around 8am each day, so I went early. Other machines and weights were all in good shape and easy to use. The spa whirlpool was a great treat after a workout

Sea Days. Not a big fan of how these went. I love the sun and looked forward to sitting and relaxing. You needed to grab a chair by 6am(yes that's AM) in order to have one. This was ridiculous. Yes, I was one of those out there early grabbing a chair, but I or my husband sat in it all day. I had read about the chair saving problem in advance of this trip and it is a serious problem with this ship. Lots of chairs sat unused for long periods of time. There is not enough deck space for the number of passengers and it results in a maze of chairs to try and get from place to place. The chairs are so packed in that you find it difficult to even get out of your chair without tripping on something. I was very disappointed in this. Our sea days were a bit windy(as I suppose they always are) and sitting on one of the top decks was not possible without being seriously wind blown(saw lots of shoes and towels flying through the air). Loved the slide and did it several times!!! Made me feel like a kid.

Ship spaces. The bars and casino were very enjoyable. The entertainment in each of the venues was good. I found the ship a bit difficult to navigate, but signage was good to find your way, and we treated finding our way as a sort of treasure hunt:) . There are small maps available at the pursers desk that are great to have. Enjoyed a few Miami Vice drinks--very good. Martini and mojito bar specials were too crowded with a long lines and slow bartenders. Would have enjoyed trying them but it was my choice not to wait. This ship rocked a lot!!! We had moderate seas the entire trip(4-7 ft) and we felt it all the time. Having cruised before, we thought this was excessive for a ship as big as the Glory, to rock and vibrate. The ship was very clean and crew was always cleaning.

Debarkation. No problems, just took a long time. Made it back to Melbourne airport(after a 2 hr wait on the bus), and home by late evening(too long).

Overall--I found it an enjoyable cruise. Not very relaxing as there is always something you want to do. The start of the trip lent a bad note to things. I would sail Carnival again, but would do things differently. 1. Fly in day before--not travel around a holiday so I can book my own air. 2. Sail on a smaller ship, or one with more deck space per guest. 3. Be prepared not to relax--too much to do.

Now I need a vacation from my vacation. Hope you enjoyed reading this and find my comments as helpful as I found other review comments. Having read this board for months before our trip was very, very helpful and I appreciate all the posters information. A word to future travellers who may read this, heed the boards--they are a wealth of information.

 

Any questions, ask away and I'll be happy to answer.

[kml2000]

Thank you for your review. We are heading out on the Glory - Eastern the end of May.

 

May I ask your cabin #. We are above the casino and I was a little worried about it.

 

You review sounds like it is what I am expecting out of the cruise, so it was good to read it. I hate the chair thing.......but that is going to happen unless Carnival starts having a "pool patrol". I hate it for my teen daughter and her friend who will want to be sunning by the pool....

 

THANKS again.

[dominocat]

Hello, You will have a great time on the Glory. Our cabin # was 6314. You could hear very muted noise from the slot machines, and it was nothing that would keep me(a light sleeper) awake. It was a good location--1 floor from the Promenade and 3 floors from the pool deck. Very convenient.

[float'n fanatics]

We had pre-ordered some liquor and it was in the room when we arrived.(this was nice)

 

Thanks for the great review! I have a question about pre ordered booze. We have also done this, and we're curious about mixers. Did you order any pitchers of juice from room service? (We were told by the Bon Voyage department that we could do this). Did you bring your own mixers?

Thanks for any tips on this!

[dominocat]

Hello, we did not order any mixers and I don't think that it is possible to get pitchers via room service(I didn't try). I did take some of those single serving ice tea/lemonade packets and mixed them with water, then used those to make drinks. You can also get punch/juice from the self service stations and fill a container(water bottle etc.) then mix your drink from them. Hope this helps. To be honest, we enjoyed the bar service so much, we didn't use too much of the liquor we had delivered to the room and took it home with us.

[vstar1100]

We leave on 4-14-2007 I am printing out you review to take along, it is appreciated.

1. Did you happen to go in the sauna or steam room? Are there windows in

them to see the ocean or not?

2. Is the water in the spa whirlpool salt water?

3. Were the hair dryers OK? and is an extention cord needed?

4. Were there any chairs that were unused away from the pool areas?

5. So if we are at the treadmills by 7:00 A. M. we will be fine?

6. Would you do Orient beach again?

[dominocat]

I didn't use the sauna or steam room(but would have loved to) I just looked in. The sauna did have large windows facing the sea. The steam room was steamy(hehe) and I just poked my head in and I don't recall seeing windows.

The water in the spa whirlpool(and the pool there too) was fresh water.

Hair dryer was tough to use. I have longish hair and you have to hold the button in for it to work. We had taken our own, and after trying the one in the room, I used my own.

There were not any unused chairs anywhere. On the upper decks if you were a die hard, you could have a chair, but it was really windy!!!. You would have to carry a chair up there yourself. I'm talking gale force winds of 30-40 knts according to the TV. Don't know if this is typical or not, but we had two sea days(Mon. and Fri.) of this wind. Thursday was a good day and there was not an empty chair on ANY deck.

Yes, I was on the treadmills at 7am and it was fine. Great workout to try and run on a moving ship watching the swells of the ocean.

Yes, I would do Orient Beach again. We did Bikini Beach and had great music from the bar behind us. Very nice.

[kml2000]

Is there a place to lay on a towel around the pool - NOT asking for myself, but for the teens. Think I would prefer a chair. :D

[dominocat]

There isn't really any space to lay out a towel. The deck space is very tight. Walking paths are the only open space and they are narrow and often winding. Areas around the pool are in high demand and occupied by chairs. Maybe when you travel it will be during a quieter time(not spring break like our trip) and conditions will be different. If it wasn't so windy, I would guess that the upper decks would have been great places to enjoy the sun and the girls would still have good people/boy watching. :)

 

One more tidbit of information: When you order a frozen drink around the pool, be sure to ask for it in a regular glass. Even if it's not the special of the day, the bar staff will often bring your frozen drink in a Carnival glass. We ended up with about 10 of them and they cost a bit more than if you'd gotten it in a regular glass.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[kml2000]

Thanks for your info. Unfortunately, we will be cruising Memorial Day so I am guessing it will be busy......:(

[cantwait2cruise]

I was on the same cruise and I thought the boat was pretty rocky too.

 

I can't believe you guys cut it so close getting on. We got stuck in some traffic and got there right at 3:00.

 

You can check out my review on this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=533593

[poptart]

I was on the Glory in November--the week after Thanksgiving. My favorite place to lay out on a deck chair was on the deck by where you get on the slide. Deck 11? I don't remember--but you can get a chair looking straight out sea--no obstructions. It was awesome. Get too hot? A quick trip down the slide--(I'm 56 and it made me feel like a kid again too!!) or there was a shower up there too to cool off. When activites--hairy chest etc--were going on by the pool you could stand by the rails and see that too if you wanted. I can lay in a chair and look at the pool at home--when I'm at sea I want to look at the sea!!!

Yes, there was bar service up there.

[dolphinlvr4172]

We also enjoyed deck 11 - lots of space up there but did get alittle windy! It was the same deck with the running track

[vstar1100]

What were the prices like at Bikini Beach, chair and umbrella rental, lunches Ect.

 

Also did you happen to see prices of snorkel equipment.

 

Thanks a bunch

[dominocat]

Hello, we paid I think $18.00 for two chairs and an umbrella. You might do better at one of the other many spots on the beach, but we got there late and just wanted to chill without walking anymore. We didn't eat there, but I did have a Pina Colada(so-so) that was about $6.00. Check out the other boards(St. Maarten) for more information if you want. That's where I got a lot of useful tips. Lots to do--wave runners, parasail, water trampoline, people watch:rolleyes: .

[dominocat]

Sorry, forgot you asked about snorkel stuff. I didn't see any one offering this, so I can't help you out there.

 

Have fun!!