GLORY - WESTERN - JULY 31 - Includes review of Ron Jon Resort

[Love to vacation]

PRE-CRUISE: July 30- WARNING to people who like to pack a lot!!!! I knew there could be charges for overweight bags at the airport, but boy did I learn a lesson! I don't like to carry a lot of bags, so I packed everything in 3 big bags knowing I may need to pay a fee. Well, the fees are so much more than I thought they would be. For a bag over 50 pounds the charge is $25, and if you go over 70 pounds the charge is $50. Yes, that's right, I had one bag in each category. Paying $75 before getting on the plane is not what I expected. We flew from Indianapolis to Orlando. I used the Tiffany Towncar Service for transportation from Orlando to the Radisson Resort at the Port. I had used this service before with great results and they were terrific again this trip. Their website is [url]www.tiffanytowncars.com[/url]. I found the Radisson to be ok for our purpose. We didn't check in until 9:15pm, so we didn't use any of their facilities. Our room was spacious and clean. When we got up Saturday morning and looked out the window we could see the Glory very clearly. We had been assigned the 12:00 shuttle to the pier. Well, that process, to us, seemed very disorganized. Be prepared for people and luggage everywhere. At 12:00 it didn't look like we were going to get on the shuttle and a very nice limo pulled in and I jokingly said "there is our ride!" Well, the driver got out and said anyone want a ride to the pier for $25? We jumped on the chance. I think that $25 saved a lot of time and hassle. We were at the port by 12:20, breezed thru the Skippers Club and were in our room by 1:00.

CRUISE: Checked out our room, walked around a little bit of the ship and ate lunch at 2:00. Off to a great start, except for the pouring down rain! All of our bags arrived early. I had unpacked everything before the 4:00 drill.
Dining room: We checked out our table shortly after getting on the ship. To those of you who may want to change assignments - we did without any problem. We kept our same time (early) and dining room (platinum) , just changed tables. My husband was told it is easier to change from late seating to early. I guess the late seating is most requested. We thought the food was good, a little exotic for our midwestern taste, but always found something we liked. We always left full and satisfied.

Our first day at sea was wonderful. Lots for sun and fun.

Costa Maya: Crazy getting off of ship. It seemed to take forever. An announcement was made to everyone not with a tour to wait, but I sure don't think that worked. We did the Uvero Boat Blast and Snorkel (see ports of call for review).

Belize:Our tour wasn't until 1:00, so we relaxed on the ship all morning. Nice way to start the day. We did the Barrier Reef Snorkel at Rendezvous Key. It was awesome!! Again, see Port of Call section for review.

Cozumel: Took taxi downtown around 9:00am. Shopped until about 11:30. I had planned to take our purchases back to the ship then go to Paradise Beach. The heat while we were shopping really zapped us of our energy and I decided just to stay on the ship and lay out on the deck. I was really upset with myself later in the day that I made that decision. We really did enjoy shopping downtown and the shopping at the Puerto May pier was good too.

Progreso: My 2nd favorite stop. We did the Hacienda Jeep Expedition. Totally loved it (review at Ports of Call).

As you can see we took only Carnival based excursions. I have always enjoyed our tours and like knowing we can't get "left behind" if anything goes wrong.

Last sea day wonderful and relaxing.

Debarkation went smoothly for us. We were called off the ship around 8:30. Once off the ship we quickly found our bags and went to find our Budget Rental Car shuttle. We were fortunate and didn't have to wait long for the shuttle. We got our car and was sitting in the McDonalds parking lot in Cape Canaveral by 10:00. From there we went directly to the Kennedy Space Center. We enjoyed it, but I think we were "toured out". We didn't stay very long. We checked in the Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort at 3:40. This place is amazing!!! The huge pool, waterslide, lazy river and kids area were incredible. The main building is beautiful. We had a one bedroom unit. It was gorgeous. The decorating and tile work were wonderful. There is a very short walk to the beach. I really liked the beach too. The sandy area is huge with no seaweed or trash on the beach. We stayed on Ron Jon from Sat - Mon. I could very easily stay here for an entire week.

We had a super vacation. I'm moving to the Ports of Call section to write up our excursion reviews. Thanks to all for the help I received pre-cruise!
Michelle

[wenhigh]

Gracias! I appreciate your detailed report. I wish to take my wife on this ship in a year or two. I am trying to talk her into October 2005. Do you feel that the stay at Radisson is well worth it, or would you recommend Ron Jon's Resort instead for the pre-cruise stay?

[Love to vacation]

If you are just staying one night pre-cruise I would recommend the Radisson over Ron Jon for 2 reasons. First, the price. Our room at the Radisson was $99 and at Ron Jon it was $177. The other reason is timing. If you are only there to spend the night you don't really have time to enjoy all the things Ron Jon has to offer that makes it so special. Unless, of course, you have money to burn, then go for it!
Michelle

[BADBUOY]

Thanks for your review Michelle,
What cat cabin did you have and were you happy with it?

Was there a sail away party? Is there good shopping in Cozumel? I thought it was more of a party spot. Do you have to tender there?

[Love to vacation]

We had a Cat 12 on the Glory. It was very nice. Our first cruise was 13 years ago on the Holiday and I shared an inside cabin with 3 other people. I've come full circle!! Two years ago, on the Victory, my family (only 3 of us) had a Cat 11. I have to say I don't think I could ever cruise without a balcony ~ it's the best!! However, I didn't think the Cat 12 was much better than the Cat 11 and it is much more money. So, in the future, I'll go with the Cat 11 again. The only difference I noticed was a little more room in the living area. The bathroom was much bigger, with a bidget. But, again, not worth the difference in price. Hope this helps.

I'm sure there was a sail away party, but we didn't do it. We always watch from our balcony. Shopping in Cozumel is very nice. Much better than the other ports on this sailing. We don't do the party thing at all, so the famous party stops like Senior Frogs or Carlos - n- Charlies has no appeal to us at all. We did shopping downtown at Diamonds International, Los Cinco Soles (the best!), Silver Emporium (very nice!), and Del Sol. Then, at the pier there are more shopping stops that are the same as downtown (I've heard you get better deals downtown) and a few different shops as well.

No tendering for the Glory. You do have to take a taxi to get downtown. Only $6 one way.
Michelle