Carnival Glory 10/06 - 10/13 review (long!)

[shutterbun]

Hi gang,

 

This was my first cruise, and as I have gotten a lot of useful info and tips from these boards, I figured I would "give something back" to the community. Here goes!

 

Boarding:

 

Reasonably painless, though not without a certain amount of waiting on line. I agree with another poster who suggested that Carnival mailing out Bahamas customs forms ahead of time would have been helpful. We had done everything "by the book" but still had to find the forms, fill them out, then get back in line along with everyone else.

 

Checking in was a breeze, though my cabin-mate and I had asked for (and were told we were given) seperate sail & sign folios, but later found out that they were linked to the same credit card, which had to be remedied on board. Luckily that process was easy, too.

 

Once my foot finally hit the deck, all the hassles (predictably) melted away. I had a pretty good idea of what the routine would be, so my better half and I headed up to the Lido deck for our obligatory "Frou-frou drinks." No, folks, they aren't free! I was prepared for that, but somehow having to immediately whip out the S&S card and sign the check kinda took some of the "hospitality" feeling out of it for me. I doubt it would kill them to at least hand out a complimentary watered-down Bahama Mama when stepping on board for the first time, eh? But I'm just being picky.

 

Our cabin was ready when we went to investigate at about 1:00 (ahead of schedule) which was nice. We were also fortunate to meet our steward Jaime just outside our door, and introduce ourselves. (always good to have a rapport with your steward, no?)

 

We had the usual anticipation/suspense/panic attack while waiting for our bags to arrive (my girlfriend had some very valuable handmade clothing in hers and was terrified to have it leave her sight, but it was just to large to carry on ourselves) By dinnertime (we had the late seating) only 1 of 5 bags had arrived, so I found myself saying "don't worry" an awful lot.

 

Food & Drink

 

Dinner in the dining room...what can I say? Not quite what I was expecting, based on the hype. The service was quite surprisingly underwhelming. Slow, often with lengthy pauses between courses (even plate-clearing) and although we had a complimentary bottle of wine on our table (courtesy of our travel group) nobody ever offered to uncork it, or indeed offer us a single beverage! (other than water) I've since learned that there may be a seperate "bar waiter" in charge of drink orders, but obviously we never saw hide nor hair of him. So, water it was. Yes, we could have investigated more about it on our own, but seriously, when was the last time you were in a restaurant and had to hunt down your own drinks?

 

The food in the dining room was hit-and-miss. The pasta on my first night was a definite hit with me (as was the lobster with my girlfriend) but the veal parmesian later in the week was an absolute dud. ("pork chops with marinara" would have been a more accurate description, in all honesty) But the "chocolate melting cake" did not disappoint. We ate in the dining room only 3 out of 7 nights, which gives you some idea of how we felt about it.

 

The buffets and casual dining, on the other hand, were quite tasty, convenient, and as on any cruise, omnipresent. Many kinds of pasta salads, soups, and each day tended toward a different "theme." (mexican, chinese, etc.) Though I suspect the "carribean theme" buffet was just an excuse to get people to load up on cheap stuff like red beans & rice. But hey, I like beans and rice, so it worked out OK! ;-)

 

The 24 hour dining (pizza and deli) were absolute lifesavers, too. But to be honest, I never did see the Fish & Chips place that everyone raves about. Oh well.

 

We heard TERRIFIC things from our tablemates (one of whom was a professional chef) about the "Emerald Room" supper club, who said it wsa well worth the $30 surcharge. They ended up eating there 6 nights out of 7! So the more refined diners may want to check that out.

 

All of the clubs/sitting rooms/public areas on the ship are exactly as they appear on the Carnival website. No false advertising here! Everything is spotless, well kept, and uniquely desinged with attention to detail. (there is a teens club/arcade themes as a "Monopoly" game which makes for some awesome pictures! In fact, nearly every corner of the Promenade Deck (aka "where the action is") is great for pictures.

 

The Lido deck (aka "where the food is") is a half-inside, half-outside deal, which can be a bit uncomfy at times. Why? Because it's generally warm and humid outside, sub-arctic inside, and stifling like a sauna in between. At times it was quite challenging to find a comfortable place to sit and eat. (less so at night, when the middle area cooled off) The bars on the Lido deck can get quite crowded at times (for some reason the bar on the "non-smoking" side of the deck was frequently closed, which tended to double the traffic at the remaining bar. phooey!) I purchased a soda "fountain" card and cooler cup on the first day, which was the best purchase I made all week. Ironically, there are no actual soda fountains on board, and all the sodas actually came from cans. Go figure. Anyway, if you are planning on smuggling booze onboard (heaven forbid!) this makes for some very cheap Rum & Cokes! And although the soda cards are only good for 1 drink at a time and are non transferable, I never ONCE had someone check the name on the back or monitor my drink once I left the area, so it's quite conceivable that a couple could share a single soda card without much difficulty. (cough)

 

Most of the bars will also sell you a "double shot" drink in a 16 ounce glass, which seemed to be a better bargain (less ice, twice the booze) and also helped reduce trips to the barkeep.

 

Shore Excursions:

 

Our ports of call were changing almost daily up until our departure date, so we did not book any trips through our group, even though they had offered us a decent sized discount. This turned out to be a great idea because A: we didn't have to worry about refunds for cancelled ports/activities, and B: we could learn a lot more about what to do both from the activities directors and Wee Jimmy. As an added bonus, Carnival sent out their video and photography teams to just about all of the events, so we got to see ourselves on the TV the evening after our excursions! So I will go out on a limb here and recommend booking your activities through Carnival directly, unless you are really worried about overcrowding or have a super discount being offered.

 

For our activities specifically, we did the Belize Cave Tubing, which was a blast. Lots of walking over uneven terrain, so keep that in mind, but the ride downstream is pretty easy to manage. Picture all the best parts of "Pirates of the Carribean" and "The Jungle Cruise" mixed together! The staff on our tour group was extremely friendly, helpful, and entertaining, and seemed genuinely grateful to have our big white boat pulling into town. (note: because of the barrier reef surrounding Belize, the Glory had to drop anchor WAAAAAY out at sea and we took tenders (err...smaller boats) to the dock. It was a pretty darn long ride, so plan ahead when heading back to the ship. On the other hand, the tenders left quite frequently and there was very little in the way of hassle getting back)

 

In Roatan we did a simple beach break trip to do some snorkeling. We were a bit miffed to learn that our snorkel rental was not included in the activity's price (another $10) but no biggie. I've done quite a lot of snorkeling, and I have to admit, Hawaii has nothing to be worried about when it comes to Roatan. I've heard Belize is spectacular, but at the beach we went to in Roatan (which was at a touristy resort area) there were only a handfull of varieties of fish, and nowhere near the striking colors you'll see elsewhere. Also the water was loaded with floating debris! Granted, this is undoubtedly cause mainly by tourists, but yuck! At times you could barely turn around without bumping into a soda bottle cap or a plastic wrapper.

 

In contrast, Cozumel, which has MUCH more tourist activity, had absolutely the most pristine, clear turquoise water I have ever seen in my life! Take a taxi to "Playa Azul" about 20 minutes from the dock, and you will indeed find yourself living in a Corona Beer commercial, no kidding.

 

Freeport in the Bahamas had pretty much nothing of interest to me, but there was plenty of shopping, I suppose.

 

Shipboard activities. Oof! There is ALWAYS something going on somewhere, and absolutely NO WAY you will do everything you want. I tend to be super lazy and unambitious while on vacations, so needless to say I missed a lot. No matter! If you miss one thing, there's always something else coming up. We didn't see any of the "big" shows in the Amber Palace (though we did get to meet several of the cast later that night in the lounge, and they were all charming) but our traveling group had arranged for a private concert by a band who was traveling with us, and I will agree that the theater itself is outstanding.

 

The White Heat disco was also impressive. Nearly every square inch of the place is covered with video screens, and the sound system is superb. Of course, the bar is always crowded, but there are more than enough strolling waiters to take your drink orders.

 

Other shipboard activities are the standard "hairy chest" "limbo" make a fool of yourself in one way or another" games, which, although we didn't literally participate in, were quite fun to watch on the video replay the next morning. (once again, the Carnival video crew is EVERYWHERE, and they really do a great job of capturing and editing those moments) I don't know if other cruise lines do this, or do it as well as Carnival, but it definitely kept me entertained, and allowed us to see activities that we might have missed.

 

Staff:

 

Everything I had heard is true. Smiles on everyone's face, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE greets you as you pass by, from the Maitre d' to the guy mucking out the bathroom on Deck Zero. Again, my only complaint would be in the dining room, where I had really expected more attention.

 

Wee Jimmy! Yep, you've heard the stories, and as far as I can tell, they are all true. I had read about him on John Heald's blog, so upon first meeting him (at the Captain's cocktail party) I related some of the stories I'd heard, and he took an instant liking to us. Whenever we saw him, he would greet us personally (even on shore!) and go out of his way to make sure we (and our whole group) were having a good time. (including convincing management to keep the disco open later just for us!) On the second-to-last night of the trip, the Wee one took my girlfriend and I up to one of the "secret areas" in the front of the ship. (if you look at a picture of the Glory, you will see a deck that kind of juts out like "wings" on the side of the ship) It was specacular! We all sat out there and watched shooting stars until the sun came up! (P.S. the Captain's cabin is the one with the red light burning in the window...ssshhh! don't tell!)

 

And another tip for first-time cruisers: absolutely the BEST thing I brought with me on the trip was a multi-outlet power strip, and a (very bright) alarm clock. Indispensable! See, you only get ONE outlet in your stateroom, so the power strip is a must for things like battery chargers, etc. And the alarm clock both helps you keep track of the correct time (it gets confusing, especially when it's pitch black in your room!) and acts as a night light.

 

OK, I have rambled on WAY too long here, but I just wanted to share, especially with other potential first-time cruisers, or first-time Glory passengers. If y'all have any questions, I'd be more than happy to try to answer them.

 

Happy Sails!

[seafun]

As usual, I picked up a few things from your review that I'd not heard before. We love Cruise Critic! Thanks for taking the time to write it all down.

Less than three weeks till I'm there.... :D

[kimmimom]

this was our first cruise that we ever reduced tips for anyone!

[shutterbun]

Yeah, I seriously considered reducing the tips for that first day, but never got around to it, and the service did improve *somewhat* but needless to say our "extra tips" envelope did not get used.

[kimmimom]

it actually got worse as the week went along. Our glasses sat empty half the time, we felt bad if we did ask for more, not one of our better dining experiences, but hey, we weren't cooking or cleaning up! And to top it off, we never got out of there in less than 2 hours (except the St Thomas night when she only had 8 people to serve total and we were in and out in 45 minutes)! The last night was when we halved our tips. Felt really bad doing it, but..... Our head server had been on for 6 months 2 weeks and had 2 more weeks to go. She actually seemed more suited to work on Disney cruise line-she could put on the overly perky thing. Every time she returned to our table, she would say "I'm back" in this high pitched voice. We asked how long she had been doing this job, she said "a long time, since 2005".

[Charming01]

We asked how long she had been doing this job, she said "a long time, since 2005".

 

Oh my goodness that is a long time!:rolleyes: :D LOL

[shargurl]

What a great review! Thanks!

[justbreathe]

Yeah, I seriously considered reducing the tips for that first day, but never got around to it, and the service did improve *somewhat* but needless to say our "extra tips" envelope did not get used.

 

 

That stinks! We sailed on the Glory 9/15/07 and loved our servers! Sushant and Edmond were awesome! We were never in the dining room for more than 1 hour. Our drink server wasn't the greatest, would never come back to the table after the 2nd round. Did tip extra to the servers, but not the drink server. I guess it's all in who you end up getting...

[bunny1954]

Hey Shutterbun. Sorry to hear that your service in the dining room was less than spectacular. We were on this same cruise and our waitstaff was SUPERB!! Guillermo from Guatemala, his assistant, Svetlana (either Macedonia or Croatia) and our drink server Liliana kept us in food and drink with really great timing. We were more than happy to give them an additional tip at the end of the trip. They really earned it.

 

We were on Empress deck.......7322......with Mark as our steward and he was great as well.

 

I have to agree with you about Freeport. It was my least favorite part of the trip. We did manage to take a semi-submersible which turned out to be great for viewing underwater life.

 

All in all we were very pleased with our trip. We had VIP boarding (we had a mini-suite) and that was great. Our room was also ready when we boarded about 1:30. All of our luggage had shown up and been unpacked before our 8 pm dinner time. Balcony was wonderful. Ship was very clean, staff was good. I have to agree with your assessment that every staff member we met had a smile and greeted you warmly.

 

Our room was immaculate, smelled great and was kept that way the entire time. We never smelled any of the sewer smell that other posters have complained about. Another complaint by posters was the "rough" ride on the Glory and the amount of motion they felt. I am very susceptible to seasickness and I had taken something that morning before we boarded. However, I don't think it would have been a problem even for me that first night which was when we felt the most motion in the aft section of the ship. After that, I never took any more Bonine until the last night when we did get a little rolling motion that I thought might cause some problems due to flying out the next day.

 

We ate in the supper club one night. Food was incredible and service excellent, but we had such a good dining room crew that we felt like we had more fun there than in the supper club. It was almost a little too stiff and formal feeling.

 

A good time was had by all and I would definitely sail the Glory again in a heartbeat.

[anifaniks]

Just wanted to say - thanks for the great review. Your experience was very similar to ours, especially w/ the DR disappointments - and the happy faces that greeted us all over the ship.

 

Did you go to Tabyana beach or somewhere else on Roatan? I was especially interested in this part of your review, as people around us that day were saying the snorkling was great at Tabyana and your experience was definitely not the same. Of course, it may be that you are much more experienced - and anything would be "great" to a first-timer, LOL!! Just wondered if this were the same beach excursion we went on. We thought Tabyana was a nice spot b/c there was a lot of vegetation, clean restrooms and easily accessible chaise lounges (and plenty of them). We did not snuba or snorkle so our expectations were just for a clean spot on a beach-and servers offering us a beer! :D

 

We enjoyed our cruise - glad you had a good time, too! I was looking forward to your review - very informative - thank you!

[tecumsehcruiser]

Hello Everyone!

 

We were on this ship too, we had a great time on board. Our waiter was great, and we actually enjoyed the food. I even got my husband hooked on the Deli.

 

We didn't do too much, we just relaxed and enjoyed the free time.

 

We enjoyed our tablemates, from Canada, and loved the food.

 

Brenda

[pacerzfan]

thanks for the review.

[shutterbun]

Anifaniks, yep, we were at Tabyana beach. I'm willing to bet there were others who had a better snorkeling experience there (I didn't venture out terribly far, since my partner was not a strong swimmer) but the floating debris was definitely there, especially later in the day. (timing can certainly be a factor in snorkeling, so an earlier trip would probably have improved things, too)

 

And I hope my review didn't sound too harsh or lead anyone to believe that I didn't have a TERRIFIC time on the cruise, because I most certainly did! Already booked again on the Glory, same time next year!

[bunny1954]

Anifaniks, yep, we were at Tabyana beach. I'm willing to bet there were others who had a better snorkeling experience there (I didn't venture out terribly far, since my partner was not a strong swimmer) but the floating debris was definitely there, especially later in the day. (timing can certainly be a factor in snorkeling, so an earlier trip would probably have improved things, too)

 

And I hope my review didn't sound too harsh or lead anyone to believe that I didn't have a TERRIFIC time on the cruise, because I most certainly did! Already booked again on the Glory, same time next year!

 

Hey Shutterbun.....are you doing the Eastern or Western itinerary. We are mulling over doing the Eastern over the Columbus Day holiday next year. DH has been to St Maarten before and really likes it. I can't decide if I want to do that or maybe do an Alaska cruise in July.