Just off the Glory 12/22-12/29

[Jaxgal]

Hello everyone...here is a quick review, well not too quick. I will write and submit an actual review after New Years is all over.

 

Embarkation- Very smooth. We arrived at the pier around 12 noon and we were on the ship in about 30 minutes.

 

Debarkation- we were off the ship by 9:00 am. This was the best debark we have ever gone through...no crowding in the halls and stairwells...was very smooth.

 

Cabin- We had cabin #1030, balcony on the Panaroma deck. I see why now once you have a balcony you never want another type! Our room steward Benni and his crew were great. The cabin was kept very clean every day. They always seem to know when you are gone, we have left and been back in 30 minutes and the cabin was all done!!

 

Ship- Kept very clean. It is still in great shape and they are always fixing items and cleaning. I never saw a room service tray in the hallway for more than 30 minutes and our disappeared just as fast. The crew was all very friendly, smiling, asking if you needed anything. Our dining room staff knew all of our names and they were so efficient that we were one of the first tables done first each night. They always knew I wanted a skim milk cappuccino with my dinner, I never had to ask after the first night.

 

Food- it was all great. All hot, fresh, and of great quality. If you can't find something to eat and enjoy on this ship, then what in the world do you eat at home???:eek: The buffet had a lot to choose from. The wonderful turkey deli sandwiches, Oriental buffet, dinner was different in the Red Sail each night, burgers at the aft deck- grilled chicken there also, pizza....etc....

Breakfast..if you don't like the scrambled eggs (I find them tasty), then get a fresh omlett made just for you..yum!

Melting cake was perfect the 4 times I had it (yes people it should be undercooked, that is how it should be , M-E-L-T-I-N-G gooey chocolate in the center), the Teriyaki short ribs are melt in the mouth yummy and probally my best dinner (I want them now). Sweet and Sour shrimp were great. You must try the Eggplant Tartin if you like eggplant on embarkation day at lunch buffet...I could have eaten this everyday...:p

 

Nassau- We stayed on the ship and enjoyed the quiet deck. We have been here before and decided to enjoy an empty ship.

 

1st day at sea- Hard to find a deck chair at times. People did save them with their stuff. Found a great spot just above the sports deck on the adult only deck, it was never crowded. Attention Smokers- please be observant, if you are on the non-smoking side of the ship, please don't smoke there. This happened to us a few times and got up and moved because of it. It was never enforced.

 

St. Thomas- We did the St. Johns Catamatan Champagne Sail and Snorkle...it was wonderful!! Honeymoon beach was not crowded and absolutely beautiful! The crew was great and kept the drinks flowing after snorkling. There were plenty of fish to see and lots of coral at the reef.

 

St. Maarten- Here is where we went wrong. We took a cab to Orient Beach. I honestly do not see what is so great about this place. Yes the water is blue and the sand is white...BUT...it was miles and miles of PEOPLE everywhere. You had to pay anywhere from $7.00-$8.00 for a chair/umbrella at one of the many bars along the beach. Then after that you were asked to buy jewerly, have a massage, get hair done, buy a painting...etc...literally every 2 minutes!! This is not our idea of a beach. We had wished we had gone to Pinel Island, but by the time we realized what we had gotten into, it would have cost a lot more and taken too much time to go to Pinel. So, if you want a quiet relaxing beach, Orient is NOT for you. Also, if you get a cab, get together with some people and form a group and get a group rate...it is cheaper. We paid $6pp on the way there buy joining into a family in the cab...on the way back it was $10.00 pp for the two of us.

 

Emerald Room Supper Club-Well worth the $30.00pp cover charge. Be sure to eat light that day...it is a ton of food. The food was wonderful! The French Onion soup is to die for!! Ask for the recipie, they will give it to you. :D

 

It was a great cruise for being over Christmas....

 

Yes, there were quite a few nasty people and I witnessed a woman getting mad and yelling at the coffee bar girl because her latte tasted like "water"...ummm I had a few of them and they tasted like milk and coffee, like they should...just as good as Starbucks.

 

At times we felt swarmed by teens gone crazy. I guess some parents don't really care what their kids say and do in public....the ship is not a baby sitter....there were good kids, but lots of bad rude ones too.

 

For Christmas they had plenty of decorations, trees everywhere, did caroling, Christmas shows at night, christmas music everywhere all the time...plenty to feel the holiday cheer...Yet we overheard our neighbors on the balcony saying that the ship did nothing for Christmas and they were very disapointed... I guess they were in the casino or their cabin the whole cruise??? LOL... :confused: Read the capers, they will keep you informed.

 

ok need to start writing and editing my FULL review..... :cool:

[MaryZ]

glad you had a good time. We loved the Glory. So far it is our favorite carnival ship and we have sailed on a lot of carnival ships.

[sheri18]

thanks for review, we'll be on the glory in 56 days....cant wait......we are doing western...not my fav. but that was the only time we could go...glad you found the ship tip-top, lots of reviews lately werent that good....

 

i agree with you about what do people eat at home....also i cannot beleive how picky and disgrunteled people can be......

 

we try to over look the small stuff----after all nothing is perfect.. make the best of it...thanks again............

[BoBandy]

Yes thanks for the review. We leave in 14 days for the western on our wedding cruise. It was great to hear such a positive review. We're going with 8 people and most of them have never been on a cruise before. We're all super excited. Thanks again and looking forward to hearing more.

[themnms]

thanks so much for the review, we are sailing her in March and I am looking forward to it.....

[Jaxgal]

Sorry for all of the mis-spellings everyone, I just noticed them...guess I am tired and the couch seems to be moving!! :eek: :D LOL...

[Dave4120]

Thanks for the review. We are on the Glory this January 19th to the Eastern Caribbean.

 

We have heard that the bedding including the mattresses, linens, sheets, etc, on the Glory have been updated with some new collection of bedding ensemble. They show this on their website as being a better nights sleep compared to before.

 

Can you tell us if you noticed any of these bedding improvements. If true, it has to be a big improvement compared to sleeping on rock hard beds, with very poor quality sheets and covers.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[Yvonne]

Looking forward to your full review. I love reading reviews of the Glory, as we will be on that ship in 14 days. Can't wait!!

[Jaxgal]

Thanks for the review. We are on the Glory this January 19th to the Eastern Caribbean.

 

We have heard that the bedding including the mattresses, linens, sheets, etc, on the Glory have been updated with some new collection of bedding ensemble. They show this on their website as being a better nights sleep compared to before.

 

Can you tell us if you noticed any of these bedding improvements. If true, it has to be a big improvement compared to sleeping on rock hard beds, with very poor quality sheets and covers.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

 

From what we noticed the bedding seemed the same as on our last cruise this year aboard the Celebration.

I think the new ensemble bedding is in the suites only. We received a bedding brocure on our last night on how to order all the bedding and it appears that they upgraded the suites more....

We find the beds to be pretty firm but comfortable. The sheets were soft as well as the duvet and comforter.

We loved the pillows so much that we are going to order some for home. ;)

[Dave4120]

Thanks for the information on the bedding. I wasn't sure if the new bedding etc., was just in the suites, or also included in the cabins with a balcony. They sure do not make it clear in their on-line information. When you read it, it seems like the entire ship was replaced with the new bedding attire.

 

No big deal. After being on so many cruises with different levels of bedding comfort, I am sure The Glory will be just fine. Obviously any new improvements will just be a bonus.

 

Thanks Again!!

 

Dave

[-ClevelandRocks-]

We took a cab to Orient Beach. I honestly do not see what is so great about this place.

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy St. Maarten. Hope you had a chance to explore the island. It's one of our favorites, especially the French side.

 

Can you tell us if you noticed any of these bedding improvements.

 

We sailed Glory last Dec and the new bedding was a HUGE improvement over what they had our first Glory cruise. We had a 8C balcony cabin, not a suite.

[Dave4120]

Thank-you for the bedding update.

 

I am also curious after reading so many posts about not liking Orient Beach. I just booked the St.Maarten Beach Break, however, it does not list in the description, what beaches we will be relaxing at. It just says enjoy the sun and water at two typical beaches. Sure what like to know what that means...and if it is Orient Beach, maybe I would cancel.

 

My wife and I do not like huge crowds. Even though it might be difficult to stay at a beach that is quiet with few people, I realize that probably is not possible. But, anything that isn't super crowded what be better.

 

Has anyone ever done this St. Maarten Beach Break Excursion>

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[sweetsixteencruisers]

Just booked the Glory - eastern 2/14/09. 412 long days away:( Looking forward to your review.

We were on the Valor (interior) 4/1/07 - Had new bedding. It was very comfortable.

Sweet

[PRgal]

What a great week! There were both wonderful and not so wonderful things experienced this week on The Glory.

 

First, it was TOO crowded...too many people crammed in to certain areas. i.e., lounge chairs for the sun tanning crowd were scarce after 10:30 am. Most people were in prime spots by 7:30 am, and by noon, it was difficult to find a chair anywhere. It was a crowded sea of people crowded on the decks, and very difficult to move around. On top of that, the blue plastic chairs were not the best -- had an insert piece under the head end that came out incessantly and made adjusting up and down a real hassle. Heard many complaints about the lack of chairs and the bad quality of the chair's design.

 

The ship was COLD...dining rooms were frigid and you needed a heavy sweater for any public room you went at night, i.e. nightly bingo and show.

 

I found the ship to be VERY clean, even with a large Xmas crowd on board. However, I did note a lot of trays laying outside people's doors in the early morning, full of discarded food/drink -- and wondered if there were any rodent issues caused by this? The trays were picked up once the stewards started their morning shift, but before they do, it's a mess.

 

The cruise director, Wee Jimmy, was pretty darn good! His schtick is amusing and he is able to deliver lines you know he must use every week with genuineness and candor. I noted that both old and young liked him, and that's a large span of individual taste to appeal to, so I was quite impressed. The long and boring 'debarkation talk' on the day before leaving the ship was actually enjoyable and felt like I was watching a comedy show, while hearing all the important 'stuff'. While Wee Jimmy is great -- his Entertainment Staff (note NOT the entertainers, but the staff that does bingo, karaoke, etc.) is highly annoying. They were childish and unprofessional -- most times wanting to 'be' the entertainment instead of enhancing the entertainment experience.

 

The food was plentiful, full of variety, and yet wasn't outstanding. It wasn't bad, it was quite good. It just wasn't outstanding.

 

The nightly shows weren't anything to write home about, but quite frankly, they were amusing and very lively. I was amazed at the large amount and variety of costume changes, songs, choreography, etc. All the shows were very enjoyable -- especially liked the Thursday night show in the Ebony Lounge which was a more intimate setting. The talent is good, their energy is infectious.

 

The Emerald Supper Club is great, and worth going to. It's just too bad that you don't get that kind of quality at the regular dining room every night.

 

While I booked on Carnival knowing it was better value for my $$$ than the higher priced cruise lines that go to the same tropical destinations, over the same seas -- I was a bit taken aback by the fact that the passengers were overwhelmingly more K-Mart/Walmart than Target/Kohl's so to speak. Know I will get flamed for that comment, but it was a different than the the last time I booked a Carnival cruise more than 7 years ago.

 

Debarkation was handled VERY well. Used the luggage express program that allowed me to put my luggage out at midnight the night before and I never saw it again until I arrived at my destination. It was worth the $15 per person cost!

 

Was in a suite room on the 7th floor and was very happy with the size, layout, furnishings, bathroom and dressing room area, closets, etc. However, the real reason to book a suite is the balcony, and that's worth every penny.

 

Some of the staff were outstanding, most were good, and only a very few I encountered were less than good. Most of the frustration of the cruise came from long lines for service at the hamburger grill, the pizza station, the chocolate buffet and elevators. Also noted a reluctance for the bartenders to wait on those with the pre-purchased soda pop cards.

 

One thing that irked me throughout the cruise, however, is the constant effort for CCL to get more $$$ out of your pocket. After paying over $6,000 for 2 using all the CCL conveniences such as them booking our flights, prepaid tips, etc., I still ended up paying more than $1,200 on my Sail and Sign for drinks, shore excursions, supper club cover charge, minimal casino play, photographs, bingo, raffles, etc. I know I could have penny pinched more, but wanted to have a great time -- just wish I didn't 'feel' CCL pushing for more and more $$$ through out the week.

 

One thing I loved the most -- once I found out about this much-too-secret thing -- was the NO SMOKING policy on once side of the ship. It's not told to you and is in small print in the Caper at least once I saw. It's also not greatly enforced, but it was better than nothing.

 

Overall, it was very good experience. Not the best in the world, but it met my expectations and often exceeded them. Cruising is by far the best way to travel and the Carnival Glory was very, very enjoyable!

[lidolovers]

Hello fellow Glory cruisers,

 

My husband and I just returned home from an AMAZING week on the Glory. We had a terrific cruise and were so sad when the week came to an end....

As for the bedding, all I can say is that my husband and I slept soundly each and every night...and every single time our heads hit the pillow, for that matter (whether it was in the morning, afternoon, early-evening etc!!). I don't know whether the Glory had the 'new' bedding that you are referring to, but whatever it was, we found it to be extremely comfortable. Warning - do not lie down on the bed at any point during the day if you do not want to fall asleep!!

 

Have fun everyone...we wish we could join you for another week!

 

Lidolovers