Glory Review 5-17-08 Western

[NCTribeFan]

Sorry I didn't meet everyone!

 

Some of the other reviews sound like totally different sailings than the one I was on! We had a great time. It's going to be a long 6+ months until the next one. I'm already looking at the cruise calendar and trying to figure out if I can possibly afford to go again next May. I do really prefer the December cruises. Beautiful weather and not nearly so hot, and the prices are great, other than the holiday sailings.

 

I actually went online to look at prices for Fosters West Bay Resort in Roatan. Very, very reasonable for rooms. Unfortunately, the airfare to get there is exhorbitant.

 

:(

 

One week ago at this time, I was probably in line to get my mushroom, tomato, ham & cheese omelette from Jesus to start my relaxing day at sea. Sigh.

[NCTribeFan]

I keep thinking of things I want to mention but forgot in the first round of writing.

 

I did mention this in the "Capers" thread I posted because someone asked about Tea.

 

We went to tea the 2nd sea day. It was held in the Ivory Lounge. A nice classical trio was playing. There weren't a whole lot of people there.

 

A young couple with two small children (1 boy, 1 girl) came in wearing their beachwear and sat at a table right next to the trio. The children proceeded to screach and yell and play and climb all over the table & chairs as well as the bench seating next to them where people were sitting having their tea and trying to appreciate the classical music being played.

 

Seriously, you would've thought these folks were sitting in their kitchen on a hot summer's day. Mom simply fed tea and sweets into the unruly kids, while she shrieked over their noise to talk to her wifebeater & swimtrunks-wearing husband. Finally Gran & a sister came in and sat down and they made some attempt to get the kids to be a little less boisterous and to not squeal nonstop.

 

Now, this may draw the ire of all the "but they were on vacation, too, so just chill and don't let it bother you" sort.

 

But just WHY would people want to go to Tea, if they're going to dress and behave that way? It's not like you can't get food anywhere else at that time of day!

 

Anyway, I felt really bad for the musicians and the people sitting next to these clueless, inconsiderate clowns. I really wish the head server would have had the nerve to go over and politely point out to them that they were being disruptive and to please keep the noise down so others could enjoy the music. I'm just amazed at the clueless and thoughtless behaviour of people. It's as though no one exists in the world other than them and their little circle of family and friends.

 

You don't have to live your lives worrying about what others think of you, but you CAN show some consideration of others and still enjoy yourselves! Manners and fun are not mutually exclusive ideas!

 

I thought of something else I wanted to mention, but I've already forgotten it. :o

[partman57]

Nice review. Thanks. NC here also. Going on Glory Feb 21st. Oh so Long the wait.........

[teacher32]

I hear you!! We were on a cruise last month and had almost the same thing happen EXCEPT it was adults and I do mean ADULTS.(Seniors). We are mid 50's ourselves, so this not someone bashing "older" people. I could not believe the lack of class for anyone to be so rude. Goes to show that age does not cancel out rude!!!

[NCTribeFan]

I guess I'm just confused as to why anyone would WANT to go to tea if they're not interested in the whole experience. I mean, I'm not trying to be a snob as it's just Afternoon Tea. But come on! You can get ice cream, or something in the buffet, or at the grill, or even room service if all you want is have a snack and sit and bellow, er, I mean talk, at each other.

 

Speaking of room service, I don't think I mentioned that we did get room service a few times. Once, after naptime, I ordered hot tea for two. When he arrived, he had coffee. Ick. Another time, we ordered the RB & brie on baguette and the focaccio sandwich with chips. It came quickly and was yummy. They sent an entire separate plate of chips!

 

We put out the breakfast room service card the night before Belize, as we had to be up early to catch the early tender to go cave tubing. I was really surprised when there was a knock on the door at 6:30 and there was our breakfast! Why? Because I'd had WAY too much wine the night before and didn't even remember filling out the card!

 

Got smoked salmon, cream cheese & bagels, toast & jelly, and hot tea. Yum.

 

Wish I were still on board!

[djpaul]

the focaccio sandwich was awesome. I could have just ate the bread alone.

 

And I'm disturbed...I haven't seen one mention of "drunk Jimmy" in any of the reviews.

[kjeanne2001]

I think he was mentioned in one of the reviews but not called by name. I don't think there was one person on the ship that didn't know him by the end.

[NCTribeFan]

I never saw him, but the NC girls at our dinner table had video of him.

 

Personally, I'm glad I didn't see him! :eek:

[kjeanne2001]

NCTRIBEFAN - I told my DH you didn't see him and he could not believe it. Where were you on this cruise??? :D We saw him every time there was music - my DH said there wasn't a day we didn't see him - it was our entertainment for awhile. Never saw anyone who could dance so much in the heat - he never stopped - 1 day he had beer in his pockets and mixed drinks in his hand - and still danced in the heat.

[NCTribeFan]

Well, I don't hang around the main pool. I really hated it there on Glory. It was SO crowded and noisy. And I haven't heard a Lido band yet that I would sit and listen to.

 

I avoided that area whenever possible.

 

I honestly wasn't around where there was music at all.

 

I always had early dining until our Miracle cruise and liked how much more "day" that gave us, but it does feel like you finish dinner (and we weren't done until 10 a couple of nights), go to the casino for a little while, and suddenly it's 1:30 and bedtime!

 

I really wanted to go to the Ivory bar, but just couldn't stand the smoke. It made the casino seem like fresh air! I was disappointed in that.

 

One week ago, right about now, we were leaving the Platinum dining room after the 2nd formal night. Wish someone had cooked chateaubriand for me tonight. Sigh.

 

Unfortunately, because I wimped out and did NOT take the stairs the entire cruise, as I always have in the past, I gained about 4 pounds. And it's SO hard to get back to a "normal" eating schedule. I was absolutely starving this morning by 10:30 and was craving my "2nd breakfast" of fruit and a croissant. If I cruised any more often, I'd weigh 300 pounds before long! :eek:

[NCTribeFan]

One more thing... :D

 

Ship movement - We were in 2342, midship Main deck, inside cabin. I heard a lot of people complaining about the movement, I think mostly on Sunday & Monday night. I felt almost NO movement in our cabin, and very little when walking through the ship. It was very windy on Deck 10, aft, on Sunday when we were at sea, but I didn't think the sea looked very rough at all. I didn't hear the Captain's report at noon. There was a storm (could see lightening out the window at dinner on Sunday night) and I didn't even feel anything worth even noting. Maybe all that Ginger & Bonine really, truly has given me sea legs! It's so great! So much more fun than wonderful if I would have to run to the restroom and hurl!

 

We had been offered an "upgrade" to an inside on Lido deck. I declined. Turns out the two brothers who ate dinner with us were in one of those cabins, and they were talking about how much side-to-side rocking there was one night.

 

That was the 1 thing I noticed on Miracle, when we were on Verandah deck (I'd always been on one of the lower 3 decks). The side-to-side movement is much more pronounced, as you would expect, if you think about it.

 

I just can't see spending more money for essentially the same cabin only to experience a lot more movement. Of course, if it's really important to you that you be only steps away from the buffet, then go for it! But not me!

 

If I ever book another balcony cabin, I'll get the lower possible that has a clear view. I guess that would be Upper deck on Conquest-class ships.

[rphgf]

One more thing... :D

 

Ship movement - We were in 2342, midship Main deck, inside cabin. I heard a lot of people complaining about the movement, I think mostly on Sunday & Monday night. I felt almost NO movement in our cabin, and very little when walking through the ship. It was very windy on Deck 10, aft, on Sunday when we were at sea, but I didn't think the sea looked very rough at all. I didn't hear the Captain's report at noon. There was a storm (could see lightening out the window at dinner on Sunday night) and I didn't even feel anything worth even noting. Maybe all that Ginger & Bonine really, truly has given me sea legs! It's so great! So much more fun than wonderful if I would have to run to the restroom and hurl!

 

We had been offered an "upgrade" to an inside on Lido deck. I declined. Turns out the two brothers who ate dinner with us were in one of those cabins, and they were talking about how much side-to-side rocking there was one night.

 

That was the 1 thing I noticed on Miracle, when we were on Verandah deck (I'd always been on one of the lower 3 decks). The side-to-side movement is much more pronounced, as you would expect, if you think about it.

 

I just can't see spending more money for essentially the same cabin only to experience a lot more movement. Of course, if it's really important to you that you be only steps away from the buffet, then go for it! But not me!

 

If I ever book another balcony cabin, I'll get the lower possible that has a clear view. I guess that would be Upper deck on Conquest-class ships.

 

I am so glad that you feel this way. I am going on my first cruise in two weeks and I am very nervous about motion sickness. I was offered a free upgrade to the Verandah deck (8) and declined. I was hoping that deck 6 would be better.

Wish me luck.

[NCTribeFan]

Hopefully, you'll be fine.

 

If you've suffered from motion sickness before (car/plane/rides), then go prepared. Do give the ginger a try.

 

It's hard to think about prevention without thinking about getting sick! Know what I mean? It's difficult. You want to be prepared for the situation, but you also don't want to convince yourself that you're going to be sick. You want convince yourself you'll have no problems.

 

Sheesh, I keep thinking of various things I wanted to add to my review, and by the time I get to the computer, I've forgotten what they were.

 

:o

[sarahsema]

Where can you get Bonine?

And how much do you take? How much ginger?

 

thanks for all of the great info, but now I'm nervous, we have Verandah deck cabins and a stepdaughter who sometimes gets sea sick....

[NCTribeFan]

I got both at Wal-Mart.

 

They also have the generic meclizine available on the ship.

 

I start the ginger capsules 2 nights before the ship sails (because we usually travel down the day before). I take one am and pm throughout the cruise. Be sure to drink lots of water with it. And I think they may come in different strengths, so be sure to read the recommended dosage.

 

I start the bonine/meclizine the night before with only 1/2 tablet. Despite meclizine being "less-drowsy" it does have an effect on me. Not nearly so much as dramamine, though. It's LESS drowsy, not NON drowsy. Since I also consume alcohol, I don't want to do anything stupid or end up sleeping the entire cruise. If it seems the seas are fairly rough, I take 1 at night; or split and take 1/2 am and 1/2 pm, but they're not easy to split.

 

Both in December and May, we had 3 consecutive port days, so I discontinued the bonine entirely, as I wasn't having any problems with the motion. Re-started it the night before the final sea day.

 

I also have the sea bands but haven't needed them the past two cruises since I added the ginger! Yippee!

 

If you want to try these, be sure to check out this site...

 

http://www.homebackpainacupressure.com/acupressure-for-sea-sickness.html

 

It shows you exactly how to find the correct position. 99% of the people I see wearing these have then right where the wrist bends, which is incorrect. If you practice as they show you, you can feel when you have the right spot. They aren't attractive, but they're inexpensive and if they work, who cares how they look!

 

But I'd start with the ginger.

 

One of the reasons I'd stayed away from longer cruises with more sea days was I was afraid I'd spend all my time on deck, taking deep breaths, trying to NOT be sick!

 

Now, I'm thinking of booking one with 4 sea days because I'm confident that unless the seas are really, really bad, I'll be fine. That's how happy I am with the results of ginger + bonine!

[NCTribeFan]

Something I kept meaning to mention and kept forgetting...

 

The first couple of days, our shower wasn't hot. There's the little sign in the shower stall about the dial being "locked" at a certain temperature to prevent scalding. Well, when I turned it, the temperature never changed. So I figured they'd set the water temp permamently cool.

 

I love my showers hot and steamy, but after the initial shock of the cool water, I managed. Didn't even bother to report it.

 

Well, on about the 3rd day, I got in the shower and the water was nice and hot. I don't know if there had been a problem in our section (I would think they have many sources of hot water throughout the ship), and someone else had complained, but it was fixed without a word from us.

 

Had I known Carnival wasn't intentionally trying to give me a cold shower, I probably would've said something to the cabin steward. But silly me, I figured they were just trying to save on costs AND trying to keep us dummies from burning ourselves.

 

:o

 

I finally wrote to Carnival yesterday, telling them what I thought was great and what I thought could use some improvement.

 

I totally forgot to gripe about them removing Beef Wellington from the menu. I may send a separate letter just to whine about that!

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed your review.............nice pics too............

I too, am a Bonine and Ginger addict for motion sickness. It has worked great each time except for a REALLY rough night on the NCL Majesty.

Thanks for taking the time to post the review and pics.............

[sarahsema]

Thanks for all of the great advice! I can't wait for our trip now!

[NCTribeFan]

Well, I finally remembered what it was that I wanted to mention.

 

The evening when we left Belize, at dinner, the two NC girls were telling us about their diving excursion. Then we started talking about how the ship had started moving (it's anchored way out and you tender in) and had to stop for a late tender.

 

One of them then started talking about the major listing and whether we had hit a sandbar!

 

The guys said they were having to grab things to keep them from falling off tables. DD & I had no idea what they were talking about!

 

I think we had returned, had our late lunch, watched the tender racing toward us, then went down for a nap and slept right through whatever. We never felt a thing!

 

Considering the maneuvering they have to do (watch the TV channel that shows the ship's position), there obviously is a "path" in and around the islands. I just wonder whether after they had pulled up anchor, then had to "float" to allow the tender to hook up, if we drifted over.

 

How much fun would it have been had be gotten stuck on a sandbar off the coast of Belize?!