Glory 5/17-5/24 Wish I was back on, a short reveiw

[Lesinindy]

Short overview and will post more and some copies of the Capers after I get to work next week. Overall it was a great vacation, 9 days total, 2 at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral and the rest on the ship. This was our first time on Carnival and I am truthfully not sure completely about the experience.

The Good

Pre Cruise hotel

The Radisson Resort at the Port is an excellent hotel. Great location, took tips for this board and asked for a room away from the pool (really good choice indeed), ate two nights at the little Pizza shop next door and could not have been pleased more.

Rental Car

Rented from Enterprise, nice car, they had a small one for us (this is the first time that I did not want an upgrade even though the price for gas was $3.79 upon arrival and $3.99 upon return). They have a location about a mile from the hotel and dropped us off at the ship. Pick up was smooth and no hassle at all. Good idea to reserve way ahead of time. We found out that when we rented in Feb. the rates were much lower than in May. We paid about $33.83 a day

The ship

Having only been on Grandeur of the Sea (about 40,000 tons smaller) I must say that the Glory was one big big big ship. We had a balcony on the 7th floor at the bow and our dinner reservations were in the Platinum which was all the way at the stern. The halls reminded me of those halls with mirrors at the end that have the appearance of going on forever, except this hall did not have a mirror. I will never sail without a balcony (thanks for the bungee cord hints), nothing like hearing the ocean all night long. Our room staff was first rate, those kids cleaned the room twice a day, always new towels and sheets. The room was spotless and quiet. The ship is also one of the cleanest I have seen and I really could not complain about it at all.

Excursions

Freaked out the first day when we were told that the schedule of ports had been changed. Thanks to Major Tom we had what amounted to a private trip, zip line and cave tube, small van with just the driver, his accountant lady and Major Tom. Will cover more later.

Shows

Best I have seen outside of Vegas. Now I know what happens to all those cheerleaders once they graduate from college. Talented folks that tried hard and put some effort into the performances.

The Bad

Freeport. . . . .note to cruise line, drop the port, I will get into detail later, but it was hot, expensive and not a pleasant experience starting off with the cab ride.

Smoking

It just might be me but I don’t remember there being that much smoke in the clubs the last cruise I took. I might be wrong about this, but we did stay in the clubs before and this time we did not attend any of the club concerts due to the level of smoke. Our room did not smell of smoke, but the middle of deck 7 seemed to have a strong tobacco smoke smell at times.

Red Sail

The food was fine but the layout of the place really needs to be looked at. The lines were long at times and as was mentioned before, the omelet guy tried his best to keep up, but the line was smack dab in the middle and slowed up both ends of the serving line. We never at there for dinner, but lunch and breakfast were good.

Dining room

Dinner was great every night, but breakfast was ok. I will back up the other poster that the eggs Benedict was not the best I had ever had, ok but nothing to write home about.

Rude folks

No way to avoid a few folks that were not taught how to behave in a civilized community. The usual drunks and a few women that did not know what the term polite means.

Drunk dancer with hat

This guy was a pain in the rear end. I never saw a person stay drunk for as long as he appeared to. I say appeared to look drunk because the human body cannot consume as much beer as he seemed to take in. As long as he just drank and danced, who cared, but he got loud at Tabayanna Beach and I was tempted to tip the security guard some money to help quiet the gentleman down. I don’t think we were alone in our feeling on the singing.

Overall not a bad vacation, had fun, really felt blessed, have sunburn today to prove I had a good time.

I am not sure who I will sail with next time. I need to look back on RCL and CCL some more. Might go with a smaller ship next time no matter which I sail with, the main reason being ease of getting around the ship, great to have the space, but also not great to get from one end to the other.

Later, have some good tips on after cruise trips for the day while waiting for the flight.

[bcs819]

sounds good overall - thanks for the review.

[dforeigner]

Thanks for taking time to write a review.

[sheri18]

glad you enjoyed your trip, we were on the Glory in Feb. and loved it..yes the ship is big, but it was easy to master once you get the hank of it...

[cathyoo]

Thanks for the review... but don't forget you left a few teasers that you were going to cover "later". Also anxious to read your tips.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Thanks, I am enjoying the Glory reviews that posted today. It's interesting to see the different opinions/experiences.

Thanks again~

[Froufie]

Welcome home - has the pdc set in yet?

 

Sounds like you have a very good time - I am going on the Glory in the Fall - and yes it is big but I am very used to the conquest class ships - you might want to try the spirit class next time as they are a bit smaller and easier to navigate.

 

Can't wait to hear more and esp can't wait to see the Capers!

 

Thanks,

[DEL67]

Did they give you a reason for the change of port order? I ask because we are going next month and I have private tours scheculed in Belize and Roatan and parasialing in Cozumel.

[rdrseller]

I really appreciate the great review. Nice to hear the good and the not so great. I am always glad to get honest opinions. I just don't believe those that only have negative things to say.

 

Looking forward to your "hints" to come.

 

Thanks,

[sjcruiser]

Thanks for the review

[Georgiagolfer]

I too noticed the cigarette smoke on our 5/3 cruise on the Glory more than any other cruise we've taken. We didn't notice in the clubs as we didn't go much, but did notice in the casino. Even in the non-smoking areas it was real strong. This is not a complaint against smokers though, as much as an observation. We were on Empress deck (deck 7) and I can't recall ever smelling in the hallways or on our balcony.

[Lesinindy]

Just stopped the dirty deed of looking at my work email today and have a few minutes to add some more info.

Hints for before you sail

The Kennedy space center is an interesting trip. A little too Disney at time for me (I grew up in Anaheim CA and had my fill of Disneyland at an early age), but the static displays of the rockets and related things were great. The time flew by and before we knew could see everything, it was time to leave. The size of the place and the history related to the Cape is worth the trip.

Hints for after sail

We looked at the price for the transportation to Orlando from the ship upon our return and found that we could rent a car and pay for gas cheaper than taking the bus. This was a great idea! We picked up our car about a half hour after disembarkation and found that we had plenty of time to get to the airport (8:25 pm). We started a drive using non-freeway road (1) and made our way to New Smyrna beach. We walked Flager s (not sure on the spelling) street and found the shops interesting and the beach really nice. They allow you to park on the sand and many folks took advantage of that. We then went to the Daytona area and found a real jewel of a place called Ponce De Leon Inlet Light Station Museum. Well worth the trip, 200+ steps to the top of the lighthouse and the views were worth every step. The grounds were very pretty and peaceful. There is lots of stuff to see in the surrounding buildings and museum area. Later we took I4 to Orlando, went to the Prime Outlet Mall and then to the airport. Hardly anyone at the airport on a Saturday night and the security and lines were short.

Taking a car and just following your GPS is a real hoot to say the least. We relaxed and after going up and down the stairs in the ship, the lighthouse was a piece of cake.

Freeport

We did not have anything planned for this area and that was a good idea. The port has to be the ugliest of the trip (great views of tankers and cargo ships) and the dock was really hot. I should have known this was going to be interesting when they began to pack the little vans with more people than a clown car at the circus. How you can get than many folks in a van is way beyond me. The first thing that happens is a crew member asks to have the air conditioning turned on. The driver immediately cops an attitude and talks about how high gas is and that as soon as we start moving it will cool down. Now remember we are 10 or 11 folks in a small van in 90+ heat. The crew member says something about moving the van now and the driver and he go off for a couple of minutes. I am about to open the door and leave when the van starts to move and the air comes off. Wife talks to the driver nicely and she mellows out. Finally get to the shopping area and I could not believe the prices. Everything was high. My wife saw a bag she liked and the price was $40.00 later at the lighthouse gift shop we found the same bag for $20.00 (another good reason to visit the lighthouse). We walked around, looked at the beach (pretty but no shade) and made our way back to the ship. We spent a total of $20.00 for cab fare and gained a nice story, nothing else.

[Lesinindy]

Cozumel

We did the 3 reef snorkel trip with Eagle Ray Divers and had a great time. They use small boats (about 9 folks on ours) and take you to some nice reefs. The coral is about on par with Grand Caymen (looks to have taken a hit with the last hurricane) and the water was as clear as you can find. If you go be sure to take sea sickness pills, this boat is small (old Mexican fishing boat) and it rocks and rolls much.

Belize

As I said before Major Tom made adjustments to our changes of itinerary and we were able to do the zip line and the cave tubing. I heard that the Carnival tour had dropped the zip line for the day due to time constraints. I also heard that those that made the trip via the cruise line suffered from some gastric problems (fill in the blank here). The word from those on the tour was that lunch had a large part to play in their problems.

The zip line is fun and worth the trip. The cost is a little high, but since we had a private tour with a separate van, I found it ok ($220.00) for the two of us. Major Tom is interesting and has a very British military attitude and manner about him, much history information and a good sense of humor. If you want to see what poverty looks like up close and personal, Belize is the place to go. Those folks are as poor as it gets.

Roatan

We did the Tabayanna beach day and found that this place had some of the nicest snorkeling around and it is close the beach. The sand is a fine powder like substance and BE SURE TO TAKE GOOD INSECT REPELLANT! You cannot see the little guys, but you will see the bites after the fact (sand chiggers). I did not have a problem, but the wire had multiple bites. Even with the bugs this is a first rate beach, the security keeps the vendors at bay, there is plenty of shade available, and there is a nice bar with food. Bathrooms and changing rooms are available and the security looks after your stuff closely. I would go back in a heartbeat anytime. At $35.00 a piece this was a great deal and a worthwhile expenditure of money.

Carnival

I had heard the remarks that likened Carnival to the Walmart of cruise lines and if you looked for that you would see that , but if you were open and accepting of the differences in people you found that it was no different than anywhere else in our society. I have run around in wealth circles and if you looked for that on ship, you could see that also. Whether the cruisers were mostly hicks or upper class depended on what you wanted to see. I did not find the guests to be less classy or more classy than RCL, but I did see that there was a profound lack of kids on board. This is mostly due to the time of year and I personally found it nice (I have paid my dues with parenting and like the change of scene). I also found that small kid that was mentioned in another posting. This kid did not scream he screeched. He could make a sound that reminded me of finger nails on a chalkboard. For the price of passage the cruise line is well worth the money. The staff was attentive and competent. I will consider Carnival for my next cruise if the price is right and the itinerary is right.

Glory

Like I said before this is a big ship, it is not easy or fast to get from one end to the other and the midsection galley does make it harder. One thing that the Grandeur had which Glory seemed to lack is a deck that ran the complete outside of the ship. I liked the promenade of Grandeur and found the midnight walks to be a real treat.

One place I really did not like was the center pool area. It was loud, crowded and not conducive to relaxation. The aft area of the sundecks was our spot for most of the trip and the aft pool area was our preferred sun and shade spot. Really liked the soft serve ice cream dispenser here and the access to ice tea and the bar was a real plus.

No more ocean view or inside rooms for us after this cruise. We really liked the privacy and quiet of the balcony. There is nothing like spending time looking at the sea and the coastline go by out there. With the windows and having the door propped open with the bungee cord, you had a real sense of space, a private space on a sold out cruise.

The hidden deck at the front of the Empress deck was a nice find and I also would like to have seen some chairs out there, but that is more than likely why it was nice, nobody out there. Also this was a great place to see the crew in action, you have a clear view of the bridge out there.

[Lesinindy]

Our zip line also included the cave tubing for the $220.00 fee.

[MyImagination]

Thanks for the review!!

 

Just a little FYI on prices in Freeport. Most people haggle with the vendors/store owners and since they know that, the prices will always be higher. That $40 bag could have been had for $15-20. For many haggling is part of the fun.

[Lesinindy]

Just one reason to have a balcony.

[Lesinindy]

[Lesinindy]

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[Lesinindy]

 

 

 

The room was 7220

[kjeanne2001]

Nice room with nice views. Thanks for posting. Still trying to decide OV vs balcony on the next cruise. We have always done inside and as little as we are in the room it has been fine but next time will only be DH and me but then again I know I will be spoiled if I go up and it seems we can take more cruises if we do inside. Decisions!!!!

[DollyDog]

I was also on Glory May 17-24th. We (19 of us) did book our cave tubing with Carnival and yes I would say about half of us did get sick. And from what I understand it wasn't just our group of friends either. My husband got violently ill afterwards, luckily I had the forethought to get a prescription for ciprofloxacin from my Dr. before we left and I managed to get him started on that. It seemed to do the trick. We both ate the food but I didn't have any symptoms, I guess it was hit and miss. In hindsight we should have all been a little wary of the food as it was cooked in huge batches and just served out in the open but we were never given any indications from Carnival that bringing our own food would be recommended or allowed. Nothing really lost in the whole adventure, just an extra early night to bed. I'll post my own review at a later date!!

[kapcruiser]

We are thinking of booking glory 7220, do you remember what was the blank area across the hall from it?

[bitzy]

I bet you didn't notice this thread is dated May 2008. Maybe you will get a response though from someone who's been on the ship recently.