Just off the Glory 9/27 Eastern Cruise - review

[cdrpln]

We just got off the Carnival Glory after 7 fabulous days cruising. Here's my review.

 

Point of view for this review. Three of us, ages 53, 46, and 15. Our 8th cruise, 5 on Carnival. All types of cabins for these cruises, but for this one had a Cat 11 Suite (7238) on Empress Deck.

 

We came a day early and got a parking package at Country Inn and Suites, with free transportation to the port. Excellent service - both ways.

 

Boarding. Port Canaveral is the easier to board of all Florida ports. We've boarded there for three cruises and agree that it rocks. However, this time we had VIP boarding, which made it even faster and better. Ask for details. We were on the ship by 11:00 AM. Our total embarkation time was about 20 minutes. I think if we hadn't boarded VIP it would have only been 30-40 minutes.

 

Suite - outstanding - lots of extra features, such as more closets, a double bowl sink and a dressing room, along with a larger balcony. Worth it. Cabin Steward Ray was the best, however, in asking around I was informed that Carnival assigned their most outgoing stewards to the suites.

 

Dining - the grill was ok, the side venues on the Lido deck were generally good, but the dining room (Golden, late seating) was OUTSTANDING. The menu had changed over the years and service rocked. Formal evening is now called Evening Elegance, and most people observed it. We did spot the occasional person who showed up with inappropriate clothes (one guy was wearing a baseball cap, a tank top, plaid shorts and was "sagging". He was wearing white boxers.)

 

Once again, even with a full ship of 3100 passengers, I never felt crowded. Room service was quick (wish the menu had more items) and generally everthing met or exceeded expectations. The casino was looser than I remember, I actually came out ahead.

 

Spent one morning at the Spa, served by Kerion from Jamaica, and she was excellent. My husband took the Harley Davidson tour of St. Maarten and said he had an unforgettable experience)

 

Ports: Nassau has never been anything but sleazy. I could smell it from the boat. I stayed on and went to the spa.

 

St. thomas - beautful, and well organized. A great place to buy your liquor and take in the sights. Grab the tram to the top of the hills. New shops on the way to downtown, but the best bargains are truly there. Got a mother of pearl and opal ring at Azura

 

St. Maarten - always the most beautiful. Shops near the ship are still lovely. Got a great tahitian blush pearl inlaid ring with blue diamonds. Warning: if you are the only ship in port that day (we were) the downtown of Charlotte Amalie tends to become a hangout for what appears to be slightly scary people.

 

Debarkation: Slick. You can choose self-assisted, luggage express for fliers (I'd definiately do this if I was flying) and regular. We were zone one. We got off the ship at 7:20 and we were in our car back at the hotel by 7:45. There was a ton of luggage to go through but it took less than 10 minutes.

 

The Glory is going in for refurbishing, but, it doesn't need it. Still looks and feels new/

 

Any questions?

[ajenali]

I will be back on Glory this Saturday! Been on her once already, but would love to see pics if you have any. Especially of St. Thomas and ST. Marteen, haven't been to these ports before.

[gvlgolflady]

Do you know when the refurbishing is scheduled? I have a group on the Feb. 7, '09 sailing the Western Caribbean. I was on the Glory in 2003.

[crazycruzer68]

Did anyone traveling with you get sick?

[cdrpln]

Josie - no one got sick. However, my son ate two Warm Melting chocolate cakes and ice cream and went jogging on the top of the ship and got sick - but I can't blame the waves on that!!

[cdrpln]

"I will be back on Glory this Saturday! Been on her once already, but would love to see pics if you have any. Especially of St. Thomas and ST. Marteen, haven't been to these ports before."

 

I didn't take any pictures of either port, except sailing out of St. Maarten at sunset. St. Maarten has some interesting things going on. They are building another cruise ship dock adjacent to the dock you'll be parking at. The cruise lines loaned the money to the government to build it, and will (Probably) be receiving tax credits against future port tax costs.

 

There's a lot of construction on the road from the ship to downtown in Charlotte Amalie so its worth taking the water taxi from the ship to the downtown shopping area. Also, in St. Thomas.

 

In St. Thomas, when you arrive, taxis to the downtown are about a half mile from the ship at Havensight Mall. There is a free shuttle tram to Havensight Mall. Take that if you don't want to make the walk to the taxis. They can get you right back near the ship on the return if you ask them.

[CTChickCruiser]

We just got off the Carnival Glory after 7 fabulous days cruising. Here's my review.

 

Point of view for this review. Three of us, ages 53, 46, and 15. Our 8th cruise, 5 on Carnival. All types of cabins for these cruises, but for this one had a Cat 11 Suite (7238) on Empress Deck.

 

We came a day early and got a parking package at Country Inn and Suites, with free transportation to the port. Excellent service - both ways.

 

Boarding. Port Canaveral is the easier to board of all Florida ports. We've boarded there for three cruises and agree that it rocks. However, this time we had VIP boarding, which made it even faster and better. Ask for details. We were on the ship by 11:00 AM. Our total embarkation time was about 20 minutes. I think if we hadn't boarded VIP it would have only been 30-40 minutes.

 

Suite - outstanding - lots of extra features, such as more closets, a double bowl sink and a dressing room, along with a larger balcony. Worth it. Cabin Steward Ray was the best, however, in asking around I was informed that Carnival assigned their most outgoing stewards to the suites.

 

Dining - the grill was ok, the side venues on the Lido deck were generally good, but the dining room (Golden, late seating) was OUTSTANDING. The menu had changed over the years and service rocked. Formal evening is now called Evening Elegance, and most people observed it. We did spot the occasional person who showed up with inappropriate clothes (one guy was wearing a baseball cap, a tank top, plaid shorts and was "sagging". He was wearing white boxers.)

 

Once again, even with a full ship of 3100 passengers, I never felt crowded. Room service was quick (wish the menu had more items) and generally everthing met or exceeded expectations. The casino was looser than I remember, I actually came out ahead.

 

Spent one morning at the Spa, served by Kerion from Jamaica, and she was excellent. My husband took the Harley Davidson tour of St. Maarten and said he had an unforgettable experience)

 

Ports: Nassau has never been anything but sleazy. I could smell it from the boat. I stayed on and went to the spa.

 

St. thomas - beautful, and well organized. A great place to buy your liquor and take in the sights. Grab the tram to the top of the hills. New shops on the way to downtown, but the best bargains are truly there. Got a mother of pearl and opal ring at Azura

 

St. Maarten - always the most beautiful. Shops near the ship are still lovely. Got a great tahitian blush pearl inlaid ring with blue diamonds. Warning: if you are the only ship in port that day (we were) the downtown of Charlotte Amalie tends to become a hangout for what appears to be slightly scary people.

 

Debarkation: Slick. You can choose self-assisted, luggage express for fliers (I'd definiately do this if I was flying) and regular. We were zone one. We got off the ship at 7:20 and we were in our car back at the hotel by 7:45. There was a ton of luggage to go through but it took less than 10 minutes.

 

The Glory is going in for refurbishing, but, it doesn't need it. Still looks and feels new/

 

Any questions?

 

Going on Glory in January and staying in room 7330 empress level cat 11. do you have any pictures of your room so i know what to expect? Thankkk youu :):D

[lil_red_mini]

Hello,

 

My girlriend and I are planning on cruising on Glory in Mar 08 with another couple. None of us have every cruised before so its all new to us. I have a question about the formal eating. So the itinerary says there are 2 formal nights on Glory. Does this mean you eat in the restaurant 5 nights out of the 7 dressed casual and the other 2 nights are suit and tie or dress??? I have been doing lots of research so I am prepared for this cruise and this is one topic I have not found discussed. I know there is the buffet and sushi bar which are open throughout the day, so I was confused as to whether we ate at the buffet for 5 nights and only 2 formal in the dining room or if you are scheduled in the dining room every night but just 2 of those are formal. Any info is appreciated! Thanks!

[magictam]

Hello,

 

My girlriend and I are planning on cruising on Glory in Mar 08 with another couple. None of us have every cruised before so its all new to us. I have a question about the formal eating. So the itinerary says there are 2 formal nights on Glory. Does this mean you eat in the restaurant 5 nights out of the 7 dressed casual and the other 2 nights are suit and tie or dress??? I have been doing lots of research so I am prepared for this cruise and this is one topic I have not found discussed. I know there is the buffet and sushi bar which are open throughout the day, so I was confused as to whether we ate at the buffet for 5 nights and only 2 formal in the dining room or if you are scheduled in the dining room every night but just 2 of those are formal. Any info is appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

You have it right, 5 nights in the dining room causally dressed and 2 night in the dining room causal elegence. You also have the option of dinning in ether the Lido buffet or the dining room.

[cdrpln]

CTC Chick Cruiser: 7330 is in a great location off the atrium. You are also close to the self-service laundry in case you need to press anything.

 

The rooms are exactly as they look in the pictures. I didn't take any of the room. The things you can't see are the extra large bathrooms with granite countertops and double sinks, as well as a jacuzzi tub. Another thing you can't see in the pics is the dressing room. It has a dressing table (look in the upper right hand drawer for the hair dryer) and large closet with automatic lighting. There is also a similar closet in the larger part of the suite. Lots of mirrors everywhere.

 

You will enjoy VIP boarding as well as debarkation. If you are flying, take advantage of luggage express.

 

Lil Red Mini: They stopped calling them Formal Nights and they are now described as Evening Elegance. I saw all sorts of combinations. but there were quite a few people who completely disregarded it. There were lots of suits, and even a tux or two, but my son wore a nice dress shirt and a tie, my husband wore a suit and I had black chiffon evening pants and a different top for each night - one beaded with a matching tank and a sequined one.

[lil_red_mini]

Thanks!!! that answered that question perfectly!!! Now for the next one!!! hahaha (As I say, Im doing lots of research to make sure this is what we want) Do you usually book your excursions when you book your cruise or do you wait until you are on the boat? I have read advantages and disadvantages for both, just would like to know your personal experience. We are planning on booking on Carnival Glory for Mar. 7/09 to Western Caribbean!

[home_sea_home]

Around 120 days out from your cruise you can book shore excursions through the Carnival website. You can also book them once you are aboard, but if it is a limited excursion, it might be full by that time. So it is really up to you.

[bonnys]

How much was the Harley tour and was it thru HD or another vendor?

[xxjulzxx]

I will be back on Glory this Saturday! Been on her once already, but would love to see pics if you have any. Especially of St. Thomas and ST. Marteen, haven't been to these ports before.

 

We were on this sailing too and have lots of pics from both of those ports. Will post them later tonight!

[cdrpln]

The Harley Tour was $395 pp. The rider got to choose his bike, (we were afraid he would get something puny like a sportster) He had a fatboy. You have a road captain - the business owner. Because the driving down there is so crazy, the owner's wife stops traffic at busy intersections so the harleys can move ahead. The tour included several stops, including lunch at the nude beach. I asked my husband what he had for lunch, and a glazed look came over his face. He's still not sure

[cdrpln]

We've booked them both ways, but there are only five spaces available for the Harley tour. However, three of them were still available when we got on the boat - probably due to the cost of it.

[The Chandlers]

I have two questions...

 

1. What is luggage express?

 

2. What were the pool loungers like? Were they the sling type ones (back and seat fabric is one piece) that smack you in the back everytime you sit up or were they the new mesh ones?

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer these. I really appreciate it.

[CTChickCruiser]

thank you sooo much!! so excited now!

[farler05]

This is a link to our pics from this cruise. We didn't take very many of just the ship because we're not into those. Lots of our view from the balcony & all our Misfit friends! Mostly at the ports though, St Thomas/St John's Trunk Bay & then St. Martin, Maho Beach & Marigot.

 

http://photos.fantasmo.org/Cruise%202008/

[farler05]

I have two questions...

 

1. What is luggage express?

 

2. What were the pool loungers like? Were they the sling type ones (back and seat fabric is one piece) that smack you in the back everytime you sit up or were they the new mesh ones?

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer these. I really appreciate it.

 

1. Luggage Express is a service where they take your luggage from your cabin to the airport. They print off your boarding passes & luggage tags. You don't have to touch your luggage until you get home. We will definitely do this the next time we fly.

 

2. Both

[jolyn928]

Glad you had a good time! Thanks for the review and sharing your pictures.

 

Can I have your coach bag :D...it's gorgeous!

[farler05]

Can I have your coach bag :D...it's gorgeous!

LOL Sorry, no can do!! That's my favorite one!! :D

[The Chandlers]

1. Luggage Express is a service where they take your luggage from your cabin to the airport. They print off your boarding passes & luggage tags. You don't have to touch your luggage until you get home. We will definitely do this the next time we fly.

 

How do you sign up for this? Who do you tip? Please explain more. I am very interested. Thanks!

[rebeljohn]

Glad you enjoyed the Glory...........

....and I agree with you about Nassau...............

[tellis100]

4 days to go, woot