Lengthy Glory Review 10/11 - 10/18; surprise visit to Grand Turk!

[jenscruise]

Allow me to apologize in advance for the ridiculous length of this review, but I write reviews not only to benefit others, but also to act as a detailed record of my own experiences and memories. Hopefully someone will get some useful information, tips, or suggestions out of my recollections!

 

BACKGROUND: I am 28, a Corporate Trainer living in Fishers, IN (Northeast of Indianapolis). I went on this cruise with my husband (“E”), 28, originally from London, England, a Technical Consultant. Also joining us was my best friend (“Eve”), 28, a Business Analyst and her husband (“Jax”), 28, a Six Sigma Black Belt (they also live in Fishers, IN). This was the second cruise for everyone but my best friend’s husband, Jax, as it was his first. (Nicknames being used to protect the guilty!)

 

We had booked this cruise in February 2008, in order to have something to look forward to for 8 months. We nearly drove ourselves mad with waiting, but I managed to pass the time by making very detailed plans, doing lots of research, and making sure I was going to make the cruise as easy and enjoyable as possible for my traveling companions. There was lots of message board reading, list making, and counting down, but it was all worth it! You should see my cruise preparation binder J

 

My husband I have not cruised since May 2004 (on the Paradise), and so much has changed since then (menus, activities, etc.). Also, the Glory is a much larger ship with more amenities; we were excited to take advantage of all it had to offer.

 

We were hooked on cruising by our 2004 cruise on the Paradise, but have been unable to cruise again due to a number of things. In 2005, we built our dream home, which not only took up our vacation fund, but also all of our vacation time. In 2006, we spent 2 weeks in Vietnam, which was beautiful, but obviously not a cruise. In 2007, E’s family came to visit from England for two weeks, again using all of our vacation time. Alas, it’s been a long wait, but when the opportunity came up to plan our 2008 vacation, all I wanted to do was cruise again!

 

We chose the Glory primarily because of the Saturday departure. Our last cruise left on a Sunday and returned on a Sunday, and it was REALLY hard going back to work the next day without a day of recuperation (and to do laundry!). Since this one is a Saturday to Saturday, we’d have one day of rest before returning to work. Also, I remember that Saturday of waiting before the last cruise dragging on FOREVER, and I didn’t want to go through that atrocious waiting day again J

 

The Glory Eastern route enjoys 3 sea days and 3 port days, which was another deciding factor. Our last cruise was also the Eastern route, so we’re only getting one “new” port (St. Maarten). I really wanted to try the Western route, but there are only 2 sea days, and sea days are the reason we cruise, so Eastern it was! Also, Eve has an issue with tendering, so I wanted to avoid the tender ports that tend to be on the Western Route.

 

The other reasons we chose the Glory were the reviews I’d read about Port Canaveral being among the easiest and most pleasant port to embark from, as well as the fact that the Glory consistently wins Carnival’s outstanding ship and crew awards, as well as getting exceptional (100) ratings from the CDC. Seems like I couldn’t go wrong with this choice! :D

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ITINERARY: I really was excited by the itinerary. Even though we’d done the Eastern Route on our last cruise, the prospect of the “new to us” port of St. Maarten, coupled with three sea days was enough to convince me. Super port-heavy itineraries wear me out just thinking about them – I’ve got to have my sea days! So, here was our itinerary (well, it was supposed to be our itinerary, but Hurricane Omar had different plans for us!):

Friday, October 10: Fly to Orlando, travel to Cocoa Beach for pre-cruise stay.

Saturday, October 11: Embarkation

Sunday, October 12: Nassau, Bahamas

Monday, October 13: Sea Day

Tuesday, October 14: St Thomas, USVI

Wednesday, October 15: St Maarten, NA

Thursday, October 16: Sea Day

Friday, October 17: Sea Day

Saturday, October 18: Debarkation, fly home to Indianapolis.

ARRIVAL IN ORLANDO: We had Carey Limousine pick us all up at my home in Fishers, IN at 5:00 am on Friday, October 10. We wanted to start our vacation off the right way, which to me includes not having to drive to the airport, worry about airport parking, etc. Let’s leave all of that to someone else, and get things off to a relaxing start! The limousine service was efficient as usual and the driver was very professional and kind. We arrived at the airport at 5:45 am, and checked in for our flight.

We were booked on Air Tran #418, scheduled for departure at 7:00 am and arrival at 9:07 am. After routine checking of bags and quick journey through security, we arrived at our gate for a short and uneventful wait (unless you count my spilling coffee on myself, but that’s par for the course with me). We boarded at 6:40 a.m. and pushed back at 6:55 am.

AirTran is one of those airlines where you have to pay in advance to make seat selections. I’d rather save that $6 fee for a Drink of the Day, so we didn’t make our seat selections until we checked in 24 hours prior. Unfortunately, several people had obviously selected their seats in advance, so we weren’t able to sit near each other. E and I were in Seats 11 A and B, and Eve and Jax were way back in 22 A and B. But, not a big deal – it’s only a 2-hour flight, so nothing to get upset about. It’s not like we had to be right by each other every hour of the day!

The flight itself was a typical flight to Orlando – lots of families with small (crying) children en route to Disney. This is why we take headphones. We landed at Orlando Airport (MCO) at 9:00. After deplaning, we retrieved our luggage and proceeded to the Avis rental desk, where our car awaited.

PRE-EMBARKATION DAY: Getting our car at Avis was a headache, as the agent couldn’t understand that my husband and I don’t share a last name. After this hurdle was cleared (took about 10 minutes for her to comprehend this and allow him as a driver), we dragged our bags (by this point a nuisance) to the elevator to retrieve our car. Once we had our comfortable Ford Edge (which was actually very roomy for our 4 LARGE bags and 4 carry-ons) we headed out to get on 528-E, toward Cocoa Beach. After about a 45-minute drive (don’t forget the $1.25 for tolls!), we were ravenous with hunger, so we found a great place called The Omelet Station, on Atlantic Avenue in Cape Canaveral. I had a “Barack Obamlet” which was delicious, but in the spirit of non-partisanship I should point out they also had a “John McOmlet”.

After sating our hunger, we decided to hop across the street to Publix to pick up our soft drinks and wine. We grabbed cases of Lo-Carb Monster, Sprite Zero and Diet Dr. Pepper, but found their wine selection to be lacking, so we decided to hit up a proper liquor store later in the day.

We arrived at our hotel, the Cocoa Beach Marriott after a short hop from Publix. We had gotten his hotel room for free using E’s Marriott rewards points, which made it nice on the overall budget (more gambling money!). The hotel itself is reasonably new-feeling, and has a nice little path leading directly to the beach. We got checked in, put our luggage in our rooms, and changed to go hit the beach. The waves were great fun and quite impressive that day, so after a bit of splashing about and more than a bit of salt water swallowed, we decided to head to the pool. I managed to get my first of many naps in the sun.

After this, we got cleaned up and decided to go to the famous Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, where we got some items (sunglasses, E decided he wanted new flip flops, obligatory kitschy gifts for people back home, etc.). We had a bit of a sunscreen explosion incident courtesy of Air Tran (despite my triple-packing), so we needed a new bottle. It was $12 at Ron Jon, so we walked across the street to CVS and got the same bottle for $8.

About this time the sky decided to open up, after being brilliantly sunny not 2 minutes earlier (that’s Florida, for you), so we headed out in search of our wine for the week, as well as dinner. We went to ABC Liquors and Spirits and, while their selection was better than Publix, it wasn’t “great”. But, we found two acceptable bottles (as did Eve and Jax), so we were satisfied.

We had received a recommendation from the Front Desk clerk at the hotel for a restaurant called “Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty” south on Atlantic Avenue, so we headed that way. It was indeed a Shanty! The outside left a bit to be desired, as did the inside. But, I was on vacation, so not a problem. Often those hole-in-the wall places end up being awesome. This one was not. The crab cake I ordered for dinner was very dry and mostly peppers, the Prime Rib was mainly fat…we were disappointed. But the view was lovely. We saw a manatee’s head bobbing around, and tons of pelicans. It was raining, but still beautiful.

After dinner we were zonked, since we’d all been up since 3:30 that morning, so we were in bed by 6:30 pm. Yes, you read that right! We are lame.

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EMBARKATION DAY:

We woke up at 6:00 am, having slept heavily. After moving some items into my carry-on for the ship (my bathing suit, a change of clothes for dinner, etc.), making sure cabin number luggage tags were in place, and getting dressed, we went out in search of breakfast. Fortunately, there was an IHOP just down the road (they closed all the IHOPs around my house, so I was thrilled to get to eat there) and I got to enjoy those wonderful pancakes!

After a lovely breakfast, we went ahead and checked out at 8:30. Then we loaded up the car one last time to go return the rental car to Avis. This was a pleasant experience, as we arrived at Avis in about 10 minutes, and the return itself was a 15 minute ordeal, most of that spent waiting in line since it was pretty busy and only had two staff people. We waited a short time (5 minutes or so) then hopped aboard the Avis shuttle to be transported to Port Canaveral, a 5 minute ride. We were now at 9:00 am, and the shuttle bus driver warned is this was a VERY early time to be heading to port. But it was either that or sit outside at the muggy Avis depot, so for us it was a no brainer – let’s go! Also, since it was so early, we had the shuttle to ourselves, which was nice.

We could see the Glory from the time we turned the bend in the road, and she was spectacular. Literally took my breath away. I remember thinking the Paradise was large, but it is dwarfed in comparison to this Conquest-class ship.

EMBARKATION: Once we got off the Avis shuttle and were reunited with our luggage, we headed over to the luggage handlers. We tipped them $1 per bag just to make sure everything ended up where we intended. There is a sign that indicates the porters are salaried and do not require a tip, but the ported alluded that a tip would “help these get where they need to go.”

Once we had left our luggage in the capable (and now $4 richer) hands of the porters, we proceeded into the cruise terminal. First, we went through the security screening, in which our bags were scanned and we passed through the metal detector, just like at the airport. Then we snaked around a column (it was very narrow, and tricky with our carry-ons!) to head up to an escalator. Several people we encountered made sure we understood we were very early, and they had no food or drinks. We were fine with this, as we knew that they didn’t have refreshments while we waited.

Next, we proceeded through a non-existent line and approached a desk where we were checked-in. We handed over our Credit Card details, and documents (passports) were checked.

After that, we went to a station where our Sail & Sign (S&S) cards were issued. Hello Gold S&S! Once we had those, we noticed that our dining time was at 8:15 in the Platinum Dining Room, just as we had wanted. Jax and Eve didn’t even have their cabin assignment, so they were pleasantly surprised when they received a very healthy upgrade to cabin #1103, a family stateroom with floor-to-ceiling windows. However, their dining time was at 6:30 in the Golden Room, so we would have a visit to the Maitre D’ in our future. I was a little surprised, since I had called Carnival in advance to link our reservations to assure we were at the same table, but no biggie, it could be fixed.

We then went and sat in the waiting area for 2-hour wait (we sat down at 9:30), after which it was time to begin boarding. The Carnival folks kept us informed of how much longer the wait would be, as well as asking trivia questions to keep us entertained. After the VIPs (Platinum sailers and suite occupants), they called us to board by rows. Obviously we were there so early that we were the first row to board. It was now 11:45 (they had said they would begin at 11:30, but what’s 15 minutes when you’re on vacation?) We dragged our luggage through a pretty lengthy walkway and then across the gangway and voila, we were aboard. Once in the lobby, you are stopped and a photo is taken which is tied to your S&S card, so that every time your card is used aboard, your photo appears to verify it is really you. We were onboard and sitting on the Lido Desk by 12:00.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: When you enter the Glory, you enter into the main lobby, which honestly looks larger in the photos, but is lovely nonetheless. I looked for the Crystal Eagle, awarded to the top Carnival ship in the fleet each year, and there it sat proudly, by the elevators.

EMBARKATION LUNCH: There were lots of options for lunch the first day. Choices included pizza, selections from the Deli, Sur Mer (the fish and chips stand), the Grill, or the Lido Buffet. I had to get my favorite: De Chevre. Since I was among the first to order from the pizzeria (quite a walk from fore Lido, since it’s all the way aft), I had to wait for my beloved De Chevre, but it was worth it! I also stopped at Sur Mer to grab some Fish and Chips, which in my opinion (being picky, since I’m married to a Brit) weren’t that good, so I didn’t get them again the remainder of the cruise. Of course there were Drinks of the Day (Sunship Special) to be had, so we were happy to break in our S&S Cards.

SHIP LAYOUT: Our prior experience had been on the Paradise, so we were familiar with the concept of there being decks that do not go all the way from stern to aft, since the dining rooms and galley are in the way. So while many were frustrated wish this, it seemed easily navigable to us. We spent a little bit of time wandering around the ship, but our carry-on luggage was beginning to become a burden, since someone always had to stay behind while others went to look at the ship, etc. During this time we found our way to the Golden Dining Room to have Eve & Jax join us at our table, which “Supercharged” Joseph was happy to oblige. Turns out E & I were at a table for 8 with two open seats conveniently open, so it worked out perfectly.

STATEROOM: After having to mind our carry-on luggage for an hour and a half, we really wanted to get to our stateroom. The staterooms didn’t open until 1:30 so when that time came, we made a beeline for our cabin. We had booked an Inside Guarantee (IS), since we’re not particular about our location on board, and I don’t need a window, since we’re only in the cabin to change clothes and sleep. Fifty-seven days out, we were assigned cabin #7441. I was THRILLED with this cabin. First of all, it’s on the Empress Deck, which has cabins both immediately above and below it, so there was no noise from nightclubs late into the night, and no dragging deck chairs at 5:00 am. Also, the Empress Deck is a convenient two decks up from the Promenade, and two decks down from the Lido deck. What a superb location. It is pretty far aft, but this was fine, as most of the activities we wanted to do were aft anyhow (Platinum Dining Room, aft Lido, Cinn-a-Bar, etc.)

We found out stateroom at 1:30 pm. We unpackd our carry-ons and took a few moments to get settled. The rest of our luggage was delivered at around 4:00 pm.

We had called ahead to Carnival’s Bon Voyage department and placed an order to have a bottle of Disaronno Amaretto and Absolut Vodka waiting in our cabin upon our arrival, so the Monster drink would also come in handy for a cheaper (and less caloric!) alternative to Vodka and Red Bulls on board the ship. This also makes it so we don’t have to try to “smuggle” liquor on board – what a headache! Remember, you are allowed to take a “reasonable” amount of soft drinks on board. They don’t define what is considered “reasonable”, but we encountered no problems with the cases of soft drinks we took aboard.

The room itself was cozy. It is more than comfortable for two people. And yes, those Carnival Comfort Beds are very comfortable. The room is well-equipped with safe, mini-bar (which we had our steward open and empty so we could use the refrigerator for our wine, soft drinks and Monster drinks), and lots of storage space. Also the two beach towels were changed every time they had been used, and the robes were plush and comfortable.

The bathroom was fine. The “goodie basket” was a lot more scant than four years ago – it consisted only of two razors and a sample toothpaste. But hey, they don’t have to do anything at all, so that is appreciated. The towels were kept changed all week. I had forgotten how wonderful the water pressure is in the shower, and how ferociously the toilets flushed. I was also disappointed to be reminded that the tap water never gets quite cold enough to brush my teeth as I prefer, but no biggie.

[jenscruise]

MUSTER DRILL: The Muster Drill was very quick. Rather than have people proceed first to a show lounge as they had on our first cruise, we were able to proceed directly to our Muster Station, directly 3 decks below our cabin. The whole thing lasted from 4:00 – 4:15. Yes, we did start moving during Muster Drill, but we were moving so slowly and sailing out of Port Canaveral is a lengthy process, so not much was missed. We put our lifejackets back in the cabin and headed up on deck to get some photos.

SAILAWAY: Sailing out of Port Canaveral was a treat. Such a beautiful view of Cocoa Beach. After sail away, we went up to the Spa for the drawing. I actually won something! I won the last prize of the day, a free mini-facial. The catch is that it had to be scheduled for either later that night or before noon the next day. I opted to have it done early Sunday morning, since we didn’t have too much planned in Nassau. After getting that taken care of, I was off to the casino!

CASINO: Our prior cruising experience had been on the then smoke-free Paradise. What a difference to be on a ship that allowed smoking, especially the casino! Wow. The slot machines were VERY smoky, but several of the tables were non-smoking, so that was great. We settled down at Blackjack with a great dealer, Petar from Bulgaria, who it turns out is a Liverpool fan, so we had some good natured football-related ribbing, since I support Chelsea and my husband supports Aston Villa. I didn’t do too badly, only losing about $25 in 2 hours of play (not bad for me, since I’m terrible at card games). Before we knew it, it was time for some pre-dinner drinks with Eve & Jax, so we went to the Burgundy Bar for martinis, which were prepared by the delightful Anna from Poland. We really enjoyed her throughout the cruise.

DINING ROOM: We were in the Platinum dining room, with “Supercharged” Joseph as our Maitre D’. The dining room itself was lovely, and we were at a table for eight with Eve & Jax, and two other couples a bit older than us, Paul & Holly from Orlando and Bob & Patricia from Maryland. They were great fun, and a pleasure to sit with. However, last time around I remember the dining team doing a performance every night, either a dance or a song, and this time it was only a few of the nights. However, they did really push the “Carnival Colors” thing on this cruise, and they introduced that on the first night. We chose not to participate in this.

DINING ROOM TEAM: We had a quiet but efficient team. Olivia from Indonesia was our Head Waitress, assisted by Yothin from Thailand. They were very good at what they did, but we were the last table to be served every night, so that was a little frustrating when others would be leaving, finished with their meals and our dessert orders had yet to be taken. Certainly not the fault of “O and Yo”, however. Again, comparing to our prior cruise, I was sad we didn’t get the chance to sit and talk to our dining team as we had on our last cruise, so we never really got to build a relationship with them as we had in the past.

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FOOD (DINNER REVIEWS): Since we’re talking about the dining room, now is a good place to detail what we enjoyed each evening in the dining room, to help guide future cruisers in their selections. When last I cruised I was a practicing vegetarian, so I missed out on lots of options. This time, without any self-imposed dietary restrictions, I was ready to try the things I’d missed last time!

Night 1: Cured Salmon and Candied Tomato – this was decent, but a tiny portion. Shrimp Cocktail – tiny shrimp, and only four at that. Grilled New York Strip Steak from Black Angus Beef – a very mediocre steak. Gristly, but was cooked as I had ordered (medium). Vanilla Crème Brulee – Desserts are definitely what Carnival does well. This was prepared perfectly. Brie – Cheese makes a lovely post-dinner treat.

Night 2 (formal night): Strawberry Bisque – as good as I remember, like melted strawberry ice cream. Lobster Tail – everyone ordered two. These were very good, but the jumbo shrimp eclipsed the lobster. Chocolate Melting Cake – after reading so many people rave about this, I had to try it. It was far too sweet for me. It was good, but no way I could order it every evening – too much sugar – I like a bit of subtlety in my desserts.

Night 3 (Supper club): See separate detailed Supper Club overview later in the review. I will say it wasn’t all it’s been built up to be.

Night 4: Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella – this was very good. Wild Mushroom Cream Soup – this was my favorite dinner item from last cruise. While it was still very good, it seemed to be missing the “oomph” that made it so great four years ago. Couldn’t put my finger on what had changed, but something was missing. Filet Mignon – much better than the steak on night one. A decent cut of meat. I skipped dessert this night to get to our seats at the Piano Bar.

Night 5: Smoked Duck and Carmelized Oranges – unfortunately I had a terrible cold that destroyed my sense of taste, so I can only say the texture was nice. Tom Ka Gai – I normally love this soup but again, I couldn’t taste a thing, so I can’t speak to it’s quality. Rack of New Zealand Spring Lamb Dijonnaise – darn this cold! The lamb had beautiful presentation and texture, but it’s flavor will forever remain a mystery to me. The dessert selections this evening was not the antipated Tiramisu as promised by the on-screen menus displayed in the cabin, much to the disappointment of everyone in the group. Instead, there was a choice of two Halloween themed desserts – pumpkin cheesecake or chocolate walnut cake. I had the cake and it was incredibly dry. Had my sense of taste been working, I might have been disappointed. As it was, I didn’t mind.

Night 6 (formal night): Escargots Bourgignonne – thank goodness my sense of taste had returned! These were quite good, albeit swimming in butter. Chilled Creamy Bing Soup – I love Carnival’s chilled fruit soups. Cheateaubriand with Sauce Bearnaise – this was pretty darn good. Nice and juicy, prepared a beautiful medium rare so it was tender and succulent. Again I skipped dessert, absolutely stuffed from my Chateaubriand (which was a very large cut).

Night 7: Chilled Supreme of Fresh Fruit – just a plate of watermelon, pineapple, kiwi, etc. Nothing special. Mango Cream Soup – my favorite chilled soup of the week. Panko Crusted Shrimp – very good, although served with curly fries which I found odd. Grand Marnier Souffle – every bit as good as I remember. I was stuffed from dinner, but somehow found room for the soufflé.

In summary, the food was good, but not the same as last time. I know I keep drawing comparisons to four years ago, but it seems the quality has slipped a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it was still good, but not ‘spectacular’, as I remember from the Paradise. Are they trying to cut costs, perhaps?

EMBARKATION DAY (CONTINUED): After we had finished our first dinner, we were a bit tired since we’d been up since 6:00 without a nap, so it was back to the cabin to relax. Nassau and my free facial were in the morning, so we needed some rest.

BREAKFAST: For our first breakfast aboard, I had Room Service nice and early since my facial was scheduled for 8:00. I ordered salmon and bagel, while E got fruit, yogurt and cereal, as well as coffee. We had Room Service three days, ate in the Dining Room one day, and had Lido Breakfast the other three days. Our preference was Lido Breakfast, since it was quick and easy (Dining Room service was slow, although the food was quite good), and Room Service was good when we knew we’d have an early morning.

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NASSAU (SUNDAY): I woke up at 7:00 to Room Service, and got dressed for my 8:00 Mini Facial which I had won in the drawing the afternoon before. I’d never had a facial before, so I was excited for the experience. I went up at 7:45 to fill out my paperwork and after a 5-minute wait, I was shown to my massage room by Julietta, who would be doing my facial. She asked what my current skin care ritual was, and had me remove my shirt and necklace for the treatment. The treatment lasted a relaxing and satisfying 30 minutes, and then I had to sit through the “buy these products for a total of $250” which I declines, as the Elemis products, while I’m sure are high quality, are ridiculously overpriced. Since this had been a free treatment, I tipped her $20 and headed on my way, returning to the cabin at 9:00.

We had been to Nassau once before on the Paradise, and were not overly impressed. It’s not that it’s not a nice place, there’s just not a lot here that captures our interest. Also, our time in port was very short – we docked at 8:00 am, and needed to be back on board by 2:30.

Our first stop was the world-famous Graycliff Hotel, so we could purchase some of their renowned cigars. Being a Sunday, unfortunately, the cigar factory itself was closed, but we were able to acquire what we were after in the hotel gift shop. We had a lovely walk to Graycliff, up a pretty steep hill (guess that’s how it got it’s name.) The Hotel and Grounds were stunning – the house is over 200 years old and has so much character. I’d much rather stay at a hotel like Graycliff than one of the new uber-resorts that are so manufactured and lack character. We first went into the gift shop, but the lovely lady in the shop invited us to tour the grounds. We walked around for about 30 minutes, E taking tons of pictures of the gorgeous grounds and hotel. After our exploration, we returned to the gift shop to make our purchases. We were very excited to get some Graycliff Hotels, after reading about them in Robb Report. If Robb Report says they’re good, then they must be good, right? We bought 3 boxes for ourselves and several loose cigars to enjoy both on the ship and for gifts for my dad, Eve’s dad, and Jax’s dad. Several hundred dollars lighter, we decided to walk back to the ship. We were originally going to go to the Straw Market, but the prospect of 3 for $10 t-shirts and whatnot didn’t see, overly appealing, so we were back aboard by 11:30, in time for lunch on Lido. We might as well talk about lunches now…

LUNCHES: We ate two lunches on Lido, two lunches from the Pizzeria, one lunch from Room Service and two lunches from the Grill. Lido lunch was decent, but the lines were terrible. I do not recall the lines being so dense. Yes, I know the Paradise was a much smaller ship, but proportionally the lines just didn’t make sense to me. Anyhow, Lido fare was okay, but the lunch-time desserts were spectacular. This is where Carnival really shines, which is why I gained about 5 pounds this week.

PIZZA: Man I love De Chevre pizza. Although two times I got slices that had so many mushrooms dumped haphazardly on the pizza that the mushrooms made the crust soggy, it was still good.

ROOM SERVICE: The Roast Sirloin and Brie on Baguette is my new favorite room service sandwich, with the grilled portabella and mozzarella a close second. Both very good. The Shrimp Salad sandwich was so messy I had to eat it with a fork, and also not as good as I remember it being. Is that becoming a theme?

SUR MER: As I indicated previously, the fish and chips did not meet our threshold for good Fish & Chips. The Fish was too greasy, but not in the good “English Greasy” sort of fish way. The chips weren’t proper English chips – they were just French Fries. So, disappointed, we didn’t go back. I will say that it was NEVER busy, as it seems a lot of people did not know it was up there.

DELI: I did grab a sandwich from the deli one day. It was supposed to have roasted red peppers, arugula and mozzarella on Foccacia and had neither red pepper nor mozzarella, so it was basically an arugula, tomato and mayonnaise sandwich. Odd, since that’s pretty much not even close to what it was supposed to be.

Okay, back to Sunday…

Once the ship set sail around 3:00, E and I went and had a nice nap before getting ready for the Formal Night festivities.

FORMAL NIGHTS: Our first full day was the first of two formal nights, and was the night that included the Captain’s Cocktail Party. We got ready around 6:30 and went out to have a few formal photos taken, since we had some really good ones last cruise. The Captain’s Cocktail Party started at 7:00, and it was very crowded in the Ebony Cabaret, so we headed into the Cinn-a-Bar instead, where there were 4 waiters with trays of drinks and hors d’oeuvres with no one to serve but us! We were able to get our photos with the Captain since he was right outside the Cinn-a-Bar, so I don’t really feel like we missed anything in the Ebony Cabaret, and we each had 7 to 8 drinks easily, since we were the only ones in there.

After the Captain’s Party, it was time for our 8:15 dinner seating. As mentioned previously, we had the obligatory lobster that night. Afterwards, it was time for a visit to the casino where I hit a nice 35:1 on my lucky roulette number (“22”), so that was satisfying. Then we discovered Mark.

Mark Weiser at the Cinn-a-Bar became the highlight of our nights. Such an incredibly talented, funny, and entertaining guy. He played with passion regardless of if there were two people or fifty. There were some great moments – a bidding war between Cher and Guns ‘N Roses (thankfully, Guns ‘N Roses won out), another one between Beatles and Elvis (I personally saw to it that the Beatles were victorious). We spent four or five evenings in the Cinn-a-Bar with Mark, and bought one of his CDs. If Mark is on your cruise YOU MUST GO, and take your dollars!

We went to see an adult comedian at 12:15, and we were a bit disappointed. It seems his entire routine was just to offend as many people as possible, which is a bit overdone. Yes, it was a good way to pass 45 minutes, but I have seen funnier.

After this we were quite tired after all the shopping, sunshine, drinking, and singing of the day, so it was time for bed.

[jenscruise]

SEA DAY #1 (MONDAY): After a leisurely breakfast of pancakes in the Platinum Dining room, it was apparent I was coming down with a cold. I had my tell-tale sore throat that always precedes my colds. I was determined I was NOT going to let a cold spoil my visit to the supper club that night, so downed some airborne to give my immune system any boost I could.

I went back to the cabin to rest for a bit, then had lunch at 11:00 from the grill. I knew to eat a light lunch today, since we had the Supper Club tonight and I certainly wanted to go in with a healthy appetite!

ART AUCTION: After all I’d read about the scams that Park West pulls, I was curious to attend the art auction for myself just to see what it was really like. By the way, they don’t even serve real Champagne, it’s just sparkling wine, so that’s “scam” #1. The second is that they are charging $17,000 for seriolithographs that are not worth half of that. I feel badly for people who fall for their misrepresentations hook, line, and sinker. The auctioneer was very slick and went through the terms and conditions literally at lightning speed, so as to gloss over some of the more important points. We got bored at the endless spiel about what an important artist Itzchak Tarkay was, and coming away with the impression he is locked somewhere in a basement churning out forced artwork for Park West, we decided to leave after about 45 minutes.

AFTERNOON TEA: This had been one of my favorite things on the Paradise, I but I missed it all three days on this cruise. I was sad, but probably didn’t need to eat any more than I did anyhow. I had every intention on going on Monday, but knowing I was coming down with a cold, it was nap time.

I woke up around 6:00, got dressed, and we headed to the Lounge for the $500 Bingo ahead of the Marcus Anthony Motown show.

BINGO: On my last cruise, I won $100 playing Bingo, so I figured my Bingo mojo was expired. I was absolutely right. I hardly had any numbers called in the one game. Oh well, I had won on roulette as well as getting a free mini facial, so I had plenty luck on this cruise.

Marcus Anthony was FANTASTIC. It was a pretty quick show, lasting only 45 minutes from 7:00 – 7:45, but he had people dancing in the aisles and singing along. A true talent and entertainer.

We had an 8:00 Supper Club reservation. The invitation had arrived that morning reminding us (as if I’d forgotten1). After reading so much about the amazing experience, I was so eager to try it…

SUPPER CLUB:

Okay, let me preface by saying the Supper Club was worth every penny of the $30. It was an EXCELLENT meal for $30. Was it the best meal I’ve ever had? Absolutely not. Was it in the top 10 ever? Not even close.

The food itself was of good quality, but I have had better food at restaurants in Chicago, London, Saigon, heck, even in Indianapolis. The service, while very professional, was quite overbearing. When you have a fine dining experience, the service should be barely noticeable in it’s efficiency. In between each course, the dining staff would come over and ask “can we clean?” I realized this is how they were trained, but we found it overbearing. I’ve been at restaurants with a team of 3 waiters for a table of two, and you barely notice them. Here it felt as though they were “hovering” constantly.

The Sommelier was good, however. We selected a nice bottle of Silver Oak, one of our favorite Cabs. She brought it out and decanted it properly. She certainly knew her stuff, which was valued by us and acknowledged accordingly in terms of gratuity.

The experience was nice, however. There were a few little “compliments of the chef” courses, such as tomato and orange soup, salmon and crème, and petite fours at the close of the evening.

For my appetizer, I ordered escargots, of which there were five presented in two different styles. All very good. I had Caesar salad, prepared tableside, but found the dressing a bit anchovy-heavy.

I had rack of lamb for my main course, which was beautiful in it’s presentation and prepared medium well, perfect to maintain the tenderness and flavor of the lamb. My dessert was the Chocolate Tarte, which was beautiful to look at and the four different cups each had an interesting consistency.

In summary: yes, the food was good. The service was good but very “present”, and not always in a good way. It was worth every penny of $30, but not the best meal I’ve never had. Not even close.

[jenscruise]

ST. THOMAS (TUESDAY): I was still full from the Supper Club the night before, so breakfast was very light today, from Room Service, consisting of some croissants and jelly.

Immigration was the usual ordeal. Since E is a British Citizen/Green Card holder, he has to go through a different procedure than the rest of us. His took all of 5 minutes, while I was in line for 15 minutes before getting cleared and heading back to the cabin. Unfortunately, Eve & Jax were the last deck called, and we were planning to travel over to Coral World together for our 1:00 pm Sea Lion Swim, so we had to wait for them to finish immigration and then grab lunch before finding a cab.

Once we all had cleared immigration at 11:30, we stayed on board to eat some lunch. The cheeseburgers from the grill sure are good!

However, while we were waiting for Eve & Jax to finish immigration came the announcement from the Captain:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain. Tropical Depression 15 has strengthened into a Hurricane, and is expected to pass over the Virgin Islands and Leeward Islands within the next 24-48 hours. As a result, we will be canceling our port of call in St. Maarten tomorrow, in order to preserve your safety. We are working with the office in Miami to arrange an alternative port of call, and in the meantime we offer you a day at sea tomorrow.”

Okay, no biggie. Yes, St. Maarten was part of the reason I selected the Glory, but I’d rather be safe! Plus, I love Sea Days so that’s okay. Gives me an excuse to visit St. Maarten another time, right?

So, we proceeded outside to get our cab to Coral World, only to get there and find out it was closed in anticipation of the incoming Hurricane, due to arrive the next day. No Sea Lion swim for me! So, making the best of a less than ideal situation, we headed next door to the beautiful Coki Beach. We stayed there for about an hour before deciding to head back to the ship to shower (that salt water dries out the skin!) and change clothes before heading into Charlotte Amalie to do our shopping.

I wanted to buy a new right-hand sapphire and diamond ring to match my other sapphire jewelry. I found a BEAUTIFUL ring that was exactly what I was looking for. They offered to size it right on the spot, a process that would take only 30 minutes. During that 30 minutes, something very dangerous happened: E wandered into the watch section. Next thing I know we’re buying a brand new Omega Speedmaster! Not entirely sure how that happened, but E is happy with his new watch, so all is well. On a side note – one of the sapphires fell out of my ring within an hour of wearing it, so I guess I’ll have to find out if that 45-day guarantee they included. Fortunately I found the sapphire, so all is not lost.

After our shopping insanity, we hit up some kitschy souvenir shops for shot glasses and whatnot, then took the lovely stroll back to the ship. We were the only ship in port that day, so the town was not jammed to the gills. Also, due to the incoming storm, a lot of shops started closing early (around 5:00), so we went back to the ship around that time.

Dinner was, as usual at 8:15. At dinner I learned from our tablemates we were now due to visit Grand Turk on Thursday. I was thrilled! Some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean awaited our arrival. After dinner we intended to go to the Justin Illusion show, but we were having such a great time at the Cinn-a-Bar, there was no way we were leaving. I stayed at the Cinn-a-Bar until 1:30, by which point I had to get some rest.

FUN DAY AT SEA (WEDNESDAY): This was supposed to be our day to visit to St. Maarten, but as we know, it was not meant to be. So, this day was a perfect day to lay on deck, read, and nap. It was also wonderful because the ship was moseying along at a peaceful 10 – 11 knots all day, since we had such a short distance to cover between St Thomas and Grand Turk. Peaceful seas, plentiful sun. Made for a great lazy day.

This also worked out perfectly for us because, since we were on board this afternoon, we were able to watch the England World Cup qualifying match against Belarus, which we wouldn’t have been able to see had we been on St. Maarten for the day. England won, obviously, due to the fact we were able to watch (ha ha!). Afterwards, I was feeling terrible from my now 3-day old cold, so we went back to the cabin for a 3-hour nap.

After dinner we went to our now favorite place on the ship, the Cinn-a-Bar to watch Mark perform.

[jenscruise]

GRAND TURK (THURSDAY): What an amazing place! Yes, I know that Hurricane Ike really did a number on Grand Turk, but the island itself remains gorgeous. Right off the ship is a great little shopping area (built for the cruise ships). There’s a Duty Free area, lots of local vendors, and even the requisite Margaritaville. We shopped from 8:30 – 9:30, then went back on the ship to get our swimwear on. By 10:00 we were laying on the beach, having rented a clam shell to provide some permanent shade. The day was spent lounging, reading, napping and snorkeling. The snorkeling was much better on the “rockier” side of the beach, where there were fewer people. My toenails were painted red, which apparently the fish thought were food as they enjoyed nibbling at my toes. What a strange sensation! The water was an amazing crystal blue, and you could look straight down from the dock and see fish teeming in the beautiful shallows below. What an amazing place. We could not have asked for a better stop.

Upon our reluctant return to the ship around 4:00, it was time for my spa treatment. I had a pick-n-mix appointment at 5:15. I had selected the Full body lime & ginger exfoliation, back massage, and foot and ankle massage for $89. So worth it! The exfoliation left my skin softer than ever before. The back massage was great – I told her I like lots of pressure when I have a back massage, so she proceeded to beat me silly all over my back, which leaves me still sore two days later. So awesome! The foot and ankle massage was a nice finale to the treatment. The whole thing lasted about 55 minutes, and I was back in the cabin by 6:15.

We had found our Carnival Glory pins and invitations to the past guest party in our cabin the night before. We found it strange that, being our second “elegant evening”, the past guest party dress code was “smart casual.” I wasn’t going to change clothes, so I went in my formal wear. Turns out most people did too. The past guest party was fun. I had never seen the video, so it was all new content to me. After the party was dinner and then 70’s and 80’s night in the disco. My favorite 80’s song was played – Karma Chameleon – so I was content. Afterwards we went to – guess where? – the Cinn-a-Bar to watch Mark. Then bed.

SEA DAY #3 (FRIDAY): The last day is always so sad! We’d waited 8 months for this cruise, and now only had one day left. I was determined to enjoy the heck out of it.

Woke up and had a nice big Lido breakfast (hash browns, French toast, bacon, corned beef hash, etc.) then went to get my bathing suit on for my last day in the sun. Sunned and napped for a few hours, with some intermittent reading in between naps. Once I had had enough, I went to the room to get my packing done, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. I watched the debarkation talk while packing, to kill two birds with one stone. I went to cash in my casino chips, then E came to the cabin to pack as well. We went up to deck to get some photos of the last sunset. Then we walked around and enjoyed the ship for the last time including an hour with Mark in the Cinn-a-Bar before heading to dinner. After dinner we wanted to go back to the Cinn-a-Bar, but I made the mistake of laying down for “just a minute” and next thing I knew, my 6:00 am wake-up call was ringing.

[jenscruise]

DEBARKATION: We chose to do self-assist debarkation, because I don’t like having to set my luggage out the night before. We had room service scheduled to be delivered between 6:15 and 6:30, so I was a little worried when it was 6:50 when it still hadn’t arrived. Around 7:00 it finally arrived, a testament to how many people must order room service on the last day! We sat patiently in our room until our self-assist deck was called, the last one. Once called, it took about 20 minutes to get off the ship and out to the bus

RETURN HOME: We had paid for Carnival to handle the transportation back to the airport, since we didn’t want to mess with renting a car on our return day. We were on the bus at 9:00 and on the road shortly thereafter. We were at MCO by 10:00, but our flight (AirTran #370) wasn’t until 2:40 pm, so since we were more than 4 hours before check-in, we had to wait until 10:40 before we could check our bags. So, once we were able to check our bags, it was a quick trip through security, and onto the tram. We were in the terminal at 11:00. We had lunch at noon, then sad and read.

After waiting at MCO for a few hours (not a lot to do there, unfortunately), we walked to the gate around 2:10 and found to our surprise boarding had already begun, so we got on board immediately. The flight was maybe 75% full, so E was able to get the exit row to himself, and I got a row to myself as well, which was great. We pushed back at 2:40 and landed at 4:50 (we were schedule to arrive at 4:57 pm).

After retrieving our bags, we were met by Carey Limousine for our return transportation home. Having them handle our transportation let our vacation last just a little bit longer. We were home by 6:15 p.m.

Some other observations…

SUSHI BAR: Always good for a pre-dinner snack. They had three selections each night. Be careful – that wasabi is the most potent I’ve ever had! It was fun to see some people being adventurous and trying sushi for the first time. Good for them!

ICE CREAM: I love the frozen yogurt. They seemed to rotate vanilla and strawberry frozen yogurt every other day. We found a great use for our in-cabin Amaretto – when mixed with a cup of frozen yogurt, it’s like a delightful milkshake in which you can’t even taste the Amaretto. Quite dangerous!

DRINKS: Drinks are reasonably priced, and they certainly do not skimp on the alcohol.

MOTION SICKNESS: On my first cruise, I started feeling pretty awful on our second full day, which was also our first day at sea. I started medicating after I was already feeling queasy, which isn’t ideal. It pretty much ruined 3 days of my last cruise, so I was determined not to suffer through it this time around. Let me clarify: I never actually ‘got sick’, but always had a slightly dizzy and queasy feeling – not fun.

So, this time, in preparation, I purchased ginger gum, to be taken to settle a nauseous stomach, some Sea Bands, to provide instant relief in case of choppy seas, and finally some non-drowsy Bonine, which I started taking the day before we left (Friday). My dosage was one half of a Bonine in the morning, and the other half in the evening before bed. I continued this regimen throughout the cruise.

The result was FANTASTIC! We had some really choppy seas a few times, especially when traveling over 20 knots. There were times I didn’t even notice the ship moving the Bonine was so effective. So I swear by Bonine now. The key is to start it BEFORE you feel sick, and break the dose into half morning and half night, so to avoid drowsiness. I even continued to take a dose the morning of debarkation, and so far have had no Mal De Debarquement, whereas last cruise I suffered for three days post-cruise.

PURSERS DESK: Had only one brief visit, when I had a question about our total balance. There was no line, yet I felt I was treated in a bit of a cursory manner, almost snippy, if you will, as if I were an annoyance. Oh well, perhaps she was having a bad day.

CABIN STEWARD: Our cabin steward was Fannie from Indonesia. He was friendly and efficient, but we didn’t get to chat with him much, as we didn’t see him around too frequently. However, everything was always replenished and the room was always tidy, so he warranted an extra tip at the end. However, I have now been on two 7-night cruises, and have yet to receive the monkey towel animal. This makes me very sad.

SMOKING: As I mentioned previously, our other cruising experience had been on the then smoke-free Paradise, which we had chosen for that very reason. What a difference! It seems that the “smoking allowed on the starboard side only” rule was completely ignored. On the bright side, the smoke was never unbearable, except at the slot machines in the casino, where it was a pervasive noxious cloud.

INFIRMARY: Fortunately, I had no reason to visit the infirmary this trip, so nothing to report on this front.

WEATHER: We had rain in St Thomas, but we managed to time our return trip to the ship post-beach at the precise time the clouds opened up. By the time we were heading out, the rain was clearing up. Obviously Hurricane Omar was close by, but the weather was beautiful every other day.

NIGHTLIFE: White Heat was fun, the comedian was so-so. But, as I’ve said, the highlight for us was Mark in the Cinn-a-Bar, hands down.

CRUISE DIRECTOR: Butch Begovitch was a good cruise director – not overbearing, very friendly, and a nice speaking voice (always a good thing for a CD to have!).

CHILDREN: Our first-ever cruise had been in early May, and there were probably no more than 10 children on board the whole ship. This time, mid-October, we were hoping for a repeat, since we figured most children would be in school. We were surprised to see several school-aged children, but they were well-behaved. We saw only one rowdy bunch of boys, probably 8-9 years old, but they were running around doing a scavenger hunt, so it’s not as if they were just running around causing mayhem. All in all, the children were seen and not heard.

SPA: Lovely, although they really push those Elemis products. Even post-massage she “recommended” a $61 bottle of massage oil. A simple “no thanks” suffices. Also the steam room and sauna are great, and the grotto style hot tub is fabulous.

GYM: I was on vacation, so I didn’t feel like working out, gosh darn it!

POOLS: Last cruise I did not even get in the pool, so this time I made a point to have one dip in the pool, and a trip down the water slide, which was great fun!

PHOTOS: The photographers are very professional, and it was hard to pick our favorite. We did buy the CD of the image so we can make copies as we please. Totally worth the $9.99 for that.

PHONE RECEPTION: I had cell reception in Nassau and Grand Turk, but not in St Thomas.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

On the whole, we did like this cruise even better than our first one, but I will say I preferred the smoke-free nature of the Paradise. It’s truly a shame they had to do away with that due to less revenue. I would have paid more to travel on a non-smoking ship again.

We really enjoyed Grand Turk, would like to go back again in the future. As for Nassau…if I didn’t go back, I wouldn’t be heartbroken. St Thomas remains lovely and a shopping paradise, which we enjoy. I’ll have to find a reason to go back to St Maarten in the future.

 

It was a fantastic week, and we definitely want to cruise again. On the whole, I’d give it a “B+”. I think next time we might want to try a different, more subdued line. While I do like cruising, I need to mix things up a bit – I’m not one of those folks who cruises for each and every vacation. There’s an awful lot of the world not accessible by ship.

So, we’ve got a ton of frequent flyer miles to use before 2010, so we’re going to go on safari next year in Kenya in lieu of a cruise. But after that, who knows? E wants to do a Western Caribbean cruise including Belize. I want to do South America, Alaska, and the Mediterranean. So many cruises, so little time…

FINAL THOUGHTS:

We have about 1500 photos to go through and upload, I will post those links when they’re cleaned up and uploaded.

I also have all 7 days worth of capers, but they’re not the “normal” Eastern route due to the port change, but I’ll be happy to post those too once they’re scanned.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them!

[bonnys]

Thanks for the great review. DH and I were married on her in 2004 and I was picturing all of our memories as you talked of yours.

[pe4all]

Thank you for taking the time to post such a great review! Lovr how you took the change of ports in stride. Now you will have to cruise again to "hit" St. Marten. :D

[nol4am]

You mentioned you bought the cd for the pictures. This will be my third cruise coming up. I was wondering what you meant by this. I havent heard of a picture cd before. Are you saying that all your pictures taken from carnival were put to a cd for you and you werent forced to pay over 20 dollars for all the 8x10's? I dont mean to sound cheap, but I have a hard time and choosing between all the pictures that they take and spend wayyy to much on photos :D

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great review, I haven't even had my first cup of coffee this AM and I had to read it start to finish. Glad to hear you had a nice cruise!

[jenscruise]

You mentioned you bought the cd for the pictures. This will be my third cruise coming up. I was wondering what you meant by this. I havent heard of a picture cd before. Are you saying that all your pictures taken from carnival were put to a cd for you and you werent forced to pay over 20 dollars for all the 8x10's? I dont mean to sound cheap, but I have a hard time and choosing between all the pictures that they take and spend wayyy to much on photos :D

 

You still have to buy the 8x10 at the regular price ($22?) and then the digital image on the CD is just of the one photo you've selected.

 

However, in our case, the photo was one of the best pictures ever taken of us, so we plan on making that $9.99 for the digital image go a long way!

[momof1lilguy]

AMAZING REVIEW! I was on the Glory in August, boy did you bring me back!

[nol4am]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like a great way to make copies. Good to know they can put the image to a disk.

[jenscruise]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like a great way to make copies. Good to know they can put the image to a disk.

 

It is just a .jpg, not the raw file, but it's still cheaper than buying multiple copies on board.

[tiger belle]

good review...and very thorough! thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise :)

[scrappinannie]

Nice review, thanks for sharing! You took 1500 pics, huh? Sounds like me on vacation. Now I don't feel so bad. lol Looking forward to checking them out when you have the links ready.

[jenscruise]

Nice review, thanks for sharing! You took 1500 pics, huh? Sounds like me on vacation. Now I don't feel so bad. lol Looking forward to checking them out when you have the links ready.

 

We're working on that now. I only took about 150 so I'm uploading mine as I type. My husband's 1500 photos will take hours, and since he's a perfectionist he will have to clean them up first.

 

I'll also get the Capers and whatnot scanned from work tomorrow, and promise to upload those as well.

[jenscruise]

I've gotten my 150 photos uploaded. They can be viewed here:

 

http://carnivalglory1011101808.shutterfly.com

 

I took photos of the menu each night, as well as a LOT of food photos.

 

I will get the capers, our S&S bill, etc. scanned in tomorrow, so be on the lookout for those.

 

Still 1500 photos to come once my husband is done with his "clean up".

 

Enjoy!

 

Jen

[rebeljohn]

No need to apologize for a long review. I've never seen a review too long.............

Enjoyed the details. Glad you had a great time. St. Martin is a great island, one of our favorites. Sorry you missed it. Grand Turk was a nice replacement, though.................

[littledipper]

Great review...thanks for sharing. We'll be on the Glory for a B2B next April. I hope the next 6 months fly by:D

[Froufie]

Excellent review - loved ALL the details! I am now itching with anticipation....:D