Glory Review 10/18/08

[magictam]

I meant to get this review posted long before know, but I’m having a hard time organizing it and trying to keep going on and on. So here it is.

 

Little background. This was my DHs and mine 3rd cruise (first 2 on Holland America) and my DDs 1st cruise. My sister and BIL’s 2nd cruise (first on HAL) and my niece’s 1st. We flew in from Wyoming and they live in Florida.

 

We flew into Tampa on Thursday, the 16th. My sister was pulling up to the curb as we carted our bags to the curb. She lives between Tampa and Orlando, so it was another hour or so drive to her house. We spent the night at her house. On Friday morning we (my DH-David, DD-Chelsy, Sis-Toni, BIL-Michael and niece-Tara) loaded up their truck and headed to the Radisson Resort at the Port. They have a small Dodge pickup and with all the luggage, we had to stand the bags up to fit in the bed. 2 of those bags held water and pop. We got lost as we got closer to the hotel and had to call the Radisson not once, but twice for directions.

 

The Radisson

Check in was easy as we had pre-registered on line. We got rooms on the ground level just around the corner from each other and very close to the pool. The rooms were very nice. I thought the color scheme might be a little loud, but it was very nice. We had 2 beds and it wasn’t until we went to bed that we realized one of the controls didn’t work. It was set on the lowest setting but Chelsy loved it. She wouldn’t share with me. I wanted out of mine as David had the controller on almost the highest setting.

 

 

After exploring Cocoa Beach and Ron Jons, we headed back to the Radisson for sunning at the pool.

 

 

The pool was heaven. The water was cool, but not cold and it just felt so good to be relaxing. We couldn’t find the hot tub until we asked someone where it was. There’s a fence that separates the bar for them pool area. The hot tub is on the side of the bar, next to the shower head and behind some rocks. The water was really hot.

 

While looking around the bar, I noticed some people with beads hanging around their necks. I had found some of our fellow CC roll call members. We pulled up a table, ordered drinks and had a great time visiting with these wonderful people.

 

We got up bright and early the next morning. David and & I went w/Toni’s family (Chelsy was still trying to find her way out of bed) for breakfast. It was a serve yourself buffet. I wasn’t real impressed with it. I thought the choices were very limited. I can’t even remember what was on it and I wasn’t too concerned as I knew there would be plenty on food on the ship. Bob and Diane from the roll call joined us too. We were all very surprised when the waiter handed us our bills. We thought the breakfast was included in the price of our rooms. The waiter said only if we had a voucher. Fortunately I had my check-in package with me and sure enough there was a voucher in there for breakfast for 2 (thank goodness my Chelsy doesn’t eat breakfast). Toni didn’t have her check in package with her but said she didn’t remember reading or seeing anything that said it included breakfast. Bob said he clearly remembers seeing the breakfast advertised when he booked on line, but didn’t recall getting a voucher when he checked-in. I don’t know if he ever got that resolved. All of us agreed that the breakfast was not worth the $9.99 price without a voucher.

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Coco Beach

After lunch (at the Radisson) we went to explore the beach. There was “free” parking for the beach. But you had to pay $3 for it and then received $3 in tokens at the pier. There were a number of shops with interesting stuff, but we wanted to save our money for the various ports. We spent our tokens at the ice cream shop. It cost more then $3, but great ice cream!

 

We made the obligatory stop at Ron Jon’s Surf shop. I was really disappointed with this. I think I had a mind visual of it being a little surf shack on the beach. This is one huge store. I was really amazed when I saw franchises throughout my vacation. This is one place I will never visit again. I’m sure for surf enthusiastic; it’s a great place, just not for me.

 

Embarkation

We gathered all the luggage and Chelsy and headed to the front door lobby to await the shuttle to the pier. We had a 12:00 reservation for the shuttle and it was 9:00. To say we were a little anxious and excited is probably an understatement. After about 15 minutes Toni decided she didn’t want to wait for the shuttle, so we loaded up the truck again and headed to the pier. The guys dropped us and the luggage off and drove the truck back to the Radisson as we had the room/parking package. They then took a cab back to the port ($10). While they were gone, we proceeded to check in. There was no one in line. We went right up to the counter were we found one of the friendliest individual of the whole cruise. She answered all our questions, suggested better ways to do things, and walked us to the sitting area (we were the 2nd & 3Rd families to board from the general area. There was a young couple head of us) and told us to make sure we save seats for our husbands for when they got there. The husbands arrived and by 11:15 we started boarding the Glory. First were people, who needed assistance, then platinum people (???) and then US!

 

We stopped and had a wonderful group picture taken. First picture I have ever bought while on a cruise. I just can’t describe that feeling I get when I cross the gangway onto the ship. It official I’m on vacation and life will be grand. I had studied the deck plans before we went (apparently not well enough though) and we made our way to the Lido deck. Grabbed a table on the smoking side of the ship at the Turquoise pool and enjoyed our first DOD.

 

I was amazed to find out this was one of the smoking areas of the ship. It’s the family pool of the ship, in the middle of the ship, the stage area and really enclosed with Plexiglas. I would have thought the area by the Azure pool would be the smoking area as it’s at the back of the ship. The band only played in the loud mode and the speakers in this area were bad. The speakers made it very hard to understand what was said, whether someone was singing or making announcements. We eventual made our way up one more level (deck ten) to get away from the noise and heavy smoke. We’re smokers but think it should be in well ventilated areas. This was a nice area as there’s no Plexiglas, its open, but very little shade spots and I never saw any tables and chairs, only loungers. It’s hard to play cards and eat in this area but a great place to hang out.

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great review so far! We just got back a few weeks ago and I am itching to make another booking.

 

I completely agree with your thoughts on the breakfast at the Raddison, we thought it was horrible and we picked up the tab for our table :(

 

Looking forward to reading more :)

[magictam]

Great review so far! We just got back a few weeks ago and I am itching to make another booking.

 

I know what you mean. I looked at the one day sale, but we couldn't decide on anything in time. Hopefully there will another sale soon.:D

[magictam]

Cabin 7344/Steward

About 2ish we went to find our stateroom. It was really nice though I think the balcony was a little on the narrow side. Our luggage was waiting outside the door and the door wide open. Also the balcony door was wide open. We didn’t have to tie it open; it stayed open on its own. The steward stuck his head in to say he wasn’t quite finished, I asked for more hangers and we left. Wondered around for a while, went back to the cabin, put everything away expect what needed to go on hangers. We waited for the life boat drill (muster drill). The drill went really fast compared to HALs.

 

I don’t know our stewards name as I never really met him. After our first dinner we wondered the ship again and returned to the room and it wasn’t prepared for the night. We grabbed our suites and went to the hot tubs at the Azure pool (FYI: one hot tube was cool and the other was warm).

Returned to the cabin and it still wasn’t ready though he was there and spoke to my DH. We went to the lido and hang out for another half hour or so and then it was ready. I did miss the chocolates and towel animal that night. But they were there for the rest of the cruise though it was anyone’s guess when the room would be ready each day and night. :)

 

[magictam]

Dining/Waiters

We had the Platinum dining room at 6:00 pm. Our headwaiter, Michael and his assistance Inangeah were wonderful. They had to be the best waiters on the entire cruise. Their friendliness and energy level were amazing.

Our drink server Iputi was also wonderful. He was one of the few servers that didn’t seem to ignore or cop an attitude when the girls used their soda cards. After the first night he always had their soda waiting for them when we arrived.

The rest of us always had ice tea and our glasses never become empty. The food was a hit and miss. Some things were excellent, some good and some just ok. But nothing was every inedible. David and Toni just loved the chocolate melting cake, couldn’t say enough of about it and ordered it a number of times. The other 4 of us, thought it was ok, but not one of us ever ordered it (we took a bite from Toni and Davids). Getting to and from the dining room was a real pain in the butt though. I don’t know how many times we got on the wrong elevator that took us to the floor to nowhere.

Joseph our super charged Matr’d was a hoot. He kinda of reminded us all of Count Dracula. The dinner entertainment was fun and there’s nothing like joining a Congo line to work off dinner.

 

Spa:

Every cruise I say I won’t do another massage on board because they’re just not worth the money. I can tell you on this cruise we got our money’s worth. I can’t remember the name of the woman who did my DH’s but he loved it. I think Ashley did mine and it was also great. We both took advantage of port specials. One draw back is Camp Carnival is right over the spa. I would no sooner get into the zone and thump, thump and rattle, rattle (of the Plexiglas over the lights) would start from above. The steam room was extremely hot (I overheard another guest complaining about it, so it wasn’t just me), the sauna was very pleasant, but the hot tub sucked. I don’t know if I’m going to explain this right, but have of the hot tub was a swim against the current pool and a small section is very relaxing. The first time I went to try it, it was drained. The next time before my massage, it was packed to the max. The current section was lukewarm and the current (waves didn’t turn on) and the water fall was running. The hot tub section would probably fit 4 -5 people comfortably, but you get a couple of plus size women or men in there and it’s very tight (yeah I’m one of those plus size women). The temperature was mixed, very hot with cold jets pouring on you in certain spots.

[tanner2]

We have the same room on the glory, could you hear any noise outside the room in the hallway?

[HighSeaslover]

I am hanging on every word, can't wait to read the rest, you write a great review!! Thanks

[magictam]

We have the same room on the glory, could you hear any noise outside the room in the hallway?

 

Every once in while. Nothing that kept us awake or bothered us. We found the location to be great. When the elevators were busy or locked out it was only 2 floors up to the lido or 2 floors down to the casino, shopping area or to walk across deck 5 to reach the elevator to the dining room.

 

Here's a picture I forgot to include with the others.

 

 

I think you will enjoy it. Have fun :)

[magictam]

I am hanging on every word, can't wait to read the rest, you write a great review!! Thanks

 

Thank you for the kind words. I'm not sure I'm very well organized :D.

[tanner2]

Good deal , I was thinking the same thing 2 floors up to lido , 2 floors down to casino........ my two favorite things.......... We think alike:) Also love your review, did you guys win any money in the casino ?

[readytogo813]

I'm anxiously awaiting more!! We were on the 10/11 sailing (Eastern Caribbean) so it is interesting to read the next week's reviews with different ports. Thanks!

[Purplehaze21]

Thank you for the review so far. We sail Glory in 4 weeks and I love to read reviews and see pictures from peoples cruises :)

[magictam]

Room Service

My DD ordered room service every night. That was after eating 2 entrées usually. I don’t know where she puts it. I'm only guessing that she’s storing food for the winter as she’s a college kid. She really enjoyed the sandwiches and kept threatening to order the pork loin dinner or something like that.

We ordered room service every morning for coffee, bananas, bagels and yogurt. It always arrived within the time frame we requested. The only problem was the complete order never arrived. Only parts of it. At least the coffee was never forgotten. I can over look the other as the lido was so close, but not the coffee.

Red Sail Buffet

We really only ate breakfast here. There was the same stuff every day, but I couldn’t eat it all in one day, so really I had something different each day. But I do have to say that most of the time the food was only lukewarm, the eggs were running, bacon undercooked and the pancakes a little on the rubber side. I really didn’t get way the pancake fixins were at the start of the line. I was often butting in front of people trying to get to the syrup after I finally decided on pancakes. We did find our way to the dining room for breakfast the morning before we were kicked off the ship. It was great. The food was hot and the service was impeccable. In the future we will make more of an effort to breakfast in the dining room.

Another thing that puzzled me was the grill located by the Azure pool didn’t serve onion rings, but the buffet by the Turquoise pool did. I have to say the hamburgers and hot dogs were from the grill. My sister enjoyed the pizza for the pizza bar. The sandwiches from the Deli were really good.

The Chocolate Extravaganza was amazing.

I have to say we made totally pigs out of ourselves. More then any of us could get through. We figured our mistake was rushing into it without a plan. We like everyone else around us treated this like the last food we would ever see and we grabbed and snatched it up. In the future we decided we would go in together and each person we get something the others didn’t so we could share and then go back for anything we really liked.

[magictam]

Thank you for the review so far. We sail Glory in 4 weeks and I love to read reviews and see pictures from peoples cruises :)

 

That's what kept me going as I was waiting for our turn. The reviews and pictures. I'm glad your enjoying it.

[magictam]

Entertainment/Activities

We weren’t too impressed with the “Las Vegas” styled show. I don’t if it was the speakers or the female and male lead singers, but I couldn’t understand what they were singing. Most of the chorography was out of sync. The thong up the butt and the bustier didn’t impress me. I will say that in the capers they do forewarn people that the show might not be suitable for children.

We enjoyed the illusionist. He put on a great show as well as illusions. We did learn not to set in the balcony on the sides of the stage. You can see how some of the illusions are done from that view point.

The hypnotist was funny. Both my daughter and niece were on stage. It didn’t work for my DD, she made eye contact with him and he indicated she should leave the stage. There were 2 guys on stage that you could clearly tell weren’t under and the hypnotist whispered in their ears that they had to leave.

The marriage game was funny as usual.

We didn’t participate in any activities. We took advantage of relaxing with a good book or game of cards usually.

At the Captain’s party we hung out in the Piano bar. It wasn’t crowded and the free drinks flowed there.

I won about $50 in the casino on $10 play. That was very exciting for me, so I called it a night and kept my winnings. We participated in the free demonstration of Texas’ Hold ‘Em. That was fun. Even though I play on line with points, I wasn’t brave enough to try it with real money.

The evening music in the Lobby was always great. A nice place to sit and relax for a few minutes.

Formal Nights

We really enjoyed formal nights. We didn’t get really dressed up but for us it was out of the norm. Most everyone on board did participate. You really didn’t notice the differences in dress until you walked the halls or in the showrooms/casino. As I’ve said we have never bought pictures from the cruise line before. But as it’s free to have them taken we went for it. We’re very impressed with the pictures. Every night Carnival has different backgrounds set up for pictures. It kinda of gets annoying walking around them. On formal nights there are even more areas.

 

[magictam]

Excursions

Cozumel: When we arrived at Cozumel, it was overcast.

This is one of the longest piers I have ever seen. I heard that there are longer ones.

 

After leaving the ship, it poured for a bit.

We made it to the covered area to find a cab. There was a SUV that held all 6 of us and for $20 we went to Play Uvas. By the time we arrived it had stopped raining and the sun did come out to play.

 

Michael, Toni and Tara snorkeled for a bit, David explored and Chelsy and I enjoyed our first of many Sex on the Beach drinks (very good and not stingy with the alcohol). Later the guys and kids did the kayaking.

 

They had a good time, but the sea was a little rough and some people were pushed off course and had to be herded back in. Lunch was a variety of fresh fruit, homemade tortillas and fajitas (very, very good).

[magictam]

Cozumel Continued

My niece found this shell on the beach and took it home for a souvinour.

For another $20, we took 2 cabs back to the pier. David went on board for a shore special massage and the rest of us wondered the shops. We didn’t make it to the dinning room for dinner. Hang out at the lido and watched the rain for a while.

[magictam]

Belize: Due to the short time we were in Belize, we decided to do an excursion through the ship; the Belize City and Mayan Ruin Tour. It was raining again and I guess the water was rough, as most of the water excursions were cancelled. We waited in the Amber place for 1 ½ hours before they released us to get on the tenders. By the time we got to the pier the rain was gone, but it was overcast most of the day and very humid. We loaded a bus and were told the air conditioning had 2 settings: of and on.

We weren’t too impressed with the city it self. The guide did explain that they had a lot of rain recently, but still it was a very dirty city. Lots of bars on all the windows and armed guards at all the entrances to the banks. There was one woman who made rude and crude hand and facial gestures’ at the bus as we passed.

The drive to the ruins was very slow and boring.

[magictam]

The ruins themselves were wonderful and the setting was beautiful. The description on Carnivals web site states “Prepared stone steps that allow visitors to climb atop three of the main temples”, but our guide kept repeating we weren’t allowed to climb the to the top. There were many other people in other groups climbing them and signs posted on the entrances to the tops. There were children with turtles in the area asking us if we wanted to take pictures of their turtles. Also, at the top of one of the ruins were some men with lizards asking the same thing. We passed. The stalls at the ruins had some wonderful wooden items for sale. At each stall someone was there to say they had made it themselves, but all the items pretty much looked identical. So I’m not sure if they were really had made there, but they were nice so we bought a statue.

 

My family at the top

When we returned to the pier, our guide told us for that we could find things cheaper at the stalls outside the compound but for safety reasons he would suggest we go into the compound to do our shopping, so we did. I stopped to admire a sliver bracelet at a side stall and it started at $40. I didn’t really want it and every time I tried to walk away, the price went down. I finally bought it for $28 so I could walk away. We also bought a wooden salad bowel set. We had gotten separated from my sisters family who were aboard by the time we made the last tender back to the ship. When she saw the bracelet she talked me out of it.

Watched the rain again after dinner.

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Roatan: Again it was raining when we got off the ship. We had pre-booked the Roatan Cab Tours with Diane and Cynthia. A vendor approached us asking if we needed a cab and I explained we had pre-booked. She took us right to Diane. We loaded up in the van provided and Diane’s sister Eunice was our guide.

She took us to the north end which was very beautiful and lush. We saw an old weck.

All the views were spectular.

Then we asked for a place to stop for a bite to eat (it’s amazing how fast you get used to eating so many times a day).

We had some local food that I can’t remember what they were called. Sorta like breakfast burritos only much better, local coffee and bottle pops and the kids had taco (sorta, much better then we’re used too). All for $18.00.

Eunice stopped by a local stop where we think we got good deals. She spoke to the proprietary before we started shopping and we didn’t pay the sticker price on anything.

By then it had stopped raining and Eunice took us to the west end to the beach. It was gorgeous.

We did find a PVC pipe in the sand with water running out of it which looked like it was coming for the building on the beach.

My BIL said he saw the same thing while he was snorkeling in Cozumel and he wondered if it was their sewage system. I’m hoping it wasn’t.

Eunice returned us to the pier and we paid her $60.00 per family plus tip.

[magictam]

Roatan Continued

We decided to look around the stalls there. When you leave the pier gate and go right, across the street are the vendors. There’s a little inside “mall” area that I didn’t make it into, a woman wanted to braid my hair. It started at $20, and again I cratered and for $10.00 she put about 8 braids in my hair. Then she grabbed my daughter when she came out of the “mall” and for $20.00 did her entire head.

I ran into a woman on board who also stopped at that same stall when they first got off the ship and was offered braids at $20 but settled on $15. Her daughter really wanted braids and had about 6 braids with beads put in. She said she really would have been upset if that’s all they did for $20.00. I didn’t tell her how much we paid. I guess if you want braids, do it at the end of the day.

Leaving Roatan

[magictam]

Freeport: Well as others have said there’s not much to do there. Again, it was raining and the seas were rough so much of the water activities were cancelled. We didn’t have anything planned so it wasn’t a big deal to us.

By the time we got docked and passed through immigration, the rain had stopped. It was still real windy and overcast.

We took one of the many vans from the pier to Port Lucaya. It was a little confusing finding our way to beach from where the van dropped us off, but we manage.

We had made it to the beach

and found a restaurant (like we really needed more food). But they had great Bahama Mamas.

Though it was a little pricey. For 3 buggers w/fries and 3 drinks it was roughly $70. Everything was good though.

[magictam]

Freeport Continued

I made the mistake of taking a picture of a guy dressed up in a custom and then he asked me for a small donation for his family.

We did some shopping at Port Lucaya

and some more when we got back to the pier. The vendors at Port Lucaya seemed to be more open to bargaining then those at the pier.

I had heard from others that signed up for Carnivals new tour called Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort Day Pass for $94 that it was a bust. All the water activities (which were included in the price) were cancelled. The wind was blowing so hard that they were eating sand. They said they were only there for 45 minutes and took a cab back to the port. They were trying to get their money back. I don’t know if they were successful or not.

Our last dinner

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Disembarkation

This was a sad, sad day. We had packed up the night before and left our luggage out for pick up. We met at our usual table at the Turquoise pool for our final breakfast. I had number 9 and my sis had number 25 for disembarkation. We hang out at the pool playing cards. It did seem to take a bit to get through the immigration and the numbers. When they were calling 19, 20 & 21 we decided it was time to go. We took the stairs down to the lobby and made our way off the ship.

Getting through immigration was very tedious but not to long. Find our luggage was a breeze and a very nice woman helped load it on a cart and took across the street for us.

My DH and BIL took a cab back to the Radisson to pick up the truck. The first cab they tried wanted $25 and the 2nd cab they asked only charged $10. We could have waited for the Radisson, but when I called, it hadn’t left the hotel yet.

DH & BIL returned rather quickly, we loaded the truck back up and made our way to the Orlando airport.

We found we couldn’t help ourselves comparing Hal to Carnival. We found many things we like better on HAL but also many things we like with Carnival. I think HAL would be our cruise line of choice. BUT I won’t pass up a cruise on Carnival if the price and itinerary are good. We had a good time and we very sorry to see it end.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions. I forgot to save the capers……….SORRY!:(