Carnival Glory Review 3/28/09

[SardisGrandma]

I went on the Glory 9/2007 with 3 friends. We had a great time, but I personally didn't think the ship was as nice as the Conquest. I had read several reviews about the sewage smell onboard, the rocking & rolling of the ship being more than other ships, & the service not being as good or friendly. I just figured "they must be nuts!!! Theres always a few complainers on everything" I came off the Conquest a cruising addict!!But, I'm sorry to say there was a smell of sewage on deck 2, all 3 of my friends got sea sick the first night & I ate alone.( I dieted for a year & lost 100 pounds for this cruise. I would have dined with Bin Laden himself)But the staff was wonderful, the food great,& our port experiences fantastic.We stayed on the empress deck. I loved Port Canaveral. We were disappointed because they had to change our itinerary a few weeks before cruise due to hurricanes destroying the pier in Belize. They sent us to progresso which in years to come may be a great port but wasn't much to talk about in 2007.I

m not saying CCL was at fault for the change in itinerary just something to take into consideration when planning a cruise during hurricane season. All & All I still had a great time just wouldn't choose Glory again too many great ships out there.

[boocicle]

I would have to agree with you on the rocking of the boat. My wife and I just thought it was because this was the first time on the forward part of the ship. I had a few too many drinks the first night and kinda got sick as well. I think it had more to do with the drinks than the rocking but it didn't help that is for sure.

[boocicle]

here are a few pics. Wish I would have taken more of the ship but most were of the family. I will include some of each port as I get to them.

[Kcarp]

I went on the Glory 9/2007 with 3 friends. We had a great time, but I personally didn't think the ship was as nice as the Conquest. I had read several reviews about the sewage smell onboard, the rocking & rolling of the ship being more than other ships, & the service not being as good or friendly. I just figured "they must be nuts!!! Theres always a few complainers on everything" I came off the Conquest a cruising addict!!But, I'm sorry to say there was a smell of sewage on deck 2, all 3 of my friends got sea sick the first night & I ate alone.( I dieted for a year & lost 100 pounds for this cruise. I would have dined with Bin Laden himself)But the staff was wonderful, the food great,& our port experiences fantastic.We stayed on the empress deck. I loved Port Canaveral. We were disappointed because they had to change our itinerary a few weeks before cruise due to hurricanes destroying the pier in Belize. They sent us to progresso which in years to come may be a great port but wasn't much to talk about in 2007.I

m not saying CCL was at fault for the change in itinerary just something to take into consideration when planning a cruise during hurricane season. All & All I still had a great time just wouldn't choose Glory again too many great ships out there.

The Conquest & Glory are the same size and same layout. How is one nicer than the other? Also, you are saying the Glory rocks more than the Conquest? lol I been on the Conquest & Valor same ship different colors, except for the Ship drydocking, that's it.

[vacruizer]

The Conquest & Glory are the same size and same layout. How is one nicer than the other? Also, you are saying the Glory rocks more than the Conquest? lol I been on the Conquest & Valor same ship different colors, except for the Ship drydocking, that's it.

 

I was on the Glory in January and had a far forward room on Lido. We had 10 foot seas one night - not huge but enough that you could feel a little movement but nothing too bad. Just enough that you knew the ship was moving. I did hear several people complaining of seasickness throughout the week - I figured they were just people who got motion sickness easily. I've never been at all seasick so far, though, so maybe the movement just doesn't bother me. Our rockiest cruise to date was actually on the Liberty in 2007 when a tropical storm popped up in the eastern Carib. We were going west but still had very rocky seas and lots of very pronounced side to side rolling. 9 months later on the same ship we barely felt a thing so i think it really can vary just depending on the sea conditions at the time.

[boocicle]

Ok on to Nassau:

 

My wife had been to Freeport once and complained that she didn't really like it. Other friends of ours had been to Nassau and said they didn't like it either. With that said I didn't have really high expectations of the stop. We were on the fence on staying on the ship and skipping Nassau. We really didn't research much on Nassau just read a few posts on CC and some info from Frommers.

 

Most of the post on CC lead me to believe that we should just pass on Atlantis. It was kinda of expensive and we just wanted to enjoy the beach for the few hours we were in port. We decided on just getting off the boat and finding a taxi to a beach. We had Cable beach and Cabbage beach in mind. We had breakfast on the Lido deck and it was pretty good and not very crowded. We waited for the call to unload and headed down to Deck 1. The crowds were not that bad and we got off pretty easy. Remember to take a picture ID off the boat because the S&S card in not good enough for the port authority folks. This was new to us so we had to go back and get our DL. We took our stroller and a cooler with a few drinks in it. We were not sure if there would be anything on the beach.

 

We were in port with a RCCL ship. Can't remember the name. The pier was not very busy and neither were the shops. This was a Sunday and Sunday is a slow day in Nassau. Most of the shops were closed but there were things to buy in the Port shops. We walked thru and asked a taxi driver to take us to Cabbage Beach. So the guys tell us to wait and he will take us in a few. We waited for 5-10 mins and got tired of waiting. We left the building and talked to another taxi driver. Again he told us to wait. We waited for another 10 mins and started to leave. He found us and paired us with another couple. I guess the moral of the story is just wait and be patient. This is just the routine. They want as many people in the van before they leave.

 

We loaded in the van and headed across the bridge to Paradise Island. I guess at this point I was getting kinda angry not sure why. I think I am just normally on high awareness when I travel to the Caribbean. We pulled up to an alley between a resort and some trees and the driver says Paradise Beach. I was like I thought we were going to Cabbage Beach. He says "Relax, your on vacation try and have a good time". Well, of course that didn't help. I tried to tell him I was just making sure I was in the right place and he just kept saying relax. I didn't say anything because my wife and kid were there and so was another nice family. I think we paid $8 and I tipped him $2 for the advice. As it turns out it was Cabbage beach and either I mis heard him or he mis-spoke. Who cares the beach was beautiful and the sand was as soft as I have ever been on. We grabbed two chairs for $15 and the guy pulled them to a nice spot on the beach.

 

The beach was not very crowded at this point. There were a few CCL passengers near us and down the beach toward the Atlantis were Resort guest of the RIU and other resorts. The surf was very strong for the Caribbean and at times the waves may have been as high as 4-5'. This made it difficult for my daughter to enjoy the water. She did have a great time playing in the sand. I had a fun time playing in the water. It was funny watching guys and girls get pounded by the surf. On guy got rolled up pretty good and it took his shorts almost off. Too bad it was a dude and not a girl or it would have been worth seeing.

 

Beware that you will have to turn away many trinket and hair braiding people. You would have a girl walk by and ask if you want something just to have someone else ask you in 30 seconds. After a while you just tune it out. They had all sorts of water toys avail. and they were selling alcoholic and virgin drinks, sodas, chips, coconut drinks, and massages. We really didn't need to bring anything but I am glad we did.

 

There was not a bathroom near by. We finally have our daughter potty trained and she would not go potty anywhere but a bathroom. Which is a good thing unless you have no bathrooms avail. I finally decided to take her to the RIU and try to use their bathroom. We walked in like we owned the place and used the restroom. I think I could have actually walked up to the bar and got a drink but I didn't push it. The RIU looked nice and I thought to myself that it might not be a bad place to stay sometime.

 

After a few hours we decided to head back to the ship. We had no problems getting someone to get a taxi for us. I tipped the guy a couple of dollars for getting the taxi and the driver helped us carry the cooler and the stroller back. I think the stroller was overkill this time. We loaded up with 2 other families and headed back for a very short but hair-raising ride. One of the guys in the van asked him how many people he had run down before. They guy just laughed as he almost ran over a very casual couple on the street. He took us through downtown Nassau back to the ports. I think we were charged $8 for the ride back and we tipped him 12 total. They didn't charge for our 2 yr old. He dropped us a few blocks from the pier and we tried a few shops but most were closed. So we just walked through the shops at the pier. My wife found some Conch shells that were carved into serving bowls. I forget how much they wanted but I think she paid $40 for 4. May have been asking $15 each. We had a brief talk with the lady that made the shells. She seemed very nice and I am sure they do a good business at this location. We went through the port authority checkpoint and headed back to the ship. Off in the distance you could see Atlantis. This is a really striking resort. From the ships top deck you can take some amazing pics of it. I have seen a few on CC and I took a few myself (not that amazing because I am a terrible photographer).

 

We went thru the ships checkpoint and we really wished we would not have taken the stroller. We didn't make that mistake again. It was just too much to manage in all those people.

 

Well again, I have written a book. Again it is late and I will pick it up another day. I hope to complete this before the end of April :).

[Dave_MaryJo]

great review! Keep it coming... :)

[tammi0916]

Great reveiw - can't :cool:wait for the rest!

[Lady_Jag]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear about your experiences with a little one, too, as we're taking our DD-3 on this same cruise next month.

[boocicle]

Lady Jag- I think you guys will have a great time. I really enjoyed spending that much time with her. I work a lot as does everyone and I really haven't bonded with her like my wife has. That week was really special. I have noticed a difference in her actions toward me since we returned.

 

The only draw back was the wife and I really had little time to ourselves. The little one slept in the same bed and was with us almost all the time. I think if we do it again we will take one of the grandparents and have them room with her. Camp Carnival was very nice and they treated her very good. She enjoyed the time there. They would call her their "party girl" because she loves to dance and sing. A couple of times we had to convince her to go in because she wanted to stay with us. She cried a little then they would get her attention and she would start having a ball. That made us feel better. Camp Carnival seems very safe and we actually got off the boat in St Thomas and St. Marteen without her. St. Thomas was for an excursion and St. Marteen we did some shopping.

 

They have a little kiddie pool near the CC room. It was underwhelming and we didn't use it much. The main pools were a little cold for our taste and the hot tubs were a mad house. Too many spring break kids having too much kid fun!! It may be a different story when you guys go.

 

I hope you have a great time!

[EBallgrl]

Thanks for the review! Great job! I have a room on the Lido deck in May, hope that sewer smell is gone by then....yuck!

 

By the way...your towel animal is a Walrus!:D

[boocicle]

Ok so after Nassau it was our first Elegant night. The wife and I spent some time on the ship looking around, finding our way. The Carnival golf pro had a seminar that day (I think it was that day). So I decided to check it out. He had a pretty good turn out and it was a nice presentation. Nike was the sponsor and they offered duty free prices as well as club fitting. The pro would also give lessons for 45 a lesson. I think he had multi-session discount. I didn't try a lesson nor did I try the club fitting. I did walk pass the golf hitting deck and noticed a guy getting fit for clubs. On the eastern Caribbean there are few choices for golf. Nassau has a club but you have such little time in port I don't think you could make it work. The course in St. Thomas, Mahogany Run, is a nice course that has 3 really great holes that either start on, finish on or boarder the sea. The other 15 holes are fairly average. I played this course about 5 yrs ago and had a good time. I think we book directly thru the course and didn't take the excursion. We saved a few dollars this way. The excursion thru CCL is $210 and it included rental clubs.

 

Anyway back to my orginal thought...

 

So, fast forward to the Dinner. We where the only ones at our table this night. The wife and I both dressed up so did the little one. She behaved really well that night. I think we both had the Lobster. I think we may have shared another entree. We never felt bad about ordering extra entrees. I guess as long as you eat them then go ahead and do it. The Lobster was really good, but a little small. I think it came with shrimp and we both had the shrimp appitizer. Our daughter had her typical French fries and chicken. We both had the Chocolate Melting Cake for desert. I thought throughout the cruise the desert selection was kind of minimal. To me the only thing different with the Elegant night was the dress code. I don't think the presentation or the service was any different. I guess that is a good thing?

 

After dinner we took our daughter to CC for the pajama sleep over. No one wore PJs. She went right in no problem this night. We decided to go to the late show. We found really good seats up front and ordered a few drinks. Of course they rooked you into a game of Bingo and tried to sell you some scratch tickets. I find it annoying that they have Bingo before all major events on board. I guess I understand why, but I hate Bingo and if you want a good seat you have to get there early and listen to all the nonsense. Tonight we decided to play and of course didn't win. That would be the last card we bought.

 

The show was Proud to be an American, I think that was the title. Lets just say we left after a few minutes. I will not trash anyone because they work really hard but it just wasn't what we were wanting to watch at the time.

 

We decided to go to the "R" rated comeidian. The Ebony Club was packed so we had to stand behing the DJ stand. As I was standing there enjoying a drink one of the CCL entertainment staff was warming up the crowed. This guy in the DJ booth was prepping a couple of girls in the booth for the show and working the sound equipment. He turns to me and says "what time is it?" I told him the time and he gets out of the booth and walks up to the stage. Turns out this guy is the comedian. So at this point I am thinking they have hired the sound tech to be the comedian. As it turns out the guy is funny as hell and I laughed all thru his show. It was the best part of the entertainment all week. I wish I could have remembered the guys name. I am sure someone will.

 

Ok my first complaint starts here (other than the Bingo, and limited desert complaints LOL). I hope no one thinks I am out of line but here goes. As we are watching the show one of the servers kept walking up beside me and watching the show behind the DJ booth. One of the Entertainment staff girls is chating it up with him and they are sharing a drink. He would wander off for a few minutes and then return to drink some more. Both of them flirting and drinking. At one point the comedian asks her to turn the feedback down and she can't figure out how to do it. Not that big of a deal but the guy that was needing to serve drinks was busy drinking and flirting and the girl that was working the sound board was busy....well you get the point. I would bet that 99% of the people in the room had no idea and I am sure that this happens more than I realize but it kinda turned me off at the time.

 

So we went back to CC at midnight to get our daughter and she was going crazy. I thought she would be asleep, well I hoped she would be asleep but nope she was on fire and they were trying to feed her more cookies. She seemed like she had a great time. We got back to the room and she needed to go potty. Well she was so tired she fell asleep on the potty and fell off. That scared the crap out of us, but after we realized she was fine we had a good laugh about it.

 

Time for bed and another great day on the Glory!!

[Lady_Jag]

LOL! Your "party girl" cracks me up! Especially the party about her getting more cookies and falling asleep on the potty. :D She sounds so much like my little dancer, right down to crying the minute she realizes we're not staying at the child care with her.

 

Thanks also for ellaborating on the Camp Carnival program! DH and I both work full-time, but I get to telecommute from home while I watch my little one. Hubby, on the other hand, has to go into the office so he doesn't get so see her until he gets home.

 

He really eats up time with DD in the evenings and on the weekends, though, so I'm pretty sure our cruise will go the same route as far as being less time together as a couple and more as a family (even though my mom will be joining us).

 

Can't wait to read more! Day at sea is next, right? :)

[grhawki]

I would have to agree with you on the rocking of the boat. My wife and I just thought it was because this was the first time on the forward part of the ship. I had a few too many drinks the first night and kinda got sick as well. I think it had more to do with the drinks than the rocking but it didn't help that is for sure.

I stayed in 2220 on the Glory and it really rocked up and down at night being that far forward. I didn't have any noise from the show lounge at night though. Greg

[bluehenfan]

As a facilities manager I have learned one way to prevent unexplained odors in cabin restrooms is to pour a couple cups of water into bathroom floor drain. This will prevent sewer gases from being released from the drain into the room. It's the 1st thing I do after we get into our cabin and look around.

I am really loving your report. Looking forward to more.

[Lady_Jag]

As a facilities manager I have learned one way to prevent unexplained odors in cabin restrooms is to pour a couple cups of water into bathroom floor drain. This will prevent sewer gases from being released from the drain into the room. It's the 1st thing I do after we get into our cabin and look around.

I am really loving your report. Looking forward to more.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try this on our cruise next month. Out of curiousity, what makes this water trick work?

[amybeth4]

By the way, that towel animal? *****!?!?! Looks to me like a stingray standing up, folded in on itself!

[GWoman8920]

Loving the review! We are on Glory in november! And the Towel Animal.... Um have no freakin idea. I was thinking Stingray as well, but not too sure. Possibly a Bat also.

[bluehenfan]

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try this on our cruise next month. Out of curiousity, what makes this water trick work?

 

Wish I had a better answer for you, but I had a problem once in the building where I work due to bad odor in one of the women's rooms. It was even in the hallways near this room. The building was basically empty but reeked all day. I finally figured out where the smell was coming from so I called one of our plumbers. He just came down and dumped about a qt. or two of water into the restroom floor drain and zap - the odor was gone. He said it's very common in waste pipes in larger buildings and that he'd even had it happen in a cabin on a cruise ship when he was on vacation. The word "cruise ship" set off the bells in my head and I remembered one of our cruises where there was a faint sewer smell in our restroom all week. (He had a more complicated explanation but it has something to do with the angle the pipe is in.) I guess that's why it doesn't happen in every bathroom. Now I make sure one of my custodians pours water in this problem drain a couple times a week. It's been over a year and no problem. I just started automatically doing it in bathroom floor drains on cruises I've taken.:)

[boocicle]

An earlier poster said that towel animal is a walrus. The wife and I called it something much more vulgar but I will spare you guys.

[FrogsMcGee]

You pour water down the drain to make sure the p-trap isn't dry. The p-trap prevents sewer gases from coming back up the drain. When it has enough water in it, no gas can get through. When it's dry, the gas can flow up easily.

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/p-trap-1

[boocicle]

Ok sorry I have been away for a few days. Came up with some last minute tickets to the Masters. What a perfect weekend!!

 

So I will try and be brief. This was the first day at sea. I started my day with a workout in the gym. The gym was pretty decent size. If you get there pretty early (usually opens around 7:30a) you can get a machine. You will find treadmills, elliptical, bikes, and various weight training equipment. They usually have a morning stretch around 8am. One thing to point out is that fact that the classes they offer like yoga and aerobics are all done in the same room as the equipment. For me, no big deal but the wife preferred it to be in it's own private room. Other ships had this feature. The men's and women's locker rooms where nice. You have to enter the gym through the locker rooms. They have a sauna and a steam room. I always thought they were the same thing until this cruise. I wanted to use them but never did. I never noticed anyone using them for that matter.

 

We ate breakfast in the Platinum Dinning room. The menu selections include most of the items on the Red Sail buffet. Waffles, Pancakes, and French toast are all good. The food is generally the same as in the Red Sail but I found it to be warm when it arrived. Sometimes the food on the buffet was cool or had been picked over. I guess that is what the buffet is all about.

 

I read on other posts that you MUST get there early to find a good seat near the pool. We found this to be very true. We didn't want to be rude and put towels down to save chairs. We messed around for awhile doing other things then tried to find some pool chairs. We wound up on one of the top decks near the back of the ship. That really made the day suck. We tried to make it work, but in the end I took my daughter to the room and we took a nap. My wife found a place on the top deck to lay out for a few hours. It was nice to get a few hours of sleep but I would have preferred to do it on the Lido deck. I would advise that you make sure you get a good seat if you like to be in the "action". Some like the more quiet parts of the ship...not me. In the remote sections, servers are less likely to make it by very often.

 

After my nap the wife took over and I left to go to the Casino. The Casino on the Glory is the best one I have been in at sea. It really never seemed that smokey to me. There are plenty of table games and a craps table always seemed to be open. They had plenty of slot machines. I made two attempts at the slot tourney. I missed the blackjack tourney. I played some craps that day. Lost all that I wanted to loose but it took about and hour to do so. The staff is typical cruise casino workers. Friendly, but a little unsure on how to pay out the games. Which is a problem for me because I have no idea either.

 

We had lunch in the Red Sail. Kept hearing on how good the hot dogs and hamburgers were. I tried a hot dog and it was good. I would say that the food in the Red Sail never disappointed (speaking of the food only the lines were a different story)

 

We made reservations for the Supper Club a few weeks before embarkation. I think I did it through the website. I never got a conformation on whether they booked the reservation so I was a little concerned about it. When we got on board we double checked the reservation and they had it.

 

The wife and I dropped off our daughter at CC and made our way to the Supper Club. When I told them we had a reservation at 7 they said "you must be Mr. ...." I thought, lucky guess:) We were given a nice table with a view of the kitchen. I will say that I was not overly impressed with the view from the dinning room. It had view of the deck outside with people going about their day walking by looking in at you. On NCL both surcharge dining rooms had better views. I seem to think on RCCL Navigator the view was better. That is were I would say this trend would stop. The food was a lot better than the dining rooms food. I would also say that this was the best food we have ever had on a cruise.

 

The service was also good. To be honest I wouldn't say it was a lot better than the dining room service but we really like our servers in the dinning room. I am always uncomfortable with the wine person (sommelier I think is what they are called). This night was no difference. We opted to bring a glass of wine up with us from our room. We had a couple of bottles in the room and we filled up our glasses before dinner. I may have read more into this situation but I seemed to make the sommelier a little angry.

 

We both ordered steaks. I had the 24oz Porterhouse and the wife had the Filet. Both very good. I have heard people say that the beef is in line with Ruth Chris. I didn't think it was that good but it wasn't that far off. Lets just say that the Porterhouse is pretty dang big. I also had the Lobster Bisque the wife had the French Onion soup. Both very good. The main advantage to eating here is the a wider menu selection. They made the Ceasar Salad at your table. It was very good. Of course, about the time the main course arrived I got a page from CC. I called and our daughter was crying and wouldn't stop. I made the quick trip to get her and brought her back. The Supper Club's staff was great with her. They got her a chair and asked if she wanted a desert. We were really bad parents all week. So of course we awarded her behavior with some treats!! I tried to finish my meal but at this point I was ready to leave. They boxed up our deserts and we headed back to the room. Later that night I woke up and decided it was time to try my cheesecake. Lets just say I was glad I had to wake up to go to the bathroom. I really needed a 1am cheesecake snack! Back to bed and about 5 lbs heavier...what a good day!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

I am loving your review. I feel like I was right there with all of you! Keep it coming!

[Lady_Jag]

This is great! Another question - were there many people who chose not to get off the ship in Nassau, or was the ship pretty empty that day?

[LindaJSteele]

Lady Jag - I can answer that question since I was also on that cruise. We got off for only a little while, and when we went back, there were still a lot of people off. I was able to get any chair I wanted by the pool and relax and enjoy myself. No worries about that.