Carnival Glory 5/16 - 23, 2009

[wpath]

Got back from the Eastern Caribbean on Glory a few days ago. My wife and I had only cruised on Royal Caribbean and Disney before, so we were a bit let down by this ship. In particular, the quality of the food in the Platinum dining room was just so-so. My wife prefers beef to anything else, and the first 3 nights when she ordered steaks or prime rib, it was consistently overcooked, even though she asked for it rare. I had the fish several nights, and it was normally very good, although a bit under-seasoned for my tastes. However, our waiter and his assistant were wonderful, and our table-mates were great fun!

We didn't really care for the layout of the ship - I preferred the Promenade deck on the Royal Caribbean ships. The Glory's entertainment and shopping seemed kind of cramped on Deck 5 particularly.

The cabin was very clean and our steward was very attentive when we had requests. I was glad to see that there was a mini-fridge in the cabin, and a hair dryer.

One good thing - we won almost enough in the casino to pay for all our expenses, including shore excursions!

I really wanted the Western Caribbean route though, as we would have seen two new ports, instead of the Eastern route, which we had already seen a couple of times.

We did have one great excursion in St. Thomas - the Champagne Catamaran and Snorkel trip. The boat was in great condition, and the crew was incredibly friendly. And the drinks flowed freely... Everyone on the trip had a great time!

If anyone has any questions about Glory, let me know.

[loves2floatonaboat]

I would love to see pics if you have any - we leave to go on her on June 13th - like you, my husband and I have been loyal to Royal - that is the only cruise line we have been on - so I'm scared that I'm going to be disappointed by Carnival because I've heard more negative than positive so we'll see!!!!!!!

[kathiean]

My DD (16) and I are thinking of booking this. Is it appropriate for a 16 year old? Do you get to snorkel? Do you have time to lay on the beach? Do they feed you lunch? Thanks.

[cjkumbaya]

My husband and I were on the Glory week before last and had a really different experence. Please see our review with photos - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=992567

[vacruizer]

My DD (16) and I are thinking of booking this. Is it appropriate for a 16 year old? Do you get to snorkel? Do you have time to lay on the beach? Do they feed you lunch? Thanks.

 

We've done this excursion twice now we loved it so much. (The one to St. John, not the sunset sail.) There were several teenagers on the excursion with us. As long as you are ok with them seeing people drink alcohol after the snorkeling it will be fine. Sodas and water are available for those who don't drink or the kids. Alcohol isn't served until after the snorkeling is over.

 

Be warned - the painkillers they serve for the ride back are deadly. :eek: Never saw anything outrageous happen on either trip but the drinks are VERY free-flowing so it could depend on the crowd on your particular tour. Our last trip the crowd was very quiet and kept to themselves on the taxi ride over to the marina. By the time we came back, they were singing broadway show tunes in the cab on the way back if that gives you any indication! :eek:

 

It's really one of my favorite excursions and the crew is top notch. On our first trip my beach safe opened up and all my id, s&S card and credit cards were lost. The crew actually went out and looked for them for at least 30 minuutes out on the reef. A fellow CC member finally spotted them and the excursion crew then went and dove for my stuff. :D They really go above and beyond imho. There is about 45 minutes or snorkeling or beach time in St. John plus the wonderful sailboat ride over and back. The sound can be choppy - not recommended for those who get motion sick and have seen someone sea sick on both trips.

[katiel53]

OP,

I know everyone has different tastes and I hope you take my reply with a grain of salt. We are frequent RCI cruisers and sailed on Glory early March and I have to say that the prime rib I ordered the last night was 20x better than I ever had on RCI. I ordered it medium rare to medium and I could cut it with a fork.

 

I didn't really care for the flat iron steak, but everything else I ordered was, to me, better than what I had on RCI.

 

I sure hope that in the last couple of months and forward the food won't be good as I convinced my family to switch from RCI to Carnival for October. I guess though, my one saving grace if the food is not good, will be that the ports are better than Freedom of the Seas.

 

Thanks for your thoughts and I sure hope I get the same type prime rib on my next two cruises.

[kathiean]

Vacruizer, thank you so much for your review. Sounds like fun! One last question...do they feed you a lunch?

[sjcruiser]

I was only the Glory last year and had a blast. The layout took a while to get use to but it wasnt a major issue. The food in the dining room was excellant, and everything I ordered came as requested.

[vacruizer]

Vacruizer, thank you so much for your review. Sounds like fun! One last question...do they feed you a lunch?

 

Really just snacks. Fruit, cheese, bread, crackers, chips, snack mix, some chocolate. The two times I've done it one left at 9am so we just had lunch back at the ship when we got back around 1:30. When we did it on the Glory it was a 12-4:30 tour so we had pizza right before we left the ship.