Glory 5/27 Western Review

[taffy12]

This was our fourth cruise on Glory and on each previous voyage, the experience and the crew just got better and better. That being said, our expectations were high this week. I wouldn’t say the cruise disappointed, but overall, the experience wasn’t quite up to par with past years. Still though, we love Glory and it was very difficult to get off in Port Canaveral knowing that, because of her upcoming move, we’ll likely never sail on her again.

 

 

THE SHIP:

Glory is a somewhat difficult ship to navigate, what with decks 3 and 4 being interrupted by Golden Dining Room midship. After four cruises though, we had the layout down pat and even discovered some new gems that I’d seen referenced on these boards. All the way forward on decks 6 and 7 are “hidden” doors that lead to the wonderfully peaceful areas at the front of the ship. We hardly saw anybody else on these very quiet open decks and enjoyed the unobstructed views forward, not marred by big panes of plexiglass. It wasn’t until the last night though, that we realized there was a similar door on deck 9 that offered an even bigger treat: open decks topping the bridge that extend off the sides of the ship. We went out there at dusk and it was a phenomenal sight to stand there over the bridge and look all the way back along the sides of the ship.

 

Being that Glory is six years old now, she is starting to show some wear. However, on none of our previous three cruises have we noticed so much diligence with cleaning and upkeep. Everywhere we looked we saw detailed cleaning taking place.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

We had a bit of a treat on our cruise as we were onboard for the transition between an old production cast and a new one. The old cast performed Livin’ in America, a show that’s been on that ship as long as we have. It’s an enjoyable show, but we weren’t impressed by the singers – neither the male nor the female was particularly good. Then, later in the cruise, we got to watch the new cast debut a brand-new production show, Just Rock. The vocalists in this cast (the ones who will be onboard for the next eight months) were fabulous. The woman in particularly was a wonderful singer. The show however…eh. It left something to be desired, seemed to be missing something. We’d been looking forward to seeing old favorite Rock Down Broadway, the show we always liked even better than Livin’ in America, and were disappointed by this sub-par replacement.

 

The Justin Illusion show was back from last year and very entertaining, with a fun mix of dance and magic that was a lot edgier than what you’d find in the production shows. We also saw three comedians. While it would have been nice to have some variety in the guest performances, these at least were pretty good. The one that performed third mixed in some magic and juggling tricks that made for an entertaining show.

 

We’ve never really paid attention to any of the other musicians and lounge performers on cruises, but one did grab our attention this year and I’d venture to say that he was my favorite person on the ship. Playing romantic and popular music each night in the lobby is a duo called Euphoria, consisting of an outstanding pianist and a so-so vocalist. The singer was decent and she seemed really sweet, but we felt the pianist, Edgardo, was too good for her, better when he played solo without her singing. I’m no expert on piano music and don’t exactly listen to it often, but there was something about his playing that drew all of us in. He played beautifully, seemed really talented and passionate, and he was entertaining to watch, the way he felt and moved along with the music. We were all the more impressed to learn that he plays by ear rather than reading music, and that he’s only been playing for seven years.

 

 

DINING ROOM EXPERIENCE:

We’re a family of four – our mother and we three daughters – and we prefer to have a table to ourselves in the dining room. That’s never been a problem before this year, but when we ran by Golden Dining Room before sailing to see where our table was, we learned that we’d been seated at a table for six. None of us were too happy with that and we figured whatever couple we were seated with would be none too pleased to have to share with our silly crew, so we approached the maitre ‘d to request a switch. This was our first experience having to do something like that and were very pleased with how easily the situation was handle. We’d barely finished our request before the maitre ‘d had plugged our information into his computer and found us a new table for four in upstairs Platinum. It was easy and quick and we got just what we’d wanted.

 

Our waiters, Joel and Pierces, may not have had the best personalities of the waiters we’ve had in the past – they were plenty friendly, but lacked that extra personable edge – but what we lost there, we gained in service. Personally, I loved the efficiency with which they worked. We never felt rushed, but as soon as we’d finished eating one course, the next was already in front of us and we routinely finished eating at about 7:15, polishing off our desserts while other tables nearby were just digging into their entrees. We’ve sat at tables in past years where we’ve been some of the last to leave the dining room every night, and I loved not having to sit around and wait for my food, and then getting out nice and early so we could go off and enjoy the evening. It was nice not having to rush to change before the night’s show, having plenty of time to get formal pictures, etc.

 

Any personality Joel lacked at the table came out in his dancing – that little guy could move! Apparently fleetwide are two waiter performances that were new to us this year: fun dance numbers to “Jai Ho” and “Low, Low, Low.” I very much enjoyed them and thought them excellent replacements for the conga line and something else non-memorable. They do still do “Hey Baby,” “That’s Amore,” and the sad “Leaving on a Funship” song on the last night.

 

Perhaps it’s because maitre ‘d tips are no longer included with those that are automatically billed to you, but our maitre ‘d on this cruise, Paul, was the most visible and personable that we’ve ever had. He stopped by our table just about every night to chat and joke around with us, to check on things, whereas in past years, I wouldn’t have been able to point out the maitre ‘d if you’d paid me.

 

Our bar server in the dining room, Tshering, was wonderful. She was very sweet and took good care of us, and she always came up to say hello if we saw her elsewhere around the ship.

 

One night, we asked Pierces for a cappuccino and espresso. The next night, she asked if we wanted them again. From then on out, they appeared automatically at our table with dessert every night.

 

 

STATEROOM:

We had verandah cabin 9270 for this cruise and very much enjoyed the location. While we’d had reservations about staying just around the corner from the main elevator banks, we found the location to be convenient and the noise minimal. We were just a hop, skip, and a jump from anything just off the main elevator (the lobby, Amber Palace, the shops) and needed to just walk down our deck a short ways to reach the pool deck and then Red Sail Restaurant, the Lido buffet. Surprisingly, we never noticed a problem with noise from people and only occasionally heard the chime of an elevator. While we could sometimes hear a bit of music coming from the lobby, that was unobtrusive as well.

 

On our first day onboard, we noticed a problem with the hot water in the shower, namely that the water wouldn’t get any warmer than lukewarm. We waited until the next day to call about the problem, and, I kid you not, a maintenance person was at our door within five minutes to fix the shower. We had to ask him to come back later as we were getting ready for dinner, but we returned to find that we had nice, hot water again. We were very impressed by how quickly and effectively the problem was resolved.

 

We only saw our room steward one time, but he took good care of us, so no complaints.

 

 

ACTIVITIES:

There didn’t seem to be quite as much to do this year as there was last year. We missed several games that we’ve enjoyed before, but did have fun with Scattergories and Super Trivia. The best thing this year was probably the Glory Ninjas activity. Most days, there’d be a clue in the Carnival Capers hinting at where to find the Ninjas, and when you spotted them, they’d have you do some fun, silly activity to win a prize. The best was the last night when we played Rock, Paper, Scissors with the entire entertainment staff to win medals.

 

My sister took part in a Thriller dance class and seemed to enjoy it, but it and several other activities were held by the casino bar, where they have the stage set up on Kaleidoscope Boulevard. It was way too crowded there both for the people trying to participate and for those trying to walk through the area.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT STAFF:

We were spoiled last year. We sailed with an amazing cruise staff full of individuals that had fabulous personalities on their own and wonderful chemistry with each other, so this year was a bit of a letdown by comparison. Our staff on this cruise, however, was by no means lacking. Cruise Director Ryan Fitzgerald was one of the best we’ve had and assistant CD James – who we seemed to see more than anybody – was fun as well. Island Girl seemed more suited to some tastes than others – my sisters loved her; my mom did not (I was on the fence). Then there was Dia. I’m not sure what really to say about her – she didn’t have a big personality, didn’t stand out, but at the same time she was good at what she did.

 

When we found the Ninja (AKA James) on the first night, he handed us an invitation to a special entertainment staff luncheon on the last sea day. We weren’t sure what to expect when we headed to Platinum dining room that day, but it ended up being a nice meal. We were seated with two couples and were soon joined by Dia and Mat (Mat was already onboard to replace Assistant CD James on the next cruise and thus took part in activities and such on our cruise), and they chatted with us and encouraged us to ask any questions we had.

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS:

I liked the addition of drink of the day and coffee cards since our last cruise. I purchased a coffee card and made good use of it in the Creams coffee shop! One word of warning though: if you buy a latte with flavored syrup, the card covers only the latte; you have to pay a little bit extra for the syrup.

 

We were sad to not receive pins this year at the Past Guest party – apparently they’ve been discontinued fleetwide? What a shame.

 

I keep reading posts about them doing away with free drinks at the captain’s cocktail party…well, let me just say, that’s not the case on Glory! We had a wonderful drink server named Marcos who set us up with two drinks each to start with and then kept them coming! He was fun and had a good sense of humor, seemed to get a kick out of me drinking martinis for some reason. Laughing, he came back by on a second pass and, without me even having to ask, set a third martini in front of me and scooped up my empty glass from the table. Another empty glass was plucked, with a laugh, directly from my hands a few minutes later.

 

We were onboard for Captain Salvatore Rassello’s last week on Glory. This was at least our second time sailing with him and we’ve enjoyed him – he’s one of the only captain’s we’ve had that we actually remembered (the other being Captain Johnny on Mariner of the Seas). He told us as the Past Guest Party that he’s moving to Splendor next, but we were talking to some of the cruise staff later on that night and they said all he’s been talking about going to Dream, so we aren’t sure.

 

Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze, as they always are at Port Canaveral.

 

 

COZUMEL:

We’ve been to Cozumel several times before and repeated last year’s activity by renting a jeep and driving around the island. If you’ve never done that, then think about it for your next trip! The other side it beautiful, with deserted, rock-littered beaches and the most amazing water… You certainly can’t go swimming but watching the waves churn and swell and play with the rocks is mesmerizing. Also on the other side is a wonderful, open-air restaurant called Coconuts that’s perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean and has a lot of character and good food.

 

We were a bit confused as to what was going on with our “tourist village” this year. We docked at Puerto Maya as we usually do, but the tourism area was completely different (though very nice) and it looked like the shopping area we used to use was blocked off and no longer in use…

 

 

BELIZE:

Again, we’re no strangers to Belize, but this was our first experience venturing beyond the protective walls. I’ve wanted to see the real Belize, the actual city, but my family’s been hesitant because of the warnings we keep hearing about Belize City not being safe. This year, however, we took a ship-sponsored city tour that I greatly enjoyed. Our guide was entertaining and very knowledgeable as we rode our comfortable air-conditioned bus around the city, seeing all sides of it, from the nicer areas to the slums. The tour includes a brief stop at the oldest Anglican church in Central America and the Museum of Belize, which is housed in an old prison and had some fascinating displays.

 

We walked around the shopping area for a short bit after the tour concluded, disappointed that the Iguana Rama restaurant is no longer there, then headed on back to the ship for lunch.

 

 

COSTA MAYA:

Except for a lot of dead vegetation stretching to the horizon, you’d never know that Costa

Maya was devastated by a hurricane less than two years ago. The tourism area looks as good as new and I really liked the giant “Welcome Back” banner handing at the entrance.

 

We did shop there some, but also took our first trip out to Mahahual, following recommendations on these boards. My mom and one of my sisters raved about their $20 massages on the beach and I quite liked the atmosphere of the village. The shopping was decent and we sipped ice cold Coronas for a dollar each before heading back to the pier. Next year, we plan to spend the entire day in the charming village to better enjoy the beach and the restaurants and such.

 

 

NASSAU:

Been there, done that. This was the very last day of our cruise (I hate having a port on our last day!) so we didn’t care to spend too much time ashore. We just braved the straw market for a while, shopped along the street a bit, and headed back to our ship.

[kjeanne2001]

Thanks for the review! We sailed Glory last year and will again end of August. Glad to hear she is still a great ship! Can you tell me about the DOD card? Thanks!

[taffy12]

Thanks for the review! We sailed Glory last year and will again end of August. Glad to hear she is still a great ship! Can you tell me about the DOD card? Thanks!

 

Honestly, I don't remember much about it because I only glanced at the information. If I recall, it was something like $20 for five drinks and a certain number of them - one or all, I'm not sure - could come in a souvenir glass. I think we figured out that it would only save you about $3 versus buying the drinks individually.

 

Can I stow away on your August cruise? I'm short - I'll fit in a suitcase! ;-)

[dolfandude]

Thanks for the review. Concerning the "secret doors".... can you give more info on how to find them? Thanks!

[taffy12]

Thanks for the review. Concerning the "secret doors".... can you give more info on how to find them? Thanks!

 

It's very easy! On decks 6, 7, and 9 (and possibly 10?) walk all the way forward. On both the port and starboard sides will be an unmarked door with a window. If you peer through it you'll see a second door, and that one leads outside! These doors, at least on deck 6, are right near crew-only doors and, as they aren't staterooms, you might think at first that they're off limits, but in fact you can walk on through!