Glory Western Review 7/25-8/1/09

[bdink921]

OK now that I am fully having the post-cruise blues, I just want to relive the awesome time we had on the Glory by writing this review. A little background--this is our first Carnival cruise and only our 2nd cruise total--the first was a Disney 4 night cruise in 2006. Sailing was me, DH, and DS10. Truthfully, we had really wanted to sail on Freedom of the Seas, but I just couldn't justify the high price tag and since we can only sail in the summer, I chose Glory for the itinerary and for sailing out of Port Canaveral (I was able to get the airfare free with my Southwest credits :D). We booked before Early Saver came out and between the refund of the fuel surcharge, switching to early saver, and crazy price drops after the swine flu outbreak--we got an awesome deal and $400 OBC--sweet!!

We flew in to Orlando 3 days early and spent the first 2 nights at WDW--thanks to the money we saved on our cruise and some Disney Visa Rewards. We stayed at the Poly and had a great time while there. Since it had been such a cool and rainy summer in New England--I loved the hot and sunny days we had in Florida. Here's some pics from the Poly:

 

 

 

We rented a car at Avis in the DTD Hilton and drove to Cape Canaveral on Friday, 7/24. We stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port which was nice. We pretty much just spent the day at the pool and relaxed to get ready for our cruise. Lots of cruisers here. Beware if going to the mini golf across the street--there are killer mosquitoes there--wear bug spray or you'll be running out of there halfway through like we were :eek:. Room was clean and staff was friendly. However if we ever sail from Port Canaveral again I would pick a place on the beach--just my preference.

 

In the morning, we woke up to a Glory-ous sight

 

 

We returned our car to Avis around 10am and took their shuttle to the Port--quick and easy. We arrived at the port around 1030a, went through security, got our S&S cards. We were boarding group #3 and were on the ship by 1115am. All the Carnival staff at the port were friendly and everything went smoothly. We went straight up to the Lido and had lunch. We thought everything was really good. There were hand sanitizers at the beginning of all of the buffet lines and people seemed for the most part to be using them. I didn't see any gross buffet behavior by other passengers so that was great. The caramel cheescake they had on this day was delish--never saw it again though. After lunch we just walked around to explore--after waiting and planning for almost a year, I couldn't believe we were finally on the ship.

 

More later....

[bdink921]

Couple of random pics from around the ship:

 

[nanbob]

Thank you for sharing your cruise memories...we will be on the Glory in Feb. 2010 and look forward to reading your review

[beachbum6264]

Great job so far, keep it coming! Brings back memories.

[gaylebd]

Thanks bdink - and am loving the photo's - I will be on Glory -my 2nd time - in 2 weeks. I had a great time on the first go-round - very fond memories of The Emerald Room.

 

REALLY want to hear more - especially because I am also on Western.

 

Give us every detail!!!

[hill6]

Thanks for the review. I love the pictures. I have my daughter and her friend sitting on the camel too and I think we were in the same building at the Radission I have almost the same exact picture.

[bdink921]

Around 1-130pm we headed to check out our cabin. We were on Lido deck. DH and DS thought we had an inside cabin and were dreading it--our inside on Disney Wonder felt so cramped after a day or 2. But I surprised them with a balcony cabin and a gift basket from A Perfect Gift (snacks, candy, soda for DS, power drinks for DH, sparkling apple cider to toast our vacation, and some Disney stuff for me :o--yes I am a Disney addict). I wanted to get a picture but they tore in to that basket like kids on Christmas morning!!!! It took them a few minutes to realize this was no inside cabin and they were sure surprise with the balcony--it was soo hard to keep that a secret!!!! We were in 9258--nice location and quiet for the most part:

 

.

 

We loved, loved, loved our balcony--early mornings in our jammies, evenings watching the sea go by, pulling in to ports--it was awesome!!! Unfortunately, although I don't care what I sleep in as long as I'm on the ship, DH is spoiled and only wants a balcony now!!!

 

 

The room was pretty clean and well maintained--except for some 'stuff' on the mirrors left from the previous guests. The OCD clean freak in me just couldn't bear it so I had to clean it...I just HAD to. Out came the clorox wipes, mirrors and counters clean and sparkly--all is well, let the cruise continue. Our room steward was Roy from the Phillipines--what a smiling and efficient guy. He kept our room very well cleaned, filled our ice bucket twice/day, replaced our pool towels daily, and left us surprise towel animals with 3 chocolate mints every night. Just an aside about the Carnival staff in general--we found the staff to be very friendly and polite in all areas of the ship. Can't say I met a rude crew member throughout the whole cruise.

 

Here's Roy with DS

[gaylebd]

How did you like the Lido deck? I am also on Lido (for first time) 9287 -

 

Can't beat a balcony!!!

I have had a suite before - and it was GREAT, but not necessary.

A balcony is necessary!

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great review, can't wait to read more :)

We had cabin #9265 in Oct and really liked it~ It looks like they finally changed out the Lido chairs, we had horrible luck with the ones they had in Oct.

Thanks for sharing your cruise :)

[bdink921]

How did you like the Lido deck? I am also on Lido (for first time) 9287 -

 

Can't beat a balcony!!!

I have had a suite before - and it was GREAT, but not necessary.

A balcony is necessary!

 

 

Being on the Lido deck was great. Forward elevators never seemed too busy and we were close to the action in the pool area. I don't know if you feel more motion that high up because to me at times we felt the movement quite a bit no matter where we were. I took bonine the first night or 2 then stopped and I ended up having to take it again as the week passed. We didn't get sick--just felt a little woozy at times. The rooms seem to have very good soundproofing because we would step out of our room and hear the music in the Atrium, but never heard a thing in our room. We were impressed. We were also very close to the 24h pizza and ice cream which became a nightly ritual with DS and me before turning in for the night :D.

[ShelleyQT]

Hi, bdink, we were on this cruise with you! We had a great time, too.

 

Your pic of the ship from the Radisson cracked me up. We stayed there the night before the cruise, also, and when we got up the morning of the cruise, we saw that exact view of the ship right from our window! I have practically the same photo on my own camera.

 

Wouldn't it be funny if you or I had pictures of each other from this cruise, say if you were in the background when I was taking a pic of one of my family members?:)

 

I thought our room at the Radisson was not the best, but you sure couldn't beat the location. And the shuttle service to the cruise terminal was calm, efficient, and not stressful. Most hotel shuttle services are stressful for me because it's first come first serve and I'm always nervous people will shove ahead of us and take up all the space so we can't get on the shuttle (we've had it happen before, and then we were out of luck and had take a cab). At the Radisson, they had plenty of shuttles, you were allowed to reserve ahead of time so you knew you just had to wait for them to call your name, and I loved that they had a trailer for luggage so there was plenty of room.

[cts816]

We were on the Glory in July on the Eastern cruise. Love the Glory.:)

[bdink921]

We were at table 191 in the Golden Dining Room--we were front and center for all of the dancing/entertainment. Others find it corny and such but we thought it was fun, except for the last song 'Leaving Our Fun Ship' which was just a groaner. Usually by the time the show started, dinner was just about over--it never seemed to interfere with the service. The waiters really hammed it up--they were hilarious, like this guy

 

 

The first night when we walked in there was a couple at our table who probably wanted a 'kid-free' experience and as soon as we walked over, the woman went to the maitre d' and must have requested a table change because they were out of there quickly, especially when our other tablemates arrived with their 8 y.o granddaughter. No hard feelings--if it were just DH and me, we probably would have felt the same. It was very strained and uncomfortable before they moved though and at first I thought we'd be eating at the buffet alot--but it all worked out for everyone. I did see that couple everywhere we went throughout the cruise though--it was funny to me.

 

Anyways, Komang was our server and Wendall was the assistant. They were just great and service in the MDR was very good. We cancelled our reservation for the Emerald Room because the food was so good, plus we really enjoyed our tablemates and DS wasn't all that thrilled with Camp Carnival. On the third night another couple was seated with us who had switched to the early seating from late seating. They fit in great with our group and it was fun to share all that we had done during the day over dinner.

 

 

Komang showed DS and Cayden--the other child at our table some magic tricks and was really nice to the kids--again I was impressed. Komang is leaving next month and will be on the Dream. Our drink server Marius was a hoot!!! This was his first contract on the Glory--he was on the Fascination previously. We always had our drinks served right away, although we kept changing our preferences and really mixed him up--not on purpose though--he was funny!!

 

Magic tricks with Komang and the kids

 

 

We were happy with food overall. We didn't eat in the Emerald Room or the dining room for breakfast but everything else was good to very good. Some things I tried and wouldn't try them again but nothing I thought was gross or anything like that. Lobster was delicious and so were the soups. Warm chocolate melting cake was okay--but the desserts in general didn't blow me away. At Creams on the Promenade, there were desserts that looked so good but were just okay--like the giant brownies that were just dry, dry , dry. I really loved the fresh fruit every day--it was very fresh and delicious. Omelets at breakfast were great too. We only noticed a long line at the buffet one morning for breakfast when we slept in til 9 or so and also during the Chocolate Buffet on the last sea day. May have had to wait a few minutes at the grill, but no long waits anywhere and this ship was full per our room steward. Bacon police were present--but not a problem to just ask for more--my DS did every day.

[bdink921]

Hi, bdink, we were on this cruise with you! We had a great time, too.

 

Your pic of the ship from the Radisson cracked me up. We stayed there the night before the cruise, also, and when we got up the morning of the cruise, we saw that exact view of the ship right from our window! I have practically the same photo on my own camera.

 

Wouldn't it be funny if you or I had pictures of each other from this cruise, say if you were in the background when I was taking a pic of one of my family members?:)

 

Our room was actually more down on the far end nearer to the street and I had to walk down the hall to get that pic--there was another woman out there and we talked a bit--she was also cruising on the Glory. LOL it would be funny if we caught each other in pics!!! We did have a roll call and a meet and greet in Bar Blue on embarkation day--about 27 people showed up--we'd see each other here and there throughout the cruise.

 

I thought the Radisson was good for one night--we had a refurbished room-- but I'm a beach girl and would have preferred something on the beach--oh well, next time.

[WAcruisers]

Waiting to read more! Love your review so far and your pictures.

[bdink921]

I lost a whole post somewhere in cyberspace so I'll try to re-post it :(

 

Random points:

 

I looked for some things that I saw mentioned here on CC just to see--as far as dress in the dining room--on Elegant night, especially the first one, most people were dressed up very nicely. Saw no shorts or tanks on these nights. I did see more gowns/suits/tuxes than I expected. Casual nights, people were dressed nicely but there were many in shorts--my DH was one of them :o--but nothing ripped or anything like that. Photographers were everywhere and the pictures did come out very nice. It was tough to decide which to buy and which to toss. Here are a couple of ours:

 

 

 

Shows were pretty good--there were a couple of comedians, a juggler, and of course the Glory dancers. The comedians were funny but the one in the Welcome Aboard show made an off color comment at the end and apologized with an "I'm sorry kids but I had to say that'. Just wasn't necessary IMO--he was good without the comment and had 2 adult shows schedules for thsat kind of thing. Also the Justin Illusion show had the Glory dancers in it and it started good and then became very burlesque--not needed--the illusions were good. Even without my DS I thought the shows didn't need that to make them good. Please no flames--lots of people enjoyed the shows and we did too--just saying.

[FloridaCruisinNewbies]

Thanks for the review. Love your pics. Glad you had a good time.

On a side note... alot of people cannot justify paying RCL prices when Carnival offers a comparable product at a greater price.

[oncruisecontrol]

Nice review. Very nice pictures.

[bdink921]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

Our sea days were mainly spent with a good mix of pool time, arcade time, etc. We played mini golf on one day--it's really hot up there!!! It's a small course, but fun for a diversion. Took only about 15 minutes to play though LOL

 

 

 

They also had family water wars one day and DS and DH did that--lots of fun!! Many innocent bystanders got awfully wet!!!

 

 

 

 

[bjenkins322]

Thanks for the review. Love your pics. Glad you had a good time.

On a side note... alot of people cannot justify paying RCL prices when Carnival offers a comparable product at a greater price.

 

The last three years.. the last three cruises... Princess, RCL, RCL! We wouldn't and couldn't pass up the price for our CCl on the Glory next month.

[bdink921]

Cozumel

 

This was our first port day--arrived at about 10am. We really wanted a beach day so we chose to go to Paradise Beach. This was a very hot and sunny day. We were the only ship in port this day so the port area wasn't very crowded. We walked past the shops to the taxi stand and got a ride to PB. Paradise Beach is not a huge beach, but it was nice enough for what we were looking for. We bought wrist bands to use the water toys--really only DS needed one though. We grabbed a couple of loungers under an umbrella--later in the day there were only seats in the sun. The water was a pretty blue and mostly clear. On the side nearer to the water slide there was alot of seaweed. The sand isn't the soft powdery kind. It looked like very finely ground shells and according to my DS his feet felt like 'toasted almond bars' after walking through the sand with wet feet LOL.

Approaching the dock at Cozumel

This was the view from our chairs

 

DS and DH decided they wanted to parasail, so off they went. It cost $60 each and they went together. There was also a cabana for massages--lots of people were getting them--as well as hair braiding, jet skis, and henna tattoos, I think.

Getting on the boat

There they go!!

 

We ate at the restaurant--food and service was pretty good. After swimming a bit we took a return taxi back to the port. FYI--it was really hard to get on the water toys--DS just couldn't get on the iceberg. I think it cost $12 each way for the cab. At the port we shopped a little--the vendors were not pushy. A simple no thank you was fine. There was this one quiet lady with tablecloths all by herself--they were beautiful. I ended up buying a table runner from her. After that we went back to the ship--we heard announcements for several people but as far as I know, no one missed the boat.

 

[jolyn928]

You're doing a GREAT job....love the pictures!!! I can't wait to read more! :D

[mjmagee]

Thank you for the very nice review. Love your pix! You are a beautiful family. Marilyn

[xntric1]

I am enjoying your review. 12 days and we will be west-bound on the Glory.

[bdink921]

You are a beautiful family. Marilyn

 

Awww, thanks Marilyn!!!

 

Next stop--Belize

 

Our Belize day started off a little stormy. We were going on a cave tubing/zip line combo tour with Major Tom. Since this was a private excursion and a tender port, we had to meet in the Ebony lounge for our tender tickets. We got there early and were supposed to give out the tender tickets around 8-830. There was a delay with the tenders due to the weather and I was starting to think Belize would be cancelled. After a while they handed out the tender tickets--here's a tip if you need to get off first--stay to the front of the Ebony Lounge so that when they call you up to get your tix, you will be at the front of the line and not get crushed by the people pushing behind you to get a ticket. Poor little girl in front of me was getting squished :eek:. I was a little nervous--I think we had tender 5 or 6. The tender over was quick, maybe 15-20 minutes. No worry if you're meeting a guide at the port--they were waiting for us from Major Tom's group.

 

Tendering to port

 

Major Tom got us all organized--there were lots of people on this tour and surprisingly many were doing the combo. It was about an hour drive to the site--our bus was air conditioned. The zip lining and cave tubing is actually on the property of the Jaguar Paw resort and a few from our meet and greet went there. Our guide spoke about the country and the different people that live there. He was very interesting and answered everyone's questions. Unfortunately for this part of our trip I have no pictures--I should have brought a disposable camera. I was so afraid our camera would be ruined that I didn't bring it to the zip line and I could have because we returned to the bus to change afterward.

 

Anyways, the zip line was alot of fun. They suited us up and we had to walk a little ways to the first platform. I was scared to death!! There was 9 in our group and 2 guides. There were about 6 or 7 lines and 2 of them were high and long. I think the highest was 85 ft. You wore a glove to slow down and if you weren't able to the trees at the end were padded so that you don't slam into them too hard LOL!! Everybody had a blast!! At the end we had to rappel down off the platform--that was the scariest part and I panicked, grabbed on to the rope and got one heck of a rope burn on the inside of my upper arm--you know, the doughy part :D.

 

After the zip we headed back to the bus to change and then grabbed our tubes for the cave tubing. We had about a 20 minute walk throught he rainforest which was so different from what little of Belize we had already seen. It was lush and beautiful. We were running a bit late so our guide didn't really point out anything much along the way. Then we got to the cave and linked up together, feet under the arms of the person in front of you. It was not what I expected--the caves were awesome. Veeerry dark. The water was a little fast in some places. I was glad we were linked together in the caves. Saw a couple of bats and one spider--too dark to see the snakes :eek:--just kidding. There were no snakes that I saw or I would have been running on the water to get out of there!!! We only tubed through one cave.

 

After the tubing we headed back to the bus--we had ordered a lunch. It was ok--we were hungry. There was stewed chicken, rice and beans, and coleslaw with a grape soda. We returned to the port in plenty of time to join the looonnngg line of people waiting for a tender. We didn't really shop at this port--no time, but others who did said the vendors would get mad if you didn't buy anything. We also didn't venture outside of the gates at all by ourselves--didn't feel very safe. We did buy some banana chips from a kid selling them through the fence--felt bad for him. The chips were really good though. The water around Belize has a gorgeous aqua color where the reef is--made me wish I was a diver just to check it out.

 

Back to the ship

 

Don't know if you can see the difference in the water color in this pic