1st CCL cruise! GLORY 7/18 review/comparision to RCL/NCL

[dolfandude]

First let me warn you…I tend to write long detailed reviews kind of like a diary so I can read them in the future and relive my vacations!

Prelude:
We have previously cruised three times with Royal Caribbean and twice with NCL. We took some friends on RCL in December 2007 aboard the Majesty of the Seas and all they could do is compare it to Carnival! They have only been on Carnival. We decided to give it a try for ourselves! I had already booked the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan but cancelled and booked the Glory for much less (and no airfare).
Myself and wife and two daughters (22 & 18). DD’s have been on all the cruises except the Majesty with us. This would be DD18’s first “adult” cruise!
This cruise is her senior trip, so to speak. A graduation gift that we can all enjoy! (Just another excuse to cruise!) She’s loved the teen clubs on NCL & RCL. This time she gets to spend more time with us and DD22 (they get along great!).
We drove down from NW Georgia on Friday July 17th. I’m originally from Central Florida and my parents have had a place on Cocoa Beach since 1983 so that’s where we headed. Didn’t get in until 8:30pm. A 615 mile drive! Boy I was glad to finally get there!


Saturday July 18th
Embarkation – we arrived at the port at 10:15. After dropping off the luggage and my wife and daughters, I pulled around and parked. Parking is $105 for the week. While paying I noticed an advertisement on the booth that said the NCL Sun is coming to Port Canaveral. The Sun is the former Pride of Aloha that we sailed on in 2005 in Hawaii so it caught my attention.
The first lot (not covered) was really full but I was lucky enough to find one parking space very close to the entrance. This was our third time sailing out of this particular cruise facility (twice with RCL).
We breezed through the metal detector and headed up the escalator. We were directed to fill out a medical questionnaire (took 2 minutes) and headed over to the desk to register. There was only one couple ahead of us. After that we were sitting down in the waiting area by 10:40am ready to start our first Carnival cruise! There was a wedding party of about 40 people across from us. Seems that they all were getting on the ship for the 1:30 wedding then everyone except the bride and groom would exit the ship by 3pm! Before we knew it there was an announcement saying people were still disembarking the ship and it would be a while before we boarded! So much for getting on early! We felt sorry for the bride to be as she needed time to get ready for her wedding! But she was a trooper, walking around spending time and joking with her family and friends and us! We had a few conversations with members of the wedding party. I mentioned that this was our first Carnival cruise and a couple started telling us how much fun we’d have! They’d been on 3 Carnival cruises and loved them all. To kill the time, a Carnival crew member had us playing with a beach ball! It was funny to see it hit unsuspecting folks and watch their reaction. DD’s both tired of this fast! I didn’t!! Announcements were also made for people who were celebrated anniversaries or birthdays. This was something neither NCL nor RCL had done before. We could tell right away that Carnival was all about fun! After all, “isn’t fun the best thing to have”? A quote from a favorite movie…..

We finally were able to board at 12:15. The wedding party took priority then VIP boarding, then us!
We headed straight to the Lido deck. I had a grilled Ruben sandwich from the deli. Very good. Awful iced tea though! Being from the south, I am very critical about my “sweet tea!” This was unsweetened. It would be lemonade and water for me from now on! And maybe a beer or 30! Wife and DD's had the buffett. DW was not impressed. This would be an issue all week. The buffett not the wife!

Checked out the Aft Bar in preparation for our Cruise Critic meet and greet. Having read so much about the Glory on CC, I found myself looking for signs of aging. There really weren’t many! Some rust here and there but overall she looks grand! It was about 1:20pm by now and we headed up to see our room. I booked a 6B on the spa deck. All four of us together in a room again! We did this on our first two cruises but in smaller rooms! This room is 156 square feet but seems much larger. The sofa is a day bed and the fourth bed is a Pullman right above it. We have a ceiling to floor plate glass window that really affords a wonderful view. It’s at about at 70 degree angle and has sheer curtains, as well as a heavy curtain to block the light. A small table and two chairs also. No one can walk outside your window so this is really private. It really makes the room seem so much larger. DD18 commented that it was like having a balcony only air conditioned! I agree.
Left the room and since the spa is 30 feet away we found ourselves taking a spa tour. I wanted to check out the facilities and see the hot tubs and lap pool with the rock waterfall. I’m a ” Pool Guy”, having been in the swimming pool/spa business for 25 years so of course I can be very critical. But not today! I’m on vacation…….(I’d already checked out the Glory’s CDC scores!)
We came back to the room to find most of our luggage had arrived. The most important bag, mine with (2) 32oz RumRunners, was there so I was happy. Our garment bag and “gadget bag” showed up an hour or so later. I had purchased a collapsible cooler for the trip and we filled it with Pepsi, Ginger ale and a bottle of wine that we had walked on with. We met our cabin steward Emmanuel from the Philippines (and his assistant Pia from Thailand) and asked him to fill it up with ice. He said no problem and took it away and brought it back 5 minutes later. Great guy and very personable. Pia is very quiet!
Next, DD22 and I went to the internet café to sign up for service. We’re an online family so I sprang for the 250 minutes for $100 and received an extra 20 minutes “free”. The girls have to check Facebook and email as do I! And I can’t forget about Cruise Critic!
At 3:30 an announcement was made saying the Muster Drill started in 15 minutes! Capers said 4pm. Hmmmmmm. We made our way up to the room to meet DW and DD18 and get our life jackets and headed back down to deck 4 right on time (to the minute!).
Don’t take me as being critical when I write this but Carnival is really lacking with the muster drill! On all our six previous cruises we were always either counted or made to sound off our room number to make sure that everyone was accounted for. Today everyone (including the crew) just stood around talking, laughing and yawning waiting for it be over. Our crew guy was playing with some kids the whole time! Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t bother me at all….just an observation. If the ship sinks just don’t get in MY way!!!

Then up to the room to drop off the lifejackets and on to the Aft Bar for the CC meet & greet.
Met Kathi & her daughter Danielle from Largo, FL. Ken and his wife from Cocoa. Dennis and his wife from outside Memphis, TN. And a couple more. Not nearly as many as were online but it’s about quality not quantity right? Ordered some drinks and chatted. Got there around 4:15 and stayed until 5pm. We made plans to go to the Straw Market with Kathi and her daughter Danielle in the morning. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. It’s always nice to meet the people you’ve been corresponding with for the last few months! We love making new cruise friends!

We picked the first seating for our dinners and we were assigned the Platinum dining room on deck 3. We were seated with a lovely couple from Bradenton, FL, Rick and Gina. Two boys, 15 & 9. And Rick’s parents who are visiting from New Zealand, George and his wife (her name escapes me). Rick was born and raised in New Zealand and has been stateside for over 20 years. The family business in New Zealand is dairy cows. They own a couple “cattle stations” back home! Ranches to you and me! Very large ranches.
For dinner I ordered the fried Tiger Shrimp (4 large straightened shrimp). DW had a chicken dish with noodles. Sorry but we forget the name.
Girls both enjoyed the Tilapia. DD18 was a little upset that the Carnival classic menu didn’t include salmon. I had read online that it did. It does however include snapper as the fish choice nightly. DW wasn’t too crazy about her chicken dish. I told the table about the warm chocolate melting cake and everyone ordered it for dessert! It was as advertised. Like eating warm brownie batter! With vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Walked around the lobby a bit then went back to the room. DW decided to stay in and DD22 and I headed down to the piano bar. I had heard so much about Russell and he was all that and more! We were there for 4 hours! Made new friends, sang and drank! Russell played without a break. Seems he played everything we asked for. Great guy! Then around 1am DD22 and I decided to call it a night and headed off to our cabin!

[boaterette]

I am really enjoying yur review. Looking forward to more of it. Thank you for taking the time to post.

[falkcor]

thanks for your review - - seems there's a flurry of loyal royal's reviewing their first carnival cruises recently - looking forward to seeing your full comments

Originally Posted by dolfandude

I booked a 6B on the spa deck. All four of us together in a room again! We did this on our first two cruises but in smaller rooms! This room is 156 square feet but seems much larger. The sofa is a day bed and the fourth bed is a Pullman right above it. We have a ceiling to floor plate glass window that really affords a wonderful view. It really makes the room seem so much larger. DD18 commented that it was like having a balcony only air conditioned! I agree.

one comment re: your room - the family oceanview staterooms on the spa deck... first re: category, they're considered 6E currently. second, it wasn't just the windows - they are bigger... 230 sq ft, actually

most oceanview on the larger, newer ships (destiny, 'triumph', conquest, splendor and dream classes) on carnival are at least 220 sq ft, and a few larger.

and just another friendly fyi for a carnival newbie - they are in the process of converting these cabins to balconies on several of the ships as they go in to dry dock. too bad, if you ask me...

[dolfandude]

Originally Posted by falkcor

thanks for your review - - seems there's a flurry of loyal royal's reviewing their first carnival cruises recently - looking forward to seeing your full comments



one comment re: your room - the family oceanview staterooms on the spa deck... first re: category, they're considered 6E currently. second, it wasn't just the windows - they are bigger... 230 sq ft, actually

most oceanview on the larger, newer ships (destiny, 'triumph', conquest, splendor and dream classes) on carnival are at least 220 sq ft, and a few larger.

and just another friendly fyi for a carnival newbie - they are in the process of converting these cabins to balconies on several of the ships as they go in to dry dock. too bad, if you ask me...

You are absolutely right! 6E and larger! Sorry, the first part of my review was written Sunday afternoon while onboard and feeling the effects of the night before! I had heard about converting these rooms to balcony cabins before and that's a shame! Being summer we enjoyed this room as much as we enjoyed our one balcony cabin (in December) aboard the NCL Jewel.
Steve

[cmecruise1962]

I am getting so excited for my cruise!! Thank you for posting!

[scperk]

Thanks for posting Steve, I've always talked about doing a review and never have...It was nice meeting you and Mary although we never saw you again....We ran into Kathy and Danielle everywhere we went.....Kathy said she was posting a review as well....Dennis

[Melmel1017]

You can actually bring a full cooler on board without out it being confiscated or emptied. How did you do this?

[jax430]

I can't wait to read more of your review. Sailing on the Glory in a few weeks!!!

[Host Michell]

I'm enjoying your review so far, as well. One minor point -- the Norwegian Sun which is coming to Port Canaveral is not the former Pride of Aloha -- that would be the Norwegian Sky, which sails 3 and 4 day itineraries out of Miami.

[kathiean]

Thanks, Steve...you are bringing back wonderful memories! I want to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kathie

[dolfandude]

Originally Posted by Melmel1017

You can actually bring a full cooler on board without out it being confiscated or emptied. How did you do this?

I brought a collapsible cooler on board along with Pepsi, Ginger Ale and wine separately. It wasn't full when I boarded. I had room steward fill it with ice.

Steve

[dolfandude]

Sunday – woke up to a nice headache at 7:30am! I’m getting too old for this! Trying to hang with the 22 year old! She’s a senior in college and a sorority girl…need I say more?
Met Kathi and Danielle at 9am. This was our fourth time in Nassau so I know my way around pretty well. We headed to the Straw Market. It was HOT! No ventilation to speak of. About half of the booths were not open yet. Some don’t open at all on Sunday. The women all got some good deals on the infamous knock off purses (please keep your flames on this to yourself or you will receive my wrath! You know who you are!)
While we were leaning on the seawall waiting for the younger girls to come out, we witnessed a young girl about 17 simply pass out while walking directly in front of us. The pour thing hit her head on the pavement and started convulsing. Her father picked her up and a couple locals helped with water and fans. When she came to about 30 seconds later she didn’t know what had happened. She seemed to be ok after 15 minutes or so. A really sobering experience especially if you have kids.
The girls wanted to go to Senor Frogs but they weren’t open yet. It was about 10:30am. From there we walked down the main street for 45 minutes or so waiting for Senor Frogs to open (10:59am is the posted opening time!) We checked out the shops that were open. I’d say around 40% were closed, with it being Sunday. Got to Frogs around 11:30am. It was already packed! We ordered some drinks. Lots of balloon hats were being made and passed around. The MC was going around talking to folks and having them sing impromptu karaoke. They had a female only frozen drink chug (thru a straw). The poor girls all got “brain freezes”!
Then they started a Conga line. My DD18 Caitlyn and Danielle joined in and had a blast. Kathi joined them. Then more dancing and having shots squeezed into your mouth! Senor Frogs doesn’t have a drinking age…only a drinking height! We actually had a fun time at Senor Frogs this time. This coming from the man who called it a filthy dump last January. What a difference the summer makes. In January it was on 25% full and NOTHING was going on. Just very low volume music. This time it WAS hopping! And full. I stand corrected!

From there it was back to the ship to get lunch. We got to the ship around 1:20pm. We had to be onboard by 1:30pm and there was a line. We waited about 15 minutes in line to board. We headed up to the Lido deck buffet for lunch. Today’s buffet lunch was Mexican. We live in NW Georgia and our little town is home to around 8 Mexican restaurants and we eat at a couple often so I opted for another grilled Reuben! Mary got a grilled ham and cheese. The girls got hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone enjoyed their lunches. I would have thought Carnival would have more of selection on their buffet. Not just the “International” lunch. RCL did the same thing this past January on the Monarch of the Seas. And yes, I realize Carnival offers the deli, fish and chips and Chinese bar (not very good). DW wanted something hot and not “fast food”. But the sandwiches hit the spot.
The girls decided to lay out by the pool for a while and didn’t have a problem finding an open chair which surprised me. The usual “chair hogs” were visible all week but it wasn’t excessive. If you got to the pool by 10am or so you could find a chair.
DW Mary and I explored the ship a bit. We went in search of the secret door to the front of the ship’s bow deck. I was told the doors were on decks 9, 7 and 6. The door on deck 9 was locked. The door on deck 7 however was open and if afforded us a nice quiet place to watch our Bahamian sail away. The bridge was right above us and we could see the crew inside. There are no chairs however. There are also stairs to the bow on deck 6. Here there are two wooden chests that you can sit on but if you do, you lose your view (unless you have a really long upper body!). We went there later in the week also. This is a great “secret” place. We were the only ones there both times.

Tonight is formal night so the girls headed to the cabin around 4:30 to start getting ready.
We arrived shortly thereafter. I brought a suit to wear for dinner. We enjoy dressing up for formal night. We usually have a family picture done each cruise. We did this in January so we opted not to go crazy with the photos this night. This time we only made one stop at a photographer. On the Monarch I swear we spent an hour going to 4 different photographers for pictures. DW’s idea but I like the pictures we purchased. The RCL photographers seemed to take more time with us, posing us and discussing what we’d like. The Carnival photographers seemed to just want to get it over with. I watched several “sessions” throughout the week and this is the impression I came away with. Again, just an observation.
We had planned to meet Kathi and Danielle at the Captain’s Reception but didn’t make it. Sorry Kathi!
On this cruise it looked as though most guys wore slacks and shirts for dinner. There were several suits but I don’t recall seeing anyone in a tuxedo. On RCL and NCL you see tuxedos a lot. Mostly on over 50 folks. I made it a point to observe the ages of our fellow cruisers. Carnival certainly does attract a younger crowd than RCL or NCL. But the number of children was about the same.
Dinner was fine. Nothing spectacular but good. DD18 & I had the lobster & shrimp. Only one small tail and four grilled tiger shrimp. But our waiter brought me another complete plate right before I finished. I didn’t ask for it but enjoyed half of the second tail. I gave DD18 the other half and DD22 some of the shrimp. DW had the prime rib. It was almost medium well which is not good for her prime rib but edible. DD22 ordered the NY Strip medium rare and it arrived at the table well done! She sent it back and the replacement was medium well! She wasn’t happy but ate most of it. We don’t cruise “for the food” so we don’t let little bumps like this affect our attitude (unlike some posters!). Don’t get me wrong, we love a great meal…. And we’d get tomorrow evening in the Emerald Room.
The waiters sang and danced again. Ours pulled DD18 up to dance. She’s danced since she could walk and if he didn’t pick her she probable would have gotten up anyway!
A good time was had by all.
After dinner we all headed to the cabin to change and then we seemed to part company. DW and DD22 Leslie hit the shops. DD18 went to meet her new friend and I headed for the casino.
Played blackjack for about an hour. Leslie and Mary came and found me. Actually walked away ahead for a change!

We headed for the piano bar again! We couldn’t get enough of Russell. Did I mention he was awesome? LOL! The comedian’s adult performance was scheduled for 10:30pm in the Ebony Cabaret which is right next door to the Cinn-a-bar piano bar. I had walked over there at 9:30 and asked a waiter what time we should get there to get a seat and he said 10pm. Mary went over at 10pm and came back saying all the seats were taken! But…….luckily our new friend Kathi had saved us seats!! Yea Kathi!! Lewis Nixon was the comedian and he was hilarious. It lasted about an hour. Afterwards we decided to call it an early (11:30pm) night and headed off to our cabin. Tomorrow is a sea day and we plan to relax in preparation of our day trip Tuesday to the British Virgins Islands!
More to come……….

Steve

[dolfandude]

Originally Posted by MichellP

I'm enjoying your review so far, as well. One minor point -- the Norwegian Sun which is coming to Port Canaveral is not the former Pride of Aloha -- that would be the Norwegian Sky, which sails 3 and 4 day itineraries out of Miami.

Thanks for correcting me. We saw the NCL Sky in Nassau this past January and knew she was our Aloha! My mistake!

[MamaParrotHead]

I'm curious about the "Mexican only" buffet...which side of the buffet did you try? Was only one side open? I only ask because I know on our previous cruises, one side of the buffet (near the main pool) was the International cuisine. The other side of the buffet (where all the indoor seating is) had the standard buffet fare.

[rreeyy]

thanks for a great trip report so far it fells like I am on the cruise with u guys thanks.....




Rey

[gaylebd]

love the review!!

Thanks for sharing - keep it coming

I hope you continue to have a great time!

[Eeyore4me]

Loving your review! I am on this cruise August 15th...so this is getting me ready!


Lauren

[happy flamingo]

Thanks for your wonderful review! Going on the Glory for the 2nd time in September - will also be my sister and BIL's first cruise. Sounds like you had a great time! I also live in NW GA and know what you mean about the Mexican restaurants - we live in a small town and there must be 7 of them here - we have our 2 favorites though that are really good.

[MomtoCCC]

I'm anxious to read more! Thanks for posting.

[dolfandude]

Originally Posted by happy flamingo

Thanks for your wonderful review! Going on the Glory for the 2nd time in September - will also be my sister and BIL's first cruise. Sounds like you had a great time! I also live in NW GA and know what you mean about the Mexican restaurants - we live in a small town and there must be 7 of them here - we have our 2 favorites though that are really good.

Are your two favorites El Publitos and El Nepal?
Go Yellow Jackets!!!!

Steve