Glory Review

[SURPRISE1]

Embarkation:

Wow! Quick, painless, and easy. We got to the pier at about 11:15 and were sitting on the Lido deck eating our first lunch by 11:40. No lines, no time to even put passport away. A super start.

After lunch, we walked around the ship a bit and were in our rooms by 1:40. Luggage (all bags except 1) arrived shortly after. The last bag arrived a few hours later. While in our room our cabin steward, Paquito, came and introduced himself. We saw him a lot and he always referred to us by name and took excellent care of us.

We had packed a swimsuit but didn't get to swimming, just walked around the boat a bit and had a sail away cocktail before late seating dinner and the show. Muster drill was at 4:00 for anyone planning a meet and greet. I would suggest the any bar in the midship location for M&G as our bar was closed and it was disappointing. The casino bar would be a great place as the casino itself isn't open and would make a fun place to meet others. There are windowed seat all along the outside for those who need to rest.

I only have two small complaints...6th floor midship room 6304 was located directly above the casino. Could hear slot machines and hooting and hollering all night long. Ear plugs are a must .

Fun Day at Sea

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (out of habit and excitement). I wandered the ship for an hour, which was glorious--nobody around at all--very peaceful. Then I went to the gym, which opens at 6:00 a.m. and ran 10 miles on the treadmill. If you are a gym goer, get there early (before 7:30) especially on a sea day. A day at sea was perfect way to start the cruise--relaxing in the sun and listening to Calypso music. There were plently of lounge chairs especially if you went up near the kid's slide enterance. Nice breeze and not crowed. Bar service was available but no one was pushy which I liked. Beware of the soft ice cream machine, it is addicting. I want on installed in my kitchen!

Cozumel

We booked an amazing snorkeling tour through Eagle Ray ($65/pp) and that was certainly the way to go. A short cab ride to the small boat, which we got to ride on top of and bask in the sun. Leo and Syed took great care of us, taking us to three different reefs, including where the it drops off into deep water. We saw sharks, rays, jellyfish, scads of fish, and a sea turtle. Then we had an included Mexican lunch at a nice restaurant before returning to the ship. We were in the water for probably 3-4 hours--fabulous.

Belize

The only port you have to tender. We had to wait because of a bad storm and they didn't want to board the tenders. We finally got on a tender and it was about a 20-minute tender. When we got off it was absolutely pouring with a lot of thunder and lightning. We were booked on a Zip Line tour through Jaguar Paw (passed on the cavetubing). We were supposed to do Jungle Tumble but it was closed due to erosion. The storm worsened as we made our way the hour drive to the resort and we were a bit worried. But magically, the rain cleared up just as we got out of the van and we had a great zip lining experience with kind and very safety conscious guides. Then we had a delicious Belizean lunch in the air conditioned lodge of this resort. All this for $55 pp plus tips--a great value I thought.

Costa Maya

We got off and entered the village where my daughter got her hair braided. Even in this village you can barter and get good deals. Then we took a bus to Mahahaul, a short trip for $3 pp bus ride and a $2 pp cabride back. We had a relaxed beach day and had some good nachos and cheap beer. We also strolled the 5 blocks and enjoyed the experience of all the vendors and restaurant owners begging us to come in. After the beach we headed back to the village for a swim and drink at the swim up bar before getting back on board. A nice, inexpensive day.

Naussa

We did the Blackbeard's Stingray and beach day tour through Carnival. I wouldn't bother with the stingray portion. We had been to Sr. Martin and stingray island 2 years ago and nothing will compare to that experience. The beach is beautiful and a grilled lunch is included. Nice relaxing day. We booked through Carnival because we had a huge OBC $600 to spend. No problem spending that. We still came out spending an additional $200.

Food

Food and wait staff were excellent. I was disappointed in the dessert selection but hey I didn't need all those calories. The choc. melting cake is great poured over extra vanilla ice cream! Available daily and is better off of the buffet as it seems to be more cooked there with the heat lamps. I ordered several SPA menu items and they were all terrific. We did go to the Supper Club and it was great. Well worth the extra $30/pp. Our three kids went to the main dining room and had their 5 course meal while we dined in the supper club. They loved being treated like royalty and the wait staff got a kick out of them. The children traveling with us were 12,13 & 16.

Kids Clubs

Our children loved the kids clubs, however they would not allow them to change age groups so they could all be together. I would encourage all kids to register and make certain they attend the get to know you session on the first night. They kids bound into groups "cliques" quickly and if you were not there the first night the kids may be left out.

Shows

The show on the first night is not worth attending. You are tired and need to register for kids clubs and unpack. It really wasn't anything. However do not miss the rest of the shows. They were great! The dancers and singers were terrific and the comedians weren't so bad either.

Drinks

Thurs eve they set up a martini bar in the casino. I have a new favorite drink, Mangotini. Wow was that the best drink I have ever had. They mix the cocktail then pour it through an ice sculpture to chill it. $10.25 so beware if you like them. Was thankful the martini bar wasn't set up until Thurs. instead of Monday. Fri they do the same with Mojitos.

Disembarking was an issue. Because we stopped in Belize we were told customs really checks our luggage well. It tooks hours to get off the ship and they kept appologizing for the delays. It was rumored someone was found smuggling drugs and therefore the process slowed to a crawl. There were numbered luggage tags distributed and you got off the ship when they called your number. Take your time and go to the dining room for breakfast. Enjoy the morning. French toast is yummy. Waffle no so much. Anyway, it tooks us until 10:15 to get off the ship which I hear is unusual and my only other conplaint.

I have only been on 4 crusies, 2 Royal, 1 Disney and 1 Carnival. I felt Carnival was a great value and would book with them again. I am kinda a foodie and I didn't see any difference between any of the crusies.

Hope this helps out some of you as there isn't much info out there on the Glory.

[Cigar Dude]

Very nice. Glad you had a good time.

In regards to Belize, we were on Glory last September and we also went to Belize but I don't recall there being a problem like you stated. What were they concerned with? Drugs?


Post any pictures that you have from the trip!

We didn't get to Costa Maya. Instead we went to Roatan, which we loved.

[HMC RET]

Hey there, we were onthe ship with you all and we got off with no problems, we did the early disembarkation and it took 20 min. to get off. No problems through customs for us. I wonder if someone got caught with something after we went through. They only asked us if we purchased anything made of wood.

[firefly4423]

glad to hear you had a good time and enjoyed yourself!

[MamaParrotHead]

Great review! I'm DYING here...like 114 more days to go!