Glory 8/29/09 - 09/05/09 Cruise Review

[kjeanne2001]

BACKGROUND

We left our hometown around 4:00p.m. on Friday heading down to Port Canaveral. This cruise included myself, my husband Rocky, my daughter Angela and her boyfriend Philip. This was our 4th cruise and Philip’s 3rd cruise. We had all been on Glory before so navigating the ship was much easier this time. I chose this cruise for the itinerary as I had never been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten and also just as a relaxation cruise. My younger daughter and her boyfriend usually cruise with us but this year couldn’t arrange their schedules to fit this cruise in.

DAY 1 Embarkation

We arrived at Port Canaveral around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and checked into Country Inn and Suites. We had a room with 2 queens. Very clean room. We scheduled the shuttle for 11:00 a.m. We stayed at the CI&S last year and really enjoyed the shuttle service. There were more people this year than last year but we got on the shuttle a little after 11 and were entering the terminal around 11:30. After check in we had to wait in the terminal. We were Zone 4 and were onboard at approximately 12:40. I love hearing that wonderful first ding of the sign and sail going in the slot. Vacation has officially started! The waiting just appeared to take longer than it really did because we were so excited to be getting on the ship. Stopped at the Golden Dining Room to check out our table - we had a booth for 4 in the Golden Lower which was what we wanted so all was good and then on up to the Lido for lunch. Had lunch and then went to the aft bar to meet some of our Roll Call cruise mates. I asked about the Drink of the Day card but Glory did not have them. After that we wandered around the ship and then had muster drill. After drill we went up on deck to watch sail away and got the Fun Ship Special. We had the late sitting of 8:15 in the Golden Dining Room. I Made and ‘Chart’ were our servers and we could not have asked for better servers. Our Maitre’D Paul was enjoyable and could really sing! We all voted they were the best we had had yet. I had ribs for supper, Rocky had shrimp, Angela had Tilapia and Philip had the Flat Iron Steak. It was all good. Cream Brulee tonight for dessert and of course banana split for me and Philip which ended up being a nightly dessert.

[kjeanne2001]

We were on Empress Deck. We also had a great room Steward Thana - she seemed to know whenever we left the room. When we did see her she was very friendly and did an excellent job at cleaning our room. Angela and Philip had Soup and he was excellent as well. Played some slots and won $71.00 which was the most I won all week.

This was the items in our goodie basket



We loved coming back to our room to find our "friends"



Dinner 1st night

[kjeanne2001]

DAY 2 NASSAU

Arrived at Nassau and it was raining. We got off the ship at 9:00a.m.. We decided to do the Yellowbird Excursion through Carnival and boy am I glad we did. This excursion is FUN! BEWARE- the rum flows freely! As we were riding out to Blackbeards Caye the rain stopped, still a little cloudy but nice. It is a good ride over - right by the lighthouse that I love. Arrived at Blackbeards - walked through a path in the woods - saw lots of hermit crabs and onto the beach. As the Yellowbird was not full today and we were the only ones there - there were no crowds. They do have clean bathroom facilities but no food or drink was open this day. You only get to stay about 1 ½ hours but we enjoyed the time that we were there. Then back on the “party boat” for a fun time back to the ship. Did a little shopping in Nassau and then to the Lido for lunch.

[Payd]

Fabulous review so far. Thanks for including the pictures!!

[GWoman8920]

Originally Posted by kjeanne2001

DAY 2 NASSAU

Arrived at Nassau and it was raining. We got off the ship at 9:00a.m.. We decided to do the Yellowbird Excursion through Carnival and boy am I glad we did. This excursion is FUN! BEWARE- the rum flows freely! As we were riding out to Blackbeards Caye the rain stopped, still a little cloudy but nice. It is a good ride over - right by the lighthouse that I love. Arrived at Blackbeards - walked through a path in the woods - saw lots of hermit crabs and onto the beach. As the Yellowbird was not full today and we were the only ones there - there were no crowds. They do have clean bathroom facilities but no food or drink was open this day. You only get to stay about 1 ½ hours but we enjoyed the time that we were there. Then back on the “party boat” for a fun time back to the ship. Did a little shopping in Nassau and then to the Lido for lunch.

Was the staw market open? we are sailing the same itenerary and can't seem to get a straight answer as far as whether or not it's open on sundays. thanks!!! Great review so far!! can't wait to read more!

[kjeanne2001]

Originally Posted by GWoman8920

Was the staw market open? we are sailing the same itenerary and can't seem to get a straight answer as far as whether or not it's open on sundays. thanks!!! Great review so far!! can't wait to read more!

I'm sorry, I don't know - we didn't go down that far - I looked at some of my pics but it doesn't show the straw market

[kjeanne2001]

We just hung out the rest of the evening until time for Dinner. Tonight was formal night. I wished I had written down what the food was each night but didn’t. Philip and Rocky had the Lobster and Shrimp. Headed to the Piano Bar with Russell, who by the way is great. This was the day of the Captain’s Celebration but we didn’t go.









The waiters sang for us tonight



And of course, our friend at the end of the day

[kjeanne2001]

A few more formal night pics

[BaseballMomof4]

Great review so far!! Please keep it coming!! Do you have any photos of your cabin?

[tammi0916]

Originally Posted by kjeanne2001

I'm sorry, I don't know - we didn't go down that far - I looked at some of my pics but it doesn't show the straw market

We cruised on the Glory in July and the Straw Market was open on Sunday, but did not hope unitl 11 (I think) we went after our snorkeling trip.

Tam

[WAcruisers]

Wonderful start to a great review. Love your pictures

[kjeanne2001]

We had inside staterooms on the Empress Deck - Rooms 7292 and 7302.

[poptart]

Enjoying your review and pictures! Looking forward to the rest

[kjeanne2001]

DAY 3 - SEA DAY

Slept in a little this morning and just hung out on deck. Deck was really windy on this day. Last year I never made it to the spa area so this year decided to do that. Rocky and I went to the hot tub and sit for awhile. The water wasn’t too hot so we didn’t stay long.

[luvmy2kids]

Hey, I'll be on the Glory again next week. Thanks for the review.

Question: Was the beach at Blackbeard's clean? We went a few years ago (well, it was in 2006) and the water was not clear and there were even some cement blocks and garbage in the water. Also got eaten alive by the sand fleas. Did you encounter any of those? I'm considering the excursion you took so I'd like to hear more about it to decide if I'm willing to try it again. Thanks!

[cjkumbaya]

Very nice review so far - looking forward to more. Thanks sharing your trip and your photos. We were on the Glory in May and will be again in November - really enjoyed the ship and crew.

[kjeanne2001]

Sushi Bar

[kjeanne2001]

Tonight they had a Martini Tasting - 4 Martini’s for $15.00



Dinner




SHOWTIME




Then to the Piano Bar with Russell

[kjeanne2001]

[quote=luvmy2kids;21153936

Question: Was the beach at Blackbeard's clean? We went a few years ago (well, it was in 2006) and the water was not clear and there were even some cement blocks and garbage in the water. Also got eaten alive by the sand fleas. Did you encounter any of those? I'm considering the excursion you took so I'd like to hear more about it to decide if I'm willing to try it again. Thanks![/quote

I'm not sure if you can tell from this pic but the water was very clear the day we were there and it had been raining that morning. You can see their legs under the water.



Philip did get some bites on his ankles which we felt was from walking through the woods to the beach. I didn't see any garbage or cement blocks in the water. It was a very clean beach and I would not hesitate to do it again. We met in front of the gangway at 9:00 and we walked to the area before you get to the straw market and Senor Frogs. Drinks started flowing as soon as we got on the boat. It was a nice quiet ride over - total we only had about an hour at the beach. On the way back there was alot of music and dancing and more rum! It really was alot of fun and I will definitely do it again if I go back to Nassau.

[Julienatul]

Great review!!! We had a great time on the sailing too. I went to the aft bar but never found anyone. Funny I was just about to post a review too. I just transfered all 300 photos to my computer.