A long review of the cruise that made us love Carnival again...Carnival Glory!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

This will be a long and hopefully informative review of our October 17th sailing on the Glory. As a long time Carnival fan, I have to begin by saying that although our last few cruises have been “good”, they felt a little flat and left us wondering if it was time to try a new cruise line. I am happy to report that this cruise lived up to all my expectations and would rank as one of our very best.

A bit of background on us: I am 42 and my DH is 33. This was my 10th Carnival cruise and his 8th. We were celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary and cruise every year in October. We were originally booked on the Saints and Sinners cruise on the Legend that left on Sunday, but had to change due to a scheduling conflict that required us to be home on Saturday. Also, we had tried on 2 prior cruises to get to Costa Maya, so we decided that it was time to attempt it again! More on that later!

As a mother, it is always so hard for me to leave the kids to cruise without them. This was no exception. I had been attempting to find peace about it and rid myself of some of the guilt, so I found a new way of looking at it. I pictured the calendar year as a deck of cards. There are 52 cards in the deck and 52 weeks in the year. I imagined myself taking one card out and then saw just how big the remaining stack was. This symbolized the one little week we take each year to have “couple time” compared to the other 51 weeks that our lives revolve around being parents. Although I still missed them terribly, it did make me feel a little less guilty.

After weeks of dreading saying bye to the kids, the day finally came. On Friday I said goodbye to my 17 year old son and he must have really been choked up inside but hid it quite well. I think he was more interested in how much money I would be leaving for him to run around on while his grandparents were here. Our 13 year old daughter however was a total basket case that morning. She actually still likes having her mommy around…well most of the time. We dropped her at school at 7:15, said our tearful goodbyes, and were on our way. We set the GPS to the Radisson at Port Canaveral and hit the road. We were excited to arrive around 5:30 and get checked in so that we could get to the Meet and Greet from our roll call that was scheduled for the pool area at 6:00. We were happy to meet Steve, Donna and Tim, Moni and Bob, and Kenny and Lori. They were all so friendly and fun to be around that we knew we were in for a great week. After a few minutes of socializing, we headed down the road to eat dinner at Grill’s. The atmosphere was great and the food was delicious. We shared an appetizer of wings, and each enjoyed a big, juicy cheeseburger and some cold draft. Vacation was officially underway. After dinner, we went to Ron Jon’s to get t-shirts for the kids and then headed back to the pool at the Radisson for a few drinks and socializing. Around 10:00 it was last call and we were beginning to feel the long day and the many miles. It was time for bed so we could get up early in hopes of seeing the Glory sail into port. We were fortunate to have a room in the same area as we had on a previous cruise which allowed a magnificent view of the port. Our room was #331. If staying at the Radisson, this would be a great room. Tip: the room is a little warm although it has a ceiling fan. An additional personal fan would be nice to have.

Due to the heat and also the anticipation, I was unable to sleep. I may as well have been a 6 year old on Christmas morning….if I was up….everyone should be! After countless paces in front of the window, at 5:00 am, I saw a ship approaching in the distance. The lights, the majesty, the size…but not the Farcus funnel! It was the Disney Magic making her way into port. Although it was a tremendous sight, it was not my ship, not my ride. Where was the Glory??? I paced and paced until 7:00am, determined that the ship should be here by now. We repeatedly tried to pull the web cam on our Blackberry, but the site was down. Finally, at 7:50 we saw the big red funnel sailing into the channel. I squealed like I had never seen a ship before. It was cruise time!! We rushed to breakfast, which by the way is complimentary at the Radisson. As a life time egg hater, I shocked even myself when I ordered an omelet after observing the station. I have to admit, it was delicious! Do not miss this if you stay here. The buffet was excellent and was sure to hold us until we could get to the Lido deck! Just a few more hours!

When staying at the Radisson, you can leave your car in their lot and take their shuttle to the port. Very convenient, but also very popular. By the time we remembered to call several weeks before to book the shuttle, they were down to departures at 12:30 and beyond. Well being the impatient woman that I am, this would never do. We left our car in their lot, but arranged for a cab to pick us up at 10:00. The fare to the port was only $10.00 for the 2 of us, and was much simpler than piling into a shuttle with several other families. We arrived at the port at 10:15 and were in the terminal by 10:30. Port Canaveral had their act together. It was the easiest embark you could ask for, especially the VIP lounge since we were Platinum. Around 11:15 one of the Carnival reps let us know that we would be boarding shortly although there seemed to be a pretty good stream of people still getting off the ship which seemed rather odd. We then found out that the reason the ship was delayed getting into port was that on the way back to port, the officers on the bridge spotted a small fishing vessel in trouble. An American had flown to Freeport, Bahamas and gone out on a fishing expedition. They were approximately 50 miles off shore when they were spotted by the bridge. They had been drifting at sea for 5 days and were taking on water. The officers lowered the lifeboat and rescued the men. Hearing this story sure made up for being a few minutes late to board. What a miracle!! The Carnival reps made the boarding process so much fun. There were 3 weddings boarding before the zone 1 VIP passengers, but the process went so quickly. By 11:40 we were walking onto the ship and heading upstairs in the Lido for our first lunch, Fish and Chips! Yum

Next up….first day on the ship, and lots of pictures!

[gooselover]

We were on Glory the week before you! Two eventful things happened - some people were robbed in Nassau, and I witnessed our rescue on Friday night!

Had a wonderful time and everything was so perfect. Loved the ports and LOVED LOVED our aft balcony cabin!

[boaterette]

I am enjoying your review thank you.

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Originally Posted by gooselover

We were on Glory the week before you! Two eventful things happened - some people were robbed in Nassau, and I witnessed our rescue on Friday night!

Had a wonderful time and everything was so perfect. Loved the ports and LOVED LOVED our aft balcony cabin!

Cool! We probably saw you leave! We also had our first aft wrap. It was incredible.

[AryMay]

Looking forward to more....and especially those pictures you promised!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

The Glory is a beautiful ship. We have been on only one Conquest Class before, so we were excited to experience something new. We knew that the layout could be a bit difficult to navigate, but were actually pretty comfortable with the surroundings. After our Fish and Chips, we decided to explore a little. It was a cool and breezy day, so our swimsuits stayed tucked in our carry on bag for the duration. The first mandatory “we have arrived pictures” below.





Love the pictures that always seem to look like we have been punched in the eye. Where are our sunglasses???


Finally 1:30 finally arrived and it was time for the moment of truth. About 3 weeks before we sailed, we got a wild hair and decided to upgrade to our first 9A wrap. I could not wait to see it. It sure wasn’t a let down!



We had arranged on our roll call to have our new friends to stop by for sail away. We ended up with 22 people on the balcony at one point. We actually could have fit a few more!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

We had a great time watching sail away from our balcony, and looked forward to our first sunset. It was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. As pretty as the pictures are, they do not do it justice.






We had a wonderful first evening at sea with sights so beautiful that we could barely believe our eyes. At one point Chris said the Host Mach had it right. It is almost impossible to describe the beauty of the sea. When the wake turns from aqua to the deepest of blues, it is like looking at ink. There are no words to do justice to the wonder of it and the feeling one gets from staring into it and taking in the sight of it all.

Next up…dinner. Anyone want some food porn pics?

[scorp111]

Great review and pics so far!

We sail on her in 24 days

We watched her sail out on 10/10. Just hyped the anticipation more!

[LSEA]

Originally Posted by Lv2Camp&Cruise

As a mother, it is always so hard for me to leave the kids to cruise without them. This was no exception. I had been attempting to find peace about it and rid myself of some of the guilt, so I found a new way of looking at it. I pictured the calendar year as a deck of cards. There are 52 cards in the deck and 52 weeks in the year. I imagined myself taking one card out and then saw just how big the remaining stack was. This symbolized the one little week we take each year to have “couple time” compared to the other 51 weeks that our lives revolve around being parents. Although I still missed them terribly, it did make me feel a little less guilty.

Love this! I have the same struggle. Like you, I go one week per year and have a great time. But leading up to it I really beat myself up and second guess. I will remember next time there are 52 cards in the deck!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

First evening on the ship…Dinner anyone?

My new friend Rhonda that I had chatted with on the roll call had invited us to link our table seating with their group. She was traveling with her husband Mark, their friends Dan and Brenda, and friends Bob and Leslie. Now you never know who you will get assigned seating with so we were pretty excited to be linked with a group who seemed to have things in common with us. At our sail away party, we met and compared table assignments and were sad to learn that not only were we not at the same table, but we were in a totally separate dining room. Not wanting to intrude, I told Rhonda not to worry about it. Being the sweetheart that she is, she insisted that we head immediately to see the Maitre’d and get the assignments switched. We were thrilled at how easy it was since they actually were at a table for 8 but only had 6 people assigned to it. The assistant Maitre’d quickly made the switch and off we went. We were in the Golden Dining room, forward, table 206 for late seating. This turned out to be the best decision we could have made. To say that we enjoyed the dining room is a huge understatement. Our head waiter, Christopher, was the best we have ever had. He may as well have not taken our orders because he was determined that we sample everything on the menu. He opened our wine that we brought every night, and never charged us a corkage fee. He told us that we had spent plenty for our cruise and that he was sure we would have a large enough sign and sail that our wine with dinner would surely not break Carnival. Our group “clicked” instantly and enjoyed the company and conversation like old friends. We dined, danced, and drank together through the week and it was surely the highlight of our cruise! We miss you guys!

We didn’t take pics of the food the first night but I promise we got every entrée the remainder of the week. I will post them by day so that all the foodies and planners will know what was offered each night. This may help folks choose which night to enjoy the Supper Club.

The first night we had the Chicken tender appetizer which was something I have not had or seen on the ship before. It was excellent. Of course Christopher felt I also needed a shrimp cocktail so I obliged! We both enjoyed the baby back ribs and they were some of the most tender we have had! For dessert, Chris had the Warm Chocolate Melting cake and I had the Vanilla Crème Brule. Both were awesome!

After dinner we made our way to the Ivory Club. Because we cruise annually, we get a little bored with the welcome aboard show. They seem to have many of the same jokes every time. We chose instead to listen to some live music which was excellent. They did a lot of cover music of Van Halen, The Cars, etc. We really enjoyed this! The ship had so much life music and all was excellent.

It had been a long first day and we finally decided to head to bed. Tomorrow is our first sea day! Stay tuned for more….

[Sassafrass'sMom]

Great review so far. We leave on the Glory this Saturday. Can't wait to read more.

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Day 2…At sea

After hitting the bed around 11:00 last night, we were hopeful for a great night’s sleep. However, we quickly found out that this may not be the most restful sleep we have had on a cruise. Several times during the night it sounded as if we were in a tin can, and someone was pulling the metal back on it. The sounds from above on the Lido deck were loud, obnoxious, and inescapable. Due to my husband’s need to sleep in a meat locker, we had brought a small fan on board with us. Thankfully this helped muffle just enough noise that we didn’t stand straight up in the bed when the scraping started. We did however, wake up and become irritated. We expected some level of noise, but were quite surprised at just how loud this was! I guess it was a trade off for the awesome balcony!

Now the location of our cabin was perfect. About 8 cabins down there was a set of stairs that led up one flight straight into the heart of the Lido buffet. Our morning routine began and I was excited to see my DH happy to make the morning jaunt to the Lido to get our breakfast. The table and chairs in our cabin made a perfect place to enjoy our breakfast with the incredible view of the wake. And of course, I was able to stay in my robe! The first morning was a wonderful breakfast of banana pancakes, bacon and delicious potatoes. Chris was quite surprised at the lack of crowds in the Lido for the entire trip.

After breakfast we looked through the capers to plan our day. The in room movies today were Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, New in Town, and Everyone’s Hero. At first we were a little bummed that we did not have the great weather we had anticipated for our first day at sea. But then we decided that this was a blessing in disguise and afforded us an opportunity to enjoy the ship’s activities that we always miss by lounging in the sun all day. Our first activity was the Cooking demonstration in the Emerald Room. I was very surprised to find it was standing room only, but it was very good. Later in the day was the slot tournament and Chris made it to the finals. Also, our roll call had a pre-planned slot tournament that was great fun. We had hoped to hit it big, but you know how that goes!
Later in the afternoon, Carnival had a new activity that I haven’t seen before. They had a Master Mixology contest. They selected 5 finalists to prepare their specialty cocktail. A team of judges then tasted each drink and declared the winner. This week’s winner was Simone’s drink called “Better than a Blonde”. The winning drink is then served the remained of the cruise and the contestant becomes a finalist in the fleet wide contest. Pretty cool! And a pretty good drink! For all you future cruisers, start testing your secret recipes now so you will be ready!

It was now late afternoon and we were ready for our pre dinner nap since we had late seating and wanted to enjoy the nightlife. When we returned to our cabin we discovered that our Canapé tray had been delivered for our Platinum perk. The tray had Shrimp on cucumber, prosciutto wrapped melon, tomato bites, and Salmon with cream cheese and capers on baguette. It was pretty tasty and a nice little snack before nap time.


Coming up next….if I can stay awake…..Elegant night.

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Elegant night…

It is common knowledge that Carnival has relaxed their dress code and changed Formal Night to Elegant night. Perhaps it was because this was a 7 night cruise, but the people looked fabulous! I saw more tuxedos on this cruise than on any other I have been on. It reminded me of something out of a movie to see so many couples, families and even teenagers dressed to the hilt! Here are some pics of our dining tablemates. No jeans or t-shirts to be seen! Aren't they handsome?!


Mark and Rhonda


Dan and Brenda


Bob and Leslie


The food in the dining room tonight was wonderful. The Lobster was prepared perfectly and the prime rib that Christopher decided I needed was excellent as well.
For starters, Chris had the stuffed mushrooms and I had the shrimp cocktail.




Somehow, we managed not to get pictures of the Lobster tail and Prime Rib, but I am sure there have been plenty on the boards before. For dessert I had the Caramel Apple in Puff pastry. Let me just say….Yum!



After dinner our friends went to the Martini Tasting while we changed before the Comedy Club. I am not a fan of Martinis at all, but they must have been pretty tasty. By the time we caught up with them, they were feeling good. The martini tasting was held at the burgundy bar which is right by the clubs and bars that are all aft. For $15.00, they got 4 medium sized martinis that they chose from a list. Everyone in the bar seemed to really enjoy it. This was another new activity that I had not seen before. Love seeing new things to spice things up!

Next up…the Comedy Club and bars of the Glory

[dave&micki]

We will be on the Glory in two weeks --Your review is awsome so far!! Just curious about the food demo?? What kind of foods did they prepare ??

[Ellilee]

DH and I were also on this cruise, and I agree - wasn't the sunset Saturday evening just divine! And I hate to admit it, but the 'rough seas' got to me on Sunday and I missed all of the festivities that I had been looking forward to participating in. Oh well, these things happen sometimes.

Were you by chance on Thursday's "Behind the Funship Tour" at 9:30am? You and your DH look familiar. If not, there was a couple on that tour that looked like the two of you.

I'm also working on a review and hope to start posting it tomorrow sometime - these reviews take some effort if you want to 'do it up right'. I look forward to reading the rest of your review!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

I love live comedy! I don’t love Vegas type shows! The Glory was perfect for me. Right now, the Glory is doing a test run of a Comedy Club which is held in the Ebony Cabaret. Each night, 2 comedians perform 2 shows each. The early show is rated PG and the late show for each is rated R. The tickets are free and can be obtained at either the Casino cage or the booth beside the Creams coffee bar on the Promenade. A nice touch for all the Platinum cruisers is that when you board the ship, there is a letter in your cabin detailing all your perks. On this letter it tells you that you do not need tickets. You can enter the lounge with only your card. Sweet! About 5 minutes before show time they begin to let people in without tickets. The shows were very popular but I never saw anyone turned away. The Comedy Club is hosted by “Big Sexy Josh” who is an up and comer with Carnival and will be a great Cruise director one day. We found the shows to be very good and a nice break from the same shows the frequent cruisers have seen several times. I hope to see the Comedy Club adopted fleet wide. It is a great addition to the entertainment onboard.

After the show we headed to the Piano Bar to check out Russel. Now he has a great voice, but sadly not a big crowd this night. There were several offices and staff in there, but not a lot of interaction with the crowd. After a few songs, we headed to the White Heat Disco and hit the dance floor for a couple of hours. My normally shy husband suddenly turned into John Travolta after consuming way too much Coconut rum and coke zero. I had to pull him out of there. Back to the balcony for a few minutes to unwind and we were joined by the infamous yellow birds that so many people have posted about. We had 2 that just seemed to want to hang with us for the week. They would sit nearly on top of our feet without a care in the world. They almost glowed in the dark and were a great ending to our day!



Done for the night but will continue the review tomorrow at our first

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Originally Posted by dave&micki

We will be on the Glory in two weeks --Your review is awsome so far!! Just curious about the food demo?? What kind of foods did they prepare ??

The chef prepared the Lobster Bisque, Warm chocolate melting cake, and I believe the surf and turf. We left before the last one because we didn't get a seat. Get there early!!

[golfgod003]

It looks to me that you got cabin 8455. Is that correct? I've been looking for pictures of that cabin for quite some time, since we have the same cabin booked on the Valor this February.

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Originally Posted by dave&micki

We will be on the Glory in two weeks --Your review is awsome so far!! Just curious about the food demo?? What kind of foods did they prepare ??

Originally Posted by Ellilee

DH and I were also on this cruise, and I agree - wasn't the sunset Saturday evening just divine! And I hate to admit it, but the 'rough seas' got to me on Sunday and I missed all of the festivities that I had been looking forward to participating in. Oh well, these things happen sometimes.

Were you by chance on Thursday's "Behind the Funship Tour" at 9:30am? You and your DH look familiar. If not, there was a couple on that tour that looked like the two of you.

I'm also working on a review and hope to start posting it tomorrow sometime - these reviews take some effort if you want to 'do it up right'. I look forward to reading the rest of your review!

Yes, the seas got to alot of people. Actually, we were on the 9:30 tour. Which ones are you? I really enjoyed the tour but my legs were exhausted!!

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Originally Posted by golfgod003

It looks to me that you got cabin 8455. Is that correct? I've been looking for pictures of that cabin for quite some time, since we have the same cabin booked on the Valor this February.

Yes, that was our cabin. We loved the layout of the room and of course the balcony. The only complaint was the noise. The good thing about the location was that the Lido steps were close and also there wasn't alot of traffic back there. The bad thing was the lido noise. There were tables and a supply cart right above us. It was 5 times louder than I expected!