Review of 7 day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory - June 18th

Not going to be a step by step review. I didn't take enough pictures either. More of just my thoughts on topics.

A forewarning though I am a very laid back casual cruiser. I don’t do the dining room often (none on this cruise) or book excursions in every port. We did 2 excursions out of 4 ports. I really just enjoy being on the ship for the most part. We did do Cheers this time though. All in all it was a very good and amazing cruise!

Embarkment:

We got to terminal at 10am after an early flight from Indianapolis to Miami and checked in to airport there. Easy and fast process, then we took carnival transfer which left at 9:30 like it stated it would, the bus was only half full at that time. Waited around for a few hours and started boarding around noon. For the majority of my cruises I notice that the beginning of boarding is just organized chaos. There were so many people standing around. There was a lane the guys were trying to keep clear for wheelchairs, scooters and so people could board quickly when called, well every time they got it cleared a few minutes later another group that just checked in would end up standing there. People would just stand there while someone in a wheelchair would need to get by, not sure if people are rude or oblivious but it was aggravating to watch. Luckily airport check in boards right after all the important people, so we were on the ship pretty fast once they started boarding.

Food:

We didn’t do the MDR this cruise as we still tend to dress up to go in there and we just decided we wanted to do casual this time and I don't like to sit there for over an hour to eat. Lido buffet at night is ok but not great, I always found some chicken dish I liked. Lunch is where I think Carnival shines. The fish and chips place was great and Guy’s burgers were good, but on this cruise I tried out the taco/burrito place for first time. Omg I love those chicken tacos with some atomic pepper sauce I found in their topping bar. So I ended up getting those quite a few times.

We also enjoy the pizza place. We would end up going to get some after the last comedy show. They were very fast this cruise and often would have either pepperoni or cheese ready in a few minutes.

We ordered room service a few times as well. None of the new pay stuff though. Mainly grilled cheese and caesar salads. So good at midnight when we didn't want to go up and get pizza.

Entertainment:

Met a nice couple on the first adult comedy show and we went with them to every other one that was available and we had so much fun. First two comics were great and we were sad to see them go. The second two comics that came on board were hit and miss. The first set of one of them was a total bomb, he couldn’t get the crowd to laugh at anything, I was getting embarrassed for him. We still came back and saw his set the next night though, it was a lot better.

We went to every show except the first one. I enjoy them. I am not expecting broadway or anything great like that, so they live up to my expectations, they are very fun to watch. I loved the epic rock show as they did a lot of rock ballads which I can sing most the words to myself. I also love the 'love and marriage' show as it is so funny how some couples answer, it's always a blast. I skipped the hasbro game show this time because it didn't interest me much.

Room:

We got an interior room in the back of ship, deck 1. Room 1438. I get interior because it’s cheaper and we’re barely in our room anyway so I don’t necessarily need the better room if I can’t afford it. This room shook at night though, I honestly woke up in the middle of the first night and while still groggy thought that the room was haunted because all the drawers were shaking and rumbling. Also whenever it docked in the morning there was a very loud rumbling sound that went on a few times, I assume it was engines or propellers or something like that. Luckily we can both sleep through anything so it really didn’t affect us too much.

The room steward was good on this cruise. We only really spoke to him once and it was because he was in there when we came back to get our tablets. We got service 2 times a day as long as we weren’t in the room. One odd thing he did do though, I had written down I wanted all the items out of the minibar so I could use the fridge. Well we came back and found he put all the items on the desk right above the fridge. I laughed and just thought whatever, I guess they’re out of the fridge. Otherwise great service.

Cheers:

We had splurged for cheers this time as I thought we could get our money worth out of it. We absolutely loved it. I can drink a lot and like to drink but I don’t do it often so I go all out when on vacation. I never hit the limit as I had her order for me if she wasn’t drinking that round because I knew she would never hit the limit. Same thing if we were going back to room, I would just order two coors light as they didn't take the caps from me and sometimes wouldn't even twist it open. So I had a drink for later.

She got 2 or 3 coffees a day and 4 or 5 cocktails a day while I normally hit 6-7 beers and 4-5 frozen drinks. She got a few root beers and I got quite a bit of powerades and rockstars too. I totaled it up and it’s rough estimate of price as I grouped them as cocktail @ $9, beer @ $6, coffees/other at $3. I tried to keep a running tally on my phone but I was drunk so I prolly missed some. I figure we drank 50 Beers. 61 cocktails. 16 coffees. 5 rockstars. 8 powerades. 8 sodas. We spent 800 after gratuities on cheers and I figure we drank almost $1000 on drinks, so it was worth it to me.

Tipping with cheers - I would tip anybody that brought me a drink, aka comedy club, shows, lido deck, or casino. I got most of my drinks at the bar myself though and because gratuity is added into cheers I only tipped every 4 or 5 drinks and we both tipped our favorites at the end an extra few. We still got amazing service even if we didn't tip each time. I do not mind walking an extra few steps to get a drink so I often would walk to the sportsbar, if in the casino as that casino bar is jampacked, or I utilized the lonely aft pool bar in the back of ship. Both of those bars were rarely crowded and I could get a drink in 3-4 minutes if not instantly.

Some pics:

As I was boarding, was so much more crowded before they called the first few groups though.

I got to watch the Cavs win on the boat! As I think Lebron is the greatest player in NBA history I was thrilled they won. It was very crowded and I would say it was 50/50 for both teams. Was very fun to watch on a cruise and was glad they showed it on the big screen!

The minibar on the desk.. Well I could have done that lol

I hate to see people without luggage, we got this for a few days, can't remember when it stopped. Hopefully they got their luggage though.

Ports, debarkation, anything else I can think of and some more pictures, including funtimes will be next post when I get more time.

thanks for posting! I know there are several of us who have been looking for a recent Glory/Western review, and especially a pic of the funtimes! (60 days to go!)

Thanks for the feedback.

Here are the funtimes, I just took pics with my phone, I hope that you guys can read them.

I was on the Glory the week before you. we did the Eastern Caribbean. First time out of Miami and all I can say is it was a "cluster"... I loved the ship . You are right about the comedy club. First set was great, people walked out on the 2nd set of comedians. I was really disappointed in dress code in MDR. You can wear anything any night. We saw a man in jean shorts , flip flops and tank top on formal night. Food was ok, not great and not bad. I was really disappointed in the desserts. some nights I didn't get any. The kids didn't even finish the chocolate melting cake some nights, said it didn't taste right. We had a great time and would go on the Glory again . Altus in the MDR was wonderful!!!!!

Thank you for posting. Going on the Glory on November 5th

Thanks for the review.

Thank you for your report/review.

Keith

following

I've done cruises where I do something in every port and while those are fun, I also really enjoy being on the ship as much as I do on ports so we both decided this cruise was going to be a little bit more relaxed. We both also enjoy walking around and just browsing shops and stuff so that's what we ended up doing a lot.

A very special note on first sea day. Me and my girlfriend have been dating a while. She mentioned she wanted a cruise vacation around the same time I decided I was going to propose to her. So obviously proposing on the cruise popped into my head and that's what I did. Nothing fancy though, just got on my knee in the room with the ring and asked her and she said yes!

Grand Cayman -

No excursion planned and as it was an early arrival and early departure port we had nothing else really planned for the day besides wandering and souvenir hunting. We arrived on timish which was 7:30. My fiance is not a morning person and would rather get some rest on vacations over getting up to get off asap, so she slept a little later. We picked up our tender stickers at 10 or so and got right on one. As last tender leaves at 2:15 we just walked around the area for a few hours. I know, so boring, but she likes to do that. Picked up some good rum cake though as that's what she was looking for, her mom likes it. Headed back to port and got on a tender near 1:00pm and ate lunch on the ship.

Mahogany bay / Isla Roatan -

We planned for a beach day on this port as the beach is just right by the shops near the port. This one was a 10am arrival in port. That's more like it says my fiance. We get up and eat at the now crazily packed Lido buffet at 9:30ish. The line this day, on aft side of ship, went past the plates right up to the deli counter, it moves fast enough though so it's not that bad. We get off and walk to the beach. We weren't going to pay for a clamshell so we just grab two lounge chairs in the back. It's a very crowded-looking beach near the water at least at the spot we picked. It also isn't a super huge beach, but there are a lot of lounge chairs and a place to get drinks/food up farther. All in all a decent little place in my opinion.

We messed around in the water for an hour or two then went back to chairs to read. The day started out sunny, but then got gloomy and finally started to drizzle as we got to our chairs. We got back in the water for a bit after it stopped trying to rain. Then we picked up and went back to the ship for a late lunch and to change. Back out to walk around the little shops for like two hours then back on the ship for the night.

Belize -

We had an excursion for this one. Altun Ha and Belize city tour. It said to meet at the Amber Palace at 8:30, so we headed down at 8:15. Worst tender/excursion meeting experience I've had so far. Normally I'm used to just walking in there with no line when I have an excursion, but as we walked down we discovered there was a huge line to just get into the place. So then I was hoping they didn't take my excursion out before we got in there as it took 15 mins to get in and sit down. They had a guy on the stage calling each excursion off one at a time so we sat around for another 20 minutes until he called off our excursion and we headed towards our tender.

The tender was full so around 15 of us had to stand. I'm ok with standing and the crew let anybody that wanted to, go out to the front of boat to stand, that was pretty cool. One thing I saw really bugged me so it's time to get preachy here, I know it's a vacation and everybody wants to relax, but I saw two older women standing (as i'm 30 a lot of people are older but they were in their late 60's i'm guessing) and there were a lot of younger guys sitting around, not one offered to let them sit down for this long 20 minute tender. I was very annoyed at this and wish I had a seat to offer them as I have been taught to offer up a seat on bus/etc to older folks.

Get to the port and we find our women holding the sign for our tour. They collect people for 10 minutes and lead us away.. right into a jewelry store! Hmm good advertising I think. So we stand around the store for 15 more minutes for who knows what and hop on our bus. Time for our one hour bus ride, blech. The tour guide was pretty funny though and it was interesting enough learning about Belize.

So we finally get to the ruins and get off. We douse ourselves in bug spray as we don't want to catch the big bad Zika virus. Oh it is also drizzling rain now, not quite enough to buy one of the vendors ponchos, but enough to be annoying and make all the ruins wet and supposedly slicker. We listen to the tour guide talk about the ruins and then we get an hour free time to wander. They advised everybody not to climb these things because it was wet and slick, but I don't know if anybody listened to that advice. Plus there was one huge one that I had to go up so up I went.

After going around them all taking pictures we went to the little shops set up here. Lots of handmade stuff here says the vendors, yea same stuff I see everywhere else. I did notic someone from our bus drinking the local beer, belekin beer, so I asked how it was, they said it was pretty good. I went to one of the little food places and ordered one and it was actually really good. Ended up drinking another and then onward to the bus. The tour lady didn't talk much on the ride back and half the bus was sleeping anyway so it was probably for the better. Wandered the shops near the port for our souvenirs and then headed for the tender, the long boring tender. Funny note, sitting in the tender I smell nasty feet smell and realize it's my fiance's shoes. Unlike me, who wore boots on our little trip. She decided that Mayan ruins was a good place to wear a pair of bobs, which look like lounge shoes to me. Well they soaked up all the rain and they reaked! Later on that day I walked into our bathroom and almost couldn't take the stench. I doused them with febreeze and she covered them in baby powder, that seemed to get rid of the smell, not sure which one actually worked and frankly I didn't care.

Next post will be Cozumel and Debarkation plus maybe some pictures if photobucket decides to fix itself.

Congrats on your engagement