Carnival Glory Review (Long)

Hello fellow Cruise Critics! We returned from our Gloryous cruise 12/4 and this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write a review. I may have to do it in a few installments.

We arrived in Cocoa Beach the night before the cruise and stayed at the Quality Suites. The room was very nice. Not much curb appeal, but everything was clean and the bed was comfy. Continential breakfast was included and had the usual, cereal, danishes, etc. The Quality Suites is a sister hotel to the Radisson, so you can park at the Radisson and take the shuttle to the port. Our shuttle time was 2 p.m. The only downside is you can't book your shuttle ahead of time, so you get the later times. I think the Radisson allows you to book a few weeks in advance.

We decided to bag parking at the Radisson and just drive over and park by the cruise terminal. BIG MISTAKE! We arrived at 11:20 a.m. and sat in line for nearly an hour just to drop off our bags. Hindsight being 20/20, we should have parked at the Radisson and taken a cab to the port. Taxis and shuttles get to unload bags before the general public and that would have saved us a lot of grief and aggravation. We tipped the porter well, parked the car and headed into the terminal. The line was long, but moved quickly. We were finally onboard at 1 p.m. We headed right to the cabin to drop off our bags. We had a 6A (Riviera deck 1292) and the room was great. Met our cabin steward, Wayne from Trinidad/Tobago and gave him a ten spot to keep our ice chest full. Wayne was very efficient and all of our requests were fulfilled promptly. Had lunch on the Lido deck at 1:15 p.m. and the pizza was great! Went back to the cabin to put my daughter down for a nap before the muster drill. Muster drill was quick and relatively painless. The ship was spotless and I thought the color schemes were not overdone at all.

We had the early seating (5:45 p.m.) in the Platinum dining room. I love the decor here! Our waiter, Daniel from Romania and assistant, Jana from Slovakia were great. The service overall was better than we had a year ago. Maybe it was because was travelled Thanksgiving week last year, but last year our waiters had the personality of rocks. Daniel and Jana were efficient and kept my 2 year old entertained. The food was great this cruise! I can only think of a few occasions where the food wasn't up to par. The scrambled eggs come to mind ;). Also, one time, my husband got some severely undercooked roast beef at the buffet. I brought this to the attention of the manager, who thanked me profusely for letting him know. My favorite desserts were the Chocolate Decadence and Grand Marnier souffle. I missed the Creme Brulee :( as we were in St. Thomas that night and decided to enjoy the port a little longer. We brought a bottle of wine onboard and had it served in the dining room. Our waiter did not assess the corkage fee and we tipped him extra at the end of the week. My 12 year old dined with us 3 nights and spent the rest of his dinners with his friends. We had my 2 year old dine with the counselors a couple of times, so we did get a couple of meals alone. Did not try the supper club. I was so happy with the dining room food, I couldn't justify the extra expense. The big downside to the early seating, is of course, you have to cut your port time short in order to make dinner. Next cruise I think we are going to request late seating and just feed the kids at the buffet and drop them off at Camp Carnival during dinner. (Or maybe we will get lucky and they can stay with grandma and grandpa while mom and dad cruise!) Didn't see the maitre'd at all this trip. Usually they make to the rounds to try to justify a tip, but this year nothing. And that is exactly what we tipped him :D.

We went to several of the shows. John Heald was a fantastic cruise director. Definitely do not miss the bedtime story. I hope we will have the pleasure of sailing on another cruise with him. The two production shows (Livin' in America and Rock Down Broadway) were well done. Lorena Peril has one heck of a voice. The male singer, Nicholas Kjos, was weaker, but he was still a lot better than the guy they had last year. We missed the 50's and 60's review on the first night, but I understand it was good. Rock Down Broadway had some new numbers. The Full Monty bit was still in there. The Justin Illusion show was pretty good, but don't sit on the side if you don't want to spoil the illusions. My husband saw the comedians, Percy Crew and Happy Cole and said they were funny. Enjoyed the piano bar with Ron. The Valor is lucky to get him.

The Camp Carnival program was very good. My 2 year old was a little reluctant to go, but once she got involved, she had a good time. The counselors were great with her. We utilized the group pajama party a couple of nights and our little night owl was wide awake when we picked her up. The program for the 12-14 year olds was pretty weak. My son did win a plastic ship on a stick doing Survivor. Mostly, he would just hang around with his friends. We tipped the counselors at the end of the week for my daughter and they were most appreciative.

Well, I am getting pretty tired of writing, so I will finish my review tomorrow.

Joanne :)

Thanks for the review. Did you do the Eastern or Western route?

Elise

Im going on the Glory in March and was curious if there is an outdoor promenade where they just have chairs and you can sit out and not be by the pool commotion, etc.?? Im glad ya had a good time!

Im going on the Glory in March and was curious if there is an outdoor promenade where they just have chairs and you can sit out and not be by the pool commotion, etc.?? Im glad ya had a good time!

Yes and it's my favorite deck as well...only the destiny class and the conquest class have this available...right outside the lobby deck (deck 3)..I love to lie in the lounge chair, read a book, hear the ocean and just take a nap..it's my absolute favorite place to relax on the ship...

barb

Am anxious for the rest of your review as well...thinking about the Glory next March (western). We found that wonderful deck on our Triumph cruise on the last day...it's wonderful and what a great place to just relax and take a nap. Loved the padded chairs too!

And very few people ever go out there. It's real peaceful at night out there too.

Yes, I really enjoy that deck alot. Im glad a lot of people do not know about it because it is one of the best spots on the ship to relax.

I agree...one of the best kept secrets is that hide-away deck. The only thing I don't like is having a life boat almost directly over my head..lol. I know they are very secure, but I can't help but notice them !!!!

1Tonysmom,

I can't wait to hear the rest of your review. Please post soon!!

Thanks

I have been playing catch up at work, so this is the first chance I got to try to finish my review. I guess, I didn't specify, but we did the Eastern itinerary. We had done the Western route a year ago and loved the ship so much we went back. This was our first Eastern Caribbean cruise and certainly won't be our last. For Tenniswiz, there isn't an outdoor promenade, but I understand there are deck chairs on the deck outside the purser's office that are nice and quiet, away from the pool atmosphere.

Ports:

Nassau (Sunday) - What can I say about Nassau? Been there, done that. It is a short pit stop (8 am-2 pm). We opted to take a cab to Atlantis and pay to tour the Dig. Atlantis is an amazing hotel. Certainly a sight to behold. The Dig was pretty neat. They have lots of tropical fish, sharks and even a giant manta ray. Got some great video clips of the manta ray and the sharks. My 2 year old daughter loved it. We even got stopped by someone from Starwood (timeshare co - I guess part of Atlantis is timeshare) who was photographing people for a brochure and website. She took tons of pictures of Audrey, so maybe this will be the start of her modeling career :D! The tour took about an hour. We considered walking to Cabbage Beach (free beach, very close to Atlantis), but instead went back into town and did the pirate museum. I was not impressed. My 12 year old son liked it, but I would have rather gone back to the ship. Didn't do any shopping, as there isn't much at the straw market that I want or need. I wish Carnival would get their own private island like some of the other cruiselines.

St. Thomas (Tuesday) - Our second stop was St. Thomas. Because we stopped in Nassau first, we had to go back through US Immigration for the USVI. It was kind of a pain. Everyone (and I mean everyone) on the ship has to go through it, even if you are not leaving the ship. They called our deck while we were at breakfast. We finished our meal and went to the promenade deck to join the line. The line was long, but moved quickly. We put my daughter in Camp Carnival and let my son just hang out and we were off the ship by 11:15. We took a cab to Coki beach ($7 pp + tip) to snorkel. We brought our own gear (well worth the investment). We loved it. If you go out by the rocks to the right, people were feeding the fish with Milkbones and they were everywhere. After a couple hours of snorkeling, we went back to the ship, got the kids and returned to Coki, so they could enjoy it. Looked at some diamonds at Diamond's International, but it was impossible to concentrate with the kids, so we didn't buy anything. We were in port from 10 am-8 pm.

St. Maarten (Wednesday) - We were in St. Maarten from 8 am-6 pm. This time we got off the ship with the kids in the AM. Did a little shopping in town. I bought some autographed pictures at the Yoda Guy's shop for Xmas gifts. $19.50 and I think it will be a well received gift. Bought a $10 canvas bag at Del Sol (get the coupon on the ship). It is really nice. My son is going to give it to his teacher. Bought a lovely silk batik picture at Greenwith Galleries, but be aware, they will not deal. We also bought a 1 L bottle of Myers rum at a shop just down from Super Jewelers (can't remember the name). Got a heck of a deal - only $7.95. I know my dad is going to love that for Xmas. Also looked at some diamonds and reversible omegas. The reversible omegas are much less than here in the states. I will definitely do my research before our next cruise (I have a jeweler friend) so I know what is reasonable to spend.

I forgot to mention, the two formal nights were Sunday and Thursday. Captains cocktail party was on the first night and the past guest party on the second. Because we had first seating, we just didn't have time to get ready and make it to the past guest party.

Two days at sea on the way back was nice. Did several loads of laundry during the trip, so I didn't have a ton of dirty clothes to do when I got home. Laundry is $2 per wash and the same for a dry. Bring your own detergent in baggies. Because we did laundry, I overpacked (yet again). I could have left at least a third of the clothes I packed at home. Live and learn. I had bought a bedrail for the sofa bed for my 2 year old, but it turns out we didn't even need it. The bed was pretty low to the ground and we just put the chair by her head. Had no problems with her falling out of bed. BTW the beds were really comfy! I slept better than I have in a long time.

Debarkation - We had to be out of our cabins by 8:30 am. Went to breakfast in the dining room. Since we had too many bags, we couldn't do the early debarking. After breakfast we went to the promenade to wait. Last year, our bags came off fairly quickly, so we were off by 10 am. This year, we were the last ones off the ship. We took turns watching Audrey, while she pretended to play the video games in the arcade. We finally got to our car and were one the road by 11:50 am. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch. What a letdown! I still have a bad case of PCD (post-cruise depression). I am currently researching cruises for next year, and will hopefully be booking one before Xmas.

Thanks again to all you Cruise Critic members for the wealth of information you provided to me in the months preceding our cruise. I hope I can do the same for someone else. Until we cruise again!

Joanne :D

Great Review!!

We will be on the Eastern Glory March 19th. Thanks for all the information on the ports. We were thinking about doing Coki Beach so that confirms that for us. Did you notice if they had jet skis for rent. We have several teenagers and they wanted to snorkle and ride jet skis. Thanks for all the good info.

Hi. I don't remember there being jet skis at Coki Beach, but my husband said they were available for rental across the street. Also, Coral World is right next to Coki Beach. You can do the Sea Trek diving helmet there. I think you can book it online cheaper than you can through the ship. In general, we find we can do much better booking things on our own. Happy cruising.

Joanne :)

We are going on the eastern route in July. Do you remember any good beaches for snorkeling in St. Maarten? I haven't been there in 17 years and didn't go snorkeling on that trip either. How was the snorkeling at Coki beach?

I would never recommend Coki Beach. It has been written up as prime place for thieves. I did not think this could ever happen to ME when I watch all my stuff, but I took my eyes off the stuff for about a min to move my kids into the shade...there went our stuff--clothes, sign and sail cards, wallets, glasses...cameras..GONE! It is a nasty beach...just off the road and not as nice as I had expected it to be. Just like a roadside lot with sand! Lots of hawkers bothering you to buy buy buy! Go to another beach. This beach costs too much to get to if you are more than 2 people. We were 5...that is 35 each way. But we were given first class treatment back--via the police--we had no money to get back! They got us on the ship and we had a ruined vacation from that point on. I would recommend the other beaches.

You could not pay me to go to Coki!

Thanks for the great reveiw,

I have one question , Could you say what the kids did for the Survivor game that your son won the ship on the stick. My wife and I are bringing our 14 year old on the Glory April 30th this year he is trying to find out what kind of thing's there will be to do.

Survivor ,,, that really caught his eye. And did you see any one playing basket ball ??

He is worried there will be no balls on the ship aand he wants us to bring one.

Im sorry ,,,that turned into more than one guestion