Went on our first Carnival cruise in over 10 years and it was absolutely horrible...

...that I waited so long!

Just got off the Glory last week and had a great time. But before I give a brief review of the ship, let me explain the reason for the Carnival cruise after so long a period of time. First of all, I have nothing against Carnival, in fact, my wife and I took our first Carnival cruise exactly 30 years ago on the old Mardi Gras. (Boy, how times have changed, lol.) Our last Carnival cruise was in Alaska on the Spirit shortly after her inauguration. My wife and I usually choose cruises based on their itinerary/destination rather than out of loyalty to any particular line. Our next two cruises are in January & February; one on Celebrity from Sydney to Auckland, and one on RCL that is a Sydney r/t.

The reason that we were on the Glory last week is that we had originally booked a 30-day repositioning cruise around South America on the Splendor back in 2012 and had to cancel the cruise. Since we had booked ES, we had a nonrefundable deposit of $1600 (minus $200 fee) to use on another Carnival cruise by November 2014. As time was running out, we just chose a quick 7-day cruise on the Glory to use up the funds before they expired. We hadn't done a strictly Caribbean cruise in well over 15+ years.

So that's the back story. Now on to the review....

I did absolutely no planning for this cruise. I didn't even pull out a suitcase and look in my closet to decide what to pack until about 11:00am on the morning of embarkation. (We live in Miami Beach, about 15 minutes from the Port of Miami.) My wife had done a little research on the ports of call (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, and Costa Maya), so she'd have some idea of what she wanted to do in each location.

I had come on Cruise Critic a few days earlier just to see if there was anything interesting to read about Carnival in general or the Glory in particular. I did read a few complaints about the cutbacks in food, entertainment and a/c. Of these, the only one that concerned me was the a/c. I keep my home thermostat down low and hated the notion that I might be uncomfortably warm in my cabin during the week. Fortunately, that wasn't an issue at all. In fact, if anything, the a/c in our cabin worked better and was colder than any cruise ship cabin we've ever been on! It was actually too cold on occasion and my wife pleaded with me to make it warmer, lol.

As for entertainment cutbacks, once again, I don't know what the complaints are about. Perhaps we've been cruising on too many staid ships on HAL, Celebrity, et al, but I've never seen so much live entertainment throughout the ship. On HAL, the passengers complain when the recorded music at the pool is too loud; on the Glory, it was a nonstop party with either live entertainment or a DJ. There was also live music indoors throughout the ship, including a stage in the casino itself. That's something that I've never run across before (outside of Las Vegas, that is).

Speaking of the casino, that was another pleasant surprise. I used to live in Las Vegas and still like to gamble a bit. On most cruises that I've been on, the casino staff is not what one would describe as overly friendly; in fact, they can be downright surly. Definitely not the case last week. Moreover, in the past, I'd be lucky to get a free drink every now and then (but no more than 1/day) while gambling. Halfway through last week's cruise on the Glory, a pit boss saw me order a drink from a cocktail server and ran out from behind the craps table to tell the server to tear up the receipt. He then gave me a card that entitled me to free drinks in the casino for the rest of the cruise. On the last night of the cruise, the casino manager gave me a letter/certificate for a free cruise to be used sometime in the next couple of months. I've never been treated so well by a cruise ship casino. And let me re-emphasize that I didn't do any more gambling than I usually do on cruises, but I was treated much better on this cruise.

Because we had so much fun on the Glory, we'll probably use the free cruise to sail her again next month. And one of the main reasons I believe that the Glory was so entertaining, was the fact the the cruise director was - - by far - - the best cruise director we've ever encountered. He was talented, effervescent, and just fantastic overall. In fact, I thought the entire entertainment staff was very talented. After 35+ years of cruising, my wife and I don't usually bother with the nightly shows put on by the ship's staff, but after the first night people were talking about how good the show was. Since they were doing it again the second night (a tribute to Motown), we decided to go see it and we were glad that we did. The staff put on other good shows throughout the week as well.

I think that's enough writing for now (especially since its early Monday morning and I need more coffee!). Where's cabin room service when you really need it?! I'll write about our food and dining experiences in a later post. But I must warn you, it won't be as positive a review as this initial post has been.

Great review...loved the hook! :D

When I saw 100 views already and only 1 response, I knew this must actually be a positive review. Carnies don't let negative reviews go unchecked! ;) Glad you enjoyed your cruise and good to hear the Glory still has some of her old splendor.

When I saw 100 views already and only 1 response, I knew this must actually be a positive review. Carnies don't let negative reviews go unchecked! ;) Glad you enjoyed your cruise and good to hear the Glory still has some of her old splendor.

That's a different ship

Great to hear you had a good time. We will be going on the Glory next month Thanksgiving Cruise looking forward to it

I've been on over 40 cruises and I still say that, overall, Carnival gives you the best bang for the buck. If you want an exotic itinerary then you'll have to look at another line, but if you want a nice, enjoyable cruise then Carnival is your best choice.

We did the exact same thing in June when we had to cancel a European cruise on Celebrity. It was our 30th Anniversary and I had to cancel a few months before because of some health issues. By the time our 30th rolled around I was feeling better and felt we needed to do "something", so I booked the Carnival Liberty for a getaway seven day cruise. We had a great time, as we've had on all of our Carnival cruises. Are they the most elegant? No. Do they have the best food? No. Do they have the best itineraries? No. Do they have great service and entertainment? Yes. The whole package makes for a great cruise at a very reasonable price. I do hope they put a ship in Asia. I would book it in a heartbeat. The cost of our next Celebrity cruise is a bit steep for fourteen days.

Enjoy Carnival,

Mike

Took the Miracle's last Alaskan cruise of the season back in September, and it was the best Alaskan cruise of the 3 I've taken. Everything - the ship itself, the itinerary, the crew, the cabin, the food, etc. - was great.

I mostly sail HAL and have one Princess cruise under my belt, but Carnival is a good value. I will continue to sail them, as well as other lines, in the future. Yes, I've seen cutbacks over the years, but I've seen them on HAL too.

Roz

On the last night of the cruise, the casino manager gave me a letter/certificate for a free cruise to be used sometime in the next couple of months...

 

Because we had so much fun on the Glory, we'll probably use the free cruise to sail her again next month....

I'll be back soon to continue the review, but I just wanted to pop in to say that I just got off the phone with Carnival and am now officially booked on Glory's November 15th Eastern Caribbean itinerary. My "free" cruise was for a Category 4a inside cabin (+ port taxes), but I was able to upgrade to an 8C balcony cabin for only $70/pp. Not bad for another wonderful week sailing on the Glory!

As mentioned previously, this post won't be as glowing as my initial post. There was both good and bad with regard to our dining experience last week. Let's begin with the positive: My wife was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease and we wondered how Carnival would address that. Well, let me tell you, they exceeded our expectations. Not only were there plenty of gluten-free items to eat, but they went out of their way to specially prepare meals for her. Each night at dinner, our waiter would bring out the following day's menus and my wife would make her selections. When being seated the next night, the waiter would go over her selections to make sure everything was in order. One night, she had ordered the French onion soup, which we had both thought would merely be the usual soup without any bread. We were actually concerned when she scooped a spoonful and found some bread in the bowl. We thought that she had been given the wrong item, but no; the bowl had been specially prepared for her with gluten-free bread. Other items throughout the week were similarly altered for her. She even found out halfway through the cruise that she could have the chocolate lava cake (I think that was the name) made without flour. She chose that for dessert the rest of the cruise because it was so delicious.

I, on the other hand, can't report that I was equally as pleased with my meals. Often times, I found my food to be either overcooked, under-seasoned, or served at the wrong temperature. Fish and chicken entrees in both the MDR at dinner and the Lido at lunch were typically dry and/or flavorless. I had better luck with more obscure items on the menu. The three best entrees I ate all week were the root vegetable pie, the pumpkin-and-something pie (don't remember exactly) and the tofu steak.

My most frustrating experience usually occurred each morning in the MDR when I tried to order breakfast. One morning I ordered eggs benedict with smoked salmon and the plate that eventually was served to me had a crusted-over hollandaise sauce that had been melted and burned. I thought perhaps this was a one-time issue. I realize that in serving hundreds if not thousands of people simultaneously, the kitchen can't prepare items individually. It was obvious that this dish had been made much earlier and then placed in a hot oven until such time as someone ordered it. The plate itself was too hot to touch. I didn't eat the dish and just finished my coffee as my wife ate her breakfast.

I tried again a day or so later, but unfortunately, with the same result. By now I realized that simply ordering eggs benedict would not work. Unlike the first day when the waiter didn't say anything to me when he removed the untouched plate from the table, this time the waiter asked if anything was wrong. I told him that I wasn't upset, but I explained that the dish as served was really inedible. Fortunately, this time I had ordered fall-back side dishes and ate the cheddar grits (very good, btw) and a fruit plate.

Later in the cruise, I decided to try a different tact. I order two poached eggs, an English muffin, and a side order of smoked salmon. I figured I would just put it together on my own without the hollandaise sauce. Once again I was foiled, however. The poached eggs were served ice cold. I mean *literally* ice cold. It was as if they were taken out of a refrigerator and put on a plate. I really have no explanation for what the kitchen staff were thinking with that one.

From that point on, I just decided to eat breakfast in my cabin. We were already ordering room service coffee as a wake-up call each morning, so I just added food to the order (bagel & smoked salmon, fruit plate, etc.).

That's enough negativity for now, let's move on to something a little more positive: I thought the way Carnival handled anytime dining was the best of any cruise line that we've been on. We would show up to the MDR when hungry, request a table for two, and be seated immediately. We ate as early as 5:45pm and as late as 8:30pm. Never had any problem regardless of what time we showed up. On other cruise lines, we have always had to wait in long lines, or eat at inconvenient times. I would also like to note that the hostesses in the MDR (Doroteja, Sanela, & Carla) were very nice as well.

The Lido, too, was well-run. Although buffet food is always hit-or-miss, the staff was always working hard to keep food trays full and tables clean. As I noted, I wasn't always thrilled with the food, but it is what it is.

Going back to the dark side...with the exception of the fish and chips, I was extremely disappointed with the fast food items. The pizza was the worst looking garbage I've ever seen. And this is coming from a guy who loves pizza so much that I will even devour a Domino's pizza that tastes like the cardboard box it came in. But even I couldn't bring myself to eat the greasy-looking, slimy slices of pizza that were coming out of the pizza kiosk. And what made matters worse, that was basically the only food option on the entire ship from 1:00am on. In fact, there wasn't much to eat after 9:30 or so when the Lido closed. From 9:30 - 11:00pm there was basically nothing. Then from 11:00pm - 1:00am there was a small kiosk with hot dogs, chili, and little chicken sandwiches open. They also had cookies and fruit. And that was it. I don't think I've ever been on a cruise where the late-night choices were so limited. And that wasn't really that late.

A couple of final points about the food.... First of all, I realize that this topic is very subjective and others might not agree with me. Even so, I don't really want people posting comments stating that you have been on plenty of Carnival cruises (or maybe even this one itself) and you thought the food was fantastic. This is my review and I'm giving my honest reflections as I see it.

Secondly, and more importantly, I don't go on cruises to eat five-star cuisine. As long as I don't go hungry, I'm fine. For proof, I note that I've already booked another cruise on this ship, so as negative as this post may sound, it hasn't stopped me from spending another week on this ship eating this food. Still, I can't deny that I found the food disappointing to say the least. I'll just have a better understanding of what to expect.

With regards to the eggs Benedict… I read on Cruise critics that it is better to order eggs Benedict with the sauce on the side. That way it seems to be freshly made. This worked on our last cruise! Try that on your next cruise and let us know how it works.

Jane

Yes -- sauce on the side is the way to go in the MDR for Eggs Benedict. DW learned that a long time ago. :D

Lol....the previous 2 posters beat me to it re ordering the eggs bendict with the sauce on the side. I always order it this way, not only to get it prepared fresh but also to top it with the amount of Hollandise sauce I like. I don't like too much sauce so ordering it this way benefits me on two counts. BTW: if you like Hollandise sauce, you will be in heaven as they always give waaaay too much on the side......enough for 4 orders at least...lol. I always feel so guilty as I only use a small corner of it and waste so much of the sauce.

Was the Deli not opened until 11pm? Usually they are opened from 11am to 11pm.

Thank you for taking the time to review your thoughts. It is very time consuming and your opinions are appreciated.:D

Another sauce on the side person here. Also wondered about the deli? Agree with the pizza. Room service? Love the BLT and choc cake. They also offer a great veggie snack.

When I saw 100 views already and only 1 response, I knew this must actually be a positive review. Carnies don't let negative reviews go unchecked! ;) Glad you enjoyed your cruise and good to hear the Glory still has some of her old splendor.

You are so right, the high comments on CC are only if its a negative post.

The pizza was the worst looking garbage I've ever seen.

 

A couple of final points about the food.... First of all, I realize that this topic is very subjective and others might not agree with me. Even so, I don't really want people posting comments stating that you have been on plenty of Carnival cruises (or maybe even this one itself) and you thought the food was fantastic. This is my review and I'm giving my honest reflections as I see it.

I so agree about the pizza. The current recipe they are using was changed a year or 2 ago. I used to looove their pizza & actually craved it in between cruises. Now, I only eat it if I am really hungry & it's the only thing on board to eat. As you say, food quality is subjective, and unfortunately for me & you, the majority of people actually prefer the new recipes. Carnival took polls when they 1st make the switch. I don't get it either.

Again, as you say, this topic is rather subjective, and although I usually have no issues when it come to the MDR food, I had a very bad experience one night on my last cruise. Filet mignon is one of my favorite foods & I was very happy to see it returned to the menu. I ordered it medium rare, and yes, I like it towards the rare side. However, what I got was very rare, almost bloody, LOL. I found this strange because in my exxperiences, restaurants tend to over cook rather than undercook when it comes to beef. I don't like to make waves so I decided to eat it anyway. No way, just couldn't do it. Again, I don't like to make waves so I was just going to go without, but the decided that no, it's one of my favorite foods. I reordered it, explaining why to the server. Well....what I got back was even worse. It was about i/2 the height that it should have been, was just as raw as the 1st one, and tasted like horse meat (not that I have a clue what horse meat actually tastes like, LOL). I absolutely could not eat it, and I'm not a picky eater. At that point, I just went without. :(

With regards to the eggs Benedict… I read on Cruise critics that it is better to order eggs Benedict with the sauce on the side. That way it seems to be freshly made. This worked on our last cruise! Try that on your next cruise and let us know how it works.

Jane

Thanks for the great tip. I hope it works. :)

haha... OP, you got me with the title.

I cruise on the Glory last year on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. It was a great time for me. Not so much for my wife as she was experiencing morning sickness. We found out she was a few weeks pregnant about 2 months before we sailed.

Fast forward, we will be cruising in 13 days on the Miracle out of our home port with the bundle of joy she had in her while on the Glory.

With regards to the eggs Benedict… I read on Cruise critics that it is better to order eggs Benedict with the sauce on the side. That way it seems to be freshly made. This worked on our last cruise! Try that on your next cruise and let us know how it works.

Jane

Yes -- sauce on the side is the way to go in the MDR for Eggs Benedict. DW learned that a long time ago. :D

Lol....the previous 2 posters beat me to it re ordering the eggs bendict with the sauce on the side....

Thx for the suggestion. I'll give this a try next month. As I noted in my review, I tried something similar by just ordering the poached eggs by themselves, but they came out ice cold. Hopefully, ordering the regular eggs benedict, but with the hollandaise on the side, will work better.

thanks for the review. You have a great style and are very thorough.

I think that in the dining room, the more unusual the item, the better it is on Carnival. The plainer items tend to be extremely plain.

In addition to the vegetarian dishes, I like the pasta dishes and the Indian food. They seem to be well put together and seasoned nicely.

You may find the food on your second cruise more to your liking because you know what not to order. Hopefully you'll find new dishes more to your liking.

and I agree with you about the casino - after sailing on Royal and Celebrity, I can't wait to get back to the friendliness and openess of the Carnival Cruise Casinos.

thanks for the review. You have a great style and are very thorough.

Much appreciated.

I think that in the dining room, the more unusual the item, the better it is on Carnival. The plainer items tend to be extremely plain.

Yes, I found that to be the case.

You may find the food on your second cruise more to your liking because you know what not to order.

True, and also because I've cruised long enough to know that just because the food on one ship may not have been to my liking, that does not mean that all of the kitchens on all the ships of that same cruise line operate in the same fashion.

We sail on the Glory in the middle of December and was curious about Guys and the Red Frog. Did you enjoy either of them?

Isn't Guys open for dinner....or later?

Howard

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Just remember that room service is 24 hours/day and has some excellent sandwich options, as well. Late at night, service is fast, usually

We're on that same itinerary on our next cruise, our 25th wedding anniversary. Do you happen to remember which night the Chef's Table was? We think it was on the actual night of our anniversary, but would like to confirm.