Carnival Glory Review - 11/19 - 11/26

Greetings all! First chance I've had since we got back to post. Hope this will be useful. :)

Sailed on the Glory 11/19. Embarkation from Port Canaveral was easy and fairly quick. Only had to wait about 10 minutes to drop off, and then parked right in front of the terminal. Arrived about 12:30 and were on board by 1:15. There is some chaos in the terminal with the huge mass of people jockeying for positions at the counters, but nothing unusual.

Got onboard, found our cabin, met our Cabin steward and proceeded to the Lido. The hamburger/hot dog grill on board is excellent, as is the 24 hour pizza and the deli. Unfortunately, I cannot say as much for the buffets or the dining room. Didn't try the fish & chips or the oriental. I have a reputation among family and friends as a good cook, and I like many different kinds of food, especially southern and southwestern cuisines. Each day on the ship, there was a food "theme", and all 4 of the buffet lines would serve the same foods, no variety among them. One day was Indian, one Japanese, etc. and we did not care for the offerings. So, we wound up with hamburgers/pizza or sandwiches every day on board for lunch. Dinners were likewise usually lackluster, though somewhat better. The main dishes at dinner were usually good, but we didn't have a decent dessert on the ship for the entire cruise. We tried everything, but it was all bland and tastless, as though they were not allowed to use sugar or flavoring. It was really wierd! I will say the soups were all excellent!

We presented our room steward, Abe, with an extra $20 as soon as we met him, and got a beaming smile and faultless service for the rest of the cruise. I highly recommend this practice, it was well worth the $20! Our head waiter, Reynaldo, didn't seem to speak or understand English, was surly, and made no effort to find out anything about us, or learn what we wanted. He never inquired about our food, or seemed to care if we liked it or not. He didn't smile and seemed very pressured. We sat with empty glasses a lot of the time. Our assistant waiter, however, was a breath of fresh air. His name was Milagres and he was from India. He was very sweet, and if not for him, I don't know what we would have wound up with for dinner each night! These people work very hard. The assistant waiters have to work in the Lido buffets every morning, then also dinner every night. He said they never had a full day off. He worked 7am to 2pm in the Lido, then 5-11 at dinner. According to him, they do not make ANY salary. They are entirely dependent on tips for their incomes. Now, I don't know if this was true, but he was so sweet and kind to us, we each gave him an extra $20 the last night of the cruse. He was at the end of his contract and was heading home to India. Good luck Milagres!

I have been on many cruises, and the food and dining room service was always a daily highlight in the past. This was the biggest let down of this cruise. Thanks God for hamburgers and Pizza!

Onward.... we were supposed to go the Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel, but due to the tropical storm out in the Caribbean Sea, we didn't find out until we got onboard that we would be diverted to Nassau for Sunday. We eventually found our way from there to Costa Maya and Cozumel after much wondering by everyone where we would wind up! We were fine with Nassau as my Mother had never seen Atlantis. We took a cab over and spent a few hours playing in the Casino. Didn't win a penny!

WARNING: this ship rocks like a hobby horse in high winds and moderate seas!!! I have never been on a ship that moved this much. It didn't bother me too much, but my Mother was puking her guts out the first night. After that, she took Bonine and the winds slacked off, and we were fine. That first night was one I would not want to repeat!

After Nassau, 2 days at sea burning up the nautical miles to get to Costa Maya. The Glory can certainly move! Had a massage in the spa. The girl was very nice, and she tried, but $109 + tip was a bit much for what I got in my opinion. The message room we were in was so cold you could have hung meat in it, and I was freezing! Take a blanket with you! The Camp Carnival is directly above the spa, and I kept hearing loud bangs, gurgling water as pipes flushed and other distruptive noises. Not very relaxing. I didn't see the rest of the spa or use the work out equipment. I was a slug!! Played several games of bingo throughout the trip, didn't win....but had fun trying!

Costa Maya was a pleasant surprise. The restaurants, and pools in the port village are fun and we had a good lunch there after our excursion. We did the Carnival tour to Chocchoben. It was about an hour ride on a nice a/c bus, and the Mayan ruins there are something to behold. It is very rustic and unexcavated to a large degree. We enjoyed it very much. Only a couple of mosquitos and perfect weather, about 73 degrees. All in all, I would have liked to spend more time there. We only had about 30 unattended minutes to wander about the ruins before we had to get back to the bus.

The next day, on to Cozumel. We had signed up for a Mexican Cooking workshop, combined with some beach time at Playa Mia. The workshop was fun, though of course, they had us cook fish, which I don't eat! The beach is wonderful, and the water like glass. I was only in the water for 1/2 hour, but got a little sunburn, so take sunscreen! The only down side of Coz was that there isn't a tree left alive that I could see. Wilma killed off all the vegetation, and most of the buildings along the 15 minute drive to the beach looked like they had been the victims of a WWII bombing run. The piers are gone, etc. Really, really sad to see. We had to be tendered in, which frankly is a pain. They hiked us down 4 flights of stairs, from one end of the ship and back again before routing us through the crew corridors to get on a tender. We also had about a 1/2 hour waiting standing on what is left of the pier trying to get back on the ship via tender.

However, the Mexicans we encountered at every point spoke good english, were polite and pleasant, and seemed to truly want to make us happy. The staff at Playa Mia was hopping at my elbow trying to give me a new drink every 5 minutes, and the Pina Coladas were excellent! I highly recommend this beach trip, even if you just want to lounge and enjoy the water. They had clean, modern bathrooms and showers with changing room, lockers, towels, waverunners and all the usual beach stuff. Lots of things for the kids to play on, a giant open air pavillion tent under which they served a very good luncheon buffet, and all the drinks (including alcohol) that you could drink while you were there. There was also a small zoo of some kind that we walked past, I saw some monkeys, but we ran out of time and didn't get to go through it. I would have liked more time here as well!

Spent another day at sea, slept in late, packed, played in the Casino, etc. The beds are very good on the ship. I usually do not sleep well on any type of regular bed as I am used to a waterbed, but these were fine. We had a balcony which I heartily recommend as well. The casino on this ship is ok with a good variety of machines. We spent a lot of time there as we usually go to Vegas during the Tday holiday. Lost money overall, but did win some along and along. Play the "full of sheep" machines at max play if you go! I won $300 back on the last night on this machine! Throughout the cruise, people sitting right behind me would hit jackpots, and I hit my very firt Royal Flush during the cruise. It was only on a nickel poker machine, but it was still a thrill.

The ship was already docked when we awoke Saturday morning, didn't feel a thing! The weather was beautiful. We propped open the balcony door and enjoyed our last morning of room service (another thing I highly recommend!). We were on deck 10, which was called for debarkation at 8:30. We were in our car and headed out the port gates by 9:10am. I was impressed!

All in all, a good cruise. The ship is lovely, though not nearly as large as I was expecting. The theatre entertainment on the whole was much better than I had expected, other than the comedian which was not good at all. The staff was friendly and helpful on the whole. I did not like the frozen drink mix that they use, so did not enjoy my usual plethera of Pina Coladas, but I didn't need the extra calories anyway. I will say, there were a lot of teenagers roaming the ship in gangs, doing the Goth thing, as well as a large number of smaller children. Saw lumps of gum on the ceilings of the elevators sometimes, as well as glasses and dishes left in the corners by these rude kids. The staff was quick to clean everything up, and most of the time everything gleamed. The food was the biggest let down. This was my second Carnival cruise, and I think I will try something else next time. I prefer a more adult atmosphere with better food, but if you want to have a lot of fun, participate in games and enjoy a lot of noisy pool activities, you will enjoy this ship.

Bon Voyage!

Enjoyed reading your report. We go in 11 mo. Can't wait. You my want to try Celebrity Cruise Line. (We were on the Horizon) That was out 1st cruise and the food was outtanding!!!. And not many kids either. Did you happen to bring back any Daily Capers? Would like to see a couple if you can scan them. Thanks............

Enjoyed reading your Review. We go in 7 days on the Glory (eastern caribbean)

can't wait

Thanks for your review!!!!

I have a couple of questions.....

I just booked the Panorama Deck on the Glory....which cabin were you in??

I am considering doing the cooking class at Playa Mia in Cozumel as well. I would love to hear a little more about it....how long you had, could you stay extra at the beach if you wanted, etc? I had a port day in Cozumel in April and I saw that excursion and really wanted to do it but I was on that particular cruise with my DD age 12 so it was not a good choice and we went to Paradise Beach. I will be cruising with my boyfriend this time and we both like to cook and try new things so I thought it would be fun! I am also interested in going to Xcaret so any info on your excursion would be helpful in making my choice!

THANK YOu!!

gnomedog .... Very much appreciate your time to do this review! We'll be on Glory in January so trying to read ALL opinions! Your info was VERY helpful! Thanks Again!

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

gnomedog .... thanks for your review. I'm going on the Glory on April 1st. I'm trying to get as much info as I can about the Glory prior to the cruise.

I see you're from Brunswick, GA...so am I (small world).

We were in cabin 1022, port side. Great view, could even lean out and look inside the bridge. Was even able to read some of the instrumentation with binoculars! Forgot to mention that the bathroom in this cabin was one of the largest I've ever had. Plenty of sink space with little glass shelves for both of us 2 women to spread out all our junk! The shower was spacious and the water was instantly and continuously hot, really enjoyable with a great shower head. DON'T FORGET YOUR BUNGY CORD if you want to keep the balcony door open!

I brought back all the capers and shore excursion info. If I have time this weekend, I'll scan everything in and post on Webshots. I hope this is leagal?? I really enjoyed the cooking workshop. They have little rolling cooking stations, and 4 people share each one. We prepared an appetizer, a main dish (fish) and rice pudding for dessert. The whole time we were working, we had a private drink man who kept us constanly supplied with drinks. They also served some mexican wines with the meal.

We didn't have but about an hour left after the cooking workshop to spend at the beach, but there was another lady on our team that came to the beach early in the morning with her family, spent beach time, then came over to join the workshop when it began. They didn't buy the Carnival excursion, they just got off the ship first tender in the morning, took a cab to Play Mia $16 one way for 4, paid for entry into the resort, along with an extra $40 or $50 for the cooking workshop. She did the whole cooking workshop in her bathing suit and t shirt, barefooted! So, if you want plenty of beach time, I would suggest this route. Don't know what the overall cost difference would be, but the extra beach time would be worth it! Absolutely beautiful beach area and crystal clear water, good food and great drinks.

Once other plus to the area our cabin was in was that we only had to go 50' or so to sliding glass doors that lead out to the multi tiered pool deck. Only a few steps more to the Lido, grill, etc. Also, taking the foward elevators down to the Golden dining room made getting to dinner short and fast! Let me know if any more questions, happy to answer!

gnomedog .... thanks for your review. I'm going on the Glory on April 1st. I'm trying to get as much info as I can about the Glory prior to the cruise.

 

I see you're from Brunswick, GA...so am I (small world).

Your in Brunswick too! Wow, it really is a small world. One thing about living in Brunswick, all the customs officers now where it is and never hassle me going through customs!

Forgive me, I keep thinking of more things to tell you! About Playa Mia, I was really impressed by the way they had the beach areas roped off. Adults could swim in an area without being sprayed or run over by wave runners. There was a seprately roped off area with some kind of inflated "igloo" for the kids to climb into and slide down, a playground in the sand for kids too. I particularly noticed a small "rescue" boat that hovered around all over the area constantly watching for anyone in trouble. I think you could let your kids wander off on their own inside the property without worrying about them.

If I ever make it back there, I plan to go on my own via cab and spend the whole day here!

Thank you so much for all your info!!

I am booked in cabin 1042 ehich is just a couple away from where you were as you would have headed midsip. I am glad to hear your comments. They were my thoughts when I selected the cabin!

I also really appreciate the details on the cooking class. I was talking to my boyfriend about this last night and as I suspected he thought it sounded like a fun thing to do. I did not realize there were 4 people to a station - had no idea how the set-up worked....these boards are priceless for info!! Also - I am glad that you mentioned the woman who arranged it on her own. I will look into that because I had read somewhere that the cooking class can only be booked through the cruiseline. I know that you can do the whole Playa Mia experience on your own because I looked into this for my cruise this past April when I was with my DD.

Thanks again for your review and all the great info...Feel free to keep the info coming as you think of it :) ANd pictures will be WONDERFUL...I have seen many people who scan and post the capers on webshots so I would not think that this is a problem.

Wonderful review! Quick question...if you had to pick one night to go to the Emerald Room, which one would it be? We leave in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to finish up the planning! Thanks in advance!