Glory sailing 1/24/10 western Carribean review (long overdue)

[cjackso8]

First a bit of background on us. I’m Cassie, 23, and my fiancé Mike,is 26. We’re from Ohio, and this was our 2nd cruise.

We left for Miami on the Friday before our cruise. Our flight was out of CAK, scheduled for departure at 6:10 am. We left our house in plenty of time, but there was an accident on the freeway about 10 minutes from the airport. Talk about anxiety. We made it to the airport with only 15 minutes to spare, 5 minutes before boarding cut off. We had a layover in Atlanta, which ended up being almost 5 hours long. It was awful. Enough complaining. We made it to Miami, and found a shuttle to the Alamo lot. If you have never been to Miami, and are renting a car from Alamo, their pick up is at a nearby lot that requires a short ride to get there. Shuttles to the lot run frequently, so it wasn’t too bad. I would recommend also renting a GPS with the car. It made our stay much more enjoyable.

 

We booked a hotel in Hialeah. The rates were cheaper, but I wouldn’t recommend the area. There is nothing in walking distance, and it is not a great neighborhood. There are people on every street corner peddling fruit, offering car washes, and our stay was right after the earthquake in Haiti, so there were a lot of people straight up begging for money. We stayed at the Days Inn, they offered a shuttle to the Pier, but since we had the rental car we just opted for a taxi after we took it back.

 

Friday when we arrived, we found a Chili’s to go to dinner at (none of the other places in that area spoke any English) Saturday morning we drove to South Beach just to gawk at the fancy hotels and restaurants (we spotted Jason Segel!!) That afternoon we met up with some fellow CC members (Hikingcruiser, and jcb91777) for an afternoon at the Miami Seaquarium. It was a lot of fun! A lot of fun shows, one with dolphins, one with sea lions, and a killer whale show. We had planned to go to Monty’s for dinner, but we were told that it is no longer in operation. I can’t remember where we went to dinner, but it was a seafood place near little Havana.

 

Sunday, We had to have the rental car back by 9 am, so after we returned it, we thought we would be stuck by the pier with nothing to do, how wrong we were! We walked up to the pier, gave our luggage to the porter, and were directed to the check in desk! We were checked in by 9:45, and they started calling zone numbers at 11:15. We were in zone 1, after the VIP boarding, so we were on board by 11:30. We walked around the ship and took pictures, had lunch at the lido buffet (standard buffet fare, chicken tenders, hot dogs, French fries) Afterwards, we kicked back in some loungers with our first DOD. Around 1:30 the announcement was made that the staterooms were open. We went to our room, (an inside #1236, towards the front of the ship) Sail away was great! If you have never departed from Miami, it is a lot different than the sail away we experienced in Tampa, where there was nobody to wave to. In Miami, people driving were honking their horns and waving, people in parks were lined up taking pictures. It was a very exciting feeling knowing that I was on vacation waving goodbye to all of the people who would have to go to work the next day!

 

Dinner that night was a fiasco. We were seated in the gold dining room, lower. Someone lead us to our table, which was for 6. We took our seats, and immediately were joined by a woman screaming at us that we were at her table! She kept going on about how “that couple” should have been moved, and how “that couple” were going to ruin her vacation if she couldn’t be seated with her friends. (apparently they had talked to someone about getting us moved, but it never became official) The wait staff for that table were very kind to us. They showed us to our new table, which was a table for two, located right in the middle of the 2nd largest group on board. The polka enthusiasts.

 

Before I go any further, I must explain that there were 3, VERY LARGE, groups on our sailing. Group #1 were roughly 500 single Mormon young adults. While as a whole, they were very friendly, very well mannered, my first impression of them looked like something out of MTV’s Jersey Shore (if you don’t know what that is, google that, or Snooki, or fist pumping, any of that will give you an idea of what we saw) Group #2 were 450 polka music enthusiasts. Also a great group of people, by the end of the cruise, I asked if I could be an honorary member as we sat in their section for dinner all week, and had made some polka friends. Group # 3 which wasn’t really a group at all was just about all of Canada. They were out in force, and I was told that if you were on our sailing of the Glory, there was a 1 in 3 chance you were Canadian.

 

Anyways. Back to dinner. A table for two? How nice right? Not really. We were in the middle of an aisle, and felt like we were constantly in the way. We were also done eating every night before our polka friends around us had even been served dinner. It was just strange. After dinner, all we did were wander around the ship, and we turned in early. (We’re not typical 23 and 26 year olds, we’re used to our 9 pm bedtime, and even on vacation it’s hard to break the habit)

 

Monday was our first day at sea. I attended the shopping seminar, while the fiancé went to the fun ashore talk. That afternoon was our CC group meeting, which was great. Everyone we met (including those we already met)were very nice! The fiancé wasn’t feeling very well by the time dinner rolled around, so I went to formal night on my own. I had the lobster, which I think was overcooked. It was very rubbery, and hard to eat. The shrimp accompanying it were excellent however. Since Mike wasn’t feeling well, we ended up watching an in room movie (ghosts of girlfriend’s past I think)

 

Tuesday was Cozumel, which is one of my favorite places in the world. We opted for the Playa Mia beach break. It was great, a beach day with water toys (trampoline, iceburg, kayaks) included. Alcohol was also included and I do believe I overindulged that day. There was a Mexican buffet, which was great, and beach chairs were available for free. It was a bit windy however, so no umbrellas, meaning, not much shade. When we returned to the port area, we visited Fat Tuesday, and Three Amigos (my favorite) which means more margaritas. By the time we made it back to our cabin, I was sloppy, and fell asleep until well after dinner time. When I woke up, we went to the buffet for dinner, which was great. I can’t remember what I ate, but I remember I liked it.

 

Wednesday was Belize. Tendering into Belize is a long boat ride, and is very rough. We made it a shopping day. There are a lot of deals to be had if you are looking for knock off bags, which I was. I took my haggling skills that I acquired on these boards with me on vacation, and I came out with some great finds. I would recommend not leaving the port area unless you are on a tour, as the moment you leave the fenced in area, people start hounding you for money. We had lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants in port (lizard something?) which was fun, but PACKED. If you go, make sure you have a few hours, and exact change, as it took us about 20 minutes to get change for a $20. That night we had dinner in the MDR, and afterwards went to the “Justin Illusion” show. Now, I don’t have kids, but if I did, I would have been very upset with this show. There were a lot of very sexual undertones, and very provocative dancing and outfits. I know at one point, Mike leaned over and asked when Carnival had decided to open the strip club on board. Other people may not see this show that way, but it was just uncomfortable. The illusions were impressive, but I’d say the show overall was nothing I’d rush back to see again.

 

Thursday was Roatan, and I must say, was my favorite port that day for several reasons. When the ship was docking, there were some problems docking where we were supposed to, so we ended up on the opposite side of the island at the other dock. We had booked a tour through Victor Bodden tours, and did the best of Roatan tour. We had a wonderful time, our guide took us on an extensive tour of the island. We stopped on the west end of the island for lunch, which was nice. Our guide had previously worked for Anthony’s Key diving, and as I am an avid diver, he took me on a tour of their operation. I thought that the Bodden tour’s level of personalization was phenomenal. He actually drove us onto the beach, and we watched people enjoying their dolphin encounter. One of the funnier moments of the tour was that I have a very “wealthy” last name on the island (Jackson) and everyone I encountered treated me as royalty. Our guide even pulled into Mr. Jackson’s driveway so I could take pictures of my “family” home. It was a great experience, and for the price it couldn’t be beat. $40/pp (less if you have more than 2 people) gets you a guide and an air conditioned vehicle for the day. After our tour was over, we went to Diamonds International. I got my wedding band!!! I couldn’t have been any more excited. We got a great deal, and it’s a beautiful ring. I would say, however, that almost everything else we encountered in Roatan was extremely expensive! Back on the ship that night we saw comedian Anthony Acosta in the “R” rated show. It was very “R” rated (a lot of sexual jokes) but he was extremely funny! So funny in fact that we went back the next night!

 

Friday we visited Grand Cayman. Another shopping day for us. This day we had an agenda. We found my wedding band, and now we were on a mission to find his. Which we did, ultimately it was in the first place we looked. Milano’s Jewelry is beautiful, and well priced. With some haggling of course. It poured for a good portion of the day, so we spent some time at Margaritaville, which, even though I was warned, I was still shocked as to how expensive it was. We ended up getting back on the ship early, just in time for it to stop raining. All was well though, we went to dinner in the MDR for the second formal night, and then went to the comedy shows. That night we saw Tony Esposito’s R rated comedy (funny, but not memorable) and then we stayed to see Anthony Acosta again. So funny I had tears rolling down my cheeks even though I had just heard it the night before.

 

Saturday was our final day, and a fun day at sea. I went to the towel animal folding demonstration (and bought the book, yep, I’ve got sucker stamped on my forehead somewhere) and Mike went to the debark talk. We spent the day soaking up the last bit of sun, and playing putt-putt. We played in the casino for awhile, went to dinner, and then packed up all of our stuff and turned in early.

 

Sunday morning we went to breakfast at the buffet (like we did every morning). We were already docked in Miami when we woke up. They were already announcing numbers, but then they announced that they would have to wait to continue calling numbers until more people got off the ship. We were doing self debark, so we grabbed our stuff and left. Customs was a breeze, even though we were way over our allotted alcohol limit. The customs guy didn’t seem to care, he just waved us through.

 

Here are a few things I can’t remember when we did them, but should be mentioned. We went to the Emerald steakhouse at some point. It was Ok. The wait staff was great, but terribly slow. I don’t think my water glass was touched from the time I sat down until we left (which means I had no water for half my meal and had to drink out of Mike’s) the samples from the chef were a highlight for me. I had the filet, it was good. I tried escargot for the first time. The escargot itself was great, the puff pastry it comes in was so buttery it overpowered the flavor of the snail. Overall only an OK experience. Fish and chips was good but really greasy. 24 hour pizza is a must have! We hit that for lunch and late night snacks on a few occasions. The grill was amazing but always had long lines. Chocolate buffet was ok, but lines were so long I only grabbed a cookie. I drink a lot of diet coke, so I bought a soda sticker. Well worth it for me. We spent a lot of time in the hot tubs. The only ones that got more than luke warm were in the back of the ship by the pizza place. Those ones were also never crowded except for once when we got in and then were joined by 16 Mormon kids (yes, that means 18 people in 1 little hot tub) We didn’t try the pools, or the water slide, which I only saw open twice. We also didn’t try room service. Overall this was a great cruise. We were the last cruise before she went in for dry dock, so I’m sure it’s even better now. For all the complaints of her showing her age, it was something I didn’t notice much, even though I was looking for it.

 

Chair hogs were a problem. On several occasions, there were barely anyone in loungers, but no free loungers to be found. At one point, I sat on a broken one just so I could sit and eat. While sitting in my broken chair I scoped out one that looked vacant. After waiting for 20 minutes, I went over to it and sat down. A woman appeared out of nowhere and said “THAT’S MY FRIEND’S CHAIR!!! YOU CAN’T SIT THERE” I informed her politely that there was no chair saving, and that I’d been watching the chair for 20 minutes. The woman called me ridiculous, grabbed my towel and magazines and threw them (yes, threw them) off of the lounger. When I stood up to get my stuff she literally picked up the lounger and walked away with it. I was shocked.

 

If anyone has questions, ask away. No pictures for right now as I cannot find the cable that connects my camera to the laptop, but I’ll post them when I find it!

[cjackso8]

nobody has any Glory quesitons for me? How dissapointing! haha :D

[49holding]

I will be sailing on the Glory in June and have a question as to how the lido buffett is configured...is it 1 long cafeteria line or is it broken up into seperate stations. ( ie freestanding seperate salad bar, dessert stand, etc) Thanks

[Bulldog3777]

Going on the Glory in Nov so I read your review and found it very educating. Thank you. Good job.

[mm24fan]

Thanks for the review! As I am going on my first cruise on this ship in May, I am always interested to see what people have to say about it.

 

I am so sorry to hear that there were some rude people onboard. Was the chair-picker-upper lady part of the original group that wanted you guys away from their table? Sounds like you made the best of it though :D

 

I do have one question though. Do you by any chance remember if they doors were metal or something else? I have been reading about door decorating and trying to decide if I want to get into that and if so, how to hang stuff up (magnets or tape, etc).

[skings]

Hi we are sailing in November. You were on a cruise before "Dry Dock" Am I correct? Was the ship in dirty:rolleyes: or worn condition? or did you not notice. Some people have written reviews after "drydock" and lead me to believe that the carpets were not changed in some areas. Thanks

[cjackso8]

There are two buffets outside of the lido dining area, one on the left, one on the right(more in the pool bar area) they are both the same, things like hotdogs, hamburgers, french fries. when you enter the dining area there are two more buffets. Again, left and right. Same things in those buffets. across from those buffets, there are buffets for salad, and bread, also the juice and coffee are in that area. Keep going towards the back of the ship. If you go to the Left, you have oriental station, go to the right, there is the Deli. All the way to the back of the ship is 24 hour pizza. Go up one level, and there is fish and chips.

[cjackso8]

As for the doors, I don't know for sure what they were made of, They look wooden from the outside, I think they are medal though. they are very heavy. I think for sure you would be fine taping something to the door no matter what. I saw it on a few different doors.

 

The ship looked great to me. I was looking for signs of wear, and I didn't find many. The only thing I really noticed was that the railing above the hot tub area in the back of the ship was missing, and there were some tiles missing. Nothing major though.

[boricua2007]

Thanks for taking the time of posting your review. In Belize and GCayman, do you remember at what time you took your tender and/ or arrive to the islands?

[cruznsuzn89]

Thanks for your review, I enjoyed reading it. Glad you had a good time even with the rude people you encountered! We are going on the Glory May 9th for the Eastern carribean. I was wondering where the fish and chips place was on the ship? Also, is the mini golf on the top of the ship? We never got a chance to play on our last cruise and I'd like to try it this time. Thanks again for the review. I hope you can post some pictures!

[cherishrwil]

Yes, I was also curious about the mini golf. Did you try the Mongolian Buffet and if so, was it good? Thanks!

[cjackso8]

Tendering into both belize and Grand Cayman was interesting. If you are not on an excursion, you go to the back lounge to pick up tender tickets. the earlier you get there, the better your tender number. At one point for Grand cayman they said that thee were too many people in the lounge, and if you didn't already have a ticket, you would have to wait until later to even show up for a ticket. (How much later, I don't know, I showed up early)

 

Fish and Chips is the level above the buffets, we got so lost trying to find it, it was rediculous. It's a very strange location because it's the only thing up there. Very good though.

 

The mongolian buffet I did not try. I didn't try a lot of the specialty buffets mostly because there was so much to try,that the buffet didn't always make the list for me.

 

Putt-Putt is up on the sports deck. 9 holes I think, and very crowded the day we went. They do a putt-putt competition, but when we saw the crowd for it, we changed our minds.

 

Also, something I didn't mention. The emerald steakhouse is directly below the sports deck, and there were a lot of runners the night we went. Unfortunately, it sounded like a herd of elephants were running laps around the track.

 

I hope this helps!

[browneyedwoman]

Thanks for posting the review. I enjoyed reading it. Now a few questions -

 

Where was the late night chocolate buffet and which night did they have it on? Was your cruise a week long one or a 5 night cruise?

[cjackso8]

No late night buffets. The chocolate buffet was the last afternoon of the cruise. I was on the 7 night western carribean to cozumel, belize, roatan, Grand cayman.