1st time cruiser - back from Glory 2/05-2/12

[FourForFun]

We just returned from a week aboard Carnival Glory. I learned so much from these boards before our trip, I wanted to give back by sharing our experience, especially for first timers!

 

We are myself, DH, DS, 9yo and DD, 7yo.

 

Arrival

 

I suggest arriving as early as possible. Because of school tests and activities, we did not fly down to Florida until Saturday. Lots of stress about possible delays causing us to miss the ship. We made it, but only with an hour to spare. That did not give us much time to orient ourselves. We had lunch and wandered around finding our table in the dining room and our cabin. We noticed people with life jackets on. Turns out they were preparing for the muster drill. We had 10 minutes to find our way back to our cabin, get our lifejackets and then find our way to our assigned muster station, whatever that might be. Fortunatly, the station letter is printed on the lifejackets. It wasn't until after we got to our station that an announcement was made for the drill. We waited a good 30 minutes and ended up being against the wall, 5 rows of people deep before the drill began. Couldn't see or hear a thing - good thing the ship didn't sink!

 

The Ship

 

This being our first cruise we didn't know what to expect. We found the decor of the ship to be very pretty. Some posts claimed that the color theme was too much. We found it to be fun. The layout of the ship had me frustrated the first day. Although I had read about the ship being broken up, I expected more signage. We soon learned that if we took an elevator from our deck 11 down to deck 9, Lido or deck 5, Promenade, we could walk across the length of the ship and then take the stairs or another elevator to where we needed to be. A few days into the trip we laughed about how we were such pros at navigating around the ship!

 

The waves did not cooperate the week of our trip. We rocked and rolled every day that we were at sea. Our steward said that it wasn't normal but to remember that it could always be worse! We all started off with Bonine, forgot one day, realized we were okay and never took another.

 

Our Cabin

 

We were in what I belive is a category 6G cabin. No balcony, but a floor to ceiling window against the entire back wall. As the family went off exploring I got to unpacking. I was surprised at the amount of drawer and closet space. I did bring extra hangars, but not enough. I had read to bring post-it notes, I didn't and wished I had. With so much storage space, I wish I had had a way of identifying where everything was. In my rush to get unpacked, I ripped open the over the door shoe organizer that many posts suggested, before really noticing the bathroom. Plenty of shelves!!!! All of our daily stuff; hair products, shaving needs, dental care, lotions,etc. fit with room to spare. I kept the just in case items; band-aids, imodium, cold med. etc in a carry on. There was plenty of room under the bed to store our 3 large suitcases and garment bag.

 

I was happy to have brought along a clock, nightlight and powerstrip. The one outlet was in the room on the desk/vanity. DH and I shared 2 twin beds pushed together and made up as one. We were comfy. The kids took turns on the daybed and the bunk which the steward lowered from the ceiling each night and then put back up in the morning. The nightlight was essential for me, because the ladder for the bunk was right next to my side of the bed. The nightly trip to the powder room would have been hazardous without it! We each had 2 pillows. Should have asked for extra blankets though. Even DH, the hot bod, was chilly some nights.

 

Food

 

It was fine. Nothing great. We ate in the Platinum Dining Room. We belive it was our waiter's first job. He never introduced himself, his English was poor and he sweat profusely. I mean dripping down his face. Yes, it was disgusting. Service was slow. The tables in our waiter's section were always the last remaining. Yes, we could have complained, but we didn't want to cause problems for our waiter. If it was indeed his first week on the Glory we didn't want to make it his last. A little more experience and he might be fine. Besides, it gave us another funny story to share when we came home!

 

We also ate food from the Red Sail buffet, Fish and Chips, the Grille, the 24 hr pizzeria and the deli. DD enjoyed a very nice turkey sandwich at the deli, DH liked the steak sandwich at the grille. Picky eater, DS ate a lot of hot dugs and although he didn't care for the bottom of the pizza, he managed a few slices. A piece of chocolate cake from Creams ($2.00) was very disappointing. Friday's chocolate buffet was at lunch time. We searched it out but did not see it in Friday's capers. We had ice cream at least once a day!

 

Entertainment

 

Having our children along limited our activities. We did not go into the casino, but we managed to play Bingo. I won twice! After the $80 on cards (2 triple cards on 2 days) we came out ahead with $40!!! Sea Feud, Battle of the Sexes and The Newlywed game were fun to experience. Don't know if we'd go a second time. There were 2 Vegas style shows. One was a salute to Broadway the other, our favorite was Living in America. A comedy act and a sword swallowing magician were okay too. We did not go to the disco or to the bars. We had a very small liquor bill. Again, kids. Believe it or not, we managed to have a great time sober. Besides, we all walked like we were drunk because of the rocking of the ship!

 

Excursions

 

Nassau - hated it. We had nothing planned for this day but to go shopping. Perhaps a planned excursion might have been fun. Be prepared for, "Hey Mama want to get the girl's hair braided? Well, maybe you come back later. My name is May, you come find me". I wanted to take the family to the straw market. I'd been ther during a spring break and remembered it as being a neat place. Also, Mom asked me to bring her back a straw bag. The market is now under a tent. It is very crowded, and more like a flea market then the straw market I remembered.

 

St. Thomas - Don't want to spend big bucks on a Carnival tour? Contact Godfrey http://www.godfreytoursvi.com He was wonderful! What a gentleman! He was late picking us up, but because of the rave reviews about him on these boards, I wasn't worried. He showed up with a sign with my name on it. We shared his open safari with 16 people. 5 rows of seats, 4 people in each. We shopped. He gave us an informative tour of the island. Can't remeber the name of the highest point, but the banana daquiris (sp?) were yummy! Then 2 hours at a beach. We were all leaning towards Coki beach but he explained that the water was not as clear as usual because of the waves/weather conditions. He suggested Secret Harbor. It was beautiful! At the end we happily paid the $20 pp and then tipped him generously.

 

St. Martin - We didn't plan an excursion. All we wanted was a family day at the beach. We took a taxi ($4pp) to Little Bay. I don't know how it compared to other beaches on the island, but we had a great time. We managed to get an umbrella and 2 chairs for $5. We were told they are suppose to be $5 each. It was fun and relaxing. The kids collected shells, 127 to be exact! Bring along those ziploc sandwich bags! Storage bags for wet bathing suits too. Our only regret was that we didn't snorkel. We could have made arrangements there, but time wasn't on our side.

 

We loved what we experienced of both St. Thomas and St. Martin. Going to look into timeshares!

 

Camp Carnival

 

DS wanted nothing to do with going to camp. He was signed up but never went. Instead he found a basketball court (1/2 court). DH spent some time there with him, got to know the older boys who he was playing ball with, decided they were decent kids and that was that. Every chance we gave him he was bouncing the ball. He had his own soda card so they boys would take breaks, get a drink and then back to the court. As the week went on he and one of the boys would also go in the pool together.

 

DD, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of camp! Although she is a fish, she hated the salt water pools, she also said they were too cold. Instead, she was happy to spend every second we'd allow her at camp. After breakfast until 12:00 she went. She was then forced to spend time with us until camp reopened at 2:00. Back with us at 5 and then many nights to camp again after dinner. One night they had a "party" (we paid). She was going until 1am! We found it easier if DH and I both signed her in. This way, if one of us was doing something when it was time to pick her up, either one could sign her out. Camp was all about games, crafts and friends. She and another girl exchanged addresses.

 

Formal Dinner

 

I was unsure if we were going to attend any. People on these boards encouraged me to go, and I'm so glad they did! We ended up going to both. My only regret is that I didn't bring DD's second dress and an extra tie for DS. We had a table for 4, so no one noticed (not that I really care), and the kids didn't mind, but it would have made for slightly differend pictures!

 

Photos

 

Loved taking the photos! There were some great back drops! We even donned old fashion clothes and had a sepia picture done (I've always wanted to do that). So hard to choose which to buy! There were 2 particularly great photographers. One, a man, I don't know his name but you will know him because he takes such great care to pose you. The other was Jillian. Both of their photos were exceptional!

 

 

I'm sure I have forgotten many things. I will share more if I think of them. Feel free to ask questions about our time on the Glory. I will respond as best I can. For now I must go prepare my family for the real (snowy) world.

 

Oh yes, I just remembered. Of course you will pack sunscreen, but just in case you get a sunburn, the ship does not sell Solarcaine. The best my DH could do was a $10 bottle of aloe gel!

 

Best wishes.

[hill6]

Sounds like you had a pretty good trip. I loved the Glory.

[SoccerMom#3]

Thanks for the review and tips. I'm still not sure what we will do in each port on our Glory cruise in July. My DD got so tired of being asked if she wanted her hair braided in Jamaica.

[basketballmom]

We are sailing in July on the same itinerary. I think we are leaning towards booking with Godfrey thanks to what everyone on CC has recommended. How old was DS and DD? We will be sailing with 13 yo DD. Glad to hear the cabins had plenty of storage space for us overpackers! :)

[FourForFun]

3 more pieces of advice to make the lives of your fellow cruisers happy.

 

 

1. When walking down a corridor or up or down stairs stay to the right. The rule from elementary school applies in real life.

 

2. Before pushing your way onto an elevator, please let others get out! My 7 year old couldn't get over the rudeness of some of the passengers.

 

3. When you arrive at the Amber Palace early to get a good seat for an 8:30 show, and I do recommend that you do this, please be considerate of the performers and audience members from the previos performance. In other words, don't talk! Shame on all of the Glory passengers who felt that they had to yell to be heard over the big band music being performed on 2/11!

[sea-n-ski]

Thanks for your review! We look forward to sailing on the Glory in March! We have 5 teen boys in our group. Do you recall hearing/seeing anything about teen excursions being offered?? They had a blast whitewater rafting in Costa Rica with the Camp staff when we sailed on the Legend.

 

Thanks!

 

Laura

[FourForFun]

Sorry, Laura. I didn't pay attention to anything involving teens. There is a Camp Carnival for 12-14yo and Club 02 for 15-17 yeat olds. I believe Ultraviolets Teen Club is for the latter group. Teen only excursions sound great! You should start a new thread to post that question. Good luck!

 

Have a great cruise!

[SwtHeartMb03]

Hello! I noticed a lot of people saying they are going on GLORY in July? Anyone going July 9th.? If so.. join our roll call. I cant wait. This will be my 1st cruise!

-Maria :)

[OCruisers]

FourForFun.... Enjoyed reading your review! :)

 

Wondering about the "Pool Band" .... :confused: Did they play around the pool EVERY day ?

[FourForFun]

You know, I am not sure about every day. We never went near the pool on the days we went to St. Thomas and St. Martin. It seems there was always something going on though. For example, my DD brought along her 1st grade writing journal in order to keep up with her class work. One entry reads as follows, "Today I saw a harry chest contest. it was dissguhsting!!! Ther wer 11 harry men."

FourForFun.... Enjoyed reading your review! :)

 

Wondering about the "Pool Band" .... :confused: Did they play around the pool EVERY day ?

[FourForFun]

Okay, I just checked my capers for the week (couldn't find Wednesday's). Island Boys performed every day, except Tuesday (St. Thomas) on Lido, deck 9 (main pool). Looks like it was 11:30 or 12, for an hour to 1 1/2 hrs and then again later in the afternoon for 11/2 hrs.

FourForFun.... Enjoyed reading your review! :)

 

Wondering about the "Pool Band" .... :confused: Did they play around the pool EVERY day ?

[OCruisers]

FourForFun .... Thanks so much for the info on the pool band!!!

 

:D Like your DD (that comment in her journal is priceless -- be sure to save it) , we don't care for the "Hairy Chest" contest either BUT do enjoy the pool band!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :D

[jima53]

On our 1/15 cruise to Nassau another passenger told us that the reason the straw market was in a tent now was that a fire destroyed the regular building it had previously been in. Moved into the tent to keep the vendors in business.

 

Jim