Glory 4/9 Cruise - Fabulous

[mnsawyer]

Just got back at midnight last night from our Glory cruise. It was fabulous and both my DH and I agree this was our best cruise yet and we like the Glory and Port Canaveral and this itinerary better than out of Miami - Triumph. The Glory is gorgeous...still Carnival but very elegant.

 

We stayed in Orlando on Friday night and drove to Cocoa Beach on Saturday am. Got LaQuinta Airport North through Priceline for $40. Great hotel and great restaurant in parking lot - Fish on Fire. Next time would stay at Cocoa Beach. Great area and much better than expected. Spent a couple of hours Saturday am checking out the area. Port is absolutely beautiful and brand new. Took about 1 1/2 to get on the ship from start to finish. Couldn't get into our rooms until later in the day in that there was a computer glitch with our cabin keys. Some folks really angry but not us...just go with the flow. In our rooms by 4:30 or so.

 

Weather was great but windy...not HOT, HOT but just right. Maitre'd was wonderful - changed dining rooms and got a table for 2. Dining room and wait staff fabulous!

 

Sunday - took quite a while to get off the ship and through security in Key West. Trolley drops off passengers at Ft. Zachary Taylor and then 10-minute walk - best beach in Key West. It was crowded but good day...really hot in Old Town. Did the Old Town Trolley Tour...didn't get off. Good day.

 

Monday - at sea - windy and when sun went in - a bit cool but we live in Maine and I wasn't going to complain about the weather! Great day at sea - John Heald in rare form and lots to do on the ship. There was a great band in the Ebony Caberet - Simple Friends - Asian group that sang a lot of 60 & 70's - they were wonderful!

 

Lots of 55+ couple on the ship which is fine - much different atmosphere than in March when we typically sail - many people in wheelchairs? at least 10 or more - can't imagine travel agent's recommending this type of vacation but I'm not judging. Casino very full - fewer places for smokers than on Triumph two years ago. No problems getting chairs if you went up on higher decks - we had a wonderful spot on deck 14 (sun) right in the front of the ship - very windy but very peaceful. Formal night tonight. Show great too. Weather becoming very humid as we sail closer to Belize.

 

Tuesday - up early for 8:00 a.m. tour to Goff's Caye which was excellent. Snorkeling a bit rough and swimming even from the beach isn't easy. Great place for a few hours. Sunrise is very late (7:30 a.m.and later) which isn't what we are used to - even with the time change - sunrise around 6:20 a.m. in Maine - we're first on eastern time! Back to the ship for lunch and then into town at the village shop area - tender is fine but again, very humid. Shopping area is okay here - glad we did a tour and would recommend highly doing a tour in Belize. Comment for those thinking about independent tours - spoke with a woman from Maine on Wednesday in Cozumel - she and her sister could not get a tender ticket on Tuesday to Belize until 10:30 a.m. - Belize is two hours behind ship's time during this time of year. They were very disappointed they couldn't get off sooner. They took the ferry to Caye Caulker and loved it but not enough time.

 

Wednesday - our favorite day - haven't been excited about Paradise Beach but am now reformed. Got there at 9:15 a.m. and had the place to ourselves. It's spotless - they were combing the beach - washing changing areas, bathrooms, etc. Had two chairs and umbrella - stayed for the good part of the day - many cruisers - didn't start to fill up until 11:00 a.m. or so. Had 4 drinks, 3 bottles of water, appetizer, ribs, chips and guacamole all for $47 for 2. Fabulous service - no one pushing you for drinks. It was wonderful and would recommend highly to anyone! Best part of the beach! Walked along the rest of the beach and it is very sloped - almost a 45 degree angle. There is a wonderful pier you can go out on which has a thatched roof with chairs - so cool and shaded - you can snorkel off the pier and it's wonderful by the bouy's - even better than Belize! We loved our day and my DH hasn't stopped talking about our day at Paradise Beach.

 

Thursday - Progresso - sorry to say that you need to assuredly do a tour here. The pier is new and nice but that's as far as it goes. Into town is horrible and we were very uncomfortable on the streets - beach is not clean and the Corona Beach break area isn't very good. Reef Club Yucatan is a resort they are offering day tours - leaves at 10:30 a.m. and returns at 2:00 p.m. - $30 per person for all you can drink - lunch not included - should have done this or a ruins tour. Talked with 2 ladies that did Chichen Itza - long but glad they did it - once in a lifetime experience. Formal night - show excellent

 

Friday - windy and I hate to say it...cool - we did sun but only in shorts and t-shirts - sun has been intense this week and we got pretty burned but didn't feel it with the wind, etc. Debarkation talk was very informative and glad we attended. Packed up things - didn't do laundry this time since we had our bathing suits on most of the week with 4 islands.

 

Went to the spa a few times and it was fabulous - had my nails done for $15 on Thursday night. Lots of free seminars and the gym is gorgeous. Used the sauna and steam room. Would recommend highly!

 

Saturday - night was rough and up early - late getting into Port Canaveral - self assist not called until 9:00 a.m. very late - if we had a 11:30 a.m. flight, we probably wouldn't have made it. Deck 6 called at 9:45 a.m. - took exactly 2 hours from time deck called to getting to the airport. We used the Mears shuttle and would recommend it highly.

 

Cruise overall was wonderful - food very good - we tried not to go to the same place as not to get sick of the same thing with the exception of breakfast on Lido - ordered room service every morning at 7:00 a.m. for coffee. Spent more time on our balcony than ever. We loved it. Celebrated our 20th anniversary on Thursday night. Ordered a cake from the dining room - $7.95 for a small and shared it with 8 others. It was excellent - chocolate buffet on Thursday afternoon to die for! Can have sirloin and baked potato if you don't like dining room menu. Photos were expensive but had a special on Friday for Thursday night dining room photos for $11.99 each - 8X 10 and then for $10 more, you get a sheet of smaller ones - 3 X 5, 4 X 6 and 2 wallets. So we got this package and gave to our family some of the smaller ones. Flight was at 5:30 p.m out of MCO wished it had have been around 2 or so but that wasn't the case. Ate at McCoy's at the Hyatt (recommendation from this board) and it was wonderful. Around $25 for 2 - ruebens and club sandwich but very quiet and relaxing. Got home last night around midnight and up this am at 8:00 a.m. Had lots to do today in that we're back to work tomorrow. Can't believe it's over but it's very warm today in Maine 70+ which has made it easier. Laundry is all done and put away - house is back in order and grocery shopping is done. I'll have separation anxiety from my DH - we had an incredible time. Am sure you will to! Happy to answer any questions!

 

Mary

[Magnifique1908]

I'm glad that you had such a great time on the Glory!!!

 

I had been waiting for your review. Thanks for sharing.

 

Can you share the spa prices? I have been seeing some older ones, just wondering the average cost of a massage.

 

Also did you by any chance bring your Capers home? If so, I would love to see some recent ones.

 

Some people have been posting awful stuff about this ship, and I'm glad someone finally made a good time of their cruise and brought it back to share.

[afnavwife]

Thank you so much for the review. We will be on the Glory 5/21 and now I have a better idea what I want to do at each port!

[aj'smom]

Mary

thanks for the Update on your cruise. Im so glad yuou had a good time we are going to the eastern carribbean in July --but I haven't read a lot of good things about this ship

I feel much better :p thanks Jane

[OCruisers]

Mary .... Thanks so very much for your review!!!!

 

Thursday - Progresso - sorry to say that you need to assuredly do a tour here. The pier is new and nice but that's as far as it goes. Into town is horrible and we were very uncomfortable on the streets - beach is not clean and the Corona Beach break area isn't very good. Reef Club Yucatan is a resort they are offering day tours - leaves at 10:30 a.m. and returns at 2:00 p.m. - $30 per person for all you can drink - lunch not included - should have done this or a ruins tour. Mary

 

Is "Reef Club Yucatan" an excursion offered by the ship???

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[flygrass]

Glad to hear you had a great trip, we will be sailing the glory April 30 and cant wait.

I have a question for you ,,, was the water slide open ???? There have been post saying all slides are closed.....

[sgriff17]

thanks for the review!!!

[rpsinnj]

What Dinning Room Did You Have

 

Was Getting In Late Due To Rough Seas....and Debarkation Started At 9am

 

We Have 11:15 Am Flight Coming Home On 4/30

[Rayefan]

Mary,

 

Thanks for the great review, I appreciate your comments a lot! I am glad you had a great cruise. We will sailing on the Glory July 9th and can hardly wait as this will be a first for us sailing in the Caribbean and being on such a BIG ship. My DH is more excited about the sushi bar though. Say, did you have the sushi?

 

Again, Thanks ;-)

[lilsonicfan]

Good review!

 

I remember you posting about getting back to Orlando - did you end up taking the shuttle, and how did that go?

 

About the ladies with the independent tour in Belize - did they end up taking the tour? I couldn't tell from what you said, sorry! Does it mean they wouldn't have left the ship until 8:30 Belize time?

[mnsawyer]

Spa prices were cheaper as the week went on especially at sea days. On Thursday I believe the facial and massage were half price - maybe $100 for both. I saw the sushi bar was open in the evenings...didn't go there but saw many people did. The Reef Yucatan isn't through the ship - it's offered with other tours right at the pier. The ladies that took the ruins excursion did it through the ship. Chitchen Itza tour not offered through independent operator that I could see but other tours of ruins were. Yes, we used the Carnival shuttle for the trip back to the airport. Yes, we were late getting in due to high winds. 11:15 a.m. flight is very tight. We were originally scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and glad we changed it to later in the day to me, any flight around 1-2 is perfect. Enough time to get to the airport, have lunch and then your flight. On this particular cruise, there would have been no way to probably make our original flight at 11:30 a.m.. I have heard on most cruises that you can self-assist off the ship around 8:00 a.m. or so but again, not this time.

[LostFan#1]

You said the swimming was rough - current too strong to enjoy the snorkleing? Could you see many fish? Did you snorkel from both the boat and from shore? Any help here would be appreciated.

 

Debbie

[Tweety]

Thanks for the great review. We are booked on the Glory July 30th. We can't wait. We have been on the Pride and Triumph recently, and are glad to hear the Glory is just as nice. Thanks for the info on Progresso, we were thinking of just staying on the ship.

 

Maureen

[mnsawyer]

No current not too rough to enjoy the snorkeling but just be prepared for some waves. It's easier to swim under the water than on top if that makes sense. The island is wonderful and we were glad we did Goff's Caye. Yes, Belize time was 2 hours behind ship's time and the ladies I spoke with were doing a tour on their own - took a ferry to Caye Calker. If I were doing Progresso again, I would do the Reef Yucatan resort which is offered right at the pier or a ruins tour. The ship was very quiet around lunch time to about 2:30 p.m. the day we we in Progresso. It was a great day to relax!