Carnival Glory w/Infant Cruise Review from 12/8

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I am putting out my feelers. Is anyone interested in a review of the Carnival Glory that just returned today???

 

In my review I would explain + and - of cruising with a 9 month old, my thoughts on the new dining concept, and my overall opinion of a Carnival cruise being that I have logged over 100 days on other cruise lines.

 

I promise it won't be a bash fest ;)

 

I just don't want to start a review if there is no interest in those topics. I'm sure the dining thing will be beat to death in the coming weeks.

[Heartfruit]

I'd be interested

[Name Of The Game]

Yes, please write the review! :)

[seannyice81]

Since the dining concept is currently a hot topic here, it would be good to have you share your experience and thoughts on it as well.

[sanmarcosman]

yes, please write the review! :)

 

+ 1

[dan059]

Yes

 

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[jreichow1972]

I'd like to read your review. I'm interested in knowing what cruising with a infant would be like. My daughter is due July 2014 and we were planning a winter 2015 cruise but didn't know how an infant and cruising could or would work. Thanks.

 

 

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[mackatty]

I would love to read your review!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Alright, then I'll write it up!

Tonight I will give you the basic background info on who we are, who we went with, etc. Tomorrow I will write it up and post lots of pictures as well :)

 

DH and I are 30, we've been on a lot of cruises. Most of them on Royal Caribbean. We are happy with what we get on RC and know what to expect. DH went on a lot of Carnival cruises with his family as a kid. However, we do branch out from time to time for various reasons: itinerary, interest in a ship, and special opportunities. Our last cruise was when I was 24 weeks pregnant, so as you can see we cruise as much as we can. We live in South Florida, which makes cruising convenient!

I am a teacher and I work in the travel industry nights/weekends. DH owns a print shop.

 

Our son is 9 and 1/2 months old. Born with some allergy issues, which will be referenced in my review. He's a really happy go lucky baby who LOVES people!

 

My mom and her boyfriend joined us on this cruise. They are in their mid-50s. They decided to come along to help out and because they had a great deal on their cabin.

 

My husband and I are very easy going when it comes to most things on vacation. If we're away from the stress, we're happy! My mom and her BF are a little more critical and high strung about things ;)

 

We had a balcony cabin on deck 7, aft. We normally cruise in inside cabins because we can cruise more often that way. Having that balcony was a good choice with an infant!

 

Here's one of the FEW pictures of the 3 of us together.

 

Tune in tomorrow for the details!

[Ehpride]

I'm looking forward to hearing about the dining riom.

[KPfromCT]

Can't wait to read more!!!!:D:D:D

[gogans1]

we are sailing out to the Western caribbean on jan 19 and hoping u could tells me a little about the shows and the amount of activities planned. mainly wondering if they keep the days packed with things to do or if you find your self trying to burn time till the next event

[nimiq]

Can't wait to hear about the Glory and it's new menu.

Nice picture by the way.

Sea ya

Eric

[Lerin]

Great start, thanks for deciding to do a review.

[swim25]

I just booked the Glory Western Caribbean for July. I'm with a 16 year old but I am still interested your review of the Glory and the new dining.

[ch27088]

Hurry back, can't wait to read your review and see the photos. Thanks in advance for sharing.

[cruisinsly]

Looking forward to the rest!! Great start so far.

[Ciardasully]

I loved the Glory and I can't wait to read your review.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We planned to begin our day around 9:30am. My mom was supposed to come to our house with her luggage already loaded in her SUV. 10am came and they still didn't show. I called and found out they were struggling with the luggage bag for the roof. They finally arrived at our house a little after 10. My mom lives less than 5 miles from me. We piled our belongings in to her SUV.

 

We will admit, we overpack! I am always afraid I will be short on something. I am also picky about what I wear and change my mind far too often! So MY house had 3 full-sized suitcases. 1 carry-on suitcase with my son's food and formula. A pack n play. Diaper bag. Backpack. Stroller. plus all the stuff my mom and her boyfriend brought along. Thankfully my husband and I aren't big people, so we sat in my mom's backseat with our legs up because we had things stuffed in the leg areas back there.

 

 

The drive to Port of Miami was just under an hour from my house. So we got there, unloaded the ridiculous amount of stuff for the porter, and tried to do so quickly as to not hold up other people arriving. My mom went to park in the garage down where the Majesty of the Seas and Disney ships are berthed. So that took another 20 minutes. She didnt want her car parked out in the sun. I was very happy to see that Carnival provides drinks at the entrance of the terminal. Not all cruise lines do this. They had lemonade and water available.

 

 

When we were doing the security check-in we were informed that we had VIP access and should report to the Captain's Lounge to retrieve our Sail & Sign cards. A student of mine has a father who works at the Corporate office of Carnival, I had spoken to him about my cruise the previous week. He told me to give him my booking number and he'd take care of my vacation!

 

There were a lot of people waiting to board. I am guessing that boarding was delayed a bit that day. After receiving our cards we proceeded to the escalator/elevator area. We went right up the elevator and were on the ship within minutes of entering the terminal. my guess was a total of 10 minutes from the moment we went through security.

 

The terminal was nicely decorated for Christmas although its hard to tell from the photo. I took a quick snap shot as we were walking toward the ramps. It appears rather empty because many people were sitting off to the right and they started calling a lot of numbers once we were upstairs.

 

Edited December 16, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We entered on deck 3, in the atrium. It was insanely crowded in there. I captured a quick glance at the Xmas decor. I love being on ships during the holidays. It makes it more festive and enjoyable. We have done 2 previous xmas cruises that occurred over the actual holiday.

 

 

Once we boarded, we headed up to the Lido Red Sail buffet. I remembered the wide variety of choices on my last Carnival cruise (nearly 4 years ago, next month). When we finally found somewhere to sit with the 5 of us I ventured off to the buffet. I was sadly let down. I felt that the food choices were not as varied as they were in the past. I can not even remember what I put on my plate at this meal.

 

After having a light lunch I decided to see if our room was open. So we went down to deck 7. Our cabin was aft, so we seemed to be very close to a lot of venues on the ship that we used. Sure enough, it was ready for us. We were dragging a lot of stuff around because I was too afraid of certain items getting lost if we checked them at the curb. Try hauling a week's worth of liquid baby formula in a carry-on suitcase AND pushing a stroller!

 

Once we got in I HAD to clean the room. I know the stewards wipe things down, but I had a baby in tow and he gets in to everything. So I opened my can of disinfecting wipes and got to work. DH and I wiped down every surface within reach of my little guy. Yes, the photo below is me wiping down the walls!

 

 

Little man just woke up from a nap. I will be back later with more :)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

While I mention wiping down the cabin I would also like to mention some of the baby gear I recommend for those that might be cruising with an infant.

 

The First Years- Ignite Stroller

This stroller was recommended by another cruiser on cruise critic last year. Bionicman97 does fabulous reviews. He's actually in the middle of doing one of the Oasis of the Seas right now. After reading about his positive feedback, we made sure to get one a while back because we travel frequently. I agree with him, it's sturdy, lightweight, and compact! It has been to Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas with us already. It survived airplanes, big cities, and most importantly a very active baby. At first I was going to bring our regular stroller, a City Mini GT. I am glad we decided to go with the umbrella style instead!

 

As you can see in the first picture, I was able to wheel it around in the room, even in tight spaces like those found at the foot of the bed.

 

 

This stroller also folds in to a very compact form. I was able to store it against the wall at the foot of the bed without it interfering with walking space for us.

 

 

It's also great for safety's sake. It has a 5-point harness to ensure that baby doesn't climb out! You may notice a blue string attached to my son's Funship Freddie doll and a black one on the pink rattle-phone (hand me down from his girl cousins!). We bought those so we wouldn't lose any of his toys while on the go. They worked great because there are 5 button snaps on each so you can adjust the length depending on the toy and distance from the floor. Its called the Baby Buddy Secure a Toy.

 

 

There were a lot of families with young children onboard. The ones who brought full-sized strollers really seemed to struggle to get through crowds and in small spaces that cruise ships tend to have. There was one family with twin girls a little older than my son, they had a Bugaboo Donkey double stroller which is HUGE! I don't know how they managed.

Edited December 17, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

The second item I highly recommend would be some type of inflatable bath tub. It has two purposes on a cruise.

 

1) For a child who can not or will not stand in a shower, it's a way to bathe them.

 

2) Being that most cruise line do not allow diapered children in the pool (other than certain Royal Caribbean ships and Disney ships with dedicated baby splash pads) it gives your baby a pool to play in!

 

I am very happy with the one I purchased because it has a very strong suction cup that actually holds! Most baby items with suction do not hold very well. This one stayed up everywhere we went. This was another item that has traveled all over with us over the last 9 months.

 

Here it is, nicely attached to the wall of the shower.

 

Here is how it fits in the shower stall.

 

and finally... here is is being used as a pool!

 

On a side note, my son started traveling at 4 weeks old. Hes been on two flights, a 12 hour road trip, stayed in 2 hotels that were within driving distance, etc. We want him to be used to traveling so it never becomes a problem!

[BubMunkeyBles]

On a side note, my son started traveling at 4 weeks old. Hes been on two flights, a 12 hour road trip, stayed in 2 hotels that were within driving distance, etc. We want him to be used to traveling so it never becomes a problem!

 

Loving your review. We're taking our 3 and 4 year old on the Glory in February for their first cruise (we've stuck to land vacations so far). They're well travelled for their age and I love it (Europe, roadtrip from FL to AK etc). I feel like it's something that will be great later on. :)

[092306]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the rest!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Alright, I am back!

Long day of work and then taking care of a child who's schedule was messed up because his parents took him on a cruise :(

 

So while I was cleaning the room, my son decided to explore a bit on his own.

He checked all the cracks and crevices to be sure that I got out the germies!

 

 

Then my son discovered the most fascinating thing in his life thus far...

A light switch above the bed...

 

 

It never got old, here he is again later in the week...

 

 

Once the room was clean, my husband decided to take his ritual "1st day of the cruise nap." This was the first time in the 15 cruises we've taken together that I didn't snag a picture of him napping a few hours after getting on the ship! I'm kinda mad at myself for it. It's a tradition for me to show him the picture when we return and then he rolls his eyes at me. haha

 

Before the cruise we had requested to be seated with my mom and her boyfriend for early dinner. When we got our sail and sign cards we saw that we were seated on opposite sides of the dining room.

 

I ventured off with my son to the Golden Dining room in order to get our dining reservations fixed. I arrived at the dining room and spoke with the maitre'd. He was very friendly, played with my son, danced him around at the desk while holding him, then took care of business. He said it would not be a problem. We would have to proceed to the table noted on our cards for this evening and the following day we would receive a card in our room indicating our new table for the remainder of the week.

 

This seemed to be a common theme throughout the week. Staff and Crew loved to play with my son and talk to him. Everyone smiled when they saw him. It made us feel good because we wanted this to be a good experience for all of us.

 

Time seemed to have flown because when I got back to the room it was nearly MUSTARD time. Yes, we call it that and we know it's not the real name.

 

We decided to take the stroller with us because we would be standing there for some time and, while my son is on the small side for his age, 19 pounds feels pretty darn heavy when you hold him for as long as muster.

 

As we emerged from the elevator the crew members directed us in to the Ivory Lounge rather than have us wait outside like sardines in the sun. I called over to my mom who was waiting for us to let her know where we'd be, a crew member told me to have them join us in the lounge. I thought this was very nice, as they didn't have to allow them to accompany us. I was very appreciative for the air and soft seats vs the sardine can. I know many ships are moving toward having muster drill inside as opposed to out on deck these days.

 

During muster they came through and tagged the baby with a neon green bracelet that indicated our muster station should he go off on his own throughout the week. Babies these days are so independent ;)

 

Here is munchkin and me (wearing his tacky tourist suit) at muster.

 

Up next, sail away and dinner!

Edited December 18, 2013 by smileyperry