Carnival Glory w/Infant Cruise Review from 12/8

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

I am going to open this post with a beautiful picture from the promenade deck as we headed back to the room!

All three of us changed in to our swim suits. We slathered my son in baby sunblock. Grabbed the bath tub and off we went to the main pool under the big screen. When we emerged from inside we were horrified. It was VERY loud. I am okay with loud noises, but this was insanely loud. I refused to stay out there for the sake of my son's hearing! So we headed out to the aft pool (Azure Lido) I know it's the adults only pool, but it was the ONLY place that we could go that would not wreck our hearing. We are very careful when it comes to loud noises because my husband is severely hearing impaired.

 

My husband took the bathtub in to the pool and filled it. Yes the bathtub was clean. We did not spread baby germs in to the adults pool. He's pretty strong so he carried it back over to the back corner where we were hanging out.

 

 

 

Nearly everyone that walked by smiled at us and commented on how well behaved he was, or cute, ad so on. No body ever told us to get lost. We spoke with the woman in the lounger near us and she said they kicked a family out yesterday. She said she understands why we don't want him at the "loud pool."

 

We hung out there for about an hour. At one point my husband went to the pizza counter for some lunch. He came back 20 minutes later. He said it was very irritating because the man behind the counter needed desperate help. The line was long and he couldn't keep up with it. The phone rang and he said "No, I don't need help. I have it all under control." At that point everyone in the line gasped in shock and annoyance! Maybe he was afraid that he would be reprimanded for not being able to keep pace? Pizza is a popular item and I really think they need to put more than one person there.

 

The pizza was decent. No frozen concoction, but actually made by hand. Nothing compares to Princess Pizza though!!

 

We moved my son in and out of the shade so he would not get burnt. When we were finished we poured the water out on the deck by a drain, not back in to the pool. We completely understand why diapered babies are not allowed in public pools!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We headed back to the room and washed the tub out. Then refilled it and washed my son down to get off the sunblock and salty water.

 

Once he was all clean we hung out on the balcony for a bit. My son loved it out there! The picture below is one of my favorites.

 

 

This picture makes me laugh. It looks like he's discovering himself, lol.

 

 

 

After hanging out on the balcony we decided it was family nap time. We let our son sleep in the bed with us on this day. I wish I had a picture of it. In between my husband and I is our son, his face is shoved in to my crotch and his feet are in my husband's face.

 

I'll be back tomorrow to report on formal night dinner!

[siestakeys04]

Ohh you have answered my question about the cute pool my thought process was you were pouring pitchers of water and thinking no water hose geez :oWOW haven't had a kid in 14 years everything is so cute now. Loving your review nice family

 

Sent from my PantechP9070 using Tapatalk 2

Edited December 20, 2013 by siestakeys04

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Ohh you have answered my question about the cute pool my thought process was you were pouring pitchers of water and thinking no water hose geez :oWOW haven't had a kid in 14 years everything is so cute now. Loving your review nice family

 

Sent from my PantechP9070 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

My first idea was to get some cups from the buffet and start scooping water! My husband volunteered to fill it in one dunk! Later in the week though I took him to the main pool while my DH went to the gym, I placed the pool under the rinse shower and filled it with that water. Then I managed to carry it back over to where we were sitting.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Just before dinner we received a card in our cabin indicating our new table number. We were now seated with my mom and her boyfriend. The actual location of the new table wasn't great. We were not in the center of the room anymore, we were seated in one of the sunken areas on the side. Our table was half booth half seats. However, our new wait staff was phenomenal, they took great care of us!

 

As we went to dinner I was people watching along the way. Other people's clothes do not make or break my vacation, but I did notice a huge difference in attire. Like I stated before we've been on a variety of cruise lines. Never have I seen such... interesting "elegant" clothes. It was definitely different than my other experiences. We felt overdressed at many times on this cruise. Even on the days that I wore a sundress and my husband in a collared polo. We've done the Norwegian Freestyle thing and still found people to come to dinner looking like they put some effort in to their dress while still being comfortable. Whereas some people on this current cruise lacked effort. Some of the women looked like they belong on a street corner, sadly and men with baseball hats, flip flops, etc on elegant night. I will say that we were not the only people dressed nicely, most of the families onboard managed to look nice. It seemed more of the young couples, singles, and family reunion groups that didnt make the effort.

 

Here is the menu for American Feast AKA Cruise Elegant Night.

I have no re-sized it in hopes that people can read the menu.

 

 

The table set up was nice, table cloths were back. Which posed a problem for my son's toys. They also gave peach bellinis, or at least thats what it tasted like! The table had the small flutes on the table preloaded with the peach juice/flavoring. Once we were all seated they poured champagne in to the glasses. The menus were small and tucked in to the napkins. The silver thing in the middle of the table was a chrome conch shell.

 

 

 

Here's my mom and I at the table.

 

 

We pulled up the table cloth on the edge of the table to get my son's toy to stick. I know it doesn't look nice, but you do what you must to make sure your kid doesn't lose it at dinner!!

 

 

I will post more about formal night when I return from a quick work meeting this morning!

Edited December 20, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

With the appetizers you do not have a choice, they bring you the plate with all four options on it. I did not like this concept because I don't do seafood for the most part. I gave 3/4 to DH or mom. Mom's boyfriend gave me his pork because he doesn't do pork. So we worked it out at our table, but I still don't like the idea of having my meal chosen for me.

 

 

After the appetizers, we were each given a tiny bit of fettuccini alfredo. Very little was put on the plate. FA is one of my favorite dishes, the creaminess and the rich cheese flavor always draws me in. This was awful. I tasted no cheese. I felt no cream. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was eating pasta with butter on it.

 

 

Our wait staff was wonderful, they brought steamed veggies for my son. I cut them up in to tiny pieces so that he could nibble on his own while we ate.

 

 

Our entrees were very good. I had the Savory Tart with Root Veggies, DH and mom had Lobster Tail, and mom's boyfriend had the prime rib.

 

 

 

 

Mom's bf found it odd that there was an actual friend onion ring on the meat. He was expecting a grilled onion ring. If you read the bottom of the menu closely you can see that anything from the "grill" could also be ordered. So if the entrees did not interest you there was always another choice.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

The wait staff came out of the kitchen with these strange looking cakes with cotton candy on top. They looked like fake desserts to carry around as decoration.

 

 

The old fashioned Italian music came on and what do you know, the wait staff marched around carrying those cakes while dancing! Much to my surprise they put the cakes down and started cutting in to them. We were each served a slice of this:

 

 

It wasn't bad, but nothing I'd rave about. Again, I was not a fan of being given my dessert vs choosing it.

[PC Cruisin]

 

I am getting worried after reading this review on the new menu. I don't see anything on it that jumps at me and says *yum*

Did you try to order something off the menu like a regular salad or ask for soup/fruit plate? I am a vegatarian and this is slightly confusing on what I can and can't eat from these menus.

Don't get me wrong .. I wont starve on a cruise but wish they had other options better than these.

I guess if they don't change the menu before continuing it on other cruise ships... I might have to eat more at the buffet :(

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks for the review.

 

Oh, this new serving concept is not sounding good. It makes no sense to bring all the appetizers. I looked at the menu,there's not a one that my vegetarian daughter who is allergic to mushrooms can have. She would need extra fettuccini.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

After dinner we took my son back to the room and changed him in to his Christmas outfit. I am going to save that picture for the very end of my review because it's super cute!

 

We went around and had pictures taken on the promenade area. There were at least 6 or 7 different backgrounds every night. They would change them each evening. That is one thing I like, both on this cruise and last time, there were always a lot of places to take pictures! The one thing I hated is that they set it up right in front of the casino where all the smokers go to puff away. Specifically, the very family friendly xmas tree backdrop with a bench and wrapped gifts was smack in the middle of the promenade right next to the very loud band and smokers. I think a little bit a pre-planning and it could have been in a different location!

 

We had an issue this night. After taking pictures my husband and I somehow got split up near the elevators while trying to go down to the lobby (deck 3) for a picture down there. I was carrying my son and my husband had the stroller, diaper bag, room cards, etc. I was looking around for an hour, as was my husband. I went to the room, not there. I went back to the elevators on deck 5 and 3, not there. I panicked. I had no ID to even show Guest Services that I was me in order to get a new room key! Thankfully my room steward let me in.

 

My husband showed up soon after and we were both upset about the whole thing. So let that be a lesson. Always keep your room card ON YOU!!!

Edited December 20, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

My son was excited to finally go to another country! Okay, so he had no clue that we were in another country, but I like to think that he was excited. I have been to Cozumel so many times that I can tell someone exactly how to get around from my desk here in Florida! Just for a little comparison

 

Here are the three ;) of us in Cozumel on November 13, 2012. When I was almost 6 months pregnant.

 

and here we are again on December 10, 2013!

 

We didnt have anything planned for Cozumel because we have the little guy and a lot of the tours we were interested in were not baby friendly. So we decided to explore the port area because I'd never been to this specific pier. I like this one better than the International pier, where Royal Caribbean docks. The Carnival pier (I dont know the name of it) has 3 places to eat/drink and a much better layout of stores.

 

I have always heard about Pancho's Backyard, so we settled on that for our traditional nacho feast with Margaritas in Cozumel. We always order nachos wherever we go in Mexico. The serving of nachos was small, considering it was shared among three people. The margaritas were strong. I couldn't finish mine and I was a little buzzy walking back to the ship!

 

 

After Panchos we took a few pictures in front of the giant xmas tree nearby.

 

Edited December 20, 2013 by smileyperry

[Name Of The Game]

Your little guy is so cute!

 

The review is interesting and helpful!

[2 cruzen]

 

Your son is so cute, I can't believe you have a picture that is more super cuter than this one.

 

Really enjoying your review and opinions about the new menu.

[jennc27]

Your little boy is very cute. Thank you for the review! :)

[Lace]

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.

 

Yes, being all I'm hearing is the new menu choices and courses are the latest severe cutback, all while distracting with a tablecloth ploy.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I am taking the "day" off. We're doing the holidays with my DH's family today. I will most likely be back later tonight with more of my review!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

I decided to be adventurous and try the shark app. I know it's seafood, but you'll never know if you truly hate something if you don't try it. Well, I didn't like it. Actually no one at the table liked it. I don't think it was Carnival's fault. I think it's just the taste of shark!

 

 

Thankfully, the Tortilla Soup saved the day. It was served in an interesting way. All the hearty portions of the soup were brought to the table in bowls. Once they were placed in front of us, the servers then poured the broth on top! It was spicier than I like my soups normally, but it was over all good.

 

 

This was the seared tuna. I didn't eat it, someone else at my table did. They gave it a thumbs up!

 

 

One of my individual sides was macaroni and cheese with bacon. It fell short... I was expecting something really savory. I think it was just eh, lacked the bacon-y flavor I was expecting. I remember loving their regular mac n cheese (from the dining room) on the Imagination 4 years ago.

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

For our entrees we had Veal Parm, Steak tacos, Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Breast, and Seared Tilapia.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall we enjoyed the entree items on this night. Seemed like the standard fare for a cruise. There was no cornmeal that I could taste or feel on my chicken though...

Edited December 22, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

We all went with Chocolate Melting Cake.

I love this dessert, I went on to have it 3 more times this week.

Each one of us had a slightly different level of "cooked". My mom had the best one this night!

Here is how it is plated with the new dining.

 

 

Here is my son's reaction to not being allowed to have any because he has a milk protein intolerance!

 

 

Up next, Costa Maya. Worst day of the cruise, weather wise.

Edited December 22, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We had been to Costa Maya once previously when we sailed on the Oasis of the Seas in May of 2010. I enjoyed the port area because you could actually relax and enjoy the location. Last time we went in the swim up pool, had some nachos and beers, then laid out in the sun. The picture from a few years ago is fuzzy because I was just learning how to use my water proof camera cover and I had it on wrong.

 

 

This time around we were somewhat stuck on the ship. My mom and her bf had an excursion out to the Mayan ruins, but they canceled because they didn't want to risk climbing steps in torrential downpours. Carnival waived the cancellation fee and gave them all their money back because of the weather, which was nice. They could have said "sorry, no refunds" because that is the policy unless of course Carnival cancels it themselves. Here's a glimpse of what most of the day looked like.

 

 

Strangely, when we first pulled in to port that morning it didn't look so bad outside!

 

 

So what do I like about this port? Well first of all I haven't done any excursions from here. Just hung out in the shopping area. I like that there are options right there. Like:

 

Dolphin Experience

 

 

Swim up bar/pool with lots of lounge chairs with no fee!

 

 

Additionally, there is the typical trinket shopping.

 

We got off the ship once the sky let up a bit. We walked around and watched the dolphin interaction for a while. There was a light drizzle but nothing terrible. Then out of nowhere the skies opened back up. My poor husband and son waere stuck standing under the wooden stairs behind Carlos n Charlie. I was stuck under a palm tree umbrella 200 feet away from them!

 

Finally it let back up and we went back to the ship. On our way back was the nicest it got that day.

 

Edited December 22, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Here is the cute little baby again. He was always the best dressed guy in the dining room each night!

 

 

and the evenings menu choices were:

 

 

This evening we had calamari (every night), caesar salad (mom ordered one every night), shrimp cocktail, minestrone, strip loin, bbq pork spare ribs, salmon, and basa fillet.

 

Some shrimp has already been eaten. DH can't always remember to wait for my pictures to be over :)

 

 

As an Italian I can never understand why this is called Minestrone. My grandmother and mom have always made food from scratch. Minestrone is an Italian vegetable soup. For some reason many restaurants and cruise lines want to fill it with beans and meats like bacon. As if they were making a mix between minestrone and pasta fagioli. As I step off my soap box there, here is what was served. I don't remember it being amazing, but I do remember eating all of it!

 

Edited December 23, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

So here are our entrees.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally had the ribs. I love ribs and BBQ sauce so I went for it. I enjoyed my meal. Probably one of my favorites of the cruise. The sauce had a nice flavor. I have read quite a number of people say that serving ribs in the MDR is tacky. I'm going to disagree with that. There are some very nice restaurants on land that serve ribs. Everything else was good that night too.

 

We had a table serving of the Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes. We had these nearly every night as well. They were very good!

If you're interested in the size of a side of mashed potatoes for four is:

 

I forgot to take a picture of the dessert menu, but my mom and I both ordered the Smores Parfait. It was pretty good!

 

[sharecruises]

Great review so far, very informative

 

Your son is just adorable - I am afraid I am more like your Mom LOL (ie, Picky)

I loved the way some melon and a light switch made your little guy so happy haha

 

Now to be honest (picky) I am not sure I would like those appetizers on feast night - no choice? The lobster looked good but the dessert plopped in front of everyone does not appeal to me. I prefer choices

 

I can also imagine how hard this will be for those allergic to seafood (as opposed to just not liking it) etc and other food allergies, and for vegans, vegetarians etc. Some people don't eat pork for religious reasons too and there it is plopped on the plate? I wonder if they think this will be easier and quicker but will end up making dining even slower and more confused?

 

I too love Costa Maya - grab the $2 jitney to the little fishing town and enjoy the beach - ahhhh...sorry you had rain, we had rain last week in Belize, got soaked (of course it is jungle/rainforest right? LOL)

[boowaaccaa]

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.

 

Very interested! We are travelling with a 10 month old in January!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Very interested! We are travelling with a 10 month old in January!

 

Great, before going on my cruise I found it difficult to get detailed information about traveling with an infant. So Im really trying to include as much as I can based on what I wanted to know beforehand.