Carnival Glory w/Infant Cruise Review from 12/8

[mackatty]

Enjoying the review - you have a beautiful family!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

So here is some history. I have been to Grand Cayman twice before this trip. Both times we had a horrible experience.

 

The first time was when my husband and I got engaged in 2008. We didn't know what to do in this port so we decided to walk around and maybe just grab a bite to eat. We had settled on the Hard Rock because we knew it from back home. We had some waters and nachos. Thats it! For whatever reason, maybe we didnt pay attention to exchange rates or something, but when we got the bill it came to $50 before tip! The nachos were good, but not $50 good! Shame on us for not doing our research!

 

The second time we went, was on our honeymoon in 2009. We decided to pick an excursion. We opted for Power Snorkel and Kayak. The description sounded great. It turned out to be us and a couple from Canada. The guide walked us over to a building right by the dock. He opened a closet, no exaggeration, and told us to leave our bags and valuables there. I was hesitant, but figured the company has a contract with the cruise line so they must have done some research on him. He walked us across the street and told us to get in a kayak with power snorkel machines. We did. My husband is pretty strong, but between the two of us fighting the ocean waves to get out by the reef/ ship wreck, it was exhausting. My power snorkel died after 5 minutes and the guy kept insisting I was just using it wrong. Then we had to kayak back to shore. I was pissy because I felt like I wasted my money. Thankfully, the broom closet had a lock and no one took our stuff.

 

Well, they say the third times the charm right????? NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

This time we planned in advance. We found a baby friendly excursion that would take us to Stingray City, Hell, and the Turtle Farm. Great, three highlights of the island I should have done years ago!! Paid for it a couple weeks ahead of time so we we be sure to get in.

 

We're waiting in the lobby for tendering to begin when an announcement comes on. All Stingray City excursion have been cancelled due to the weather. It was beautiful outside, so I didnt understand what "weather" might have caused this cancellation. So they instructed us to come to the shore excursion desk to exchange for something else. We found something similar, but different. This one included Hell and the Turtel Farm, but instead of Stingray City, we could take a semi-submersible out to a ship wreck! Great, a/c relaxing, easy to manage a baby on. Or so we thought!

 

While we waited I occupied my son's time by helping him write a letter to Santa. On the paper was a place for the child's name and room number. I was expecting to get a little note or something in the cabin from Santa. Nothing ever showed!

 

 

Once we were ready we went down to the tendering area to get off the ship. It wasn't terrible. We had an hour to kill before our tour, so we walked with my mom around the port and downtown area. She had never been to GC before. We walked all the way down by the Hard Rock, or what used to be the Hard Rock. It appears that it is no longer in business!

 

I've always liked that I can take great ship shots on Grand Cayman. Being that all the ships tender there is no blockage of piers or other ships if you position yourself just right!

 

 

Here is my husband, the daredevil. He walked all over the coral in flip flops because he wanted a really "cool" picture. Eh, here's what we got!

 

 

We went back to the port area and were feeling a bit hungry. My husband loves Jamaican Beef Patties and there was a stand inside the port area. So I ordered a chicken one, he had beef, and my mom had the veggie. After our snack we waited under the large tented area for our tour to be called. I will say that people here were very rude. we tried to sit on a bench a number of times with no luck, people would swoop out of nowhere to snatch a seat. Even seeing that we were holding a baby they tried their best to, basically, out run us!

 

[ch27088]

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!

 

Question about the new menu. Can you order other things if you don't see anything on the menu you don't like? I'm also a little nervous about the new menu. I'm not picky, but there are certain things I don't eat for religious reasons (no pork, no shell fish), so you see I would have a hard time getting something to eat if I have to stick with the menu.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Explore Cayman by Land and Sea

 

This was the name of the excursion that the staff onboard recommended we take in place of the original choice. Ugh! I went to the Carnival website to re-read the description and photos just now. Firstly, the photo of the people on the sub is misleading. It shows one person on each bench! In reality, they pack it full, 3 deep on each bench.

 

I should have known when our bus/motorcoach took us a 1/2 mile from the dock to a restaurant. We had to walk THROUGH a restaurant to get on the sub.

 

In the description it says Travel in the Nautilus, the most luxurious semi-submarine in the world, and explore the marine paradise of Cheeseburger Reef and the ghostly, ancient shipwrecks of the Cali and Balboa. Luxurious does not describe the experience. At first glance the sub does look really nice with all the wood work.

 

 

Once they have everyone loaded, they shut the hatch. I thought I was dying. There was no a/c. Im not one to complain, Im from South Florida. I deal with heat and humidity year round (it was in the 90s today for goodness sakes!) But when you have people squeezed in to a tight space and the vessel is sealed you NEED to provide circulating air. People became agitated very quickly. Having people mushed up together, breathing on each other, etc makes for a miserable experience.

 

If you were on the aisle side of the bench you weren't going to see anything. I did have a window seat, which was good for the 3 seconds that my son wasn't crying. He was crying because of the heat, at first I thought he was being rarely fussy, but after the fact I realized it was the heat. I wish I could have apologized to everyone in my area of the sub, I'm sure my son's screaming was not pleasant. I was THAT woman with the crying baby.

 

 

 

I don't know how much time elapsed during this part of the tour, but it felt like hours. I can honestly say that if there were a/c the tour would have been wonderful. The guide talked a lot about the fish, ship wrecks, and other things around.

 

Once we were let out of Hell, no wait that was at the end of the day... ;)

Edited December 30, 2013 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Question about the new menu. Can you order other things if you don't see anything on the menu you don't like? I'm also a little nervous about the new menu. I'm not picky, but there are certain things I don't eat for religious reasons (no pork, no shell fish), so you see I would have a hard time getting something to eat if I have to stick with the menu.

 

I believe you can. My mom's boyfriend doesn't eat shellfish or pork. He eats Kosher-style (no pork, no shell fish, no meat and cheese mixed, things like that) when on a cruise. Back home he's more strict. He had no problem finding something that meets his needs. There were a lot of options each night, always 9 entrees. Some just didn't sounds wonderful to me!

 

I've never encountered a cruise in which the dining room said no to a special request.

Edited December 30, 2013 by smileyperry

[funinthesun1964]

While we waiting for our entrees, my son was playing with two kids from the booth behind us. The kids loved him and he loved the kids!

 

 

That's cute, babies always seem to like young children, they are attracted to them. That was kind of a good thing for your baby to remain occupied!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

My poor baby had heat rash from the sub. We had to take his shirt off and pour some water on him before getting back on the bus. He was pretty miserable from that experience. I'm sure his misery created a lot of other people's as well!

 

For the rest of the day he was red faced.

 

 

Now I want to take a moment to express something very important to me. I am a crazy woman when it comes to car seat safety. I follow very strict rules when it comes to securing my child in a vehicle. To the point that my son will still be in a rear-facing 5-point harness car seat until at least 4 years old. With that being said I broke one of my rules during this trip. We did not bring his carseat with us because I thought we would be on a larger bus with the tour we had originally booked. Larger buses can sustain more of an impact and injury is less likely. We did allow my son to ride on our lap for this tour, but I was very nervous the entire time. In the future I wont do it again.

 

So, how do you entertain a 9 month old on a bus???

 

Let him play with daddy's hat.

 

 

Have other passengers play peek-a-boo with him.

 

 

The next stop was at the Turtle Farm.

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I liked the Turtle Farm and wish we had been able to spend more time there.

 

The place was decorated for Christmas.

 

 

 

We even got to hold baby turtles!

 

 

 

It was a nice peaceful place to walk around. I missed a lot of the information talk from our guide because my son needed a diaper change at this point of the day.

 

Next they took us to the Rum Cake Factory, which was not a factory at all. Just a shop! My mom bought some to bring back home with us. We ended up eating it on Christmas Day for dessert!

 

Edited December 30, 2013 by smileyperry

[Colorado Kat]

Love your review! And your son is adorable!

 

As a vegetarian, I appreciate all of your food photos and info. I am apprehensive about the vegetarian options. I have asked and can't get a reply about what things are cooked with chicken and beef broth. I know sometimes the mushroom dishes are not vegetarian.

 

For Formal night, I don't think any of the appetizers are vegetarian?

 

Oh well, at least I get one more cruise with the old style menus.

 

Thank you so much!

[Spiralshell]

Loving your review! We are sailing with our 4 year old and 8 month old in March, so following for tips on sailing with a babe! Your little guy is super cute :)

BTW for those interested in the new menus, I found them here: http://zydecocruiser.net/menus/aNew/index.htm

We will be on the Pride -- not sure if we will have the old or new menus yet....will see!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Finally, to Hell!

 

You know, the rock formation on Grand Cayman. Not back on that sub!

 

Interestingly, just before I went on this trip I was teaching my students about rocks and how they are formed. I took a lot of detailed pictures to bring back to show them. It was very interesting, to me...

 

 

 

We spent ten minutes there. I would have liked a few more minutes. We only had enough time to snap one quick picture, run in to the gift shop, buy a post card, run over to the post office, buy a stamp, and send it off. I hustled to do this and I was almost the last one on the bus.

 

I managed to snap a photo as I ran to the bus.

 

[boowaaccaa]

Thanks so much for this review!

[cjcjohio]

Thanks for sharing.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

When we got back on the ship we were very tired. I think the heat wore us out. We skipped the main dining room this evening. I was surprised that we made it this far in the week without skipping it! We chose to eat at the buffet instead. I left my camera in the room to charge so I have no photo graphic evidence of dinner this night!!

 

The buffet was pretty empty. The lights were dimmed. We chose a table in the back corner just in case tiny tot was over tired. I was not impressed with the dinner options. A few of the items on the buffet were some of the same ones in the main dining room (after conversing with my mom the next morning about what we ate). I was expecting more from the buffet. I expected to see a lot of people at the buffet because the dining room was nowhere near full. It wasn't, there were maybe 10 people in there at 6:30pm.

 

I did enjoy a pasta with green and red peppers in it. Again, I have no idea how to even name it because I didn't bring my camera. I vaguely remember cavatappi??

 

On our way down to the atrium we stopped in to our room and got the camera. We hung out, listening to David Lazarus on the acoustic guitar. He played daily downstairs and occasionally by the pool (I think on sea days).

 

 

After relaxing in the atrium, we headed back to our room. My son wanted to see what was going on for our final sea day. He suggested that we relax by the pool early, before lunch and the crowds! Then he ate the Fun Times...

 

 

I took these pictures from my mom's camera. They are the meals from the main dining room the night of Grand Cayman. They said that this was the best night of food for the cruise. The dessert was a giant donut with dipping sauces.

 

 

 

 

 

I was slightly disappointed that we missed this dessert. I felt that the desserts had been ho hum most of the week and this one sounded interesting!!

[flcruiser08]

I'm so glad that you posted about the sub excursion, we were thinking about taking it with our lo (but in Cozumel). I guess I should plan something different.:(

[boowaaccaa]

To the OP - I saw that you brought premixed formula on your trip. Do you normally use premixed or did you just bring it because you were worried about the water to mix it with?

 

Did you ever order food for your boy at dinner? Steamed veggies or something?

[Sunkissed Mommy]

To the OP - I saw that you brought premixed formula on your trip. Do you normally use premixed or did you just bring it because you were worried about the water to mix it with?

 

Did you ever order food for your boy at dinner? Steamed veggies or something?

 

Yes, we brought the 8 ounce premade bottles of formula for my son. (It filled an entire carry-on suitcase)

He was born with MSPI (Milk-Soy Protein Intolerance) and extreme sensitivity to corn and a few other things. So at a few weeks old he had to be put on a specialty formula. We were able to get him on to a sensitive formula a couple months ago, but he still can't tolerate corn maltodextrin, which is in powdered formulas. So even at home he is on ready to feed.

 

I brought the 8 ounce bottles because cruise ship refrigerators are notorious for not being very cold. I wasn't going to refrigerate a jug of formula in a warm fridge!

 

As far as cruise ship water, I am unsure about mixing it with formula. I know that doctors always want parents to be careful about the water they use to mix formula.

 

Every night at dinner our wait staff brought steamed vegetables for my son. They brought them each night without asking. It varied from broccoli, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, etc. I would cup them up in to small pieces and that would occupy him while we ate, which was nice!

[boowaaccaa]

Yes, we brought the 8 ounce premade bottles of formula for my son. (It filled an entire carry-on suitcase)

He was born with MSPI (Milk-Soy Protein Intolerance) and extreme sensitivity to corn and a few other things. So at a few weeks old he had to be put on a specialty formula. We were able to get him on to a sensitive formula a couple months ago, but he still can't tolerate corn maltodextrin, which is in powdered formulas. So even at home he is on ready to feed.

 

I brought the 8 ounce bottles because cruise ship refrigerators are notorious for not being very cold. I wasn't going to refrigerate a jug of formula in a warm fridge!

 

As far as cruise ship water, I am unsure about mixing it with formula. I know that doctors always want parents to be careful about the water they use to mix formula.

 

Every night at dinner our wait staff brought steamed vegetables for my son. They brought them each night without asking. It varied from broccoli, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, etc. I would cup them up in to small pieces and that would occupy him while we ate, which was nice!

 

Ok great! Thanks for your review and your input! Another one for you....where did you get those adorable tux onesies? I am in Canada and a bit limited time wise (probably too late to order and have sent) but we are in Tampa for one night before our cruise.

And did your little guy go to any shows? Did he like them? We will be testing the bed time limits if we take him to a show but he loves live music - so we might try.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Ok great! Thanks for your review and your input! Another one for you....where did you get those adorable tux onesies? I am in Canada and a bit limited time wise (probably too late to order and have sent) but we are in Tampa for one night before our cruise.

And did your little guy go to any shows? Did he like them? We will be testing the bed time limits if we take him to a show but he loves live music - so we might try.

 

The tuxedos were found in the baby section of Target. I saw some today still sitting on an end cap.

 

We attempted a show. I will write about it tomorrow hopefully. I've been slammed with holidays, birthday parties, etc! I'll finish up the review soon.

[boaterette]

I am enjoying your review. Your son is adorable.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

On the final sea day we slept in a bit. So I missed out on taking my son back to the kids club for infant hours.

 

We went up to the pool around 10ish. Every time we went to the main pool we managed to get the same spot. They were playing a movie Here Comes the Boom. We had attempted to watch the same movie on deck the other night but we ended up going to karaoke instead. It was nice to be able to watch a movie by the pool. We liked the movie, even my mom who isn't in to fighting movies! It wasn't crazy-insane loud like the main pool was on the first sea day.

 

 

I filled my son's inflatable tub with shower water this time and carried it over to where we were sitting. We gave him some empty cups from the buffet to play with. He loved scooping water in his little tub. After getting bored with the cups he wanted to stand and band on the loungers and crawl on my husband. Hey, if I have learned anything from this trip it's that babies are really easy to entertain!!!!

 

 

 

It was nap time and he fell asleep on the lounger. So we built a tent with blankets and sarongs.

 

 

He slept for over an hour. We had lunch: I had a Guy's burger, yum!

Then the DJ came out and they did their philanthropy stuff. I bought a teddy bear for my son, with the proceeds going to St Jude. We always try to participate in the onboard charity event in some way. surprisingly, he slept through the dancing and music!

 

We didn't want him to get too hot, so we went back to our cabin around 2 or 3pm. We were out by the pool for a while. It wasn't overly crowded. I was shocked by that!

 

Our son got a bath, then went down for a nap. We started taking everything out of the drawers and cabinets to pack up. That is always a sad time! When we were almost done packing he woke up and decided to climb in and help.

 

[2 cruzen]

My poor baby had heat rash from the sub. We had to take his shirt off and pour some water on him before getting back on the bus. He was pretty miserable from that experience. I'm sure his misery created a lot of other people's as well!

 

For the rest of the day he was red faced.

 

 

Now I want to take a moment to express something very important to me. I am a crazy woman when it comes to car seat safety. I follow very strict rules when it comes to securing my child in a vehicle. To the point that my son will still be in a rear-facing 5-point harness car seat until at least 4 years old. With that being said I broke one of my rules during this trip. We did not bring his carseat with us because I thought we would be on a larger bus with the tour we had originally booked. Larger buses can sustain more of an impact and injury is less likely. We did allow my son to ride on our lap for this tour, but I was very nervous the entire time. In the future I wont do it again.

 

So, how do you entertain a 9 month old on a bus???

 

Let him play with daddy's hat.

 

 

Have other passengers play peek-a-boo with him.

 

 

The next stop was at the Turtle Farm.

 

 

OMG...I would totally play peek a boo with that happy face. :D

Edited January 7, 2014 by 2 cruzen

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We hung out on our balcony for a bit then watched TV and fell asleep.

 

I always love/hate the last night. We treated it differently on this cruise because of the baby, but on most cruises we stay up later on the last night. Have a few drinks and enjoy the last few hours onboard.

 

Disembarkation was awful. They made everyone leave their rooms by 8:30 even though they didn't begin letting people leave until then.

 

We tried to eat breakfast but people had parked their behinds in the buffet with their suitcases, no room for people actually wanting a bite to eat. We ended up filling our plates and sitting on the ground in the aft pool area. It was hot out and things were moving VERY slowly. Not fun with a baby!!

 

We had been assigned group 1, my mom had group 26. So we swapped tags the night before. We figured they could get off first, go get the SUV, load their stuff, and then we'd be off the ship by then. HAH! There was a 2 hour time difference between when we got off and they did. She kept calling and texting me for updates.

 

Not sure if it was just this sailing or if Carnival waits that long to start to disembark always??? I know we pulled in to port a little before 5am. DH and I both woke up and went back on the balcony then to watch us pull in.

 

After speaking with other people who went on this same cruise (same week) a lot of people had a very BAD experience. In the end it seemed like we were the only people who didn't have problems or major disappointments.

 

 

Now many of you may want to know my overall impression. As I stated back at the beginning we prefer Royal Caribbean. I think this was a great opportunity to open our eyes to what a full-length Carnival sailing was like. Remember, I have only been on a 3-day Carnival cruise previously.

 

We did not have a terrible time. I would consider a Carnival cruise in the future if: the itinerary were different than one we've done before or the ship is interesting. Carnival isn't really known for innovative ships, we DO like the amusement parks at sea. We sailed on Epic, Oasis, and Allure and loved those experiences! I love beautiful ship interiors. However, the Breeze looks interesting because it isn't fashioned in the tacky glitz like the other Carnival ships. That was one thing that really bothers me. The design is dark and closed in on all but 2 Carnival ships currently. I like light and airy. If the ship is dark I prefer it to be modern, like the Epic. I know, petty things...

 

I am going on a 3-day on Royal with my mom and son for Mothers Day.

Then my husband and I are taking the little one with us on Crown Princess for a California Coastal in October.

 

For our future trips we plan to go for the destination. In the past we've mostly gone just to get away. We get a lot of good deals down in Florida and the ships are easy to get to.

 

If anyone has any specific questions about my trip I'd be happy to answer. I am sure there are things I left out from my experience. It took me a while to get all this typed up. Eeek, like 3 weeks!!!

 

I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing our trip. Hopefully I have helped other cruisers traveling with infants or young children. I know how hard it can be to find information, believe me I searched for it all before I went on this trip!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Looks like I have exceeded my bandwidth. I will have to adjust that, sorry!