Back from Glory Eastern Caribbean -Review

[SunnydayKim]

Around 2pm, here come Steve & Keiran without a nap. I guess the ship was just too exciting for Keiran to sleep. So, we all explored the ship some more together!

 

 

There was live music every afternoon, evening & night in the Promenade near the casino. Also, many times up on Lido we saw a live singer (no band). Some were good, some not great. But... it is more live music than I have seen/heard in a long time, so- score!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keiran & I jamming to the music!

 

 

 

Out on the top deck they have a shuffle board even!

 

 

 

I have a feeling this was after dinner, but... out on deck 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before we knew it, Muster Drill. Hot, but pretty short compared to some I have been to. Keiran ended up crashing at this point and we missed our Cruise Critic Meet. Sorry! His “cat nap” however did not last long and while I was at Camp Carnival's orientation, in comes Daddy & Keiran.

 

 

Camp Carnival holds its orientation for all 2-11 year olds on the first day at 5pm. We had already filled out the paperwork online, but they went over some changes (ie Night Owls is open until 1am- I guess it used to be 3am? Too late for us!) and Keiran was one of the only kids to show up. They gave him a really cute “Build a Bear” Monkey dressed in Carnival sweatsuit and a sticker book. This was the first of one of his many, many “presents” on the cruise from Camp including a stuffed animal owl, two backpacks, a piggy bank, a nightlight, medals for being a good helper, etc. He loved all of the surprises!

 

 

We had the early dining at 6pm. Our server was Iwin (forget how to spell it, but pronounced “I win”). First night gitters was a tad slow, but it got much better the rest of the week. I had really hoped to take pictures of the menu, but always forgot! I do have one that hopefully you will be able to read for the second formal night. I know that the first night they had the strawberry soup- Keiran loved that! The kids menu is the same every night with the exception of formal nights when the chef adds one “special item” on the kids menu. We had some great food this cruise. Seriously, it was the best that I remember having in recent cruises. Some things throughout the week that were DELISH were: the duck dumplings appetizer, lasagna, jerk pork. I am sure I will think of other dinner standouts for the week as I go along. Unfortunately, we were too stuffed every night to stay for desert. I can not help on the dessert menus. Keiran was really good at dinner, but only for so long!

 

 

There was an 8:30 family party for Camp Carnival in the “White Heat” dance club. We had a lot of fun at this party! Dancing to the “chicken dance” was his favorite. Afterward the party though, Keiran was really sleepy! I went to get a couple of beers for the balcony and took Keiran up to get ready for bed. He was out in minutes! I sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the ocean breeze and a couple of drinks. Steve stayed out and went to a comedian and to the casino.

 

 

 

The family party the first night for campers & parents. Lots of fun. There were only 35 kids 2-5 on this ship. Only 3 others showed up for this party. It is a great way in my opinion for you & your kids to have fun together, and for the kids to get to know the counselors. I would highly recommend. Plus, as parents you get to burn off some of those drinks & food by dancing!

 

 

 

Up next... Half Moon Cay. One of my favorite ever beaches.

 

 

 

Kim

[crazycruzer68]

Love your review, sailing on the Glory on Oct.4th. Keep it coming!!:)

[SunnydayKim]

Looking forward to your review since we will be sailing on her in December. Recently I've seen comments about how rundown she appears - in dire need of painting! I hope you saw things differently.

 

I didn't notice any lack of paint. But, we were really busy enjoying ourselves and just on vacation! I can say that everything was kept very clean. One day one of the signs that shows the "odd" numbered cabins numbers with the arrows showing which way is which had fallen down (or someone pulled it down as this was at 7:30am). By the time we got back on board (in Puerto Rico) they had put it back up/secured it.

 

I thought that the ship looked great! But, as I said- we weren't really looking for problems :) I think you will have a great time in December!

 

Kim

[cruizinisthebest]

Nice start to your review. Subscribing. Book on the Glory next year!

[SunnydayKim]

About the desert questions- unfortunately, we never made it long enough at dinner for desert! Keiran never asked for desert and we were too stuffed from great meals. So... we never even saw the menu! Steve sometimes got an ice cream later at night. And a couple of times we got desert after lunch in the buffet. But, by night two Keiran was anxious to get to camp and we couldn't eat another bite! Sorry!

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

Thanks for the review and glad you had a wonderful cruise!

 

Can you tell me when the first Elegant night was? Sunday or Monday?

 

Thanks!

 

There were two Elegant nights. The first was on the first Sea Day- Monday. The second was the night of Grand Turk, Thursday.

 

Lots of people really dressed up on this cruise! When I post my pictures, I think that we were dressed nicely- but were in the middle ground of people dressed. Lots of tuxes this cruise!

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

Nice review, can't wait to read the rest of it, we will be sailing her January 10. We are doing the same ports but sea days are at the end. Do you know when the formal nights will be? Want to go to the steakhouse but not on a formal night and not the first night.

Bruce

 

We didn't do the steak house this time, but we have in the past and it is great. Seriously though, the food in the dining room was really good! You will enjoy each night! Elegant nights were Monday (sea day) and Thursday (grand turk)

 

Enjoy!

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

We got room service this morning! Keiran was so excited the night before when before bed we were able to “put checks mommy, not X's” next to what we wanted for breakfast the next morning. We ordered some yogurt, bagels, toast and juice. Before breakfast arrived, Keiran was up and looked out the door to fill us in that it was morning! Him & I went to get me a coffee (I am not really a big fan of the coffee onboard. I go and get coffee from “Creamers” each morning on this cruise. They open at 7am.) and let Steve sleep- he got some use out of the CHEERS the night before ;). When we returned, we had our breakfast on the balcony and let Steve sleep a little longer.

 

Changed into our swimsuits, sunscreened up and ready to head down to the lobby to be “escorted” to our tender! Another FTTF perk, we got the first tender over to Half Moon Cay.

 

 

We got a clamshell for some shade. Makes a great place to keep your stuff (and self sometimes!) out of the sun. Then, a day of swimming in clear water, feeling the softest sand under your feet and seeing fish all around you when you are in the water. A great, great beach stop!

 

 

Some chickens came into our clam shell! Keiran loved seeing them!

 

 

 

 

 

There is also a little area with two slides for kids. There were also some floating pads that were large enough for 5 adults at least out in the water.

 

 

We really just played in the water and the sand for 3 hours here. A wonderful morning in paradise.

 

Edited September 16, 2014 by SunnydayKim
photo editing

[SunnydayKim]

(I apologize for the size of these pictures for HMC. It was our other camera and the sizes are huge when uploaded online compared to the others.)

 

Keiran loved playing in the sand and running down to the water to make mud!

 

 

Around Half Moon Cay

 

 

 

Heading back to the ship.

 

 

The Glory from the tender boat.

 

 

 

 

Keiran is not the best eater when it comes to “new things” so we opted to skip the crowds and head back to the ship for lunch around 1pm.

 

 

 

Keiran & I had Guy's Burgers again. Steve tried the Blue Iguana. Both were wonderful and we would have them again on this trip!

 

 

 

After some yummy lunch, we hit the pool while it was rather empty for a while and then off for a nap! Love vacations. Not only Keiran needs naps you know!

 

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

That is all I have time for tonight! I will post more tomorrow!

 

Thanks everyone for reading and those of you who have upcoming Glory cruises- I am jealous! I wish we were still sailing her for weeks on end!

 

Kim

[crazycruzer68]

What was the cost for the clam shell and do we need to reserve it before we get there?

 

 

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[Ehpride]

I'm following. Thanks for the review :)

 

 

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[Buffettfan 225]

Following review. Son is adorable - killer eyes, no wonder he was full of cherries!

[SunnydayKim]

What was the cost for the clam shell and do we need to reserve it before we get there?

 

 

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You can not book the clam shell before you get to the island. It was $24.95 and put on our Sail & Sign account. By around 11, all of the chairs had been taken. I would think by 10 all of the clamshells. We left the ship right around 9am on the first tender boat. We chose one close to where we wanted to be. There is a stand near the entrance to the actual beach that you rent them, and someone helps you pick one out and then sets it up for you.

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

After a nice nap we played a bit of trivia and then got a drink and ready for dinner. (just on a side note Keiran did take nice naps every day after the first embarkation day- a little sun & swimming will do that to you! And either Steve, I or both of us took naps as well!).

 

 

Dinner from this night on was spot on service. Keiran usually got a bowl of the chilled soup or on nights with no chilled soup, a bowl of grapes & strawberries for an appetizer. Steve was a bit more adventuresome and selected a lot of the “Dija Ever” type appetizers. Steve had (and forget me for not remembering the nights, Ox Tongue, Frog Legs, Esgargot, and others for appetizers. Also shrimp cocktail a couple of nights. I did have the alligator fritter one night for an appetizer. I had the broccoli & cheese soup I believe this night! Yummy! I decided on the steak and Keiran helped me with some of it. The macaroni & cheese with bacon is THAT GOOD. It really is good. Seriously, order it.

 

 

 

Our monkey- our favorite towel animal that stayed up all week.

 

 

 

 

Stuffed with food and Keiran excited for his first trip to Camp Carnival, we left dinner around 7pm. We changed and I dropped Keiran off at Camp. Steve & I met up in the casino, played some of our match plays and tossed some more money down the slots! We then went to see another one of the comedians. We went to the family show as the adult shows didn't start until 10:30 and Steve would be up in the room already with Keiran. The comedians on the ship were OK. Two were pretty funny, two were not funny at all. The one tonight luckily was funny! They rotate in and out all of the time. And, most likely your cruise will have at least one good one. We never found it hard to find a seat for the family shows, but walking by one evening, the adult show did look packed.

 

 

After comedy and some more casino, Steve went to get my little pirate and go off to bed. (Tonight was a pirate party at camp from 8-10 and his face was painted). Keiran didn't want Steve to wash off his mustache. “I will sleep with my face up. Nothing will get messy.” Tired, Steve & Keiran were in bed (face painting washed off) by 10:30 after ordering room service. I stayed out and had a nice run of the dice at the craps table but then gave most of it back on other people's rolls. And so gambling goes. A few apple ciders, bud lights and I was up in the room ready for bed a little after midnight.

 

 

 

An evening Glory picture for your enjoyment.

 

 

 

[SunnydayKim]

Steve & Keiran went up to get some milk before room service arrived and they stopped to get me coffee to let me sleep past 7:15! I snoozed a bit more and then room service arrived with our bananas, yogurt and bagels. We hung out on the balcony for a bit, took our time getting dressed and headed back out on the ship to explore.

 

 

 

 

We had hoped to play mini-golf, but it wasn't opened yet. We instead just hung out on the lido deck near the pool and ended up watching the Good Morning Show on the big screen. A note here about our cruise director- Dr. E. (Eversen Bevelle) is the CD on the Glory. When you first hear his “And a very good morning, I said a-good-morning, oh yeah a good morning” you think... oh no. By the second day, he has a decent voice. By the third day- that song is stuck in your head and you can not say good morning, you have to sing it like him.

 

 

Eversen was actually a really funny guy. The morning shows we watched (just both sea days) out on Lido were very entertaining and the one show we saw him MC (Hasbro Game Show) he was very funny. In addition, he really only did one announcement in the morning and one in the evening. The announcements themselves were a little long... but, there were not a million of them like some other cruises we have been on. OK- back to the day!

 

 

Since we awoke this morning, Keiran had been asking about camp. We told him it opened at 10am and he could go for a couple of hours before lunch. After taking him to camp, Steve & I did a few rounds of trivia. We really enjoyed the team who did trivia on this cruise. Great staff. Great fun. We ended up with a ship on stick and a medal from trivia. Always a favorite of ours to do trivia on sea days.

 

 

Lunch today Keiran & Steve tried the Fish & Chips and I tried the Blue Iguana tacos. Both were really good. Today, Keiran discovered that at the bars- they had cherries. Keiran made fast friends with the bartenders when mommy or daddy were getting a drink. We capped him at 10 cherries per day, don't worry!

 

 

After lunch we played in the pool a bit after heading back to change. Maybe because there were so few kids, but even on a sea day- the pool wasn't that crowded on board.

 

 

Naptime- yes.

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head were also in attendance a couple of days on this trip. (You couldn't take candid pictures. Had to buy this one and took a picture of the picture to upload! Shhhh...)

 

 

 

 

A couple of drinks after nap and a few more cherries and it was time for formal night. I wanted to get a nice picture as a family and so I dragged Keiran & Steve through the promenade photo maze. Keiran was really funny after we had taken our first pictures, we said, OK- one shot per night. So, anyone else who said “A picture?” Keiran would respond: “No, we already took enough pictures today”.

 

 

 

Our family "elegant night" photo (yes, another picture of a purchased picture. Do not worry- I actually have the originals at home ready to be framed soon!)

 

 

 

 

 

Side note about the necklace I am wearing in this picture. They had a 5 for $40 accessories sale on this sea day. Picked up some fun jewelry for less than $10 per!

 

 

 

Dinner tonight Keiran's menu had a special shrimp & fries. He got a bowl of grapes & strawberries for an appetizer, shrimp & fries PLUS a steak (he really liked mine the nigh before!) for dinner. Surprisingly, he ate almost everything! I believe that both Steve & I had the prime rib this night with a baked potato. It was good, but I always forget I am not a huge prime rib fan.

 

 

 

Candid formal shot with the white candles on promenade!

 

 

 

Back to take Keiran to camp tonight. They had a party tonight and we decided that he could stay until 11:30 for the party. (Note that there was a charge of $13 + tip for this “Night Owls” party from 10-midnight. Steve & I did the casino again tonight and I found the blackjack table. This would be my home for the next few days in the casino. I know that the “dollar” bets are “carnival bets” but it sure was fun when they hit! I got suited Kings for $50, multiple $25 other suited pairs and lots more. I was able to play on my initial $100 buy-in for over two hours and walk away up. Fun! I also joined Steve for a bit of craps and ultimate texas hold-em. Where, I lost that “up”. Oh well.

 

 

After stopping for chocolate milk, Keiran & I were headed to bed with his first of 2 backpacks and his new owl- named Parachute. Keiran was certain that in the “orange backpack there is a squishing thing. I think it actually is a parachute.” He was a bit disappointed when it was a stuffed owl friend, but quickly got over it when we decided to name him Parachute.

 

 

The end of a fun sea day. Slept better tonight (maybe it was more drinks, maybe I was just getting used to the rattling). I did think that the bed was a tad on the hard side, but it was OK. Steve thought that the bed was very comfortable.

 

 

Up next... St. Thomas. We really didn't have any expectations about St. Thomas and had nothing planned. What we didn't expect is that it would be both Steve & I's favorite stop of the trip!

[SunnydayKim]

Forgot to post the pirate picture from Camp Carnival of Keiran! Too late to edit that post I guess, since I added another!

 

 

Arrhhhh Matey and fitting since this week on the 19th is talk like a pirate day!

 

Kim

Edited September 17, 2014 by SunnydayKim
added talk like a pirate day note

[Ktcooper]

Thanks for the review so far. My wife and I are going on our second cruise in November. This is our first one with our 6 1/2 year old boy so this has been a great review. I'll take as much camp carnival info as you have.

[SunnydayKim]

Thanks for the review so far. My wife and I are going on our second cruise in November. This is our first one with our 6 1/2 year old boy so this has been a great review. I'll take as much camp carnival info as you have.

 

I can't say enough great things about Camp Carnival. Keiran just loved it. There were not many kids on the ship since it is school time, so they did some more "joint" parties and things with the 6-8 group as well. I did not pick up a fun times for your son's age group, however... I know he will have a great time. They have a couple of family things to that I recommend you all going to with him if he is interested. They were lots of fun for the whole family!

 

We read Keiran what was going on (your son can prob read it himself!) and let him decide (with reason) what he wanted to do and not do. We made certain that port days were family time and most of the sea days too- it was a family vacation after all! However, we enjoyed our adult time after dinner and a couple of hours on sea days when Keiran was having fun in camp!

 

Any specific questions and I will be happy to try to help!

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

We did breakfast on Lido this morning. A little tip if you want an omelet there is a special omelet and custom cooked eggs section (on the port side??? side where Guy's Burger Joint is but inside about halfway from forward to middle deck on Lido).

 

 

 

This port was worth having the balcony. The view coming into port was just spectacular. I will start with some pictures of the morning & our arrival into St. Thomas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't have any specific plans in St. Thomas. We knew we wanted to just go to a beach. So, we packed our beach bag and were out the door a few minutes after we were cleared by customs.

 

 

Hanging out on deck 3 before we got off the ship.

 

 

More pictures of the beach coming...

 

Kim

[lele100]

Sounds great can't wait we will be going on the glory on thanksgiving. May I ask how much the cheers was?

 

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[CruisingObsessed]

Thanks so much for this review! We are sailing Glory in December, our first Carnival cruise, and I am so excited! We have an aft balcony like yours so it was interesting to hear what you had to say--I was hoping for some quiet. I was also curious what we could except from entertainment, etc, and love the tip on the omelette bar. Buffets at breakfast can be madhouses!

 

Thanks for adding pictures, and for taking time to write a nice review for us!

[dapaddo]

Thanks for posting your review. We are sailing on the same itinery as yours on the 18th, just a few more weeks.. And in our first balcony, really excited about that.

[SunnydayKim]

Sounds great can't wait we will be going on the glory on thanksgiving. May I ask how much the cheers was?

 

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It was a 7 day cruise, so the $37.50 plus tip. I believe it came out to $603 for the two of us. We were on the fence about it, but opted to go for it to not have to worry, get free soda (the bubbles is included), free non-alcoholic drinks - we got the banana split smoothie a couple of times to share with Keiran, etc.

 

We also took advantage of the Matchplays with a "classic cocktail". I would order a Mai Tai and drink about 1/4 of it slowly while at the pool, doing trivia, walking around the ship, etc. Then, get another when it got watered down.

 

Between the two of us we prob had about 50 matchplays on the trip and won about 40% of them (I had a higher percentage of wins than Steve did). So we made out with getting a couple hundred back in casino play as well.

 

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

It is good to know that writing this, some people are finding it interesting or useful information!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Kim