Help Decide! - Glory vs Fascination

[Roadie90]

My first cruise was last year on Carnival and I gambled a bit so I got the Casino offer and I've been contemplating the two ships, Glory and Fascination. Me and DW have decided that this will be a cruise for just us two as we have a family cruise scheduled later in the year.

 

We are looking at the May itineraries and wanted to get some insight from the Cruise Critic community.

 

Glory - 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay and Grand Cayman. It is less than $100 more than the Fascination. However, I have to drive all the way down to Miami (from NC), take an extra vacation day from work, and we honestly have not been gone that long from our daughters ever (both under 10).

 

Fascination - 5 day cruise to Freeport and Nassau departing from Jacksonville so it cuts our drive almost in half compared to Miami. Also I don't have to burn up as many vacation days (vacation days are almost worth their weight in gold to me!).

 

So, I'd like to hear the pros and cons of each ship and itineraries keeping in mind this will be a cruise for just me and DW. Which do you believe will be a better "quality" cruise? Ports' pros and cons? Any advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[ASchaff]

I personally LOVE the Glory. I have been on it several times, and have never been disappointed. I will always choose a 7 day over a 5 day. Personally I was not impressed with either Freeport OR Nassau. Cozumel, Belize and Grand Cayman are fantastic locations, all with things to do both with excursions and without.

[nissach]

I too would also pick a 7 day over a 5 day(but I don't have children left behind to consider).

As for the ports, IMO, Nassau is nice, Freeport not so much, it is OK.

We liked Cozumel, Mahogany Bay is OK(would not choose to go there again), never been to Belize, but have heard it is worth the visit, we loved GC, but hated the tender. I think Belize is also a tendered port too. I try to avoid too many tendered ports on one cruise(or buy FTTF). It always seems that people are so impatient to get of the ship and it can create a lot of nasty moods.

As for the ships, have never been on either, but if I had to choose I would probably lean towards the Glory.

[manmachine]

How long in Nassau and Freeport?

If it is an overnight and/or a long day in each, that makes a difference. You will see a lot of Freeport haters on these boards, and I think it is mostly because everything worth doing-- and there is a LOT-- requires travel away from the Port area.

 

I have done the Glory itinerary you are looking at. Really nice.

But another 5 hours drive down and back from Jax is basically (almost) two days. You could tour St. Augustine near Jax instead, and save the drive. Glory is a nicer ship... But we do like Fantasy class, like Fascination, too.

 

But in Nassau, Blue Lagoon is great, and in Freeport Deadman's Reef for snorkeling, Taino Beach, Gold Rock beach, Garden of the Groves, Billy Joe's 'King of Conch,' Lucaya... Freeport is very, very nice... Almost a hundred miles long. But a lot of cruisers judge it by the port area.

[alabamaprincess]

I would pick the Fascination out of Jacksonville. We have only done 5 day cruises also because we drive in from North Alabama. It usually ends up being 7 days away from home because of the drive down.

[nissach]

I would pick the Fascination out of Jacksonville. We have only done 5 day cruises also because we drive in from North Alabama. It usually ends up being 7 days away from home because of the drive down.

 

I would love to be able to drive to the cruise port. How lucky some of you are! For us to fly in we always want to cruise for 7 days or more. We would choose to do more short cruises if we had the option to drive.

[cruisingbandmom]

Glory! Glory! Glory! No comparison between the ships. Glory hands down. Look at flights. Figure the cost of gas, extra time, extra meals, hotel, and parking. That will most likely almost equal what you can get a flight for the both of you.

 

Your girls will be fine, but most of all you and your wife will have 7 days of relaxation and recharging. Life is short, put your marriage first for the entire week and make the most of each moment.

[siestakeys04]

We had to drive from NC to Miami when we went on the Glory. You can break it down if you can but we loved the Glory.

 

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[BearJim]

Glory! Glory! Glory! No comparison between the ships. Glory hands down. Look at flights. Figure the cost of gas, extra time, extra meals, hotel, and parking. That will most likely almost equal what you can get a flight for the both of you.

 

Your girls will be fine, but most of all you and your wife will have 7 days of relaxation and recharging. Life is short, put your marriage first for the entire week and make the most of each moment.

 

This ^^. My wife & I went on a 5 day on the Glory by ourselves in Oct 2013 out of Norfolk & loved it. We also live in NC so we had around a 4 hr drive. Kinda the best of both worlds. ;)

[Roadie90]

Freeport and Nassau stops are from 8am-4pm and 9am-6pm respectively... you guys aren't making it very easy on me!

 

Can anyone else confirm Belize is a tender port? If so, with two tender ports on the itinerary, would it be best to purchase the FTTF? This will make the Glory that much more expensive. We are doing a 7-day family cruise so at this point I am leaning towards the Fascination as it will be more cost effective (shorter drive, less ports = less spending, etc.), and leave a bigger budget for the family cruise...decisions, decisions...

 

And my research indicates a lot of people are fans of the fantasy level ships...Glory is just bigger and newer, right? Any stark differences between the two?

Edited February 7, 2015 by Roadie90

[firemanbobswife]

Belize is in fact a tender port. I am going on this itinerary May 9 on Glory and did get FTTF. This will be my 5th time on Glory, so you can guess what my vote is :)

[ASchaff]

Belize is a tender port, but absolutely fantastic. I have done several tours in Belize and have never been disappointed. I have done the cave tubing tour twice because I enjoyed it so much.. The best horse back riding excursion we have done was in Belize(not the beach riding), and a snorkeling tour with beach stop was wonderful. I have been there 1 other time and it was fun just to walk around without a tour at the port. We have never had an issue with tendering times. If you book an excursion, you get priority tendering anyway.

[ASchaff]

The ONLY reason that I am not going on the Glory again is because it is out of Miami. We live about 2 hours from Tampa, and 3 hours from Canaveral, so we always go out of one or the other.

[firemanbobswife]

To tell you how much I like Glory, I was originally booked on the Splendor out of Norfolk May 11. It is a 20 min drive from my house. I would rather have 2 extra days on the ship plus the better ports on Glory instead of the same boring 5 day cruise to Nassau and Freeport as I've done twice already when Glory was here in May and Oct of 2013.

 

So I canceled that cruise and rebooked for May 9 on Glory. It's actually cheaper for my own room on Glory vs sharing a room on Splendor.

Edited February 7, 2015 by firemanbobswife

[A&Jfamily]

My first cruise was last year on Carnival and I gambled a bit so I got the Casino offer and I've been contemplating the two ships, Glory and Fascination. Me and DW have decided that this will be a cruise for just us two as we have a family cruise scheduled later in the year.

 

We are looking at the May itineraries and wanted to get some insight from the Cruise Critic community.

 

Glory - 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay and Grand Cayman. It is less than $100 more than the Fascination. However, I have to drive all the way down to Miami (from NC), take an extra vacation day from work, and we honestly have not been gone that long from our daughters ever (both under 10).

 

Fascination - 5 day cruise to Freeport and Nassau departing from Jacksonville so it cuts our drive almost in half compared to Miami. Also I don't have to burn up as many vacation days (vacation days are almost worth their weight in gold to me!).

 

So, I'd like to hear the pros and cons of each ship and itineraries keeping in mind this will be a cruise for just me and DW. Which do you believe will be a better "quality" cruise? Ports' pros and cons? Any advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Glory - hands down. First, its 7 days so it feels like a full vacation. Second, you can't compare the quality of ports as Western is awesome and bahamas is blah. I like the Fascination, but in May, it could still be cooler, at least at night, particularly on the ocean the first and last days at sea. Glory has steakhouse - well worth it for a romantic dinner.

[Thad409]

We book the Fascination and we live 45 min from Galveston, we drive 11.5 hrs to Jacksonville. We love that little ship. Maybe we have tunnel vision but our last cruise was on her and we loved half moon cay. so that's the main reason we booked her again.

[cmptrwiz]

Glory! Better ports and more alone time with your wife. Enough said.

[love my grandkids]

Easy decision for me

 

7 days is always better than 5.

Glory newer ship with more features

Why go on an itinerary with Nassau and Freport? Glory has much better itinerary

[CruizCuz]

Comparing the Fascination with the Glory, is like comparing "apples to oranges". True, they are both cruise ships, but that's where the similarity ends. We will be sailing on the Fascination in September 2015. We were looking for a quick get-away, with little drive time. We did not choose this ship for it's ports of call, although when given the choice, we DID choose HMC/Nassau over Freeport/Nassau. If you are looking for a larger, more luxurious ship with amazing ports of call, then cruise the Glory. If you are looking for a shorter cruise, less vacay days used, nice little ship, less travel/road time, then the Fascination is for you. It really depends on what your priorities are for this time. ;)

[beamqueen]

I have not been on Glory but we have done Fascination and Conquest (similar to glory). If time was not an issue hands down would choose Glory. However it's up to you whether you are looking for a 7 day... Kinda sounds like you want the shorter cruise? Fascination is great-- just not as much to offer. Belize and mahogany bay are great ports!! We had so much fun there!

[Roadie90]

Meant to come back and update this thread sooner but hadn't had a chance. We decided to just go ahead and book the Glory. Not that much more expensive, 7 days and cooler ports IMO after some research. Going to Nassau on the NCL Getaway with the family later in the year and I didn't feel like I was missing much at Freeport.

 

Looking at excursions, we were wondering if anyone had any experience with cavetubing.bz in Belize. Saw lots of reviews on tripadvisor but the negative reviews were a little concerning. So CC community, what is the general consensus here?

 

Thanks for all the input!