Easter Glory! A detailed pictorial review of the refurbished Carnival Glory 4/15-4/22

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

I think the Red Frog Bar and the tequila bar on the other side of the lido pool were both new additions on this ship after the drydock. The hours were generally noon-ish til the evening, depending on what activities were going on the lido from night to night I guess. You could get anything at these places though, got beer buckets, drink of the day and sodas whenever. Lines could get long here and you could be waiting a little while for service, only drawback of these neat places. BTW, they offered all kinds of neat stuff at these places. Pitchers of margaritas (never got any but almost did), 101 ounce tubes of beer of your choice for like $28 or so, etc. If you like to drink, these are good places to do it, lol.

 

 

 

The lido pool was empty this time of day but this also showed the fanavision that would show movies at night and other stuff during the day and during parties. Pretty decent sound system up here now as well. They often had a DJ playing, DJ Darren according to my funtimes, and he was OK. I do not recall a steel drum band on lido on this cruise but the house band, Deep Blue Groove was really good and they played pretty much every evening on the promenade.

 

 

I took this pic of the cantina before it opened for lunch but this was the general look of the place. The lines were never long but the food was good. One line was for tacos and the other was for burritos. I never got the tacos but K said they were good when she got one. You simply walk up, order a wheat or jalapeno tortilla and whatever you want in it. Today I got beef, chicken, black beans, cilantro lime rice and some roasted corn but there is a ton more options and combinations that you could make here if you got really creative. I also think they have taco bowls available if you want one.

 

 

 

 

The barbeque located right above the lido buffet line also opened around noon as did Guy's burgers. I had already gotten a burger the day before so I skipped that as the themed lido buffet for the day was Caribbean food. To be honest, that is the best themed buffet they have of all the different offerings. French, Italian, American, etc, are offered on other days and the quality has gone to complete garbage in recent years. I usually avoid it in lieu of the specialty stuff but I do make an exception for the Caribbean food. They have pretty decent rice and beans, island stew, jerk chicken, pepper pot, fruit and plantains. At least that is what I usually get. Mom is not into spicy stuff like I am so she really wasn't into it so much however. I will get some pics of all this in a moment....

 

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

Backtracking a little, I got some nice lido pictures taken while I waited for the cantina to open, here they are.

 

Some ping pong tables. I do not know if these were just added during the drydock but people were often playing here when I passed by each day. They do look pretty sturdy. Located right near the staircase to Serenity and the waterslides and also right near the camp ocean play area for kids.

 

The gate to the Serenity deck, lol. It an adult-only area on the upper deck, forward and is pretty nice. It covers quite a bit of real estate and features its own bar for convenience. Lots of lounge chairs, a few hammocks I think shaded clamshell chairs as well as hot tubs all the way forward. I think having the hot tubs all the way forward is dumb because although the views are OK, when the ship is moving the wind is awful and you can simply not stay in these tubs. Other serenity decks on Carnival ships do not have this problem as the hot tubs are located along the side of the ship, not quite in the direct jetstream. But the area is nice.

 

 

 

 

 

This was the new waterworks area. At least the top of it, where you queue up to get on one of two waterslides. One is enclosed, other one is open and probably moves faster. I do not know if K went up here or not but I did not however it seemed to be popular with the kids as there was always a line for it until it closed at 1830 daily. Below is a kiddie pool area and the spot where the bucket fills up and dumps on whoever is underneath it. They have attendants at the top and bottom of the slides to regulate riding so it appears to be pretty safe as well. Thought some folks would be interested to hear about the new waterworks that took so long to put in and caused so many headaches while it was being put in.

 

 

More in just a minute....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

The lower part of the waterworks.

 

Got a few pics of the island we were about to go to from the ship before we left.

 

Just because I didn't get a burger today, doesn't mean I couldn't get some pics of the establishment, lol. The toppings bar at Guy's is honestly good enough to make a meal itself. They have bacon, all kinds of usual toppings, and potato sticks. They have a pig patty that is a burger with bacon on top but I think it is better to get a plain Jane burger and add the bacon as a topping later. The default burger is a cheeseburger at the Guy's but you can ask for a burger with no cheese, which is what I do. The fries there are out of this world good as well, almost as good as the burgers.

 

 

 

Another offering that I forgot about was the Sushi at Sea, located down the hall from the Guy's and did include a fee. I saw a few people here daily, and I never got anything so I cannot tell you any more about this place.

 

 

The sweet spot, located near the general lido buffet line, the usual stuff. Personally, I do not think the stuff is that great here, looks better than it tastes but you might want to try some of the stuff out sometime.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

 

More cute Easter carvings

 

 

This is what they called the Comfort Kitchen. Located in the lido marketplace buffet area, they had carved meats, chicken fingers, etc. Comfort food. Usually not too crowded and I did not get anything here but it was another dining option at lunchtime. Like the outside carvery stations they still have on some of the old Fantasy class ships, minus the burgers and hot dogs of course.

 

 

The deli. The obvious sandwiches and traditional deli stuff and I heard it was actually very good. Made to order everything. Pretty authentic if you ask me. Also the only place you can get beef hot dogs that I know of on this ship and they are good. Open until like 2300 daily if I remember right. Located on the other side of lido, between the cantina and the main buffet line.

 

 

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY - CONTINUED:

Deli menu

 

 

The Caribbean food buffet day menu

 

 

 

Now, with that lido tour done, it was time to actually get off the ship around 1300 and by now, there was no line at all for the tender. As a matter of fact, we waited a while for the tender to fill up before we left for the island. I think there were two tenders running on this day and they were double-decker. I will say that if you have mobility issues, go to the lowest deck, forward otherwise you will wait forever to get on and off the tender and it is not exactly easy to navigate from the top deck to the lower one if you cannot move well. Just a tip. Anyway, we were shortly on our way for the 5 minute or so ride to the island.

 

 

 

 

Coming up....HALF MOON CAY!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

As I had said before, T and K got off the ship before we did so they were on the island doing their thing when we arrived. Know there is no cell service for any provider here and the ship's wifi and chat feature does not work on the island either so don't plan on being able to communicate with your devices there.

 

As we arrived to the dock, here was a nice shot of the beach we would be spending some time on later in the day.

 

 

The first thing you see when you arrive at the island. Nice little entrance, some photo ops here.

 

 

ME in front of the welcome sign, just inside the entrance. Yeah, I did not dress up too much on this beach day. But the Corona t-shirt was kind of appropriate for a beach day, lol. I got a few pictures of other couples who wanted their pics taken here as well. Popular area.

 

 

One of the maps located throughout the island so it was hard to get lost. Assuming you know how to read a map that is, lol. The island is actually pretty big.

 

 

Welcome area/information desk.

 

 

On our way to the food pavilion, located midway through the island. Neat natural walking path, just make sure you bring flip flops. Lot of sand here.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

 

A few things along the way. Basketball court and volleyball court not far from it.

 

 

 

We eventually did get to the island barbeque pavilion, but it was disappointing. It only served until like 1400 and that was fine but the selection was not great. This is one area that Carnival fails at and RCCL is much better with at Cococay. This was the menu.

 

 

 

They had a few line set up, burgers, hot dogs, stuff like that which was fine but the rest of the selection was a disappointment. We were not too hungry because we had a good lunch on the ship but they can really do a lot better here.

 

 

They have a few pavilions set up for seating nearby and the only free drinks offered are lemonade, water and iced tea. Although there are a few bars on the island, you cannot use Cheers (the alcohol package) or Bottomless Bubbles on the island for some reason I am not even sure about. Another reason to not get Cheers on a cruise such as this with a lot of port days. You can't even use it on their own island. I survived without a soda for a few hours but still, there is no reason why it should not be able to be used here. Other lines encourage you to take full advantage of the packages on their islands.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

This is one of the bars I had mentioned, never went here as I wasn't going to pay again for something that I already paid for on the ship. And they have the sales computers here, so what again is their excuse for not allowing the packages to be used?

 

 

So, after this I split up and my mom headed back towards the front of the island and I went for a walk. They had a tram that I believe would take you back to the front so you don't have to make the long walk back again. I also believe that a separate tram was used to do island tours for a fee if people were interested in that. There is a pretty big nature trail here and I decided to walk that for a while and see what there was to see on the quiet side of the island.

 

A little ways up, I passed a nice vantage point of the lagoon on the back of the island. They also offered jetski rides here I believe and did see some people flying past as I walked along the nature path. By the way, it is again, all sand and it is HOT. Make sure you bring decent shoes so you do not burn your feet.

 

 

 

The nature trail wound around the back half of the island, and was a good half hour walk at a leisurely pace. Lot of vegetation and birds, etc. Not too many bugs though thankfully. Lot of maintenance vehicles passing on this road so be careful that you don't get hit by one while walking, lol.

 

 

I should have gotten more nature trail pics but it all looked the same after a while, haha. But it was pretty peaceful all things considered and before long, I made my way back to "civilization" and found an entrance to the beach. I figured this is where I would find T and K eventually and so I walked past the little shipwreck restaurant and down the beach, back towards the ship. Sooner or later I did find them and they were having a grand old time on the beach and in the water. Just note that sunscreen is a MUST here. I got burned pretty bad before I realized how bright it was there. White sand beaches, sun, water, yeah.

 

The little shipwreck restaurant right before the beach entrance....

 

 

The beach, it was still pretty crowded although it was close to 1500 now. I think the last tender was at like 1630. I did find my sister and K here eventually.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

I hung out there for a while with them on the beach, they had gotten 2 chairs early when they first arrived and K was having fun snorkeling with the rental she got from the little hut somewhere on the beach. I went to get mom to see if she wanted to come out on the beach but it is physically impossible to walk out there if you are disabled. I have to say this island is pretty unfriendly to people with mobility issues. She elected to just sit out near the front of the island in the courtyard area and wait for us to get finished on the beach instead of trying to walk out there.

 

I went swimming, the beach drops off about a hundred feet out and I think they have little buoys and a rope line to keep people from going too far out. There were some neat fish that you could see around your feet in the clear waters, and K made a few little sand castles during the day she said. The tide went in and out pretty far during the day my sister told me, so the chairs that were way back when I got there were right up on the water when they got there.

 

Classic pic of the beach and water with the ship in the background. Beats working, huh? LOL.

 

One of the exits from the beach, the classic sign that says I COULD STAY HERE FOREVER. It is nice here, correct. Many of the people here had begun heading back to the ship so it was becoming less and less crowded on the beach. I think there was a place where you could rent floating mats and something else as well. K went to turn her snorkel back in right before we left the beach.

 

They had little showers to clean your feet off as well as a misting area to cool off if you were overheated.

 

 

Me, in the courtyard near the entrance, as we got together and met up with our mom to take the journey back to the ship. I think they had some gift shops in this area as well. I never went into any of them though.

 

 

We went back through security before getting on to the tender, which seems to be standard protocol for all the private islands. Guess it works faster than trying to screen everyone on the gangway when you get back to the ship. Not too long a line and we were shortly afterwards on the tender. Probably before 1615. At least 1 more, maybe 2 more tenders left after us so there were a lot of people left on the island pretty late. Why not push it? Not like you can really get lost and left behind on this island, they will find you or you will find the ship eventually.

 

The ride back to the ship.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

More of the ride back

 

 

 

So, I had not yet hit the hot tub today and wanted to take a dip to stretch out and relax so I headed up there after sailaway and around 1700. The aft was not too crowded as it never was during the cruise, and I took a quick dip in the pool to cool off as the sunburn I had gotten was bothering me. The hot tub was nice and I got out again around 1745 to head back to the room and see what was going on. Before I went back, I could not resist getting a Guy's burger and fries right before they closed at 1800, lol. Beach activity make you hungry I guess.

 

When I got back to the cabin, we had just brought up the fact that we had not yet received our standard chocolate covered strawberries and truffles that Platinums get when we got a knock on the door around 1800 with a special delivery, lol. I ate one, K liked the truffles and I left the rest of the berries for the next day. Just know you can't leave them out forever because if they are not refrigerated, they will go bad. I made that mistake on a past cruise and ended up wasting half the strawberries because I waited too long to eat them. Oh well. But we did get our free drink coupons and platinum pins on the first day of the cruise. The rest of the stuff showed up later in the cruise but I think we did get it all eventually.

 

I was tired so I took a nap around this time, but made sure to get up in time to see the sunset. It was not great due to cloud cover nearby but at least it was something, taken from the balcony. It seemed the sunset times varied a lot during this cruise, so had to check the funtimes each day to make sure I knew exactly when the sunset would be so I could be in position to get a picture. It wouldn't be the nicest evening for rough seas or precipitation unfortunately.

 

 

I got ready for dinner around 1930 and we headed to dinner before 2000, which for anytime dining, seems to be peak time. We did have to wait, but they give you a little buzzer like what you would get in a restaurant back home. Since the entrance to the mdr is on deck 3 right near the atrium bar, the band Deep Blue Groove played their evening concert on the stage in front of the glass elevators. Good variety and audience participation. We got into dinner a little after 2000 I think.

 

 

We were seated in a different area tonight and it was more crowded but we had a good wait staff again. I forget her name but the lady server did a great job with the Easter theme and keeping the kids occupied by passing a candy basket around from table to table. Neat stuff. The wait staff was great again tonight as it was pretty much every night.

 

The appetizer part of the menu

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

 

 

 

Me at the dinner table. K thought it would be cute to get a picture of me waiting for my food. This is the second most dressed up I got all week I think. I think we ran a contest with K to see if she could identify the landmarks on the dishes that they put on the table for the bread, lol. I think she got the Lincoln memorial and the Space Needle from Seattle right. Not bad for a kid still in grade school.

 

 

My appetizers - spring rolls and Navy bean soup. Both very good and reliable dishes on Carnival.

 

 

I got a flat iron steak, medium and some lamb. Both were good. Lamb is something you either like or hate. I happen to like it as it has a strong taste but it was cooked perfectly tonight. Like I said, this is something you can get from the American Table menu that the old menus just did not offer. Overall good. I forgot to mention that T got conch fritters and I did share some of that from the appetizer menu.

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2 - HALF MOON CAY CONTINUED:

I forgot to mention that they do a great job of keeping your water filled now as well. They fill your glass from the carafe they bring to the table when you first sit down but they do a good job of topping off your glass throughout dinner and bringing you more water if you need it. Also, looking back through my notes, our server's name that night was Alawan and she did a great job. If Carnival is reading, know she represents the brand in the dining room atmosphere really well.

 

I got warm chocolate melting cake with ice cream and peanut butter again tonight and it was good but again, I could not finish it. I forgot what K got for her dessert but she said she did not like it. Perhaps she got wcmc also and said she did not like it? Cannot remember. We were out of the dining room around 2200 and my mom and I went to the stage show, called Getaway Island I think, which was pretty good. Lot of dancing and music going back through the decades. They also encouraged audience participation by going up and down the aisles at a few different points in the show. I also want to say they had special effects that included the use of 3D glasses but we never got any so we did not get that whole experience. The show was over before 2300 and it was supposed to feature a mega deck party on lido deck, but the weather was pretty bad on this night and so it was done with the cast from the show in the atrium instead. Boring and too crowded so we went to see the late comedy show of Chas Elstner in the Punchliner lounge and he was OK but not gut-busting funny though. Jason Blanchard followed him and we figured we would stay to see if he would be any better than the night before but he was just as bad. Fail. Waste of time but it is what it is.

 

Inside atrium party

 

 

I went up to the lido deck after the comedy show to see if there was anything going on but since the seas were so rough and the overall weather was bad, nothing at all going on up here. The bars were open but nobody was at them. Oh well, no tips for the poor lonely bartenders tonight.

Mom went back to the room because neither of us felt like getting late night pizza tonight but I went for another stroll through the ship and passed the near empty casino. I don't spend much time in the casino anymore because it is too smoky, and in general, the slots are a rip off. Don't call it a penny slot if it costs 30 cents minimum play, lol. That and they just do not pay too well. I did spend some time in there later in the cruise though.

 

I got back to the cabin around 0030 and they were all asleep or trying to sleep. T does not handle background noise well while she is trying to sleep and the cinnabar downstairs was playing piano sing-along stuff well into the night. I had no problem with it but she did and she was driving everyone crazy about it, lol. She had to call guest services and then eventually moved her complaints up the chain of command as the situation got worse throughout the cruise. I think they finally closed the bar down around 0200. Personally, I have little problem with it being open late but they really should do a better job of soundproofing rooms near these venues. I love Billy Joel but I do not want to hear Piano Man get played 3 times in 2 hours in the middle of the night. Obviously they will not close a moneymaking venue down for one complaining pax too early but they did handle the situation poorly the first night as they refused to take her complaints seriously at the time.

 

A few more pics of the Easter stuff my mom brought along in the suitcases for us to enjoy

 

 

 

Anyway, we were all finally asleep after 0200 and the next day would be at sea I believe, so that is where we will pick up. You can see this was a very eventful day and I hope you enjoyed reading all about it and seeing some pictures. I will try to get to the next part sometime early next week if not sooner, until then happy cruising!

[cbringdrvr]

Wonderful detailed review. Thanks so much for posting.

[Moosevilleco]

Love the review!! We are sailing on the Glory in 28 days! Same itinerary you did!

 

 

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[Jodi3284]

Thanks for such a great in-depth review and pics!

 

I'm wondering what stateroom you were in? We sail next month and I'm thinking I'll be in the same piano bar predicament you were... Thanks for the tip, earplugs will be packed!

 

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[sparks1093]

Great review! Making me wish November was here already:D. I loved the shot of the ship you took coming back from HMC, you can see my future cabin in it (well, the balcony of said cabin anyway). We have an aft premium balcony on deck 8.

[sparks1093]

I forgot to say as I understand it they don't accept Cheers on HMC because there is no real time computer connectivity between the island and ship so they can't track the 15 drinks per day. Now, why that should affect Bottomless Bubbles or the non-alcoholic drinks ordered through Cheers is anyone's guess (my guess is they don't want to make any exceptions to keep it easy for the staff).

[heffy2]

Great review so far!!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Wonderful detailed review. Thanks so much for posting.

 

My pleasure. I really do enjoy doing these reviews and I'm glad people like reading them. Hopefully it helps those who are planning cruises out with what to expect and do as well. I am going to try to continue the review later tonight or if I don't get to it then, maybe by the end of this week for sure. Thanks for following along.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Love the review!! We are sailing on the Glory in 28 days! Same itinerary you did!

 

 

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Nice! Glad you are enjoying it. Thanks for coming along for the adventure. I'm going to try to get to the next part tonight or if I can't get to it, a day or two from today. The half moon cay part took me like 4 hours to do, so these are time consuming but definitely worth it in the end. I noticed this ship seems to rotate between this itinerary and the one with Belize and Roatan, both are nice. Have a great time on your cruise and I will try to get this done before you set sail, lol.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thanks for such a great in-depth review and pics!

 

I'm wondering what stateroom you were in? We sail next month and I'm thinking I'll be in the same piano bar predicament you were... Thanks for the tip, earplugs will be packed!

 

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It sounds terrible but I kind of blocked the exact number out of my mind, so I don't remember exactly. Lol but I do remember it was on the right side, one of the last regular balcony cabins on 6. The cinnabar was pretty big (couldn't miss it whenever going to and from the punchliner haha as they are right next to each other on promenade 5) so it probably bled noise into quite a few cabins above. I would say if you are a light sleeper you will have problems but I can sleep through pretty much anything other than a thunderstorm so I didn't but my sister was driven crazy by the noise. Just be mindful that it could be an issue but it's also only open at night so during the day you won't hear anything as the bar is closed up tight and no events seem to go on there other than late night sing alongs with Mark. I will talk about how they tried to resolve our issues as we go day by day as each evening presented a new challenge lol. Thanks for reading along with me and hopefully the rest of the review will be helpful with preparing for your cruise.

Edited May 16, 2017 by FlyingCruiserNJ
typos

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Great review! Making me wish November was here already:D. I loved the shot of the ship you took coming back from HMC, you can see my future cabin in it (well, the balcony of said cabin anyway). We have an aft premium balcony on deck 8.

 

Thank you very much for reading and I hope you have a great cruise. I like taking stage by stage pics of our progress in the tenders as it gives a little perspective to the journey back and forth. The ride to hmc is pretty short but I would say the tender ride in Belize is the longest I have ever been on. Its a long way there. I figure our cabin was probably in one of these shots also as the tenders parked right underneath us pretty much. We didn't have a premium balcony, just a standard on 6 but I like the tip someone gave in another thread that booking higher up and away from the promenade or lower, like Riviera deck will cut down on outside noise getting into the room. I should be getting to the next part relatively soon so be sure to check that out.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I forgot to say as I understand it they don't accept Cheers on HMC because there is no real time computer connectivity between the island and ship so they can't track the 15 drinks per day. Now, why that should affect Bottomless Bubbles or the non-alcoholic drinks ordered through Cheers is anyone's guess (my guess is they don't want to make any exceptions to keep it easy for the staff).

 

I guess that is a good theory but that doesn't explain the no soda policy as well. But they have no problem selling people drinks on the island. I guess they enter the card info and then upload everything at once when they get back to the ship but that's still cheesy. I figure few people will go over their limits while on the island and if they notice they are close or over, just cut then off once back onboard or charge them for the extra drinks as would be appropriate. Not sure how NCL works as we missed great stirrup cay when we had it scheduled but I know Royal has none of the restrictions Carnival has and they even go to the trouble of doing manually hand written sales slips in some bars on cococay. Carnival really has to update this policy on their own island.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Great review so far!!

 

Thanks for reading along, glad you are enjoying it. I should be updating it with our first sea day pretty shortly.

[Jodi3284]

It sounds terrible but I kind of blocked the exact number out of my mind, so I don't remember exactly. Lol but I do remember it was on the right side, one of the last regular balcony cabins on 6. The cinnabar was pretty big (couldn't miss it whenever going to and from the punchliner haha as they are right next to each other on promenade 5) so it probably bled noise into quite a few cabins above. I would say if you are a light sleeper you will have problems but I can sleep through pretty much anything other than a thunderstorm so I didn't but my sister was driven crazy by the noise. Just be mindful that it could be an issue but it's also only open at night so during the day you won't hear anything as the bar is closed up tight and no events seem to go on there other than late night sing alongs with Mark. I will talk about how they tried to resolve our issues as we go day by day as each evening presented a new challenge lol. Thanks for reading along with me and hopefully the rest of the review will be helpful with preparing for your cruise.

I'm joyfully cruising with a broken ankle, a little noise won't ruin it for me! I do think we are in the same area tho and my husband is a light sleeper. Thank you for the tip!

 

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