Glory Review (4/1 - 4/8)

[letscruisegd]

This cruise was a graduation gift for my daughter and it was FABOULOUS. We had wonderful service, good entertainment, overall good food and wonderful fellow cruisers.

 

We decided to spend the night prior to the cruise in Orlando since my daughter wanted to go to City Walk (at Universal). We stayed at Comfort Inn near Universal. The hotel was okay for one night but I wouldn’t want to stay there any longer than that.

 

Embarkation:

Pretty quick boarding. We got to the port around 11:30 and we were onboard by noon. We explored the ship and went to have lunch on the lido deck.

The ship:

This was my first time on a ship this size and I loved it. I’ve read some not so positive things about the décor on the Glory but I thought the ship was really nice. I also read the ship was difficult to navigate but we didn’t have any problems finding our way around. I did notice the ship rocked a little more than the other ships I’ve been on. It wasn’t enough rocking to make us ill but the rocking was more noticeable. The ship was always kept clean and we never had any problems finding a clean table in the red sail restaurant. Our room steward (Noel) was wonderful. He came to our room the first day and introduced himself to us. Each time he saw us he was always smiling and he identified us by name. He even left my daughter a cookie with a smiley face drawn on it in the evening. Although my daughter is 17 she looks much younger so maybe he left the cookies because he thought she was younger. That may be something they do for the kids. Regardless of the reason he left the cookies, we both thought the gesture was very sweet. Each night my daughter brought ice cream to the room to go with her cookie.

 

Food:

Overall, the food was good. The buffet lines in the red sail were long only during the chocolate buffet. Other than that, we could always get through the line in 5 minutes or less. There was hardly any line at all at the fish & chips. The deli line wasn’t long but it was kind of slow. The food in the red sail usually wasn’t very good. Each time I got something from the buffet, I ended up not eating very much of it and usually got something from the grill instead. Fortunately I fixed small portions from the buffet. There were several buffet lines and maybe I just didn't get in the right one as I saw other passengers who appeard to be enjoying their meals. The breakfast was the typical breakfast foods and was as expected. My daughter had her share of pizza and ice cream. The food in the dining room was quite good with the exception of the filet mignon. It was SUPER TUFF. The lobster tail was slightly overcooked but it was okay. The chicken and shrimp dishes were really good. The prime rib was very good. The desserts were just okay. Toward the end of the cruise, everyone at our table just ordered ice cream because the other desserts weren’t too tasty. I can’t say enough about the service in the dining room. Our head server Andrea and her assistant Sergio were WONDERFUL. They called us by name after the first introduction and they both were extremely attentive. For the life of me I don’t know how they remember everyone’s name when they have so many people to take care of.

 

After the first day we ordered breakfast from room service. The first day we ordered, they came really early but after that they usually came within 5 minutes of the time we indicated on our room service card. We had late dinner seating so my daughter ordered a light snack from room service daily to tie her over until dinner.

 

Entertainment:

The only show we didn’t enjoy was the comedy show on the last night. We didn’t find him funny at all. The other productions were quite good. I was shocked when the male dancers stripped in one of the shows:eek: . We really enjoyed the talent show. The guest came onboard prepared to show their talent. One girl danced and she came up in her dance costume and another guy played his guitar and sang a couple of songs. I thought each of the participants in the talent show did a great job. Marcus Anthony (Motown show) was fabulous.

 

Ports of call:

Since we were in Nassau for such a short period of time we just did a little shopping downtown and got back on the ship. In St. Thomas we booked a tour with Sunny Liston and we had a ball. Sunny drove one of the vehicles and his wife drove the other. They made the tour quite entertaining and my daughter and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. After we completed the tour, we were taken to Sapphire beach then we were taken back to the ship. We did a little more shopping around the pier then got back on the ship. In St. Martin we just took a taxi downtown and shopped. We also spent a little time at the beach that’s right there near the ship. We took the water taxi back to the ship instead of trying to find a taxi to get back.

Debarkation:

We left our room around 9:00 and sat along the promenade deck. Our deck was called to leave the ship around 9:15. Fortunately the passengers didn’t gather in the lobby so the line to get off the ship moved steadily. It took about 20 minutes to get off then it took us about another 10 to get our luggage.

 

Overall:

We had A GREAT VACATION and we’re already looking forward to booking another. I would cruise on the Glory again in a heartbeat.

 

Happy Cruisin’ :D

[devlshways]

Thanks so much for the great review! My husband and I were originally booked on that cruise, but had to move it to the May 13th one.

Looking forward to it, it's our first!

[mrsv41605]

Thanks for the great review!!! I cannot WAIT to get on that ship!!

 

Do you remember which night, or which show, the male dancers stripped? I want to make sure we get to that one!! LOL

[beaming90]

Thanks for the great review! Under 8 months now till mine!:D

[Buffy2323]

Letscruise, you beat me to the review :) I'll add my 2 cents to this cruise, if you don't mind ;) We also had a BLAST! Iagree with most of waht you said except I found my filet mignon was cooked PERFECTLY as were all my other steaks. Which dinner seating/dining room were you in? We were in the Platinum 2nd Main on the 2nd floor (right by the back windows with a GORGEOUS view of the sunset each night!!) We found the desserts to be pretty good most nights but then again, I'm not a big dessert fan so EVERYTHING tastes good to me when I eat it, LOL Oh, and our servers were Jimmy and Fernando, they were WONDERFUL as well!!

 

As for the ports of call, St. Marteen was our favorite. We also swam at the beach right by the shopping areas. Did you find the undertow brutal? My 4 year old had swimmies on and we watched him every second. He actually got swept into the undertow and was floating out to the bay all in a matter of about 2 minutes!! Fortunately, we WERE watching and we went running immediately. A man was in the ocean and was close by and nabbed him for us. It was REALLY scary. He immediately wanted to go back to Camp Carnival and wanted nothing to do with the ocean after that!

 

I found the casino to be a great time! The penny and nickel slots were good to me. I think I spent about $200 total and cashed out about that at the end of the cruise so breaking even is pretty good, in my eyes! I LOVED the entertainment in the casino, the bands were always great and had wonderful music. We didn't do any shows, jut not our cup of tea.

 

Our cabin steward also left cookies for our kids but only on one night. We never got to meet him but he was very attentive to all our needs (we'd leave notes with requests). He even kept our collapsible cooler filled with ice, every morning and evening he'd add more! We'd pass him in the hall and he'd smile and wave but we never talked to him, he was very sly ;)

 

Camp Carnival far exceeded our expectations. My son (4 1/2) wanted to go there instead of the islands on most days! It was nice as we'd take him on the island for a few hours and when he got tired we'd drop him in Camp Carnival. The counselors LOVED him and he loved them :) My daughter (8) also had a great time and enjoyed the many activities they had to offer. For anyone wanting details on the after hours prices, it was $6 per hour for the first child and $4 per hour per child extra. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they prorated that hour on the one night we decided to do only 1 3/4 hours. It was $17.50 instead of $20.

 

Anyway, I will be crusing the Western Itinerary on 10/21 on the Glory and can't WAIT to get back on her! She was a little confusing to us but we figtured out where we were going a few days in. I highly recommend the Glory for anyone who is wondering :)

[barneco]

We will also be on the May 13th cruise (and the May 12, 2007 one as well). We were on the Western cruise on the Glory last August and loved it as well. I will be the old bald guy at the Craps table in the casino :)

 

Barry

[letscruisegd]

I'll add my 2 cents to this cruise, if you don't mind ;)

I don't mind you adding your 2 cents at all. I think the more information provided to future cruisers the better.

I agree with most of waht you said except I found my filet mignon was cooked PERFECTLY as were all my other steaks.

You were fortunant to have your filet mignon cooked perfectly. No one at our table enjoyed theirs. The only beef dish anyone at our table enjoyed was the prime rib. Overall, we thought the food was good. We certainly didn't go hungry :p.

Which dinner seating/dining room were you in? We were in the Platinum 2nd Main on the 2nd floor (right by the back windows with a GORGEOUS view of the sunset each night!!)

We were in the Golden dining room 2nd late seating (8:30) on the 2nd floor. Our table was next to the window but I guess since it was already dark, the curtains were closed :(.

As for the ports of call, St. Marteen was our favorite. We also swam at the beach right by the shopping areas. Did you find the undertow brutal?

We didn't go far enough out to have to battle the undertow. My daugher is a strong swimmer but she has no interest in swimming in the ocean. She's afraid of exactly what you're talking about. We only went in far enough for the water to reach our knees :D .

Anyway, I will be crusing the Western Itinerary on 10/21 on the Glory and can't WAIT to get back on her!

You will be crusing again on my birthday (10/21). Hmmm:rolleyes: - my birthday is a perfect reason to book another cruise. I may just have to give that some thought.

[Buffy2323]

You will be crusing again on my birthday (10/21). Hmmm:rolleyes: - my birthday is a perfect reason to book another cruise. I may just have to give that some thought.

COme on along, it's an all women's cruise for us! I'm leaving the hubby and kids at home ALONE ;)

[Art123]

letscruisegd,

 

Based on your review, I would have to say that I was sitting next to your DD every night. I was a pleasure getting to know you and your DD. I can't wait untill she is famous chef and opens her own restaurant :D

 

I agree with the majority of your review. The only place I would take exception to is that we were kind of disappointed with almost all the food in the main dining room. It was definitely below the standards were saw on our other Carnival cruises.

[poptart]

I did notice the ship rocked a little more than the other ships I’ve been on. It wasn’t enough rocking to make us ill but the rocking was more noticeable

 

 

 

 

Where was your cabin located on the ship? We have a balcony deck 8 midship in November. Do you think we'll be rockin and rollin? I'm so excited I don't even really care. Thanks for the great reviews! dh always orders the beef and last year on the Inspiration it wasn't very good. I almost always do seafood and it was great.

[letscruisegd]

letscruisegd,

 

Based on your review, I would have to say that I was sitting next to your DD every night. I was a pleasure getting to know you and your DD. I can't wait untill she is famous chef and opens her own restaurant :D

Well hello Art...what a small world. What is the likelyhood of CC members actually being seated together? It was a pleasure getting to know you and your family as well. We truly enjoyed having dinner with you all. We also enjoyed having your DD join us at the shows after dinner. I too can't wait until my DD a famous chef and opens her own restaurant :D. Maybe she'll send me on a few cruises when she's famous:p.

 

Where was your cabin located on the ship? We have a balcony deck 8 midship in November. Do you think we'll be rockin and rollin? I'm so excited I don't even really care.

Our cabin was located on deck 6 aft. It appeard to be more midship to me but our luggage tags said aft. I was on deck 8 on the Truimph and although I was on a higher deck on the Triumph, I felt more movement on the Glory. Again, it wasn't too much...it was just more noticeable. Hopfully you won't be rockin and rollin too much:).