Just back from a glorious time on Glory

[ksat]

My dh and I returned yesterday from the Glory eastern cruise. It was overall a great cruise. We stayed overnight in Orlando Friday and utilized the Carnival transportation from the airport Saturday morning. We were on the bus on on our way by 10 am. Embarktion was a breeze. We were on the ship and enjoying fish and chips before noon. Carryon's had to stay with us as doors to the cabins were closed until 1:30 pm. At 1:30, the doors opened and we made our way to our home for the week, cabin 7358. This was a great location convenient to everything. We dropped our bags and explored the ship. We had all but one of our bags before leaving for muster. My two dd's and dh gave me a spa treatment which I booked for just after sail away. The treatment was a lime and ginger scrub followed by a 1 hour massage. The experience was fabulous but the sales pitch at the end was the most persistent that I have ever witnessed. I included this on my comment card. By the time I returned to the room the final bag had arrived. That is always a great feeling. We had the late seating in the platinum dining room with a booth and wonderful tablemates Curtis and Barbara.

Sunday we arrived to a beautiful sunny day in Nassau. We chose not to book an excursion and just explored on our own. We returned to the ship and had a wonderful hamburger and fries from the grill. Sailaway was nice and then we began preparing for our first formal night and all the photo opportunities. It is always so much fun to see everyone dressed in their finest.

Monday was a windy and therefore cool day at sea. Not too conducive for sun bathing but oh well. It was my birthday. We spent time in the casino and while we didn't win big, it did keep us playing without losing alot. I even got free drinks from the casino hostess and manager. My dh insisted I play the slot tournament but needless to say, I didn't win. I didn't even come close. We had dinner that evening in the Emerald Supper club. The food was good but not great. The best part of the meal was the chocolate birthday cake that my dh ordered for me. It was awesome.

Tuesday was St. Thomas. We booked the Blackbeard Castle and shopping tour. Our guide Shane was entertaining and informative. My dh purchased the matching earrings for my Bernard Passman necklace which really surprised me. We had lunch at a wonderful resturant called The Greenhouse. We did some more shopping and returned to the ship around 5 pm. Because of sailaway at 8 pm, we decided to skip the dining room. We had a great tuna sandwich from the deli and then up top to watch us leave. The lights of St. Thomas were spectacular and there was a little lightening on the horizon for effect.

Wednesday was St. Maarten. We booked the Mullat Bay beach break. The water was beautiful but there was quite a bit of trash on the beach. For the first 45 minutes we were bombarded with vendors trying to sell various things. After this, it was very peaceful and relaxing. The barbeque all you could eat ribs were fantastic. I ate way more than I should have. Pamela, our tour guide, provided us with very interesting facts about the island.

Thursday and Friday were fun sea days. Friday was cloudy and cooler than it had been. The seas were much rougher than they had been and the ship was swaying quite a bit. The Legend show on Friday night was very good with some very talented passengers participating. Our tablemate, Barbara was Aretha Franklin and did a great rendition of RESPECT. Barbara and her husband Curtis have great voices and were favorites in the karoake(sp) bar. For anyone sailing on the Glory in the future who like karoake, you will be happy to know it has been moved to one of the larger bars. That was to be effective this week.

Disembarkation on Saturday was again efficient even though we were late arriving. We were off the ship and on the bus by 10:15.

The food was not as good as on our previous cruises. Most of the beef dishes were tough and overcooked. The desserts were nothing spectacular except for the chocolate melting cake. That was awesome. Our wait staff was efficient but not very personable. Our room steward keep the room tidy but we only saw him a couple of times. Room service was hit or miss. I placed an order on the door one night and the next morning it arrived 1 hour after the requested time. Their explanation was that there were too many request that morning. There were not many children or teenagers on the ship but there were alot of 70+. Many were on the motorized scooters. I believe in some ways they were more dangerous than the roaming teenagers. They would almost run you down if you didn't get out of their way fast enough especially if you happened to be close to one of the penny slots they wanted. The penny slots were probably the hottest spot on the ship. They were paying off and you couldn't get near one most of the cruise. Oh well. The casino manager indicated they are going to be adding more of those type of slots. The larger denomination slots were almost empty while the nickel and penny slots were packed all the time. Ann and Alesia in the Ivory Club bar are fantastic. Great personalities and we really enjoyed getting to know them. Sam at the bar on lido deck makes a great bloody mary according to my dh. I did have some comments for my comment card but all in all it was a great relaxing cruise.

Looking forward to planning our next one. If you have any questions, I will try to answer as this board has provided us with many helpful tips that we utilize. The clothes pins on the bottom of the shower curtain is probably the best tip ever.

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for all the Info!!