Glory review 8/21 with teenage daughter!

[barbaraanne]

Hey, if you happen to remember my postings about whether to bring my 15yo daughter or my mother in law, here's the cruise results and cruise review!

 

First of all, my DD had great fun at all the ports, came to dinner each night with us, reconnected as a family member, and just was herself, which we recognized for the first time as different, but enchanting. I learned I had to give up on the idea that she was making my son miserable by not going about the decks with him. She was quite happy to stay in the cabin when not at port, dinner, or shows, and watch the Olympics. I learned to accept that and be happy with it. In return, she was great company at port especially, and with us at dinner, which I enjoyed immensely.

 

She was quite different from our 13yo son, who gave up on her coming out with him by the second day to the arcade, and found he had to make his own way on the ship, which was great for him. The cultures and races on this cruise were extremely mixed, with people from all over the world as well as the country. Our son found his friends from two extremely different cultures from our own, and we are proud of him for being so outgoing and open. He had a real ball.

 

Wow! We managed to get our cruise in by the grace of God between hurricane Charley and hurricane Frances! Our weather and seas were perfect! We were so lucky.

 

The eastern caribbean ports are absolutely gorgeous. We did the western caribbean on Carnival Pride last year, and found the eastern ports like night and day in comparison. All of them, including our stop in Nassau, were gorgeous, like paradise.

 

Embarkation--a simple and quick process at Port Canaveral--don't sweat it!

 

Ship--lovely but big and somewhat confusing to navigate. This is my only negative about the cruise. With the mid ship restaurant interrupting the promenade and 4th level deck, it is a real pain in the neck to get where you are going, especially in a hurry. Otherwise, the public rooms as well as the staterooms were excellent (would highly recommend a balcony cabin--you'll feel like you really took a vacation and had some privacy with one). We had a midship 8b, which seemed as nice as the Cat. 11 suite we had on the Pride, all in all. The decor of the ship was fine, but not spectacular. Compared to the Pride, which had all that lovely Renaissance artwork, it wasn't quite as nice, but it was about as pretty as a very large ship can be. The state rooms are identical to the Pride's.

 

Food--excellent. What I expected for a Carnival cruise and more. Very much enjoyed the main dining room fare and our table for four, shared with our teenage kids who had their own cabin. Our waitstaff was excellent. Service in general was excellent--not one complaint.

 

I only wish the pools had been bigger. It seemed we had more pool space on the Pride. Everyone is dying to get into the pools, which are small and few on this ship. For that reason alone, I will book a Spirit class ship next time. Deck space for sunning is excellent, though, you will always be able to find room, especially on deck 14, towards the bow.

 

Shows--second one is better than the first, and don't miss the first comedian in the main theatre. And best of all we had JOHN HEALD for cruise director!!! Best cruise director in the fleet! He was fantastic, as were the people he brought into the shows! One of the best parts of our cruise was the shows with John Heald. He is so funny and so sweet.

 

Best of all were the ports. We went to Blue Lagoon at Nassau, which I would highly recommend. Took our own taxi tour on St. Thomas, which was nice and incorporated several things we wanted to do on our own time, including sights from skyline drive and Megan's Bay and shopping. All lovely. We had originally intended to go go St. John on our own, but our taxi driver (in air conditioned comfort versus

96 degrees) convinced us to go with him on our own tour for $25 each, which was more than fair and cheaper than the shore excursions. After the tour, he picked us up from the beach and dropped us off in time to shop at Havensight.

 

At St. Maarten we took the Golden Eagle catamaran tour, which I very highly recommend, provided you aren't the type to get seasick. We had waves like rollercoasters, but the sailing ship operation was first rate, we had unlimited drinks, food and champagne (which they don't tell you on the cruise ship, served by crew in bowties and shorts) and snorkeled on this gorgeous uninhabited island called Tintamar. Truly lovely and truy memorable.

 

All in all, a GREAT cruise. However, given my dithers, I'd prefer the same ports on a Spirit class ship--a bit smaller, more pool space, a bit friendlier because of its smaller size, and a better layout.

 

But you can't go wrong with the price! Worth every penny!

 

For teens, the arcade is a very happening place. But my gragarious son enjoyed himself much more than my shy daughter. Bigger also means slightly more daunting to shy teens. But lots of them on our summer cruise, and if your child isn't shy, they will have a ball meeting new friends!

 

good luck!

 

Barb

[Krooze Family]

Thanks for the great review. I love to read reviews of families since I will be cruising on the Glory for the first time as a family.

Can you expand more on Blue Lagoon for me? How much did it cost to get there? Are there activities (ie jetskis etc) for rent? Is there a snack stand? Is the water "walk-out-able" or is it corally or too deep. I have a seven and a three year old. Obviously, they will never be in the water by themselves, but if they are building a sand castle, is it safe enough on the shore to walk to the edge and fill a bucket? :p

Any information you have would be great because it just gets me day dreaming more!

Thanks!

[barbaraanne]

Blue Lagoon is a small island, developed for tourists, really, but gorgeous and no one lives there. One side has the lagoon, which is very calm, nice sandy bottom, very safe for kids. The other side of the island is more for snorkeling, with coral and rocks. The dolphin and stingray encounters are on this island.

 

We did the least expensive shore tour there, $28 per person, I think. You take a double decker boat about 45 minutes to the island with some nice sight seeing as you go out of the harbor in Nassau. They give you a free drink at the island when you get there. No motorized sports for rent, but several non-motorized things. Lovely palm trees, many with hammocks, big snack bar restaurant, and even a separate bar. Nice place to spend the afternoon.

 

I don't think it is worth doing the encounter with the dolphins there. We did one in Cozumel, a swim actually, that cost less and was more involved with the dolphins by far. However, if you don't do the encounter, you can still walk over to that area and pay $5 to go in and observe as long as you like, which we did. It's almost as good as doing the encounter. The facility is lovely.

 

You won't have that much time on Blue Lagoon, no matter what you do, and you will wish for more. The stop at Nassau is only five hours on the Glory. Our kids loved it though.

[dbmiller1956]

Our group of 6 leave on the 18th with the same itinerary as yours, so glad to hear some of your info. Also, interestingly enough, we are in the same area of the ship, just 2 decks below, having an 8a. Our first balcony and Dh and I are really looking forward to the trip.

 

:D (Special Note) Glad to see the relationship with your daughter turned out okay. Our daughter is now 23, so I remember those days of "attitude". They truly amaze us sometimes, dont they? I keep telling my children to enjoy their little ones, as they grow up so quickly.

Deena