This was my second Carnival cruise and they provide a good balance between fun, relaxation and value. Could the ship have been bigger and more modern with upgraded appointments/decoration, yes; but it was a good size (we never felt crowded) and had a good time. 7 days with 2 of them at sea was the right amount of time to spend for our needs - enough time to really unwind and realize along with interesting ports to visit with a variety of things to do - we never felt bored. We would definitely cruise with Carnival again and we do recommend the Glory.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Definitely worth buying the "Faster to the Fun" option - early boarding, early off the ship in port -made us feel like a VIP
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was fresh and pretty good. Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana tacos and the sushi were fantastic!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Everything was clean and well maintained
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The Epic Rock show was fantastic! State of the art audiovisual production - get LED video screens, moving lights, exceptional sound system in the Amber Theatre with Broadway professional quality singers/dancers.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
We left our kids at home (anniversary couple only trip this time) - but we're planning to take our whole family next time! So many things for kids of all ages to do on board and fun family excursions when in port.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Dustin, the Cruise Director on the Glory, was terrific! Think "Ryan Seacrest" He was everywhere, all day/night and always upbeat and brought the fun.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was kept clean throughout our 7 day cruise. The food service staff was helpful and polite; the wait staff were constantly clearing used dishes from the tables.
Only curious layout issue was the location of the kids center and play equipment next to the Serenity - Adults Only sun deck at the front of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Good size, nice balcony, comfortable bed, clean - good value
Ship tip
The lounge band, Deep Blue Groove was pretty good. The casino on deck 5 is quite smoky smelling - definitely avoid if you are a non-smoker.
The best beach we've ever been too! Crystal blue water that you can see your feet in 5ft of water, smooth sandy bottom without coral, shells or rocks. Beautiful powdery white sand beach with nice trees for shade. Tender boat takes you to shore (short 5-10 mins) and the beach is right there.
It was a somewhat cloudy day when we arrived and we didn't take an excursion so we stayed in town visiting the shops near the dock (there are over 50 shops). We did walk up the street from the dock and took the sky tram up to the top of the hill that looked down over the town and the bay - very nice.
We walked all about Old San Juan (hiked about 7 miles) from the dock - visiting Fort Morro and the old walled fortress around the city was terrific. Lots of cool bars and shops and nice street scenes.
We did the excursion to Bajari Beach Club a few miles away from the cruise port. The beach was ok with plenty of chairs, cabanas, a bar and water adventure activities (snorkeling, powered scuba) for additional fees. But the ocean floor was filled with sea grass and many coral/rock that made it nearly impossible to walk out into the water without swim shoes (which we did not bring). The local living areas between the cruise port and the beach we went too were in poor condition and random donkeys and horses walked down the sides of the road - not very attractive. However, the retail shops and Margaritaville at the Cruise Port were modern and nice. There were tons of beach chairs and umbrellas right the at the beach at the cruise port right off the dock so you didn't really need to do on an excursion to visit the beach.
Again, Fastest to the Fun pass allowed us to get off the ship first - we carried our own bags off the ship and literally hoped in a cab and were at the Miami airport within 30 minutes.
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