Best Vacation EVER
Carnival Glory Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 61
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 13, 2018
Ship: Carnival Glory
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 1018
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
After talking about we decided that cruising makes the best vacation...we had an amazing time and will be back!Embarkation
We purchased Faster to the Fun and it was worth EVERY penny....from the time we left our hotel room until we boarded the boat and was in our room....just less than an hour. We never had to wait for more than 5 -10 minutes in any one locale....we simply walked up to the boat and practically walked straight on.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was always hot, tasty and plentiful with little (specialty venues) to no wait (buffet). The Main Dining Room was a treat every night! Especially for those who have never experienced high end dining to that degree. Our waitstaff....Danny, Joyce and LiudMyla were amazing at remembering our names and our likes and dislikes. No more than you were sat down and they would be serving you. Always greeted by name, with a smile, asking how our day had been.
We ate in the Emerald Steakhouse our 1st night and WOW! It is absolutely worth paying extra for the meal. The level of service and caliber of food was outstanding! Never have we had such a meal. The food was cooked to perfection and was the most delicious ever.
Onboard Activities
If you cannot find something to do while on a Carnival Cruise then you are too picky! lol The amount of things they had setup for everyone of all ages, was mind-blowing. From Dance Parties, Daily and Nightly Movies on the Lido Deck, Trivia Challenges, Bingo, Live Music, ect....this ship never stopped. The pools and hot tubs are maintained on a regular basis keeping them very clean. If there was anything to complain about it would be this.....there was so many things to choose from that sometimes you had to choose between things and miss out on something else. But what a problem to have!
Entertainment
The stage shows in the Amber Palace every night were amazing! The group of singers were so incredibly talented! We also loved the Punchliner Comedy Club....definitely top notch. It was fun figuring out CLUE and being picked to play Hasbro the Show was a hoot.
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
I have never felt so pampered in all my life. Not once did I experience a negative thing with any of the staff, waiters, room stewards or ship personnel. We had the most amazing room stewards with Ricky and Aiza. Greeting us every morning by name with smiles and asking of our plans for the day. Greeting us again in the evening asking how our day had gone and genuinely being happy for our great experiences. We only had to ask once for ice (hubby pulled a muscle in his leg the day we arrived) and had ice in our room every night for him to put on that muscle. Our room was kept so nice and neat, always clean. Anytime we had a question for anyone on the ship, they always had a smile and a quick answer. If they were unsure of the answer they would always point you to someone who did.
Everyone was genuinely happy to help. In fact while trying to carry 3 glasses of juice one of the staff on Lido saw me and quickly came to my rescue. Helping me to get my drinks back to my table without dropping them. It's little things like that that make a big difference. Seeing a need and doing something.
Ship Quality
The ship was always clean. You wouldn't have to look far to see someone collecting dishes, washing windows, mopping Lido or wiping off tables. It took a little bit to learn our way around the ship, but over all it was very well laid out. Once you learned some of the "shortcuts" it made getting from one area to another much easier. Do your homework and study your ships layouts (watch as many Youtube videos as you can) before arriving on ship....it will help immensely!
Cabin / Stateroom
Very clean and even felt spacious. We had plenty of closet space with enough hangers for all our things. The bed was very comfy (even if it was just 2 twins pushed together to make a full). The plush pillows and comforter made sleeping easy! I became spoiled with the use of the vanity for getting ready; having everything right there at hand and the lighting! Perfection!
There is not much to watch on the TV....but you don't go on a cruise to sit in your room and watch TV! lol It was nice though to see info on upcoming ports of calls and possible excursions.
Ship tip
Be ready to have fun.....because this boat is ready to have fun with you!
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Ports of call
We arrived in Miami the day before our cruise left. We visited the wharf area and ate at Bubba Gump's. Great service and really tasty food.
We chose to not do an excursion here, but rather to spend our day at the beach swimming and snorkeling. Be aware that the blue beach chairs with green umbrellas are free to be used by anyone. Anything else will cost you money. So if you want to sit right on the water you will have to pay. There were several individuals trying to sell beach chairs and being dishonest in not telling people of the blue chair/green umbrella thing. When someone would say no to paying they would be directed to having to go all the way to the back of the beach to chairs with no umbrellas and no shade. Our beach chair with umbrella was just 3 rows back. I tried to catch a few people as they walked by, to inform them they did not need to go all the way back.
Highly recommend anyone to purchase a rebreather snorkeling mask, especially to be used here at Grand Turk. The water is so beautiful and clear! We seen loads of different kinds of fish. We chose to have lunch back on the boat and after lunch went back to the island to explore the shops. There was live music playing in the plaza so that was wonderful to experience as you go from one shop to another. There is a small exhibit showcasing when John Glenn (NASA) splashed down with Mercury 6 just off the island of Grand Turk. If you go into the Post Office you can have your Passport stamped as well as buy collector stamps of John Glenn.
Overall, Grand Turk was an amazing experience.
We chose to walk on our own to El Morro, going along the wall to the Red Gate. It is a long walk but it is very much worth it. The architecture and history are amazing. There are lots of "wild" cats that roam the island....so they are fun to see but not an issue. El Morro is a beautiful structure to see and the history that surrounds it great to learn if you like history. Be prepared to sweat while walking. Puerto Rico is extremely humid and the morning we were here it had rained just before our arrival.
After El Morro we stopped at Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan, famous for inventing the Pina Colada. We had a Pina Colada each and shared a Pollo Mofongo. Service was great, our waiter Hector was more than willing to make sure our time there was memorable. The Pina Colada and Mofongo did not disappoint. We were directed to visit the street with all the umbrellas. A street that leads to the governor's mansion. It was very, very pretty. Approximately 25,000 people visit the street every week to have their photos taken there. It is worth the visit. We also visited the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, John the Baptist. Here you find beautiful architecture of a 500+ year old building with lots of history. Ponce De Leon is buried here.
Be prepared to have every employee from every store to try and get you to step into their stores and purchase something. We did stop in Del Sol, a store that sells only things that change colors in the sun. Very fun store.
There is a Walgreen's just outside the port so if you need to pick something up you can do so on your way back to the boat. Also on your way back, there is a small area, on the water, just before you have to go back onto the pier to go to the boat, that you can stop and get a photo of the boat behind you (just use your phone). At night, it is breathtaking with the boat all lit up and reflecting on the water.
San Juan is a beautiful place to visit.
Realizing that St. Thomas was hit badly by Hurricane Irma last year I extended much grace to the areas we were in....we did buy an excursion that was to be 2 hours at Megan's Bay (listed as one of the Top 10 best beaches in the world, (but sadly because of some of the damage due to the Hurricane's just seemed "alright") and 2 hours shopping. We are not much for shopping but assumed we would be at least able to wonder around the shops area, taking in the culture and history, possibly grabbing something to eat, like we did in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Sadly we were rushed from Megan's Bay and was only able to spend about 1.5 hours there....with 20 minutes of that 1.5 hours spent showering and getting back into regular clothes. It was expressed to us just how important it would be to be back to the taxi on time. As they could not wait for us if we were late. After leaving Megan's Beach we were taken to a high overlook to get some photos of the bay below. There was a vendor there selling bottles of water and another vendor selling photos with his dressed up donkey. The donkey was super sweet and worth the couple dollars to get my photo with. We then traveled back down to Charlotte Amelia, where we were then dropped off in an area (Charlotte Amelia) that was run down and still working to get back after Hurricane Irma. The only things the shops in Charlotte Amelia sold were high end jewelry. There were no touristy type venues or shops. There was only one small park to sit in and wait for our taxi/bus to come back and get us. In this park was very, very limited shade. So you had to sit in mostly open sun. Many of the benches had mud on them because there were workers trying to clean up the park by power washing the bricks....which in turn splattered mud onto the benches. Our driver was to return in 2 hours. Which he did not for 2.5 hours.....and even then we did not leave for another 25 minutes because we were waiting on 4 other people from our group. I am certain the other 4 decided to get an Uber back to the boat due to being tired of waiting. While waiting in the park it down poured twice.....which forced everyone to run to a large gazebo to get out of the weather. It would have been nice if the gazebo would have had benches or seats in it....it did not. So you were forced to either stand and wait in the gazebo in shade or to sit and wait in full sun. When we finally were taken back to the boat our driver did not drop us off where he picked us up at, but rather at a shopping strip mall (a much nicer and more tourist friendly area) down away from the boat. We were to be back on the boat by 2:30pm. We just barely made it at 2:21pm. When commenting on the time we needed to be back our driver informed us that since we were on a Carnival booked excursion the ship would not leave without us because he had to call to say if he was done or not. This was while we were waiting for nearly more than an hour past the time he was to have picked us up and dropped us off.
In hindsight, had we known there was a shopping mall just down from the boat we would not have booked this excursion. We would have just walked down ourselves and spent our day in the sun on the boat rather than a beach.
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is amazing! There is so much untouched beauty. It seems as if you can see exactly where pirates would have hidden their treasures along the shore. Rolling hills covered in green with horses dotting the tops.
We chose to get an excursion outside of Carnival so did not utilize Amber Cove. Though it was very large and very well kept and also very clean. There were several shops there, much like in Grand Turk though at least twice as many shops. I was able to get my passport stamped but not like in Grand Turk.
The excursion we chose was thru Amber Cove Adventures. We had to walk for a ways to get out of Carnival's Amber Cove to meet our guide but it was absolutely worth the walk! Once we met our guides we were placed on an air conditioned mini bus with free wi-fi to use while we waited for the rest of our group. In all there was 12 of us but 4 did not show up.....their loss. The tour guide gave them ample time to arrive but finally had to leave without them. We were taken on a driving tour thru Puerto Plata. The area is heavily impoverished....reminding me much like the inner parts of Puerto Rico. We were told of the history of the island, Hispaniola. How it came to become Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We were taken to a town plaza where we were able to get out and walk around, exploring a little bit. There were people there dressed up to showcase the history of the Dominican Republic. You could also get your photo taken feeding the many pigeons. As well there were vendor's there selling the items that they craft locally. After this we were taken to a private beach, Playa Dorado (Golden Beach), where we had a private cabana on the beach. We were each given a Rum Punch and had a waitress who was ready to take any other orders we would like to place. We chose to have some of the fried plantains also called Tostones. Tasty! We spent 2 hours at Playa Dorado before having to pack up and head back to Amber Cove. Once back in the air conditioned mini-bus we were given another bottle of ice cold water and a package of banana cookies. We were extremely impressed with this excursion and highly recommend them to everyone. If you go and meet Milton....then you will have a great time!
Disembarkation
Even though we had the Faster to the Fun and could have left the boat much earlier than we did (our flight did not leave until 3pm) we practically walked right off the boat and out of the terminal. Everything was very well organized and ran smoothly. The longest wait we had was waiting for our Uber!
Traveler Photos
