First Time Cruisers

Carnival Glory Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

jxmar

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 30

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 26, 2019

Ship: Carnival Glory

Cabin number: 7202

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Our cruise was a romantic getaway for 2 40-something first time cruisers. PROs: The selection of ports (Grand Cayman/Roatan/Belize City/Cozumel), all the food options on the Glory, dive-in movies, omelette station, elegant dinner menu, functionality of the stateroom CONs: One of our ports was cancelled, ambiguity of excursion tickets, breakfast options besides the omelette station SHIP: I didn't see the rust others have written about, I thought the outside areas were fine. The interior of the ship looks like it was decorated in the 80's instead of 20 years ago. Just go in knowing the decor is not your primary reason for booking. ENTERTAINMENT: The sea was so choppy that the Motown show was just an hour of the singers sitting in chairs singing medleys. I would hope that it's much better with the dancing. But based off the rock show and another show we caught... the dancing didn't add much. I'd give them one star. We were happier watching movies on the Lido deck. The comedians were pretty good. Better get there early, the place gets packed for the late shows. I enjoy piano bars, so I made it there twice. I wouldn't recommend the singer we had, but he said it was his last cruise with Carnival so hopefully they bring on someone much better. We only attended the finale of the lip sync battle because we met one of the contestants during the week. We were pleasantly surprised, it was actually the best show we caught all week. The Cruise Director and fun squad get involved and it is very entertaining. The hairy chest contest was hilarious, but I don't recommend bringing kids to it. FOOD: Great selection of specialty venues, and most of them were free. I just wish those were open more often. The breakfast buffet is not good. We ended up with omelettes almost every day, which takes a bit longer standing in line. The desserts, even at the buffet, were delicious. We only ate in the main dining room twice. The food at the first elegant dinner was decent, but the second elegant dinner was one of my top 10 meals ever. IMPORTANT TO KNOW: We weren't able to visit Grand Cayman due to the weather. You have to take a smaller boat called a tender to get on the island. The sea was too rough to throw a plank between the 2 boats, so we had another "fun day at sea" instead of what I was looking forward to most, swimming with stingrays. When the news was announced, the staff was not surprised. Someone asked how often this happens, and a staffer said 50%. I'm not sure if that's overall, or 50% of the time the water is choppy. But be warned if you plan on a Grand Cayman port - you might not get to see it. Thankfully Carnival automatically refunds excursion fares booked through them. The drinks are about $12 after gratuity and some occasional additional tips, so consider that when deciding on the drink package. We didn't get the package, but came within about $20 of it, so it actually is priced about right. Get the package if you're committed to drinking every day. Overall we were very happy with the experience despite some setbacks. I look forward to cruising again, possibly with Carnival.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The cabin's decor is outdated, but that wasn't a big deal. I found the room itself to be surprisingly functional. The room is located under the bridge, between two other rooms, and there is a walkway outside. We never heard any noise from the bridge, and didn't here any next door neighbors for the first 6 days. I was concerned we'd hear people outside on the walkway, but it is so out of the way and windy there that few people make it out there. There is however, a latch for a cabinet on the outside wall that is feet away from your pillows and noisy. I went out a few times to latch it, but it keeps popping off.

Ship tip

There is no communication on your Carnival excursions other than tickets delivered to your room the day prior. Out Belize excursion tickets read "Departs from: 7:45 am" and also "Depart time: 8:30 am". In my mind, we have to be at the location stated on board between 7:45-8:30 AM. We checked in to the meeting location before 8:30 AM and showed them our tickets. They advised us to have a seat until we're called. After we were called we waited on the steps for debarking about a half hour before our tender arrived. When we arrived in Belize City, we were told that we missed our tour! You need to go by the earliest time on your tickets. By the time they could find someone to help us, the other major tours were gone as well.

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