It was a great trip!
Carnival Glory Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 54
7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 08, 2019
Ship: Carnival Glory
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 2281
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
A very fun and memorable experience. I love cruisingEmbarkation
Everything was wonderful. All the "extras" are becoming more and more expensive, I wish some of those things could have been included in the fare. Packages (like internet) should be offered as a daily rate, not just a weekly rate. Professional pictures are way too expensive. Alternate less expensive photo packages should be offered, like just wallets or 3x4/5x7 for a lesser price. I also don't like how a set gratuity amount is automatically added to your account, similar to a tax. While gratuities, traditionally, are given to those individuals who go above and beyond based on the consumer's opinion on how they were treated, now its a part of staff salary that guests are required to pay. I feel Carnival should increase staff wages and allow gratuities to be given as they should, for superior service and not for just general job requirements. Otherwise, include the gratuity rate in the original cruise fare pricing, it's deceptive to add it later. One other thing, they did not have my information from a past cruise so I did not get the benefits of being a VIP guest. Nevertheless, overall it was still a great vacation experience. I will continue to recommend cruising to others as a great vacation option and Carnival Cruise lines as a good choice.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Buffets and specialty restaurants (free ones) had great food. Guy's Burgers were amazing! The main dining (dinner only) was okay. Some dishes were perfect, others were not that good. The wait staff service varied depending on what time we dines. For earlier dining, wait staff was more attentive, but the later dining was less attentive and seemed more inclined to rush the dining experience and clear the restaurant. Overall, the wait time between meals was a little long...2 hours to enjoy a 3 course meal is longer than I'm used to; however, I realize there are a lot of guests to serve. But, we did end up missing a lot of shows because of how long the dining experience took. The tables were too small to comfortably fit all the dinner wear (i.e. glasses, bread/butter dishes, etc.). The table was very crowded with dishes. The evening shows were fun and enjoyable! The wait staff were always polite and respectful. They were very kind and sweet!
Onboard Activities
I enjoyed the evening movies and a few shows. I wish I would have had the opportunity to see more shows in the Amber Palace, but the shows conflicted often with dining...dining always ran long and we'd end up missing both show times. The performances in the Amber Palace were fantastic! They did a wonderful job for what I was able to see. I like the charisma and fun-loving energy Cookie had for his every appearance and event! DJ Atomic had great music and mixes! My son loved the slides and splash pad. I did use the Ocean Camp once and my son also enjoyed that, but the price is too high to keep using as much as I would have liked to. Instead, we paid older teenagers in our group to watch the younger kids when needed. The activity and event areas were small for the crowd that gathered, especially events in the Colors Lobby. So, perhaps using more places for different events.
Entertainment
The performers and DJ were great! Great energy and we rehearsed performances.
Children's Programs
My son (age 6) loved it, but it was too expensive to keep using. There should not be a flat rate for a set number of hours if your child will not be there the entire time. $17 for 2 hours is too high. We ended up paying a teenager in our group to watch kids instead after the 1st visit to the kids club.
Service and Staff
They were mostly all helpful and kind. I think some were more friendly and helpful than others. On my 1st Caribbean cruise, the thing I remembered the most about that trip is how amazingly friendly all the staff on that ship were...I was astonished. I can't say that for this trip as I didn't see the same "above and beyond" service I did on that past cruise. But, overall the staff were kind, nice, helpful and respectful.
Ship Quality
Everything was clean, although I often felt in the way as cleaning people were always around picking up and cleaning. I don't recall that on past cruises. I do think there should be more trash cans around the common areas...I really don't like the idea of leaving my dishes on the ground or a nearby chair for someone to come pick up. I would prefer to throw my own trash away and place my plate in a proper area to be picked up. That would eliminate a lot of the cleaning staff having to be in so many places while guests are just trying to relax or walk around (so we don't feel as if we are the ones in their way). The ship is smaller and so the event areas would get crowed (or stay crowded) and you couldn't see what was going on. Event areas could have been designed larger. We also didn't like that you had to travel up or down on the elevators to get to a different floor, then walk to the other end of the ship and travel back down/up to get where you wanted to be. It was also hard to find public bathrooms on the ship. They were so nicely concealed, we often had to go back to our rooms to use the restroom because we couldn't find one close. The ship design was a little awkward, but the cleanliness was great. Everything was very clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
The size was good. There should be more than 1 electrical outlet or at least a dual-plug outlet for both American and European styles. I like the shelves on the bathroom vanity mirror. I like the adjustable shower head. Some of the things didn't get regularly replaced once used, like wine glasses and sanitary napkins. The beds were very comfortable, but the TV remote was extremely difficult to work. I don't know if batteries were low or what, but it was hard to get channels to change.
Ship tip
Be prepared for a set gratuity amount to be added to you account, similar to a tax. Also, prepare to enjoy yourself, because you will!
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
I love the community of New Orleans! The people were wonderful and the historic architecture had me in awe and wonder! We went on the Swamp Tour, which was great! We learned a lot and is was a neat experience.
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
We went to a private resort for our excursion, which was fantastic! They had childcare that was fun for my son, the food was great and I was able to get a message on the beach! The drinks were delicious and the tour guide was very informative and sweet! The place was beautiful!
The place was beautiful and the people friendly! We stayed in port and did shopping! We had a good meal and bought lots of gift for family & friends at home.
The place was beautiful. The people were friendly! The prices were very cheap (and negotiable) so shopping was fun. No excursions hear, but food was good!
Disembarkation
It was fast...faster than expected. This was good and bad, because we weren't prepared to leave as early as they were rushing us. They gave us different timelines the day before and we actually were off an hour earlier than they predicted the day before. They were misleading about bags being checked slowed the process, because it was a lot of hard work to haul our bags around when others who checked their bags had time to eat breakfast and then easily collect their bags before leaving the ship. I wish we had known the process would be so fast, we were off the ship by 8:30am because we either could of had an earlier flight or planned to do something more in New Orleans before our flight. The process itself was otherwise extremely easy. They were very organized!