Pretty Great Cruise
Carnival Glory Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 72
7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 30, 2023
Ship: Carnival Glory
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 2382
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
The cruise was great overall. The food was lacking from before covid. But better then past year. The smoke was a little overwhelming on the 5th floor and slight smell of mold outside our cabin. But the rest was great the staff were amazing. Jamaica I will probably never visit again. But would like to go to Grand Cayman and definitely Cozumel. Please check out Irie Trail in Jamaica if you end up going and definitely check out Omas Island Buggy tours. It was amazing. I will post something on my website soon as well with Ambient VacationsEmbarkation
It was mostly pretty smooth. Parking was a little confusing. The Port did a pretty good job at keeping us moving along and it only took about 30 min total because we were there early.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
So service was 5 stars. Food was sub par...Nothing like it was before covid. I am hoping this will improve again as time goes on. Sometimes the food was disgusting and I have never experienced that in the past. But there were some food that was pretty good. Not enough to give it 4 stars though. Even Guys burgers wasn't as good. And the fact that you can no longer add bacon with onion rings is ridiculous. I also wish they would have the shoestring onion rings instead of the one giant onion ring. Pizza place was pretty good most of the time.
Onboard Activities
I think the activities are getting better after covid. The pools were fine. The fitness center was very nice. The mini golf was a little lacking and the balls are foam so they will just fly all over the place.
Entertainment
Stage shows were ok. The one they had about the people of the world and the flags was a little annoying with all the singing. I wish they would talk a little more about where people were from etc instead of breaking out into song. That was so annoying. The music shows were pretty good. The comedians were so good we couldn't get in to the club most of the time until they brought it to the main stage at the front of the ship. It was a full house in there...It was amazing. Performers were fine. We didn't stay for most of the bands. But I know people loved the band in the lobby.
Children's Programs
The teen club leader Cece was really great especially with such a little amount of kids in the club. She was great. There were very little kids on the ship and they seemed to be great with all the kids.
Service and Staff
I give 5 stars to all but one employee. The guy that was guarding the deserts. He forgot to put up the sign that said the station was closed and he shouted at me and was giving me stern dirty look. He was such a jerk to me...he should have pointed the finger at himself for putting the sign down. The pizza place the guys were very stone cold but the service was fine. The rest of the staff were amazing. The room steward and the dining staff were top notch
Ship Quality
I can not believe how much they clean on these ships...all the time you see someone cleaning the walls and the rails. The layout is a little dodgy in some places but it's like most carnival ships so I'm used to it. The smoke on the ship though was overwhelming near the casino....that whole area and even the teen club smelled like smoke. Couldn't hang out on the 5th floor for very long
Cabin / Stateroom
It was nice and clean. The room stewards now only clean it once and by themselves so it's not as immaculate as before covid. But it is still good. There was a moldy sell though just outside our door. It was pretty strong
Ship tip
Watch out when going on the glass elevators. There is a little metal piece that sticks up and I've tripped over it a couple times. The smoke is overwhelming on the 5th floor and the back of the ship.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
It was nice in some areas. Other I felt like I was in Los Angeles again but some places it felt a little more dangerous. The boomtown casino is where we stayed before...Just don't go there! It was horrible.
The town is dirty. People come up to you left and right and ask if you want to buy drugs. It get's annoying. They need to do something about that. The tour I took though was really good and we got to learn a lot about the town the tour leader was amazing and I wish I could give Jamaica more stars because I was so excited to visit there. Irie Trail Tours was amazing and I def recommend them. However Dr's Cove beach was awful. Some people are so unfriendly. But we got in and when we went to sit down the maintenance guy told us that we can pay $8 each for the chairs and they would take our money. We told the front and they were so upset because they were just going to try to take our money and also the price was $7 per chair which was only 2 chars. So they were trying to make money off us and split it. So we ended up getting our money back and we went to Margaritaville...It was a nicer vibe there but do not go on their slide. It is pretty dangerous. I plugged my nose (DON'T DO THAT) and my nail dug in my nose and the impact was so hard that I think I broke it. I need to get an xray to confirm it but I am sure it is broken. I was bleeding all over the place but I couldn't see luckily. The slide operator was amazing though and 2 men took very good care of my wound and helped me out tremendously. We gave them a little tip for the help since they went so far to help me. But also swim there at your own risk.
The 4 stars is just because it's VERY expensive. Although it was the cleanest place we went to. We wanted to rent a car but you need to get that way in advance. The coffee shop in town was great but a large vanilla latte was $10 us dollars. We went snorkeling at the free spot just a short walk if you go right out of the port Called Eden Rock. To rent the snorkeling gear it's about $21 per person. I had the worst time here because the goggles were a little wonky. I did everything they asked to clean them and it didn't work. It was almost like grease on it. The girl was less than enthused and my husband went to change them for me. She also said my husband didn't belong there when he told her she payed. She didn't recognize him when he took his glasses off and was pretty rude. But I put the goggles on and they still had an issue. So I went back again and finally got a new goggle set. I did the same thing and they were much better. I took them off to put them around my hair and with hardly any pressure at all the strap snapped. I was exhausted at this point and was very sore because of my broken nose and I couldn't handle it. I asked if I could get a refund just for me because of the issues and I was just done at this point...and the girls was kind of irritated and said no refunds because I can give you a new mask instead. I was like no thanks I am done. So we left. So bottom line if you are going to do that, bring your own snorkel gear. The spot can get hard to swim in but it's a nice snorkel spot. We ended up leaving and going to Public Beach which is a further part after 7 mile beach. 7 mile beach sand was washed away so you want to go past a certain point until they get their sand back. They would need another big storm to get the sand back. That's how nature works there. Anyway we got to the beach on a bus that cost $6 per person round trip. Don't pay for the trip back because you might miss the bus to get you back. But once we got to the beach it was crowded. So when we got to the beach we went right and walked about 10 minutes to a restaurant and resort. It is much better and less crowded there. We went to the restaurant where we easily dropped $100 usd on 2 appatizers, 1 matai, 1 virgin pina colada, and 1 dessert. But it was worth the spot and relaxation there. The beach was amazing and so calm there. No stargasm there.
This place was my favorite spot. We did a tour with Omar's Island buggy tours. It was simply amazing. The tour guide we got JC or Jose Carlos was awesome. They had a little buggy engine vehicle and we followed them on a private tour. It was only $210 total for the 3 of us. Which was a great price to be able to give a decent tip. Make sure you hold enough money for a tip for them. Getting off the ship the port is very nice. It is huge though so make sure you pay attention to where you are going because there are a few ways to go depending on what dock your ship is at. Once we left the dock and went out into the streets it was very busy. So pay attention to where you are going. I never felt unsafe there walking to where we had to to take the island buggy tour. We met down the road at a restaurant. Immediately outside though you will get people trying to sell you items. You just say no and they are pretty respectful of that. Just joke with them and smile and say no thank you. Once on the tour I hopped in the dune buggy and went on our way. it was a little challenging with shoes to drive so I went barefoot. All the stops were stunning. We got to do some snorkeling at sky reef, which is a must here the snorkeling was free. Just give a tip. We got to go to a tequila tasting. Went to El Cidral which is a must see and the little shops were great. This is where we did most of our shopping. It's a little more expensive here but you're supporting the locals in this area which get a lot less tourists. Then last stop we went to Miami downtown...which some of the food was included. The food was amazing here. We spent exactly 5 hrs on this tour. I fell in love with Cozumel. I didn't want to leave
Disembarkation
Super smooth. We had FTTF so we got off very quickly. We even had a bottle of alcohol but didn't have to declare it. The facial recognition is pretty crazy...but it worked and we went on our way with no issues.
Traveler Photos
