Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Glory Cruise Review
Eastern Caribbean

Leasa Gurney
Age: 46
Occupation: Reservation Agent
Number of Cruises: 3
Sailing Date: April 29th, 2006

This cruise was our 2nd on Carnival and we were celebrating our 20th anniversary. It was so awesome! We had wonderful service and lots of really nice fellow cruisers.

We live in Florida and decided to stay the night before at the Radisson at the Port. We got a deal to stay over-night and leave our car there for the week. It was very convenient because we planned to stay there after the cruise. They provide a shuttle to and from the port.

Embarkation

I really like the port. We arrived at 12:00 pm. And were aboard in about 30 minutes. We had a balcony suite so we had V.I.P. check-in. We couldn’t get to our cabin until 1:30pm so we had lunch at the Red Sail.

The Ship
This was my first time on a ship this big and I read that it was hard to navigate but we didn’t find it difficult at all. We thought the decor was very nice although I had read some kind of negative things about it. We had a wonderful cabin steward named Anthony. He kept our suite clean and made me lots of cute towel animals. My favorite was the elephant he made and left standing in my husband’s dress shoes. He took care of our every need. He always had a smile and greeted us warmly every time we saw him. The first couple of days the ship rocked a good deal but the Captain told us there was a storm in the Atlantic that was pushing some pretty big swells down to us. We found if you kept a little food in your stomach, there was no problem with sea sickness. All In all, we really loved the ship.

Food
Overall the food was very good. It wasn’t like a 5* restaurant but we felt the crew did a great job considering they were preparing food for about 3,000 people 24 hours a day. We did breakfast in the Red Sail every day except one. The food was standard buffet and was always hot and plentiful. We also ate there for lunch. My hubby loves their pizza and ice-cream. The deli made wonderful sandwiches. We mostly ate at the grill. The lines weren’t long and again the food was always hot. We had dinner in the dining room and had a table for 4. Danny and Debby were the best dinner companions. We had so much in common and hope to sail with them again. Our wait staff were kind of average. They did a good job but on our last cruise our waiters were really excellent. They were very nice and I think they did a good job with the amount of people they were serving. Room service was very prompt and they always had a smile for us.

Entertainment
Mark Price is the funniest guy. We thought he did a great job making sure all ran smoothly. While we were in St. Maarten it rained so he made sure there were extra things to do on board. We only went to the comic show and my hubby went to the Legends show. A word of warning about the comedy show, if you have children, you might want to avoid it. I thought it was a little much for that age group. We spent most of our time in the casino. What a fabulous group of people. I am visually impaired. I know what you’re thinking, how does she know the ship was pretty and clean? My husband is sighted and I do have some sight. I cannot say enough good things about the casino staff. I play a lot of Black Jack and all the dealers were just wonderful to me. My favorite was Tim. He’s from England and we had to teach him what the phrase Hot Diggety Dog meant. Every time the house won a hand he’d say that. We finally got him to understand that wasn’t such a great idea. He was so sweet. When he got done with his shift at night if I was playing, he’d come over to the table and help by telling me what cards had been dealt to me. Again all of the staff was helpful.

Ports
We did Nassau, St Thomas, and St Marten. We didn’t take any excursions in the ports because we just wanted to relax and look around on our own. Next time we’ll take a tour in St. Marten. I got a beautiful anniversary band in the Bahamas. I was going to wait for a different port but I found it at Diamonds International and I was able to get a great deal. This was a short day so we just walked around a little and went back to the ship. We bought tickets on the ship for the gondola ride in St. Thomas. I liked it but it was very hot that day and I got a little ill from the heat. We went up to the top, bought a couple of souvenirs, my hubby took some pictures, and then it was back to the ship so we could cool off. We got off the ship early in St. Marten and my advice is unless you have an early excursion planned, wait. The shops don’t open until about 9:00 am. Or later. We walked around a good bit waiting for things to open. Just as we were getting ready to do some serious shopping, it started to rain. I don’t mean just a little. It poured! There were people trying to get us to buy $5.00 umbrellas as the water was dripping off us. We finished up and went back to the ship intending to go back later in the day if the rain let up. It didn’t. I recommend the water taxi because it’s about $6.00 each way in a cab to downtown and you can get a $5.00 wristband for the water taxi and go back and forth as many times as you like. Those were some of the nicest people. They helped the ladies on and off and were just very kind.

Spa
Wow! This was probably my favorite thing we did! We had 2 couples massages. The first night and on Thursday. Katie and Estralia were terrific. I had a facial on Friday and Katie did a beautiful job. We were very pleased. Our table mates met with a little different experience however. When they tried to schedule a treatment, the person they dealt with was a little pushy and sort of rude when they wanted a different time. They said he tried to give them the time he wanted even though the time they wanted was available.

Debarkation
Again this was a breeze. Carnival does a wonderful job getting people off the ship. We didn’t do self assist so it took a couple of hours for our luggage tags to be called but we just sat on deck and read.

Over all
This was the perfect cruise for us. I did lots of research as I always do and I believe we got just what we wanted. I was very concerned after reading so many negative things about the ship’s stability. I don’t think the ship rocks anymore than any other ship in rough seas. The other thing I read so much about was the food and its quality and variety. Two things. I found it to be neither bad nor limited and if one can’t find something to eat on board, then you are just way too picky. We are looking forward to another cruise next year. We may try another line but we will definitely go on Carnival again.
 

Ask a Question About Carnival Cruise Lines