Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Glory Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Patti Knight
Age: 53
Occupation: Assistant Project Manager
Number of Cruises: 1
Sailing Date: December 2nd, 2006

Just got off of the Glory yesterday and I have a feeling I'll be in with drawl for quite a few days!!

Day 1 - Embarkation was an absolute BREEZE!!! We arrived at the port at 11:15 and we were onboard having lunch by noon. Port Canaveral has their act together when it comes to getting you onboard quickly. We headed directly to the Lido Deck for a drink and to try an accustom ourselves to the layout of the ship. (I was still trying to do this yesterday!!). Thank GOD for the floor maps on every deck. The ship is beautiful and extremely clean. People are cleaning all the time!!!

We had lunch on the Lido Deck - Red Sail Buffet - always a great selection and I thought the food was very good. (Ate at the Deli once and it was exceptionally good and didn't care for the Fish and Chips, even though many rave about it).

We were in our stateroom shortly after the ship left port and had all of our luggage by 5:00. Our room was 7368 (Balcony Room on the Empress Deck). It's fun to be on deck as you sail out of Port Canaveral. There will be plenty of people lining the exit to wave you off to paradise.

Our dinner seating was the Platinum Dining Room (lower level) - late seating. Our wait staff consisted of Julio from Panama and Tomas from Lithuania. I will just say that we "fell in love" with the two of them and shed a few tears last night as we posed for photos and kissed them goodbye. They were WONDERFUL!!!! As for the Dining Room food - I thought it was very good, but then again, I'm not extremely hard to please. The portions are small, but they will bring you as much as you want. I usually ordered two appetizers every night. If you end up hungry, it's your own fault!

The ship is massive! We felt a little movement a couple of evenings and the most movement was actually last night between Nassau and Florida - lots of wind. I took a Bonine every morning at breakfast and felt not the slightest nausea on the entire trip.

Day 2 - At Sea - Today was spent on deck in the sun. Lots of tropical drinks, and my favorite was the "KISS ON THE LIPS". Frozen drink with peach and mango and who knows what else, but it is AWESOME!! This was our first formal night. This is also a great night for the photo opps. Be prepared to spend a nice little chunk on those photos - they're hard to pass up.

Day 3 - Cozumel - This was our shopping day. Our daughter had her hair braided for $20 and we spent a couple of hours at Senor Frogs. There was a group of 8 of us and the wait staff seemed drawn to us for some reason. They were dancing with us, posing for photos and we even had other tourists taking photos of US with the waiters. It was a fun time, but don't go there if you embarrass easily. They say this is the place where children will be embarrassed by their parents. Shop keepers are a little pushy, but nothing like what you'll see in Nassau. Tell them "no thanks" and keep walking and they'll leave you alone. Bartering will work here once you get away from the main area. My best friend bought an $1500 ring for $100.

Day 4 - Belize - This was an overcast day with very choppy water. Carnival cancelled all Snorkeling Excursions. Luckily, we had scheduled ours through Coral Breeze. We went ahead and took the tender in and arrived at the Wet Lizard expecting them to tell us that our tour was cancelled, but it wasn't. We were told that Carnival often cancels, but ours went off without a hitch. We snorkeled for 45 minutes off of Caye Caulker - saw beautiful reef areas, colorful fish, a moray eel, conch shells (which our guide dove down and brought to the surface for us to photograph), and a barracuda. We then moved to another area called Shark/Ray Alley where we swam with the rays. Our guides fed them sardines and then lifted them for us to pet. At one point, I look under water and saw DOZENS of them swimming beneath my feet. We then had lunch on Caye Caulker and explored this quaint little island - no automobiles, only bicycles. Then, back to Belize City and our tender back out to the ship. Actually glad we did the tour, because my sister-in-law who stayed on board said that it was windy and rainy and she was BORED aboard ship!!! (She had planned to layout all day and couldn't).

This was the night we did the Emerald Room (Supper Club). All I can say is - DON'T MISS THIS!!! It is so worth doing!!!! The staff, the presentation and the meal were just the best I've ever experienced.

Wednesday - Costa Maya - This was the best day of the entire cruise. We scheduled the Jungle Beach Break through Carnival at $40 per person. We went into Costa Maya, visited the little shops and got a great buy on a tanzanite ring because I left my credit card on the ship. I told the shop keeper I'd go back and get my credit card, but he didn't want to let me leave. By the time I was done, I got my $800 ring for $80 cash. (Be ready to barter). We took a 1/2 drive by bus to Uvero Beach where we staked out our spot on the beach and enjoyed paradise for six hours. If you walk through the grassy area in the water, you'll find HUGE starfish - dark red in the water. My sister-in-law had six in her hands at one time, each one the size of a salad plate. We also enjoyed massages on the beach - $25 for 40 minutes - and the best I've ever had! I've spent well over $100 for a massage that was no better than this!! It was AWESOME!! Also, if you want a cute Jungle Beach Break t-shirt, buy it from Israel - a little local cutie selling them along the beach for $10. By 3:30, we were back on the bus and back to Costa Maya to get back aboard our "home".

Thursday - Day at Sea - and for us, another day of sun and fun on the LIDO deck. My brother entered the SURVIVOR contest and finished 2nd, so we had lots of laughs over that. Thursday night was our 2nd formal night. We had our photos taken with our wait staff and also had formal black and white photos taken. These black and white photos were the best we had taken the entire week. After dinner, we changed into more comfy clothes and danced the night away at WHITE HEAT. Tonight's theme was 70's - 80's music. Fun place to be if you enjoy a good DJ and dancing. This was the one night that the family managed to keep me up past midnight. We finished the night with a drink under the stars on the LIDO deck before dragging ourselves back to our room.

Friday - Nassau - This was my least favorite port. People were extremely pushy!!! We did make it to the Straw Market where I purchased 5 designer knock-off purses and then headed back to the ship. l If they won't bargain with you, move to the next booth and they will. I purchased 2 Kate Spade, 1 Coach and 2 Prada bags for a total of $140. Each bag STARTED at $60, but the more I bought, the more she willing to "negotiate".

This was our last night with our friends in the Dining Room. Our waiters sang "Leaving On a Jet Plane" to us and had all of us women in tears.

We had our luggage in the hallway by 11:00 p.m. and got a good nights sleep in the roughest seas of the week.

Saturday - We woke this morning at 7:00 and sadly, we were sitting in port. We dressed, had one last breakfast in dining room and then left the ship when our tag color was called. Disembarking was just as simple as embarking.

This was my first cruise and I have nothing to compare to, but I can say that I was extremely impressed with the ship, the staff and just about everything. I'm ready to plan another one NOW!!!

If you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer.
 

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