We arrived at the pier in Miami to board the Carnival Glory at
2:00 PM on April 25th, 2010. The porters were in full swing and
were in an especially good mood and they even took the time to wrap
the baby seat in plastic to keep it clean on its way to the cabin
which impressed us. The "we" in this review refers to myself, my
husband, our three daughters (19, 10 and 8 months) and my parents.
I am platinum but rather than going our separate ways at
embarkation we all went through the general embarkation line. The
crowd control staffers in this area were excellent. However, the
agent behind the counter was simply the least pleasant embarkation
staffer I have ever encountered. There were some issues with our
booking information because of an error made by the travel agent
and then I had the audacity to be "platinum" and she had to go find
my card in another area because I should have been in the VIP
lounge and not in the general line with my extended family afterall
as she said "you have a whole week
together on the ship, you can wait in separate lines". Other than
Miss Personality at embarkation, the process was simple and
uncomplicated and by 2:35 we were officially on the ship.
Accomodations: The cabins, one on the Main and the other on the
Riviera, were immaculate and had clearly been recently renovated as
there was not so much as a scuff, a mark, or discoloration anywhere
in either cabin. The only issue was our cabin on the Main Deck and
that was with the airconditioning, we were four in the cabin,
including an infant and the room was sweltering, at arrival it was
82 degrees in the cabin and no air was moving. We cranked up the AC
and later that evening when we returned we advised the purser of
the continuing issue, no resolution. On Monday, we again advised
the purser and when we returned to the cabin a card had been left
saying that the issue was resolved but the room was still hot. On
Tuesday, we spoke again with the purser, that night we removed all
the bedding except for the sheets and we put the baby to bed in the
buff. On Wednesday the issue continued and another little blue card
arrived saying they fixed it but alas on Thursday we had the same
issue, but they brought us a fan which was much appreciated and did
help with the temperature. Across the hall from us, the guests were
having similar issues except that their AC vents were spreading
fine black particles over everything in their cabin. On the other
side of us the guests were complaining that the AC was "knocking"
and keeping them up at night. So all of that to say that the Glory
has an AC issue towards the AFT on the Main deck, my parents had
excellent AC one deck down and our tablemates had excellent AC one
deck up. But the cabin was clean and comfortably accommodated four
of us.
Staff: For the first time ever we formed absolutely no
relationship with the cabin steward. We met him on day one when he
introduced himself and brought us an infant life vest and never saw
him again. He kept the cabin clean and tidy but did nothing extra
and there were no special touches. We had three towel animals in 7
nights, waited two days for the laundry to be taken, and never
received the requested extra pillows. My middle daughter was the
most disappointed by this as historically it has been the cabin
steward that has become her favorite member of the staff on each
sailing. However, please note that we don't consider this to be a
negative issue, it was just different from what we were accustomed
to on previous cruises. Our dining staff was very friendly and
congenial. However, the week before we arrived they had changed
from 2 person wait teams to three person wait teams and as the
guinea pigs of this experiment we experienced less than stellar
dining room service. The desire to serve us well was definitely
there and the three guys were lovely young men but every night it
took 2 hours to eat and it grew frustrating as the week wore on.
The one thing that I do have to say really wowed us on this cruise
was the service delivery given by the Maitre'd's and their
assistants. Never before have we had such incredible interactions
with these individuals. Dragon especially was awesome, he answered
endless questions from our ten year old in the dining room and
brought her copies of her favorite recipes. On the Lido we saw him
carrying trays for people who were having difficulties and we even
saw him clean off a table for a family. He held our baby and made
the rounds of the dining room every single night smiling, happy and
efficient. This was the first time that we had ever tipped a
Maitre'd and it was worth every penny. His staff seemed to like him
very much and many of the past guests made mention of how involved
he seemed at all levels, we were very impressed. The pursers were
all friendly and wonderful and it amazed me that they were able to
deal with hatefulness, rudeness and spite with grace and dignity
and how it never impacted the service that the passenger next in
line received.
Food: The food was very good and plentiful. The chocolate buffet
was amazing. The Emerald Room is worth every penny of the $30 fee
and we would do this again in a heartbeat. The introduction of a
burrito bar was fantastic, we ate many burritos when we came back
on board after a day in port and they were always wonderful. The
fish and chips this time were just okay, they were outstanding on
the Valor but the Glory just wasn't able to meet that same
standard.
Entertainment: Hurrah to Carnival for having a comedy bar!!! We
adored the multiple family friendly shows and even a couple of the
adult shows. It was excellent to have a venue like that for those
of us who are less interested in the typical bar party scene. The
rest of the entertainment was good, but we have cruised many times
and some of it was a repeat and for us, it is difficult to offer an
opinion really that would do it justice.
Ports of Call: We were on an Eastern run and we stopped in Half
Moon Cay, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk, all places we had
been before. In HMC, we were having a marvelous day until a sudden
nasty storm came up and the beach was evacuated and everyone was
sent back to the ship. The tenders had difficulty unloading
passengers back onboard and the wait in the pouring rain didn't do
much for the disposition of many of the passengers. The staff tried
valiantly to get little kids off the island, despite jeers and
nasty remarks from some adults and the security guards took some
heat for guests getting wet. We personally took all this in stride,
even our baby who was a little less than impressed with the weather
but we all seemed to get the concept that Carnival doesn't control
the weather. When the baby fell asleep in my arms on the tender and
I had to carry her up stairs as the tender was heaving back and
forth at the side of the ship, it was these same poor security
guards who ran to assist me and ensure our safe arrival back on the
ship, as they shivered in their drenched uniforms. In my opinion,
they were excellent although some others would argue differently.
We didn't buy any shore excursions this time around so we have no
review for those.
Odds and Ends: I loved the fact that the Muster Drill did not
involve life jackets!! WooHoo, this is a major improvement as far
as I am concerned, no tripping over straps, no being surrounded by
a life jacket that has been on someone else's sweaty neck and best
of all no trying to keep your child from putting that disgusting
whistle in her mouth!
But by far the biggest part of my review has to be the part that
pertains to travelling with Baby. Our baby turned 8 months old on
this trip and I have to say that all of the research, all of the
worry and all of the concern about travelling with her was worry
for nothing. She was the star on this cruise and we were so
impressed. The staff loved seeing her each day and she had many
many cuddles, smiles and treats from everyone. She acted as a
substitute for many wait staff, housekeeping folks and security
people who were lonesome for their own families. She willingly
cuddled, smiled and played patta cake with any crew member who had
the desire. She provided endless entertainment in the dining room
where much to our glee on the fourth night when we arrived late to
dinner our entire section of the dining room cheered at her arrival
shouting her name and clapping their hands while she beamed from
her stroller. She had a highchair in the dining room but by the
time she made her rounds visiting from table to table as guests
anxiously took their turn with the baby she rarely ever sat in her
highchair. I am certain she was the most photographed person on the
ship as she had her picture taken with easily 40 -50 other guests,
one of which even crashed her photo shoot and insisted on having
her formal picture taken with the baby. Our middle daughter
exclaimed towards the end of the cruise "oh my gosh, what is Hannah
going to do when we go home and her Glory Fan Club is not
there?!?!" We were always aware of our surroundings and we were
respectful of the other passengers, on rare occasions of fussiness
we left the room, when she woke up early in the morning we went to
the open decks and watched the sun rise and when she was fussy in
the middle of the night we found a deck chair on the spa deck and
counted the stars. With respect for others, lots of patience and a
happy baby you really can have a wonderful cruise.
BTW, debarkation is the pain in the neck it always is. We take a
leisurely approach to debarkation, have our breakfast, meet up with
the luggage at some point later on and then leave the terminal.
However, the hallways are filled with individuals who are trying to
self assist with far too much luggage and people who insist on
getting off before their luggage has been unloaded. This is
frustrating to those of us who have cabins on the lower decks but
alas, until you can fix people who choose not to follow
instructions debarkation will always be a nightmare through no
fault of the cruiseline.