Easy Dream Vacations

This was our 4th cruise on a Carnival ship and the Glory was the biggest.  Initially I was a bit concerned that the ship would be crowded, it was bigger, held more guests and was sold out months before sailing.  When we first boarded we went to the Red Sail Restaurant for lunch.  The dining area was very crowded and hard to find a table, but on what ship doesn’t this occur?  Other than at that first lunch I never really felt crowded, we roamed the ship freely, never waited in line or for elevators for longer than expected.  The ship itself was nicely decorated, colorful and well lit.  The design theme of the ship is “color”.  The public rooms are named by color, Golden Dining Room, Red Sail Restaurant, Amber Theatre etc…  The decor and colors change from ship to ship on Carnival but the overall layout stays similar within each class.  Once you have been on a ship within a class you will find your way around relatively easy.  We were very happy with the cleanliness of the ship as well as its maintenance.  Last year the group sailed on the Carnival Triumph and we were a bit disappointed with that ship, it was dirty, had lots of stained carpets and just did not seemed to be maintained as it should. The Glory was spotless, everything was shinny and there was always staff cleaning something.    I definitely give the Glory 5 stars for the effort they put into the ships appearance.

The entertainment on the Glory was very talented. There seemed to be entertainment going on constantly.  I was disappointed in the fact that the shows from ship to ship on Carnival are basically the same shows.  I think that Carnival needs to change the shows more often.  Again the singers, dancers and musicians were very good.   As for the daily activities the same goes there, they need a change.  Not that there is anything wrong with the activities but after being on a Carnival ship for the last 4 years I feel like I could write the daily activities schedule.   

We did not go on any ship excursions this trip but instead planned our own trips.  Some of the excursions looked very interesting,  I wish I could have taken part in the excursions as well as the trips I planned. 

On to the dining!  For the second year in a row we froze in the main dinning room.  Our table was on the second floor of the Platinum dining room at the very back of the ship.  On the first night it was unbearable it was so cold, not that the entire dining room was cold but we had a vent blowing cold air right on us.  I was disappointed in our assistant Maitre de Chubby, when I told him my wife was very cold he suggested we switch seats.  We did switch seats but she was still cold and my food was cold before I could finish it.  We complained again the next night and I don’t recall his answer but again it was not satisfactory.  Finally we complained to the head Maitre de and Chubby seemed to react, he had plastic film applied to the area where the cold was blowing from.  Sorry Chubby it was too little too late, it did help but it just diverted the cold air onto others at the table.  I suggest that if you find yourself in this situation that you either demand that it be fixed or you get moved to another table.  The food was good but the issue with the cold ruined our evening dining experience on the Glory.  Our waiter and assistant did a good job at working hard but that was all they did.  We were spoiled on our first cruise, our waiter and his assistance Claudia were the best, they new how to serve your meal, were entertaining and to be honest made our dining experience the best part of the cruise!  I will never forget that experience, it has not been topped yet.  One thing I have found that there is a big difference on the type of service you receive based on the nationality of the waiter.  Please don’t let take this wrong I am not prejudice.  The Asian and Indian waiters work very hard but they just don’t have the personality that the European staff has.  The Europeans get the job done and are very personal as well as entertaining.   We did enjoy breakfast and lunch in the main dining room a few times.  The only room service we had was our morning wake up coffee and Danish.  Each night we would leave the morning room service card hanging on our door with our order and the time we would like it delivered, that was our daily wake up call.
On the Glory as on the other Carnival ships we have thoroughly enjoyed the burger grill on the back of the Lido deck, they serve great burgers, steak sandwiches, hot dogs and fries.  Just across from the grill is the 24 hour pizza counter.  I have enjoyed the pizza and calzones on previous cruises however on this ship I never had one slice of pizza for some reason.  The deli is also another great choice for a quick bite on the ship we enjoyed the hot and cold sandwiches.   The Glory also had an Asian food counter, I can’t comment on it as I never had the chance to try the food.   We also took a pass on the reservation only supper club, it had an additional $30 per person per meal cost.  We did however enjoy the Red Sail Restaurant, getting back late from a shore trip made it an easy choice rather than having to hurry and change for the dinning room.  Also on the last night we had been frozen out of the Platinum so we enjoyed basically the same menu (prime rib) in the Red Sail as they served in the Platinum room.  Overall I would give the food and food staff 4 out of 5 stars on the Glory.  Besides the cold dining room my only other complaint would be that there seemed to be a shortage of cups in the buffet areas on the Lido deck.

As for the shops on board, not being a big shopper they seem the same on all ships, so if you enjoy shopping I suggest you experience it yourself  before taking my word.  Again the service on the Glory was good but not 5 star.  I found the pursers’ desk more helpful than on previous cruises.  Our room stewards did their job but again they just did their job.  Last year on the Triumph our room steward Yadi did a great job and always seemed to start out our days by making us smile.  Last year we also enjoyed a very special bar waiter, he went by the name Vinnie.  This year Putu was our main man keeping us from becoming dehydrated.  The Glory did seem to be staffed well with bar waiters.  In the past we have been on ships where there seemed to be a shortage of bar waiters. Not so on the Glory.

This trip was one in which we relaxed quite a bit, to be honest I spent very little time exploring the rest of the ship.  I never saw the spa, fitness room or the outside of the upper decks. 

We really enjoyed the Carnival Glory despite some of the issues we ran into.  Overall I would give the Glory 4 stars out of five.   We are even considering cruising on the Glory again in 2009.