9/20/2008

By lashl

• October 13, 2008

We took my 91 year old father on his second cruise, wheelchair, oxygen concentrator and "Gramps"

The cruise on the Carnival Glory was from 9/20/2000 - 9/27/2009. We left from Port Canaveral with stops at Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Freeport Bahamas. Captain was Rocco Lubrano.

Embarkation: We stayed with relatives in Orlando and they drove us to the ship. Embarkation was a breeze. We had VIP boarding but with Gramps in a wheelchair, an employee of Carnival took care of all the boarding procdures for us. We arrived about noon and were on the ship by 12:20PM. Lifeboat drill had one minor improvement. Life vests were only worn for a short time during the drill. Departed about 4:30 PM, weather med-80's and clear.

Stateroom: In my opinion we had the best room on the ship. Cabin 7228. We had this cabin on a cruise last year. It is a hugh handicap suite. All doors are 32" wide and a wheechair can access every room and the balcony. Cabin was so large it had three windows and a large door. Balcony, of course was hugh with two chairs, chaise lounge, and small table. Bathroom has to be seen to believe. Two lavs, toilet, whirlpool tub/shower, and bidet. Even with all that you could still hold a party in there! Our room stewart Colbert from St Vincent was perfect. Always there when you needed him but never there when you didn't. This was his last week after an 8 month run. He could have slacked off but didn't. He knew everyone's names and always had a smile.

Restaurants & Food: We had 6PM seating at the Platinum dinning room and ate there every evening. We were seated with two retired couples, both living in Florida. One couple were celebrating there 60th wedding anniversary and had there daughter with them. They were a hoot! Everyone laughed and had a good time. It was a real pleasure meeting them. Head server was "Sue" from Indonesia. Excellent service but hard to understand for the older people at our table. Food was excellent. I had no complaints with the quality or amount of food. We ate breakfast most mornings on the Ledo deck. Again all the food was excellent. We ate such a big breakfast we really didn't have enough lunch to judge.

Entertainment: Curise Director was Butch Begovich. Thought he did a very adaquate job. Only saw one show and it was so loud that Gramps did not want to go back. I'm not big on Cruise shows so will leave reviewing them to others. Band on the Ledo deck was excellent.

Cozumel: This was our third time to Cozumel and the second this year. The Glory and one other Carniva ship were the only two in port. With Gramps being very limited in what he can do we did not do an excursion but went to town and shopped.

Roatan, Honduras: We went of a "Discover Roatan" excursion. Typical, here is a little history and now we will stop at all our cousin's souviner stands. Again, with Gramps it was all we could do. Interesting sidelight, they speak island English but read & right Spanish.

Belize: When we arrived it was raining hard over Belize. This would prove tragic later. We moored 2-1/2 miles off of Belize because of the reefs so we did not leave the ship. No way to get Gramps on and off a tender. We later learned a passenger was killed on an excursion. They were cave tubing and the lady got trapped and drowned. I talked to a couple that were on this excursion and they said the river was running really fast from the rain. They also said three people were swept off a supporting rope when they had to cross the river and had to be rescued. Several CruseCrazie members have done this excursion and all loved it. Of course the river was a normal, gentle level. Sounds like to me it was an accident that could have and should have been avoided.

Freeport, Bahamas: Freeport is great if you have any interest in watching cranes unload cargo freighters! This is the second time in Freeport. They do have some nice beaches. Again, with Gramps we were limited so we went on a glass bottom boat excursion. Watching fish from the top who follow the boat around because they get fed reguarly is almost as much fun as watching grass grow!

Disembarkation: As easy as getting on. We had dismbarkation #1 and with the wheelchair were escorted off by a Carnival employee and were off the ship by 7:30AM

We sailed on the Glory last year and were very empressed with the staff. This cruise was just as good. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We have been on 7 Carnival cruises and the Glory has the best staff. Everyone had a great time and Gramps is ready to go again!