Carnival Glory Back-to-Back November 2010

[DebbieandJerry]

Our friend Rick used his mileage for our tickets to/from Miami and upgraded us to first class. Oh my, what a treat. We flew in a 777 from Dallas to Miami. It's like being in your own cocoon! I have a few pictures that I need to download. Jerry was thrilled beyond belief.

We purposely flew to Miami on Friday so that we could spend a few days "in the sun and fun" before our cruise. NOT. It was freezing (by our standards!) All four of us lived in the same pair of jeans and sweatshirts for F/S/S. (Who thought we'd have to back for cold weather.)

Miami is very expensive (by our standards). Food is outrageous and I'm sorry, but no one knows how to make a good cup of coffee. I about died!!! Not a Starbucks in sight.

We spent Sat and the Sea Aquarium. I just love that place. It gives you a perpetual smile. Marcy ended up filming the whale/dolphin show "for the grandkids". We made sure to stay way high and far back. Much to cold and windy to be sprayed.

Getting on the ship on Sunday wasn't too bad. We didn't time our arrival to the port so well and ended up in a very long line. Got to see a lady argue with the "security" because she didn't have passports and ID for everyone in her family. Now, what papers were she reading? She kept saying that they were in her suitcase. Not sure what happened there. Once we got to the kiosk, check in was a breeze.

We purposely picked balcony rooms next to each other toward the back of the ship. Our rationale was that we always end up at the back of the ship to watch the ocean so why not! The balcony was huge! And when we opened up the door between the two, it was amazingly long.

I really liked our room. Both Jerry and I said that this was the first time on any cruise that we could actually walk around the bed on both sides. We heard other folks grumbling that they thought their rooms were smaller. I just walked away from the grumbles.

As I posted before, we ended up at the tail end of the hurricane for the Eastern leg. ALL of the excursions through and including Thursday were cancelled by the ship. We were bummed. All of the evening shows with dancers and singers were cancelled by the ship. Too much risk on someone falling and getting hurt. Announcements were made on a regular basis for "the ladies not to wear high heeled shoes" and to be very careful walking about. I loved it. The ship rocked forward and back and side to side. Made for some great sleeping.

Because of all of my food allergies, I was very concerned about what I could and could not have. Needless to say, Carnival did an excellent job of taking care of me. Each night I was able to pre-select the next night's meal. And, room service would deliver a dinner entree for me so that I would have something to eat for breakfast (amazing but I can't eat any breakfast foods.) Lunch was spectacular! I found plenty at the Lido Buffet, Burrito Bar, Grill, Mongollion Grill AND Fish & Chips! It got to the point where each of those servers knew what I wanted.

Unfortunately, our wait staff on the first leg was not very attentive. The waiter had two big tables (which turned out to be one family) and three tables of 4 (of which we were one). EVERY night, and I mean EVERY night, the three tables of 4 seemed to be left out in the cold. One night the entire dining room had their dessert and we didn't even have our main entree. We didn't complain, however. Just took notice and didn't let it damper our vacation.

Veteran's Day we got caught in a huge rainstorm in San Juan. Laughed and laughed as to how wet we were! Spent most of that day at the Fort. It is spectacular. Didn't really walk around PR after that because of how soaking wet we were (and cold. Did I mention how cold it was the first week?)

Jerry HAD to go to Hotel Atlantis when we were in Nassau. He might as well have left his money with the cashier. That's about how fast it was for him to drop $$$. Didn't stay there too long. Forgot how long and tedious the water taxis were. Spent most of our Nassau time waiting for those.

St Thomas was a huge dissapointment for me and Jerry. We don't shop. All excursions were cancelled so all that was left to do was shop. After going in and out of 10 jewelry stores, Jerry and I returned to the ship.

The sun finally came out on Friday. Grand Turks. Didn't really know what to expect. We took a Catamaran/snorkel excursion. DON'T. Save your money. The catamaran travels just a few beaches away from the ship's dock. The snorkeling wasn't worth it. "the beach" was a you swim from the catamaran to the beach. Not worth the $80/person. Most everyone else stayed at the dock where there is Margaretteville. NO ONE TOLD US. We could have stayed and played for free. Oh well. Next time.

Last day and sea was okay. Not super sunny. But not nearly as freezing.

Marcy and James left and Jerry and I stayed on for the next leg. This time we selected anytime/your time dining. DEFINITE plus. We pretty much tried to eat around 7/7:15 and stayed true to form. Just enough time to get back from an excursion and perfect enough not to have major indigestion with an 8:15 dining. Besides, we would have been with the same wait staff and that was not pleasant first time around.

The hostess did an incredible job of seating us and making sure that I had plenty to eat within my perimeters. The waitstaff in anytime dining is extremely friendly and made an effort to call us by name every times (something that didn't happen the first week). Eventhough it was a repeat menu, it seemed so much better!

Ports of call and weather were fantastic: sunny but enough wind to not make it disgusting. Unfortunately, I got an awful headache Wed (after Belize) and slept all Wed afternoon, all Thurs and missed two nights of food! By Friday I was pain free but very weak so we didn't snorkel in Grand Caymans. We totally missed Roatan. Jerry stayed on the ship with me. But it was worth it because he entered the blackjack tournament that Thurs night and won!!! He was thrilled.

All in all we met wonderful, upbeat people. We were extremely pleased by the cleanliness of the ship (publc areas included) and despite the poor weather (which wasn't Carnival's fault) the first week, we had a blast!

Whew! That's all for now

[KeithnRita]

Debbie, thanks for the nice review! Did you have to get off and back on the ship for the second leg? On our B2B on the Fantasy we were the only ones. They sure treated us like royalty!

The Glory was the ship we had booked early in 2007 for a Sept cruise. We canceled it when we decided to build our retirement home.

[DebbieandJerry]

There were 30 of us who did the back-to-back. We waited in the lounge in the main area for about 10 min. During that time our old sail and sign was dinged out and the new one was dinged in. We were given papers and instructions if we wanted to leave the ship and how to return. We then walked to the baggage claim area where a sole custom's agent looked at our passport and custom's papers. The custom's man explained to us that we had to physically leave the ship because the ship is registered in Panama (not US). His process took about 1 second. We then returned to the ship. That entire process took about 20 min max.

Jerry returned to the stateroom and I sat out by the pool. (I truly was by myself for at least 1 hour!)

[Shari2]

Thanks for the great review, Debbie! Hope you get better weather the next time!

[TheSkipper]

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Debbie,

Great summation of your BtoB on the Glory. We did the Glory about 18 months ago and enjoyed her very much, but we only did the basic week. Never did a back to back cruise per se. But, we did disembark one ship in Ft. Lauderdale and walk down the pier and boarded another one from a different cruise line. So, that was close and perhaps better with different menus, shows and ports.

Thanks for sharing.

[cruisetarp]

Thanks for the great review Debbie. I'm so glad you and Jerry enjoyed your cruises.

[DebbieandJerry]

Someone else on our cruise did the Western on the Epic and the Eastern on the Glory. They said that they really enjoyed "changing ships" for a back to back and didn't really mind packing and unpacking.

For all of you on facebook, I posted my pictures there. Look under Debbie Miller Boggs, Tucson. Picture is me and Jerry (not a lady with a parrot)