Kelly

Age: 38
Occupation: Project Manager
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Glory
Sailing Date: December 4th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Well let me start with two comments. We will probably never take a Carnival cruise again, but we did have a good time.

There are many good things to say about our cruise, but some very basic things were very bad and disappointing.

This was our third Carnival cruise and I'm sorry to say their service is seriously slipping. I'm not a terribly picky person, but I do like little luxuries like a fork to eat my dinner with. It is beyond comprehension that a large company like Carnival can no longer provide both a dinner and salad fork on the table in the main dining room. I know this has changed, because I remember my husband and I being confused by the large number of silverware on our first Carnival cruise. Basically, our waiter was terrible. He had no idea what Balsamic vinagrette salad dressing was. My husband ordered it every night and got something different every night. One night we think he got melted butter to put on his salad!

Room Service - don't count on it! One day it arrived. One day it didn't and this was on a port day when we HAD to get going, so we ate on the run. Your choices here are very limited.

Our family group of ten were sat at different tables. They were close together, but far enough away to do away with any conversation. The maitre d' was no help what so ever in fixing this situation. We're convinced it's because we had children along and they didn't want to move us from what appeared to be a family section with lots of kids. This cruise was reserved one year in advance, so late sign up couldn't be an issue.

The food was OK, but I've had better.

The bar wait staff was great, both in the dining room and in the bars. Great, efficient folks! The Kareoke bar, Bar Blue, was fun. They did have a lot of Kareoke sessions, which our family favors.

The room steward was OK. Again, I've had better.

We were on the 6th floor. Avoid this floor!!! Our room wasn't too bad, but the rest of our family was kept up everynight by the loud music from the 5th floor. And my sister had terrible cigarette smoke coming in her room from the bars below. Again, Carnival was no help with these issues.

Lots of chairs on deck near the pools. We were almost always able to find a chair near the water slide, so we could keep an eye on our daughter.

Our daughter is 10 and chose not to participate in Camp Carnival much, but it seemed like a good program with lots of variety.

If you're bringing a young child in diapers, be sure you bring plenty! We had a little one along in our group that came down with diarreha. They ran out of diapers and the ship had nothing to offer. Surprising!They had to hit up other families with babies to get some.

Our portraits came out great! Expensive as always though.

The cruise director, John, was hysterical! Great guy! Go to the shows and talks he does. They won't disappoint. The other shows are pretty good too.

The ports - Belize - we did the Lost World Canopy Tour. Awesome!!!! Great people in Belize. Just delightful! The ziplines through the rain forest were fabulous. Lot of driving and kind of a short excursion, but it was worth it for the view and adventure. Our daughter loved it.

Cozumel - We took a cab to Playa Mia. Don't do the excursion! You can totally go there on your own. Cozumel is beautiful and clean. Playa Mia was a great deal. Lots to do for a reasonable price. A very nice, relaxing day with something for all ages.

Progreso - We went to Chichen Itza. Do it! Go! You will never regret it! It's a long drive, but a fabulous experience. What gracious people live in this area! Very proud of their heritage and happy to share it with you.

Key West - An adorable town! A LOT of bars and a LOT of people drinking though. I wouldn't do an excursion here. We just did our own thing. Walked around and explored on foot. Went to some of the museums and shopped. The Rooftop Cafe near Malory Square is awesome! Try the Key Lime Daquiri and Key Lime pie!!!

Basically, the ports were fabulous, but the ship left us disappointed.

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