Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Glory Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Timothy Land

We went on the cruise for my sister-n-law's wedding.  The wedding was on the ship, in port, before the cruise departed.  This allowed those who were not able to cruise to attend.  Several of the guests also cruised, including my wife and me.  The wedding went off without a hitch and the reception was fantastic!  The only negative was actually getting to the terminal.  They advised us to be in the terminal at 10:30am and we were almost late because of the sea of departing guest from the previous cruise and the lack of consistent communication from the parking attendants.  Anyone doing this should plan to be there by 10:00am instead and ignore the middle attendant.  But we eventually were able to get everyone assembled. 

This was the largest ship we have cruised on and the layout was a little difficult at first - sometimes we ran into the "can't get there from here" problem.  But after the first two days we had it licked.  The ship was plenty big enough to feel spacious and find a quiet spot even with 3000 passengers.  We have already scheduled a second cruise for June 2008 on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. 

We were lucky enough to be able to travel in a Category 11 suite and it was beautiful.  My mother-n-law also attended and is handicapped.  Her handicapped suite was twice as big as ours and she had plenty of room to maneuver in her scooter in the stateroom and bathroom - even onto the balcony. 

We had the latest seating for dinner in the smaller Golden Dining Room.  The food was terrific every night - not a bad meal ever.  Our wait staff were the tops and entertained us nightly.  We also tried the Supper Club, The Emerald Room.  While the food and service were great, we were somewhat disappointed that they did not have a dance floor and live music like we had on The Spirit.  That was the only negative we found on the ship. 

The shows and casino were terrific. We missed the late night comedy show but heard it was hilarious - we will make sure to do it next year.  We did a couples massage that was fantastic, but we did it on the formal night and then had to get dressed for dinner.  We will do that again, but earlier in the day and not on the formal night.  I fell asleep it was so relaxing - I think I may have snored, but my wife did too so that was okay.  We were able to relax and watch the sunset for a short while afterwards but then it was off to dinner.

We only scheduled two shore excursions - one in Nassau and the deep sea fishing in Cozumel.  The fishing was fantastic - my wife and friend both caught big mahi-mahi.  They were thrilled.  I caught a bigger one last year so I wasn't too upset.  We chose the one in Nassau - the pirate and historic tour because it was handicapped accessible for my mother-n-law.  When we got there it wasn't really handicapped accessible (their idea of accessible was to sit her on the floor of a van).  That wasn't going to happen in this lifetime so we cancelled and were refunded our money by Carnival without a problem.  We looked around at the shops instead but the streets/sidewalks were too narrow and uneven to really accommodate the wheelchair so we took her back pretty quick.  We really enjoyed the Costa Maya port facility with the Lobster House and the pool/shop area.  We took Carnival's advice and did not leave the immediate vicinity in Belize.  I believe this is a newer port for Carnival and it should improve in time to where safety is not as much of an issue. 

I can't say enough about the courteousness of the staff - particularly the stewards.  But really, everyone was great - always a smile and willing to help.  We always tip above the recommended amount they put on your sign and sail account.  In fact, my wife always gives some up front to the  room stewards and let's them know of our particular likes/dislikes and this sets the tone for the whole cruise. We never came back to our room when there was not fresh ice and a bottle of wine chilling and our flowers watered.  We also had the bon voyage decoration package and the fruit basket that Carnival sent us (I guess due to the amount we spent on the wedding and the cruises for everybody).  It really was a nice touch.