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Carnival Glory

Raiatea

Do not be afraid of this ship. I went last year for 4 nights and came back for 7. It was ust as good as last year and I had a great time. Our room was never bad, comfortable and very very quiet !. the food was good, never a issue. The signature restaurant is a MOST GO ! unbelievably wonderful. My husband had the Lobster Ravioli and expected little flat pockets. What he got- 3 5 inch towers filled with whole pieces of Lobster was entirely unexpected and delicious. HIs chesse cake desert, as he joked, was the size of the Titanic, not kidding. Please go , it will well worth it and you will love it.
Only 1 issue, I think we at 55 and 58 , where some of the youngest people on the ship. We did go during school, and we wanted quiet, and we got it. But, had a great time. We rented a car in Nova Scotia, had a great time, didn't do many shows, the Marriage show was good, And sat a table with 8 strangers for dinner and had a great time. Also did the art show for the first time, that was good too, even purchased art !
I do need to add I was in a manual w/c due to a foot injury , and even though my foot was sticking straight out, other cruisers were rude and would run into me, the staff where great !

QUIET BUT WONDERFUL

We took the cruise from Boston, MA, USA to St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on July 9, 2013 on the Glory. As Platinum level cruisers, those cruisers who took 10 or more cruises on Carnival Cruise Lines under the old requirement, we pretty much new what to expect regarding priority boarding and on-board ship amenities. On this cruise we booked a suite in room 7272 on deck seven. It was really nice with a room that was close to 50% larger than a normal balcony stateroom that had granite appointment everywhere. Granite countertops, desk top, bathroom and powder room floors, and double granite vanity tops. Additionally, it had a whirlpool bath tub/shower combination instead of the small shower stall in balcony staterooms - really nice.
A few disappointments with Carnival - on many ships, including the Glory, they do not provide Fox News Channel on the stateroom television. Those ships that do not provide Fox News Channel will provide two or even three CNN channels, the regular CNN channel available in the USA, CNN Spanish, and sometimes CNN International. Why Carnival will not provide Fox News Channel for their guests, whose viewership greatly exceeds the viewership of CNN and MSNBC combined, is a mystery to me, but is extremely disappointing and definitely non-customer friendly. As independent minded people, it gets tiring constantly being bombarded by liberal pablum and social engineering view points, and, selective airing of stories, often ignoring those they feel are not news worthy, so we prefer to watch Fox News Channel to get all the news.
Another disappointment with Carnival is the crew failing to consistently enforce Platinum and Diamond perks, not even trying to do so diplomatically. What is the sense of touting the benefits of these perks when people who ignore the fact that they have not qualified for them, insist, often in a crude and loud manner that they be allowed to do so, and the crew member almost always concedes. Prior to reaching Platinum status, we followed the rules and refrained from trying to get priority service at the Guest Service Desk, priority tendering to ports that did not have docks, and priority disembarkation, etc.
An example of this problem, on the Glory we received written instructions that in order to avail ourselves of priority disembarkation we were to assemble in the 'Golden Dining Room' at 8:30 am. No one from the crew monitored who went into the Golden Dining room and scores of people with Blue, Red and Gold 'Sail and Sign' cards on lanyards around their necks crowded into the room and when the crew finally announced that Platinum and Diamond cruisers could disembark, those people pushed and shoved their way to the front of the disembarkation line. For those who do not know, Carnival provides three different colors of 'Sail and Sign' cards, for passengers who have not reach Platinum or Diamond level status yet. Those cards function as your stateroom key and on-ship charge card. First time cruisers on Carnival have a Blue card that progresses up to Red, or Gold 'Sail and Sign' cards for more frequent cruisers. All passengers have to have those cards scanned to leave the ship by handing them to a crew member. If a crew member sees any color other than a Platinum or Diamond color during priority disembarkation, they should politely ask those people to step aside and wait their turn, but they do not, so priority disembarkation is a non-existent 'perk' because rude people push and shove their way to the front. Once again, those with an entitlement mentality get their way because Carnival crew members do not enforce the rules.
There was one troubling issue with the $750 shopping spree Bingo game. The caller seemed to be more concerned with trying to be funny than clearly explaining the rules and verifying the winner. That game had a second element if there were two or more winners, basically an elimination round by calling more numbers until one party had that number while the other party did not. In this game two people called Bingo on the same number, one of them sitting right next to us. Both party's cards were verified by crew members and the two 'tied' players filled out paperwork. Then the crew members left them taking the paperwork, and the Bingo caller proceeded to do the elimination. There was a lot of noise in the background while the caller quickly proceeded to state the rules that only applied to those two winners who had tied. She did not confirm that both parties understood what the instructions were. The requirement was that she would call off more numbers one by one until one of them had it and the other did not. But, the key element was that the number had to be on the SAME card as the winning Bingo. She called off a few numbers and some other person in the room, who was not one of the tied winners and obviously was confused, shouted out Bingo. The caller told them that the numbers she was calling were only to break the tie between the two parties who had tied. She then quickly called more numbers until the person next to us called out Bingo. The caller 'verbally' asked him to confirm that he had that number she had just called and he said he did, but, as we could clearly see he did not. She did not have any crew member confirm it and she quickly shut down the Bingo game computer, and then came over herself to congratulate the guy. The problem was he had the number she called but NOT on the same card that he had originally had Bingo on. My wife and I sat there and watched what transpired next. She clearly told that he did not really win, but she would process the winning paperwork to 'take care of it', because she had already shut down the computer. Essentially she gave the $750 shopping spree monies to him, and the other person who had tied him and played by the rules didn't even know they were incorrectly eliminated. Very, very wrong! But as I said earlier, she was more interested in trying to be funny and finishing the game quickly than doing it right.
One other disconcerting issue involved the water in the stateroom sink. We turned on the cold water one time and large quantity of gray colored particulate matter came out of the faucet. It was definitely not something anyone would want to swallow. We do not know why that happened and was the first time it had happened to us on all the cruises we had on Carnival.
The meals in the dining room were very good per usual and we really enjoyed Guy Fieri's Hamburger location up on the Lido deck. Those burgers were very, very tasty.We booked the excursion through Carnival which was described as a bus tour with stops at the top ten tourist sights in Halifax. The tour was seven hours long. The driver and tour guide were both very competent. Our guides name was Robert, who described himself as a retired history teacher.
The main problem with the tour is that the people on our bus only got to see six of the ten sights because extremely inconsiderate passengers were very late re-boarding the bus at two of the stops. They were so late in fact that the guide had to skip four of the advertised destinations in order to get us back to the ship on time.
The guide was very clear when we reached our first stop that all the passengers had to be back at the bus by a specific time. He warned everyone that he had a schedule to keep and if anyone was late he would be forced to move on to the next place and those passengers would have to pay for a taxi cab to return to the ship. The problem was he did not enforce the warning. The passengers who had returned on time were forced to sit on a hot bus without air conditioning because Canadian regulations prohibited the bus from idling while parked. Those inconsiderate passengers made everyone else wait for them two separate times because they were so self-absorbed in themselves they could not be bothered to follow the rules. That lack of passenger consideration coupled with the tour operator failing to enforce the rule made everyone miss 40% of the tour for which we had paid.
Once back on the ship we informed the tour desk about our feeling cheated and the young lady said that we had the complete the seven hour tour and there was no guarantee that we would see all ten stops listed. We respectfully asked for a price reduction considering that we did not see everything advertised and she said that Carnival could provide any refund.
My wife and I enjoyed the cruise other than those critiques detailed above.
 

Carnival Glory from Boston to Canada

Just returned from our July 9th Glory cruise. We enjoyed the cruise in spite of heavy fog and many happy families with many kids who pushed occupancy to 120%. The food , staff ,cabins and entertainment were good and sometimes great.
Unlike previous cruises, this one was booked and planned with a minimum of fuss. It was a cheap cruise that we could drive to Perfect! We booked a park & stay deal with STAY123 at the Holiday Inn Express Boston. This was a perfect choice. We decided to stay in Boston after our cruise so we drove direct arriving at the hotel before noon and were shortly on the shuttle to the port. This was the easiest embarkation we have ever enjoyed. Arriving at noon, we were on the ship in 20 minutes.
The cabin corridors were still blocked off so we explored. Around 1 PM were able to enter our OV cabin 2273, on the 2nd deck. We were needlessly worried about the location. It was located just in from the elevators and under the theatre. We heard no noise from either. We met our steward Kate and her assistant Richard, both of whom were very pleasant and competent. Our cabin was perfectly attended to with the fridge cleared and continuous buckets of ice provided. The layout was great with tons of space. The usual towel critters and chocolates were provided.
We chose My Time Dining for the dining room. The wait was just over 15 minutes. This would be the shortest wait of the week. Food was good in the MDR with apps and deserts being very good as usual. Service was also very good considering how crowded it was.
There were a huge amount of food options as the Glory had the 2.0 changes. The taco bar and Guys Burgers were smart additions. The thin pizza was excellent and the fish&chips area on the next level. The fried fish, oysters and cold seafood salads were great and it was undiscovered area with empty tables.
We went to the Steak restaurant. Service is good but the experience is underwhelming. I understood taking away free cappuccino's from MDR but from here? No more porterhouse steaks and the monster lobster tail is now a large tail and a half . The cheese plate had two over overripe selections. Meh!
We enjoyed the Serenity area.It was nicely laid out on 2 decks . The overall layout of the ship was not ideal especially access to the MDR's. The single entrance to our dining room was off the VERY crowded lobby.
The main theatre shows were new to us and we were impressed with the special effects. There was a certain sameness about these shows with the same 4 performer having all the solos with the other 4 as background. They perform to taped music as the live musicians have been done away with.
The entertainment highlight of the cruise was James Quigley the performer in the piano bar. Great voice? No but a great pianist and incredibly funny with a wonderful mean/hilarious sense of humour.Ya gotta hear his circumcision song ,A little off the Top. Or maybe the Beer Song or the Warm Kitty song from the Big Bang Theory.All killers. Ask him to play Piano Man if you dare.
So so funny. His act got more and more adult oriented and funnier and more risque as the night went on.
The fog rolled in the first night and was constant for the next 40 hours. As mandated by marine law, the ships horn was blown every 2 minutes for most of this time. We heard this was a problem for those with cabins on the top decks . Not us.
The fog changed our plans for St. John. It finally burnt off that afternoon and Halifax had good weather. Both ports were filled with nice people and museums. Pretty low key.
I had FBed John Heald concerning our CC M&G. He was kind enough to provide 2 bottles of sparkling wine and ships on a stick. Very nice. We went to one comedy show. The comedienne was obscene and amusing.
One unexpected bonus was watching dozens of whales as we returned to Boston. This was an unexpected treat.
Debarkation was fine until we couldn't find one of our bags. 20 very stressful minutes later it was found . Whew!
We called the hotel and the shuttle arrived as promised in about 25 minutes. The hotel was kind enough to let us check in before 12. Great hotel next to a decent mall and just off the I-93. Huge room and decent breakfast. Great hotel if you don't need a pool.
The ship was crowded, the fog was thick but we were pleased with the cruise. Except for the loss of a live theatre band, we didn't observe any cutbacks. With the new 2.0 lido deck food options, more has been added then deducted.
 

Lots of Fun on a Foggy Crowded Cruise

Most memorable: We went on the July 14-21 cruise. As it was our wedding anniversary, I booked a cake for the July 14 dinner. The dinner service was very slow. When he main entree was served, I asked the waiter about the cake. He was completely unaware of the cake order. When they finally resolved the cake order, the dinner service was over and the PA announced we should leave the dinning room. We had to wolf the cake down and leave quickly. Through out the week the server was very green as he kept consulting his order sheets and tried to figure out what goes to who while the food cooled down on the service table. We were always the last group to leave. By the 4th night, they assigned other waiters to help out and the service sped up to normal speed.
The Ship: Clean and nicely renovated. I agree with reviewer BigDog1958 about the ship's layout. The ship had many places where one must walk around the obstacle. To get from one end to the other you have to walk through closed areas such as the dinning room. The good thing is the staff won't scream at you (MSC) when you do so. We ate all our meals in the dining room where the food was quite good and better than expected; almost as good as Celebrity and RCL, and leagues better than MSC. On our first day at sea during tea time in the dining room, a waiter bypassed our table with new food and was asked by a lady to return, his response was borderline rude. The Burger bar and the Mexican food and the Pizza were also very good. The Fish 'n Chips served very tasty fish and fried oysters but the calamari was greasy and chewy. I am a early riser and like the fact that the freshly ground coffee is available in the buffet 24/7. My wife liked the choice of tea and lemons. The shows were ho-hum with only 2 larger sing and dance productions and the rest were audience participation games. The trio by the bar near the casino were Latin music specialists and were very enjoyable. Silly me forgot to note the band's name. The casino allowed smoking and that detracted from our enjoyment. It would have been better if the casino had a walled off non-smoking section.
Ports of Call: We had drove through the Canadian Maritimes a long time ago and the only place we had not gotten to was Cape Breton. For Sydney, I booked a car with Discount Car Rentals a week before we cruised. Although I asked for an email confirmation, I did not receive one. I called on 2 different days before we cruised and each call, the Sydney Discount folks would give me a computer excuse. When we were at sea, Sydney Discount left a message on my cell that no cars were available due to vandalism. Discount being the only rental car company in town, my drive to Cape Breton's Cabot Trail was toast. It did not seem right to me, so thinking a small town like Sydney with so many cars vandalized would have made the news...nothing found via Google. Hmmmmm....

Book a car in advance

This was my first cruise with Carnival, I have previously sailed with Princess and Royal Caribbean, but generally select an itinerary, and a time frame and see who's going where I want to go at that time. We chose Carnival this time because they were sailing Canada & New England in July, and most others sail this itinerary in the fall months, so it was good fit. The price was also very good, so we couldn't pass it up!
We had a balcony on deck 6, close to the main elevators so it was a great location, close to everything, but far enough away that we didn't hear the music from the dance parties in the main area below. We got a balcony this time, again, price was right. I've previously had inside cabins with are sufficient since not much time is spent in the room anyways. However, with our balcony we did choose to spend more time on it reading and relaxing because we didn't find much going on during sea days on this itinerary, and we aren't gamblers, shoppers or big drinkers.
The food options were great, we loved the offerings in the main dining room each night, and always found something delicious to have. We avoided the buffet for breakfast and ordered room service instead, we want to start our day relaxed, not with the chaos a buffet can sometimes create. We did do the Punchliner Brunch which we really enjoyed too - the menu selection was great and the basket of yorkshire puddings they brought us were to die for! We opted for a table for 2 and we probably waited about 15 minutes before they finally decided to open up the top level of tables after lots of back and forth between waitstaff and what looked like a manager. They should have that open anyways because there were plenty of people waiting with us. We didn't care for the "comedy break" during brunch, found it too loud and not really funny. We didn't care for the fajitas/tacos from the Cantina, maybe I just got a bad batch of chicken in mine, but there were so many hard pieces of cartilage that I just couldn't eat it. We didn't try a burger from Guy Fieri's but did have some french fries and they were delicious!
We loved The Alchemy Bar - their martini's were incredible. Such a great selection of different flavors and combinations that I would never think to put together. A must do for sure.
The main swimming pool up on deck was completely green. I've never seen cruise ship pool water this color. Even pools at resorts and peoples home's shouldn't be this color. Something was definitely going on with the water in there, and it stayed that way all week. The kids sure didn't care, but we never saw any adults in there. They were all in the adult pool/hot tubs at the back, and they were completely over crowded. Likely making up for the lack of swimming amenities elsewhere on deck.
We booked shore excursions through Carnival for all of the ports, and most of them were great, we saw a good range of what we wanted to see. One complaint we did have was on one of the longer excursions we chose to do, the air conditioning wasn't working on the coach. In July, on a hot, sticky summer day it's crucial to ensure that something like this is working. Especially for an excursion that is a full day of driving around. The driver and guide just kept saying "it's on as high as it can go", but nobody could feel it, people looked like they were ready to pass out. Uncomfortable to say the least. All other excursions were good.
Overall I was impressed with Carnival, and will definitely sail with them again.

First experience on Carnival

We just got home from the 5 night Canada cruise out of Boston. We have both cruised numerous times and have traveled extensively using all inclusive resorts and guided tours throughout the world. I thought this was a great way to see this part of the world.
We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express South Boston where there is a stay, park and cruise package.....excellent value, very convenient, and the transfer is free and quick and on time both delivery and picking us up off ship. Excellent rate too!
Embarkation: We read you could get on ship as early as 11:30 so we arrived as early as 10:30. We want to make the most of our trip, get the most time on this ship, great to explore before all the party begins. The embarkation was the smoothest I have ever experienced, and we have been early before. It was so well organized, many people directing your way. We brought our two bottles of wine, no questions asked, they did not even open our wine carry case to verify it was wine, it could have been any liquor. We also brought 12 cans of soda and cans of pineapple juice to mix our drinks with (we use rum runner bags, get through all the time in checked luggage, but you can also buy a bottle to be delivered to your cabin). They did not even check our cans which were in a duffle bag, again they could have been beer! Anyway we were too early so we had to sit for about half an hour, then we were on the ship and on our way.
The ship is nice and well kept. The lido deck has two pools, one more for the slide which is full of kids... I would never go in that pool. The other is a bigger pool and less full of crazy kids. The lido deck and surrounding decks are full of chairs, plenty for all. There is another pool in the back of the ship which was very quiet and peaceful as well. The Serenity deck though is where we hung out the entire time at sea. It is GREAT! We got up early to get a primo spot, but we love to be out in the sea air and my hubby has no problem sleeping outside, and neither did I on the sea day the fog horn was NOT blowing. We saw dolpins galore, and whales too! It was awesome. We did order drinks at sailaway, which of course are expensive, but they were good and strong! I don't know about other drinks we just ordered the sail away special. Our cabin was ready as promised by 1:30 and our luggage was there shortly after. We were unpacked and sitting in hot tub on serenity deck by 3:30! Oh and we had a Guy Burger immediately after getting on ship, it is open right away. It is an awesome, awesome burger, and I am not a big junk food eater, I loved these burgers. They are delicious, and you can eat the whole thing, contrary to what other said about it being too big for one. I had no problem, they are so delicious!
We had the platinum dining, late seating. It is a beautiful dining room and the service was excellent, Royson was our server, 20 years experience he told us and it showed. He was polite, attentive, skilled as were his two helpers. We always order the wine package, 3 bottles for $77 and change including tax and gratuities. So in all you have then five bottles, one for each night which is perfect for us. It is a good deal. The martini bar, Alchemy is awesome too, great delicious drinks, strong and unique with excellent excellent service and presentation. A beautiful unique bar. The martinis are $8.95 with one special one every night for a dollar less. I think it is a great deal, as martinis at home cost as much or more and are not half as good as these. We did this every night before dinner and then had our bottle of wine. We had a great time.
We saw the Divas and Motown shows, both great. The disco was fun for about an hour or so, we spent time in the casino too. There is music all over the place at night, the piano bar is great fun too. I think there is alot to do, alot of variety and a very nice ship.
Some people complain about rude people, crazy kids, people dressing horribly. Yes to all of that, but I think this is happening every where. Our world has become a greedy, self centered, entitlement attitude filled place and I travel alot and find this EVERYWHERE! We dressed up, others didn't, so what, we like to dress and if others want to walk around with pants on the ground then let them look like idiots. We even had a hippie type eating near us at dinner who went barefoot in her dresses every night. I think the maitre,d tried to talk to her but she really was a hippie. long hair, lace long flowwy dresses, a real flower child. And so what, she didn't bother anyone, she was polite, not drunk etc....
I also thought the food was good. Not excellent, excellent, excellent but good. The brunch is great at the platinum dining room on sea days it is the punchliner comedy club menu. It is very good. ,Other days at port the breakfast and lunch are good but nothing great. The only complaint I have is the lido deck buffet. Slowest I ever experienced. I preferred a sit down anyway since we were not in a rush to get off ship on port days.
St John is an OK port. I wish we had rented a car, they were booked solid by the time we inquired. It is easy to drive around and go where you want. We walked around to some of the sites like to old cemetery, the market and some shops. But not much to see or do. We wound up in an Irish pub right by the ship and tried some local brews. We had a great time talking to the owner we spent 3 hours doing this. We like that kind of stuff anyway. In Halifax we did rent a car and drove out to Peggy's Cove, very easy to do and much cheaper then a guided tour. Plus you get to do what you want. We went to Ryers for lobsters,(a five minute ride from Cove, right past Swissair memorial) what an excellent excellent lobster, I could have eaten more, but it was a long wait. A very good experience though. The seaport, boardwalk front in Halifax was very nice and the Jazz Fest was going on with free concerts. It was a nice nice place.
Others may have written about the fog horn, yes it does go off every five minutes and yes it is foggy. What do you expect for that part of the ocean! From the Serenity deck you could not hear it too much and from our cabin we heard nothing. It was very quiet, except for kids running up the hall at 7 am. Again rude people in this world. I always taught my kids manners and how to be considerate, so they would never do this and if they did I would stop them and reprimand them. That is why they still to this day hold doors for complete strangers everywhere they go, but his isn't happening anymore, so be ready for that. They push by you to get to be first. I am not an old cranky person either and my kids are only 15, 18 and 21, but they never behaved like this. So be ready for a rude awakening to what is going on in society when you are with 3600 people on one ship!
Debarkation was again excellent, the fasted I have every had. Luggage easy to find. No complaints from me, I enjoyed the trip very much and you cannot beat the price. I find Carnival to do a great job for the money and feel the workers go out of their way to do their jobs well.

A great way to see this part of the world and a great ship!

Although we normally cruise the Caribbean in the winter, my husband and I wanted something a little different, so we chose this itenerary for July as we had been to none of the ports, except Boston. Flew in a day early and hunkered down at the Best Western Adams Inn in Quincy, a good choice if you're not planning to sightsee in Boston. They have a free airport pick-up and free shuttle to the cruise port. Rooms were clean and staff friendly. We even had a view of the river out our window. Plus a very good meal and service at their on-site restaurant and free breakfast the next day. Had a great dessert there called "Chocolate Decadence". DH and I shared it, and as it was so rich and gooey, we were very satisfied.
Arrived at the Glory around noonish and had absolutely no lines at embarkation! This was absolutely our best boarding experience in 12 cruises. We were on board in about 15 to 20 minutes! My DH kept looking for the lines but they never appeared. No long lines even at the buffet and empty tables were relatively easy to find. Debarkation was also excellent as we waited until near the end and didn't have to wait in long lines.
Our interior stateroom 8407 was easy to find and though small adequate for our needs. Except we could have had a few more hangers, our room steward,from Bosnia said to call him "Z", was going around with hangers and I'm sure we could have got some if we ever remembered to ask. "Z" was a very good steward and kept our room neat and tidy without being obtrusive. The funny thing was whenever we were talking about him there he would be in the hall or around the corner, it was almost like magic.
We used room service on 3 of our 4 port days. They were always early, if we said 7-7:15, expect them at 7. The only bad thing was even though we said 2 people, and I had yogurt and DH cereal we only got one spoon. As we have been married almost 42 years we managed to share the spoon.
I must tell you that the East Coast was having a heat wave that affected all but the last day of our cruise. So we had sunny skies and very warm weather almost the whole time. It was almost too hot ashore. The tour buses were not used to this and were very warm. Sometimes the ship's air conditioning was very aggressive. So take note and throw in that extra sweater or long sleeve top for the ship, ladies. DH had mostly long sleeved shirts or wore his sportcoat and was better off than me on board the Glory.
Our first stop was Portland, Maine. Since we had never been to this part of our hemisphere, we used all Carnival Shore excursions. Usually in the Caribbean we could find other tour companies, it was harder on this cruise to find them even though we did some research. We did the Portland and Kennebunkport combo and had a good time, but the but only had about half an hour to shop there, which it way to short. We enjoyed the tour of Portland, the views and stopping at the Portland head lighthouse, and especially Kennebunkport. I enjoyed seeing from a distance the Walker (Bush) compound, the flags were flying out front so the senior Bushes were in residence. Our favorite store was a little shop called Deep Blue that had lots of glass bottle and pots. I bought a small blue pot with a cork stopper. I promise not to regale you with all my purchases as we bought mostly tee shirts and pins of the places we stopped. When we got back to the pier there was down the block little umbrella stands with crafts and such. I talked DH into going down the block and walking back stopping at the stands. He was reluctant as I have a lot of back and leg issues and he is very protective of me, but he did agree to one block. It was a lot of fun, not only seeing what they had but talking to the owners. I bought a little blue glass suncatcher I decided to use as a pendant and go a huge amount of complients on, on one of the formal nights. Also one young man had trivets and coasters with photos on them,he had taken of the area and I couldn't resist getting one with a night scene. Actually one of my favorite shopping experiences on the cruise.
The second port was Saint John, NB. We had a tour called the Top Ten things about Saint John. We went first to the reversing rapids and it was interesting and a nice short stop. Then to the City Market where we could buy lunch, which we did. It included a bus ride out to St. Martin's and the Bay of Fundy. I have wanted to see the Bay of Fundy and the tides there since I was about 10 years old. It was on my bucket list. We tried to talk to this guy at the shore excursion desk about whether it would be high or low tide. He kept telling us low tide would be at 11 and we would not be able to walk on the bay floor. He had me so confused, luckily it was low tide and we could walk a ways on the underwater part of the bay, but it is all rocks, so wear comfortable shoes. Some people walked out to the sea caves, about ten minutes out and back. Would have been much longer for me, and I didn't trust my ankles on that many rocks. We did collect 2 or 3 pounds of rocks. Included were 4 wishing rocks. These are rocks with a white band all the way around them. You make a wish and when it comes true pass it on to someone else. I haven't officially made my wish to win the lottery, even though we ended up with 4 wishing rocks. Some people got fish and chips or something equally fishy at St. Martins and it smelled delishious.
Some small stands at St Martins where ladies were selling handicrafts and food. If you go on this excursion try the lady at the end brown sugar fudge, wish I would I gotten much more. Guess I will have to use another wishing rock.
We were to go back to reversing rapids but possible problems with the airbrakes on the bus sent us back to the pier. Exhausted anyway, go glad to get back and some rest before getting ready for first formal night.
Wednesday was our first sea day, we decided to try out the Serenity Deck, we had enjoyed this with my mom on Carnival's Freedom in Dec 2012. We went up and the wind made it cool, I stretched out at the end of one of the long couches got a couple of pillows and my DH covered me up with two towels. I was going to read but ended up with a two hour nap. It was great. I could wish there was more variety in the shops on board, and for some reason the shelves seemed emptier than usual. We did buy several of the 2 for $20.00 tee shirts for the family back home. I do enjoy having the comfort foods at dinner, especially knowing that warm chocolate melting cake will be there every day. I do have my favorites, the creme brulee is very good, this time was the best ever. My DH has a harder time, he has never liked meat not even as a baby. He has a limited list of food likes, mostly starches. I call him a starchatarian. So he does not like most veggie meals. Some nights he would get two helpings of mashed potatoes and the steamed veggies which he would pick through. One of our favorite things on this cruise was Guy's Burgers and Fries. Everyone else seemed to like them too. I thought the burger great, but the fries were fabulous. DH loves fries and has them most days, but he loved these more than usual. So good ketchup not needed, and we voted them the best ever, even above Thresher's fries (a Maryland beach treat) and above Five guy's. Almost everyday since we have been home, he has wished he had eaten more of them. Great move on your part Carnival.
Thursday we were at Halifax and took the tour that combined Peggy's Cove and Halifax. Loved Peggy's Cove, so quaint, wished we had more time there. Then toured around the island and back to Halifax for our pink bus tour. We got off at the Citadel and toured there and talked to the cadets. Also got to see them shoot off the 6-lb cannon. Back on the bus, we seemed to miss the shopping areas and were completely disappointed at the shops at the pier seemed more like yard sale stuff than anything else.
Friday was Sydney and we opted for the two sides of Louisbourg. The fort at Louisbourg, was fantastic. They had a lot of reenactors in colorful costumes and uniforms. We lucked out because it was the 300th anniversary of the fort and they have a lot more people working there in July and August. Loved it and Anna Marie our tour guide. It was a complete delight. Then we went into the town of Louisbourg for an included lunch at the Lobster Kettle. Most people opted for the snow crab lunch, I got chicken (yum), DH got veggie pasta. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. Only drawback I expected some shopping at Louisbourg, then because the buses were late getting to the port, the ship waited for use, but I didn't even get to stick my toes in the shops at the pier. The singer giving a concert there was still singing so got to hear her beautiful voice as we got back on the ship. That was the only cool day and started raining as we got to the ship.
Saturday was our second sea day. We did trivia with Shawn in the Cinnabar, both the 50's & 60's then the Civil War trivia was fun but challenging. We also liked James in the piano bar, we went 3 times but only got seats twice, so go early for him. Drawbacks on the ship, it's one of those that you can't get there from here. To get from the Platinum Dining room on level 3 or 4 aft to the Amber Palace forward on 3 or 4 you have to go up to at least level 5. Also the elevators were trully frustrating. One night we waited for 15 minutes (I can't do stairs) for one to stop on our level. They would go right past your floor, up or down, happened on all of them. Fish and chips is hard to get to also, you are not allowed to go through the Chop House, but must to to the Lido deck and up a flight of stairs. When told I can't do stairs we were given the option of my husband going and getting it for me. I wanted to see if it was decorated. Disappointed about that, I guess if I were in a wheelchair it would have been the same. Seemed kind of weird to me. We liked the Motown show the best of the production shows. My DH really liked the special effects in this one.
We did have a great time on this cruise, but wished we had more time in port. Thinking about taking a driving trip to spend more time and see more things, but this was a great introduction.
 

Carnival Glory (July 14-21)

Carnival Glory and the ports of Boston, St. John and Halifax

Carnival Glory - Canada / New England  July 9 - 14 2013

Booking: Made through the Carnival website. The process was smooth, leading one through the variety of choices available. Picked the cabin using the provided deck plans. Printing of boarding passes, baggage tags and cruise information was easy. Prepaid gratuities. 

Embarkation: Arrived at the port at 11:15am, dropped the wife and the bags at the terminal and drove 	to the cellphone lot to park. I have an aversion to tourists, with bags boarding buses, so I walked back to the terminal, a leisurely 5 minute stroll. Found the wife, went through security,and then checked in. No line ups and very quick process. We were standing on deck by 11:45. 

Cabin: 8201 on the Veranda deck. This is the first cabin right behind the starboard wing bridge. Picked this cabin because I thought we might see a bit of the bridges "going on's", and was not disappointed! Great view of the navigation station and very interesting during docking. You can see through the wing bridge so the forward view from the balcony is great. It was fun exchanging nods and waves with the Captain and crew every day.  
	
	Was very impressed with the size and layout of this cabin. We didn't come anywhere close to filling up the closet and cabinet space. The amount of shelving in the bathroom did not disappoint.  Everything worked as it should have and the decor was pleasing. 

Service: We were impressed with every crew member we encountered. Stewards, waiters, bartenders, ships maintenance personnel, everyone. All very courteous and accommodating and always with a smile.

Dining: We selected the late seating in the Golden dining room. We ended up being seated with a couple from Texas and a couple from Michigan, they were delightful dinner companions and we continually ran into them on the ship and on shore. Definitely some age matching in Carnival's seating software :^)  

	Dinner staff were great, attentive and quick. The food selection was quite varied and we thought it was very good. The cold soups provided a tasty and interesting start to each dinner. I thought portion sizes were just right. 

	Breakfast and lunch were a combination Lido buffet, MDR brunch, room service, Blue 	Iguana, pizza and deli. Breakfast from room service was delivered right on time!

Entertainment:  Plenty of activities available on board to keep one busy. The shows in the evening were good and the length was perfect for my span of attention. Trivia was fun and seem to spring up everywhere. 

Ports:  Both Saint John and Halifax are very walkable cities. Lots to see and do, historic sites, museums, etc. We did not take any of the offered excursions. We did cheat in Halifax and took a taxi up to the Citadel, $5 and worth every nickel, the walk back down was easy :^)

Debarkation: This got a little weird in Boston. I'm a Canadian and my wife is American. I got a personal invitation to meet with customs and immigration along with the 700 other non-US citizens in the Amber theatre at 6:45am. Felt like I was being held captive for about an hour and a half. Customs finally arrived and I was one of the first inspected, very pleasant and very superficial, they stamped my passport and my customs declaration and they let me leave. I didn't like the prospects for the 700 fellow passengers I left behind! US Citizens were not allowed into this 	event and families were separated at the doors, very strange. 

Went back to the cabin for the family reunion :^) We sent our bags off the night before so had very little carry-on to lug around. Cleared the room just before 8 and went up to the Lido for breakfast. Our debarkation group was called and we walked of the ship without encountering 	any long lines. Baggage was nicely grouped making it easy to find and exit the terminal. Skipped the bus again and walked to our car in the cellphone lot (5 minutes). Very well organized process.

Overall we were very impressed and will travel Carnival again especially if they come back to Boston!

Canada/New England July 9-14th

Mom is in her 70's and has been wanting to cruise - but not for many days, and no flying to ports. Carnival fit the bill, and securing a balcony to accommodate her smoking was reasonably priced.
Embarkation- Mom used a mobility scooter and EVERYONE went out of their way to give assistance, resulting in a very quick and easy trip!
First Impression: we stepped onto a lively scene, music pumping and somewhat forced party atmosphere. We were ther just befor 1pm and were able to drop our bags in the room, though it was still being cleaned.
Cabin: my first balcony, cozy and room enough for two, but it got pretty chilly leaving Canada. Didn't deter mom from smoking! Very nice to enjoy morning coffee, though mostly too foggy for any view.
Dining: I feel for 4 nights we got a good mix of experiences. First night MDR at table 377- great because it was just off a ramp and allowed for parking the scooter mom used. Never met the other two people who were supposed to share our table for 4. Delicious brisket for dinner and that chocolate melting cake is to die for! We also did MDR for breakfast one morning, open seating meant some wait time, but we were accommodated with a lovely table for two at a window, that allowed for scooter parking. The omelette was tasty, the comedian had a tough crowd but did a short routine ( we never did see where he was). Emerald Steakhouse was not crowded at our 6pm seating. The party of 3 ahead of us arrived on the wrong day for their reservation, but they were going to be seated, except for not wearing appropriate clothes (had on shorts). This could have been remedied by a quick change, but they seemed done with the experience and left. In the steakhouse's defense they do write the expectations on the confirmation card and again remind you when they call to confirm that day. Okay, onto the food. Very GOOD. Mom had filet and loved it, I had ribeye, tasty. Also tried beef carpaccio as a starter, which I did not care for. They offered another starter, but I knew the large steak coming would be more than filling. Desserts were also delicious - chocolate sampler for me, baked apple in pastry for mom. Other dining included Guy's burgers -good, blue iguana cantina (?) burrito place - DELICIOUS, TRY IT!, and buffet. Had great carved jerk pork one night, tasty roast beef another, and nice blackened chicken that was not black at all. I was disappointed with the meatloaf which I had been anticipating, but it was spicy to my taste. Desserts were good, not great. Breakfast buffet standard but adequate. My mother loves a buffet and truly enjoyed this part of the cruise, trying lots of offerings.
Shows- wasn't interested, did see the end of Divas and it looked like a good time.
Activities - didn't really do any from the Fun Times, but did some shopping, which mom loved.
Casino - good way to kill an hour and 20 bucks a day. Went two times, allowing mom to smoke and try our hands at the slot machines. I would have enjoyed a tutorial or explanation of how t use sign and sail card with the machines, but figured it out with little problems.
Shore Excursion: just before leaving on the cruise I found out Mom loved a bus tour, so we booked the trip to St. Martina's and Bay of Fundy. It was a fun 3 hours, knowledgeable guide and fun driver, but the village was TINY, and it was a gray, rainy day. Had I known, I would have brought water shoes to negotiate the rocky shore and water to enter the sea cave, then changed into dry shoes for way back, but I didn't and so, did not get into the cave. We didn't see St. John at all, but we had time before the excursion, so that's our fault!
Gym: okay I planned on visiting, but wasn't impressed at first day look around, and was possibly too comfy in cabin o really try to get there. No report.
Notes: our cabin was just off the elevators, great for accessibility, but the music from the Atrium was pumping until 11:00 or 12:00 each night. I like to use a noise machine to go to sleep, but this took it's place, so not a problem for me, but could be for others. I know Carnival had no control over this, but the foghorn sounding every two seconds throughout day and night for half the cruise cold be jarring. Crowded and sometimes hard to maneuver the scooter, luckily I could direct/block foot traffic as needed, but for solo travel with a scooter it could be tricky.
Overall: a fun time, good for a first cruise. I personally probably wouldn't go again on Carnival, but that is because my preference leans to a quieter environment. If I went with children it may be a different story, but fr me, a cozy seat with a great view is great.

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