Carnival Glory Review
Have been on better...somewhat disappointed
Rating by category
Additional details
This is our 3rd Carnival cruise. We have also cruised on the RC Oasis. Unfortunately ,this cruise did not meet expectations as compared to our other Carnival cruises. This ship felt very crowded and there was always a line, whether at food venues, shows, water slides, etc...very frustrating. We had to wait over an hour to eat in the formal dining room and, to be honest, the staff was not very helpful nor apologetic. The dining room seemed to be mismanaged and chaotic. Tables were open but staff said they couldn't combine any tables even though there were many people waiting. We had a group of 9 and asked if two tables could be combined but were told that we could only be seated at a table for 10 and there were only two tables for 10 in the entire dining room. The manager did come to let us know that we had come 'at a busy time' and that was why we waited. DUH! One we were seated, service was slow and not very helpful. The food was marginal at best in any of the dining areas. The Emerald steakhouse was good and service was very good there. The buffets were not good and there wasn't much fresh fruit or veggies, as there usually are. Not many choices for food after 10pm either...pizza or room service. More waiting and more lines...
The family w whom we traveled and our family were both in suites so we were told we had priority boarding and services while on board. At Belize, a tender port, we had to ask about tender priority the night before. Guest Services agreed and said that we should've had special stickers on our Sail and Sign cards to indicate that. Had we not known to do that, we would've missed our excursion and would've waited much longer. Carnival needs to step it up w better treatment of suite guests.
The pool areas (we have kids so we couldn't go to the adults only pool) were horribly crowded and seats were at a premium. One needed to be at the pool by 9am to even get a seat. Carnival states that they patrol and seats left open for 45 minutes are freed for other guests. Not so. We watched the pool staff member place stickers on chairs but those chairs were not touched nor sat in for over 2 hours. So many guests were looking for chairs and Carnival staff did not help them. There were many angry people. Movie night at the pool is the same...get there an hour early to get a chair.
Cabin Review
Captain's Suite
Cabin was very spacious with lots of light and wonderful large windows. Bedding was fairly comfortable. On our last cruise, the CS had two pullman bunk beds, This cabin only had one. With three sons, the two pullmans are better for us. Bathrooms are large and there's always lots of hot water. The balcony was fabulous and partially covered. Not too noisy but we did have neighbors who were very loud and possibly stayed drunk most of the trip. Closets are large with plenty of storage. This CS is our favorite.
Port Reviews
Miami
Check in was fairly quick but more chaotic than Port Canaveral.
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
We didn't find any exceptions that interested us. We found a local tour company and did the 2 hour tour for $20pp. Grand Cayman is much like St Thomas...crowded and shopping-focused. The tour hit all the big sights and we could stop for 20-30 minutes at each. The tour operator recommended the Palms for lunch. We had told her we wanted a local restaurant. Unfortunately, the Palms was a crowded tourist trap. All the tour operators were stopping there so I'm sure there's a relationship there. This was one of our least favorite ports because it is so commercialized.