As you know, I sailed on the Carnival Glory 5/19/07 doing the 7 night Western Caribbean Run. This is the same ship and itinerary we have the 10/6/07 Gothic Cruise. Here is the FIRST PRELIMINARY report.
I will post a link to my blog and pictures shortly.
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THE SHIP:
The food in the dining room is great. 5 star all the was with alot of choices. There is 3 menus: The Spa Menu (low carb, etc), the "exotic" chef's menu, and a standard menu available every night. The Spa and chef's menu change with each sailing.
The sushi bar is fabulous, according to Jon as I dont eat sushi, he does. Like any sushi bar, it is prepared right in front of you.
The buffet's: The breakfast buffet was less then satisfactory. Not enough choices and the eggs are watery. If your a breakfast eater, I'd suggest getting up early and eating breakfast in the dining room or getting a customized omlete. The Lunch and Dinner buffet's were good, but not 5 star. If your in a hurrty to eat, these are fine. Finding a place to sit was a pain in my ass for lunch. We didnt even try for dinner, we went to the dinning room since the food is better there. On the night of the concert, get to the buffet early for dinner.
Our group will be assigned the Golden Dining Room. The lower level, from the center to the left. I will be assigning the tables by cabin myself personaly. Once you are assigned your table, you CAN move to another table, but you will have to work that out amongst yourselves. If you have other friends on the cruise you want to sit with already, you need to let me know now BY EMAIL. NOT HERE.
The coffee at the beverage station sucks. Except at dinner, a double Espresso is $2.00, and 50 cents each additional shot. For good coffee, you'll find it in the dining room, or at the coffee counter. the coffee at the beverage station, room service and dining rooms is free. At the Coffee Store, its not.
The soda card is not valid on cans of coke. Fountian drinks only. A can of coke is almost $2.00. Get the card.
Drinks: Everyday, Carnival runs a daily drink special. and it is over priced. the best deal is to get the souvernior Carnial glass (plastic), and then get the daily drink refills specials. You get more for less. A warning here: the bartenders pour VERY heavy handed. I had quite a few rum and cokes, that were more like a glass of rum with a splash of coke! The exception is the mudslides and bushwackers. First, the bartenders think their the same thing - and they are weak.
Elevator Issues: on the day your board the ship, the last night of the cruise, and the last morning, carnival shuts down all but 3 elevators. they use the shut down ones for luggage delivary. On these days, we waited up to 20 minutes for an elevator.
The disco: During the evening, the ship has the disco from about 10pm till about 1am. (then we can have it heheheh).. however. to be honest, I had 3 altercations with the DJ. He would only play wrap music for hours on end. You have to request anything else. I requested more rock.. and got 2 ACDC songs and 1 Joan Jett. I am currently working this out with the corporate office at Carnival. Actualy, on the 3rd night of the cruise, I told him i'd lynch him if he played kool and the gang one more time. Needless to say, he stopped playing it. (could be too that I was onboard with 175 other travel agents who were also complaining).
The pools and jacuzzi's: the midship pool and jacuzzi's on deck 9, are the pools the kids use. STAY AWAY! They are not required to have their parents with them. Unfortunately, this is our smoking area too. The aft pool and jacuzzi's on Deck 9. The pools requires children have a parent with them, and the jacuzzi is adults only. this area is nonsmoking.. however, there are 2 sets of stairs. You can go up 1 deck right there overlooking the pool and smoke. We had problems with the jacuzzi's being to cold. The problem is easily fixed if you have this issue. So while onboard if this is the case, please let me know. The jacuzzi's are treated fresh water, and the pool is treated salt water. The aft pool as a retractable roof in case of rain.
Carnival's shows: were pretty good actualy. The adult comedians take the stage at 11pm. and they are hysterical. The illusionist was a do not miss. the musicl numbers though.. i personaly wasnt into them, but they werent bad at all. just not my cup of tea. Bar service is available during the shows.
During our cruise, the theatre version of the Rocky Horror Picture show was presented. yes.. rice was included. it took place at midnight. According to the ships entertainment department, if it continues to do well, it will remain onboard until the end of the year.
The cabins: Okay.. if I could have stolen my bed, I would have. The bed, sheets, and blanket are extremely comfy. The sheets are luxury with a thread count in the thousads. Each cabin also has 2 bathrobes for your use. If you loose your bathrobe, Carnival will charge you 80.00 for it. Our next gothic cruise will have free bathrobes you can take home. Carnival also provides 2 large beach towels for your use. You can use them at the pool, or take them off the ship. If you loose one at anytime, even on the ship (someone swipes it), Carnival will charge you 70.00 for that towel. Your cabin stewards will provide free Pecid AD during the cruise.. as much as you want (so Jon found out!). 1 pill really does work. The bathroom is stocked with soaps, disposeable razors, and Pepcid. The shower has two dispeners.. The yellow is horrible shampoo that dries out your hair. but the blue is liquid Lever 2000. It was actualy really good at getting the saltwater from the pool off. The water on the ship is treated and kinda of hard. so bring a really good hair conditioner. The minibar in your cabin is locked. Just ask your cabin steward to unlock it. Remember, you will be charged for anything you drink out of it.
You can also view your shipboard account on the TV in your room. this can be confusing. Each person is assigned a Folio number. (account number) If everyone in your cabin is using the same credit card, then the first persons (name on card) folio number will show ALL charges for everyone. Everyone else's folio number in that cabin, will show only theirs.
Embarkation (boarding the ship on day 1) was fairly smooth. If you do not get a Bahamas Immagration form in your cruise tickets, you will need to get one here at the peir, fill it out, and then check in with it. You will find them ontop of the counters inside the peir after you go through security.
Disembarkation is a huge pain. We didnt get off the boat till 10am, even though the ship was cleared at 7:30am. The last night of the cruise, you will be given a colored luggage tag. You disembark as your color is called. The line is very long. You have to go through customs, so have your id/birth certificate, or passport out.
Getting off the ship in the ports. A total of 16 people were left behind at the ports of call. because they didnt pay attention. When you board the ship, set your watches to the ships time. There are digital clocks near all the stairs.. and the ships time is also on your TV. As you enter each port.. LEAVE YOUR WATCH ON SHIPS TIME.. not local. Each night of the cruise, you will get the next days itinerary for the ship. If it is a port day, it will tell you what time you need to be back onboard by. There is NO grace period. In Nassau I got to laugh my ass off at two people who got to waive buh bye to our ship.... from 10 feet away. (the ship was already in motion when they RAN up to it).
If by your own drunkeness.. or you fall asleep on the beach.. you miss your ship. Do NOT panic. First off.. if there is another Carnival ship still in the port, go directly to that ship.. and inform them you have missed the ship. If there is no carnival ship, go to the port authority and inform them you have missed your ship. Please.. please.. please.. carry your i.d. AND birth certificate, or passport, with you when you get off the ship at the ports. You will need them at the US Consulates office. If you have missed your ship, and you dont have a passport, you are going to have to wait for an emergency VISA to get home.
When getting off the ship at the ports, tear off the preforated portion of the itinerary (called Carnival Capers) that you got the night before. It has the ships contact information on it for emergencies. Once you have notified the port authority.. Call the ship and have them inform me you were left behind. (After final payments, everyone on the gothic cruise will have my onboard contact information).
As a rule of thumb.. I am back on board 30 minutes before I am required to be.
If you have a question, please ask it. See the other thread for my reports on the actual ports of call.
