We are just back from our 7 day cruise aboard the Carnival Glory and we had a wonderful time. We were disappointed that our itinerary was changed do to hurricane Paloma. We haven't been to St Thomas and were looking forward to the new experience.

Upon our arrival at Port Canaveral, we dropped off our luggage with the supplied tags, parked in the garage and got into line. It went pretty smooth and we were in our cabin in 45 minutes.

Cabin
We were assigned Cabin 6343 which is a balcony cabin on the starboard side. The setup is standard in the industry however I think that the bathroom is better than others I've seen. The condition was excellent and most of the furnishings appeared new. The only detraction was the cabin's location, which we discovered at 12:30 AM. We got back to our room and could clearly hear the country western singer in the casino. I always travel with a "sound machine" so it masked the unwanted sounds. However, I paced off the distance from our cabin to the main elevators and then did the same on the casino deck, which is deck 5. We were within feet of the center of the stage and directly above.

Food

I thought the buffet breakfast and lunch were fine. The dinner was not great, all of the nights. Ordering beef turned out to be a mistake. It seemed that the meet didn't caramelize, leaving it kind of gray and tough. The salads, pastas, and appetizers were fine.

One night we went to the Emerald Room, which is a special by reservation restaurant on the 10th deck. They charge $30.00 per person and it's worth it. The food and service is geared towards perfection. The restaurant is small and allows for fabulous service, presentation and quality. My steak was seared dark and the interior was a perfect medium rare. The dessert , we chose, was an artful presentation of four clear glasses, each with a different dessert and sauce.

Another standout was the Fish & Chips bar during lunchtime. There we sampled Calamari, Bouillabaisse, batter dipped fried fish and an assortment of fish salad plates.

Entertainment

There were an assortment of entertaining options for everyone. We gravitated towards the piano bar. There, they had a circular bar with a piano in the center. The piano and Mark, the piano guy rotated within the center of the bar. What made this bar different, was Mark. He is a very talented musician and has a play list of 2900 songs. On the bar, he has a list recording artists. The patrons write down a request from that list and request a song. What makes this show different is the banter with the audience and the R rated nature of the show.

Shore Excursions

Instead of going to Nassau, St. Maarten and St Thomas, we were re-directed to Playa Maya, Cozumel and Nassau with days at sea in between.

Our first stop was Playa Maya. There is nothing there except a nice beach and shopping facility. The beach was not usable, due to rocks, but the pools were nice to look at. The water was cold as hell. There was only one waiter on the beach and the poor guy was working like a one armed paper hanger. Playa Maya has possibilities if developed properly.

As I stated in the beginning, we were disappointed in the change of itinerary. We were on another cruise in January that went to Cozumel and we weren't eager to return. So, on our second stop at Cozumel, we went swimming with the dolphins. It was a three hour experience that was great. The facility, Dolphinarious, was a very well organized and well run operation. We had a ball and opted to return to the ship for an afternoon of sun.

The next stop was Nassau. We went to the Atlantis resort on a ship sponsored shore excursion. We were to have access to the resort, beach and lunch at a choice of four restaurants. We were given a tour and told that the pools were only for hotel guests and two of the restaurants were closed. We went to the beach. There were the inevitable beach vendors, which is okay. The drink guy came down hacking coconuts and making drinks. I asked him for a beer and said that he didn't have beer. The same held true for soda and water. He only sold rum. I asked a security guard where I could get a bottle of water. He directed me over the dunes, across a bridge, past the lockers and showers and around the second pool.

We decided that lunch was in order. We went to a restaurant, showed our vouchers to the hostess and she directed us to the only open restaurant that accepted them. When we arrived, it turned out to be a walk-up type of fast food affair. I showed the counter person the voucher and she asked what we wanted, from the signage type menu. I asked for a Cuban sandwich. She told me I couldn't have that. I was allowed to have a chicken sandwich with fries and a soft drink. We got to of the above and they were inedible. The pigeons and seagulls outnumbered the patrons and were everywhere. We went through the aquarium and we were out of there.

Days at Sea

For me, this was the best part of this cruise. No rushing to get somewhere I didn't want to go to, no lines, good food and the whether was wonderful. On our first day at sea, I discovered the "Adult Only Deck". It was the highest deck and had a remoteness to it. There was plenty of room and a small crowd. One German woman was topless. I think that word spread about that availability because on our last day there were numerous topless women and t man with a string thingy. The key thing, for me, was that there was no belly flopping contests, no conga lines, or other games for the inebriated.

Staff

I've only been on four other cruises but the staff on the Carnival Glory were the best I've encountered. From cabin to lounge to dinning room to casino, everyone was truly trying to make you happy. They succeeded.

All in all, this was a great cruise. The Carnival Glory is a fabulous vessel. It's size provides a great steadiness to the cruise. The layout is easily negotiated for the cruise ship challenged, like me. The gym was wonderful. I liked the steam room and sauna with the wall of glass overlooking the ocean. My wife had Yoga and I had a treadmill. There were plenty of couches all over the ship, a nice place to have an adult beverage and relax. The common areas never seemed crowded. We had a great time and would return to a Carnival ship again.