Cruising the High (and Low) Seas

Pulling up at the Port of Miami to board the ocean liner Carnival Glory was a little overwhelming. Lines stretched out the door like cattle being herded into a paddock, checked bags stacked meters high, swarms of buzzing taxis and a mammoth sized ocean liner in front of us. Herded from one line to another we finally registered, boarded and were into our surprisingly large ocean view stateroom on deck number one. Close to starving we jumped on one of the 20 different elevators to deck nine where we had a late lunch and waited to cast off. Once all 3500 guests and 1200 crew were aboard we slowly pulled out of Miami and headed for the Caribbean.

Our Surprisingly Large Stateroom

We’ll write more about the individual ports of call later but here was our 7 night itinerary:
Day 1 Miami, Florida
Day 2 At Sea
Day 3 Cozumel, Mexico
Day 4 Costa Maya, Mexico
Day 5 Roatan, Honduras
Day 6 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Day 7 At Sea
Day 8 Miami, Florida

Leaving Miami

Our first night on board we decided to indulge ourselves and dine at the fancy Emerald Steakhouse. The $30 dollar per person additional charge was well worth it, the food and service was exceptional and definitely our best meal of the week. Pamela chose a filet mignon with mashed and I picked a New York top sirloin with mashed for my big dinner. For dessert I had the largest piece of glorious cheesecake I’d ever seen and Pamela had a chocolate sampler dessert that could have been a complete meal in itself. Completely stuffed we rolled out onto the upper decks for some pics and then rolled back to our stateroom for some much needed sleep.

Mammoth Cheesecake

Walking Along the Top Deck

The next morning, our first day at sea, we woke up late and finally made our way up to one of the top decks where we able to find two sun chairs together. On warm sea days it’s pretty tough to find a chair in the sun if you’re up past 10. That day was spent relaxing on deck as we sailed just outside Cuba for most of the day. We were fortunate for the good weather on day number one as our second sea day, the last day of the cruise, was spent indoors as it was cold and windy on the top decks.  During the second sea day we attended a long art auction and almost walked away with a Thomas Kinkade painting that Pamela had her eye for the whole cruise.

One of the Cruise Elegant Nights

To say there was plenty to eat on board the boat is an understatement. Most of our breakfasts consisted of cereal and fruit, avoiding the buffet lines. We did spend two mornings in the proper dining room for a hot breakfast which we felt was just okay, nothing spectacular.  During lunch we took advantage of the 24 hour pizza bar which was pretty good even though the pizza man was super cranky. We tried out the fish and chips restaurant once which was pretty good but hardly ever open. We also tried out the Mongolian grill - not very good, the deli, the grill and the burrito bar. All but one of our dinners were in the Golden Dining Room with varying daily menus consisting of food that ranged from just okay to pretty good. Each night they’d have something exotic on the menu ranging from alligator to frog legs. The chocolate lava cake was Pamela’s favorite dessert while I mostly ordered the fruit plate. Overall we weren’t all that impressed with the food except for the night we paid $30 USD each and ate at the Emerald Steakhouse.

Pamela with her Daily Dose of Chocolate Lava Cake

While on board we focused our attention on two activities; relaxing and watching the entertainment. Late afternoons and early evenings were always spent in one of the many hot tubs on board the boat, I counted 8 tubs but there could have been more. Getting a seat in the adults only Serenity hot tubs was a bit tough so more often than not we ended up in a big hot tub filled with kids or adults but with a nice view of the large outdoor TV.  Skin completely wrinkled we’d get ready for dinner then go watch one of the Broadway style performances in the Amber Palace theater on deck three. We saw three good musical reviews, an illusionist and a hypnotist which were also both very good.  There was a ton of other entertainment onboard including many-many comedy reviews, lounge singers and nightly dance clubs.

Enjoying the Sunset from the Hot Tub

Moving around the mammoth ship was pretty easy once we figured out the many different elevators and where they ended up. The downside of the elevators is sometimes you’d have to wait a long time for an elevator up or down. The elevators are weighted up to 3000 pounds or 16 people but we found due to the size of the people onboard the elevators only held about eight people at any given time. This also affected how many people fit into a hot tub, pool or possibly a lifeboat.

Pamela and Our Ship

Onboard alcohol is pushed to you around the clock. Sitting outside at breakfast you’re never far  from a waiter holding a tray of tropical drinks. We noticed some waiters get really cranky if we didn’t buy a drink, even for breakfast. On the other hand we noticed many, many, many people trying to drink the ship dry but to the best of our knowledge none of them succeeded. That made us feel better, for our lack of alcohol consumption, knowing that the cranky waiters were getting their mandatory 15% tip from each drink purchase. Probably enough to put a down payment on a Mercedes.

Ice Sculpture at the Midnight Buffet

Disembarking the boat back in Miami was slightly easier than boarding. We waited on the top deck until 10:15am when our group number was called. From there we walked off the boat, found our luggage, and joined the long Customs and Immigration line that moved slightly faster than a snail. Through Immigration we joined another line to get a taxi, and were eventually outta there.

Pamela Enjoying a Massage on the Beach in Mexico

We found that the ports you mostly visit when on a cruise ship are not a true sample of the country and culture of that country. The ports are often designed by, and wholly owned by the cruise lines themselves. So while you are on the physical land of Honduras for example, you only get to experience a very small man made cove of beach, in which to get to you must walk through a whole area of shops that are identical to those that are already on board the ship for the most part. This certainly allows for a very controlled experience of culture shock, and ensures a safe environment to visit (as a lot of the Caribbean islands aren’t exactly known for their safety records) so I can see how this appeals to a lot of people for a very easy and safe holiday, as you never really experience the unknown. It’s also a good way to get an overview of the area – visiting a lot of places, but just a short amount of time in each, to see which ones you would possible want to come back and spend more time at. For us I think we prefer a little more adventure and freedom to explore on our own, without quite so many time constraints and guidelines.

The Beach in Honduras

Rainbow over another Ship

Some of the shore excursions were great activities, but were so over priced, unfortunately we didn’t participate in any of them. You could swim with dolphins at several of the ports, hold sting rays, rent ATV’s (quadbikes), visit ruins, snorkeling/diving etc. At times these activities were triple the price of what you could get things for from a company operated externally of the cruise line, but most the time the way the ports are set up, they don’t really allow you the opportunity to book anywhere but through them directly.

Disembarking the Boat in Cozumel

She's a Strong One

Overall we had a pretty good experience on the cruise, we’re definitely glad we did it. We liked the fact that we just had to unpack once to see several different places, liked some of the food onboard and loved the shows. We disliked the large amount of very-very drunk people onboard the boat at all hours of the day, we disliked some of the food and disliked the lines associated with getting on and off the boat at the ports of call. We also disliked the large amount of announcements from the Cruise director and staff which seemed to constantly pump through the boat starting very early in the morning.

Watching the Waves in our Stateroom

I can see us taking another cruise in the future but probably not with Carnival, as they are a little too party orientated for our preferred style of travel,  and probably not to tropical destinations where we’d prefer to stay on the land, and explore places at our own leisure (avoiding lines and waiting in queue quite so much).

More pics from our cruise can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117257906652666550268/OurCaribbeanCruise?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cheers for Now -

Pamela and Dave