Day 3 of Our Carnival Glory Experience

Saturday, January 27, 2018

7:00 am and we can't wait to leave Hanoi Hilton but we stop at the desk to share with them our long list of complaints and security concerns.  The desk clerk, who has basically been there every moment that we have (I guess they don't have labour laws in Florida) is the one who has been sitting there every time we have gone done to the lobby and the one who has repeatedly assured us that she will send a pillow right up.  Regardless, she expresses outrage at us not getting a pillow and indicates that the lobby phone should be answered 24 hours a day.  She indicates she has no decision making power but she will transmit our concerns to Ms. Elaine and that she would call us in a couple of hours to give us a discount but she wasn't sure about how much of a discount, other than a discount.  We are still waiting for that phone call.  As we exiting, however, we notice UBER coupons offering $10 off the next ride.  Looking closer, we see that the coupons expired on Dec 31.

We call Lyft and wait out in the rain for our driver.  As we are waiting, the group of 6 are putting all of their luggage in a big white van.  The matriarch is arguing with the driver in the same fashion she is arguing with the desk clerk at check-in. 

Our driver comes in the middle of this and we are on our way as they are still loading and arguing,

We arrive at Miami Cruise Terminal and exit our Lyft.  Very satisfied with Lyft experience and recommend it over UBER.

There is nothing that can prepare you for the sight of 7 or 8 cruise ships all in a line in port.  I usually say, "OMG" but this time I turned to my sweetie and said, "Oh My God".  I was shaking with excitement as we found Glory and looked around for a place to wait.  Three people who were just disembarking sat next to us.  They had an amazing time but they were particularly enamored with Clay at The Piano Bar.  They raved about how talented he was and gave us a message to give him.  We had every intention of seeing Clay but we never did because we were too busy doing other things.

It was time for us to get in line and although the line was long, it went by very efficiently and everyone was enthusiastic ensuring us we were going to have fun, fun, fun !!  About twenty people ahead of us were the family of 6 with all the luggage.  They didn't have the common sense to check their luggage so they had luggage attached to every conceivable body part.

Once we were waiting to board in the boarding lounge, we tried to sit as far away from them as possible.  We were lucky enough to meet Brendan.  Brendan was a young adult living with some developmental challenges but was very positive.  He told us that he was an expert on cruising and if we had any questions, to ask him.  We saw Brendan every single day of the cruise but we never got a chance to ask him any questions.  Brendan was a nucleus of fun and every time we saw him, we couldn't get close to him because he was having too much fun and surrounded by people having equal fun.  Carnival could not get a better ambassador and should consider hiring him.

We boarded rather flawlessly at 11;30 am.  Our bags would not arrive until 1:30 pm at our Stateroom so we were encouraged to go to the Lido deck and have lunch.  When we arrived on the Lido Deck, we could tell how the experienced cruisers were.  People were already in hot tubs, suntanning, and in the pool.  I consider myself something of a buffet expert, however, nothing could prepare me for the many choices.  I think I did reasonably way under the circumstances until I saw someone with a burger and french fries. I had to have it, despite being so full that I could barely walk.  Guy Fieri has a burger stand and has the most amazing burgers and fries on the planet.  My sweetie wanted to explore the ship but I was so full I couldn't move, so I sat on a lounge chair and we would meet at 1:30 at our room.

At 1:30 pm, we met Garry.  I don't know what Garry's title actually was and I know whatever it was, it doesn't reflect what he actually did.  I think his title should be Director of Lasting Impressions.  Garry worked for housekeeping and was in charge of our cabin.  I loved this man.  First off, he asked us when we wanted our room freshened and how specifically we wanted him to care for our room.  (Bet we would have gotten a pillow from him had we asked.)  It didn't seem to matter when we woke up or when we returned to the room, Garry was there.  He could be way down the hall, but he always came over and talked to us.  He laughed at our jokes, he spoke to us by name, and when we told him how much we looked forward to our towel animals, he acted like he had never heard that before.  Garry was a very hard worker, but, I also felt his perma-smile was sincere.  What a treasure.

We got into our room for the first time.  It was small but had everything and more than we needed.  A king size bed with the added feature of having a light switch about the head of the bed so we could turn off the lights after we read for a little while in bed.  A desk, a dresser with a fridge, a tv, a make-up station, and a good sized bathroom with shower and more closet space than you could ever want.

We chose an interior room on the lowest deck.  Some people on the elevators looked down on us for doing so, however, we made the choice on purpose.  I am like Moana.  The ocean is my friend.  I wanted to be as low as we could so I could feel the motion of the ocean.  Every night it felt like I was sleeping in a hammock being gently rocked to sleep by the ocean.  I felt truly blessed.

We changed into our bathing suits and hit the Lido Deck.  I enjoyed the whirlpools while listening to DJ Devine.  There was incredible vibrancy in the air and everyone was happy.  It was lovely and special.

Before we could set sail, we had to report to our Muster Stations for safety training.  I know that they had to ensure all passengers attended for security reasons, but it was really a waste of time.  Not that safety training is a waste of time, but it was a waste of time the way it was conducted.  I could think of atleast 6 ways that they could have made this better.

After training, we managed to find the Serenity Lounge on the 11th floor.  We found the most comfortable lounge chairs that I have ever been in and yellow towels that were pure comfort.  We couldn't believe our luck as we had a direct view of Miami and were able to wave as we set sail.  As we laid on the lounge chairs preparing to set sail, the hot sun wrapped my whole body.  I literally felt like God was hugging me.  I spent a lot of time on the cruise talking to God, especially when he was hugging me.  He answered me back with several signs that I was open enough to see.  Sailing away from Miami was amazing and we tried to estimate real estate values with the two gentleman next to us.  I realized I was laughing at every comment.  For a while, my sweetie stood at the balcony and I was on my chaise and I started flicking water at him.  He kept looking around and telling me he felt a few droplets of rain.  I kept flicking and he never realized it was me, even though I was laughing hysterically.

After a while, my sweetie told me it was time to dress for dinner.  Dinner?  I was still full from lunch, but I didn't want to miss my first experience in the dining room.  As we were waiting in line, the family of 6 were in line ahead of us.  The matriarch was arguing with the Maitre D.  What could you possibly have to argue about?  So far, everything was paradise.  I'll admit I was waiting for the shoe to drop but it hadn't yet.  They left the line pissed about something.

We sat between a young shy couple and a couple from Wisconsin.  The shy couple didn't contribute much to the conversation but we could tell they were deeply in love.  The waiter handed us our menus and called me Miss Shelley and my sweetie by Mr.  That is how all the waiters referred to us.  It was a little thing, but it was such an example of respect.  Then came our first blip of the cruise.  The waiter referred to the Wisconsin couple as Adam and Brenda.  "What did you call me?" said Brenda as if someone had called her the C word.  It turns out that Brenda was her middle name and she had never been called that before.  Well, perhaps a few times, for her to have such a strong reaction.

The meal was not only delicious, but a culinary piece of art.  Like every single meal.  I think it has spoiled us for eating at another restaurant.  I had the rare find for my appetizer.  I can't remember the description but it had tar tare de salmon.  I forget what I had for the main course, but it was delicious, but the main treat for me was the creamed spinach.  I could have eaten nothing but that for the whole trip and be completely satisfied.  I was feeling like I couldn't eat another mouthful when the dessert menu came.  I couldn't pass up on the tiramisu with a cup of coffee.   I noted throughout the entire cruise that everyone enjoyed their coffee, except me, and I am a real coffee addict.  I prefer my coffee to be a darker roast with a fuller body.  This must be a Canadian thing, because everyone else seemed to enjoy their coffee.  The Wisconsin couple left before we did and I said, "Goodbye Brenda".  She looked like she was poised to take me down and then realized I was joking and admired my cheekiness.  We ended up seeing them almost every day after but they kept pretending they didn't see us.

Since I had read the two books that I had brought, we found ourselves at the library/games room.  The games room was very well stocked and we made plans to play our favorite game of scrabble soon.  I checked out two books.

I was so full that my sweetie had to roll me to our room.  We were going to read for a couple of hours and rest and then check out some of the activities.  My sweetie was a little sea sick so took some gravol.  At about 9 pm, my sweetie rolled over and turned out the lights and said we were going to sleep.  This was very uncharacteristic of him to be so forward.  I asked him if I could go out for a while and he said no that he wanted me to stay with him.  I was shocked.  When I asked him, I wasn't really asking, I was telling him.  He never once didn't let me do what I wanted in 8 years.  I decided that I was going to honour him and hope it would not become a pattern.

Since I wasn't sleepy, I sat in the bathroom on the toilet reading my book.  I finished that book before morning struck.  Also, at about 10:00 pm, Cruise Director Dustin started to make announcements about the fun times on ship.  There was going to be a pub crawl.  Every ten minutes, Dustin would make an announcement.  I was so jealous.  As I sat, I wondered, would I ever meet Dustin?  Was I going to be sitting on the toilet reading every night?  My book was riveting so I didn't cry.