This was my 103rd cruise and my third with Carnival. Former Carnival sailings were on two older ships: Fantasy in 1991 and Inspiration in 1997. I was a group leader on this sailing and responsible for 193 members of a professional organization for the week. We had meetings and social events scheduled daily and lots of preparation had gone into this cruise.
Let me start by saying that I was very pleasantly surprised overall by the Glory and the improvements Carnival has made over the past few years.
Embarkation: I arrived at the port at 11:15. When I finally boarded the ship it was 1:05 pm. We waited in line in the car to drop off luggage (20 minutes), security was not a long line but I did notice when I was getting on the ship that the line stretched out of the doors and down in front of the terminal. Unlike other lines I have sailed where there is a single check in process, we had to go through several lines with Carnival. We checked in on one line, then we had to go and get out SeaPass in another line (inefficient in my opinion). Then we waited in another line to have the photo taken for the SeaPass card. The final line was really annoying as it was a photo line, We were told it was "mandatory" to have an embarkation photo taken which I found ridiculous. The only way past the photographers was blocked with a large trash can. So we waited yet again and, when it was my turn, I said "no, thanks" and continued on through, despite being told it was "required" yet again. I was done waiting in line by this time and had no interest in a photo. I think Carnival needs to lighten up and provide a way through this process that does not require people to wait to have a photo taken if they are not interested.