Carnival Glory Cruise from January 28 February 4, 2006
This was a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise, with stops in Key West, Belize, and Costa Maya. My wife and I were first time cruisers. Embarkation/Debarkation was a breeze. We arrived at Port Canaveral from our Orlando hotel at approximately 12:30 PM, using Arts Shuttle to transport us. (We also used Arts post-cruise to take us back to Orlando - $85.00 each way). We dropped our carry on bags in our stateroom and were on the Lido deck drinking our first beer by 1:15 PM. Check in was smooth, and the lines moved steadily. Likewise, debarkation was as smooth as can be expected considering they were unloading 3,000 people as quickly as possible with about half of them doing self debarkation and trying to haul several large bags behind them. We placed our bags outside our stateroom the night before, and they were waiting for us when we cleared Customs. Customs was a breeze. It is more difficult clearing security at the airport than it is clearing customs.
Embarkation/Debarkation gets an A. All-in-all, the cruise was OK. The entertainment in the Amber Palace (the show theater) was better than I expected, with one exception. I was especially impressed with the Glory Dancers, and the two lead vocals, Ed Chen and Cassandra Swales. I give the entertainment a B+. We didnt participate in any of the shipboard activities or contests, but did enjoy watching a couple that were held on the Lido deck while we were out sunning. Carnival does a good job keeping you busy if you so wish. I give the activities a B