We boarded at Cape Canaveral with remarkable ease. It took less than 45 minutes and we were on board by 11:30. We were able to drop off our carry on bags in our room prior than the 1:00 posting for room availability. Had lunch up on the Lido deck and began to explore the ship. We traveled with a group of 5 couples, all of whom have cruised before on several different lines, including Carnival.

We like cruising for the sea travel, food, relaxation and lastly the ports. The food on Carnival is the best of any of the similar cruise lines, bar none. It is far ahead on NCL and RCI, slightly better than Princess and better than Celebrity. RCI's is unimaginative, bland, limited and simply an area where they are cutting cost. Not Carnival. We recently took a repositioning cruise from LA thru the Panama Canal to San Juan on the Serenade of the Seas. The food was boring and unimaginative. On a 13 day cruise we lobster tails one night, never had lamb chops or rack of lamb, and filet mignon once. The typical menu had two pastas, a meat entry and fish entry, plus a vegetarian entry. Their standard steak was a 7 oz. sirloin that was maybe a ½ inch thick - simply an impossible cut to do anything with. Always over cooked and tough.

The Glory's buffet on the Lido deck was standard buffet stuff, passable. We typically had breakfast in the dining room. Service was fine, the food hot and good. Part of our reason for the dining room is it's a good way from not overeating by taking too much going thru the line. The 24 hour pizza station was good, the hot dogs and hamburgers station was adequate. The sandwich bar was excellent - get the Reuben. The Fish and Chips stand was also quite good and interesting. Read more