We sailed the Carnival Glory out of Norfolk, VA from May 15-20 (6 nights), 2012. We live in Richmond, VA, so found it very convenient to drive to Norfolk (1.5 hours) and park the car.

1st Note: don't use the recommended cruise parking lot - it's a long ways off and expensive, while there are parking ramps right nearby! If you do use the cruiseport parking, the shuttle is a long haul (they wait until they are loaded up before they leave and return). We wound up taking a cab to the lot after disembarking. Also note that the majority of cruise passengers live close by, so upon disembarkation, the port is crowded with people trying to get to the parking lot! If you use cruise parking lot, best bet is to drop your luggage off first and then go to the lot before embarkation.

Embarkation was fairly smooth and we were on the ship by 1 PM, but debarkation was a nightmare. Most everyone (because they are from close by) chooses to take their luggage with them off the ship, and they are called first, but by deck number. For some reason, Customs took a long time to clear the ship, and they didn't even start disembarking until 9 AM - and then they were so SLOW. It was a very cumbersome process - not as smooth as most cruises we've been on. Read more