This was our second cruise and first with Carnival. We had chosen the Carnival Glory based on the children's program and the close proximity of its port to Orlando. We were visiting Disney World and Universal Studios the week prior and wanted a cruise to help us unwind and relax after all the hustle and bustle.

Embarkation: We had our three young children, ages 2, 4, and 7, along with the grandparents on this cruise. We arrived at the port at around 11:30am and had to wait about 20 minutes in the car just to drop off our luggages. The lineup of cars to get into the terminal was not that long, but there seemed to be only so many parking spots for drop off. After that, there was a lineup of about 20 minutes outside the terminal just to go through security and then another wait of 20 minutes or so in another lineup upstairs to check in. After all that when I thought we were done, we had to go through yet another lineup of about 20-25 minutes just to have our photos taken. That was the last straw for me because I had just put all our passports and IDs away. With a sleepy toddler in my arms, I was asked again for all our documents because our Sail & Sign cards were not enough. I wished they had a sign outside the boarding area indicating what the last lineup was for and that they needed to check all IDs again. All in all and needless to say, it was quite a tiring and lengthy embarkation experience. We did finally get to our cabins just before 1:30pm.

Details & Impressions: Our cruise experience on board the Glory was, of course, often times compared to our first cruise since that was our only previous experience. Although we were aware that each cruise line had its own strengths and weaknesses, I must say that the Glory would only score just below average for us for the following reasons. Read more