Well, this was the first cruise for both my wife and myself...and let me tell you - it was absolutely fantastic! From the embarkation to the debarkation - Carnival Glory made our first cruise the best vacation we've ever had. I wish I had the time to tell you everything little detail about the ship and about all the fun we had - but I'd have to write a book to tell it all. So, I'll just hit the highlights:
First - BOOK YOUR CRUISE THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT! We saved tons of money and never lifted a finger. Our travel agent was absolutely the best! She arranged everything from transfers to and from the airport and ship, a rental car after the cruise, the cruise itself, our fun passes, travel insurance, etc! This was so economical. One thing we would recommend for those trying to save a dime is to get the "room guarantee" - but if you want a certain room on a certain level - just book it normally. Another sort of bad thing about the guarantee for us was that we booked an oceanview guarantee - hoping to be upgraded when we got there...NOPE - we ended up on the first floor (which happened to be the last to leave the ship) Oh well. We saved a couple hundred dollars though. But please use the travel agent...it'll save you tons of headaches.
Well, secondly, everyone wants to know about the food...well it was absolutely fantastic. We recommend booking the late dining since sometimes getting back from a port was a bit later and we wanted to relax and get ready for dinner. We had originally booked the early dinner - but were very happy we didn't. Overall, the food on the Glory was great...a couple of O.K. meals, but for the most part - we were very happy! We also sat with 4 other couples (one from only an hour away from us - who we later shared a rental car with). I don't know how Carnival did it but we were all about the same age and were all married for only 2 years. Maybe it was just a coincidence. I don't know. But we all became very close friends by the end of the cruise. You'll enjoy the waiters/waitresses too - they were extremely nice to us and even provide you with some mid-supper entertainment. Our servers were Santika and Sheela - they were so much fun! We also booked the "Supper Club" two of the nights on the cruise. PLEASE DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY! For $25.00 per person, you get a five star dining experience - including a way higher quality of food from regular dining, seating by yourself (not with other couples), complimentary appetizers, drinks, desserts...we were stuffed both nights. If you're celebrating something (an anniversary) - please take advantage of this. If we were to go to Morton's of Chicago or Ruth's Chris - it would have been about a $300.00 meal. Honestly. I cannot tell you how great that was. But you'll never go hungry on the Glory.