Background: We planned this trip as a graduation celebration for two in our party, but it turned into a mini family reunion. We sailed with all ages: my 70-something parents; husband and myself; son, DIL and their 14 month old; brother and SIL and their 10 year old; and two 20-something daughters. We love the balcony experience, and, because we were bringing along a toddler, we splurged on a premium vista balcony, and it was worth every penny! It became the gathering point for our family, and the toddler especially loved it - he headed straight for the door as soon as he came into our room, always with a big "wow!" Others in our party had upgraded to suites, which were roomy and lovely, but still less than half the balcony square footage. Since we pretty much lived out on the balcony, this was the better deal for us.

Embarkation: Lines were quite long, and there were at least three of them that I remember, but there were workers keeping things flowing as smoothly and quickly as possible. The automated check-in was nice, probably why the line moved so quickly. We sailed on Mothers Day, and it seemed as though all the workers, even those moms away from their families on their day, wished us a happy Mothers day. Very friendly and helpful.

The ship and service: The Glory was beautiful! The dEcor was much less gaudy than other Carnival ships we've been on, which was a refreshing change! Workers were constantly cleaning the carpets, walls, bathrooms, busing tables, etc. Every worker we passed had a big smile and "hello" for us. Our cabin steward was always on the job, kept our room immaculate which was not easy when there were seven of us using it. The cruise director, Jorge, was great, because we rarely heard or saw him. Friendly, informative, but not pushy. Read more