Because we live in the Hampton Roads region, we elected to take the Carnival Glory to The Bahamas out of Norfolk, VA. My partner and I cruised with my parents, sister, and her friend. My folks had cruised before out of New York on the Carnival Victory to Canada.

I had read a review that Norfolk often is in the top of the cruise terminals and I have to agree. Aside from the longest line being mostly outside, the staff was friendly, efficient, and we moved quickly. We arrived at 3.00 and were on the ship by 4.30. It sounds like a long time, but the line was huge and it did keep moving. Norfolk advises that you park in the cruise parking lot, which is about a mile away, and take a bus to the terminal. They don't advertise that there is a parking garage right across the street that costs the same. We parked there, got out of our car, and hopped on the ship. We didn't have to wait for a bus or deal with traffic.

If you are going on a Carnival ship, be prepared to party! We are not big partiers and happily avoided the crazy stuff, but everyone is drinking. They pretty much start handing you drinks as soon as you get on the ship. This caused a bit of a problem since they didn't do the safety drill until 2.5 hours after we left. Half the people there were DRUNK! It was definitely a big waste of time since the staff giving the safety talk recognized this and made it short. Read more