We sailed out of Norfolk on Carnival Glory on October 25, 2010. As we live in Norfolk, it was a short cab ride to Half Moon Terminal. So nice not to have to fly and bother with the airlines. There were a sufficient number of stevedores waiting curbside to take our luggage and they were very pleasant and very professional. It took a minute amount of time for our passports to be checked outside the terminal and we were on our way to the guest services for the pre-boarding formalities. The staff was very nice and extremely professional and in short order we were on the ship. It took us less than 30 minutes from the time we stepped out of the cab until we were sitting on the Lido deck sampling our first drink of the day. Since we boarded early, our staterooms were not quite ready so we had to wait about an hour to drop off our carry-on bags. We waited about an hour to get into our cabin and our checked luggage was delivered and waiting by the door.

One of the first things we did was take a few minutes to purchase the wine package that the ship offers, the cost of which varies depending on your choice of packages and, I think, depending on the number of days you are cruising. It is a good value and can be used in the dining room, steakhouse or at the numerous bars throughout the ship. We chose the middle of the road package and were quite pleased with the selection. It values out at about a 20% discount per bottle. Not too shabby.

We had an aft stateroom with extended balcony, extended being deeper than the usual balconies. Very roomy. We had friends in the stateroom next door and the steward was able to open the divider door between the two balconies. We had a pre-sailing party of 12 and everyone was able to comfortably fit on the two respective balconies. The room was clean and well stocked with glasses, towels, and complimentary toiletries. Because of the room configuration, the entry way from the door to the inner cabin is very narrow, basically wide enough for the closet doors to be opened, or the bathroom door to be opened, if the closet doors are closed. The rest of the cabin was sufficiently roomy, had a bed, desk, table, chair and ottoman but no couch in our particular room. The closet and other storage were very adequate. Our steward, Gabriel, was very professional and did a fine job. Read more