We arrived in Miami January 15th one day before our cruise on the Glory. The flight was uneventful and we actually arrived early! Leaving Minnesota was not hard to do, especially with the cold temps we had been having. We rented a car, loaded all of our bags into the trunk and we were on our way. So much to see, so much to do! We checked into the Holiday Inn Port of Miami around 2:00 pm. Our room was on the 8th floor and we had an amazing view of all the ships. Our room was quite nice, two double beds and a sofa bed. After reading many reviews I was worried that our hotel was going to be a bad decision, but I completely disagree. I loved the location of the hotel, the amenities, the staff, everything. I guess I am not hard to please :) After checking in, we walked to the shops and restaurants across the street. We enjoyed a nice lunch out by the water. Then we decided to take a boat ride to see some houses of the rich and famous. Nice little boat tour, I would recommend it. Afterwards we walked a couple of blocks to CVS pharmacy and picked up a few items we knew we were going to buy before we got on the ship.

Sunday morning we arrived at the port around 10:30 am. Our husbands went and returned the rental car and we waited for them to return. We ended up in group 12 to board the ship, which was around 12:00. Once on-board we went straight to the shore excursions desk and booked the behind the fun tour. We were first on the list, Yeah! Then we enjoyed some lunch up on the lido deck before heading to our stateroom. Our room was on the 9th floor, lido deck, room 9282. Great location!!! If you've been on a cruise before you know what a typical balcony stateroom looks like so I won't go into details. At 3:30 we went for the safety briefing. I like that we don't have to wear life jackets anymore but we were still crammed in there like sardines. Being one that is claustrophobic, I was glad when it was over! The boat left around 4:30 and we hung out on the lido deck to enjoy the music and dancing before we had to get ready for dinner. Dinner was typical carnival food. Our table was a table for four tucked into a space pretty much off on it's own. Nice and quiet but still close enough to see the action. Our waiters were amazing like always :)

Some of the activities we enjoyed on board were the comedians, the illusionist, behind the fun tour, and lots of trivia. We even came away with one of the coveted ships on a stick! I am glad they had comedy almost every night. We are not really into the big show girl shows so we went to comedy every chance we got. Just know that you have to get there early because the place gets packed very fast! Also, my favorite thing was the behind the fun tour. If you get a chance to do this, DO IT! We got to see so many cool things. Behind the stage, the dressing rooms, the galley, the laundry room, the bridge, on and on and on. It is a long tour 3 1/2 hours so make sure you have comfy shoes because you get your exercise in! Read more